On November 16, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York reported that Adis Medunjanin was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to commit several suicide terrorist attacks inside the United States.  Medunjanin and co-defendants were days away from bombing the New York City subway in September 2009 before caught by authorities.

According to court documents, Medunjuanin, Najibullah Zazi, and Zarein Ahmedzay traveled to Afghanistan in 2008 and soon received terrorist training in Waziristan.  During their training, they learned how to operate AK-47s, PK machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.  They were eventually encouraged to returned to United States and perform “martyrdom” in areas like the NYC subway system, Grand Central Terminal, Times Square, the New York Stock Exchange, and other areas.  

The defendants returned to the United States and planned to conduct suicide bombings during Ramadan in August and September of 2009.  Zazi bought chemicals in August of 2009 to make the explosive called TATP (triacetone triperoxide).  The plot was soon discovered by law enforcement, and bomb-making residue was found in hotel rooms where the construction of the devices occurred.  

Law enforcement issued a search warrant for Medunjanin’s residence on January 7, 2010, and a high speed pursuit ensued.  In a last-ditch effort, Medunjanin attempted to cause a high-speed accident on the Whitestone Expressway and said the following in a phone call to 911 before the accident: “We love death more than you love your life.”

Seven defendants have been convicted in connection to the terrorist plot on New York City so far.  

Assistant Attorney General Monaco announced, “Adis Medunjanin was today held accountable for his role in one of the most serious terrorist plots against the homeland since 9/11. Were it not for the combined efforts of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, the suicide bomb attacks that he and others planned would have been devastating.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On November 21, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced that Michael Brandon Smith of O’Fallon, Missouri, pled guilty to pointing a high-powered laser at a Metro St Louis Air Support Police helicopter on May 18, 2012.  

The helicopter was performing a routine police patrol on May 18, and the helicopter was dispatched at about 10:00 p.m. for a possible burglary at a school near 200 Meriwether in St. Charles County.  While the helicopter was searching for the possible burglar, the pilot and observer noticed the aircraft was struck with a powerful green laser beam several times.  The helicopter was forced to exit the airspace of the Meriwether property because of the laser.  

The helicopter soon flew toward the direction of the laser and was struck again.  The pilot and observer were still able to tell the source of the laser was coming from the 2700 block of Red Cedar Parc Drive South in O’Fallon.  Smith was intoxicated and standing in the driveway with the laser by the time O’Fallon police reached his residence.  The observer onboard the helicopter suffered some short-term visual loss from the laser.  

Tim Feeney, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s St. Louis Division, stated: “Shining laser pointers at aircrafts is not harmless.  It is dangerous for pilots.  This case is among the first nationwide to be prosecuted under a new federal law that specifically says pointing a laser beam at an aircraft or its flight path is a federal felony.”  

Smith faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.  He is scheduled for sentencing on February 15, 2013.  

The case was investigated by the FBI and the O’Fallon Police Department.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On October 19, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced that Gerardo Castillo-Chavez from Tamaulipas, Mexico, received life in prison plus 40 years for murders that were linked to the Gulf Cartel and Zetas.  The co-defendant, Eduardo Carreon-Ibarra, received 25 years in prison along with a former 20 year sentence.  

The charges come from a superseding indictment on February 17, 2010 that charged Castillo-Chavez and 33 other people with 47 counts of kidnapping, murder, drug conspiracy, money laundering, using juveniles to commit violent crimes, firearms violations and more.

During the trial, testimony was provided by a couple of Zeta hitmen who admitted to murders in Laredo in Texas, Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas, and Monterrey in Mexico.  Several other defendants testified about drug trafficking from Mexico to areas like New York City and Dallas.  Prosecutors with the United States presented evidence that proved the killing and kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Nuevo Laredo as well.  

Castillo-Chavez was proved to work with the Gulf Cartel and Zetas between November of 2005 and April of 2009.  Testimony proved that Castillo-Chavez committed a double murder on April 2, 2006 and attempted two other people in March of 2006.  He was responsible for a grenade attack in Monterrey that killed four as well.  

Carreon-Ibarra was convicted of attempting to commit an assassination in a nightclub in February of 2006.  As he was waiting for a delivery of grenades at a local hotel, he was arrested before the assassination could take place.  Police found semi-automatic pistols and two fully automatic assault rifles in his possession.  

The investigation was headed by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Laredo Police Department.  Multiple other federal and local authorities assisted in the investigation as well.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

On October 16, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced that Regina McCullom, also known as Regina Wilson, pleaded guilty to a gun charge and conspiring to rob an armored car when the car was transporting a large amount of cash.  

During a former guilty plea, McCullom admitted that she and her son, Erik Wilson, planned to rob an armored car at gunpoint.  Erik Wilson worked for Dunbar Armored and knew the robbery was going to occur on when the armored car was traveling throughout Washington D.C.  He acted surprised when the co-defendants robbed the armored car and made off with roughly $210,000.  

A second robbery occurred on April 29, 2009.  McCullom drove her son and David Howard to an apartment complex in Silver Spring, Maryland where they put on fake beards.  McCullom waited with the first vehicle as Howard and Erick Wilson left in another vehicle to rob a Dunbar truck.  The second robbery occurred on New Hampshire Avenue, and Wilson was able to steal $160,000 and the Dunbar guard’s handgun.  

The two men then traveled back to the apartment complex and met McCullom.  She left in a taxi with the money and handgun in a duffel bag.  She returned home and met her son and Howard at a hotel in Columbia.  They divided the cash in a room.  

Erick Wilson and David Marquise Howard pleaded guilty to the two armed car robberies.  They will be sentenced on November 20-21 of 2012.  

McCullom pled guilty to the first armored car robbery and was sentenced in 2009.  After pleading guilty to the second armored car robbery, she now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy and a minimum of five years for aiding and abetting with a firearm during a crime of violence.  She can receive life in prison for the firearm charge as well.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On October 17, 2012, the Department of Justice announced that Manssor Arbabsiar plotted to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States.  The Department of Justice states Arbabsiar worked with Iran and held both Iranian and U.S. passports.  

During his superseding indictment, he faces three counts.  The first count charges Arbabsiar with traveling for foreign commerce and planning murder-to-hire commission.  The second count charges Arbabsiar with conspiracy and the third count charges him with attempting to commit a crime against the United States.  He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison, and since he is already 58 years of age, he may spend the rest of his life in prison.  

During his guilty plea, Arbabsiar admitted that he discussed the crimes with ranking officials in Iran’s military during the fall of 2011.  He then traveled to Mexico several times in 2011 to meet a person he believed was part of a drug cartel and could hire to assassinate the ambassador.  The person was actually an undercover DEA agent.  He discussed plans to kill the ambassador at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., and he set up installments for a $100,000 down payment with the undercover DEA agent.  

Arbabsiar and the Iranian military planned to give the undercover agent a total of $1.5 million for the assassination.  In early August of 2011, Arbabsiar sent two different overseas wire transfers totaling $100,000 to the undercover agent’s account.  

Arbabsiar tried to fly into Mexico on September 28, 2011, but he was denied entry and forced to return to his last point of departure.  He was arrested by FBI agents at JFK International Airport on September 29, 2011.  

DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart stated, “The dangerous connection between drug trafficking and terrorism cannot be overstated, and this case is yet another example of DEA’s unique role in identifying potentially deadly networks that wish to harm innocent Americans and our allies worldwide.”  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

On October 17, 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that Eric Prokopi of Gainesville, Florida, was arrested for illegally importing multiple dinosaur fossils into the United States.  He was arrested by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents.  

The complaint against Prokopi states he conspired to import at Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton from Mongolia, a Saurolophus angustirostris skeleton from Mongolia, and a Microraptor skeleton from China.  Prokopi is charged with one count of conspiring to smuggle illegal goods, one count of possessing stolen property, and one count of making false statements.  He faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison.  

According to court documents, Prokopi owns a business in Florida called “Everything Earth,” and he describes himself as a commercial paleontologist.  He trades partial skeletons, but he unlawfully transported fossils from foreign countries from 2010 to 2012.  The fossils from Mongolia are the only ones of their kind, and they lawfully belong to the Mongolian government.  

The Tyrannosaurus bataar fossil is about 70 million years old, and Prokopi misrepresented the contents of the package when he imported it into the United States.  The skeleton was later sold at an auction in New York City for over $1 million.  

Prokopi sold three other fossils from Mongolia as well.  He sold a Saurolophus angustirostris fossil to the I.M. Chait gallery in California, and he also sold two fossils of a Gallimimus and Oviraptor mongoliensis.  He imported fossils of a small flying dinosaur called a Microraptor from China.  

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated, “As alleged, our recent seizure of the Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton from Eric Prokopi was merely the tip of the iceberg—our investigation uncovered a one-man black market in prehistoric fossils.  In addition to our commitment to ensuring that these relics are returned to their countries of origin, we are equally committed to shutting down Prokopis illegal business and holding him to account for his alleged crimes.”

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

On October 16, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico announced that Oscar Marquez was charged with four counts of violating the Hobbs Act and four counts of using a firearm to commit the crime of violence.  He violated the Hobbs Act by “interfering by robbery with a business involved in interstate commerce.”

According to the indictment, Marquez robbed a total of four businesses in Albuquerque between May 28, 2012 and June 9, 2012.  He used a firearm in all of the robberies, and he discharged the firearm in the last two robberies.  The co-defendant, Rebecca Aquilar, was involved in the last set of robberies.  

Marquez is charged with robbing Captain D’s restaurant on May 28, robbing Cricket Wireless Store on May 29, robbing King Wireless Store on June 7, and robbing another Cricket Wireless Store on June 9.  He used a firearm during all of the robberies, and he discharged the weapons during the robberies of the Cricket Wireless Stores.  

Marquez faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 for each count of violating the Hobbs Act.  Using a firearm in furtherance of a crime has a mandatory sentence of 7 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.  Discharging a firearm during a crime of violence has a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.  

Rebecca Aguilar was arraigned and released on the same day to a halfway house.  She is on supervision until her trial.  

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Violent Crimes and Major Offender Squad as well as the Albuquerque Police Department’s Armed Robbery Unit.  The two squads work under a program called that New Mexico Federal Gang Task Force which targets the most dangerous offenders.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On November 28, 2012, Ashley Nicole Richards and Brent Justice of Houston were indicted for making what US Attorney Kenneth Magidson calls “animal crush videos.”  Both of the defendants have remained in state custody since August 15, 2012, but they are expected to go into federal custody and make an initial court appearance soon.  

An “animal crush video” is any “photograph, motion-picture film, video or digital recording, or electronic image that depicts actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians is intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury, and is obscene” as defined under the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010.  

According to the seven-count indictment, Justice and Richards created eight videos showing the torturing and killing of puppies and kittens.  The disturbing and obscene videos were created from February 2010 to August 2012 and then distributed.  Authorities have not noted if the heinous videos were distributed over the internet or by hand.  

Richards and Justice remain innocent until proven guilty.  

If they are convicted, Richards and Justice face a maximum penalty of seven years in prison for each of the animal crush charges and up to five years for each obscenity charge.  Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release as well.  

The Houston Police Department initially investigated the case and began to work with the FBI’s Field Office in Houston.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack is in charge of prosecution.  

It’s a sad reality when innocent animals that could have otherwise had a happy and long life are subjected to such grotesque human acts.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

On November 21, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced that Joshua Bodean Smith of Colorado Springs, Colorado was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery that violated the Hobbs Act.  He was also convicted of two counts of possessing a firearm during a violent crime.  

Bianca Sota, the co-defendant, was named in the indictment, but she was acquitted of similar crimes.  

Smith is scheduled for sentencing on February 22, 2012 before U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello.  

The indictment and facts made at trial indicate Smith robbed a store on South Nevada Avenue called Cricket Communication Store on August 31, 2010. He also robbed a Burger King restaurant on October 11, 2010 near the Fort Carson military base, and he used a firearm during both of the robberies.  

Smith now faces up to 20 years for each counts of armed robbery that violated the Hobbs Act.  He faces a mandatory and consecutive 10 years to life for using a firearm during the first robbery, and he faces a mandatory and consecutive 25 years to life for using a firearm during the second robbery.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh stated: “The defendant in this case used a deadly weapon during two robberies. Thanks to the trial team, the FBI, Colorado Springs Police Department, and Army Investigators, he faces decades in federal prison—and Colorado is a safer place.”

The FBI, Colorado Springs Police Department, and the Army Criminal Investigation Division at Fort Carson investigated the case.  

James Yacone, FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge, stated: “On behalf of the FBI, I would like to thank the jury for its service.  The verdict for Smith is a just result in light of the violent acts he committed and the manner in which he endangered innocent citizens.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

On November 9, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland reported that Jason James Savedoff of New York, New York was sentenced to 366 days in prison and two years of supervised release.  He conspired to steals original documents from Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, George Washington, John Adams, and multiple other historical figures from museums and historical societies.  

During the plea agreement, Savedoff admitted that he and Barry Landau, the co-defendant, stole manuscripts and other documents from the Maryland Historical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Connecticut Historical Society, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library.  

Before stealing the documents, the two men made lists of documents from important historical figures and figured out what signatures had the most value.  They often visited the museums and posed as researchers.  They used aliases to hide their true identities, and they stole the documents by hiding them in hidden pockets in their sport coats and outerwear.  The co-defendants were able to distract museum curators as they stole the documents.  

The defendants made a checklist for each document that included the author, the document’s date, the document’s collection, the museum card catalogue number, any microfilm for the document, markings on the document, and more.  The defendants were able to hide the card catalogue entries so museum aids were unable to notice the document was missing.  

When Landau’s apartment was searched, authorities found of 6,000 items that were stolen around the United States.  These documents were signed by George Washington, John Adams, Franklin Roosevelt, Marie Antoinette, Karl Marx, and Sir Isaac Newton.  The documents are in the process of being returned to museums and proper owners.  

Landau was sentenced to seven years in prison, and he is required to pay restitution of $46,525.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation