A former Joint Chiefs of Staff official pleaded guilty this week to releasing top secret information and making false statements related to the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. The guilty plea was entered in Washington DC. The announcement from the Justice Department involved retired General James E. Cartwright, 67, from Gainesville VA. The announcement was… Read More »
A key Republican that heads the House Judiciary Committee wants a federal bribery probe after new documents published by the FBI featured claims that a top official in the State Department wanted a ‘quid pro quo’ with the FBI so they would downgrade the classifications of emails that were found on a Hillary Clinton server.… Read More »
Carl Ferrer, who is the CEO of the classified ad website Backpage.com, was placed under arrest in Texas this week at the airport in Houston. Ferrer is currently being investigated by Congress for his website’s alleged role in sex trafficking of both children and adults. He also had a warrant out for his arrest in… Read More »
Tim Duncan’s ex-financial advisor has been indicted for wire fraud. The San Antonio Spurs sports star who retired last month had sued his former financial advisor Charles Banks in 2015. He alleged that banks had mishandled at least $20 million of his investments. The lawsuit stated that Banks encouraged Duncan to invest in hotels, wineries… Read More »
A teenager in Oregon is getting ready to head off to college like many young Americans, but hanging over his head is a huge problem: a federal drug charge. The Department of Justice has charged Devontre Thomas with the federal crime of possessing a gram of marijuana. While this is a misdemeanor, it still is… Read More »
Richard Silverthorne is the mayor of Fairfax VA by day, and a substitute teacher in Fairfax County VA public schools. But if federal agents are right, Silverthorne allegedly has another job: meth dealer. Silverthorne was arrested by federal agents this week and charged with felony distribution of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, Fairfax… Read More »
CNN reported last week that reports from two agencies in Michigan in July 2015 were altered or buried to cover up the lead water contamination problem in Flint, Michigan. State Attorney General Bill Schuette stated in a press conference that six current and former state employees were charged with federal crimes in a criminal investigation… Read More »
Last week US District Court Judge Lynn Hughes handed down a 46 month prison sentence to former Major League Baseball St. Louis Cardinals director of scouting Christopher Correa for illegally hacking into the scouting records of the Houston Astros. He also must pay $279,000 in restitution. According to court documents, Correa’s federal crimes took place… Read More »
A new report from the University of New Hampshire Crimes Against Children Research Center and the nonprofit Thorn reported this week that ‘sextortion’ is becoming increasingly common, where perpetrators use personal images and information to extort victims into providing sexually explicit videos or photos. One example: A perpetrator was video chatting with a victim, and… Read More »
The most recent chapter in the government’s National Health Care Fraud Takedown has netted 301 defendants, including 61 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals. Taken together, these medical professionals and health care companies schemed to submit a total of $900 million in phony billing to the Medicare program. Since 2010, the federal government has arrested… Read More »
According to FBI Director, Hillary Clinton did everything that is required for a felony violation for Section 793(f) of the federal penal code (Title 18). Clinton had complete and lawful access to sensitive and highly classified information, and she nevertheless acted with negligence in removing it from where it belonged. She then transmitted it and… Read More »
The producers of the film Broken City have been accused of racketeering and defrauding investors out of millions, according to a civil lawsuit filed in LA County Superior Court. Nemesis Finance has filed a lawsuit against Randall Emmett/George Furla Productions and also both of them as individuals for breach of contract, fraud and violating the… Read More »
US Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) was convicted this week on bribery and federal racketeering charges. This puts an ugly stamp on the long career of one of the longest serving members of Congress. In all likelihood, he will end up doing prison time. However at this time, Fattah, who is 59, has not stated if… Read More »
Police executed 11 search warrants and arrested 10 people as a part of a large federal drug investigation in southern Ontario that was called ‘Project Skyway.’ Halton, Ontario regional police, who worked closely with Hamilton, Waterloo and Niagara police forces in southern Canada and New York state, think they were able to disrupt a large… Read More »
As the country is transitioning to credit cards with chips embedded in them to reduce fraud, criminals are taking notice and are making illegal hay while they still can. Counterfeit-card fraud will increase actually to $4.5 billion in 2016 which is up a huge 12% from last year, as credit card crooks are ramping up… Read More »
After more than two years of federal investigation, a former school district superintendent and school board president in St. Joseph MO will soon be charged with a federal crime involving inflating his salary and retirement benefits. Former St. Joseph School District Superintendent Dan Colgan has two court dates this week in Kansas City federal court.… Read More »
Federal agents last week seized nearly $2 million cash and property from a former college baseball player, who pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. Most of the cash that was seized was buried on his family farm. U.S. District Judge Terry L. Wooten accepted guilty pleas from Bradley Lewis Felder, 27, and Everette “Rhett” Carter… Read More »
The law enforcement community in New York is certain that Nicholas Santora is a member of the Bonanno crime family and has been for decades. Santora first was convicted under federal racketeering charges in the 1980s when an investigation into his family activities was started. This was partially portrayed in the movie Donnie Brasco in… Read More »
A Maryland man who has been elected as a delegate for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has been charged with possession and creation of child pornography, as well as possession of an illegal firearm and explosives. This week a federal grand jury indicted Caleb Bailey after an extensive investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol,… Read More »
The former FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg allegedly used the agency to run a huge conspiracy of fraud and racketeering to generate millions of dollars in illegal drug company profits for her husband’s hedge fund company, according to a lawsuit filed in Washington, DC last week. The federal lawsuit alleges that when she was the FDA… Read More »
Scientists and water quality managers who worked for the Michigan state government have been charged with felony crimes for allegedly conspiring to poison the Flint, MI water supply with lead. The felony charges include misconduct in office and conspiracy related to tampering with evidence. The Detroit Free Press reported that three employees of the state… Read More »
A former Jamaican beauty queen and JetBlue flight attendant has been charged with a federal narcotics trafficking charge after trying to bring almost 70 pounds of cocaine through a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport. Marsha Reynolds, 31, who is a Jamaican-born US citizen, was arrested last week at John F. Kennedy International Airport… Read More »
A grand jury in Harris County TX that was investigating an undercover video of Planned Parenthood found that the organization had done nothing wrong. Instead, the grand jury in Houston decided to indict two anti-abortion activists who made the video. The grand jury looked at the case where it was alleged that Planned Parenthood in… Read More »
US Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) continues to fight the federal corruption charges that have been hanging over him since last year. Menendez and Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen each face several bribery counts each, stemming from two donations of $20,000 that Melgen made to a legal defense fund that served to benefit Menendez. In January,… Read More »
US District Judge Tanya Pratt sentenced Jared Fogle, the famous former Subway spokesman, to 15 years in federal prison, after he pleaded guilty to a single count each of traveling to conduct illegal sexual conduct with a minor, and distribution/receipt of child pornography. Fogle agreed to a plea deal last summer after federal agents raided… Read More »
A former Baltimore MD bishop, Heather Cook, was sentenced last week to seven years in state prison for texting and driving drunk, which led to the death of a cyclist in a park. Cook was led out of court last Tuesday night in handcuffs, having been sentenced to 13 years with six years suspended. In… Read More »
US prosecutors announced today that criminal charges are pending against three men who ran a hacking and fraud scheme. This included a 2014 attack against JP Morgan Chase and Co. that led to hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits. It also led to a major public relations debacle for JP Morgan that it… Read More »
The former governor of the US Virgin Islands was arrested in late August for embezzling public funds, according to the acting attorney general of Jamaica. General Claude Walker announced the arrest of former Governor John de Jongh. He has been accused by the US government of using $490,000 of US taxpayer money to pay for… Read More »
The SEC this week announced it was charging 32 defendants with securities fraud for enacting an intricate scheme that stole nonpublic information about corporate earnings announcements. The charged men included two Ukrainian men based in the US. They allegedly hacked into news release services to obtain the nonpublic earnings information. Thirty others outside the US… Read More »
A federal grand jury this week indicted Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) with federal charges that related to the senator allegedly trading political assistance for various benefits from a Florida ophthalmologist. That eye doctor – Salomon Melgen – is alleged to have given campaign cash, airplane rides and other gifts to Menendez, who is the senior Democrat… Read More »
An Eagle, Idaho physician who was forced to stop practicing in the summer has agreed to plead guilty to three federal drug charges. However, he changed his mind after two weeks and now is saying he is innocent. After that, federal prosecutors returned to the federal grand jury with 95 more drug charge allegations that… Read More »
More than 1000 federal law enforcement officers descended on the Fashion District in Los Angeles last week to enact dozens of search and arrest warrants linked to multiple businesses using Black Market Peso Exchange schemes to do money laundering of money gotten from narcotics sales for international drug cartels. Federal authorities arrested nine defendants and… Read More »
A 34 year old man was charged with shooting and wounding an off duty Baltimore policeman was indicted on federal charges on gun and drug charges. Gregg Thomas was arrested in the spring and was accused of shooting Keith Mcneill outside a car parts store in Baltimore. At that time, Thomas’ brother Lamont also was… Read More »
A Florida mom fled town with her daughter instead of letting anyone ‘vaccinate and brainwash’ her daughter, who is 2. Megan Everett is 22 and is wanted on federal kidnapping charges after she fled Sunrise FL with her daughter Lilly. She left a note behind that authorities said was very troubling. Everett wrote that if… Read More »
Federal bank robbery charges have been filed this week against a man in Zionsville, Indiana, who police say robbed at least five banks in the state, including one in Poland IN in 2012. Alan McCormick, 46, has been indicted by a grand jury on five counts of armed bank robbery. If he is convicted, he could receive… Read More »
A tree trimmer in San Francisco is facing federal criminal charges for injuring several baby night herons as he was pruning trees outside a post office in Oakland, CA. AGents with the US Fish and Wildlife Service wrapped up their investigation last week, and are sending the case to the office of the US attorney.… Read More »
In Las Vegas, Andrew Duncan is a federal prosecutor who looks just like a prosecutor that you might see on a crime show on tv. He noted on the opening day of a trial of an alleged cybercriminal this week that TV always has shown organized crime people in a certain fashion. Usually, it’s thicknecked… Read More »
James ‘Whitey’ Bulger was sentenced last Thursday to life in prison by a federal judge, who told the mobster that the scope and depravity of his crimes was hard to fathom. The life sentence was the end of a trial that provided many details of a decades long life of crime by the big crime… Read More »
As far as drug dealers are concerned, Lori Newhouse is a small timer. She is a high school drop out from a small town in Iowa. She has three sons and has low paying work as a telemarketer. But she also has a methamphetamine habit. In 2011, she purchased some cold tablets that are used… Read More »
A man in Mississippi who is fighting off a 60 year federal prison sentence for making and producing porn that featured a five year old boy has argued that his prison term is unfair. He said last week that he cooperated with federal authorities and helped to break up the child porn ring in Wisconsin… Read More »
A man from Laguna Niguel CA surrendered to police last week on a warrant of $17 million for his part in an alleged Ponzi scheme that took in $150 million, which is the largest ever prosecuted in Orange County, California. The scam involved about 80 investors in Orange County who invested at least $21 million… Read More »