crimereporters

Remand prisoners at the Sunyani Central Prison in the Brong Ahafo Region have allegedly resorted to acts of vandalism

2009-06-15T11:46:00.001+01:00

Remand prisoners at the Sunyani Central Prison in the Brong Ahafo Region have allegedly resorted to acts of vandalism because of frustration resulting from long delays in the adjudication of their cases in the law courts.A convict at the prison, Eric Quaye, who painted a sordid picture of the frustrations of the prisoners and conditions of the remand prison to the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, last Thursday, said some of the cases had been pending before the courts for between seven and 12 years.Quaye told the minister, who was visiting the prison, that without any provocation, some remand prisoners who had been there for those periods allegedly fought other inmates to relieve themselves of their frustration.He a11eged that some dockets on the cases which were in the custody of the police were missing, while some of the police investigators had refused to escort those on remand to the courts.Currently, there are 839 inmates at the Remand prisoners at the Sunyani Central Prison in the Brong Ahafo Region have allegedly resorted to acts of vandalism, out of which 635 are convicts, 176 on remand and 28 facing trial. The number of prisoners in the region, including those at the Duayaw Nkwanta, Kenyasi and Yeji camps, stands at 1,293.Quaye, who acted as the spokesperson for the inmates, further alleged that even when the police came for prisoners on remand for court, the police returned with the excuse that they did not meet any judges to hear the cases.He intimated that some of the police investigators were in league with the complainants in some of the cases and alleged that some of those complainants had paid money to the policemen handling the cases for them to delay their early adjudication or discontinue with the investigations.In one instance, the spokesperson, who was once working with a mining company in the Brong Ahafo Region but has been incarcerated because of financial malfeasance, said a man who had committed a crime with another per-son had long completed his prison term of 10 years while his accomplice, who is currently suffering from stroke, was on remand.
According to him, remand prisoners were a source of worry to the other inmates, pointing out that “they are difficult to control by the selected leaders of the inmates”.On other problems in the prison, Quaye indicated that some of the convicts were grappling with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) but the only available drug administered to them was paracetamol, adding that “para is used to serve all sick prisoners”.He emphasised that characteristic of all TB patients, those suffering from the disease coughed and spat anywhere but there were no detergents and soap to clean the cells and other areas.“We use raw water to bath, wash and clean the place,” he said.Quaye said because there were limited toilet facilities for the inmates, some of them soiled themselves while they were in the queue waiting for their turn, while others fought to secure their positions in the queue.One startling revelation he made was that there were minors staying and mingling with the hardened criminals, pointing out that human rights activists did not visit the prison to know the plight of the minors and fight for them.The Brong Ahafo Regional Commander of the Ghana Prison Service, Mr Jacob Agambire, who conducted the regional minister round the premises, corroborated the story told by the spokesperson and said his outfit was using the available resources to manage the prison.

Sydney man has been charged with attempting to smuggle 44 native lizards and snakes on a flight out of Australia

2009-02-23T20:27:00.001Z

Sydney man has been charged with attempting to smuggle 44 native lizards and snakes on a flight out of Australia, including a rare albino python.The haul of reptiles allegedly found in the 24-year-old's luggage at Sydney airport on Friday included 24 shingleback lizards, 16 bluetongue lizards and four snakes.The snakes have been identified as three black headed pythons and an albino carpet python, an extremely endangered species with numbers estimated to be as low as 100.The albino python is worth about $20,000, while Customs estimates all the reptiles in the smuggling attempt would fetch between $160,000 and $200,000 on the black market.They were detected during x-ray screenings of the man's luggage after he checked in for a flight to Bangkok.The reptiles, hidden in socks and cloth bags, were taken to Sydney Wildlife World, where they have undergone health checks and are being cared for.
The man, from Bonnet Bay, has been granted conditional bail to appear in the Downing Centre Local Court on March 24.He has been charged with attempting to export native species without a permit, which carries a maximum penalty of $110,000 and/or 10 years' jail.Customs and Border Protection spokesman Richard Janeczko said wildlife smuggling was a serious crime."Customs and Border Protection continues to prevent, investigate and prosecute wildlife smuggling attempts into and out of Australia in a bid to end this cruel practice," Mr Janeczko said in a statement on Monday.

Former best friend of John A. "Junior" Gotti says that the famous mob offspring collected drug money and ordered shootings of rivals.

2009-02-23T20:25:00.000Z

Former best friend of John A. "Junior" Gotti says that the famous mob offspring collected drug money and ordered shootings of rivals. Gambino crime family associate John Alite (AY'-leyt) testified about Gotti's alleged misdeeds on Monday at the Brooklyn trial of a Gambino soldier accused of murder. Alite took the stand as part of a plea deal. He told the jury that on orders from Gotti, he drove a car used in a drive-by shooting in the 1980s. He also claimed Gotti, son of notorious Gambino boss John Gotti, collected monthly cash payments from a drug-dealing operation. Alite is expected to be a key government witness when Gotti goes on trial later this year. Gotti is charged with involvement in three gangland murders and cocaine trafficking.

Police in Milan have said that crimes including weapons and drug trafficking and running of prostitution rings were all co-ordinated through Skype.

2009-02-23T20:23:00.000Z

Police in Milan have said that crimes including weapons and drug trafficking and running of prostitution rings were all co-ordinated through Skype. This made it difficult for authorities to track calls because practice was for police to tap landlines and mobile phones in investigations.According to Eurojust, Skype was refusing to share its secret encryption system with authorities."Skype co-operates with law enforcement where legally and technically possible. Skype remains interested in working with Eurojust despite the fact that they chose not to contact us before issuing this inaccurate report," Brian O’Shaughnessy, head of corporate communications at Skype, said in a statement, as quoted by EUObserver.EUObserver said Bavarian authorities had tried to track a Skype conversation and even had hired an IT firm to do so, but with no success.Skype was developed by Estonian programmers working for a Danish-Swedish business. In 2005, it was sold to E-Bay and now has more than 350 million users around the world.

District Judge Samuel Kent pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice today and retired from the bench

2009-02-23T20:18:00.001Z

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice today and retired from the bench, avoiding a trial on that charge and five others accusing him of sexually abusing two female employees.Kent was scheduled to see a jury selected this morning for his trial on all six felony counts.Few federal judges ever go to trial, but his would have been the first in which a federal judge was accused of sexual charges.“Judge Kent believes that this settlement is in the best interest of all involved,” his attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said after this morning’s hearing.“A trial would have been long, embarrassing and difficult for all involved,” DeGuerin added. He said Kent has retired from the bench.Kent faces up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction charge. Prosecutors have suggested he be sentenced to three years in prison, but the judge is not bound by that recommendationSenior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson has imposed a gag order on those involved in the case, but allowed DeGuerin to make his statement to the news media.The two female court employees with whom Kent now admits he had non-consensual sexual contact also were barred from speaking by Vinson’s order.Gag orders are designed to protect the rights of defendants from public prejudice before trial. Kent has waived his right to appeal and it is unclear why Vinson would issue a gag order.Kent, who normally speaks in loud, clear tones, all but whispered his guilty plea at the bench. The court reporter strained to hear what he said.Although, in most pleas in the federal courthouse in Houston, defendants are made to state their crimes, neither Kent nor prosecutor Peter Ainsworth stated the crimes in court.
Instead, papers were filed stating that Kent had non-consensual sex with two former female employees between 2003 and 2007.The papers also state that, as part of the investigation into a complaint by one of the women, Kent lied about his relationship with the second woman to the Special Investigative Committee of the 5th Circuit.
Kent signed those papers admitting his wrongdoing.The plea deal includes that prosecutors will dismiss the other five charges still pending against Kent.The two women he is accused of abusing each stood in front of the courthouse this morning while their attorneys made brief statements to the press. Judge Vinson’s gag order prevented them from saying much.“I just think this is a tremendously big day for Cathy,” Rusty Hardin said of Cathy McBroom, Kent’s former Galveston case manager who first came forward and started the judicial investigation that led to the criminal case.“She’s a woman who had the courage to come forward,” Hardin said.“I’m very happy that this part of the process is over,” said McBroom, who still works at the federal courts. “I feel extremely relieved.”She said she looks forward to Kent’s sentencing, set in May.Hardin said he expects the victims will have a chance to speak then. Federal law requires judges to consider the victims’ input in sentencing.
Terry Yates spoke to reporters with his client, Donna Wilkerson. She is the current secretary for Kent, although they have not been working together since charges related to her allegations were added to the case.“She can be a beacon of hope for other people in this situation,” Yates said of Wilkerson, who made no comment herself.Kent, 59, was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and was the sole district federal judge in Galveston in most of the ensuing years.The obstruction charge accuses Kent of lying to a 5th Circuit Judicial Council panel that was investigating an accusation that he abused one of his female employees.
The federal probation department will conduct an investigation into Kent’s background. After that is completed, Vinson, of Pensacola, Fla., will take the department’s report into consideration before deciding on Kent’s sentence.Kent was appointed for life and can be removed only by congressional impeachment.The judicial council reprimanded Kent in September 2007. After the obstruction charge was added to the indictment in January, the council said it would reopen its judicial misconduct investigation.It also is possible, if not likely, that the Congress will now look at impeaching Kent to take him off the federal payroll and retirement package he gets as a federal judge. Yates said he expects Congress to act on this very quickly.

"internal cleansing" of the Bandidos

2009-02-23T20:08:00.003Z

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of six men charged in connection with a mass slaying in rural southwestern Ontario three years ago.
Eight members or associates of the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle gang were found shot to death and stuffed in four cars abandoned in a field in Shedden, southwest of London, in April 2006.The six accused face eight counts each of first-degree murder.
They are: Michael Sandham, 37, a former Winnipeg-area police officer who became a full-patch member of the Bandidos; Dwight Mushey, 39; Marcelo Aravena, 32; Wayne Kellestine, 59, a notorious local biker whose rural property in Dutton-Dunwich, near the field where the bodies were dumped, is alleged to be the site of an execution-style slaying; Frank Mather, 35 and Brett Gardiner, 24.Meanwhile, another man and a woman are charged with acting as accessories after the fact to the killings.
Among the eight men killed in the massacre were six full-patch members of the Bandidos, most from the Greater Toronto Area. They were: George Jesso, 52, Frank Salerno, 43, George Kriarakis, 28, Luis Manny Raposo, 41, Paul Sinopoli, 30; and John Muscedere, 48. The other victims were associate member Michael Trotta, 31, and Jamie Flanz, 37, a prospect for membership in the gang.
Police labelled the killings an "internal cleansing" of the Bandidos, a Texas-based motorcycle gang, second in size and underworld prestige only to the Hells Angels.
However, the gang's strength in Canada had dwindled at the time of the massacre and the purge virtually wiped out the gang's small Ontario chapter.

former Georgetown police officer Jimmy Fennell was sentenced of two years behind bars on charges of improper sexual activity with a person in custody

2008-09-26T20:44:00.000+01:00

former Georgetown police officer Jimmy Fennell was sentenced of two years behind bars on charges of improper sexual activity with a person in custody and 10 years in prison for kidnapping.Fennell waived a jury trial and pleaded guilty last week.
The Williamson County district attorney said "a rogue officer was punished for serious crimes. He will never again hold a peace officer's license."The judge only took a few minutes to decide Fennell's fate. The judge told Fennell that he had shamed his department, his family and that he had shaken the public trust in the police department and therefore he would be receiving the maximum punishment.
District Attorney John Bradley said this case would have been difficult to take to trial due to bad investigative work on behalf of the Georgetown Polce Dept.
He indicated that there was corruption at work and that Fennell had been in charge of his own investigation and had altered evidence to protect himself. Former Georgetown police officer Jimmy Fennell was sentenced to 10 years behind bars.The city is also going to have their hands full due to a federal civil lawsuit that the victim has filed because of Fennell's behavior. Fennell pleaded guilty in May to felony charges of kidnapping and improper sexual activity with a person in custody. The charges come from an Oct. 26 incident in which Fennell responded to a domestic disturbance call at a woman’s home, and according to court documents, he forced the woman to go with him in his patrol car, dance for him and have sex with him.

Danny Davidson,58, a businessman of Brown's Town, St Ann is accused of smuggling millions of dollars worth of cocaine and ganja into the United States

2008-09-26T20:37:00.000+01:00

Danny Davidson,58, a businessman of Brown's Town, St Ann is accused of smuggling millions of dollars worth of cocaine and ganja into the United States.He was nabbed last week by members of the Fugitive Apprehension Team.US prosecutors claimed the Jamaican was a member of the Ayala Serna drug smuggling organisation which has been smuggling tons of cocaine and ganja from Colombia through Jamaica and the Bahamas into the United States.Mr. Davidson who was indicted in December 2005 is facing more than 30 counts of conspiracy to import cocaine and ganja into Florida.He's also facing multiple counts of money laundering.The US DEA claimed that on June 15, 2005, Mr. Davidson arranged a shipment of 700 pounds of ganja into Florida.On September 23, 2005 he arranged a shipment of 180 kilograms of cocaine into Plantation, Florida.
A few days later he arranged another shipment of 120 kilograms of cocaine into Florida.US prosecutors say they have the Jamaican on tape making arrangements to import multi-million dollar shipments of narcotics to the US.He's also accused of selling dope to undercover DEA agents.

Emmanuel Ramirez, 25, managed a network of so-called "straw purchasers" who bought several Beretta 9mm handguns from sporting good stores

2008-09-09T08:58:00.001+01:00

Fifteen city residents face federal weapons charges in what authorities are describing as one of the largest Valley gun trafficking investigations in years.
All stand accused of conspiring to illegally purchase more than 60 firearms that were smuggled into Mexico between July 2007 and January 2008, federal prosecutors said.According to a 16-count indictment unsealed Monday, Emmanuel Ramirez, 25, managed a network of so-called "straw purchasers" who bought several Beretta 9mm handguns from sporting good stores across the Rio Grande Valley.Ramirez allegedly paid for the weapons and later snuck them south of the border, where it is illegal to own or purchase guns. U.S. law prohibits gun buyers for purchasing a weapon for anyone other than themselves.Federal agents arrested Ramirez, his purported primary recruiter - Carlos Garcia, 21, and several other members of the alleged network over the last four days.Prosecutors allege Ramirez gave Garcia money and instructed him on which weapons to buy.Garcia, then, reportedly paid 13 Brownsville "straw purchasers" ranging in age from 19 to 26 to lie to weapons dealers and say they were buying the guns for their own personal use.The fraudulent purchases were made at three Academy Sports and Outdoors locations in McAllen and Brownsville but were later uncovered by agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement..Federal authorities have stepped up their efforts against such illegal purchasing in recent months, hoping to stem the tide of weapons moving into Mexico.Guns from the United States have been blamed for fueling ongoing violent attacks by the powerful Mexican drug cartels.
The number of criminal cases involving federal gun violations in South Texas are currently a 20-year high, according to records from the Syracuse University-based Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.Investigators classified Ramirez's case as unusual, however, because of the sheer number of co-defendants involved.
So far, six of the 13 "straw purchasers" have faced a federal magistrate judge on charges of conspiracy and making false statements on firearms records. Arrest warrants have been issued for remaining seven.If convicted, they could each face up to five years in prison for each count and $250,000 in fines.Ramirez and Garcia face additional counts of gun smuggling, punishable by up to 10 years in prison upon conviction.Ramirez's Houston-based attorney - Ira H. Chenkin - did not return calls for comment Monday. It remained unclear whether Garcia had retained an attorney as of Monday afternoon.

Leon Taylor killed himself after shooting his 82-year-old wife, Beatrice Taylor

2008-09-09T08:55:00.000+01:00

Police say 82-year-old Leon Taylor killed himself after shooting his 82-year-old wife, Beatrice Taylor, on Saturday. Two newlywed octogenarians are dead in what Eureka police say appears to be a domestic violence dispute. Witnesses say they saw the recently married couple had been arguing in the hours leading up to the shooting. Andy Snow, one of the couple's neighbors, says he called police after he approached the Cadillac parked in the couple's carport and spoke briefly with a flush-faced Leon Taylor. Snow says the car was parked close to the wall so that Beatrice could not get out. Snow says shortly afterward he saw Taylor shoot his wife in the head and then turn the gun on himself. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Jacoby Fields and Travis Harris charged with murder and first degree burglary.

2008-09-09T08:53:00.000+01:00

Eighteen-year-old Jacoby Fields from Walterboro and 19-year old Travis Harris of Smoaks are now charged with murder and first degree burglary.After more than 5,000 hours and 300 leads, finally authorities believe they've got the ones behind the murder. It's an announcement that brings a little comfort to those struck with so much pain.Tabatha Compton describes the past month as a “living hell,” but seeing how serious everyone was about solving this case has helped ease some pain.
"They have spent endless hours away from their family and their loved ones to help bring justice to my family and myself and I am very grateful for all of it,” Compton said.Authorities are releasing little information about what led them to these two men, but the most important thing, they say, "Ladies and gentlemen, they got it right.” South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's Reggie Loyd says it's “good ole’ fashion policing” that got us to this point, and through those efforts in this case, more criminals are off the streets."There were literally numerous burglaries that were solved during the course of this investigation that are unrelated to this but because of the effort devoted, by all of these agencies, these arrests or charges have been brought,” Loyd said.But the group of investigators present Monday made up a only a fraction of a whole community that contributed.“I wanted to thank everyone including businesses that helped with anything, food, anything to myself, my family and this department....I'm very grateful,” Compton said.Compton's wife wouldn't say whether she would want the death penalty in this case but hearings start Tuesday morning for the two men and she says she won't miss a minute.

Ernie Del Pinto finally has a measure of confidence that the man accused of fatally shooting his son in the face will pay for his alleged crime.

2008-09-09T08:50:00.001+01:00

For the first time since his son was gunned down in Thailand last January, Ernie Del Pinto finally has a measure of confidence that the man accused of fatally shooting his son in the face will pay for his alleged crime.An off-duty Thai police sergeant was arrested and charged with premeditated murder in the death of Leo Del Pinto, 25, and for injuring his friend, fellow Canadian Carly Reisig of Chilliwack, B.C. in the town of Pai.Del Pinto, his family and lawyer met for an hour with David Sproule, Canada's ambassador to Thailand in Calgary Monday."I think something came out of this. I'm happy," said Ernie Del Pinto who now expects justice will be done.
"I was (worried) because you'd have everybody say you're never going to get justice," he said. "I was worried about it and I think something will come out of this."The family was hesitant to discuss specifics but was assured that the Canadian government is fully involved in the case and would follow it through to the end.
"He said the police officer, who was originally reassigned, is now off duty and once the full investigation is concluded will go to trial.Del Pinto said for the first time in eight months he is confident that justice will be done.
"What I can tell you is the family is very pleased from the meeting. We have the personal assurance and the personal attendance of the Canadian government in relation to this matter and that's what we wanted," said family lawyer Adriano Iovinelli.
"We're very satisfied with what the family has done up to this point."
The mood is considerably lighter than earlier concerns expressed by the family that Ottawa was stalling in giving them information and that the case would not go to trial.Iovinelli said the investigation is being conducted by DSI, which he said is Thailand's "equivalent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police" - the highest level of investigation in Thailand.He said once that is concluded there will be a recommendation on prosecution and then proceeding to trial.Iovinelli said the family received double good news about the officer charged in the shooting. He had originally be reassigned to a different district but that has apparently changed."We understand that he is now off duty and we have been assured that three different levels in Thailand have investigated this matter."The officer has said it was self-defence, but Del Pinto's father has said his son was shot at close range in the face and chest for defending Reisig and did nothing to deserve the attack.The Del Pinto family is now content to sit back and wait for the Thai justice system to run its course and Ernie Del Pinto said he intends to be there when the case goes to trial.
Iovinelli said the family is also hoping to meet with Thailand's ambassador to Canada to discuss the case.

Marrion Herrington, 42, appeared at Leeds Crown Court charged with the attempted murder of Ann Smith, 82.

2008-09-02T19:34:00.000+01:00

Marrion Herrington, 42, appeared at Leeds Crown Court charged with the attempted murder of Ann Smith, 82.Prosecuting, barrister Simon Kealey told the court how Herrington stood in the bedroom doorway as her partner, Barry Armstrong-Smith, 47, tried to smother his sick mother with two pillows in her room at her bungalow in Acomb, York.Mr Kealey claimed the couple wanted to inherit Armstrong-Smith's share of the house, said to be worth some £40,000, and £2,000 from his mother's savings.
The court heard how Mrs Smith felt a weight on top of her and the sheet and duvet were pulled over her head.She told police that she saw Herrington in the doorway. In a police interview played to the court, Mrs Smith said: "I fought and fought. I thought I was going."Herrington denies attempted murder. Armstrong-Smith admitted a charge of attempted murder at an earlier hearing.

Magomed Yevloyev, was detained Sunday as he landed in Nazran, Ingushetia’s main city. Police claimed that he tried to resist arrest

2008-09-02T19:28:00.002+01:00

Magomed Yevloyev, a fierce critic of Ingush President Murat Zyazikov, was detained Sunday as he landed in Nazran, Ingushetia’s main city. Police claimed that he tried to resist arrest, and was shot in the ensuing scuffle. Yevloyev’s attorney, meanwhile, said his client went peacefully into custody, and that he was shot while driving with police, and thrown from the car near a hospital. The opposition figure died while receiving care.Yevloyev was the owner of an online news portal, Ingushetiya.ru, which was known for independent news and reporting from the republic. The website aired many views critical of the current Ingush administration, and reported on government corruption. Authorities had repeatedly targeted the site, which was branded “extremist” and ordered shut by a City Court in June. Its editor-in-chief, Roza Malsagova, fled Russia to seek political asylum in France after a number of politically-motivated criminal cases were launched against her. Malsagova said she had received threats from officials.Ingushetia, which has a predominantly Muslim population, has experienced rising levels of violent crime, with frequent attacks on militsiya and security officials. Zyazikov’s administration has responded with a heavy hand, and has been accused of using excessive force against civilians and opposition activists.A number of rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, the Moscow Helsinki Group and Memorial, have called for a full investigation of Yevloyev’s death.Local activists, meanwhile, said that Zyazikov may be directly involved. Yevloyev’s relatives have apparently called for a blood feud against Zyazikov and Ingush Interior Minister Musa Medov, vowing to avenge Yevloyev’s death.

Police believe that the double murder committed by Vijayaben's son Rikesh, who later hung himself at the Chauhan residence was premeditated.

2008-09-02T19:20:00.000+01:00

Were the murders of Vijayaben Chauhan, 58, and her daughter Jigisha, 33, a heat of the moment murder or was it pre-planned.Police believe that the double murder committed by Vijayaben's son Rikesh, who later hung himself at the Chauhan residence in sector 30 at Gandhinagar, was pre-planned. "The double murder is rooted in a property dispute. The dispute between the mother-daughter and Rikesh was common knowledge. It is quite possible that Rikesh had pre-planned the murder," said police sources. Rikesh had also left behind a suicide note saying that he could not control his anger and was responsible for the double murder. There was no remorse in his suicide note, said police official. Cops believe that the suicide note is a pointer to the fact that the double murder was pre-planned. "We believe that the suicide note, lying nearby Rikesh's body in the master bedroom on ground floor was written before the incident as it does not bear blood spots. In fact, both Rikesh's hands were soaked in blood after the murders. The knife used was also lying beside the body," said JH Algotar, inspector of sector 21 police station. When the incident took place on Saturday morning, there were rumours among the investigators that there was a woman — most probably Diwaliben, Rikesh's maternal grandmother — present at the Chauhan residence soon after the incident took place as she also had a cut on her wrist. However, officials later rubbished the claims and indicated towards the chip of wood that had to be extracted in order to open the door. "It's an open and shut case. Everything became clear after Tejal, Rikesh's wife, recounted various incidents where he confronted his mother over property disputes. They were killed in order to not let them take over. It was the first double murder registered with city police stations," added Algotar.

police sub-inspectors were arrested yesterday for allegedly withdrawing money with an ATM card belonging to a police colleague

2008-08-17T12:40:00.000+01:00

Two women police sub-inspectors were arrested yesterday for allegedly withdrawing money with an ATM card belonging to a police colleague. The incident happened in Kandy, during the perahera celebrations.Police said the two SIs had withdrawn Rs. 120,000, using a card belonging to a Kalutara Police Training School SI who had come to Kandy for perahera duty. The visiting police personnel were put up at the Pallakele Training School. It was at the training school that the ATM card had been stolen. The pin number was written in a diary belonging to the SI victim.The two suspects were due to be produced before a magistrate yesterday.

Roberto Pupo Roque, 34, a Cuban immigrant. He was a gun-packing drug dealer died in Lakewood, shot and killed by bail recovery agents.

2008-08-17T12:27:00.002+01:00

Robin Hood was Roberto Pupo Roque, 34, a Cuban immigrant who compared himself to the outlaw of medieval folklore. He was a gun-packing drug dealer, a liar, a thief and a father. The bounty hunters didn't set out to kill Robin Hood. That's just how the thing went down. He was wanted and unwanted. He was a fugitive with an active warrant for his arrest. He was a police informant who traded a missile for freedom and ran from a business called Liberty. He died May 22 in Lakewood, shot and killed by bail recovery agents. Roque was a casualty of a criminal justice system working against itself. Police wanted him free. Prosecutors wanted him jailed. The agents were caught in the middle, tethered to $150,000 in outstanding bail bonds.
They have been cleared of wrongdoing in Roque's death. Lakewood police concluded the shooting was self-defense. In June, Pierce County prosecutors declined to file criminal charges. The bail agents are relieved, but bitter. “It was ridiculous,” said Byron Gross, who fired one of the shots. “It didn't have to happen,” said Mike Beakley, a bail agent and retired Tacoma cop who partnered with Gross that day and fired two shots at Roque. “All of us kept telling each other we shouldn't be doing this,” said Mike Savant, another bounty hunter in on the chase.
“My mind-set the whole time was, ‘Why are we doing this?'” said Forrest Gary Marshall, owner of Liberty Bail Bonds and boss of the quartet that trailed Roque for weeks. The agents say they were driven to the hunt, hamstrung by a prosecutor who wouldn't look beyond the letter of the law. The prosecutor, Mark Von Wahlde, says he went by the book and acted based on what he knew at the time. Public records and interviews reveal a knotty, bureaucratic snarl. The trouble started March 30, when Liberty's office in downtown Tacoma was robbed.
The safe had been pried open. Police investigated, and quickly arrested Shelby King, a Liberty employee. Court records say she confessed. A guilty plea and a conviction for second-degree burglary came six weeks later. King told police she worked with an accomplice: Roberto Roque. Roque was already in trouble. He had three criminal charges against him dating back to January and February – two for drug dealing, one for unlawful gun possession. He had bailed out on all three. Liberty had posted the bonds. It looked as if Roque had ripped off the company that sprang him from jail.
Marshall, Liberty's owner, had two problems. The robbery was one, but an employee and a client had been in on it. That was a potentially bigger deal.
He went through Liberty's books, and looked at Roque's bail contracts. King had signed all of them. The total risk was $150,000. A bail contract is a bit like an insurance policy. A defendant pays a bail company a small sum and promises to appear in court. The bond company pays the court a fraction of the bail – typically a tenth of the actual amount. If the defendant shows up in court as promised, the company gets its money back. If the defendant doesn't show up, the bond company has to corral the defendant, or pay the full freight for the bond. The transaction rests on the defendant's credit. Marshall's run through the books showed Roque's credit was phony. He had offered a house as collateral for bail, but he didn't own the house. Other information in the records hinted at more falsehoods.
Marshall weighed the prospects. Roque had lied about his credit, and he was a suspect in the robbery – a new, serious crime. If he jumped bail, Liberty would be on the legal hook for a six-figure bill. “We immediately instituted a search for the defendant in order to absolve ourselves of liability,” Marshall stated in court documents. So far, Roque had been a model client, attending all his court dates without a miss. He hadn't jumped bail – but his original agreement with Liberty was a sham. By itself, that was enough to justify revoking the bail; and Marshall, freshly robbed, wasn't feeling charitable. He and his partner, Savant, decided to pick up Roque at his next scheduled court appearance and take him to jail. Police records say Marshall called officers beforehand and explained his plan.
On April 8, Roque showed up at the Pierce County courthouse. Marshall and Savant were waiting for him, along with police detectives Cassie Hayes and Ed Baker.
They took him across the street to Liberty's office to fill out the paperwork. The detectives interviewed Roque. Marshall and Savant listened. “I got caught up in this. I made a bad judgment – I'm a screw-up,” Roque said, according to a police report. He admitted robbing the safe. He said he pried it open with a screwdriver. The scheme was King's idea, he said.
The take was about $6,000 in cash. Roque split it with King, and used some of his half to bail her out of jail. She was a friend, he said – he just wanted to help her. “Asked what he did to earn an income, Roque reluctantly said he was a drug dealer,” the police report states. “He said, ‘I don't fight or destroy people.' He said that he had a lot of friends and that they owed him.

“He portrayed himself as a modern-day ‘Robin Hood.' He said that he is known on the street as ‘Cuba.' He said that he helped people in various ways to include paying their rent and that his assistance was sometimes offered via illegal activities.”
Roque cried about his daughters. He didn't want to go to jail. He offered a trade.
“Roque said that he could provide information on organized crime, narcotics and other illicit activity,” the police report states. “He said that he also had information on the whereabouts of what he described as a United States Army missile.”
The detectives called the FBI. Half an hour later, two federal agents arrived at Liberty's office. Marshall could see this was turning into something bigger than a simple robbery, but his chief concern was the outstanding bonds.
Roque had to go to jail. Under the law, that meant Liberty wouldn't have to eat the debt.
The jail is across the street, adjoining the courthouse. Typically, bail agents delivered their defendants straight to the door. That wouldn't happen now, not with the feds getting involved and talk of a hidden missile – but Marshall still had to settle his books. “Detective Hayes informed me and Mike Savant that she was going to take defendant and book him into Pierce County Jail,” Marshall stated in a court affidavit. “I overheard her ask one of the unknown (federal) officers to book defendant into jail on her behalf.”
Roque was in police custody – no longer Liberty's prisoner. Marshall locked the moment on paper, and had the detective sign formal affidavits of surrender.
“Liberty Bail Bonds personnel relinquished custody of Roque to us and we were allowed to transport him to Tacoma Police headquarters to meet with federal agents,” the police report states. Marshall was relieved. Liberty was in the clear. Police had taken Roque into custody, and officers would take him to jail.
Except they didn't. At headquarters, police and federal agents grilled Roque about the missile. What was it? Where was it? “Roque agreed to assist on the condition that he could be at home with his daughters,” the police report states. “We explained that we could not make any promises to him and he was told that even if he didn't go to jail, state charges could be filed later.”
The report states that one of the FBI agents, Todd Bakken, spoke to a federal prosecutor, who agreed not to file charges against Roque if he helped investigators find the missile.
The detectives spoke to a county prosecutor, Frank Krall, and explained the situation. The deal was struck.
Roque had been hand-delivered to police. Already charged with three crimes, he had confessed to a fourth: robbing Liberty's office. Now he was free, still riding on Liberty's credit. Nobody told Forrest Marshall. The next day – April 9 – investigators, following Roque's tip, found the missile in Edgewood at a vacant address. It wasn't a missile. It was a practice rocket, model number M29A2: “a 3.5-inch bazooka rocket practice round with motor,” according to Fort Lewis spokeswoman Catherine Caruso. A county bomb squad found the military-grade rocket, and a Fort Lewis explosives team dismantled it, Caruso said.
The find was peculiar, but it didn't lead to a cache of munitions. Police spokesman Mark Fulghum said no other explosives were found at the site.

Other details are unclear. Police declined to release the incident report to The News Tribune, saying the case was still under investigation.
The M29A2 is 1950s technology, standard-issue ammo for target practice with a shoulder-fired rocket launcher. It does not blow up.
“It wasn't designed to produce a major explosion,” Caruso said. “It had a certain amount of propulsion, just enough explosive material to propel it some distance for training. It was not an immediate threat.
“I don't want to underplay the danger – but it's unlikely that there was an immediate danger to anybody in the neighborhood.” The rocket did not come from Fort Lewis or the United States, Caruso added. The explosives team could not pinpoint its origin.
The rocket could have been new. It could have been a paperweight. Military buffs sell M29A2 rounds online for $50. People find them in attics and garages.
Roque's promised missile was little more than a blank – and he was still free. Marshall was watching Pierce County's online jail roster, waiting for Roque's name to appear – final proof that Liberty was off the financial hook.
The name never showed up. For Marshall, that was bad. If Roque wasn't in jail, Liberty's debt was still hanging. Marshall called Kim Shomer, Liberty's attorney.
Shomer called Von Wahlde, the deputy prosecutor who handled bail issues.
Shomer explained the circumstances: Liberty had done its duty, and delivered Roque to police. It seemed reasonable to forgive the bond. What would it take?
Von Wahlde wasn't going for it. “Mark came back and said to me, ‘Well, I'm not signing off on this,'?” Shomer said in a recent interview. “He told me that there was no way that he was in agreement that this was a valid surrender.”
Marshall couldn't understand it. Roque confesses to robbing his office. Marshall hands him over to police. Police promise to take Roque to jail. They sign a piece of paper that says so, an affidavit of surrender. That wasn't good enough?
“In this particular case, I didn't think it was worth letting go of a good bond,” Von Wahlde said in a recent interview. He added that he had to protect the court's interests. Von Wahlde points to state law – right there in the books, Revised Code of Washington, 10.19.160. The law explains how bail bond companies are supposed to deliver fugitives to jail. “The surrender shall be made to the facility in which the person was originally held in custody or the county or city jail affiliated with the court issuing the warrant resulting in bail,” it states. Von Wahlde hangs his argument on three words: “to the facility.” In his view, that means the bail company makes the delivery, at the jail, in person. Once the bondsman surrenders the defendant at the jail, the bondsman is off the hook,” he said.
The law doesn't mention affidavits of surrender. It doesn't include provisions for police informants who confess to crimes and make creepy promises to lead investigators to military munitions in exchange for release.
Liberty hadn't played by the book. The company hadn't surrendered Roque “to the facility.” In hindsight, attorney Shomer thinks her counterpart took a stringent view too far. “You've got a prosecutor who doesn't see the gray in the world,” she said of Von Wahlde. “He's never worked on the other side to experience and understand the street smarts of it, how things work. The letter of the law doesn't necessarily incorporate the practical application of things.”
Von Wahlde said he didn't hear anything from police or other prosecutors regarding Roque's case. He adds that Liberty hadn't filed any motions with the court asking for forgiveness of the bond. His talks with Shomer were informal.
Shomer agrees, but she points out that going to court wouldn't have changed anything. Von Wahlde would have argued against Liberty.
With that promised opposition, taking the debate to a judge was a gamble. There were no guarantees.
“There was too much money in the street,” Shomer said. “I wish it was only $10,000, and we could have rolled the dice and let a court of law decide – but it was $150,000 – and with that comes consequences.”
Roque's next scheduled court date was April 22. He didn't appear. The court, following routine procedure, issued a warrant for his arrest.
It didn't mean anyone would rush out and grab him – it did mean Liberty was still on the hook for the bond.
he safest option was rounding up Roque – again. Marshall needed help. He called on a pair of contract bail agents – Mike Beakley, 56, and Byron Gross, 35.
All the hunters had decades of experience. Beakley was an ex-Tacoma police officer who'd retired in 1990 with a gunshot wound. Gross had logged 12 years as a bounty hunter in America and Europe.

Savant, 58, had worked in law enforcement and corrections. Marshall, 71, had a business that reached into 22 Washington counties, and he'd made thousands of arrests over the years.

None of the agents could recall a scenario to compare with the confusion surrounding Roberto Roque.

For the next four weeks, the hunters and Roque played cat-and-mouse. They thought they had him cornered in an alley in South Tacoma, but he slipped away in a car.

Roque was using false identities, the agents discovered. For official business, he carried a fraudulent driver's license with the name “Juan Alvarez.”
Informants familiar with Roque told the agents that the fugitive was carrying guns. Gross talked to Bernice Aguaro, the mother of Roque's children, who warned the bail agent to wear a bulletproof vest.

“My husband will shoot and kill you,” she said. “He will shoot you.”

The hunters tried a different angle – Roque's family. In mid-May, Gross visited Aguaro at her home on South Cedar Street in Tacoma.

Roque was gone, avoiding the hunters. Aguaro said he'd cried and kissed his daughters before fleeing.

Gross looked at the home and saw shoddy wiring, jury-rigged electrical connections. That was unsafe, he told Aguaro – grounds for a child-neglect complaint to the state. Gross could make that call, he suggested – unless Roque wanted to show himself.

The ploy worked. Aguaro broke down. Within five minutes, Roque was on the phone to Gross.

“Show us how much you care about your kids,” Gross said, angling for a meeting at the house. “I'll be there in five minutes,” Roque said. “I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch. You touch my family, I'll kill you.”
Gross waited three hours. Roque didn't come.
On May 14, Liberty's attorney, Kim Shomer, filed a motion in court to exonerate the bail bond. The filing included an affidavit from Forrest Marshall, who described his interations with Roque: the phony credit, the confession to the robbery, the hand-off to Tacoma police. A ruling would require a hearing in front of a judge. Meanwhile, the hunters kept searching for Roque.
Their next try came May 18. The agents traced Roque to a duplex in South Tacoma.
They spotted him on the porch, wearing a disguise: a gaudy red cone hat and a braided wig. Other tough-looking sorts were with him.
The hunters decided to try for the capture. They called police to let them know what was coming. Police, citing standard procedure, said they couldn't assist – the agents were on their own. Roque escaped again. He and his friends drove off in separate cars, and the agents weren't sure which one to follow. The hunters started from scratch again. Roque was switching vehicles and addresses at dizzying speed. One rumor held that he'd stolen a car at gunpoint. Another said he was staying awake on doses of methamphetamine. “This guy was never in one place for more than 10 minutes,” said Beakley, the retired cop.
With help from an informant, the hunters tracked Roque down once more. The search led to a pair of cars. One belonged to a girlfriend Roque kept on the side.
The agents split up. Marshall and Savant followed one vehicle. Gross and an informant followed the other. They couldn't tell which one Roque was using, but during the chase, Gross saw the flash of a gun and heard two shots.
Gross had to keep his informant out of harm's way. He gave up the chase. Marshall's pursuit went nowhere. The agents still had a line on one of Roque's cars. It was parked at a car lot in Lakewood, waiting for repairs. A check with the business revealed that Roque planned to pick up the car May 22. The setting was perfect – “a tactical dream,” Gross said in reflection.
The agents had little time to figure it, but the plan was obvious. The fenced lot was crammed with vehicles. A narrow gate was the only way in. The only way out was backward. The hunters could roll up with a car and block that route. Roque would be boxed between the wall of cars and the agents. All they had to do was wait. Gross and Beakley, younger and fitter, took the action duty. They would drive the blocking car and confront Roque. Savant and Marshall parked on the other side of the street.
The hunters watched. Roque appeared on schedule in another bad disguise: a wig with fake dreadlock braids. He got into the car.
The trap snapped shut. Gross and Beakley rolled up, leaped from their car and rushed to either side of Roque's, guns drawn. Both men said they shouted, “Bail recovery agent!” All Roque had to do was give up. He floored the gas pedal. The tires howled and spat smoke. The car lurched backward.
Gross saw Beakley stagger. It looked like Roque's car had hit him.
Beakley raised his gun and fired twice. At almost the same moment, Gross fired his weapon. The car stopped. Beakley, unhurt, saw Roque twist toward the passenger seat, reaching for something. Gross, on the other side, grabbed Roque's wrists through the open window.
Roque gurgled, then coughed, coating Gross' arms in a spray of blood.
ross knew what that meant – a lung shot.
“Call 911,” he shouted. All four bounty hunters were cuffed and stuffed – taken in by Lakewood police, seated in separate cells, interrogated. They told their stories. They were released later that day. Roque was dead. A search of his car revealed a duffel bag under the passenger seat. Two guns were inside. Roque's sister claimed his remains, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office. The agency would not disclose her name, or the funeral home that received the remains – the information is exempt from public disclosure.
Roque's girlfriend, Aguaro, couldn't be reached by The News Tribune. A phone number provided by one of the bounty hunters rang to a disconnection message. Liberty's debt to the court died with Roque. The bonds and the outstanding warrants were officially quashed in June.
Marshall has no quarrel with the investigators who let Roque roam free.
“I don't have any problem with anything TPD and the FBI were doing,” he said. “They thought they were fixing big things.”
He's more concerned about mistaken impressions: the idea that reckless bond agents killed Roque out of revenge. If a prosecutor had been willing to forgive the bond on a police informant, Marshall wouldn't have chased Roque.
“What about my rights?” Marshall said. “Why does the prosecutor get to let this guy walk after he admits he robbed me? Somewhere along the line I got screwed.”
Von Wahlde has had time to reflect in the two months since Roque's death.
He said he considered giving Liberty some slack at the time. He still believes he had a good argument. It was a question of policy versus circumstances.
“If I was to do it all over again, I'd balance the two together,” he said.

Briton was being questioned by police last night in connection with the murder of Suzan Tamim, the Lebanese singer found dead in her Dubai apartment

2008-08-07T05:20:00.003+01:00

A Briton was being questioned by police last night in connection with the murder of Suzan Tamim, the Lebanese singer found dead in her Dubai apartment, according to officials at the British embassy.
The man was being held in police custody following his arrest earlier this week. However, it is understood that police are looking at more than one suspect and that one of the main lines of questioning for the man in custody is the whereabouts of a suspected accomplice in the killing. A spokesman for the British consulate in Dubai said: “We can confirm that a British national is helping police with their inquiries with regards to the Suzan Tamim investigation. We are offering him full consular assistance.” The spokesman also confirmed that a consular official had visited the man. It was not known where he was being held.
Suzan Tamim lived in Rimal Tower’s 1113 apartment in Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai Marina. Preliminary investigations revealed that she had bought the apartment for Dh2.8 million (US $765,000) just days ago on July 22nd on arrival in Dubai from London.Suzan Tamim's father, Abdul Sattar Tamim, had disclosed that he had evidense that pointed to the hiring of a hitman to kill his daughter. Dubai police have refused to comment on any arrests or lines of inquiry but say the case is heading in a positive direction. The murder investigation was launched after the beautiful Suzan Tamim, 31, was found with her throat cut (possibly decapitated, information not revealed) and multiple stab wounds to her face, mutilated beyond recognition, in her Jumeirah Beach Residence apartment on Monday, July 28th. The office of Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said that Lebanon has officially sought the aid of Interpol.
After her divorce from Ali Manzaz, Suzan married Lebanese producer Adel Matooq but the second marriage, too, hit the rocks very soon. In order to get away from the string of cases filed by her second husband, Adel, she travelled secretly to Egypt from Lebanon. Eight months ago, she disappeared from Egypt (she went to London) only to surface in the UAE about a 3 weeks ago. Suzan’s second husband Adel Matooq had in 2004 alleged attempts on his life by Suzan with help from others. Matooq suffered injuries when some unknown assailants shot at him outside his office in Beirut. He alleged that an Egyptian businessman with whom Suzan was having an affair, was behind the attack. The matter is still in court. Matooq also declined to divorce Suzan.
Was this an "Honor Killing" using the Briton hitman or men to mutilate and slaughter Suzan Tamim and how did they track her so fast to an apartment she had just purchased days before the murder (inside information here), it appears that sexy Suzan Tamim was married to two Arab men at the same time when she was murdered. Her husband AdelMaatouk, in a statement, said that he wanted his wife to stop singing and devote her time to the family after their marriage. Maatouk said his wife left Lebanon against his wishes and that the singer's parents had told her not to listen to him, see his webiste photo click here.The night before her body was found, Tamim had a late-night gathering, with about 20 guests partying until the early hours of Monday morning. Her body was found after friends and family grew concerned when they could not contact her all day. A police source said detectives were pursuing a possible lead after a security guard, on duty at Tamim’s Rimal 1 tower the day she was murdered, described a man demanding to know her apartment number. He was last seen entering the lift and heading for her apartment on the 22nd floor about 9am on Monday – which is the time police believe she was murdered.
She was buried in her home town of Beirut on Monday after her body was finally released and flown out of Dubai. As the mystery behind Tamim’s murder deepened, intriguing details continued to emerge about her private life.
Although at the time of her death she was still officially married to Adel Maatouk, her former Lebanese producer, but an Iraqi kick-boxing champion living in the UK by the name of Riyadh al Azzawi held a press conference last weekend claiming he was also married to her and had lived with her in London for 18 months. His brother Mohammed told The National that Mr Azzawi was distraught at the news of Tamim’s death. He also confirmed his brother was still in London and had not attended the funeral, adding: “He is being comforted by friends and has already held a private service for Suzan in London on Friday.”Tamim was never far from controversy throughout her career, her private life rapidly began to overshadow her singing career. Mr Maatouk, who was estranged from her at the time of her death, accused her of stealing Dh1.28 million ($350,000) and she was arrested by Interpol in Egypt in 2005. Months later she faced allegations of being involved in a heroin smuggling ring with her father. Suzan Tamim's last album was produced by production giant Rotana in 2002. Her last song, "Lovers," recorded in 2006, was dedicated to the memory of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (killed by a terrorist truck bomb).

Hells Angels targeted several high-profile members by agents working for the police buying and selling drugs

2008-07-05T09:06:00.001+01:00

Animosity between the RCMP and the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. led to the failure of a multimillion-dollar investigation into the Hells Angels, a former lead investigator with the agency has alleged in a wrongful dismissal suit.
The investigation, known as Project Phoenix, targeted several high-profile members of the Hells Angels biker gang, with agents working for the police buying and selling large quantities of drugs.
The investigation was completed and reports were sent to Crown counsel for charges.
However, no charges were ever laid, something Allen Dalstrom - the officer who led the investigation and is now suing for wrongful dismissal - blames on infighting between the RCMP and the organized crime-fighting agency.
Dalstrom was fired in 2004 after concerns were raised about his handling of Project Phoenix and over comments he allegedly made to a journalist writing a book about the Hells Angels.
However, in a statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Dalstrom argued there were no grounds to fire him and that Phoenix was derailed because of RCMP jealousy over the creation of the organized crime-fighting agency in 1999.
"Certain members of the senior management of the RCMP in British Columbia were opposed to the creation of the OCABC from its inception because the OCABC was given the mandate to carry out investigations that had previously been within the mandate of the RCMP," Dalstrom alleged in his statement of claim.
"The RCMP in British Columbia sought to persuade the province to disband the OCABC and return the mandate for investigating organized crime to the RCMP."
Dalstrom alleged the RCMP attacked his handling of Phoenix "as a means of discrediting the management of the OCABC generally."
According to Dalstrom, a number of outside reviews of Project Phoenix concluded the case had been handled properly.
Documents filed by Dalstrom quote a 2003 independent review of Phoenix which states: "The multimillion-dollar Phoenix investigation could have been prosecuted, but the prosecution was derailed because of interagency jealousies."
The court records do not state who the criminal targets of Phoenix were. However, the Vancouver Sun reported the investigation targeted members of the Hells Angels biker gang.
In his statement of claim, Dalstrom argued that lawyers with the Department of Justice ultimately decided not to prosecute because it would have meant the "persistent interagency dispute between the RCMP and the OCABC" would become public.
"In the opinion of the Vancouver office of the Department of Justice, such an examination would have a negative effect on public order and morale, and on public confidence in the administration of justice," Dalstrom stated.
In 2004, the same year Dalstrom was dismissed, the organized-crime-fighting agency was folded into the new Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, an integrated team of RCMP and municipal police officers.
Dalstrom's lawsuit names the province of B.C.; David Douglas, the former chief officer of OCABC who fired him; and Kevin Begg, head of the provincial government's police services division, as defendants.
In his statement of defence, Douglas, a former RCMP officer, denied that Dalstrom was fired without cause, arguing that his "overall performance . . . was not meeting acceptable standards" and that he mismanaged major investigations.
A report on Dalstrom's job performance, prepared by Douglas and filed in court, indicated Douglas had several concerns with how Dalstrom managed Project Phoenix.
Those concerns included that investigators with the project did not adequately handle exhibits, such as properly marking purchased drugs as evidence.
"During the investigation, drugs that had been purchased from one target were then, at a later date, trafficked to another target," Douglas's report stated. "Both cocaine and marijuana were trafficked in this manner."
Similarly, Douglas's report alleged, proceeds from the sale of drugs were also not marked as exhibits, instead forming part of the "cash pool" used by investigators to make future purchases.
Douglas's report argued it was Dalstrom's mismanagement of the case that led to the decision by Crown not to prosecute the offences.
Douglas's report stated he was concerned about a comment in reporter Julian Sher's book, The Road To Hell, in which an "OCA insider" said that, when it came to organized-crime investigations, the RCMP had done "f- all here for 25 years."
According to Douglas's report, Dalstrom at first denied making the statement, but later said he couldn't recall and said, "There's a possibility I made them because that's the way I may have felt about the situation."
In his statement of claim, Douglas denied making the comment to Sher but added that, even if he had, it was not grounds for dismissal as it was "fair comment" and did not reveal any confidential police information.
On June 17, Insp. Andy Richards, a former investigator with OCABC who is now with the CFSEU, filed an affidavit in support of Dalstrom's lawsuit.
Richards, who was Dalstrom's immediate supervisor, said it was his job to prepare regular performance appraisals on Dalstrom.
"Just before Christmas of 2003 Chief Officer Douglas asked me to change two performance appraisals for Mr. Dalstrom," Richards states.
He said Douglas wanted him to change his generally positive appraisals of Douglas' work to ones that cited Dalstrom's work on Phoenix as unsatisfactory.
"This was untrue," states Richards. "I refused to go along. I told Chief Officer Douglas that that would be unethical and unfair. He just shrugged and walked away."
In a phone interview Friday, David Butcher, Douglas's lawyer, denied Richards' allegation that Douglas asked him to change Dalstrom's performance appraisal.
Butcher said he had no further comment on the case.
Richards added in his affidavit that he strongly disagreed with the decision to fire Dalstrom.
"It appeared that Mr. Dalstrom was being fired simply because David Douglas and the RCMP wanted him out of the OCABC," Richards stated. "To my mind, this was simply politics."
According to an affidavit filed by Dalstrom, he was told a week before Christmas 2003 that he had been relieved of his duties and to go home.
"I was not told why I was sent home, who had made the decision, or why," Dalstrom wrote. "I was merely told that there was no work to assign to me."
On Feb. 5, Dalstrom received a letter telling him he was being put on administrative leave because there was no work to do.
"I was devastated," Dalstrom wrote. "It appeared to me that I was losing not just my job, but the career I loved."
Finally, on July 19, 2004, Dalstrom received a letter from Douglas telling him that he had been terminated.
Dalstrom was offered 12 months' severance pay, which he refused.
On April 11, 2006, he filed his wrongful dismissal suit. He said in his affidavit he had not worked since.

Leslie Adgar,Jon Patton admitted conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin

2008-06-20T23:17:00.000+01:00

Former Delta employee Leslie Adgar, 42, and one of the former TSA workers, 44-year-old Jon Patton, admitted conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin.Andre Mays, 24, the other ex-TSA worker, pleaded guilty to entering a secure airport area in violation of screening requirements.Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 17. Adgar and Patton face a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. Mays could receive up to a year.Prosecutors said a confidential source working for the Drug Enforcement Administration arranged in December to smuggle two kilograms of what was purported to be cocaine to New York in luggage carried past security in Atlanta and onto a Delta flight in exchange for $8,000.Two subsequent arrangements were made in January and February involving shipments of fake cocaine or heroin from Atlanta to New York, U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said.Rodney G. Benson, in charge of the DEA in Atlanta, said the three "were aggressively investigated for abusing their positions of trust as TSA and Delta employees.""Such misconduct undermines the efforts of law enforcement officers who work so hard to keep our airports safe from the dangerous substances these individuals were attempting to smuggle," Benson said.

William David Wallader acquitted

2008-06-20T23:13:00.000+01:00

William David Wallader, 62, was serving a minimum six-month jail term after being found guilty in May.The Court of Appeal in Brisbane has acquitted a former financial adviser, jailed for possessing counterfeit US treasury bonds worth $1.3 billion.
His trial heard he was negotiating the sale of the fake bonds to the Turkish Government when he was arrested. The court is yet to publish its reasons, but in a short hearing this morning allowed the appeal.
Mr Wallader is expected to be released today.

Chilling message to police and soldiers in cities across Mexico: Join us or die.

2008-05-19T09:35:00.002+01:00

Violence is spinning out of control is areas along the U.S. Mexico border and now drug cartels are sending a chilling message to police and soldiers in cities across Mexico: Join us or die.The threat appears in recruiting banners that are hung across roadsides and in publicly posted death lists. Cops are receiving additional threats over their two-way radios. At least four high-ranking police officials were gunned down this month, including Mexico’s acting federal police chief
Mexico has battled for years to clean up its security forces and win them the publics respect. But Mexicans generally assume police and even soldiers are corrupt until proven otherwise, and the honest ones lack resources, training and the assurance that their colleagues are watching their backs. Here, the taboo on cop-killing familiar to Americans seems hardly to apply.Police who take on the cartels feel isolated and vulnerable when they become targets, as did 22 commanders in Ciudad Juarez when drug traffickers named them on a handwritten death list left at a monument to fallen police this year. It was addressed to “those who still don’t believe” in the power of the cartels.Of the 22, seven have been killed and three wounded in assassination attempts. Of the others, all but one have quit, and city officials said he didn’t want to be interviewed.

Arrest of an alleged serial killer in Modimolle, Limpopo, came as a result of random DNA tests conducted on several men in the town.

2008-05-19T09:28:00.002+01:00

The recent arrest of an alleged serial killer in Modimolle, Limpopo, came as a result of random DNA tests conducted on several men in the town. The man was arrested in Lwamondo in the Vuwani area near Thohoyandou on Friday morning. Provincial police commissioner Calvin Sengani said a task team established to investigate the serial killings in Modimolle had led to the arrest of the 45-year-old man last week.Though Sengani would not reveal the exact circumstances leading to the man’s arrest, he expressed confidence that they had apprehended the right suspect.The man was sought in connection with a spate of rapes and murders in Modimolle between 2004 and 2008.The recently arrested man is expected to appear in the Modimolle magistrate’s court today on kidnapping, murder, indecent assault and abuse charges.Sengani said on April 10 last month, the police cordoned off a section of Phahameng Location and took blood samples for DNA testing to find who was responsible for the killings. The samples were linked to DNA tests done on the bodies of seven children and one adult found. Three children are still missing.
“We are absolutely confident that we have arrested the right person this time,” said Sengani.He said they had relied heavily on the forensic investigations.Police had earlier arrested another man for the deaths. He was arrested in Vuwani on January 19 but had to be released two months later after the state could not link him to the crimesA reward of R250000 was offered for information .These are the victims:
Matshidiso Greycia Makhubela, 3, went missing on September 12 2006. Her body was found a day later. She had been raped.
Rosina Malete, 8, went missing with her brother, Petrus, 11, on March 28 2006. Their decomposed bodies were found on April 5.
Kedibone Princess Shiburi, 19, went missing on July 14 2006. Her body was found 11 days later. Ramaesela Salome Kwinana, 46, went missing on October 8 2006. Her body was found a week later. Johanna Rebecca Baloyi, 8, went missing on April 27 last year and her body was found the following day.
Refilwe Ringani, 8, went missing on June 12 last year and her body was found on July 8. Mokgadi Maria Mafora, 5, went missing on April 5 this year. Her body was found two days later.Nono Johanna Lefawane, 8, went missing on January 10 2005. She has not been found. Joshua Moyati Chauke, 10, went missing on December 28 2005. He has not been found. Johanna Ramokoni Motshabi, 4, went missing on January 11 2006 and has not been found.

Foreign workers who work airside at UK airports do not have to undergo full mandatory criminal records checks

2008-05-08T08:08:00.000+01:00

"Anybody who is able to work in a restricted zone is screened in exactly the same thorough way as any member of the public," he added. Foreign workers who work airside at UK airports do not have to undergo full mandatory criminal records checks, the BBC's Newsnight has discovered. Since 2003, staff have been checked against UK criminal records, but offences abroad are not covered. Aviation Minister Jim Fitzpatrick has defended vetting procedures for staff. After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, governments across the world pledged to make airports more secure. In the UK, the government introduced mandatory criminal records checks for all staff working airside.To not do anything about it because it's inconvenient, it's a disgrace But Newsnight has discovered a serious loophole in the legislation. Foreign workers are being employed without undergoing any criminal records checks. The government says it would simply take too long and be too complex to check criminal records from abroad.

Jose Francisco Cardoza Quinteros: an unrepentant, violent former gang leader responsible for attacks and killings in his home country,

2008-05-04T10:51:00.000+01:00

Jose Francisco Cardoza Quinteros: an unrepentant, violent former gang leader responsible for attacks and killings in his home country, or a devout Christian trying to turn his life around in British Columbia.
Lawyers for the federal government and Cardoza Quinteros offered competing images in court Friday of a man who claims he fled to Canada to escape his former gang, which he says is out to kill him.A Federal Court judge ultimately agreed Cardoza Quinteros poses a danger to the public and on Friday stayed an earlier immigration board decision to release him.Justice Yvon Pinard ordered him to remain in custody until a judicial review of the original decision, or until his next chance to argue to remain in Canada - known as a pre-removal risk assessment - is finished.Cardoza Quinteros has already been ordered deported because of his gang ties, but he's fighting to stay.The opposing portraits of Cardoza Quinteros offered Friday are mostly due to his own accounts of his life in El Salvador, accounts that varied wildly during a lengthy interview with border officers in Surrey, B.C., when he tried to enter Canada last September.He initially denied he was a member of a gang, but eventually admitted once belonging to the Mara Salvatrucha, a violent organization with thousands of members throughout Central America.Cardoza Quinteros said he was the gang's treasurer, then offered an evolving picture of his involvement in the gang. He first said he only took part in beatings, then gradually changed his story to include four killings and fierce grenade attacks on rival groups.Caroline Christiaens, a lawyer for the federal Immigration Department, offered a suggestion about which version to believe.She said Cardoza Quinteros, a member of Mara Salvatrucha from 1999 until 2004, became adept at using violence to control gang members and eventually left only because he feared for his life, not because he had any desire to change his ways."He wanted to join that gang, he joined voluntarily, and he knew the nature of the gang at the time," said Christiaens.
"He's been involved in crime and violence since the '90s. . . . He's never said that he's remorseful, he's never said what he did was wrong."Cardoza Quinteros later recanted much of what he told border officials, and an immigration board member ruled earlier this week that she doubted he had ever killed anyone.Instead, in ordering him released, board member Daphne Shaw Dyck said Cardoza Quinteros may have exaggerated his past in the erroneous belief that it would help his case.But Christiaens said the discrepancies instead suggest Cardoza Quinteros was lying to minimize and hide his past.Christiaens said Cardoza Quinteros is dangerous and argued Shaw Dyck was wrong in concluding the Salvadoran man did not pose a significant risk to the public.She said his history of violence isn't limited to his gang involvement, and said that risk increases as his deportation draws closer.
"It certainly increases the potential for conflict," she said. "He's under a lot of pressure. He's used to being in a position to control his surroundings through violence."But Cardoza Quinteros's lawyer, Shepherd Moss, noted that his client was released soon after arriving in Canada last September and had lived peacefully in Surrey until he was ordered into custody on April 21 to face another detention hearing.He was living with a supportive family and following all of the conditions imposed on him, had overcome the alcoholism that fuelled his violence in El Salvador, and had found support among church members in Surrey, Moss said.
Moss said his client has demonstrated he can live free in the community while his case works its way through the system, proving his release last September was the correct decision.
"Allowing Mr. Cardoza Quinteros to continue on this path of rehabilitation and better himself is in the public interest," said Moss, who rejected the claim that his client would become violent if faced with confrontation.
"His dedication to the Christian faith will allow him to turn the other cheek. There's no evidence of such lashing out. There's no evidence of random violence, there's no evidence of fights when he's alone on the street and sober."
The judge hearing the case said Cardoza Quinteros's past indeed make him more likely to become violent.
"I do not find that the danger to the public, if a stay is not granted, is purely speculative," Pinard wrote in his decision. "The danger is real and, for the purpose of this motion, it constitutes irreparable harm."
Even though his refugee claim has failed and he has been ordered deported, Cardoza Quinteros is still pursuing other options to remain in Canada.
He has applied for a pre-removal risk assessment to argue he would be put in danger if returned to El Salvador - a process already underway that could be finished soon.
If that fails, Moss told court Friday that he would then apply for a judicial review of the case.