By Allan Lengel

Former NFL player Reed Kyle Diehl, who pleaded guilty to clipping investors in a $5 million Ponzi scheme, is headed off to prison.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter of Santa Anna, Calif., sentenced the 31-year-old former offensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans on Monday to 4 years and 9 months in prison, saying his scheme had caused “extraordinary” harm, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Diehl of Coto de Caza, Calif.,  pleaded guilty in July to fraud charges in connection to a Ponzi in which he “collected funds with promises of high rates of returns on investment loans”, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Diehl posed as a banker who made short-term cash loans to businesses or individuals.

“Instead of using investor funds to make loans, he used investors’ money to repay earlier investors and to fund his lifestyle,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release issued in July.

Authorities say Diehl was originally arrested in March 2008 and released on bond. In January, his bond was revoked after he got involved in a real estate transaction involving a $3.5 million home using a false name and Social Security number, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Studs Terkel/facebook photo

It’s no surprise that legendary author and Windy City legend Studs Terkel was on the radar of the FBI for decades.  After all, he was a civil rights advocate and suspected of being a communist.

The New York City News Service reported that it had obtained 147 pages of FBI documents showing that the bureau tracked Terkel from 1945 to 1990. He died last year at age 96.

The News Service reported that Terkel applied for an FBI job handling fingerprints in the 1930s. By 1945, the agency suspected him of being a communist.

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Legendary ex-Los Angeles Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda and Gen. James T. Conway of the Marine Corps were among those who attended the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation awards  Friday in New York at the Waldorf Astoria hotel where 11 FBI employees from the New York division received awards for their work.

Robert Rosen of FLEF, SA Kevin Ponder, SA Dave Caskey and ADIC Joseph Demarest/FBI photo

Investigator of the Year recipients, according to a press release included:

* Supervisory Special Agent Charles Gilgen was honored for his work in counterintelligence investigations, including numerous national security cases.

* Special Agent Danielle Messineo was recognized for her tireless efforts in a child pornography investigation.

* Special Agent Brian Kopp received his award for his efforts in the Special Operations Division, where he has worked on some of the FBI’s highest profile cases.

* Special Agent Edward A. Panetta was awarded for his work on several counterterrorism cases.

* Special Agents Kevin Ponder and Dave Caskey were recognized for their efforts working in the FBI New York criminal division, many with an overseas nexus.

* Supervisory Special Agent Robert Hennigan, Special Agent Brian Fitzpatrick, Special Agent David Cox, and Financial Analyst Vinesh Manglavil were recognized for their work against public corruption in the city of New York.

Robert Rosen FLEF, ADIC Joseph Demarest and SSA Charles Gilgen/FBI photo by Daniel Piszczatoski

The Jim Fox Award recipient, according to the press release:

* Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Ralph H. Tucker was honored for his work in the Special Operations Division, Surveillance Branch. SSA Tucker has served in the FBI for 33 years and has worked on countless critical cases for the FBI.

Sen. Dick Durbin/official photo

In a tough economy, with the potential to create thousands of jobs, it’s still not an easy sell to get a community to house the Gitmo prisoners.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D) are on an aggressive campaign to counter opposition and create support for the feds to buy the 1,600 cell Thomson Correctional Center in rural northwestern Illinois and house Guantanamo Bay detainees and other inmates, the Associated Press reported.

Federal officials are scheduled to visit the facility in Thomson, Ill., which is more than a two-hour drive from Chicago. The prison has an average daily population of less than 200, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

“We have an opportunity to bring thousands of good-paying jobs to Illinois when we need them the most,” Durbin said at a news conference in Chicago, AP reported. 

“We have an opportunity to bring them to a part of our state that has been struggling and that’s an opportunity we are not going to miss.”

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

• Ex-Air Force Nurse on Trial for Killing 3 Patients (AP)
• NYPD Kill Guard at Bar and Wound Second Person (AP)
• Congressional Policy Will Limit New Federal Courtrooms (Courthouse News Service )
• Coke Dealing Sheriff’s Deputy Gets 15 Years (Courthouse News Service)
• Atty. Gen. Holder Backing Off Commitment to Push for Assault Weapons Ban (The Hill)
• Border Czar Coming Full Circle (Signon San Diego)
• FBI Seeking Info on Payoffs to North Carolina Officials and Ex-Gov (News Observer)
• Cleric Says He Did Not Instigate Ft. Hood Shooting (Washington Post)
• Hackers Break into AOL Email Account of Holocaust Denier (WIRED)
• Kosher Slaughter House Manager Convicted of Fraud (USA Today)