By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com It looks as if it’s the end of the road for Louisiana’s ex-Rep. William Jefferson, who is in prison serving a 13-year sentence for a public corruption conviction. Bruce Alpert, the star reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, reports that the U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to take the appeal…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A Border Patrol agent on foot patrol in Texas died Friday following a medical emergency, the agency told Tickle the Wire today. Foul play isn’t suspected in the death of Agent David Delaney, said Bill Brooks, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agency is awaiting results from an autopsy to determine the…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Private landowners may play a key role in the battle to crack down on human and drug smugglers along the Mexican border, Reuters reports. Texas officials announced an initiative Thursday to allow landowners to equip their property with hundreds of small, motion-activated cameras. Many landowners already have an incentive. “Our farmers and…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Federal agents investigating a Houston business that is accused of sending microelectronics that can be used for weapons and radar to Russia spied on damning phone calls, the Houston Chronicle reports. One of the most revealing phone calls that helped the FBI was a phone call between an ARC Electronics manager and…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A Houston company accused in a scheme to sell high-tech electronics to the Russian military and intelligence agencies told employees to hide information about the technology, the Associated Press reports, citing an FBI agent. In custody are Arc Electronics Inc. owner Alexander Fishenko and seven employees accused of illicitly selling military technology…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI is investigating whether a Houston police officer used excessive force by fatally shooting a double-amputee in a wheelchair at a home for the mentally ill, the Associated Press reports. The AP said police were responding to a call about an irate one-armed, one-legged man who wouldn’t come down. One of…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The top overseer of the Homeland Security Department told a House committee that turf battles over internal public corruption investigations had subsided, the Center for Investigative Reporting reports. But acting Inspector General Charles K. Edwards wouldn’t answer questions about an ongoing investigation of a Texas branch office. Edwards said his 219 investigators…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The owner of a Texas trucking company is demanding the DEA compensate him for an undercover sting that led to his employee’s death and the damage of a company truck, the San Antonio Express reports. Truck company owner Craig Patty said he had no idea Lawrence Chapa was working undercover for…
