- Be extremely cautious about unsolicited offers to invest.
- Don’t believe everything you’re told. Take the time to do your own research on the investment’s potential…and on the person making the offer.
- Be wary of an investment opportunity that offers unusually high yields.
- Check with federal and state securities regulators to find out if there have been any complaints against the company or person you’re thinking of doing business with.
- Request written financial information—such as a prospectus, annual reports, or financial statements—then compare the written information to what you were told.
- Check with a trusted financial adviser, broker, or attorney about any investments you are considering.
- And if you think you’ve been scammed, report it to the Securities and Exchange Commission, your state’s securities regulator, or a law enforcement agency.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Invest Your Money Wisely: Tips for Consumers
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
The Despicable Story of Vernon Matthews and His Defrauding of Military Personnel and Their Dependents
They are our nation’s heroes—often risking their lives abroad to protect us at home. Which makes what one Virginia con man did all the more despicable…defrauding military personnel and their dependents in an investment fraud scheme. But one of his victims came forward and filed a complaint. And after a joint investigation conducted by the Richmond offices of the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)—under the auspices of the Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force—Vernon Matthews was charged in the scheme, pled guilty, and was recently sentenced to a federal prison term.
Matthews operated a company called First Capital Group (FCG), located in Virginia Beach. He had a license to sell insurance, not to give investment advice or handle securities—but that didn’t stop him from doing so. Starting in 2010 and continuing until early 2013, Matthews solicited members of the military and their families to make investments with FCG.
Often times, he set up booths at establishments known to be frequented by the military—like restaurants located near military bases—and offered promotions, like a free night at a hotel. And when potential victims came to his office to claim the prizes, Matthews would pitch them on an investment. And he lied through his teeth while doing it. Among Matthews’ misrepresentations:
In one particular instance, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who invested $20,000 with FCG tried withdrawing funds. Matthews mailed a check that bounced. After being notified about it, he mailed another one…and instructed the victim not to deposit the check until he could put the funds into his account. That, of course, never happened.
Matthews received more than $235,600 from victim investors. Only a few of his victims were able to recover any money, so at his sentencing, the judge ordered Matthews to repay the outstanding balance of $204,465 in restitution to his victims.
The Bureau joined the investigation in April 2013. In July 2013—after an extensive review of financial records, documents, and e-mails, along with interviews of dozens of victims and other witnesses—Matthews was arrested.
The Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force was initially launched in 2010 to establish a partnership between criminal investigators—including the FBI and the USPIS—and civil regulators to investigate and prosecute complex financial fraud cases in Virginia. The state task force is also an investigative arm of the national Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, an interagency group created to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. And while law enforcement, civil regulators, and prosecutors are doing all they can to address financial crimes, you should educate yourself and your loved ones on how to avoid becoming a victim of financial fraud.
Matthews operated a company called First Capital Group (FCG), located in Virginia Beach. He had a license to sell insurance, not to give investment advice or handle securities—but that didn’t stop him from doing so. Starting in 2010 and continuing until early 2013, Matthews solicited members of the military and their families to make investments with FCG.
Often times, he set up booths at establishments known to be frequented by the military—like restaurants located near military bases—and offered promotions, like a free night at a hotel. And when potential victims came to his office to claim the prizes, Matthews would pitch them on an investment. And he lied through his teeth while doing it. Among Matthews’ misrepresentations:
- He received compensation from the U.S. government for his investment advice and services (he did not);
- He would invest his clients’ funds in certificates of deposits, mutual funds, or something similar (Matthews misappropriated all the funds for his own personal or business use);
- FCG was affiliated with several reputable investment companies and funds (it was not);
- The investment provided a good return—anywhere from 4 to 300 percent—and was low-risk or no-risk (it did not and was not).
In one particular instance, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who invested $20,000 with FCG tried withdrawing funds. Matthews mailed a check that bounced. After being notified about it, he mailed another one…and instructed the victim not to deposit the check until he could put the funds into his account. That, of course, never happened.
Matthews received more than $235,600 from victim investors. Only a few of his victims were able to recover any money, so at his sentencing, the judge ordered Matthews to repay the outstanding balance of $204,465 in restitution to his victims.
The Bureau joined the investigation in April 2013. In July 2013—after an extensive review of financial records, documents, and e-mails, along with interviews of dozens of victims and other witnesses—Matthews was arrested.
The Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force was initially launched in 2010 to establish a partnership between criminal investigators—including the FBI and the USPIS—and civil regulators to investigate and prosecute complex financial fraud cases in Virginia. The state task force is also an investigative arm of the national Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, an interagency group created to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. And while law enforcement, civil regulators, and prosecutors are doing all they can to address financial crimes, you should educate yourself and your loved ones on how to avoid becoming a victim of financial fraud.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
3 Chicago Men Indicted for Their Alleged Roles in a Series of Armed Robberies of 10 Retail Businesses in Chicago and Suburbs
Three Chicago men are facing federal charges for their alleged roles in a series of armed robberies of various retail businesses in Chicago and several suburbs late last year and early this year, federal law enforcement officials announced. The indictments charge nine armed robberies and an attempted armed robbery of gas stations, convenience stores, jewelry stores, and others businesses in Chicago, Arlington Heights, Berwyn, Glenview, Hometown, Lincolnwood, North Chicago, Skokie, and Wilmette between October 2013 and February this year.
Two defendants, Tyree Craig, 29, and Jacobi Pickett, 21, were charged together in a 13-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury. They were each charged with one count of robbery conspiracy, eight counts of robbery, and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a violent crime, and Pickett alone was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Craig was also charged with Jarryl Williams, 42, in a separate four-count federal indictment involving the January 10 armed robbery, involving four suspects, of James and Williams Jewelers, located at 7020 West Cermak Road in Berwyn. Craig and Williams were each charged with one count of robbery conspiracy, attempted robbery, and brandishing a firearm. Williams, who was shot by a store security officer, was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm with a partially obliterated serial number.
Craig and Williams have each pleaded not guilty to the charges involving the Berwyn attempted robbery. Craig and Pickett are scheduled to be arraigned on May 1 in U.S. District Court. Craig and Williams were initially arrested previously on related state charges but were later transferred to federal custody, where they remain. Pickett has been in federal custody since he was arrested in March on a criminal complaint.
According to the Craig and Pickett indictment returned yesterday, both defendants allegedly participated in the following robberies:
According to court documents, the charges stem from an FBI investigation of a series of similar armed robberies and attempted robberies last fall and winter of retail stores and businesses in Chicago, as well as northern and western suburbs. Typically, one or more participants entered each business and brandished a black semi-automatic handgun while demanding money or jewelry and, in some instances Newport cigarettes. The participant or participants attempted to disguise their appearance but video surveillance provided a similar pattern of clothing and appearance.
The investigation is continuing.
Each count of robbery and robbery conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and each count of brandishing a firearm carries a consecutive, mandatory minimum of seven years in prison and a maximum of life. Williams and Picket also faces a maximum 10-year sentence on the felon in possession charges.
Two defendants, Tyree Craig, 29, and Jacobi Pickett, 21, were charged together in a 13-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury. They were each charged with one count of robbery conspiracy, eight counts of robbery, and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a violent crime, and Pickett alone was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Craig was also charged with Jarryl Williams, 42, in a separate four-count federal indictment involving the January 10 armed robbery, involving four suspects, of James and Williams Jewelers, located at 7020 West Cermak Road in Berwyn. Craig and Williams were each charged with one count of robbery conspiracy, attempted robbery, and brandishing a firearm. Williams, who was shot by a store security officer, was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm with a partially obliterated serial number.
Craig and Williams have each pleaded not guilty to the charges involving the Berwyn attempted robbery. Craig and Pickett are scheduled to be arraigned on May 1 in U.S. District Court. Craig and Williams were initially arrested previously on related state charges but were later transferred to federal custody, where they remain. Pickett has been in federal custody since he was arrested in March on a criminal complaint.
According to the Craig and Pickett indictment returned yesterday, both defendants allegedly participated in the following robberies:
- Dunkin Donuts, 3910 West Touhy Ave., Lincolnwood, on October 20, 2013
- Phillips 66 gas station, 1234 Sheridan Rd., North Chicago, on October 21, 2013
- Shell gas station, 9600 Crawford Ave., Skokie, on Oct. 21, 2013; Shell gas station, 3 East Algonquin Rd., Arlington Heights, on October 31, 2013
- Marathon gas station, 242 Waukegan Rd., Glenview, on October 31, 2013
- Shell gas station, 5055 Touhy Ave., Skokie, on Nov. 30, 2013; and Seven-Eleven, 500 Skokie Blvd., Wilmette, on November 30, 2013
- Craig alone was also charged with the December 13, 2013, robbery of Ted’s Jewelers, 5334 South Archer Ave., Chicago
- Pickett alone was charged with the February 19, 2014, robbery of EZ Pawn store, 4080 Southwest Hwy., Hometown, in which jewelry valued at approximately $73,000 was stolen
According to court documents, the charges stem from an FBI investigation of a series of similar armed robberies and attempted robberies last fall and winter of retail stores and businesses in Chicago, as well as northern and western suburbs. Typically, one or more participants entered each business and brandished a black semi-automatic handgun while demanding money or jewelry and, in some instances Newport cigarettes. The participant or participants attempted to disguise their appearance but video surveillance provided a similar pattern of clothing and appearance.
The investigation is continuing.
Each count of robbery and robbery conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and each count of brandishing a firearm carries a consecutive, mandatory minimum of seven years in prison and a maximum of life. Williams and Picket also faces a maximum 10-year sentence on the felon in possession charges.
Buffy A. Bastien Indicted on Bank Embezzlement Charges
Buffy A. Bastien, 41, of Murphysboro, Illinois, was indicted on April 8, 2014, on bank embezzlement charges in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Benton, Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced.
Bastien was charged in a one count indictment that charges that from about 2010 to on or about February 23, 2014, in Jackson County, Bastien, being an officer and employee of The Bank of Carbondale, a bank whose deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with intent to injure and defraud The Bank of Carbondale, did willfully embezzle the sum of approximately $229,221.80 of the moneys or funds intrusted to the custody or care of The Bank of Carbondale.
Bastien faces a possible penalty of up to 30 years’ imprisonment, up to $1,000,000 fine, and supervised release of up to five years.
Bastien was charged in a one count indictment that charges that from about 2010 to on or about February 23, 2014, in Jackson County, Bastien, being an officer and employee of The Bank of Carbondale, a bank whose deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with intent to injure and defraud The Bank of Carbondale, did willfully embezzle the sum of approximately $229,221.80 of the moneys or funds intrusted to the custody or care of The Bank of Carbondale.
Bastien faces a possible penalty of up to 30 years’ imprisonment, up to $1,000,000 fine, and supervised release of up to five years.
Sheriff’s Office Deputies, David Benjamin and Jeff Alan Poole, Charged with Conspiracy
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI); and Scott Israel, Sheriff, Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), announce the filing of charges against David Benjamin, 48, of Boca Raton, and Jeff Alan Poole, 47, of Weston, for conspiring to commit crimes in connection with the operation of the former Fort Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler P.A. (RRA).
In a criminal information filed earlier, Benjamin was charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and to violate civil rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. In a separate criminal information, Poole was charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 241. The charges allege that, during the relevant time period, both defendants were employed by the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Benjamin was a lieutenant and served as executive officer to then Sheriff Al Lamberti. Poole was a detective assigned to the Strategic Investigations Division.
The charging documents allege that both defendants agreed to utilize their respective positions within BSO unlawfully to further the interests of RRA, its chairman and CEO Scott W. Rothstein, and other persons associated with Rothstein. Specifically, the charging documents allege that Benjamin received approximately $185,000 in money and other things of value from Rothstein and RRA in return for providing his assistance when needed, including arranging with Poole to arrest the ex-wife of an attorney who was engaged in a child custody dispute with her, arranging to use force and threats of force against the boyfriend of an escort who was threatening to expose the illicit relationship that existed between the escort and one of the partners at RRA, and assisting Rothstein in loading cash and jewelry onto a private airplane that was used by Rothstein to flee to Morocco on October 27, 2009, as the Ponzi scheme being conducted through RRA was beginning to unravel.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “David Benjamin and Jeff Poole used their official positions as law enforcement officers to commit civil rights abuses to further the interests of Scott Rothstein and others associated with Rothstein. When law enforcement officers betray the trust of the people, it strikes at the very core of our democracy. The informations filed today charging Benjamin and Poole should serve as a reminder that no one is above the law. When law enforcement officers violate the public’s trust, they will be held accountable. Benjamin and Poole are the 19th and 20th accomplices, respectively, to be held accountable in Rothstein’s $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.”
“When David Benjamin and Jeff Alan Poole began to use their official positions to further the illegal schemes of Rothstein and his cronies, they crossed a very bright line,” said William J. Maddalena, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “Their criminal misconduct undermined the public’s trust in law enforcement. As such, the FBI will continue to work with our partners to remove those law enforcement officers who violate the law. The FBI, in particular, would like to thank BSO for their close partnership investigating this matter.”
IRS-CI SAC José A. Gonzalez stated, “Law enforcement officers and individuals in positions of our citizens’ trust are held to an even higher standard than the general public. It’s a sad day when a lieutenant and a detective of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office who are sworn to uphold the law, allegedly misuse their positions by engaging in criminal acts. IRS-CI, together with its law enforcement partners, will continue to ensure that no one operates above the law and are held accountable for their actions.”
BSO Sheriff Scott Israel stated, “Every time a law enforcement officer is implicated in a crime, it’s a blow to our profession. This indictment tarnishes the image of honest, hard-working law enforcement officers everywhere. My immediate action after taking office was to suspend Deputy Poole and Lieutenant Benjamin based on an ongoing federal investigation. I applaud the diligence and professionalism displayed by our federal partners, and we will continue working closely with them to ensure justice is served.”
In a criminal information filed earlier, Benjamin was charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and to violate civil rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. In a separate criminal information, Poole was charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 241. The charges allege that, during the relevant time period, both defendants were employed by the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Benjamin was a lieutenant and served as executive officer to then Sheriff Al Lamberti. Poole was a detective assigned to the Strategic Investigations Division.
The charging documents allege that both defendants agreed to utilize their respective positions within BSO unlawfully to further the interests of RRA, its chairman and CEO Scott W. Rothstein, and other persons associated with Rothstein. Specifically, the charging documents allege that Benjamin received approximately $185,000 in money and other things of value from Rothstein and RRA in return for providing his assistance when needed, including arranging with Poole to arrest the ex-wife of an attorney who was engaged in a child custody dispute with her, arranging to use force and threats of force against the boyfriend of an escort who was threatening to expose the illicit relationship that existed between the escort and one of the partners at RRA, and assisting Rothstein in loading cash and jewelry onto a private airplane that was used by Rothstein to flee to Morocco on October 27, 2009, as the Ponzi scheme being conducted through RRA was beginning to unravel.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “David Benjamin and Jeff Poole used their official positions as law enforcement officers to commit civil rights abuses to further the interests of Scott Rothstein and others associated with Rothstein. When law enforcement officers betray the trust of the people, it strikes at the very core of our democracy. The informations filed today charging Benjamin and Poole should serve as a reminder that no one is above the law. When law enforcement officers violate the public’s trust, they will be held accountable. Benjamin and Poole are the 19th and 20th accomplices, respectively, to be held accountable in Rothstein’s $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.”
“When David Benjamin and Jeff Alan Poole began to use their official positions to further the illegal schemes of Rothstein and his cronies, they crossed a very bright line,” said William J. Maddalena, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “Their criminal misconduct undermined the public’s trust in law enforcement. As such, the FBI will continue to work with our partners to remove those law enforcement officers who violate the law. The FBI, in particular, would like to thank BSO for their close partnership investigating this matter.”
IRS-CI SAC José A. Gonzalez stated, “Law enforcement officers and individuals in positions of our citizens’ trust are held to an even higher standard than the general public. It’s a sad day when a lieutenant and a detective of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office who are sworn to uphold the law, allegedly misuse their positions by engaging in criminal acts. IRS-CI, together with its law enforcement partners, will continue to ensure that no one operates above the law and are held accountable for their actions.”
BSO Sheriff Scott Israel stated, “Every time a law enforcement officer is implicated in a crime, it’s a blow to our profession. This indictment tarnishes the image of honest, hard-working law enforcement officers everywhere. My immediate action after taking office was to suspend Deputy Poole and Lieutenant Benjamin based on an ongoing federal investigation. I applaud the diligence and professionalism displayed by our federal partners, and we will continue working closely with them to ensure justice is served.”
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Brandon James Sentenced to 81 Months in IRS Fraudulent Refund Scheme
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Daniel C. Alexander, Chief, Boca Raton Police Department, announce that Brandon James, of Miami, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley to 81 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. James was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $382,444 and a special assessment of $300.
According to court documents and statements made in court, James was involved in cashing out fraudulent federal income tax refunds that had been placed electronically onto debit cards. James and his co-conspirators, Laron Larkin and Eric Fussell, attempted to defraud the IRS of more than $862,000 in fraudulent income tax refunds based on at least 121 stolen identities. The IRS paid approximately $382,484 on these refund requests.
James pled guilty earlier to conspiracy to steal government monies, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 (count one), theft of government funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641 (count four), and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A (count nine).
Co-defendant Larkin was sentenced on October 7, 2013, to 36 months and one day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Larkin pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal monies of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641, the conspiracy being a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.
According to court documents and statements made in court, James was involved in cashing out fraudulent federal income tax refunds that had been placed electronically onto debit cards. James and his co-conspirators, Laron Larkin and Eric Fussell, attempted to defraud the IRS of more than $862,000 in fraudulent income tax refunds based on at least 121 stolen identities. The IRS paid approximately $382,484 on these refund requests.
James pled guilty earlier to conspiracy to steal government monies, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 (count one), theft of government funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641 (count four), and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A (count nine).
Co-defendant Larkin was sentenced on October 7, 2013, to 36 months and one day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Larkin pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal monies of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641, the conspiracy being a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.
#Chiraq - Gangs Have Turned Chicago into a War Zone, #MurderCapitalUSA, 45 Shot on Easter Weekend, 37 More the Weekend Before
President Obama may have gotten our troops out of Iraq, but the gunfire in his hometown of Chicago is still earning it a searing nickname coined by young people who live there.
Chiraq.
On Easter weekend, 45 people were shot in the city, six of them children. Five youngsters under the age of 15—four girls and a boy—were shot in a playground where they had gone after Easter services at a nearby church.
Witnesses agree that a car pulled up and one of the occupants asked the youngsters if they were in a gang. There is some dispute about whether the youngsters even got a chance to say no before the people in the car started shooting.
The most seriously wounded, 11-year-old Tymisha Washington, was listed in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds. She is expected to survive.
“Prayers Going Up Blessings Coming Down,” read a posting on her aunt’s Facebook page.
A Facebook argument had apparently sparked a completely unrelated shooting at the start of the weekend. Best friends Jordan Means, 16, and Anthony Bankhead, 18, got into the online spat with a man in his 30s. The man is said to have followed his final post by appearing in the flesh and shooting the two teens to death.
Two other men were fatally shot later in the weekend as they sat in a car that was also occupied by two kids, ages 3 and 7. The children were physically unharmed but no doubt will join those who are as mentally scarred by living in Chicago as were some combat veterans who returned from the war in Iraq. And this bloody Easter weekend was preceded by a weekend in which 37 people were shot, four of them fatally.
FBI Director James Comey happened to be in Chicago the following Monday, and he ascribed much of the violence to the gang culture so deeply ingrained in the city. But Comey had little to say about what Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy recognizes as the core problem.
“Until we do something about guns, don’t expect things to change overnight,” McCarthy said at a press conference that same day.
McCarthy noted that Chicago cops have seized 1,500 illegal guns so far this year, but the people caught with the weapons are all too often back on the street all too soon. “It’s like running on a hamster wheel,” McCarthy said of the effort to grapple with the problem. “We’re drinking from a fire hose, seizing these guns, and people are back out on the street. They’re not learning that carrying a firearm is going to have a serious impact on their lives.”
McCarthy invoked the memory of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old who was killed by a stray round in 2013, just days after performing at Obama’s second inauguration. McCarthy noted that her suspected killer had been at liberty despite having been convicted of illegal gun possession just two months before.
“If he’s not out on the street, Hadiya Pendleton is out there being an honor student and continuing on with her life,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy emphasized that the Chicago Police Department is pursuing a wide range of strategies to stem the violence, much of which is gang-related. And the murder rate is actually down this year. But even the smartest policing by the most dedicated cops can only do so much in the absence of effective gun laws.
“If you don’t go to jail for gun possession, you continue to carry guns,” McCarthy said. “You continue to carry guns, and people get shot.”
Other people who have gotten shot in Chicago in recent days include 17-year-old Ronald Hayes, who was expected to be the first in his family to graduate from high school and who had promised to take his mother to the prom because she never had the opportunity to attend one. He was gunned down in February as he shoveled snow outside a neighbor’s home.
There was also 17-year-old Gakirah Barnes. Her Twitter moniker was @tyquannassassin, apparently in honor of a 13-year-old relative named Tyquann Tyler who was killed by a stray bullet in 2012. Barnes reportedly was allied with the rapper Lil Jay and the late rapper Lil JoJo, who was killed in 2012 by a not at all stray round after releasing video dissing Chief Keef, the rapper. Keef’s 30-year-old cousin Mario “BigGlo” Hess was shot to death on April 9. Barnes tweeted a reference to a Notorious B.I.G. lyric the next day.
“u Nobody until Somebody kill u u dats jst real Shyt.”
A friend quickly responded.
“More bodies BITCH This Chiraq.”
The following afternoon, Barnes was herself shot to death, hit as many as nine times. She was to be buried near her father, who reportedly was shot death on an Easter 16 years and thousands of murders ago.
Her death was followed by the April 15 shooting of Lil Jojo’s 16-year-old cousin Keno Blass. Keef’s cousin was buried on Friday, with the star rapper serving as a pallbearer. But if a rap war of sorts is behind some of the recent killings and gang rivalries are behind many more and a Facebook spat led to two of the murders, the common denominator in all the shootings is guns.
The war that now demands the president’s attention is the one in Chiraq.
Thanks to Michael Daly.
Chiraq.
On Easter weekend, 45 people were shot in the city, six of them children. Five youngsters under the age of 15—four girls and a boy—were shot in a playground where they had gone after Easter services at a nearby church.
Witnesses agree that a car pulled up and one of the occupants asked the youngsters if they were in a gang. There is some dispute about whether the youngsters even got a chance to say no before the people in the car started shooting.
The most seriously wounded, 11-year-old Tymisha Washington, was listed in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds. She is expected to survive.
“Prayers Going Up Blessings Coming Down,” read a posting on her aunt’s Facebook page.
A Facebook argument had apparently sparked a completely unrelated shooting at the start of the weekend. Best friends Jordan Means, 16, and Anthony Bankhead, 18, got into the online spat with a man in his 30s. The man is said to have followed his final post by appearing in the flesh and shooting the two teens to death.
Two other men were fatally shot later in the weekend as they sat in a car that was also occupied by two kids, ages 3 and 7. The children were physically unharmed but no doubt will join those who are as mentally scarred by living in Chicago as were some combat veterans who returned from the war in Iraq. And this bloody Easter weekend was preceded by a weekend in which 37 people were shot, four of them fatally.
FBI Director James Comey happened to be in Chicago the following Monday, and he ascribed much of the violence to the gang culture so deeply ingrained in the city. But Comey had little to say about what Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy recognizes as the core problem.
“Until we do something about guns, don’t expect things to change overnight,” McCarthy said at a press conference that same day.
McCarthy noted that Chicago cops have seized 1,500 illegal guns so far this year, but the people caught with the weapons are all too often back on the street all too soon. “It’s like running on a hamster wheel,” McCarthy said of the effort to grapple with the problem. “We’re drinking from a fire hose, seizing these guns, and people are back out on the street. They’re not learning that carrying a firearm is going to have a serious impact on their lives.”
McCarthy invoked the memory of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old who was killed by a stray round in 2013, just days after performing at Obama’s second inauguration. McCarthy noted that her suspected killer had been at liberty despite having been convicted of illegal gun possession just two months before.
“If he’s not out on the street, Hadiya Pendleton is out there being an honor student and continuing on with her life,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy emphasized that the Chicago Police Department is pursuing a wide range of strategies to stem the violence, much of which is gang-related. And the murder rate is actually down this year. But even the smartest policing by the most dedicated cops can only do so much in the absence of effective gun laws.
“If you don’t go to jail for gun possession, you continue to carry guns,” McCarthy said. “You continue to carry guns, and people get shot.”
Other people who have gotten shot in Chicago in recent days include 17-year-old Ronald Hayes, who was expected to be the first in his family to graduate from high school and who had promised to take his mother to the prom because she never had the opportunity to attend one. He was gunned down in February as he shoveled snow outside a neighbor’s home.
There was also 17-year-old Gakirah Barnes. Her Twitter moniker was @tyquannassassin, apparently in honor of a 13-year-old relative named Tyquann Tyler who was killed by a stray bullet in 2012. Barnes reportedly was allied with the rapper Lil Jay and the late rapper Lil JoJo, who was killed in 2012 by a not at all stray round after releasing video dissing Chief Keef, the rapper. Keef’s 30-year-old cousin Mario “BigGlo” Hess was shot to death on April 9. Barnes tweeted a reference to a Notorious B.I.G. lyric the next day.
“u Nobody until Somebody kill u u dats jst real Shyt.”
A friend quickly responded.
“More bodies BITCH This Chiraq.”
The following afternoon, Barnes was herself shot to death, hit as many as nine times. She was to be buried near her father, who reportedly was shot death on an Easter 16 years and thousands of murders ago.
Her death was followed by the April 15 shooting of Lil Jojo’s 16-year-old cousin Keno Blass. Keef’s cousin was buried on Friday, with the star rapper serving as a pallbearer. But if a rap war of sorts is behind some of the recent killings and gang rivalries are behind many more and a Facebook spat led to two of the murders, the common denominator in all the shootings is guns.
The war that now demands the president’s attention is the one in Chiraq.
Thanks to Michael Daly.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan
Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
is 
a riveting true-life tale of newspaper noir and Japanese organized crime from an American investigative journalist.
Jake Adelstein is the only American journalist ever to have been admitted to the insular Tokyo Metropolitan Police Press Club, where for twelve years he covered the dark side of Japan: extortion, murder, human trafficking, fiscal corruption, and of course, the yakuza. But when his final scoop exposed a scandal that reverberated all the way from the neon soaked streets of Tokyo to the polished Halls of the FBI and resulted in a death threat for him and his family, Adelstein decided to step down. Then, he fought back. In Tokyo Vice he delivers an unprecedented look at Japanese culture and searing memoir about his rise from cub reporter to seasoned journalist with a price on his head.
is a riveting true-life tale of newspaper noir and Japanese organized crime from an American investigative journalist.
Jake Adelstein is the only American journalist ever to have been admitted to the insular Tokyo Metropolitan Police Press Club, where for twelve years he covered the dark side of Japan: extortion, murder, human trafficking, fiscal corruption, and of course, the yakuza. But when his final scoop exposed a scandal that reverberated all the way from the neon soaked streets of Tokyo to the polished Halls of the FBI and resulted in a death threat for him and his family, Adelstein decided to step down. Then, he fought back. In Tokyo Vice he delivers an unprecedented look at Japanese culture and searing memoir about his rise from cub reporter to seasoned journalist with a price on his head.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Following Mass Shooting Incidents, Attorney General Holder Urges Congress to Approve $15 Million to Train Law Enforcement Officers for 'Active Shooter' Situations
Following the recent tragedies at a Jewish Community Center outside of Kansas City and at Ft. Hood, Attorney General Eric Holder urged Congress to approve $15 million in funding for active shooter training for law enforcement officers to ensure they have the tools they need to effectively respond to threats, protect themselves, and save innocent lives.
“In the face of this urgent and growing threat – when the lives of innocent people are at stake – those who stand on the front lines need our full and unwavering support," Holder said in a video message posted on the Justice Department's website. "This critical funding would help the Justice Department ensure that America’s police officers have the tools and guidance they need to effectively respond to active shooter incidents whenever and wherever they arise."
“Over the last decade, the Justice Department and the FBI have helped provide cutting-edge active shooter training to 50,000 front-line officers. In the video message, Holder said continuing this training is critical since the patrol officers who arrive first on the scene are increasingly being relied on to respond directly to active shooters rather than wait for SWAT teams.”
The complete text of the Attorney General’s video message is below:
“Between 2000 and 2008, the United States experienced an average of approximately five active shooter incidents every year. Since 2009, this annual average has roughly tripled. Earlier this month, Fort Hood suffered the second mass shooting that community has experienced in just five years. And in a separate incident over the weekend, a gunman opened fire at a Jewish Community Center just outside of Kansas City.
“The Justice Department has concluded that federal hate crimes charges are appropriate in this case, and in the months ahead, we will do everything in our power to ensure that justice is served for every victim.
“But each of these tragic events is a heartbreaking reminder that mass shootings are all too common. And they have become increasingly deadly.
“As a nation, we must confront this alarming rise and all of its underlying causes – honestly, factually, and without regard for political consequence. We must deal with these incidents whenever they happen – but, just as importantly, we must prevent them whenever we can.
“Today’s Department of Justice committed to doing just that. We’re more determined than ever to prevent mass shootings. The FBI’s Behavioral Threat Assessment Center, which supports state, local and campus safety stakeholders, has worked diligently to respond to a nearly 200 percent increase in requests for assistance in the last year, and to help detect and mitigate potential active shooter situations.
“But we must also be prepared to respond quickly and effectively to active shooter incidents if and when they do occur. And in today’s world, the first response must often be led not by SWAT teams or specialized police units – but by the very first patrol officers to arrive on the scene.
“That’s why all law enforcement officers must have the best equipment and most up-to-date training to confront these situations – to stop active shooters in their tracks, to protect themselves, and to save innocent lives.
“Over the last decade, the Justice Department and the FBI have helped provide cutting-edge active shooter training to 50,000 front-line officers, more than 7,000 on-scene commanders, and over 3,000 local, state, and federal agency heads. This vital work must continue – but to provide training, we need adequate funding.
“Today, I am urging Congress to approve President Obama’s request for $15 million for active shooter training and other officer safety initiatives. This critical funding would help the Justice Department ensure that America’s police officers have the tools and guidance they need to effectively respond to active shooter incidents whenever and wherever they arise.
“Every day, America’s federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials perform their duties with integrity, courage, and extraordinary valor. In the face of this urgent and growing threat – when the lives of innocent people are at stake – those who stand on the front lines need our full and unwavering support. The safety of the American people demands it. And the men, women, and children whose lives are impacted by active shooters every year deserve nothing less.”
Friday, April 18, 2014
Terrance Brown, Mastermind of Violent Robbery Crew, Convicted of Robbery Murder and Weapons Charges
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that Terrance Brown, 41, of Miami, was convicted of Hobbs Act robbery, two counts of attempted Hobbs Act robbery, and three counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Brown was the mastermind of a seven-man robbery crew that conspired in 2010 to rob armored Brinks trucks. In July 2010, the crew planned to rob a Brinks truck at a Bank of America in Lighthouse Point. However, that robbery did not occur because the Brinks truck did not arrive at the bank at the time that the crew planned to rob it. In September 2010, the crew attempted to rob another Brinks truck at a Bank of America in Miramar. That robbery also did not occur because a police vehicle drove through the bank parking lot just prior to the planned robbery, causing members of the crew to run from the scene. Finally, in October 2010, the crew returned to the same Bank of America in Miramar to once again rob the Brinks guard as he was delivering currency to the bank. During that robbery, the gunman fatally shot the guard in the head while Brown and his accomplices acted as lookouts. The gunman was arrested at the scene and one year later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Thereafter, in July 2013, a jury convicted Brown and three other co-defendants of several charges, including conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery. However, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on several other charges, which resulted in a retrial for the charges for which defendant Brown was just convicted.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “We are gratified that the jury reached a unanimous verdict finding Terrance Brown guilty of robbery murder and related weapons charges. Brown was the mastermind of a violent robbery crew that resulted in the senseless murder of a Brinks guard. Today our community can sleep sounder knowing that Brown is off our streets and that justice has been served.”
“Terrance Brown is a violent and greedy criminal who was bent on hitting armored truck couriers during their deliveries,” said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “In July 2010, Brown and his robbery crew fatally shot a Brinks guard during the course of his duties. For this brutal and cowardly act, Brown is now being held accountable.”
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Brown was the mastermind of a seven-man robbery crew that conspired in 2010 to rob armored Brinks trucks. In July 2010, the crew planned to rob a Brinks truck at a Bank of America in Lighthouse Point. However, that robbery did not occur because the Brinks truck did not arrive at the bank at the time that the crew planned to rob it. In September 2010, the crew attempted to rob another Brinks truck at a Bank of America in Miramar. That robbery also did not occur because a police vehicle drove through the bank parking lot just prior to the planned robbery, causing members of the crew to run from the scene. Finally, in October 2010, the crew returned to the same Bank of America in Miramar to once again rob the Brinks guard as he was delivering currency to the bank. During that robbery, the gunman fatally shot the guard in the head while Brown and his accomplices acted as lookouts. The gunman was arrested at the scene and one year later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Thereafter, in July 2013, a jury convicted Brown and three other co-defendants of several charges, including conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery. However, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on several other charges, which resulted in a retrial for the charges for which defendant Brown was just convicted.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “We are gratified that the jury reached a unanimous verdict finding Terrance Brown guilty of robbery murder and related weapons charges. Brown was the mastermind of a violent robbery crew that resulted in the senseless murder of a Brinks guard. Today our community can sleep sounder knowing that Brown is off our streets and that justice has been served.”
“Terrance Brown is a violent and greedy criminal who was bent on hitting armored truck couriers during their deliveries,” said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “In July 2010, Brown and his robbery crew fatally shot a Brinks guard during the course of his duties. For this brutal and cowardly act, Brown is now being held accountable.”
Ceasar Huerta Cantu Granted Clemency by President @BarackObama
President Barack Obama granted clemency to the following individual:
Ceasar Huerta Cantu, also known as Cesar Huerta Cantu – Katy, Texas
Offenses: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana;
money laundering (Western District of Virginia)
Sentence: 180 months’ imprisonment (as amended), five years’ supervised release
(May 11, 2006)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to 138 months’ imprisonment
Ceasar Huerta Cantu, also known as Cesar Huerta Cantu – Katy, Texas
Offenses: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana;
money laundering (Western District of Virginia)
Sentence: 180 months’ imprisonment (as amended), five years’ supervised release
(May 11, 2006)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to 138 months’ imprisonment
Shaamel "Buck" Spencer, Enforcer for #DirtyBlock Gang, Admits Participating in Heroin Trafficking Conspiracy
An Atlantic City, New Jersey man admitted to engaging in a conspiracy to distribute heroin with the Dirty Block criminal street gang that allegedly used threats, intimidation, and violence to maintain control of the illegal drug trade in Atlantic City.
Shaamel Spencer, a/k/a “Buck,” 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas in Camden federal court to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and one count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
During the period of the conspiracy Spencer acted as an “enforcer” on behalf of Mykal Derry, 33, of Atlantic City, helping Dirty Block to control the heroin trafficking trade in and around the public housing apartment complexes of Stanley Holmes, Carver Hall, Schoolhouse, Adams Court, and Cedar Court in Atlantic City. Spencer assisted in the distribution of heroin to Dirty Block customers.
Spencer was arrested on October 30, 2012, and found to be in possession of a firearm at the time of the arrest. On February 12, 2013, Spencer was charged federally with being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. A search warrant executed at Spencer’s residence at the time of his arrest revealed approximately $4,500 in suspected drug proceeds, as well as a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and approximately 44 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
Spencer and other members of the Dirty Block gang—a number of them previously convicted felons—travelled to a shooting range in Lakewood, New Jersey, where they were photographed firing handguns.
As part of his guilty plea, Spencer admitted to distributing heroin. He also admitted to being a previously convicted felon who possessed firearms and ammunition and that specifically, he took a handgun to an Atlantic City casino where he believed Derry was involved in a violent fight with his rivals. Spencer also agreed to forfeit the proceeds of his drug trafficking, as well as his firearms and ammunition.
The drug conspiracy charge carries a minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 40 years in prison, and maximum $5 million fine. The felon-in-possession charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for July 22, 2014.
Shaamel Spencer, a/k/a “Buck,” 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas in Camden federal court to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and one count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
During the period of the conspiracy Spencer acted as an “enforcer” on behalf of Mykal Derry, 33, of Atlantic City, helping Dirty Block to control the heroin trafficking trade in and around the public housing apartment complexes of Stanley Holmes, Carver Hall, Schoolhouse, Adams Court, and Cedar Court in Atlantic City. Spencer assisted in the distribution of heroin to Dirty Block customers.
Spencer was arrested on October 30, 2012, and found to be in possession of a firearm at the time of the arrest. On February 12, 2013, Spencer was charged federally with being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. A search warrant executed at Spencer’s residence at the time of his arrest revealed approximately $4,500 in suspected drug proceeds, as well as a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and approximately 44 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
Spencer and other members of the Dirty Block gang—a number of them previously convicted felons—travelled to a shooting range in Lakewood, New Jersey, where they were photographed firing handguns.
As part of his guilty plea, Spencer admitted to distributing heroin. He also admitted to being a previously convicted felon who possessed firearms and ammunition and that specifically, he took a handgun to an Atlantic City casino where he believed Derry was involved in a violent fight with his rivals. Spencer also agreed to forfeit the proceeds of his drug trafficking, as well as his firearms and ammunition.
The drug conspiracy charge carries a minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 40 years in prison, and maximum $5 million fine. The felon-in-possession charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for July 22, 2014.
Village of Stone Park Place Convicted Mob Felon on Pension Board, Trustees Hide and Sneak Out Back Door, When Asked About It
Gritty Stone Park doesn't seem like the kind of place where you would find magic, but amazingly the entire Village Board vanished when FOX 32 News started asking questions about its pension fund.
Federal court documents revealed that in the 1980s and 90s, the late Chicago mob boss Anthony Centracchio handed out thousands of dollars in bribes to Stone Park officials.
"It had gone on for a long time," said Former Federal Prosecutor Scott Levine. Levine worked on the organized crime unit that nailed then-Stone Park Mayor Robert Natale, and Former Stone Park and Northlake Police Chief Seymour Sapoznik. Both men pled guilty to taking monthly payoffs to protect the mob's illegal multi-million dollar video poker business.
Levine said Sapoznik took it a step further. "He was tasked with warning his organized crime compatriots about government investigations when he learned of them in his role as police chief," added Levine.
At Sapoznik's sentencing, another former Stone Park police chief, Harry Testa, who was doing prison time for dealing coke, testified he, too, took money from the mob. So, imagine our surprise when FOX 32 discovered the three ex-cons are still drawing pensions from Stone Park, totaling more than $43,000 a year.
"It is fairly unusual," Louis Kosiba said. Kosiba runs the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, which provides pensions to virtually all village governments in Illinois. Because of its tiny size, Stone Park is not required to join IMRF and instead runs its own pension fund. Kosiba said nearly all Illinois public pensions include an important rule designed to discourage corruption. "Any felony conviction related to or arising out of your employment will terminate your pension," added Kosiba.
However, not only is Former Chief Sapoznik still receiving a pension, amazingly Stone Park Mayor Ben Mazzula and village trustees appointed Sapoznik to sit on Stone Park's pension board.
"You literally have a person who's being entrusted with the financial future of the participants of that pension plan. He or she needs to be as clean as Caesar's wife, so to speak," said Kosiba.
Mayor Mazulla wouldn't talk on camera, so FOX 32 went to a recent village board meeting to ask why they would appoint a mob-connected felon to the pension board.
"Chief please have everybody clear the room so we can have--yeah."
Trustees went into executive session to discuss personnel issues, so FOX 32's Dane Placko patiently waited outside. However, when it seemed to be going a little long, Dane asked a village official to take a peek. The trustees had disappeared. The parking lot was empty too, except for a car driven by Trustee Loretta Teets.
"Hi trustee. Why'd you guys sneak out the back door?" asked FOX 32's Dane Placko.
Teets pulled away and left without responding.
"If I was a taxpayer in Stone Park, and knew my tax dollars were going to support pensions for felons, not to mention one of these felons sits on the pension board, I'd be irate," said Patrick Rehkamp of the Better Government Association.
Only one of the ex-cons, Harry Testa, returned our calls. He declined to comment.
There's no law against putting a felon on a pension board, but experts said it's extremely unusual.
Thanks to Dane Placko.
Federal court documents revealed that in the 1980s and 90s, the late Chicago mob boss Anthony Centracchio handed out thousands of dollars in bribes to Stone Park officials.
"It had gone on for a long time," said Former Federal Prosecutor Scott Levine. Levine worked on the organized crime unit that nailed then-Stone Park Mayor Robert Natale, and Former Stone Park and Northlake Police Chief Seymour Sapoznik. Both men pled guilty to taking monthly payoffs to protect the mob's illegal multi-million dollar video poker business.
Levine said Sapoznik took it a step further. "He was tasked with warning his organized crime compatriots about government investigations when he learned of them in his role as police chief," added Levine.
At Sapoznik's sentencing, another former Stone Park police chief, Harry Testa, who was doing prison time for dealing coke, testified he, too, took money from the mob. So, imagine our surprise when FOX 32 discovered the three ex-cons are still drawing pensions from Stone Park, totaling more than $43,000 a year.
"It is fairly unusual," Louis Kosiba said. Kosiba runs the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, which provides pensions to virtually all village governments in Illinois. Because of its tiny size, Stone Park is not required to join IMRF and instead runs its own pension fund. Kosiba said nearly all Illinois public pensions include an important rule designed to discourage corruption. "Any felony conviction related to or arising out of your employment will terminate your pension," added Kosiba.
However, not only is Former Chief Sapoznik still receiving a pension, amazingly Stone Park Mayor Ben Mazzula and village trustees appointed Sapoznik to sit on Stone Park's pension board.
"You literally have a person who's being entrusted with the financial future of the participants of that pension plan. He or she needs to be as clean as Caesar's wife, so to speak," said Kosiba.
Mayor Mazulla wouldn't talk on camera, so FOX 32 went to a recent village board meeting to ask why they would appoint a mob-connected felon to the pension board.
"Chief please have everybody clear the room so we can have--yeah."
Trustees went into executive session to discuss personnel issues, so FOX 32's Dane Placko patiently waited outside. However, when it seemed to be going a little long, Dane asked a village official to take a peek. The trustees had disappeared. The parking lot was empty too, except for a car driven by Trustee Loretta Teets.
"Hi trustee. Why'd you guys sneak out the back door?" asked FOX 32's Dane Placko.
Teets pulled away and left without responding.
"If I was a taxpayer in Stone Park, and knew my tax dollars were going to support pensions for felons, not to mention one of these felons sits on the pension board, I'd be irate," said Patrick Rehkamp of the Better Government Association.
Only one of the ex-cons, Harry Testa, returned our calls. He declined to comment.
There's no law against putting a felon on a pension board, but experts said it's extremely unusual.
Thanks to Dane Placko.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Federal Judge Not Interested in Being Pen Pals with Steven Mandell
Former death row inmate Steven Mandell may have been convicted of plotting to torture, murder and dismember a suburban businessman, but he wants the federal judge who oversaw his sensational trial to know he wouldn’t hurt a fly.
In an April 4 letter written from his jail cell and made public this week, Mandell claimed the only time he’d ever been remotely violent in his life was in an altercation with his girlfriend on Christmas Day in 1983 and that the domestic abuse charges were later dropped.
Mandell said in the three-page letter to U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that prosecutors have conjured up a false picture of him as a dangerous threat to keep him in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the federal Loop jail.
In a court hearing last week, St. Eve called the letter inappropriate and revealed that since his conviction in February Mandell had sent several other letters, including one to the Highland Park police. While details of that letter weren’t discussed, Highland Park was the site of a spectacular 2012 fire that killed restaurateur Giacomo Ruggirello. The blaze was labeled a possible arson, and last year Mandell’s lawyers mysteriously subpoenaed records about the investigation.
Mandell also sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur, who is presiding over a pending lawsuit alleging the FBI framed Mandell’s alleged partner, Gary Engel, in a 1984 kidnapping in Missouri.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu has told St. Eve that some of the materials sent by Mandell in the letters violated her protective order sealing certain information in the case. Bhachu said that if Mandell continued to send such materials he could face charges.
Last month, Mandell’s attorneys alleged in a court filing that he was simply expressing his “deeply held conviction” that the key informant in his case, Northwest Side real estate mogul George Michael, was involved in criminal activities that should be investigated.
Mandell claimed in the filing that prosecutors used his letters to justify returning him to the jail’s Special Housing Unit, where he is on 24-hour lockdown and has restricted access to email and other communications.
He was first placed in solitary confinement last fall after prosecutors alleged he tried to arrange Michael’s murder while in the jail’s general population. But prosecutors have denied any involvement in Mandell’s current placement in the jail.
Mandell, 63, was convicted Feb 21 on charges he plotted to kidnap, torture, kill and dismember Riverside landlord Steven Campbell. The jury acquitted him of a separate plot to kill an associate of a reputedly mob-connected strip club. Mandell faces up to life in prison.
Michael secretly wore a wire for the feds and pretended to go along with the plan to outfit a Devon Avenue storefront with an industrial sink, butcher table and other equipment needed to drain Campbell’s body of blood and chop it to pieces.
Years ago Mandell – who then went by the name Steven Manning -- had been sent to death row for the drug-related 1990 slaying of a trucking firm owner. After his murder conviction was overturned on appeal, he won a landmark $6.5 million verdict in his suit against the FBI. A judge, however, later threw out the verdict, and Mandell never collected a penny.
Thanks to Jason Meisner.
In an April 4 letter written from his jail cell and made public this week, Mandell claimed the only time he’d ever been remotely violent in his life was in an altercation with his girlfriend on Christmas Day in 1983 and that the domestic abuse charges were later dropped.
Mandell said in the three-page letter to U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that prosecutors have conjured up a false picture of him as a dangerous threat to keep him in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the federal Loop jail.
“I have never ever bothered anyone in my entire life. No one! Not a soul!” Mandell, a Chicago police officer decades ago, wrote in neat cursive. “There is NO danger. There NEVER was a danger.”
In a court hearing last week, St. Eve called the letter inappropriate and revealed that since his conviction in February Mandell had sent several other letters, including one to the Highland Park police. While details of that letter weren’t discussed, Highland Park was the site of a spectacular 2012 fire that killed restaurateur Giacomo Ruggirello. The blaze was labeled a possible arson, and last year Mandell’s lawyers mysteriously subpoenaed records about the investigation.
Mandell also sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur, who is presiding over a pending lawsuit alleging the FBI framed Mandell’s alleged partner, Gary Engel, in a 1984 kidnapping in Missouri.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu has told St. Eve that some of the materials sent by Mandell in the letters violated her protective order sealing certain information in the case. Bhachu said that if Mandell continued to send such materials he could face charges.
Last month, Mandell’s attorneys alleged in a court filing that he was simply expressing his “deeply held conviction” that the key informant in his case, Northwest Side real estate mogul George Michael, was involved in criminal activities that should be investigated.
Mandell claimed in the filing that prosecutors used his letters to justify returning him to the jail’s Special Housing Unit, where he is on 24-hour lockdown and has restricted access to email and other communications.
He was first placed in solitary confinement last fall after prosecutors alleged he tried to arrange Michael’s murder while in the jail’s general population. But prosecutors have denied any involvement in Mandell’s current placement in the jail.
Mandell, 63, was convicted Feb 21 on charges he plotted to kidnap, torture, kill and dismember Riverside landlord Steven Campbell. The jury acquitted him of a separate plot to kill an associate of a reputedly mob-connected strip club. Mandell faces up to life in prison.
Michael secretly wore a wire for the feds and pretended to go along with the plan to outfit a Devon Avenue storefront with an industrial sink, butcher table and other equipment needed to drain Campbell’s body of blood and chop it to pieces.
Years ago Mandell – who then went by the name Steven Manning -- had been sent to death row for the drug-related 1990 slaying of a trucking firm owner. After his murder conviction was overturned on appeal, he won a landmark $6.5 million verdict in his suit against the FBI. A judge, however, later threw out the verdict, and Mandell never collected a penny.
Thanks to Jason Meisner.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Lloyd B. Lockwood to Serve 10 Years in Prison for Placing Pipe Bomb in Decatur
Senior U.S. District Judge Harold A. Baker sentenced Lloyd B. Lockwood, 47, of Bloomington, Illinois, to serve the statutory maximum 10 years in federal prison for placing a pipe bomb in a Decatur, Illinois mailbox in March 2011, as announced by U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis, Central District of Illinois.
On August 14, 2013, a jury convicted Lockwood for placing a pipe bomb in a mailbox at a Decatur home on March 30, 2011. Lockwood was charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device and being a felon in possession of a destructive device.
Lockwood was arrested and charged in the case in September 2012. He was released on bond with special conditions including home detention. In January 2013, U.S. Magistrate Judge David G. Bernthal revoked Lockwood’s bond after Lockwood violated an order of protection filed against him in McLean county court. Lockwood has been detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since January 2013 and was remanded to the U.S. Marshals Service.
On August 14, 2013, a jury convicted Lockwood for placing a pipe bomb in a mailbox at a Decatur home on March 30, 2011. Lockwood was charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device and being a felon in possession of a destructive device.
Lockwood was arrested and charged in the case in September 2012. He was released on bond with special conditions including home detention. In January 2013, U.S. Magistrate Judge David G. Bernthal revoked Lockwood’s bond after Lockwood violated an order of protection filed against him in McLean county court. Lockwood has been detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since January 2013 and was remanded to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Joseph Tagler Charged with Stealing Eagle Market Makers Dividend Payments
An Oak Lawn man who allegedly used his position as a back office manager of a Chicago trading firm to steal or divert payments intended to go to the firm’s co-owners has been charged in a criminal complaint unsealed following his arrest. The charge was announced by Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
Joseph Tagler, 29, of the 5100 block of West 105th Street in Oak Lawn, was charged with one count of wire fraud, a felony offense, in connection with a transfer of $9,550 that occurred in January of this year. Tagler was arrested without incident by FBI agents at his residence and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan, who released him on a $50,000 unsecured bond. No future court date has been set.
The complaint, filed under seal, alleges that Tagler, a back office manager and member of the board of directors for Eagle Market Makers, stole a total of over $700,000 during a 26-month period and that the money was used for Tagler’s personal use, including the purchase of a property for himself and his brother-in-law in Walkerton, Indiana. The complaint further alleges that the scheme was discovered last month as one of the co-owners, identified in the complaint as Principal A, was preparing to file tax returns and noted that the amount he received in dividend payments was less than what it appeared he was paid in paperwork he received from the company.
According to the complaint, a bank account of Principal B, who had directed Tagler to close the account in November 2011, was used to fund wire transfers in July 2011 and again in March 2013 for the purchase of two real estate parcels in Indiana. Principal B told investigators that what appeared to be his signatures on the wire transfer requests were not his and that he did not authorize the transfers. The complaint alleges that the same account was also used to deposit funds in the amounts of approximately $323, 700 in 2012 and approximately $496,000 in 2013, which funds were primarily Principal B’s dividend checks, and that most of the deposited funds were withdrawn from the account through checks made out to “Cash.” The withdrawal checks appeared to be endorsed by Tagler signing Principal B’s name, according to the complaint.
With respect to Principal A, Tagler allegedly prepared a November 2012 dividend check for him but did not send the check to Principal A’s residence in Alabama, as he was supposed to do. Tagler allegedly forged Principal A’s signature, deposited the funds into a bank account, and then withdrew the funds in cash.
Joseph Tagler, 29, of the 5100 block of West 105th Street in Oak Lawn, was charged with one count of wire fraud, a felony offense, in connection with a transfer of $9,550 that occurred in January of this year. Tagler was arrested without incident by FBI agents at his residence and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan, who released him on a $50,000 unsecured bond. No future court date has been set.
The complaint, filed under seal, alleges that Tagler, a back office manager and member of the board of directors for Eagle Market Makers, stole a total of over $700,000 during a 26-month period and that the money was used for Tagler’s personal use, including the purchase of a property for himself and his brother-in-law in Walkerton, Indiana. The complaint further alleges that the scheme was discovered last month as one of the co-owners, identified in the complaint as Principal A, was preparing to file tax returns and noted that the amount he received in dividend payments was less than what it appeared he was paid in paperwork he received from the company.
According to the complaint, a bank account of Principal B, who had directed Tagler to close the account in November 2011, was used to fund wire transfers in July 2011 and again in March 2013 for the purchase of two real estate parcels in Indiana. Principal B told investigators that what appeared to be his signatures on the wire transfer requests were not his and that he did not authorize the transfers. The complaint alleges that the same account was also used to deposit funds in the amounts of approximately $323, 700 in 2012 and approximately $496,000 in 2013, which funds were primarily Principal B’s dividend checks, and that most of the deposited funds were withdrawn from the account through checks made out to “Cash.” The withdrawal checks appeared to be endorsed by Tagler signing Principal B’s name, according to the complaint.
With respect to Principal A, Tagler allegedly prepared a November 2012 dividend check for him but did not send the check to Principal A’s residence in Alabama, as he was supposed to do. Tagler allegedly forged Principal A’s signature, deposited the funds into a bank account, and then withdrew the funds in cash.
Mikel Mims and Simon Habbershaw Charged with Defrauding @SonyOpenTennis
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce the unsealing of an indictment alleging that two former employees of IMG Worldwide Inc. defrauded the company that runs the Sony Open Tennis tournament on Key Biscayne. Mikel Mims, 37, of Miami Gardens, and Simon Habbershaw, 41, formerly of Miami, were charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud and substantive wire fraud charges. Mims was arrested and Simon Habbershaw remains at large.
Each defendant faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and five years in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud.
According to the indictment, Mims and Habbershaw were employees of IMG Worldwide Inc. responsible for coordinating with sponsors and patrons for the delivery of tickets to the Sony Open Tennis tournament on Key Biscayne. The defendants are alleged to have told the printing vendor for IMG Worldwide Inc. that patrons and customers of IMG Worldwide Inc. had purchased more tickets than the patrons and customers had actually purchased. As a result, the printing vendor for IMG Worldwide Inc. printed extra tournament tickets that it delivered to the defendants. The defendants then told customers that purported patron and customers of IMG Worldwide Inc. had extra tickets for the tennis tournament that needed to be sold, stating that various companies had previously purchased too many tournament tickets. Between 2008 and 2013, Mims and Habbershaw sold these extra tournament tickets to patrons and customers of IMG Worldwide Inc. but instead used the proceeds of the sale of the additional tournament tickets for their own personal benefit and the benefit of others. The indictment seeks forfeiture in the amount of $407,409.
Each defendant faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and five years in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud.
According to the indictment, Mims and Habbershaw were employees of IMG Worldwide Inc. responsible for coordinating with sponsors and patrons for the delivery of tickets to the Sony Open Tennis tournament on Key Biscayne. The defendants are alleged to have told the printing vendor for IMG Worldwide Inc. that patrons and customers of IMG Worldwide Inc. had purchased more tickets than the patrons and customers had actually purchased. As a result, the printing vendor for IMG Worldwide Inc. printed extra tournament tickets that it delivered to the defendants. The defendants then told customers that purported patron and customers of IMG Worldwide Inc. had extra tickets for the tennis tournament that needed to be sold, stating that various companies had previously purchased too many tournament tickets. Between 2008 and 2013, Mims and Habbershaw sold these extra tournament tickets to patrons and customers of IMG Worldwide Inc. but instead used the proceeds of the sale of the additional tournament tickets for their own personal benefit and the benefit of others. The indictment seeks forfeiture in the amount of $407,409.
Mystery/Thriller Reveals Effective Ways of How #ToCatchaRat
Having the feeling of happiness whenever she sees her stories written and published, author Eileen M. Foti shares another masterpiece. Exciting readers, she tells a mystery/thriller that will bring everyone into the world of the mob. Heightening the level of suspense through each page, Foti reveals the effective ways of how “To Catch A Rat.”
A dead man was found in one of the famous stables in the area. As the police were investigating, they found out that the victim was the brother of the incumbent mayor of the city. Thus, it has been known that the mayor’s brother was killed. The day after the incident, the mayor himself was shot in his car. The day after the next, a shooting happened in a nearby racetrack. A string of unfortunate events seems to have struck the city.
Sergeant Finn is the one who handles the murder case; and he is well determined to uncover the mysterious death of the mayor’s brother. He will do all that it takes to find the culprit how muddy the investigation can get. As Sergeant Finn tries to solve the string of crimes, he will soon find out about the mob, Chicago with Big Joe and drugs, and money — all has got something to do with the series of incidences that sent shivers down the spine of every resident in the area. Now, Sergeant Finn has to connect the dots and expose the mind-boggling connection of the murders to the mob.
Interesting, this murder mystery will delight all aficionados of action, adventure and crime solving premises, and maybe teach them a thing or two on how “TO CATCH A RAT.”
A dead man was found in one of the famous stables in the area. As the police were investigating, they found out that the victim was the brother of the incumbent mayor of the city. Thus, it has been known that the mayor’s brother was killed. The day after the incident, the mayor himself was shot in his car. The day after the next, a shooting happened in a nearby racetrack. A string of unfortunate events seems to have struck the city.
Sergeant Finn is the one who handles the murder case; and he is well determined to uncover the mysterious death of the mayor’s brother. He will do all that it takes to find the culprit how muddy the investigation can get. As Sergeant Finn tries to solve the string of crimes, he will soon find out about the mob, Chicago with Big Joe and drugs, and money — all has got something to do with the series of incidences that sent shivers down the spine of every resident in the area. Now, Sergeant Finn has to connect the dots and expose the mind-boggling connection of the murders to the mob.
Interesting, this murder mystery will delight all aficionados of action, adventure and crime solving premises, and maybe teach them a thing or two on how “TO CATCH A RAT.”
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Illinois House Passes Legislation to Prevent the Destruction of Firearms
The Illinois House of Representatives passed House Bill 4860, with House Amendment 1, by an 88 to 6 vote. Sponsored by state Representative Brad Halbrook (R-110), HB 4860, as amended, provides law enforcement agencies with the option to sell confiscated firearms at public auction rather than destroying or keeping them for agency use. HB 4860 now goes to the Senate where it will await a committee referral.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Specifics on Guilty Plea of SAC Capital Management Companies Accepted
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that S.A.C. CAPITAL ADVISORS L.P. (SAC Capital LP), S.A.C. CAPITAL ADVISORS, LLC (SAC Capital LLC), CR INTRINSIC INVESTORS LLC (CR Intrinsic), and SIGMA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC (Sigma Capital) (collectively, the SAC Companies), which are responsible for the management of a group of affiliated hedge funds (collectively the SAC hedge fund or SAC), were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Laura T. Swain. The District Court accepted the guilty plea entered by the defendants on November 8, 2013, and approved the parties’ plea agreement. The court imposed a sentence that included a criminal fine of $900 million (which is not tax-deductible), a statutory maximum five-year term of probation for each of the SAC Companies, the condition that the SAC hedge fund terminate its investment advisory business, effectively closing the hedge fund to outside investors; and a requirement that the defendants, and any successor entities, employ the compliance procedures necessary to identify and prevent insider trading; and that the defendants retain an independent compliance consultant, who will review, revise, and report to the government on those compliance procedures. Together with the settlement of the civil forfeiture action, which was approved by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan on November 6, 2013, the SAC hedge fund is required to pay an additional $1.184 billion financial penalty on top of the $616 million the SAC Companies have already agreed to pay to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “After due consideration, the court has accepted the guilty plea and imposed sentence on SAC, including the payment of $1.184 billion in financial penalties. Today marks the day of reckoning for a fund that was riddled with criminal conduct. SAC fostered pervasive insider trading and failed, as a company, to question or prevent it. So far, this office has successfully convicted eight SAC employees of insider trading, and when so much criminal conduct takes place within one institution, it is appropriate to impose criminal liability on the institution itself. Today’s sentence affirms that when institutions flout the law in such a colossal way, they will pay a heavy price.”
As alleged in the Indictment, the forfeiture complaint filed against the funds, other court documents filed in the case, and statements made during the guilty plea and sentencing proceedings:
From 1999 through at least 2010, numerous employees of the SAC Companies obtained and traded on material, non-public information that they were not permitted to have (inside information) or recommended trades based on such information to SAC portfolio managers (SAC PMs) or the SAC owner. Specifically, the Indictment charges the SAC Companies with insider trading offenses committed by numerous employees, occurring over the span of more than a decade and involving the securities of more than 20 publicly traded companies across multiple sectors of the economy. As charged in the Indictment, the systematic insider trading engaged in by SAC PMs and Research Analysts was the predictable and foreseeable result of multiple institutional failures. The failures alleged included hiring practices heavily focused on recruiting employees with networks of public company insiders, the failure of SAC management to question employees about trades that appeared to be based on Inside Information, and ineffective compliance measures that failed to prevent or detect such trading, particularly prior to late 2009.
At the guilty plea hearing on November 8, 2013, the SAC Companies pled guilty to all five counts in the indictment and admitted that the six employees who had previously pled guilty to insider trading engaged in that criminal conduct while acting within the scope of their employment of the SAC Companies and for the benefit of the firm. The plea agreement does not provide immunity from prosecution for any individual and does not restrict the government from charging any individual for any criminal offense and seeking the maximum term of imprisonment applicable to any such violation of criminal law. In fact, since the time of the guilty plea and prior to the sentencing, two additional SAC portfolio managers, Michael Steinberg and Matthew Martoma, were convicted of insider trading after separate jury trials.
Indeed, the total criminal fine imposed by the Court exceeded a Sentencing Guidelines range that was, in turn, based on all of the illicit profits gained and losses avoided resulting from all of the insider trading alleged in the Indictment. Neither the criminal fine nor the forfeiture amount to be paid in the civil forfeiture case can be claimed as a tax deduction or credit by the SAC Companies or their owner.
The court further imposed a series of non-financial penalties on the SAC Companies that include the following:
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “After due consideration, the court has accepted the guilty plea and imposed sentence on SAC, including the payment of $1.184 billion in financial penalties. Today marks the day of reckoning for a fund that was riddled with criminal conduct. SAC fostered pervasive insider trading and failed, as a company, to question or prevent it. So far, this office has successfully convicted eight SAC employees of insider trading, and when so much criminal conduct takes place within one institution, it is appropriate to impose criminal liability on the institution itself. Today’s sentence affirms that when institutions flout the law in such a colossal way, they will pay a heavy price.”
As alleged in the Indictment, the forfeiture complaint filed against the funds, other court documents filed in the case, and statements made during the guilty plea and sentencing proceedings:
From 1999 through at least 2010, numerous employees of the SAC Companies obtained and traded on material, non-public information that they were not permitted to have (inside information) or recommended trades based on such information to SAC portfolio managers (SAC PMs) or the SAC owner. Specifically, the Indictment charges the SAC Companies with insider trading offenses committed by numerous employees, occurring over the span of more than a decade and involving the securities of more than 20 publicly traded companies across multiple sectors of the economy. As charged in the Indictment, the systematic insider trading engaged in by SAC PMs and Research Analysts was the predictable and foreseeable result of multiple institutional failures. The failures alleged included hiring practices heavily focused on recruiting employees with networks of public company insiders, the failure of SAC management to question employees about trades that appeared to be based on Inside Information, and ineffective compliance measures that failed to prevent or detect such trading, particularly prior to late 2009.
At the guilty plea hearing on November 8, 2013, the SAC Companies pled guilty to all five counts in the indictment and admitted that the six employees who had previously pled guilty to insider trading engaged in that criminal conduct while acting within the scope of their employment of the SAC Companies and for the benefit of the firm. The plea agreement does not provide immunity from prosecution for any individual and does not restrict the government from charging any individual for any criminal offense and seeking the maximum term of imprisonment applicable to any such violation of criminal law. In fact, since the time of the guilty plea and prior to the sentencing, two additional SAC portfolio managers, Michael Steinberg and Matthew Martoma, were convicted of insider trading after separate jury trials.
Indeed, the total criminal fine imposed by the Court exceeded a Sentencing Guidelines range that was, in turn, based on all of the illicit profits gained and losses avoided resulting from all of the insider trading alleged in the Indictment. Neither the criminal fine nor the forfeiture amount to be paid in the civil forfeiture case can be claimed as a tax deduction or credit by the SAC Companies or their owner.
The court further imposed a series of non-financial penalties on the SAC Companies that include the following:
- The SAC Companies will no longer accept third party investor funds and will terminate operations as an investment adviser.
- The SAC Companies were each sentenced to a five-year term of probation—the maximum allowed by law—with a provision to end probation earlier if the SAC Companies cease operating entirely. The terms of probation require, among other conditions, that the SAC Companies employ appropriate compliance measures to identify and prevent insider trading. Additionally, the insider trading compliance measures of the SAC Companies and any related entities trading securities will be reviewed by an independent compliance expert who will direct the SAC Companies to correct identified deficiencies and who will report to the United States Attorney’s Office as to the progress of the corrective measures undertaken.
Full Details on Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, of the #SinaloaCartel, Guilty Plea and Cooperation with US Feds
A high-level member of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico pleaded guilty a year ago to participating in a vast narcotics trafficking conspiracy and is cooperating with the United States, federal law enforcement officials announced. A written plea agreement with the defendant, Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, was made public in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Zambada-Niebla, 39, pleaded guilty on April 3, 2013, before U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo. Zambada-Niebla was arrested in Mexico in 2009, and he was extradited to the United States in February 2010.
Zambada-Niebla remains in U.S. custody and no sentencing date has been set. Under the plea agreement, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison¸ a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and a maximum fine of $4 million. If the government determines at the time of sentencing that Zambada-Niebla has continued to provide full and truthful cooperation, as required by the plea agreement, the government will move to depart below the anticipated advisory federal sentencing guideline of life imprisonment. In addition, Zambada-Niebla agreed not to contest a forfeiture judgment of more than $1.37 billion.
“This guilty plea is a testament to the tireless determination of the leadership and special agents of DEA’s Chicago office to hold accountable those individuals at the highest levels of the drug trafficking cartels who are responsible for flooding Chicago with cocaine and heroin and reaping the profits,” said Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Fardon announced the guilty plea with Jack Riley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Zambada-Niebla pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute multiple kilograms of cocaine and heroin between 2005 and 2008. More specifically, the plea agreement describes the distribution of multiple tons of cocaine, often involving hundreds of kilograms at a time on a monthly, if not weekly, basis between 2005 and 2008. The guilty plea means that there will be no trial for Zambada-Niebla, whose case was severed from that of his co-defendants. Among his co-defendants are his father, Ismael Zambada-Garcia, also known as “Mayo,” and Joaquin Guzman-Loera, also known as “Chapo,” both alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada-Garcia is a fugitive believed to be in Mexico, and Guzman-Loera is in Mexican custody after being arrested this past February.
Zambada-Niebla admitted that between May 2005 and December 2008, he was a high-level member of the Sinaloa Cartel and was responsible for many aspects of its drug trafficking operations, “both independently and as a trusted lieutenant for his father,” for whom he acted as a surrogate and logistical coordinator, the plea agreement states. Zambada-Niebla admitted he was aware that his father was among the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel since the 1970s and their principal livelihood was derived from their sale of narcotics in the United States.
Zambada-Niebla admitted that he participated in coordinating the importation of multi-ton quantities of cocaine from Central and South American countries, including Colombia and Panama, into the interior of Mexico, and facilitated the transportation and storage of these shipments within Mexico. The cartel used various means of transportation, including private aircraft, submarines and other submersible and semi-submersible vessels, container ships, go-fast boats, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor-trailers, and automobiles.
Zambada-Niebla “subsequently assisted in coordinating the delivery of cocaine to wholesale distributors in Mexico, knowing that these distributors would in turn smuggle multi-ton quantities of cocaine, generally in shipments of hundreds of kilograms at a time, as well as on at least one occasion, multi-kilogram quantities of heroin, from Mexico across the United States border, and then into and throughout the United States, including Chicago,” according to the plea agreement.
On most occasions, the Sinaloa Cartel supplied this cocaine and heroin to wholesalers on consignment, including to cooperating co-defendants Pedro and Margarito Flores, whom Zambada-Niebla knew distributed multi-ton quantities of cocaine and multi-kilogram quantities of heroin in Chicago, and in turn sent payment to Zambada-Niebla and other cartel leaders. Zambada-Niebla also admitted being aware of, and directly participating in, transporting large quantities of narcotics cash proceeds from the U.S. to Mexico.
Zambada-Niebla also admitted that he and his father, as well as other members of the Sinaloa Cartel, “were protected by the ubiquitous presence of weapons,” and that he had “constant bodyguards who possessed numerous military-caliber weapons.” Zambada-Niebla also admitted that he was aware that the cartel used violence and made credible threats of violence to rival cartels and to law enforcement in Mexico to facilitate its business.
Zambada-Niebla, 39, pleaded guilty on April 3, 2013, before U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo. Zambada-Niebla was arrested in Mexico in 2009, and he was extradited to the United States in February 2010.
Zambada-Niebla remains in U.S. custody and no sentencing date has been set. Under the plea agreement, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison¸ a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and a maximum fine of $4 million. If the government determines at the time of sentencing that Zambada-Niebla has continued to provide full and truthful cooperation, as required by the plea agreement, the government will move to depart below the anticipated advisory federal sentencing guideline of life imprisonment. In addition, Zambada-Niebla agreed not to contest a forfeiture judgment of more than $1.37 billion.
“This guilty plea is a testament to the tireless determination of the leadership and special agents of DEA’s Chicago office to hold accountable those individuals at the highest levels of the drug trafficking cartels who are responsible for flooding Chicago with cocaine and heroin and reaping the profits,” said Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Fardon announced the guilty plea with Jack Riley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Zambada-Niebla pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute multiple kilograms of cocaine and heroin between 2005 and 2008. More specifically, the plea agreement describes the distribution of multiple tons of cocaine, often involving hundreds of kilograms at a time on a monthly, if not weekly, basis between 2005 and 2008. The guilty plea means that there will be no trial for Zambada-Niebla, whose case was severed from that of his co-defendants. Among his co-defendants are his father, Ismael Zambada-Garcia, also known as “Mayo,” and Joaquin Guzman-Loera, also known as “Chapo,” both alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada-Garcia is a fugitive believed to be in Mexico, and Guzman-Loera is in Mexican custody after being arrested this past February.
Zambada-Niebla admitted that between May 2005 and December 2008, he was a high-level member of the Sinaloa Cartel and was responsible for many aspects of its drug trafficking operations, “both independently and as a trusted lieutenant for his father,” for whom he acted as a surrogate and logistical coordinator, the plea agreement states. Zambada-Niebla admitted he was aware that his father was among the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel since the 1970s and their principal livelihood was derived from their sale of narcotics in the United States.
Zambada-Niebla admitted that he participated in coordinating the importation of multi-ton quantities of cocaine from Central and South American countries, including Colombia and Panama, into the interior of Mexico, and facilitated the transportation and storage of these shipments within Mexico. The cartel used various means of transportation, including private aircraft, submarines and other submersible and semi-submersible vessels, container ships, go-fast boats, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor-trailers, and automobiles.
Zambada-Niebla “subsequently assisted in coordinating the delivery of cocaine to wholesale distributors in Mexico, knowing that these distributors would in turn smuggle multi-ton quantities of cocaine, generally in shipments of hundreds of kilograms at a time, as well as on at least one occasion, multi-kilogram quantities of heroin, from Mexico across the United States border, and then into and throughout the United States, including Chicago,” according to the plea agreement.
On most occasions, the Sinaloa Cartel supplied this cocaine and heroin to wholesalers on consignment, including to cooperating co-defendants Pedro and Margarito Flores, whom Zambada-Niebla knew distributed multi-ton quantities of cocaine and multi-kilogram quantities of heroin in Chicago, and in turn sent payment to Zambada-Niebla and other cartel leaders. Zambada-Niebla also admitted being aware of, and directly participating in, transporting large quantities of narcotics cash proceeds from the U.S. to Mexico.
Zambada-Niebla also admitted that he and his father, as well as other members of the Sinaloa Cartel, “were protected by the ubiquitous presence of weapons,” and that he had “constant bodyguards who possessed numerous military-caliber weapons.” Zambada-Niebla also admitted that he was aware that the cartel used violence and made credible threats of violence to rival cartels and to law enforcement in Mexico to facilitate its business.
Could William Bradford Bishop Jr, Newest Member of FBI's Most Wanted List, Be Hiding in Plain Sight?
Although William Bradford Bishop, Jr. traveled extensively overseas through his job with the U.S. Department of State and spoke several foreign languages, investigators believe he may have assumed a new identity and be hiding in plain sight in the United States.
Even an experienced traveler might find it difficult to maintain a new identity in a foreign country, said Steve Vogt, special agent in charge of our Baltimore Division. “If you’re a U.S. citizen it’s usually easier to hide in this country,” he explained. “Americans overseas tend to stand out.”
“The reality is, he could be anywhere,” Vogt added. “But we don’t want people to assume that he’s out of the country and overlook the fact that he might be living in their community. People might see someone who looks like him and think, ‘It couldn’t be him.’ Well, it could be him,” Vogt said. “That’s why we need the public’s help.”
Vogt doesn’t dismiss the possibility that Bishop died years ago, but currently there is no proof either way. “If he’s dead, so be it,” Vogt said, “but until we know for certain, we will not stop searching for him.”
Even an experienced traveler might find it difficult to maintain a new identity in a foreign country, said Steve Vogt, special agent in charge of our Baltimore Division. “If you’re a U.S. citizen it’s usually easier to hide in this country,” he explained. “Americans overseas tend to stand out.”
“The reality is, he could be anywhere,” Vogt added. “But we don’t want people to assume that he’s out of the country and overlook the fact that he might be living in their community. People might see someone who looks like him and think, ‘It couldn’t be him.’ Well, it could be him,” Vogt said. “That’s why we need the public’s help.”
Vogt doesn’t dismiss the possibility that Bishop died years ago, but currently there is no proof either way. “If he’s dead, so be it,” Vogt said, “but until we know for certain, we will not stop searching for him.”
William Bradford Bishop Added to FBI Top Ten List
William Bradford Bishop, Jr., wanted for the brutal murders of his wife, mother, and three sons in Maryland nearly four decades ago, has been named to the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information leading directly to the arrest of Bishop, a highly intelligent former U.S. Department of State employee who investigators believe may be hiding in plain sight.
On March 1, 1976, Bishop used a hammer to bludgeon his family, including his three boys, ages 5, 10, and 14. Investigators believe he then drove to North Carolina with the bodies in the family station wagon, buried them in a shallow grave and set them on fire. The last confirmed sighting of Bishop was one day after the murders at a sporting goods store in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where he bought a pair of sneakers.
“Nothing has changed since March 2, 1976 when Bishop was last seen except the passage of time,” said Steve Vogt, special agent in charge of our Baltimore Division. Vogt has teamed with local Maryland law enforcement officials to apprehend Bishop, a man described by investigators as a “family annihilator.”
“There is no indication that Bishop is dead,” Vogt said, explaining that the area where the bodies were discovered was searched extensively, and hundreds of individuals were interviewed at the park where the abandoned station wagon was later discovered, and there was no trace of Bishop.
The FBI, along with the Montgomery County Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of State formed a task force last year to take another look at the Bishop case and to engage the public in locating him. As part of that effort, a forensic artist created a three-dimensional, age-enhanced bust of what the fugitive may look like now, at the age of 77.
Naming Bishop to the Top Ten list is expected to bring national and international attention to the case in a way that was impossible decades ago. “When Bishop took off in 1976, there was no social media, no 24-hour news cycle,” Vogt said. “There was no sustained way to get his face out there like there is today. And the only way to catch this guy is through the public.”
“If Bishop is alive—and there is every chance that he could be,” said Tom Manger, chief of the Montgomery County Police Department and a member of the task force, “we are hopeful someone will call with the tip we need to catch him.” Manger added, “When you have a crime of this magnitude, no matter how long ago it occurred, the police department and the community never stop trying to bring the person responsible to justice.”
“No lead or tip is insignificant,” Vogt explained. “If Bishop is living with a new identity, he’s got to be somebody’s next-door neighbor.” Vogt, a Maryland native who remembers when the murders happened 38 years ago, echoed Manger’s sentiments about never giving up trying to locate the fugitive. “Don’t forget that five people were murdered,” he said. “Bishop needs to be held accountable for that.”
We need your help: If you have any information concerning William Bradford Bishop, Jr., contact your local FBI office, the nearest law enforcement agency, or the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate. You can also submit a tip online.
A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information leading directly to the arrest of Bishop, a highly intelligent former U.S. Department of State employee who investigators believe may be hiding in plain sight.
On March 1, 1976, Bishop used a hammer to bludgeon his family, including his three boys, ages 5, 10, and 14. Investigators believe he then drove to North Carolina with the bodies in the family station wagon, buried them in a shallow grave and set them on fire. The last confirmed sighting of Bishop was one day after the murders at a sporting goods store in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where he bought a pair of sneakers.
“Nothing has changed since March 2, 1976 when Bishop was last seen except the passage of time,” said Steve Vogt, special agent in charge of our Baltimore Division. Vogt has teamed with local Maryland law enforcement officials to apprehend Bishop, a man described by investigators as a “family annihilator.”
“There is no indication that Bishop is dead,” Vogt said, explaining that the area where the bodies were discovered was searched extensively, and hundreds of individuals were interviewed at the park where the abandoned station wagon was later discovered, and there was no trace of Bishop.
The FBI, along with the Montgomery County Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of State formed a task force last year to take another look at the Bishop case and to engage the public in locating him. As part of that effort, a forensic artist created a three-dimensional, age-enhanced bust of what the fugitive may look like now, at the age of 77.
Naming Bishop to the Top Ten list is expected to bring national and international attention to the case in a way that was impossible decades ago. “When Bishop took off in 1976, there was no social media, no 24-hour news cycle,” Vogt said. “There was no sustained way to get his face out there like there is today. And the only way to catch this guy is through the public.”
“If Bishop is alive—and there is every chance that he could be,” said Tom Manger, chief of the Montgomery County Police Department and a member of the task force, “we are hopeful someone will call with the tip we need to catch him.” Manger added, “When you have a crime of this magnitude, no matter how long ago it occurred, the police department and the community never stop trying to bring the person responsible to justice.”
“No lead or tip is insignificant,” Vogt explained. “If Bishop is living with a new identity, he’s got to be somebody’s next-door neighbor.” Vogt, a Maryland native who remembers when the murders happened 38 years ago, echoed Manger’s sentiments about never giving up trying to locate the fugitive. “Don’t forget that five people were murdered,” he said. “Bishop needs to be held accountable for that.”
We need your help: If you have any information concerning William Bradford Bishop, Jr., contact your local FBI office, the nearest law enforcement agency, or the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate. You can also submit a tip online.
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Chicago Transportation Department Clerk Antionette Chenier Arrested for Allegedly Embezzling More Than $741,000 from City Permit Fees
A clerk for the City of Chicago’s Department of Transportation (CDOT) was arrested for allegedly embezzling more than $741,000 from fees that were paid for certain city permits. The defendant, Antionette Chenier, a city clerk since 1990, allegedly diverted the funds from checks that were written by companies that applied for and received city permits to block public ways with dumpsters or moving vans. Chenier, 50, of Homewood, was charged with embezzlement in a criminal complaint that was unsealed following her arrest.
The arrest and charge follow an investigation by the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, and the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General.
From 1993 through 2005, Chenier was assigned to CDOT, and from 2006 through 2008, she was assigned to the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication (OEMC) before being transferred back to CDOT. As a clerk working in CDOT’s City Hall permitting office, she was involved in processing the moving van and dumpster permit fees.
The city charges a $25 daily fee for a residential moving van and between $50 and $200 (or higher) per dumpster, depending on the size, location, and length of time the dumpster will be on a city street. For several years, companies have been able to apply for permits through a website operated by CDOT. Although CDOT issues the permits and collects payment, the checks are often made payable to OEMC, which previously administered the permit process.
According to the complaint affidavit, bank records show that Chenier opened a personal bank account in August 2008 and a business account at the same bank in March 2009 under the name “OEMC Chenier,” and she was the sole signatory on both accounts. Between August 2008 and January 2014, she allegedly deposited several hundred checks, totaling $741,299 and payable to OEMC and other city departments into her personal and business accounts.
In January this year, bank officials noticed Chenier’s unusual banking activity and froze her business account, according to the affidavit.
The arrest and charge follow an investigation by the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, and the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General.
From 1993 through 2005, Chenier was assigned to CDOT, and from 2006 through 2008, she was assigned to the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication (OEMC) before being transferred back to CDOT. As a clerk working in CDOT’s City Hall permitting office, she was involved in processing the moving van and dumpster permit fees.
The city charges a $25 daily fee for a residential moving van and between $50 and $200 (or higher) per dumpster, depending on the size, location, and length of time the dumpster will be on a city street. For several years, companies have been able to apply for permits through a website operated by CDOT. Although CDOT issues the permits and collects payment, the checks are often made payable to OEMC, which previously administered the permit process.
According to the complaint affidavit, bank records show that Chenier opened a personal bank account in August 2008 and a business account at the same bank in March 2009 under the name “OEMC Chenier,” and she was the sole signatory on both accounts. Between August 2008 and January 2014, she allegedly deposited several hundred checks, totaling $741,299 and payable to OEMC and other city departments into her personal and business accounts.
In January this year, bank officials noticed Chenier’s unusual banking activity and froze her business account, according to the affidavit.
Former Markham Deputy Police Chief, Tony D. Debois, Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Lying to FBI About Raping Woman in Police Custody
The former deputy police chief in south suburban Markham was sentenced to the maximum of five years in federal prison after a judge ruled that he sexually assaulted a woman in police custody in 2010. The defendant, Tony D. Debois, pleaded guilty last September to lying to FBI agents in 2012 about having had sex in his office, but he contended at a lengthy sentencing hearing last month that the woman he had sex with was not the victim and the sex was consensual.
“It is a case about lying about a rape that occurred under the most egregious circumstances that law enforcement could imagine,” Assistant U.S. Attorney April Perry argued today before the sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow. “The seriousness should not be underestimated,” Judge Lefkow said, adding that she found Debois’ conduct “revolting.”
Debois, 42, of Frankfort, was also placed on supervised release for three years following his sentence, which he was ordered to begin serving on June 10.
Judge Lefkow ruled that the government established that Debois raped the 21-year-old highly vulnerable victim by a “considerable” preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing last month, including the victim’s testimony, which the judge said was corroborated by other factors. The victim and a man were arrested by Markham police officers on September 23, 2010, after the man was suspected of engaging in a counterfeit currency transaction. The victim, who had no prior contact with law enforcement, was handcuffed, taken to the Markham Police Department, and placed in a holding cell for about 30 minutes. One of the arresting officers then took her to Debois’ tactical office, where, according to Judge Lefkow’s ruling, “he insinuated she could escape further trouble if she engaged in sex with him.” The judge found that Debois’ conduct was rape and that he later obstructed justice to avoid punishment for the sexual assault.
DeBois served as deputy chief in Markham between 2008 and 2011 and also served as the department’s head of internal affairs until 2011, when he became Markham’s inspector general until 2012. DeBois began his law enforcement career with the former Chicago Housing Authority Police Department in the 1990s, and he was a police officer in south suburban Harvey from 1999 to 2007, when he joined the Markham department.
“It is a case about lying about a rape that occurred under the most egregious circumstances that law enforcement could imagine,” Assistant U.S. Attorney April Perry argued today before the sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow. “The seriousness should not be underestimated,” Judge Lefkow said, adding that she found Debois’ conduct “revolting.”
Debois, 42, of Frankfort, was also placed on supervised release for three years following his sentence, which he was ordered to begin serving on June 10.
Judge Lefkow ruled that the government established that Debois raped the 21-year-old highly vulnerable victim by a “considerable” preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing last month, including the victim’s testimony, which the judge said was corroborated by other factors. The victim and a man were arrested by Markham police officers on September 23, 2010, after the man was suspected of engaging in a counterfeit currency transaction. The victim, who had no prior contact with law enforcement, was handcuffed, taken to the Markham Police Department, and placed in a holding cell for about 30 minutes. One of the arresting officers then took her to Debois’ tactical office, where, according to Judge Lefkow’s ruling, “he insinuated she could escape further trouble if she engaged in sex with him.” The judge found that Debois’ conduct was rape and that he later obstructed justice to avoid punishment for the sexual assault.
DeBois served as deputy chief in Markham between 2008 and 2011 and also served as the department’s head of internal affairs until 2011, when he became Markham’s inspector general until 2012. DeBois began his law enforcement career with the former Chicago Housing Authority Police Department in the 1990s, and he was a police officer in south suburban Harvey from 1999 to 2007, when he joined the Markham department.
Easy Money is Still Name of the Game with the Mob
The names change, the languages vary, and the players keep evolving. But when it comes to organized crime activity, the game on the street remains remarkably consistent.
It’s a lesson former Metro Det. Jason Hahn many years ago. Hahn, who retired from the department in December after nearly 27 years, spent most of his career working on the street as a member of Metro’s Criminal Intelligence Bureau. He also partnered with a federal task force focused on Asian organized crime.
The result was an impressive series of cases in which prolific prostitution rings and criminal gangs were taken down hard. Among the more notable were operations were Doll House, Jade Blade and Vegas Hold’em. Doll House and Jade Blade were prostitution-related. Vegas Hold’em was a joint task force operation that nailed a California-based Korean organized crime crew that was making high-dollar home invasions. By the time those cases closed, dozens of criminals were hit with long prison sentences.
These days Hahn has teamed up with former FBI agent Charles Bevan, his partner in the Korean case, in a local private investigations firm. The pair will no doubt benefit from its organized crime expertise.
Early in his career, Hahn realized what most good mob investigators know: Although criminal group identification and affiliations are important, many gangsters will gladly cross traditional ethnic lines to make a score. That’s why astute observers will commonly see Asian hoodlums in association with European criminals, Russian mobsters teaming up with Israeli counterparts, and traditional La Cosa Nostra figures taking advantage of alliances in outlaw motorcycle clubs. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll even see a casino guy keeping company with a notorious Chinese Triad associate.
Given Hahn’s background, it’s not surprising he would play an integral role in the growth of the International Asian Organized Crime Conference, as it was first known. It has undergone its own evolution over the years. Following the 9/11 attacks, the group added “Terrorism” to its title. With the spread of international organized crime, and investigations revealing liaisons between disparate criminal operations, this year’s gathering reflects the law enforcement group’s larger mission.
It’s now called the International Conference on Transnational Organized Crime &Terrorism. This year’s conference, which is closed to the public and most press, is set to begin Monday at the Red Rock Resort. More than 400 members of law enforcement from around the world are expected. This year, Metro Sgt. Darren Heiner and FBI agent Chuck Ro are the local conference coordinators.
“It basically covers everything — all different types of organized crime groups,” Hahn says. “These organized crime groups are working together. If there’s a profit to be made, it doesn’t matter if they’re Asian, Israeli, Italian, Eastern European or Russian.”
The conference reflects the reality of the new street. A sample of the workshops: “Narco-Terrorism,” “Detection of Counterfeit Currency,” “International Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs,” “Yakuza and Banks,” “Automating Investigative Tools for Social Networking Sites” and something called “Using Casinos as a Source of Information.”
That last one sounds intriguing.
When it comes to understanding the power of Japan’s Yakuza organized crime families, few can match the insight author and investigative journalist Jake Adelstein gained at Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper. The scheduled speaker is the author of “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard).”
Although it’s nothing the chamber of commerce would want to advertise, it also makes sense to hold an organized crime conference here — and not just because we have our own Mob Museum.
Although the traditional mob influence is largely a thing of the past, international organized crime associates continue their fascination with Las Vegas. In recent years, authorities have investigated and prosecuted groups representing Russian, Yugoslavian, Korean, Mexican, and Israeli mob factions.
Some of the crews are remarkably sophisticated, others are pretty crude, but they all share the same desire for easy money.
The players come and go on the street, but the game remains the same.
Thanks to John L. Smith.
It’s a lesson former Metro Det. Jason Hahn many years ago. Hahn, who retired from the department in December after nearly 27 years, spent most of his career working on the street as a member of Metro’s Criminal Intelligence Bureau. He also partnered with a federal task force focused on Asian organized crime.
The result was an impressive series of cases in which prolific prostitution rings and criminal gangs were taken down hard. Among the more notable were operations were Doll House, Jade Blade and Vegas Hold’em. Doll House and Jade Blade were prostitution-related. Vegas Hold’em was a joint task force operation that nailed a California-based Korean organized crime crew that was making high-dollar home invasions. By the time those cases closed, dozens of criminals were hit with long prison sentences.
These days Hahn has teamed up with former FBI agent Charles Bevan, his partner in the Korean case, in a local private investigations firm. The pair will no doubt benefit from its organized crime expertise.
Early in his career, Hahn realized what most good mob investigators know: Although criminal group identification and affiliations are important, many gangsters will gladly cross traditional ethnic lines to make a score. That’s why astute observers will commonly see Asian hoodlums in association with European criminals, Russian mobsters teaming up with Israeli counterparts, and traditional La Cosa Nostra figures taking advantage of alliances in outlaw motorcycle clubs. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll even see a casino guy keeping company with a notorious Chinese Triad associate.
Given Hahn’s background, it’s not surprising he would play an integral role in the growth of the International Asian Organized Crime Conference, as it was first known. It has undergone its own evolution over the years. Following the 9/11 attacks, the group added “Terrorism” to its title. With the spread of international organized crime, and investigations revealing liaisons between disparate criminal operations, this year’s gathering reflects the law enforcement group’s larger mission.
It’s now called the International Conference on Transnational Organized Crime &Terrorism. This year’s conference, which is closed to the public and most press, is set to begin Monday at the Red Rock Resort. More than 400 members of law enforcement from around the world are expected. This year, Metro Sgt. Darren Heiner and FBI agent Chuck Ro are the local conference coordinators.
“It basically covers everything — all different types of organized crime groups,” Hahn says. “These organized crime groups are working together. If there’s a profit to be made, it doesn’t matter if they’re Asian, Israeli, Italian, Eastern European or Russian.”
The conference reflects the reality of the new street. A sample of the workshops: “Narco-Terrorism,” “Detection of Counterfeit Currency,” “International Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs,” “Yakuza and Banks,” “Automating Investigative Tools for Social Networking Sites” and something called “Using Casinos as a Source of Information.”
That last one sounds intriguing.
When it comes to understanding the power of Japan’s Yakuza organized crime families, few can match the insight author and investigative journalist Jake Adelstein gained at Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper. The scheduled speaker is the author of “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard).”
Although it’s nothing the chamber of commerce would want to advertise, it also makes sense to hold an organized crime conference here — and not just because we have our own Mob Museum.
Although the traditional mob influence is largely a thing of the past, international organized crime associates continue their fascination with Las Vegas. In recent years, authorities have investigated and prosecuted groups representing Russian, Yugoslavian, Korean, Mexican, and Israeli mob factions.
Some of the crews are remarkably sophisticated, others are pretty crude, but they all share the same desire for easy money.
The players come and go on the street, but the game remains the same.
Thanks to John L. Smith.
Samir Azizi, International Fugitive, Arrested at @flySFO
U.S. Marshal Don O’Keefe announces the arrest of Samir Azizi by the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
Azizi, 24, a German national, landed at SFO March 31 en route from Dubai, where he was intercepted by Deputy U.S. Marshals and members of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. According to a criminal complaint filed in San Jose by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Azizi is wanted in Germany for several financial crimes – 89 counts related to tax evasion – committed between 2008 and 2012, in which Azizi allegedly formed a “gang” for the purpose of setting up 11 companies that primarily dealt in cellular communication and other technologies. The companies allegedly participated in criminal activity including filing false tax forms for the purposes of receiving fraudulent tax returns. The alleged criminal activity resulted in a loss to German tax authorities of more than 61 million euros.
Azizi holds a passport from Afghanistan and is also a legal resident of Germany and the United States. The criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California and the ensuing arrest warrant were issued for the purpose of seeking Azizi’s extradition to Germany.
Azizi appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd in San Jose on April 1, at which time he was ordered held without bail and remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Extradition proceedings are currently pending, and a status hearing is scheduled before Judge Lloyd on May 23.
Azizi, 24, a German national, landed at SFO March 31 en route from Dubai, where he was intercepted by Deputy U.S. Marshals and members of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. According to a criminal complaint filed in San Jose by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Azizi is wanted in Germany for several financial crimes – 89 counts related to tax evasion – committed between 2008 and 2012, in which Azizi allegedly formed a “gang” for the purpose of setting up 11 companies that primarily dealt in cellular communication and other technologies. The companies allegedly participated in criminal activity including filing false tax forms for the purposes of receiving fraudulent tax returns. The alleged criminal activity resulted in a loss to German tax authorities of more than 61 million euros.
Azizi holds a passport from Afghanistan and is also a legal resident of Germany and the United States. The criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California and the ensuing arrest warrant were issued for the purpose of seeking Azizi’s extradition to Germany.
Azizi appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd in San Jose on April 1, at which time he was ordered held without bail and remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Extradition proceedings are currently pending, and a status hearing is scheduled before Judge Lloyd on May 23.
Ray Allen Flener Pleads Guilty to Conveying False Allegations of a Terrorist Plot to Disrupt Election Day
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced that Ray Allen Flener, 25, of Sesser, Illinois, pled guilty to federal charges that he made a false statement to a federal officer and that he conveyed a false threat. Sentencing is set for July 31, 2014.
At the change of plea hearing, Flener admitted that on November 2, 2012, as a detainee at the Franklin County Jail in Benton, he told a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he had knowledge of a plan by a group called “the New World Order” to disrupt Election Day on November 6, 2012, by using weapons and explosives. Specifically, Flener told and showed the FBI agent the area in which the weapons and explosives allegedly had been stored in August 2012. Flener’s representations were false because, as Flener knew, he had no such knowledge of weapons and explosives having been stored at that location.
Flener also admitted that on November 1, 2012, he did intentionally convey false and misleading information, under circumstances where such information may reasonably have been believed. Specifically, Flener told law enforcement officers from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI that he had personal knowledge of a plan by a group called the New World Order to disrupt Election Day, November 6, 2012, by using weapons and explosives.
The first charge of making a false statement carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. The second charge of conveying a false threat carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Illinois State Police; the Illinois Department of Corrections; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the sheriff’s offices of Franklin County, Williamson County, Saline County, and Jackson County; and the police departments of Marion, West Frankfort, and Johnston City. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Liam Coonan.
At the change of plea hearing, Flener admitted that on November 2, 2012, as a detainee at the Franklin County Jail in Benton, he told a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he had knowledge of a plan by a group called “the New World Order” to disrupt Election Day on November 6, 2012, by using weapons and explosives. Specifically, Flener told and showed the FBI agent the area in which the weapons and explosives allegedly had been stored in August 2012. Flener’s representations were false because, as Flener knew, he had no such knowledge of weapons and explosives having been stored at that location.
Flener also admitted that on November 1, 2012, he did intentionally convey false and misleading information, under circumstances where such information may reasonably have been believed. Specifically, Flener told law enforcement officers from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI that he had personal knowledge of a plan by a group called the New World Order to disrupt Election Day, November 6, 2012, by using weapons and explosives.
The first charge of making a false statement carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. The second charge of conveying a false threat carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Illinois State Police; the Illinois Department of Corrections; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the sheriff’s offices of Franklin County, Williamson County, Saline County, and Jackson County; and the police departments of Marion, West Frankfort, and Johnston City. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Liam Coonan.
Patrick M. Curley Convicted of Extortion
United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that Patrick M. Curley, 50, of Passaic, New Jersey, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to extortion. Curley was indicted on March 21, 2013.
According to court documents, in March 2010, Curley applied online for a job with Vescom, a Hampden, Maine-based security firm. On April 21, 2010, Curley met Vescom’s senior vice president for a job interview in New York. In e-mails and a voice message left after the interview, he expressed ongoing interest in the job. On April 27, however, he e-mailed Vescom’s senior vice president and falsely accused her of sexual harassment and discrimination and threatened to sue. In the months that followed, both he and an attorney representing him contacted Vescom employees and staff counsel threatening to sue and take his claims to the media if they could not reach a financial settlement. Curley’s claims of sexual harassment and discrimination were false and were intended to extort money from Vescom.
According to court documents, in March 2010, Curley applied online for a job with Vescom, a Hampden, Maine-based security firm. On April 21, 2010, Curley met Vescom’s senior vice president for a job interview in New York. In e-mails and a voice message left after the interview, he expressed ongoing interest in the job. On April 27, however, he e-mailed Vescom’s senior vice president and falsely accused her of sexual harassment and discrimination and threatened to sue. In the months that followed, both he and an attorney representing him contacted Vescom employees and staff counsel threatening to sue and take his claims to the media if they could not reach a financial settlement. Curley’s claims of sexual harassment and discrimination were false and were intended to extort money from Vescom.
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Book Launch Reception for A History of Violence: An Encyclopedia of 1,400 Chicago Mob Murders
From Chicago's original gangsters to the Outfit's decline in recent years, Dr. Wayne Johnson is well-versed in the organized crime that long ensnared the city.
After 25 years with the Chicago Police Department - his last assignment supervising a unit within the Organized Crime Division - Johnson was appointed Chief Investigator for the renowned Chicago Crime Commission.
Now coordinator of Harper College's law enforcement programs and widely considered a top authority on organized crime, Johnson has written "A History of Violence:: An Encyclopedia of 1400 Chicago Mob Murders.1st Edition." The 300-plus page tome is the product of painstaking research into newspaper articles, police reports, coroners' reports and other archives over a 14-year period.
"Coming from someone who has fought in the trenches against Chicago's wise guys, Johnson's new contribution will be the go-to reference on Outfit violence for years to come," said Gus Russo, author of "The Outfit" and "Supermob."
Harper will host a public reception celebrating Johnson's book launch at noon Tuesday, April 15, in the lower level of the library on the College's main campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine. Johnson will give a presentation on the state of organized crime in Chicago followed by a brief question-and-answer session and book signing.
Johnson, who also served as the only Superintendent of Police/Inspector General for the town of Cicero before entering academic fulltime, credited two Harper students for their contributions. Daniella Boyd designed the cover art for "A History of Violence" by reproducing in charcoal a real morgue photo of Sam Giancana, one of the most notorious mob bosses in history. Jackie Cooney wrote a research paper that led Johnson to discover a group of killings that fit the criteria for the book.
"I really wanted to dig in on this because every one of these cases deserves to be investigated and solved," Johnson said. "To let them just disappear into history would be a disservice to everyone involved."
Harper student
Daniella Boyd designed the graphite drawing cover art for "A History of Violence" by reproducing a real morgue photo of Sam Giancana, one of the most notorious mob bosses in history.
Wayne A. Johnson served on the Chicago Police Department for 25 years and in his last assignment, supervised the Analytical Unit of the Intelligence Section, Organized Crime Division. He was then appointed Chief Investigator for the legendary Chicago Crime Commission, holding the position originally created by celebrated criminal investigator Virgil Peterson.
Johnson investigated and monitored the Chicago Mob during his five years at the Commission. The national recognition he received led to his recruitment as the only Superintendent of Police/Inspector General for Cicero.
Johnson earned his Doctor of Education degree from Northern Illinois University and Master of Science degree in Criminal-Social Justice from Lewis University in Romeoville. He is as an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Law Enforcement Programs at Harper College.
Johnson is a nationally recognized investigative and educational consultant for law enforcement and the security industry and has lectured extensively on organized crime, homicide investigations, criminal profiling, violence in the workplace and gang crimes.
After 25 years with the Chicago Police Department - his last assignment supervising a unit within the Organized Crime Division - Johnson was appointed Chief Investigator for the renowned Chicago Crime Commission.
Now coordinator of Harper College's law enforcement programs and widely considered a top authority on organized crime, Johnson has written "A History of Violence:: An Encyclopedia of 1400 Chicago Mob Murders.1st Edition." The 300-plus page tome is the product of painstaking research into newspaper articles, police reports, coroners' reports and other archives over a 14-year period.
"Coming from someone who has fought in the trenches against Chicago's wise guys, Johnson's new contribution will be the go-to reference on Outfit violence for years to come," said Gus Russo, author of "The Outfit" and "Supermob."
Harper will host a public reception celebrating Johnson's book launch at noon Tuesday, April 15, in the lower level of the library on the College's main campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine. Johnson will give a presentation on the state of organized crime in Chicago followed by a brief question-and-answer session and book signing.
Johnson, who also served as the only Superintendent of Police/Inspector General for the town of Cicero before entering academic fulltime, credited two Harper students for their contributions. Daniella Boyd designed the cover art for "A History of Violence" by reproducing in charcoal a real morgue photo of Sam Giancana, one of the most notorious mob bosses in history. Jackie Cooney wrote a research paper that led Johnson to discover a group of killings that fit the criteria for the book.
"I really wanted to dig in on this because every one of these cases deserves to be investigated and solved," Johnson said. "To let them just disappear into history would be a disservice to everyone involved."
Harper student
Daniella Boyd designed the graphite drawing cover art for "A History of Violence" by reproducing a real morgue photo of Sam Giancana, one of the most notorious mob bosses in history.Wayne A. Johnson served on the Chicago Police Department for 25 years and in his last assignment, supervised the Analytical Unit of the Intelligence Section, Organized Crime Division. He was then appointed Chief Investigator for the legendary Chicago Crime Commission, holding the position originally created by celebrated criminal investigator Virgil Peterson.
Johnson investigated and monitored the Chicago Mob during his five years at the Commission. The national recognition he received led to his recruitment as the only Superintendent of Police/Inspector General for Cicero.
Johnson earned his Doctor of Education degree from Northern Illinois University and Master of Science degree in Criminal-Social Justice from Lewis University in Romeoville. He is as an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Law Enforcement Programs at Harper College.
Johnson is a nationally recognized investigative and educational consultant for law enforcement and the security industry and has lectured extensively on organized crime, homicide investigations, criminal profiling, violence in the workplace and gang crimes.
Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow
In recent years, while continuing to learn more about strengths, 
Gallup scientists have also been examining decades of data on the topic of leadership. They studied more than 1 million work teams, conducted more than 20,000 in-depth interviews with leaders, and even interviewed more than 10,000 followers around the world to ask exactly why they followed the most important leader in their life.
The results of that research are unveiled in Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow. Using Gallup’s discoveries, authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie identify three keys to being a more effective leader and use firsthand accounts from highly successful leaders — including the founder of Teach For America and the president of The Ritz-Carlton — to show how each person’s unique strengths can drive their success.
A new leadership version of Gallup’s popular StrengthsFinder assessment helps readers discover their own special gifts and specific strategies for leading with their top five strengths. Filled with novel research and actionable ideas, Strengths Based Leadership will give you a new road map for leading people toward a better future.
Gallup scientists have also been examining decades of data on the topic of leadership. They studied more than 1 million work teams, conducted more than 20,000 in-depth interviews with leaders, and even interviewed more than 10,000 followers around the world to ask exactly why they followed the most important leader in their life.The results of that research are unveiled in Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow. Using Gallup’s discoveries, authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie identify three keys to being a more effective leader and use firsthand accounts from highly successful leaders — including the founder of Teach For America and the president of The Ritz-Carlton — to show how each person’s unique strengths can drive their success.
A new leadership version of Gallup’s popular StrengthsFinder assessment helps readers discover their own special gifts and specific strategies for leading with their top five strengths. Filled with novel research and actionable ideas, Strengths Based Leadership will give you a new road map for leading people toward a better future.
Monday, April 07, 2014
Russell Adler Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Violate the Federal Election Campaign Act
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that Russell S. Adler, 52, of Ft. Lauderdale, pled guilty before United States District Judge James I. Cohn to one count of conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act and to defraud the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. The defendant was a shareholder of the former Ft. Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler P.A. (RRA).
Sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. in Ft. Lauderdale. At sentencing, the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison.
In connection with his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that, in order to circumvent campaign finance laws setting limitations on the amounts which donors can contribute, RRA Chairman and CEO Scott W. Rothstein enlisted some of the attorneys and administrative personnel of RRA, and other persons associated with RRA, including Adler, to make political contributions to various political campaigns which were unlawfully reimbursed to them by RRA.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. in Ft. Lauderdale. At sentencing, the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison.
In connection with his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that, in order to circumvent campaign finance laws setting limitations on the amounts which donors can contribute, RRA Chairman and CEO Scott W. Rothstein enlisted some of the attorneys and administrative personnel of RRA, and other persons associated with RRA, including Adler, to make political contributions to various political campaigns which were unlawfully reimbursed to them by RRA.
I-55 Bandit, Andrew Maberry, Sentenced on Bank Robbery Charges
Andrew Maberry, 20, O’Fallon, Illinois, who the FBI referred to as the I-55 Bandit, was sentenced to 60 months in prison on bank robbery charges, including the July 2, 2013 robbery of the Commerce Bank in Jefferson County, Missouri. He entered his guilty plea last December and was sentenced by United States District Judge Catherine D. Perry, in St. Louis.
According to court documents, on July 2, 2013, Maberry robbed the Commerce Bank in Arnold, Missouri. He also admitted with his plea agreement to nine other robberies in five states: May 15, 2013, US Bank in Crystal City, Missouri; May 21, 2013, First State Community Bank in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; May 6, 2013, Scott Credit Union in Edwardsville, Illinois; June 5, 2013, Harford Bank in Bel Air, Maryland; June 9, 2013, TD Bank located in Essex, Maryland; July 19, 2013, Wells Fargo Bank in Bel Air, Maryland; July 24, 2013, Susquehanna Bank in Ocean City, Maryland; July 30, 2013, Huntington National Bank in Hurricane, West Virginia; and August 14, 2013, Bank of Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee.
On September 10, 2013, a multi-state press release was issued that included bank security camera photographs of the robber who had been dubbed the I-55 Bandit. The FBI in St. Louis and in other districts received numerous phone calls from individuals stating that they know Andrew Maberry. On the same date, FBI in St. Louis was contacted and told that the I-55 Bandit wanted to turn himself in, and on September 11, 2013, Andrew Caleb Maberry turned himself in to the FBI in St. Louis.
According to court documents, on July 2, 2013, Maberry robbed the Commerce Bank in Arnold, Missouri. He also admitted with his plea agreement to nine other robberies in five states: May 15, 2013, US Bank in Crystal City, Missouri; May 21, 2013, First State Community Bank in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; May 6, 2013, Scott Credit Union in Edwardsville, Illinois; June 5, 2013, Harford Bank in Bel Air, Maryland; June 9, 2013, TD Bank located in Essex, Maryland; July 19, 2013, Wells Fargo Bank in Bel Air, Maryland; July 24, 2013, Susquehanna Bank in Ocean City, Maryland; July 30, 2013, Huntington National Bank in Hurricane, West Virginia; and August 14, 2013, Bank of Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee.
On September 10, 2013, a multi-state press release was issued that included bank security camera photographs of the robber who had been dubbed the I-55 Bandit. The FBI in St. Louis and in other districts received numerous phone calls from individuals stating that they know Andrew Maberry. On the same date, FBI in St. Louis was contacted and told that the I-55 Bandit wanted to turn himself in, and on September 11, 2013, Andrew Caleb Maberry turned himself in to the FBI in St. Louis.
Irene Carrera Charged in #ShadyBandit Bank Robbery Case
A woman believed to be the robber who wore a pair of dark sunglasses during a series of robberies at TCF Bank branches on the north side of Chicago is facing a federal charge in connection with one of those robberies. The charge was announced by Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
Irene Carrera, 51, of the 8200 block of South Ingleside Avenue in Chicago, was charged in a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court with one count of bank robbery, a felony offense. She is currently being held on an unrelated state charge, and no federal court date has been set.
Although Carrera was charged with only one count, for a February 11, 2014 heist that occurred at the TCF branch located at 4355 North Sheridan Road in Chicago; the complaint includes details of three additional TCF robberies that Carrera allegedly committed. Those robberies occurred on May 21 and November 20, 2013, at 3531 North Broadway, and on March 6, 2014, at 5516 North Clark.
During each robbery, a woman later identified as Carrera approached a bank teller, presented a demand note for money, and made verbal demands for “large bills” or “big bills,” according to the complaint. Bank surveillance video from each robbery showed an individual wearing dark sunglasses, which led to the Shady Bandit moniker, and FBI agents later recovered sunglasses resembling those shown in the videos during a search of Carrera’s apartment.
Irene Carrera, 51, of the 8200 block of South Ingleside Avenue in Chicago, was charged in a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court with one count of bank robbery, a felony offense. She is currently being held on an unrelated state charge, and no federal court date has been set.
Although Carrera was charged with only one count, for a February 11, 2014 heist that occurred at the TCF branch located at 4355 North Sheridan Road in Chicago; the complaint includes details of three additional TCF robberies that Carrera allegedly committed. Those robberies occurred on May 21 and November 20, 2013, at 3531 North Broadway, and on March 6, 2014, at 5516 North Clark.
During each robbery, a woman later identified as Carrera approached a bank teller, presented a demand note for money, and made verbal demands for “large bills” or “big bills,” according to the complaint. Bank surveillance video from each robbery showed an individual wearing dark sunglasses, which led to the Shady Bandit moniker, and FBI agents later recovered sunglasses resembling those shown in the videos during a search of Carrera’s apartment.
Alleged #MagnoliaStreetSteelers Gang Member Arrested for Drug Trafficking #OperationWhiplash
A Lynn man who is allegedly a member of the Magnolia Street Steelers gang was arrested for drug trafficking in North Andover. The arrest marks the 44th individual charged in the multi-phase investigation dubbed Operation Whiplash.
On September 25, 2013, Tyrone Shepherd, a/k/a Pooh, 30, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and four counts of distribution of cocaine base. Operation Whiplash was a wide-ranging FBI Gang Task Force investigation of several gangs in and around Lynn and Revere. Operation Whiplash is the successor investigation to Operation Melting Pot which, in 2010, resulted in 62 Lynn gang leaders, members, and associates of the Avenue King Crips, Bloods, Gangsta Disciples, Deuce Boyz/Soldiers, and Latin Kings being charged in federal and state court. More than 40 guns were seized.
The goal of Operation Whiplash was to target the gangs and gang members who remained in and around Lynn, before they were able to fully reconstitute and seize power in the vacuum created by Operation Melting Pot. Operation Whiplash has resulted in state and federal charges against 44 leaders, members, and associates of the Money Over Broken Bitches (M.O.B.B.) street gang in Lynn, the Bloods in Revere, and other gangs. These individuals, including 27 federal defendants, face drug, firearms, and witness tampering charges. Operation Whiplash also resulted in the seizure of 16 firearms.
According to the detention affidavit filed today, Shepherd is a member of the MIC (Magnolia, Intervale, and Columbia) Street Gang, also known as the Magnolia Street Steelers. Shepherd has a tattoo of the insignia of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is also a symbol of the gang. On September 25, 2013, the FBI issued an arrest warrant and offered a reward of $5,000 for information leading directly to his arrest.
If convicted, Shepherd faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison; a mandatory minimum term of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release; and a $5 million fine on the charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base. If convicted on the charge of distribution of cocaine base, Shepherd faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum term of three years, and up to a lifetime of supervised release; and a $1 million fine.
On September 25, 2013, Tyrone Shepherd, a/k/a Pooh, 30, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and four counts of distribution of cocaine base. Operation Whiplash was a wide-ranging FBI Gang Task Force investigation of several gangs in and around Lynn and Revere. Operation Whiplash is the successor investigation to Operation Melting Pot which, in 2010, resulted in 62 Lynn gang leaders, members, and associates of the Avenue King Crips, Bloods, Gangsta Disciples, Deuce Boyz/Soldiers, and Latin Kings being charged in federal and state court. More than 40 guns were seized.
The goal of Operation Whiplash was to target the gangs and gang members who remained in and around Lynn, before they were able to fully reconstitute and seize power in the vacuum created by Operation Melting Pot. Operation Whiplash has resulted in state and federal charges against 44 leaders, members, and associates of the Money Over Broken Bitches (M.O.B.B.) street gang in Lynn, the Bloods in Revere, and other gangs. These individuals, including 27 federal defendants, face drug, firearms, and witness tampering charges. Operation Whiplash also resulted in the seizure of 16 firearms.
According to the detention affidavit filed today, Shepherd is a member of the MIC (Magnolia, Intervale, and Columbia) Street Gang, also known as the Magnolia Street Steelers. Shepherd has a tattoo of the insignia of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is also a symbol of the gang. On September 25, 2013, the FBI issued an arrest warrant and offered a reward of $5,000 for information leading directly to his arrest.
If convicted, Shepherd faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison; a mandatory minimum term of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release; and a $5 million fine on the charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base. If convicted on the charge of distribution of cocaine base, Shepherd faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum term of three years, and up to a lifetime of supervised release; and a $1 million fine.
Gang Violence Spills into Albuquerque
On March 31, 2014, the United States Marshals Service’s South West Investigative Fugitive Team (SWIFT) fugitive task force arrested Maria Cathy Tercero on a warrant charging her with Attempted Homicide. Tercero was charged on August 1, 2012, in Victorville Superior Court in California. The attempted homicide occurred during an incident between rival gangs. Allegedly, Tercero and three additional gang members held down several victims from a rival gang and stabbed them multiple times. Tercero’s three accomplices were apprehended but Tercero fled California.
United States Marshals in central California developed leads that Tercero relocated to Albuquerque, NM. Deputy Marshals in Albuquerque were able to track Tercero to the 4000 block of Glen Canyon Court in northeast Albuquerque, NM. A team of law enforcement officers from the Marshal’s SWIFT task force located and arrested Tercero without incident. Tercero was transported and booked into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.
United States Marshals in central California developed leads that Tercero relocated to Albuquerque, NM. Deputy Marshals in Albuquerque were able to track Tercero to the 4000 block of Glen Canyon Court in northeast Albuquerque, NM. A team of law enforcement officers from the Marshal’s SWIFT task force located and arrested Tercero without incident. Tercero was transported and booked into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)