U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration officer was sentenced to four years in prison for demanding sexual favors from a woman accused of getting married just to gain citizenship.

Officer Jovany Perez told the woman he could help her avoid trouble in exchange for sexual favors, the Miami Herald reports. 

After giving in during the first meeting, the woman declined a second sexual advance and alerted Homeland Security, which set up a sting to catch the 34-year-old making ultimatums on audio and video surveillance.

Perez was convicted on July 26 of receiving a bribe from a public official.

Former FBI Agent John Connolly.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

If he lives long enough, disgraced former FBI agent John Connolly will benefit from a new prison sentence. 

Connolly, who is behind bars for a 1982 murder tied to imprisoned New England mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, will be 98 by the time of his June 22, 2039 release date, the Associated Press reports.

The new release date was set by the Florida Commission on Offender Review.

Connolly, who was Bulger’s FBI handler in Boston, was convicted in 2008 of second-degree murder following the murder of World Jai-Alai President John Callahan. Connolly tipped off Bulger that Callahan was about to rat out Bulger’s gang in another murder.

The relationship between Bulger and Connolly inspired the 2006 Martin Scorsese film, “The Departed.”

Orlando Gomez

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A Border Patrol agent convicted of coercing a 15-year-old girl to have sex with him in 2014 and 2015 was sentenced Thursday to 29 months in prison.

Orland Gomez, 43, of Las Cruces, was arrested in August 2016 after the victim revealed the inappropriate relationship to a relative, KVIA reports. 

The victim told authorities that Gomez threatened to kill himself if she didn’t have sex with him.

Gomez was convicted after pleading no contest to two counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor in the fourth degree.

The victim urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence of 36 months.

“I commend the victim in this case for the courage she demonstrated in coming forward to report this crime,” Doña Ana County District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said. “But for the courageousness of this young girl and victims like her, too many of these crimes would go unreported and unprosecuted.”

Gomez also is required to registers as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Other Stories of Interest

• President Trump Investigation Stirs Curiosity about FBI
• FBI Joins Search for Missing Starbucks Employee
• Border Patrol Agent Finds 3 Bodies Along Texas Border
• FBI Helps Family Recover Stolen William Conor Art
• FBI Declines to Investigate FCC Cyberattack

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A former DEA agent who demanded cash in connection with a drug trafficker was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in prison.

Samuel Murad, 62, was hired to help secure the early release of a marijuana trafficker whom the agent helped send to prison in the 1990s, the Tampa Bay Times reports. 

“I have no excuse for my behavior,” Murad said in court. “I’ve hurt my family. I’ve hurt my friends.”

“You’ve also hurt the DEA,” U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew interjected. “You made law enforcement look bad.”

Other Stories of Interest

• Federal Judge May Unseal FBI Search Warrant for Clinton Emails
• A Glimpse at James Comey’s Emails to the FBI
• FBI’s New Anti-Hacking Campaign Asks Teens to Be Cyber Heroes
• FBI Investigates Congress’ Claims VA Lied about Hospital Costs
• FBI Agent: Dylan Roof Took Backroads After Church Shooting

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The Justice Department has launched an investigation into Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Virginia following numerous deaths and allegations of prisoners being denied medical and mental health care.

Jail officials said they had nothing to hide and welcomed the investigation, CBS News reports. 

The deaths of two inmates in separate incidents prompted the Virginia Attorney General’s Office to request the Justice Department investigation.

Since 2012, 18 inmates have died at the jail, ranging from internal bleeding to suicide.

CBS wrote:

On August 19, 2015, 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell’s body was found inside the Hampton Roads Regional Jail. He had been arrested in April of that year for stealing $5 worth of food from a convenience store. Mitchell’s family sued after a medical examiner concluded he likely experienced cardiac arrhythmia related to wasting syndrome, a disorder characterized by extreme weight loss.

Mitchell has been diagnosed years earlier with paranoid schizophrenia, but jail officials had said no beds were available at the state mental health facility, Crimesider reported.

In another more recent case, after 60-year-old inmate Henry Stewart died in early August 2016, his family said they recovered an emergency grievance form Stewart had written indicating he had repeatedly begged for medical help.

Steven Maurice McKinley

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

An Athens, Ga., man who shot an ATF agent during an undercover investigation more than two years ago was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison on Tuesday.

Steven Maurice McKinley, 23, was convicted of attempting to kill a federal officer and discharging a firearm during a federal crime of violence, the Athens Banner-Herald reports.

The violence broke out in September 2014 when an undercover agent agreed to buy an AK-47 and marijuana from McKinley for $800. But the meeting turned out to be a robbery attempt by McKinney, who shot and wounded the agent.

“Today’s sentence is a direct message to criminals that law enforcement is observant and it will not tolerate violent crime,” said John Schmidt, assistant special agent in charge of the ATF’s Atlanta field office. “ Steven McKinley showed a complete and utter disregard for human life when he attempted to murder a federal agent. As an agency and unified law enforcement community, we will not tolerate armed violent individuals continually terrorizing our neighborhoods and reducing the quality of life.”

Other Stories of Interest

• Should We Be Scared of Trump Wielding FBI, NSA Cyber Power
• Missing Ohio Mom Could Be in Detroit, FBI Says
• Ronald Kessler: Tougher Secret Service Needed for Trump
• National Border Patrol Council Congratulates Donald Trump
• Why GOP National Security Experts Must Agree to Serve in Trump Administration

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The Justice Department plans to investigate conditions at Alabama’s prisons for men following a work strike by guards.

“The investigation will focus on whether prisoners are adequately protected from physical harm and sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners; whether prisoners are adequately protected from use of excessive force and staff sexual abuse by correctional officers; and whether the prisons provide sanitary, secure and safe living conditions,” the DOJ said in its statement.

A week ago, guards at W.C. Holman Correctional Facility staged a work strike to call attention to prison overcrowding and safety issues, the Root reports. http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/10/justice-department-investigates-alabama-prison-conditions/

Robert Council, a 42-year-old serving life without parole at Holman, said prisoners are almost always on lockdown and not allowed out of their cells for months.

“The Constitution requires that prisons provide humane conditions of confinement,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  “We hope to work cooperatively with the state of Alabama in conducting our inquiry and ensuring that the state’s facilities keep prisoners safe from harm.”