By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Fed prosecutors in the public corruption case against Ex-Ill. Gov Rod Blagojevich have asked the Chicago judge to order Blago and his attorneys not to make public statements during trial. But will they now have to ask the judge to gag the courthouse cafeteria folks as well? The Associated Press reports…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent pleaded guilty Wednesday in Newark to conspiring to steal what he thought was a large quantity of cocaine from a purported drug dealer. It turned out to be a sting conducted by ICE. Valentino Johnson, 26, of Brooklyn, who was working as an ICE…
By Allan Lengel For AOL News In the months and weeks before allegedly planting a car bomb in Times Square, Faisal Shahzad was sent a total of about $12,000 from someone he understood worked for the Taliban in Pakistan, authorities charged Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. That allegation was contained in a 10-count…
By Matt Castello ticklethewire.com A man who represented the interests of a major Colombian drug cartel in Mexico, has been extradited to New York to stand trial, authorities said. Pedro Antonio Bermudez, known as “El Arquitecto,” was arrested in Mexico City on Oct. 2, 2008 and remained in Mexican custody until his extradition to the…
By Allan Lengel For AOL News WASHINGTON –The Justice Department today announced the “broadest mortgage fraud sweep” in U.S. history, with criminal charges filed against 1,215 people. Almost 500 have already been arrested in a 3 1/2-month crackdown dubbed “Operation Stolen Dreams.” Authorities said the operation uncovered $2.3 billion in mortgage fraud losses and recovered…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Who didn’t figure this was coming? The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is asking U.S. District Judge James Zagel to impose a gag order to shut up ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his lawyers during the ongoing public corruption trial, the Chicago Tribune reported. Prosecutors claim the defense and Blago are trying to…
By Allan Lengel and Glynnesha Taylor ticklethewire.com The ATF office in Boston said Tuesday’s incident in Maine in which ATF agents shot and killed a biker who was named in a 27-person federal indictment is under review. “The shooting’s under review,” James McNally, a spokesman for the ATF office in Boston told the Boston Globe,…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ICE has an image problem. So ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton plans to “re-brand”, realign its duties and emphasize criminal investigations over immigrant deportations, the Washington Post is reporting. “By streamlining and renaming several offices, officials hope to highlight the agency’s…
