Milton Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Offenses

CONCORD, NH—John Allen Wright, 46, of Milton, appeared in United States District Court today and pled guilty to six counts of sexual exploitation of children in violation of federal law, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.

In February, 2011, a member of New Hampshire’s Internet Crimes Against Children (NH ICAC) Task Force initiated an undercover investigation to locate and identify individuals possessing and trading images of child pornography through file sharing networks. Information obtained as a result of the investigation led to the issuance of a search warrant for Wright’s residence in Milton, New Hampshire. In the course of the search, computers and peripherals were seized and forensic examination revealed several videos depicting Wright sexually assaulting minor children who were passengers aboard his school bus. The initial search also revealed thousands of child sexual assault images that had been downloaded from the Internet. A subsequent federal search warrant yielded further evidence linking Wright to the production of the videos.

The defendant has been in custody since his indictment in October 2011. He will remain detained pending sentencing scheduled for December 20, 2012. The defendant faces a minimum mandatory prison term of 15 years on each of five counts of the six-count indictment and a total maximum prison term of up to 160 years.

This case is being prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

In addition to the NH ICAC Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New London Police Department, the Dover Police Department, and the Kittery (ME) Police Department contributed valuable time and effort to this investigation and prosecution.

United States Announces $8 Million Penalty and Non-Prosecution Agreement with Florida-Based Imperial Holdings Inc.

CONCORD, NH—Imperial Holdings Inc., a publicly traded specialty finance corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, has entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire to pay an $8 million penalty to resolve fraud allegations related to Imperial’s involvement in making misrepresentations on life insurance applications in connection with its premium finance business, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire John P. Kacavas announced today.

According to the NPA, from December 2006 through January 2009, as part of its premium finance business, certain Imperial employees, who were licensed insurance agents, worked with external general agents and brokers, to obtain life insurance policies on individuals over 65 years of age for which Imperial would offer premium finance loans. These Imperial employees had direct contact with the prospective insureds and worked with the insureds and external general agents and brokers to complete life insurance applications for submission to various life insurance companies.

While Imperial employees were engaged in this business, many life insurance applications required the insured and the agent to disclose information about whether premium payments would be funded by a premium finance loan. An insured was typically required to disclose if he or she intended to seek such a loan to pay premiums, and often, the agent was also required to disclose if he or she was aware of an intent by the insured to obtain such a loan. When applications were submitted to insurance companies that likely would not have issued a policy if the application accurately described the insured’s intent to obtain premium financing, the Imperial employees, who were acting as life insurance agents on the policies, made and/or facilitated misrepresentations on the applications that concealed the insured’s intent to seek a premium finance loan from Imperial.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire entered into the NPA with Imperial based, in part, on Imperial’s decision to terminate its premium finance business and separate the employees who are known at this time to have been primarily involved in the misconduct identified above; Imperial’s substantial cooperation to date in the investigation into its premium finance business; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire’s desire to limit the negative impact and adverse consequences to the non-premium finance aspects of Imperial’s business and the company’s employees and shareholders that would result from a prosecution of Imperial. In addition to the monetary penalty, Imperial has agreed, among other things, to provide cooperation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire and investigatory agencies, including providing documents and the assistance of its officers, agents, and employees.

U.S. Attorney Kacavas praised the agreement saying, “This NPA ensures the end of Imperial’s life insurance premium finance line of business while allowing it to carry on its legitimate lines of business. Importantly, Imperial has provided and will continue to provide substantial assistance in the investigation of those individuals whose fraudulent conduct was at the root of the illegal business practices.”

This case is being investigated by the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arnold H. Huftalen and Seth R. Aframe are handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire.

Public Safety Technology in the News

Tracking Drunk Drivers
CBS-21 WHP (Harrisburg, PA), (12/7/2007), Myranda Stephens

Pennsylvania State Police report that they often see an increase in DUI incidents during the holiday season. Thanks to a software application called Prophecy Program, the police can track these DUI incidents by location and the software will provide a map predicting the times and locations of future incidents. State Police use this output to identify trouble spots quickly and deploy officers to these areas. The software can also be used to track other crimes.
www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5fe52ccc-85e5-4916-a713-19ebba6c1037

Iris Scans Let Law Enforcement Keep Eye on Criminals
USA Today (12/4/2007), Wendy Koch

Sheriff's offices across the country are using iris recognition technology to identify missing persons and sex offenders. Most agencies are using the technology to collect iris scans of senior citizens and children. These scans are stored in databases that can be searched as needed. Some agencies are capturing the iris scans of convicted sex offenders and inmates in order to identify offenders in the event of future crimes and to ensure the correct inmate is released. Iris recognition technology compares a greater level of detail than fingerprint recognition technology and departments are finding that they can find matches much faster using a centralized database of iris scans.
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-04-iris_N.htm

Bowie Police Go High Tech
gazette.net (11/22/07), Megan King

In the past month, the Bowie (Maryland) Police Department has been able to scan more than 20,000 license plates using a new license plate recognition technology system. Since its installation on October 30, the system has alerted officers more than 300 times to violations such as stolen vehicle and suspended tags. The plates that the system scans are cross-checked against a database of statewide motor vehicle violations, as well as national criminal data. If a violation is found, the system notifies the patrol officer. The license plate scanning system allows officers to scan 5,000 plates during a 10-hour shift. The department purchased the system using donations from various businesses within Bowie, which amount to about 40 percent of the total cost of the system.
www.gazette.net/stories/112207/largnew172423_32363.shtml

U.S. Eyes 'Pain Beam' for Home Security, Law Enforcement
Wired.com (12/10/2007), David Hambling

The Active Denial System (ADS) is a less-lethal technology that uses microwaves to cause a burning sensation on the outer surface of the skin without injuring the target. ADS has not been deployed by the U.S. military yet, but the system's manufacturer is looking into implementing the technology for law enforcement use. The current system is too large and too expensive to be practical for most police departments, so the National Institute of Justice is working with Raytheon to develop a handheld version with a hundred-foot range. Raytheon is also working with Sandia National Laboratories to develop a version of ADS for securing nuclear stockpiles.
www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/12/pain_beam

DOJ Tests Suspicious-Activity Reporting System
FCW.com (12/10/2007), Jason Miller

Through its Law Enforcement Online (LEO) system, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is testing a new system designed to improve the sharing of suspicious-activity reporting among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. The new system, called E-Guardian, is based on the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) standard. The U.S. Department of Justice is funding State fusion centers, which are required to use NIEM for sharing information. The current plan is to include E-Guardian as one of the systems to be used by these fusion centers.
www.fcw.com/online/news/151032-1.html

New Database Links Guns, Criminal Histories
LA Daily News (12/10/2007), Jason Kandel

The California Department of Justice and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) are using the new Armed Prohibited Persons System program to identify gun owners with criminal histories. The statewide database currently contains approximately 9,000 records on people who are prohibited from owning firearms along with records on gun owners. Law enforcement agencies can access the system to easily identify individuals who own guns illegally. An LAPD task force has used the system this fall to identify and search 71 locations. These searches led to the seizure of 28 guns and the arrest of 8 individuals.
www.dailynews.com/news/ci_7679381

Police Say GPS Helps Crack Case in Drive-By Slaying
Los Angeles Times (12/12/2007), Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton

The Los Angeles Police Department received an important lead in a murder case by accessing data from a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system that was tracking the location of 20 gang members. As part of a new State program, 20 gang members were fitted with GPS monitoring bracelets as part of their parole agreements. The GPS system records the date, time, and location of each parolee. As soon as the drive-by shooting occurred, Sgt. Ruby Malachi directed officers at the LAPD's crime analysis center to search the system for the date, time, and location of the shooting. The system's data reported that one of the gang members being tracked was in the vicinity when the shooting occurred. Based on this information and evidence from witnesses, the police eventually arrested seven suspects, including the gang member being tracked. LAPD has traditionally used the GPS system to track sex offenders, but is now seeking to expand the gang member tracking program.
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gps12dec12,1,5363458.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

Electronic Tickets Cite Drivers With Cyber Speed
Noblesville Daily Times (12/3/2007), Rebecca L. Sandlin

The Indian State Police have put into operation the Electronic Citation and Warning System (E-CWS) as a tool for issuing warnings and citations to motorists. It is anticipated that the system will be safer for troopers in terms of time spent outside the cruiser, and reduce time and paperwork involved with issuing citations. Using their laptops, officers will scan motorist information from the barcodes located on motor vehicle registration cards and driver's licenses and generate a ticket for the motorist, the officer, and the courts.
www.county29.net/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8402&Itemid=230

New Court Video System Saves Navajo County Time and Money
AZJournal.com (11/28/2007), Tammy Gray-Searles

Navajo County, in Arizona, recently implemented a video conferencing system with money from a Fill the Gap grant from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. The system will be used by the justice courts, the jail, and in two superior court courtrooms. It is hoped the system will save money in transportation costs, and provide increased security by reducing inmate movement. Because of the systems real-time capabilities, judges and court staff will be able to attend conferences, meetings, and trainings remotely, which will allow court cases to proceed with limited disruptions and ensure defendants a speedy process. In the future, the video conferencing system can allow attorneys to perform remote client visits, or allow inmates to visit with families over long distances.
www.azjournal.com/news/126/ARTICLE/1541/2007-11-28.html

Millions Coming to NH for Emergency Radio
UnionLeader.com (12/2/2007), Shawne K. Wickham

The state of New Hampshire will receive just under $6 million in public safety funding, which is part of nearly a billion dollars that have been set aside by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) — a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. This money is part of the anticipated $10 to $15 billion the Federal Government expects to receive when it auctions off spectrum space that is presently used by analog TV broadcasts. The vacated spectrum space will then be used to create a national public safety communications network, and the money offered by the NTIA will be used to assist public safety agencies obtain equipment to use the new network.
www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Millions+coming+to+NH+for+emergency+radio&articleId=74a09b06-ccea-440b-9e9b-19a17777ba2b

The JUSTNETNews Mailing List is maintained by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, supported by Cooperative Agreement 2005-MU-CX-K077 awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ). Regular postings to JUSTNETNews include abstracted news articles on law enforcement and corrections technology topics, upcoming NLECTC and NIJ events, NLECTC services and activities, new publications, and other technology-related announcements. Please note that providing information on law enforcement and corrections technology or the mention of specific manufacturers or products does not constitute the endorsement of the U.S. Department of Justice or its component parts.

The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assitance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the Community Capacity Development Office; The Office for Victims of Crime; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART).

History, Law and New Fiction

Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website add three police officers: Hal Brown; Thomas J. Russo; and, Angelo DeLeon.

Hal Brown was a member of the Keene Police Department (New Hampshire) for 28 years. He is the author of In Pursuit of Justice: A History of the Keene Police Department. The book was published by the Keene Benevolent Association in 1995. A copy of the book is available in the New Hampshire State Library. According to the book description, Hal Brown’s book is a, “history of the Keene Police Department from its founding in the late 18th Century and also a chronicle of criminal activity in the area.”

Thomas J. Russo is a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy and the Secret Service Dignitary Protection School in Washington, D.C. He is the recipient of a Certificate in Criminal Justice Education from the University of Virginia and a graduate of the Certified Public Manager Course of the State of New Jersey. Thomas Russo is published his autobiography Street Kid to Top Cop in 2005.

Angelo DeLeon has 30 years of law enforcement experience. He is a retired sergeant from the Fairfield Police Department (Connecticut). Currently, he is the manager of a software company. Angelo Deleon is also the author of A Summary of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions for Correctional Services: 2002/2003.

On May 9, 2007, Retired Nassau County Police Department police officer Robert P. Como published his third book, No Greater Love. According to the book description, “This high-octane adventure story follows the life of a spiritually tormented man on the road to redemption.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 646 police officers (representing 284 police departments) and their 1378 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.