On Wednesday, December 17, five individuals were arrested in what is said to be the biggest heroin bust in the history of Northeast Indiana, according to an announcement made on Monday at a press conference held by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Five individuals were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin. These include 29-year-old Eduardo Martinez, 28-year-old Gisela Leyva Gamez, 40-year-old Cesar Rosales, 32-year-old Rigoberto Martinez, and 41-year-old Juan Rosales Suarez. Gamez is a resident of Phoenix, Rosales a resident of Wilmington, California, and Suarez a resident of Memphis. Authorities began the investigation by placing wiretaps on two of Martinez’ cell phones. They then witnessed a telephone conversation in which Martinez was discussing the delivery of heroin to Fort Wayne with Gamez. Agents were surveying the planned delivery location on December 17th when they watched as a white pickup truck delivered heroin to a garage at a Fort Wayne home. The…
Biggest Heroin Bust in History of Northeast Indiana Leads to 5 Arrests
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Are Arizona and Oklahoma likely to have their machineries of death operational early in 2015?
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Father And Fifteen year Old Daughter Charged in Fatal Pennsylvania MVA Crash
The Wayne County, Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Office announced last week that there will be charges against a 15 year old driver and her father in a fatal car crash on August 30, 2014 on Goosepond Road in Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania. That fateful day, a 15 year old driver from Pleasantville, New York was allegedly given permission by her father, Michael Ware, to drive his 2001 Chevrolet Suburban to a diner for breakfast. In the vehicle were five other teenagers, including three Bucks County, Pennsylvania teens, Ryan Lesher, Shamus Digney, and Cullen Keffer, who were all killed in the accident when the underage driver was apparently going too fast and flipped the vehicle. Another two teens, including the driver’s friend from Westchester County, NY, survived the horrific crash. Witnesses allegedly heard some of the occupants screaming at the driver to slow down moments before the accident. When the police arrived at the scene, the driver is alleged to…
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F. Lee Bailey
Representing the damned is damn hard enough, but then this life rewards you with a swift uppercut to the stomach. This is one reason why I am an existentialist. The most depressing legal ruling of 2014 (and the list is long) proves this point. The Maine Supreme Court issued a 59-page screed denying Lee Bailey’s re-admission to the bar, this is on the scale of throwing LeBron out of the NBA. Unless a deus ex machina miraculously descends his legendary career as a trial lawyer is over. Francis Lee Bailey Jr., who for some reason preferred F. Lee Bailey, captured our imagination back in the 60s and 70s. Many young lawyers adopted the affection of initializing their first name in some type of homage to Bailey. Our careers have intersected over the years – for me, always to the better. I count Lee as a good friend. I am saddened by his disbarment and exile from the profession he loves. He is one of the old school trial lawyers who reveled in the courtroom battles. I…
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Three New Narco Dramas Coming in January
Three new narco dramas begin airing in January. They look promising, although I've learned over the past two years that not every series can be an El Capo, La Reina del Sur, Senor de los Cielos or Pablo Escobar: Patron de Mal. Duenos del... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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News Scan
Violent Sex Offender On The Run After Removing GPS Device: Police in Southern California are warning residents about a violent sex offender who recently removed his court-ordered GPS monitoring device and fled the area. Hector Bercerra of the Los Angeles Times reports that 43-year-old Joseph Serapiglia was convicted of raping and stabbing his neighbor in 1991 and was sentenced to more than 40 years. He was released earlier this year after serving just 23 years. Serapiglia was convicted of attempted murder after police say he stabbed his neighbor multiple times and threw her down a 25-foot cliff, leaving her for dead. Pakistan to Execute Hundreds of Militants: Pakistan has announced its plan to execute roughly 500 convicted terrorists after the government lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty. AFP News reports that the resumption came after last week's deadly terror attack at a school that left 149 people dead including 133…
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New York Penal Law S 265.02...cont
(d) any of the weapons, or functioning frames or receivers of such weapons, or copies or duplicates of such weapons, in any caliber, known as: (i) Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all models); (ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil; (iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70); (iv) Colt AR-15; (v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC; (vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9, and M-12; (vii) Steyr AUG; (viii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and (ix) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as (or similar to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12; (e) provided, however, that such term does not include: (i) any rifle, shotgun or pistol that (A) is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever or slide action; (B) has been rendered permanently inoperable; or (C) is an antique firearm as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16); (ii) a semiautomatic rifle that cannot accept a detachable magazine that holds more than five rounds of ammunition; (iii) a semiautomatic shotgun that…
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Is US Rep. Grimm likely to advocate for federal sentencing reform following his felony plea?
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Morrison on Strictissimi Juris
Steven R. Morrison (University of North Dakota School of Law) has posted Strictissimi Juris on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Courts and scholars uniformly reject guilt by association, but couch it only as the substantive due process right to individual,...
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Third Offense Drunk Driving Cases in Macomb, Wayne and Oakland Counties (Reprise)
The last article on this blog was about 3rd offense drunk driving charges in Michigan - specifically in the Metro-Detroit area, meaning Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties. I want to continue and extend that discussion a bit, not so much from my side of the desk, but rather from the client's side. I think it is crucial that, in my role as a Michigan DUI lawyer, I understand and empathize with the concerns and experiences my clients will have as they face what is to them, at least, the great unknown. We all know a DUI is scary; a 2nd offense is always scarier than the 1st, and a 3rd is exponentially more intimidating than the 2nd. Fear of the law and the consequences it threatens is all part and parcel of dealing with a felony DUI, but when you think about it, pretty much anyone facing anything unknown to him or her will always have at least a bit of reticence, if not outright worry, about what lies ahead. Understanding how a person feels is key to helping him or her…
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Some recent highlights from Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform
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Real Estate Developer Sent to Prison for Ripping Off Investors
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Brian McCloskey, 42, Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz to 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to commit wire fraud arising from a $20 million investment fraud scheme wherein McCloskey and his conspirators made false representations to persuade lenders to fund loans. Judge Motz ordered McCloskey to pay restitution of $15.850 million. According to his plea agreement and court documents Brian McCloskey, who owned a real estate development business known as the McCloskey Group, LLC., and Patrick Belzner, a home builder who began working with McCloskey in late 2008 or early 2009, conspired with others to perpetrate a fraudulent investment scheme with losses to the victims of more than $15 million. McCloskey and Belzner’s co-conspirators included Kevin Sniffen, a licensed attorney and escrow agent and Mervyn Phelan, who operated IAG Underwriters (IAGU) which was…
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Cedar Park police officer suspended indefinitely after he's discovered --associating-- with a --suspected-- serial rapist.
12-24-2014 Texas: In August, Cedar Park Police Chief Sean Mannix announced the arrest of who he called a serial rapist: 19-year-old Jordan Benford. At the time, Mannix said there were five known victims and a possible 6th. Benford has been in the Williamson County Jail ever since. "Our belief was the behavior was escalating and he's where he needs to be right now," said Mannix. Mannix says
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Businessman Admits Defrauding Bank Regulators to Obtain TARP Funds
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Wilbur Anthony Huff, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to bank fraud charges admitting that he engaged in a scheme to prevent Park Avenue Bank, New York, New York, from being designated as “undercapitalized” by regulators – a designation that would prohibit the bank from engaging in certain types of banking transactions, and that would subject the bank to a range of potential enforcement actions by regulators. According to the criminal Information and Huff‘s plea agreement, from 2008 to 2009, Huff, Charles J. Antonucci, Sr., the President and Chief Executive Officer of Park Avenue Bank, and Matthew L. Morris, the Senior Vice President, engaged in a scheme to prevent Park Avenue Bank from being designated as “undercapitalized” by regulators – a designation that would prohibit the Bank from engaging in certain types of banking transactions, and that would subject the Bank to a range of potential enforcement actions by…
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Fernando Bermudez Reaches Settlement with New York For Wrongful Conviction
Exoneree Fernando Bermudez will receive $4.75 million from the state of New York in compensation for the 18 years he was wrongly incarcerated for a murder he didn't commit. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, this is the largest settlement the state has ever paid for a wrongful conviction. Bermudez was convicted of second degree murder for a shooting that took place outside of a Manhattan night club in 1991. A federal judge reversed Bermudez' conviction in 2009 after several witnesses recanted their testimony, saying they were coerced by police into identifying Bermudez. In a statement Bermudez said, ""Of course, the settlement will never erase the injustice that I experienced as an innocent man in prison for 18 1/2 years. The mental and physical toll, which began 23 years ago, continues for me." Bermudez also has a pending civil rights lawsuit against New York City. Bermudez has shared his experience of being wrongly convicted…
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Relaxed Concealed Carry Standard in California Upheld
Prior to February 2014, California gun laws prevented law-abiding citizens from obtaining a concealed carry permit unless they were able to present documented justification for the permit. In February, a federal appeals court voted 2 to 1 to overturn the state’s requirement that applicants cite specific reasons detailing why they need a concealed carry permit. In the court’s decision, Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote “The right to bear arms includes the right to carry an operable firearm outside the home for the lawful purpose of self-defense.” Federal Appeals Court Will Not Revisit Relaxed Standard Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, law enforcement associations in the state and a gun control group attempted to intervene in the February decision. However, the Ninth Circuit Court said the new relaxed standard may not be challenged, and denied the attempt in a 2 to 1 ruling. Harris, the gun control group, and the law enforcement associations tried to…
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Simpson on civil forfeiture: Where fences of presumed innocence and due process have been torn down, we should rebuild them
State Rep. David Simpson had a column in the Dallas News this week (Dec. 22) decrying civil asset forfeiture. His article concluded:One law enforcement agent told me he never uses the criminal forfeiture process because the civil asset forfeiture process is much easier. You don’t have to convict the owner of a crime.How can government do that, you ask? Well, to get around constitutional issues, lawmakers at both the state and federal level have created a dual system whereby the assets of an individual are named in a case, not the individual. Our state also has a low threshold to show that the property may have been used in illegal activity. Moreover, the owner of the seized property is presumed guilty until he or she can prove their innocence in obtaining the property legitimately. Many owners do not even try to recover their assets because the cost of obtaining legal representation may exceed the value of the confiscated property.If government officials were…
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Journalists lack bias or agenda 'just as sure as there is a Santa Claus'
In a spirited defense of professional journalism this week in the San Antonio Express-News, Maria Anglin referenced the vintage Christmastime editorial classic, "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," and assured her readers that "just as sure as there is a Santa Claus, there are journalists reporting without bias or agenda."I agree. Both those things - the existence of Santa Claus and journalists reporting sans bias or agenda - are equally likely!Merry Christmas, folks. See related Grits posts:What is the real crisis in journalism?Ten maxims for making journalism relevant in the 21st century
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Naughty? Nice? “Reasonable doubt at a reasonable price.”
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Heroin is a Business in Texas: Growing Heroin Demand Means More Heroin Busts in 2015
It’s not news to any Texan that there’s lots of drug traffic moving across the state from Mexico; everyone knows it. What lots of people, especially those who live in the more affluent parts of North Texas and the Dallas – Fort Worth metroplex, may not realize is how much heroin is coming into our part of the state and exactly who is buying it. We’ve posted warnings about this before, see: Heroin Use Among Teens and Young Adults: Dallas, Fort Worth Suburbs Will See More Heroin Arrests as Popularity of Heroin Continues to Rise Lots of Heroin Arrests Will Be Happening Here in Texas As Feds, Locals Target Growing Heroin Market Heroin is an Established Product To know a bit about how the heroin business is so entrenched in Texas, read the excellent article by John Moore and Reed Holland in Texas Monthly, where back in 1973 the success of the Texas heroin business was described. In “The Laredo-San Antonio Heroin Wars,” the battle for turf…
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