A Providence man who told investigators that he armed himself because of his “lifestyle” and as a means to protect women who worked for his escort service was sentenced Monday to 70 months in federal prison followed by 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to a federal gun charge.

James Lombardi, 26, was arrested by Providence Police in December 2009 and indicted by a federal grand jury in February on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in July.

The sentence, which was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith, was announced by U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie S. Browne told the court that the Government was prepared to present evidence that Lombardi acquired a stolen Remington 12 gauge shotgun approximately 3 weeks prior to his arrest. Lombardi told investigators he acquired the shotgun because of his lifestyle. He told police that he ran an escort service based out of a hotel room in Warwick and his home which employed several women.

Lombardi told investigators that when his girlfriend, whom he also employed as an escort, brought clients to their residence he would wait in the basement armed with the shotgun in the event of a problem.

He also admitted to police that he sold heroin during times when the escort service was slow, and that he planned to use the shotgun for protection.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ordered the seizure of 82 domain names of websites they say are engaged in the “illegal sale of counterfeit foods and copyrighted works.”

Federal authorities said the sites were selling counterfeit sports equipment, shoes, handbags, athletic apparel and sunglasses as well as illegal copies of copyrighted DVD boxed sets, music and software.

“The sale of counterfeit U.S. brands on the Internet steals the creative work of others, costs our economy jobs and revenue and can threaten the health and safety of American consumers,” said ICE Director John Morton. “The protection of intellectual property is a top priority for Homeland Security Investigations and the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center. We are dedicated to protecting the jobs, the income and the tax revenue that disappear when counterfeit goods are trafficked.”

Click here for the complete list of domain names.

“By seizing these domain names, we have disrupted the sale of thousands of counterfeit items, while also cutting off funds to those willing to exploit the ingenuity of others for their own personal gain,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Intellectual property crimes are not victimless. The theft of ideas and the sale of counterfeit goods threaten economic opportunities and financial stability, suppress innovation and destroy jobs. The Justice Department, with the help of our law enforcement partners, is changing the perception that these crimes are risk-free with enforcement actions like the one announced today.”

But the practice does call into question the government’s use of power and ownership over top-level domain names and some rights groups have questioned the practice.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said most of the domains were owned by people or businesses located overseas.

SAN DIEGO — The El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County, Calif., has agreed to pay the US government $2.2 million, plus interest, to settle allegations it defrauded Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.

The case was brought by a whistleblower, protected under federal law.

The government alleged that the 165-bed acute care hospital fraudulently inflated its charges to Medicare patients to obtain larger reimbursements from the federal health care program. The settlement covers claims submitted by the hospital for short inpatient admissions, usually of one day or less, when the services should have been billed on an outpatient "observation" basis or as emergency room visits.

"Hospitals that participate in the Medicare program must bill for their services accurately and honestly," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We will take action to ensure that taxpayers do not pay the costs of health care providers’ fraudulent practices."

The lawsuit was brought under the qui tam — whistleblower — provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private citizens to bring an action on behalf of the federal government and share in any recovery.

The whistleblower in this case, Pietro Ingrande, a former employee of El Centro Regional Medical Center, will receive $375,000 as his share of the recovery.

"Whistleblowers are critical to ensuring that Medicare dollars are not siphoned off, but find their way to those who most need them," said Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the OIG-HHS. "Office of Inspector General special agents and our law enforcement partners have forged a powerful team that will work with private citizens who come forward to protect the Medicare Trust Fund and defend it from fraud and abuse."

The investigation was conducted by the Justice Department, US Attorney, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, and the FBI.

El Centro is a city in the Colorado Desert, an extension of the Sonoran Desert. It is about 100 miles east of San Diego.

"The Medicare system attempts to deliver much needed medical services to many Americans," said San Diego FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter. "Anyone who purposely defrauds the system, therefore, misappropriating its funds, and takes away resources from those who need Medicare’s services will be investigated by the FBI. We are committed to helping preserve the system’s integrity by vigorously pursuing those who attempt to steal the funds that help keep our fellow Americans in good health."

The case was part of a government initiative that has netted more than $4.4 billion recovered by allegedly Medicare and Medicaid defrauders.

According to this blog, nothing has happened in world news for three weeks. That’s my bad. First off, I just want to say sorry for not posting in almost a month. I was swamped with school work, finals and assignments to end off the year. But now I’m in the clear so I can again devote some time every day to writing for Blast.

Again, my bad.

Instead of reviewing what has happened in the past few weeks, let’s just skip ahead to now. There is one particular story that I want to tell you about. I saw it this afternoon and it sort of stood out from the rest.

According to the Wall Street Journal, after a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah today, President Obama told reporters he has left open the possibility of pursuing legal action against those in the CIA who created the policies that, in large part, led to torture and extreme methods of interrogation during the war.

He does stand by his promise to not pursue any course of legal action against those who actually executed the torture (the Jack Bauers). Obama did however make a clear distinction between the contractors and those who formulated the policy behind which the contractors operated.

The president told reporters that the Department of Justice is looking into memos from Bush’s term that green lit extreme interrogation. He also added that he doesn’t want to “prejudge” what is in the memos based solely on the character (or lack thereof) of our previous president.

He also spoke of a bipartisan committee that may be established to examine the use of torture and other extreme interrogation since 9/11. He said that talks during open congressional hearings (which is the way that these issues are currently addressed) tend to break down over partisan banter, and that it would be more “sensible” to start a committee of ““independent participants who are above reproach” to examine these issues.

However, he made it clear that he does no fully endorse the idea.

The president released the interrogation memos last week, in a decision he says was one of his hardest as president to date. Former VP Dick Cheney and other republicans have called this release a “breach of national security.”

I like the idea of a bipartisan tribunal. Its members would of course need to be carefully chosen however talks would never be interrupted or broken down over political differences. This issue is a moral one, an ethical one, not a political one. The ethics and morals of U.S. Army tactics overseas must be examined and open congressional hearings just aren’t the way to do that effectively. The committee’s creation would ensure ethics are at the forefront of the debate, and whether you’re red or blue would never be an issue.

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey collapsed during a speech Thursday night and was taken to the hospital after he failed to regain consciousness. Yesterday, he made a speech saying he was fine.

A statement issued by the Attorney General

“As you may have heard, I collapsed briefly last night at the conclusion of a speech. All tests at the hospital have come back with good results, and I feel fine. Accordingly, I plan to report to the Department this afternoon and to continue doing the work I swore to do last November and which it has been an honor to do with you ever since.”

Francis Janosko, 42, a former inmate at Plymouth County Correctional facility in Plymouth, has been arrested on charges of identity theft and damage to the prison’s computer network, according to the Department of Justice.

Janosko allegedly found a way to manipulate research computers so that he and other inmates could access files that contained the names, birth dates, phone numbers and Social Security numbers of more than 1,000 current and former prison employees, the DOJ reports.

The prison allows its inmate to use secured computers to research legal documents.‚  The computers are restricted, so that Internet, e-mail, networking and other applications are inaccessible.

Janosko, if convicted, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for the computer crime, and a mandatory two years if convicted of identity theft.

The investigation was carried out by the Boston division of the FBI and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department.