The U.S. Marshals Service will be auctioning 25 vehicles which were seized due to illegal activities. The auction will begin promptly at 10:00 am August 29, 2014 in Albuquerque. Detailed photos of the vehicles are available at www.appletowing.com. The auction will take place:
Friday, August 29, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
Apple Towing Company/Dugger Services
7601 San Pedro Drive
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Preview hours are Friday August 29 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Registration to participate in the auction can be done during preview hours.
This auction will feature a 2005 Harley Davidson Heritage Soft tail, 2001 BMW coup, 1972 Chevrolet Nova, 2003 Dodge Ram 1500, and a 2000 Ford F250 Super Duty truck. Proceeds from U.S. Marshals’ auctions are used to compensate victims of crime and fund law enforcement initiatives. In addition, the funds are often shared with state and local law enforcement agencies that participated in the investigations leading to the forfeiture of the assets. The items auctioned once belonged to individuals and companies involved in criminal activity. A court of law has ordered these particular assets to be forfeited as ill-gotten gains.
The U.S. Marshals Service is the primary custodian of seized and forfeited property for the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Program. More than 8,400 items of forfeited property are sold annually with gross sales in excess of $100 million.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
George Jung, drug dealer whose story was in featured the movie Blow, appears tonight on Crime Beat Radio
George Jung, legendary drug dealer whose story was in featured the movie Blow, starring Johnny Depp.
Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Since Concealed Carry Permits Came to Chicago, Crime Rates Dropped
An 86-year-old Illinois man with a concealed carry permit fired his weapon at an armed robbery suspect fleeing police last month, stopping the man in his tracks and allowing the police to make an arrest.
Law enforcement authorities described the man as “a model citizen” who “helped others avoid being victims” at an AT&T store outside Chicago where he witnessed the holdup. The man, whose identity was withheld from the press, prevented others from entering the store during the theft. Police said the robber harassed customers and pistol-whipped one.
Since Illinois started granting concealed carry permits this year, the number of robberies that have led to arrests in Chicago has declined 20 percent from last year, according to police department statistics. Reports of burglary and motor vehicle theft are down 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively. In the first quarter, the city’s homicide rate was at a 56-year low.
“It isn’t any coincidence crime rates started to go down when concealed carry was permitted. Just the idea that the criminals don’t know who’s armed and who isn’t has a deterrence effect,” said Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. “The police department hasn’t changed a single tactic — they haven’t announced a shift in policy or of course — and yet you have these incredible numbers.”
As of July 29 the state had 83,183 applications for concealed carry and had issued 68,549 licenses. By the end of the year, Mr. Pearson estimates, 100,000 Illinois citizens will be packing. When Illinois began processing requests in January, gun training and shooting classes — which are required for the application — were filling up before the rifle association was able to schedule them, Mr. Pearson said.
“The temperature would be 40 below, and you’d have these guys out on the range, having to crack off the ice from their guns to see the target,” Mr. Pearson said. “But they’d do it, because they were that passionate about getting their license.”
The demand has slowed this summer, but Mr. Pearson expects the state to issue about 300,000 concealed carry permits when all is said and done.
Illinois became the 50th state in the nation to issue concealed weapons permits. An individual permit costs about $600 and requires at least 16 hours of classes.
The Chicago Police Department has credited better police work as a reason for the lower crime rates this year. Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy noted the confiscation of more than 1,300 illegal guns in the first three months of the year, better police training and “intelligent policing strategies.”
The Chicago Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
However, the impact of concealed carry can’t be dismissed. Instead of creating more crimes, which many gun control advocates warn, increased concealed carry rates have coincided with lower rates of crime.
A July study by the Crime Prevention Research Center found that 11.1 million Americans have permits to carry concealed weapons, a 147 percent increase from 4.5 million seven years ago. Meanwhile, homicide and other violent crime rates have dropped by 22 percent.
“There’s a lot of academic research that’s been done on this, and if you look at the peer-reviewed studies, the bottom line is a large majority find a benefit of concealed carry on crime rates — and, at worst, there’s no cost,” said John Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center based in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. “You can deter criminals with longer prison sentences and penalties, but arming people with the right to defend themselves with a gun is also a deterrence.”
Within Illinois, Cook County, which encompasses Chicago, has the state’s largest number of concealed carry applications, with 28,552 requests, according to the county’s website. Accounting for population, however, less than 1 percent are carrying.
Mason County has the top per-capita rate in Illinois, with 14 percent of its residents holding concealed carry licenses, followed by Shelby County, with 9 percent. “When I talk to folks that are supporters of concealed carry here, a lot of them want to get their permits so they can keep a gun in the car just so they have it when they travel to bigger towns and cities,” said Shelby County Sheriff Michael Miller.
Shelby County is in southwestern Illinois, about an hour and 45 minutes driving time from St. Louis. Its crime rate is low, and the majority of charges are domestic-related, Sheriff Miller said. He doesn’t anticipate concealed carry to change the statistics much. “These are folks who just want to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Sheriff Miller said. “Luckily, we don’t have a gang problem or any serious violent crime. Our types are just rednecks that like to hunt and fish.”
Mason County Sheriff Paul Gann said it’s too early to tell whether an increased carry rate will have an influence on crime rates. “What I can tell you is we haven’t seen a spike in crime,” said Mr. Gann. “We haven’t seen a spike in anything that’s gun-related — brandishing a firearm, shootings, robberies, nothing. These are law-abiding individuals.”
From a national perspective, Florida has the most active concealed carry permits, at nearly 1.3 million. Texas is second, with just over 708,000. Hawaii, at 183, has the fewest of states whose data were available.
At 300,000 concealed carry licenses, Illinois would compare with Virginia, which has 363,274, and Alabama, with 379,917.
Thanks to Kelly Riddell.
Law enforcement authorities described the man as “a model citizen” who “helped others avoid being victims” at an AT&T store outside Chicago where he witnessed the holdup. The man, whose identity was withheld from the press, prevented others from entering the store during the theft. Police said the robber harassed customers and pistol-whipped one.
Since Illinois started granting concealed carry permits this year, the number of robberies that have led to arrests in Chicago has declined 20 percent from last year, according to police department statistics. Reports of burglary and motor vehicle theft are down 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively. In the first quarter, the city’s homicide rate was at a 56-year low.
“It isn’t any coincidence crime rates started to go down when concealed carry was permitted. Just the idea that the criminals don’t know who’s armed and who isn’t has a deterrence effect,” said Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. “The police department hasn’t changed a single tactic — they haven’t announced a shift in policy or of course — and yet you have these incredible numbers.”
As of July 29 the state had 83,183 applications for concealed carry and had issued 68,549 licenses. By the end of the year, Mr. Pearson estimates, 100,000 Illinois citizens will be packing. When Illinois began processing requests in January, gun training and shooting classes — which are required for the application — were filling up before the rifle association was able to schedule them, Mr. Pearson said.
“The temperature would be 40 below, and you’d have these guys out on the range, having to crack off the ice from their guns to see the target,” Mr. Pearson said. “But they’d do it, because they were that passionate about getting their license.”
The demand has slowed this summer, but Mr. Pearson expects the state to issue about 300,000 concealed carry permits when all is said and done.
Illinois became the 50th state in the nation to issue concealed weapons permits. An individual permit costs about $600 and requires at least 16 hours of classes.
The Chicago Police Department has credited better police work as a reason for the lower crime rates this year. Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy noted the confiscation of more than 1,300 illegal guns in the first three months of the year, better police training and “intelligent policing strategies.”
The Chicago Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
However, the impact of concealed carry can’t be dismissed. Instead of creating more crimes, which many gun control advocates warn, increased concealed carry rates have coincided with lower rates of crime.
A July study by the Crime Prevention Research Center found that 11.1 million Americans have permits to carry concealed weapons, a 147 percent increase from 4.5 million seven years ago. Meanwhile, homicide and other violent crime rates have dropped by 22 percent.
“There’s a lot of academic research that’s been done on this, and if you look at the peer-reviewed studies, the bottom line is a large majority find a benefit of concealed carry on crime rates — and, at worst, there’s no cost,” said John Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center based in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. “You can deter criminals with longer prison sentences and penalties, but arming people with the right to defend themselves with a gun is also a deterrence.”
Within Illinois, Cook County, which encompasses Chicago, has the state’s largest number of concealed carry applications, with 28,552 requests, according to the county’s website. Accounting for population, however, less than 1 percent are carrying.
Mason County has the top per-capita rate in Illinois, with 14 percent of its residents holding concealed carry licenses, followed by Shelby County, with 9 percent. “When I talk to folks that are supporters of concealed carry here, a lot of them want to get their permits so they can keep a gun in the car just so they have it when they travel to bigger towns and cities,” said Shelby County Sheriff Michael Miller.
Shelby County is in southwestern Illinois, about an hour and 45 minutes driving time from St. Louis. Its crime rate is low, and the majority of charges are domestic-related, Sheriff Miller said. He doesn’t anticipate concealed carry to change the statistics much. “These are folks who just want to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Sheriff Miller said. “Luckily, we don’t have a gang problem or any serious violent crime. Our types are just rednecks that like to hunt and fish.”
Mason County Sheriff Paul Gann said it’s too early to tell whether an increased carry rate will have an influence on crime rates. “What I can tell you is we haven’t seen a spike in crime,” said Mr. Gann. “We haven’t seen a spike in anything that’s gun-related — brandishing a firearm, shootings, robberies, nothing. These are law-abiding individuals.”
From a national perspective, Florida has the most active concealed carry permits, at nearly 1.3 million. Texas is second, with just over 708,000. Hawaii, at 183, has the fewest of states whose data were available.
At 300,000 concealed carry licenses, Illinois would compare with Virginia, which has 363,274, and Alabama, with 379,917.
Thanks to Kelly Riddell.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Attorney Beau B. Brindley Indicted for Perjury and Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice
James L. Santelle the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced today the indictment in the Northern District of Illinois of Attorney Beau B. Brindley (age: 36) and Marina Collazo (age: 30) of Chicago in connection with a scheme to present perjured testimony in the 2009 trial of United States v. Alexander Vasquez, in federal district court in Chicago.
Although the crime is alleged to have occurred in Chicago, the United States Attorney’s Office there has recused itself in the matter and it has been transferred to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. However, all legal proceedings in this case will take place in Chicago.
The indictment is based upon allegations that Mr. Brindley, a Chicago criminal defense attorney, caused Ms. Collazo to commit perjury in the trial of Mr. Vasquez, a Brindley client. The indictment contains five counts:
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Chmelar and Mel S. Johnson.
Although the crime is alleged to have occurred in Chicago, the United States Attorney’s Office there has recused itself in the matter and it has been transferred to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. However, all legal proceedings in this case will take place in Chicago.
The indictment is based upon allegations that Mr. Brindley, a Chicago criminal defense attorney, caused Ms. Collazo to commit perjury in the trial of Mr. Vasquez, a Brindley client. The indictment contains five counts:
- Count One charges both defendants with a conspiracy to obstruct justice through the presentation of false testimony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. The maximum possible penalty for this offense is a fine of not more than $250,000, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, plus a mandatory $100 special assessment and up to three years of supervised release to follow any term of incarceration.
- Counts Two through Four charge both defendants with perjury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623(a). The maximum possible penalty for each of those counts is a fine of not more than $250,000, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, plus a mandatory $100 special assessment and up to three years of supervised release to follow any term of incarceration.
- Count Five charges Mr. Brindley with obstruction of justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2). The maximum possible penalty for this offense is a fine of not more than $250,000, imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both, plus a mandatory $100 special assessment and up to three years of supervised release to follow any term of incarceration.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Chmelar and Mel S. Johnson.
16 Former Police Officers Plead Guilty to Running Illegal Organized Crime Group from the Police Department
Sixteen former Puerto Rico police officers have pleaded guilty for their roles in a criminal organization run out of the police department. The officers used their affiliation with law enforcement to commit robbery and extortion, to manipulate court records in exchange for bribes, and to sell illegal narcotics.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez of the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Carlos Cases of the FBI’s San Juan Division made the announcement.
“These 16 police officers were charged with fighting crime, protecting lives and property, and improving the quality of life in Puerto Rico,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. Instead, they used their badges and guns to do the opposite, committing crimes, endangering lives, and stealing property under the veil of police authority. This prosecution demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to holding all criminals accountable – including those who wear a badge. We will use every tool at our disposal, including the RICO laws, to rid our communities of corruption.”
The following 13 defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act:
Three defendants, Ruben Casiano-Pietri, 36, Christian Valles-Collazo, 28, and Ricardo Rivera Rodriguez, 39, pleaded guilty to robbery and extortion charges. Several of the defendants also pleaded guilty to firearms charges in connection with the use of their police-issued firearms in furtherance of their crimes. At the time of their criminal conduct, Flores-Villalongo and Candelario-Santiago were sergeants with the Police of Puerto Rico (POPR), and the other defendants were police officers. Sentencing hearings are scheduled for December 2014.
According to court documents, over the course of the conspiracy, the officers worked together to conduct traffic stops and enter the homes of suspected criminals to steal money, property and drugs for their own personal enrichment. They planted evidence to make false arrests, and then extorted money from their victims in exchange for their release from custody. Additionally, in exchange for bribe payments, the officers gave false testimony, manipulated court records and failed to appear in court when required so that criminal cases would be wrongfully dismissed. The officers also sold and distributed wholesale quantities of narcotics.
As just a few examples of their criminal conduct, in April 2012, defendants Vazquez-Ruiz and Sierra-Pereira conducted a traffic stop in their capacity as police officers and stole approximately $22,000 they believed to be illegal drug proceeds. Vazquez-Ruiz later attempted to extort approximately $8,000 from an individual believed to be a drug dealer’s accomplice in exchange for promising to release a prisoner.
Further, in November 2012, defendants Sierra-Pereira, Nieves-Rivera, Ortiz-Cintron and Valles-Collazo illegally entered an apartment and stole approximately $30,000, which they believed were illegal lottery proceeds.
The defendants frequently shared with one another the proceeds they illegally obtained, and used their power, authority and official positions as police officers to promote and protect their illegal activity. Among other things, the defendants used POPR firearms, badges, patrol cars, tools, uniforms and other equipment to commit the crimes, and then concealed their illegal activity with fraudulently obtained court documents and falsified POPR paperwork that made it appear they were engaged in legitimate police work.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez of the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Carlos Cases of the FBI’s San Juan Division made the announcement.
“These 16 police officers were charged with fighting crime, protecting lives and property, and improving the quality of life in Puerto Rico,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. Instead, they used their badges and guns to do the opposite, committing crimes, endangering lives, and stealing property under the veil of police authority. This prosecution demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to holding all criminals accountable – including those who wear a badge. We will use every tool at our disposal, including the RICO laws, to rid our communities of corruption.”
The following 13 defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act:
- Osvaldo Vazquez-Ruiz, 38;
- Orlando Sierra-Pereira, 37;
- Danny Nieves-Rivera, 35;
- Roberto Ortiz-Cintron, 35;
- Yovanny Crespo-Candelaria, 34;
- Jose Sanchez-Santiago, 32;
- Miguel Perez-Rivera, 35;
- Nadab Arroyo-Rosa, 33;
- Jose Flores-Villalongo, 52;
- Luis Suarez-Sanchez, 36;
- Eduardo Montañez-Perez, 29;
- Carlos Laureano-Cruz, 40;
- Carlos Candelario-Santiago, 47.
Three defendants, Ruben Casiano-Pietri, 36, Christian Valles-Collazo, 28, and Ricardo Rivera Rodriguez, 39, pleaded guilty to robbery and extortion charges. Several of the defendants also pleaded guilty to firearms charges in connection with the use of their police-issued firearms in furtherance of their crimes. At the time of their criminal conduct, Flores-Villalongo and Candelario-Santiago were sergeants with the Police of Puerto Rico (POPR), and the other defendants were police officers. Sentencing hearings are scheduled for December 2014.
According to court documents, over the course of the conspiracy, the officers worked together to conduct traffic stops and enter the homes of suspected criminals to steal money, property and drugs for their own personal enrichment. They planted evidence to make false arrests, and then extorted money from their victims in exchange for their release from custody. Additionally, in exchange for bribe payments, the officers gave false testimony, manipulated court records and failed to appear in court when required so that criminal cases would be wrongfully dismissed. The officers also sold and distributed wholesale quantities of narcotics.
As just a few examples of their criminal conduct, in April 2012, defendants Vazquez-Ruiz and Sierra-Pereira conducted a traffic stop in their capacity as police officers and stole approximately $22,000 they believed to be illegal drug proceeds. Vazquez-Ruiz later attempted to extort approximately $8,000 from an individual believed to be a drug dealer’s accomplice in exchange for promising to release a prisoner.
Further, in November 2012, defendants Sierra-Pereira, Nieves-Rivera, Ortiz-Cintron and Valles-Collazo illegally entered an apartment and stole approximately $30,000, which they believed were illegal lottery proceeds.
The defendants frequently shared with one another the proceeds they illegally obtained, and used their power, authority and official positions as police officers to promote and protect their illegal activity. Among other things, the defendants used POPR firearms, badges, patrol cars, tools, uniforms and other equipment to commit the crimes, and then concealed their illegal activity with fraudulently obtained court documents and falsified POPR paperwork that made it appear they were engaged in legitimate police work.
Guilty Plea from Dias Kadyrbayev for Impeding Boston Marathon Bombing Investigation
Dias Kadyrbayev, 20, a close friend of alleged Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston, to impeding the bombing investigation. Kadyrbayev pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.
The terms of the plea agreement provide that the U.S. Attorney will recommend a sentence of seven years in prison. Kadyrbayev has agreed to be deported from the United States after serving his sentence. U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Nov. 18, 2014.
In August 2013, Kadyrbayev was indicted with Azamat Tazhayakov for obstructing the investigation of the Marathon bombings. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are both nationals of Kazakhstan who were temporarily living in the United States on student visas while attending the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass). However, at the time of their arrests on May 1, 2013, their visas had been revoked.
Kadyrbayev admitted that on the evening of April 18, 2013, after he viewed images of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers released by the FBI, he exchanged text messages with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He then went with Azamat Tazhayakov to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth campus. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Kadrybayev, Tazhaykaov and a third individual entered Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s dormitory room at UMass.
While inside Tsarnaev’s dormitory room, Kadyrbayev searched it and found a backpack containing fireworks and a jar of Vaseline. The fireworks appeared to have been opened, manipulated, and some of the explosive powder appeared to have been removed. After finding this backpack and the fireworks, Kadyrbayev showed them to Tazhayakov and they both agreed to remove the backpack from Tsarnaev’s dormitory room. Kadyrbayev also found Tsarnaev’s laptop computer. At approximately 10:30 p.m., Kadrybayev, Tazhayakov and a third individual left Tsarnaev’s dormitory room. When they left, Kadyrbayev removed several items from Tsarnaev’s room, including Tsarnaev’s laptop computer and his backpack and its contents. Kadyrbayev, accompanied by Tazhayakov and the third individual, then brought the items back to the apartment he shared with Tazhayakov in New Bedford.
Kadyrbayev also admitted that, after returning to their apartment, on the evening of April 18, 2013 and the morning of April 19, 2013, he and Tazhayakov watched television news reports and read Internet news articles about the bombing investigation and the manhunt for the two suspected Boston Marathon bombers whom they believed were Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. During the early morning hours of April 19, 2013, Kadrybayev and Tazhayakov discussed getting rid of Tsarnaev’s backpack and the fireworks. They both agreed that they should get rid of Tsarnaev’s backpack and as a result of their agreement, Kadyrbayev placed the backpack and its contents, including the fireworks, into a large black trash bag and threw the entire bag into the garbage dumpster in his apartment complex. After discarding the backpack in the garbage, Kadyrbayev decided to keep Tsarnaev’s laptop computer and continue to conceal it. He did not attempt to return it to Tsarnaev’s dormitory room, nor did he notify law enforcement that he had Tsarnaev’s computer.
On April 26, 2013, after 25 federal agents searched a landfill in New Bedford for two days, Tsarnaev’s backpack, containing fireworks, a jar of Vaseline, and a thumb drive, was found. Although these items were found, the condition of the backpack and its contents had been altered by the actions of Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov.
If the plea agreement is accepted by the Court, Kadyrbayev will be sentenced to no more than seven years in jail and three years of supervised release. Kadrybayev will also be deported after serving any sentence that the Court imposes.
In July 2014, Azamat Tazhayakov was found guilty by a federal jury in Boston of conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation. Sentencing is set for sentencing for Oct. 16, 2014.
The terms of the plea agreement provide that the U.S. Attorney will recommend a sentence of seven years in prison. Kadyrbayev has agreed to be deported from the United States after serving his sentence. U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Nov. 18, 2014.
In August 2013, Kadyrbayev was indicted with Azamat Tazhayakov for obstructing the investigation of the Marathon bombings. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are both nationals of Kazakhstan who were temporarily living in the United States on student visas while attending the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass). However, at the time of their arrests on May 1, 2013, their visas had been revoked.
Kadyrbayev admitted that on the evening of April 18, 2013, after he viewed images of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers released by the FBI, he exchanged text messages with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He then went with Azamat Tazhayakov to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth campus. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Kadrybayev, Tazhaykaov and a third individual entered Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s dormitory room at UMass.
While inside Tsarnaev’s dormitory room, Kadyrbayev searched it and found a backpack containing fireworks and a jar of Vaseline. The fireworks appeared to have been opened, manipulated, and some of the explosive powder appeared to have been removed. After finding this backpack and the fireworks, Kadyrbayev showed them to Tazhayakov and they both agreed to remove the backpack from Tsarnaev’s dormitory room. Kadyrbayev also found Tsarnaev’s laptop computer. At approximately 10:30 p.m., Kadrybayev, Tazhayakov and a third individual left Tsarnaev’s dormitory room. When they left, Kadyrbayev removed several items from Tsarnaev’s room, including Tsarnaev’s laptop computer and his backpack and its contents. Kadyrbayev, accompanied by Tazhayakov and the third individual, then brought the items back to the apartment he shared with Tazhayakov in New Bedford.
Kadyrbayev also admitted that, after returning to their apartment, on the evening of April 18, 2013 and the morning of April 19, 2013, he and Tazhayakov watched television news reports and read Internet news articles about the bombing investigation and the manhunt for the two suspected Boston Marathon bombers whom they believed were Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. During the early morning hours of April 19, 2013, Kadrybayev and Tazhayakov discussed getting rid of Tsarnaev’s backpack and the fireworks. They both agreed that they should get rid of Tsarnaev’s backpack and as a result of their agreement, Kadyrbayev placed the backpack and its contents, including the fireworks, into a large black trash bag and threw the entire bag into the garbage dumpster in his apartment complex. After discarding the backpack in the garbage, Kadyrbayev decided to keep Tsarnaev’s laptop computer and continue to conceal it. He did not attempt to return it to Tsarnaev’s dormitory room, nor did he notify law enforcement that he had Tsarnaev’s computer.
On April 26, 2013, after 25 federal agents searched a landfill in New Bedford for two days, Tsarnaev’s backpack, containing fireworks, a jar of Vaseline, and a thumb drive, was found. Although these items were found, the condition of the backpack and its contents had been altered by the actions of Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov.
If the plea agreement is accepted by the Court, Kadyrbayev will be sentenced to no more than seven years in jail and three years of supervised release. Kadrybayev will also be deported after serving any sentence that the Court imposes.
In July 2014, Azamat Tazhayakov was found guilty by a federal jury in Boston of conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation. Sentencing is set for sentencing for Oct. 16, 2014.
8 Members of Two Six Nation Indicted on Racketeering, Drug & Murder Charges
Eight purported street gang members have been indicted on racketeering and drug trafficking charges in federal court in northwest Indiana.
WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports the Two Six Nation street gang – which has roots in Chicago, and has spread into northwest Indiana – uses a cartoon rabbit with a bent ear as a symbol, but federal prosecutors allege the warm and fuzzy ends there.
David Capp, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, and Chicago U.S. Atty. Zach Fardon said the gang’s violent crimes are numerous, including allegations they regularly moved hundreds of pounds of illicit drugs and killed at least two people.
“My message to those who are members of, or who continue to associate with violent street gangs – we are coming after you, and you are next” Capp said.
“Violent street gangs like the Two Six move drugs and guns and violence. We will follow,” Fardon said.
James Trusty, the Chief of Organized Crime in the U.S. Justice Department, said there are more than 40 alleged crimes detailed in the indictment against eight members and associates of the Two Six Nation, including:
“The indictment alleges that the Two Six Nation orchestrated and carried out a series of brutal crimes; including murders, kidnapping, drug trafficking, robberies, and other offenses spanning more than two decades,” Trusty said. “The gang brandished weapons like sawed-off shotguns and AK-47 assault rifles.”
Tancil, Fuentes and Cosme are charged in the May 2003 murder of Julio Cartagena in East Chicago. Another purported gang member, Kiontay Kyare Pennington, has pleaded guilty to murder for his role in the slaying.
Perez is charge in connection with the July 1999 murder of Jose Pena Jr. in Whiting. Perez made headlines in 2011 when he was arrested in Pennsylvania for Pena’s murder, following a shootout with police.
Capp said the work of the Chicago Police Department’s gang intelligence was invaluable to the case.
Federal prosecutors used the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act to go after the gang – a tactic once reserved for the mob – to charge them with an ongoing criminal conspiracy.
“This is our third use of the federal RICO statue over the past few years against a violent street gang in northwest Indiana. We are going to continue to use this powerful tool to get these individuals off the street,” Capp said.
WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports the Two Six Nation street gang – which has roots in Chicago, and has spread into northwest Indiana – uses a cartoon rabbit with a bent ear as a symbol, but federal prosecutors allege the warm and fuzzy ends there.
David Capp, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, and Chicago U.S. Atty. Zach Fardon said the gang’s violent crimes are numerous, including allegations they regularly moved hundreds of pounds of illicit drugs and killed at least two people.
“My message to those who are members of, or who continue to associate with violent street gangs – we are coming after you, and you are next” Capp said.
“Violent street gangs like the Two Six move drugs and guns and violence. We will follow,” Fardon said.
James Trusty, the Chief of Organized Crime in the U.S. Justice Department, said there are more than 40 alleged crimes detailed in the indictment against eight members and associates of the Two Six Nation, including:
- Frank “Pumpkin” Perez Jr., 33, of Verona, Pennsylvania;
- Adron “AWOL” Herschel Tancil, 36, of East Chicago;
- Jesus “Chu Chu” Valentine Fuentes, 39, of Gary, Ind;
- Anthony “P-nut” Cresencio Aguilera, 35, of Portage, Ind.;
- Oscar “Cos” Cosme, 41, of East Chicago;
- Ester “Mama D” Carrera, 61, of Gary;
- Paul “Big Brock” Brock, 27, of Gary;
- and Alma Delia Carrera, 28, of Gary.
“The indictment alleges that the Two Six Nation orchestrated and carried out a series of brutal crimes; including murders, kidnapping, drug trafficking, robberies, and other offenses spanning more than two decades,” Trusty said. “The gang brandished weapons like sawed-off shotguns and AK-47 assault rifles.”
Tancil, Fuentes and Cosme are charged in the May 2003 murder of Julio Cartagena in East Chicago. Another purported gang member, Kiontay Kyare Pennington, has pleaded guilty to murder for his role in the slaying.
Perez is charge in connection with the July 1999 murder of Jose Pena Jr. in Whiting. Perez made headlines in 2011 when he was arrested in Pennsylvania for Pena’s murder, following a shootout with police.
Capp said the work of the Chicago Police Department’s gang intelligence was invaluable to the case.
Federal prosecutors used the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act to go after the gang – a tactic once reserved for the mob – to charge them with an ongoing criminal conspiracy.
“This is our third use of the federal RICO statue over the past few years against a violent street gang in northwest Indiana. We are going to continue to use this powerful tool to get these individuals off the street,” Capp said.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Michael Kaiser Gets 20 Years in Prison #OperationBadNickname
Michael Kaiser, one of the defendants arrested in a Longmont Police Department methamphetamine bust last August, was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison, to be followed by five years of mandatory parole, for racketeering under the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act.
Boulder District Court Judge Patrick Butler also sentenced Kaiser to 16 years for conspiracy to distribute between 450 grams and 1 kilogram of methamphetamine, a sentence to run concurrently with the one Butler ordered for the racketeering felony, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Ken Kupfner.
The 41-year-old Kaiser, who originally had been charged with 33 felonies, had pleaded guilty on June 4 to the charges for which he was sentenced on Friday.
Kaiser and his wife, Geraldine Vodicka, were a Loveland couple at the center of what police called their Operation Bad Nickname investigation, which resulted in the arrests of more than 30 people accused of being involved in a methamphetamine-distribution ring.
This past Wednesday, a Boulder County District Court jury found Vodicka guilty of seven felony charges, including violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and five counts of conspiracy to distribute various weights of a controlled substance and possession of more than one kilogram of the illegal drug.
Also found guilty by that jury on Wednesday was Terry Romero, on five felonies, including a special-offender status, a violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute between 25 and 450 grams of a controlled substance.
Sentencing hearings for Romero and Vodicka are scheduled for Oct. 24.
Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said Operation Bad Nickname was a six-month multi-agency drug investigation into the sales of narcotics in Longmont, Loveland and northern Colorado. He said large quantities of methamphetamine, weapons and other dangerous drugs were recovered during the investigation. Several of the other defendants arrested in the meth-ring bust have also pleaded guilty and have received sentences or are awaiting sentencing.
Boulder District Court Judge Patrick Butler also sentenced Kaiser to 16 years for conspiracy to distribute between 450 grams and 1 kilogram of methamphetamine, a sentence to run concurrently with the one Butler ordered for the racketeering felony, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Ken Kupfner.
The 41-year-old Kaiser, who originally had been charged with 33 felonies, had pleaded guilty on June 4 to the charges for which he was sentenced on Friday.
Kaiser and his wife, Geraldine Vodicka, were a Loveland couple at the center of what police called their Operation Bad Nickname investigation, which resulted in the arrests of more than 30 people accused of being involved in a methamphetamine-distribution ring.
This past Wednesday, a Boulder County District Court jury found Vodicka guilty of seven felony charges, including violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and five counts of conspiracy to distribute various weights of a controlled substance and possession of more than one kilogram of the illegal drug.
Also found guilty by that jury on Wednesday was Terry Romero, on five felonies, including a special-offender status, a violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute between 25 and 450 grams of a controlled substance.
Sentencing hearings for Romero and Vodicka are scheduled for Oct. 24.
Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said Operation Bad Nickname was a six-month multi-agency drug investigation into the sales of narcotics in Longmont, Loveland and northern Colorado. He said large quantities of methamphetamine, weapons and other dangerous drugs were recovered during the investigation. Several of the other defendants arrested in the meth-ring bust have also pleaded guilty and have received sentences or are awaiting sentencing.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Frank Preve Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud in Massive Rothstein Ponzi Scheme
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Donnell Young, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that Frank Preve, 70, of Coral Springs, pled guilty in Ft. Lauderdale before U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. At his sentencing, scheduled for December 12, 2014, Preve faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison.
In 2009, it was discovered that the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA) was being utilized by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Scott W. Rothstein, to commit a massive Ponzi scheme stemming from the sale of fictitious confidential settlements. In a written factual stipulation filed in connection with his guilty plea, Preve admitted that he worked for a number of companies, referred to as “the Banyon Group,” which solicited lenders and investors into the confidential settlement business being offered by Rothstein. The defendant further admitted that, from on or about July 9, 2009 through October 31, 2009, he defrauded investors by not disclosing that Rothstein had failed to make payments that were due to the Banyon Group, that Rothstein had frozen certain bank accounts that were holding investor funds, that certain paperwork was not being prepared, and that verification of the investments was not taking place, all in violation of a private placement memorandum which had been circulated to potential investors by the Banyon Group. The defendant further admitted that, through these material misrepresentations and omissions, Preve caused more than $20 million to be paid by investors to the Banyon Group.
In 2009, it was discovered that the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA) was being utilized by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Scott W. Rothstein, to commit a massive Ponzi scheme stemming from the sale of fictitious confidential settlements. In a written factual stipulation filed in connection with his guilty plea, Preve admitted that he worked for a number of companies, referred to as “the Banyon Group,” which solicited lenders and investors into the confidential settlement business being offered by Rothstein. The defendant further admitted that, from on or about July 9, 2009 through October 31, 2009, he defrauded investors by not disclosing that Rothstein had failed to make payments that were due to the Banyon Group, that Rothstein had frozen certain bank accounts that were holding investor funds, that certain paperwork was not being prepared, and that verification of the investments was not taking place, all in violation of a private placement memorandum which had been circulated to potential investors by the Banyon Group. The defendant further admitted that, through these material misrepresentations and omissions, Preve caused more than $20 million to be paid by investors to the Banyon Group.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Joint Statement from FBI & Justice Department on #Ferguson
The following joint statement was released by FBI Special Agent in Charge William P. Woods, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Richard G. Callahan and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Molly Moran:
“At the onset of our federal civil rights investigation, the Attorney General of the United States promised a thorough and complete investigation into the shooting death of Michael Brown. That investigation is proceeding. We can confirm that FBI agents, working together with attorneys from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and US Attorney's Office, have already conducted several interviews of witnesses on the scene at the time of the shooting. Over the next several days, teams of FBI agents will be canvassing the neighborhood where the shooting took place to identify any individuals who may have information related to the shooting and have not yet come forward. We ask for the public's cooperation and patience, and again urge anyone with information related to the shooting to contact the FBI. The FBI can be reached at (800) CALL-FBI, option 4.”
“At the onset of our federal civil rights investigation, the Attorney General of the United States promised a thorough and complete investigation into the shooting death of Michael Brown. That investigation is proceeding. We can confirm that FBI agents, working together with attorneys from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and US Attorney's Office, have already conducted several interviews of witnesses on the scene at the time of the shooting. Over the next several days, teams of FBI agents will be canvassing the neighborhood where the shooting took place to identify any individuals who may have information related to the shooting and have not yet come forward. We ask for the public's cooperation and patience, and again urge anyone with information related to the shooting to contact the FBI. The FBI can be reached at (800) CALL-FBI, option 4.”
Friday, August 15, 2014
Has the Aryan Brotherhood Gang Been Decapitated?
After a six-year investigation and a sweeping indictment naming dozens of suspects, federal authorities declared they have "decapitated" the notoriously violent prison gang known as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
The final two defendants snared in the long criminal probe have pleaded guilty, prosecutors announced, capping a wide-ranging case that led to 73 convictions and decimated the gang's leadership.
"All five of the active generals for each of the regions, one for each of the regions, have been prosecuted, convicted and will spend long sentences in federal prison," said Marshall Miller, principal deputy assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice Criminal Division.
The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a highly structured white-supremacist gang, emerged in Texas prisons during the early 1980s. As convicts involved in the gang during its formative years finished their sentences, they carried their criminal enterprises into the free world as an organized crime group often controlled from inside prison walls.
"The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas – or ABT – launched its brutal, murderous and racist ideology from within the prisons of the state of Texas," Miller said. "Unfortunately, ABT then unleashed a violent crime spree that jumped the prison walls and infected communities."
An indictment unsealed in 2012 drew a detailed portrait of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas as a sophisticated organized crime group with a military-style structure and a written constitution widely circulated in Texas prisons. The group's leadership routinely used murder, kidnappings, arson and severe beatings as enforcement tactics, the indictment said.
"You name it," Miller said. "Drugs, kidnappings, assaults, murders attempted murders. They ran the gamut."
The indictment makes the Aryan Brotherhood looks less like a prison gang than a classic organized crime syndicate with military titles. Five generals control five different regions of the state, authorities said, with each general controlling two separate chains of command – one inside prisons and one in the free world. Each general has an "inside major" and an "outside major" overseeing several captains, lieutenants, sergeants-at-arms and soldiers.
All five active generals have been convicted, authorities said, along with one "acting" general and a former general who was also a founding member of the gang. At a news conference attended by law enforcement authorities from some of the dozens of agencies that worked on the case, officials displayed a poster showing where each of 36 defendants swept up in the latest indictment fit into the group's organizational structure.
"Today was the plea of the last defendant in the case," said Ken Magidson, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. "So all 36 defendants in the indictment have been convicted."
Only three of the gang members have been sentenced, facing prison terms of 10 to 30 years. A woman associated with the gang was sentenced to 6 ½ years. The rest of the defendants are scheduled for sentencing in October.
Thanks to Doug Miller.
The final two defendants snared in the long criminal probe have pleaded guilty, prosecutors announced, capping a wide-ranging case that led to 73 convictions and decimated the gang's leadership.
"All five of the active generals for each of the regions, one for each of the regions, have been prosecuted, convicted and will spend long sentences in federal prison," said Marshall Miller, principal deputy assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice Criminal Division.
The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a highly structured white-supremacist gang, emerged in Texas prisons during the early 1980s. As convicts involved in the gang during its formative years finished their sentences, they carried their criminal enterprises into the free world as an organized crime group often controlled from inside prison walls.
"The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas – or ABT – launched its brutal, murderous and racist ideology from within the prisons of the state of Texas," Miller said. "Unfortunately, ABT then unleashed a violent crime spree that jumped the prison walls and infected communities."
An indictment unsealed in 2012 drew a detailed portrait of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas as a sophisticated organized crime group with a military-style structure and a written constitution widely circulated in Texas prisons. The group's leadership routinely used murder, kidnappings, arson and severe beatings as enforcement tactics, the indictment said.
"You name it," Miller said. "Drugs, kidnappings, assaults, murders attempted murders. They ran the gamut."
The indictment makes the Aryan Brotherhood looks less like a prison gang than a classic organized crime syndicate with military titles. Five generals control five different regions of the state, authorities said, with each general controlling two separate chains of command – one inside prisons and one in the free world. Each general has an "inside major" and an "outside major" overseeing several captains, lieutenants, sergeants-at-arms and soldiers.
All five active generals have been convicted, authorities said, along with one "acting" general and a former general who was also a founding member of the gang. At a news conference attended by law enforcement authorities from some of the dozens of agencies that worked on the case, officials displayed a poster showing where each of 36 defendants swept up in the latest indictment fit into the group's organizational structure.
"Today was the plea of the last defendant in the case," said Ken Magidson, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. "So all 36 defendants in the indictment have been convicted."
Only three of the gang members have been sentenced, facing prison terms of 10 to 30 years. A woman associated with the gang was sentenced to 6 ½ years. The rest of the defendants are scheduled for sentencing in October.
Thanks to Doug Miller.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents in First Family Detail by Ronald Kessler
As in a play, presidents, vice presidents, and presidential candidates perform on stage for the public and the media. What the nation’s leaders are really like and what goes on behind the scenes remains hidden. Secret Service agents have a front row seat on their private lives and those of their wives and children.
Crammed with new, headline-making revelations, The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents by Ronald Kessler tells that eye-opening, uncensored story.
Since publication of his New York Times bestselling book In the President’s Secret Service
, award-winning investigative reporter Ronald Kessler has continued to penetrate the wall of secrecy that surrounds the U.S. Secret Service, breaking the story that Secret Service agents who were to protect President Obama hired prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia and revealing that the Secret Service allowed a third uninvited guest to crash a White House state dinner.
Now in this new book, Kessler presents far bigger and more consequential stories about our nation’s leaders and the agency sworn to protect them. Kessler widens his scope to include presidential candidates and former presidents after they leave the White House. In particular, he focuses on first ladies and their children and their relationships with the presidents.
From observing Vice President Joe Biden’s reckless behavior that jeopardizes the country’s safety, to escorting Bill Clinton’s blond mistress at Chappaqua, to overhearing First Lady Michelle Obama’s admonitions to the president, to witnessing President Nixon’s friends bring him a nude stripper, to seeing their own agency take risks that could result in an assassination, Secret Service agents know a secret world that Ronald Kessler exposes in breathtaking detail.
THE FIRST FAMILY DETAIL reveals:
Crammed with new, headline-making revelations, The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents by Ronald Kessler tells that eye-opening, uncensored story.
Since publication of his New York Times bestselling book In the President’s Secret Service
, award-winning investigative reporter Ronald Kessler has continued to penetrate the wall of secrecy that surrounds the U.S. Secret Service, breaking the story that Secret Service agents who were to protect President Obama hired prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia and revealing that the Secret Service allowed a third uninvited guest to crash a White House state dinner.Now in this new book, Kessler presents far bigger and more consequential stories about our nation’s leaders and the agency sworn to protect them. Kessler widens his scope to include presidential candidates and former presidents after they leave the White House. In particular, he focuses on first ladies and their children and their relationships with the presidents.
From observing Vice President Joe Biden’s reckless behavior that jeopardizes the country’s safety, to escorting Bill Clinton’s blond mistress at Chappaqua, to overhearing First Lady Michelle Obama’s admonitions to the president, to witnessing President Nixon’s friends bring him a nude stripper, to seeing their own agency take risks that could result in an assassination, Secret Service agents know a secret world that Ronald Kessler exposes in breathtaking detail.
THE FIRST FAMILY DETAIL reveals:
- Vice President Joe Biden regularly orders the Secret Service to keep his military aide with the nuclear football a mile behind his motorcade, potentially leaving the country unable to retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack.
- Secret Service agents discovered that former president Bill Clinton has a blond mistress who lives near the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, New York. Within minutes of Hillary Clinton’s leaving, the woman—codenamed Energizer by agents—shows up to be with Bill and stays every day while the likely future presidential candidate is away.
- The Secret Service covered up the fact that President Ronald Reagan’s White House staff overruled the Secret Service to let unscreened spectators get close to Reagan as he left the Washington Hilton, allowing John W. Hinckley Jr. to shoot the president.
- Secret Service agents have been dismayed to overhear Michelle Obama push her husband to be more aggressive in attacking Republicans and to side with blacks in racial controversies.
- Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan diverted agents from protecting President Obama and his family at the White House and ordered them instead to protect his assistant at her home and illegally retrieve confidential law enforcement records as a favor to her.
- Because Hillary Clinton is so nasty to agents, being assigned to her protective detail is considered a form of punishment and the worst assignment in the Secret Service.
- Secret Service agents were ordered to ignore security rules and allow the SUV carrying actor Bradley Cooper to drive unscreened into a secure restricted area when President Obama was about to deliver his speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
- Vice President Joe Biden has racked up costs to taxpayers of a million dollars to fly to and from his home in Delaware on Air Force Two. His office tried to cover up the costs of the personal trips.
- Because the Secret Service refused to provide enough magnetometers at his campaign events, Mitt Romney regularly left himself open to assassination by giving speeches to crowds that had not been screened.
- Vice President Joe Biden swims nude at the vice president’s residence in Washington and at his home in Delaware, offending female Secret Service agents.
Tuesday, August 05, 2014
Reputed Knight Templar Mexican Drug Lord, Servando Gomez's Videos Lead to Arrests
After more than six months on the run from federal troops, an alleged Mexican crime lord has been striking back with the release of videos purporting to link government officials and their relatives to his gang, leading to several arrests.
The videos, which in recent months have emerged online, show politicians and their family members meeting with Servando Gómez, known as "La Tuta"—the boss—who heads the Knights Templar syndicate. Federal officials say Mr. Gómez, a former teacher, dominates organized crime and terrorizes residents of Michoacán state.
On Monday, a federal judge denied a bail request of Rodrigo Vallejo, a son of former Michoacán Gov. Fausto Vallejo. Police arrested the younger Mr. Vallejo on Sunday after he emerged on a video with Mr. Gómez.
Mr. Vallejo's father said his son was innocent and was forced by Mr. Gómez to meet with him. "The people of Michoacán know me," the elder Mr. Vallejo, who belongs to Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, said in a post on his official Twitter account last week after the video emerged. "I have never tolerated, nor will I tolerate, breaking the rule of law."
In the video, the younger Mr. Vallejo is seen talking with Mr. Gómez about state politics and the health of his father, who resigned in June, citing an undisclosed illness.
The younger Mr. Vallejo, who in the video laughs easily and sips beer as he chats with the alleged crime boss, was jailed after allegedly refusing to answer federal prosecutors' questions about the meeting, federal officials said. Prosecutors said he faces possible charges of withholding evidence. His lawyer couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Since being posted last week on the website of Quadratín, a Michoacán news agency, the 18-minute video has been widely viewed across Mexico.
Based on their conversation, the meeting between Messrs. Vallejo and Gómez appears to have occurred last year, during the former governor's leave of absence to deal with his illness.
The interim governor to stand in during his leave, Jesús Reyna, Michoacán's second-ranking official, was jailed in April after videos emerged online of him meeting with Mr. Gómez. Mr. Reyna, who also was charged links to organized crime, has dismissed previous accusations of any involvement with criminal gangs as "baseless, false and absurd."
He remains imprisoned without bail while state and federal prosecutors say they are preparing charges against him.
In the latest video, the younger Mr. Vallejo suggests to Mr. Gómez that Mr. Reyna and another state official wielded political power equal to that of his father. "The thing is there are three governors," the younger Mr. Vallejo says in the video.
The Knights Templar replaced La Familia Michoacana three years ago as the methamphetamine-producing state's dominant criminal band, officials say. Discontent with the gang's widespread extortion and kidnapping, armed residents of some 30 of the state's mostly rural townships rose up against the Templar in early 2013.
In January, fearful of fresh violence, President Enrique Peña Nieto sent thousands of federal troops into the state and appointed a special envoy and other federal officials who have taken control of the state's security and other vital functions.
Michoacán envoy Alfredo Castillo has incorporated hundreds of former vigilantes into a "rural guard" that patrols alongside state and federal security forces.
In another video posted to YouTube last week, Mr. Gómez accuses some leaders of the rural guards of links to a rival gangster band, the Jalisco Cartel-New Generation, which produces methamphetamine for the U.S. market, officials say.
Another Mexican official, Arquímides Oseguera, the former mayor of Lázaro Cárdenas, the Pacific Coast steel-producing city that serves as one of Mexico's key ports, was arrested last year for his alleged links to organized crime after appearing in a video with Mr. Gómez. Mr. Oseguera, who denied any links to organized crime, faces possible charges of extortion and abduction as well, prosecutors said.
Such arrests have happened before in Michoacán. In May 2009, federal officials arrested 38 state and local officials, including 11 mayors, accusing them of protecting La Familia Michoacana. Charges were dropped against all of the officials by 2012, with federal prosecutors pointing to a lack of evidence.
Thanks to Dudley Althaus.
The videos, which in recent months have emerged online, show politicians and their family members meeting with Servando Gómez, known as "La Tuta"—the boss—who heads the Knights Templar syndicate. Federal officials say Mr. Gómez, a former teacher, dominates organized crime and terrorizes residents of Michoacán state.
On Monday, a federal judge denied a bail request of Rodrigo Vallejo, a son of former Michoacán Gov. Fausto Vallejo. Police arrested the younger Mr. Vallejo on Sunday after he emerged on a video with Mr. Gómez.
Mr. Vallejo's father said his son was innocent and was forced by Mr. Gómez to meet with him. "The people of Michoacán know me," the elder Mr. Vallejo, who belongs to Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, said in a post on his official Twitter account last week after the video emerged. "I have never tolerated, nor will I tolerate, breaking the rule of law."
In the video, the younger Mr. Vallejo is seen talking with Mr. Gómez about state politics and the health of his father, who resigned in June, citing an undisclosed illness.
The younger Mr. Vallejo, who in the video laughs easily and sips beer as he chats with the alleged crime boss, was jailed after allegedly refusing to answer federal prosecutors' questions about the meeting, federal officials said. Prosecutors said he faces possible charges of withholding evidence. His lawyer couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Since being posted last week on the website of Quadratín, a Michoacán news agency, the 18-minute video has been widely viewed across Mexico.
Based on their conversation, the meeting between Messrs. Vallejo and Gómez appears to have occurred last year, during the former governor's leave of absence to deal with his illness.
The interim governor to stand in during his leave, Jesús Reyna, Michoacán's second-ranking official, was jailed in April after videos emerged online of him meeting with Mr. Gómez. Mr. Reyna, who also was charged links to organized crime, has dismissed previous accusations of any involvement with criminal gangs as "baseless, false and absurd."
He remains imprisoned without bail while state and federal prosecutors say they are preparing charges against him.
In the latest video, the younger Mr. Vallejo suggests to Mr. Gómez that Mr. Reyna and another state official wielded political power equal to that of his father. "The thing is there are three governors," the younger Mr. Vallejo says in the video.
The Knights Templar replaced La Familia Michoacana three years ago as the methamphetamine-producing state's dominant criminal band, officials say. Discontent with the gang's widespread extortion and kidnapping, armed residents of some 30 of the state's mostly rural townships rose up against the Templar in early 2013.
In January, fearful of fresh violence, President Enrique Peña Nieto sent thousands of federal troops into the state and appointed a special envoy and other federal officials who have taken control of the state's security and other vital functions.
Michoacán envoy Alfredo Castillo has incorporated hundreds of former vigilantes into a "rural guard" that patrols alongside state and federal security forces.
In another video posted to YouTube last week, Mr. Gómez accuses some leaders of the rural guards of links to a rival gangster band, the Jalisco Cartel-New Generation, which produces methamphetamine for the U.S. market, officials say.
Another Mexican official, Arquímides Oseguera, the former mayor of Lázaro Cárdenas, the Pacific Coast steel-producing city that serves as one of Mexico's key ports, was arrested last year for his alleged links to organized crime after appearing in a video with Mr. Gómez. Mr. Oseguera, who denied any links to organized crime, faces possible charges of extortion and abduction as well, prosecutors said.
Such arrests have happened before in Michoacán. In May 2009, federal officials arrested 38 state and local officials, including 11 mayors, accusing them of protecting La Familia Michoacana. Charges were dropped against all of the officials by 2012, with federal prosecutors pointing to a lack of evidence.
Thanks to Dudley Althaus.
Sunday, August 03, 2014
Mafia Involvement in JFK's Killing Investigated in Assassination Theater
After decades of controversy, investigating the Kennedy assassination has earned a reputation as bad news for many reporters, a radioactive topic no one wants to approach.
“It’s one of the black holes of journalism,” said investigative reporter/playwright Hillel Levin. “It’s the sort of story reporters get sucked into and are never heard from again.”
That, however, hasn’t stopped him from spending seven years working on “Assassination Theater,” a theatrical investigation making a case for an organized crime conspiracy to kill JFK. The play debuts with a one-night-only staged reading Aug. 9 in the Arts Center of Oak Park.
Levin,
an Oak Park resident and former editor of Chicago magazine, has made a specialty of true-crime books since co-authoring 2004’s “When Corruption Was King: How I Helped the Mob Rule Chicago, Then Brought the Outfit Down” about the ’90s Gambat trials exposing the Chicago mob’s rigging of the city’s legal system.
After that book and a 2007 Playboy article about the burglarizing of Chicago mafia boss Tony Accardo’s home (a movie version starring Robert De Niro will be shot this fall in Chicago), Zachariah Shelton, an FBI agent featured in that story, asked Levin why he didn’t write the real Chicago mob story. Namely, their active involvement in the Kennedy assassination.
“I admit that I cringed a bit when he said that,” Levin said. “But having leaned about the mob here, about their power and influence, I couldn’t easily dismiss it. And I could understand why they might have been motivated to do it, since they were very involved in building Las Vegas in 1963 with funds from the Teamsters Central States pension — and the Kennedys, especially Bobby Kennedy as attorney general, were threatening that by going after Jimmy Hoffa.”
Levin said he was never a believer in the official story that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted as a lone assassin, but he had never thought of the mafia as a likely suspect until Shelton showed him FBI evidence he had discovered by accident, along with corroborating evidence the agent uncovered in a private investigation. And even then, he wasn’t convinced until he’d spent years going over the official evidence, including medical reports and statements from witnesses unsealed in the ’90s.
His findings are dramatized by four actors in “Assassination Theater,” one playing himself, one playing Shelton and two playing various characters including Oswald, LBJ, Jack Ruby, autopsy morticians, mob figures and more. A large screen shows photos supporting their statements, including one purporting to show an assassin walking away from the grassy knoll immediately after the shooting.
“I’m not a zealot and I’m not saying everyone has to believe me,” Levin said. “But I think anyone who looks at the evidence with any attention will realize Oswald couldn’t have done it alone. My central thesis is that it was theater in a lot of ways and part of the show was putting the blame on only one actor, when in fact he was part of a much bigger production.”
Hence, in large part, Levin’s decision to present his findings on stage instead of writing a book. That, plus his belief that theater provides an immersive experience that will help people process the information and come to an understanding of it.
“The thing about the assassination I’d most like to dispel is people simply accepting the idea that this is a mystery that can never be known. I believe a great deal of it can in fact be known — that it is not unfathomable,” he said.
“That’s the way I hope everyone will feel when they leave the theater.”
Thanks to Bruce Ingram.
“It’s one of the black holes of journalism,” said investigative reporter/playwright Hillel Levin. “It’s the sort of story reporters get sucked into and are never heard from again.”
That, however, hasn’t stopped him from spending seven years working on “Assassination Theater,” a theatrical investigation making a case for an organized crime conspiracy to kill JFK. The play debuts with a one-night-only staged reading Aug. 9 in the Arts Center of Oak Park.
Levin,
an Oak Park resident and former editor of Chicago magazine, has made a specialty of true-crime books since co-authoring 2004’s “When Corruption Was King: How I Helped the Mob Rule Chicago, Then Brought the Outfit Down” about the ’90s Gambat trials exposing the Chicago mob’s rigging of the city’s legal system.After that book and a 2007 Playboy article about the burglarizing of Chicago mafia boss Tony Accardo’s home (a movie version starring Robert De Niro will be shot this fall in Chicago), Zachariah Shelton, an FBI agent featured in that story, asked Levin why he didn’t write the real Chicago mob story. Namely, their active involvement in the Kennedy assassination.
“I admit that I cringed a bit when he said that,” Levin said. “But having leaned about the mob here, about their power and influence, I couldn’t easily dismiss it. And I could understand why they might have been motivated to do it, since they were very involved in building Las Vegas in 1963 with funds from the Teamsters Central States pension — and the Kennedys, especially Bobby Kennedy as attorney general, were threatening that by going after Jimmy Hoffa.”
Levin said he was never a believer in the official story that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted as a lone assassin, but he had never thought of the mafia as a likely suspect until Shelton showed him FBI evidence he had discovered by accident, along with corroborating evidence the agent uncovered in a private investigation. And even then, he wasn’t convinced until he’d spent years going over the official evidence, including medical reports and statements from witnesses unsealed in the ’90s.
His findings are dramatized by four actors in “Assassination Theater,” one playing himself, one playing Shelton and two playing various characters including Oswald, LBJ, Jack Ruby, autopsy morticians, mob figures and more. A large screen shows photos supporting their statements, including one purporting to show an assassin walking away from the grassy knoll immediately after the shooting.
“I’m not a zealot and I’m not saying everyone has to believe me,” Levin said. “But I think anyone who looks at the evidence with any attention will realize Oswald couldn’t have done it alone. My central thesis is that it was theater in a lot of ways and part of the show was putting the blame on only one actor, when in fact he was part of a much bigger production.”
Hence, in large part, Levin’s decision to present his findings on stage instead of writing a book. That, plus his belief that theater provides an immersive experience that will help people process the information and come to an understanding of it.
“The thing about the assassination I’d most like to dispel is people simply accepting the idea that this is a mystery that can never be known. I believe a great deal of it can in fact be known — that it is not unfathomable,” he said.
“That’s the way I hope everyone will feel when they leave the theater.”
Thanks to Bruce Ingram.
Friday, August 01, 2014
Ivan Soto-Barraza Extradited to Face Charges in Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry Murder Case
Ivan Soto-Barraza, who is charged with the first degree murder of United States Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, was extradited to the United States from Mexico, announced Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy of the Southern District of California.
Agent Terry was fatally shot on Dec. 14, 2010, when he and other Border Patrol agents encountered Soto-Barraza and others in a rural area north of Nogales, Arizona. Of six defendants charged so far, two have pleaded guilty and two are awaiting trial.
“This marks another step forward in our aggressive pursuit of those responsible for the murder of Agent Brian Terry, who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving his country,” said Attorney General Holder. "We will never stop seeking justice against those who do harm to our best and bravest."
“This extradition is another major development in the pursuit of justice for Agent Terry and his family,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “As we continue to make significant progress in this case, we are constantly motivated by the memory of Agent Terry and his sacrifice for our country.”
Soto-Barraza is scheduled to be arraigned in federal district court in Tucson, Arizona, on August 1, 2014. The indictment charges Soto-Barraza and others with first degree murder, second degree murder, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, attempted interference with commerce by robbery, use and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer. In addition to the murder of Agent Terry, the indictment alleges that the defendants assaulted Border Patrol Agents William Castano, Gabriel Fragoza and Timothy Keller, who were with Agent Terry during the firefight.
On July 20, 2012, in order to seek the public’s assistance, Department of Justice officials announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of four fugitives: Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, Lionel Portillo-Meza and Soto-Barraza. Portillo-Meza was captured in Mexico in September 2012 and extradited to the U.S. from Mexico on June 17, 2014. Soto-Barraza was captured in Mexico in September 2013. Favela-Astorga and Osorio-Arellanes are fugitives.
A fifth defendant, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, pleaded guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in February 2014. A sixth defendant, Rito Osorio-Arellanes, who was in custody at the time of Agent Terry’s murder, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013.
Agent Terry was fatally shot on Dec. 14, 2010, when he and other Border Patrol agents encountered Soto-Barraza and others in a rural area north of Nogales, Arizona. Of six defendants charged so far, two have pleaded guilty and two are awaiting trial.
“This marks another step forward in our aggressive pursuit of those responsible for the murder of Agent Brian Terry, who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving his country,” said Attorney General Holder. "We will never stop seeking justice against those who do harm to our best and bravest."
“This extradition is another major development in the pursuit of justice for Agent Terry and his family,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “As we continue to make significant progress in this case, we are constantly motivated by the memory of Agent Terry and his sacrifice for our country.”
Soto-Barraza is scheduled to be arraigned in federal district court in Tucson, Arizona, on August 1, 2014. The indictment charges Soto-Barraza and others with first degree murder, second degree murder, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, attempted interference with commerce by robbery, use and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer. In addition to the murder of Agent Terry, the indictment alleges that the defendants assaulted Border Patrol Agents William Castano, Gabriel Fragoza and Timothy Keller, who were with Agent Terry during the firefight.
On July 20, 2012, in order to seek the public’s assistance, Department of Justice officials announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of four fugitives: Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, Lionel Portillo-Meza and Soto-Barraza. Portillo-Meza was captured in Mexico in September 2012 and extradited to the U.S. from Mexico on June 17, 2014. Soto-Barraza was captured in Mexico in September 2013. Favela-Astorga and Osorio-Arellanes are fugitives.
A fifth defendant, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, pleaded guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in February 2014. A sixth defendant, Rito Osorio-Arellanes, who was in custody at the time of Agent Terry’s murder, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013.
Record Producer for Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Elton John, the Who and Marvin Gaye, Faces Charges on Mob Gambling Operation
A record producer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he helped run a gambling operation with mob ties.
Joe Isgro, 66, of Woodland Hills, Calif., was released on a $250,000 bond after being arraigned on gambling, conspiracy and money laundering charges in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The Manhattan DA’s office says Isgro and six others have participated in a conspiracy since 2005 to promote and profit from the use of illegal online gambling software.
The software was licensed to the Gambino crime family by an Arizona couple and various mob soldiers, operating both in the U.S. and in wire rooms in Costa Rica, the indictment says. Isgro was identified as one of those soldiers.
Isgro — who helped launch the careers of Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Elton John, the Who and Marvin Gaye — was also an executive producer of 1992’s “Hoffa,”starring Jack Nicholson as Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa.
Thanks to Barbara Ross.
Joe Isgro, 66, of Woodland Hills, Calif., was released on a $250,000 bond after being arraigned on gambling, conspiracy and money laundering charges in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The Manhattan DA’s office says Isgro and six others have participated in a conspiracy since 2005 to promote and profit from the use of illegal online gambling software.
The software was licensed to the Gambino crime family by an Arizona couple and various mob soldiers, operating both in the U.S. and in wire rooms in Costa Rica, the indictment says. Isgro was identified as one of those soldiers.
Isgro — who helped launch the careers of Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Elton John, the Who and Marvin Gaye — was also an executive producer of 1992’s “Hoffa,”starring Jack Nicholson as Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa.
Thanks to Barbara Ross.
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