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Posted in Criminal Defense Articles
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Jury selection begins Tuesday in ex-Winn sheriff’s federal drug trial
Former Winn Parish Sheriff A.D. “Bodie” Little goes on trial this week on federal drug charges, with jury selection scheduled to begin Tuesday in Shreveport.
Little was arrested last August at his Winnfield home after he and 10 other people were indicted by a federal grand jury of charges related to the organized distribution of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine in the Winn Parish and Shreveport areas, authorities said.
All of the defendants except Little have reached plea deals and have agreed to testify if needed against Little, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Among other allegations, Little is accused of facilitating drug deals for his mistress, “Lulu” Thompson.
A federal magistrate has said Little’s actions to cover for Thompson “potentially put law enforcement at risk.”
A State Police trooper has said the investigation of Little grew out of an investigation into street-level drug dealers in Winn Parish.
Thompson was identified as being involved in a drug-dealing conspiracy, but undercover agents couldn’t make a case against her and believed she was being tipped off, the trooper said. In a series of meetings with undercover agents, Thompson admitted to an “ongoing sexual relationship” with Little.
She used her connection with Little to check vehicle registrations and drivers’ licenses of the undercover agents, all of whom had fictitious backgrounds as their cover, authorities said. Contact between Thompson and Little was confirmed by text messages and recorded telephone conversations.
State Police officials verified that Little used the state computer at the Sheriff’s Office to do background checks for Thompson, the trooper said.
Thompson was arrested last June after completing a drug deal at the Horseshoe Casino in Shreveport. She has cooperated in the investigation.
Not long after the federal indictments, a Winn Parish grand jury indicted Little on charges of malfeasance in office, abuse of office and perjury.
Also, Little’s bond was revoked for allegedly violating a term of his release while he was still in jail. Little was in his first term as Winn Parish sheriff, having previously served as Winn Parish assessor.
Cranford Jordan was elected Winn Parish sheriff in a November runoff, but he won’t take office until July 1. Brenda Usrey is serving as acting sheriff.
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Senate panel OKs local government employees to keep guns in cars at work
RICHMOND – Employees would be able to keep guns in the vehicles in the parking lots of local government buildings as long as they are locked up under a measure passed Monday by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee.
The bill sponsored by Del. Brenda Pogge, R-James City County, was moved to the Senate floor on a 9-6 party line vote. The proposal passed the full House of Delegates earlier this month.
Schools, jails, juvenile detention are exempted from the measure, which prohibits localities from barring employees keeping firearms in a locked container in their vehicles in publicly-owned parking lots.
The Senate committee added a provision that would also exempt colleges and universities from the proposal, but Pogge said that was unnecessary because the bill applies to local governments not state agencies.
Pogge said because municipalities can bar employees from bringing firearms into local government buildings, the measure is designed to allow them to practice their Second Amendment rights before and after work.
“After work if (local public employees) want to go to a restaurant or to somewhere else where they want to carry a concealed weapon – which they can do within the law – this would give them that ability,” Pogge said. “This would allow them to enjoy their Second Amendment rights after work and before work.”
Measures designed to allow concealed weapons on college campuses have failed to make it out of House or Senate committees this session.
Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who voted against reporting the measure, said she is worried about disgruntled local government employees having access to a firearm so close to their workplace.
“It just doesn’t make sense to me,” Lucas said. “How many times have we read in the press that somebody’s gone postal – gone to their car, gotten a gun, go back inside and shoot up their colleagues, bosses and stuff like that? I think the farther you have a person away from a gun when their emotions are running high the safer people are going to be.”
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The 7 Most Baffling Criminal Defenses (That Sort of Worked)
Here are seven of the most bizarre criminal defenses ever mounted in court… some of which are made even more bizarre by the fact that they actually got off.
#7.
The Matrix Defense
The Crime:
In July of 2002, Tonda Lynn Ansley of Hamilton, Ohio shot her landlady in the head. This is generally fatal.
The Defense:
Ansley told police, “They commit a lot of crimes in The Matrix.” Following her lead, Ansley’s attorney reasoned that the “our world is just an illusion generated by our machine overlords” argument was bulletproof and used it as the cornerstone of an insanity defense. They claimed that Ansley thought her landlady was part of a scheme to “brainwash and murder” her while in reality everyone was presumably living in pods of red goo.
Did it Work?
All too well. Ansley’s defense was able to prove that she believed she was inside a computer simulation, and as such felt she was entitled to waste anyone around her that could possibly prove a threat. A jury of her peers found her not guilty by reason of mental defect.
On the surface this case seems to echo John Hinckley’s famous “Taxi Driver Defense,” but there are a few subtle differences we would like to point out: Hinckley claimed he tried to kill President Reagan to impress Jodie Foster by emulating the character of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Tonda Lynn Ansley, on the other hand, shot her landlady in the face because she saw Keanu Reeves jump over buildings and stop bullets with his mind in The Matrix. We feel Ansley went the extra mile.
Note that this defense was so successful that it was used a year later by Vadim Mieseges of San Francisco for, you guessed it, murdering his landlady. Legislation to rename “The Matrix Defense” to the “Kill Your Landlady, Everyone’s Doing It, Defense” is still pending.
#6.
Homicidal Somnambulism a.k.a. the Sleepwalking Defense
The Crime:
On May 23, 1987, Kenneth Parks drove 14 miles to his in-laws’ house and brutally attacked them, fatally stabbing his mother-in-law. He then hopped back in the car and took himself to the police station to surrender, telling them “I think I may have killed some people,” which is just the sort of thing you want to be uncertain about when surrounded by cops.
The Defense:
Parks claimed he had no recollection of any of the events of the night in question, and could only remember waking up in police custody. His defense counsel proposed that he had committed the murder while sleepwalking and therefore could not be held responsible for his actions (Parks had evidently been dreaming about his mother-in-law blowing a huge lead on Family Feud).
The sleepwalking defense is normally used to escape blame for things like pissing in the sink, so prosecutors found it a little far fetched, a phrase which here means “That’s seriously the best he could come up with?”
Did it Work?
Not to take Parks at his word, doctors and detectives ran an Electroencephalography (EEG) scan to check his story. For those of you unfamiliar with an EEG scan, it consists of attaching multiple electrodes to the head and measuring neuron firing activity in the brain. It also resembles anime tentacle brain rape.
The results of the EEG showed that in fact Parks had abnormal brain activity indicative of extreme parasomnia, a dissociative sleep disorder that can lead to anything from night terrors to night stabbings.
Given these results, Parks’s unwavering testimony and no discernible motive for the crime, Parks was acquitted of murder and never invited to spend the night at anyone’s house ever again.
#5.
Trans(gender) Panic Defense
The Crime:
On October 4, 2002, a transsexual woman named Gwen Araujo was tortured and murdered by three men who had sex with her, while somehow unaware of her biological orientation (either her male genitalia had been disguised by a Romulan cloaking device or her attackers weren’t the brightest bulbs in the chandelier–evidence supports the latter).
The Defense:
The defendants claimed they were enraged to insanity when they realized that Araujo had man parts. Whereas most people would’ve had a couple more drinks and a hot shower, these gentlemen decided the most appropriate reaction would be a brutal murder by way of shovels and pickaxes. Apparently there is no greater trauma than a blowjob from a transsexual (an experienceCracked writers refer to as “Wednesday”).
Her name is Stanley.
Did it Work?
Yes and no. The first trial resulted in a hung jury, essentially indicating that a room of 12 people couldn’t decide whether killing someone for having weird genitals was wrong.
In the second trial, the defense attorney realized that none of the jurors were drooling into cups or wearing special “indoor helmets” and abandoned the Trans Panic Defense in favor of a more reasoned, less retarded approach. This probably seemed like less of a good idea when the murderers were quickly found guilty.
#4.
The Idiot Defense
The Crime:
Richard M. Scrushy, the founder of healthcare service provider HealthSouth, was charged with violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, which in essence punishes corporations for routinely dicking over their investors a la Enron. Five of HealthSouth’s Chief Financial Officers pled guilty to fraud charges, and in turn pointed the finger at Scrushy as the ringleader of the firm’s unethical douchebaggery.
Also: Weird, right?
The Defense:
Scrushy’s lawyers claimed he was completely ignorant of any wrongdoing, arguing that as head of a major corporation, his attention was diverted from trivial matters (accounts, shareholders, human resources, white collar crime) so that he could be free to focus on the more important aspects of high-level management (golfing, sleeping on huge piles of money).
So they essentially had Scrushy walk into the courtroom like Ricky Ricardo, throw up his hands and exclaim, “WHAT HAPPENED?” as if he had just come home from the Babalu show to find that Lucy had zanily embezzled millions of dollars from company shareholders.
“Lucy, you got some ‘splainin’ to- IS THAT EIGHT MILLION FUCKING DOLLARS??”
Did it Work?
Scrushy was found not guilty on the grounds that no one could prove he was aware of the skullduggery going on in his own company, demonstrating once again that race, religion, age and sexual orientation aren’t relevant in deciding a person’s guilt or innocence so long as they’re willing to act like a complete fucking moron in open court.
That wasn’t enough to fool a later judge, however, when a lot of the screwed shareholders sued Scrushy and won $2.9 billion, a sum Scrushy said he would be happy to pay because, “I have a lot of extra money, from all that fraud.”
#3.
Irresistible Impulse, a.k.a. I Just Couldn’t Help Myself, Damnit
The Crime:
If you watched even one minute of late night talk show monologues in the 90s, then you know this story well.
On June 23, 1993, John Bobbitt came home after an evening of heavy drinking and decided that assaulting his wife Lorena would be the perfect nightcap (he was later acquitted of the charge, but we’re guessing if your wife refers to a sexual encounter as “rape,” it was neither welcomed nor appreciated). Once he was passed out in an alcoholic stupor, Lorena went to the kitchen and grabbed a carving knife. She then returned to the bedroom to perform an amateur penectomy on her sleeping husband, presumably after shouting “IT’S COCKSLICING TIME!” like The Thing.
Here is a picture of The Thing, because the alternative is a picture of dick-chopping.
The Defense:
Lorena’s lawyer claimed that she removed her husband’s penis due to “an irresistible impulse to sexually wound” him after years of domestic abuse. For those of you less familiar with the English language, “irresistible impulse” is basically an academic way of saying “I couldn’t control myself” or “that dick was ASKING to get chopped.”
Shut up. There’s nothing funny about cutting someone’s dick off.
Numerous cross-examinations of John Bobbitt did little to suggest he hadn’t deserved what happened, though we imagine if his dick had been called to the stand it would have delivered a powerful testimony.
Did it Work?
In a verdict that sent shivers down the spines of drunken shitbags everywhere, Lorena was found not guilty. On one hand it’s hard not to sympathize with the battered wife. On the other, it seems like every crazy thing you’ve done in your life could be written off as “irresistible impulse.” We think this will be renamed the “I NEEDED to (punch that douchebag, steal those Cheetos, masturbate on the subway) Defense” in the near future. Possibly on our way home from work.
#2.
Black Rage
The Crime:
Colin Ferguson boarded a train in Long Island on December 7, 1993, wholly dissatisfied with the level of service being provided. Unable to locate any comment cards, he chose to vent his frustration by pulling a gun and shooting 25 people, killing six. He was eventually overpowered by three passengers on the train and turned over the police.
The Defense:
Ferguson’s lawyers put together a defense based on “black rage,” following the rule that the best criminal defenses all share titles with 70s era blaxploitation movies. Ferguson’s defense argued that he was driven temporarily insane with black rage as a result of living in a white-dominated society, and as such could not be held criminally liable for his actions.
Did it Work?
We may never know. Ferguson’s high priced team of attorneys had prepared their opening remarks, claiming in several interviews that it would be a landmark case for race relations in the United States. Fortunately for race relations, Ferguson fired all his lawyers at the last second and chose to defend himself.
Rage- BLACK
Ferguson, being crazy, came up with the even more landmark defense of alleging a computer chip had been implanted in his brain and requesting President Bill Clinton be called to the witness stand. He was unsurprisingly convicted on six counts of murder and 19 counts of attempted murder, and was sentenced 315 years to life in prison. Dude should have just said he was pissed off.
#1.
The Evil Twin a.k.a. the Mirror, Mirror Defense
The Crime:
Mr. Raj (a name which undoubtedly fills its bearer with the insatiable urge to kill James Bond) was a 27-year-old Malaysian entrepreneur of sorts, working as a transport logistics manager moving a fiercely demanded product with a massive profit margin. In other words, he was a drug trafficker.
As all good things must come to an end, he was arrested and charged with transporting 166 kilos of cannabis and 1.7 kilos of raw opium in 2003. And while many parts of the world are coming around to the ideal of legalizing marijuana completely, the penalty for trafficking the stuff in Malaysia is death by hanging.
The Defense:
It appeared to be a slam dunk for the prosecution. Mr. Raj had been caught in the act and the powerful case against him included DNA, widely regarded as the Michael Jordan of physical evidence. The only problem was that there were two Mr. Rajs.
You see, R. Sathis Raj and Sabarish Raj were identical twins, and they decided to Parent Trap that shit. When questioned as to “Who dunnit?” each man pointed the finger at the other, blurring the line between good Raj and evil Raj. Malaysian prosecutors were baffled, presumably because neither Raj had a goatee.
Did it Work?
Here’s the bitch about identical twins. Even if you caught one of them in the act, all you have to do is leave them alone in a room together for 30 seconds and you don’t know who’s who. Ultimately, both men were set free as neither the prosecutor nor the judge and jury could figure out which one was guilty. They couldn’t even be certain which twin was arrested at the scene of the crime.
Thus they gave the brothers a new lease on life and one of the best bar stories ever told.
Posted in Defense Acquittal
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Shocked over and over: Taser uses, policies skirt guidelines
Many police officers agree to being shocked with a stun gun in order to understand what suspects endure. In this 2004 photo, Town of Fishkill police officer Bernardo Scalamandre reacts in pain as other officers assist. He recovered in a few moments. / SPENCER AINSLEY/POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL
The photo shows a Taser with its cartridge removed for use in the “drive-stun” mode, when it is held directly to a person’s body. Federal guidelines advise police to avoid the practice, which was used 65 times locally, according to a Poughkeepsie Journal study. / DARRYL BAUTISTA/POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
The Poughkeepsie Journal used the Freedom of Information Law to obtain more than 700 use-of-force reports from 19 police agencies in Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia, Putnam and Orange counties. The reports, dating mostly from 2006 to about mid-2011 and including 467 stun-gun uses, were transcribed into a database for analysis. The Journal used Microsoft Excel and Access to analyze the data.
Assisting in this report were Journal interns Megan McGregor, Mary Huber, Samantha McNaughton, Maheen Bajwa, Maria Gabriela Ayala, Jackie Rountree and Michael LaPick and investigative assistant Vinayak Balasubramanian.
ON THE WEB
Go to www.poughkeepsiejournal.com for a searchable database of incidents by agency, to see a video and read police reports of local stun-gun incidents and related material.
The 17-year-old was drunk, violent and wielding a knife. When told to drop it or be shot with a stun gun, the young man dared the police officer, in explicit terms, “F— you, tase me!” The officer did, the police report says, shooting barbed darts into the teen’s chest that sent the knife and the young man clattering to the floor.
The incident, in March 2011, had all the elements of a justified use of a stun gun: an armed and violent subject who posed a danger to himself and the Town of East Fishkill police officer. But it occurred two years after the weapon manufacturer warned police not to aim for the chest to “avoid the remote potential risk of cardiac effect.” And it was after a 17-year-old in North Carolina died of cardiac arrest after being shocked in the chest.
Hitting the chest with a stun gun is sometimes unavoidable in the fast-paced world of law enforcement. But in the Dutchess County case, the teen was shocked again after he pulled at the copper wires between the so-called Taser and the darts in his chest when ordered to put his hands behind his back, the police report says. Fortunately, he was uninjured.
The incident is one of many that show police using the devices in ways that deviate from guidelines issued by the manufacturer and government agencies, according to a Poughkeepsie Journal computer-assisted analysis of 467 stun-gun reports from 19 local police forces.
Among the Journal’s findings:
Nearly 60 people were shocked in the chest, half of them after the 2009 warning. That is more than a fifth of reports in which the body part shocked was reported.
In 47 cases, subjects were shocked three or four times; nine more were hit “several” times. Government reports have concluded that multiple or prolonged stun-gun shots pose the highest risk of death; two men have died locally after being shocked with Tasers.
Local police used the device in the “pain-compliance,” or “drive stun,” mode alone at least 65 times. Guidelines by the U.S. Department of Justice — which has deemed stun-gun risk “acceptable” — advise agencies to “avoid” the practice as ineffective and potentially incendiary.
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To Legalize Or Not To Legalize? That Is The Question By John R. Holtz
As he noted the tranquility of the Netherlands, he desperately wants to take away from “narco trafficantes” the profit motive and seeks to capitalize on potential government income in the form of taxes. Most importantly, this heavily populated nation is looking to reduce crime which permeates every neighborhood, be it wealthy or poor.
With warnings and vivid descriptions of crime in Guatemala , the United Kingdom in one of its many publications says, “Guatemala has one of the highest violent crime rates in Latin America with around 40 murders a week in Guatemala City alone and a total of 98 per week in the whole country.”
El Salvador, after 12 years of a very bloody war also comes in as a world class killing field. El Salvador has one of the highest rates of violent fatalities with over 70 deaths recorded for every 100,000 inhabitants.
In Honduras, geographically much closer to Costa Rica, an October 2011 United Nations report on crime and drugs ranked Honduras as having the highest per capita homicide rate in the world at 82.1 homicides for every 100,000 inhabitants.
In a sense Costa seems miserly with something between 11 and 12 homicides per 100,000 population. (Depends on who you wish to believe.)
The only firewall, so to speak, between us and those epicenters of death to the north is Nicaragua which is not a country considered infiltrated by organized crime except perhaps the government itself.
Costa Rica is neither willing nor capable to accept these violent challenges in paradise. It prefers to put its head in the sand and market peace, tranquillity, white beaches (Where?) and just a great place to visit or retire. Meanwhile the country turns a proverbial blind eye to the fires of reality.
Organized crime suggests that Costa Rica is a wonderful place to do business! It is disorganized, inefficient, has a dysfunctional legal system and is corrupt from top to bottom. The many national forests, thick jungles and open beaches are easy to hide everything from cocaine to a 68 ton tank and the government tends to “turkey dance” when it comes to arrests and convictions.
Ergo, why not legalize drugs since we are living in denial and living with major narcotic trafficking in all its forms including the laundering of money? Even Presidenta, Laura Chinchilla says that she is open to discuss the subject.
Where Guatemala, Honduras and even El Salvador are energized to reduce homicides and regain control of their respective rules of law, Costa Rica remains relatively free from these dramatic dimensions. However, I argue not for long
Moreover, I argue Costa Rica is the home office for many top “drug” managers and this management is not yet willing to drown Costa Rica into a blood bath for it is one of the last bastions to operate freely and to operate with impunity. I have yet to see a “don”, “capo” or a senior cartel leader arrested here and never to be put on trial.
Even the Colombians who reportedly came to assassinate the then President, Oscar Arias were merely put on a plane and sent back home to freedom. Evidently, we did not want to know what they already knew.
It does not take the popular television show “CSI Miami” and the condescending sun glassed lead character, Horatio to see the amount of drug money being laundered through hyper-expensive stores, land banking and off shore wire transfers; all within Paradise.
The common organized crime philosophy is never having your headquarters in a nation or city of violence because all fingers will point to you. In short, stay below the radar. Mexico is a clear example of that premise. Few cartel senior members have been captured or killed within the province or city where they operate. Always, they have been discovered someplace else.
In Costa Rica, among the resolute opposition to both legalizing the use of drugs, even minor drugs, are the narco-trade-leaders themselves who have expressed not to tolerate or legalize anything beyond alcohol.
Certainly, they do not want the public exposure and opinions which might very well turn a good thing into bad. The only reason why we have not been infiltrated by more violent “gangs” is the fear of exposure which brings with it microscopic investigations. And, who knows what might be seen or who might be discovered?
All governments and all cartels require locations where they can safely speak freely, to speak in confidence and to make “deals” that will never be recorded for posterity. Costa Rica is one of those places high on the preferred list to meet and even open up shop.
Other than rousting street vendors and picking up undocumented prostitutes in strange massage parlours, this government, like past governments has taken baby steps to curb organized crime and even less to control violent crime. I do not expect a change in either attitude or the implementation of law within the near future, if ever. After all, hosting multi-millionaires is very profitable.
Maybe we should adopt the Netherlands approach?
Posted in Drug Bust, Lawyers
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Former Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Franklin Adderley, Chief of Police, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, announced that defendant David Michael McElligott, currently serving in the U.S. Air Force at Robins Air Force Base, in Georgia, pled guilty today to one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1343. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 4, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra. At sentencing, the defendant faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
McElligott, a Fort Lauderdale police officer from 1991 until his resignation late last year, had been on extended military leave, serving in the U.S. Air Force, since 2001. In connection with his change of plea, McElligott admitted in court that since September 2003, he presented the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the City of Fort Lauderdale with falsified Military Leave and Earnings Statements and military orders. McElligott presented the falsified Leave and Earnings Statements to increase the supplemental pay that the City of Fort Lauderdale paid him pursuant to the City’s Supplemental Pay Policy. McElligott presented the falsified military orders so that he could falsely assert his rights under federal law to return to his job as a police officer. All of the falsified documents were sent by McElligott via facsimile and/or e-mail to the payroll department of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. The loss to the City of Fort Lauderdale as a result of McElligott’s fraudulent conduct is approximately $278,000, comprised of supplemental pay, longevity pay and benefits.
Mr. Ferrer commends the investigative efforts of the FBI’s Public Corruption squad and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department’s Public Integrity squad, who both participate in the Broward County Public Corruption Task Force. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard P. Murad.
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Wayne County Chief Information Officer Charged with Extortion, Theft, and Obstruction of Justice
Wayne County’s chief information officer (CIO) was charged with extortion and bribery in connection with a program receiving federal funds, and obstruction of justice in a criminal complaint issued today, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade. The County’s director of enterprise application, Zayd Alleban, was also charged with obstruction of justice in the same complaint.
McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge, Andrew G. Arena, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Erick Martinez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.
Tahir Kazmi, 52, of Rochester Hills, and Zayd Alleban, 33, of Dearborn, are both accused of obstructing justice by pressuring a county vendor to lie to FBI agents and manufacture evidence to impede the FBI’s investigation into possible corruption in Wayne County government. Kazmi, who is currently off on leave, has been CIO of the County since 2008. Alleban is employed as the County’s Director of Enterprise Operations in Kazmi’s department. Kazmi is also charged with extorting the vendor by demanding items of value, such as cash and expensive trips, in return for County contracts. He is also charged with accepting bribes from the vendor to gain his influence in the granting of County contracts.
On February 9, agents of the FBI and IRS executed a search warrant on Kazmi’s Rochester Hills home. The search warrant targeted Wayne County contracts, and any documents, in whatever form, belonging to Wayne County or taken from Wayne County. It also sought any and all records and communications relating to bribery, kickbacks and extortion involving Wayne County government. Complaint and arrest warrants were executed today.
“We are turning over every stone in this case, and anyone who tampers with our investigation will be charged with obstruction of justice,” McQuade said. “We hope that these charges will encourage others to come forward and assist us in our investigation rather than impede it. The citizens of Wayne County are entitled to a thorough investigation to ensure that they are receiving the honest government they deserve.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Arena stated, “As this investigation continues to unfold it is imperative that anyone with knowledge of potential illegal activity within Wayne Co. government come forward immediately. In addition, anyone who knowingly acts to obstruct justice in this case will be found and prosecuted. As always, assistance and cooperation from citizens and employees of Wayne Co. remains a key part of the investigation.”
IRS Special Agent in Charge Martinez stated, “Following the money trail is crucial to uncovering all of the facts in this investigation. The taxpayers of Wayne County deserve public officials who are honest and not lured by greed,”
Posted in Law Enforcement Arrest
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Former NYPD Officer and New Jersey Corrections Officer Plead Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Conspiring to Distribute Firearms and Stolen Goods
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MARCO VENEZIA, a former New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) officer, and DAVID KANWISHER, a corrections officer in New Jersey, each pled guilty today to participating in a scheme to illegally transport firearms, including M-16 rifles and handguns, and stolen goods across state lines. VENEZIA pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein, and KANWISHER pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As law enforcement officers, Marco Venezia and David Kanwisher were supposed to uphold the law, not break it. They betrayed their duties in order to make a quick profit, and now they will pay for their crimes.”
According to the complaint, the plea agreements, the informations to which VENEZIA and KANWISHER each pled, and statements made in court:
From September 2010 to October 2011, VENEZIA and KANWISHER participated in a scheme to transport firearms and what they believed were stolen goods, including slot machines, cigarettes, and other merchandise, across state lines. VENEZIA was an active-duty NYPD officer who worked in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct for part of the time that he participated in the conspiracy. At all times, KANWISHER was a corrections officer in New Jersey. The leader of the conspiracy was William Masso, who was an active-duty NYPD officer in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct. As part of the scheme, VENEZIA, KANWISHER and their co-conspirators helped transport three M-16 rifles, one shotgun, 16 handguns—the majority of which had been defaced to remove or alter the serial number—six slot machines, and thousands of cartons of cigarettes as well as various counterfeit merchandise. In total, the goods they illegally transported carried a street value of approximately $1 million.
In preparing for, and carrying out this scheme, the defendants specifically discussed using their credentials and knowledge as law enforcement officers. For example, in a meeting on March 24, 2011, Masso told VENEZIA and KANWISHER that they should carry their law enforcement badges during the operation and, if stopped, should say they were police officers working off-duty to deliver items another person had purchased at an auction. At that same meeting, KANWISHER discussed a potential problem using a certain brand of rental truck to transport the merchandise since law enforcement is trained to look for that type of truck in connection with potential criminal activity. He later discussed with MASSO how he would assist anyone who was pulled over by law enforcement.
During his guilty plea, VENEZIA admitted that he had knowingly transported what he believed were stolen cigarettes, slot machines, and other merchandise across state lines and had willfully transported firearms across state lines, in violation of his obligations as an NYPD officer.
During his guilty plea, KANWISHER also admitted that he had knowingly transported what he believed were stolen cigarettes, slot machines, and other merchandise across state lines and had willfully transported firearms across state lines.
***
VENEZIA, 46, of Brooklyn, New York, and KANWISHER, 39, of Tuckerton, New Jersey, each pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to transport firearms interstate and one count of conspiracy to transport and receive stolen merchandise. They each face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. VENEZIA has agreed to a money judgment of $8,000, representing the amount of the crime proceeds and his interest in four guns seized from him at the time of his arrest. KANWISHER has agreed to a money judgment of $18,000, representing the amount of the crime proceeds and his interest in one gun seized from him at the time of his arrest.
VENEZIA is scheduled to be sentenced on June 21, 2012 at 3:00 p.m., and KANWISHER is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.
Masso pled guilty on February 6, 2012 to engaging in conspiracies to transport defaced firearms interstate, sell a firearm to an out of state residence, and transport what he believed were stolen cigarettes, slot machines, and other merchandise across state lines. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl on June 15, 2012 at 11:00 a.m.
The following defendants were also charged in connection with the scheme: Eddie Goris and John Mahoney, who were active-duty NYPD officers in the 68th precinct; Ali Oklu, who was an active-duty NYPD officer working as a member of the Brooklyn South Task Force; Gary Ortiz, who was an active-duty NYPD officer working in Brooklyn’s 71st precinct; Joseph Trischitta and Richard Melnik, who were retired NYPD officers who had worked in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct; Anthony Santiago, who was a former NYC Department of Sanitation Police Officer; and associates Michael Gee and Eric Gomer. The charges against these co-conspirators are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI and the Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD
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Westchester Cop Pleads Guilty in Airport Drug Smuggling
Westchester County Airport
Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons via omoo
THORNWOOD, N.Y. – Former Westchester County Police Officer Michael Brady pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in Bridgeport to charges stemming from his involvement in a drug smuggling ring at the Westchester County Airport.
“This defendant, a sworn law enforcement officer, took cash from a known drug dealer to allow the drug dealer to travel safely through airport security,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut David Fein in a press release. “I commend the DEA Task Force for shutting down a pipeline of highly-addictive prescription pills from Florida to Connecticut, and for bringing to justice this corrupt officer and others who contributed the illegal scheme.”
According to sworn statements and court documents, Brady, 36 and a resident of Thornwood, accepted around $20,000 in cash to allow drug traffickers to pass mass quantities of the prescription painkiller Oxycodone from Florida to Connecticut through the county airport.
On Thursday, Brady pleaded guilty to two federal offenses: extortion under the color of right, which carries a maximum imprisonment of 20 years, and receipt of a bribe by a public official, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. He accepted the money as a stationed police officer at the county airport.
Brady, along with 19 other individuals in the drug ring, was arrested in September after an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Shortly after his arrest, Brady was suspended from the force indefinitely without pay and eventually resigned in November.
A spokesperson from the Westchester County Police declined to comment Thursday on Brady’s plea other than noting that Brady previously resigned from the force.
Brady is scheduled to be sentenced on these charges in New Haven on May 10.
U.S. Department of Justice officials say the prescription pills that Brady allowed to pass through airport security were distributed throughout various locations in Connecticut, with the traffickers carrying up to 8,000 pills a trip.
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