U.S. Plans to Auction Off Nearly 30,000 Bitcoins Seized in Crackdown on Online Marketplace for Illicit Drugs

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The U.S. government plans to unload nearly 30,000 bitcoins – valued at $17.3 million – during an auction later this month after seizing the currency as part of an FBI crackdown last year on an illicit online marketplace for drugs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some of the bitcoins seized from Silk Road …

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FBI’s Phoenix Office to Handle Criminal Investigation of VA Hospital Following Serious Allegations

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI’s Phoenix office is handling the criminal investigation of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Arizona Republic reports. FBI Director James Comey said the Phoenix office is handling the case because the allegations began at the VA in Phoenix. At least 18 Arizona veterans waiting for care in the Phoenix VA…

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Florida Prosecutors Ask Appeals Court to Reinstate Murder Charge Against Ex-FBI Agent Connolly

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Disgraced FBI Agent John J. Connolly Jr., whose murder conviction was overturned by a Florida state court panel two weeks ago, won’t be released from prison – at least not yet. Boston’s NPR station, WBUR, reports that Florida’s attorney general is urging the court to reconsider reinstating charges against Connolly, who is…

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TSA Officers Killed in Line off Duty to Receive Same Death Benefits As Other Federal Law Enforcement Officers

Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com It’s not often that a TSA officer dies in the line of duty. In fact, TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez, 39, became the first to die on Nov. 1 at Los Angeles International Airport. But Westside Today reports that the House Appropriations Committee this week approved a legislative amendment that would provide the…

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