:New Book Reveals the Inside Story of the Law's Battle to Remove the Influence and Corruption of Organized Crime from Sin City's Streets and Casinos
Dennis Griffin's The Battle for Las Vegas (The Law vs. The Mob)
Saturday, April 14, 2018
The Battle for Las Vegas Review Guide
Reviewed at:
New Book Reveals the Inside Story of the Law's Battle to Remove the Influence and Corruption of Organized Crime from Sin City's Streets and Casinos
Dennis Griffin's The Battle for Las Vegas (The Law vs. The Mob)
:New Book Reveals the Inside Story of the Law's Battle to Remove the Influence and Corruption of Organized Crime from Sin City's Streets and Casinos
Dennis Griffin's The Battle for Las Vegas (The Law vs. The Mob)
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
#IllegalAlien #MS13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Murder
Earlier, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Edwin Amaya-Sanchez (“Strong”), a member of the Guanacos Little Cycos Salvatruchas clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to firearms-related murder charges in connection with his participation in the July 14, 2014 murder of Jose Lainez-Murcia, who was shot and killed while sitting in a car outside his home in Brentwood. The guilty plea was entered before United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Stuart J. Cameron, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the guilty plea.
“Amaya-Sanchez admitted that he participated in the planning and execution of a murder on Long Island in which the victim was marked for death because he was suspected of having killed MS-13 gang members in El Salvador,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “This Office and our partners on the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force will continue working tirelessly to eliminate MS-13 and the threat this transnational criminal enterprise presents to our community.”
“MS-13 believes it can operate with its own form of vigilante justice, without any repercussions,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “The FBI Long Island Gang Task Force won't allow them to continue terrorizing the community, acting outside of the law.”
“The Suffolk County Police Department is committed to working with our law enforcement partners in bringing criminal gang members and their associates to justice,” stated SCPD Acting Commissioner Cameron. “This guilty plea of a murderer will send a strong message to gangs across Long Island that illegal activities will not be tolerated.”
As set forth in prior court filings and the defendant’s statements during his guilty plea, Amaya-Sanchez and other MS-13 members orchestrated the murder of Lainez-Murcia because they suspected that Lainez-Murcia was an assassin who had killed MS-13 members in El Salvador. Amaya-Sanchez knew where Lainez-Murcia lived, what car he drove, and what time he left for work in the morning, because they previously worked together. In the early morning hours of July 14, 2014, Amaya-Sanchez drove two other MS-13 members, each of whom was armed with a 9mm handgun, to Lainez-Murcia’s neighborhood and dropped them off. When Lainez-Murcia left the house and entered his car, the MS-13 members approached and fired multiple times with the 9mm handguns, killing him. The two MS-13 members ran down the block where Amaya-Sanchez picked them up and drove away.
Amaya-Sanchez, an illegal alien from El Salvador who previously was deported from the United States and illegally returned, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life in prison when sentenced by Judge Bianco on October 17, 2018. Upon completion of his sentence, the defendant faces deportation from the United States.
This conviction is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent international criminal organization. The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador and Honduras, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States, comprised primarily of immigrants from Central America. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the largest and most violent street gang on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults. Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 45 murders in the district, and has convicted dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, comprising agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, Rockville Centre Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Stuart J. Cameron, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the guilty plea.
“Amaya-Sanchez admitted that he participated in the planning and execution of a murder on Long Island in which the victim was marked for death because he was suspected of having killed MS-13 gang members in El Salvador,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue. “This Office and our partners on the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force will continue working tirelessly to eliminate MS-13 and the threat this transnational criminal enterprise presents to our community.”
“MS-13 believes it can operate with its own form of vigilante justice, without any repercussions,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “The FBI Long Island Gang Task Force won't allow them to continue terrorizing the community, acting outside of the law.”
“The Suffolk County Police Department is committed to working with our law enforcement partners in bringing criminal gang members and their associates to justice,” stated SCPD Acting Commissioner Cameron. “This guilty plea of a murderer will send a strong message to gangs across Long Island that illegal activities will not be tolerated.”
As set forth in prior court filings and the defendant’s statements during his guilty plea, Amaya-Sanchez and other MS-13 members orchestrated the murder of Lainez-Murcia because they suspected that Lainez-Murcia was an assassin who had killed MS-13 members in El Salvador. Amaya-Sanchez knew where Lainez-Murcia lived, what car he drove, and what time he left for work in the morning, because they previously worked together. In the early morning hours of July 14, 2014, Amaya-Sanchez drove two other MS-13 members, each of whom was armed with a 9mm handgun, to Lainez-Murcia’s neighborhood and dropped them off. When Lainez-Murcia left the house and entered his car, the MS-13 members approached and fired multiple times with the 9mm handguns, killing him. The two MS-13 members ran down the block where Amaya-Sanchez picked them up and drove away.
Amaya-Sanchez, an illegal alien from El Salvador who previously was deported from the United States and illegally returned, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life in prison when sentenced by Judge Bianco on October 17, 2018. Upon completion of his sentence, the defendant faces deportation from the United States.
This conviction is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent international criminal organization. The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador and Honduras, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States, comprised primarily of immigrants from Central America. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the largest and most violent street gang on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults. Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 45 murders in the district, and has convicted dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, comprising agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, Rockville Centre Police Department, the New York State Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
The Case Against @RealDonaldTrump Attorney @MichaelCohen212, is Led by the @SDNYnews Public #Corruption Unit
FBI agents searched the office, home and hotel room of President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, on Monday, seizing records including those related to a payment to a former adult-film actress, a person familiar with the matter said.
The searches were executed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of a probe by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, which has opened an investigation that is being coordinated with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, this person said.
Mr. Trump, in a meeting with military leadership at the White House on Monday evening, called the raids a “disgrace” and a “witch hunt.”
“It’s an attack on what we all stand for,” said Mr. Trump, referring to the investigation.
The president criticized Mr. Mueller’s team, calling it “the most conflicted group of people” and said Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a “terrible mistake” by recusing himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Asked if he would fire Mr. Mueller, Mr. Trump said: “We’ll see what happens.”
“Many people have said, ‘You should fire him,’” the president said. He didn’t say whether he intended to do so.
The multiple raids, all in Manhattan, mark a significant escalation in prosecutors’ interest in Mr. Cohen, who has served as the president’s personal attorney for decades and has described himself as Mr. Trump’s “fix-it guy.”
The actions suggest authorities received high-level approval to conduct the searches because investigators typically don’t seize documents from personal lawyers because of the sensitivities surrounding attorney-client privilege.
“You don’t know what the heck they’re going to find,” said Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor who described the raids as an “aggressive move.” While authorities need to describe in detail what they are looking for in seeking a search warrant, investigators will need to comb through vast amounts of material to find those documents, he said.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining possible bank fraud by Mr. Cohen, among other matters, the person familiar with the matter said. The probe is being conducted out of the office’s public-corruption unit. Mr. Cohen’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment about investigators examining bank fraud. Mr. Cohen has previously said suggestions a payment to Stephanie Clifford, the former porn actress known as Stormy Daniels, violated campaign-finance laws were “without legal merit.”
In October 2016, less than two weeks before the presidential election, Mr. Cohen made a $130,000 payment to Ms. Clifford, The Wall Street Journal reported in January. He made the payment as part of an agreement that bars Ms. Clifford from discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.
Steve Ryan, Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, confirmed in a statement Monday that prosecutors executed a series of search warrants. The prosecutors told him that the action is, in part, a referral by Mr. Mueller’s office, he said.
Mr. Ryan called the use of search warrants “completely inappropriate and unnecessary” and said it had “resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney-client communications between a lawyer and his clients.” He added: “These government tactics are also wrong because Mr. Cohen has cooperated completely with all government entities, including providing thousands of nonprivileged documents to the Congress and sitting for depositions under oath.”
A spokesman for Mr. Mueller’s office declined to comment.
Meantime, federal authorities have demanded bank records related to the $130,000 payment, according to a person briefed on the matter. First Republic Bank , which Mr. Cohen used to wire $130,000 to Ms. Clifford’s lawyer on Oct. 27, 2016, conducted its own investigation of the transaction after receiving the subpoena from the authorities, the person said.
The bank sent its findings to the Treasury Department in a suspicious-activity report, the person said. Such reports are required to be sent to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network when banks observe transactions that have no apparent lawful purpose or deviate inexplicably from a customer’s normal bank activity.
A First Republic Bank representative declined to comment.
The 2016 payment was received in a client-trust account for Ms. Clifford’s then-attorney, Keith Davidson, at City National Bank in Los Angeles, people familiar with the matter said. The bank also investigated the transaction last year.
City National previously said in a statement that it doesn’t “confirm or comment on inquiries from regulatory agencies or law enforcement, including subpoenas.”
For months, Mr. Mueller’s team has asked witnesses about Mr. Cohen’s role during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. Their questions have focused on a number of episodes, including his efforts in the early months of the campaign to have a Trump Tower built in Moscow.
Mr. Cohen’s emails have also been turned over to the special counsel as part of document productions by the Trump Organization, which Mr. Mueller subpoenaed in recent weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. Last month, Mr. Mueller subpoenaed Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide, for documents related to nine associates, including Mr. Cohen.
The investigation concerning Mr. Cohen by federal prosecutors in Manhattan is broad and isn’t limited to his interactions with Ms. Clifford, according to the person familiar with that probe.
Federal agents raided Mr. Cohen’s office on the 23rd floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza after 9 a.m. and remained for several hours, a person familiar with the matter said.
Mr. Cohen shared space with international law firm Squire Patton Boggs but wasn’t a firm employee, according to a spokesman, who said Monday that the firm was severing its ties with Mr. Cohen.
Last month, Ms. Clifford filed a lawsuit against the president, saying his lawyer forced her to sign a false statement provided to the Journal denying the 2006 sexual encounter, according to the complaint.
Mr. Cohen has said he paid the $130,000 to Ms. Clifford out of his own pocket and wasn’t reimbursed by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign. But he hasn’t said whether Mr. Trump had personally paid him back. After the election, Mr. Cohen complained to friends that he had yet to be reimbursed for the payment, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Trump denied last week any knowledge of the payment. The GOP president said he didn’t know where the money for the payment came from.
The New York Times reported on Monday that federal investigators had searched Mr. Cohen’s office.
The special counsel has a broad mandate from the Justice Department to investigate matters he comes across in the course of his investigation of whether Mr. Trump’s associates colluded with Russia’s alleged efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion, and Moscow has denied meddling in the election.
The mandate orders Mr. Mueller to consult with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if he concludes that “additional jurisdiction” is necessary to fully investigate matters he encounters. Mr. Rosenstein then determines whether to include those matters in the special counsel’s jurisdiction or “assign them elsewhere.”
The execution of the searches in the probe by federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicates Mr. Rosenstein has opted to refer the matter involving Ms. Clifford to that office, rather than broadening Mr. Mueller’s jurisdiction to include it.
Last month, Aaron Zelinsky, a federal prosecutor who works for Mr. Mueller’s office, asked Mr. Nunberg whether during the Trump campaign he had heard about the payment or about Ms. Clifford’s allegations of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, or whether he was aware of any other payments to women, Mr. Nunberg said.
Mr. Nunberg said he told Mr. Mueller’s team he wasn’t aware of the $130,000 payment to Ms. Clifford until it was reported in the Journal. Senior Trump campaign officials were aware that a former porn star was making allegations against the president in the fall of 2016 and that he denied them, according to people familiar with the matter.
Because Mr. Cohen is an attorney, prosecutors would have needed to obtain additional approval from a unit at Justice Department headquarters to take investigative steps against a lawyer because of the sensitivities around documents and communications protected by attorney-client privilege. They also must set up a separate team to review all the seized evidence and remove any privileged documents before the investigative team examines them.
“It’s more work,” said William Cowden, a former federal prosecutor in Washington who is now with The Federal Practice Group, referring to obtaining a search warrant on a lawyer’s office. “They must have a reason to believe that what they are getting is more than just attorney-client privileged information,” he said.
“One of the questions is, ‘who knew what?’...is this an undisclosed, improper campaign contribution?” Mr. Cowden said. “You can’t use an attorney to commit a crime, so those things can be investigated.”
Mr. Trump said Monday that the raids had affected the stock market.
“The stock market dropped a lot today as soon as they heard the noise—you know of this nonsense that was going on,” he said.
Thanks to By Erica Orden, Rebecca Ballhaus and Michael Rothfeld.
The searches were executed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of a probe by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, which has opened an investigation that is being coordinated with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, this person said.
Mr. Trump, in a meeting with military leadership at the White House on Monday evening, called the raids a “disgrace” and a “witch hunt.”
“It’s an attack on what we all stand for,” said Mr. Trump, referring to the investigation.
The president criticized Mr. Mueller’s team, calling it “the most conflicted group of people” and said Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a “terrible mistake” by recusing himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Asked if he would fire Mr. Mueller, Mr. Trump said: “We’ll see what happens.”
“Many people have said, ‘You should fire him,’” the president said. He didn’t say whether he intended to do so.
The multiple raids, all in Manhattan, mark a significant escalation in prosecutors’ interest in Mr. Cohen, who has served as the president’s personal attorney for decades and has described himself as Mr. Trump’s “fix-it guy.”
The actions suggest authorities received high-level approval to conduct the searches because investigators typically don’t seize documents from personal lawyers because of the sensitivities surrounding attorney-client privilege.
“You don’t know what the heck they’re going to find,” said Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor who described the raids as an “aggressive move.” While authorities need to describe in detail what they are looking for in seeking a search warrant, investigators will need to comb through vast amounts of material to find those documents, he said.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining possible bank fraud by Mr. Cohen, among other matters, the person familiar with the matter said. The probe is being conducted out of the office’s public-corruption unit. Mr. Cohen’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment about investigators examining bank fraud. Mr. Cohen has previously said suggestions a payment to Stephanie Clifford, the former porn actress known as Stormy Daniels, violated campaign-finance laws were “without legal merit.”
In October 2016, less than two weeks before the presidential election, Mr. Cohen made a $130,000 payment to Ms. Clifford, The Wall Street Journal reported in January. He made the payment as part of an agreement that bars Ms. Clifford from discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.
Steve Ryan, Mr. Cohen’s lawyer, confirmed in a statement Monday that prosecutors executed a series of search warrants. The prosecutors told him that the action is, in part, a referral by Mr. Mueller’s office, he said.
Mr. Ryan called the use of search warrants “completely inappropriate and unnecessary” and said it had “resulted in the unnecessary seizure of protected attorney-client communications between a lawyer and his clients.” He added: “These government tactics are also wrong because Mr. Cohen has cooperated completely with all government entities, including providing thousands of nonprivileged documents to the Congress and sitting for depositions under oath.”
A spokesman for Mr. Mueller’s office declined to comment.
Meantime, federal authorities have demanded bank records related to the $130,000 payment, according to a person briefed on the matter. First Republic Bank , which Mr. Cohen used to wire $130,000 to Ms. Clifford’s lawyer on Oct. 27, 2016, conducted its own investigation of the transaction after receiving the subpoena from the authorities, the person said.
The bank sent its findings to the Treasury Department in a suspicious-activity report, the person said. Such reports are required to be sent to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network when banks observe transactions that have no apparent lawful purpose or deviate inexplicably from a customer’s normal bank activity.
A First Republic Bank representative declined to comment.
The 2016 payment was received in a client-trust account for Ms. Clifford’s then-attorney, Keith Davidson, at City National Bank in Los Angeles, people familiar with the matter said. The bank also investigated the transaction last year.
City National previously said in a statement that it doesn’t “confirm or comment on inquiries from regulatory agencies or law enforcement, including subpoenas.”
For months, Mr. Mueller’s team has asked witnesses about Mr. Cohen’s role during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. Their questions have focused on a number of episodes, including his efforts in the early months of the campaign to have a Trump Tower built in Moscow.
Mr. Cohen’s emails have also been turned over to the special counsel as part of document productions by the Trump Organization, which Mr. Mueller subpoenaed in recent weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. Last month, Mr. Mueller subpoenaed Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide, for documents related to nine associates, including Mr. Cohen.
The investigation concerning Mr. Cohen by federal prosecutors in Manhattan is broad and isn’t limited to his interactions with Ms. Clifford, according to the person familiar with that probe.
Federal agents raided Mr. Cohen’s office on the 23rd floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza after 9 a.m. and remained for several hours, a person familiar with the matter said.
Mr. Cohen shared space with international law firm Squire Patton Boggs but wasn’t a firm employee, according to a spokesman, who said Monday that the firm was severing its ties with Mr. Cohen.
Last month, Ms. Clifford filed a lawsuit against the president, saying his lawyer forced her to sign a false statement provided to the Journal denying the 2006 sexual encounter, according to the complaint.
Mr. Cohen has said he paid the $130,000 to Ms. Clifford out of his own pocket and wasn’t reimbursed by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign. But he hasn’t said whether Mr. Trump had personally paid him back. After the election, Mr. Cohen complained to friends that he had yet to be reimbursed for the payment, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Trump denied last week any knowledge of the payment. The GOP president said he didn’t know where the money for the payment came from.
The New York Times reported on Monday that federal investigators had searched Mr. Cohen’s office.
The special counsel has a broad mandate from the Justice Department to investigate matters he comes across in the course of his investigation of whether Mr. Trump’s associates colluded with Russia’s alleged efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion, and Moscow has denied meddling in the election.
The mandate orders Mr. Mueller to consult with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if he concludes that “additional jurisdiction” is necessary to fully investigate matters he encounters. Mr. Rosenstein then determines whether to include those matters in the special counsel’s jurisdiction or “assign them elsewhere.”
The execution of the searches in the probe by federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicates Mr. Rosenstein has opted to refer the matter involving Ms. Clifford to that office, rather than broadening Mr. Mueller’s jurisdiction to include it.
Last month, Aaron Zelinsky, a federal prosecutor who works for Mr. Mueller’s office, asked Mr. Nunberg whether during the Trump campaign he had heard about the payment or about Ms. Clifford’s allegations of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, or whether he was aware of any other payments to women, Mr. Nunberg said.
Mr. Nunberg said he told Mr. Mueller’s team he wasn’t aware of the $130,000 payment to Ms. Clifford until it was reported in the Journal. Senior Trump campaign officials were aware that a former porn star was making allegations against the president in the fall of 2016 and that he denied them, according to people familiar with the matter.
Because Mr. Cohen is an attorney, prosecutors would have needed to obtain additional approval from a unit at Justice Department headquarters to take investigative steps against a lawyer because of the sensitivities around documents and communications protected by attorney-client privilege. They also must set up a separate team to review all the seized evidence and remove any privileged documents before the investigative team examines them.
“It’s more work,” said William Cowden, a former federal prosecutor in Washington who is now with The Federal Practice Group, referring to obtaining a search warrant on a lawyer’s office. “They must have a reason to believe that what they are getting is more than just attorney-client privileged information,” he said.
“One of the questions is, ‘who knew what?’...is this an undisclosed, improper campaign contribution?” Mr. Cowden said. “You can’t use an attorney to commit a crime, so those things can be investigated.”
Mr. Trump said Monday that the raids had affected the stock market.
“The stock market dropped a lot today as soon as they heard the noise—you know of this nonsense that was going on,” he said.
Thanks to By Erica Orden, Rebecca Ballhaus and Michael Rothfeld.
Friday, April 06, 2018
Homeland Security Investigations of @ICEgov traveled to El Salvador to talk #MS13 enforcement across borders
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York and HSI Baltimore travelled to El Salvador this week with their local law enforcement partners and federal and state prosecutors to attend an MS-13 gang enforcement coordination meeting, hosted by the Acting Executive Associate Director (EAD) for HSI, Derek N. Benner, and the HSI Attaché to El Salvador, Alvin De La Rosa. The goal of this gathering was to share intelligence and strategies in support of both United States and Salvadoran law enforcement efforts to dismantle MS-13 and other transnational gangs, while strengthening cooperation with between both countries .
HSI’s El Salvador country team led an agenda focused on cross border collaboration and joint U.S./Salvadoran efforts on the ground that included the participation of the Salvadoran Attorney General, Douglas Melendez and the Director General of the Policia Nacional Civil, Howard Agusto Cotto. The U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Jean Manes, and other enforcement partners, participants discussed first-hand issues of gang-violence, insecurity, economic difficulties in El Salvador and their impact on the U.S., as well as our interagency team’s continued effort to confront those problems.
Discussions held during the three-day meeting included new strategies in enforcement efforts, noting that killing for power and control remains central to MS-13's strategy, but also their extortion activities in both countries that add tremendous amount of pressure on business owners in El Salvador as well as targeting immigrant victims in the U.S. The group also discussed efforts in programs aimed at preventing youth from joining gangs, and rehabilitate those who join gangs, noting potential funding support for youth education and employment activities in the Salvadoran municipalities, and youth programs that deter children from joining gangs, something being debated in both the United States and El Salvador.
The Salvadoran government, with U.S. Embassy support, is combatting gangs and reclaiming territorial control in the highest crime communities, and has succeeded in reducing the homicide rate by 40 percent in the last year. The Salvadoran government is a close and collaborative partner on law enforcement matters to fight gangs with Salvadoran links in the United States. However, a great deal of work remains to solidify the security gangs of the last year and extend our law enforcement partnership.
Federal, state and local law enforcement partners invited to attend from New York included Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) New York City Police Department (NYPD), the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Eastern District of New York, the USAO for the Southern District of New York, and the District Attorney’s Office for both Suffolk County and Queens County. Partners from Maryland included Prince George’s County Police Department, Anne Arundel County Police Department and the USAO for the District of Maryland.
HSI’s International Operations Division is the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative presence overseas. Division personnel serve as liaisons to governments and law enforcement agencies across the globe and work side-by-side with foreign law enforcement on HSI investigations overseas. The division’s attachés have a variety of duties, including relationship building and aiding on active investigations and repatriation efforts.
HSI’s National Gang Unit oversees HSI’s expansive transnational gang portfolio and enables special agents to bring the fight to these criminal enterprises through the development of uniform enforcement and intelligence-sharing strategies.
HSI’s El Salvador country team led an agenda focused on cross border collaboration and joint U.S./Salvadoran efforts on the ground that included the participation of the Salvadoran Attorney General, Douglas Melendez and the Director General of the Policia Nacional Civil, Howard Agusto Cotto. The U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Jean Manes, and other enforcement partners, participants discussed first-hand issues of gang-violence, insecurity, economic difficulties in El Salvador and their impact on the U.S., as well as our interagency team’s continued effort to confront those problems.
"This is real-time coordination and information sharing, finding ways to leverage both local and international partnerships in combatting this vicious transnational gang. HSI is building on partnerships and pushing out our borders,” said Acting EAD for HSI, Derek N. Benner. “Our bilateral relationship with El Salvador remains stronger than ever, as do Salvadoran social and cultural ties to the United States. This week we highlighted the bonds between us and Salvadoran law enforcement, finding ways to move forward together with a commitment of continued cooperation.”
Discussions held during the three-day meeting included new strategies in enforcement efforts, noting that killing for power and control remains central to MS-13's strategy, but also their extortion activities in both countries that add tremendous amount of pressure on business owners in El Salvador as well as targeting immigrant victims in the U.S. The group also discussed efforts in programs aimed at preventing youth from joining gangs, and rehabilitate those who join gangs, noting potential funding support for youth education and employment activities in the Salvadoran municipalities, and youth programs that deter children from joining gangs, something being debated in both the United States and El Salvador.
The Salvadoran government, with U.S. Embassy support, is combatting gangs and reclaiming territorial control in the highest crime communities, and has succeeded in reducing the homicide rate by 40 percent in the last year. The Salvadoran government is a close and collaborative partner on law enforcement matters to fight gangs with Salvadoran links in the United States. However, a great deal of work remains to solidify the security gangs of the last year and extend our law enforcement partnership.
Federal, state and local law enforcement partners invited to attend from New York included Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) New York City Police Department (NYPD), the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Eastern District of New York, the USAO for the Southern District of New York, and the District Attorney’s Office for both Suffolk County and Queens County. Partners from Maryland included Prince George’s County Police Department, Anne Arundel County Police Department and the USAO for the District of Maryland.
HSI’s International Operations Division is the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative presence overseas. Division personnel serve as liaisons to governments and law enforcement agencies across the globe and work side-by-side with foreign law enforcement on HSI investigations overseas. The division’s attachés have a variety of duties, including relationship building and aiding on active investigations and repatriation efforts.
HSI’s National Gang Unit oversees HSI’s expansive transnational gang portfolio and enables special agents to bring the fight to these criminal enterprises through the development of uniform enforcement and intelligence-sharing strategies.
Monday, April 02, 2018
Hiding Out: A Memoir of Drugs, Deception, and Double Lives
Actress and playwright Tina Alexis Allen’s audacious memoir unravels her privileged suburban Catholic upbringing that was shaped by her formidable father—a man whose strict religious devotion and dedication to his large family hid his true nature and a life defined by deep secrets and dangerous lies.
The youngest of thirteen children in a devout Catholic family
, Tina Alexis Allen grew up in 1980s suburban Maryland in a house ruled by her stern father, Sir John, an imposing, British-born authoritarian who had been knighted by the Pope. Sir John supported his large family running a successful travel agency that specialized in religious tours to the Holy Land and the Vatican for pious Catholics.
But his daughter, Tina, was no sweet and innocent Catholic girl. A smart-mouthed high school basketball prodigy, she harbored a painful secret: she liked girls. When Tina was eighteen her father discovered the truth about her sexuality. Instead of dragging her to the family priest and lecturing her with tearful sermons about sin and damnation, her father shocked her with his honest response. He, too, was gay.
The secret they shared about their sexuality brought father and daughter closer, and the two became trusted confidants and partners in a relationship that eventually spiraled out of control. Tina and Sir John spent nights dancing in gay clubs together, experimenting with drugs, and casual sex—all while keeping the rest of their family in the dark.
Outside of their wild clandestine escapades, Sir John made Tina his heir apparent at the travel agency. Drawn deeper into the business, Tina soon became suspicious of her father’s frequent business trips, his multiple passports and cache of documents, and the briefcases full of cash that mysteriously appeared and quickly vanished. Digging deeper, she uncovered a disturbing facet beyond the stunning double-life of the father she thought she knew.
A riveting and cinematic true tale stranger and twistier than fiction, Hiding Out: A Memoir of Drugs, Deception, and Double Lives, is an astonishing story of self-discovery, family, secrets, and the power of the truth to set us free.
The youngest of thirteen children in a devout Catholic family
, Tina Alexis Allen grew up in 1980s suburban Maryland in a house ruled by her stern father, Sir John, an imposing, British-born authoritarian who had been knighted by the Pope. Sir John supported his large family running a successful travel agency that specialized in religious tours to the Holy Land and the Vatican for pious Catholics.But his daughter, Tina, was no sweet and innocent Catholic girl. A smart-mouthed high school basketball prodigy, she harbored a painful secret: she liked girls. When Tina was eighteen her father discovered the truth about her sexuality. Instead of dragging her to the family priest and lecturing her with tearful sermons about sin and damnation, her father shocked her with his honest response. He, too, was gay.
The secret they shared about their sexuality brought father and daughter closer, and the two became trusted confidants and partners in a relationship that eventually spiraled out of control. Tina and Sir John spent nights dancing in gay clubs together, experimenting with drugs, and casual sex—all while keeping the rest of their family in the dark.
Outside of their wild clandestine escapades, Sir John made Tina his heir apparent at the travel agency. Drawn deeper into the business, Tina soon became suspicious of her father’s frequent business trips, his multiple passports and cache of documents, and the briefcases full of cash that mysteriously appeared and quickly vanished. Digging deeper, she uncovered a disturbing facet beyond the stunning double-life of the father she thought she knew.
A riveting and cinematic true tale stranger and twistier than fiction, Hiding Out: A Memoir of Drugs, Deception, and Double Lives, is an astonishing story of self-discovery, family, secrets, and the power of the truth to set us free.
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