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Federal Inmate Indicted for Escaping from Prison and Returning with Contraband

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Federal Inmate Indicted for Escaping from Prison and Returning with Contraband

                BEAUMONT, Texas – A 27-year-old federal prison inmate has been indicted for escaping from prison and returning with contraband announced U.S. Attorney Alan R. Jackson today.

                Joshua Randall Hansen was charged in the two-count indictment with escape from a federal facility and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.  The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on Feb. 7, 2018.

                According to the indictment, on Jan. 24, 2018, law enforcement officers arrested Hansen outside the perimeter of the prison camp at the Federal Correctional Complex in Beaumont, Texas.  Hansen is a federal inmate and was not authorized to be outside the facility.  At the time of his arrest, it is alleged that Hansen was on his way back to the prison camp and was in possession of marijuana and alcohol that he intended to distribute within the compound. 

If convicted, Hansen faces up to an additional five years in federal prison.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Prisons.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall L. Fluke.

A grand jury indictment is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Federal Charges For Weapons Trafficking And Carjacking

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Federal Charges For Weapons Trafficking And Carjacking

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On February 8, 2018, a federal grand jury returned a  13-count indictment charging three individuals for trafficking firearms without a license, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is in charge of the investigation of the case.

The indictment charges Helmer Colón-Figueroa, Erick Cotto-Romero, and Luis Estrada-Rivera with conspiracy to engage in firearms trafficking without a license. The object of the conspiracy was to purchase firearms in the State of Florida, transport them to Puerto Rico, and sell them to other individuals in Puerto Rico, for profit.

 Helmer Colón-Figueroa is also facing charges for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. Defendants are facing a forfeiture allegation of nine pistols, seven rifles and a money judgment of $47,300. If convicted, the defendants face up to five years in prison for engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license, and up to 10 years for possession of a machine gun and for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In an unrelated case, Puerto Rico Police Department officers arrested Adriel Carrasquillo-Carmona for carjacking. On Saturday, February 3, 2018, Carrasquillo-Carmona, with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm, took a gray 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass vehicle from the presence of a 70-year-old male victim causing him serious bodily injury. The defendant struck the victim in the head and body with a sledgehammer several times. The victim struggled with Carrasquillo-Carmona, who after beating him reached inside the victim’s pockets and took a cell phone, $800 and the vehicle. The defendant was arrested on February 4 and the FBI assumed jurisdiction. If convicted, Carrasquillo-Carmona faces up to 25 years in prison.

“We will continue to work tirelessly with all the law enforcement agencies, federal and state, to fight the wave of crime that is alarming our communities in Puerto Rico,” said United States Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Acevedo-Hernández is in charge of the prosecution of the firearms case and AUSA Marie Christine Amy is in charge of the prosecution of the carjacking case. Indictments contain only charges and are not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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Finnish most wanted fugitive arrested in Paris thanks to a tip via EU Most Wanted website

Source: Europol

Headline: Finnish most wanted fugitive arrested in Paris thanks to a tip via EU Most Wanted website

One of Finland’s most wanted fugitives, wanted for fraud and forgery, was arrested in Paris on 2 February. The arrest was made possible thanks to a tip that came via the EU Most Wanted website (www.eumostwanted.eu). The suspected criminal featured on one of the postcards sent last summer to citizens throughout Europe. After receiving the useful tip, the Finnish Police (FAST Finland) cooperated with the French National Police (FAST France) who were able to arrest him last week.

This arrest is yet another example of the vital help the general public can offer law enforcement in catching these fugitives. Since the launch of the EU Most Wanted website just over two years ago, 44 featured fugitives have been captured. At least 16 of them thanks to a tip received from the general public.

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Arrest in Tottenham murder

Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

Headline: Arrest in Tottenham murder

Detectives investigating the fatal stabbing of a man in Tottenham have made an arrest.

The 20-year-old man was arrested this afternoon (Friday, 9 February) on suspicion of murder; he remains in custody at a north London station.

An investigation was launched after police were called at approximately 01:28hrs on Saturday, 3 February, to St Mary’s Close, N17 to reports of a stabbing.

Officers attended along with London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance and found a 22-year-old man suffering from fatal stab injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His next of kin have been informed. A post-mortem examination held at Haringey Mortuary on Monday, 5 February gave cause of death as hypovolemic shock and multiple stab wounds.

Formal identification has taken place and the victim is Kwabena Nelson.

Detective Chief Inspector Luke Marks is leading the investigation. He said: “This investigation continues to move at pace but I would reiterate my appeal for anyone who heard or saw a road traffic collision or disturbance in Kemble Road and St Mary’s Close in the early hours of Saturday morning to come forward and speak to police.

“If you were there and have information or saw something please call us on the incident room on 020 8358 0200 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Enquiries are ongoing.

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New Orleans Man Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Over $437,000 from Local Employer

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: New Orleans Man Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Over $437,000 from Local Employer

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that WAYNE SONIAT, age 61, of New Orleans, pled guilty today after previously being charged with a two-count Bill of Information for wire fraud and making false statements on federal income tax returns. 

According to court documents, SONIAT was employed as a warehouse manager for a New Orleans-based food production company headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana, which also operated a manufacturing plant in Reserve, Louisiana (“Company A”).  SONIAT was responsible for, among other things, ensuring that employees followed appropriate procedures, keeping track of when temporary employees worked, and submitting the requisite paperwork, including time sheets, to ensure that Company A paid the temporary employees and the staffing agency through whom the temporary employees were acquired for the time the temporary employees worked.  Between about November 2009 and October 2014, SONIAT embezzled approximately $437,346 from Company A in a series of approximately 200 wire transfers, without Company A’s knowledge or authorization.  SONIAT did so by signing and submitting paperwork, including time sheets, indicating that temporary, contract employees (“ghost employees”) had performed work for Company A when, in fact, they had not.  SONIAT obtained debit cards in the names of the ghost employees onto which payments were made for the time they allegedly worked.  SONIAT then used the money to pay for personal expenses to withdraw cash at area ATMs.  Additionally, SONIAT failed to report the income from his scheme on his federal income tax returns, which resulted in a loss to the United States Government in the form of tax due and owing in the amount of approximately $43,885.

SONIAT faces up to twenty-three (23) years imprisonment.  Sentencing before Judge Feldman has been scheduled for May 16, 2018. 

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations in investigating this matter, with assistance from the United States Secret Service, the St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office, and the Louisiana Financial Crime Task Force.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg.

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Louisiana Men Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Methamphetamine Conspiracy Charges

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Louisiana Men Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Methamphetamine Conspiracy Charges

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced JEREMY DORMAN, age 31, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and JUSTIN SWANK, age 37, of New Orleans, Louisiana, to 65 months and 40 months imprisonment, respectively, after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of methamphetamine.

According to court documents, on September 24, 2015, a confidential source informed Jefferson Parish law enforcement officers that DORMAN was traveling eastbound on Interstate 10 near Kenner, Louisiana with a large quantity of methamphetamine.  A stop and search of the vehicle revealed that DORMAN was in possession of 912 grams of methamphetamine.  In a post-arrest statement, DORMAN acknowledged possession of the methamphetamine and identified SWANK, a New Orleans resident, as his drug trafficking associate who was also in possession of methamphetamine.  Special Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration went to SWANK’S residence at 2410 Daneel Street and arrested him on an outstanding warrant.  During a search of SWANK’S residence, agents recovered 19 grams of methamphetamine from SWANK’S pocket and recovered another 421 grams of methamphetamine from a safe in SWANK’S bedroom. 

            U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Louisiana State Police in investigating this matter.  Assistant United States Attorney André Jones was in charge of the prosecution.

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Central Iowa Insurance Agent Charged with Defrauding Clients

Source: United States Attorneys General

Headline: Central Iowa Insurance Agent Charged with Defrauding Clients

DES MOINES, IA – On January 23, 2018, Roger Duane Goodwin, age 59, of Windsor Heights, Iowa, was charged with seven counts of mail fraud announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum.

According to the Indictment, Goodwin owned and operated “Goodwin Network of Advisors, Inc.” which was also referred to as “Goodwin Network”, “GN of A”, and “GNA Corp.” and sold life insurance, annuities, and similar investment products to individuals in the Des Moines and Houston, Texas areas. From at least February 2013 and continuing through at least August 2016, Goodwin advised several of his clients to purchase insurance products from him. Instead of purchasing insurance policies or contracts for these clients, Goodwin deposited the clients’ checks into a bank account associated with Goodwin Network of Advisors – which only Goodwin and his spouse could access. The indictment alleges Goodwin kept all or large portions of the funds and used the money for unauthorized purposes that were not for the benefit of the affected clients. Goodwin used his clients’ money, unbeknownst to them, for his personal expenses, directly repaying other clients of Goodwin’s, and making payments to the insurance companies for the benefit of other clients whose money Goodwin had failed to earlier send to the insurance company.

Goodwin has a preliminary trial date of April 2, 2018, before United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger, at the Des Moines Federal Courthouse. Mail Fraud is punishable by a maximum prison term of twenty years and a maximum fine of $250,000.
The public is reminded that an indictment is only an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this matter. The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

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Florida Legislation Helps Reduce the Number of “Pill Mills” (NIJ)

Source: United States Department of Justice

Headline: Florida Legislation Helps Reduce the Number of “Pill Mills” (NIJ)

 

Researchers funded by NIJ studied the effects of Florida laws to address the opioid epidemic and found that they did indeed help reduce the number of “pill mill” clinics.

February 8, 2018

Florida is one of the states that has been hardest hit by the prescription drug abuse epidemic. In 2010, more people died in Florida from opioids than from cocaine. In the same year, prescription drugs were associated with 81 percent of all drug-related or drug-caused deaths, excluding those caused by alcohol. The next year, that percentage was even higher.

Florida’s state legislature has attempted to address the epidemic with a series of laws aimed at reducing the number of so-called “pill mills” — clinics that fuel the drug trade by prescribing large amounts of opioid drugs. Researchers funded by NIJ studied the effects of these laws and found that they did indeed help reduce the number of clinics. Through interviews with law enforcement officers, the researchers learned about the complexities of making a case against a pill mill and how the legislation helped. The study is part of an NIJ effort to understand the different ways in which states and local governments can work on disrupting the illegal market in prescription drugs.

The researchers, from the University of Central Florida’s Department of Criminal Justice, studied the impact of three laws passed in 2010 and 2011 that defined and regulated pain management clinics and set up a prescription drug monitoring program. The “pill mill law,” passed in 2011, banned pain management clinics from dispensing drugs and established requirements for medical examinations and follow-ups before and after prescribing opioids for chronic pain, among other new requirements, with the intent of reducing the number of pill mills.

Number of Pill-Mill Clinics in Florida
Year No. Pill Mills
2009-2010 921
2010-2011 823
2011-2012 441
2012-2013 384
2013-2014 371

Over the next three years, the number of pain clinics in Florida dropped. The first year that pain management clinics had to register, the 2009-2010 fiscal year, there were more than 900 clinics. By 2013-2014, that number had fallen by 60 percent, to 371. The researchers also examined geographical data and found that pain clinics tend to operate in areas where homicide, rape, burglary, and other serious crimes are common. However, the data cannot show the nature of the connection — whether pain clinics are drawn to high-crime areas, whether they increase the risk of crime, or whether there is some other reason entirely why pain clinics are in high-crime areas.

In interviews, law enforcement officers said that making a case against an illegal pain clinic is very difficult. Pill mills are lucrative businesses: A physician prescribing opioids can make thousands of dollars a day, often in cash, and owners and physicians can afford expensive defense attorneys. For that reason, some officers said that laws that allow law enforcement to seize assets were very helpful. In one investigation, officers found more than $30 million in cash; a single house had more than $1 million in the attic.

The officers also said that successful investigations depend on a collaborative approach, with a prosecutor involved from the beginning. Investigations can be expensive; undercover visits to buy pills alone require a lot of cash, and investigators also need money for surveillance equipment and overtime.

About This Article

The research described in this article was supported by NIJ grant number 2012-R2-CX-0006, awarded to the University of Central Florida. This article was based on the NIJ grant final report “Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs: Policy Change, Law Enforcement Activity, and Diversion Tactics” (pdf, 22 pages).

Cite This Article
National Institute of Justice, “Florida Legislation Helps Reduce the Number of ‘Pill Mills,’” February 8, 2018, from NIJ.gov: https://nij.gov/topics/drugs/markets/Pages/florida-legislation-helps-reduce-the-number-of-pill-mills.aspx

Date Created: February 6, 2019

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A Landscape Study of Alternate Light Sources (NIJ)

Source: United States Department of Justice

Headline: A Landscape Study of Alternate Light Sources (NIJ)

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New Software Improves Rigor of Latent Fingerprint Examination (NIJ)

Source: United States Department of Justice

Headline: New Software Improves Rigor of Latent Fingerprint Examination (NIJ)

 

There is currently no standard method of detailed documentation of the latent print examination process, but NIJ-supported researchers have developed software that improves the standardization and quantifiability of the process, implemented as part of the FBI’s Universal Latent Workstation, the existing latent print system.

January 22, 2018

One of the central issues in the field of latent fingerprint examinations is that the current methods used by law enforcement agencies vary widely and, in part because of the lack of uniform training, lack standardization and quantifiability. In response, the researchers on this NIJ-supported project, from the scientific company Noblis, developed ACEware, software intended to provide a platform for “standards-based detailed annotation of the latent print examination process for use in training new latent print examiners in standard, reproducible documentation . . . as well as for use by experienced case-working latent print examiners in documenting actual case work.”

The researchers, William Chapman and R. Austin Hicklin, said their ACEware application builds upon the pre-existing Universal Latent Workstation (ULW) application from the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division. ULW provides latent print examiners with tools to mark up latent print images, do comparisons of latent prints, and conduct latent print searchers on the Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS).  ACEware builds on the ULW system, the researchers said, and adds new capabilities, including:

  • Dataset-based training by either an instructor, or “self-led” by the student.
  • Creation and management of datasets that can set relationships between all files contained within a dataset, which allows establishment of a “standard specification for friction ridge datasets.”
  • Comparison or consolidation of the markups of a single latent print by multiple examiners.
  • The ability to perform blind or non-blind verifications from within the ULW software.

The project involved collaborations with the Fairfax County Police Department (Virginia), the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory.   Several other agencies, including the FBI Laboratory, participated in testing the software.

“The reactions to the ACEware functionality have been positive,” the researchers said, with several users saying the software, “would either improve current processes or introduce new processes that would be beneficial for past, current, and future work.” They noted that ACEware, “will help increase the rigor applied to the examination process in an effort to decrease the risk of false or missed identifications.”

“Over the past ten to fifteen years . . . the latent print examination discipline has been undergoing a sea-change, reevaluating its basic tenets with the goal of improving the scientific basis for latent print examination,” the researchers said. ACEware was developed to be part of that process, they said, by putting “software tools in the hands of examiners in order to improve the rigor of the latent print examination process.”

The ULW Software with ACEware has not been approved for release by the FBI.

About This Article

The research described in this article was funded by NIJ award 2013-R2-CX-K011, awarded to Noblis.

This article is based on the grantee report “ACEware Latent Fingerprint Identification Research and Software Development” (pdf, 56 pages), by William J. Chapman, R. Austin Hicklin, Noblis.

Cite This Article

National Institute of Justice, “New Software Improves Rigor of Latent Fingerprint Examination,” January 22, 2018, NIJ.gov: https://nij.gov/topcis/forenscis/evidence/impression/pages/software-improves-rigor-of-latent-fingerprint-examination.aspx

Date Created: January 22, 2018