TX Mexican Mafia make FBI Top 10 List #2 & #3.

[Wolfmoon]

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending July 8, 2011

1. New York: Accused al Shabaab Leader Charged with Providing Material Support to al Shabaab and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was indicted on charges of providing material support to two designated foreign terrorist organizations, as well as conspiring to teach and demonstrate the making of explosives and possessing firearms and explosives in furtherance of crimes of violence. Full Story

2. San Diego: Former Ranking Member of the Tijuana Cartel/Arellano-Felix Organization Pleads Guilty
Rigoberto Yanez-Guerrero, a former ranking member of the Tijuana Cartel/Arellano-Felix Organization, entered a guilty plea in federal court. Yanez was extradited by the government of Mexico to the U.S. in December 2010 to face charges for narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime-related offenses. Full Story

3. San Antonio: Federal Jury in Del Rio Convicts Two Texas Mexican Mafia Members
Two Texas Mexican Mafia members face life in federal prison after a federal jury returned guilty verdicts against the defendants for various federal racketeering offenses committed in Uvalde, Eagle Pass, Del Rio, and the surrounding area. Full Story

4. Miami: Ponzi Scheme Defendant Sentenced
Attorney and Certified Public Accountant Lorn Leitman was sentenced to 210 months in prison for his role in a 10-year Ponzi scheme. Full Story

5. Albuquerque: California Lawyer Sentenced for Defrauding New Mexico Investor
Paul Conrad Ward, a lawyer who resides in La Jolla, California, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for devising a scheme that caused a victim in New Mexico to give $500,000 to a business entity controlled by Ward, purportedly to be invested in an overseas trading program. Full Story

6. Houston: Three Family Members Plead Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Scam
Claymon “Butch” Trammell, along with his wife, Jeannettea Williams, and daughter Michelle Trammell, pled guilty in to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with their roles in a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme. Full Story

7. Tampa: St. Petersburg Police Department Detective Indicted
Anthony V. Foster was charged with seven counts with public corruption charges involving a wire fraud scheme and attempted extortion under color of official right. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison per count. Full Story

8. Baltimore: Maryland Podiatrist Pleads Guilty to Fraudulently Billing Medicare Over $1.1 Million
Larry Bernhard, a podiatrist who operated his business from his home, pled guilty to health care fraud and aggravated identity theft related to a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for more than $1.1 million. Full Story

9. Newark: Former Secaucus Mayor Convicted of Bribery
Former Secaucus, New Jersey Mayor Dennis Elwell was convicted for accepting a $10,000 cash bribe in exchange for agreeing to provide assistance in securing town approvals for real estate projects. Full Story

10. Jackson: Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing FEMA Funds Meant to Aid Katrina Victims
Demonica L. Rogers admitted that she stole and converted federal funds by allowing her personal bank accounts to be used to receive stolen federal disaster funds from FEMA in the amount of $21,000 following Hurricane Katrina. Full Story

 

[waltky]

Granny says throw him inna Mexican prison an' let him rot...

Mexicans arrest U.S. drug suspect
July 12,`11 (UPI) -- Mexican police have arrested a California-born man suspected of helping run a drug ring formed from the remnants of a once-powerful cartel.

Armando "El Gordo" Villareal was named in a U.S. indictment unsealed last year, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. He was arrested Saturday in Hermosillo, the capital and economic center of Sonora state, which shares a border with Arizona, Mexican police said Monday.

Investigators said Villareal, 33, began working for the Arellano Felix Cartel when he was 16. The cartel was gutted by the rise of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Villareal is now allegedly one of the top members of the Fernando Sanchez Organization, allegedly operated by Fernando Sanchez Arellano.

Villareal is charged with coordinating drug shipments from a number of areas in Mexico into Baja California and the United States.

Read more: World News - UPI.com

 

[waltky]

Lions an' tigers, an' bears, oh my!...

Captured drug kingpin pets strain Mexico's zoos
Sep 16,`11 - For years, three tiny squirrel monkeys led a life of luxury on a 16-acre ranch surrounded by extravagant gardens and barns built for purebred horses.

More than 200 animals, ranging from mules to peacocks and ostricheslived on the ranch in central Mexico and hundreds more stayed on two related properties, many in opulent enclosures. Also kept on the grounds were less furry fare: AK-47 assault rifles, Berrettas, hundreds of other weapons and cocaine. The ranch's owner was Jesus "The King" Zambada, a leader of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. He had developed a love for exotic species shared with other kingpins. Just two days before Zambada's arrest, police confiscated two tigers and two lions from a drug gang hideout on the forested outskirts of Mexico City.

As federal authorities capture a growing number of gang leaders, many of their pets are being driven from their gilded cages into more modest housing in the country's zoos. That's proved overwhelming for some institutions, which are struggling to cope with the influx. But it's also giving Mexican animal lovers a bounty of new creatures to admire. Like Zambada, who was apprehended in October 2008, the squirrel monkeys sit in state custody, chirping away at gawking children at the Zacango Zoo, about an hour outside Mexico City. Their previous home "was a very big enclosure made of good quality material," said Manlio Nucamendi, the zoo's coordinator. "But they didn't have the right diet and medical attention."

Mexican forces have discovered drug cartel private zoos that housed tigers, panthers and lions among other animals of exotic breeds, though the federal Attorney General's Office, which supervises all seizures from drug gangs, couldn't provide an exact count of the number of animals seized. Whatever the number, officials have been challenged to house the armies of confiscated drug cartel animals. "Within the limited resources of the Mexican government, there are a lot of efforts to ensure the welfare of these animals," said Adrian Reuter Cortes of the conservation group the World Wildlife Fund in Mexico. "But even the zoos have limits, and can't welcome all the animals."

The government usually calls zoos for help because they have the expertise, equipment and vehicles to transport large animals, said Frank Carlos Camacho, executive director of the wild animal park Africam Safari in the central Mexico city of Puebla and president of the national association of zoos. "There's some risk involved in handling animals like big cats, bears and large herbivores," Camacho said. He said he has heard of drug cartel zoos that included giraffes, buffalos and camels. As the cinematic gangster film "Scarface" portrayed in 1983, private zoos have long been considered status symbols for drug kingpins eager to show off their wealth.

MORE

See also:

Monterrey casino arson attack policeman's family killed
15 September 2011 - The casino blaze was seen as a new low in Mexico's battle with organised crime

Gunmen in northern Mexico have shot dead three relatives of a police officer being held over a deadly arson attack on a casino last month. The officer's father, stepmother and stepbrother were killed in their home in the city of Monterrey. Police believe it was an act of revenge by the Zetas drugs cartel, after the officer named gang members allegedly involved in the casino attack.

The blaze killed 52 people and caused revulsion across Mexico. Police officer Miguel Angel Barraza is one of six suspects detained in connection with the 25 August arson attack on the Casino Royale in Monterrey. The other five are all alleged to be members of the Zetas cartel, which is thought to have torched the casino after its owners refused to pay protection money.

Outrage

The murder of the family came on a day of violence in and around Monterrey, in which at least 15 people were killed. Monterrey and the state of Nuevo Leon have seen rising bloodshed as the Zetas and Gulf cartels vie for control of trafficking routes to the US. The casino attack was one of the deadliest episodes of violence since President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on drug gangs in late 2006.

Gunmen burst into the crowded casino in broad daylight and doused it in petrol before setting it alight. Panic ensued as people rushed for the exit. Many were overcome by smoke as the building was engulfed in flames. The attack caused outrage in Mexico, a country that has become accustomed to drug-related violence, with around 40,000 killed in less than five years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14941742

 

[Wolfmoon]

FBI — FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending September 16, 2011

1. Charlotte: Man Pleads Guilty to Supporting Terror Conspiracy to Wage Violent Jihad
   
   Dylan Boyd, aka “Mohammed,” pled guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Full Story
2. San Juan: Thirty-Nine Individuals Indicted for Drug Trafficking in the Municipality of Ceiba, Puerto Rico
   
   A joint law enforcement operation dismantled a drug trafficking conspiracy operating at Jardines de Ceiba public housing project and other areas in Ceiba. Full Story
   
   
3. Kansas City: Missouri Man Convicted of Attempted $100 Million Fraud Scheme
   
   Denny Hardin was found guilty on 21 charges of creating false obligations and of mail fraud as part of an attempted $100 million fraud scheme. Full Story
4. Headquarters: Mark F. Giuliano Named Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch
   
   Director Robert S. Mueller, III named Mark F. Giuliano as the new executive assistant director of the National Security Branch at FBI Headquarters. He most recently served as assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division. Full Story
5. Buffalo: Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy
   
   Renel Velasquez pled guilty to racketeering charges related to his involvment in the criminal activities of the 10th Street Gang. Full Story
6. San Francisco: TomorrowNow, Inc., Sentenced on Computer Intrusion and Copyright Infringement Charges
   
   TomorrowNow, Inc., was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a fine to the United States of $20 million for unauthorized access to computer servers belonging to Oracle Corporation and for willfully infringing copyrights held by Oracle. Full Story
7. Houston: Bridgestone Corporation Agrees to Plead Guilty to Participating in Conspiracies to Rig Bids and Bribe Foreign Government Officials
   
   Bridgestone Corporation has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $28 million criminal fine for its role in conspiracies to rig bids and to make corrupt payments to foreign government officials in Latin America related to the sale of marine hose and other industrial products manufactured by the company and sold throughout the world. Full Story
8. New York: Man Receives 30 Years for Identity Theft Involving Three Murdered Persons
   
   Dmitriy Yakovlev, a Russian immigrant and trained surgeon, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for identity theft, bank fraud, and credit card fraud involving three Brooklyn residents who disappeared or were found murdered shortly after encounters with the defendant between 2003 and 2007. Full Story
9. Los Angeles: Man Arrested for Selling Stolen Art and Forged Paintings for Millions
   
   A Florida man was arrested pursuant to a federal indictment that alleges he sold paintings stolen from a Los Angeles art gallery, and that he had sold forged artworks to a collector with false claims that they had been painted by esteemed artists. Full Story
10. Atlanta: Fake Doctor Admits Treating, Illegally Disclosing Info of 1,000 Patients
    
    Matthew Brown pled guilty in federal district court to charges of health care fraud and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information. Full Story