Washington, DC - The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Monday announced that it has awarded more than $458 million in grant funding to support state, local, and tribal law enforcement efforts to fight and prevent violent crime in jurisdictions across the United States.

New Orleans, Louisiana - Holden Matthews, 23, was sentenced Monday in the Western District of Louisiana to 300 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for intentionally setting fire to three African-American Baptist churches because of the religious character of those buildings. Matthews was also ordered to pay restitution of $590,246 to St. Mary Baptist Church, $970,213.30 to Greater Union Baptist Church, and $1,100,000 to Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.

Memphis, Tennessee - A west Tennessee psychiatrist was sentenced Friday to 48 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for unlawfully distributing opioids. 

Washington, DC - The Justice Department Friday announced the completion of a five-day law enforcement effort, dubbed “Operation Find Our Children,” throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia that resulted in the recovery of 27 previously missing children.  The operation also confirmed the location of six additional children previously reported as missing but subsequently discovered by the U.S. Marshals Service as being in the custody of their legal guardian.

Memphis, Tennessee - Doctor Shoaib Qureshi, Doctor Imran Mirza, Memphis Primary Care Specialists, Lunceford Family Health Center, and Getwell Family Medicine agreed to pay $341,690 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly charging Medicare for services rendered by nurse practitioners at the higher reimbursement rate for physician services, the Justice Department announced today. 

Washington, DC - Minnesota-based medical device maker Medtronic USA Inc. has agreed to pay $8.1 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce a South Dakota neurosurgeon to use certain Medtronic products, the Department of Justice announced last Thursday.