Category: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Remarks prepared for delivery.

Introduction

Thank you, Deputy Chief Lokey, for that kind introduction, and for the opportunity to be here with you all today.

Good morning, everyone.

I’m honored to join my colleagues on this panel—I’ve really enjoyed hearing everyone’s insightful remarks, so thank you.

To start, I wanted to take a look back in history to the early 1970s.

Back then our nation was in the final stages of the Vietnam War. The U.S. economy was about to hit stagnation, and the Watergate scandal was around the corner.

In short, it was a tumultuous time for our country.

It was also a time of firsts for the FBI, an eventful time for the us.

On May 12th, 1972—50 years ago next month—FBI Acting Director L. Patrick Gray announced that for the first time ever, the FBI would open the special agent position to female applicants.

That announcement ended a long era of policies that excluded women and prevented them from serving as agents.

By the end of that year, the FBI would welcome a total of 11 women agents.

And so began an era of firsts in the FBI.

Between 1972 and 2001, the FBI saw:

• The first woman African American special agent,
• The first woman firearms instructor,
• and the first women legal attachés, first woman special agent in charge of a field office, and the first women to attain the ranks of assistant director and executive assistant director at Headquarters.

And 50 years on, we’re fortunate to have women heading field offices; serving at the highest levels at HQ; leading squads working counterterrorism, cyber, counterintelligence, and major criminal investigations; serving as firearms instructors, bomb techs, and crisis negotiators; and leading FBI offices around the world.

Diversity Initiatives

Although the FBI has come a long way since that 1972 advancement, the reality is it wasn’t all that long ago.

And we’re still working hard to remove barriers and create a reflective workforce—not just in terms of gender, but across a full spectrum of diversity.

There is a long way to go and a tremendous amount of work to be done.

The FBI is focused on recruiting and building a diverse workforce—one that reflects all the communities we serve, building the kind of teams that bring the right mix of different perspectives to the table

Women now make up 45% of our workforce overall and nearly a quarter of our senior executive positions.

And I’m encouraged to report that over the past several years, our special agent applicants have been more diverse than the U.S. population as a whole.

The female special agent percentage has been rising in NAT classes over the last 2-3 years.

In fact, our classes at Quantico now have more women, more underrepresented minorities, and more people of varied backgrounds and life experiences than ever before.

We’ve also increased our recruiting initiatives at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and are expanding our recruiting focus to other minority-serving institutions. And we’ve been hard at work improving how we develop, promote, and mentor our personnel once they’re onboard.

It is taking time, but I’m confident we’re headed in the right direction.

I’m proud that the FBI is addressing this important issue, but I know that we can do even better, and we will.

Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because bringing together a wide array of perspectives is key to building trust, credibility, and meeting today’s increasingly complex and evolving threats and protecting people.

Violent Crime

One of the threats we’re all concerned about is the increase in violent crime.

We’re all seeing a disturbing trend in rising violent crime across the country.

There’s an increase in gun violence, homicides, and aggravated assaults, all occurring at an appalling pace.

There are also hate crimes and the persistent threat posed by violent extremists. 2020 incident-based crime data, which was released late last year, contains some troubling statistics.

Overall violent crime—which includes not only murder but also assault, robbery, and rape—rose by more than 5%.

Percentages can seem abstract, but when you attach the numbers, become more staggering: There were 65,000 additional violent crime incidents in 2020 than there were in 2019.

That’s 65,000 more people victimized by violent crime than in the year before, and each one, as we all know, with families, sorrow, and trauma.

And homicides jumped nearly 30% in 2020—the largest single-year increase recorded in 50 years.

Today’s violent crime problem is taking the lives of too many innocent people, tearing apart too many communities, and denying too many Americans the basic right to feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods.

Given that, at all levels of government, our most fundamental duty is to safeguard people’s right to live without fear of violence.

I can assure you that at the FBI we are committed to leveraging are using all of our tools and resources and working strategically and operationally with agencies like yours to meet that duty.

You undoubtedly have thoughts of your own about how we can best do that, and we’re eager to hear them, but I can tell you we’re laser-focused on working with you through the hundreds of task forces we host throughout the country.

They include:

• More than 50 Violent Crimes Task Forces,
• 175 Safe Streets Gang Task Forces with nearly 2,000 TFOs,
• 22 Safe Trails Task Forces, and
• More than 100 Transnational Organized Crime Task Forces with nearly 600 members.

For some of the cities hit hardest by the recent surge, we’re boosting those efforts by temporarily surging resources to our field offices.

That includes investigative, analytical, and technical resources, who embed with FBI and Task Force personnel and support existing initiatives with our law enforcement partners, all designed to make an immediate, measurable impact on violent crime.

Depending on where they are, the teams might focus on helping to get violent gun offenders off the streets, targeting commercial robbery crews, or taking aim at drug-trafficking gangs and criminal enterprises.

To date, we have surged resources to six cities and offices—Buffalo, Milwaukee, Louisville, Memphis, San Juan, and a current deployment in San Francisco.

And collectively, in a relatively short period of time, these deployments have helped lead to nearly 150 arrests and the seizure of over 70 firearms from violent criminals. And we’re seeing some promising trends.

During the deployments, homicides decreased by 50% in Buffalo. And in Milwaukee, homicides went down 17%, and non-fatal shootings fell by 28%.

We’re going to continue surging resources like this to help, support, and assist you in any way we can. And we’ll keep assessing where our support will most help our partners like you to continue cracking down on violent crime.

Our goal is to make a lasting impact, so our communities are safer places to live and work.

Threats to Law Enforcement

With that, it is recognized that the violent crime threat is not just affecting the communities we serve—it’s also making the law enforcement profession even more dangerous.

Sadly, last year 73 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed on the job, the highest single-year number since 9/11.

And that doesn’t account for those lost to the pandemic or in accidental deaths, those killed while they weren’t on duty, or the scores of officers who were injured but thankfully survived.

It is striking that a record number of those officers killed—nearly half—had no engagement with their assailant before the attack.

They were ambushed while sitting in their vehicles, attacked while on patrol, or lured out into the open and killed.

So far in 2022, 14 more officers have been murdered in the line of duty.

Each one of those officers got up each morning, put on their badge and bravely ventured out knowing the risks they would face.

They did their jobs despite all the hardships encountered in these especially difficult past few years because they were devoted to protecting their fellow Americans and keeping communities safe.

Keeping our people safe is our highest priority. Law enforcement is dangerous enough. Wearing a badge and serving the public shouldn’t make someone a target. 

You’ve heard Director Wray address this issue whenever he speaks and we intend to continue sounding the alarm and bringing attention to this issue, and continuing to work with you to counter this horrible trend and take every action to best protect our people.

Data Collection Programs

When it comes to meeting this threat and the many others we face, it’s imperative we continue to increase cooperation and share information with each other.

In support of that, we need to build a complete picture of the situation and environment.

We need concrete information and transparency into what’s really going on in our communities; we need accurate, objective data; data that will allow for an increased understanding of the threat picture, and that will help mitigate the many threats we face.

As many may know, we’ve transitioned to the National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS data collection program.

It is more detailed, provides more comprehensive data, and is more streamlined and easier to use.

NIBRS-only reporting has been up and running for over a year, and we’ve reached nearly 12,000 law enforcement agencies, 63%, reporting their data.

If you’re participating, thank you.

And if not, I encourage you to do so, by contributing data, you’ll be helping the entire law enforcement community become more informed and intentional in how we approach our work.

The same goes for Use-of-Force data collection, also a top priority.

The goal is to provide a comprehensive view of the circumstances, subjects, and officers involved in use-of-force incidents nationwide.

We’ve now got agencies representing over 60% of law enforcement officers contributing data.

That means in the very near future, we’ll be able to release the first statistics on the use of force. Data that shows the types of force used and resistance encountered, as well as the overall percentages for types of incidents and reasons for initial contact.

Once the 80% mark is reached, we’ll be able to share even more data and insight into use-of-force incidents; able to gain insights that improve safety, trust, and transparency; and we can give the public the necessary facts—and, through transparency hopefully, strengthen our nation’s confidence in law enforcement.

Importance of Partnerships

Sharing data—working to understand our common challenges—is a way for us to work together as one law enforcement community.

And that’s more important now than ever before.

We at the Bureau are committed to building upon the already strong partnerships we share and creating new ones.

It’s not enough to just rely on what is already in place.

We have to go further, to complement one another and be truly integrated.

A few moments ago, I mentioned the violent crime task forces, but we’ve also got Joint Terrorism Task Forces, Cyber Task Forces, and Counterintelligence Task Forces. They’re in every one of our 56 field offices.

Each task force has FBI agents working side by side with federal, state, and local partners.

Those task forces only work because we have shared commitment to work with one another and because we mutually commit our best personnel to these joint endeavors.

We value the teamwork between us beyond any specific threat.

Our SACs should have established close relationships with each of you, and be keeping the lines of communication open.

We’re focused on building relationships with partners now, so when there’s a crisis, those connections are already in place.

If you don’t feel like you have a strong enough relationship with your local FBI office, I want to hear about it, and I want to get that moving in the right direction.

You can also reach out to us through our Office of Partner Engagement, or OPE who are here today.

OPE maintains our vital relationships with the law enforcement community, including this association and coordinates closely with federal, state, local, tribal, and other partners across the country.

I invite you to take advantage of OPE’s programs, including intelligence training, active shooter training, and the Police Executive Fellowship Program, just to name a few.

And I encourage you to stay in touch with your OPE liaison to let us know how we can best support you.

Information Sharing

Another priority of ours is to keep information and intelligence flowing to partners.

Our goal is to share information from across the spectrum and ensure we’re all working as a team to help identify and stop the threats plaguing our communities.

Last July, the FBI hosted an Intelligence Sharing Summit for state and local law enforcement leaders from across the country.

Partners specifically pointed out that our intelligence products related to emerging threats and issues are welcome and useful, and that people value the unclassified sitreps we disseminate during critical incidents.

They also provided some valuable feedback on how we can do better, and we’re already using it, so thank you for the honesty and transparency.

We’re continuing to examine our engagement, information sharing processes, intelligence collaboration and dissemination, and best practices, as well as the barriers that stand in the way and make our partnerships less effective than they could be.

We fully intend to repeat this process of engagement and implement lessons learned to build.

Conclusion

I’ve had the good fortune and great privilege of working for a number of women leaders in the FBI at HQ and in the field. I’m better for that and grateful to each of them for their support, mentorship, and all that I learned from them.

Just recently last month, the FBI hosted Cathy Lanier, former chief of police at the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, as our guest speaker for Women’s History Month.

Cathy is a longtime friend and partner of ours, and she’s someone I worked closely with during my time at the Washington Field Office.

Cathy is remarkable and the epitome of everything I admire and aspire to in leadership.

Like those first women special agents and field office leaders mentioned earlier, Cathy’s also a first.

In 2007, at age 39, after serving as lieutenant, captain, inspector and commander, she became the first woman to be named chief of MPD, one of the nation’s highest-profile police departments.

Not only was she the city’s first woman police chief—and the city’s longest-serving chief—but she and her team were credited with transforming the city, marking a turning point by bringing significant increases in public safety and security to DC.

When she spoke to our workforce last month, she said, “I wanted to change our reputation as the murder capital of the nation, our character and our tactics. It was clear what had to be done.”

That resolve and commitment, hallmarks of Cathy’s leadership, continue to inspire.

As chief, Cathy was always on scene, leading from the front, visible, and constantly communicating with and reassuring the public during every incident and every major event.

She was hands-on and everywhere all the time.

In my mind, that’s what it takes to protect and serve our communities and to be a good partner.

It means asking: What can we do more of? How can we be better?

It means sharing more information, strengthening existing partnerships, and establishing new ones, and yes, being everywhere all the time.

We look forward to strong, continued partnerships with all of you, so we can support each other in the important work of keeping America and its citizens safe.

Thanks to each of you for your fearlessness, for your originality, for your leadership, for your determination, sacrifices, and thank you for everything you do.

Thank you for all you do for your agencies/departments and for the American people every day.

It’s a privilege to join you here, and I hope to see you again very soon.

Stay well and be safe.

Thank you and God bless.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Joly Germine, 31, of Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, was sentenced today to 420 months in prison for his role in a gunrunning conspiracy that smuggled firearms to Haiti in violation of U.S. export laws, and the laundering of ransoms paid for U.S. hostages held by the notoriously violent Haitian gang known as 400 Mawozo. Eliande Tunis, 46, of Pompano Beach, Florida, who styled herself as Germine’s “wife” and was described at trial as the “Queen” of 400 Mawozo, was sentenced on June 5, to 150 months in prison for her role in the conspiracy. Two other defendants in the conspiracy were also sentenced to jail time for their involvement.

The conspiracy resulted in the purchase in the United States of at least 24 firearms, including weapons designed for the military and close-quarters combat such as AK-47s, AR-15s, an M4 Carbine rifle, an M1A rifle, and a .50 caliber rifle, which were smuggled from the United States to the gang in Haiti to further their criminal activities. Those firearms were bought using funds laundered from the proceeds of the hostage taking for ransom of U.S. citizens in Haiti in 2021.

“A leader of the Haitian gang known as 400 Mawozo will now spend 35 years in prison for a scheme to smuggle guns from the United States to Haiti using the proceeds extorted from kidnapping American citizens,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The leaders of violent gangs in Haiti that terrorize Americans citizens in order to fuel their criminal activity will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.”

“Joly Germine is being held accountable for his role in smuggling weapons into Haiti using funds laundered from the ransoms of kidnapped American citizens,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The 400 Mawazo gang not only wreaks havoc in its own communities but targets innocent Americans living and traveling in Haiti. The FBI will continue to work with our partners to target the leadership and take down any violent criminal group who preys upon Americans abroad and uses unlawful and dangerous tactics like weapons-trafficking and kidnapping to further their criminal enterprise.”

“Firearms smuggling is not a victimless crime,” said Director Steven Dettelbach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). “Just like these weapons, many guns smuggled to Haiti end up in the hands of violent gangs. Those gangs use them to harm both Haitians and American citizens. As this sentence demonstrates, ATF is committed to working with our law enforcement partners both at home and internationally to hold gun smugglers responsible.” 

“Mr. Germine, a leader of a notorious Haitian gang, admitted to an illegal gun-running scheme to arm fellow gang members with U.S. firearms in support of the group’s violent crime spree across Haiti, including the alleged 2021 kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department will aggressively pursue every tool at its disposal to hold accountable those who would smuggle U.S.-origin weapons and other controlled goods for the benefit of malicious actors and their criminal enterprises.”

“Violent gangs have ravaged Haiti, and all too often, Americans in Haiti have been targets of their violence,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “These two defendants not only helped lead a prominent violent gang in Haiti, but they were also intimately involved in arming the gang and laundering ransom proceeds the gang obtained from kidnapping Americans. Preventing them from illegally shipping anymore firearms or laundering the proceeds of kidnappings strikes a critical blow against the gang they once led.”

“As Joly Germine and Eliande Tunis have just learned, the FBI is dedicated to disrupting and dismantling gangs who undertake hostage-taking of U.S. Citizens anywhere,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office.  “This includes taking away their ability to wreak violence on the innocent using smuggled firearms.”

“Today’s sentencing sends a strong message: the Diplomatic Security Service is committed to making sure that those who commit transnational crimes face consequences for their criminal actions,” said Assistant Director Paul Houston of the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) for Threat Investigations and Analysis. “DSS’ strong relationship with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement agencies around the world continues to be essential in the pursuit of justice.”

According to court documents, Germine, pleaded guilty on Jan. 31, to the 48-count second superseding indictment, which charged him with conspiring to violate U.S. export control laws and to defraud the United States, violating export control laws, smuggling, and laundering the proceeds of ransoms paid to free U.S. hostages taken by the gang and laundering money to promote his crimes. Germine’s plea came at the end of the government’s case at trial, which included the testimony of 24 witnesses and two weeks of evidence.

Germine’s co-defendant Tunis, who had a supervisory role in the conspiracy, pleaded guilty on the eve of trial on Jan. 17, to the same 48-count indictment, and was sentenced on June 5 to 150 months in prison. Other co-defendants, Jocelyn Dor, 31, and Walder St. Louis, 35, who acted as a straw gun purchasers for Germine and Tunis, both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 60 months and 36 months, respectively, for their roles in the gun-smuggling and money laundering scheme.

According to evidence presented at trial, from at least March through November 2021, Germine, Tunis, and two co-defendants conspired with each other and with other gang members in Haiti to acquire and supply firearms to the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti. Germine directed the gang’s operations from a Haitian prison using unmonitored cell phones, including directing gang members in Haiti to transfer money to Tunis and others in the United States for the purpose of obtaining firearms for the gang. Germine then provided Tunis and the two other U.S.-based co-defendants, all Florida residents, specifications for firearms and ammunition that Germine and other gang leaders wanted sent to Haiti. Tunis and the two co-defendants then purchased at least 24 rifles, handguns, and a shotgun at Florida gun shops while falsely stating that they were the “actual buyers” of the firearms, when they were in fact acting as straw purchasers for Germine. In approximately May 2021, Tunis smuggled firearms and ammunition to Haiti in containers disguised as food and household goods. In October 2021, Tunis attempted to ship additional firearms and ammunition to Haiti, again by smuggling the firearms, but those firearms were seized by the FBI before they left the United States.

400 Mawozo is a violent Haitian gang that operated in the Croix-des-Bouquets area to the east of the capital, Port-au-Prince. From at least Jan. 12, 2020, 400 Mawozo was engaged in armed hostage takings of U.S. citizens in Haiti for ransom. The victims have generally been forced from their vehicles at gunpoint and kept in various locations by armed gang members while their relatives and colleagues negotiate payment for their release. At trial, the government presented evidence that the gang received ransom payments from the hostage taking of three U.S. citizens in the summer of 2021, who testified at trial, and the cash ransom proceeds were commingled with the gang’s funds and transferred via MoneyGram and Western Union from the United States to Haiti to buy more firearms.

In the fall of 2021, the 400 Mawozo gang claimed responsibility for taking 16 U.S. citizens hostage, including five children, and one Canadian citizen who were part of a missionary organization visiting an orphanage in Port-au-Prince. The gang demanded a ransom of $1 million for each hostage. The hostages were all released or had escaped by on or about Dec. 16, 2021. While Germine has been charged in a separate indictment in relation to that hostage-taking incident, today’s sentencing does not address those charges, which are lodged in case number 22-cr-161 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The FBI Miami Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the ATF and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement.

Valuable assistance was provided by the government of Haiti, particularly the Haitian National Police, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida’s Special Prosecutions Section.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen P. Seifert and Kimberly Paschall for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Beau Barnes of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

An interim final rule signed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on June 24, 2024, will allow federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to voluntarily access records of stolen firearms in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The rule implements parts of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) and allows FFLs to verify whether a firearm offered for sale has been reported as stolen prior to adding it to their inventory.  
 
FFLs will immediately have two options to access the stolen gun records:    

1. FFLs may partner with law enforcement agencies to search the NCIC stolen gun records. 
2. States may request an extract of the NCIC stolen gun records to make available to FFLs within their jurisdiction.  

A third option under development will allow FFLs that currently leverage the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for firearm background checks via E-Check to also use E-Check to query the NCIC stolen gun records.  
 
When a search indicates a firearm is stolen, the FFL may report that information to a criminal justice agency. This will assist law enforcement agencies investigating reports of stolen firearms by providing potential investigative leads and will help deter or halt the sale of stolen firearms through seemingly legitimate business transactions.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Director Wray joined past and present CJIS leaders, lawmakers, FBI staff, and dozens of retired fingerprint examiners at the July 10 event, which celebrated 100 years since the Bureau established its Identification Division on July 1, 1924. The new division consolidated 810,000 fingerprint files from the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, and the National Bureau of Criminal Identification, which had been the keeper of crime data for the International Association of Chiefs of Police since 1896.

Wray described the history of fingerprint technology in investigations spanning a century.

“I’m proud that we’ve maintained that focus on growing our capabilities, because there’s simply no other way to remain as effective as a law enforcement and intelligence agency when the threats are as dynamic and evolving as they are today,” Wray said. He also highlighted the introduction of new biometric modalities—like facial recognition, palm prints, and iris scans—as innovations that will help the FBI and its partners better carry out their missions into the future. NGI’s National Iris Service, for example, allows users like police and prison staff to enroll iris images without physical contact, linking a subject’s irises to their respective fingerprint records. “You want to talk about the textbook illustration of innovation,” Wray said. 

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

And when an agency—anywhere in the country or really around the globe—submits a ten-print card, NGI can fire back an accurate search result within minutes.

In fiscal year 2023 alone, CJIS received and processed 74 million fingerprints.

And, not too long ago, we processed—you processed—our one-billionth (that’s with a “b”) electronic fingerprint transaction.

So, it’s no wonder the NGI System is renowned as such a vital tool among our law enforcement partners everywhere—not just with state and local departments across the country, but also among our international partners throughout the world. 

You know, it can be hard to grasp what the impact of these figures—162 million, 74 million, and especially one billion—actually looks like. So instead of just rattling off numbers, let me just talk about that impact—some of the cases the repository has helped solve over the years:

• In 2002, fingerprint evidence helped us identify one of the infamous Beltway Snipers and piece together his crimes as we raced to stop the rampage.
• In 2019, a fingerprint query helped confirm the identity of the subject who mailed those improvised explosive devices targeting multiple U.S. government officials, the news media, and others.
• And in 2020, fingerprints revealed the identity of a woman who had mailed deadly ricin powder to prison employees in Texas and to the president. 

Those are just a few examples of the impact you have every day. 
 
It’s impossible to know how many lives you’ve saved, cases you’ve helped close, thanks to our fingerprint identification services over the years, but there is not a doubt in my mind that the American people are safer because of your work.  

How We Got Here

That’s where we are today, but we didn’t get here overnight.

The FBI’s biometrics story stretches out back to a time not just before CJIS’ existence, but before the FBI was even known as “the FBI.” In about two weeks, we’ll celebrate the Bureau’s 116th anniversary. That means this organization—then simply called the Bureau of Investigation—was just 16 years old when it saw a need in the law enforcement community and answered that call, pioneering a national fingerprint repository.

It was as true to our ethos of innovation then as it is now. In fact, in his first report to Congress on the FBI after its founding in 1908, Attorney General [Charles] Bonaparte described the Bureau itself—described us—as “an innovation.” And we’ve never stopped holding ourselves to that standard, including when it comes to the speed and sophistication of our biometric services.

What began with paper fingerprint cards sent through snail mail and manually filed became IAFIS, Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, in 1999, and was then transformed into the NGI System in 2014—shrinking fingerprint processing time from months to minutes.

Today, about 97% of all criminal and civil electronic fingerprint submissions to the NGI System are fully automated—a far cry from the paper method used a few decades ago. It’s important to note, too, that we not only search and analyze fingerprints for open cases. We also process latent fingerprints for use in cold cases and use fingerprints to help uncover the identities of victims and bring closure to families.

We can even detect whether fingerprints have signs of being intentionally altered, and, at times, have been able to work around those alterations to achieve a positive identification. 

Not only that, but the NGI System has expanded to include biometric capabilities, biometric modalities, as well—things like:

• Facial recognition and palm print searches;
• Text-based searches for scars, marks, and tattoos; and
• The latest innovation: the NGI Iris Service that allows users to enroll and search iris images quickly and easily, and can even easily link to other biometric records within the system. 

You want to talk about the textbook illustration of innovation.

And I’m proud that we’ve maintained that focus on growing our capabilities, because there’s simply no other way to remain as effective as a law enforcement and intelligence agency when the threats are as dynamic and evolving as they are today. As you saw in those case examples I mentioned, fingerprints advance both criminal and national security investigations. 

And our biometric services don’t just stretch from coast to coast—they extend beyond our borders, as we forge relationships and agreements with our foreign law enforcement partners. Through those agreements and CJIS’ foreign biometric exchange program, we share fingerprint records with our partner federal agencies here in the U.S., who can then identify and stop criminals and terrorists before they can enter the country and harm our citizens. So, even though times have changed, today—just like 100 years ago—the FBI’s leadership in biometrics is saving lives in innovative ways. 

Celebrating People

That’s a lot to celebrate, and what makes it all possible are the people behind all those services. 

CJIS’ Biometric Services Section is made up of about 600 personnel, which may sound like a lot until you realize they’re responsible for keeping the trains moving on criminal justice repositories containing hundreds of millions of records. Our biometrics teams work around the clock to provide quick, reliable identification and investigative services, in addition to supporting non-criminal-justice agencies with things like employment vetting and processing. 

They also update, analyze, research, compare, and review identity histories to keep them accurate, and they process the 3% of fingerprint submissions that are still done manually—which amounts to a whopping two million entries just in the last fiscal year. 

That’s not a 9-to-5 job. It’s a 24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year mission. 

And as much as we associate innovation with automation, the excellence I see every day at CJIS proves just how critical the human element is. Thanks to the people of CJIS—many of you—the FBI’s biometrics capabilities are saving lives. 

So, today, we celebrate not just this centennial anniversary, but the people behind the advances. And we pay tribute to the generations of FBI employees who kept pushing us forward, because they’ve shown us that, while our adversaries can be, at times, formidable, working with our partners across law enforcement, we—the good guys—can be unstoppable.

Conclusion

And I believe that if we continue on this road, with an enduring commitment to innovation and our partnerships, we’re gonna stay on the cutting edge of criminal justice technology. We’ll have a more agile and resilient FBI. And, working together, we’ll have a safer nation. 

So, with that, I’d like to give a hearty congratulations to the folks of CJIS, once again, for carrying forward the FBI’s legacy of innovation and the importance of partnerships. I can’t wait to see where you take us next. 

Thanks for having me.

Resources:

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Police initially reported Ashley as a runaway, likely due to recent tensions with her family and because she frequently spent time at other relatives’ homes.

But her family didn’t believe she had disappeared on her own accord.

The FBI joined the investigation in 2008 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) alerted the FBI Cleveland Field Office about Ashley’s case.

At the time, there was another missing girl from the west side of Cleveland—Gina DeJesus, one of three women who were held hostage by Ariel Castro. Ashley and Gina were similar in age and from the same part of Cleveland. Initially, there was speculation that Ashley may have also been one of Castro’s victims. However, no evidence supported this, and Ashley’s case became an independent investigation.

Throughout the investigation, law enforcement has interviewed family members, neighbors, and anyone who could have potentially offered information leading to Ashley’s whereabouts. Gene—Ashley’s boyfriend at the time—and his family cooperated with authorities, and there has been no evidence to suggest that foul play was involved on Gene’s part.

“I can’t think of a single agent on our squad or analyst that hasn’t touched this investigation,” said McCaskill. “And this is including a lot of victim specialist support, analyst support, and support from agents and analysts on other squads, as well as the FBI Evidence Response Team and Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team.”

From the start of the investigation, FBI Victim Specialist Jennifer Piero has been the primary contact for Ashley’s family. In her role, Piero offers support and shares case updates. “Any time we have received tips and conducted searches or canvasses, we have notified Ashley’s family,” explained Piero. “If we have anticipated something in the investigation that would make the news, we’ve contacted Ashley’s family in advance to ensure they learned about it first.” 

In 2018, a series of inquiries—as a result of the investigation into Ashley’s disappearance—led to the discovery that Ashley’s great uncle, Kevin Donathan, was actively abusing young children. Donathan was indicted on multiple counts, including rape, attempted rape, and five counts of gross sexual imposition. He pleaded guilty, and in 2020, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison, where he still resides.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Douglas Edward Robertson, 56, of Olathe, Kansas, the former vice president of KanRus Trading Company Inc., pleaded guilty today for his role in a years-long conspiracy to circumvent U.S. export laws by filing false export forms with the U.S. government and, after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, continuing to sell and export sophisticated and controlled avionics equipment to customers in Russia without the required licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“Robertson, by his own admission, conspired to sell advanced U.S. avionics equipment to Russian customers in violation of U.S. law,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “The Justice Department will not tolerate those who seek to undermine the effectiveness of export controls that protect critical U.S. technology and deter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.”

“Robertson’s guilty plea is reflective of the strong evidence gathered against him by federal investigators and the solid case presented by federal prosecutors,” said U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher for the District of Kansas. “Our nation is both proud and grateful to these men and women at the Department of Justice who seek to protect the United States and our national security interests from adversaries both foreign and domestic.”

“Those who seek to profit by illegally selling sophisticated U.S. technology to our adversaries are putting the national security of our country at risk and that cannot be tolerated,” said Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “It is appalling that the defendant schemed to smuggle avionics equipment to customers overseas including Russia, a nation engaged in a long-running military conflict with Ukraine. The FBI will work with our partners to stop the illegal flow of sensitive U.S. equipment and technology to foreign adversaries.”

“You might think that smuggling sensitive U.S.-origin technology to Russia, including to their Federal Security Service (FSB), means we’re not in Kansas anymore. Unfortunately, in this case, we were,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew A. Axelrod. “We will continue to hold individuals everywhere, including those at the highest rungs of the corporate ladder, accountable when they violate our laws by lying on forms and transshipping items through third countries.”

According to court documents, as part of his guilty plea, Robertson admitted that between 2020 and when he was arrested in March 2023, he conspired with others – including co-defendants Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky of Lawrence, Kansas, and Oleg Chistyakov, aka Olegs Čitsjakovs, of Riga, Latvia, – to smuggle U.S.-origin avionics equipment to end users in Russia, as well as Russian end users in other foreign countries by, among other actions, knowingly filing false export forms and failing to file required export forms with the U.S. government. In these forms, Robertson and his conspirators lied about the exports’ value, end users, and end destinations.

Robertson further admitted that on at least one occasion in 2021, he, Buyanovsky, and Chistyakov smuggled a repaired Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) to the FSB by removing the FSB sticker from the device before sending the device to a U.S. company to be repaired and then exporting the TCAS back to the FSB in Russia. At the time, the FSB was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for its interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.  

Robertson further admitted that after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and the U.S. government tightened export controls concerning Russia, he, co-defendants Buyanovsky and Chistyakov, and other conspirators continued to purchase and export U.S.-origin avionics equipment to customers in Russia and took numerous steps to hide their illegal activity from law enforcement, including by lying to U.S. suppliers about the intended end users; shipping goods through intermediary companies in Armenia, Laos, the United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus; continuing to file false export forms with the U.S. government; and using foreign bank accounts in countries other than Russia, such as Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, and the Czech Republic, to promote their illegal export activity.

On Dec. 6, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce added many of the entities and individuals involved in KanRus and Robertson’s illegal export scheme to the Commerce Department’s Entity List as part of the U.S. government’s interagency efforts to dismantle Russian procurement networks designed to circumvent U.S. export controls and sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Entity List imposes specific license requirements on all listed individuals and entities.

In December 2023, Buyanovsky, the former President and owner of KanRus, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering and consented to the forfeiture of over $450,000 worth of avionics equipment and accessories, and a $50,000 personal forfeiture judgment.

On March 19, Chistyakov, a former KanRus broker, was arrested in Riga, Latvia, for his role in the illegal smuggling scheme. Chistyakov remains detained in Latvia pending extradition proceedings.

As a result of today’s guilty plea, Robertson faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy count, 20 years in prison for each of the two Export Control Reform Act counts, and 20 years in prison for the money laundering count. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 3.

The FBI and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement are investigating the case. The Latvian authorities are assisting the investigation. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided substantial assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Rask and Ryan Huschka for the District of Kansas and Trial Attorney Adam Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs is providing valuable assistance.

The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures that the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2, 2022, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

“Our goal is to get bystanders, who are the most important part of the prevention cycle, to be able to consistently identify concerning behaviors that are backed by research and experience,” said Taylor Cilke, a crime analyst in the unit of BAU that studies threats. BAU resides in the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group and is part of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, which was established in 1984 to develop strategies to combat serial and violent crimes.

“In order to prevent a threat, we have to identify it, and we have to assess it, and then we have to take steps to manage it,” Cilke said. “The hardest part is that identification piece. And that’s where the public and potential bystanders can really help us empower our communities and force-multiply our work. But if we never identify the threat, we can’t assess and manage it.”

To that end, BAU this week launched a Prevent Mass Violence campaign that includes a new webpage and brochures containing tips and strategies to help potential bystanders understand what types of behaviors may be concerning and ways to respond.

“The most important thing is to tell someone,” the webpage says. That may not necessarily mean law enforcement; it could be a school administrator, employee assistance peer, a boss, or someone else you trust.

“We’ve seen time and again that there are noticeable, observable behaviors,” said Brad Hentschel, a supervisory special agent in BAU, pointing to nearly three decades of academic research, along with BAU’s findings from studying mass violence events. “Mass shooters don’t just snap. Recognizing and reporting the warning signs of someone thinking about and preparing for violence can be lifesaving.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

“It’s become a gold-standard for community-led threat assessment teams,” said Special Agent Sam Ukeiley, an FBI threat management coordinator in the San Antonio Field Office. A former profiler in BAU, Ukeiley helped an earlier iteration of BTAG formalize their process in 2019 and integrate BAU’s threat assessment and threat management approach.

SAPD manages the program and has become a model for law enforcement agencies around the country that are considering something similar. “You make sure you’re addressing all the threats in an accountable and defensible manner, so nobody falls through the cracks at a minimum,” Ukeiley said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

It was, in part, that accountability model that alerted the BTAG to new concerning behaviors by the Laredo, Texas, man in late 2022. After being released from treatment, he posted a video clip on social media of himself driving past Robb Elementary, site of the mass shooting, and an image of a hand holding a rifle magazine. 

On December 11, 2022, the man tried to buy a shotgun in San Antonio. When his application was delayed because he provided an incorrect home address, the FBI notified the local investigator, who arrested him on a state charge of making terroristic threats related to the Uvalde school shooting. The man was sentenced to jail, followed by a three-year period of supervised release. Post-release conditions will provide a structured reentry to society and enhance law enforcement’s options to monitor for concerning changes in behavior.

In a statement at sentencing, the prosecutor praised the effort that led up to the young man’s arrest and detention. “This is a great example of coordinated efforts by local and federal and law enforcement to keep our community safe using the full panoply of prosecutorial options at our disposal,” said Jaime Esparza, United States attorney for the Western District of Texas.

Sgt. Matthew Porter, supervisor of BTAG, said not every reported threat requires the team’s attention, but he would rather people err on the side of caution. “I would rather someone report something to us that’s not beneficial, rather than the alternative,” he said.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

When a Florida auctioneer was asked to auction off a pocket watch from the late 1800s, his research led him to believe that he may be holding a piece of U.S. presidential history.

The auctioneer realized that the watch may have belonged to Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. He contacted two historic sites closely associated with Roosevelt—Sagamore Hill National Historic Site and Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site—who confirmed the authenticity of the watch.

Roosevelt’s watch had been in possession of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site since he died in 1919. They loaned the watch to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in 1971 for a six-year term to be shown in an exhibition. The loan was extended, but, unfortunately, the watch was reported stolen from the site in Buffalo, New York, on July 21,1987, and wouldn’t be identified again until 2023 at the Florida auction house.

Since Sagamore Hill National Historic Site and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site fall under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service (NPS), they reached out to NPS to recover the stolen artifact. NPS, the lead investigative agency, contacted the FBI Art Crime team for additional assistance. Both the NPS and FBI confirmed that this was the watch stolen almost 40 years earlier.

“This watch was a fairly pedestrian Waltham 17 jewel watch with an inexpensive coin silver case. It’s a ‘Riverside’ grade and model ‘1888’ with a hunter-style case, meaning it has a lid on either side which fold and encase the dial and the movement,” said Special Agent Robert Giczy, a member of the FBI Art Crime Team who investigated the provenance of the watch in this case.