The Chicago Syndicate
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Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Over 2,400 Secret JFK Records Discovered by FBI, After President Trump Declassification Order #JFK

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s order to declassify all remaining documents tied to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the FBI has uncovered 2,400 records related to the murder that have been largely kept secret over the past few decades.

JFK Motorcade in Dallas on 11/22/63


“In 2020, the FBI opened the Central Records Complex and began a multi-year effort to first ship and then electronically inventory and store closed case files from FBI field offices across the country,” a statement from the FBI to the Daily Beast read. “The resulting, more comprehensive records inventory, coupled with the technologic advances in automating the FBI’s record keeping processes, allows us to more quickly search and locate records.”

The JFK Assassination: Conspiracies and Coverups.

“The FBI conducted a new records search pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order issued on January 23, 2025, regarding the declassification of the assassination files of JFK, RFK, and MLK. The search resulted in approximately 2,400 newly inventoried and digitized records that were previously unrecognized as related to the JFK assassination case file,” the statement continued.

“The FBI has made the appropriate notifications of the newly discovered documents and is working to transfer them to the National Archives and Records Administration for inclusion in the ongoing declassification process.”

The discovery of the records, which are contained within 14,000 pages of documents, was first reported by Axios Monday. The outlet claimed that the records were never received by an initial board that was tasked with reviewing and disclosing them, and that the White House was made aware of their existence on Friday.

“This is huge. It shows the FBI is taking this seriously,” Jefferson Morley, the vice president of the largest online record source for Kennedy’s death in America, told Axios. “The FBI is finally saying, ‘Let’s respond to the president’s order,’ instead of keeping the secrecy going.”

The contents of the newly uncovered records remain secret and were not even seen by the three sources who first notified Axios of their discovery.

Trump repeatedly promised that he would declassify JFK’s assassination records throughout his 2024 campaign trail, and subsequently saw that promise through during his first week in office.

“Providing Americans the truth after six decades of secrecy,” the president’s Jan. 23 executive order, which also vowed to declassify documents pertaining to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, read.

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters.

JFK was shot and killed in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. The investigation at the time concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine turned communist activist, killed Kennedy and acted on his own.

The case has long been a magnet for conspiracy theories, however.

The National Archives and Records Administration has claimed that 97% of the estimated 5 million pages tied to JFK’s assassination have been made public.

The 1992 JFK Records Act saw that all documents were supposed to be handed over to the JFK Assassination Records Review Board and then to the National Archives to ultimately be made completely public by 2017.

On the advice of the CIA, Trump blocked the full disclosure during his first term, something he’s since expressed regret over, while former President Joe Biden only green-lit a limited release of records.

Those in favor of keeping the JFK documents secret have argued that they risk exposing secret intelligence gathering systems used by officials.

Thanks to Yasmeen Hamadeh.

The Final Witness: A Kennedy Secret Service Agent Breaks His Silence After Sixty Years.

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Colombian Narco Trafficker, Aldemar Soto-Charry aka "El Ingeniero", Sentenced for Conspiring to Import Thousands of Kilos of Cocaine into the U.S. #FARC

Aldemar Soto-Charry, 64, a highly ranked member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 78 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute thousands of kilos of cocaine for importation into the United States. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia, DEA Special Agent in Charge Eugene L. Crouch of the DEA Andean Division, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri of the FBI’s Miami Field Office.

Soto-Charry, aka “El Ingeniero” (“the Engineer”), pleaded guilty on October 11, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine for importation into the United States and aiding and abetting in the same. As part of the plea agreement, Soto-Charry acknowledged he was accountable for engaging in a conspiracy on behalf of the FARC to transport over 1,000 kilos of cocaine on a regular basis to a Mexican cartel, ultimately knowing that the cocaine would be transported into the United States.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered Soto-Charry to serve four years of supervised release.

According to court documents, in 2018 the DEA commenced a targeted operation against large-scale drug traffickers in Colombia, including those connected to the FARC. In July 2018, the DEA learned that Soto-Charry had claimed that FARC leadership was exploring opportunities to launder proceeds of drug sales, including through the purchase of real estate in Panama. The DEA enlisted confidential sources (CS) to meet with Soto-Charry and his co-conspirators.

In October 2018, Soto-Charry was introduced to the CSs, one who posed as an individual with business connections in Panama and the other as a facilitator for large-scale drug transactions with the Mexican Gulf Cartel, which sought thousands of kilograms of cocaine for exportation abroad, including the United States. Soto-Charry detailed the FARC’s illicit business ventures, including laundering $10 million of cocaine proceeds through the construction of a medical clinic in Panama. Soto-Charry said he could organize drug deals using cocaine that was being processed at FARC-controlled cocaine laboratories in the jungles of Colombia. During a later meeting, Soto-Charry said the FARC could provide up to 2,000 kilograms of cocaine every few weeks.

Between October 3, 2018, and July 25, 2019, the CSs regularly met with Soto-Charry and his co-conspirators to discuss the details of a potential deal for significant quantities of cocaine. During the meetings, Soto-Charry discussed FARC-related drug trafficking activities, cocaine pricing, cocaine purity, drug trafficking routes out of Colombia, and other logistical matters related to large-scale cocaine sales. As part of these discussions, Soto-Charry’s co-conspirators ultimately helped deliver a five-kilogram sample of cocaine and discussed how to transport it to the United States.

Soto-Charry was arrested in Colombia on August 8, 2019, at the request of the United States, and extradited to the United States on August 8, 2024. In his plea agreement, he accepted responsibility for conspiring to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of cocaine. He has been in custody since the date of his arrest in Colombia.

His co-defendant Mauricio Mazabel-Soto was sentenced to 73 months in prison. Co-defendant Alfredo Molina-Cutiva received a sentence of 70 months in prison.

FARC and Al Qaeda: Convergence between terrorism and drug trafficking: Elements of convergence between terrorism and drug trafficking in a globalized world.

Friday, November 08, 2024

Aaron Hernandez: American Sports Story - The Truth About Aaron: My Journey to Understand My Brother

Aaron Hernandez
The Truth About Aaron: My Journey to Understand My Brother.

The unvarnished true story of the tragic life and death of Aaron Hernandez, the college All-American and New England Patriots star convicted of murder, told by one of the few people who knew him best, his brother.

To football fans, Aaron Hernandez was a superstar in the making. A standout at the University of Florida, he helped the Gators win the national title in 2008. Drafted by the New England Patriots, in his second full season with the team, he and fellow Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski set records for touchdowns and yardage, and with Tom Brady, led New England to Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. But Aaron’s NFL career ended as quickly as it began. On June 26, 2013, he was arrested at his North Attleboro home, charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd, and released by the Patriots. Convicted of first-degree murder, Aaron was sentenced to life in prison without parole. On May 15, 2014, while on trial for Lloyd's murder, Aaron was indicted for two more murders. Five days after being acquitted for those double murders, he committed suicide in his jail cell. Aaron Hernandez was twenty-seven years old.

In this clear-eyed, emotionally devastating biography—a family memoir combining football and true crime—Jonathan (formerly known by his nickname DJ) Hernandez speaks out fully for the first time about the brother he knew. Jonathan draws on his own recollections as well as thousands of pages of prison letters and other sources to give us a full portrait of a star athlete and troubled young man who would become a murderer, and the darkness that consumed him. Jonathan does not portray Aaron as a victim; he does not lay the blame for his crimes on his illness. He speaks openly about Aaron’s talent, his sexuality, his crimes and incarceration, and the CTE that ravaged him—scientists found that upon his death, Aaron had the brain of a sixty-seven-year old suffering from the same condition. Filled with headline-making revelations, The Truth About Aaron is a shocking and moving account of promise, tragedy, and loss—of one man’s descent into rage and violence, as told by the person who knew him more closely than anyone else.

The Truth About Aaron: My Journey to Understand My Brother.


Thursday, October 17, 2024

Hank Muntzer Sentenced to Prison on Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During Insurrection and Attack of the US Capital on January 6, 2021

A Montana man was sentenced to prison this month, after he was previously convicted of felony and misdemeanor charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Henry Phillip “Hank” Muntzer, 55, of Dillon, Montana, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, 12 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb.

Muntzer was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder, both felonies, following a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb. In addition to the felonies, Judge Cobb also found Muntzer guilty of four misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Fischer v. United States, the government voluntarily moved pre-sentencing to dismiss Muntzer’s conviction on obstruction of an official proceeding. Judge Cobb sentenced Muntzer on one felony count of civil disorder and the four misdemeanors.

According to evidence presented during the trial, Muntzer traveled from Montana to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021, with a group of friends in order to hear the former President’s speech. After the speech, Muntzer joined the crowd as they walked from the Ellipse to the restricted Capitol grounds. Muntzer entered into the restricted perimeter around the Capitol and made his way to the West Plaza. After other rioters had breached the scaffolding erected at the West Plaza’s north side, Muntzer joined the mob in surging up the northwest stairs before reaching the Upper West Terrace at approximately 2:35 p.m.

After reaching the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace, Muntzer recorded multiple videos in which he commented that he had passed “through all the tear gas” to “tak[e] the Capitol by storm.” From there, Muntzer entered the Capitol building via the Upper West Terrace Door at approximately 2:44 p.m.

Muntzer then proceeded through the Rotunda and toward the Senate Chamber. While in a hallway just outside the Old Senate Chamber, Muntzer joined other rioters in collectively pushing against law enforcement officers blocking the path to the Senate. Muntzer then entered the Rotunda by approximately 2:55 p.m. There, Muntzer joined other rioters in confronting a group of police officers blocking a doorway leading to the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace. Muntzer positioned himself at the front of this crowd and joined in a collective effort to push back the officers, who had their backs to a set of stairs. The group’s collective pushes ultimately caused at least one police officer to fall down the stairs.

By approximately 3:03 p.m., police had begun attempting to clear the Rotunda of rioters and had established a line across the middle and instructed rioters to exit through the East Rotunda Door. However, the crowd of rioters, including Muntzer, resisted. Muntzer continued to resist police efforts to clear the Rotunda and was one of the very last rioters present in the area. Muntzer exited the Capitol building via the Rotunda Doors at approximately 3:22 p.m.

Muntzer was arrested by the FBI on Jan. 18, 2021.

In the 45 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,532 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the attack of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 571 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

Friday, July 26, 2024

Mexican Drug Lord and Sinaloa Cartel Co-Founder, Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada Arrested along with Son of El Chapo, Joaquin Guzman Lopez #ElChapo #ElMayo #Sinaloa #Fentanyl

Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was arrested by U.S. agents Thursday after a high-ranking Sinaloa cartel member tricked him into flying to Texas, Mexican and U.S. officials said.

Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was on the same plane and also arrested upon landing, a Homeland Security Investigations official said.

Ismael Zambada, 76, co-founded the Sinaloa cartel three decades ago with the elder Guzmán. He leads a faction of the cartel that is considered the leading smuggler of fentanyl into the U.S.

Zambada thought he was going to inspect clandestine airfields in Mexico, but was instead flown to El Paso, Texas, where he and the younger Guzmán were taken into custody on the tarmac, the HSI official said. The joint operation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been in the works for months, the official said.

The U.S. had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Zambada’s arrest.

It is the latest blow suffered by the Sinaloa cartel, which has been a top target for U.S. law enforcement. In January 2023, Ovidio Guzmán, another son of El Chapo, was arrested and later that year extradited to the U.S., where he faces drug charges. Néstor Isidro “El Nini” Pérez Salas, the top hit man for El Chapo’s children, was captured in November and extradited to the U.S. earlier this year.

El Chapo, a flamboyant drug lord known for his spectacular prison escapes, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 and sentenced to life in prison in 2019.

Unlike the elder Guzmán, Zambada was known for keeping a low profile. In Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state and the hometown of the cartel, Zambada was seen as a cartel elder who kept order and protected the city from the attacks of rival groups, residents said.

Joaquín Guzmán López is one of four brothers, including Ovidio Guzmán, who are known collectively as “Los Chapitos.” Authorities say that they were also top traffickers of fentanyl to the U.S. Ovidio Guzmán was seen as a pioneer of the fentanyl trade in Mexico.

While Joaquín wasn’t as known as his brothers, he had a $5 million reward for his capture and was seen as the brains behind the Chapitos financial operation. He knew the business much better than his flashier brother, Ovidio, who had “narco corridos,” or drug ballads, written about his exploits, authorities said.

U.S. prosecutors in February filed an indictment charging Zambada with conspiring to manufacture and distribute fentanyl with knowledge that it would be imported illegally into the U.S. He was previously charged with running a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to murder, money laundering and other drug-related crimes.

“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday.

Zambada owns thousands of acres of farmland and cattle ranches in Sinaloa, and loves prize bulls, said Margarito Flores, once a Chicago pointman for Zambada and El Chapo. From 2005 to 2008, Flores and his twin brother distributed as much as 2½ tons of cocaine and 60 kilograms of heroin supplied by the Sinaloa cartel a month.

“Zambada was very careful about security and didn’t use cellphones,” said Flores, describing the drug lord as someone who eschewed jewelry and gave the appearance of being a simple rancher.

Flores, who after spending 12 years in prison now works with a consulting company called Dynamic Police Training, which teaches law-enforcement officers about how cartels smuggle drugs, says the apparent betrayal of Zambada will likely cause a wave of violence.

“I think it’s the beginning of the end of what was once the most powerful criminal organization in the world,” he said.

Thanks to Steve Fisher and Jose de Corboda.

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