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Friday, February 27, 2009
Mexican drug cartel busted in Twin Cities
A coordinated criminal takedown in the Twin Cities Wednesday resulted in the arrest of 27 Mexican drug cartel operatives and the seizure of over 4 pounds of methamphetamine, 6 pounds of cocaine, a pound of marijuana, seven guns, 10 vehicles and approximately $33,000 in U.S. currency.
The arrests and indictments are part of a 21-month national and international investigation dubbed Operation Accelerator, which targeted violent drug distribution cells that are responsible for transporting cocaine and methamphetamine to Mexico and Canada.
Drug smugglers used personal automobiles, commercial bus lines, commercial airlines and private and commercial trucks to bring drugs into Minneapolis and St. Paul, say DEA officials.
The number of individuals arrested and the quantity of drugs seized makes this case one of the most extensive drug enforcement operations for the Twin Cities.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Wednesday that indictments involving 36 suspects have been unsealed. Of the 36 indictments made public, 21 individuals were charged last week and 15 were charged in December.
Investigators say the the drug distribution cells raked in an estimated $3.5 million per month selling crack cocaine and meth in the Twin Cities area. Drug dealers were sending large amounts of that cash back to Mexico.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said one of his investigators has been working with the DEA task Force for months, and another 30 deputies helped execute eight searches -- seven in St. Paul and one in Canada -- on Wednesday.
"Drug smuggling into the Twin Cities by the Mexican drug cartels has been growing dramatically over the years," said Sheriff Fletcher. "This was a major investigation by the DEA, which involved extensive investigative time. This will have a significant impact on the Mexican drug trade here."
The investigation involved the DEA, Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Minneapolis Police Department, St. Paul Police Department, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Northwest Metro Drug Task Force and the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office.
17 of the pieces of crap indicted live in St. Paul, 2 live in Minneapolis, and one each in Apple Valley, White Bear Lake, Willmar, Inver Grove Heights, Shakopee, Vadnais Heights, Roseville, Bloomington, Richfield, Oakdale, Woodbury and Yakima, Washington. The addresses for the five others are unknown.
Nationally, Operation Accelerator has seized $59.1 million in U.S. currency, over 12,00 kilograms of cocaine, over 16,000 pounds of marijuana, over 1,200 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 1.3 million pills of Ecstacy and over 8 kilograms of heroin.
In addition, investigators have seized over $6.5 million in other assets, 149 vehicles, 3 aircrafts, 3 boats and 169 weapons.
Operation Accelerator targeted multiple drug networks, including the Sinaloa Cartel, operating in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.
Related Blackwell report: Mexican drug cartels in U.S. cities
D. Brian Blackwell
The arrests and indictments are part of a 21-month national and international investigation dubbed Operation Accelerator, which targeted violent drug distribution cells that are responsible for transporting cocaine and methamphetamine to Mexico and Canada.
Drug smugglers used personal automobiles, commercial bus lines, commercial airlines and private and commercial trucks to bring drugs into Minneapolis and St. Paul, say DEA officials.
The number of individuals arrested and the quantity of drugs seized makes this case one of the most extensive drug enforcement operations for the Twin Cities.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Wednesday that indictments involving 36 suspects have been unsealed. Of the 36 indictments made public, 21 individuals were charged last week and 15 were charged in December.
Investigators say the the drug distribution cells raked in an estimated $3.5 million per month selling crack cocaine and meth in the Twin Cities area. Drug dealers were sending large amounts of that cash back to Mexico.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said one of his investigators has been working with the DEA task Force for months, and another 30 deputies helped execute eight searches -- seven in St. Paul and one in Canada -- on Wednesday.
"Drug smuggling into the Twin Cities by the Mexican drug cartels has been growing dramatically over the years," said Sheriff Fletcher. "This was a major investigation by the DEA, which involved extensive investigative time. This will have a significant impact on the Mexican drug trade here."
The investigation involved the DEA, Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Minneapolis Police Department, St. Paul Police Department, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Northwest Metro Drug Task Force and the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office.
17 of the pieces of crap indicted live in St. Paul, 2 live in Minneapolis, and one each in Apple Valley, White Bear Lake, Willmar, Inver Grove Heights, Shakopee, Vadnais Heights, Roseville, Bloomington, Richfield, Oakdale, Woodbury and Yakima, Washington. The addresses for the five others are unknown.
Nationally, Operation Accelerator has seized $59.1 million in U.S. currency, over 12,00 kilograms of cocaine, over 16,000 pounds of marijuana, over 1,200 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 1.3 million pills of Ecstacy and over 8 kilograms of heroin.
In addition, investigators have seized over $6.5 million in other assets, 149 vehicles, 3 aircrafts, 3 boats and 169 weapons.
Operation Accelerator targeted multiple drug networks, including the Sinaloa Cartel, operating in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.
Related Blackwell report: Mexican drug cartels in U.S. cities
D. Brian Blackwell
Mexico sending extra troops and police to violent border city
Mexico has deployed extra troops and federal police to the U.S. border city of Ciudad Juarez where the police chief recently resigned because of gang threats, the Mexican Government said Wednesday.
Mexico's Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez-Mont did not say how many more soldiers and police would be sent to Ciudad Juarez but promised that the reinforcements "would be visible."
This action came after a meeting Gomes-Mont had with city officials of Ciudad Juarez, a city of 1.3 million residents across the border from El Paso, Texas that has been battered by a wave of drug cartel violence.
Over 2,000 soldiers and 425 federal police have already been operating in Chihuahua state, where Ciudad Juarez is located.
The deployment is part of a nationwide crackdown on drug cartels that has grown to inlcude over 45,000 troops since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2008.
Drug violence has surged since the government launched the offensive, claiming 6,000 lives in 2008. 1,600 of those killings were in Ciudad Juarez.
Victor Valencia de los Santos, the state government representative to Ciudad Juarez, says he expects the federal government to send 5,000 more troops and 2,000 extra police to Chihuahua.
Last week, Ciudad Juarz police chief Roberto Orduna resigned after gangs threatened to kill at least one of his officers every 48 hours he stayed on the job. Two days later, gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying Chihuahua Governor Jose Baeza, killing one of his bodyguards.
Signs have appeared in Ciudad Juarez applauding Chief Orduna's resignation and threatening to behead the mayor and his family.
City and state police across Mexico are being outgunned by the gangs.
On Wednesday, gunmen with AK-47 rifles opened fire and threw grenades at a police car in the Pacific resort town of Zihuatanejo, killing four officers. The car caught fire and the bodies of the officers were found burned inside.
In a sign that Mexico's violence has reached across the border into the United States, federal agents along with local police have arrested 750 suspects in a massive crackdown of Mexican drug cartels operating in the United States. Read report
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Related report: Mexican drug cartels in U.S. cities
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D. Brian Blackwell
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
MS-13 rounded up in Denver and LA
Eight members of the notorious MS-13 street gang were arrested in Denver early Tuesday morning as part of a three-year joint operation by the Denver Metro Gang Task Force and U.S. Justice Department.
The eight arrested are among 20 indicted with various drug or firearms charges. Investigators are still looking for four people as part of the investigation.
Simultaneous arrests were also made in Los Angeles and some of those indicted were already in custody.
The U.S. Attorney's office says the drug dealing from the street gang had reached into California state prison.
During the course of the investigation, agents and officers seized 10 pounds of meth, 2.3 kilograms of cocaine, 124 grams of herion, 12 guns, and $3,300 in cash. MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
The eight arrested are among 20 indicted with various drug or firearms charges. Investigators are still looking for four people as part of the investigation.
Simultaneous arrests were also made in Los Angeles and some of those indicted were already in custody.
The U.S. Attorney's office says the drug dealing from the street gang had reached into California state prison.
During the course of the investigation, agents and officers seized 10 pounds of meth, 2.3 kilograms of cocaine, 124 grams of herion, 12 guns, and $3,300 in cash. MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
Massive U.S. drug sweep nets 750
U.S. and Mexican authorities have arrested 750 criminals over 21 months in drug busts, including 52 members of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel who were detained Wednesday, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
The cartel members were arrested as part of an international narcotics trafficking and money-laundering investigation called Operation Accelerator.
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The operation, which investigated crimes in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, netted some $59 million dollars in cash, 12,000 kilos of cocaine, 544 kilos of meth and 1.3 million Ecstacy pills.
Asked by a reporter whether he was worried that violence from the world of Mexican drug runners could spill over into U.S. cities and towns, Holder admitted he was concerned. See related Blackwell reports: Mexican drug cartels terrorize U.S. cities
The bloody war between rival cartels and fighting for control of drug trafficking into the United States, the world's largest consumer of cocaine, has produced internal chaos in Mexico.
Unrest related to the drug trade has caused the violent deaths of 5,300 people, including police officers, throughout Mexico last year, according to official figures, dispite a government crackdown that saw the deployment of nearly 36,000 troops.
The investigation unveiled the scope of the cartel's international network, including a "super meth lab that is so sophisticated we've seen none like it anywhere," said DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart.
The raids uncovered drug factory machines able to produce 12,000 Ecstacy tablets an hour.
The operation not only took out cartel operatives in larger cities such as New York and Los Angeles, but in smaller towns like Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Brockton, Massachusetts.
Over the course of a few years, Leonhart said, the northeastern Ohio town of Stow, a relatively sleepy urban region of 35,000 residents, became a hotspot for international drug runners.
"Just underneath the surface of this peaceful city, the Sinaloa cartel had been sending cocaine through its airport," Leonhart said. "The traffickers regularly ferried dozens of kilos (pounds) of cocaine from California to Stow."
According to the DEA, at the end of 2008, their operation to clamp down on production and supply routes over the preceding 21 months substantially impacted drug quality and cost within the United States.
The price of a gram of cocaine in the U.S. from January 2007 to September 2008 soared 89 percent, from 96.61 dollars to 182.73 dollars. An analysis of 24,000 drug busts across the U.S., found that cocaine purity dropped during the same period, from 67 percent to 40 percent. According to the DEA.
D. Brian Blackwell
Arms dealer gets 30 years in prison
A Syberian-born arms dealer was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison for conspiring to sell weapons to Columbian militants while knowing they sought to kill Americans.
63-year-old Monzar al-Kassar, long suspected of aiding militants in some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, was convicted in November of conspiring to sell millions of dollars of weapons to militants in a sting operation. No weapons were ever exchanged.
U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff said al-Kassar and 60-year-old co-defendant Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy had engaged in terorism-related crimes that were chronicled with overwhelming evidence, including videotaped conversations. Rakoff sentenced Moreno to 25 years in prison.
A federal jury convicted the criminals of conspiring to provide aid and equipment to a terrorist organization, conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers, conspiring to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles and money laundering.
The charges required a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least 25 years. Judge Rakoff said sentencing guidelines called for a life sentence for both criminals, but the U.S. Government had agreed not to seek the maximum sentence when the criminals were extradited.
Prosecutors said al-Kassar had provided military equipment to violent factions in Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Iran and Iraq. His customers included known terrorist organizations determined to stage "attacks on U.S. interests and U.S. nationals," said prosecutors. MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
63-year-old Monzar al-Kassar, long suspected of aiding militants in some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, was convicted in November of conspiring to sell millions of dollars of weapons to militants in a sting operation. No weapons were ever exchanged.
U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff said al-Kassar and 60-year-old co-defendant Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy had engaged in terorism-related crimes that were chronicled with overwhelming evidence, including videotaped conversations. Rakoff sentenced Moreno to 25 years in prison.
A federal jury convicted the criminals of conspiring to provide aid and equipment to a terrorist organization, conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers, conspiring to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles and money laundering.
The charges required a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least 25 years. Judge Rakoff said sentencing guidelines called for a life sentence for both criminals, but the U.S. Government had agreed not to seek the maximum sentence when the criminals were extradited.
Prosecutors said al-Kassar had provided military equipment to violent factions in Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Iran and Iraq. His customers included known terrorist organizations determined to stage "attacks on U.S. interests and U.S. nationals," said prosecutors. MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Police in Britain warn "summer of rage"
Police in Britain are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the economic turmoil have recently taken to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions.Britain's most senior cop says it's going to be a return of the riots of the 1980s, with people who have lost their jobs, homes or savings becoming "footsoldiers" in a wave of potentially violent mass protests.
Superintendent David Hartshorn, who heads the Metropolitan police and is responsible for public order says middle-class individuals who would never have considered joining demonstrations may now seek to vent their anger through protests and other ways this year.
He says that banks, particularly those that still pay large bonuses despite receiving billions in taxpayer money, have become "viable targets". So too have the headquarters of multinational companies and other financial institutions, which are being blamed for the financial crises.
Superintendent Hartshorn, who receives regular intelligence briefings on potential causes of civil unrest, says the mood at some demonstrations has changed for the worse recently, with protesters increasingly "intent on coming on to the streets to create public disorder".
The warning comes in the wake of frequent violent protests against the handling of the economy across Europe.
In recent weeks, Greek farmers have blocked roads over falling agricultural prices, a million workers in France joined demonstrations to demand greater protection for jobs and wages, and Icelandic demonstrations have clashed with police in Reykjavik.
More on demonstrations and riots in Europe
D. Brian Blackwell
LA Sheriff might free 4,000 inmates early
The head of the nation's largest sheriff's department says he might have to release nearly 4,000 inmates early and eliminate about 600 deputy and professional positions because of budget cuts.
Sheriff Lee Baca says he hasn't finalized plans, but he's looking at closing two of the county's 10 jail facilities; the old central jail, which houses about 2,300 inmates; and part of another facility in Castaic in the north of the county that houses about 1,500 inmates. Violent offenders from the closed jails would be housed in other facilities.
Sheriff Lee Baca says he hasn't finalized plans, but he's looking at closing two of the county's 10 jail facilities; the old central jail, which houses about 2,300 inmates; and part of another facility in Castaic in the north of the county that houses about 1,500 inmates. Violent offenders from the closed jails would be housed in other facilities.Closing those facilities would eliminate positions for about 400 of the department's 10,000 deputies and another 200 or so civilian jobs would be lost too. The job cuts would come primarily through a hiring freeze, according to the Sheriff.
Of the inmates that would be released early, Sheriff Baca said he'd first look to nonviolent offenders who are awaiting trial.
Baca was forced to take similar action during an unforeseen downturn from 2002-2005, when his department had to cope with $180 million in cuts.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department provides law enforcement for 40 cities, dozens of unincorporated communities and 4 million residents. The Department also runs the county's jail system, which has a population of 20,000 and includes 700 people accused of murder awaiting trial.
D. Brian Blackwell
Monday, February 23, 2009
Battle over UBS secret accounts
A federal judge decided Monday it will take months to determine if and when the IRS will learn the identities of 52,000 wealthy Americans who have secret accounts at Swiss bank UBS AG.
U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold set a July 13 hearing on the IRS lawsuit, unless an agreement is reached first. UBS claims that turning over the account names would violate Swiss privacy law and jeopardize the bank's license to stay in business. MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold set a July 13 hearing on the IRS lawsuit, unless an agreement is reached first. UBS claims that turning over the account names would violate Swiss privacy law and jeopardize the bank's license to stay in business. MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
U.S. higher stake in Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. is in talks to give the U.S. Government a higher stake, which will provide the government with a far greater say in the affairs of the ailing bank giant.
When the government takes the large common equity stake in Citigroup, even if it lacks voting control, will be the equivalent of a nationalization. Citigroup stock shares fell below $2 on Friday.
U.S. taxpayers could end up owning as much as 40 percent of New York-based Citigroup's common stock, though Citigroup executives are trying to limit the stake to about 25 percent.
The government could convert a substantial portion of Citigroup's $45 billion preferred shares, equal to a 7.8 percent stake, into common stock, diluting existing shareholders.
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Citigroup is the third-largest U.S. bank by assets.
A larger government stake in Citigroup could fuel speculation that Bank of America Corporation and other banks might also be nationalized possibly causing bank shares to fall, including healthy ones.
Vikram Pandit, Citigroup's chief executive, has tried to stabilize the bank by dividing it in two, creating Citicorp to house healthier businesses the bank wants to keep, and Citi Holdings to house businesses it hopes to sell or wind down.
Governments around the world last week moved to prop up ailing banks, and European Union leaders have backed a doubling of funds for the International Monetary Fund to aid bailouts of banking and other industries.
Citigroup in October and November issued $52 billion of preferred shares to the government, of which $45 billion was considered capital and $7 billion a fee for the U.S. agreeing to share losses on $301 billion of troubled assets.
Converting the preferred stock to common stock is one of many options for the government.
The U.S. government in September took a nearly 80 percent stake in American International Group Inc. (AIG), the large insurer.
Analysts say Citigroup and many rival banks in the U.S. do not have the ratio of tangible common equity to tangible assets for a strong capital foundation.
Converting Citigroup preferred shares would add pressure on Bank of America, which received $45 billion from the U.S. government and a loss -sharing pact -- a loss-sharing pact with taxpayers -- on $118 billion of assets.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the largest individual shareholder of Citigroup.
About three-fourths of those assets came from the former Merill Lynch and Company, which Bank of America bought on Jan. 1.
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Bank of America is the largest U.S. bank.
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Citigroup stock fell 20 percent Friday, while Bank of America fell 12 percent in afternoon trading and came off their lowest levels.
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Investors have shown decreasing confidence that U.S. banks can right themselves.
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Citigroup and Bank of America have already received a lot of help from the government, which has done very little to improve their dire situation.
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Citigroup is far too damaged due to the global financial crises to recover on its own. It's inevitable that they and other banks will eventually be nationalized. U.S. and world markets are too damaged for some banks to recover on their own.
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D. Brian Blackwell
FBI, police bust child prostitution ring
The FBI along with local police rescued 48 teenage prostitutes, some as young as 13, in a nationwide sweep to remove kids from the illegal sex trade and punish the pimps.
Over a three-night initiative called Operation Cross Country, FBI agents working with local law enforcement arrested 50 pimps.
The teenage prostitutes found in the investigation ranged from 13 to 17.
Historically, federal authorities rarely play a role in prostitution investigations, but the FBI is becoming mo
re involved as it tries to rescue children in the business.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are deemed 'throwaway kids' with no family support and no friends. They're kids that nobody wants, they're loners. Many are runaways," said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts.
Most of the children are put into the custody of local child protection agencies.
The federal involvement in prostitution investigations is designed to hit pimps with much tougher prison sentences than they would likely get in state criminal courts.
571 criminals were arrested on a combination of state and federal charges for the domestic trafficking of children for prostitution and solicitation.
Prosecutors look to bring racketeering charges or conspiracy charges that can result in decades of prison time for the [piece of crap] pimps.
The weekend's roundup marked the third such Operation Cross Country, and is part of a broader federal program launched in 2003 to crack down on the sexual exploitation of children.
List of cities where the FBI and local police conducted Operation Cross Country last weekend to rescue children from a life of prostitution and arrest their pimps.
FBI
September Hall
Over a three-night initiative called Operation Cross Country, FBI agents working with local law enforcement arrested 50 pimps.
The teenage prostitutes found in the investigation ranged from 13 to 17.
Historically, federal authorities rarely play a role in prostitution investigations, but the FBI is becoming mo
re involved as it tries to rescue children in the business.Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are deemed 'throwaway kids' with no family support and no friends. They're kids that nobody wants, they're loners. Many are runaways," said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts.
Most of the children are put into the custody of local child protection agencies.
The federal involvement in prostitution investigations is designed to hit pimps with much tougher prison sentences than they would likely get in state criminal courts.
571 criminals were arrested on a combination of state and federal charges for the domestic trafficking of children for prostitution and solicitation.
Prosecutors look to bring racketeering charges or conspiracy charges that can result in decades of prison time for the [piece of crap] pimps.
The weekend's roundup marked the third such Operation Cross Country, and is part of a broader federal program launched in 2003 to crack down on the sexual exploitation of children.
List of cities where the FBI and local police conducted Operation Cross Country last weekend to rescue children from a life of prostitution and arrest their pimps.
FBI
September Hall
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Iran plans to test nuclear plant
A nuclear plant in the Persian Gulf is scheduled to be tested on Wednesday, but without enriched uranium, according to Iranian media.
The news is a worry for the United States and the rest of the West, but a source of pride for Iran, which recently launched a satellite.
Iran announced Sunday that it would turn on its Russian-built 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr for a test run Wednesday.
Coming on the heels of Iran's satellite launch earlier this month and reports of its accumulation of a crucial supply of enriched uranium, signs of apparent progress at Bushehr are an enormous source of pride for Iranians and a major worry for the West.
MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
The news is a worry for the United States and the rest of the West, but a source of pride for Iran, which recently launched a satellite.
Iran announced Sunday that it would turn on its Russian-built 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr for a test run Wednesday.
Coming on the heels of Iran's satellite launch earlier this month and reports of its accumulation of a crucial supply of enriched uranium, signs of apparent progress at Bushehr are an enormous source of pride for Iranians and a major worry for the West.
MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
Federal Reserve sees deepening economic pain
The Federal Reserve on Wedensday said the U.S. economy will shrink and unemployment will rise even higher.
Under the Fed's new projections for 2009, the unemployment rate will rise to between 8.5 and 8.8 percent. Their old forecast, issued in mid-November, predicted the jobless rate would rise to 7.1 and 7.6 percent.
The Fed also believes the economy will contract this year between 0.5 and 1.3 percent. Their previous forecast for 2009, said the economy could shrink by 0.2 percent or expand by just 1.1 percent.
The last time the economy registered a contraction for a full year was in 1991, by 0.2 percent.
If the Fed's new predictions prove correct, it would mark the weakest showing since a 1.9 percent drop in 1982, when the country suffered through a severe economic recession in the early part of the Reagan administration continued from the Carter administration.
This bleaker outlook represents the growing toll of the worst housing, credit and financial crises since the 1930s and has plunged the U.S. into a recession, now in its second year, and continues to worsen.
"Given the strength of the forces currently weighing on the economy, we expect the recovery to be gradual and prolonged," according to Fed documents.
Against that backdrop, unemployment -- now at 7.6 percent, the highest in 16 years -- will keep climbing and stay elevated for a long time, the Fed predicted.
Fed officials say unemployment will probably remain "substantially" high on through the end of 2011 "even absent further economic shocks."
The Fed forcast calls for the unemployment rate to dip between 8 and 8.3 percent next year, and to between 7.5 and 6.7 percent in 2011.
All new projections from the Fed are much worse than all previous projections and puts the unemployment rate at around 5 percent in 2011, which will be much higher than normal absent an economic crises.
Under the Fed's new estimates, the economy will probably grow just between 2.5 and 3.3 percent next year. "We expect that continued strains in financial markets will decline only slowly and hence deaden the pace of recovery in 2010," according to Fed documents.
Fed officials admit, "given all the economy's problems, there are risks that the forecasts could turn out to be worse."
"We fear it could take five to six years for the economy and employment to get back into a sustainable mode of health," say Fed officials.
The Fed expects the prices of consumer goods to rise between 0.3 and 1 percent this year, down from a projection of between 1.3 and 2 percent in the fall. Prices are projected to pick up slightly in 2010 and 2011.
For now, Fed officlas are more worried about falling prices, than rising ones.
Falling prices sounds like a gift, but a widespread and prolonged decline can wreak more havoc on the economy, dragging down Americans' wages, and clobbering already-stricken home and stock prices.
Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, projects that real cross domestic product will decline sharply in the first half of this year, followed by a modest upturn in the second half.
"Unfortunately, I don't expect this to get better until we see stability returning into housing and financial markets," Pianalto said in a speech she gave recently to commercial developers in Columbus, Ohio.
Separately, in an address to the National Press Club in Was
hington on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged anew to do everything in his power to lift the country out of recession, while defending the extraordinary steps the Fed has taken and may continue to take to fight the worst credit and financial crises since The Great Depression.
"Recent economic statistics have been dismal, with many economies, including ours, having fallen into recession" Bernanke said. "In the United States, the Federal Reserve will continue to do whatever is necessary to assist in restoring our nation's financial stability and economic prosperity.
The Fed's balance sheet has mushroomed to just under $2 trillion, from around $900 billion in September.
Critics worry that the Fed's actions have the potential to put ever-more taypayers' dollars at risk, spur inflationary pressure in the future and encourage "moral hazard," where companies feel more comfortable making high-stakes gambles because the government will rescue them.
Federal Reserve
D. Brian Blackwell
Under the Fed's new projections for 2009, the unemployment rate will rise to between 8.5 and 8.8 percent. Their old forecast, issued in mid-November, predicted the jobless rate would rise to 7.1 and 7.6 percent.
The Fed also believes the economy will contract this year between 0.5 and 1.3 percent. Their previous forecast for 2009, said the economy could shrink by 0.2 percent or expand by just 1.1 percent.
The last time the economy registered a contraction for a full year was in 1991, by 0.2 percent.
If the Fed's new predictions prove correct, it would mark the weakest showing since a 1.9 percent drop in 1982, when the country suffered through a severe economic recession in the early part of the Reagan administration continued from the Carter administration.
This bleaker outlook represents the growing toll of the worst housing, credit and financial crises since the 1930s and has plunged the U.S. into a recession, now in its second year, and continues to worsen.
"Given the strength of the forces currently weighing on the economy, we expect the recovery to be gradual and prolonged," according to Fed documents.
Against that backdrop, unemployment -- now at 7.6 percent, the highest in 16 years -- will keep climbing and stay elevated for a long time, the Fed predicted.
Fed officials say unemployment will probably remain "substantially" high on through the end of 2011 "even absent further economic shocks."
The Fed forcast calls for the unemployment rate to dip between 8 and 8.3 percent next year, and to between 7.5 and 6.7 percent in 2011.
All new projections from the Fed are much worse than all previous projections and puts the unemployment rate at around 5 percent in 2011, which will be much higher than normal absent an economic crises.
Under the Fed's new estimates, the economy will probably grow just between 2.5 and 3.3 percent next year. "We expect that continued strains in financial markets will decline only slowly and hence deaden the pace of recovery in 2010," according to Fed documents.
Fed officials admit, "given all the economy's problems, there are risks that the forecasts could turn out to be worse."
"We fear it could take five to six years for the economy and employment to get back into a sustainable mode of health," say Fed officials.
The Fed expects the prices of consumer goods to rise between 0.3 and 1 percent this year, down from a projection of between 1.3 and 2 percent in the fall. Prices are projected to pick up slightly in 2010 and 2011.
For now, Fed officlas are more worried about falling prices, than rising ones.
Falling prices sounds like a gift, but a widespread and prolonged decline can wreak more havoc on the economy, dragging down Americans' wages, and clobbering already-stricken home and stock prices.
Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, projects that real cross domestic product will decline sharply in the first half of this year, followed by a modest upturn in the second half.
"Unfortunately, I don't expect this to get better until we see stability returning into housing and financial markets," Pianalto said in a speech she gave recently to commercial developers in Columbus, Ohio.
Separately, in an address to the National Press Club in Was
hington on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged anew to do everything in his power to lift the country out of recession, while defending the extraordinary steps the Fed has taken and may continue to take to fight the worst credit and financial crises since The Great Depression."Recent economic statistics have been dismal, with many economies, including ours, having fallen into recession" Bernanke said. "In the United States, the Federal Reserve will continue to do whatever is necessary to assist in restoring our nation's financial stability and economic prosperity.
The Fed's balance sheet has mushroomed to just under $2 trillion, from around $900 billion in September.
Critics worry that the Fed's actions have the potential to put ever-more taypayers' dollars at risk, spur inflationary pressure in the future and encourage "moral hazard," where companies feel more comfortable making high-stakes gambles because the government will rescue them.
Federal Reserve
D. Brian Blackwell
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Arrest close in Chandra Levy murder
An arrest is imminent in the eight-year-old murder of federal government intern Chandra Levy, whose disappearance in 2001 ended Gary Condit's congressional career.
The 24-year-old Levy disappeared in May 2001. She was wearing jogging clothes when she left her apartment, and her remains were discovered in Washington's Rock Creek Park about a year later.
Police questioned the married Condit about Levy's disappearance. He told police that he and Levy were having an affair. While he was not considered a suspect by police, the negative publicity gernerated by the news media caused Condit to loose re-election in 2002.
Investigators have interviewed 27-year-old Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant who is currently in a California prison and has denied any involvement in Levy's disappearance and murder. Guandique was convicted of attacking two women in Rock Creek Park shortly after Levy disappeared.
Why the police didn't investigate Guandique for Levy's disappearance at the time nobody knows. The police won't comment.
After Condit lost his re-election bid, he sued several media outlets that had connected him to Levy's disappearance and death. He reached an undisclosed settlement with three tabloid newspapers.
The Chandra Levy and Gary Condit story dominated the news until the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred.
MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
The 24-year-old Levy disappeared in May 2001. She was wearing jogging clothes when she left her apartment, and her remains were discovered in Washington's Rock Creek Park about a year later.
Police questioned the married Condit about Levy's disappearance. He told police that he and Levy were having an affair. While he was not considered a suspect by police, the negative publicity gernerated by the news media caused Condit to loose re-election in 2002.
Investigators have interviewed 27-year-old Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant who is currently in a California prison and has denied any involvement in Levy's disappearance and murder. Guandique was convicted of attacking two women in Rock Creek Park shortly after Levy disappeared.
Why the police didn't investigate Guandique for Levy's disappearance at the time nobody knows. The police won't comment.
After Condit lost his re-election bid, he sued several media outlets that had connected him to Levy's disappearance and death. He reached an undisclosed settlement with three tabloid newspapers.
The Chandra Levy and Gary Condit story dominated the news until the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred.
MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
Friday, February 20, 2009
Crime labs in disarray, report questions science
After conducting a two year study, the National Academy of Sciences says many courtroom claims about fingerprints, bite marks and other evidence lack scientific verification. It finds forensics inconsistent and in disarray nationwide.
On Feb. 18, they called for an overhaul of the crime lab system that has become increasingly critical to American jurisprudence.
For years now, forensic scientists have made sweeping claims in court about fingerprints, ballistics, handwriting, bite marks, shoe prints and blood splatters that lack empirical grounding and have never been verified by science.
The academy, the preeminent science advisor to the federal government, found a system in disarray: crime labs around the country that are grossly underfunded, lack a scientific foundation and are compromised by critical delays in analyzing physical evidence.
Ther study found a backlog of 359,000 requests for forensic analysis in 2005, a 24 percent increase in delays since 2002. A survey of crime laboratories found 80 percent of them to be understaffed.
The report concludes that the deficiencies pose "a continuing and serious threat to the quality and credibility of forensic science practice, "imperiling efforts to protect society from criminals and shield innocent people from wrongful convictions.
With the exception of DNA evidence, the report states that many forensic methods have never been shown to consistently and reliably connect crime scene evidence to a specific individual or source.
"The simple reality is that the interpretation of forensic evidence is not always based on scientific studies to determine its validity," the report says.
For example, the frequent claims that fingerprint analysis had a zero error rate are "not scientifically plausible," the report says. Regarding bite marks, it says, "the scientific basis is insufficient to conclude that bite mark comparisons can result in a conclusive match."
Of the 232 people exonerated by DNA evidence, over half of the cases involved faulty or unvalidated forensic science.
The Los Angeles Police Department is reviewing 1,000 fingerprint cases after discovering that two people had been wrongfully accused because of faulty fingerprint analysis.
According to the report, which was financed by Congress in 2005, a new federal agency is needed to regulate crime laboratories across the country, standardize forensic techniques and pay for research.
The report recommends, that an agency, to be called the National Institute of Forensic Science, be created and be independent of the Justice Department, which has traditionally been the nation's primary forensic research agency. Crime labs should be managed separately from police departments to ensure that their findings are protected from bias, the report says.
"The potential for conflicts of interest between the needs of law enforcement and the broader needs of forensic science are too great," the authors wrote.
The report, the product of a two-year review by the academy, an independent body, is not legally binding. But legislators have already committed to holding hearings on the study, and officials from all the federal law enforcement agencies say they have reviewed the report in anticipation of possible policy changes.
The report calls into question the scientific merit of virtually every commonly used forensic method, inlcuding analysis of fingerprints, hair, fibers, blood splatters, bullet analysis and arson. Only DNA, which the panel said had benefited from rigorous scientific scrutiny and peer review outside of the forensic discipline, escaped significant criticism.
The panel also found that most of the nation's death investigation officers lack accreditation. It cited an 18-year-old high school student in Indiana who was recently elected deputy coroner after a short training course.
The academy said in addition, judges and attorneys generally lack the scientific expertise necessary to "comprehend and evaluate forensic evidence in an informed manner." MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
On Feb. 18, they called for an overhaul of the crime lab system that has become increasingly critical to American jurisprudence.
For years now, forensic scientists have made sweeping claims in court about fingerprints, ballistics, handwriting, bite marks, shoe prints and blood splatters that lack empirical grounding and have never been verified by science.
The academy, the preeminent science advisor to the federal government, found a system in disarray: crime labs around the country that are grossly underfunded, lack a scientific foundation and are compromised by critical delays in analyzing physical evidence.
Ther study found a backlog of 359,000 requests for forensic analysis in 2005, a 24 percent increase in delays since 2002. A survey of crime laboratories found 80 percent of them to be understaffed.
The report concludes that the deficiencies pose "a continuing and serious threat to the quality and credibility of forensic science practice, "imperiling efforts to protect society from criminals and shield innocent people from wrongful convictions.
With the exception of DNA evidence, the report states that many forensic methods have never been shown to consistently and reliably connect crime scene evidence to a specific individual or source.
"The simple reality is that the interpretation of forensic evidence is not always based on scientific studies to determine its validity," the report says.
For example, the frequent claims that fingerprint analysis had a zero error rate are "not scientifically plausible," the report says. Regarding bite marks, it says, "the scientific basis is insufficient to conclude that bite mark comparisons can result in a conclusive match."
Of the 232 people exonerated by DNA evidence, over half of the cases involved faulty or unvalidated forensic science.
The Los Angeles Police Department is reviewing 1,000 fingerprint cases after discovering that two people had been wrongfully accused because of faulty fingerprint analysis.
According to the report, which was financed by Congress in 2005, a new federal agency is needed to regulate crime laboratories across the country, standardize forensic techniques and pay for research.
The report recommends, that an agency, to be called the National Institute of Forensic Science, be created and be independent of the Justice Department, which has traditionally been the nation's primary forensic research agency. Crime labs should be managed separately from police departments to ensure that their findings are protected from bias, the report says.
"The potential for conflicts of interest between the needs of law enforcement and the broader needs of forensic science are too great," the authors wrote.
The report, the product of a two-year review by the academy, an independent body, is not legally binding. But legislators have already committed to holding hearings on the study, and officials from all the federal law enforcement agencies say they have reviewed the report in anticipation of possible policy changes.
The report calls into question the scientific merit of virtually every commonly used forensic method, inlcuding analysis of fingerprints, hair, fibers, blood splatters, bullet analysis and arson. Only DNA, which the panel said had benefited from rigorous scientific scrutiny and peer review outside of the forensic discipline, escaped significant criticism.
The panel also found that most of the nation's death investigation officers lack accreditation. It cited an 18-year-old high school student in Indiana who was recently elected deputy coroner after a short training course.
The academy said in addition, judges and attorneys generally lack the scientific expertise necessary to "comprehend and evaluate forensic evidence in an informed manner." MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
Drug Cartels Terrorize Mexico and U.S.
For people caught inside Mexico's drug corridors, life is about keeping your head down and watching your back, especially when the sun goes down.
No town knows this better than Villa Ahumada, where the entire police force quit after 70 cartel hit men roared through last spring, killing the police chief, two officers and three townspeople.
Residents of Villa Ahumada were left defenseless again last week when gunmen returned and kidnapped nine people, despite the checkpoints outside of town manned by soldiers.
A team of gunmen in southeastern Mexico opened fire on the home of state police officer Carlos Reyes Lopez and his extended family, killing 12 people, including a 2-year-old and five other children. The 12th victim was a fruit vendor who was there to deliver frozen strawberries. No arrests have been reported.
The shootings Saturday night, Feb. 14, in the state of Tabasco stunned residents of the oil-rich community that has not experienced the same level of drug-related warfare common elsewhere in Mexico, despite its strategic importance to traffickers.
The killing of officer Carlos Reyes Lopez came just days after police in Tabasco captured four gunmen and left one suspect dead.
Although some speculate that their motive was retaliation, the state prosecutor's office suggested that a personal dispute involving Reyes Lopez might have been behind the attack.
"They killed my brother Carlos, his whole family, my son, and my mother," said a sister of the dead officer and mother of the 2-year-old, according to the Tabasco Hoy newspaper.
Carlos Reyes Lopez was a member of an elite police agency formed last year amid efforts to rid public security forces of rampant corruption.
In other violence Saturday night, gunmen using grenades and assault rifles attacked, for the fourth time in two days, a police station in the state of Michoacan. A police officer was injured, adding to two other officers and eight civilians who have been wounded in the string of attacks.
Michoacan is the home state of President Felipe Calderon, and a drug mafia called La Familia has been active in parts of the state.
In Mexico City, police on Sunday discovered the decapitated bodies of two woman in the trunk of a parked car. The heads were in a cooler in the car's back seat.
Seven people were killed in a shootout at a restaurant in Jalisco state and five at a wake in Durango state.
Also on Sunday, a photographer for a newspaper in the town of Iguala, in Guerrero state was killed. And the Mexican navy has announced the discovery and confiscation of 7 tons of cocaine on a ship off the Pacific coast.
Related Blackwell reports:
Mexican Drug Cartels in U.S. Cities
Mexican National gets 15 Years for Laundering Drug Money in Colorado
Sara Kilgore
No town knows this better than Villa Ahumada, where the entire police force quit after 70 cartel hit men roared through last spring, killing the police chief, two officers and three townspeople.
Residents of Villa Ahumada were left defenseless again last week when gunmen returned and kidnapped nine people, despite the checkpoints outside of town manned by soldiers.
A team of gunmen in southeastern Mexico opened fire on the home of state police officer Carlos Reyes Lopez and his extended family, killing 12 people, including a 2-year-old and five other children. The 12th victim was a fruit vendor who was there to deliver frozen strawberries. No arrests have been reported.
The shootings Saturday night, Feb. 14, in the state of Tabasco stunned residents of the oil-rich community that has not experienced the same level of drug-related warfare common elsewhere in Mexico, despite its strategic importance to traffickers.
The killing of officer Carlos Reyes Lopez came just days after police in Tabasco captured four gunmen and left one suspect dead.
Although some speculate that their motive was retaliation, the state prosecutor's office suggested that a personal dispute involving Reyes Lopez might have been behind the attack.
"They killed my brother Carlos, his whole family, my son, and my mother," said a sister of the dead officer and mother of the 2-year-old, according to the Tabasco Hoy newspaper.
Carlos Reyes Lopez was a member of an elite police agency formed last year amid efforts to rid public security forces of rampant corruption.
In other violence Saturday night, gunmen using grenades and assault rifles attacked, for the fourth time in two days, a police station in the state of Michoacan. A police officer was injured, adding to two other officers and eight civilians who have been wounded in the string of attacks.
Michoacan is the home state of President Felipe Calderon, and a drug mafia called La Familia has been active in parts of the state.
In Mexico City, police on Sunday discovered the decapitated bodies of two woman in the trunk of a parked car. The heads were in a cooler in the car's back seat.
Seven people were killed in a shootout at a restaurant in Jalisco state and five at a wake in Durango state.
Also on Sunday, a photographer for a newspaper in the town of Iguala, in Guerrero state was killed. And the Mexican navy has announced the discovery and confiscation of 7 tons of cocaine on a ship off the Pacific coast.
Related Blackwell reports:
Mexican Drug Cartels in U.S. Cities
Mexican National gets 15 Years for Laundering Drug Money in Colorado
Sara Kilgore
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Spitzer prostitution wiretaps to be released
A Manhanttan judge has order the government to make public sealed documents about wiretaps in the Eliot Spitzer scandal involving a high-end prostitution ring.
U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ordered prosecutors on Thursday to release documents detailing calls on cell phones used by the Emperor Club VIP whose clients included the former governor.
Rakoff ordered the documents to be released by Tuesday, which gives prosecutors a chance to appeal.
The New York Times sued late last year to get the material unsealed. The newspaper agreed to allow the government to withhold the names of 67 customers named in the documents.
Spitzer resigned last year after details were revealed of a tryst he had in a Washington hotel with a prostitute from the ring.
Investigators had been looking into the governor's affairs after noticing unusual activity -- later found to be payments to prostitutes -- in his bank accounts. Spitzer was tracked using court ordered wiretaps.
Court papers say Spitzer paid thousands of dollars to use the services of call girl Ashley Alexandra Dupre, and investigators say Spitzer met with Dupre on Feb.13, 2008 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington for sex.
Spitzer paid Dupre to take a train from New York City to Washington, which opened the transaction up to federal prosecution because she crossed state lines.
Spitzer, who is referred to as Client 9 in federal documents, was a repeat customer with the Emperor Club VIP.
D. Brian Blackwell
U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ordered prosecutors on Thursday to release documents detailing calls on cell phones used by the Emperor Club VIP whose clients included the former governor.
Rakoff ordered the documents to be released by Tuesday, which gives prosecutors a chance to appeal.
The New York Times sued late last year to get the material unsealed. The newspaper agreed to allow the government to withhold the names of 67 customers named in the documents.
Spitzer resigned last year after details were revealed of a tryst he had in a Washington hotel with a prostitute from the ring.
Investigators had been looking into the governor's affairs after noticing unusual activity -- later found to be payments to prostitutes -- in his bank accounts. Spitzer was tracked using court ordered wiretaps.
Court papers say Spitzer paid thousands of dollars to use the services of call girl Ashley Alexandra Dupre, and investigators say Spitzer met with Dupre on Feb.13, 2008 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington for sex.
Spitzer paid Dupre to take a train from New York City to Washington, which opened the transaction up to federal prosecution because she crossed state lines.
Spitzer, who is referred to as Client 9 in federal documents, was a repeat customer with the Emperor Club VIP.
D. Brian Blackwell
Spitzer prostitution wiretap documents to become public
A U.S. federal judge on Thursday ordered the unsealing of documents in an investigation that linked former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer to a prostitution ring, possibly shedding more light on the scandal that forced Spitzer to resign.
The ruling was a result of a request by The New York Times to unseal documents that outlined the prosecutors' probable cause for wiretapping two cell phones belonging to the prostitution ring.
Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that the public's right to know about an investigation that led to the resignation of the governor outweighed any privacy concerns, especially since the names of other clients were to be redacted.
The materials to be unsealed are affidavits and other documents that prosecutors filed in support of their request to wiretap. They must be released by Tuesday, the judge said.
They do not include transcripts or recordings of any conversations.
The New York Times had asked for everything in the file, but Judge Rakoff said the wiretaps did not produce any material that warranted going into the file.
Spitzer resigned last March shortly after The New York Times reported he was a client of the prostitution ring under investigation.
The resignation of the Democratic governor pleased and shocked many in Washington and on Wall Street, where Spitzer had created enemies through his aggressive investigation of fraud cases in his previous post as attorney general of the state of New York.
Spitzer was never charged with a crime. Four organizers of the prostitution ring were charged and pled guilty, putting an end to the criminal case.
D. Brian Blackwell
The ruling was a result of a request by The New York Times to unseal documents that outlined the prosecutors' probable cause for wiretapping two cell phones belonging to the prostitution ring.
Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that the public's right to know about an investigation that led to the resignation of the governor outweighed any privacy concerns, especially since the names of other clients were to be redacted.
The materials to be unsealed are affidavits and other documents that prosecutors filed in support of their request to wiretap. They must be released by Tuesday, the judge said.
They do not include transcripts or recordings of any conversations.
The New York Times had asked for everything in the file, but Judge Rakoff said the wiretaps did not produce any material that warranted going into the file.
Spitzer resigned last March shortly after The New York Times reported he was a client of the prostitution ring under investigation.
The resignation of the Democratic governor pleased and shocked many in Washington and on Wall Street, where Spitzer had created enemies through his aggressive investigation of fraud cases in his previous post as attorney general of the state of New York.
Spitzer was never charged with a crime. Four organizers of the prostitution ring were charged and pled guilty, putting an end to the criminal case.
D. Brian Blackwell
UBS giving IRS secret files after tax deal
UBS, the biggest bank in Switzerland and to the rich, has been fined $780 million and must disclose the identity of Americans whom authorities suspect of using offshore accounts at the bank to evade taxes. UBS admitted conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.
It is unclear how many of its clients' names UBS will divulge. Federal prosecutors have been examining nearly 19,000 accounts at the bank, but UBS ultimately may disclose the identities of only a few hundred customers.
Turning over any names at all heralds the beginning of the end of the Swiss bank secrecy laws, whose traditions date to the Middle Ages.
As part of the settlement, UBS agreed to cooperate with a broad summons issued by the U.S. Justice Department to turn over the names.
Officials described the settlement as one of the biggest tax settlements ever, although smaller than media reports suggesting the fine could be up to 2 billion Swiss franks ($1.7 billion).
Under the terms of a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, UBS and its executives could be indicted if they do not identify the customers.
The financial crises is heaping added pressure on tax havens like Switzerland to stop helping the wealthy hide money from the taxman as governments seek funds to pay for more and more spending.
Thousands of wealthy Americans avoid taxes by hiding assets in Switzerland and other offshore centers, and U.S. lawmakers say tax havens deprive Washington of $100 billion a year.
UBS says it is closing the offshore accounts of its American clients. But under the deal with the U.S. Justice Department, they must provide periodic written evidence of that to prosecutors.
Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, who once smuggled a client's diamonds into the United States in toothpaste, says he and other UBS bankers helped the bank earn $200 million a year managing $20 billion in assets held in offshore tax havens.
Prosecutors suspect that from late 2002 to 2007, UBS helped American clients illegally hide $20 billion, letting them evade $300 million a year in taxes.
UBS has admitted that from 2000 through 2007, some of its private bankers and managers had "participated in a scheme to defraud the United States" and the IRS by helping American clients set up and conceal offshore accounts. The scheme involved falsifying or not properly obtaining or filing certain tax forms required of both UBS and its clients.
UBS's offshore private banking business once employed 60 private bankers in Lugano, Zurich and Geneva. Prosecutors claim UBS referred clients to attorneys and accountants who set up secret offshore entities to conceal assets from the IRS.
UBS admitted to urging American clients to destroy records and to stash watches, jewelry and artwork they had bought with money hidden offshore in safe deposit boxes in Switzerland. UBS also said they encouraged American clients to use Swiss credit cards so the IRS could not track purchases.
In a statement on Wednesday, Peter Kurer, the chairman of UBS, said, "UBS sincerely regrets the compliance failures in its U.S. cross-border business that have been identified by the various government investigations in Switzerland and the U.S. We accept full responsibility for these improper activities."
In January, a senior UBS executive, Roul Weil, was declared a fugitive, two months after being indicted by a federal judge in connection with the investigation of UBS. Weil, a Swiss citizen, oversaw cross-border private banking operations from 2002 to 2007.
UBS had fiercely resisted turning over the names, even after some of its executives were indicted and implicated in the offshore private banking scheme.
Switzerland does not consider tax evasion a crime, and Swiss law prohibits disclosure of client information or names unless the country's authorities believe the client has committed a serious crime such as money laundering or tax fraud.
Swiss law distinguishes broadly between tax avoidance, tax evasion and tax fraud. Unlike in the U.S., tax evasion is not a criminal offense under Swiss law.
Of the $780 million that UBS will pay, $380 million represents disgorgement of profits from its cross-border business. The remainder represents U.S. taxes that UBS failed to withhold on the accounts. The figures include interest, penalties and restitution for unpaid taxes.
As part of the deal, UBS also entered into a consent order with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in which it agreed to charges of having acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser for Americans.
UBS suffered over $50 billion in losses in the collapse of the American mortgage market and received a $60 billion bailout from the Swiss government last October.
cnbc.com
nytimes.com
D. Brian Blackwell
It is unclear how many of its clients' names UBS will divulge. Federal prosecutors have been examining nearly 19,000 accounts at the bank, but UBS ultimately may disclose the identities of only a few hundred customers.
Turning over any names at all heralds the beginning of the end of the Swiss bank secrecy laws, whose traditions date to the Middle Ages.
As part of the settlement, UBS agreed to cooperate with a broad summons issued by the U.S. Justice Department to turn over the names.
Officials described the settlement as one of the biggest tax settlements ever, although smaller than media reports suggesting the fine could be up to 2 billion Swiss franks ($1.7 billion).
Under the terms of a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, UBS and its executives could be indicted if they do not identify the customers.
The financial crises is heaping added pressure on tax havens like Switzerland to stop helping the wealthy hide money from the taxman as governments seek funds to pay for more and more spending.
Thousands of wealthy Americans avoid taxes by hiding assets in Switzerland and other offshore centers, and U.S. lawmakers say tax havens deprive Washington of $100 billion a year.
UBS says it is closing the offshore accounts of its American clients. But under the deal with the U.S. Justice Department, they must provide periodic written evidence of that to prosecutors.
Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, who once smuggled a client's diamonds into the United States in toothpaste, says he and other UBS bankers helped the bank earn $200 million a year managing $20 billion in assets held in offshore tax havens.
Prosecutors suspect that from late 2002 to 2007, UBS helped American clients illegally hide $20 billion, letting them evade $300 million a year in taxes.
UBS has admitted that from 2000 through 2007, some of its private bankers and managers had "participated in a scheme to defraud the United States" and the IRS by helping American clients set up and conceal offshore accounts. The scheme involved falsifying or not properly obtaining or filing certain tax forms required of both UBS and its clients.
UBS's offshore private banking business once employed 60 private bankers in Lugano, Zurich and Geneva. Prosecutors claim UBS referred clients to attorneys and accountants who set up secret offshore entities to conceal assets from the IRS.
UBS admitted to urging American clients to destroy records and to stash watches, jewelry and artwork they had bought with money hidden offshore in safe deposit boxes in Switzerland. UBS also said they encouraged American clients to use Swiss credit cards so the IRS could not track purchases.
In a statement on Wednesday, Peter Kurer, the chairman of UBS, said, "UBS sincerely regrets the compliance failures in its U.S. cross-border business that have been identified by the various government investigations in Switzerland and the U.S. We accept full responsibility for these improper activities."
In January, a senior UBS executive, Roul Weil, was declared a fugitive, two months after being indicted by a federal judge in connection with the investigation of UBS. Weil, a Swiss citizen, oversaw cross-border private banking operations from 2002 to 2007.
UBS had fiercely resisted turning over the names, even after some of its executives were indicted and implicated in the offshore private banking scheme.
Switzerland does not consider tax evasion a crime, and Swiss law prohibits disclosure of client information or names unless the country's authorities believe the client has committed a serious crime such as money laundering or tax fraud.
Swiss law distinguishes broadly between tax avoidance, tax evasion and tax fraud. Unlike in the U.S., tax evasion is not a criminal offense under Swiss law.
Of the $780 million that UBS will pay, $380 million represents disgorgement of profits from its cross-border business. The remainder represents U.S. taxes that UBS failed to withhold on the accounts. The figures include interest, penalties and restitution for unpaid taxes.
As part of the deal, UBS also entered into a consent order with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in which it agreed to charges of having acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment adviser for Americans.
UBS suffered over $50 billion in losses in the collapse of the American mortgage market and received a $60 billion bailout from the Swiss government last October.
cnbc.com
nytimes.com
D. Brian Blackwell
Monday, February 16, 2009
McCain staffer arrested for molesting boys
A wide-ranging investigation has been launched into allegations that a well-known Pueblo, Colorado resident has molested many boys for several years, including most recently when he was the manager for Senator John McCain's presidential campaign office in Pueblo.
Under investigation is Jeffrey C. Bartleson, 52, who was arrested Jan. 29 and then re-arrested Feb. 4 after a campaign worker in the McCain office told police she believed Bartleson molested one of her sons.
Sergeant Brett Wilson, who heads the Pueblo Police Department's special victims unit, says there are "several active investigations" involving Bartleson.
He said numerous boys will be interviewed by the two detectives who have been assigned full-time to the case.
In affidavits filed by police in Pueblo District Court, authorities say that the most recent complaints follow a pattern involving Bartleson that dates to 1982.
According to Detective Daniel Anderson, Bartleson has usually positioned himself so he is around children, whether as a ..........
September Hall
Under investigation is Jeffrey C. Bartleson, 52, who was arrested Jan. 29 and then re-arrested Feb. 4 after a campaign worker in the McCain office told police she believed Bartleson molested one of her sons.
Sergeant Brett Wilson, who heads the Pueblo Police Department's special victims unit, says there are "several active investigations" involving Bartleson.
He said numerous boys will be interviewed by the two detectives who have been assigned full-time to the case.
In affidavits filed by police in Pueblo District Court, authorities say that the most recent complaints follow a pattern involving Bartleson that dates to 1982.
According to Detective Daniel Anderson, Bartleson has usually positioned himself so he is around children, whether as a ..........
September Hall
Sunday, February 15, 2009
67 computers missing from Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory
The Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory in New Mexico is missing 67 computers, including 13 that were lost or stolen in the past year.
Officials originally said that no classified information had been lost, but now they are unsure.
The watchdog group Project on Government Oversight on Wednesday released a memo dated Feb. 3 from the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration outlining the loss of the computers.
The computers may contain personsal information like names and addresses, and may contain classified information. Nobody at Los Alamos knows for sure.
Thirteen of the missing computers were lost or stolen in the past twelve months, including three computers that were taken from a scientist's home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Jan. 16, and a BlackBerry belonging to another employee was lost "in a sensitive foreign country," according to the memo and an e-mail from a senior lab manager.
The security administration memo said the "magnitude of exposure and risk to the laboratory is unclear.
The lab, located in Los Alamos, New Mexico, employs nearly 10,000 people.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Kansas City Star
Yahoo! News AP wire
D. Brian Blackwell
Officials originally said that no classified information had been lost, but now they are unsure.
The watchdog group Project on Government Oversight on Wednesday released a memo dated Feb. 3 from the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration outlining the loss of the computers.
The computers may contain personsal information like names and addresses, and may contain classified information. Nobody at Los Alamos knows for sure.
Thirteen of the missing computers were lost or stolen in the past twelve months, including three computers that were taken from a scientist's home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Jan. 16, and a BlackBerry belonging to another employee was lost "in a sensitive foreign country," according to the memo and an e-mail from a senior lab manager.
The security administration memo said the "magnitude of exposure and risk to the laboratory is unclear.
The lab, located in Los Alamos, New Mexico, employs nearly 10,000 people.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Kansas City Star
Yahoo! News AP wire
D. Brian Blackwell
Friday, February 13, 2009
Pa. judges admit to jailing kids for cash
The two judges accused of taking more than $2.6 million from a private youth detention center in Scranton, Pennsylvania in return for giving hundreds of youths and teenagers long sentences pled guilty Thursday.
Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County entered plea agreements in federal court in Scranton admitting that they took payoffs from Pennsylvania Child care and a sister company, Western Pennsylvania Child care, between 2003 and 2006.
D. Brian Blackwell
Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County entered plea agreements in federal court in Scranton admitting that they took payoffs from Pennsylvania Child care and a sister company, Western Pennsylvania Child care, between 2003 and 2006.
D. Brian Blackwell
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Pa. judges jailed kids for cash
Two Scranton, Pennsylvania judges charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers are expected to plead guilty to fraud.
Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are scheduled to appear at a federal court hearing Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutors say the two judges took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by Pennsylvania Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western Pennsylvania Child Care LLC.
The judges were charged on Jan. 26 and removed from the bench by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shortly afterward.
Prosecutors expect both pieces of shit to plead guilty to two counts of fraud. Their plea agreements call for sentences of more than seven years in prison. They are expected to remain free pending sentencing.
D. Brian Blackwell
Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are scheduled to appear at a federal court hearing Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutors say the two judges took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by Pennsylvania Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western Pennsylvania Child Care LLC.
The judges were charged on Jan. 26 and removed from the bench by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shortly afterward.
Prosecutors expect both pieces of shit to plead guilty to two counts of fraud. Their plea agreements call for sentences of more than seven years in prison. They are expected to remain free pending sentencing.
D. Brian Blackwell
Calif. mortgage fraud suspect caught at Canadian border
A suspect in a nationwide mortgage fraud scheme who fled the country was caught at the Canadian border with $1 million in Swiss bank certificates and $70,000 stuffed in his cowboy boots.
Christopher J. Warren, 27, was also carrying four ounces of platinum valued at $1,420 an ounce when he was arrersted early Wednesday while entering the U.S. at Buffalo, N.Y.
Warren is the second of three fugitives to be apprehended in the ongoing fraud investigation of Loomis Wealth Solutions, a Roseville, California-based investment company, and several related companies. MORE
Sara Kilgore
Christopher J. Warren, 27, was also carrying four ounces of platinum valued at $1,420 an ounce when he was arrersted early Wednesday while entering the U.S. at Buffalo, N.Y.
Warren is the second of three fugitives to be apprehended in the ongoing fraud investigation of Loomis Wealth Solutions, a Roseville, California-based investment company, and several related companies. MORE
Sara Kilgore
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Peanut Co. owner refuses to testify to Congress
The owner of the peanut company responsible for the salmonella outbreak refused to testify to Congress on Wednesday amid the disclosure that he urged his employees to ship bacteria-tainted products, pleading with employees to "turn the raw peanuts on the floor into money."
Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corporation of America, repeatedly invoked his 5th Amendment rights -- his right not to incriminate himself -- sitting before the House subcommittee holding a hearing on a national salmonella outbreak caused by Peanut Corporation of America.
After repeating several times, "Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your questions based on the protections afforded me under the U.S. Constitution," he was dismissed from the hearing.
The House panel released e-mails obtained by its investigators showing Parnell ordered products identified with salmonella shipped and complained that tests discovering the contaminated food were costing his company $$$$$$."
In one e-mail, Parnell said his workers "desperately need to turn the raw peanuts on our floors into money." In another, he told his plant manager to "turn them loose" after products once deemed contaminated were cleared in a second test.
Parnell's response to a final lab test showing salmonella was about how much it would cost, and the impact lab testing was having on moving his products.
"We need to discuss this," Parnell wrote in an Oct. 6 e-mail to Sammy Lightsey, his plant manager. "This time lapse, beside the cost is costing us huge $$$$$$ and causing a huge lapse in time from the time we pick up peanuts until the time we can invoice."
Lightsey, of course, also invoked his right not to testify before the subcommittee when he appeared alongside (the piece of shit) Parnell.
The disclosures came in correspondence released by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Wednesday during a hearing on the salmonella outbreak that has killed nine and severely sickened at least 600 others in 44 states.
The salmonella outbreak led to to one of the largest recalls in U.S. history with over 1,800 products pulled to date.
A federal criminal investigation is underway by the Justice Department.
A laboratory worker told the House panel that Peanut Corporation of America's disregard for tests identifying salmonella in its products should prompt efforts to increase federal oversight of product safety.
Peanut Corporation of America makes only 1 percent of U.S. peanut products, but its ingredients are used by dozens of other food companies.
Yahoo! News AP wire
Peanut Corporation of America and trouble aren't strangers.
They were sued by American Candy Company after the FDA discovered in 1990 that Peanut Corporation of America's peanut butter exceeded the FDA tolerance level for aflatoxin, a toxic mold. American Candy had turned the peanut butter into 8,000 cases of Kisses for Walmart, but were not shipped.
Another lawsuit against Peanut Corporation of America was brought by Zachary Confections, Inc. of Frankfort, Indiana in 1991 after a 40,020-pound shipment of nuts from Peanut Corporation of America was found to have an unacceptably high level of aflatoxin.
Food and Drug Administration's Web site on salmonella
Center for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov
Kellogg warns not to eat its peanut butter crackers
from CNN
Peanut Corp. of America
1201 Peachtree Street NE #1240
Atlanta, GA 30361
Stewart Parnell's company contact info:
Phone # 434-384-7098
FAX # 434-384-9528
E-mail: stewart.parnell at peanutcorp.com
Georgia plant Web site
----
We are offering investigative services to victims of salmonella poisoning linked to Peanut Corporation of America at a special rate and can pro-rate the cost of service over several months if needed. $200 (refundable) retainer fee required.
Brian Blackwell
Private Investigator
UPDATE: On Feb. 13, Peanut Corporation of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in bankruptcy court in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corporation of America, repeatedly invoked his 5th Amendment rights -- his right not to incriminate himself -- sitting before the House subcommittee holding a hearing on a national salmonella outbreak caused by Peanut Corporation of America.
After repeating several times, "Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your questions based on the protections afforded me under the U.S. Constitution," he was dismissed from the hearing.
The House panel released e-mails obtained by its investigators showing Parnell ordered products identified with salmonella shipped and complained that tests discovering the contaminated food were costing his company $$$$$$."
In one e-mail, Parnell said his workers "desperately need to turn the raw peanuts on our floors into money." In another, he told his plant manager to "turn them loose" after products once deemed contaminated were cleared in a second test.
Parnell's response to a final lab test showing salmonella was about how much it would cost, and the impact lab testing was having on moving his products.
"We need to discuss this," Parnell wrote in an Oct. 6 e-mail to Sammy Lightsey, his plant manager. "This time lapse, beside the cost is costing us huge $$$$$$ and causing a huge lapse in time from the time we pick up peanuts until the time we can invoice."
Lightsey, of course, also invoked his right not to testify before the subcommittee when he appeared alongside (the piece of shit) Parnell.
The disclosures came in correspondence released by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Wednesday during a hearing on the salmonella outbreak that has killed nine and severely sickened at least 600 others in 44 states.
The salmonella outbreak led to to one of the largest recalls in U.S. history with over 1,800 products pulled to date.
A federal criminal investigation is underway by the Justice Department.
A laboratory worker told the House panel that Peanut Corporation of America's disregard for tests identifying salmonella in its products should prompt efforts to increase federal oversight of product safety.
Peanut Corporation of America makes only 1 percent of U.S. peanut products, but its ingredients are used by dozens of other food companies.
Yahoo! News AP wire
Peanut Corporation of America and trouble aren't strangers.
They were sued by American Candy Company after the FDA discovered in 1990 that Peanut Corporation of America's peanut butter exceeded the FDA tolerance level for aflatoxin, a toxic mold. American Candy had turned the peanut butter into 8,000 cases of Kisses for Walmart, but were not shipped.
Another lawsuit against Peanut Corporation of America was brought by Zachary Confections, Inc. of Frankfort, Indiana in 1991 after a 40,020-pound shipment of nuts from Peanut Corporation of America was found to have an unacceptably high level of aflatoxin.
Food and Drug Administration's Web site on salmonella
Center for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov
Kellogg warns not to eat its peanut butter crackers
from CNN
Peanut Corp. of America
1201 Peachtree Street NE #1240
Atlanta, GA 30361
Stewart Parnell's company contact info:
Phone # 434-384-7098
FAX # 434-384-9528
E-mail: stewart.parnell at peanutcorp.com
Georgia plant Web site
----
We are offering investigative services to victims of salmonella poisoning linked to Peanut Corporation of America at a special rate and can pro-rate the cost of service over several months if needed. $200 (refundable) retainer fee required.
Brian Blackwell
Private Investigator
UPDATE: On Feb. 13, Peanut Corporation of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in bankruptcy court in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Mexican drug cartels in U.S. cities
U.S. authorities have reported a big spike in killings and home invasions connected to Mexico's murderous cartels. And a lot of the violence isn't happening just along the border, but in cities as far away as Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Anchorage, Alaska, Sioux Falls, S.D. and Honolulu, according to the DEA and FBI.
The Mexican cartels have set up drug-dealing operations all over the United States.
The violence follows the drugs
Drug customers who owe money are kidnapped until they pay up. Cartel employees who do not deliver the goods or turn over the profits are disciplined through beatings, kidnappings or worse. And drug smugglers kidnap illegal immigrants in clashes with human smugglers over the use of secret routes into the U.S. from Mexico.
In Mexico, there are beheadings, assassinations of police officers and soldiers, and mass killings in which the bodies are arranged to send a message.
So far, the violence is nowhere as grisly as in Mexico. Besides putting beheadings on YouTube as a warning, they have chopped heads off, put them in ice chests and dropped them off at police stations, and rolled a head into a disco.
In an apartment near Birmingham, Alabama, police found five men with their throats cut in August. They had been tortured with electric shocks before being killed in a murder-for-hire orchastrated by a Mexican drug organization over a drug debt of about $400,000.
Residents of the quiet Beaver Hills subdivision in Lilburn, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, awoke to the trans-border crime wave in July, when a brigade of well-armored federal agents and state troopers surrounded a two-story colonial home at 755 East Fork Shady Drive, ordered neighbors to lock their doors while they flushed out three male members of a Mexican drug cartel. One suspect had an AK-47.
A short while later, police hauled out a 31-year-old Dominican man who for nearly a week had been beaten, bound, gagged and chained to a wall in the basement. The Rhode Island resident owed $300,000 to Mexico's Gulf Cartel.
The Gulf Cartel, based in Matamoros just south of the Texas border, is one of the most ruthless of the Mexican cartels that deal drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, meth and heroin in Mexico and the U.S.
In July, Atlanta-area police shot and killed a kidnapper while he was trying to pick up a $2 million ransom owed to his cartel bosses.
Several dozen suspects have been charged with moving drugs and money for Mexican traffickers through Atlanta, which has become an important hub for narcotics markets in the eastern U.S.
Few regions have been immune -- even Anchorage, Alaska police reported activity by the Tijuana drug cartel led by the Arellano Felix family.
In suburban San Diego, six men believed to be part of a rogue faction of the Arellano Felix organization have been connected to a dozen murders and 20 kidnappings over a three-year period.
Last month, three armed men disguised as police officers broke into a Las Vegas home, tied up a woman and her boyfriend and abducted the woman's 6-year-old son. Las Vegas Metro police said the men were connected to a Mexican drug smuggling operation and were trying to recoup money stolen by the child's grandfather.
The boy, Cole Puffinburger, was found unharmed three days later. Federal authorities have charged his grandfather, Clemons Fred Tinnemeyer, with racketeering, after he mailed $60,000, believed to be drug money, from Mississippi to Nevada. Police continue to search for the kidnappers.
In September, authorities announced that 175 members of Mexico's Gulf cartel had been rounded up across the across the U.S. and Mexico. Of those, 43 had been active in the Atlanta area, according to law enforcement.
The arrests were part of Project Reckoning, an 18-month investigation that tracked criminal activity in the U.S. by the Mexican cartels. Authorities arrested 507 people and seized over $60 million in cash, 16,000 kilograms of cocaine, half a ton of meth, 19 pounds of heroin and 51 pounds of marijuana.
Last month, federal authorities in Atlanta announced indictments against 41 people they say were trafficking drugs and laundering money for Mexican cartels. Among those netted in Operation Pay Cut were a former deputy sheriff from Texas who was stopped by police on a Georgia highway with nearly $1 million in cash in his pickup truck.
State and federal governments have sent million of dollars to local law enforcement along the Mexican border to help fend off spillover drug crime. But investigators believe Arizona and Atlanta are seeing the worst of the violence because they are major drug distribution hubs thanks to their webs of interstate highways.
In fact, DEA officials have dubbed Atlanta "the new Southwest border."
El Paso, Texas, a quarter-mile away from Mexico's Ciudad Juarez, saw open gun battles and 1,700 murders in 2008.
In 2008, over 5,000 people have been killed across Mexico in a power struggle among Mexico's drug cartels and ferocious fighting between them and the Mexican government.
Mexican smuggling operations are in all but two states, Vermont and West Virginia, according to federal reports.
Mexican organizations affiliated with the so-called Federation have been identified in 82 cities, mostly in the Southwest, according to an April 2008 report by the National Drug Intelligence Center, an arm of the Department of Justice.
Elements of the Juarez cartel were identified in 44 cities, from West Texas to Minneapolis. Members of the Gulf cartel were operating in 43 cities from south Texas to Buffalo, New York. And the Tijuana cartel, active in 20 U.S. cities, is extending its network from San Diego to Seattle and Anchorage.
The cartels have established operations in at least 230 U.S. cities, according to the Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center.
Many cities showed evidence of multiple cartels, according to the report, which was based on federal, state and local law enforcement data.
The extent and depth of cartel activity was not specified, but the Drug Enforcement Administration told Congress two years ago that it believed Mexican-based drug trafficking organizations "now have command and control over the drug trade and are starting to show the hallmarks of organized crime, such as organizing into distinct cells with subordinate cells that operate throughout the U.S."
The Congressional Research Service last year reported that in the U.S. the cartels "maintain some level of coordination and cooperation among their various operating areas, moving labor and materials to various sites, even across the country as needed."
Four high-ranking members of the Arellano Felix cartel were brought to the U.S. in December for prosecution.
While some Americans feel victimized by the spillover of violence, others are contributing to it. Americans provide 95 percent of the weapons used by the cartels, according to U.S. authorities. And Americans are the cartels' best customers, sending an estimated $28.5 billion in drug-sale money across the Mexico border every year.
Find out more at:
Los Angeles Times
PBS Frontline
DEA map of Gulf Cartel operations
Get Congressional Research Service reports
MobTurf.com
D. Brian Blackwell
The Mexican cartels have set up drug-dealing operations all over the United States.
The violence follows the drugs
Drug customers who owe money are kidnapped until they pay up. Cartel employees who do not deliver the goods or turn over the profits are disciplined through beatings, kidnappings or worse. And drug smugglers kidnap illegal immigrants in clashes with human smugglers over the use of secret routes into the U.S. from Mexico.
In Mexico, there are beheadings, assassinations of police officers and soldiers, and mass killings in which the bodies are arranged to send a message.
So far, the violence is nowhere as grisly as in Mexico. Besides putting beheadings on YouTube as a warning, they have chopped heads off, put them in ice chests and dropped them off at police stations, and rolled a head into a disco.
In an apartment near Birmingham, Alabama, police found five men with their throats cut in August. They had been tortured with electric shocks before being killed in a murder-for-hire orchastrated by a Mexican drug organization over a drug debt of about $400,000.
Residents of the quiet Beaver Hills subdivision in Lilburn, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, awoke to the trans-border crime wave in July, when a brigade of well-armored federal agents and state troopers surrounded a two-story colonial home at 755 East Fork Shady Drive, ordered neighbors to lock their doors while they flushed out three male members of a Mexican drug cartel. One suspect had an AK-47.
A short while later, police hauled out a 31-year-old Dominican man who for nearly a week had been beaten, bound, gagged and chained to a wall in the basement. The Rhode Island resident owed $300,000 to Mexico's Gulf Cartel.
The Gulf Cartel, based in Matamoros just south of the Texas border, is one of the most ruthless of the Mexican cartels that deal drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, meth and heroin in Mexico and the U.S.
In July, Atlanta-area police shot and killed a kidnapper while he was trying to pick up a $2 million ransom owed to his cartel bosses.
Several dozen suspects have been charged with moving drugs and money for Mexican traffickers through Atlanta, which has become an important hub for narcotics markets in the eastern U.S.
Few regions have been immune -- even Anchorage, Alaska police reported activity by the Tijuana drug cartel led by the Arellano Felix family.
In suburban San Diego, six men believed to be part of a rogue faction of the Arellano Felix organization have been connected to a dozen murders and 20 kidnappings over a three-year period.
Last month, three armed men disguised as police officers broke into a Las Vegas home, tied up a woman and her boyfriend and abducted the woman's 6-year-old son. Las Vegas Metro police said the men were connected to a Mexican drug smuggling operation and were trying to recoup money stolen by the child's grandfather.
The boy, Cole Puffinburger, was found unharmed three days later. Federal authorities have charged his grandfather, Clemons Fred Tinnemeyer, with racketeering, after he mailed $60,000, believed to be drug money, from Mississippi to Nevada. Police continue to search for the kidnappers.
In September, authorities announced that 175 members of Mexico's Gulf cartel had been rounded up across the across the U.S. and Mexico. Of those, 43 had been active in the Atlanta area, according to law enforcement.
The arrests were part of Project Reckoning, an 18-month investigation that tracked criminal activity in the U.S. by the Mexican cartels. Authorities arrested 507 people and seized over $60 million in cash, 16,000 kilograms of cocaine, half a ton of meth, 19 pounds of heroin and 51 pounds of marijuana.
Last month, federal authorities in Atlanta announced indictments against 41 people they say were trafficking drugs and laundering money for Mexican cartels. Among those netted in Operation Pay Cut were a former deputy sheriff from Texas who was stopped by police on a Georgia highway with nearly $1 million in cash in his pickup truck.
State and federal governments have sent million of dollars to local law enforcement along the Mexican border to help fend off spillover drug crime. But investigators believe Arizona and Atlanta are seeing the worst of the violence because they are major drug distribution hubs thanks to their webs of interstate highways.
In fact, DEA officials have dubbed Atlanta "the new Southwest border."
El Paso, Texas, a quarter-mile away from Mexico's Ciudad Juarez, saw open gun battles and 1,700 murders in 2008.
In 2008, over 5,000 people have been killed across Mexico in a power struggle among Mexico's drug cartels and ferocious fighting between them and the Mexican government.
Mexican smuggling operations are in all but two states, Vermont and West Virginia, according to federal reports.
Mexican organizations affiliated with the so-called Federation have been identified in 82 cities, mostly in the Southwest, according to an April 2008 report by the National Drug Intelligence Center, an arm of the Department of Justice.
Elements of the Juarez cartel were identified in 44 cities, from West Texas to Minneapolis. Members of the Gulf cartel were operating in 43 cities from south Texas to Buffalo, New York. And the Tijuana cartel, active in 20 U.S. cities, is extending its network from San Diego to Seattle and Anchorage.
The cartels have established operations in at least 230 U.S. cities, according to the Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center.
Many cities showed evidence of multiple cartels, according to the report, which was based on federal, state and local law enforcement data.
The extent and depth of cartel activity was not specified, but the Drug Enforcement Administration told Congress two years ago that it believed Mexican-based drug trafficking organizations "now have command and control over the drug trade and are starting to show the hallmarks of organized crime, such as organizing into distinct cells with subordinate cells that operate throughout the U.S."
The Congressional Research Service last year reported that in the U.S. the cartels "maintain some level of coordination and cooperation among their various operating areas, moving labor and materials to various sites, even across the country as needed."
Four high-ranking members of the Arellano Felix cartel were brought to the U.S. in December for prosecution.
While some Americans feel victimized by the spillover of violence, others are contributing to it. Americans provide 95 percent of the weapons used by the cartels, according to U.S. authorities. And Americans are the cartels' best customers, sending an estimated $28.5 billion in drug-sale money across the Mexico border every year.
Find out more at:
Los Angeles Times
PBS Frontline
DEA map of Gulf Cartel operations
Get Congressional Research Service reports
MobTurf.com
D. Brian Blackwell
Beaver Dam teacher on leave for liking guns
A Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Middle School teacher has been placed on administrative leave after school officials discovered a photo of her with a gun on Facebook.
In the photo, Betsy Ramsdale was aiming a rifle at the camera. She has removed the photo from Facebook.
A whining busybody staff member brought the photo to the district's attention.
MSNBC
No Wimps News
D. Brian Blackwell
In the photo, Betsy Ramsdale was aiming a rifle at the camera. She has removed the photo from Facebook.
A whining busybody staff member brought the photo to the district's attention.
MSNBC
No Wimps News
D. Brian Blackwell
FBI raids Georgia peanut plant
FBI agents on Monday raided Peanut Corp. of America, the Georgia peanut processing plant, linked to the nationwide salmonella outbreak that has killed 8 and severely sickened hundreds.
The FBI executed search warrants at the plant in Blakely, Georgia and at Peanut Corp. of America headquarters in Lynchburg, Virginia.
The plant has been identified as the source of the salmonella. The salmonella outbreak has prompted one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history.
FBI agents left the plant on Monday carrying boxes and other material.
The House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, which also is investigating how tainted peanuts got into the food supply, has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday.
The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, called a meeting on Tuesday to issue a subpoena for Peanut Corp. of America president Stewart Parnell, who has said he will not otherwise appear at Wednesday's hearing.
Monday's searches comes three days after Food and Drug Administration investigators said Peanut Corp. of America knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products from its Georgia plant after tests showed the products were contaminated.
Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could make it harmful to consumers' health.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and over 1,550 products have been recalled.
D. Brian Blackwell
The FBI executed search warrants at the plant in Blakely, Georgia and at Peanut Corp. of America headquarters in Lynchburg, Virginia.
The plant has been identified as the source of the salmonella. The salmonella outbreak has prompted one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history.
FBI agents left the plant on Monday carrying boxes and other material.
The House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, which also is investigating how tainted peanuts got into the food supply, has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday.
The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, called a meeting on Tuesday to issue a subpoena for Peanut Corp. of America president Stewart Parnell, who has said he will not otherwise appear at Wednesday's hearing.
Monday's searches comes three days after Food and Drug Administration investigators said Peanut Corp. of America knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products from its Georgia plant after tests showed the products were contaminated.
Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could make it harmful to consumers' health.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and over 1,550 products have been recalled.
D. Brian Blackwell
Monday, February 9, 2009
Arrest made in 40-year-old Denver murder
A 65-year-old woman wanted in a 1968 murder at a Denver bar was arrested Friday in Dayton, Ohio, where police say she had been living under the name Agnes Ramey.
Tina Louise Lester was arrested at her home on suspicion of first-degree murder. Lester is accused of fatally shooting 36-year-old Ronald E. Schlatter of the northern Colorado town of LaPorte.
Her arrest involved the oldest outstanding murder warrant from the Denver Police Department.
According to a Denver Post article from the time, Schlatter was playing pool at the Blue Chip Bar on Nov.8, 1968, when he and Lester got into a fight. Lester, a Denver resident, allegedly pulled out a .22-caliber gun and shot Schlatter in the chest.
Witnesses told police Schlatter grabbed the gun from Lester and fired three shots at her as she fled. Schlatter then collapsed and died.
A determined Denver police officer was able to find her.
WJLA 7 News Report
D. Brian Blackwell
Tina Louise Lester was arrested at her home on suspicion of first-degree murder. Lester is accused of fatally shooting 36-year-old Ronald E. Schlatter of the northern Colorado town of LaPorte.
Her arrest involved the oldest outstanding murder warrant from the Denver Police Department.
According to a Denver Post article from the time, Schlatter was playing pool at the Blue Chip Bar on Nov.8, 1968, when he and Lester got into a fight. Lester, a Denver resident, allegedly pulled out a .22-caliber gun and shot Schlatter in the chest.
Witnesses told police Schlatter grabbed the gun from Lester and fired three shots at her as she fled. Schlatter then collapsed and died.
A determined Denver police officer was able to find her.
WJLA 7 News Report
D. Brian Blackwell
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Company knowingly sold tainted peanut butter
According to the FDA, a Georgia peanut plant knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products as far back as 2007, at times sending out tainted products after tests confirmed contamination.
In 2007, Peanut Corp. of America shipped chopped peanuts on July 18 and 24 after salmonella was confirmed by private lab tests.
Peanut Corp. of America has, of course, denied any wrongdoing in the salmonella outbreak linked to at least nine deaths and 600 illnesses in 43 states.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation. Over 1,550 products have been recalled.
Problems at Peanut Corp. of America are not new.
FDA inspectors found in 2001 that products were exposed to insecticides, one of several violations uncovered during the last visit federal officials made before the current food-poisoning scare.
The Food and Drug Administration suspended all business with Peanut Corp. of America this week.
The USDA shipped some of the company's potentially contaminated peanut butter and peanuts to eight states, including school lunch programs in California, Minnesota and Idaho in 2007.
None of the states reported illnesses as a result of people eating the products, according to USDA officials.
Some of the problems FDA discovered at the plant in 2001 are similar to the problems found last month, when federal inspectors returned to the plant after nearly eight years.
The 2001 inspection found dead insects near peanuts and holes in the plant big enough for rodents to enter.
The inspectors also discovered that workers at the plant used an insecticide fogger in food processing areas and did not wash the exposed equipment. They also found dirty duct tape wrapped on broken equipment.
FDA inspectors did not find evidence of insecticides in peanuts at the plant during that visit.
The USDA was one of Peanut Corp.'s two biggest clients in 2001 when inspectors found the insecticide problem.
USDA officials regularly visited the plant, including in recent years. But those agency workers were not trained to perform food safety inspections, according to USDA.
Those USDA visits to the plant were made by "contract auditors" who are "number crunchers," who know nothing about peanuts, according to USDA.
Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corp. of America, told FDA inspectors in 2001 that he knew about the insecticide fogger and duct tape on equipment.
The insecticide fogger discovered by inspectors noted on its label that any exposed equipment should be thoroughly washed after use.
The plant manager told inspectors during their visit that workers did not clean the exposed areas and did not realize the insecticide could not be used around food.
FDA officials said Friday that Peanut Corp. of America was allowed in 2001 to correct the problems on its own because the inspection showed no evidence that finished products were being contaminated. New York Daily News
D. Brian Blackwell
In 2007, Peanut Corp. of America shipped chopped peanuts on July 18 and 24 after salmonella was confirmed by private lab tests.
Peanut Corp. of America has, of course, denied any wrongdoing in the salmonella outbreak linked to at least nine deaths and 600 illnesses in 43 states.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation. Over 1,550 products have been recalled.
Problems at Peanut Corp. of America are not new.
FDA inspectors found in 2001 that products were exposed to insecticides, one of several violations uncovered during the last visit federal officials made before the current food-poisoning scare.
The Food and Drug Administration suspended all business with Peanut Corp. of America this week.
The USDA shipped some of the company's potentially contaminated peanut butter and peanuts to eight states, including school lunch programs in California, Minnesota and Idaho in 2007.
None of the states reported illnesses as a result of people eating the products, according to USDA officials.
Some of the problems FDA discovered at the plant in 2001 are similar to the problems found last month, when federal inspectors returned to the plant after nearly eight years.
The 2001 inspection found dead insects near peanuts and holes in the plant big enough for rodents to enter.
The inspectors also discovered that workers at the plant used an insecticide fogger in food processing areas and did not wash the exposed equipment. They also found dirty duct tape wrapped on broken equipment.
FDA inspectors did not find evidence of insecticides in peanuts at the plant during that visit.
The USDA was one of Peanut Corp.'s two biggest clients in 2001 when inspectors found the insecticide problem.
USDA officials regularly visited the plant, including in recent years. But those agency workers were not trained to perform food safety inspections, according to USDA.
Those USDA visits to the plant were made by "contract auditors" who are "number crunchers," who know nothing about peanuts, according to USDA.
Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corp. of America, told FDA inspectors in 2001 that he knew about the insecticide fogger and duct tape on equipment.
The insecticide fogger discovered by inspectors noted on its label that any exposed equipment should be thoroughly washed after use.
The plant manager told inspectors during their visit that workers did not clean the exposed areas and did not realize the insecticide could not be used around food.
FDA officials said Friday that Peanut Corp. of America was allowed in 2001 to correct the problems on its own because the inspection showed no evidence that finished products were being contaminated. New York Daily News
D. Brian Blackwell
Friday, February 6, 2009
Colorado re-opens JonBenet Ramsey case
The investigation of JonBenet Ramsey's murder has been returned to the Boulder, Colorado Police Department, who say they are going to apply new technology and expertise in hopes of solving the 12-year-old case.
New technology gives investigators tools they did not have 12 years ago.
The decision to re-open the case, announced Monday, came more than six years after a probe into the way the police handled the investigation.
With the support of newly elected Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said his agency is reactivating its Ramsey investigation and again taking the lead in efforts to solve the city's most infamous cold case.
Chief Beckner has invited veteran investigators from several state and federal law enforcement agencies to participate in an "advisory task force."
The task force will include representatives from the FBI, Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Colorado Attorney General's Office.
"We're bringing in people on this task force that are going to have a fresh perspective. They are going to look at this case, tell us what they think, challenge us, give us ideas."
The group is suppose to meet in the next few weeks to review the evidence and identify additional testing that might be done.
Chief Beckner said over 140 people had already been investigated as potential suspects, but none could be linked to the crime.
The FBI and state agencies offered their help to the Boulder police Dec. 27, 1996 and several times after, but the Boulder police would not accept.
Boulder police were forced to turn over the investigation to Boulder County District Mary Lacy in 2002 because of criticism that they bungled the initial investigation by ruining and loosing evidence.
The case is one of the nation's most famous unsolved murders.
JonBenet, a 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant and daughter of prominent wealthy Boulder couple John and Patsy Ramsey, was found bludgeoned and strangled to death in the basement of her Boulder home at 755 15th Street on Dec. 26, 1996.
A ransom note was found on the stairs of the home.
Early in the case, Boulder police said John and Patsey Ramsey were under suspicion in JonBenet's murder. But they were never formally named as suspects, and a grand jury refused to indict them.
Patsy Ramsey died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer.
There were no signs of forced entry into the house and no shoe prints were found around the house, indicating there was no intruder.
When the police arrived at the Ramsey home Dec. 26, 1996, they did not treat the home and surrounding area as a crime scene like they should have. Police trampled throughout the Ramsey house and around the outside destroying possible key evidence.
Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett's predecessor, Mary Lacy, last year cleared JonBenet's family in the murder, saying unidentified male DNA found on the girl's underwear and under her fingernails almost certainly came from her killer, and that it did not match anyone in the family.
In July 2008, Lacy issued a public apology for the suspicion surrounding the Ramsey family after the DNA test, which was performed using new technology.
The same third-party DNA exonerated John Mark Karr, a one-time teacher, after he was arrested in Thailand and brought to Colorado Aug. 17, 2006.
Authorities became aware of Karr concerning the Ramsey case via e-mails he exchanged over the course of four years with Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado. Karr told Tracey that he was involved in JonBenet's death.
Karr never identified himself in those e-mails. Police were able to locate and identified the individual sending the e-mails as Karr through phone calls he was lured into making to Tracey.
Karr was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 17, 2006, by Thailand authorities, then released to U.S. agents and flown to Los Angeles, California, then to Boulder, Colorado for further investigation.
Karr told reporters after his arrest that he was with JonBenet when she died. He said her death was an accident and that he loved her.
On Aug. 28, prosecutors decided not to pursue charges in connection with the JonBenet murder after DNA tests failed to place Karr at the crime scene.
Karr was held in Boulder until Sept. 12, 2006, when he was transported to Sonoma County, California to face unrelated misdemeanor child pornography charges.
Karr came to the attention of investigators in California in 2001, when they found he had a "fascination" with the murders of JonBenet and Polly Klaas.
Sonoma County sheriff's deputies seized a computer from Karr in April 2001 that contained child pornographic images. Karr was working as a substitute teacher in Sonoma and Napa counties at the time. Karr fled to Thailand.
The charges were dismissed against Karr by a California judge on Oct. 5, 2006 because police lost Karr's computer that held the child pornographic images, and Karr was immediately released.
Garnett was elected in November 2008 to replace Lacy, who could not run again because of term limits. Before Garnett was elected, he was a trial lawyer for 22 years.
Trip DeMuth, a former Boulder prosecutor who worked on the Ramsey case, said he doesn't believe Chief Beckner can handle the case without prejudice, and said that the case is unlikely to be solved unless the Boulder Police Department can approach it without baggage.
Denver private investigator Brian Blackwell who has been an outspoken critic of the JonBenet murder investigation, said "the case is too badly damaged," adding "critical evidence in the case has been lost." He doesn't expect the case to ever be solved.
Tips and information regularly come in to authorities. Whoever is handling the investigation is charged with checking them out and deciding whether they are worth pursuing, said Chief Garnett.
The Boulder Police Department has 24 investigators, four times as many as the District Attorney's Office.
JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation timeline (9News)
WARNING!!! GRAPHIC PHOTOS!
JonBenet Ramsey autopsy photos
CBS 4 Denver JonBenet Ramsey coverage
FOX 31 Denver
The Ramsom note - JonBenet Ramsey murder
The Life of JonBenet murder suspect John Mark Karr
site about John Mark Karr
Secret tapes of John Mark Karr
Memorial site for JonBenet
Just one day after being released from jail, John Mark Karr was reported to police for peering at little girls through school windows. Karr questioned by police
September Hall
New technology gives investigators tools they did not have 12 years ago.
The decision to re-open the case, announced Monday, came more than six years after a probe into the way the police handled the investigation.
With the support of newly elected Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said his agency is reactivating its Ramsey investigation and again taking the lead in efforts to solve the city's most infamous cold case.
Chief Beckner has invited veteran investigators from several state and federal law enforcement agencies to participate in an "advisory task force."
The task force will include representatives from the FBI, Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Colorado Attorney General's Office.
"We're bringing in people on this task force that are going to have a fresh perspective. They are going to look at this case, tell us what they think, challenge us, give us ideas."
The group is suppose to meet in the next few weeks to review the evidence and identify additional testing that might be done.
Chief Beckner said over 140 people had already been investigated as potential suspects, but none could be linked to the crime.
The FBI and state agencies offered their help to the Boulder police Dec. 27, 1996 and several times after, but the Boulder police would not accept.
Boulder police were forced to turn over the investigation to Boulder County District Mary Lacy in 2002 because of criticism that they bungled the initial investigation by ruining and loosing evidence.
The case is one of the nation's most famous unsolved murders.
JonBenet, a 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant and daughter of prominent wealthy Boulder couple John and Patsy Ramsey, was found bludgeoned and strangled to death in the basement of her Boulder home at 755 15th Street on Dec. 26, 1996.
A ransom note was found on the stairs of the home.
Early in the case, Boulder police said John and Patsey Ramsey were under suspicion in JonBenet's murder. But they were never formally named as suspects, and a grand jury refused to indict them.
Patsy Ramsey died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer.
There were no signs of forced entry into the house and no shoe prints were found around the house, indicating there was no intruder.
When the police arrived at the Ramsey home Dec. 26, 1996, they did not treat the home and surrounding area as a crime scene like they should have. Police trampled throughout the Ramsey house and around the outside destroying possible key evidence.
Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett's predecessor, Mary Lacy, last year cleared JonBenet's family in the murder, saying unidentified male DNA found on the girl's underwear and under her fingernails almost certainly came from her killer, and that it did not match anyone in the family.
In July 2008, Lacy issued a public apology for the suspicion surrounding the Ramsey family after the DNA test, which was performed using new technology.
The same third-party DNA exonerated John Mark Karr, a one-time teacher, after he was arrested in Thailand and brought to Colorado Aug. 17, 2006.
Authorities became aware of Karr concerning the Ramsey case via e-mails he exchanged over the course of four years with Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado. Karr told Tracey that he was involved in JonBenet's death.
Karr never identified himself in those e-mails. Police were able to locate and identified the individual sending the e-mails as Karr through phone calls he was lured into making to Tracey.
Karr was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 17, 2006, by Thailand authorities, then released to U.S. agents and flown to Los Angeles, California, then to Boulder, Colorado for further investigation.
Karr told reporters after his arrest that he was with JonBenet when she died. He said her death was an accident and that he loved her.
On Aug. 28, prosecutors decided not to pursue charges in connection with the JonBenet murder after DNA tests failed to place Karr at the crime scene.
Karr was held in Boulder until Sept. 12, 2006, when he was transported to Sonoma County, California to face unrelated misdemeanor child pornography charges.
Karr came to the attention of investigators in California in 2001, when they found he had a "fascination" with the murders of JonBenet and Polly Klaas.
Sonoma County sheriff's deputies seized a computer from Karr in April 2001 that contained child pornographic images. Karr was working as a substitute teacher in Sonoma and Napa counties at the time. Karr fled to Thailand.
The charges were dismissed against Karr by a California judge on Oct. 5, 2006 because police lost Karr's computer that held the child pornographic images, and Karr was immediately released.
Garnett was elected in November 2008 to replace Lacy, who could not run again because of term limits. Before Garnett was elected, he was a trial lawyer for 22 years.
Trip DeMuth, a former Boulder prosecutor who worked on the Ramsey case, said he doesn't believe Chief Beckner can handle the case without prejudice, and said that the case is unlikely to be solved unless the Boulder Police Department can approach it without baggage.
Denver private investigator Brian Blackwell who has been an outspoken critic of the JonBenet murder investigation, said "the case is too badly damaged," adding "critical evidence in the case has been lost." He doesn't expect the case to ever be solved.
Tips and information regularly come in to authorities. Whoever is handling the investigation is charged with checking them out and deciding whether they are worth pursuing, said Chief Garnett.
The Boulder Police Department has 24 investigators, four times as many as the District Attorney's Office.
JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation timeline (9News)
WARNING!!! GRAPHIC PHOTOS!
JonBenet Ramsey autopsy photos
CBS 4 Denver JonBenet Ramsey coverage
FOX 31 Denver
The Ramsom note - JonBenet Ramsey murder
The Life of JonBenet murder suspect John Mark Karr
site about John Mark Karr
Secret tapes of John Mark Karr
Memorial site for JonBenet
Just one day after being released from jail, John Mark Karr was reported to police for peering at little girls through school windows. Karr questioned by police
September Hall
Thursday, February 5, 2009
H.R. 45 Gun Control 2009
Current gun control being proposed in Congress
H.R. 45 Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 sponsored by U.S. Representative Bobby Rush (Democrat-Illinois), will mandate numerous gun control measures if passed.
The intent of the bill is that in order to possess a firearm (any firearm) and/or ammunition in the United States a citizen must apply for a license. If you currently have any firearms in your possession, you must obtain a license or turn it in otherwise you have committed a felony.
The bill calls for all gun owners to submit to the federal government a formal application including: photo identification, medical and mental health records, thumbprint, pay a fee up to $25.
All gun owners in the U.S. will be required to take and pass a psychological exam and a firearms safety course, including current gun owners.
The bill will require a license for handguns and semiautomatics, including those currently owned.
The license will be valid for 5 years. The license may be renewed after 5 years and may be revoked.
Private sales of firearms will be outlawed and reports of all firearm sales transactions will be required to be submitted to the U.S. Attorney General.
Gun owners will be required to report a change of address within 60 days and report a firearm loss or theft within 72 hours.
If a minor obtains a firearm, even if he steals it, and injures someone with it, the owner of the firearm could face a multiple-year jail sentence.
The criminal penalties for violations will be up to 10 years in prison.
SEC: 101. LICENSING REQUIREMENT.
Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
(aa) Firearm Licensing Requirement:
(1) IN GENERAL - It shall be unlawful for any person other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to possess a firearm on or after the application date, unless that person has been issued a firearm licensed by the U.S. Government.
(A) under title 1 of Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, which license has not been invalidated or revoked under that title; or
(B) pursuant to a state firearm licensing and record of sale system certified under section 602 of Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, which license has not been invalidated or revoked under state law.
September Hall
H.R. 45 Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 sponsored by U.S. Representative Bobby Rush (Democrat-Illinois), will mandate numerous gun control measures if passed.
The intent of the bill is that in order to possess a firearm (any firearm) and/or ammunition in the United States a citizen must apply for a license. If you currently have any firearms in your possession, you must obtain a license or turn it in otherwise you have committed a felony.
The bill calls for all gun owners to submit to the federal government a formal application including: photo identification, medical and mental health records, thumbprint, pay a fee up to $25.
All gun owners in the U.S. will be required to take and pass a psychological exam and a firearms safety course, including current gun owners.
The bill will require a license for handguns and semiautomatics, including those currently owned.
The license will be valid for 5 years. The license may be renewed after 5 years and may be revoked.
Private sales of firearms will be outlawed and reports of all firearm sales transactions will be required to be submitted to the U.S. Attorney General.
Gun owners will be required to report a change of address within 60 days and report a firearm loss or theft within 72 hours.
If a minor obtains a firearm, even if he steals it, and injures someone with it, the owner of the firearm could face a multiple-year jail sentence.
The criminal penalties for violations will be up to 10 years in prison.
SEC: 101. LICENSING REQUIREMENT.
Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
(aa) Firearm Licensing Requirement:
(1) IN GENERAL - It shall be unlawful for any person other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to possess a firearm on or after the application date, unless that person has been issued a firearm licensed by the U.S. Government.
(A) under title 1 of Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, which license has not been invalidated or revoked under that title; or
(B) pursuant to a state firearm licensing and record of sale system certified under section 602 of Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, which license has not been invalidated or revoked under state law.
September Hall
FBI reviewing evidence in Tylenol deaths
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, FBI agents Wednesday searched the apartment of James W. Lewis who was linked to the fatal 1982 Tylenol poisonings in Illinois.
The FBI in Chicago said authorities are reviewing evidence in the deaths, which caused a nationwide scare and led to dramatic changes in the way food and medical products are packaged.
No one was ever charged with the deaths of seven people who took Tylenol laced with cyanide.
Lewis served over 12 years in prison for sending an extortion letter to Johnson and Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the killing.
The FBI's Chicago office along with the Illinois State Police and local police are reviewing all evidence in the case using today's forensic technology.
Lewis, an out-of-work accountant, was arrested in December 1982 at a New York City library after a nationwide manhunt.
At the time, he gave investigators a detailed account of how the killer might have operated and described how someone could buy medicine, using a special method to add cyanide to the capsules and return them to store shelves.
Lewis admitted sending the letter and demanding money.
In a 1992 interview, Lewis explained that the account he gave authorities was his way of explaining the killer's actions.
"I was doing like I would have done for a corporate client, making a list of possible scenarios," said Lewis, who maintained his innocence.
Lewis also served two years of a 10-year sentence for tax fraud.
In 1978, he was charged in Kansas City with the dismemberment murder of Raymond West, 72, who had hired Lewis as an accountant.
The charges were dismissed because West's cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained by police.
In 2004, Lewis was charged with rape, kidnapping and other offenses for an attack on a woman in Cambridge, Mass.
He was jailed for three years while awaiting trial, but prosecutors dismissed the charges on the day his trial was to begin after the victim refused to testify.
In 2007, Lewis being interviewed on a local-access television show, "The Canbridge Rag," asserted his innocence in the Tylenol and West cases.
Lewis moved to the Boston area after being released from prison in 1995.
Lewis is listed as a partner in a Web design and programming company called CyberLewis.
On its Web site, which lists the location searched Wednesday as the company's address, there is a tab labeled "Tylenol" with a written message and audio link in which a voice refers to himself as "Tylenol Man."
The Tylenol deaths in 1982 occurred over three days. Johnson and Johnson had its sales force remove 264,000 Tylenol bottles from Chicago-area stores, and consumers were urged to exchange any Tylenol they had for a safe bottle.
The poisoning led to the introduction of tamperproof packaging that is now standard.
Bottles of the pain reliever were triple-sealed and warnings against taking capsules from damaged packages prominently displayed.
Johnson and Johnson also sealed the bottle caps to the neck with a tight, plastic band and stretched a tough foil membrane over the bottle's mouth.
In 2007, 25 years after the deaths, survivors of the victims say they remain haunted by what happened and frustrated that no one was convicted.
Lewis' company: cyberlewis.com
D. Brian Blackwell
BrianBlackwell.com
Investigator Brian Blackwell on MySpace
Brian Blackwell on Facebook
Brian Blackwell on Twitter
Brian Blackwell's Ziggs page
The FBI in Chicago said authorities are reviewing evidence in the deaths, which caused a nationwide scare and led to dramatic changes in the way food and medical products are packaged.
No one was ever charged with the deaths of seven people who took Tylenol laced with cyanide.
Lewis served over 12 years in prison for sending an extortion letter to Johnson and Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the killing.
The FBI's Chicago office along with the Illinois State Police and local police are reviewing all evidence in the case using today's forensic technology.
Lewis, an out-of-work accountant, was arrested in December 1982 at a New York City library after a nationwide manhunt.
At the time, he gave investigators a detailed account of how the killer might have operated and described how someone could buy medicine, using a special method to add cyanide to the capsules and return them to store shelves.
Lewis admitted sending the letter and demanding money.
In a 1992 interview, Lewis explained that the account he gave authorities was his way of explaining the killer's actions.
"I was doing like I would have done for a corporate client, making a list of possible scenarios," said Lewis, who maintained his innocence.
Lewis also served two years of a 10-year sentence for tax fraud.
In 1978, he was charged in Kansas City with the dismemberment murder of Raymond West, 72, who had hired Lewis as an accountant.
The charges were dismissed because West's cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained by police.
In 2004, Lewis was charged with rape, kidnapping and other offenses for an attack on a woman in Cambridge, Mass.
He was jailed for three years while awaiting trial, but prosecutors dismissed the charges on the day his trial was to begin after the victim refused to testify.
In 2007, Lewis being interviewed on a local-access television show, "The Canbridge Rag," asserted his innocence in the Tylenol and West cases.
Lewis moved to the Boston area after being released from prison in 1995.
Lewis is listed as a partner in a Web design and programming company called CyberLewis.
On its Web site, which lists the location searched Wednesday as the company's address, there is a tab labeled "Tylenol" with a written message and audio link in which a voice refers to himself as "Tylenol Man."
The Tylenol deaths in 1982 occurred over three days. Johnson and Johnson had its sales force remove 264,000 Tylenol bottles from Chicago-area stores, and consumers were urged to exchange any Tylenol they had for a safe bottle.
The poisoning led to the introduction of tamperproof packaging that is now standard.
Bottles of the pain reliever were triple-sealed and warnings against taking capsules from damaged packages prominently displayed.
Johnson and Johnson also sealed the bottle caps to the neck with a tight, plastic band and stretched a tough foil membrane over the bottle's mouth.
In 2007, 25 years after the deaths, survivors of the victims say they remain haunted by what happened and frustrated that no one was convicted.
Lewis' company: cyberlewis.com
D. Brian Blackwell
BrianBlackwell.com
Investigator Brian Blackwell on MySpace
Brian Blackwell on Facebook
Brian Blackwell on Twitter
Brian Blackwell's Ziggs page
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
90,000 sex offenders found on MySpace
A Connecticut subpoena for the membership rolls of the MySpace social networking site has turned up 90,000 convicted registered sex offenders, nearly twice as many as the company had previously acknowledged.
The announcement was made Tuesday by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, co-chairmen of the state attorneys general task force on social networking that found 50,000 convicted registered sex offenders using MySpace in 2008.
Facebook also has been subpoenaed. MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
The announcement was made Tuesday by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, co-chairmen of the state attorneys general task force on social networking that found 50,000 convicted registered sex offenders using MySpace in 2008.
Facebook also has been subpoenaed. MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
Again! No jail for teen assault by gay teacher
Again, a homosexual teacher didn't get prison time for sexually assaulting one of his students.
The latest case involves Gary Hoff, a 44-year-old former choir instructor at the Parkview School District in Orfordville, Wisconsin.
Rock County Judge Alan Bates sentenced Hoff to three years probation after he pleaded no contest to one count of disorderly conduct and misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy, who now is 17.
Bates also ordered Hoff to pay a $1,000 fine, serve 30 hours of community service and have no contact with the victim.
Hoff also had to surrender his teaching license and participate in counseling and treatment required by his probation officer.
Another sexual assault victim of Hoff, former student Jeb McMahon, now 27, was hoping Bates would be tougher when it came to Hoff's sentence.
McMahon was assaulted by Hoff in 1991 when he was 15. Hoff was not prosecuted.
Hoff was charged in a November 2004 incident in which he picked up a 17-year-old at the boy's home for a planned "boy's night out." Hoff did not serve any jail time.
Hoff's avoidance of jail time came the same week another homosexual teacher in Massachusetts avoided incarceration despite raping a teenage boy.
Gregory Pathiakis, 26, of Brockton, Mass., was given a mere five years probation after pleading guilty to one count of rape of a child, enticement of a child under 16, five counts of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of harmful material to a child.
The jurist handling Pathiakis' case, Judge Suzanne Delvecchio, was honored in 2000 as the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Bar Association's annual dinner.
Read more about these vile pieces of crap and related cases
D. Brian Blackwell
The latest case involves Gary Hoff, a 44-year-old former choir instructor at the Parkview School District in Orfordville, Wisconsin.
Rock County Judge Alan Bates sentenced Hoff to three years probation after he pleaded no contest to one count of disorderly conduct and misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy, who now is 17.
Bates also ordered Hoff to pay a $1,000 fine, serve 30 hours of community service and have no contact with the victim.
Hoff also had to surrender his teaching license and participate in counseling and treatment required by his probation officer.
Another sexual assault victim of Hoff, former student Jeb McMahon, now 27, was hoping Bates would be tougher when it came to Hoff's sentence.
McMahon was assaulted by Hoff in 1991 when he was 15. Hoff was not prosecuted.
Hoff was charged in a November 2004 incident in which he picked up a 17-year-old at the boy's home for a planned "boy's night out." Hoff did not serve any jail time.
Hoff's avoidance of jail time came the same week another homosexual teacher in Massachusetts avoided incarceration despite raping a teenage boy.
Gregory Pathiakis, 26, of Brockton, Mass., was given a mere five years probation after pleading guilty to one count of rape of a child, enticement of a child under 16, five counts of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of harmful material to a child.
The jurist handling Pathiakis' case, Judge Suzanne Delvecchio, was honored in 2000 as the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Bar Association's annual dinner.
Read more about these vile pieces of crap and related cases
D. Brian Blackwell
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Robert Stinson released from prison after 23 years, conviction overturned
Robert Lee Stinson, 44, of Milwaukee, sentenced to life for killing a woman in 1984, had his conviction overturned and was released Friday after spending 23 years behind bars.
Stinson still faces a charge of first-degree homicide, according to the Wisconsin Innocence Project, a group of University of Wisconsin-Madison law students and professors who work to right wrongful convictions.
A judge vacated Stinson's sentence after the Project argued that bite-mark analysis and DNA evidence did not match evidence from the crime scene.
Stinson isn't out of trouble yet. He was released from prison on a personal recognizance bond and a status hearing is set for July 27.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney has six months to decide whether to retry Stinson.
District Attorney John Chisholm said in a statement that Stinson was convicted based on "state-of-the-art scientific evidence available at the time of his trial." MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
Stinson still faces a charge of first-degree homicide, according to the Wisconsin Innocence Project, a group of University of Wisconsin-Madison law students and professors who work to right wrongful convictions.
A judge vacated Stinson's sentence after the Project argued that bite-mark analysis and DNA evidence did not match evidence from the crime scene.
Stinson isn't out of trouble yet. He was released from prison on a personal recognizance bond and a status hearing is set for July 27.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney has six months to decide whether to retry Stinson.
District Attorney John Chisholm said in a statement that Stinson was convicted based on "state-of-the-art scientific evidence available at the time of his trial." MORE
D. Brian Blackwell
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