Month: July 2024

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

This past week, Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer and Director Rachel Rossi of the Office for Access to Justice participated in the United Nations (UN) High Level Political Forum in New York as part of the official U.S. delegation to the Forum. The UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is a platform for the review of progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Goals of the Agenda at a global level. This year, the Forum focused on UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16), among other goals. The Office for Access to Justice is mandated to assist the United States with the implementation of SDG 16, which focuses on establishing peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

On July 11, Acting Associate Attorney General Mizer delivered the United States National Statement on UN SDG 16, where he highlighted the efforts of the United States to advance equal access to justice. During his time at the Forum, Acting Associate Attorney General Mizer met with a range of stakeholders to discuss cooperation on access to justice, including foreign officials and civil society organizations working to advance equality for all.

On July 16, Director Rossi engaged in an informal listening session, convened by the Robert and Helen Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at New York University School of Law. The listening session provided a unique opportunity for Director Rossi to connect with community leaders in New York and hear their reflections on how the goals of SDG 16 relate to their vision of peace and justice. Organizations participating in the listening session were the Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at NYU Law, Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative, Common Justice organization, Hour Children, Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, Cardozo Law School, Women Who NEVER Give Up, Center for Institutional and Social Change, Columbia Law School, Defying Legal Gravity, Paralegal Pathways Initiative, Columbia Law School, Bronx Defenders, and the Columbia Center for Justice CUNY Law, Formerly Incarcerated Law Student Association.

Following the listening session, Director Rossi gave welcoming remarks for the official United States side event “Turning the Tide: Scaling SDG for the Future, Reinforcing Access to Justice, and Advancing Democracy.” This side event elevated the sustainable, resilient, innovative, and people-centered approaches that governments and stakeholders are employing to advance implementation of SDG 16.

The Office for Access to Justice also hosted a convening to initiate discussions on how the office can best serve as a connector of cross-sector stakeholders to better advance access to justice through the implementation of SDG 16. Convening attendees, including cities, counties, systems impacted individuals, civil society organizations, and federal government partners, discussed how regular engagement going forward can assist to generate knowledge, ensure visibility across efforts, inspire action, and connect data to policy to advance equal access to justice for all. Director Rossi provided remarks for the session which shaped the role of the Office for Access to Justice and the intention of the office in support of SDG 16.3, to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure access to justice for all.

Director Rossi also met with the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers to discuss SDG 16 and legal empowerment in advancing human rights at the international level.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Key Programs Inc. (Southwest Key), a Texas-based nonprofit that provides housing to unaccompanied children who are encountered at the southern land border of the United States. The lawsuit alleges that Southwest Key, through its employees, has engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual abuse and harassment of unaccompanied children in Southwest Key shelters in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

“Sexual harassment of children in residential shelters, where a child should be safe and secure, is abusive, dehumanizing and unlawful,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Sexual abuse of children is a crisis that we can’t ignore or turn a blind eye to. This lawsuit seeks relief for children who have been abused and harmed, and meaningful reforms to ensure no child in these shelters is ever subjected to sexual abuse again.”  

“HHS has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior, and discrimination,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The U.S. Department of Justice’s complaint against Southwest Key raises serious pattern or practice concerns. HHS will continue to work with the Justice Department and oversight agencies to hold its care-giving programs like Southwest Key accountable. And we will continue to closely evaluate our assignment of children into care-giving programs to ensure the safety and well-being of every child in HHS custody.”

“Every child has the right to feel safe and secure in their dwelling, including in shelter care,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “This lawsuit seeks to provide a pathway for justice and healing for these children, who are among the most vulnerable in our society.”

“In search of the American Dream, children often endure perilous journeys on their migration north to the southern border,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas. “The sexual harassment alleged in the complaint would destroy any child’s sense of safety, turning what was an American Dream into a nightmare. We look forward to working together with the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas to provide justice for the victims who allegedly suffered harm in Southwest Key’s shelters.”

Southwest Key operates 29 shelters that provide temporary housing for unaccompanied children in Texas, Arizona and California, and is the largest housing provider for unaccompanied children in the United States. Southwest Key receives grants from the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to provide housing and other care for unaccompanied children at these shelters. Unaccompanied children are minors who enter the United States without parents or other legal guardians and without lawful immigration status in the United States. The shelters are the children’s homes until they are reunited with their immediate families or placed with a relative or other vetted sponsor while their immigration cases proceed.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleges that, from 2015 through at least 2023, multiple Southwest Key employees subjected children in their care to severe or pervasive sexual harassment that has included, among other things, sexual contact and inappropriate touching, solicitation of sex acts, solicitation of nude photos, entreaties for inappropriate relationships and sexual comments. The complaint further alleges that Southwest Key took insufficient action to prevent sexual harassment of the children in its care, failed to consistently follow federal requirements for preventing, detecting and reporting abuse including sexual harassment, failed to take appropriate or sufficient action to protect the children in its care and discouraged children from disclosing sexual harassment in violation of federal requirements, despite ORR having issued multiple corrective actions to Southwest Key.

The department’s lawsuit seeks monetary damages to compensate the children harmed by the alleged harassment, a civil penalty to vindicate the public interest and a court order barring future discrimination and requiring Southwest Key to take appropriate steps to prevent such harassment in the future.

Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of sexual harassment or abuse at Southwest Key shelters or who have other information that may be relevant to this case, may contact the Justice Department’s housing discrimination tip line at 1-833-591-0291. For Spanish dial “2”; then dial “2” for sexual harassment cases; and dial “3” for the Southwest Key lawsuit mailbox. For English dial “1”; then dial “2” for sexual harassment cases; and dial “9” for the Southwest Key lawsuit mailbox.  Individuals can also email the Justice Department at southwest.key@usdoj.gov or report through our online portal at civilrights.justice.gov/link/southwestkey.

The Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative is led by the Civil Rights Division, in coordination with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country. The initiative seeks to address and raise awareness about sexual harassment by people who have control over housing. Since launching the initiative in October 2017, the department has filed 43 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered over $17 million for victims of such harassment.

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A California man was sentenced yesterday to three years and six months in prison for a scheme to defraud the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) by selling over $3.5 million worth of fan assemblies to the DLA that were either counterfeit or that he misrepresented were new when in fact they were used or surplus.

According to court documents, Steve H.S. Kim, 63, of Alameda County, controlled Company A, which sold fan assemblies to the DLA that were either counterfeit or were used or surplus fan assemblies that Kim claimed were new. To trick the DLA into accepting the fan assemblies, Kim created counterfeit labels—some of which used Company B’s registered trademarks—that he attached to the fan assemblies he sold to the DLA. When the DLA questioned Kim about the origin of the fan assemblies, Kim concealed his scheme by giving the DLA fake tracing documents that he created and often signed using a false identity. Some of these counterfeit fans were installed or intended to be installed with electrical components on a nuclear submarine, a laser system on an aircraft, and a surface-to-air missile system.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California; Special Agent in Charge Bryan D. Denny of the DoD Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Western Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Greg Gross of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Economic Crimes Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Tatum King of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Special Agent in Charge Keith K. Kelly of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s (Army CID) Fraud Field Office made the announcement.

DCIS, NCIS, HSI, and Army CID investigated the case.

Assistant Chief Kyle C. Hankey, Trial Attorney David D. Hamstra, and former Trial Attorney Louis Manzo of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Lloyd-Lovett for the Northern District of California prosecuted the case. Assistant Deputy Chief Adrienne Rose and Senior Counsels Jason Gull and Matthew A. Lamberti of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section provided substantial assistance with the investigation. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

An indictment was unsealed yesterday containing criminal charges against the alleged leader of a human smuggling organization responsible for unlawfully bringing thousands of migrants into the United States. Along with the organization, the defendant, who was arrested in Mexico at the request of the United States, has also been designated for financial sanctions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. These developments were made possible through extensive bilateral coordination and cooperation efforts between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement authorities.

Abdul Karim Conteh, 42, a national of Sierra Leone, was arrested on July 11 in Tijuana, Mexico. The United States is pursuing Conteh’s extradition on federal charges stemming from his alleged actions in leading the human smuggling organization. His wife, Veronica Roblero Pivaral, 25, a national of Mexico, remains at large.

“In coordination with our law enforcement partners, the Justice Department has worked relentlessly to target and disrupt the unlawful, transnational human smuggling operations that endanger migrants and threaten our national security,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “We allege Abdul Karim Conteh and his organization smuggled thousands of migrants from more than a dozen different countries through Mexico into the United States. He has been arrested for his alleged role in this prolific, exploitive smuggling operation by Mexican authorities, and the Justice Department will ensure that he is held accountable in an American courtroom.”

“Human smugglers exploit the vulnerable for profit,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Along with our partners across this Administration and around the world, we are bringing the full force of the law to bear against the individuals and their organizations that perpetrate this heinous crime. We couple our unrelenting efforts with this warning to would-be migrants everywhere: do not believe the smuggler’s lies and risk your lives in their ruthless hands.”

According to the indictment, Conteh’s organization allegedly smuggled thousands of migrants to the United States through Mexico. These smuggled migrants originated from countries around the world, including Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Somalia, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Egypt, and others. The migrants paid smuggling fees, often tens of thousands of dollars, to be transported through various countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, on the way to the U.S.-Mexico border.

“This arrest unravels a global web of coordinated human smuggling into the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath for the Southern District of California. “Even the most far-reaching, prolific networks cannot evade justice.”

Conteh allegedly coordinated with Roblero and co-conspirators throughout Mexico and other countries to facilitate the global transportation of migrants into and through Mexico to the U.S. border. Conteh then allegedly oversaw the migrants’ unlawful entry into the United States by various surreptitious and unlawful means, including the use of ladders and tunnels.

Conteh, Roblero, and others are charged with conspiracy to smuggle migrants into the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Conteh is also charged with the unlawful smuggling of migrants for financial gain, which carries a mandatory minimum of three years in prison for the first two violations. Additional violations carry a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

In addition, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added the Abdul Karim Conteh Human Smuggling Organization (HSO) and four individuals to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13851, as amended by E.O. 13863 (E.O. 13581, as amended). For additional information on actions taken by OFAC, please visit www.home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2470.

The U.S. Border Patrol, HSI, and IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office are investigating this case.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the Mexican authorities to secure Conteh’s arrest.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan A. Sausedo and David E. Fawcett for the Southern District of California are prosecuting the case, with substantial assistance from Trial Attorney Danielle Hickman of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.

These actions resulted from the coordinated efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). Attorney General Merrick B. Garland established JTFA in June 2021 to marshal the investigative and prosecutorial resources of the Justice Department, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to combat the rise in prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. JTFA comprises detailees from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the southwest border, including the Southern District of California, the District of Arizona, the District of New Mexico, and the Western and Southern Districts of Texas. Dedicated support is provided by numerous components of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, led by the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, with additional support by the Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training; the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section; the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section; the Office of Enforcement Operations; the Office of International Affairs; and the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section. JTFA also relies on substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, DEA, and other partners. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 310 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of human smuggling; more than 250 U.S. convictions; more than 185 significant jail sentences imposed; and forfeitures of substantial assets.