U.S. Marshals Need the Public’s Assistance Locating Violent Fugitive

Fugitive Wanted From New York Possibly Hiding Out in West Palm Beach

West Palm Beach, FL - U.S. Marshal Amos Rojas Jr. is requesting the public’s help in locating a violent fugitive who is wanted from Syracuse, New York and is believed to be hiding out in the Lake Worth and downtown West Palm Beach area. Joseph Howell, 30, is wanted for violating his parole in New York. Howell also has an outstanding arrest warrant from the Tioga County Sheriff’s Office in New York for one count of 2nd degree Assault, and one count of 3rd degree Assault.

On September 6, 2014, Howell attacked two persons in the Village of Candor, NY. Howell is alleged to have attacked the first victim and struck him with his fists. Howell allegedly struck the second victim in the face with a shovel. The victim suffered a fractured bone in his head.

Howell fled the New York area and is believed to be frequenting the area of downtown West Palm Beach and the Lake Worth/Forest Hill Blvd area. Howell might be driving a red Ford Ranger pickup. Howell usually finds work in the construction industry and has worked as a handyman at times. There have been numerous sightings of Howell in the West Palm Beach area.

Howell is extremely violent and has been convicted on charges of narcotics, burglary, assault and forgery. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Joseph Howell is asked to please contact the Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477) or the U.S. Marshals office in West Palm Beach at (561) 655-1827. You can remain anonymous.

DEA Reduces Amount of Opioid Controlled Substances to be Manufactured in 2017

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reduced the amount of almost every Schedule II opiate and opioid medication that may be manufactured in the United States in 2017 by 25 percent or more, according to a Final Order being published in the Federal Register tomorrow and available for public inspection today here.  A handful of medicines were reduced by more, such as hydrocodone, which will be 66 percent of last year’s level.  Demand for these opioid medicines, represented by prescriptions written by DEA-registered practitioners, has decreased according to sales data obtained by DEA from IMS Health, a company that provides insurance companies with data on prescriptions written and prescription medications sold in America.

The Aggregate Production Quota (APQ) established by the Final Order is the total amount of a controlled substance necessary to meet the estimated medical, scientific, research, industrial, and export needs for the year and for the maintenance of reserve stocks.  The 2017 APQ has been reduced for oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, hydromorphone, morphine, and other such medications.  Much of this reduction is attributed to the elimination of a 25 percent buffer that was added to the APQ annually in 2013 through 2016 to guard against shortages.

The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) released last month found 6.5 million Americans over the age of 12 used controlled prescription medicines non-medically during the past month, second only to marijuana and more than past-month users of cocaine, heroin, and hallucinogens combined.   

Earlier this year the CDC issued guidelines to practitioners recommending a reduction in prescribing opioid medications for chronic pain.  For years, DEA and others have been educating practitioners, pharmacists, manufacturers, and the public about the potential dangers of the misuse of opioid medications. 

When Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the quota system was intended to reduce or eliminate diversion from “legitimate channels of trade” by controlling “the quantities of the basic ingredients needed for the manufacture of [controlled substances].” The purpose of quotas are to provide for the adequate and uninterrupted supply for legitimate medical need of the types of schedule I and II controlled substances that have a potential for abuse, while limiting the amounts available to prevent diversion.  DEA establishes APQs for more than 250 Schedule I and II controlled substances annually.

In setting the APQ, DEA considers data from many sources, including estimates of the legitimate medical need; estimates of retail consumption based on prescriptions dispensed; manufacturers’ data on actual production, sales, inventory, exports, product development needs, and manufacturing losses; data from DEA’s own internal system for tracking controlled substance transactions; and past quota histories.  Once the aggregate quota is set, DEA allocates individual manufacturing and procurement quotas to those companies that apply for it.  DEA may revise a company’s quota at any time during the year if change is warranted due to increased sales or exports; new manufacturers entering the market; new product development; or product recalls.

Two Maryland MS-13 Members Convicted in Racketeering Conspiracy Including Murder

A federal jury today convicted two Hyattsville, Maryland, men on charges related to the racketeering enterprise activity of a gang known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore Field Office; Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George’s County, Maryland, Police Department; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department; Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks; and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.

Eric Antonio Mejia-Ramos, aka Flaco, 22, and Miguel Angel Manjivar, aka Masflow and Garra, 25, were both found guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise by a federal jury sitting in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.  In addition, Manjivar was found guilty of murder in aid of racketeering.  U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus of the District of Maryland scheduled sentencing for Mejia Ramos on Jan. 5, 2017, and Manjivar on Jan. 23, 2017.

MS-13 is a national and transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador.  Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Prince George’s County and Montgomery County.  MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence to maintain membership and discipline within the gang.  One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,” whenever possible.

According to evidence presented at trial, from at least 2009 through October 2014, MS-13 members planned and committed numerous crimes, including murders, attempted murders, kidnappings, assaults, robberies and witness tampering and retaliation in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties.  Gang members also extorted brothel operators and owners of other illegal businesses and tampered with and retaliated against witnesses, among other crimes.  Mejia-Ramos was a member of the MS-13 Parkview Locotes Salvatrucha Clique and Manjivar was a member of the MS-13 Peajes Locotes Salvatrucha Clique.

Trial evidence showed that on Sept. 16, 2010, Manjivar shot and killed an individual he believed to be a rival gang member on the footbridge of a park in Hyattsville.  On Jan. 10, 2011, Manjivar and other MS-13 members murdered a person they believed was a rival gang member and attempted to murder another purported rival gang member in a parking lot in Hyattsville.  Manjivar and others repeatedly punched, kicked and stabbed the victims, one of whom survived the attack.

In addition, trial evidence demonstrated that on Jan. 13, 2011, Manjivar attended a Peajes Clique meeting, where he criticized other MS-13 members for not committing enough violent crimes.  Manjivar then left in a mini-van driven by a co-defendant with other Peajes members as passengers, and as a group, they attacked a person they believed to be an associate of a rival gang and dragged him back into the vehicle.  Manjivar and others continued to assault him, at times attempting to use a seat belt to strangle the victim, as well as kicked, stabbed and choked him.  Trial evidence demonstrated that they forcefully stripped the victim of his heavy winter clothing in order to stab him, and then dragged him into the woods, where they left him for dead and fled.  The victim survived the attack.

According to evidence presented at trial, on the night of Aug. 28, 2012, Mejia-Ramos lured a woman he believed to be a rival gang member to a park in Beltsville, Maryland, telling her they were going to party.  He then shot the woman to death.

In addition to these convictions, eight of the 13 defendants charged in this investigation have pleaded guilty to their roles in the racketeering conspiracy and two have been convicted.

HSI Baltimore, Prince George’s County Police Department, Montgomery County Police Department, Prince George’s State’s Attorney’s Office and Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office investigated the case.  Trial Attorney Catherine K. Dick of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Moomau and Lindsay Eyler Kaplan of the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.  Former OCGS Trial Attorney Kevin Rosenberg assisted in the prosecution of this case.