One of the Rembrandt Pieces Stolen

Advances in DNA testing aren’t just being used to solve murders and rapes.

The FBI is hoping to take advantage of the new advances by submitting evidence from the great art heist 20 years ago at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston which included three Rembrandts and a Vermeer, the Boston Globe reports. It is believed to be the largest heist in world history in terms of dollars.

The FBI on the case declined to say what had been submitted for analysis, but the Globe reported that people familiar with the case “said it would probably include long strips of duct tape used to tie up the museum’s two night watchmen, whom the thieves overpowered to get access to the artwork.”

“If they left any sweat on that duct tape, a sample could be drawn, and with that sample there’s the possibility of a result,” Dr. Bruce Budowle, former senior scientist of the FBI’s Quantico lab told the Globe.

To read full story click here.

Read more »

Hal Turner/msnbc photo

The trial in Brooklyn federal court involving right wing racist Internet radio host Hal Turner illustrates the tough balancing act the FBI has to deal with when handling an informant who is less than an ideal citizen.

Turner is accused of posting messages last summer on his blog advocating the death of U.S. Court of Appeals judges in Chicago who upheld a gun ban.

But on Wednesday he testified at his trial that the FBI talked to him in 2005 about helping solve the murder of the family of a federal judge in Chicago and suggested he “ratchet up the rhetoric”. The FBI apparently thought the killer might be a white supremacist, Turner’s target audience, according to the New York Times.

He in turn posted a photo of the Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow with the statement “worthy of death”, the Times reported.

This past summer, he posted on his blogs that  the Court of Appeals judges in the gun ban ruling were “worthy of death”. His defense is essentially  that he was doing the same thing the FBI had asked him to do in the past. One of those judges testified earlier this week that he felt threatened by the posting on the blog.

Turner’s first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked. That could happen again.

To read more click here

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

• Ex-Wisconsin Mayor Gets 3 Years in Internet Sex Sting (AP)
• RFK’s Son Criticizes LAPD (AP)
• Superior Court Judge Expected to Be Named Maine U.S. Attorney (Maine Justice)

By Steven Levin

As a recovering federal prosecutor, I see an occasional injustice that I might not have seen when I was with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Maryland. A businessman, for instance, is wrongfully targeted and subsequently suffers from the toll such an investigation takes on both his personal and professional life.

I also see the occasional injustice in which those who should be targeted and should be indicted avoid either one or both. Enter Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY). So far, with him, the system has failed us. The question begs to be asked: Why has he not been indicted?

If Representative Rangel were (merely) Mr. Rangel, how long do you think it would take a prosecutor to seek an indictment for tax evasion based on, as reported by The New York Times, his alleged failure to report rental income earned from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic, or his alleged receipt of gifts related to his rental of four rent-controlled apartments for less than market value? The answer in part would simply be before the statute of limitations runs.

But all is not lost. At least the system seems to be working in North Carolina, where Ex-Sen. (Now “Mr” ) John Edwards appears to remain the target of a federal grand jury for his alleged improper use of campaign funds.

Only time will tell if Mr. Edwards goes from the target of an investigation to a defendant in an indictment. If so, I suspect that few would see an injustice in that.

Levin can be reached at slevin@levingallagher.com.

By Allan Lengel

President Obama on Wednesday nominated Willie R. Stafford, a background investigator for the Greensboro, N.C. police epartment, for the U.S. Marshal spot for the Middle District of North Carolina.

His bio is a follows, according to a White House press release:

Willie R. Stafford currently serves as a background investigator for the Greensboro, NC, police department, and is an independent consultant providing pre-employment screening and promotional testing services for law enforcement agencies.

From 1975 to 2004, Stafford served with the Greensboro Police Department in a variety of operational positions. He retired as the Assistant Chief of Police for the Western Operations Bureau. Stafford earned a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs in 1988 and a Bachelor’s Degree in American History and Psychology in 1975, both from the University of North Carolina.

Mike Ormsby/law firm photo

The slow, laborious process of filling the U.S. Attorney posts around the country continued on Wednesday when President Obama nominated attorneys to fill the spots in New Mexico and the Eastern District of Washington state.

The nominees include assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales for the New Mexico post and private attorney Michael C. Ormsby to serve as United States Attorneys.

The bios of the two are as follows, according to the White House press release:

Kenneth J. Gonzales currently works as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, where he has been since 1999. He also serves in the United States Army Reserve in the Office of the Judge Advocate General. He recently returned from active duty at Fort Bragg, where he served as Senior Trial Counsel. He also spends one weekend a month working as a Judge Advocate Legal Assistance Attorney, working with Army personnel on estate planning and other legal matters. Previously, Gonzales worked as a Legislative Assistant in the Office of United States Senator Jeff Bingaman. Gonzales began his legal career serving as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Joseph F. Baca of the Supreme Court of New Mexico from 1994 until 1996. Gonzales is a 1988 graduate of the University of New Mexico and a 1991 graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Michael C. Ormsby has been a partner at K&L Gates, LLP since 1988. He advises public entities and governmental institutions on municipal finance and other legal matters. He has also served on the Spokane Public School Board and the Eastern Washington University Board of Trustees. He started his legal career as an associate attorney at Lukins & Annis P.S., where he worked from 1981 to 1988. Ormsby graduated from Gonzaga University in 1979 and the Gonzaga University School of Law in 1981.

U.S. Attorney David Gaouette/doj photo

The suicide of a key witness Monday in the fed crackdown on the black market of American Indian artifacts has put the first trial in jeopardy, the Associated Press reported.

The AP reorted that Colorado’s U.S. Attorney David Gaouette “says he’s reviewing the evidence left for a trial that was to start March 29.”

The wire service reported that Gaouette is reviewing to use videotape of key witness Ted Gardiner, who shot himself Monday following a police standoff.

To read more click here.

In the rough streets of Baltimore, the influence of foreign drug dealers may not be obvious — that is until you do some digging. Reporter Van Smith has done just that, and connected the dots in this report.

The logo of the Los Zetas Cartel/baltimore city paper

BALTIMORE – “The goal of any drug dealer is to cut out as many middle men as possible in order to increase profits.”

That statement was made by Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein a year ago, when he unveiled Operation Xcellerator, a U.S. Justice Department initiative aimed at laying low the long reach of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

“I do believe,” he said at the time, “there are Baltimore drug dealers who do this by having connections with drug distributors outside of the U.S.” He vowed to “continue to trace the drugs back to the source, work our way to the top, and ultimately indict the major players.”

Since then, law enforcers here have successfully ferreted out some international ties to Baltimore’s entrenched drug economy. Though Rosenstein’s office points to only one Xcellerator case in Baltimore–a conspiracy with ties to Hollywood and Baltimore City Hall (”Mexican Connection,” Mobtown Beat, March 4, 2009)–City Paper has found three recent examples of evidence filed in U.S. District Court that indicate direct ties between Baltimore and foreign sources of supply, including the fearsome Los Zetas cartel in Mexico.

To read the full story click here.

tsa photo

A Congressman is raising a stink about some rogue Transportation Security Officers at airports.

Joe Davidson, the Federal Diary columnist for the Washington Post, reports that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has written a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano complaining that travelers have been subjected “to baseless harassment, intimidation, and situations designed to instill fear and cause public humiliation.”

Davidson reports that the letter claims some TSA workers were involved in “childish practical jokes” and that some disabled passengers were mistreated.

To read full column click here.