Sacramento, California - United States District Judge John A. Mendez sentenced Vera Kuzmenko, 46, of Loomis, to 14 years in prison for multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, witness tampering, and money laundering associated with her involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme that cost financial institutions over $16 million, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Los Angeles, California - A Pennsylvania man was charged today with felony computer hacking related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to over 100 Apple and Google e-mail accounts, including those belonging to members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, California - The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit Thursday seeking to block the acquisition by Tribune Publishing Company, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, of Freedom Communications Inc., publisher of the Register in Orange County, California, and the Press-Enterprise in Riverside County, California.  Tribune was selected as purchaser of Freedom’s newspapers following a bankruptcy auction and will seek bankruptcy court approval of its acquisition on March 21.  The department is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the sale to Tribune from proceeding.

San Francisco, California - San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park will host a free Junior Ranger Day event on Sunday, April 17th, between 10 AM and 4 PM, geared toward children ages 5-12 and their families. Normal admission fees to board our historic ships will be waived on this day for all visitors.

Los Angeles, California - A Los Angeles-area man has been convicted of possessing more than 1,400 credit card profiles stolen from consumers who used gas pumps with “skimmers” that illegally collected their credit card information.

Twentynine Palms, California - In celebration of the National Park Service's Centennial year, the agency has created a program where every 4th grader is eligible to visit the park with their family, for free.