By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Newly released Justice Department emails sent to Capitol Hill for a congressional inquiry into a gun-smuggling operation indicate that the head of the department’s criminal division suggested letting some illicit “straw” weapons buyers in the U.S. transport their guns across the border into Mexico where they could be arrested….
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A former security guard to the stars who protected such celebrities as Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie and the late Marvin Gaye, was sentenced Friday in Alexandria, Va. fed court to 9 years in prison for conspiring to distribute oxycodone. Joseph Emmanuel Mann, 57, of New Carrollton, Md., was convicted…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com Four members of the Bonanno organized crime family were arrested early Friday in New York by DEA and FBI agents on charges of racketeering, gambling and drug sales, reports NBC. Also charged in the case was Anthony Graziano, the father of Mob Wives” reality show star Renee Graziano . Vincent Badalamenti,…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com A DEA bust has led to the arrest of a local firefighter in Albuquerque, reports KQRE. Acquaintances of firefighter Steve Chavez said he was the last guy they’d expect to be involved in a drug ring. Chavez had been with the department for seven years, according to KQRE. The drug ring…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com Here’s a record-breaker for the kinkiest financial fraud: Allegations in a fed probe in Georgia suggest the leader of a credit card cloning ring demanded his co-conspirators, in order to prove themselves, had to engage in sexual acts with him, other men and women while being videotaped, reports the Athens Banner-Herald…
By GINGER THOMPSON New York Times WASHINGTON — The powerful chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform increased his pressure on the Justice Department on Friday, raising new questions about how the Drug Enforcement Administration conducts its undercover money-laundering investigations and whether those operations cross the line between fighting and facilitating crime….
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com New changes in federal law enforcement have emerged from the highly contentious Fast & Furious operation, reports Reuters. On Friday, the Obama administration announced reforms intended to improve undercover gun trafficking investigations in the wake of a failed operation which let hundreds of guns into the hands of violent criminals along…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com Nine people were in indicted on Friday in a suspected narcotics ring near Rochester, N.Y., ABC reports. Between 2008 and 2012, authorities from local police precincts and the ATF say, the indicted used rental properties to distribute 280 grams of crack and five kilograms of cocaine. They also face weapons charges,…
