Little Rock Arkansas Police Officers Mark Jones And Randall Robinson Arrested In Undercover FBI Investigation, Charged With Providing Security For Drug Shipment While On Duty And Using Marked Police Cars

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS – Little Rock Police Officers Mark Jones and Randall Robinson were arrested Thursday after the FBI filed criminal complaint charges.

The two are accused of providing security for a drug shipment in return for thousands of dollars, all while the officers were reportedly on-duty and marked patrol units.

The two men had their initial appearance in a federal courtroom Friday (5/25).

An affidavit filed by the FBI has page upon page of recorded conversations, and the US Prosecuting Attorney said it isn’t the end of the evidence.

One of the officers charged and his attorney however are denying all the claims.

“My client denies what he is charged with having done,” said Mark Jones’ attorney, Ronald Davis Junior.

According to the affidavit a confidential source, undercover with the FBI, worked with Little Rock Police officer Mark Jones in delivery of a shipment of drugs.

Recorded conversation on the affidavit shows the two discussing plans to ship thousands of pounds of marijuana, needing the security of Jones.

The source told Jones he needed somebody to watch his back. Jones confirmed they needed him to follow them.

The affidavit said the two would meet at a Whole Foods grocery store in West Little Rock. Jones worked an off-duty security position there.

They met frequently to discuss plans of the operation, that eventually included Jones half-brother, Officer Randall Robinson.

Despite the abundance of evidence the affidavit shows, Davis claims there are two sides to every story and these documents won’t be enough.

He wants the conversations to be authenticated, and to prove the context in which the conversations took place.

“Those are all things you can’t do just from an affidavit.”

Whether the affidavit proves this or not, some folks walking the Little Rock streets with two police officers on the wrong side of a jail cell, still said they aren’t worried.

Toni Weatherford said, “There’s always a few bad apples… This is a beautiful city and probably nothing is going on here that isn’t going on everywhere else.”

Some even saw this a chance for the law to teach a lesson.

Lisa Beasley said, “Regardless of what city they need to make an example, and let the people know that police are not above the law.”

But it will take a judge and jury to find these two men guilty, something Davis doesn’t think will happen.

“I think our system usually gets it right and I think it will in this case.”

The US Attorney’s office thinks it will go their way and this affidavit is all they’ll need.

A trial is set for June 4th to decide if the officers will remain behind bars.

Depending on how this case goes, these two men could face up to forty years in jail, and possibly a fine around $5,000,000.

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Pedophile Former “Top” FBI Agent Donald Sachtleben Arrested, Charged With Child Pornography – Currently Visiting Professor At Oklahoma State University, But All References To Him Suddenly Disappeared From Their Web Site

CARMEL, INDIANA – A former supervisory FBI agent has been arrested and jailed on child pornography charges.

Donald Sachtleben was taken into custody and charged Monday after a nationwide undercover investigation of illegal child porn images traded over the Internet.

The 54-year-old resident of Carmel, Indiana, has pleaded not guilty and has a detention hearing in federal court Wednesday.

A federal complaint alleges 30 graphic images and video were found on Sachtleben’s laptop computer late last week when FBI agents searched his home, about 23 miles north of Indianapolis.

The arrest was a result a months-long probe, said the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Joseph Hogsett.

“The mission of our Project Safe Childhood initiative is to investigate and prosecute anyone found to (be) engaged in the sexual exploitation of children,” Hogsett said in a news release. “No matter who you are, you will be brought to justice if you are found guilty of such criminal behavior.”

Sachtleben is currently an Oklahoma State University visiting professor, according to his online resume. He is director of training at the school’s Center for Improvised Explosives, but all references to his work have now been removed from the university’s website. There was no indication from the school as to whether it had suspended him. Calls to the university and his Indianapolis attorneys were not immediately returned.

He had been an FBI special agent from 1983 to 2008, serving as a bomb technician. He worked on the Oklahoma City bombing and Unabomber investigations, according to his university biography.

A separate LinkedIn profile filled out by Sachtleben says he is an “accomplished investigator with more than 25 years of experience in FBI major case management, counter terrorism investigations, bombing prevention, post blast investigations and public speaking.”

According to the criminal complaint, a federal-state joint task force had been investigating an Illinois man allegedly trading child porn images as far back as September 2010. That suspect was arrested in January, and a search of his computer reportedly led to Sachtleben, who was using the e-mail name pedodave69.

According to the affidavit, an e-mail from that account was sent to the Illinois suspect last fall, along with nine images of child porn. “Saw your profile on (a file sharing network). Hope you like these and can send me some of ours (sic). I have even better ones if you like.” Prosecutors say Sachtleben sent that e-mail.

Sachtleben’s wife was interviewed by agents during the execution of the search warrant and denied any involvement with child porn. She was not taken into custody.

FBI officials in Washington had no comment on the arrest.

If convicted, Sachtleben would face up to 20 years in prison on the charge of distribution of child porn, and an additional 10 years for possession.

The Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood initiative was launched in 2006, leading to what federal officials call a more than 40% increase in the number of cases investigated. The project’s website says 2,700 indictments were filed last year alone.

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Los Angeles California FBI Agent Stephen Ivens Goes Missing – May Be Armed And Suicidal

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Police are searching for an FBI agent said to be despondent and possibly suicidal and who was last seen by family on Thursday night.

Stephen Ivens, 35, was reported missing Friday morning from his home in the 1700 block of Scott Road in Burbank.

Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman, confirmed the man is an FBI agent assigned to FBI’s Los Angeles division.

Police, meanwhile, were searching the hillside areas around Burbank and said a gun that he had in the house is unaccounted for. Police believe he might have walked into the area of the Verdugo mountains.

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Chicago Illinois Police Officers Sgt. Ronald Watta And Kallatt Mohammed Arrested Stealing $5,200 From Drug Dealer – Caught In FBI Sting Operation

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Two Chicago cops, believing they were stealing $5,200 in cash that belonged to a drug dealer, were actually caught in an undercover sting, federal authorities said Monday.

Wentworth District tactical unit Sgt. Ronald Watts and tactical unit Officer Kallatt Mohammed appeared in handcuffs Monday in federal court in Chicago after being arrested Sunday night in a joint FBI and Chicago Police Department Internal Affairs Division operation.

They are accused of stealing the money on Nov. 21 and charged with theft of government funds.

According to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Monday, Mohammed, 47, a 14-year veteran of the department, took a bag containing the cash and a court-authorized tracking device from a homeless man who was working as an informant for the FBI.

Watts, 48, who’s been with the Chicago Police Department for 18 years, later met the homeless man at a Chinatown Walgreens parking lot and gave him $400 for tipping the officers off about the cash delivery, according to the complaint.

When Watts handed over the cash he allegedly asked the homeless man, “Who always takes care of you?” The homeless man replied, “You do, Watts,” according to the complaint.

The homeless man, who has 99 arrests and 16 convictions, told the FBI he’d discussed his work as a drug courier with the officers several times prior to the undercover operation and that Watts had previously stolen cash from him, authorities said.

Both police officers spoke in court only to confirm that they understand the charges against them. They would face up to 10 years behind bars and fines of up to $250,000 if convicted, prosecutors said. They were released on $10,000 bail Monday after being ordered to surrender their weapons and passports and told to have no contact with each other.

Watts — wearing a black sweat suit — and Mohammed — wearing a black wool hat and a work jacket — both ran from the Dirksen federal court building Monday afternoon in an attempt to avoid news photographers and a TV camera.

Watts tussled with an ABC 7 cameraman in Plymouth Court before speeding off in a waiting car, while Mohammed hid in a Lady Foot Locker on State Street. When Mohammed later bolted from the store with photographers in pursuit, he was temporarily detained by two passing plainclothes police officers who mistook him for a shoplifter.

Both Watts and Mohammed have been stripped of their police powers and both are suspended without pay.

Watts serves as the financial secretary of the Chicago Police Sergeants’ Association, but has been asked to resign his position following his arrest, union president Jim Ade said.

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FBI Pissing Away Tax Dollars Investigating Auburn Alabama Basketball Player

AUBURN, ALABAMA - Federal authorities are investigating suspended Auburn point guard Varez Ward for alleged point shaving involving at least two games this season, Yahoo! Sports reported Thursday.

The report, citing anonymous sources, said the FBI began an investigation in late February, centering on losses to Alabama on Feb. 7 and Arkansas on Jan. 25.

Ward has confided that he spoke with federal authorities and denied the allegations, according to a source familiar with Ward’s side of the story, al.com reported.

Ward also said federal investigators confiscated his phone under court order and had him take a lie-dectector test, the source said, according to the report.

NCAA officials said they are “very concerned” by the allegations and have been in contact with the school and federal investigators since the issue arose last month.

“The NCAA takes any allegation of point shaving very seriously because sports wagering threatens two of our core principles — the well-being of student-athletes and the very integrity of intercollegiate sport,” the NCAA said in a written statement Thursday. “As allegations of point shaving, if proven, are also potential federal crimes, the NCAA will defer action until any process with the FBI has concluded.”

Ward and guard Chris Denson were both suspended before a Feb. 25 game against Arkansas, but Denson returned for the next game. Denson was questioned and cleared of involvement in point shaving, the Yahoo! Sports report said.

“Auburn officials were made aware of a rumor regarding an allegation two weeks ago and immediately reported it to the FBI, the NCAA and the SEC,” Auburn said in a statement Thursday. “Because of the nature of the allegation, Auburn is not in a position to make any further comment on the situation.”

The report said a player reported concerns to an assistant coach in late February.

Auburn coach Tony Barbee has said only that Ward and Denson violated team rules. He declined to specifically address any allegations after Thursday night’s loss to Mississippi in the opening round of the SEC tournament.

“Obviously our university released a statement which I totally support and stand behind, and obviously because of the nature of the allegations and the story, and because of the statement, I won’t be able to elaborate or answer any questions or make any further comment,” Barbee said.

Ward didn’t play in the final three games of the regular season or travel with the team to New Orleans for the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Denson played 32 minutes and scored 11 points Thursday in Auburn’s 68-54 loss to Mississippi, but declined to speak with reporters after the game. His teammates also deferred comments to their coach.

Yahoo! Sports reported that other Auburn players were questioned about whether Ward tried to get them to participate in the alleged point shaving.

Ward, a Texas transfer, has averaged 9 points a game and leads the Tigers in assists.

Ward scored three points and had six turnovers in the 68-50 loss to Alabama, playing 17 minutes. Vegas Insider said Alabama was favored by five points.

In the 56-53 loss to Arkansas, Ward played only 19 seconds before crumpling to the floor with an injury. Barbee later said Ward took a knee to his right leg, which he injured while a sophomore at Texas.

Auburn still covered the 9½-point spread.

Between those two games, Ward had his hottest streak of the season. He scored 53 points in the three-game stretch, including 24 against Mississippi State.

The directors of three sports books in Las Vegas said they have not been contacted by the FBI in connection with the probe, according to al.com.

“We haven’t heard from them about any Vegas action,” one sports book director said on condition of anonymity, according to the report. “If there is something wrong, if something happens here, they’d absolutely be involved. There’s been nothing at this time.”

Ward has not commented publicly since his suspension. He has not responded to requests for comment through his email and Facebook accounts, al.com reported.

His last Twitter post was on Feb. 24 when he tweeted, “Can’t win for losing smh” (shaking my head). It was the last in a series of posts that day, the first saying that his knee was “hurting bad.”

Ward, who is from Montgomery, was injured at Texas when he ruptured his quadriceps tendon on a dunk during pregame warm-ups. He sat out last season under transfer rules and has two years of eligibility remaining.

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Millions Wasted On Shoddy FBI Investigation, Prosecution, And 2 Federal Jury Trials – Casino Owner, State Lawmakers, And Others Not Guilty Of Laundry List Of Bogus Charges

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA — A jury Wednesday acquitted a casino owner, three state lawmakers and two other defendants on all counts in a high-profile federal case that alleged cash offers for votes to legalize gambling in the state.

The jury returned its verdict after seven days of deliberations in the trial for VictoryLand casino owner Milton McGregor, state Sen. Harri Anne Smith of Slocomb, former Sens. Larry Means of Attalla and Jim Preuitt of Talladega, VictoryLand lobbyist Tom Coker, and Country Crossing casino spokesman Jay Walker.

McGregor was accused of offering large campaign contributions to legislators for their votes for gambling legislation. State Sen. Harri Anne Smith and former Sens. Larry Means and Jim Preuitt were accused of agreeing to accept bribes in return for their votes.

The jury found McGregor and the others innocent of all counts, including conspiracy and bribery.

The case was the latest in a series of government corruption investigations in Alabama, including the conviction of former Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy on bribery charges in 2006 and a probe of Alabama’s two-year college system that brought down three legislators and the system’s former chancellor in 2008.

The federal investigation of vote buying began with three Republican legislators telling the FBI they were offered campaign contributions if they would support legislation designed to let electronic bingo games operate in Alabama. The three used recording devices to tape calls and meetings and the FBI tapped phones during a yearlong probe that coincided with Republican Gov. Bob Riley creating a task force to shut down electronic bingo. Riley contended the machines, featuring flashing lights and sound effects, were illegal slot machines and not simply an electronic version of paper bingo.

Riley’s task force seized machines and won court battles while casino operators failed in 2009 and in 2010 to pass protective legislation.

Federal prosecutors said behind the scenes, two casino operators and their lobbyists were offering millions in campaign contributions, benefit concerts by country music entertainers, free polling and other incentives for votes.

Ronnie Gilley, the developer of Country Crossing casino in Dothan, and two of his lobbyists, Jennifer Pouncy and Jarrod Massey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Former state Rep. Terry Spicer of Elba also pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Massey and Gilley. All four helped the prosecution and are scheduled for sentencing in April.

Prosecutors said Gilley provided Smith with $200,000 in campaign money, plus a fund-raising concert by John Anderson and Lorrie Morgan. They accused Gilley and McGregor of promising Means $100,000 for his vote. They accused Gilley, McGregor and Walker of promising Preuitt $2 million in contributions, a fund-raising concert by country music starts and other campaign support.

Defense attorneys argued the case was based on lies told by the guilty in hopes of getting lighter punishment.

All three indicted senators voted for the gambling legislation when it passed the Senate on March 30, 2010. The FBI announced its investigation two days later, and the bill died in the House without coming to a vote.

McGregor’s casino, 15 miles east of Montgomery, was once the state’s largest with 6,000 machines, but it has been closed since the crackdown in 2010. Other casinos, including one in Dothan operated by Gilley’s former partners, are operating.

The trial was the second for the defendants. The first ended in August with no convictions, two defendants acquitted, and the jury unable to resolve all charges against the remaining defendants.

One thing that was never in dispute in the trial was the profitability of electronic bingo. McGregor’s attorneys acknowledged his casino in Shorter made $40 million in 2009 when it was operating all year and lost $4 million in 2010 when it was closed most of the year.

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FBI Sees Threats To Local Law Enforcement On Every Corner….

WASHINGTON, DC – Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday.

These extremists, sometimes known as “sovereign citizens,” believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.

The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.

Routine encounters with police can turn violent “at the drop of a hat,” said Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI’s counterterrorism division.

“We thought it was important to increase the visibility of the threat with state and local law enforcement,” he said.

In May 2010, two West Memphis, Arkansas, police officers were shot and killed in an argument that developed after they pulled over a “sovereign citizen” in traffic.

Last year, an extremist in Texas opened fire on a police officer during a traffic stop. The officer was not hit.

Legal convictions of such extremists, mostly for white-collar crimes such as fraud, have increased from 10 in 2009 to 18 each in 2010 and 2011, FBI agents said.

“We are being inundated right now with requests for training from state and local law enforcement on sovereign-related matters,” said Casey Carty, an FBI supervisory special agent.

FBI agents said they do not have a tally of people who consider themselves “sovereign citizens.”

J.J. MacNab, a former tax and insurance expert who is an analyst covering the sovereign movement, has estimated that it has about 100,000 members.

Sovereign members often express particular outrage at tax collection, putting Internal Revenue Service employees at risk.

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FBI Wants Lots More Stuff To Use To Spy On American Citizens

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking for a tool to mine social media for intelligence tips.

The US domestic law enforcement agency is asking information technology contractors about the feasibility of building a tool that would “enhance its techniques for collecting and sharing ‘open source’ actionable intelligence.”

The January 19 open request was published on a website offering federal business opportunities and was first reported by New Scientist magazine.

The FBI said it is seeking an “open source and social media alert, mapping and analysis application solution” for its Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC).

“Social media has become a primary source of intelligence because it has become the premier first response to key events and the primal alert to possible developing situations,” the FBI request said.

“Intelligence analysts will often use social media to receive the first tip-off that a crisis has occurred,” it said.

The FBI said the tool “must have the ability to rapidly assemble critical open source information and intelligence that will allow SIOC to quickly vet, identity, and geo-locate breaking events, incidents and emerging threats.”

It would need to be able to “instantly search and monitor key words and strings in all ‘publicly available’ tweets across the Twitter site and any other ‘publicly available’ social networking sites/forums.”

It would also need the ability to “search the data across a myriad of parameters and view terrorist activities by location, terrorist group, and type of attack and see trends and analytics.”

In addition, it would have to be able “to immediately translate into English, tweets and any other open forum publically available social media captured in a foreign language.”

Interested parties have until February 10 to respond to the FBI request.

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FBI Agent Fred Kingston And Federal Prosecutor Get Away With Crashing Rare $750,000 Ferrari F50 During Joyride

DETROIT (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the wreck of a $750,000 Ferrari driven by an FBI agent, saying federal law grants immunity if property is being held by law enforcement.

The wreck of the rare 1995 F50 sports car was “certainly unfortunate,” but the government cannot be sued in such a case, U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn said.

Motors Insurance, based in Southfield, Mich., believes an FBI agent and a prosecutor were out for a joyride when the agent lost control of the Ferrari in a Lexington, Ky., industrial park in 2009. The government has refused to pay for the car.

The car was stolen in Rosemont, Pa., in 2003, eventually recovered and then kept by the FBI in Kentucky as part of an investigation. The government has declined to reveal much about the incident. But in an email that was released to the insurance company, Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson said he was invited for a “short ride” before the Ferrari was to be moved from an impound garage.

The driver, FBI agent Fred Kingston, lost control and the car hit bushes and a small tree, Thompson said.

The insurance company claimed the Ferrari was not actually in custody because the insurer had granted permission for the government to hold the car. The judge disagreed.

“The government’s purpose in holding the vehicle was not to create a status of either consent or punitive coercion. … Rather, the object was to control and preserve relevant evidence,” Cohn said in an 11-page decision on Sept. 27.

The insurance company’s attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.

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FBI Employee Sentenced To Federal Prison For Leaking Documents

MARYLAND – A Silver Spring man who worked as a linguist for the FBI was sentenced Monday to 20 months in prison for leaking secret documents to a blogger.

But federal prosecutors in Maryland have remained mum about exactly what was contained in the classified papers that Shamai K. Leibowitz, 39, gave the unnamed blogger in April 2009, while he worked on contract for the FBI. According to court records, the documents concerned “communication intelligence activities.”

During a Monday hearing in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dunne said Leibowitz “betrayed the FBI when he worked there,” but offered no details.

U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. said the response of federal authorities convinced him Leibowitz committed a “very, very serious offense.” But the judge said even he does not know what information Leibowitz, a Hebrew scholar, disclosed.

“I don’t know what was divulged, other than some documents, and I don’t know how it’s compromised things,” Williams said in court.

Leibowitz, who worked as a lawyer in Israel and has dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship, said in court papers that he worked for the U.S. State Department in 2006, teaching Hebrew and Israeli law and culture to American diplomats. He said he then was hired as a contractor by the U.S. Department of Defense at its Defense Language Institute.

According to court papers, Leibowitz worked on contract for the FBI from January through August 2009.

In court Monday, Leibowitz said he made a mistake. But he said that, at the time he revealed the classified information, he believed the documents showed a “violation of the law.” He said he should have pursued other options within the government to report his concerns.

“I should not have done what I did, and I regret it terribly,” he said.

In a letter to Williams, Leibowitz wrote that he spent his legal career helping “minorities, undocumented workers, refugees, and disadvantaged people.” He said he settled in Maryland with his wife and twin children in 2004 and attended the Washington College of Law.

In 2008, Leibowitz became a lawyer in New York. He said his license has been suspended.

Leibowitz pleaded guilty in December to one count of disclosure of classified information. As part of the arrangement, he agreed to file no requests for documents concerning the investigation and to “never disclose,” except to those who are authorized by the government, any classified or sensitive information he learned while working for the FBI.

Several members of the local Jewish community wrote Williams to support Leibowitz, who they said is an active member of his synagogue.

The case against Leibowitz comes as the government has charged a former U.S. intelligence official with leaking secrets to the media. Thomas A. Drake, 53, a former official with the National Security Agency, is accused of sharing classified information with a newspaper reporter.

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Department Of Justice Still Hiding Documents, Won’t Pay Claim, After FBI Agent Wrecked $750,000 Ferrari During Joyride

DETROIT, MICHIGAN – An FBI agent assigned to move a rare Ferrari wrecked it during a short drive in Kentucky, and its owner is now suing the U.S. Justice Department, which has refused to pay $750,000 for the car.

The Justice Department recently responded to the lawsuit by saying it’s not liable for certain goods when they’re in the hands of law enforcement. The government also has refused to release most documents related to the crash.

The Ferrari F50 was stolen in 2003 from a dealer in Rosemont, Pa., and discovered five years later. The FBI kept it in Lexington, Ky., as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

FBI agent Fred Kingston was to move the Ferrari from a garage in May 2009. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson said Kingston invited him on a “short ride.”

“Just a few seconds after we left the parking lot, we went around a curve and the rear of the car began sliding,” Thompson said in an email released to Motors Insurance Co., the dealer’s insurer.

“The agent tried to regain control but the car fishtailed and slid sideways up onto the curb. The vehicle came to rest against a row of bushes and a small tree,” Thompson said.

He was not hurt, but Kingston needed a few stitches for a cut on his head.

Motors Insurance took ownership of the car after it paid the dealer for the theft. The company told the government that the 1995 Ferrari, one of only 50 in the U.S., suffered substantial damage in the Kentucky crash and is a “total loss.”

“At heart, it is a race vehicle” and is not built like a typical car, truck or SUV, the insurer said in a claim for payment, partly explaining why it sought $750,000.

The Southfield, Mich.-based company filed a lawsuit in March after the Justice Department refused to pay. Motors Insurance has also filed a lawsuit to try to get records about the incident through the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The government has been secretive, saying most records are exempt. It only released Thompson’s email.

“We don’t really know what happened. We’ve asked for a lot of information,” Motors Insurance attorney Richard Kraus said in an interview this week.

A judge has set a June 13 hearing in the case.

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Brainless FBI Agent Left Handgun In El Paso Texas Airport Bathroom – Beyond Security Checkpoints

EL PASO, TEXAS – A passenger using a public restroom at El Paso, Texas, International Airport found a bit of a surprise: a gun left behind by a federal agent.

The firearm was found Tuesday morning past the security checkpoints, said Terry Sharpe, the airport’s operations manager.

“It was found in the sterile area,” he said. “The investigation is still in place and is ongoing with the airport and the TSA.”

Sharpe said the weapon was discovered in a women’s restroom by a flight passenger, who notified authorities.

“At that point, law enforcement took over,” he said.

Sharpe did not disclose further details on the agent who left the gun behind, citing the current investigation.

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$750,000 Lawsuit Charges FBI And Justice Department With Hiding Public Documents After Destruction Of Ferrari F50 – FBI Agent Frederick C Kingston And Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson Crashed During Joyride

ROSEMONT, PENNSYLVANIA – The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice have landed themselves in hot water over the destruction of a Ferrari F50. According to The Detroit News, the vehicle was reported stolen from a dealership in Rosemont, Pennsylvania in 2003, and the dealer made and insurance claim for the sum of $750,000 at that time. Michigan-based Motors Insurance Corp. shelled out the cash, and in August 2008, the FBI recovered the vehicle in Kentucky. At that time, the FBI stored the vehicle while waiting to prosecute the thief, at least until someone at the bureau decided to use it for a little local arbor work.

The Ferrari F50 lost control and struck a tree with an FBI special agent behind the wheel in May of 2009, and Motors Insurance Corp. subsequently filed a claim to both the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice for the full $750,000. Both parties rejected the claim under the pretense that the Ferrari was being detained by the FBI at the time of the incident.

The insurance company then set about submitting Freedom of Information Act requests for documents pertaining to the storage, transportation and handling of the Italian exotic, most of which were denied under federal exemptions or outright ignored. The company did manage to get a hold of one email that said that U.S. Assistant Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson rode with Special Agent Frederick C. Kingston on the day of the accident and that the vehicle fishtailed and slid sideways shortly after leaving the FBI storage warehouse.

Motors Insurance Corp. is now suing both the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to release the rest of the documents pertaining to the vehicle.

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FBI Lied To Congress About Terrorism Link To Justify Surveilance Of Anti-War Rally

WASHINGTON, DC – The FBI gave inaccurate information to Congress and the public when it claimed a possible terrorism link to justify surveilling an anti-war rally in Pittsburgh, the Justice Department’s inspector general said Monday in a report on the bureau’s scrutiny of domestic activist groups.

Inspector General Glenn Fine said the FBI had no reason to expect that anyone of interest in a terrorism investigation would be present at the 2002 event sponsored by the Thomas Merton Center, a nonviolent anti-war and anti-discrimination group.

The surveillance was “an ill-conceived project on a slow work day,” the IG stated in a study of several FBI domestic terrorism probes of people affiliated with organizations such as Greenpeace and the Catholic Worker.

Earlier, in statements to Congress and in a press release, the FBI had described the Pittsburgh rally surveillance by one agent as related to a terrorism investigation.

In a letter to the IG, FBI Deputy Director Timothy Murphy said the FBI regrets that inaccurate information was provided to the FBI director and Congress regarding the basis for the agent’s presence at the rally.

Speaking generally of the FBI probes it studied, the IG said a domestic terrorism classification has far-reaching impact because people who are subjects of such investigations are normally placed on watchlists and their travels and interactions with law enforcement may be tracked.

The FBI has broad definitions that enable it to classify matters as domestic terrorism that actually are trespassing or vandalism, the inspector general said.

The IG said the evidence did not indicate that the FBI targeted individuals involved with the groups on the basis of their free-speech activities protected by the Constitution’s First Amendment, but rather due to concerns about potential criminal acts.

The IG also concluded that the factual basis for opening some investigations was factually weak and that in several instances there was little indication of any possible federal crime, as opposed to state crimes. In some cases, the IG found that the FBI extended the duration of probes without adequate basis and in a few cases the FBI improperly retained information about the groups in its files, classifying some probes relating to nonviolent civil disobedience under its “Acts of Terrorism” classification.

Regarding the Pittsburgh rally, controversy erupted in 2006 over whether the FBI had spied on protesters at the event several years earlier because of their anti-war views.

At the time, the FBI issued a news release saying the surveillance had been based on an ongoing investigation.

FBI Director Robert Mueller told a Senate hearing that the bureau had been trying to identify a particular individual believed to be in attendance.

The FBI’s statements to Congress and the public were not true, said the IG, who found no evidence that the FBI had any information at the time of the event that any terrorism subject would be present.

According to the IG, the Office of the Chief Division Counsel in the FBI Pittsburgh Field Division created a document that said the surveillance was supposedly directed at an individual living in Pittsburgh who was of interest to the FBI based on evidence developed in a terrorism probe.

“We determined this version of events was not true,” said the IG.

The inaccurate statements may have been inadvertent, but the IG said it is more likely that the document reflected an effort to state a stronger justification for the surveillance.

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FBI Caught Spying With Surveillance Cameras On Teen Girls In Dressing Room At Charity Event In West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – Two FBI workers are accused of using surveillance equipment to spy on teenage girls as they undressed and tried on prom gowns at a charity event at a West Virginia mall.

The FBI employees have been charged with conspiracy and committing criminal invasion of privacy. They were working in an FBI satellite control room at the mall when they positioned a camera on temporary changing rooms and zoomed in for at least 90 minutes on girls dressing for the Cinderella Project fashion show, Marion County Prosecutor Pat Wilson said Monday.

Gary Sutton Jr., 40, of New Milton and Charles Hommema of Buckhannon have been charged with the misdemeanors and face fines and up to a year in jail on each charge if convicted. Sutton has been released on bond, Wilson said, and Hommema is to be arraigned later this week. Wilson did not know Hommema’s age.

The workers were described in a complaint as “police officers,” but prosecutors did not say whether the men were agents or describe what kind of work they did.

The Cinderella Project at the Middletown Mall in the north-central West Virginia town of Fairmont drew hundreds of girls from 10 high schools in five counties. Organizer Cynthia Woodyard said volunteers, donors and participants are angry.

“I can’t even begin to put words around what I consider an unspeakable act, the misuse of surveillance by a branch of our government in a place we felt so secure,” she said. “Never in a million years would we have thought something like this would happen. We’re in shock.”

Hospice Care Corp. was sponsoring the event, offering prom dresses, shoes and accessories to girls who could not otherwise afford them. Dresses sold for as little as $5.

Woodyard, director of marketing for Hospice Care, said this year’s event was the biggest in the decade the organization has been holding it, with more than 800 dresses on display.

The prosecutor would not say how authorities found out about the accusations.

It was not immediately clear if the accused men had attorneys. Messages left at phone listings for Gary Sutton were not immediately returned; there was no listing for Hommema.

The FBI issued a brief statement, but refused to answer questions. The statement said the Office of Inspector General was investigating.

“The FBI is committed to the timely and full resolution of this matter, but must remain sensitive to the privacy concerns of any potential victims and their families,” the statement said.

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FBI Caught Spying With Surveillance Cameras On Teen Girls In Dressing Room At Charity Event In West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – Two FBI workers are accused of using surveillance equipment to spy on teenage girls as they undressed and tried on prom gowns at a charity event at a West Virginia mall.

The FBI employees have been charged with conspiracy and committing criminal invasion of privacy. They were working in an FBI satellite control room at the mall when they positioned a camera on temporary changing rooms and zoomed in for at least 90 minutes on girls dressing for the Cinderella Project fashion show, Marion County Prosecutor Pat Wilson said Monday.

Gary Sutton Jr., 40, of New Milton and Charles Hommema of Buckhannon have been charged with the misdemeanors and face fines and up to a year in jail on each charge if convicted. Sutton has been released on bond, Wilson said, and Hommema is to be arraigned later this week. Wilson did not know Hommema’s age.

The workers were described in a complaint as “police officers,” but prosecutors did not say whether the men were agents or describe what kind of work they did.

The Cinderella Project at the Middletown Mall in the north-central West Virginia town of Fairmont drew hundreds of girls from 10 high schools in five counties. Organizer Cynthia Woodyard said volunteers, donors and participants are angry.

“I can’t even begin to put words around what I consider an unspeakable act, the misuse of surveillance by a branch of our government in a place we felt so secure,” she said. “Never in a million years would we have thought something like this would happen. We’re in shock.”

Hospice Care Corp. was sponsoring the event, offering prom dresses, shoes and accessories to girls who could not otherwise afford them. Dresses sold for as little as $5.

Woodyard, director of marketing for Hospice Care, said this year’s event was the biggest in the decade the organization has been holding it, with more than 800 dresses on display.

The prosecutor would not say how authorities found out about the accusations.

It was not immediately clear if the accused men had attorneys. Messages left at phone listings for Gary Sutton were not immediately returned; there was no listing for Hommema.

The FBI issued a brief statement, but refused to answer questions. The statement said the Office of Inspector General was investigating.

“The FBI is committed to the timely and full resolution of this matter, but must remain sensitive to the privacy concerns of any potential victims and their families,” the statement said.

Appeared Here