‘El Chapo’ Guzman

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Mexico has ruled that drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman can be extradited to the U.S.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department ruled on the issue, according to the Associated Press.

Guzman can appeal, which could delay the move by weeks or months, AP reported.

The U.S. has guaranteed Mexico that Guzman will not face the death penalty.

Luis Macedo (left) and Philip Patrick Policarpio.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI has added two men suspected in brutal murders to the bureau’s most wanted list on Thursday.

One is Luis Macedo, a gang leader on the run from a first-degree murder after 15-year-old Alex Arellano was beaten with bats, shot and set on fire for not showing a gang sign, NBC News reports.

Authorities believe he has fled to Florida or Mexico.

The second fugitive is Philip Patrick Policarpio, who is charged with murdering his pregnant girlfriend in Los Angeles on April 12.

Policarpio is accused of killing Lauren Olguin, who was 17 weeks pregnant.

“His pattern is one of violence, and he is always armed. He is the definition of a continuing threat to the community,” FBI Special Agent Scott Garriola said in a statement.

The FBI is offering up to $100,000 for information that leads to either fugitive’s arrest.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A Best Buy employee who worked at the company’s repair center served as a paid FBI informant who essentially performed warrantless searches on electronics at the maintenance facility in Kentucky, according to the attorney of a doctor facing child pornography charges.

Since 2009, “the FBI was dealing with a paid agent inside the Geek Squad who was used for the specific purpose of searching clients’ computers for child pornography and other contraband or evidence of crimes,” defense attorney James Riddet claimed in a court filing last month, the Los Angeles Times reports. 

Riddet is defending Dr. Mark Albert Rettenmaier, who was indicted in November 2014 on two felony counts of child pornography.

Riddet has asked the judge to dismiss most of the evidence in the case because it was taken during illegal searches by a supervisor at the Geek Squad.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A federal judge in Texas slammed the Justice Department on Thursday, ordering ethics classes for the department’s lawyers who  argued President Obama’s immigration executive actions.

The New York Times reports that Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the Federal District Court in Brownsville also ordered sanctions agains the lawyers, who are accused of lying to him during arguments in the case.

The judge also wants the government to provide a list of about 100,000 immigrants who entered the country illegally and are protected from deportation as part of a government program.

“Clearly, there seems to be a lack of knowledge about or adherence to the duties of professional responsibility in the halls of the Justice Department,” Judge Hanen wrote in the 28-page order.

The Justice Department said in a statement, “We strongly disagree with this order.”

J. Edgar Hoover

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Although former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover has long been accused of racism and illegal wiretaps, an online poll shows that respondents believe the new bureau’s headquarters should be named after him.

The poll by Federal Times found that more than 31% favored Hoover, while 27% didn’t want to name the building.

The third-place vote went to FBI Agent Edwin C. Shanahan, the first agent killed in the line of duty in 1925. Fictional FBI Agent Fox Mulder came in fourth with 15% of the vote.

The bureau’s headquarters was named after Hoover following his death in 1972.

The FBI is looking for a new headquarters, which may mean a new name for the building.

Carlos LaMadrid was shot by a Border Patrol agent.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A Border Patrol agent who fatally shot a man near the order fence in Douglas, Ariz., used justified force, a judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge James A. Soto said Agent Lucas Tidwell was not liable for the death of a 19-year-old U.S. citizen during a March 2011 shooting, Tucson.com reports. 

The death of Carlos LaMadrid prompted a civil lawsuit by his mother. The suit claims Tidwell was “grossly negligent” when he shot an unarmed LaMadrid.

The judge said Tidwell only fired his gun after rocks were thrown at him.

“A reasonable person in Tidwell’s position would believe that he was facing unlawful deadly physical force where rocks the size of softballs or bricks are being thrown from 15 feet away and 10 feet above you directly at your head at 50 to 60 miles per hour,” Soto wrote.

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