Press Releases

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a proposed settlement today to resolve the United States’ claims against Willow Bridge Property Company LLC, as part of its ongoing enforcement action in the Middle District of North Carolina against algorithmic coordination, the use of competitors’ competitively sensitive data, and other anticompetitive practices in rental markets across the country. Today’s proposed settlement builds on the Justice Department’s success in obtaining proposed settlements in the same enforcement action against RealPage Inc. and three other large landlords

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission warn lawbreaking companies that they are closely monitoring petroleum markets and gas prices and will take all appropriate measures to stop illegal conduct contributing to high gas prices.

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment yesterday against Juan Jose “Juanjo” Farias Mendoza, 31, and Israel “Papo” Vega Farias, 37, both of Tepalcatepec, Michoacan, Mexico, and high-ranking members of the United Cartels.

Two Romanian brothers illegally in the United States appeared in federal court today and pleaded guilty to orchestrating a fraud scheme involving Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) benefits affecting victims across multiple states, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. The case is part of the Department of Justice’s effort to combat fraud through the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

A Guatemalan man pleaded guilty today for his involvement in a 2022 mass casualty alien smuggling event in San Antonio, Texas, that resulted in 53 deaths and 11 aliens injured.

In a letter this week addressed to the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote that the Department of Justice rejects any assertion of jurisdiction by the ICC over Americans.

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission released their 48^th Annual Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Report. This report summarizes the agencies’ merger enforcement efforts and provides fiscal year 2025 data on the Premerger Notification Program, which alerts the agencies to transactions that may substantially lessen competition in violation of federal law.

Jeffrey Garth Ewing, of Iowa, agreed to waive his bankruptcy discharge of more than $17.7 million in debts after an investigation by the Department of Justice’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP). The USTP’s investigation found that Ewing had transferred nearly $400,000 to companies he controlled to shield the funds from his creditors. 

A Florida man was sentenced today to 30 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for the production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of victims as young as eight years old.

The Department of Justice announced charges filed in the Northern Districts of Illinois and Texas against eight alleged members of designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) for murders, kidnappings, and firearms offenses. All eight defendants charged in these Homeland Security Task Force operations are illegal aliens believed to be from Venezuela who illegally enter the United States between December 2021 and April 2024. One defendant charged in Northern Texas is now in custody in Colombia for unrelated charges.

In an order issued last week, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the Justice Department’s motion — on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — to dismiss a suit filed by several groups to compel the EPA to initiate a rulemaking to ban the use of hydrogen fluoride in oil refining. The plaintiffs filed their suit after EPA denied an administrative petition seeking the same ban.

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan dismissed a lawsuit challenging an exemption decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concerning the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township, Michigan. The court found that the Atomic Energy Act and the Hobbs Act channel review of an exemption decision related to a licensing proceeding to the U.S. Courts of Appeals.