Senators Kirk, Brown And Durbin Introduce Bipartisan Resolution To Honor Famed Prohibition Agent, Eliot Ness

U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bipartisan resolution to honor Ohio resident and Illinois native Eliot Ness, the legendary law enforcement agent who fought to bring Chicago mob boss Al Capone to justice. The senators’ resolution would name the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) headquarters in Washington D.C., the Eliot Ness ATF Building.

“America’s fight against dangerous drug gangs is far from over, but in honoring Eliot Ness’ public service and his tireless crime fighting we reaffirm our commitment to safe streets and ensure that justice is brought to the Illinois families who have suffered,” Kirk said.

“Eliot Ness is perhaps best known as the man who helped to bring Al Capone to justice,” Brown said. “But Eliot Ness was more than just a Chicago prohibition agent. He fought for law and justice in Ohio, and fought for peace and freedom in World War II. He was a public servant and an American hero who deserves to be remembered.”

“Chicago gangster Al Capone believed that every man had his price,” Durbin said. “But for Eliot Ness and his legendary law enforcement team ‘The Untouchables,’ no amount of money could buy their loyalty or sway their dedication to Chicago’s safety. That steadfast commitment to public service is why it is so fitting that we remember Eliot Ness with this honor.”

In 1926, Ness was appointed as an agent in the federal Prohibition Bureau, the predecessor to today’s BATFE. He worked to combat bootlegging in the Midwest during prohibition and was the Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago division that brought down gangster Al Capone with indictments on over 5,000 prohibition violations. This story is recounted in a book he authored with Oscar Fraley called The Untouchables, as well as a television series and movie by the same name.

When prohibition ended in 1933, Ness transferred from Chicago to Cincinnati and then Cleveland to serve as the Special Agent in Charge of the northern district of Ohio’s Alcohol and Tobacco Unit. In 1936, he left federal investigations to become the Cleveland Public Safety Director.

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Ever greater numbers of women are buying and learning to use guns for self-defense

According to Gallup poll data, the percentage of American women who own a firearm nearly doubled from 2005-2011, rising from 13 percent to 23 percent.

In August, the National Shooting Sports Foundation reported that 37 percent of new target shooters are female, though they comprise only 22 percent of the established target-shooting population.

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Christopher Helt Named Recipient of FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award

Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that Christopher W. Helt, a Chicago immigration lawyer, has been named the recipient of the FBI’s Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) for the Chicago Division.

The FBI presents the DCLA annually on behalf of its Director, James B. Comey. The award was established in 1990 as a way to honor individuals and organizations for their efforts to prevent crime, terrorism, drugs, and violence and to further law enforcement efforts in their communities. Each year, the special agent in charge of each of the FBI’s 56 field offices selects an honoree that has made a significant difference in the lives of others.

Mr. Helt was selected by the Chicago Division for playing an instrumental role in the establishment of the division’s Explorer Post. Formally known as the Edwin C. Shanahan Memorial Post #1920, the program provides an opportunity for approximately 30 local high school students to engage with special agents and other FBI personnel to develop leadership, teamwork, discipline, and socialization skills while learning more about a possible future law enforcement career. Mr. Helt has been a dedicated supporter of the Post since its inception. He serves as a member of the Post’s Board of Directors, he obtained non-profit status for the Post, and he has led fundraising efforts to benefit the Post. In addition, he has used his position as a community leader to recruit others to support the Post and has raised awareness of the Post through social media.

Mr. Helt is a 2011 graduate of the FBI Chicago Citizens Academy, and, as an active member of the Citizens Academy Alumni Association, he serves as an advocate for the FBI and law enforcement in general.

Mr. Helt will be honored at an awards luncheon scheduled for 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at Loyola University’s Corboy Law Center at 25 East Pearson Street in Chicago. He will also join DCLA recipients selected by the other FBI field offices across the nation at an awards ceremony to be held in Washington, D.C., in April, where he will be personally recognized and honored by Director Comey.

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Hundreds of Armed Civilian Vigilantes Seize Town from #KnightsTemplar Drug Cartel

Vigilantes seized a drug cartel's bastion in western Mexico on Sunday, sparking a shootout as the civilian militia gained new ground in their struggle against the gang in a violence-plagued region.

Hundreds of armed civilians riding in more than 100 pickup trucks rolled into the Michoacan state town of Nueva Italia and were met by gunfire from presumed Knights Templar cartel members when they reached the municipal office.

"They shot at us from two locations and the clash lasted around an hour and a half," Jaime Ortiz, a 47-year-old farmer and vigilante leader from the town of La Ruana, told AFP.

Two members of the self-defense unit were wounded, he said, standing in the 40,000-population town's main square, surrounded by hundreds of men armed with AK-47 assault rifles, bulletproof vests and radios.

Some sidewalks were soaked in blood in the town's empty streets.

Later, on a highway leading to the town, authorities found two men hanging from a bridge, though it was not immediately known if the killings were related to the vigilantes' advance. Mexican cartels have hanged many victims in recent years.

Michoacan's growing civilian militia movement, which first emerged nearly a year ago, has seized more communities in recent weeks in its bid to rout the Templars.

The turmoil in Michoacan has become the biggest security challenge of President Enrique Pena Nieto's 13-month-old administration, which inherited a drug war that has killed more than 77,000 people in the past seven years.

Pena Nieto deployed thousands of troops and federal police to the state in May, but the reinforcements have failed to contain the violence.

Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong has said the self-defense units are illegal. Yet some critics charge the government is protecting them.

The Templars have accused the vigilantes of being a proxy force for the rival Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, a charge the militias deny.

The militias have now surrounded Apatzingan, a city of 123,000 people considered the main Templar stronghold in Michoacan's lime- and avocado-growing region known as Tierra Caliente, or Hot Country.

Vigilante leaders say Apatzingan is a key target because of its importance to the cartel and because it is a vital trade hub for their limes, avocados and mangos.

In October, hundreds of self-defense militia members marched into Apatzingan unarmed and fled after being welcomed with gun shots in the main square. "It is very close. We want to seize it but we don't have a date yet. It will be in the next few days," said Hipolito Mora, a prominent vigilante leader from the town of La Ruana.

In Nueva Italia, the streets were empty, restaurants and shops closed their doors and residents shut their windows after the vigilante incursion.

The vigilantes met with the mayor and residents to explain their strategy against organized crime. "At first we supported the Templars because we believed that they were protecting Michoacan," said a mother of two who attended the meeting and requested anonymity. "But now the economy is very weak, they don't let us work and they charge protection money," she said.

Towns began to form vigilante forces in February 2012, saying they were fed up with the local police's inability or unwillingness to stop the cartel's murders, kidnappings and extortion rackets. But some see the self-defense forces with suspicion.

Opponents of the vigilantes have burned trucks and buses in the past week to protest the militias' incursions in the region. The vigilantes say the protesters are coerced or paid by the Templars.

Michoacan Governor Fausto Vallejo said new "coordinated actions" with the federal government would be announced on Monday to deal with the unrest.

Critics say Michoacan has become a "failed state," with local authorities powerless to control the situation. "What we are observing is the absence of the state, the absence of governability," the head of the National Human Rights Commission, Raul Plascencia, told El Universal newspaper.

Thanks to Leticia Pineda.

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Larry Kyle Richardson Arrested and Accused of Running an Online Gambling Site

A Boulder County man has been arrested after a grand jury indicted him on racketeering charges for allegedly running an online gambling website for at least three years.

Larry Kyle Richardson, 62, was indicted on one charge of violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act -- a Class 2 felony -- according to an indictment released.

According to court documents, Richardson is suspected of running an online gambling website from Jan. 1 2010 through Jan. 8, 2013, "in, or triable in, Boulder County." Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said while he could not discuss the details of the case, for it to be "triable" in Boulder County it must have some connection to the district. "That could include all kinds of things from the defendant living here, to having bank accounts here to an exchange taking place here," Garnett said.

The indictment lists 195 instances in which search warrants executed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation obtained checks from suspected gamblers to Richardson in amounts ranging from $50 to $11,000. The sum of the checks collected by the CBI totals almost $300,000.

The indictment claims Richardson was part of a gambling enterprise which "unlawfully, feloniously, and knowingly conducted or participated, directly or indirectly, in the enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity."

The indictment says Richardson would pay a percentage of the income he received through the site to a Richard "Dick" Hancock. The indictment says Teddy Mitchell, Gary Gibb, Dryden Mitchell, Roger "Dodger" Antablin also were involved in bookmaking operations related to the enterprise.

Names of the suspected gamblers who wrote checks to Richardson were also referenced in the indictment. While Garnett could not comment on whether the other people named in the document were facing indictments in other jurisdictions, he said none of them were facing charges in Boulder County.

A warrant for Richardson's arrest was issued and Richardson was arrested Friday by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and is being held at the Boulder County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Court records show Richardson pleaded guilty to DUI-related charges in 1985 and 1995 in Boulder County.

Thanks to Mitchell Byers.

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