Ask Any Plumber: First Plug The Leaks

Broad & Liberty ran my piece on the border crisis:

Back in the early 1970s, I was a teenage sailor stationed on the USS Kitty Hawk when the aircraft carrier was moored in San Diego. I was a frequent visitor to Tijuana, Mexico, at the time and I crossed over the border many times. 

There were illegal aliens surreptitiously crossing into the U.S. then, although the number was small compared to today. And there were Mexican drug gangs slinging drugs into the U.S., but they were pikers compared to today’s powerful and deadly drug cartels. 

Today, the near-open border is a national security issue and a presidential campaign issue, as the illegal immigrants, including the criminal element among them, and the deadly drugs find their way to points north, including Philadelphia. 

As we have seen too often in Kensington, the fentanyl that is killing Philadelphians comes from the southern side of the U.S. border. And the illegals who find their way to Philadelphia, a sanctuary city, are costing city taxpayers a goodly amount of money in school, hospital and other social services. And some of the illegals are hardened criminals. 

Although Democrats have noted that illegal aliens commit far less crime than native-born Americans, do we really need to import more criminals? Also, those illegally crossing the border are hardly vetted. The migrants generally do not have  proper identification, so we don’t really know who is a criminal or terrorist. Yet, they are released into the U.S.     

Having performed security work as a young sailor in the U.S. Navy and later as a Defense Department civilian employee, I know that good security must be in layers. Security of the border must be much more than a wall, but a wall is a good start. 

Along with a completed border wall, there must also be electronic sensors with Border Patrol special agents and police officers monitoring and responding to the sensors. 

I like the idea of the border states, like Texas, taking on the first line of border protection, using their state and local police and, if necessary, their National Guard. The Feds can offer law enforcement grants that provide money for the increase hiring of state and local officers and equipment.

Along with the economy, former President Trump has made the border crisis a major 2024 campaign issue.       

According to the 2024 Republican Platform, the Trump administration will “seal the border and stop the migrant invasion.”

The platform notes that the Republicans will offer “an aggressive plan to stop the open-border policies that have opened the floodgates to a tidal wave of illegal Aliens, deadly drugs, and Migrant Crime. We will end the Invasion at the Southern Border, restore Law and Order, protect American Sovereignty, and deliver a Safe and Prosperous Future for all Americans.”

The GOP platform offers a six-point plan:  

1. Secure the Border Republicans will restore every Border Policy of the Trump administration and halt all releases of Illegal Aliens into the interior. We will complete the Border Wall, shift massive portions of Federal Law Enforcement to Immigration Enforcement, and use advanced technology to monitor and secure the Border. We will use all resources needed to stop the Invasion— including moving thousands of Troops currently stationed overseas to our own Southern Border. We will deploy the U.S. Navy to impose a full Fentanyl Blockade on the waters of our Region—boarding and inspecting ships to look for fentanyl and fentanyl precursors. Before we defend the Borders of Foreign Countries, we must first secure the Border of our Country. 

2. Enforce Immigration Laws Republicans will strengthen ICE, increase penalties for illegal entry and overstaying Visas, and reinstate “Remain in Mexico” and other Policies that helped reduce Illegal Immigration by historic lows in President Trump’s first term. We will also invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected gang members, drug dealers, or cartel members from the United States, ending the scourge of Illegal Alien gang violence once and for all. We will bring back the Travel Ban and use Title 42 to end the child trafficking crisis by returning all trafficked children to their families in their Home Countries immediately. 

3. Begin Largest Deportation Program in American History President Trump and Republicans will reverse the Democrats’ destructive Open Borders Policies that have allowed criminal gangs and Illegal Aliens from around the World to roam the United States without consequences. The Republican Party is committed to sending Illegal Aliens back home and removing those who have violated our Laws. 

4. Strict Vetting Republicans will use existing Federal Law to keep foreign Christian-hating Communists, Marxists, and Socialists out of America. Those who join our Country must love our Country. We will use extreme vetting to ensure that jihadists and jihadist sympathizers are not admitted. 

5. Stop Sanctuary Cities Republicans will cut federal Funding to sanctuary jurisdictions that release dangerous Illegal Alien criminals onto our streets, rather than handing them over to ICE. We will require local cooperation with Federal Immigration Enforcement. 

6. Ensure Our Legal Immigration System Puts American Workers First Republicans will prioritize Merit-based immigration, ensuring those admitted to our Country contribute positively to our Society and Economy, and never become a drain on Public Resources. We will end Chain Migration, and put American Workers first.”

The GOP platform states the Trump administration will begin the largest deportation program in American history, but if you ask any plumber they will tell you that you must plug the leak before you bail out the water. 

We need to first secure the border and stop the flow of criminals, terrorists and deadly narcotics to cities such as Philadelphia.

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes the “On Crime” column for the Washington Times. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com.

Justice Department Disrupts Covert Russian Government-Sponsored Foreign Malign Influence Operation Targeting Audiences In The United States And Elsewhere

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the below:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero and the Justice Department today announced the ongoing seizure of 32 internet domains used in Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as “Doppelganger,” in violation of U.S. money laundering and criminal trademark laws.

As alleged in an unsealed FBI affidavit filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Russian companies Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technology (Structura), and ANO Dialog, operating under the direction and control of the Russian Presidential Administration, and in particular First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, used these domains, among others, to covertly spread Russian government propaganda with the aim of reducing international support for Ukraine, bolstering pro-Russian policies and interests, and influencing voters in U.S. and foreign elections, including the U.S. 2024 Presidential Election.

The propaganda did not identify, and in fact purposefully obfuscated, the Russian government or its agents as the source of the content. The perpetrators extensively utilized “cybersquatted” domains, a method of registering a domain intended to mimic another person or company’s website (e.g., registering washingtonpost.pm to mimic washingtonpost.com), to publish Russian government messaging falsely presented as content from legitimate news media organizations. In other instances, the perpetrators sought to create their own unique media brands to promote Doppelganger content (e.g., Recent Reliable News). Among the methods Doppelganger used to drive viewership to the cybersquatted and unique media domains was the deployment of “influencers” worldwide, paid social media advertisements (in some cases created using artificial intelligence tools), and the creation of social media profiles posing as U.S. (or other non-Russian) citizens to post comments on social media platforms with links to the cybersquatted domains, all of which attempted to trick viewers into believing they were being directed to a legitimate news media outlet’s website.

“Protecting our democratic processes from foreign malign influence is paramount to ensure enduring public trust,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “As America’s adversaries continue to spew propaganda and disinformation towards the American electorate, we’ll use every tool at our disposal to expose and dismantle their insidious foreign influence campaigns.”

“Today’s disruption sends a clear message to our adversaries: we will not tolerate foreign efforts to influence our elections,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “Our office and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office are committed to identifying, investigating, and counteracting malign foreign influence operations targeting the United States.”

Overview

The affidavit describes the perpetrators’ own internal strategy meeting notes, project proposals, and other records obtained during the course of the investigation. Several notable propaganda project proposals directed against the United States included:

• Good Old USA Project: Attachments 8A, 8B
• The Guerilla Media Campaign: Attachments 9A, 9B
• U.S. Social Media Influencers Network Project: Attachments 10A, 10B

Doppelganger’s foreign malign influence efforts were not directed solely against audiences in the United States. Other targets of the perpetrators’ propaganda included Germany, Mexico, and Israel, among others. Doppelganger’s influence campaigns sought to influence the citizenry of those countries to support Russian government objectives, including by undermining the United States’ relationship with those countries.

Doppelganger’s use of the U.S.-based domain names at the direction and control of, and for the benefit of, sanctioned persons, including Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, SDA, and Structura, violates the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). As a result, the accompanying payments for Doppelganger’s online infrastructure violate federal money laundering laws. In addition, Doppelganger’s publication of content on cybersquatted domains with names and content that mimic legitimate media outlets violates federal criminal trademark laws because those domains feature trademarks registered on the Principal Register maintained by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The FBI Philadelphia Field Office is investigating the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.

In conjunction with the domain seizures, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the designation of 10 individuals and two entities as part of a coordinated response to Russia’s malign influence efforts targeting the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

This announcement follows the designation of actors involved in Doppelganger announced by the Treasury Department in March.

Former High-Ranking New York State Government Employee Charged With Acting As An Undisclosed Agent Of The People's Republic Of China And The Chinese Communist Party

The U.S. Attorney’s Office released the below information:

BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging Linda Sun with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy. Sun is alleged to have acted on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”) and the Chinese Communist Party (the “CCP”). Sun’s husband and co-defendant Chris Hu was also charged with money laundering conspiracy, as well as conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.

Sun and Hu were arrested this morning and are scheduled to be arraigned later today before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Christie M. Curtis, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Thomas M. Fattorusso, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announced the prosecution.

“As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as Deputy Chief of Staff within the New York State Executive Chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace.  “The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars.  Our Office will act decisively to prosecute those who serve as undisclosed agents of a foreign government.”

Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, the New York State Office of the Inspector General, the New York State Police and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) for their work on the case.  He also thanked the New York State Executive Chamber for its cooperation with the investigation.

“As alleged in the indictment, Linda Sun, a former New York State government employee, acted as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Christopher Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain. Sun wielded her position of influence among executives to covertly promote PRC and CCP agendas, directly threatening our country’s national security. The FBI is committed to protect the American people from any threat actors who seek to influence officials at the direction of foreign entities,” stated FBI Acting Assistant Director Curtis.

“Sun is alleged to be an undisclosed agent of the PRC and CCP, using Chinese money and her influence within the state of New York to benefit the Chinese government. Sun and her husband then laundered millions of dollars for the foreign country and used the monetary benefits of this scheme to buy luxury vehicles and million dollars properties here in New York,” Thomas M. Fattorusso, Special Agent in Charge of IRS CI New York.  “It is with the unwavering determination of federal law enforcement to root-out foreign agents and their schemes that Sun and Hu will now face justice for their criminal acts.”

As alleged in the indictment, while working for the New York State government – including in high-ranking posts in the Executive Chamber of the New York State government and in multiple state agencies – Sun also acted as an undisclosed agent of the PRC and the CCP. Acting at the request of PRC government officials and the CCP representatives, Sun engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP, including blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level New York State officers; changing high-level New York State officers’ messaging regarding issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP; obtaining official New York State proclamations for PRC government representatives without proper authorization; attempting to facilitate a trip to the PRC by a high-level New York State politician; and arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with New York State government officials. 

Sun also repeatedly violated internal rules and protocols within the New York State government to provide improper benefits to PRC and the CCP representatives, including by providing unauthorized invitation letters from the office of high-level New York State officers that were used to facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with New York State government officials.  Sun’s unauthorized invitation letters for the PRC government delegation constituted false statements made in connection with immigration documents and induced the foreign citizens into unlawfully entering the United States.

Sun never registered as a foreign agent with the Attorney General, and in fact actively concealed that she took actions at the order, request, or direction of PRC government and the CCP representatives. 

In return for these and other actions, Sun received substantial economic and other benefits from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP, including the facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of Hu; travel benefits; tickets to events; promotion of a close family friend’s business; employment for Sun’s cousin in the PRC; and Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a PRC government official’s personal chef that were delivered to the residence of Sun’s parents.  Sun and Hu laundered the monetary proceeds of this scheme to purchase, among other items, real estate property in Manhasset, New York currently valued at $4.1 million, a condominium in Honolulu, Hawaii currently valued at $2.1 million, and various luxury automobiles, including a 2024 Ferrari.  Sun never disclosed any benefits she received from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP to the New York State government, as she was required to do as a New York State government employee. 

Hu also laundered unlawful proceeds through bank accounts opened in the name of a close relative but that were actually for Hu’s exclusive use.  To open these accounts, Hu unlawfully used an image of the relative’s driver’s license.

The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security & Cybercrime Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon and Robert Pollack are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Trial Attorney Scott Claffee from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Litigation Analyst Mary Clare McMahon.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Mantell of the Office’s Asset Recovery Section is handling forfeiture matters.

The Defendants:

LINDA SUN
Age: 41
Manhasset, New York

CHRIS HU
Age: 40
Manhasset, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24-CR-346 (BMC)

Contact

John Marzulli
Danielle Blustein Hass
U.S. Attorney's Office
(718) 254-6323

My Crime Fiction: 'Officer Mack'

The below short story originally appeared in American Crime Magazine. 

Officer Mack

By Paul Davis

Back when I was a teenager in South Philly in the late 1960s, long before I became a newspaper crime reporter and columnist, some of the boys on our corner at 13^th and Oregon Avenue hated cops. 

South Philadelphia was and is the hub of the Philadelphia-South Jersey Cosa Nostra organized crime family, and these teenagers were the sons and nephews of the mob guys. 

I recall that “Crazy Joe” Villotti, the nephew of a Cosa Nostra capo, or captain, refused to go with us and see the film Goldfinger. 

Villotti asked me, “Isn’t James Bond a cop?”   

“No,” I replied. “He’s a British secret agent, a cool spy of sorts.” 

“Yeah, he’s a fucking government guy, so I don’t want to watch the fuck.” 

But for most of the boys on the corner, like me, we saw that there were two types of cops. There were “cool” cops and “prick” cops. 

The cool cops were generally tough guys who could afford to be lenient and understanding at times, while the prick cops were weaker men who we believed made up for their feelings of inferiority by acting stern and officious at all times. 

Police Officer Thomas T. Mack was a prick cop. 

Mack, a short and muscular 30-year-old, began dating Marie Saccone, the attractive elder sister of Chick and Stevie Saccone, two of my friends on the corner. 

Their father was a mob associate and a big-time bookmaker and loan shark. But despite their father being an illegal gambler, Chick and Stevie didn’t hate cops the way Villotti and some others did. 

Mack asked to be transferred to the 3^rd Police District to be closer to Marie. He patrolled Oregon Avenue, a four-lane wide street and major thoroughfare in the predominantly Italian American neighborhood in South Philadelphia. 

He often stopped at JP’s Luncheonette at 13^th and Oregon Avenue for cigarettes and coffee. He would then come out and gab with Stevie, whom he treated like a younger brother. 

Chick would walk away, as he hated Mack. He hated Mack, not because he was a cop, but rather because he thought Mack was a phony and an asshole. 

Mack’s friendliness with Stevie and the other teenagers on the corner ended the day Marie dumped him. 

That very night he arrested Stevie and two other teenagers for drinking beer on the corner. And from that night on, Mack declared war on us. He harassed us nearly every night. We all hated Mack.

On a Mischief Night before Halloween, Mack pulled up on the corner and shouted through his open passenger window for us to get off the corner. 

“Yes, Sir,” we replied in unison. And in unison, a half dozen of us tossed a half dozen eggs at him through his passenger window. We then took off running but not before I saw the furious look on his face and his cap knocked sideways with egg yolk dripping down his face from the cap’s brim. 

I was laughing madly as I ran away from the corner. 

Mack went crazy and zoomed around the streets hunting us. I ran home after throwing my egg at him. My mother asked why I was home so early, and I told her I was tried and wanted to go to bed. 

 

Officer Frank Grant was a cool cop. We never would have thrown eggs at him. 

Grant stopped into JP’s nearly every night for a sandwich and a cup of coffee. Grant, a tall, gangly man in his late 20s, told funny stories to the owners of JPs and us. 

I recall him telling a story about a drug raid on an abandoned house in the 3^rd District. 

The district captain saw white powder that lay on a sheet of brown paper on the floor in the corner. He wet his index finger and dipped his finger in the powder and tasted it on the tip of his tongue. 

“Is this heroin,” he asked.

He again dipped his finger in the powder and tasted it.

“Is this heroin,” he again asked.     

One of the officers told the commanding officer, “Captain, I think it’s rat poison.”

The captain froze for a moment and then told the officer to drive him to the hospital.

Like many cops I’ve known over the years, Grant was a fine storyteller. When years later I read and enjoyed Joseph Wambaugh, the LAPD detective sergeant who became the best-selling author of The New Centurions, The Choir Boys, and other classic cop novels and nonfiction books about cops, I often thought of Grant. 

Another thing that endeared us to Grant was that he hated Officer Mack and often mocked him. 

One night as I sat alone with Grant at JP’s counter, I told the officer that although my Uncle Bill was a police captain, and my father, a WWII Navy chief and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogman, was a strict law & order man, I hated Officer Mack. 

Grant laughed and said most of the 3^rd District cops also hated Mack.       

Although we had some tough guys on 13th and Oregon, like my older brother Eddie, Joe Villotti and the Saccone brothers, we were more of a party corner, as we hosted various crews of pretty girls that hung out with us 

But the street gang blocks away at the corner of Dalton Street and Oregon Avenue, called the “D&O,” was a crazy crew of violent, drug dealing teenage hoodlums. 

The D&O street gang hated Officer Mack even more than we did. Like us, Mack rousted the D&O teenagers for no reason other than hating them. True, they were hoodlums, but Mack often went overboard, roughing them up after handcuffing them. He then threw them out of his patrol car without even bothering to arrest them.

I suspect that because he was rejected by a beautiful Italian woman, Mack hated Italians. He called the D&O boys and the 13^th & Oregon Avenue teenagers “dagos” and “wops.”

But the D&O teenagers fought back.

I heard Mack went batshit crazy when he drove down Oregon Avenue and saw that the D&O boys had spray painted on the side of a building in very large letters, “OFFICER MACK BLOWS.”

The painted message was the talk of the 3^rd District cops. Mack was widely mocked by his fellow officers.  

 

One night Officer Mack pulled up to 13^th & Oregon, jumped out of his car, leaving the driver’s car door open and the patrol car running. He dashed into JP’s and shouted to the dozen or so guys and girls on the corner, “Be off this fucking corner by the time I come out, or I’ll lock up all you up.”

I saw his patrol car door open and the car running, so I seized the day and jumped into the driver’s seat and took off. I drove across Oregon Avenue and jumped the curb of Marconi’s Park. 

I looked for, but could not find, the siren. As I drove through the park wildly, I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw Mack running and shouting like a crazy man across Oregon Avenue, his service revolver held up into the air.  

I put on the brakes halfway into the park and jumped out running. I ran right into the beefy arms of a Fairmount Park Police Officer, who twisted me around and handcuffed me. He held me for Mack. 

Mack came up huffing and placed his service revolver back in the holster. He took out his “sap,” a short steel rod covered in black leather, and he slapped the sap across my knees. 

The pain was awful, but the worst thing was that I could not clutch my aching knees, as my hands were handcuffed behind my back. I leaned down as the Park cop held me.  

The Park cop asked Mack if he wanted to arrest me, and Mack said no. 

“Do me a favor and drive the kid down to the river and let the punk walk back home.”  

I had to walk from the river on Delaware Avenue and Front Street back up to 13^th and Oregon with swollen and throbbing knees. 

But it was worth it, as I was the talk of the corner that night and Thomas Junior High School the next day. Everyone thought I was a cool guy. The wild hoodlums from the D&O slapped me on the back and called me a “crazy motherfucker,” which was a high compliment from them.

Grant came to JP's the following night and told me that I was lucky that Mack didn’t arrest me or shoot me. He said that Mack didn't probably hoping no other cops would hear that a teenager stole his car.

But the Park cop hated Mack and he called a friend at the 3^rd District and told him the story. The cop in turn told all of his fellow 3^rd District officers. Mack was ridiculed once again.         

 

Some months later, Officer Grant came into JP's and told me that Mack was fired for beating the son of a South Philly councilman. According to Grant, Mack cuffed the Italian American politician’s teenage son and beat him as he held him against the side of the patrol car. 

The son was what we called a “square” kid, and what the adults called a “nice Italian boy.” He was a good student who didn’t drink beer or smoke pot on the corner with us. 

We didn’t know why Mack singled him out. Mack handcuffed him and threw him against the side of the patrol car. He slapped the teenager in the face repeatedly and delivered a severe punch to the teenager’s stomach. 

The noise and flashing lights on the patrol car drew the attention of several neighbors who called 911 and reported the brutal treatment of the teenager. 

The councilman called the captain, who then ordered an investigation. Mack was subsequently fired. He also faced assault charges from the District Attorney’s office.

“Good riddance,” Grant said.

I laughed and said, “So even in South Philly, there’s some justice. 

© 2024 By Paul Davis  

Delaware County Woman Pleads Guilty To January Armed Carjacking In South Philadelphia, Two Gun Charges

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the below information:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Nateirah Ortiz, 25, of Darby, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge Chad F. Kenney to one count of carjacking, one count of carrying, using, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to the commission of a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Ortiz was charged by indictment with these offenses in April of this year, in connection with a January carjacking in South Philadelphia.

As described in the indictment, on January 31, 2024, at approximately 7 p.m., the victim reported being carjacked on the 1100 block of Washington Avenue. He relayed that, while walking to his vehicle, a silver 2018 Toyota RAV4, the defendant, Nateirah Ortiz, demanded his car keys and pointed a gun at him. The victim complied, giving the defendant his key, and ran to a nearby business for assistance calling 911. The defendant entered the victim’s vehicle and fled the scene.

Information about the incident was soon broadcast via police radio citywide. At approximately 9:17 p.m., 24th District police officers on patrol observed the carjacked vehicle traveling on the 3100 block of Kensington Avenue and attempted to conduct a vehicle investigation. The officers stopped their vehicle in front of the RAV4 and another police unit stopped behind it. After waiting for the officers to get out of their car and approach her, Ortiz fled at a high rate of speed, nearly striking their police vehicle in the process. The officers immediately went over the air requesting assistance, and units in the area began searching for the carjacked vehicle.

As police officers drove down Richmond Street, they observed that a RAV4 fitting that description had crashed into several cars parked on the 3700 block of Richmond. The officers saw the defendant walking away from the scene and apprehended her, with police recovering a loaded handgun from underneath a parked van a few feet away.

“Carjackings are crimes that can terrorize victims and rattle entire communities,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “That’s exactly why my office is committed to prosecuting these cases, working in lockstep with the Philadelphia Police Department and our federal partners to take violent criminals off the street. By holding carjackers like Nateirah Ortiz responsible for their actions, we’re having a direct effect on public safety in Philadelphia.”

“This case again shows that carjacking is dangerous and a serious federal crime, requiring many years in federal prison at a minimum,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Office. “The perpetrator’s reckless actions caused extensive property damage and put the victim and bystanders in grave danger. ATF Philadelphia Field Division applies our unique forensic and investigative tools with the Philadelphia Carjacking Task Force to solve crimes and to make our communities safer.”

“The quick apprehension of Nateirah Ortiz is a testament to the dedication and coordination of our officers and federal partners,” said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel. “This incident also highlights the importance of our continued collaboration and commitment to removing violent offenders and illegal firearms from our streets. The safety of our communities is our top priority, and we will not tolerate those who choose to threaten the peace and security of our city.”

Ortiz is set to be sentenced on December 18 and faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of seven years’ imprisonment.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony J. Carissimi and Robert E. Eckert.

U.S. Navy Shipbuilder Pleads Guilty To Financial Accounting Fraud Scheme And Obstructing a Defense Department Audit

The Justice Department released the below:

Austal USA LLC (Austal USA), a Mobile, Alabama-based shipbuilder that constructs vessels for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, pleaded guilty today and has agreed to pay $24 million to resolve an investigation by the Justice Department related to an accounting fraud scheme and efforts to obstruct the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) during a financial capability audit. Austal USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Austal Limited, an Australian company that is publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange and was traded over-the-counter in the United States via American Depositary Receipts.

The Justice Department’s criminal resolution was coordinated with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Separately, Austal USA also entered into a False Claims Act settlement with the department’s Civil Division to resolve claims that it knowingly provided non-compliant parts to the U.S. Navy.  

“Austal USA, a shipbuilder for the U.S. military, engaged in a years-long scheme to illegally inflate its profits on ships the company was building for the U.S. Navy, reporting false financial results to investors, lenders, and its auditors,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The investing public, the U.S. Navy, and the Defense Contract Audit Agency relied on Austal USA to tell the truth about its financial condition and its performance on U.S. Navy contracts. Today’s guilty plea underscores the Department of Justice’s commitment to holding U.S. government contractors accountable for their criminal misconduct and ensuring that they engage honestly with the U.S. government.”

“Maintaining our national security and military infrastructure cannot come at the cost of the integrity of our contracting processes,” said U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello for the Southern District of Alabama. “Today’s actions ensure accountability and promote the rule of law in this critical arena.”

According to court documents, from at least in or around 2013 through at least in or around July 2016, Austal USA and its co-conspirators conspired to mislead Austal Limited’s shareholders, independent financial statement auditors and the investing public about Austal USA’s financial condition. Specifically, Austal USA artificially suppressed an accounting metric known as an “estimate at completion” (EAC) in relation to multiple Littoral Combat Ships that Austal USA was building for the U.S. Navy. Suppressing the EACs had the effect of falsely overstating Austal USA’s profitability on those shipbuilding efforts and Austal Limited’s earnings reported in its public financial statements. Austal USA and its co-conspirators manipulated the EAC figures in part by using so-called “program challenges,” which were false plug numbers to hide growing shipbuilding costs that should have been incorporated into the company’s financial statements. Austal USA did this to maintain and increase the share price of Austal Limited’s stock. When the higher costs were eventually disclosed to the market, Austal Limited wrote down over $100 million, and the stock price was significantly negatively impacted. 

“Defense contractors that engage in fraud erode the public’s trust in our Armed Forces,” said Director Omar Lopez of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). “NCIS and our investigative partners are determined to hold those accountable whose actions erode that trust. We are committed to rooting out economic crime that negatively impacts the readiness of the Department of the Navy.”

“This case is a direct result of the superb dedication of the investigative and prosecution teams,” said Director Kelly P. Mayo of the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). “These committed professionals’ efforts send a clear message to DoD contractors of our unwavering resolve to investigate and prosecute fraud, corruption, and efforts to circumvent compliance measures that reduce our combat effectiveness.”

The department reached this resolution with Austal USA based on a number of factors, including, among others, the nature and seriousness of the offense and the pervasiveness of the misconduct at the most senior levels of Austal USA. Austal USA received credit for affirmative acceptance of responsibility and limited credit for its cooperation with the department’s investigation, which included facilitating interviews with current and former employees, enabling the department to promptly produce records in a related court case, and making a timely disclosure of all relevant facts and documents pertaining to an unrelated matter. However, Austal USA’s cooperation was limited in a number of respects, including: Austal USA did not provide to the department any relevant facts relating to this conduct until two years after learning of the department’s investigation; Austal USA produced certain relevant documents after significant delay; Austal USA was delayed in responding to certain requests from the government, and often required follow-up requests from the government before responding; and Austal USA did not at all times demonstrate a commitment to full and timely cooperation.

Austal USA also engaged in remedial measures, but those remedial measures were untimely and incomplete, including that Austal USA did not begin disciplining employees involved in the misconduct until more than two years after Austal USA learned of the government’s investigation and did not undertake any independent steps to make restitution to the victims of its securities fraud scheme. Austal USA has begun remediating weaknesses in internal controls that allowed the company’s misconduct to occur, but Austal USA’s remediation of its controls is still ongoing and requires additional improvements and testing.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, which still must be accepted by the court, Austal USA pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of obstruction of a federal audit. Based on application of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the department determined that the appropriate criminal penalty is $73,572,680.10. However, due to Austal USA’s demonstrated inability to pay the criminal fine, Austal USA and the department agreed, consistent with the department’s inability to pay guidance, that Austal USA would pay a criminal fine of $24 million and restitution of up to $24 million for losses to Austal Limited shareholders. The department has agreed to credit all of the criminal fine and restitution against amounts Austal USA will pay to resolve an investigation by the SEC for related conduct. 

Austal USA has also agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for a period of three years, and Austal USA and Austal Limited have agreed to continue to implement a compliance and ethics program at Austal USA designed to prevent and detect fraudulent conduct throughout its operations. Austal USA and Austal Limited have also agreed to continue to cooperate with the Justice Department in any ongoing or future criminal investigations relating to this conduct. In addition, Austal USA will serve three years of probation.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 25.

Three former Austal USA executives, Craig Perciavalle, Williams Adams, and Joseph Runkel, were indicted on March 30, 2023 on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud affecting a financial institution, five counts of wire fraud, and two counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution.  They await trial. 

NCIS and DCIS are investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and authorities in Australia, as well as DCAA’s Office of Investigative Support, provided valuable assistance in the matter.

Assistant Chief Kyle Hankey and Trial Attorneys Laura Connelly and Spencer Ryan of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Bodnar for the Southern District of Alabama are prosecuting the case.

If you believe you are a victim in this case, please contact the Fraud Section’s Victim Witness Unit toll-free at (888) 549-3945 or by email at victimassistance.fraud@usdoj.gov. Victims can find case updates and additional information at www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-vns/case/austal-usa-llc.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the SEC would handle the distribution of funds to harmed investors. Investors harmed as a result of the misconduct of defendant should watch the SEC’s Harmed Investors pagefor further developments regarding the SEC’s distribution of funds to harmed investors.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Retired NYPD Detective Randy Jurgensen Honored For 1968 Heroism

FOX 5 in New York City offers a piece on Randy Jurgensen, the legendary former NYPD detective who finally received the Police Combat Cross. 

NEW YORK - Retired NYPD Detective Randy Jurgensen received a decades overdue round of applause at NYPD headquarters on Thursday as he received the Police Combat Cross.

 

In 1968, Jurgensen was at Arthur’s Nightclub in Midtown Manhattan when he heard screams from a nearby street. A patrolman had been shot multiple times by two suspects who were fleeing the scene. 

 

Despite being off duty, dressed in plain clothes, and without backup, Jurgensen sprang into action. He chased down the suspects and helped the officer suffering from gunshot wounds, all while under gunfire himself.

 

Despite being shot at, Jurgensen was able to subdue one of the suspects by striking him with his off-duty firearm.

"56 years ago you did what we ask every single officer to do every single day," said Police Commissioner Edward Caban at Thursday's ceremony.

Though Jurgensen was the day’s honoree, he chose to share the spotlight with the fallen officer from that night, Patrolman John Vereca.

"On that night, now, I’m thinking of Patrolman John Vereca who lost his life while doing what he swore to do, his duty," Jurgensen said during the ceremony.

You can watch the news video via the below link:

Retired NYPD Detective Randy Jurgensen honored for 1968 heroism | FOX 5 New York (fox5ny.com)

Note: I interviewed Randy Jurgensen, (seen third from the left in The French Connection film) the famed detective who became an author, actor, film consultant and film producer, on numerous occasions.

You can read my Washington Times On Crime column on Randy Jurgensen via the below link:

Paul Davis On Crime: The Real French Connection Cops: My Washington Times 'On Crime' Column On Legendary Detectives Sonny Grosso And Randy Jurgensen