May 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Federal Court Permanently Shuts Down New York Tax Preparer
A federal court in the Eastern District of New York has permanently enjoined a tax return preparer and her Brooklyn-based business from preparing federal tax returns for others and from owning, operating, or working for any tax return preparation business in the future.

The civil complaint filed in the case alleged that Melida Portorreal, through her tax return preparation company, International Travel Multi & Tax Corp., prepared fraudulent federal income tax returns for others. According to the complaint, Portorreal prepared and filed fraudulent federal tax returns for others that included the following schemes:

reporting false filing statuses, including, in at least one instance, using one customer’s name and social security number to qualify another customer for Head of Household filing status without either customer’s knowledge or consent;
fabricating erroneous itemized d..

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon. I am joined by Philip R. Sellinger, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. We are here today to announce that the Department of Justice and Cumberland County, New Jersey, have agreed to a consent decree that outlines remedies to resolve our investigation of the Cumberland County Jail in Bridgeton.

The Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office opened a pattern or practice investigation of the Cumberland County Jail, under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. We launched the investigation after a spate of six tragic suicides by incarcerated persons who had used opioids prior to their admission to the jail but who were denied medication-assisted treatment (MAT) when they came to the facility. Medication-assisted treatment is the use of medications, in combination with behavioral therapy and counseling, to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). It is an effective, evidence-based treatment that has become a best pr..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Readout of Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta’s Meeting with Members of European Parliament to Discuss Women’s Rights
Today, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta participated in a meeting with a delegation from the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), alongside attendees from the White House Gender Policy Council and the U.S. Department of State. The convening, which featured representatives from Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany and Spain, was hosted by the State Department.

During the discussion, the Associate Attorney General highlighted how the Justice Department has collaborated with its federal partners to protect reproductive rights and counter gender-based violence. The group discussed how, under Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, the Justice Department established the Reproductive Rights Task Force, chaired by Associate Attorney General Gupta, as a whole-of-department e..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Justice Department Leadership Honors Service and Sacrifice of Nation’s Law Enforcement for Police Week
In recognition of National Police Week, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta joined law enforcement partners to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice to our nation.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week. Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week is a collaborative effort of many organizations dedicated to honoring the service and sacrifice of America’s law enforcement community. This year, memorial events ran May 9 – 20.

Today, Attorney General Garland delivered remarks at the 2021-2022 Medal of Valor ceremony hosted by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., at the White House. The Medal of Valor is awarded ..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Gangster Disciple Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Firebombing and Drug Distribution
All 12 Charged Gang Members Have Pleaded Guilty
A member of the Gangster Disciples gang pleaded guilty today to a racketeering conspiracy involving his firebombing of a prison guard’s house and the distribution of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.

Today’s plea marks the 12th and final conviction in the Northern District of Mississippi case against five members of the Gangster Disciples and seven members of the Simon City Royals, a gang aligned with the Gangster Disciples.

According to court documents, Darrell Steele, 49, of Meridian, Mississippi, was a member of the Gangster Disciples. Acting on the orders of high-ranking Gangster Disciples leaders, Steele and other gang members manufactured firebombs to bomb the home of a prison guard who was interfering with the gang’s illegal drug operation within Mississippi state pr..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Judge Imposes Eight Consecutive Life Sentences Plus 260 Years in Prison for ISIS-Inspired 2017 Murder of Eight Victims and Attempted Murder of 18 Others in NYC Truck Attack
Sayfullo Saipov, 34, of Uzbekistan, was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences, two concurrent life sentences, and a consecutive sentence of 260 years in prison for carrying out a terrorist attack on Oct. 31, 2017, in the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), in which Saipov used a truck to murder eight victims and injure many more on a bike path in lower Manhattan.

On Jan. 26, a jury convicted Saipov of all 28 counts in the indictment, which charged Saipov with murder for the purpose of gaining entrance to a racketeering enterprise (ISIS); assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder for the purpose of gaining entrance to a racketeering enterprise (ISIS); providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS)..