Gotcha: Operation Double O

Mollie Halpern: It’s a case that began with an investigation called Operation Double O. I’m Mollie Halpern of the FBI, and this is Gotcha.

The Chicago mob, known as the Outfit, and the Chicago Outlaw Motorcycle Gang formed an alliance which involved a crew of thieves. Special Agent Courtenae Trautmann…

Courtenae Trautmann: Historically, the Outfit here has used Outlaw motorcycle gangs to do a lot of their dirty work.

Halpern: Anthony Volpendesto did some of that dirty work by stealing from about 40 homes and jewelry stores in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana…

Trautmann: There were stabbings, there were shootings, victims were hog-tied and terrorized throughout these robberies.

Halpern: The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners, were able to charge Volpendesto on a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations count using investigative tools such as informants. Volpendesto unknowingly helped investigators when, during one robbery…

Trautmann: …Anthony, prior to leaving the store, blew his nose in a tissue and it was left behind. His DNA was recovered from that tissue.

Halpern: Volpendesto was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Brookline Man to Plead Guilty to Foreign Economic Espionage

BOSTON—A Brookline man has agreed to plead guilty to foreign economic espionage for providing trade secrets over an 18-month period to an undercover agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer. This is the first prosecution in Massachusetts for foreign economic espionage and only the eighth in the nation.

ELLIOT DOXER, 42, a former Akamai Technologies, Inc. employee, was charged in an information and has agreed to plead guilty to foreign economic espionage for providing Akamai trade secrets to an undercover agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer. The plea hearing is scheduled for August 29 at 3:15 p.m.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said, “Economic espionage poses a tremendous risk, not only to corporate America, but to the safety and well being of our nation’s security. I want to thank Akamai Technologies, Inc. for their outstanding cooperation in this matter, which played an important role in assisting law enforcement with bringing Mr. Doxer to justice.”

“The Boston area is a worldwide leader of innovative technology and research. Preventing those intent on stealing trade secrets and American technology from local industry leaders, regardless of their motivation, is a high priority for the FBI,” said Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Boston. “Mr. Doxer’s criminal actions are an affront to the dedicated workers in the thriving technology industry. The arrest of Mr. Doxer is a significant achievement by the FBI and the USAO, District of Massachusetts, to thwart Mr. Doxer’s goal of attempting to deprive Akamai Technologies of valuable business technology and confidential business information.”

The parties have stipulated in an agreed statement of facts that on June 22, 2006, DOXER sent an e-mail to the Israeli consulate in Boston stating that he worked in Akamai’s finance department and was willing to provide any information that might help Israel. In later communications, DOXER said that his chief desire “was to help our homeland and our war against our enemies.” He also asked for payment in light of the risks he was taking.

In September 2007, an FBI agent posing as an undercover Israeli intelligence officer spoke to DOXER and established a “dead drop” where the agent and DOXER could exchange written communications. From September 2007 through March 2009, DOXER visited the dead drop at least 62 times to leave information, retrieve communications, or check for new communications.

Included in the trade secret information that DOXER provided the undercover agent were an extensive list of Akamai’s customers; contracts between Akamai and various customers revealing contact, services, pricing, and termination date information; and a comprehensive list of Akamai’s employees that revealed their positions and full contact information. DOXER also broadly described Akamai’s physical and computer security systems and stated that he could travel to the foreign country and could support special and sensitive operations in his local area if needed.

We also acknowledge the government of Israel for their cooperation in this investigation, and underscore that the information does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. laws in this case.

DOXER was arrested on October 6, 2010, on a complaint charging him with wire fraud.

That charge will be dismissed as part of the plea agreement. The charge of foreign economic espionage carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release and a $500,000 fine.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Weinreb and Scott Garland respectively in Ortiz’s Antiterrorism and National Security Unit and Cybercrimes Unit, and trial attorneys Kathleen Kedian and David Recker of the Department of Justices’ Counterespionage Section. Akamai Technologies cooperated fully in the investigation.

The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Victor James Webster, Jr. Sentenced in U.S. District Court

The United States Attorney»s Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on July 18, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, VICTOR JAMES WEBSTER, JR., a 25-year-old resident of Great Falls, appeared for sentencing. WEBSTER was sentenced to a term of:

•Prison: 320 months

•Special Assessment: $100

•Supervised Release: 5 years

WEBSTER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paulette L. Stewart, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On August 19 and October 6, 2010, in Great Falls, WEBSTER sold methamphetamine to a Confidential Informant (“CICI saw another two ounces of methamphetamine as well as a .40 caliber handgun. WEBSTER and the CI discussed the handgun as well as other firearms WEBSTER owned during the sale. Also on October 6, 2010, WEBSTER sold methamphetamine to an unwitting person who then sold the methamphetamine to law enforcement.

Later in the day of October 6, 2010, law enforcement attempted to detain WEBSTER, however he fled to another part of Great Falls.

Concerned citizens then called 911 and reported a man running through yards and jumping fences. The citizens watched WEBSTER until he was caught by law enforcement. The citizens also saw that WEBSTER dropped a black bag while he was running. The citizens found the black bag and showed it to law enforcement.

Law enforcement found approximately four ounces of a methamphetamine mixture, a Glock .40 caliber handgun, and approximately $4,400 in cash inside the black bag. Some of the cash was from the methamphetamine purchases earlier that day as law enforcement had photocopied the currency before the drug purchases.

A chemist analyzed the drug evidence and found that the items contained methamphetamine and that the total of all drug exhibits was approximately 150 grams of actual methamphetamine.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that WEBSTER will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, WEBSTER does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Great Falls High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Great Falls Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, Montana Probation and Parole, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratory.

Southern California Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Convictions in Smuggling Schemes, Including Plot to Bring Surface-to-Air Missiles Into United States

LOS ANGELES—A Southern California man was sentenced this morning to 25 years in federal prison after being convicted on a series of federal charges related to schemes to smuggle many items into the United States, including surface-to-air missiles designed to shoot down aircraft.

Yi Qing Chen, 49, of Rosemead, California, received the 300-month sentence from United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer.

Last October, following a two-week trial, a federal jury convicted Chen of five felony counts—conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, distribution of cocaine, trafficking in counterfeit cigarettes (approximately 800,000 cases of cigarettes), trafficking in contraband cigarettes, and conspiracy to import missile systems designed to destroy aircraft.

During this morning’s hearing, Judge Fischer said Chen “never saw a criminal scheme he didn’t want a part of.”

The evidence presented during the trial showed that Chen conspired to smuggle, among other things, Chinese-made QW-2 shoulder-fired missiles into the United States. The guilty verdict in the missile plot was the nation’s first conviction at trial under an anti-terrorism statute that outlaws the importation of missile systems designed to destroy aircraft. Enacted in December 2004, the statute carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 25 years in federal prison.

“Mr. Chen was the first person in the nation to be indicted for plotting to smuggle anti-aircraft missiles into the United States after the 9/11 attacks,” said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. “The 25-year sentence imposed today appropriately reflects the severity of the threat this conspiracy posed to the security of the United States.”

The case against Chen is the result of Operation Smoking Dragon, an FBI-led undercover investigation into smuggling operations in Southern California. Smoking Dragon and a related investigation in New Jersey led to the indictment of 87 individuals on charges related to international conspiracies to smuggle counterfeit United States currency, drugs and other contraband into the United States. Operation Smoking Dragon resulted in four indictments and nearly three dozen convictions in Los Angeles. Chen is the final defendant to be sentenced in relation to Operation Smoking Dragon.

“Today’s sentencing of Mr. Chen is the result of eight years of investigative work by agents and prosecutors assigned to the Smoking Dragon case,” said Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. “The defendant’s willingness to smuggle surface-to-air missiles into this country or anywhere is a frightening concept because there can be no confusion as to the purpose of such contraband—nor to the potentially horrific consequences for innocent people.”

In 2006, a man who conspired with Chen pleaded guilty in relation to various smuggling plots, including the scheme to bring the surface-to-air missiles into the United States (see: http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2006/044.html). That co-defendant, Chao Tung Wu, died while pending sentencing and before Chen was brought to trial.

The evidence in the case showed that Chen and Wu met with an undercover FBI agent and agreed to arrange the importation of shoulder-fired QW-2 missiles, as well as launch and operation hardware for the missiles, from the People’s Republic of China. The missiles were never delivered because Wu and Chen were arrested in 2005 before the deal was concluded.

“Recordings played during trial, of defendant [Chen] and Wu, included discussions that they had engaged in a wide range of criminal activity, including narcotics and counterfeit cigarette trafficking and shipping vehicles to China in containers where documents fraudulently identified their contents,” prosecutors wrote in papers filed in court prior to today’s sentencing. “It was undisputed that Wu never conducted any legitimate business during the relevant period of time.”

In addition to the 25-year prison term, Judge Fischer ordered Chen to pay $520,000 to Philip Morris for the counterfeit cigarettes he smuggled into the United States.

Operation Smoking Dragon was an investigation run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which received substantial assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The United States Secret Service assisted in the investigation in relation to the smuggling of counterfeit $100 bills called “Supernotes” that are believed to have been manufactured in North Korea.

CONTACT:

Assistant United States Attorney Mark Aveis

National Security Section

(213) 894-4477

Assistant United States Attorney Bonnie L. Hobbs

National Security Section

(213) 894-4447

Fed Undercover - Contract Killer; Weapons Dealer; Pedophile

On May 15, 2009, Conversations with Heroes at the Watering Hole will feature a discussion Special Agent Bob Hamer, FBI (ret.) on his career as an undercover federal agent.

Program Date: May 15, 2009
Program Time: 2100 hours, Pacific
Topic: Fed Undercover - Contract Killer; Weapons Dealer; Pedophile
Listen Live:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/05/16/Fed-Undercover-Contract-Killer-Weapons-Dealer-Pedophile

About the Guest
Special Agent Bob Hamer, Federal Bureau of Investigation (ret.) spent 26 years as a “street agent” for the FBI; many of those years undercover. As an uncover agent he posed as a drug dealer, contract killer, fence, pedophile, degenerate gambler, weapons dealer, and white-collar criminal.

Bob Hamer worked undercover against such diverse groups as La Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, Mexican Mafia, Russian Mafia, Asian organized crime groups, and Los Angeles-based street gangs. His successful infiltration of NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) resulted in the arrest of what one defendant called eight members of the “inner circle.” He received numerous awards throughout his career including the FBI Director’s Award for Distinguished Service, four United States Attorney Awards for Distinguished Service, and numerous letters of commendation including one from then U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani. Bob Hamer is the author of The Last Undercover: The True Story of an FBI Agent’s Dangerous Dance with Evil.

According to the book description of The Last Undercover: The True Story of an FBI Agent’s Dangerous Dance with Evil, “Bob Hamer tells the story of his life as an undercover agent for the FBI posing as everything from a drug dealer to an aging pedophile. Looking back on a career rich in the kind of action that makes for great cinema, Hamer describes the challenges he endured as he stared the dark side of humanity in the face.”

About the Watering Hole
The Watering Hole is police slang for a location cops go off-duty to blow off steam and talk about work and life. Sometimes funny; sometimes serious; but, always interesting.

About the Host
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster was a sworn member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 24 years. He retired in 2003 at the rank of Lieutenant. He holds a bachelor’s from the Union Institute and University in Criminal Justice Management and a Master’s Degree in Public Financial Management from California State University, Fullerton; and, has completed his doctoral course work. Raymond E. Foster has been a part-time lecturer at California State University, Fullerton and Fresno; and is currently a Criminal Justice Department chair, faculty advisor and lecturer with the Union Institute and University. He has experience teaching upper division courses in Law Enforcement, public policy, Law Enforcement Technology and leadership. Raymond is an experienced author who has published numerous articles in a wide range of venues including magazines such as Government Technology, Mobile Government, Airborne Law Enforcement Magazine, and Police One. He has appeared on the History Channel and radio programs in the United States and Europe as subject matter expert in technological applications in Law Enforcement.

Listen, call, join us at the Watering Hole:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/LawEnforcement/2009/05/16/Fed-Undercover-Contract-Killer-Weapons-Dealer-Pedophile

Program Contact Information
Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA
editor@police-writers.com
909.599.7530

Narcs and Weapons

As a drug enforcement officer/detective, working undercover (UC) is the grass roots of what we do. This can be as complex as interjecting yourself into an organization or as simple as pretending to be a drunk passed out of a bench in order to conduct some type of strategic surveillance. Either way you are pretending to be someone you are not and have to alter your tactical options accordingly. Due to operational security it would not be prudent for me to go into to much detail on this subject on an open website. But, there are a few things that that can be addressed that are relevant.

Obviously, as a UC you cannot go into operational situations with a gun belt containing all the tricks of the trade. At most your only weapon is going to be some type of firearm. What that weapon is and how you carry it could be the difference between life and death of the UC. With everything going on during a UC buy it is a challenge to stay in the UC mindset and remain as tactically sound as you can. Often, someone else dictates situations, positions and surprises are always around the corner.
READ ON
http://www.police-writers.com/narcs_weapons.html