The Chicago Syndicate
The Mission Impossible Backpack

Friday, February 07, 2014

The King of Chicago announced for iOS and Android

Legendary game developer, Cinemaware, takes center stage on the gaming landscape once again, announcing that the classic Mob game from 1986 returns on your Android and iOS mobile devices soon!

One of Cinemaware’s original and most popular titles, “ The King of Chicago – Emulated Amiga Edition” puts you in the war for Al Capone’s throne when it comes to iOS and Android devices in the upcoming weeks. Set in the 1930s, deep within the prohibition era, “ The King of Chicago” is the original gangster myth game.

You’ll be performing drive-by shootings with your Tommy gun, bribing corrupt officials, assassinating rivals and carving your way to the top of Chicago’s Mob in order to be included in the formation of a New York crime syndicate. As if that weren't enough, the player also has to stay one step ahead of the law and keep his girlfriend satisfied by catering to her crazy whims and desires – or risk losing her! With force or words, it is your call…but be nice to your gang, or they will send you down the river!

“Lissen up, when youse action and story combine just poifect, somethin' snazzy happens on the screen,” said Pinky Callahan, mouthpiece for Cinemaware. “Cinemaware pulled the trigger on that stuff back in the 1980s; and it ain't no different now. People are always yappin' at us to bring back our games, as we obliged last year with Rocket Ranger – Emulated Amiga Version. We's in the process of releasin' several classic and new titles in 2014, like Wings: Remastered Edition. And just a tip between us wiseguys...download the game or youse gonna be wearing a pair of concrete shoes. If youse catch my drift.”

The King of Chicago – Emulated Amiga Edition features the original game, complete with all of the original missions, story and gameplay sequences. The game also features a customized mobile control interface and the original game manual.

The Android version will be available at the end of January, followed by the Apple iOS version in early February. The game will be available on Google’s Play store and Apple’s iTunes, as well as Amazon's appstore and Samsung-Chillingos' 100% Indie appstore.

Four #MS13 Gang leaders sentenced for conspiring to commit senseless acts of murder, attempted murder, and armed robbery

For nearly four years, four leaders of various Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, factions operating in the Atlanta metro area terrorized the community through their flagrant disregard for life—conspiring to commit senseless acts of murder, attempted murder, and armed robbery. But a multi-year, multi-agency law enforcement effort recently took down this criminal enterprise, eradicating a deadly threat from the streets of Atlanta. Ernesto Escobar, Miguel Alvarado-Linares, and Dimas Alfaro-Granados will be spending the rest of their lives in prison, while Jairo Reyna-Ozuna will be behind bars for more than a decade.

The MS-13 gang is composed primarily of immigrants and/or their descendants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In the U.S., this extremely violent criminal organization got its start in Los Angeles and then spread out to a number of states around the country, including Georgia.

In Atlanta, as in other areas, members are usually organized into groups called “cliques” that operate under the larger MS-13 umbrella. Each clique has a leader who conducts regular meetings to plan and discuss crimes against rival gangs. In this case, we saw clique leaders reporting back to MS-13 leaders in their home countries about MS-13 activities in the Atlanta area.

The four defendants in this case, who reportedly lived by the credo “rape, kill, control,” perpetrated their crimes for seemingly minor reasons—to enhance their reputations among fellow gang members, to protect their turf from rival gangs, or to exact revenge for a real or perceived slight. The robberies were usually committed to obtain funding to support the criminal enterprise, providing money and weapons to gang members—including incarcerated individuals in the U.S and elsewhere.

Some of the heinous crimes the defendants were charged with included:


  • Murdering a fellow MS-13 member who was thought to be cooperating with police;
  • Ordering an MS-13 member who wanted to leave the gang to first commit an act of violence, leading the departing member to shoot into a car believed to be carrying rival gang members—killing the passenger and wounding the driver;
  • Returning to a nightclub following a fight with a suspected rival gang member and fatally shooting a man walking through the club’s parking lot;
  • Going back to a gas station after a scuffle with two teenagers who worked there and fatally shooting one of them as he painted lines in the parking lot;
  • Murdering a 15-year-old boy—a suspected 18th Street gang member—with a shotgun.

The case was investigated by the Atlanta Safe Streets Task Force, made up of investigators from local, state, and federal agencies, including the FBI. Another key partner was the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Directorate.

Federal participation in this case allowed a number of effective tools to be brought to the table—perhaps most importantly the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) and the VICAR (Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering) statutes with their tougher penalties. Investigators also made use of physical and court-authorized electronic surveillances and confidential informants.

The charges against the four subjects in this case were part of a broader multi-agency investigation of MS-13 in Atlanta, concluded in 2010, which resulted in arrests of, charges against, and/or deportation of 75 members.

Proof positive that dedicated, cooperative efforts among law enforcement agencies can and do win out over dangerous criminal conspiracies.

Thursday, February 06, 2014

License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at @GoldSilverPawn

In Las Vegas, there's a family-owned business called the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, run by three generations of the Harrison family: Rick; his son, Big Hoss; and Rick's dad, the Old Man. Now License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver takes readers behind the scenes of the hit History show Pawn Stars and shares the fascinating life story of its star, Rick Harrison, and the equally intriguing story behind the shop, the customers, and the items for sale.

Rick hasn't had it easy. He was a math whiz at an early age, but developed a similarly uncanny ability to find ever-deepening trouble that nearly ruined his life. With the birth of his son, he sobered up, reconnected with his dad, and they started their booming business together.

License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver also offers an entertaining walk through the pawn shop's history. It's a captivating look into how the Gold & Silver works, with incredible stories about the crazy customers and the one-of-a-kind items that the shop sells. Rick isn't only a businessman; he's also a historian and keen observer of human nature. For instance, did you know that pimps wear lots of jewelry for a reason? It's because if they're arrested, jewelry doesn't get confiscated like cash does, and ready money will be available for bail. Or that WWII bomber jackets and Zippo lighters can sell for a freakishly high price in Japan? Have you ever heard that the makers of Ormolu clocks, which Rick sells for as much as $15,000 apiece, frequently died before forty thanks to the mercury in the paint?

Rick also reveals the items he loves so much he'll never sell. The shop has three Olympic bronze medals, a Patriots Super Bowl ring, a Samurai sword from 1490, and an original Iwo Jima battle plan. Each object has an incredible story behind it, of course. Rick shares them all, and so much more--there's an irresistible treasure trove of history behind both the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop and the life of Rick Harrison.

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Two Ñetas Gang Members and a Gang Associate Plead Guilty in Connection with the Murders of Two Rival Gang Members

Two members of the Ñetas street gang, Alvaro Cabral, also known as “Boobi,” and Jason Cabral, also known as “J-Live,” pleaded guilty to the 2004 murders of Anthony Marcano and Fabian Mestres. Stephanie DiCarlo-Cabral, an associate of the gang and at the time the girlfriend of Alvaro Cabral, pleaded guilty to robbery and using a firearm in connection with the robbery of Marcano and Mestres. Today’s pleas took place before United States District Judge Joanna Seybert. When sentenced, the defendants face life in prison.

The pleas were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; George Venizelos, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); and William J. Bratton, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD).

“These were brutal, senseless gang murders. The defendants stuffed the victims into the trunk of a car in the dog days of August and then drove them to their execution,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “We hope the victims’ families can take some measure of solace in knowing that the individuals who are responsible for their sons’ murders have been brought to justice.” Ms. Lynch expressed her grateful appreciation to the Suffolk County Police Department, the Tampa Division of the FBI, and United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida, for their cooperation and assistance in the investigation.

The defendants targeted one of the victims, Anthony Marcano, because of his affiliation with a rival gang, the Latin Kings. On August 10, 2004, at the direction of Jason Cabral, the leader of gang, the defendants devised a plan to rob and kill 17-year-old Marcano. As part of the plan, the defendants lured Marcano to a house in Brentwood. Marcano arrived with 17-year-old Fabian Mestres, a fellow “Pee Wee” member of the Latin Kings street gang. Once inside the house, Marcano and Mestres were restrained with duct tape, and their drugs, money, and jewelry were stolen. The victims were stuffed into the trunk of a car and driven to a warehouse in Queens where Luis Benitez (Luis Benitez pleaded guilty to the murders of Marcano and Mestres on November 7, 2013), with the assistance of Alvaro Cabral, shot them with a shotgun. Mestres was shot once in the head, and Marcano was shot once in the head and once in the back of the neck. Marcano’s and Mestres’s bodies were found behind a warehouse in Queens the following day.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Boeckmann and Christopher C. Caffarone.

Monday, February 03, 2014

Dr. Hoi Yat Kam Sentenced for His Role in $15 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme

A Queens, New York medical doctor was sentenced to serve 12 months and a day in prison for his role in a scheme that fraudulently billed Medicare more than $15 million for, among other things, physical therapy and lesion removal services that were medically unnecessary and never provided.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch of the Eastern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos of the FBI’s New York Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Thomas O’Donnell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) made the announcement.

Hoi Yat Kam, 59, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman in the Eastern District of New York. In addition to his prison term, Kam was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $2,217,656 in restitution.

Kam pleaded guilty on January 9, 2013, to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. According to court documents, Kam conspired with others to execute a fraudulent scheme in which he and others provided a variety of spa services, such as massages and facials, as well as free meals and social activities to Medicare beneficiaries at URI Medical Service PC and Sarang Medical PC to induce those beneficiaries to allow their Medicare numbers to be billed for medical services that were never provided and were not medically necessary. URI and Sarang were two clinics in Queens that purportedly provided physical therapy and lesion removals. In total, Kam and his co-conspirators submitted approximately $15.1 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.

The case was investigated by HHS-OIG and the FBI and brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Nicholas Acker and Trial Attorney Bryan D. Fields of the Fraud Section. Trial Attorney Katherine Houston formerly prosecuted the case.

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