U.S. Atty. Peter Neronha/gov photo

What’s $500 million for a corporate behemoth like Google?

Maybe a drop in the bucket, but for the government it’s a nice piece of change.

Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha plans to discuss at a press conference Monday afternoon how the money paid out to the Justice Department will be distributed, the Associated Press reported.

Google gave up the cash as part of a settlement after the Justice Department found it was distributing Google ads for Canadian pharmacies, which were selling drugs illegally.

U.S. Atty. Peter Neronha/gov photo

The unusual circumstances warranted this headline in the Providence Journal on Wednesday: “U.S. Prosecutors Left in the Cold on Drug Bust.”

The paper reported that when state police and DEA agents in Providence, R.I., last week announced the seizure of 145 pounds of cocaine, $1.2 million in cash and the arrest of three men allegedly linked to the Mexican drug cartels, “it came as news” to fed prosecutors.

“We were unaware of this investigation,” Jim Martin, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha, told the paper. “These are the types of cases we certainly would want to prioritize.”

To read the full story click here.

Daniel Bogden/utlaw

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — Slowly but surely, U.S. Attorneys are being confirmed.

On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed six more including Daniel Bogden, the Nevada U.S. Attorney who was fired in 2006 during the controversial purge of U.S. Attorneys who didn’t fall in line with the Bush administration’s mindset.

Other U.S. Attorneys confirmed included Steven Dettelbach for Northern Ohio; Carter Stewart for Southern Ohio; Peter Neronha for Rhode Island; Dennis Burke for Arizona, a former senior adviser for Homeland Security chief Secretary Janet Napolitano; and Neil MacBride for Northern Virginia.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Daniel Bogden/utlaw-edu

WASHINGTON — Four U.S. Attorney nominees moved one giant step closer Thursday to final confirmation by the Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted the nominees out of committee by a voice vote.

The U.S. Attorney nominees included: Peter F. Neronha of Rhode Island; Daniel G. Bogden of Nevada, who had been fired while serving under the Bush administration; Dennis K. Burke of Arizona and Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia.

The committee is expected to vote  Sept. 17 on nominees Paul Fishman of New Jersey and Jenny Durkan of  Washington state.