Details on Nine Alleged Members of Hobos Street Gang Indicted in RICO Conspiracy for Murders and Other Violent, Drug-Related Crimes

Nine defendants who allegedly directed or participated in a violent, drug trafficking street gang known as the Hobos were charged in a federal racketeering conspiracy (RICO) indictment with engaging in murders, attempted murders, robberies, and narcotics distribution. The five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges five murders, solicitation of a sixth murder, four attempted murders, three robberies, and the operation of “drug spots” and “drug lines” on the city’s south side among a pattern of criminal activity between 2004 and 2009.

Four of the defendants are charged with personally shooting to death five victims between 2006 and 2009, including one victim who was allegedly killed because he was cooperating with law enforcement.

The indictment charges that the Hobos Enterprise allegedly used violence to enrich its members and their associates; to promote and enhance the criminal enterprise; to preserve and protect its power, territory, operations, and proceeds; to keep victims and witnesses in fear; and to prevent law enforcement from detecting its crimes.

“The indictment portrays a gang with virtually no restraint on its ruthless use of violence to further its goals,” said Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “The gang’s alleged murders, robberies, and drug dealing invited our employing the federal racketeering laws to prosecute the full scope of their crimes, some extending beyond the normal statute of limitations; and, if convicted, to bring the most severe federal sentences to bear for the terror that plagued the blocks and street corners they allegedly controlled.” The investigation is continuing, Mr. Shapiro added.

“This RICO indictment is the result of a long-term commitment we share with our law enforcement partners to address the dangerous threats facing our communities today. This investigation targeted an exceptionally violent group that used murder, threats, and intimidation to further their agenda. The charges demonstrate our focus and determination to strike at gang-related criminal enterprises and to eliminate the terror these groups inflict on our neighborhoods,” said Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Through the work of Chicago Police officers and our gang investigators, in close partnership with the FBI, IRS, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we are able to announce federal RICO charges against nine dangerous members of the Hobos gang,” said Chicago Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy. “Today’s announcement should serve as a warning―we do not and we will not accept violence in our communities or in our neighborhoods. And we will do everything in our power to hold dangerous criminals accountable for the crimes they commit,” he added.

“Today’s indictment sends a loud message that we are committed to our law enforcement partners and the communities in which we live,” said James C. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. “Gang activity and criminal enterprises thrive on financial gain and perpetuate criminal violence on our streets. IRS-Criminal Investigation brings its financial expertise to an investigation, and we are privileged to be working with the Chicago Police Department and other federal law enforcement partners to keep our communities safe.”

The Illinois Department of Corrections also participated in the investigation. The Chicago Police Department initiated the investigation, which the federal agencies joined later under the umbrella of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and the Chicago High Intensity Drug Task Force (HIDTA). The case is part of a sustained, coordinated effort by federal law enforcement agencies, working together with the Chicago Police and other state and local departments, to disrupt Chicago’s sophisticated, often violent, drug trafficking organizations.

Law enforcement has identified the Hobos as a tight-knit, violent crew that originated in the former Robert Taylor Homes and banded together from factions of the much larger Gangster Disciples and Black Disciples street gangs. They allegedly targeted drug dealers and high-value targets to rob and relied upon each other to protect their drug territory, retaliate against rival gangs, and prevent witnesses from cooperating with law enforcement.

All nine defendants were charged with racketeering conspiracy and are currently in state or federal custody. They, all of Chicago, are

•     Gregory Chester, also known as “Bowlegs,” “Big Homie,” “Pops,” and “Desjuar Anderson,” 36, of Richton Park, identified as the leader of the Hobos
•     Arnold Council, aka “Armstrong” and “Hobo,” 37
•     Paris Poe, aka “Poleroski,” 33
•     Gabriel Bush, aka “Louie,” 34
•     Stanley Vaughn, aka “Smiley,” 36
•     William Ford, aka “Joe Buck,” 33
•     Gary Chester, aka “Chee,” 35 (Gregory Chester’s cousin)
•     Byron Brown, aka “B-Rupt,” 28. Byron Brown’s deceased twin brother, Brandon Brown, is named as an unindicted co-conspirator.
•     Rodney Jones, aka “Milk,” 26

Poe, Council, Bush, and Byron Brown were each charged with one count of murder in aid of racketeering, and council was charged with brandishing a firearm during a clothing store robbery. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of an unspecified amount of illegal proceeds.

All nine defendants will be arraigned on later dates in U.S. District Court.

According to the indictment, the murders committed by members and associates of the Hobos Enterprise included

•     Wilbert Moore, who was killed because he was cooperating with law enforcement, by Council and Poe on January 19, 2006
•     Terrance Anderson by Bush and others on September 1, 2007
•     Eddie Moss by Byron Brown and others on December 14, 2007
•     Larry Tucker by Bush, the Brown brothers, and others on January 20, 2008
•     Kenneth Mosby by Byron Brown and others on May 12, 2008.

Gregory Chester allegedly solicited the murder of Antonio Bluitt, which occurred on September 2, 2007.

The attempted murders included

•     Victim 1 by Council and Poe on June 11, 2006
•     Victims 2 and 3 by Bush and Ford on June 5, 2007
•     Victim 4 by Bush and Vaughn on June 27, 2007
•     Victim 5 by Jones on November 5, 2007

The robberies included

•     Victim 1 by Council and Poe on June 11, 2006
•     the Collections Clothing Store by Council and others on November 8, 2008
•     Victims 6 and 7 by Poe, Gary Chester, and others on March 25, 2009

The RICO conspiracy count further alleges that the Hobos and their associates operated drug spots and drug lines where they distributed user quantities of narcotics, at times using nicknames to identify their products. These locations included

•     the building and area located at 4429 South Federal, within the former Robert Taylor Homes, which was controlled and managed by Gregory Chester and Council and drugs were sold under the nicknames “Green Monster” and “Pink Panther"
•     the area around 47th Street and Vincennes Avenue, which was controlled by Bush and Vaughn and operated by Ford
•     the area around 51st Street and Calumet Avenue, which was managed by the Brown brothers and Jones
•     the area around 51st Street and Martin Luther King Drive, which was controlled by Bush

As part of the racketeering conspiracy, the defendants allegedly

•     used gang-related terminology, symbols, and gestures, including the slogan “Hobo or Nothing” and a hand sign known as the “Hobo Horns”
•     shared the proceeds of robberies and the trafficking of narcotics
•     obtained, used, brandished, and discharged firearms in connection with the enterprise’s illegal activities
•     managed the procurement, transfer, use, concealment, and disposal of firearms and dangerous weapons within the enterprise to protect their interests and further their goals
•     monitored law enforcement radio frequencies and acquired radio equipment to detect and avoid law enforcement inquiry into their illegal activities
•     had nominees obtain rental vehicles to conceal their use while committing illegal activities
•     identified victims from whom they could obtain distribution quantities of controlled substances or large sums of money by robbing them
•     conducted surveillance of intended murder and robbery victims, a practice referred to as “lamping” and “doing homework"
•     restrained and murdered victims and witnesses to prevent their escapes and to prevent identification of themselves and their associates.

The RICO conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, or life for the four defendants charged with committing murders. Those four defendants―Poe, Council, Bush, and Byron Brown―also face a mandatory life sentence, or death, if convicted of murder in aid of racketeering. Only the Attorney General of the United States may decide later whether to seek the death penalty. The charge of brandishing a firearm against Council carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of seven years and a maximum of life in prison. If convicted, the court must determine a reasonable sentence to impose under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Otlewski, Erika Csicsila, and Derek Owens.

An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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4 Arrested by @Chicago_Police in Gang-Related Mass Shooting

Four people have been charged in the gang-related Chicago shooting involving an assault-style rifle that injured 13 people in a city park, including a 3-year old boy, police announced today.

"As of right now we have four offenders charged in this shooting, including the man who fired that military grade weapon and the man who supplied that military grade weapon," police superintendent Garry McCarthy told a press conference.



Tabari Young, 22, Bryon Champ, 21, Brad Jett, 22, and Kewane Gatewood, 20, were all charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, McCarthy said.

Young, police said, was the main shooter in last Thursday's incident in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the city's South Side. Champ, who police said also fired a gun, is a documented gang member who was convicted of a felony - unlawful use of a weapon by a felon - last year, but was only sentenced to boot camp, according to police. Gatewood, authorities said, supplied the military grade weapon and Jett participated as a lookout, McCarthy said.

McCarthy said that Champ was the "main player" in the incident, citing that Champ suffered a graze wound to his leg in a shooting earlier in the day that led to the retaliatory shooting at the basketball court in the Back of the Yards.

"If Bryon Champ is not on the street - as he shouldn't have been - this incident likely does not occur," McCarthy said. "If Champ is not on the street, there's no retaliation because there's no incident," he added. "This individual was the victim of gun violence and then became the offender of it."

Among the wounded was 3-year old Deonta Howard, who suffered a gunshot wound to his ear. Howard has undergone plastic surgery and is expected to recover.

Thursday's incident was only the latest in a string of tragic shootings in the city. Earlier this year 15-year old Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed only days after performing at President Obama's inauguration.

McCarthy today reiterated his calls for stricter gun laws to help crack down on the city's gun violence problems. "Illegal guns and weapons designed for war do not belong on the streets of Chicago," he said.

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Don't Miss it When @TheMobMuseum Hosts "JFK: An Inside Look at the Assassination of a President, 50 Years Later"

On Thursday, November 7, at 7 p.m., The Mob Museum, The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, will host “JFK: An Inside Look into the Assassination of a President 50 Years Later” in its historic courtroom. Part of the Museum’s ongoing programming series, the evening will provide a look back at this historic event through the differing perspectives of three panelists.

Authors Patrick Nolan (“CIA Rogues and the Killing of the Kennedys,” due to be released on November 6), Gerald Posner (“Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK”) and G. Robert Blakey (“The Plot to Kill the President” and “Fatal Hour: The Assassination of President Kennedy by Organized Crime”) will address questions such as: Was Lee Harvey Oswald a lone shooter? What role, if any, did organized crime play in the assassination? Was government involved? Moderating the panel will be Tom Stone, senior lecturer in English at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who has taught classes for the last 20 years on JFK’s assassination.




Patrick Nolan is a forensic historian who has dedicated his life to uncovering truths surrounding the JFK, MLK, and RFK assassinations of the 1960s. He’s been a journalist, a television news producer, and a professor at Hofstra University and St. John’s University. His groundbreaking book, “CIA Rogues and the Killing of the Kennedys:  How and Why US Agents Conspired to Assassinate JFK and RFK,” is based on world-famous forensic scientist Dr. Henry C. Lee’s conclusion that both Kennedy murders involved more than one gunman. Were the conspirators who assassinated the President the same perpetrators that killed his brother the Senator? In “CIA Rogues,” Nolan offers a fresh new look at the evidence and pieces together one of the most disturbing puzzles in American History. He claims an alliance involving a high-level CIA rogue element, led by Richard Helms and James Angleton, with mob support, had the motive, means and opportunity to carry out both assassinations and cover them up for nearly a half century.

At 23, Posner was one of the youngest attorneys ever hired by Cravath, Swaine & Moore. A Political Science major, Posner was a Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (1975), where he was also a national debating champion, winner of the Meiklejohn Award. At Hastings Law School (1978), he was an Honors Graduate and served as the Associate Executive Editor for the Law Review. Posner has worked as a freelance writer on investigative issues for several news magazines, and a regular contributor to NBC, the History Channel, CNN, FOX News, CBS, and MSNBC. He is the author of 11 books covering everything from Nazi war criminals to heroin trafficking to political assassinations to 9/11 and terrorism.  His 1993 book, “Case Closed,” was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Pulitzer in History.  It received widespread critical acclaim. Typical was historian Robert Dallek in The Boston Globe, “Superb…The most convincing explanation of the assassination” and Jeffrey Toobin in the Chicago Tribune, “Utterly convincing…Fascinating and important…Case closed, indeed.”  In Case Closed, Posner concludes that Oswald alone killed JFK.

Blakey is a recognized expert on organized crime and an authority on the JFK assassination. In the late 1960s he campaigned for and helped write much of the anti-racketeering legislation (RICO Act) that had a major impact on fighting organized crime. As chief counsel to the 1977 House Select Committee on Assassinations, Blakey led the investigation into President Kennedy's assassination, reexamining the evidence with a new forensics panel. Blakey also worked as a Special Attorney at the Department of Justice in the Organized Crime & Racketeering Section from 1960 to 1964. Blakey is the co-author with Richard Billings of “The Plot to Kill the President” (1981). The book was reissued in paperback in 1993 as “Fatal Hour: The Assassination of President Kennedy by Organized Crime.”

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with a reception featuring light fare and a cash bar. The program will begin promptly at 7 p.m. in The Mob Museum’s historic courtroom. Following the moderator-led panel discussion, audience members will have a chance to ask questions and have their books signed by the authors. The evening will mark the first public signing of Nolan’s book. The program will conclude by 9 p.m.

Tickets for the November 7 event are $30 for non-members; Museum members will receive a 10 percent discount. To make reservations, please call (702) 229-2734 or visit http://themobmuseum.org/archives/category/events/.

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Top 15 Cities for Murders, #Chicago is #1 #MurderCapitalUSA

1. Chicago | 500
2. New York | 419
3. Detroit | 386
4. Philadelphia | 331
5. Los Angeles | 299
6. Baltimore | 219
7. Houston | 217
8. New Orleans | 193
9. Dallas | 154
10. Memphis | 133
11. Oakland | 126
12. Phoenix | 124
13. St. Louis | 113
14. Kansas City | 105
15. Indianapolis | 101

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List of 13 People Shot by Chicago Gang Members in Mass Shooting #MurderCapitalUSA

A 3-year-old boy, shot in the ear, in critical condition at Mount Sinai;
A 17-year-old girl, shot in the foot, condition stabilized at Holy Cross Hospital;
A 15-year-old boy shot in the arm, stabilized at Holy Cross;
A man, 27, shot in the leg and wrist, serious condition at Mount Sinai;
A man, 24, shot twice in the stomach, serious condition at Mount Sinia;
A man, 21, shot in the leg, serious condition at Mount Sinai;
A man, 41, shot in the buttocks, serious condition at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital;
A woman, 33, shot in the shoulder, condition stabilized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital;
A man, 31, shot in the buttocks, condition stabilized at Northwestern;
A woman, 23, shot in the foot, condition stabilized at St. Anthony Hospital;
A man, 37, shot in the leg, in good condition at Stroger;
A man, 25, shot in the knee, in good condition at Northwestern;
And a man, 33, who drove himself to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park with a gunshot wound to the leg and who was treated and released.

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13 People Shot in Mass Shooting in Chicago, Gang Banger Shooter Still At-Large #MurderCapitalUSA

A work week that began with a mass shooting in a Washington D.D. Navy Yard, that left 12 victims dead concludes with a mass shooting in Chicago in which 13 people, including a 3-year-old boy, were wounded.

It happened Thursday at about 10:15 p.m. local time in a working-class neighborhood called Back of the Yards in Chicago's South Side, NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

She adds that "one witness told the Sun-Times that men fired at him from a car before turning toward a park. That's where the victims — several adults, two teenagers and the 3-year-old, were shot on a basketball court."

As of dawn Friday, Cheryl says, "no one had been taken into custody. Police were interviewing victims to determine the circumstances but say the shooting appears to be gang-related."

According to the Chicago Tribue, the 3-year-old "suffered a gunshot wound to the head at an ear that exited through his mouth, and was in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. The oldest victim, according to the Tribune, was 41 years old.

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Chicago Ranked #1 in Murders #MurderCapitalofUS

While it is not a surprise, New York better move over, as the Windy City is now the murder capital of America.

According to new crime statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Chicago had more homicides in 2012 than any other city in the country. There were 500 murders in Chicago last year, the FBI said, surpassing New York City, which had 419.

In 2011, there were 515 homicides in the Big Apple, compared with the 431 in Chicago. But as the Washington Post noted, residents of Chicago and New York were much less likely to be victims of a homicide than some Michigan residents. In Flint, for example, there were 63 killings — a staggering number when you consider Flint's population is 101,632 — "meaning 1 in every 1,613 city residents were homicide victims." In Detroit, where 386 killings occurred in 2012, 1 in 1,832 were homicide victims.

Guns were used in the vast majority of slayings in the United States last year. According to the FBI data, 69.3 percent involved a firearm.

Overall, violent crime — homicides and aggravated assaults — was up less than 1 percent in 2012, according to FBI data.

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Boardwalk Empire Volume 2: Music From The HBO Original Series - Paying Homage to Sounds from the Prohibition Era

This September, luminaries from across the music world are paying homage to the sounds of the Prohibition Era with the ABKCO Records release of 'Boardwalk Empire Volume 2: Music From The HBO® Original Series.' The soundtrack features all new recordings from a wide range of vocalists - from Elvis Costello and Patti Smith to St. Vincent and The National's Matt Berninger - singing timeless standards and forgotten gems from the 1920s. Season 4 of the hit HBO series premiered on September 8th.

Following up on their GRAMMY win for Volume 1, producer Stewart Lerman and Boardwalk Empire music supervisor Randall Poster bring together a swinging, sauntering collection of big-band classics, New Orleans rags, sultry ballads and torch songs. Album highlights include Costello crooning "It Had To Be You," Liza Minnelli belting out "You've Got To See Mama Ev'ry Night (Or You Can't See Mama At All)," Berninger lending his rugged baritone to "I'll See You In My Dreams," and Neko Case breathing new life into "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out." Featuring inimitable contributions from high-profile recording artists including Rufus Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright III, St. Vincent and David Johansen, Poster has created an album that retains a remarkable cohesion with the series and with the music of the 1920s.

Poster, a frequent music supervisor for renowned directors including Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson and Sam Mendes, stated, "Boardwalk Empire provides an incredible back drop for music. It's been a steady treat to mark the passing of time in song over the course of four seasons," said series music supervisor Randall Poster. "Terry Winters, Martin Scorsese and the entire Boardwalk Empire team inspire the sound of the episodes as we move from the streets and alleys of Atlantic City to the smoky rooms of Al Capone's Chicago and on down into the tropics of Florida. This compilation celebrates the mastery of all the artists involved."

With instrumentation recorded by Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks - the NYC jazz ensemble and Boardwalk Empire house band - the album also includes performances by cast members Stephen DeRosa (as song-and-dance man Eddie Cantor) and Margot Bingham (as a new character to be introduced this fall) singing tracks that will be debuted throughout the new season.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE VOLUME 2 TRACK LIST

1. David Johansen - Strut Miss Lizzie
2. Stephen DeRosa - Old King Tut
3. Elvis Costello - It Had To Be You
4. Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks - Everybody Loves My Baby
5. Liza Minnelli - You've Got To See Mama Ev'ry Night (Or You Can't See Mama At All)
6. Leon Redbone - Baby Won't You Please Come Home
7. St. Vincent - Make Believe
8. Pokey LaFarge - Lovesick Blues
9. Neko Case - Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
10. Karen Elson - Who's Sorry Now
11. Stephan DeRosa - You'd Be Surprised
12. Margot Bingham - I'm Going South
13. Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks - Sugarfoot Stomp
14. Rufus Wainwright - Jimbo Jambo
15. Kathy Brier - There'll Be Some Changes Made
16. Margot Bingham - Somebody Loves Me
17. Chaim Tannenbaum - All Alone
18. Loudon Wainwright III - The Prisoner's Song
19. Patti Smith - I Ain't Got Nobody
20. Matt Berninger - I'll See You In My Dreams
*All tracks featuring Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks

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Gary Allen's "None Dare Call It Conspiracy" Has Been Updated in a Special Edition for 2013

In 1972, Gary Allen wrote with Larry Abraham None Dare Call It Conspiracy (prefaced by Congressmen John G. Schmitz), a best seller which achieved sales of over five million copies worldwide during the United States presidential election.[7]

In this book, Congressmen John G. Schmitz says in the Introduction, "The story you are about to read is true." Allen goes on to assert that the present political and economic systems in most developed nations are the result of a sweeping conspiracy by the Establishment's power elite, which started in the early 1900s. According to this theory, this has been a four-step process:

1. Establish an income tax system as a means of extorting money from the common man;
2. Establish a central bank, deceptively named so that people will think it is part of the government;
3. Have this bank be the holder of the national debt;
4. Run the national debt, and the interest thereon, sky high through wars (or any sort of deficit spending), starting with World War I.[8]

He quotes the Council on Foreign Relations as having stated, in its study no. 7 : ”The U.S. must strive to: A. BUILD A NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER.” (Capitals in the original).[9]

This book is a primer for anyone who wishes to understand the basic workings of the global network of Insiders that is determined to wield power over all of mankind in the coming New World Order. The Special Edition is updated with illustrations and charts for 2013.

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Today is 9/11, What Good Deed Will You Do Today?

Dear Friends,

Today is the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Our hearts are with the victims' families, the survivors, first responders, recovery workers, and our military and their families.

Please join us in paying tribute to all of them by doing a special good deed today.

Consider making a donation perhaps, like purchasing needed school supplies for your child’s class, or scheduling time to give blood. Think about how you might volunteer your time and talents in your community. Bake cupcakes for a local fire or police station. Or look into adopting a pet from a local animal shelter. Reconnect with a relative you haven’t seen or spoken with in a while. Take your children to visit their grandparents. Or simply buy someone a cup of coffee.

It’s really up to you.

We hope you’ll visit our Facebook/911day page, read what others are doing, and share your own good deeds with us. Or post your plans on our website at 911day.org if you haven’t already done so.

We wish you all the best today, and we thank you for making 9/11 this nation’s largest annual day of charitable service.

God bless the victims and heroes of 9/11 and their families!

Your friends,

David Paine, Co-Founder & Jay Winuk, Co-Founder

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Graham Greene's #TheQuietAmerican Classic Novel about a CIA Agent Who Creates a Puppet Government

"I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused," Graham Greene's narrator Fowler remarks of Alden Pyle, the eponymous "Quiet American" of what is perhaps the most controversial novel of his career. Pyle is the brash young idealist sent out by Washington on a mysterious mission to Saigon, where the French Army struggles against the Vietminh guerrillas.

As young Pyle's well-intentioned policies blunder into bloodshed, Fowler, a seasoned and cynical British reporter, finds it impossible to stand safely aside as an observer. But Fowler's motives for intervening are suspect, both to the police and himself, for Pyle has stolen Fowler's beautiful Vietnamese mistress.

Originally published in 1956 and twice adapted to film, The Quiet American remains a terrifiying and prescient portrait of innocence at large. This Graham Greene Centennial Edition includes a new introductory essay by Robert Stone.

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"The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Russell Bufalino, the Mob's Most Fearsome Kingpin" Investigates Former Gov. Ed Rendell's Involvement with Awarding Lucrative Casino Licenses in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania state police ran a top-secret investigation into whether then-Gov. Ed Rendell and his administration rigged the outcome of the casino licensing process to benefit favored applicants, including a wealthy and politically connected businessman suspected of having mob ties, a new book asserts. But the probe failed to lead to criminal charges against anyone in the administration or on the state gambling board, and prosecutors blamed the state Supreme Court for thwarting the investigation, according to "The Quiet Don," a forthcoming book by Matt Birkbeck that also serves as the first full-length biography of reclusive northeastern Pennsylvania mob boss Russell Bufalino.

Birkbeck covered the troubled beginnings of Pennsylvania's casino industry as a newspaper reporter, and here he pieces together the yearslong effort by state police and local prosecutors to probe whether corruption was involved in the awarding of the lucrative casino licenses.

The narrative emerges from interviews with dozens of participants, including now-retired Lt. Col. Ralph Periandi, the No. 2 official in the Pennsylvania State Police.

Periandi initiated the probe in 2005 because he suspected that "Rendell, members of his administration and others in state government might be trying to control the new gaming industry in Pennsylvania," Birkbeck writes.

Rendell did not return a call for comment. He has long denied any impropriety.

The book follows Periandi and his small, secret "Black Ops" team of covert investigators as they dig into the gambling board, the Rendell administration and Louis DeNaples, a powerful northeastern Pennsylvania businessman who'd been awarded a casino license despite questions about his suitability.

DeNaples was eventually charged with perjury in January 2008 for allegedly lying to state gambling regulators about whether he had connections to Bufalino - the titular "quiet don" - and other mob figures. Prosecutors later dropped the charges in an agreement that required DeNaples to turn over Mount Airy Casino Resort to his daughter. DeNaples has long denied any ties to the mob.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico agreed to the DeNaples deal because "the Supreme Court had interfered in his case twice already, and he feared that no matter what he did, the court would see to it that the DeNaples prosecution would never move forward," Birkbeck writes.

The author said investigators "basically stepped on a bee's nest" when they went after DeNaples.

Chief Justice Ronald Castille did not return a call placed to his office. He has rejected similar allegations about Supreme Court interference in the gambling industry as ludicrous, slanderous and irresponsible.

"The Quiet Don" traces Bufalino's ascent to mob boss, including his role in organizing the infamous 1957 meeting of Mafia leaders in Apalachin, N.Y., his control of the garment industry in New York and Philadelphia, and his control of the Teamsters union and its leader, Jimmy Hoffa.

The book asserts that it was Bufalino who ordered a hit on Hoffa, a claim also made in the 2004 Mafia memoir "I Heard You Paint Houses," in which confessed mob hitman Frank Sheeran said he killed Hoffa on Bufalino's say-so. Hoffa disappeared in 1975; his body has never been found.

What's new here is the reason: Birkbeck writes Bufalino was upset by a 1975 Time magazine article that linked him, for the first time, to the CIA's attempts to enlist the Mafia to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and he feared Hoffa would tell Senate investigators what he knew about the failed plot.

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"Prisoner of Dreams: Confessions of a Harlem Drug Dealer" Provides a Fascinating Look at the New York City Underworld During the Era of the French Connection and Superfly

Prisoner of Dreams: Confessions of a Harlem Drug Dealer is the  true story of Rick Talley, a black man who returned from Vietnam with a dream that he made a reality and who then had to deal with the consequences of his actions. Talley returned to New York City from the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, a time of turbulence and change. Race relations in America were changing, thanks to the Civil Right movement. Still, racism was very much alive in America.

Times were tough for a young black man in America, especially one who has fought in an unpopular war. Rick Talley took what he believed to be the only economic road open to him: drug dealing. In the late 1960s and early 70s, America was awash in drugs, and an entrepreneurial black man bent on a criminal lifestyle could make millions of dollars.

Prisoner of Dreams presents a large cast of characters, from small time street hustlers and pimps to Hollywood and Las Vegas celebrities to organized crime figures. It was a time of the French Connection and of Superfly and Black Caesar and Talley was there to interact and observe. In a poignant, eye-opening memoir, the author describes his life and the times, the good and the bad, in New York City and Harlem, during one of the most seminal periods in America history.

Prisoner of Dreams is more than just a story about the world of drugs. Once a prisoner of his own dreams Mr. Talley is no longer a prisoner of any kind but the master of his life and dreams. The hard times he once lived helped him rise above the problems and to understand their true meaning.

The author dares to speak out loud about real issues of which for years were only whispered about in dark rooms. He tells his story and not for a moment thought to hide from it, forget it, and this way he manages to turn what could have been a failure into a great success. He is one of the few who dares to dream and live his dreams.

“Intriguing, Prisoner of Dreams captures a moment in time and allows the reader to be there. Talley educates the reader about the secrets of a fascinating lifestyle.”
Reggie Wells, legendary DJ, Formerly of 98.7 Kiss FM Radio, New York City

“As a personal and long lasting associate and friend of Rick Talley, let me say that this book is the truth, as well as a serious accounting of an intriguing life style in one of the Big Apple’s most interesting eras.“
Jesse Gray, Harlem hustler and boss maker

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Rick Talley Discusses "Prisoner of Dreams: Confessions of a Harlem Drug Dealer" on #CrimeBeatRadio

On September 5th, Rick Talley, author of Prisoner of Dreams: Confessions of a Harlem Drug Dealer appears on Crime Beat Radio.

Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.

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MacArthur Foundation Expands Investment in Juvenile Justice Reform to $165 Million, Launches Resource Centers to Advance Reform and Improve Outcomes for Youth

Building on its nearly 20-year, $150 million investment in supporting juvenile justice reform, MacArthur announced an additional commitment of $15 million to the field, in part to establish the new Models for Change Resource Center Partnership. The Partnership will provide judges, prosecutors, defenders, policymakers, advocates, probation officers, and mental health and social service agencies with much needed technical assistance, trainings, tools, and resources to help advance juvenile justice reform across the country.

“Reforms like the elimination of life without parole for juveniles and raising the age at which people are tried as juveniles are examples of progress toward a system that is fair, just, and humane in its treatment of our nation’s youth,” said Laurie Garduque, Director of Justice Reform for the MacArthur Foundation. “There has been so much progress made over the past decade toward better outcomes for kids, their families, and their communities. But there is so much more to do and juvenile justice reform must continue.”

The Partnership is based on nearly twenty years of research, practice, and reform efforts that have reached more than 35 states, much of which was made possible by the Foundation’s Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice initiative. MacArthur’s juvenile justice work is grounded in the seminal research funded by the Foundation that showed that adolescents are fundamentally different from adults, and that treating juvenile offenders as adults, relying on incarceration, and failing to commit resources to rehabilitation and treatment is expensive, jeopardizes public safety, and compromises future life chances for young people in contact with the law. This latest round of funding by the Foundation will also support development of the Juvenile Justice Resource Hub, a comprehensive source of information on leading-edge juvenile justice issues and reform trends, among other initiatives.

The Resource Center Partnership will further the Foundation’s goal of protecting kids while making communities safer and improving the effectiveness, performance, and outcomes of the juvenile justice system. The new Partnership consists of four Resource Centers that will be fully operational by the end of 2013. The Centers will focus on areas critical to continued change in juvenile justice:

•     response to mental health needs
•     stronger legal defense for indigent youth
•     interventions for youth charged with status offenses (activities that are criminalized for those under 18, e.g., truancy, running away, curfew violations)
•     coordination of practices and policies for youth involved in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, and enhancement of probation system practices  

The newly launched Resource Centers include:

    The Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Collaborative for Change: A Training, Technical Assistance and Education Center: Led by the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice at Policy Research Inc., the Center will be a training, technical assistance, and education center designed to promote and support the adoption of new resources, tools, and program models to help those in the field better respond to youth with mental health needs in the juvenile justice system.
    The National Juvenile Defender Center: The Center will improve access to counsel and quality of representation for children in the justice system and will bolster juvenile defense by replicating field-driven innovations, facilitating adoption of new juvenile justice defense standards, and developing a corps of certified juvenile indigent defense trainers.
    The Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice: Led by the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps, the Center will use proven models, frameworks, tools, resources, and the best available research to serve local, state, and national leaders, practitioners, and youth-serving agencies to improve system performance and outcomes for youth involved with the juvenile justice system. The Center will focus primarily on youth with prior or current involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems (known as dually-involved youth) and on the review and improvement of juvenile probation systems.
    The Status Offense Reform Center: Led by the Vera Institute of Justice, the Center will serve as a resource clearinghouse and assistance center for practitioners and policymakers in juvenile justice, with a focus on encouraging and showcasing strategies to safely and effectively divert non-delinquent youth and their families from the formal juvenile justice system.

To help further enrich the tools and trainings offered by the Centers, as well as ensure that practitioners and policymakers who may benefit from the resources receive them, the Partnership also includes a strategic alliance of national experts and organizations. These strategic allies, including the National Conference of State Legislatures, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Center for State Courts, among others, represent state leaders, local elected officials, law enforcement, prosecutors, corrections professionals, judges, court personnel, and justice reform advocates, whose willingness to coordinate and work with diverse partners on juvenile justice issues has been and will continue to be critical to advancing reforms.

“State lawmakers across the country are actively working to improve the quality of juvenile justice systems and outcomes for youth,” said Sarah Brown, Program Director of Criminal Justice for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). “The MacArthur Foundation has been a strong partner with NCSL and state lawmakers to assist in these efforts, and the new Resource Center Partnership will provide legislators and practitioners in the field with enhanced resources, research, technical assistance, and support for effective implementation of juvenile justice reforms.”

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Robert Burton Charged with Securities Fraud in Coordination with President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force

Federal charges against a man were unsealed after his arrest on securities fraud charges.

Robert Burton, 36, the managing director of Pinnacle Financial Consulting LLC, Pinnacle Strategic Investments LLC, and the Pinnacle Asset and Capital Management Group LLC, was arrested after being charged for promoting various high-yield investments through Promissory Notes and Offering Memoranda. According to the complaint, Burton represented that he would return the principal invested within approximately 30 days, along with an interest payment equal to 100 percent of the amount invested. Burton did not make the promised payments and, in some instances, provided investors with checks that ultimately bounced.

The statutory maximum penalties for the securities fraud charges are 20 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and a $5 million fine. Burton made an initial court appearance and will appear for a detention hearing on September 4 at 11:30 a.m.

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, which has a civil case pending against Burton, cooperated with the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Walters of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

The details contained in the complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information about the task force visit: www.stopfraud.gov.

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10 Defendants Indicted in Alleged $74 Million Vehicle Financing Fraud Scheme Resulting in $56 Million in Losses to Lenders

A former area motorcycle and recreational vehicle dealer and his accountant, together with eight other defendants who allegedly acted as straw buyers in sham vehicle sales, were indicted on federal charges alleging a nearly $74 million fraudulent financing scheme that resulted in approximately 20 lenders losing more than $56 million. All 10 defendants were charged with at least one count of bank fraud, and eight of them were also charged with federal tax offenses in a 36-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury yesterday, federal law enforcement officials announced today.

The alleged bank fraud scheme involved two prongs: in one, the dealership fraudulently obtained more than $31.3 million in direct financing through five lines of credit from Fifth Third Bank, which lost more than $27.1 million; and, in the second, individual straw borrowers obtained some 200 fraudulent loans totaling nearly $42.4 million, which resulted in some 18 financial institutions losing more than $29.5 million. At least 62 of these individual loans were made to the eight defendants who allegedly acted as straw buyers.

The charges allege that all 10 defendants fraudulently obtained money for their personal uses and benefit, enabling them to maintain lavish lifestyles, operate various businesses, and/or make investments. The money they obtained created the false appearance of personal wealth and helped induce the lenders to advance funds more readily due to their misplaced confidence that the defendants had sufficient personal wealth to repay the loans. The tax offenses against eight of the defendants include one or more counts each of tax evasion, failing to file an income tax return, or filing a false federal tax return.

Lead defendant Russell S. Ott, 50, of Oswego, was the owner of Emily Inc., which did business as Pro Source Motorsports, which was last located in Morris, Illinois. Between 1995 and October 2008, Pro Source, the dealership at the center of the scheme, sold new and used motorcycles, luxury motor homes, recreational vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, and jet skis. In 2007 and 2008, Ott also had ownership interests in Liberty Cycle in Libertyville and Huntley Chevrolet in Libertyville. Ott was charged with one count each of bank fraud and tax evasion.

Defendant Brian McMahon, 54, of Naperville, was Ott and Emily Inc.’s certified public accountant, who also owned Triumph Suzuki in Naperville between 2001 and 2004 when he sold it to Ott. McMahon was charged with one count of bank fraud and two counts of filing false tax returns.

All 10 defendants will be ordered to appear for arraignment on dates to be determined in U.S. District Court.

Direct Lending Fraud

According to the indictment, Ott and McMahon fabricated false personal and business tax documents and financial statements and provided them to Fifth Third Bank, which between May 2007 and October 2008 extended Pro Source approximately $31,368,457 through five different credit lines, which funded traditional “floor plan loans.” As part of the scheme, Ott faxed false flooring requests with fictitious vehicle identification numbers for non-existent recreational vehicles or real VINs for actual RVs but with dramatically inflated values. Ott sometimes “double floored” vehicles by obtaining separate financing from Fifth Third and a different lender for the same vehicle.

Straw Borrower Fraud

According to the indictment, Ott enlisted the other eight defendants as straw borrowers so they could obtain fraudulent loan proceeds to share with Ott even though they did not actually purchase the vehicles—usually very expensive RVs—for which the loans were made and the vehicles generally did not exist. The lenders who financed these loans generally deposited the funds into Emily Inc.’s bank account, and then Ott periodically disbursed the proceeds to straw borrowers to operate and support their own businesses and lifestyles, make investments, and make monthly payments on some of the loans to perpetuate the scheme.

Ott allegedly made personal use of the fraudulently obtained funds to operate Pro Source, which operated at a loss from approximately 2001 through 2008; and to make the following purchases—a house in Elburn for approximately $679,491 and make subsequent improvements which increased the home’s cost to more than $1.1 million; a $258,000 vacation home in Butternut, Wisconsin; a $350,000 rental home in South Elgin; a Sky Hawk 172 Cessna airplane and hanger for approximately $200,000; and pick-up trucks and other vehicles for family members and employees of Pro Source. He also used the money to invest in and purchase other vehicle dealerships, including more than $3.6 million in Huntley Chevrolet and more than $1 million in Liberty Cycle.

The other eight defendants, who allegedly acted as straw buyers, and details of their charges and alleged personal use of the funds are as follows:

Andrew W. Stacy, 51, of Elburn, a parts manager at Pro Source between 1998 and 2000. In late 2005, with financial assistant from Ott, Stacy acquired TUF Powersports, a motorcycle dealership in DeKalb, which he operated until it closed in late 2008. Stacy acted as a straw borrower on six fraudulent loans totaling more than $2.5 million, and after making certain periodic payments, used a portion of the funds to operate TUF Powersports and for personal expenses.

Scott F. Darville, 48, of Racine, Wisconsin, who owned and operated Pro Source of Woodstock, in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, Darville became the owner of Racine MotorSports Ltd., a motorcycle dealership he operated until it closed in 2009. Darville acted as a straw borrower on nine fraudulent loans totaling nearly $2.5 million, and after making certain periodic payments, retained more than $2 million, which he used to operate Racine Motorsports and for personal expenses.

F. Peter Mignin, 63, of Geneva, who owned and operated Northwest Investment Company Inc., which formerly did business as Schaumburg Honda, a new and used motorcycle dealership. Mignin also owned RPM Management LLC, doing business as Liberty Cycle, which he agreed to sell to Ott in 2007, and Mignin held an ownership interest with Ott in 2007 and 2008 in Huntley Chevrolet. Mignin acted as a straw borrower on 10 fraudulent loans totaling more than $3.8 million, and after making certain periodic payments, retained more than $3.4 million, which he used to operate Schaumburg Honda, Liberty Cycle, and for personal investments and expenses, including $450,000 toward the construction of his home, residence, and an $863,000 investment in Huntley Chevrolet.

Kevin D. Hanson, 43, of Louisville, Kentucky, and formerly of Chicago, who owned and operated Safety First Racing LLC, of Arlington Heights, a professional motorcycle racing team that competed at events throughout the United States between 2003 and 2008. Hanson acted as a straw borrower on seven fraudulent loans totaling more than $2.8 million, and after making certain periodic payments, retained more than $2.4 million, which he used to operate Safety First Racing and for personal expenses.

Owen A. Weichel, 48, of Huntington Beach, California, a former professional motorcycle racer who owned and operated Center of Gravity LLC, which imported motorcycle parts from Japan and resold them in the United States. Weichel acted as a straw borrower on five fraudulent loans totaling more than $2.1 million, and after making certain periodic payments, retained more than $1.9 million, which he used to operate Center of Gravity and for personal expenses, including foreign investments in Costa Rica, Italy, and Canada of approximately $1,261,200.

John Materyn, 50, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, who worked for Ott at Pro Source in 1998 and later at Liberty Cycle. Materyn acted as a straw borrower on seven fraudulent loans totaling more than $2.3 million, and after making certain periodic payments, he used a portion of the funds to operate Pro Source Motorsports in Michigan and for personal expenses.

Jill A. Pluta, 55, of LaPorte, Indiana, Ott’s former sister-in-law who was formerly known as Jill Ott and who worked at Pro Source in 2005. She acted as a straw borrower on five fraudulent loans totaling nearly $1 million, and after making certain periodic payments, retained approximately $680,334, which she used for personal expenses.

Joan M. Quick, 52, of Walworth, Wisconsin, the office manager for Pro Source who was responsible for Pro Source’s day-to-day bookkeeping and accounting. Quick acted as a straw borrower on seven fraudulent loans, and she later wrote checks and directed electronic transfers from Emily Inc. accounts totaling more than $1 million, which she used for personal expenses, including her residence, automobiles for at least three of her children and college tuition for at least two of them, and credit card payments totaling approximately $550,125.

The charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and James C. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan.

Each count of bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or an alternative fine totaling twice the gross gain or twice the loss, whichever is greater, and restitution is mandatory. Tax evasion carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and filing a false tax return carries a maximum of three years in prison, and both carry a maximum fine of $250,000, while failure to file a tax return carries a maximum of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. In addition, defendants convicted of tax offenses face mandatory costs of prosecution and remain civilly liable to the government for any and all back taxes, as well as a potential civil fraud penalty of up to 75 percent of the underpayment plus interest. If convicted, the court must determine a reasonable sentence to be imposed under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt against each defendant.

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Kathleen Niew, Suburban Attorney, Arrested by FBI for Allegedly Stealing $2.34 Million in Clients’ Funds from Her Escrow Account

A suburban attorney whose law license was suspended in May was arrested on federal fraud charges for allegedly misappropriating approximately $2.34 million from a husband and wife who were her clients. The defendant, Kathleen Niew, was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud in a federal grand jury indictment that was returned on Tuesday and unsealed today following her arrest. FBI agents took Niew into custody without incident at her office in Oak Brook.

Niew, 57, of Burr Ridge, operated Niew Legal Partners LLC in Oak Brook. She was scheduled to be arraigned at 3 p.m. yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim in U.S. District Court.

According to the indictment, Victims A and B, a husband and wife who were Niew’s clients, transferred approximately $2.34 million into Niew’s attorney escrow account to be used for closings on commercial real estate transactions. Between January 2010 and December 2012, Niew allegedly used the funds for her own benefit, contrary to the false representations she made to the couple and others.

Without the couple’s knowledge, Niew used their funds to finance the purchases of various mining operations and not to purchase any commercial property for the victims, the charges allege. As part of the fraud scheme, Niew arranged to receive a 20 percent finder’s fee for herself from a mining operation in exchange for providing it approximately $1.5 million in funds that belonged to her clients. She falsely told the couple that their funds were available in her escrow account and were to be used for closings when they were not. She further concealed her fraudulent conversion of funds by telling her clients that the bank had erroneously sent the funds intended for closings to the wrong bank accounts, even though she had not directed any such wire transfer of the clients’ funds to the title companies to purchase real estate, the indictment alleges.

The arrest and charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunil Harjani.

Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or an alternative fine totaling twice the gross gain or twice the loss, whichever is greater, and restitution is mandatory. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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David Wilder, Former Chicago White Sox Executive, Sentenced to Federal Prison for Taking Kickbacks from Latin American Players’ Signing Bonuses

A former Chicago White Sox scouting executive was sentenced to two years in federal prison for accepting approximately $440,000 in kickbacks from the signing bonuses and contract buyouts that two of the team’s Latin American scouts paid to secure 23 prospective players between December 2004 and February 2008. The defendant, David S. Wilder, the White Sox farm system director from late 2003 to 2006 when he became the team’s senior director of player personnel until May 2008, had pleaded guilty to mail fraud in February 2011.

Wilder, 52, of San Francisco, was ordered to begin serving his sentence on October 31 by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle. Wilder was also ordered to pay $440,781 in restitution to the White Sox.

Wilder admitted that he defrauded the White Sox of money and his honest services while concealing the kickbacks from the team and its more senior executives. He later cooperated with the investigation, leading the government to ask for a reduced sentence.

Two former White Sox scouts, Jorge L. Oquendo Rivera, 52, of Puerto Rico, the team’s Latin American scout between November 2004 and October 2007, and Victor Mateo, 42, of the Dominican Republic, a Sox scout in the Dominican Republic between November 2006 and May 2008, were also charged and pleaded guilty to mail fraud. Oquendo Rivera is scheduled to report to prison this Friday to begin serving a sentence of a year and a day that Judge Norgle imposed in June. Mateo is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18.

According to court documents, the White Sox relied on Wilder, as well as Oquendo Rivera and Mateo, to recommend and approve signing bonus and related payments, depending on a player’s talent, necessary to induce a player to sign with the White Sox or to induce another team to release the player to the White Sox, without being inflated for kickbacks. Instead, Wilder and the other defendants facilitated, solicited, or obtained more than $440,000 in kickbacks from at least 23 Latin American players signed by the White Sox.

The White Sox reported findings of an internal investigation to Major League Baseball and baseball officials referred the matter to federal authorities. Both the team and Major League Baseball were instrumental in launching the investigation and provided continuing cooperation.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher K. Veatch and Michelle Nasser.

The sentence was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert G. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Mafia Documentary Video on Genovese Crime Family

Mafia Documentary Video on Genovese Crime Family

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Dike Ajiri, Mobile Doctors’ Chicago CEO, and Doctor Banio Koroma Arrested on Federal Health Care Fraud Charges

The chief executive officer of Chicago-based Mobile Doctors, which manages physicians who make house calls in six states, and one of its physicians in Chicago were arrested on federal health care fraud charges. At the same time, federal agents executed search warrants at Mobile Doctors’ offices in Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis, as well as warrants to seize up to $2.568 million in alleged fraud proceeds from various bank accounts. The charges allege a scheme to fraudulently increase (also known as “upcoding”) Medicare bills for in-home patient visits that Mobile Doctors falsely claimed were more complicated and longer than they actually were. The charges also allege that Mobile Doctors’ physicians falsely certified that patients were confined to their homes, enabling home health care agencies to claim fees for additional services for patients who were not actually qualified to receive them.

Agents from the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and other law enforcement agencies executed the arrest, search, and seizure warrants in connection with the charges and also a broader ongoing investigation that includes allegedly illegal billing practices for medically unnecessary tests and services not performed by a physician.

Arrested were Dike Ajiri, 42, of Wilmette, CEO of Mobile Doctors, which he has effectively owned since 1996, and Banio Koroma, 63, of Tinley Park, a physician who has worked for Mobile Doctors since approximately 2007. Mobile Doctors, located at 3319 N. Elston Ave., in Chicago, arranges patient home visits and contracts with doctors who perform the visits. The physicians assign their rights to bill and collect payment to Mobile Doctors in return for being paid directly by the company. Mobile Doctors’ website claims that its associated physicians have made more than 500,000 house calls since its inception. In addition to Chicago, the company has branches in Detroit and Flint, Michigan; San Antonio and Austin, Texas; Indianapolis; Kansas City; Phoenix; and St. Louis.

Ajiri was charged with health care fraud, and Koroma was charged with making false statements relating to health care benefits in a criminal complaint that was filed yesterday and unsealed today after the arrests. Both were scheduled to appear at 3 p.m. today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Rowland in U.S. District Court.

The arrests and charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Lamont Pugh, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Regional Office of the HHS-OIG. The Railroad Retirement Board Office of Inspector General is also participating in the investigation.

According to a 75-page affidavit in support of the arrest, search, and seizure warrants, agents have interviewed several current and more than 25 former employees of Mobile Doctors, including some who reported allegedly fraudulent billing practices to Medicare before they were contacted by agents. Investigators have also reviewed e-mails and documents, claims data and patient files and have conducted interviews with patients of Mobile Doctors and their primary care physicians, whose statements contradict Mobile Doctors’ billing and patient records.

Mobile Doctors physicians do not perform tests such as echocardiograms but do order such tests, which are done on Mobile Doctors’ patients by employees of In Home Diagnostics, doing business as Ultrasound2You. According to Medicare records, Ajiri is a minority partner in In Home Diagnostics, which is located in the same building as Mobile Doctors, and Mobile Doctors bills the echocardiograms so that they appear to have been done by Mobile Doctors’ physicians.

The complaint affidavit states that Ajiri signed a personal financial statement on December 31, 2012, stating that he received $1.5 million in annual partnership income from a corporate entity, Mobile Doctors LLC, which has a complex ownership structure involving Ajiri and, over time, one or both of his parents. Between 2008 and January 2013, bank records show that approximately $4.365 million was transferred from Mobile Doctors to an account in the name of Ajiri and his wife.

Upcoding Patient Visits

According to interviews with former and current Mobile Doctors physicians, branch managers, clinical coordinators, employees, and patients, a typical visit that a Mobile Doctors physician has with an established patient lasts 10 to 30 minutes and is routine in nature. In contrast to those interviews, claims data shows that from 2006 through February 2013, approximately 99 percent of all established-patient visits by Mobile Doctors physicians were billed to Medicare using either of the two highest codes indicating the visits involved medical decision-making of moderate to high complexity, detailed or comprehensive interval histories or medical examinations, and/or visits that typically last at least 40 minutes.

In 2009 in Chicago, the local Medicare fee for a visit using the second-highest home visit code was approximately $122.82, while the fee for the highest code was approximately $171.25. According to a review of claims data for Railroad Retirement Board patients, every single established-patient visit Mobile Doctors billed to Medicare between January 2007 and June 2008 used the highest fee code. Between January 2007 and November 2012, approximately 93 percent of such visits were billed using the highest fee code.

The former manager of Mobile Doctors’ Chicago branch until she was terminated in 2008 told agents that Ajiri told her that the second-highest fee code was the default code for a patient visit so that it would be worth the gas and time spent. The manager said Ajiri told physicians, “I don’t pay for ones or twos,” referring to the two lower of the four applicable fee codes. At the end of one day, she said she saw Ajiri in his office “automatically” altering the billing codes and marking visits at the highest fee level on patient records submitted by physicians and assistants who accompanied them on home visits. A physician told agents that in late 2007, Ajiri did not respond to his concerns about Mobile Doctors’ billing practices and instead told the doctor that he could earn more money if he would order more tests such as electrocardiograms, according to the affidavit.

The complaint alleges that the vast majority of payments made on established-patient visit claims using the highest fee code were the result of fraudulent upcoding. From 2006 through 2012, Mobile Doctors received approximately $21.4 million in payments on claims using the second-highest code and approximately $12.6 million in Medicare payments on claims using the highest fee code.

Falsely Certifying Patients as Confined to Their Homes

The charges further allege that Mobile Doctors physicians, including Koroma, falsely certified patients as confined to their homes and requiring home health services when they were not home-bound and did not require such care. By referring patients to home health agencies that did not warrant Medicare payments, Mobile Doctors received more referrals from those agencies for services provided by its physicians. According to Medicare data, from August 2010 through July 2013, more than 200 home health agencies submitted Medicare claims for services allegedly rendered to patients for whom Koroma was identified as the referring physician. These home health agencies have been paid more than $10 million for services listing Koroma as the referring physician.

Between January 2006 and March 2013, Mobile Doctors physicians have certified or recertified for 60-day periods approximately 15,598 patients as confined to their homes and requiring home health services a total of approximately 83,133 times, many of which were allegedly false. Approximately 6,057 of these certifications were attributed since August 2007 to Koroma, with Mobile Doctors billing Medicare for approximately 17,439 patient visits he made during that time, more than any other Mobile Doctors physician.

The health care fraud count against Ajiri carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine and restitution is mandatory. The false statements count against Koroma carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen C. Lee and Catherine Dick, assistant chief in the Fraud Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Detroit, Indianapolis, and Phoenix also have assisted in the investigation.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Medicare Fraud Strike Force began operating in Chicago in February 2011 and consists of agents from the FBI and HHS-OIG working together with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Justice Department’s Fraud Section. The strike force is part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Scores of defendants have been charged locally in health care fraud cases since the strike force began operating in Chicago.

To report health care fraud to learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.

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The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic #CheckitOut

MARK R. LEVIN HAS MADE THE CASE, IN NUMEROUS NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS—MEN IN BLACK, LIBERTY AND TYR­ANNY, AND AMERITOPIA—THAT THE PRIN­CIPLES UNDERGIRDING OUR SOCIETY AND GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM ARE UNRAVELING. IN THE LIBERTY AMENDMENTS, HE TURNS TO THE FOUNDING FATHERS AND THE CONSTITUTION ITSELF FOR GUIDANCE IN RESTORING THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC.

For a century, the Statists have steadfastly constructed a federal Leviathan, distorting and evading our consti­tutional system in pursuit of an all-powerful, ubiqui­tous central government. The result is an ongoing and growing assault on individual liberty, state sovereignty, and the social compact. Levin argues that if we cherish our American heritage, it is time to embrace a consti­tutional revival.

The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Conven­tion in Philadelphia and the delegates to each state’s ratification convention foresaw a time when—despite their best efforts to forestall it—the Federal govern­ment might breach the Constitution’s limits and begin oppressing the people. Agencies such as the IRS and EPA and programs such as Obamacare demonstrate that the Framers’ fear was prescient. Therefore, the Framers provided two methods for amending the Constitution. The second was intended for our current circumstances—empowering the states to bypass Congress and call a convention for the pur­pose of amending the Constitution. Levin argues that we, the people, can avoid a perilous outcome by seek­ing recourse, using the method called for in the Con­stitution itself.

The Framers adopted ten constitutional amend­ments, called the Bill of Rights, that would preserve individual rights and state authority. Levin lays forth eleven specific prescriptions for restoring our founding principles, ones that are consistent with the Framers’ design. His proposals—such as term limits for mem­bers of Congress and Supreme Court justices and lim­its on federal taxing and spending—are pure common sense, ideas shared by many. They draw on the wisdom of the Founding Fathers—including James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and numerous lesser-known but crucially important men—in their content and in the method for applying them to the current state of the nation.

Now is the time for the American people to take the first step toward reclaiming what belongs to them. The task is daunting, but it is imperative if we are to be truly free.

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Mob-Con 2013 - First Ever Mob Convention at the Palace Station @PalaceStationLV

Former gangsters and G-Men will come face-to-face in Las Vegas once again — on decidedly more amicable terms — at the first-ever Mob Convention at Palace Station from Sept. 7-8.

The event, presented by former mobster Frank Cullotta and Las Vegas-based businessman Robert George Allen and sponsored by the Mob Attraction at the Tropicana, brings together former crime family members, lawmen, true-crime writers, historians and entertainers for two days of panel discussions, Q+A sessions, meet-and-greets, memorabilia auctions, vendors and more.

Featured guests include Cullotta (of the Chicago Outfit and Hole in the Wall Gang), Tony Montana (Chicago Outfit), Andrew DiDonato (Gambino Family), Frank Calabrese Jr. (Chicago Outfit), Kenji Gallo (Columbo Family), Dennis Arnoldy (FBI), Vito Colucci (law enforcement), Denny Griffin (law enforcement and author), Warren Hull (author), Gary Magnesen (FBI), Gary Jenkins (law enforcement), Ronald Fino (FBI/CIA) and Cathy Scott (author). More guests are to be announced.

“Las Vegas is the ideal city to host Mob-Con,” Allen said in a statement. “People are fascinated about the Mob and, without the Mob, Las Vegas would not be what it is today. Mob-Con is giving the general public unprecedented access to the individuals who were a part of this history.”

Registration for the conference is $195 and includes a 4-hour historical Mob tour of Las Vegas. Tickets can be purchased through the Mob-Con website.

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Owner of @HardcorePawn Les Gold, @LesHCP Provides Business Wisdom From a Pawnbroker in New Book

Businesses these days talk a lot about figuring out what the customer wants. Well, here's your first lesson: the customer doesn't know what he wants. This book is going to show you how to convince him he wants the thing you're selling.

Les Gold has been in business since age twelve, when he started selling used golf clubs from his dad's basement. Now he owns Detroit's biggest pawnshop, American Jewelry and Loan, and is the star of the hit reality TV show "Hardcore Pawn."

As a third-generation pawnbroker, Gold grew up in the business, dealing with cus-tomers who could be unruly and violent as often as they were friendly. He became good at selling just about anything and at buying items for what they were worth. Although he started at his family's small pawnshop, he has now expanded into a fifty-thousand-square-foot former bowling alley, making a thousand deals a day.

On any given day, he could be taking a vin-tage car in to pawn or chasing down a thief who's just stolen a gold chain from the store. No business school in the world can teach you as much about buying, selling, negotiating, managing employees, dealing with customers, advertising, tracking trends, and predicting the economy's ups and downs.

In this entertaining, honest book, Gold takes you inside some of his weirdest, wacki-est deals and steals. From the monkey his dad once took in to pawn to the deal Gold made for a stripper pole, he has no boundaries for what he considers to be part of his business--and neither should you.

You will learn: How to tell an emotional story when you're selling--and take emotion out of the transaction when you're buying. Why judging your customers before you know them can kill a potential deal. How to deal with risk, both mental and physical. How to communicate with employees (even if they're your own kids). Why investing in relationships with your community is time well spent. Why your business should never be limited by what others tell you it should be.

No place in the world prepares you better for the working world than a pawnshop, and Les Gold takes you inside his shop to share what he's learned from fifty-five years in the most interesting job in the world.

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Rocco Lazazzaro Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison for #Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud

A man who conspired with a former controller to embezzle millions from the company that owned or developed the Residences at MGM, Town Square shopping center, Turnberry Place, Turnberry Towers, and the Stirling Club in Las Vegas was sentenced to 51 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay approximately $3.7 million in restitution, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Rocco Lazazzaro, 55, of Las Vegas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro. Lazazzaro pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to his guilty plea agreement, from about May 17, 2007 to about January 12, 2012, Lazazzaro and Hope Ippoliti, 51, the former controller for Turnberry Associates, conspired to steal more than $3.7 million from Turnberry and its affiliates.

“Through this embezzlement scheme, Mr. Lazazzaro and Ms. Ippoliti victimized not only Turnberry Associates in the amount of $5.6 million but caused irreparable harm and financial damage to the many victims and business entities employed and supported by Turnberry Associates,” said United States Attorney Bogden. “It is truly sad that the greed and self-indulgent criminal conduct of Mr. Lazazzaro continues to result in harm to so many other innocent victims.”

Ippoliti created fund transfer requests containing false information that the funds were intended for business-related purposes when she and Lazazzaro actually intended to withdraw the funds for personal use. Ippoliti faxed or e-mailed the fund transfer requests from Nevada to Turnberry Associates in Florida to cause the transfer of funds into Bank of America accounts over which she had signatory authority. Ippoliti and Lazazzaro deposited and cashed checks and cashier’s checks drawn on Bank of America bank accounts belonging to Turnberry Associates and its affiliates.

The total losses to Turnberry Associates and its affiliates are a total of $5.6 million. According to Lazazzaro’s guilty plea agreement, he was directly involved in causing approximately $3.7 million of those losses. The sentencing memorandum filed by the government states that Lazazzaro used the stolen monies for gambling and drug use.

Lazarro has four prior felony convictions and numerous misdemeanor convictions, many of which involved violence or threats of violence against others through the use or threatened use of fire, knives, or blunt objects. In 1986, while on probation for a 1980 felony grand theft conviction, he was convicted of committing five robberies in addition to vicious assaults and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. He was discharged from parole one year before committing the Turnberry embezzlement crimes.

Ippoliti pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit wire fraud resulting in total losses of $5.6 million and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 19, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro.

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Joseph Morrill Pleads Guilty to Federal Armed Robbery and Firearms Charges

United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced today that Joseph Morrill, 23, of South Portland, Maine, pled guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland before Judge D. Brock Hornby to federal armed robbery and firearms charges.

According to court records and evidence introduced at the plea hearing, on September 21, 2012, a Glock pistol and a badge belonging to a law enforcement detective were stolen from a motor vehicle in South Portland. On April 17, 2013, Morrill used the pistol to rob a Cumberland Farms store in South Portland absconding with $182 in cash. On April 22, 2013, Morrill used the pistol to rob a TD Bank branch in South Portland absconding with $5,612 in cash. On June 14, 2013, agents seized the handgun during the execution of a federal search warrant at a residence in South Portland.

Morrill faces up to 30 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for robbing Cumberland Farms, up to 25 years’ imprisonment, and a $250,000 fine for robbing TD Bank, a consecutive sentence of between seven years and life imprisonment for using the stolen pistol during and in relation to the TD Bank robbery and up to 10 years for possessing the stolen firearm.

He will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the United States Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the South Portland Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Shauna Quinn Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Shauna Quinn, 44, of Rockland, Maine, pled guilty in United States District Court before Judge George Z. Singal to a bank fraud charge.

According to court records, the defendant worked at Rockland Savings Bank in Rockland, Maine, as a collections manager. Between July 2008 and June 2011, she created home equity lines of credit and a share loan in the names of her family members and had more than $400,000 in funds improperly withdrawn from those loans.

A forensic review by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the unauthorized activity posted under defendant’s teller ID number for the period from July 2008 to June 2011 revealed that the defendant misappropriated more than $400,000 through improper advances on loans and lines of credit that were not authorized by the bank and agreed to by the borrower. The defendant perpetrated the scheme by increasing the authorized amounts of lines of credit without approval, changing customers’ mail addresses without consent, improperly posting transactions, and creating fictitious loan documents. The fraud was concealed by the defendant who used loan advances to make payments on other loans in order to keep them current.

Quinn faces a sentence of up to 30 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to twice the gain or loss. She will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the United States Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI.

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Travis Landry Pleads Guilty to Federal Kidnapping and Firearm Charges

United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that Travis R. Landry, 29, of Surry, pled guilty in United States District Court before Judge Nancy Torresen to charges of interstate kidnapping and brandishing a firearm in relation to the kidnapping.

According to court records, in mid-April 2013, Landry responded to an advertisement in Craigslist for the sale of a BMW automobile. On the evening of April 24, Landry met with the BMW’s owner at a location on Riverside Street in Portland and the two took the car for a test drive. After the test drive, Landry told the victim to get into the trunk of the car. The victim complied when Landry displayed a Glock .45 caliber handgun. Landry then drove the BMW, with the victim locked inside the trunk, south out of Maine for about eight hours. When he reached Newark, Delaware, Landry stopped the car in a secluded wooded area and released the victim, who ran away and called local police. On May 7, 2013, sheriff deputies in Granville County, North Carolina, arrested Landry, who was driving the BMW, after a high-speed chase. The Glock handgun was seized from the glove compartment of the BMW.

On the interstate kidnapping charge, Landry faces imprisonment of up to life and a fine of up to $250,000. For brandishing the firearm in connection with the kidnapping, Landry faces a minimum mandatory consecutive sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. He will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence report by the United States Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Portland (Maine), Gorham, Killeen (Texas), and Newark (Delaware) Police Departments; and the Granville County (North Carolina) Sheriff’s Office.

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Chris Cippolini Discusses "Diary of a Motor City Hitman: The Chester Wheeler Campbell Story" on #CrimeBeatRadio

On August 29th, Chris Cippolini, author of Diary of a Motor City Hit Man: The Chester Wheeler Campbell Story, appears on Crime Beat Radio

Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.

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"Boardwalk Empire" The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray!

It's New Year's Eve 1922 and the Roaring '20s are about to begin in earnest. Despite a booming economy, alcohol is scarce in Atlantic City, competition is at its fiercest and gangster violence is heating up. The 12-time Emmy® Award winning Boardwalk Empire is back on August 20, 2013 when the third season debuts on Blu-ray with HBO Select* and Digital Download. Hailed as "striking," (Time.com) with "first-rate performances" (USA Today), Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season is jam-packed with exclusive bonus material and is not to be missed!

Nucky Thompson has become Atlantic City's undisputed czar during Prohibition and is facing the challenge of mending old relationships. While his marriage lies in shambles, he faces new competition from Gyp Rosetti, a hair-trigger gangster determined to siphon off his alcohol business. The conflict brings out the best and worst in Nucky, who proves his brutal mettle in a series of violent encounters, as new and familiar faces also undergo compelling metamorphoses.

Blu-ray Features (along with all DVD extras):

-American Empires: Prohibition did little to quench the country's thirst for alcohol, and proved to be a boon to the era's gangsters. Learn more about these gangsters, their influence, and their systems of distribution in this interactive compendium.

-Boardwalk Chronicle: Track the major players and locations within each episode, and learn more about the historical threads woven into the season three storyline with this interactive, in-feature guide.

-Newsreels: Explore some of the real-world events and historical figures that inspired Boardwalk Empire season three with these 24 exclusive featurettes.

Boardwalk Empire stars Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson; Kelly Macdonald as Margaret, Nucky's wife; Michael Shannon as federal agent Nelson Van Alden; Gretchen Mol as Gillian, Jimmy Darmody's mother; Shea Whigham as Nucky's estranged brother Elias; Michael Stuhlbarg as gangster Arnold Rothstein; Stephen Graham as gangster Al Capone; Vincent Piazza as gangster Lucky Luciano; Michael Kenneth Williams as Nucky's ally Chalky White, leader of the city's African-American community; Anthony Laciura as Eddie Kessler, Nucky's valet; Paul Sparks as gangster Mickey Doyle; Jack Huston as Richard Harrow, a disfigured war veteran; Charlie Cox as Owen Sleater, Nucky's right-hand man; Bobby Cannavale as Gyp Rosetti, Nucky's new foe; Arron Shiver as gangster Dean O'Banion; Christopher McDonald as U.S. Attorney General Harry Daugherty; Stephen Root as Gaston Means, a go-between for Nucky and Daugherty; and Meg Chambers Steedle as Billie Kent, Nucky's new mistress. Created by Terence Winter, the series is executive produced by Winter, Martin Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Tim Van Patten and Howard Korder; co-executive producers, Eugene Kelly, Chris Haddock, Andrew Schneider, Diane Frolov, Rolin Jones; producers, Joseph Iberti, Rick Yorn; co-producer, Steve Kornacki; supervising producer, David Stenn.

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Gun Talk Television and Guns & Gear TV are Back!

From the Tom Gresham Truth Squad Newsletter:

Our two television series are on the air right now on Pursuit Channel. If you have Dish or DirecTV, you can get Pursuit. The shows (Gun Talk Television and Guns & Gear TV) also will air on Sportsman Channel beginning in January. Find the schedules, videos, and more at www.guntalktelevision and www.gunsandgeartv.com.

To see them now, just hop over to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/GunTalkTV. With all the smart TVs today, you can watch our shows (and First Person Defender) in HD on your home TV.

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PGA Tour Pro Could be Next Republican Presidential Candidate

Mitt Romney spoke at a GOP fundraiser in New Hampshire where he urged the Republicans to nominate a presidential candidate who hates high taxes and can win. Everybody cheered. Phil Mickelson would be our third left-handed president in a row.

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Marek Leszczynski, A Former Sales Broker Pleads Guilty in New York Federal Court in Connection with Securities Fraud Scheme

Marek Leszczynski, a former sales broker, pleaded guilty in New York federal court to conspiring with others to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, announced Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Along with other individuals, Leszczynski defrauded clients of millions of dollars by misrepresenting the prices at which securities were bought and sold, thereby enabling his former employer to earn undisclosed trading profits and himself and his co-conspirators to be awarded lucrative bonuses. Leszczynski pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan this afternoon.

“Along with his cohorts, Marek Leszczynski sold his firm’s clients a bill of goods by repeatedly misrepresenting the prices of trade executions, all so he could increase firm profits and secure a hefty bonus,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “Ultimately, Leszczynski’s lies were exposed, and today’s conviction ensures he’ll be punished for his fraud.”

According to the complaint, the indictment, statements made during the plea proceeding, and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court:

From 2005 through December 2008, Leszczynski worked at a broker-dealer that was headquartered in London, England, with offices in Europe, Asia, and New York, New York (Broker-Dealer 1). Among other services offered, Broker-Dealer 1 bought and sold securities on behalf of institutional clients, such as commercial banks and investment firms, located throughout the United States and in various major European cities. Leszczynski worked as a sales broker for Broker-Dealer 1’s cash equity desk in New York. In that capacity, he was responsible for, among other things, receiving orders to buy or sell securities from Broker-Dealer 1’s clients, relaying those orders to traders who executed the trades, communicating with clients as their orders were being filled, and sending out trading confirmations back to the clients that showed the prices at which securities were bought or sold, including the commissions, if any, that Broker-Dealer 1 charged.

Instead of accurately recording and reporting the actual execution prices of the securities, Leszczynski and his co-conspirators, Chouchane and Condron, who worked alongside Leszczynski at Broker-Dealer 1, misrepresented the prices of trade executions. Where Broker-Dealer 1 received a buy order from a client, Leszczynski and his co-conspirators caused the purchase price of the security that would be reported back to the client to be “marked up” from its actual purchase price. Additionally, where Broker-Dealer 1 received a sell order from a client, Leszczynski and his co-conspirators caused the sale price of the security that would be reported back to the client to be “marked down” from its actual sale price. These markups and markdowns were not disclosed to Broker-Dealer 1’s clients and were separate and apart from the agreed-upon commissions that were disclosed on trading confirmations sent to Broker-Dealer 1’s clients.

As a result of this fraudulent scheme, Broker-Dealer 1 earned millions in undisclosed trading profits to which it was not entitled. Leszczynski and his co-conspirators were paid inflated bonuses.

Leszczynski, 44, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. In addition, Leszczynski has agreed to forfeit $1.5 million as part of his guilty plea. Leszczynski is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Keenan on December 19, 2013.

Chouchane, 39, of New York City, pleaded guilty before Judge Keenan on June 12, 2013, to one count of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Keenan on October 24, 2013.

Condron, 34, of Yorktown Heights, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald on October 5, 2012, to two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of securities fraud. Condron’s sentencing date is pending.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI. He also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for their assistance.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. Bharara serves as a Co-Chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chi T. Steve Kwok is in charge of the prosecution.

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