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America’s Most Wanted

America’s Most Wanted

Finding America’s Most Wanted


In the United States, there are many different wanted lists based on the level of government as well as the agency involved. The most commonly known one in the United States is the Federal Bureau of Investigations most wanted list.

Different FBI Wanted Lists
The FBI has different lists based on the crimes.
• Ten Most Wanted
• Most Wanted Terrorists
• Crime Alerts
• Crimes Against Children
• Parental Kidnappings
The Ten Most Wanted List is one of the most well know FBI list that have been in existence since March of 1950. The list was designed by the FBI with the country’s new media in order to publicize dangerous fugitives in order to receive more public assistance in tracking these fugitives. These names are chosen by the 56 field offices of the FBI who submit their candidates for the list to the Criminal Investigative Division. Selected candidates are approved by the Assistant director and then the FBI’s director.
In order to be on the list, an individual must have a long record of committing crimes or be a very dangerous menace to society. The case must also benefit from public awareness. The first person to be put on the list was Thomas James Holden, who had murdered his wife and two of her relatives. Since then 949 fugitives have been put on the list, while 464 of them have been located or apprehended.
Currently the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives are:
• Jason Derek Brown
• Joe Luis Saenz
• Victor Manuel Gerena
• Eduardo Ravelo
• Robert William Fisher
• Alexis Flores
Semion Mogilevich
• Glen Stewart Godwin
• James J. Bulger
• Osama Bin Laden (who is now deceased)

Other Most Wanted Lists
Other agencies and governments have their own most wanted lists as well.
• The Drug Enforcement Administration maintains their own lists of most wanted fugitives based on Field Division. They also keep a list of major international fugitives as well.
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and firearms has a wanted list.
• Environmental Protection Agency’s list of fugitives includes those who have broken the EPA’s rules.
• U.S. Marshal’s Most Wanted list consists of those with a history of many violent crimes who are possibly armed and dangerous.
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service has a list for those who have committed robbery, mail fraud, harming postal employees, and other crimes.
• Secret Service Most wanted Fugitives
• Interpol International Police Organization
Many states also have their own most wanted lists that are maintained by a specific department for each state. For example, California’s most wanted list is kept by the Department of Justice, while New York’s list is kept by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. 

Gang Violence

Gang Violence

A Look at Gang Violence


While the definition of a gang can vary dramatically, most gangs that are not associated to organized crime are known for their street presence as well as their role in committing street crimes. Gangs tend to be most effected in urban areas that do not have proper social institutions set up, such as schools and families.
The number of gang violence and gangs related problems in the United States grew significantly during the 1980s and 1990’s. This increase developed at the same time the crack cocaine epidemic occurred, suggesting a relationship between the two. While there was a decline in the mid 1990’s to the early 2000’s, gang problems have been increasing steadily since. With this, gang violence has also increased as well.
While gang violence and activity can be cyclical in smaller regions and neighborhoods, it is much more likely for larger cities to report consistent gang violence. Occasionally, large flare-ups of gang violence also occur, but these upswings are normally not on a national trend.
Levels of gang violence can vary from city to city and even from one gang to another, but has certainly increased. One of the main factors behind is the increase in firearms in modern day gang activity. Often, gangs recruit young individuals who already possess firearms and promote their use within the gang. Many jurisdictions that experience higher levels of gang violence often see higher levels of firearms used in homicides.
Many of these large street gangs use gang violence in order to control or expand certain illegal activities, such as drug distribution, targeting dealers and rival gang members who do not pay extortion fees, to have members follow the rules within a gang, or to stop a member from trying to leave the gang.
Gang violence has been reported to be responsible for many major violent crimes in the United States, such as:
• Robbery
• Homicide
• Money laundering
• Weapons trafficking
• Burglary
• Assault
• Drive-by shootings
• Prostitution operations
• Selling stolen property
• Extortion
While local government and law enforcement work to reduce gang violence, the issue is also handled by the FBI. Since January 2011, the FBI has worked to create 168 Safe Streets Task Forces that have worked to fight against gang violence.
In 2004, the FBI established the National Gang Task Force in order to coordinate investigations between local, state, and federal agencies regarding MS-13 targets in order to reduce gang violence. 
The FBI has also created the National Gang Intelligence Center to provide a mechanism for both local and federal law enforcement to combine gang data in order to identify any trends in gang violence and other activity. 

Legal Conspiracy

Legal Conspiracy

Civil Law Conspiracy


In civil law, a conspiracy is the creation and operation of an agreement or preconceived plan between two parties (or more) to perform an illegal act that is made with the intention to deprive or damage a third party. 
Often the elements of a civil conspiracy include:
• A concerted action
• Involvement of two or more parties
• Purpose of action is to accomplish a unlawful purpose or a lawful one by unlawful or criminal means
• Damage to the plaintiff
In a civil conspiracy, it is not enough to allege a conspiracy to consider it actionable, thus having these elements makes a conspiracy case much more salient. The conspiracy action is for the damages that come out of any acts that are committed pursuant to the conspiracy in question. If a party receives an allegation of civil conspiracy, that allegation must be paired with a substantial theory of liability. Together they can sustain a cause of action.
While a cause of action is poorly defined for civil conspiracy in many different court decisions, there are some good reasons to please a civil conspiracy assuming there is factual support. 
• An action for conspiracy may allow a party to sue another party who would not otherwise be considered liable.
• In a civil conspiracy claim, a plaintiff may show evidence of acts by a co-conspirator that may not be named a defendant in order which can be used against a defendant. 
• Having an action considered a conspiracy makes the matter seem more ominous. For example, a conspiracy to fraud can sound much worse than regular fraud.
Criminal Law Conspiracy
In criminal law, a conspiracy is the creation and agreement between two or more parties to take part in criminal activity in the future. While the actions taken in advance may not be considered a crime independently, the intent to break the law can be reason enough to be charged with conspiracy as well as the crime that was conspired.
A persona or even a business can generally be convicted of criminal conspiracy if:
• A concerted action
• Involvement of two or more parties
• The actions were done with the purpose of promoting or facilitating conduct that is considered a crime, or a solicitation of a crime
• The actions were done to help another plan, commit, or attempt to solicit a crime
For criminal conspiracy, it is necessary to prove the agreement. Since the agreement is the basis for the conspiracy, it is often inferred based off of the cases facts. The agreement does not necessarily have to be verbal, written, or even explicit, but it allows the parties to reach an understanding and to work for a common goal.
Many statutes concerning criminal law also require at least one or more of the parties involved to actually commit the overt action in order to maintain the conspiracy.
It can be advantageous to charge a party with criminal conspiracy because doing may prevent the planned crime from happening. It may also help charge multiple defendants at once while presenting evidence against the parties.

Wanted Posters

Wanted Posters

Using Wanted Posters


A wanted poster is a poster circulated throughout the public to let the citizens know about an alleged criminal whom law enforcement and other authorities want to apprehend.
Some information that is found on a wanted poster includes:
• Basic personal information such as name and birth date
• Aliases
• Physical description including height, weight, build, hair, eyes, race, and sex
• Other remarks on the description
• Photos
• Details of crime
• Reward
A wanted posted will often include a photograph of the alleged criminal if a picture is available. If one is not, a drawing or facial composite image drawn by a police artist is used instead.
The wanted poster will usually also include a physical description of the person in question along with the details of the crime that they have allegedly committed. Wanted posters can be made and distributed by police departments on different levels of government or other public government agencies such as the FBI. 
Wanted Posters are often put on display in an area that is public so that a large amount of individuals can see the picture. This can be in a post office lobby or a physical bulletin board. Historically, railway security, vigilante groups, express companies, and other private agencies have also used wanted posters in an attempt to apprehend an individual.
Wanted posters for an especially notorious fugitive often include an offer for a reward or bounty for the capture of the fugitive, or a reward for information that can lead to the capture. Wanted posters used in a more modern age can also include an image of the fugitive’s fingerprints.
The FBI started using wanted posters in December 15, 1919. At the time, it was not meant to be a wanted poster, but rather a piece of paper with all the information known about an alleged criminal. It was titled the Identification Order Number 1 and since then, over 5,400 identification orders have been put out. These wanted posters were also the foundation of the list of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, which was created in 1950.
While wanted papers started out on paper, recent technological advances have provided other means of distributing wanted posters. The FBI started posting wanted posters on electronic billboards in 2007, initially putting posters in 23 different cities. Because of these electronic billboards, there have been at least 30 cases solved in direct response to the publicity received by these billboards.

Cosa Nostra

Cosa Nostra

La Cosa Nostra in the United States


La Cosa Nostra, or the Mafia is the most organized criminal threat In America. The name is literally translated as “this thing of ours.” The organization relies on a national alliance of criminals that are either linked by familial ties or by conspiracy. Unlike organized crime in Italy, La Cosa Nostra is an Italian organization that is founded in the United States. This quality is shared with the Neapolitan Mafia, Calabrian Mafia, and the United Sacred Crown.
According to the FBI, La Cosa Nostra consists of several different groups or families that are most commonly arranged by location who are engaged in organized racketeering actions. La Cosa Nostra has a strong presence throughout the United States, particularly in New York, Philadelphia, along with southern New Jersey. However, they are also active in other areas of New England, Detroit, Chicago, as well as other locations internationally.
Organized crime families such as La Cosa Nostra evolved over thousands of years due to different periods of exploitation and invasions of Italy. Throughout these events, Sicilians soon became much more clan based and began to rely heavily on family and other strong ties for protection, safety, justice, and survival. They created groups that that initially acted as resistance fighters who would exact vigilante justice and profit at the expense of the oppressor. 
These groups eventually developed into the Mafia. In the beginning of the 20th century, many of these head figures of organized crime groups illegally immigrated to the United States where they established the American Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra. This began with Charles Luciano, who was a Sicilian Mafioso. He came to the United States and is credited for structuring La Cosa Nostra, which was based off the structure of the Sicilian Mafia
Some of the most historically influential actions of La Cosa Nostra involved labor racketeering, which was manipulating, controlling, or dominating the labor movement in order to somehow affect the industries and businesses related, potential resulting in economic losses by the insurer, consumer, business, or workers, as well as the potential loss of worker’s rights. Some examples of La Cosa Nostra’s involvement in labor racketeering include: 
• Members of La Cosa Nostra falsely listing their employment as labor or labor-related at the 1957 Apalachin conference in New York.
• Systematic racketeering in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as well as the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union.
• Exposure in 1986 by the President’s Council on Organized Crime dinficating that five major unions being dominated by La Cosa Nostra.
• Paul Castellano, the former Gambino family boss saying the job of La Cosa Nostra was to run the unions.

Cartels

CartelsCartels and Their Role in the Market



A cartel is an explicit or formal agreement among firms that are in competition with each other. By creating a cartel, it sets up a formal organization of manufacturers and produces that decide and agree on fixed prices, production, and marketing to increase the profits of the participants. This allows the participating producers to constrain other competing companies outside of the cartel and potentially create a monopoly of the product in the market.
Topics discussed on in a cartel agreement can include:
• Price Fixing
• Bid rigging
• Market Shares
• Total industry output
• Allocation of territories
• Allocation of customers
• Establishment of sales agencies
• Division of profits among participants.
Cartels can often be found in markets that have a smaller number of sellers and in turn, less competition. It also applies to a product that is relatively homogenous and has few variations between sellers. 
Because of antitrust laws (specifically the Sherman Antitrust Act which passed in 1890), cartels are no longer legal in the United States and creating one is considered a federal crime. However, many European countries do allow cartels to operate. These cartels influence the prices of imported goods that come into the United States. Drug cartels in other countries also affect the United States, as many illegal narcotics are smuggled into the United States.
Cartels can be classified as being either private or public.
• Public: The government is involved in order to regulate and enforce the cartel agreements made. The sovereignty of the government protects the cartels from any legal actions made against them.
• Private: These cartels can be legally liable under whatever antitrust laws are in placed in the country of question.
Most competition laws and antitrust laws forbid private cartel agreements. It is important to spot and break up these private cartels because of competition policy that are found in most countries, although it is rarely an easy task to prove the existence of a cartel agreement since many of the involved parties are extremely careful not to leave physical evidence of such a thing.
Many different legal decisions and economic studies of antitrust authorities have concluded that the median increase in price accomplished by these cartels was about 25% in the last 200 years. Private cartels with participants from two or more countries created an average increase of price of 28%, whereas private domestic cartels averaged 18%. Less than 10% of all cartels used in the sample did not raise the market price of their product.
One example of a cartel is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. This cartel is between the governments of The United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait, Iran, Angola, Ecuador, and Algeria.
OPEC represents countries that produce major sources of oil in the Middle East, South America, and Africa. While not as powerful as they once were, they have some control of gas prices and cannot be held accountable for being in a cartel due to public international law giving them doctrine of state immunity.

Prison Reentry

Prison Reentry

What do Prison Reentry Programs Do?
Prison reentry programs are designed to promote effective reintegration of prisoners and offenders back into their communities after being released from jail or prison. Many of these prison reentry programs require a very comprehensive approach to the case and works to help offenders in receiving the proper skills needed to become citizens that follow the law. By creating prison reentry programs, it helps reduce recidivism rates.
There are many different prison reentry programs, such as vocational training, work programs, and prerelease programs. One particular initiative is supported by the United States Department of Justice, and is known as the Prisoner Reentry Initiative. It is also supported by the Office of Justice Programs, as well as other federal programs such as the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development.
This initiative is a complete effort that looks at both adult and juvenile groups of very high-risk offenders. It provides resources to create, set up, improve, and evaluate many reentry strategies used to ensure the safety of the community by reducing serious, violent crimes.
This is done through preparation of the selected offenders in order to successfully integrate them into their communities after having served a long period of secure confinement in an adult or juvenile correctional facility, a state training school, or other secure institution.
In these prison reentry initiatives, some goals include providing education, job training, mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, mentoring, and risk assessment. The initiative then works to proper monitoring and training as well as other assessment to help transition the individual into society. 
Long term programs are also included to help provide various social services and community based groups to provide continuing services and mentor relationships if necessary. These programs are often implemented are often implemented the first year and a half after release from jail or prison.
Another approach to prison reentry is through reentry courts. These courts offer the chance for even more extensive treatment and management of offenders at the beginning of the sentencing phase. The goal is to promote accountability of the offender while giving services and treatment during the prison reentry phase.
These programs can be very helpful because annually, almost 650,000 individuals are released from federal and state prison doorsteps. Even more come out of local jails and have often been in and out of jail more than once. For example, The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that in a study consisting of 15 states, over 67% of the released state prisoners were rearrested, over half of them returning to prison within three years.

Verbal Abuse

Verbal Abuse

What Counts as Verbal Abuse?


Verbal abuse is best thought of as an emotional environment that is ongoing that is created by an abuser to the abused, most often for the point of maintaining control. One of the primary underlying factors in the dynamics of a relationship with verbal abuse is the fact that the abuser has low self-esteem or opinions for him or herself. Because of this, the abuser tries to put their victim in a lowered position to make them believe similar things through a warped projection.
Verbal abuse can include:
• accusing
• berating
• blaming
• blocking
• bullying
• countering
• defaming
• defining
• discounting
• diverting
• harassing
• insulting
• interrogating
• lying
• name-calling
• putting down
• raging
• taunting
• threatening
• trivializing
• withholding
• yelling
Some examples of verbal abuse include:
• Control by telling a victim how to feel and what to think while refusing to understand the victim’s perspective. The abuser may object verbally in a violent way to the victim’s desires or inions. 
• Withholding support, affection, information or money and denying it when the abuser is confronted.
• Isolating a victim by blocking outside relationships to family and friends. The abuser works tries to convince the victim that the only person who truly cares about the victim or likes the victim is the abuser. Occasionally, the verbal abuser may be willing to admit to this behavior, and agrees to end it, but the behavior tends to quickly restart.
 Verbal abuse can happen to any person of any race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, size or age. It is seen most often in is especially prevalent in marital relationships. Most often, the intensity of verbal abuse will increase over time and can even escalate to a point where it becomes physical abuse as well.
Often in a relationship with intense verbal abuse, the victim often suffers from very low self-esteem along with low self-worth. Because of the verbal abuse, a victim can easily fall into post-traumatic stress disorder or even clinical depression.
Despite verbal abuse being one of the more common forms of abuse, it is normally not considered to be as seriously as other forms of abuse, since no visible proof comes out of verbal abuse. However, verbal abuse can sometimes be more harmful to the individual’s well-being than physical abuse.
If verbal abuse starts at a young age, it can contribute greatly to borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, codependency, and many other psychological disorders that often continue on into adulthood.
Individuals who feel they are being verbally attacked by an abuser regularly should try to get professional counsel and get out of the hurtful environment as much as possible. Staying in an environment with a verbal abuser is extremely damaging for a person’s well-being.

El Paso Attorney Arrested for Link to Drug Cartel

El Paso Attorney Arrested for Link to Drug Cartel


On November 2, 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested Marco Antonio Delgado for helping a drug cartel with money laundering.  ICE reports that Delgado was arrested at an El Paso restaurant on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.  


According to the indictment, Delgado conspired with drug cartel members and others between July 2007 and December 2008 to launder money from drugs proceeds, and the proceeds are enormous.  


ICE reports that Delgado may have helped the drug cartel launder over $600 million from drug proceeds.  The drug cartel is located in Guadalajara.  


Delgado made his initial appearance in court on November 5, and he is scheduled for his detention hearing today, on November 8.  He faces up to 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge.  


Dennis A. Ulrich, special agent in charge at HSI El Paso, stated: “Drug cartels operate solely on the basis of greed.  However, when they can also corrupt trusted authorities, the integrity and stability of both countries’ financial infrastructure may be at risk.”


El Paso’s HSI financial group, the HSI Southwest Border Financial Operations, and the Currency United Strike Force (FOCUS) led the investigation.  FOCUS was formed to discover financial crimes occurring in New Mexico and Texas.  


FOCUS is made up of HSI, IRS, DEA, and Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission members who work alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office, ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, and the Secret Service.  Select members of these agencies target the following crimes:


•    money laundering
•    bank fraud and mortgage fraud
•    illegal money transactions
•    cash smuggling


Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Man Gets Life in Prison after Life of Violence

Man Gets Life in Prison after Life of Violence


On November 2, 2012, the Department of Justice announced that Derek Lucas of Memphis, Tennessee was sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to rob drug dealers.  He had a massive violent crime history, and he was sentenced by District Judge S. Thomas Anderson.  


Lucas was convicted under 21 U.S.C. § 846 for intention to distribute about five kilograms of a cocaine mixture.  He was also convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) for possessing firearms for the furtherance of drug trafficking activity.  The violation of § 846 carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison and a fine up to $10,000,000.  A violation of § 924(c) carries a penalty of five years to life in prison and a fine up to $250,000.  


During the investigation, Lucas was approached by an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) who claimed they wanted to retaliate against certain drug dealers.  Lucas and other co-conspirators agreed to help steal five kilograms of cocaine along with money.  Lucas was arrested on the day the crime was supposed to occur, and officers obtained the following weapons from Lucas and the co-defendants:


•    fully loaded Bryco Arms .380 caliber 9 mm pistol
•    Romarm/Cugir, Model SAR-1 rifle equipped with a magazine capable of holding 57 rounds


Lucas received the life sentence because of past criminal convictions.  Co-defendant Derrick Dowdy received 180 months in prison, and the other co-defendants (Neal, Wallace, and Scott) received 120 months in prison.  


U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton stated, “The life sentence imposed by the court should send a clear message to individuals who seek to terrorize our community through brazen and violent acts, that such wanton conduct will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”  


Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
 

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