The Library of America’s selection of the week is Ernest Hemingway’s short story The End of Something.
You can read about the background of the late, great American writer's story and the story itself via the link below:
Philly Daily ran my On Crime column today.
You can read the column via the link below or the following
text:
Many workers with the Defense Department, now called the War
Department, as well as other federal agencies, legally moonlight in other jobs
to supplement their income.
Prior to my retirement from the Defense Department in late 2007, I served as the civilian administrative officer for a DOD command that oversaw defense contractors in the tri-state area for the military’s major procurement commands. The contractors, ranging from mom & pop firms to major corporations, provided the Defense Department with such diverse items as cruise missiles, combat boots, special operations parachutes and orange juice, to name but a few.
Our offices were located for many years at the Defense Personnel Support Center in South Philadelphia, known locally as the “Quartermaster,” until we moved to the naval base on Tabor Road in Northeast Philadelphia in 1999.
One of my many security tasks was briefing our military and civilian employees on the “dos and don’ts” of outside employment, especially if they possessed a security clearance.
One situation that never came up in my time was a Defense Department employee working a second job as a money mule for Nigerian fraudsters.
Which is exactly the case of Samual D. Marcus, a former Defense Department employee who worked a few buildings down from my building at the naval base, albeit long after I retired.
Marcus was a logistics specialist for DLA Troop Support, a major subordinate command of the Defense Logistics Agency. The DLA Troop Support command is responsible for four supply chains which provide the nation’s military and government partners with: food and feeding equipment; clothing and textile items; construction and equipment materiel ranging from lightbulbs to bulldozers; and medical materiel and pharmaceuticals.
DLA Troop Support provides more than $25B in support to 77k global customers through a network of 2.7k suppliers, delivering optimal, global supply chain solutions with a focus on world-class performance and strong partnerships in support of national defense, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Marcus is no longer a DLA employee.
United States Attorney David Metcalf announced on July 7th that Samuel D. Marcus, 33, of Oreland, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky to one count of concealment money laundering.
According
to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Marcus was charged by indictment in February,
arising from his role as a money mule for a group of Nigeria-based scammers, in
which he received, concealed, and laundered millions of dollars in fraud
proceeds.
As
detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, after falling
victim to a romance fraud scheme in late 2022 and early 2023, Marcus then
knowingly served as a money mule for the same group of fraudsters that
initially victimized him.
“From
approximately July 2023 to December 2025, while employed as a Logistics
Specialist with the U.S. Department of Defense, Marcus was in direct and
regular contact with this group of Nigeria-based fraudsters, who operated under
the aliases “Rachel Jude” and “Ned McMurray,” among others. These
fraudsters engaged in a variety of wire fraud schemes that targeted victims
based in the United States, including romance fraud, cyber fraud, tax fraud,
financing fraud, and business email compromise schemes, to which victims lost
millions of dollars,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
“The fraudsters employed a network of money mules in the United States to help launder the fraud proceeds and instructed victims to transfer funds to financial accounts opened and operated by various money mules, including Marcus.
“At
the direction of fraudsters, Marcus and other money mules conducted a series of
rapid financial transactions to convert fraud victim funds deposited into their
accounts into cryptocurrency and to move those funds into foreign accounts.
Marcus personally deposited and transferred millions of dollars of fraudulently
obtained money into and through his personal and business accounts, while fully
aware that “Rachel Jude” and “Ned McMurray” were scammers who carried out
sophisticated fraud schemes. Marcus also affirmatively misled and lied to his
financial institutions and law enforcement officers about the laundered funds,
to include sending fraudulent invoices to make the transactions appear
legitimate. In fact, Marcus continued to work as a money mule for the
fraudsters after being informed by FBI agents that the money passing through
his accounts had been stolen from other people and that his monetary transfers
were consistent with money laundering.”
Marcus
is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16 and faces a maximum possible term of
20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
This
case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Fort Washington Resident Agency,
with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of
Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samuel S.
Dalke.
Paul Davis’s On Crime column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.
The South Philly Review ran my Crime Beat column today regarding the suspected murderers of Billy Schidmt being arrested.
You can read the column via the page above (and click on the page to enlarge) or you can read the text below:
On July 6th,
the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO) issued a statement regarding
the arrests of Kaiseem Smith and Azzubair
Outen-Fleming, the two suspected murderers of a 22-year-old Penn State student
in South Philadelphia.
“On
Thursday, a Philadelphia Police Officer assigned to the DAO’s Gun Violence Task
Force coordinated the safe surrender of Defendant Kaiseem Smith (DOB
12/27/2009) for his alleged role in the robbery and homicide of William (Billy)
J. Schmidt,” the statement read.
“The
surrender as well as the apprehension of a fugitive co-defendant in Colorado
Springs occurred within a day of the DAO’s press conference seeking public
help in apprehending both defendants. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s
Office will seek justice for the family of William (Billy) J. Schmidt and all
others involved.”
The DAO also
stated that the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Smith
and Outen-Fleming are suspected of murdering Billy Schmidt after robbing him of
his cell phone. The murder has outraged South Philadelphia residents and beyond
due to the senseless violence that took the life of a promising and popular young
man in a relatively safe neighborhood in South Philly. A well-attended vigil
was held where Billy Schmidt lived and died, and Facebook and other social
media have been inundated with critical comments about street crime and
injustice.
In a news conference prior to the arrests of the suspects, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Smith and Outen-Fleming, both 16, are expected to be charged with murder, gun offenses and other charges, and they will probably be tried as adults.
Krasner also
noted that another man, Donte Abdulmalik, 35, is Outen-Fleming's stepfather, and
he is in custody and charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of
justice and tampering with evidence in connection with this case. Abdulmalik
helped Outen-Fleming leave the area, according to the DA's office He was also
wanted for violating either parole or probation, Krasner added.
Krasner also stated that the investigation so
far indicates that Smith was the shooter.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, on Saturday, June
6, 2026, after 1 a.m., Philadelphia Police Officers responded to a call to the
1900 block of Durfor Street regarding a person with a gun. When the officers
arrived at the scene, they located victim Billy Schmidt with a fatal gunshot
wound to the chest. Schmidt was transferred to Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center
where he was pronounced.
“During the course of the investigation, video surveillance
footage from numerous sources depicted Defendants Kaiseem Smith and
Azzubair Outen-Fleming driving in South Philadelphia around Porter and
21st street before parking around 1 a.m. The defendants are seen
leaving the vehicle and walking towards Jackson Street. Around 1:30
a.m., surveillance footage shows Schmidt walking on the sidewalk on 20th
Street and standing on the corner. The defendants walk towards Schmidt
before Azzubair Outen-Fleming appears to grab Schmidt’s phone and
then punches him. Outen-Fleming then proceeds to go through Schmidt’s pockets.
Both suspects appear to force Schmidt onto the sidewalk and knock him onto the
ground. As both defendants walk away, Kaiseem Smith is observed with a gun is
his hand.”
The DAO stated that video surveillance shows Schmidt walking
behind the defendants. Azzubair Outen-Fleming is observed throwing
Schmidt’s phone down the block, then runs in that direction. Shortly after,
surveillance footage shows Kaiseem Smith rounding the corner of 20th and
Durfor Street. Schmidt is seen running behind Smith when Smith reaches into
his back pocket, pulls out a gun and fires a fatal shot into Schmidt’s
chest. Footage shows the defendants walking away from the scene before entering
an SUV and driving east on Porter Street.
Investigators identified Kaiseem Smith and Azzubair
Outen-Fleming as suspects in the homicide and determined that Donte Abdulmalik
assisted in the transportation of Azzubair Outen-Fleming out of the
jurisdiction.
“Our office has been collaborating closely with the Philadelphia
Police Department on the investigation since this murder took
place,” said District Attorney Krasner.
The violence that took
Billy Schmidt’s life cannot be undone, but perhaps justice for his murder will
be done.
Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here weekly. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.
Philly Daily, where my On Crime column appears each week, reports that the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival appears in Franklin Square for its 10th year, illuminating the city with over 1,100 new lantern creations and a summer of cultural celebration. The event runs until August 16th.
“The festival will run nightly at Franklin Square Park, 6th
& Race Streets, Philadelphia. It is presented by
Tianyu Arts & Culture and sponsored by local partners, with proceeds
benefiting Historic Philadelphia, Inc. to support free events
at Franklin Square,” the event planners announced.
You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:
Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival 2026 – Philly Daily
I watched the first episode of The Westies on MGM +.
The TV series is a fictional retelling of the Irish American New York City street gang. Although I would have preferred to watch a series closer to the true history (which is dramatic enough, I would think) the series was interesting and I liked two of the lead actors, J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver.
Michael Kaplan at the New York Post offers a piece on the new series.
Thousands of families visit the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center every year for events like the Westminster dog show, Comic Con and International Auto Show.
Very few of them realize the blood spilled, extortion extracted and dead bodies connected with the exhibition space, as it rose from the ashes of former rail-yards to host such jazzy gatherings.
These days, the Javits Center is the spot for glitzy conventions and gatherings.
During construction between 1979 through 1986 and in the early years of operation, the burgeoning Center on the very West end of 34th Street was a cash cow for New York’s criminal elite.
It also limned the rise and fall of a violent Hell’s Kitchen-based Irish gang, the Westies. Those gangsters and the Javits Center play key roles in a new scripted crime series,
“The Westies felt like they owned the neighborhood where the Javits Center was,” series co-creator Chris Brancato, who specializes in historically inspired crime dramas, told The Post.
“Cops were on the pad [payroll] and the Westies felt a sense of freedom to do what they wanted, whether it was legal or not,” such as bookmaking, loan sharking, drug dealing and contract killings.
Underhand opportunities abounded at the New York City signature construction project of the ‘80s, which required the use of workers from a wide swath of unions, who already had mobsters rifling their coffers. "Everyone understood that the Javits Center was going to be an unprecedented bounty of criminal rackets," T. J. English, author of the definitive book on the gang, "The Westies" (not part of the series, which is more a "historical fiction," according to Brancato) told the Post.
You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:
The New York Post reports
that actor Sam Neill has died.
Sam Neill, the star of the 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park,” died at 78 on Monday, his family announced.
“It is with immense sadness that the whānau [family] of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,” the late actor’s loved ones wrote via Instagram.
“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,” the statement continued. “The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.”
You can read the rest of the piece
via the link below:
'Jurassic Park' star Sam Neill dead at 78
I plan to rewatch the series.
I loved Dr. No when I saw the film as a pr-teen in the early 1960s, but I truly became an Ian Fleming (seen in the photo below) aficionado when I read all of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels after seeing the film From Russia With Love.
In my view, From Russia With Love is the best Bond novel as well as the best Bond film. And Sean Connery remains the best James Bond.
Director Terence Young was mostly faithful to Ian Fleming's novel, save from changing the villains from the Soviets to the international criminal organization SPECTRE, which Ian Fleming created in a later novel, Thunderball. (The plot made more sense with the Soviets as the bad guys).
In addition to Sean Connery as Bond, Terence Young casts some fine actors to portray Ian Fleming's great characters. The inspired casting included Robert Shaw, who was truly menacing as Grant the assassin, as well as Pedro Armendariz, who portrayed Darko Kerim, the British head of Section T. (In the film Kerim is call “Kerim Bey.” Bey is an honorarium, like the Japanese “San”).
Also outstanding were the villains Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb and Vladek Sheybal as Kronsten.
The film has so many iconic scenes from the girl fight at the gypsy camp to the shooting of Krilencu as he tried to escape from a huge film poster. And I believe the fight aboard the train with Bond and Grant is the best fight scene on film.
I
love the film and I’ve seen it many times over the years. To me, it is the
greatest Bond film.
Apparently, many others agree.
Rachel Schieider at Men’s Journal offers her take on the great film thriller.
James Bond introduced himself to audiences in Dr. No, but it was his second outing that convinced many moviegoers the franchise was here to stay.
Released in 1963, From Russia with Love remains one of the most
acclaimed entries in the 007 series.
More than 60 years later, it still boasts one of the highest Rotten Tomatoes scores of any James Bond movie ever made.
Starring Sean Connery in his second appearance as the legendary British spy, From Russia with Love sends Bond to Istanbul to retrieve a Soviet decoding device before it falls into the wrong hands.
Along the way, he finds himself caught in an elaborate trap orchestrated by the criminal organization SPECTRE, leading to one of the franchise’s most suspenseful adventures.
Unlike many later Bond films that leaned heavily into gadgets and over-the-top spectacle, From Russia with Love is often praised for its grounded espionage story and Cold War atmosphere.
You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:
