Former Markham Deputy Police Chief, Tony D. Debois, Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Lying to FBI About Raping Woman in Police Custody

The former deputy police chief in south suburban Markham was sentenced to the maximum of five years in federal prison after a judge ruled that he sexually assaulted a woman in police custody in 2010. The defendant, Tony D. Debois, pleaded guilty last September to lying to FBI agents in 2012 about having had sex in his office, but he contended at a lengthy sentencing hearing last month that the woman he had sex with was not the victim and the sex was consensual.

“It is a case about lying about a rape that occurred under the most egregious circumstances that law enforcement could imagine,” Assistant U.S. Attorney April Perry argued today before the sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow. “The seriousness should not be underestimated,” Judge Lefkow said, adding that she found Debois’ conduct “revolting.”

Debois, 42, of Frankfort, was also placed on supervised release for three years following his sentence, which he was ordered to begin serving on June 10.

Judge Lefkow ruled that the government established that Debois raped the 21-year-old highly vulnerable victim by a “considerable” preponderance of the evidence presented at the hearing last month, including the victim’s testimony, which the judge said was corroborated by other factors. The victim and a man were arrested by Markham police officers on September 23, 2010, after the man was suspected of engaging in a counterfeit currency transaction. The victim, who had no prior contact with law enforcement, was handcuffed, taken to the Markham Police Department, and placed in a holding cell for about 30 minutes. One of the arresting officers then took her to Debois’ tactical office, where, according to Judge Lefkow’s ruling, “he insinuated she could escape further trouble if she engaged in sex with him.” The judge found that Debois’ conduct was rape and that he later obstructed justice to avoid punishment for the sexual assault.

DeBois served as deputy chief in Markham between 2008 and 2011 and also served as the department’s head of internal affairs until 2011, when he became Markham’s inspector general until 2012. DeBois began his law enforcement career with the former Chicago Housing Authority Police Department in the 1990s, and he was a police officer in south suburban Harvey from 1999 to 2007, when he joined the Markham department.

Tweet

Easy Money is Still Name of the Game with the Mob

The names change, the languages vary, and the players keep evolving. But when it comes to organized crime activity, the game on the street remains remarkably consistent.

It’s a lesson former Metro Det. Jason Hahn many years ago. Hahn, who retired from the department in December after nearly 27 years, spent most of his career working on the street as a member of Metro’s Criminal Intelligence Bureau. He also partnered with a federal task force focused on Asian organized crime.

The result was an impressive series of cases in which prolific prostitution rings and criminal gangs were taken down hard. Among the more notable were operations were Doll House, Jade Blade and Vegas Hold’em. Doll House and Jade Blade were prostitution-related. Vegas Hold’em was a joint task force operation that nailed a California-based Korean organized crime crew that was making high-dollar home invasions. By the time those cases closed, dozens of criminals were hit with long prison sentences.

These days Hahn has teamed up with former FBI agent Charles Bevan, his partner in the Korean case, in a local private investigations firm. The pair will no doubt benefit from its organized crime expertise.

Early in his career, Hahn realized what most good mob investigators know: Although criminal group identification and affiliations are important, many gangsters will gladly cross traditional ethnic lines to make a score. That’s why astute observers will commonly see Asian hoodlums in association with European criminals, Russian mobsters teaming up with Israeli counterparts, and traditional La Cosa Nostra figures taking advantage of alliances in outlaw motorcycle clubs. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll even see a casino guy keeping company with a notorious Chinese Triad associate.

Given Hahn’s background, it’s not surprising he would play an integral role in the growth of the International Asian Organized Crime Conference, as it was first known. It has undergone its own evolution over the years. Following the 9/11 attacks, the group added “Terrorism” to its title. With the spread of international organized crime, and investigations revealing liaisons between disparate criminal operations, this year’s gathering reflects the law enforcement group’s larger mission.

It’s now called the International Conference on Transnational Organized Crime &Terrorism. This year’s conference, which is closed to the public and most press, is set to begin Monday at the Red Rock Resort. More than 400 members of law enforcement from around the world are expected. This year, Metro Sgt. Darren Heiner and FBI agent Chuck Ro are the local conference coordinators.

“It basically covers everything — all different types of organized crime groups,” Hahn says. “These organized crime groups are working together. If there’s a profit to be made, it doesn’t matter if they’re Asian, Israeli, Italian, Eastern European or Russian.”

The conference reflects the reality of the new street. A sample of the workshops: “Narco-Terrorism,” “Detection of Counterfeit Currency,” “International Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs,” “Yakuza and Banks,” “Automating Investigative Tools for Social Networking Sites” and something called “Using Casinos as a Source of Information.”

That last one sounds intriguing.

When it comes to understanding the power of Japan’s Yakuza organized crime families, few can match the insight author and investigative journalist Jake Adelstein gained at Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper. The scheduled speaker is the author of “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard).”

Although it’s nothing the chamber of commerce would want to advertise, it also makes sense to hold an organized crime conference here — and not just because we have our own Mob Museum.

Although the traditional mob influence is largely a thing of the past, international organized crime associates continue their fascination with Las Vegas. In recent years, authorities have investigated and prosecuted groups representing Russian, Yugoslavian, Korean, Mexican, and Israeli mob factions.

Some of the crews are remarkably sophisticated, others are pretty crude, but they all share the same desire for easy money.

The players come and go on the street, but the game remains the same.

Thanks to John L. Smith.

Tweet

Samir Azizi, International Fugitive, Arrested at @flySFO

U.S. Marshal Don O’Keefe announces the arrest of Samir Azizi by the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).


Azizi, 24, a German national, landed at SFO March 31 en route from Dubai, where he was intercepted by Deputy U.S. Marshals and members of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. According to a criminal complaint filed in San Jose by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Azizi is wanted in Germany for several financial crimes – 89 counts related to tax evasion – committed between 2008 and 2012, in which Azizi allegedly formed a “gang” for the purpose of setting up 11 companies that primarily dealt in cellular communication and other technologies. The companies allegedly participated in criminal activity including filing false tax forms for the purposes of receiving fraudulent tax returns. The alleged criminal activity resulted in a loss to German tax authorities of more than 61 million euros.

Azizi holds a passport from Afghanistan and is also a legal resident of Germany and the United States. The criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California and the ensuing arrest warrant were issued for the purpose of seeking Azizi’s extradition to Germany.

Azizi appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd in San Jose on April 1, at which time he was ordered held without bail and remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Extradition proceedings are currently pending, and a status hearing is scheduled before Judge Lloyd on May 23.

Tweet

Ray Allen Flener Pleads Guilty to Conveying False Allegations of a Terrorist Plot to Disrupt Election Day

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced that Ray Allen Flener, 25, of Sesser, Illinois, pled guilty to federal charges that he made a false statement to a federal officer and that he conveyed a false threat. Sentencing is set for July 31, 2014.

At the change of plea hearing, Flener admitted that on November 2, 2012, as a detainee at the Franklin County Jail in Benton, he told a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he had knowledge of a plan by a group called “the New World Order” to disrupt Election Day on November 6, 2012, by using weapons and explosives. Specifically, Flener told and showed the FBI agent the area in which the weapons and explosives allegedly had been stored in August 2012. Flener’s representations were false because, as Flener knew, he had no such knowledge of weapons and explosives having been stored at that location.

Flener also admitted that on November 1, 2012, he did intentionally convey false and misleading information, under circumstances where such information may reasonably have been believed. Specifically, Flener told law enforcement officers from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI that he had personal knowledge of a plan by a group called the New World Order to disrupt Election Day, November 6, 2012, by using weapons and explosives.

The first charge of making a false statement carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. The second charge of conveying a false threat carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Illinois State Police; the Illinois Department of Corrections; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the sheriff’s offices of Franklin County, Williamson County, Saline County, and Jackson County; and the police departments of Marion, West Frankfort, and Johnston City. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Liam Coonan.

Tweet

Patrick M. Curley Convicted of Extortion

United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty, II announced that Patrick M. Curley, 50, of Passaic, New Jersey, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to extortion. Curley was indicted on March 21, 2013.

According to court documents, in March 2010, Curley applied online for a job with Vescom, a Hampden, Maine-based security firm. On April 21, 2010, Curley met Vescom’s senior vice president for a job interview in New York. In e-mails and a voice message left after the interview, he expressed ongoing interest in the job. On April 27, however, he e-mailed Vescom’s senior vice president and falsely accused her of sexual harassment and discrimination and threatened to sue. In the months that followed, both he and an attorney representing him contacted Vescom employees and staff counsel threatening to sue and take his claims to the media if they could not reach a financial settlement. Curley’s claims of sexual harassment and discrimination were false and were intended to extort money from Vescom.

Tweet