News Story
Mi Man Who Impersonated FBI Agent Gets 3 Years
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A 57-year-old Michigan man has been hit with a three year prison term for impersonating an FBI agent, the Daily Tribune reported. The paper reported that U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds in Detroit sentenced Kevin Balfour of Warren, Mi, a Detroit suburb, earlier this month. The paper reported the man impersonated…
Ex-Congressman Linked to Chandra Levy Writing a Book
Allan Lengel, editor of ticklethewire.com, covered the first two years of the Chandra Levy investigation for the Washington Post. By Allan Lengel For AOL News In a law office in an upscale section of Los Angeles, an unfinished yet potentially explosive book manuscript by a controversial figure, former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, sits in a…
Jordanian National Gets 24 Years in Plot to Blow Up Dallas Skyscraper
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A Jordanian national caught in an FBI sting in which he plotted to blow up a Dallas skyscraper in September 2009, was sentenced Tuesday to 24 years in prison. Authorities charged that Hosam Maher Husein Smadi drove a truck containing a fake bomb provided by the FBI to the Fountain Place,…
Miami Fed Prosecutor Off the Hook After Arrest for Jumping in Pool With Boxers
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Good news for the Miami fed prosecutor who was arrested after jumping into a pool in his boxers: You’re no longer in hot water. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office has decided not to formally charge Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Cronin, the Miami Herald reported. The paper reported that Assistant State Attorney…
Suburban D.C. Cop Sentenced in Not-So Smart Scheme to Break Into ATM Machine
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com This was not the smartest of schemes. And because of that, U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte on Monday sentenced former Prince George’s County Police officer Eddie Lee Smith, Jr., 42, of Maryland to two years and six months in prison. He was also ordered to pay $10,170.94 in restitution for…
Imprisoned Wife of Rep. John Conyers Wants to Withdraw Guilty Plea for Corruption
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Former Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, the corrupt wife of Rep. John Conyers, who is serving time in a West Virginia federal prison, is appealing a ruling by the sentencing judge, who refused to let her withdraw her guilty plea before sentencing, the Detroit News reports. Her lawyer claims in…
Supreme Court to Hear Case Against Ex-Atty. John Ashcroft
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to examine an interesting issue regarding the aggressive 9/11 practices of the Bush Administration: Can a U.S. citizen who claims he was illegally detained sue former attorney general John D. Ashcroft? The Washington Post reports that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled…
Mexican Cartels Beefing Up U.S. Presence
By William Booth and Nick Miroff Washington Post Foreign Service SAN DIEGO — When a major Mexican drug cartel opened a branch office here on the California side of the border, U.S. authorities tapped into their cellphones – then listened, watched and waited. Their surveillance effort captured more than 50,000 calls over six months, conversations…