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Ex-DEA official and ex-presidential appointee Grayling Williams has been hired to head up internal investigations for the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore Sun reported.

The paper reports that Williams spent 22 years with the DEA including a stint in Baltimore. He was also assigned at one point to DEA Headquarters where he served as Chief of the Policy and Source Management Section, managing operational policy development and the confidential informant program, and as the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Operations.

In 2009, President Obama esident Obama to serve as the Director of the Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The paper reported that Williams will have the civilian tite of director and will earn a salary of about $110,000.

Four East Haven “bullies with badges” arrested: wtnh.com

By Danny Fenster

Jury selection began on Monday in the trial of  a former Louisiana mayor charged with a number of crimes, reports theadvertiser.com.

George L. Grace, the former Mayor of St. Gabriel, La.,  in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area, faces charges of racketeering, extortion, obstruction of justice, false statements, bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and use of a telephone in aid of racketeering. The charges were brought against the ex-mayor as part of the FBI’s “Operation Blighted Officials” sting, according to the advertiser. Five other officials in the area either pleaded guilty or were convicted over the last 18 months as a result of the operation.

FBI agents posed as corrupt executives from the private sector offering bribes in exchange for help gaining business for a fake firm called Cifer 5000, the advertiser reports.

To read more click here.

By Danny Fenster

Consider the streets of Suffolk County, N.Y. that much safer: Five members of the violent street gang MS-13 were named in a indictment unsealed on Monday, the FBI announced later that day. The charges include murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, armed robberies, firearms offenses, and related conspiracy charges.

Jose Alvarenga, also known as “Fosforo,” and Hector Torres, also known as “Smiley,” face murder charges over the death of 15-year-old Christopher Hamilton in 2009, and Rigoberto Gomez in 2010, both in Brentwood, New York.

All of those charged are now in custody, the FBI says. Alvarenga and Torres were arraigned on Monday, while the other three will be arraigned later in the week.

Authorities alleged that on November 20, 2009, Alvarenga, the leader of the Brentwood Locos Salvatruchas (BLS) clique of  the MS-13, ordered gang members to attack suspected rival gang members at a house party in Brentwood, says the FBI.

He armed his men with a .22 caliber rifle and a semi-automatic handgun, then led them to the house. At least three rifle shots were fired into a crowd outside the home moments after they arrived. One of the shots fatally hit Christopher Hamilton in the temple.

The indictment also alleges that in August 2010, members of an MS-13 clique known as the Sailors suspected that another MS-13 member, Rigoberto Gomez, was working with local law enforcement, so they put a “green light” on Gomez, which allowed other members to kill Gomez on sight, says the FBI.

“They lured Gomez into the car, inviting him to smoke marijuana with them at the nearby Freeman Avenue Park,” says the FBI. “After exiting the car, Torres stepped behind Gomez and fired a bullet from a .357 caliber revolver into the back of Gomez’s head, and fired a second shot into Gomez’s head after the victim fell to the ground. Torres then handed the gun to the other MS-13 member, who fired a third shot into Gomez’s head.”

By Danny Fenster

If prison is hell, some Denver gang members may have found their soul mates.

Members of the motorcycle gang Hell’s Lovers were arrested this weekend and made their first court appearance on Monday afternoon, reports 9news.com.

There wasn’t enough room for all 19 defendants in the jury box, 9news reports, so defendants had to sit in the first row of the courtroom

The Feds raided a number of homes around Denver on Friday night and made at least 15 arrests, according to U.S. Attorney for Colorado John Walsh. Authorities alleged that between January 2005 and September 2011, 16 members of the gang got together to “use and distribute cocaine and marijuana.”

To read more click here.

The FBI arrested a Colorado man over the weekend at Chicago O’Hare Airport on charges of providing and attempting to provide support to a Pakistani-based terrorism group.

Jamshid Muhtorov, aka Abumumin Turkistony, aka Abu Mumin, 35, of Aurora, Colorado, who is a refugee of Uzbekistant.

Authorities charged that Muhtorov indicated that he planned to travel overseas and fight on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a designated foreign terrorist organization, based in Pakistan.

Authorities said the IJU, “adheres to an anti-western ideology, opposes secular rule in Uzbekistan and seeks to replace the current regime with a government based on Islamic law. In addition to conducting suicide attacks in Uzbekistan, the IJU has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan.”

Authorities alleged that Muhtorov had sworn allegiance to the IJU, and that he was ready for any task, even with the risk of dying.

Federal authorities pointed out that the activities of Muhtorov “highlight the continued interest of extremists residing in the United States to join and support overseas terrorists.”

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• How Megaupload Got to Be A Pirate Posterboy (IT World)
• Fighting Terrorism Requires Collaboration (The Foundry)
• Senior Albanian Official Charged with Murder in Killing of Protestors (Washington Post)
• Why is the Justice Department Still Defending FBI Ties to the Mob? (The Atlantic)
• DEA Agent Loses Appeal Over Video of Accidental Shooting (Business Insurance)
• FBI Confirms News International Hacking Probe (Adweek)