Hell’s Angels Associate Sentenced For Destroying Evidence

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced that Timothy M. Stone, 36, of East Rochester, NY, who was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to an assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering activity, was sentenced to 12 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Harvey, who is handling the case, stated that in the late night hours on May 31, 2006, a male patron at Spenders Bar in Rochester was assaulted with a baseball bat. At the time, Spenders Bar was equipped with interior surveillance cameras that recorded the area in the bar where the assault occurred. The recordings were stored on a computer hard drive. In the early morning hours on June 1, 2006, Stone – knowing that others had committed the assault with the baseball bat in aid of racketeering – went to Spenders Bar, forcibly removed the hard drive, and took the hard drive from the bar. The defendant later destroyed the hard drive and the baseball bat used to commit the assault to assist the perpetrators of the assault in order to prevent their apprehension by the police.

This case was part of a larger investigation that resulted in the indictment and arrest of members and associates of the Rochester and Monterey (California) Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, for drug trafficking and racketeering-related offenses in February 2012.  Monterey (California) Hell's Angels President Richard W. Mar, Rochester Hell's Angels members James H. McAuley, Jr., of Oakfield, NY, and Jeffrey A. Tyler, of Rochester, and Donna Boon, of Oakfield, NY, were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Three other defendants – Paul Griffin, of Blasdell, NY, Richard E. Riedman, of Webster, NY, and Gordon L. Montgomery, of Batavia, NY – were convicted for their roles in the methamphetamine conspiracy. Griffin was sentenced to probation and Riedman to 37 months in prison. Montgomery will be sentenced on May 3, 2016.

Rochester Hell's Angels member Robert W. Moran, Jr., of Rochester, along with Gina Tata, also of Rochester, are charged in the same indictment with assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering activity, and McAuley, Moran and Tata are charged with conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering activity.  In addition, Tata is charged with being an accessory after the fact to the assault and conspiracy.

A jury trial for the remaining six defendants – Mar, McAuley, Moran, Boon, Tyler and Tata – is scheduled to begin on March 7, 2016, before U.S District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.

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Friends of the Family - The Inside Story of the Mafia Cops Case

Several books, including one by Jimmy Breslin, have been written on the Mafia cops case: the story of two city detectives who in 2005 were charged with being in league with mob hit men and committing two murders themselves. If you’re still looking for even more detail, “Friends of the Family” (William Morrow) by Tommy Dades and Michael Vecchione with David Fisher promises “The Inside Story of the Mafia Cops Case,” as the subtitle puts it. (Mr. Vecchione heads the investigations division for the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes; Mr. Dades is a former detective who worked on the case).

Some questions are still being pondered, though, including one posed by the authors themselves. “Even after the whole thing was done and the Mafia cops had been put in a cell to rot forever,” they write, “there was still one question that never got answered: At the beginning, were these guys killers who became cops or were they cops who became killers?”

Thanks to Sam Roberts

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United States of Jihad - Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists

A riveting, panoramic look at “homegrown” Islamist terrorism from 9/11 to the present

Since 9/11, more than three hundred Americans—born and raised in Minnesota, Alabama, New Jersey, and elsewhere—have been indicted or convicted of terrorism charges. Some have taken the fight abroad: an American was among those who planned the attacks in Mumbai, and more than eighty U.S. citizens have been charged with ISIS-related crimes. Others have acted on American soil, as with the attacks at Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon, and in San Bernardino. What motivates them, how are they trained, and what do we sacrifice in our efforts to track them?

Paced like a detective story, United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists, tells the entwined stories of the key actors on the American front. Among the perpetrators are Anwar al-Awlaki, the New Mexico-born radical cleric who became the first American citizen killed by a CIA drone and who mentored the Charlie Hebdo shooters; Samir Khan, whose Inspire webzine has rallied terrorists around the world, including the Tsarnaev brothers; and Omar Hammami, an Alabama native and hip hop fan who became a fixture in al Shabaab’s propaganda videos until fatally displeasing his superiors.

Drawing on his extensive network of intelligence contacts, from the National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI to the NYPD, Peter Bergen also offers an inside look at the controversial tactics of the agencies tracking potential terrorists—from infiltrating mosques to massive surveillance; at the bias experienced by innocent observant Muslims at the hands of law enforcement; at the critics and defenders of U.S. policies on terrorism; and at how social media has revolutionized terrorism.

Lucid and rigorously researched, United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists, is an essential new analysis of the Americans who have embraced militant Islam both here and abroad.

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Details on John Bills Conviction in City of Chicago's Red-light Camera Scam

The former assistant transportation commissioner for the city of Chicago was convicted today on federal corruption charges in connection with the awarding of lucrative red-light camera contracts.

After a two-week trial in federal court in Chicago, the jury convicted JOHN BILLS on all counts against him.  The counts include nine counts of mail fraud; three counts of wire fraud; one count of extortion under color of official right; one count of conspiracy to commit bribery; three counts of bribery; and three counts of filing false tax returns.  Bills, 54, of Chicago, faces a maximum combined sentence of 304 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 5, 2016, at 10:00 a.m.

The conviction was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Joseph M. Ferguson, Inspector General for the City of Chicago; and James D. Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.

“By accepting bribes in exchange for influencing city contracts, John Bills deprived the city of Chicago of money and honest services,” said Mr. Fardon.  “When public officials abuse their power and violate the public trust for personal gain, we will be there to hold them accountable.”

As an assistant transportation commissioner, Bills was a voting member of the city’s Request for Proposal evaluation committee, which sought vendors under the city’s Digital Automated Red Light Enforcement Program.  In 2003, the committee recommended awarding contracts to Phoenix-based Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., to install cameras that automatically record and ticket drivers who run red lights.  Evidence at trial revealed that from approximately 2003 to 2011, Bills used his influence to expand Redflex’s business with the city, resulting in millions of dollars in contracts for the installation of hundreds of red-light cameras.  In exchange for his efforts, Redflex provided Bills with cash and personal benefits, including meals, golf outings, rental cars, airline tickets, hotel rooms and other entertainment.

Some of the benefits were given directly to Bills, while hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash was funneled to him through a friend, MARTIN O’MALLEY.  Redflex hired O’Malley as a contractor and paid him lavish bonuses as new cameras were added in Chicago.  O’Malley testified at trial that he often stuffed the bonus money into envelopes and gave it to Bills during meals in Chicago restaurants.

Between 2004 and 2008, Chicago paid Redflex approximately $25 million.  After KAREN FINLEY became CEO of Redflex in 2007, O’Malley’s commissions escalated and Redflex was awarded a “sole-sourced” contract for another $33 million.  The city then followed up that contract with another deal worth $66 million – for the installation of nearly 250 additional red-light cameras.

Bills retired from the city in 2011.

Finley, of Cave Creek, Ariz., pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. She is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Kendall on Feb. 18, 2016.

O’Malley, of Worth, pleaded guilty in December 2014 to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. His sentencing date has not yet been set.

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5 Chicago Men Arrested in Connection with Violent Kidnapping

Five men have been arrested on kidnapping charges for allegedly abducting a Berwyn man in broad daylight and holding him for ransom in a North Side auto body shop.

The kidnapping went awry after the abductors realized they had snatched the wrong man, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The victim was the brother of the intended target.  He was blindfolded and held at gunpoint for nearly two days in an auto body shop in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood, before being released, the complaint states.

Federal authorities arrested abd charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping: ANTONIO SALGADO, 34; ARMANDO DELGADO, 36; OCTAVIO ALEJANDRE JR., 33; JAIME GUTIERREZ, 22; and MUNAF ABDULRAZAK MUSA, 22; all of Chicago.  The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

According to the complaint, the abduction occurred on the afternoon of May 30, 2015, when the victim was kidnapped at gunpoint outside of his Berwyn home.  The victim was forced into a sport-utility vehicle and taken to the auto repair shop.  While being held, one of the kidnappers pushed a gun into the victim’s body and threatened him, while another kidnapper placed a knife on the victim’s fingers and threatened to cut them off, the complaint states.

Early the next morning, the victim’s uncle received telephone calls from an unidentified man who stated he was holding the victim, according to the complaint.  The caller demanded approximately 25 kilograms of narcotics.  At one point the victim was placed on the phone and instructed to tell his uncle to cooperate, the complaint states.

Unbeknownst to the defendants, several of their phones had previously been intercepted by federal authorities who were conducting an unrelated investigation, the complaint states.  In a recorded call between Salgado and Delgado on the night of May 31, 2015, Delgado told Salgado, “There is a little situation.  It’s the wrong guy because it’s his brother of the one that we’re trying to get.”  According to the complaint, Salgado allegedly replied, “Let the guy go, but beat the [expletive] out of him.”

On the morning of June 1, 2015, the victim appeared at a bus station in Chicago, according to the complaint.  The victim told police that he had walked to the bus station after being released from captivity during the night.

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