Imprisoned Chicago hit man and 84-year-old mob boss Joey Lombardo says he wants out of solitary confinement. His attorneys are accusing of the government of "elder abuse."
For decades, Joey Lombardo has been known in mob circles as "the clown." But on Monday, his courthouse hijinks and comedic banter with the media have given way to a tear-jerking motion for mercy. Or at least that is what Mr. Lombardo might like you to believe. Attorneys for the aged Chicago outfit boss say he is just a sick old man in a wheelchair and should be removed from solitary confinement, where he has been locked up 24 hours a day as a violent menace.
Long gone are the days when Joey the Clown wore a newspaper mask to court, or led news crews on a sprint through downtown.
Since Lombardo was sentenced to life in prison during the landmark Family Secrets mob murders case, he has been locked up at the Butner North Carolina penitentiary under what are known as "special administrative measures" -- shorthand for solitary confinement.
Lombardo's lawyers say the lockdown was meant to keep international terrorists from plotting attacks.
In their motion to release Lombardo from solitary, they say "the imposition of these draconian conditions against an 84-year-old, chronically ill, wheelchair-user can only be an attempt to appear 'tough on crime' by engaging in 'elder abuse' against a man who once had a reputation (deserved or not) as a major player in the Chicago 'Mob.'"
Lombardo was convicted of personally murdering those who crossed the outfit even while overseeing the Chicago mob. He is a career hoodlum having risen through the ranks from syndicate soldier. But at 84, his lawyers say keeping his on lockdown is "unduly restrictive on Petitioner's physical well-being and his mental health, especially given his advanced age." And they contend "punitive confinement for more than 30 days constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment."
In the government's response on file Monday, they pay homage to Lombardo's moniker "the clown" then ridicule his effort to escape lockdown, stating: "defendant does not even properly allege that this matter is ripe for federal court review in any forum, let alone this one. In addition to the obvious jurisdictional problem noted above, the defendant does not contend that he has exhausted his administrative remedies."
Prosecutors say Lombardo has already been denied a similar request once before. These special administrative measures are generally imposed by the Bureau of Prisons and have been used on terror suspects, but other Chicago mob bosses have been put in solitary as well.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
The Political Economy of Human Happiness: How Voters' Choices Determine the Quality of Lif
This book is devoted to applying the data, methods, and theories of contemporary social science to the question of how political outcomes in democratic societies determine the quality of life that citizens experience. Benjamin Radcliff seeks to provide an objective answer to the perennial debate between Left and Right over what public policies best contribute to human beings leading positive and rewarding lives. The book thus offers an empirical answer to this perpetual question, relying on the same canons of reason and evidence required of any other issue amenable to study through social-scientific means. The analysis focuses on the consequences of three specific political issues: the welfare state and the general size of government, labor organization, and state efforts to protect workers and consumers through economic regulation. The results indicate that in each instance, the program of the Left best contributes to citizens leading more satisfying lives, and, critically, that the benefits of greater happiness accrue to everyone in society, rich and poor alike.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to be very close to Bin Laden with a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive.
This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, SEAL fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history. His squadmates fought valiantly beside him until he was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him safe from surrounding Taliban warriors.
A born and raised Texan, Marcus Luttrell takes us from the rigors of SEAL training, where he and his fellow SEALs discovered what it took to join the most elite of the American special forces, to a fight in the desolate hills of Afghanistan for which they never could have been prepared. His account of his squadmates' heroism and mutual support renders an experience that is both heartrending and life-affirming. In this rich chronicle of courage and sacrifice, honor and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers a powerful narrative of modern war.
This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, SEAL fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history. His squadmates fought valiantly beside him until he was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him safe from surrounding Taliban warriors.
A born and raised Texan, Marcus Luttrell takes us from the rigors of SEAL training, where he and his fellow SEALs discovered what it took to join the most elite of the American special forces, to a fight in the desolate hills of Afghanistan for which they never could have been prepared. His account of his squadmates' heroism and mutual support renders an experience that is both heartrending and life-affirming. In this rich chronicle of courage and sacrifice, honor and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers a powerful narrative of modern war.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Did Ex Chicago Cop, Steven Mandell, Plan Assassinations to Take Over Strip Club?
The former cop and death row inmate was callous and calculated, quoting military tactics as he considered which of two targets it made the most sense to kill in order to take over their chunk of a lucrative strip club, federal authorities allege.
"You chop the snake's head off. Pow," Steven Mandell allegedly told an undercover informant in September 2012 as a hidden video recorder rolled. "I still don't think you have a clear path on how it plays out, but at least we'd be on our way, wouldn't we?"
In the end, Mandell decided to kill the more vulnerable of the two — and his wife if necessary — then place a threatening phone call to the second target's wife to convince him to walk away, according to transcripts of the secret recordings filed recently in federal court. And in case anyone thought the Chicago Outfit's infamous Elmwood Park crew didn't have muscle anymore, Mandell had a special message.
"Tell that (expletive) husband to leave this situation alone, or else," Mandell said he would tell the wife, according to the government filing. "'Cause I'll show you what Elmwood Park really looks like. I can get really nasty."
On the FBI video, Mandell then drew a hand across this throat and made a "slitting sound," the filing said.
The chilling new details have emerged a month before Mandell, 63, is set to go on trial in U.S. District Court in connection with a series of alleged plots, including a gruesome scheme to kidnap and extort a local businessman, then kill him and dismember the body.
Now, through details provided in the court record, the Tribune has confirmed that the strip club associate Mandell had allegedly planned to kill, identified in the government filing only as "Victim 2," was Anthony Quaranta, a former Franklin Park cop known as "Tony Q." He also allegedly targeted Quaranta's associate, Demitri Stavropoulos, a highly paid "consultant" at the Polekatz strip club in suburban Bridgeview who was identified in the court record only as "Associate 1."
The court document also paints a more detailed picture of just how reckless and daring Mandell — formerly known as Steven Manning — had allegedly become before his sensational arrest in October 2012.
According to the government filing, for several weeks that fall, Mandell and his alleged associate, Gary Engel, were conducting cloak-and-dagger surveillance of Victim 2's pregnant wife while at the same time outfitting a vacant Northwest Side storefront with the industrial equipment needed to chop up a body as part of the separate plot to kill the businessman.
At one point, the FBI was conducting aerial surveillance as Mandell crouched down next to a car in a suburban mall parking lot, allegedly to install a tracking device on the car of one of his girlfriends, according to court records.
In recent months, Mandell's case has also been linked to the suspicious death of Giacomo Ruggirello, a Lake County restaurateur who perished in a fire in September 2012. The Tribune has previously reported that someone had broken into Ruggirello's Highwood restaurant on the same day as the fire and taken the office safe. Mandell's attorneys have subpoenaed the records from the suspected arson investigation.
Authorities have alleged that Mandell's schemes didn't stop with his arrest. Days later, he called his wife — an 82-year-old Buffalo Grove woman — from a federal Loop jail and asked her to get rid of evidence in the case, his indictment alleged. Prosecutors have also alleged that Mandell tried from jail to arrange the murder of the FBI's key informant in the case — a man previously identified by the Tribune as Northwest Side real estate mogul George Michael.
Originally from the Italian section of Chicago's Near West Side known as "The Patch," Mandell's criminal history goes back to his days as a Chicago cop in the 1970s and '80s. After he was booted from the force for insurance fraud, Mandell was accused of taking part in a mob-connected jewelry theft ring and other alleged schemes, including the kidnapping and extortion of several drug dealers in Kansas City, records show.
Mandell was eventually sent to death row for the drug-related 1990 slaying of a trucking firm owner, and at his sentencing prosecutors linked Mandell to two additional unsolved murders, including the 1986 killing of his own father, Boris, according to court records.
Both his murder and Missouri kidnapping convictions were overturned on appeal after Mandell alleged authorities fabricated evidence and used a notorious jailhouse snitch to frame him. He sued the FBI and won a landmark $6.5 million in damages from a federal jury in 2005. However, a judge later threw out the award, and Mandell did not receive any money.
Records show that after the jury verdict, Mandell moved to Florida, married and started a lock and safe company out of his wife's home. When he returned to Chicago, he had changed his last name from Manning to Mandell, records show.
Mandell's trial in February will focus on a series of undercover recordings made in fall 2012 at Michael's Northwest Side realty office and the storefront on West Devon Avenue jokingly referred to in recordings as "Club Med," where Mandell and Engel allegedly planned to dismember the businessman's body.
While much of the transcripts have been blacked out for undisclosed reasons, the portions that have been made public in court filings highlight the allegedly disturbing nature of the conversations that jurors in Mandell's trial are likely to hear.
Prosecutors allege Mandell and Engel planned to wage "psychological warfare" on the kidnapping victim to coerce him to turn over his assets. In an undercover FBI recording made at Club Med in the days before the planned kidnapping, the two discussed everything from how to instill the most fear in their victim to how best to drain his body of blood.
According to one prosecution filing, Mandell was referring to the victim's genitals when he asked his alleged accomplice, "You going to put a little blade there?"
"It's like slicing a banana split," the filing quoted Engel as responding.
Following his arrest in October, Engel was found hanged in his jail cell in McHenry County, a death that has been ruled a suicide.
According to court records, Mandell was also captured talking extensively about Quaranta and Stavropoulos and their stake in Polekatz, a multimillion-dollar strip club in the south suburbs that has been engulfed in controversy over its murky finances and alleged ties to felons and organized crime associates.
Stavropoulos, identified by the Chicago Crime Commission as an organized crime associate, was brought on as a $5,000-a-week consultant at the club about a year after his release from prison for running a multistate bookmaking ring, according to court records.
A 2010 Tribune investigation also documented how Stavropoulos partnered with another alleged underworld figure, Michael "Jaws" Giorango, and borrowed millions from the family bank of former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who at the time was running for the U.S. Senate. Giorango and Stavropoulos used the money to launch their own lending business that made high-interest, short-term loans to questionable borrowers, the Tribune found.
Quaranta, meanwhile, quit the Franklin Park police in late 2002 at about the time prosecutors dropped charges that he had illegal steroids delivered to his house, records show. He later lent about $500,000 to Polekatz and became a highly paid consultant to the club. Records show that in addition to his interest in Polekatz, Quaranta either owns or has a financial interest in four other strip clubs and taverns from suburban Bedford Park to Indiana and Texas.
Quaranta did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. His attorney, Ed Wanderling, returned a message left on Quaranta's cellphone and said he could not comment on a pending investigation or "what Steve Mandell's ideas or plans were." Wanderling said he was not aware of any plans by prosecutors to use Quaranta as a witness in Mandell's trial.
Reached by telephone recently, Stavropoulos declined to speak about the case. When asked about Mandell, Stavropoulos responded, "Who?"
According to the filing by federal prosecutors, to move in on the Polekatz action, Mandell decided that it made more sense to kill Quaranta, who has no criminal record and would therefore have an easier time fighting the takeover in court if he was left alive.
On the recordings quoted in the government filing, Mandell ruminated how Stavropoulos understood muscle and would step aside once he saw that Mandell meant business.
"Although he's got a big ego, when he sees what happens to (Quaranta) and his old lady … he might (expletive) all over himself, too," Mandell allegedly said of Stavropoulos.
Mandell developed a plot to kill Quaranta and his wife at home while their children were in school, according to the government filing. He lamented it might be a "rush job" but was ready to ad lib if necessary, according to the undercover recordings.
"I know from military strategy what George Patton said, battle plans are as good as the first shot fired," the government filing quoted Mandell as saying. "Once that first shot's fired, you're almost into improvisation, right?"
Mandell's attorneys had sought to have the wiretaps barred from trial, arguing the FBI could have used normal investigative techniques to stop the alleged schemes. In denying the request last month, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve quoted snippets of a wiretapped conversation from almost a month before Mandell's arrest that showed he had planned to act dumb and lawyer up if authorities came around asking about Quaranta's murder.
"How can I help you with this (expletive)?" Mandell said he would tell investigators, according to the government filing. 'Wow — he was — this is a murder investigation? … I have a lawyer to attend to this. They'll gladly handle all your questions."
Mandell then planned to point investigators in another direction by remarking on Quaranta's background as a strip club operator.
"Italian guy, Franklin Park cop who runs five joints? That smells like organized crime," Mandell said he would say. "I think you're in the wrong neighborhood. Go beat on someone else's door."
Thanks to Jason Meisner and Joseph Ryan.
"You chop the snake's head off. Pow," Steven Mandell allegedly told an undercover informant in September 2012 as a hidden video recorder rolled. "I still don't think you have a clear path on how it plays out, but at least we'd be on our way, wouldn't we?"
In the end, Mandell decided to kill the more vulnerable of the two — and his wife if necessary — then place a threatening phone call to the second target's wife to convince him to walk away, according to transcripts of the secret recordings filed recently in federal court. And in case anyone thought the Chicago Outfit's infamous Elmwood Park crew didn't have muscle anymore, Mandell had a special message.
"Tell that (expletive) husband to leave this situation alone, or else," Mandell said he would tell the wife, according to the government filing. "'Cause I'll show you what Elmwood Park really looks like. I can get really nasty."
On the FBI video, Mandell then drew a hand across this throat and made a "slitting sound," the filing said.
The chilling new details have emerged a month before Mandell, 63, is set to go on trial in U.S. District Court in connection with a series of alleged plots, including a gruesome scheme to kidnap and extort a local businessman, then kill him and dismember the body.
Now, through details provided in the court record, the Tribune has confirmed that the strip club associate Mandell had allegedly planned to kill, identified in the government filing only as "Victim 2," was Anthony Quaranta, a former Franklin Park cop known as "Tony Q." He also allegedly targeted Quaranta's associate, Demitri Stavropoulos, a highly paid "consultant" at the Polekatz strip club in suburban Bridgeview who was identified in the court record only as "Associate 1."
The court document also paints a more detailed picture of just how reckless and daring Mandell — formerly known as Steven Manning — had allegedly become before his sensational arrest in October 2012.
According to the government filing, for several weeks that fall, Mandell and his alleged associate, Gary Engel, were conducting cloak-and-dagger surveillance of Victim 2's pregnant wife while at the same time outfitting a vacant Northwest Side storefront with the industrial equipment needed to chop up a body as part of the separate plot to kill the businessman.
At one point, the FBI was conducting aerial surveillance as Mandell crouched down next to a car in a suburban mall parking lot, allegedly to install a tracking device on the car of one of his girlfriends, according to court records.
In recent months, Mandell's case has also been linked to the suspicious death of Giacomo Ruggirello, a Lake County restaurateur who perished in a fire in September 2012. The Tribune has previously reported that someone had broken into Ruggirello's Highwood restaurant on the same day as the fire and taken the office safe. Mandell's attorneys have subpoenaed the records from the suspected arson investigation.
Authorities have alleged that Mandell's schemes didn't stop with his arrest. Days later, he called his wife — an 82-year-old Buffalo Grove woman — from a federal Loop jail and asked her to get rid of evidence in the case, his indictment alleged. Prosecutors have also alleged that Mandell tried from jail to arrange the murder of the FBI's key informant in the case — a man previously identified by the Tribune as Northwest Side real estate mogul George Michael.
Originally from the Italian section of Chicago's Near West Side known as "The Patch," Mandell's criminal history goes back to his days as a Chicago cop in the 1970s and '80s. After he was booted from the force for insurance fraud, Mandell was accused of taking part in a mob-connected jewelry theft ring and other alleged schemes, including the kidnapping and extortion of several drug dealers in Kansas City, records show.
Mandell was eventually sent to death row for the drug-related 1990 slaying of a trucking firm owner, and at his sentencing prosecutors linked Mandell to two additional unsolved murders, including the 1986 killing of his own father, Boris, according to court records.
Both his murder and Missouri kidnapping convictions were overturned on appeal after Mandell alleged authorities fabricated evidence and used a notorious jailhouse snitch to frame him. He sued the FBI and won a landmark $6.5 million in damages from a federal jury in 2005. However, a judge later threw out the award, and Mandell did not receive any money.
Records show that after the jury verdict, Mandell moved to Florida, married and started a lock and safe company out of his wife's home. When he returned to Chicago, he had changed his last name from Manning to Mandell, records show.
Mandell's trial in February will focus on a series of undercover recordings made in fall 2012 at Michael's Northwest Side realty office and the storefront on West Devon Avenue jokingly referred to in recordings as "Club Med," where Mandell and Engel allegedly planned to dismember the businessman's body.
While much of the transcripts have been blacked out for undisclosed reasons, the portions that have been made public in court filings highlight the allegedly disturbing nature of the conversations that jurors in Mandell's trial are likely to hear.
Prosecutors allege Mandell and Engel planned to wage "psychological warfare" on the kidnapping victim to coerce him to turn over his assets. In an undercover FBI recording made at Club Med in the days before the planned kidnapping, the two discussed everything from how to instill the most fear in their victim to how best to drain his body of blood.
According to one prosecution filing, Mandell was referring to the victim's genitals when he asked his alleged accomplice, "You going to put a little blade there?"
"It's like slicing a banana split," the filing quoted Engel as responding.
Following his arrest in October, Engel was found hanged in his jail cell in McHenry County, a death that has been ruled a suicide.
According to court records, Mandell was also captured talking extensively about Quaranta and Stavropoulos and their stake in Polekatz, a multimillion-dollar strip club in the south suburbs that has been engulfed in controversy over its murky finances and alleged ties to felons and organized crime associates.
Stavropoulos, identified by the Chicago Crime Commission as an organized crime associate, was brought on as a $5,000-a-week consultant at the club about a year after his release from prison for running a multistate bookmaking ring, according to court records.
A 2010 Tribune investigation also documented how Stavropoulos partnered with another alleged underworld figure, Michael "Jaws" Giorango, and borrowed millions from the family bank of former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who at the time was running for the U.S. Senate. Giorango and Stavropoulos used the money to launch their own lending business that made high-interest, short-term loans to questionable borrowers, the Tribune found.
Quaranta, meanwhile, quit the Franklin Park police in late 2002 at about the time prosecutors dropped charges that he had illegal steroids delivered to his house, records show. He later lent about $500,000 to Polekatz and became a highly paid consultant to the club. Records show that in addition to his interest in Polekatz, Quaranta either owns or has a financial interest in four other strip clubs and taverns from suburban Bedford Park to Indiana and Texas.
Quaranta did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. His attorney, Ed Wanderling, returned a message left on Quaranta's cellphone and said he could not comment on a pending investigation or "what Steve Mandell's ideas or plans were." Wanderling said he was not aware of any plans by prosecutors to use Quaranta as a witness in Mandell's trial.
Reached by telephone recently, Stavropoulos declined to speak about the case. When asked about Mandell, Stavropoulos responded, "Who?"
According to the filing by federal prosecutors, to move in on the Polekatz action, Mandell decided that it made more sense to kill Quaranta, who has no criminal record and would therefore have an easier time fighting the takeover in court if he was left alive.
On the recordings quoted in the government filing, Mandell ruminated how Stavropoulos understood muscle and would step aside once he saw that Mandell meant business.
"Although he's got a big ego, when he sees what happens to (Quaranta) and his old lady … he might (expletive) all over himself, too," Mandell allegedly said of Stavropoulos.
Mandell developed a plot to kill Quaranta and his wife at home while their children were in school, according to the government filing. He lamented it might be a "rush job" but was ready to ad lib if necessary, according to the undercover recordings.
"I know from military strategy what George Patton said, battle plans are as good as the first shot fired," the government filing quoted Mandell as saying. "Once that first shot's fired, you're almost into improvisation, right?"
Mandell's attorneys had sought to have the wiretaps barred from trial, arguing the FBI could have used normal investigative techniques to stop the alleged schemes. In denying the request last month, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve quoted snippets of a wiretapped conversation from almost a month before Mandell's arrest that showed he had planned to act dumb and lawyer up if authorities came around asking about Quaranta's murder.
"How can I help you with this (expletive)?" Mandell said he would tell investigators, according to the government filing. 'Wow — he was — this is a murder investigation? … I have a lawyer to attend to this. They'll gladly handle all your questions."
Mandell then planned to point investigators in another direction by remarking on Quaranta's background as a strip club operator.
"Italian guy, Franklin Park cop who runs five joints? That smells like organized crime," Mandell said he would say. "I think you're in the wrong neighborhood. Go beat on someone else's door."
Thanks to Jason Meisner and Joseph Ryan.
Corruption of Power and Politics, Prohibition Era, Hit Series @BoardwalkEmpire is Coming to an End
HBO’s popular hit series Boardwalk Empire is coming to an end. The upcoming fifth season will be its last. The show’s creator Terence Winter said, “We’re thrilled to get the go-ahead for a fifth season of Boardwalk Empire. After much discussion with my creative team and HBO, we’ve decided to wrap up the series after such a great run and look forward to bringing it to a powerful and exciting conclusion.”
The show takes place in 1920s and 30s Atlantic City, NJ. It features Steve Buscemi as power-hungry millionaire Nucky Thompson. The drama examines the corruption of power and politics during the prohibition era when many politicians were just as crooked as mobsters.
The show is not ending because of a lack of popularity or ratings. Although the period drama never reached the heights of The Sopranos or the critical acclaim of The Wire, it has been a steady earner for HBO and currently ranks third in the ratings to Game of Thrones and True Blood. The show has won a total of five Emmy Awards.
There are plenty of loose ends for season five to tie-up. Nucky’s brother Eli, who ratted him out to the Feds, has been sent to Chicago where he’ll meet up with the likes of Al Capone. Gillian is in prison and suffering from a nervous breakdown. Chalky will certainly look to avenge the death of his daughter. What’s to become of the evil Dr. Narcisse? How far will J. Edgar Hoover go in his war on the mob?
Winter and company will have to complete their series arc in just 12 episodes. The final season will air this fall.
The show takes place in 1920s and 30s Atlantic City, NJ. It features Steve Buscemi as power-hungry millionaire Nucky Thompson. The drama examines the corruption of power and politics during the prohibition era when many politicians were just as crooked as mobsters.
The show is not ending because of a lack of popularity or ratings. Although the period drama never reached the heights of The Sopranos or the critical acclaim of The Wire, it has been a steady earner for HBO and currently ranks third in the ratings to Game of Thrones and True Blood. The show has won a total of five Emmy Awards.
There are plenty of loose ends for season five to tie-up. Nucky’s brother Eli, who ratted him out to the Feds, has been sent to Chicago where he’ll meet up with the likes of Al Capone. Gillian is in prison and suffering from a nervous breakdown. Chalky will certainly look to avenge the death of his daughter. What’s to become of the evil Dr. Narcisse? How far will J. Edgar Hoover go in his war on the mob?
Winter and company will have to complete their series arc in just 12 episodes. The final season will air this fall.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Derek Jackson Sentenced to Federal Prison for Armed Pharmacy Robbery
United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that U.S. District Court Judge George Z. Singal, sitting in Portland, sentenced Derek Jackson, 38, to two years in federal prison for robbing the Hannaford pharmacy.
Court records reveal that on March 23, 2013, at approximately 2:11 p.m., Jackson approached the pharmacy counter of the Hannaford in Windham, Maine and demanded a large amount of Dilaudid, a scheduled narcotic opioid pain medication commonly known in generic form as hydromorphone. At the time of the robbery, Jackson had a knife tucked in the waistband of his pants which he displayed to pharmacy employees in the course of the robbery. Jackson left the pharmacy with 250 hydromorphone pills and swallowed them within an hour of committing the robbery.
In imposing the sentence, the judge stated that he took into account the fact that Jackson suffers from a chronic disease and was attempting to end his life by ingesting the drugs that he stole from the pharmacy. Following his incarceration, Jackson will be on federal supervised release for three years.
The investigation was conducted by the Windham Police Department, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Court records reveal that on March 23, 2013, at approximately 2:11 p.m., Jackson approached the pharmacy counter of the Hannaford in Windham, Maine and demanded a large amount of Dilaudid, a scheduled narcotic opioid pain medication commonly known in generic form as hydromorphone. At the time of the robbery, Jackson had a knife tucked in the waistband of his pants which he displayed to pharmacy employees in the course of the robbery. Jackson left the pharmacy with 250 hydromorphone pills and swallowed them within an hour of committing the robbery.
In imposing the sentence, the judge stated that he took into account the fact that Jackson suffers from a chronic disease and was attempting to end his life by ingesting the drugs that he stole from the pharmacy. Following his incarceration, Jackson will be on federal supervised release for three years.
The investigation was conducted by the Windham Police Department, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Nicholas Alexander Sentenced to More Than Two Years in Prison for Conspiring to Commit Pharmacy Robbery
United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that Nicholas Alexander, 23, of Dresden, Maine, was sentenced in United States District Court by Judge George Z. Singal to 28 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to rob a Walgreens pharmacy in Bath. Alexander pleaded guilty to the charge on September 24, 2013.
According to court records, Alexander and other individuals participated in the June 14, 2013 robbery of the Bath Walgreens. Alexander handed a note to a pharmacist that read, "You have 20 seconds to give me all your Oxycodone 15mg tablets and 30s or I will blow your [expletive] brains out." As a result, Alexander was given a bag containing 11 bottles of Oxycodone tablets. Alexander was later found at a motel in Wiscasset, where investigators found almost 600 Oxycodone tablets. In a subsequent interview, Alexander admitted robbing the store, using some of the stolen tablets, and selling others.
The investigation was conducted by the Bath Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. United States Attorney Delahanty praised the cooperative actions of the local, county, state, and federal agencies. "The United States Attorney’s Office has put a special emphasis on the investigation and prosecution of pharmacy robberies in the state of Maine. I am pleased that the cooperative effort of law enforcement at all levels resulted in the successful conclusion of this case."
According to court records, Alexander and other individuals participated in the June 14, 2013 robbery of the Bath Walgreens. Alexander handed a note to a pharmacist that read, "You have 20 seconds to give me all your Oxycodone 15mg tablets and 30s or I will blow your [expletive] brains out." As a result, Alexander was given a bag containing 11 bottles of Oxycodone tablets. Alexander was later found at a motel in Wiscasset, where investigators found almost 600 Oxycodone tablets. In a subsequent interview, Alexander admitted robbing the store, using some of the stolen tablets, and selling others.
The investigation was conducted by the Bath Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. United States Attorney Delahanty praised the cooperative actions of the local, county, state, and federal agencies. "The United States Attorney’s Office has put a special emphasis on the investigation and prosecution of pharmacy robberies in the state of Maine. I am pleased that the cooperative effort of law enforcement at all levels resulted in the successful conclusion of this case."
Crime Syndicate Human Trafficking: A Fast Growing Industry
Human trafficking is a lucrative industry that is controlled by crime syndicates who are in cahoots with corrupt politicians and law enforcement authorities.
In fact, it is the world's fastest growing organized crime that has remained unsolved for many generations now. As a result, this criminal act has destroyed the lives of millions of innocent victims, including children, who were either duped, forced or sold, by reason of poverty, to work as prostitutes in brothels, child laborers or slaves in big farms.
Statistics shows that at least 20.9 million people are trafficked each year. Sexual abuses account 22 percent of this total. In America alone, an estimated 100,000 innocent girls, aged 12 to 14, have become victims of human trafficking. This illegal trade has generated about US$22 million in online sex transactions annually. This figure doesn't include the revenues that could have been earned from street sex solicitation, using these young girls.
Second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable illegal industry in the world, the total annual revenue for trafficking in persons were estimated to be between USD$5 billion and $9 billion in 2004, a Wikipedia report said. But the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated the annual global profits of trafficking to have reached $31.6 billion in 2005. But some critics said the figures were grossly inflated for the purpose of international advocacy.
As part of his crusade, prior to the forthcoming elections, President Barack Obama has committed to issue a policy that will strengthen the government's resolve to end human trafficking across the globe.
In 2000, the United Nations adopted in Palermo, Italy, the Trafficking Protocol, otherwise known as the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. It is the first global, legally binding instrument on trafficking in over half a century and the only one that sets out an agreed definition of trafficking in persons, that is attached to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
Under its provisions, the Protocol defines human trafficking as the "recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."
Despite the strict issuance of protocols in agreement with other countries, many people are asking as to why the illegal trafficking of humans is still proliferating? Of course, there are no immediate solutions to this societal malady. it has been around for many decades, and the traffickers are always advanced in creating strategies that will outwit effective plans of government operatives. And apprehending the criminals was even made more difficult in situations where the human traffickers had established rapport with government authorities, in exchange for huge bribes.
Thanks to Randolph Altarejos.
In fact, it is the world's fastest growing organized crime that has remained unsolved for many generations now. As a result, this criminal act has destroyed the lives of millions of innocent victims, including children, who were either duped, forced or sold, by reason of poverty, to work as prostitutes in brothels, child laborers or slaves in big farms.
Statistics shows that at least 20.9 million people are trafficked each year. Sexual abuses account 22 percent of this total. In America alone, an estimated 100,000 innocent girls, aged 12 to 14, have become victims of human trafficking. This illegal trade has generated about US$22 million in online sex transactions annually. This figure doesn't include the revenues that could have been earned from street sex solicitation, using these young girls.
Second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable illegal industry in the world, the total annual revenue for trafficking in persons were estimated to be between USD$5 billion and $9 billion in 2004, a Wikipedia report said. But the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated the annual global profits of trafficking to have reached $31.6 billion in 2005. But some critics said the figures were grossly inflated for the purpose of international advocacy.
As part of his crusade, prior to the forthcoming elections, President Barack Obama has committed to issue a policy that will strengthen the government's resolve to end human trafficking across the globe.
In 2000, the United Nations adopted in Palermo, Italy, the Trafficking Protocol, otherwise known as the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. It is the first global, legally binding instrument on trafficking in over half a century and the only one that sets out an agreed definition of trafficking in persons, that is attached to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
Under its provisions, the Protocol defines human trafficking as the "recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."
Despite the strict issuance of protocols in agreement with other countries, many people are asking as to why the illegal trafficking of humans is still proliferating? Of course, there are no immediate solutions to this societal malady. it has been around for many decades, and the traffickers are always advanced in creating strategies that will outwit effective plans of government operatives. And apprehending the criminals was even made more difficult in situations where the human traffickers had established rapport with government authorities, in exchange for huge bribes.
Thanks to Randolph Altarejos.
Top 10 Most Dangerous Jobs in America
New UN Campaign Raises Awareness between #OrganizedCrime and Counterfeit Business
A new global campaign by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was launched yesterday to raise awareness among consumers of the $250 billion a year illicit trafficking of counterfeit goods. The campaign – ‘Counterfeit: Don’t buy into organized crime’ – informs consumers that buying counterfeit goods could be funding organized criminal groups, puts consumer health and safety at risk and contributes to other ethical and environmental concerns.
The campaign is centered around a new Public Service Announcement which launched on the NASDAQ screen in New York’s Times Square on January 14th and aired on several international television stations from January. The campaign urges consumers to ‘look behind’ counterfeit goods to boost understanding of the serious repercussions of this illicit trade.
The illicit trafficking and sale of counterfeit goods provides criminals with a significant source of income and facilitates the laundering of other illicit proceeds. Additionally, monies received from the sale of counterfeit products can be channelled towards the further production of fake goods or other illicit activities.
As a crime which touches virtually everyone in one way or another, counterfeit goods pose a serious risk to consumer health and safety. With no legal regulation and very little recourse, consumers are at risk from unsafe and ineffective products and faulty counterfeit goods can lead to injury and, in some cases, death. Tyres, brake pads and airbags, aeroplane parts, electrical consumer goods, baby formula and children’s toys are just some of the many different items which have been counterfeited.
Fraudulent medicines also present a serious health risk to consumers. . Criminal activity in this area is big business: the sale of fraudulent medicines from East Asia and the Pacific to South-east Asia and Africa alone amounts to $5 Billion per year. At the very least, fraudulent medicines have been found to contain no active ingredients, while at their worst they can contain unknown and potentially harmful chemicals. The list of fraudulent medicines is extensive, and can range from ordinary painkillers and antihistamines, to ‘lifestyle’ medicines, such as those taken for weight loss and sexual dysfunction, to life-saving medicines including those for the treatment of cancer and heart disease.
A wide range of ethical issues can also be overlooked when considering the impact of counterfeiting. Labour exploitation is also an aspect of producing counterfeit goods, with low paid workers facing safety and security concerns with little or no benefits and unregulated conditions. The problem of migrant smuggling is also further exacerbated by the counterfeit business, with reports that a number of those smuggled are coerced into selling counterfeit goods to pay off smuggling debts.
From an environmental standpoint counterfeiting poses a significant challenge: with no regulations in place, there is a real chance that harmful toxic dyes, chemicals, and unknown components used in counterfeit electrical goods are not disposed of properly, leading to serious environmental pollution.
As UNODC’s Executive Director Yury Fedotov notes, “In comparison to other crimes such as drug trafficking, the production and distribution of counterfeit goods present a low-risk/high profit opportunity for criminals. Counterfeiting feeds money laundering activities and encourages corruption. There is also evidence of some involvement or overlap with drug trafficking and other serious crimes.”
Criminal groups use similar routes and modi operandi to move counterfeit goods as they do to smuggle illicit drugs, firearms and people. In 2013, the joint UNODC / World Customs Organization Container Control Programme (CCP) detected counterfeit goods in more than one-third of the seized containers, despite being set up initially to intercept drugs.
The campaign is centered around a new Public Service Announcement which launched on the NASDAQ screen in New York’s Times Square on January 14th and aired on several international television stations from January. The campaign urges consumers to ‘look behind’ counterfeit goods to boost understanding of the serious repercussions of this illicit trade.
The illicit trafficking and sale of counterfeit goods provides criminals with a significant source of income and facilitates the laundering of other illicit proceeds. Additionally, monies received from the sale of counterfeit products can be channelled towards the further production of fake goods or other illicit activities.
As a crime which touches virtually everyone in one way or another, counterfeit goods pose a serious risk to consumer health and safety. With no legal regulation and very little recourse, consumers are at risk from unsafe and ineffective products and faulty counterfeit goods can lead to injury and, in some cases, death. Tyres, brake pads and airbags, aeroplane parts, electrical consumer goods, baby formula and children’s toys are just some of the many different items which have been counterfeited.
Fraudulent medicines also present a serious health risk to consumers. . Criminal activity in this area is big business: the sale of fraudulent medicines from East Asia and the Pacific to South-east Asia and Africa alone amounts to $5 Billion per year. At the very least, fraudulent medicines have been found to contain no active ingredients, while at their worst they can contain unknown and potentially harmful chemicals. The list of fraudulent medicines is extensive, and can range from ordinary painkillers and antihistamines, to ‘lifestyle’ medicines, such as those taken for weight loss and sexual dysfunction, to life-saving medicines including those for the treatment of cancer and heart disease.
A wide range of ethical issues can also be overlooked when considering the impact of counterfeiting. Labour exploitation is also an aspect of producing counterfeit goods, with low paid workers facing safety and security concerns with little or no benefits and unregulated conditions. The problem of migrant smuggling is also further exacerbated by the counterfeit business, with reports that a number of those smuggled are coerced into selling counterfeit goods to pay off smuggling debts.
From an environmental standpoint counterfeiting poses a significant challenge: with no regulations in place, there is a real chance that harmful toxic dyes, chemicals, and unknown components used in counterfeit electrical goods are not disposed of properly, leading to serious environmental pollution.
As UNODC’s Executive Director Yury Fedotov notes, “In comparison to other crimes such as drug trafficking, the production and distribution of counterfeit goods present a low-risk/high profit opportunity for criminals. Counterfeiting feeds money laundering activities and encourages corruption. There is also evidence of some involvement or overlap with drug trafficking and other serious crimes.”
Criminal groups use similar routes and modi operandi to move counterfeit goods as they do to smuggle illicit drugs, firearms and people. In 2013, the joint UNODC / World Customs Organization Container Control Programme (CCP) detected counterfeit goods in more than one-third of the seized containers, despite being set up initially to intercept drugs.
Armed Citizen Halts Carjacking
A resident of Henrico County, Va. travelled to a housing complex to look at a car that had been listed for sale. When the resident arrived, he was met by a pair of men who robbed him of his car keys and cash at gunpoint. But before the thieves were able to make off with his car, the resident was able to retrieve a shotgun from his vehicle and force the criminals to flee. (WTVR, Richmond, Va. 01/11/14)
Francisco Ponce, a #MS13 Gang Leader, Pleads Guilty to Racketeering
Francisco Ponce, a leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13 street gang (MS-13), pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, to racketeering, including predicate acts relating to the February 15, 2009 armed robbery of the Pollo Campero restaurant in Lindenhurst, New York, and the September 12, 2009 armed robbery of Los Hermanos Grocery in Brentwood, New York, which resulted in the murder of Miguel Peralta, an employee of that grocery. When sentenced, Ponce faces up to life in prison.
The guilty plea was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George Venizelos, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.
“Ponce was in charge of the MS-13 'brand' in New York and sought to strengthen it with acts of mayhem. Seeking funds to fuel their violent lifestyle in New York and abroad, he and his cohorts robbed and terrorized Long Island neighborhoods. Miguel Peralta fell victim to their thirst for blood and money when he unknowingly walked in on a robbery at the store at which he worked,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “This office and our law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute gang members, especially those who terrorize our communities and, as demonstrated in the tragic murder of Mr. Peralta, kill innocent victims.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos stated, “Rather than function as a productive member of society, the defendant instead chose a life of crime, intent on spreading fear and violence throughout our community. The FBI is committed to removing these violent criminals from our streets. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to dismantle MS-13 and bring to justice every gang member who victimizes the public.”
According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, Ponce and two other MS-13 members, Joyser Velasquez, also known as “Baby Boy,”1 and Carlos Chicas, also known as “Flaco,” carried out the September 12, 2009 armed robbery of Los Hermanos Grocery and the murder of Miguel Peralta. Shortly before midnight, Velasquez and Chicas, who were armed with semi-automatic handguns, entered the store while Ponce waited as the getaway driver. Peralta, who was sweeping a storeroom in the back of the store, heard the commotion, entered the front of the store, and came face to face with Velasquez, who shot him once in the side. Peralta then ran down an aisle where he was confronted by Chicas, who shot him in the head. The robbers then rifled through the cash register, took cash and checks, and fled to the awaiting getaway car that was driven by Ponce.
Several months prior to the Peralta murder, Ponce, Velasquez, and two other MS- 13 members, Wilmer Granillo, also known as “Chele,” and Freddy Fuentes-Gonzalez, also known as “Pitufo,”2 committed an armed robbery of the Pollo Campero restaurant in Lindenhurst, New York. Specifically, on February 15, 2009, Velasquez—who was armed with a semi-automatic handgun—Granillo,and Fuentes-Gonzalez entered the Pollo Campero restaurant wearing hooded sweatshirts and ski masks, held the employees at gunpoint, and forced the manager to open the safe by holding a knife to his throat. The MS-13 members stole approximately $15,000 from the safe and then fled to the car, where Ponce was waiting to drive them away.
Ponce’s conviction further demonstrates the strong connection between members of the MS-13 gang in New York, El Salvador, and elsewhere. As set forth in prior court filings and testimony introduced during two recent MS-13 racketeering trials, between 2009 and 2010, Ponce was the New York leader of “The Program,” an initiative by the MS-13’s leadership in El Salvador to exercise greater control over the international MS-13 enterprise, including the MS- 13 cliques and members in New York, enforce discipline and adherence to the gang’s rules, and cause more money to be sent to MS-13 members in El Salvador and other parts of Central America. Ponce functioned as a liaison between the MS-13 clique leaders in New York and the gang’s hierarchy in El Salvador, organizing “universal meetings,” which were meetings attended by the leaders of the New York cliques of the MS-13, and collecting money from the New York cliques to purchase firearms and ammunition, which were used in furtherance of MS-13’s violent agenda and to send money to gang leaders in El Salvador.
Chicas and Granillo, two of Ponce’s co-conspirators in the Peralta murder and Pollo Campero robbery, respectively, are believed to have fled the jurisdiction and remain fugitives.3 The FBI requests that anyone with information regarding their whereabouts telephone (212) 384-1000. Chicas and Granillo should be considered armed and dangerous.
Ponce’s conviction is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent international street gang comprised primarily of immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the largest street gang on Long Island. Since 2002, more than 200 MS-13 members, including more than two dozen clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. More than 100 of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges. Since 2010 alone, this office has convicted more than 30 members of the MS-13 on charges relating to their participation in one or more murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, comprising agents and officers of the FBI, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, Rockville Centre Police Department, and Suffolk County Police Department.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Raymond A. Tierney, and Carrie N. Capwell.
The guilty plea was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George Venizelos, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.
“Ponce was in charge of the MS-13 'brand' in New York and sought to strengthen it with acts of mayhem. Seeking funds to fuel their violent lifestyle in New York and abroad, he and his cohorts robbed and terrorized Long Island neighborhoods. Miguel Peralta fell victim to their thirst for blood and money when he unknowingly walked in on a robbery at the store at which he worked,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “This office and our law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute gang members, especially those who terrorize our communities and, as demonstrated in the tragic murder of Mr. Peralta, kill innocent victims.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos stated, “Rather than function as a productive member of society, the defendant instead chose a life of crime, intent on spreading fear and violence throughout our community. The FBI is committed to removing these violent criminals from our streets. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to dismantle MS-13 and bring to justice every gang member who victimizes the public.”
According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, Ponce and two other MS-13 members, Joyser Velasquez, also known as “Baby Boy,”1 and Carlos Chicas, also known as “Flaco,” carried out the September 12, 2009 armed robbery of Los Hermanos Grocery and the murder of Miguel Peralta. Shortly before midnight, Velasquez and Chicas, who were armed with semi-automatic handguns, entered the store while Ponce waited as the getaway driver. Peralta, who was sweeping a storeroom in the back of the store, heard the commotion, entered the front of the store, and came face to face with Velasquez, who shot him once in the side. Peralta then ran down an aisle where he was confronted by Chicas, who shot him in the head. The robbers then rifled through the cash register, took cash and checks, and fled to the awaiting getaway car that was driven by Ponce.
Several months prior to the Peralta murder, Ponce, Velasquez, and two other MS- 13 members, Wilmer Granillo, also known as “Chele,” and Freddy Fuentes-Gonzalez, also known as “Pitufo,”2 committed an armed robbery of the Pollo Campero restaurant in Lindenhurst, New York. Specifically, on February 15, 2009, Velasquez—who was armed with a semi-automatic handgun—Granillo,and Fuentes-Gonzalez entered the Pollo Campero restaurant wearing hooded sweatshirts and ski masks, held the employees at gunpoint, and forced the manager to open the safe by holding a knife to his throat. The MS-13 members stole approximately $15,000 from the safe and then fled to the car, where Ponce was waiting to drive them away.
Ponce’s conviction further demonstrates the strong connection between members of the MS-13 gang in New York, El Salvador, and elsewhere. As set forth in prior court filings and testimony introduced during two recent MS-13 racketeering trials, between 2009 and 2010, Ponce was the New York leader of “The Program,” an initiative by the MS-13’s leadership in El Salvador to exercise greater control over the international MS-13 enterprise, including the MS- 13 cliques and members in New York, enforce discipline and adherence to the gang’s rules, and cause more money to be sent to MS-13 members in El Salvador and other parts of Central America. Ponce functioned as a liaison between the MS-13 clique leaders in New York and the gang’s hierarchy in El Salvador, organizing “universal meetings,” which were meetings attended by the leaders of the New York cliques of the MS-13, and collecting money from the New York cliques to purchase firearms and ammunition, which were used in furtherance of MS-13’s violent agenda and to send money to gang leaders in El Salvador.
Chicas and Granillo, two of Ponce’s co-conspirators in the Peralta murder and Pollo Campero robbery, respectively, are believed to have fled the jurisdiction and remain fugitives.3 The FBI requests that anyone with information regarding their whereabouts telephone (212) 384-1000. Chicas and Granillo should be considered armed and dangerous.
Ponce’s conviction is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent international street gang comprised primarily of immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the largest street gang on Long Island. Since 2002, more than 200 MS-13 members, including more than two dozen clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. More than 100 of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges. Since 2010 alone, this office has convicted more than 30 members of the MS-13 on charges relating to their participation in one or more murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, comprising agents and officers of the FBI, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, Rockville Centre Police Department, and Suffolk County Police Department.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Raymond A. Tierney, and Carrie N. Capwell.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Senators Kirk, Brown And Durbin Introduce Bipartisan Resolution To Honor Famed Prohibition Agent, Eliot Ness
U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bipartisan resolution to honor Ohio resident and Illinois native Eliot Ness, the legendary law enforcement agent who fought to bring Chicago mob boss Al Capone to justice. The senators’ resolution would name the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) headquarters in Washington D.C., the Eliot Ness ATF Building.
“America’s fight against dangerous drug gangs is far from over, but in honoring Eliot Ness’ public service and his tireless crime fighting we reaffirm our commitment to safe streets and ensure that justice is brought to the Illinois families who have suffered,” Kirk said.
“Eliot Ness is perhaps best known as the man who helped to bring Al Capone to justice,” Brown said. “But Eliot Ness was more than just a Chicago prohibition agent. He fought for law and justice in Ohio, and fought for peace and freedom in World War II. He was a public servant and an American hero who deserves to be remembered.”
“Chicago gangster Al Capone believed that every man had his price,” Durbin said. “But for Eliot Ness and his legendary law enforcement team ‘The Untouchables,’ no amount of money could buy their loyalty or sway their dedication to Chicago’s safety. That steadfast commitment to public service is why it is so fitting that we remember Eliot Ness with this honor.”
In 1926, Ness was appointed as an agent in the federal Prohibition Bureau, the predecessor to today’s BATFE. He worked to combat bootlegging in the Midwest during prohibition and was the Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago division that brought down gangster Al Capone with indictments on over 5,000 prohibition violations. This story is recounted in a book he authored with Oscar Fraley called The Untouchables, as well as a television series and movie by the same name.
When prohibition ended in 1933, Ness transferred from Chicago to Cincinnati and then Cleveland to serve as the Special Agent in Charge of the northern district of Ohio’s Alcohol and Tobacco Unit. In 1936, he left federal investigations to become the Cleveland Public Safety Director.
“America’s fight against dangerous drug gangs is far from over, but in honoring Eliot Ness’ public service and his tireless crime fighting we reaffirm our commitment to safe streets and ensure that justice is brought to the Illinois families who have suffered,” Kirk said.
“Eliot Ness is perhaps best known as the man who helped to bring Al Capone to justice,” Brown said. “But Eliot Ness was more than just a Chicago prohibition agent. He fought for law and justice in Ohio, and fought for peace and freedom in World War II. He was a public servant and an American hero who deserves to be remembered.”
“Chicago gangster Al Capone believed that every man had his price,” Durbin said. “But for Eliot Ness and his legendary law enforcement team ‘The Untouchables,’ no amount of money could buy their loyalty or sway their dedication to Chicago’s safety. That steadfast commitment to public service is why it is so fitting that we remember Eliot Ness with this honor.”
In 1926, Ness was appointed as an agent in the federal Prohibition Bureau, the predecessor to today’s BATFE. He worked to combat bootlegging in the Midwest during prohibition and was the Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago division that brought down gangster Al Capone with indictments on over 5,000 prohibition violations. This story is recounted in a book he authored with Oscar Fraley called The Untouchables, as well as a television series and movie by the same name.
When prohibition ended in 1933, Ness transferred from Chicago to Cincinnati and then Cleveland to serve as the Special Agent in Charge of the northern district of Ohio’s Alcohol and Tobacco Unit. In 1936, he left federal investigations to become the Cleveland Public Safety Director.
Ever greater numbers of women are buying and learning to use guns for self-defense
According to Gallup poll data, the percentage of American women who own a firearm nearly doubled from 2005-2011, rising from 13 percent to 23 percent.
In August, the National Shooting Sports Foundation reported that 37 percent of new target shooters are female, though they comprise only 22 percent of the established target-shooting population.
In August, the National Shooting Sports Foundation reported that 37 percent of new target shooters are female, though they comprise only 22 percent of the established target-shooting population.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Christopher Helt Named Recipient of FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award
Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that Christopher W. Helt, a Chicago immigration lawyer, has been named the recipient of the FBI’s Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) for the Chicago Division.
The FBI presents the DCLA annually on behalf of its Director, James B. Comey. The award was established in 1990 as a way to honor individuals and organizations for their efforts to prevent crime, terrorism, drugs, and violence and to further law enforcement efforts in their communities. Each year, the special agent in charge of each of the FBI’s 56 field offices selects an honoree that has made a significant difference in the lives of others.
Mr. Helt was selected by the Chicago Division for playing an instrumental role in the establishment of the division’s Explorer Post. Formally known as the Edwin C. Shanahan Memorial Post #1920, the program provides an opportunity for approximately 30 local high school students to engage with special agents and other FBI personnel to develop leadership, teamwork, discipline, and socialization skills while learning more about a possible future law enforcement career. Mr. Helt has been a dedicated supporter of the Post since its inception. He serves as a member of the Post’s Board of Directors, he obtained non-profit status for the Post, and he has led fundraising efforts to benefit the Post. In addition, he has used his position as a community leader to recruit others to support the Post and has raised awareness of the Post through social media.
Mr. Helt is a 2011 graduate of the FBI Chicago Citizens Academy, and, as an active member of the Citizens Academy Alumni Association, he serves as an advocate for the FBI and law enforcement in general.
Mr. Helt will be honored at an awards luncheon scheduled for 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at Loyola University’s Corboy Law Center at 25 East Pearson Street in Chicago. He will also join DCLA recipients selected by the other FBI field offices across the nation at an awards ceremony to be held in Washington, D.C., in April, where he will be personally recognized and honored by Director Comey.
The FBI presents the DCLA annually on behalf of its Director, James B. Comey. The award was established in 1990 as a way to honor individuals and organizations for their efforts to prevent crime, terrorism, drugs, and violence and to further law enforcement efforts in their communities. Each year, the special agent in charge of each of the FBI’s 56 field offices selects an honoree that has made a significant difference in the lives of others.
Mr. Helt was selected by the Chicago Division for playing an instrumental role in the establishment of the division’s Explorer Post. Formally known as the Edwin C. Shanahan Memorial Post #1920, the program provides an opportunity for approximately 30 local high school students to engage with special agents and other FBI personnel to develop leadership, teamwork, discipline, and socialization skills while learning more about a possible future law enforcement career. Mr. Helt has been a dedicated supporter of the Post since its inception. He serves as a member of the Post’s Board of Directors, he obtained non-profit status for the Post, and he has led fundraising efforts to benefit the Post. In addition, he has used his position as a community leader to recruit others to support the Post and has raised awareness of the Post through social media.
Mr. Helt is a 2011 graduate of the FBI Chicago Citizens Academy, and, as an active member of the Citizens Academy Alumni Association, he serves as an advocate for the FBI and law enforcement in general.
Mr. Helt will be honored at an awards luncheon scheduled for 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at Loyola University’s Corboy Law Center at 25 East Pearson Street in Chicago. He will also join DCLA recipients selected by the other FBI field offices across the nation at an awards ceremony to be held in Washington, D.C., in April, where he will be personally recognized and honored by Director Comey.
Hundreds of Armed Civilian Vigilantes Seize Town from #KnightsTemplar Drug Cartel
Vigilantes seized a drug cartel's bastion in western Mexico on Sunday, sparking a shootout as the civilian militia gained new ground in their struggle against the gang in a violence-plagued region.
Hundreds of armed civilians riding in more than 100 pickup trucks rolled into the Michoacan state town of Nueva Italia and were met by gunfire from presumed Knights Templar cartel members when they reached the municipal office.
"They shot at us from two locations and the clash lasted around an hour and a half," Jaime Ortiz, a 47-year-old farmer and vigilante leader from the town of La Ruana, told AFP.
Two members of the self-defense unit were wounded, he said, standing in the 40,000-population town's main square, surrounded by hundreds of men armed with AK-47 assault rifles, bulletproof vests and radios.
Some sidewalks were soaked in blood in the town's empty streets.
Later, on a highway leading to the town, authorities found two men hanging from a bridge, though it was not immediately known if the killings were related to the vigilantes' advance. Mexican cartels have hanged many victims in recent years.
Michoacan's growing civilian militia movement, which first emerged nearly a year ago, has seized more communities in recent weeks in its bid to rout the Templars.
The turmoil in Michoacan has become the biggest security challenge of President Enrique Pena Nieto's 13-month-old administration, which inherited a drug war that has killed more than 77,000 people in the past seven years.
Pena Nieto deployed thousands of troops and federal police to the state in May, but the reinforcements have failed to contain the violence.
Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong has said the self-defense units are illegal. Yet some critics charge the government is protecting them.
The Templars have accused the vigilantes of being a proxy force for the rival Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, a charge the militias deny.
The militias have now surrounded Apatzingan, a city of 123,000 people considered the main Templar stronghold in Michoacan's lime- and avocado-growing region known as Tierra Caliente, or Hot Country.
Vigilante leaders say Apatzingan is a key target because of its importance to the cartel and because it is a vital trade hub for their limes, avocados and mangos.
In October, hundreds of self-defense militia members marched into Apatzingan unarmed and fled after being welcomed with gun shots in the main square. "It is very close. We want to seize it but we don't have a date yet. It will be in the next few days," said Hipolito Mora, a prominent vigilante leader from the town of La Ruana.
In Nueva Italia, the streets were empty, restaurants and shops closed their doors and residents shut their windows after the vigilante incursion.
The vigilantes met with the mayor and residents to explain their strategy against organized crime. "At first we supported the Templars because we believed that they were protecting Michoacan," said a mother of two who attended the meeting and requested anonymity. "But now the economy is very weak, they don't let us work and they charge protection money," she said.
Towns began to form vigilante forces in February 2012, saying they were fed up with the local police's inability or unwillingness to stop the cartel's murders, kidnappings and extortion rackets. But some see the self-defense forces with suspicion.
Opponents of the vigilantes have burned trucks and buses in the past week to protest the militias' incursions in the region. The vigilantes say the protesters are coerced or paid by the Templars.
Michoacan Governor Fausto Vallejo said new "coordinated actions" with the federal government would be announced on Monday to deal with the unrest.
Critics say Michoacan has become a "failed state," with local authorities powerless to control the situation. "What we are observing is the absence of the state, the absence of governability," the head of the National Human Rights Commission, Raul Plascencia, told El Universal newspaper.
Thanks to Leticia Pineda.
Hundreds of armed civilians riding in more than 100 pickup trucks rolled into the Michoacan state town of Nueva Italia and were met by gunfire from presumed Knights Templar cartel members when they reached the municipal office.
"They shot at us from two locations and the clash lasted around an hour and a half," Jaime Ortiz, a 47-year-old farmer and vigilante leader from the town of La Ruana, told AFP.
Two members of the self-defense unit were wounded, he said, standing in the 40,000-population town's main square, surrounded by hundreds of men armed with AK-47 assault rifles, bulletproof vests and radios.
Some sidewalks were soaked in blood in the town's empty streets.
Later, on a highway leading to the town, authorities found two men hanging from a bridge, though it was not immediately known if the killings were related to the vigilantes' advance. Mexican cartels have hanged many victims in recent years.
Michoacan's growing civilian militia movement, which first emerged nearly a year ago, has seized more communities in recent weeks in its bid to rout the Templars.
The turmoil in Michoacan has become the biggest security challenge of President Enrique Pena Nieto's 13-month-old administration, which inherited a drug war that has killed more than 77,000 people in the past seven years.
Pena Nieto deployed thousands of troops and federal police to the state in May, but the reinforcements have failed to contain the violence.
Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong has said the self-defense units are illegal. Yet some critics charge the government is protecting them.
The Templars have accused the vigilantes of being a proxy force for the rival Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, a charge the militias deny.
The militias have now surrounded Apatzingan, a city of 123,000 people considered the main Templar stronghold in Michoacan's lime- and avocado-growing region known as Tierra Caliente, or Hot Country.
Vigilante leaders say Apatzingan is a key target because of its importance to the cartel and because it is a vital trade hub for their limes, avocados and mangos.
In October, hundreds of self-defense militia members marched into Apatzingan unarmed and fled after being welcomed with gun shots in the main square. "It is very close. We want to seize it but we don't have a date yet. It will be in the next few days," said Hipolito Mora, a prominent vigilante leader from the town of La Ruana.
In Nueva Italia, the streets were empty, restaurants and shops closed their doors and residents shut their windows after the vigilante incursion.
The vigilantes met with the mayor and residents to explain their strategy against organized crime. "At first we supported the Templars because we believed that they were protecting Michoacan," said a mother of two who attended the meeting and requested anonymity. "But now the economy is very weak, they don't let us work and they charge protection money," she said.
Towns began to form vigilante forces in February 2012, saying they were fed up with the local police's inability or unwillingness to stop the cartel's murders, kidnappings and extortion rackets. But some see the self-defense forces with suspicion.
Opponents of the vigilantes have burned trucks and buses in the past week to protest the militias' incursions in the region. The vigilantes say the protesters are coerced or paid by the Templars.
Michoacan Governor Fausto Vallejo said new "coordinated actions" with the federal government would be announced on Monday to deal with the unrest.
Critics say Michoacan has become a "failed state," with local authorities powerless to control the situation. "What we are observing is the absence of the state, the absence of governability," the head of the National Human Rights Commission, Raul Plascencia, told El Universal newspaper.
Thanks to Leticia Pineda.
Larry Kyle Richardson Arrested and Accused of Running an Online Gambling Site
A Boulder County man has been arrested after a grand jury indicted him on racketeering charges for allegedly running an online gambling website for at least three years.
Larry Kyle Richardson, 62, was indicted on one charge of violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act -- a Class 2 felony -- according to an indictment released.
According to court documents, Richardson is suspected of running an online gambling website from Jan. 1 2010 through Jan. 8, 2013, "in, or triable in, Boulder County." Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said while he could not discuss the details of the case, for it to be "triable" in Boulder County it must have some connection to the district. "That could include all kinds of things from the defendant living here, to having bank accounts here to an exchange taking place here," Garnett said.
The indictment lists 195 instances in which search warrants executed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation obtained checks from suspected gamblers to Richardson in amounts ranging from $50 to $11,000. The sum of the checks collected by the CBI totals almost $300,000.
The indictment claims Richardson was part of a gambling enterprise which "unlawfully, feloniously, and knowingly conducted or participated, directly or indirectly, in the enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity."
The indictment says Richardson would pay a percentage of the income he received through the site to a Richard "Dick" Hancock. The indictment says Teddy Mitchell, Gary Gibb, Dryden Mitchell, Roger "Dodger" Antablin also were involved in bookmaking operations related to the enterprise.
Names of the suspected gamblers who wrote checks to Richardson were also referenced in the indictment. While Garnett could not comment on whether the other people named in the document were facing indictments in other jurisdictions, he said none of them were facing charges in Boulder County.
A warrant for Richardson's arrest was issued and Richardson was arrested Friday by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and is being held at the Boulder County Jail on $50,000 bond.
Court records show Richardson pleaded guilty to DUI-related charges in 1985 and 1995 in Boulder County.
Thanks to Mitchell Byers.
Lone Star Joint Task Force Executes 25 Year Old Warrant
Larry Lou McCumber, 66, was arrested by the United States Marshals Service Oklahoma City Metro Fugitive Squad (OCMFS) in Oklahoma City, OK. An arrest warrant was issued pursuant to an investigation by the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), where more than 25 years ago McCumber was indicted on allegations of robbery and threat to a business.
On January 8, 2014, members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force initiated an investigation in the search for McCumber. Subsequent to the investigation, task force officers discovered that McCumber had previously fled from San Antonio, TX to Oklahoma City, OK. Members of the LSFTF then contacted members of the OCMFS in Oklahoma City, OK for assistance in locating and apprehending McCumber. Yesterday, task force officers determined through investigative efforts that McCumber was residing at a house in the 3800 block of Hiddleston Circle, in Oklahoma City, OK. Task force officers conducted a brief surveillance and approached the residence. Task force officers made contact with McCumber’s spouse, identified themselves, entered the residence, made contact with McCumber, and took him into custody without incident.
On April 20, 1988, McCumber was formally indicted by a Grand Jury in Bexar County on allegations of robbery and threat to a business. A warrant for McCumber’s arrest was issued the same day. On January 22, 1988, McCumber allegedly entered a hotel in San Antonio, walked to the front desk, and handed a note to the clerk demanding money. McCumber then placed his hand in his jacket pocket and motioned to indicate he had a weapon. Once the clerk handed McCumber the money, he verbally threatened her not to do anything, and he ran from the hotel.
Robert R. Almonte, United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas, stated, “More than 25 years ago a warrant was issued for McCumber’s arrest and more than 25 years later he’s finally in custody. The collaborative effort between the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and the Oklahoma City Metro Fugitive Squad proves that our task force officers are good at what they do…pursue fugitives and put them behind bars.”
Members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force:
New Braunfels Police Department
San Antonio Police Department
San Antonio Independent School District Police Department
Bexar County Sheriff’s Office
Comal County Sheriff’s Office
Bexar County Fire Marshal’s Office
Bexar County District Attorney’s Office
Texas Office of The Attorney General
Texas Department of Public Safety
Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Office of the Inspector General
Immigration & Customs Enforcement – Office of Detention & Removal
U.S. Marshals Service
On January 8, 2014, members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force initiated an investigation in the search for McCumber. Subsequent to the investigation, task force officers discovered that McCumber had previously fled from San Antonio, TX to Oklahoma City, OK. Members of the LSFTF then contacted members of the OCMFS in Oklahoma City, OK for assistance in locating and apprehending McCumber. Yesterday, task force officers determined through investigative efforts that McCumber was residing at a house in the 3800 block of Hiddleston Circle, in Oklahoma City, OK. Task force officers conducted a brief surveillance and approached the residence. Task force officers made contact with McCumber’s spouse, identified themselves, entered the residence, made contact with McCumber, and took him into custody without incident.
On April 20, 1988, McCumber was formally indicted by a Grand Jury in Bexar County on allegations of robbery and threat to a business. A warrant for McCumber’s arrest was issued the same day. On January 22, 1988, McCumber allegedly entered a hotel in San Antonio, walked to the front desk, and handed a note to the clerk demanding money. McCumber then placed his hand in his jacket pocket and motioned to indicate he had a weapon. Once the clerk handed McCumber the money, he verbally threatened her not to do anything, and he ran from the hotel.
Robert R. Almonte, United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas, stated, “More than 25 years ago a warrant was issued for McCumber’s arrest and more than 25 years later he’s finally in custody. The collaborative effort between the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and the Oklahoma City Metro Fugitive Squad proves that our task force officers are good at what they do…pursue fugitives and put them behind bars.”
Members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force:
New Braunfels Police Department
San Antonio Police Department
San Antonio Independent School District Police Department
Bexar County Sheriff’s Office
Comal County Sheriff’s Office
Bexar County Fire Marshal’s Office
Bexar County District Attorney’s Office
Texas Office of The Attorney General
Texas Department of Public Safety
Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Office of the Inspector General
Immigration & Customs Enforcement – Office of Detention & Removal
U.S. Marshals Service
Florida Alert! Stop Discrimination against Gun Owners by Insurance Companies
Senate Bill 424 by Senator Tom Lee (R-Brandon) is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Tuesday, January 14, at 2:00 pm.
SB-424 is a bill to stop insurance companies from discriminating against gun owners. Click here to view the bill text SB-424
Please E-MAIL Committee members and ask them to SUPPORT SB-424
IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT: SUPPORT SB-424 -- Stop Discrimination of Gun Owners
(To send your message to all just Block and Copy All email addresses into the "Send To" box)
simmons.david.web@flsenate.gov,
benacquisto.lizbeth.web@flsenate.gov,
clemens.jeff.web@flsenate.gov,
detert.nancy.web@flsenate.gov,
portilla.miguel.web@flsenate.gov,
hays.alan.web@flsenate.gov,
lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov,
margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov,
montford.bill.web@flsenate.gov,
negron.joe.web@flsenate.gov,
richter.garrett.web@flsenate.gov,
ring.jeremy.web@flsenate.gov,
Committee members need to hear from you. There are cases of insurance companies refusing to provide insurance to gun owners because they own guns, as well as cases where applications for insurance contain questions about gun ownership. SB-424 will stop such practices.
Please e-mail Committee Members today.
SB-424 is a bill to stop insurance companies from discriminating against gun owners. Click here to view the bill text SB-424
Please E-MAIL Committee members and ask them to SUPPORT SB-424
IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT: SUPPORT SB-424 -- Stop Discrimination of Gun Owners
(To send your message to all just Block and Copy All email addresses into the "Send To" box)
simmons.david.web@flsenate.gov,
benacquisto.lizbeth.web@flsenate.gov,
clemens.jeff.web@flsenate.gov,
detert.nancy.web@flsenate.gov,
portilla.miguel.web@flsenate.gov,
hays.alan.web@flsenate.gov,
lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov,
margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov,
montford.bill.web@flsenate.gov,
negron.joe.web@flsenate.gov,
richter.garrett.web@flsenate.gov,
ring.jeremy.web@flsenate.gov,
Committee members need to hear from you. There are cases of insurance companies refusing to provide insurance to gun owners because they own guns, as well as cases where applications for insurance contain questions about gun ownership. SB-424 will stop such practices.
Please e-mail Committee Members today.
Lush Life - Constructing Organized Crime in the UK
Lush Life: Constructing Organized Crime in the UK opens 'the box marked do not open, too difficult to deal with', in the words of one Assistant Chief Constable, to explore the contested notion of British organized crime. The first book to trace the history and policing of British organized crime, it addresses how the interlocking processes of de-industrialisation, globalisation and neo-liberalism have normalised activity that was previously the exclusive domain of professional criminals.
With both historical and sociological analyses, informed by the author's long term connection to an ethnographic site called 'Dogtown', a composite of several overlapping neighbourhoods in East London, this book critically addresses cliches such as criminal underworlds and the notion of the criminal firm. It considers the precursors to British organized crime, as well as the careers of famous crime families such as the Krays and the Richardsons, alongside the emergence of specialised law enforcement institutions to deal with this newly discovered threat. It also focuses on the various ways in which violence functions within organised crime, the role of rumour in formulating order within crime networks, the social construction of organised crime, the development of the cosmopolitan criminal and the all-inclusive nature of the contemporary criminal community of practice. Permeating throughout is a discussion of the flexible nature of the criminal market, the constructed nature of the notion of organised crime, and the normalisation of criminality.
Underpinned by rich, context-specific examples, case studies, stories, and other qualitative evidence based on ethnographic research and interviews, Lush Life follows on from the author's work on normal crime (DOING THE BUSINESS
), and professional crime (Bad Business: Professional Crime in Modern Britain
).
With both historical and sociological analyses, informed by the author's long term connection to an ethnographic site called 'Dogtown', a composite of several overlapping neighbourhoods in East London, this book critically addresses cliches such as criminal underworlds and the notion of the criminal firm. It considers the precursors to British organized crime, as well as the careers of famous crime families such as the Krays and the Richardsons, alongside the emergence of specialised law enforcement institutions to deal with this newly discovered threat. It also focuses on the various ways in which violence functions within organised crime, the role of rumour in formulating order within crime networks, the social construction of organised crime, the development of the cosmopolitan criminal and the all-inclusive nature of the contemporary criminal community of practice. Permeating throughout is a discussion of the flexible nature of the criminal market, the constructed nature of the notion of organised crime, and the normalisation of criminality.
Underpinned by rich, context-specific examples, case studies, stories, and other qualitative evidence based on ethnographic research and interviews, Lush Life follows on from the author's work on normal crime (DOING THE BUSINESS
), and professional crime (Bad Business: Professional Crime in Modern Britain).Sunday, January 12, 2014
DEA Official Joins Newly Formed National Commission on Forensic Sciences
The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today announced appointments to a newly created National Commission on Forensic Science.
Members of the commission will work to improve the practice of forensic science by developing guidance concerning the intersections between forensic science and the criminal justice system. The commission also will work to develop policy recommendations for the U.S. Attorney General, including uniform codes for professional responsibility and requirements for formal training and certification.
The commission is co-chaired by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole and Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick D. Gallagher. Nelson Santos, deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Forensic Sciences at the Drug Enforcement Administration, and John M. Butler, special assistant to the NIST director for forensic science, serve as vice-chairs.
“I appreciate the commitment each of the commissioners has made and look forward to working with them to strengthen the validity and reliability of the forensic sciences and enhance quality assurance and quality control,” said Deputy Attorney General Cole. “Scientifically valid and accurate forensic analysis supports all aspects of our justice system.”
The commission includes federal, state and local forensic science service providers; research scientists and academics; law enforcement officials; prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges; and other stakeholders from across the country. This breadth of experience and expertise reflects the many different entities that contribute to forensic science practice in the U.S. and will ensure these broad perspectives are represented on the commission and in its work.
“This new commission represents an extremely broad range of expertise and skills,” said Under Secretary Gallagher. “It will help ensure that forensic science is supported by the strongest possible science-based evidence gathering, analysis and measurement.
“This latest and most impressive collaboration between the Department of Justice and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will help ensure that the forensic sciences are supported by the most rigorous standards available—a foundational requirement in a nation built on the credo of ‘justice for all,’” said John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The following commissioners were chosen from a pool of more than 300 candidates:
Suzanne Bell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, West Virginia University; Frederick Bieber, Ph.D., Medical Geneticist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School;
Thomas Cech, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder; Cecelia Crouse, Ph.D., Director, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory; Gregory Czarnopys, Deputy Assistant Director, Forensic Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; M. Bonner Denton, Ph.D., Professor, University of Arizona; Vincent Di Maio, M.D., Consultant in Forensic Pathology; Troy Duster, Ph.D., Chancellor’s Professor and Senior Fellow, Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, University of California, Berkeley; Jules Epstein, Associate Professor of Law, Widener University; Stephen Fienberg, Ph.D., Maurice Falk University Professor of Statistics and Social Science, Carnegie Mellon University; Andrea Ferreira-Gonzalez, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and Director Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Virginia Commonwealth University; John Fudenberg, Assistant Coroner, Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner, Clark County, Nevada; S. James Gates, Jr., Ph.D., University System Regents Professor and John S. Toll Professor of Physics, University of Maryland; Dean Gialamas, Crime Laboratory Director, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Scientific Services Bureau; Paul Giannelli, Distinguished University Professor and Albert J Weatherhead III and Richard W. Weatherhead Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University; Hon. Barbara Hervey, Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; Susan Howley, Public Policy Director, National Center for Victims of Crime; Ted Hunt, Chief Trial Attorney, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Kansas City, Missouri; Linda Jackson, Director, Virginia Department of Forensic Science; John Kacavas, United States Attorney, District of New Hampshire; Pamela King, Assistant State Public Defender, Minnesota State Public Defender Office; Marc LeBeau, Ph.D., Senior Forensic Scientist, Scientific Analysis Section, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Julia Leighton, General Counsel, Public Defender Service, District of Columbia; Hon. Bridget Mary McCormack, Justice, Michigan Supreme Court; Peter Neufeld, Co-Director, Innocence Project, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law; Phil Pulaski, Chief of Detectives, New York City Police Department; Hon. Jed Rakoff, Senior United States District Judge, Southern District of New York; Matthew Redle, Sheridan County and Prosecuting Attorney, Sheridan, Wyoming; Michael “Jeff” Salyards, Ph.D., Executive Director, Defense Forensic Science Center, Department of the Army; and Ryant Washington, Sheriff, Fluvanna County Sherriff’s Office, Fluvanna, Virginia.
Ex-Officio Members:
David Honey, Ph.D., Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Science and Technology and Director of Science and Technology, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Marilyn Huestis, Ph.D., Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health; Gerald LaPorte, Acting Director, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National Institute of Justice; Patricia Manzolillo, Laboratory Director, Forensic Laboratory Services, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Frances Schrotter, Senior Vice President and Chief Operation Officer, American National Standards Institute; Kathryn Turman, Program Director, Office for Victim Assistance, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Mark Weiss, Ph.D., Division Director, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, National Science Foundation.
The first meeting of the Commission will be held February 3-4, 2014, at 810 7th Street, N.W., Washington, DC.
Members of the commission will work to improve the practice of forensic science by developing guidance concerning the intersections between forensic science and the criminal justice system. The commission also will work to develop policy recommendations for the U.S. Attorney General, including uniform codes for professional responsibility and requirements for formal training and certification.
The commission is co-chaired by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole and Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick D. Gallagher. Nelson Santos, deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Forensic Sciences at the Drug Enforcement Administration, and John M. Butler, special assistant to the NIST director for forensic science, serve as vice-chairs.
“I appreciate the commitment each of the commissioners has made and look forward to working with them to strengthen the validity and reliability of the forensic sciences and enhance quality assurance and quality control,” said Deputy Attorney General Cole. “Scientifically valid and accurate forensic analysis supports all aspects of our justice system.”
The commission includes federal, state and local forensic science service providers; research scientists and academics; law enforcement officials; prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges; and other stakeholders from across the country. This breadth of experience and expertise reflects the many different entities that contribute to forensic science practice in the U.S. and will ensure these broad perspectives are represented on the commission and in its work.
“This new commission represents an extremely broad range of expertise and skills,” said Under Secretary Gallagher. “It will help ensure that forensic science is supported by the strongest possible science-based evidence gathering, analysis and measurement.
“This latest and most impressive collaboration between the Department of Justice and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will help ensure that the forensic sciences are supported by the most rigorous standards available—a foundational requirement in a nation built on the credo of ‘justice for all,’” said John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The following commissioners were chosen from a pool of more than 300 candidates:
Suzanne Bell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, West Virginia University; Frederick Bieber, Ph.D., Medical Geneticist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School;
Thomas Cech, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder; Cecelia Crouse, Ph.D., Director, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory; Gregory Czarnopys, Deputy Assistant Director, Forensic Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; M. Bonner Denton, Ph.D., Professor, University of Arizona; Vincent Di Maio, M.D., Consultant in Forensic Pathology; Troy Duster, Ph.D., Chancellor’s Professor and Senior Fellow, Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, University of California, Berkeley; Jules Epstein, Associate Professor of Law, Widener University; Stephen Fienberg, Ph.D., Maurice Falk University Professor of Statistics and Social Science, Carnegie Mellon University; Andrea Ferreira-Gonzalez, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and Director Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Virginia Commonwealth University; John Fudenberg, Assistant Coroner, Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner, Clark County, Nevada; S. James Gates, Jr., Ph.D., University System Regents Professor and John S. Toll Professor of Physics, University of Maryland; Dean Gialamas, Crime Laboratory Director, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Scientific Services Bureau; Paul Giannelli, Distinguished University Professor and Albert J Weatherhead III and Richard W. Weatherhead Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University; Hon. Barbara Hervey, Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; Susan Howley, Public Policy Director, National Center for Victims of Crime; Ted Hunt, Chief Trial Attorney, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Kansas City, Missouri; Linda Jackson, Director, Virginia Department of Forensic Science; John Kacavas, United States Attorney, District of New Hampshire; Pamela King, Assistant State Public Defender, Minnesota State Public Defender Office; Marc LeBeau, Ph.D., Senior Forensic Scientist, Scientific Analysis Section, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Julia Leighton, General Counsel, Public Defender Service, District of Columbia; Hon. Bridget Mary McCormack, Justice, Michigan Supreme Court; Peter Neufeld, Co-Director, Innocence Project, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law; Phil Pulaski, Chief of Detectives, New York City Police Department; Hon. Jed Rakoff, Senior United States District Judge, Southern District of New York; Matthew Redle, Sheridan County and Prosecuting Attorney, Sheridan, Wyoming; Michael “Jeff” Salyards, Ph.D., Executive Director, Defense Forensic Science Center, Department of the Army; and Ryant Washington, Sheriff, Fluvanna County Sherriff’s Office, Fluvanna, Virginia.
Ex-Officio Members:
David Honey, Ph.D., Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Science and Technology and Director of Science and Technology, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Marilyn Huestis, Ph.D., Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health; Gerald LaPorte, Acting Director, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National Institute of Justice; Patricia Manzolillo, Laboratory Director, Forensic Laboratory Services, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Frances Schrotter, Senior Vice President and Chief Operation Officer, American National Standards Institute; Kathryn Turman, Program Director, Office for Victim Assistance, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Mark Weiss, Ph.D., Division Director, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, National Science Foundation.
The first meeting of the Commission will be held February 3-4, 2014, at 810 7th Street, N.W., Washington, DC.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
#Chicago is a Legal Loser on the Gun Front, Again #GunRights
Since the death of communism in most of the places where it once prevailed, North Korea and Cuba function mainly as educational exhibits for an irrelevant and unsuccessful ideology. When it comes to the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, the city of Chicago fills a similar role.
The city is famous for some of the strictest gun laws in the country. In 1982, it approved a near-total ban on handguns. In 1992, it outlawed "assault weapons." Mayors and aldermen never tired of railing against firearms.
In 2008, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in Washington, D.C., it was clear that Chicago was on what liberals often refer to, in other contexts, as the wrong side of history. But the people in City Hall were either not smart enough or not honest enough to make peace with change. They preferred to emulate the cavalry troops in "The Charge of the Light Brigade," who rallied to the call, "Charge for the guns!" despite the certainty of defeat.
In the 2008 verdict, the justices said the Second Amendment upholds an individual right to possess firearms for self-defense. But the city fought a legal challenge to its handgun ban — only to lose, predictably, in the Supreme Court.
Besides being a legal and policy setback, it was a loss for taxpayers, who had to pay not only the cost of defending the ordinance but the cost of challenging it. Chicago was obliged to pay $1.4 million to the National Rifle Association, which won the lawsuit.
Did this expensive indignity persuade then-Mayor Richard M. Daley to abandon the fight? Ha. He pushed through a new ordinance intended to demonize and discourage gun ownership as much as he could get away with — which, as became apparent, was not very much.
The measure required gun owners to get at least five hours of training, including one hour at a shooting range. In a novel twist, though, it outlawed "shooting galleries, firearm ranges or any other place where firearms are discharged." The city claimed proper training is vital while hindering residents from getting it.
This section prompted another lawsuit, which argued that the right to own a gun for protection was of limited value if owners had no chance to achieve and maintain proficiency in using one — and that they shouldn't have to leave the city to comply with the city's very own rules. A federal appeals court agreed.
Judge Ilana Rovner said, "The ordinance admittedly was designed to make gun ownership as difficult as possible." But she noted pointedly that the Supreme Court has upheld "the Second Amendment right to possess a gun in the home for self-defense and the city must come to terms with that reality."
The same ordinance dictated that every gun be registered (even though Illinois already required every gun owner to register with the state). The courts never got to consider the constitutionality of that requirement, because the General Assembly passed a law overruling it.
A federal appeals court, however, did order the state to grant permits to carry concealed handguns, as every other state does. In short order, Chicago went from completely banning handguns to having to let licensed owners pack them in public.
Defeats don't get much more total than that. But like the Washington Generals, who get beat by the Harlem Globetrotters every night, the city stubbornly insists on entering contests it is bound to lose.
The latest was Monday, when a federal district judge invalidated the city's ban on the sale or transfer of firearms. The ordinance makes it illegal to operate a federally licensed gun shop or even for a father to give a gun to his son.
As usual with Chicago gun laws, it went too far. "The ban on gun sales and transfers," wrote Judge Edmond Chang, "prevents Chicagoans from fulfilling, within the limits of Chicago, the most fundamental prerequisite of legal gun ownership — that of simple acquisition."
This should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the Supreme Court's reasoning on the Second Amendment. But Chicago politicians have let their hostility toward guns and gun owners blind them to the obvious.
The old proverb says there's no education in the second kick of a mule. But for some people, once is not enough.
Thanks to Steve Chapman.
The city is famous for some of the strictest gun laws in the country. In 1982, it approved a near-total ban on handguns. In 1992, it outlawed "assault weapons." Mayors and aldermen never tired of railing against firearms.
In 2008, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in Washington, D.C., it was clear that Chicago was on what liberals often refer to, in other contexts, as the wrong side of history. But the people in City Hall were either not smart enough or not honest enough to make peace with change. They preferred to emulate the cavalry troops in "The Charge of the Light Brigade," who rallied to the call, "Charge for the guns!" despite the certainty of defeat.
In the 2008 verdict, the justices said the Second Amendment upholds an individual right to possess firearms for self-defense. But the city fought a legal challenge to its handgun ban — only to lose, predictably, in the Supreme Court.
Besides being a legal and policy setback, it was a loss for taxpayers, who had to pay not only the cost of defending the ordinance but the cost of challenging it. Chicago was obliged to pay $1.4 million to the National Rifle Association, which won the lawsuit.
Did this expensive indignity persuade then-Mayor Richard M. Daley to abandon the fight? Ha. He pushed through a new ordinance intended to demonize and discourage gun ownership as much as he could get away with — which, as became apparent, was not very much.
The measure required gun owners to get at least five hours of training, including one hour at a shooting range. In a novel twist, though, it outlawed "shooting galleries, firearm ranges or any other place where firearms are discharged." The city claimed proper training is vital while hindering residents from getting it.
This section prompted another lawsuit, which argued that the right to own a gun for protection was of limited value if owners had no chance to achieve and maintain proficiency in using one — and that they shouldn't have to leave the city to comply with the city's very own rules. A federal appeals court agreed.
Judge Ilana Rovner said, "The ordinance admittedly was designed to make gun ownership as difficult as possible." But she noted pointedly that the Supreme Court has upheld "the Second Amendment right to possess a gun in the home for self-defense and the city must come to terms with that reality."
The same ordinance dictated that every gun be registered (even though Illinois already required every gun owner to register with the state). The courts never got to consider the constitutionality of that requirement, because the General Assembly passed a law overruling it.
A federal appeals court, however, did order the state to grant permits to carry concealed handguns, as every other state does. In short order, Chicago went from completely banning handguns to having to let licensed owners pack them in public.
Defeats don't get much more total than that. But like the Washington Generals, who get beat by the Harlem Globetrotters every night, the city stubbornly insists on entering contests it is bound to lose.
The latest was Monday, when a federal district judge invalidated the city's ban on the sale or transfer of firearms. The ordinance makes it illegal to operate a federally licensed gun shop or even for a father to give a gun to his son.
As usual with Chicago gun laws, it went too far. "The ban on gun sales and transfers," wrote Judge Edmond Chang, "prevents Chicagoans from fulfilling, within the limits of Chicago, the most fundamental prerequisite of legal gun ownership — that of simple acquisition."
This should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the Supreme Court's reasoning on the Second Amendment. But Chicago politicians have let their hostility toward guns and gun owners blind them to the obvious.
The old proverb says there's no education in the second kick of a mule. But for some people, once is not enough.
Thanks to Steve Chapman.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Did Gun Control Cause the Holocaust? - Gun Control in the Third Reich Disarming the Jews and “Enemies of the State”
Based on newly-discovered, secret documents from German archives, diaries and newspapers of the time, Gun Control in the Third Reich presents the definitive, yet hidden history of how the Nazi regime made use of gun control to disarm and repress its enemies and consolidate power. The countless books on the Third Reich and the Holocaust fail even to mention the laws restricting firearms ownership, which rendered political opponents and Jews defenseless. A skeptic could surmise that a better-armed populace might have made no difference, but the National Socialist regime certainly did not think so—it ruthlessly suppressed firearm ownership by disfavored groups.
Gun Control in the Third Reich spans the two decades from the birth of the Weimar Republic in 1918 through Kristallnacht in 1938. The book then presents a panorama of pertinent events during World War II regarding the effects of the disarming policies. And even though in the occupied countries the Nazis decreed the death penalty for possession of a firearm, there developed instances of heroic armed resistance by Jews, particularly the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
Gun Control in the Third Reich spans the two decades from the birth of the Weimar Republic in 1918 through Kristallnacht in 1938. The book then presents a panorama of pertinent events during World War II regarding the effects of the disarming policies. And even though in the occupied countries the Nazis decreed the death penalty for possession of a firearm, there developed instances of heroic armed resistance by Jews, particularly the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
Tax Preparer Verlean Hollins Pleads Guilty and Sharon Anzaldi Sentenced to Five Years in Prison in Separate Federal Income Tax Fraud Cases
A former Chicago tax preparer pleaded guilty to filing nearly 3,200 false federal income tax returns for clients, while in a separate case in federal court yesterday, a suburban tax preparer was sentenced to 63 months in prison for fraudulently claiming more than $8 million in tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. The unrelated federal prosecutions serve as a reminder to tax preparers and taxpayers alike to comply with the law as the 2013 tax season gets underway.
“With tax season upon us,
I want to assure taxpayers that the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division is focused on protecting revenue by identifying and investigating abusive tax return preparers. While most return preparers are honest and provide excellent service, a few unscrupulous tax preparers file false returns to defraud their clients and the United States government,” said James C. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.
“Today, we remind dishonest tax preparers: we are watching your activities. These cases should send a loud message to any dishonest return preparers who might be thinking of engaging in criminal activity, and taxpayers should choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer,” Mr. Lee added.
The guilty plea and sentencing were announced by Mr. Lee; Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In one case, Verlean Hollins, who owned Taxes Etc. Inc., a tax preparation business located in the 2300 block of East 71st Street, between at least 2010 and 2012, pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns. Hollins, 43, of South Holland, who was charged on December 19, faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a fine of nearly $800,000 when she is sentenced on April 22 by U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan.
Hollins admitted that for calendar years 2009 through 2011, she filed a total of 3,193 individual income tax returns for clients, each of which falsely claimed higher education tax credits. As a result, she falsely claimed refunds totaling more than $3.372 million for her clients, the majority of whom paid her approximately $125 to prepare their returns, although her fee ranged between $25 and $400. The vast majority of Hollins’ clients never indicated that they or a dependent were eligible for a college tuition credit, and among the small number of her clients who were eligible for the tax credit, none provided any documents to support eligibility.
Hollins’ plea agreement anticipates an advisory federal sentencing guidelines range of 46 to 57 months in prison, and she agreed to a fine of $798,250. Each count of assisting in the preparation of a false federal income tax return carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine or an alternate fine of twice the gain or twice the loss, whichever is greater. In addition, defendants convicted of tax offenses must pay the costs of prosecution and remain liable for any taxes and interest, as well as a civil penalty up to 75 percent of the taxes owed. The court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaarina Salovaara.
In a separate case, Sharon Anzaldi, 67, of Elmwood Park, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $851,142 in restitution to the IRS for filing 13 false federal income tax returns for herself, friends, and family that fraudulently claimed refunds totaling more than $8 million and caused the IRS to actually pay more than $1 million in bogus refunds.
Anzaldi, who represented herself and was convicted at trial last summer, is associated with the sovereign citizen movement. She was ordered to begin serving her sentence on February 25 by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. Evidence at trial showed that in one instance, Anzaldi charged a couple $31,000 for her “services” for filing a fraudulent tax return that they simply went along with and did not really understand. The couple returned the bulk of their fraudulent refund but continue to accrue penalties and interest on the amount they spent before returning the money.
Convicted at trial with Anzaldi were her son, Phillip DeSalvo, 42, of Bartlett, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and Steven Latin, 51, of Crystal Lake, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Cannon and Dylan Smith.
“With tax season upon us,
I want to assure taxpayers that the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division is focused on protecting revenue by identifying and investigating abusive tax return preparers. While most return preparers are honest and provide excellent service, a few unscrupulous tax preparers file false returns to defraud their clients and the United States government,” said James C. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.“Today, we remind dishonest tax preparers: we are watching your activities. These cases should send a loud message to any dishonest return preparers who might be thinking of engaging in criminal activity, and taxpayers should choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer,” Mr. Lee added.
The guilty plea and sentencing were announced by Mr. Lee; Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In one case, Verlean Hollins, who owned Taxes Etc. Inc., a tax preparation business located in the 2300 block of East 71st Street, between at least 2010 and 2012, pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns. Hollins, 43, of South Holland, who was charged on December 19, faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a fine of nearly $800,000 when she is sentenced on April 22 by U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan.
Hollins admitted that for calendar years 2009 through 2011, she filed a total of 3,193 individual income tax returns for clients, each of which falsely claimed higher education tax credits. As a result, she falsely claimed refunds totaling more than $3.372 million for her clients, the majority of whom paid her approximately $125 to prepare their returns, although her fee ranged between $25 and $400. The vast majority of Hollins’ clients never indicated that they or a dependent were eligible for a college tuition credit, and among the small number of her clients who were eligible for the tax credit, none provided any documents to support eligibility.
Hollins’ plea agreement anticipates an advisory federal sentencing guidelines range of 46 to 57 months in prison, and she agreed to a fine of $798,250. Each count of assisting in the preparation of a false federal income tax return carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine or an alternate fine of twice the gain or twice the loss, whichever is greater. In addition, defendants convicted of tax offenses must pay the costs of prosecution and remain liable for any taxes and interest, as well as a civil penalty up to 75 percent of the taxes owed. The court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaarina Salovaara.
In a separate case, Sharon Anzaldi, 67, of Elmwood Park, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $851,142 in restitution to the IRS for filing 13 false federal income tax returns for herself, friends, and family that fraudulently claimed refunds totaling more than $8 million and caused the IRS to actually pay more than $1 million in bogus refunds.
Anzaldi, who represented herself and was convicted at trial last summer, is associated with the sovereign citizen movement. She was ordered to begin serving her sentence on February 25 by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. Evidence at trial showed that in one instance, Anzaldi charged a couple $31,000 for her “services” for filing a fraudulent tax return that they simply went along with and did not really understand. The couple returned the bulk of their fraudulent refund but continue to accrue penalties and interest on the amount they spent before returning the money.
Convicted at trial with Anzaldi were her son, Phillip DeSalvo, 42, of Bartlett, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and Steven Latin, 51, of Crystal Lake, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Cannon and Dylan Smith.
Thursday, January 09, 2014
Nashville Fugitive, Corey Taylor, Arrested by Chicago Police
Chicago police Wednesday night apprehended a fugitive from Nashville who was wanted for terrorizing a family inside their Glenrose Avenue apartment on Monday evening in Nashville.
Corey Taylor, 26, was spotted by a Chicago officer inside the victim’s 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. He was taken into custody without incident and is being held on Nashville warrants charging five counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated robbery.
The 71-year-old victim reported that he met a man, known to him only as Corey (subsequently identified as Corey Taylor) at a bus station downtown a few weeks prior. He had allowed Taylor to sleep on his couch for a few days prior to a fight breaking out Monday. During the fight, Taylor was alleged to have pulled a knife, threatened to kill the 71-year-old and his family and prevented them from leaving the apartment. Taylor ultimately took several watches, a cell phone, cash and the victim’s car keys before fleeing.
Follow up investigation by Detectives Dennis Shepherd and Rick Heiman led to the positive identification of Corey Taylor as the suspect. It was learned that Taylor had ties to Chicago, which prompted an alert being sent to Illinois authorities.
Taylor’s return to Nashville is pending.
Corey Taylor, 26, was spotted by a Chicago officer inside the victim’s 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. He was taken into custody without incident and is being held on Nashville warrants charging five counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated robbery.
The 71-year-old victim reported that he met a man, known to him only as Corey (subsequently identified as Corey Taylor) at a bus station downtown a few weeks prior. He had allowed Taylor to sleep on his couch for a few days prior to a fight breaking out Monday. During the fight, Taylor was alleged to have pulled a knife, threatened to kill the 71-year-old and his family and prevented them from leaving the apartment. Taylor ultimately took several watches, a cell phone, cash and the victim’s car keys before fleeing.
Follow up investigation by Detectives Dennis Shepherd and Rick Heiman led to the positive identification of Corey Taylor as the suspect. It was learned that Taylor had ties to Chicago, which prompted an alert being sent to Illinois authorities.
Taylor’s return to Nashville is pending.
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Robert Gates is Strikingly Candid with "Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War"
From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vividly written account of his experience serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Before Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House in 2006, he thought he’d left Washington politics behind: after working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happy in his role as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty. Now, in this unsparing memoir, meticulously fair in its assessments, he takes us behind the scenes of his nearly five years as a secretary at war: the battles with Congress, the two presidents he served, the military itself, and the vast Pentagon bureaucracy; his efforts to help Bush turn the tide in Iraq; his role as a guiding, and often dissenting, voice for Obama; the ardent devotion to and love for American soldiers—his “heroes”—he developed on the job.
In relating his personal journey as secretary, Gates draws us into the innermost sanctums of government and military power during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, illuminating iconic figures, vital negotiations, and critical situations in revealing, intimate detail. Offering unvarnished appraisals of Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Presidents Bush and Obama among other key players, Gates exposes the full spectrum of behind-closed-doors politicking within both the Bush and Obama administrations.
He discusses the great controversies of his tenure—surges in both Iraq and Afghanistan, how to deal with Iran and Syria, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” Guantánamo Bay, WikiLeaks—as they played out behind the television cameras. He brings to life the Situation Room during the Bin Laden raid. And, searingly, he shows how congressional debate and action or inaction on everything from equipment budgeting to troop withdrawals was often motivated, to his increasing despair and anger, more by party politics and media impact than by members’ desires to protect our soldiers and ensure their success.
However embroiled he became in the trials of Washington, Gates makes clear that his heart was always in the most important theater of his tenure as secretary: the front lines. We journey with him to both war zones as he meets with active-duty troops and their commanders, awed by their courage, and also witness him greet coffin after flag-draped coffin returned to U.S. soil, heartbreakingly aware that he signed every deployment order. In frank and poignant vignettes, Gates conveys the human cost of war, and his admiration for those brave enough to undertake it when necessary.
Duty tells a powerful and deeply personal story that allows us an unprecedented look at two administrations and the wars that have defined them.
Before Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House in 2006, he thought he’d left Washington politics behind: after working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happy in his role as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty. Now, in this unsparing memoir, meticulously fair in its assessments, he takes us behind the scenes of his nearly five years as a secretary at war: the battles with Congress, the two presidents he served, the military itself, and the vast Pentagon bureaucracy; his efforts to help Bush turn the tide in Iraq; his role as a guiding, and often dissenting, voice for Obama; the ardent devotion to and love for American soldiers—his “heroes”—he developed on the job.
In relating his personal journey as secretary, Gates draws us into the innermost sanctums of government and military power during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, illuminating iconic figures, vital negotiations, and critical situations in revealing, intimate detail. Offering unvarnished appraisals of Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Presidents Bush and Obama among other key players, Gates exposes the full spectrum of behind-closed-doors politicking within both the Bush and Obama administrations.
He discusses the great controversies of his tenure—surges in both Iraq and Afghanistan, how to deal with Iran and Syria, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” Guantánamo Bay, WikiLeaks—as they played out behind the television cameras. He brings to life the Situation Room during the Bin Laden raid. And, searingly, he shows how congressional debate and action or inaction on everything from equipment budgeting to troop withdrawals was often motivated, to his increasing despair and anger, more by party politics and media impact than by members’ desires to protect our soldiers and ensure their success.
However embroiled he became in the trials of Washington, Gates makes clear that his heart was always in the most important theater of his tenure as secretary: the front lines. We journey with him to both war zones as he meets with active-duty troops and their commanders, awed by their courage, and also witness him greet coffin after flag-draped coffin returned to U.S. soil, heartbreakingly aware that he signed every deployment order. In frank and poignant vignettes, Gates conveys the human cost of war, and his admiration for those brave enough to undertake it when necessary.
Duty tells a powerful and deeply personal story that allows us an unprecedented look at two administrations and the wars that have defined them.
Christmas Eve Homicide Suspect Captured
Maurice Jamar Bentley, a Savannah man wanted for Murder and Aggravated Assault by the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department (SCMPD), was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and members of the SCMPD Precinct 3 Tactical Investigations Unit.
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
Over 100 Retired New York Cops, Firefighters, and Correction Officers Charged in Massive 9/11 Fraud, Indictment Says
More than 100 retired New York City cops, firefighters and correction officers were charged today with falsely claiming to be suffering from depression and anxiety as a result of the 9/11 terror attacks, New York prosecutors said today.
The alleged scam won awards up to $500,000 for the uniformed personnel and cost taxpayers millions of dollars, according to the indictment.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the suspects "cynically manufactured claims of mental illness as a result of Sept 11th... dishonoring the first responders."
Police Commissioner William Bratton said, "The retired members of the NYP indicted in this case have disgraced all first responders who perished during the search and rescue efforts on Sept. 11, 2001."
The prosecution backed up its case with recorded phone calls of the suspects being coached on how to behave in front of a medical board and photos of the suspects doing vigorous activity like jet skiing, doing mixed martial arts, and going on cruises after convincing doctors they were unable to leave their homes.
Today's arrests cap a two year investigation, aided by federal investigators, the city's Department of Investigation and the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau.
The alleged fraud cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in improper Social Security benefits.
The indictment charges four men with masterminding the alleged fraud, including attorney Raymond Lavellee, 81, Thomas Hale, 89, Joseph Esposito, 70, and John Minerva, 59.
Hale is president of a firm that determines eligibility for Social Security disability. Esposito is a former NYPD employee and Minerva is an ex-cop who is currently a disability consultant for the Detectives Endowment Association.
None of the accused actually suffered from debilitating stress, officials claim. Many were caught working after retirement, a violation of disability benefits. And some of the retired officers retained their gun permits. Retired officers cannot possess guns if they are being treated for stress.
Court papers included what prosecutors said were recorded phone calls in which Esposito "coached" the officers how to dress and behave and now to muff questions to show that lacked concentration.
"They're liable to say... spell the word 'world,' so you go 'W-R-L-D.' Then they're gonnna say 'Spell it backwards.' You think about it, and you can't spell it backwards," Esposito was recorded saying.
He allegedly told officers claiming that their debilitating anxieties stemmed from the 9/11 attacks to tell examiners they were "afraid of planes and entering large buildings."
The 9/11 attacks took a heavy toll on the city's cops, called "New York's Finest," and firefighters, dubbed "New York's Bravest." The casualty count from the terror attacks included 23 police officers and 343 firefighters.
Most of the arrests in the fraud sweep took place in the city, with others being busted in Florida and elsewhere in New York State.
It was the second 9/11 scam to be revealed this week. On Monday, two New Jersey men pleaded guilty to raising and keeping $50,000 for a Sept. 11 charity that was supposed to help families who lost loved one in the catastrophe. Thomas Scalgione and Mark Niemczyk never gave any of the more than $50,000 in proceeds to the victims' families or to charities as promised, they told the court.
Thanks to Aaron Katersky.
The alleged scam won awards up to $500,000 for the uniformed personnel and cost taxpayers millions of dollars, according to the indictment.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the suspects "cynically manufactured claims of mental illness as a result of Sept 11th... dishonoring the first responders."
Police Commissioner William Bratton said, "The retired members of the NYP indicted in this case have disgraced all first responders who perished during the search and rescue efforts on Sept. 11, 2001."
The prosecution backed up its case with recorded phone calls of the suspects being coached on how to behave in front of a medical board and photos of the suspects doing vigorous activity like jet skiing, doing mixed martial arts, and going on cruises after convincing doctors they were unable to leave their homes.
Today's arrests cap a two year investigation, aided by federal investigators, the city's Department of Investigation and the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau.
The alleged fraud cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in improper Social Security benefits.
The indictment charges four men with masterminding the alleged fraud, including attorney Raymond Lavellee, 81, Thomas Hale, 89, Joseph Esposito, 70, and John Minerva, 59.
Hale is president of a firm that determines eligibility for Social Security disability. Esposito is a former NYPD employee and Minerva is an ex-cop who is currently a disability consultant for the Detectives Endowment Association.
None of the accused actually suffered from debilitating stress, officials claim. Many were caught working after retirement, a violation of disability benefits. And some of the retired officers retained their gun permits. Retired officers cannot possess guns if they are being treated for stress.
Court papers included what prosecutors said were recorded phone calls in which Esposito "coached" the officers how to dress and behave and now to muff questions to show that lacked concentration.
"They're liable to say... spell the word 'world,' so you go 'W-R-L-D.' Then they're gonnna say 'Spell it backwards.' You think about it, and you can't spell it backwards," Esposito was recorded saying.
He allegedly told officers claiming that their debilitating anxieties stemmed from the 9/11 attacks to tell examiners they were "afraid of planes and entering large buildings."
The 9/11 attacks took a heavy toll on the city's cops, called "New York's Finest," and firefighters, dubbed "New York's Bravest." The casualty count from the terror attacks included 23 police officers and 343 firefighters.
Most of the arrests in the fraud sweep took place in the city, with others being busted in Florida and elsewhere in New York State.
It was the second 9/11 scam to be revealed this week. On Monday, two New Jersey men pleaded guilty to raising and keeping $50,000 for a Sept. 11 charity that was supposed to help families who lost loved one in the catastrophe. Thomas Scalgione and Mark Niemczyk never gave any of the more than $50,000 in proceeds to the victims' families or to charities as promised, they told the court.
Thanks to Aaron Katersky.
2013 Saw the Fewest Police Deaths Involving Firearms since 1887
The number of law-enforcement officers killed by firearms in 2013 fell to levels not seen since the 19th century, according to a report released last week.
The annual report from the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund also found that deaths in the line of duty generally fell by 8 percent and were the fewest since 1959.
According to the report, 111 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial officers were killed in the line of duty nationwide this past year, compared to 121 in 2012.
Forty-six officers were killed in traffic related accidents, and 33 were killed by firearms.
The number of firearms deaths fell 33 percent in 2013 and was the lowest since 1887.
The report credits an increased culture of safety among law-enforcement agencies, including increased use of bulletproof vests, that followed a spike in law-enforcement deaths in 2011.
Since 2011, officer fatalities across all categories have decreased by 34 percent, and firearms deaths have dropped by 54 percent.
Fourteen officers died from heart attacks that occurred while performing their duties.
The report found that Texas and California had the highest number of fatalities, with 13 and 10, respectively.
The annual report from the nonprofit National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund also found that deaths in the line of duty generally fell by 8 percent and were the fewest since 1959.
According to the report, 111 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial officers were killed in the line of duty nationwide this past year, compared to 121 in 2012.
Forty-six officers were killed in traffic related accidents, and 33 were killed by firearms.
The number of firearms deaths fell 33 percent in 2013 and was the lowest since 1887.
The report credits an increased culture of safety among law-enforcement agencies, including increased use of bulletproof vests, that followed a spike in law-enforcement deaths in 2011.
Since 2011, officer fatalities across all categories have decreased by 34 percent, and firearms deaths have dropped by 54 percent.
Fourteen officers died from heart attacks that occurred while performing their duties.
The report found that Texas and California had the highest number of fatalities, with 13 and 10, respectively.
Mark Lepage Pleads Guilty to Robbing Eastern Bank
An East Boston man pleaded guilty to armed robbery of a bank in Peabody.
Mark Lepage, 51, pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Sentencing is scheduled for April 3, 2014.
On April 4, 2011, at approximately 1:14 p.m., Lepage walked into the Eastern Bank in Peabody brandishing a handgun, wearing sunglasses and a grey hooded sweatshirt pulled up over his head. He grabbed a male customer, held the gun to the customer’s neck, and demanded money. After three bank tellers handed him $21,709, he fled the bank. He was arrested in East Boston two days later and indicted that month.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Peabody Police Chief Robert St. Pierre made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by David G. Tobin and Carlos A. López of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Mark Lepage, 51, pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Sentencing is scheduled for April 3, 2014.
On April 4, 2011, at approximately 1:14 p.m., Lepage walked into the Eastern Bank in Peabody brandishing a handgun, wearing sunglasses and a grey hooded sweatshirt pulled up over his head. He grabbed a male customer, held the gun to the customer’s neck, and demanded money. After three bank tellers handed him $21,709, he fled the bank. He was arrested in East Boston two days later and indicted that month.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Peabody Police Chief Robert St. Pierre made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by David G. Tobin and Carlos A. López of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
Monday, January 06, 2014
U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force Arrests Homicide Suspect Johnny Garriga
United States Marshal Martin J. Pane announced that the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Fugitive Task Force arrested Johnny Garriga, a 23-year old man, in York, Pennsylvania.
Garriga was being sought for a homicide that occurred on December 26, 2013 in Brooklyn, New York. The incident left an individual dead after sustaining gunshot wounds. On December 27, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) requested the assistance of the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force (NY/NJ RFTF) in locating and apprehending Garriga.
NY/NJ RFTF members believed that Garriga fled the area to the York, Pennsylvania region. An investigative lead was sent to the Middle District of Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force (M/PA) for assistance in locating Garriga.
On December 30, Garriga was arrested without incident by M/PA in the 200 block of South Queen Street in York, Pennsylvania. Garriga was turned over to local authorities for processing.
United States Marshal Martin J. Pane stated, “Our top priority is to arrest violent offenders, especially those who use guns against our citizens. This arrest takes a murder suspect off the street and it is my sincere hope that this will bring the victims family some measure of justice.”
The USMS worked jointly in this investigation with officers from the York City Police Department, York County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police Fugitive Unit, New York City Police Department, and the NY/NJ RFTF. The concept of all USMS-led fugitive task forces is to seek out and arrest the nation’s most dangerous offenders.
Garriga was being sought for a homicide that occurred on December 26, 2013 in Brooklyn, New York. The incident left an individual dead after sustaining gunshot wounds. On December 27, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) requested the assistance of the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force (NY/NJ RFTF) in locating and apprehending Garriga.
NY/NJ RFTF members believed that Garriga fled the area to the York, Pennsylvania region. An investigative lead was sent to the Middle District of Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force (M/PA) for assistance in locating Garriga.
On December 30, Garriga was arrested without incident by M/PA in the 200 block of South Queen Street in York, Pennsylvania. Garriga was turned over to local authorities for processing.
United States Marshal Martin J. Pane stated, “Our top priority is to arrest violent offenders, especially those who use guns against our citizens. This arrest takes a murder suspect off the street and it is my sincere hope that this will bring the victims family some measure of justice.”
The USMS worked jointly in this investigation with officers from the York City Police Department, York County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police Fugitive Unit, New York City Police Department, and the NY/NJ RFTF. The concept of all USMS-led fugitive task forces is to seek out and arrest the nation’s most dangerous offenders.
Federal Judge Sentences #JihadJane to Serve 10 Years in Prison for Role in Plot to Commit Murder Overseas
Colleen R. LaRose, aka “Jihad Jane,” 50, was sentenced today to serve 10 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements, and attempted identity theft. LaRose, a former resident of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to the charges on February 1, 2011. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Petrese B. Tucker.
The sentencing result was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Zane David Memeger, and Special Agent in Charge Ed Hanko of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division.
“Today, Colleen LaRose is being held accountable for her efforts to provide support to terrorists and encourage violence against individuals overseas,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “I want to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s result.”
“This case clearly underscores the evolving nature of the terrorist threat we now face in this country,” said U.S Attorney Memeger. “The Internet has made it easier for those who want to attack the American way of life to identify like-minded individuals to carry out their terroristic plans. While today’s significant sentence will help protect the community from any future threat posed by the defendant, we as a nation must remain vigilant in identifying and stopping others who are susceptible to engaging in acts of homegrown violent extremism.”
“Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those attracted to a terrorist ideology,” said Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko. “Our Joint Terrorism Task Forces and partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities remain committed to tracking terrorists at every level, whomever and wherever they are.”
LaRose was charged by indictment in March 2010. A superseding indictment was filed in April 2010, adding co‑defendant Jamie Paulin Ramirez, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Colorado. Ramirez pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on January 8, 2014.
According to documents filed with the court, LaRose and her co‑conspirators recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.
LaRose and her co‑conspirators used the Internet to establish relationships with one another and to communicate regarding their plans, which included martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists, soliciting passports, and avoiding travel restrictions (through the collection of passports and through marriage) in order to wage violent jihad. LaRose also stole another individual’s U.S. passport and transferred it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.
In addition, LaRose received a direct order to kill a citizen and resident of Sweden and to do so in a way that would frighten “the whole Kufar [non‑believer] world.” LaRose agreed to carry out her murder assignment, and she and her co‑conspirators discussed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her blend in while carrying out their plans. LaRose later traveled to Europe and tracked the intended target online in an effort to complete her task.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Philadelphia, the FBI Field Division in New York, the FBI Field Division in Denver, and the FBI Field Office in Washington, D.C. Authorities in Ireland and Sweden provided assistance in this matter. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division also provided assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Matthew F. Blue, Trial Attorney from the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
The sentencing result was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Zane David Memeger, and Special Agent in Charge Ed Hanko of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division.
“Today, Colleen LaRose is being held accountable for her efforts to provide support to terrorists and encourage violence against individuals overseas,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “I want to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s result.”
“This case clearly underscores the evolving nature of the terrorist threat we now face in this country,” said U.S Attorney Memeger. “The Internet has made it easier for those who want to attack the American way of life to identify like-minded individuals to carry out their terroristic plans. While today’s significant sentence will help protect the community from any future threat posed by the defendant, we as a nation must remain vigilant in identifying and stopping others who are susceptible to engaging in acts of homegrown violent extremism.”
“Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those attracted to a terrorist ideology,” said Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko. “Our Joint Terrorism Task Forces and partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities remain committed to tracking terrorists at every level, whomever and wherever they are.”
LaRose was charged by indictment in March 2010. A superseding indictment was filed in April 2010, adding co‑defendant Jamie Paulin Ramirez, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Colorado. Ramirez pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on January 8, 2014.
According to documents filed with the court, LaRose and her co‑conspirators recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.
LaRose and her co‑conspirators used the Internet to establish relationships with one another and to communicate regarding their plans, which included martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists, soliciting passports, and avoiding travel restrictions (through the collection of passports and through marriage) in order to wage violent jihad. LaRose also stole another individual’s U.S. passport and transferred it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.
In addition, LaRose received a direct order to kill a citizen and resident of Sweden and to do so in a way that would frighten “the whole Kufar [non‑believer] world.” LaRose agreed to carry out her murder assignment, and she and her co‑conspirators discussed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her blend in while carrying out their plans. LaRose later traveled to Europe and tracked the intended target online in an effort to complete her task.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Philadelphia, the FBI Field Division in New York, the FBI Field Division in Denver, and the FBI Field Office in Washington, D.C. Authorities in Ireland and Sweden provided assistance in this matter. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division also provided assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Matthew F. Blue, Trial Attorney from the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Sunday, January 05, 2014
La Bella Mafia Book Signing at @TheMobMuseum
La Bella Mafia Book Signing
Saturday, January 11th from 1-5pm in The Mob Museum Retail Store.
The time had finally come for Bella Capo to tell her story. It wasn’t an easy decision because it meant digging up memories that were so painful many had been smashed down as though in a trash compactor, never to be released.
It is not for the faint of heart, and reliving the life of an abused child of a crime boss, almost losing her life many times, stalked by a man who turned from a perfect husband to a perfect threat, and her life in “the Hood” is just part of it.
Many thanks to her mentor Tony “Nap” Napoli, formerly of the Genovese family, for encouraging Bella to tell her story to help other abused women. Learn about how after the glamour days when she ran after-hours clubs on Sunset Strip, she wound up in the Hood, conquered her fear and became a white woman boss in the Crips, who incidentally saved her life more than once.
Bella’s baring of her soul will bring tears to your eyes as you cheer this beautiful, courageous woman on and applaud her dedication to helping others who are enduring what she did despite severe PTSD and traumatic brain injury from the beatings she received earlier in life.
Bella Capo, the sexually and physically abused daughter of a powerbroker, whose close associates included politicians and organized crime figures, and a drug-addicted mother, spent much of her youth in foster homes and rehabilitation facilities. As a young adult she became a force on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, running clubs and after-hours clubs.
After a failed marriage to an abusive husband, Bella became a boss in the Crips—the only white female to hold such a position of power in the gang at that time. She later fled Los Angeles in fear for her life when her ex-husband and his associates stalked her and threatened her with death.
Although she could have died many times, Bella survived and overcame the obstacles to co-found La Bella Mafia, an online group that provides assistance and counseling to abuse victims—especially those in life-threatening situations. It is gaining an international following.
This courageous woman has now come out of hiding to share her story. It will serve as an inspiration to the hundreds of thousands of abuse victims who suffer in silence.
Saturday, January 11th from 1-5pm in The Mob Museum Retail Store.
The time had finally come for Bella Capo to tell her story. It wasn’t an easy decision because it meant digging up memories that were so painful many had been smashed down as though in a trash compactor, never to be released.
It is not for the faint of heart, and reliving the life of an abused child of a crime boss, almost losing her life many times, stalked by a man who turned from a perfect husband to a perfect threat, and her life in “the Hood” is just part of it.
Many thanks to her mentor Tony “Nap” Napoli, formerly of the Genovese family, for encouraging Bella to tell her story to help other abused women. Learn about how after the glamour days when she ran after-hours clubs on Sunset Strip, she wound up in the Hood, conquered her fear and became a white woman boss in the Crips, who incidentally saved her life more than once.
Bella’s baring of her soul will bring tears to your eyes as you cheer this beautiful, courageous woman on and applaud her dedication to helping others who are enduring what she did despite severe PTSD and traumatic brain injury from the beatings she received earlier in life.
Bella Capo, the sexually and physically abused daughter of a powerbroker, whose close associates included politicians and organized crime figures, and a drug-addicted mother, spent much of her youth in foster homes and rehabilitation facilities. As a young adult she became a force on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, running clubs and after-hours clubs.
After a failed marriage to an abusive husband, Bella became a boss in the Crips—the only white female to hold such a position of power in the gang at that time. She later fled Los Angeles in fear for her life when her ex-husband and his associates stalked her and threatened her with death.
Although she could have died many times, Bella survived and overcame the obstacles to co-found La Bella Mafia, an online group that provides assistance and counseling to abuse victims—especially those in life-threatening situations. It is gaining an international following.
This courageous woman has now come out of hiding to share her story. It will serve as an inspiration to the hundreds of thousands of abuse victims who suffer in silence.
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