Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Gun Store Ordinance Far Stricter Than What Public Wants

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to keep gun stores out of most of Chicago is far more restrictive than what the public supports, a gun industry lobbyist said Monday.

Whitney O’Daniel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation pointed to an April survey — which the foundation commissioned — of registered Chicago voters that showed 69 percent supported regulating gun stores under the same zoning laws that cover other age-regulated businesses like liquor stores.

The McKeon & Associates poll had an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

“Let the market decide how many gun stores people will support in the city,” said O’Daniel, who is also the executive director of the Illinois Association of Firearm Retailers.

Emanuel’s proposed ordinance would keep gun stores at least 500 feet away from parks and schools, barring them from 99.5 percent of the city, according to city officials.

In January, U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang overturned Chicago’s ban on gun stores in a lawsuit brought by the Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers and three Chicago gun owners. Chang gave the city until mid-July to impose regulations on gun stores.

Last week, the Emanuel administration proposed a far-reaching ordinance that would require gun stores to videotape purchases to deter customers from buying guns for crooks. Stores would have to maintain a log of gun sales in which a firearm was later recovered in a crime. That would help employees identify potential gun traffickers, according to city officials.

O’Daniel said the groups he represents aren’t opposed to stores introducing “best practices” like videotaping sales.

He said the National Shooting Sports Foundation spent $800,000 this year on Chicago billboards with the message, “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy,” referring to “straw purchasers” who legally buy guns they give to criminals. “We don’t want anyone to have illegal firearms or participate in the sale of illegal firearms,” O’Daniel said. But safeguards like videotaping gun sales should be voluntary, not mandatory, he said.

O’Daniel also said some parts of the proposed ordinance appear unworkable. For example, the government can’t provide stores with the names of people who buy guns later used in crimes, he said. “It’s a little premature to say we will go back and challenge this in court,” O’Daniel said of the proposed ordinance. “But we will certainly look at this closely. We are willing to work with the aldermen on this.”

South Side Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) has already warned that the ordinance invites another potentially costly court battle.

The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the city include gun owners Michael Hall, Kathryn Tyler and her husband Kenneth Pacholski. None has expressed an interest in selling guns, but they have said the Chicago ban on gun stores was unreasonable.

In 2010, Hall was a telecommunications consultant and part-time high school basketball referee who owned a shotgun, a rifle and a 9mm pistol he bought for protection after his Morgan Park home was burglarized, according to a deposition he gave to the city.

Pacholski owned 18 guns, including 13 rifles, three shotguns, a revolver and a semiautomatic pistol, according to his deposition. He said he carried a gun from his bedroom to his basement for protection in their West Rogers Park home.

Tyler, a veterinarian, owned a 9mm handgun, according to her deposition. A city attorney asked her whether the ban on gun stores prevented her from buying firearms, and she answered no. But “if guns are legal, then we should be able to buy guns wherever we want to buy guns and people should be able to sell them wherever they want to sell them,” Tyler said.

Emanuel administration officials say tough regulations are needed to help stores identify straw purchasers and prevent thieves from stealing guns from stores.

Chicago’s proposed ordinance would require the stores to submit a safety plan outlining exterior lighting, surveillance cameras and alarm systems, as well as storage of guns and ammunition. Employees would have to undergo fingerprinting, background checks and training on identifying potential gun traffickers.

Emanuel is also proposing that Chicago gun stores could sell only one handgun a month to a buyer. If the city revoked a store’s business license for violating the ordinance, it could not reopen at the same location for three years.

Thanks to Frank Main.

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Khairullozhon Matanov Charged with Obstructing Marathon Bombing Investigation

A Quincy man has been charged with obstructing the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, of Quincy, is charged in an indictment that was unsealed with one count of destroying, altering, and falsifying records, documents, and tangible objects in a federal investigation, specifically, information on his computer; and three counts of making materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements in a federal terrorism investigation.

It is alleged that, after the release of the photos of the suspected bombers in the late afternoon of Thursday, April 18, 2013, and again early in the morning of Friday, April 19, 2013, Matanov realized that the FBI would likely want to talk with him because of his ties to the bombers, especially in the week following the bombings. Matanov allegedly then took a series of steps to impede the FBI’s investigation into the extent of his friendship, contact, and communication with the suspected bombers and the fact that he shared the suspected bombers’ philosophical justification for violence. In addition to deleting information from his computer, Matanov made a number of false statements to federal investigators. The indictment does not charge Matanov with participating in the Marathon bombings or knowing about them ahead of time.

The maximum sentence for the count of destruction of evidence is 20 years in prison and eight years for each false statement count. All four counts also carry a maximum of three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

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Freddie Howard Pleads Guilty in IRS Fraudulent Tax Refund Scam Involving $22 Million in Claims

Freddie Howard, 56, of Davie, pled guilty to his role in a large-dollar tax refund fraud scam. Sentencing for Howard is scheduled for August 29, 2014 at 10:15 a.m.

Howard pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. At sentencing, the defendant faces a maximum term of 22 years in prison.

According to the plea documents, Howard operated a tax preparation business called QTS1, Inc. (Quality Tax Service) in Broward County. Howard prepared false and fraudulent tax returns using the identity information of willing participants, as well as, stolen identity information. Howard used false and fictitious income and withholding tax information on the returns submitted to the IRS to justify fraudulent large-dollar refund requests. The requested refund amounts generally ranged from $60,000 to $1,400,000, and Howard typically requested payment of these refunds via U.S. Treasury tax refund check. To conceal his identity, Howard submitted the tax returns to the IRS by mail and did not include preparer information. Howard also blocked out the tax preparer software information, and used other people to contact the IRS to inquire about the status of the fraudulent returns.

According to the plea documents, Freddie Howard submitted over $22 million in false and fraudulent large-dollar refund claims to the IRS that resulted in a payout of approximately $4.5 million on these large-dollar refund requests. As part of the scam, Howard caused a false and fraudulent tax return in the name of “J.E.” to be submitted to the IRS that resulted in a U.S. Treasury tax refund check sent to “J.E.” in Coral Springs for $398,502.52.

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Wesley Paul Coonce Jr. and Charles Michael Hall Sentenced to Death for Murder of Another Inmate

Two inmates of the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, who were convicted by a federal jury for murdering another inmate at the facility were sentenced to death late yesterday.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and United States Attorney Tammy Dickinson of the Western District of Missouri made the announcement.

“Two federal inmates senselessly killed another inmate, and today, they have been brought to justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.   “The Justice Department is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all Bureau of Prisons employees and inmates.”

“Achieving justice sometimes requires us to ask our citizens to make the most difficult sentencing decisions,” said U.S. Attorney Dickinson.    “We appreciate their patience and commitment throughout trial.   The defendants’ conduct strikes at the heart of our justice system, which depends upon the safety and security of our penal institutions.   Mr. Castro was targeted for murder, in part, because he intervened to help a Bureau of Prisons employee as he was being attacked by another inmate.”

Wesley Paul Coonce Jr., 34, and Charles Michael Hall, 43, who are both inmates at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, were found guilty on May 7, 2014, of one count of murder in the first degree.   Coonce was also found guilty of one count of murder by an inmate serving a life sentence.  The trial began on April 28, 2014, before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner of the Western District of Missouri.

The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that another inmate at the prison medical center, Victor Castro-Rodriguez, 51, was found dead on the floor of his cell on Jan. 26, 2010, and had been murdered by Coonce and Hall.   At the time of the murder, Coonce was serving a life sentence for a kidnapping and carjacking that involved the brutal rape of a young woman, and Hall was serving a combined 194-month sentence from the District of Maine for making threatening communications against a federal judge and a federal prosecutor.

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2 Corrections Officers, a Lawyer and 6 Others Walk into Federal Pretrial Detention Facility, Charged in Schemes to Smuggle Contraband

Two corrections officers, a lawyer, and six others were charged in three separate complaints with smuggling contraband, including cell phones and marijuana, into a federal pretrial detention facility at the Essex County Correctional Facility, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Corrections officer Stephon Solomon, 26, of Irvington, New Jersey; Darsell Davis, 28, Dwayne Harper, 30, and Deidra Harrison, 49, all of Newark; attorney Brian Kapalin, 66, of Maplewood, New Jersey; and Vladimir Sauzereseteo, 40, of East Orange, New Jersey, were arrested this morning by special agents of the FBI. Corrections officer Channel Lespinasse, 25, of Florham Park, New Jersey, was issued a summons. Quasim Nichols, 29, and Muhammad Subpunallah, 32, already are incarcerated on unrelated federal charges.

“According to the complaints, the defendants operated contraband marketplace within the walls of the Essex County Correctional Facility,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman. “Jails are no place for drugs and illicit phones, and it is disappointing that two corrections officers and an attorney allegedly used their authority and access to make them available.”

“The allegations in today’s complaints underscore the commitment of the FBI and the Department of Justice to continue to pursue those employed by the government who undermine the public’s trust and engage in unethical and corrupt practices,” said Special Agent in Charge Ford. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are determined to address public corruption at all levels of government.”

Solomon, Davis, Harper, Harrison, Kapalin, Sauzereseteo, Nichols, and Subpunallah were scheduled to make their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark, III in Newark federal court. Lespinasse will appear for her initial appearance on June 2, 2014, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer in Newark.

According to the complaints unsealed:

• On at least five occasions between October 2013 and April 2014, Solomon, a corrections officer at the Essex County Correctional Facility, smuggled contraband—including cell phones, tobacco, and marijuana—to Nichols, an inmate there, in exchange for cash bribes. Nichols’ friends, Davis and Harper, helped by collecting the items that were to be smuggled into the jail. Davis then handed off the contraband and cash payments to Solomon. Nichols ultimately sold some of the marijuana and cell phones he received from Solomon to other inmates. The inmates purchasing marijuana and cell phones from Nichols had their friends and family pay for the items by sending Western Union money transfers to Nichols, who then enlisted Davis and others to retrieve the payments. Nichols also used the cell phones he received through this smuggling scheme to communicate with his conspirators.
• Lespinasse, another corrections officer at the Essex County Correctional Facility, also smuggled in contraband in exchange for a cash bribe. In November 2013, Lespinasse and an associate, Harrison, agreed to smuggle a cell phone to an inmate in the jail in exchange for a cash bribe. On behalf of Lespinasse, Harrison accepted a $1,000 cash bribe and a cell phone from an undercover agent in the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant in Newark. Harrison promised the undercover federal agent that the cell phone would be delivered to its recipient—an inmate in the jail. Three days later, Lespinasse delivered the cell phone to the inmate.
• Kapalin, a lawyer who practiced in New Jersey, used his access to inmates at the Essex County Correctional Facility to smuggle in contraband—including marijuana and tobacco—to inmates, including Subpunallah, in exchange for cash payments. Sauzereseteo, an associate of Subpunallah, delivered the contraband and the cash payments to Kapalin, who then smuggled the contraband into the jail. In January 2014, Kapalin spoke with Subpunallah—at that point an inmate at the Hudson County Correctional Facility—over a recorded jail phone. Subpunallah asked Kapalin to deliver contraband to an inmate at the Essex County Correctional Facility. Sauzereseteo was paid $1,650 via Western Union money transfers, which he used to purchase marijuana he delivered to Kapalin, along with a cash payment. A few days later, Kapalin met an inmate from the Essex County Correctional Facility in the attorney conference room at the jail, during which time he delivered the marijuana to the inmate.
• A search of the federal pods at the Essex County Correctional Facility on May 26, 2014, produced nine hidden cell phones, including one in the light fixture in the ceiling of Nichols’ cell.

The criminal complaints charge Solomon, Nichols, Davis, Harper, Lespinasse, and Harrison each with one count of conspiring to violate the Hobbs Act, punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of the greatest of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense. The criminal complaints charge all nine defendants with one count of conspiring to provide contraband to inmates at the jail, a count that carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for smuggling marijuana or one year in prison and $100,000 maximum fine for smuggling a cell phone.

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