What do you know about J Edgar Hoover? Most responses to this question –or so my guess goes— would be:

1. He was the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (the FBI).
2. He was a cross dresser and closeted homosexual.
3. There’s a movie in theaters about him directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

It’s not my purpose here to review the current Hoover movie. I have not yet seen it, and a fine review of J Edgar (the Eastwood film) can be found in Blast Magazine here. But when I saw the trailers for J Edgar and heard some of the buzz about it, I immediately wondered if other biopics about Hoover had been made.

Hoover has appeared as a minor character in dozens of films and television shows. As for films that focus solely on Hoover, there was a feature made about him in the late 1970s called “The Private Files of J Edgar Hoover” but it is unavailable on DVD. The other film about J Edgar Hoover that was available is from 2000. It stars the legendary Ernest Borgnine and is titled, simply, “Hoover.”

I’m glad I chose the latter for this ‘retro review,’ because it takes a different tack than one would expect to detail his directorship of the Bureau over the course of 50 years. Hoover is a 90-minute one man show in which Hoover/Borgnine addresses an unseen audience from a simple stage that is decorated to appear to be his office. A faded American flag is the backdrop and only adornment aside from several Greek-style columns and Hoover’s office furniture.

The film moves between Hoover’s monologues to the audience, feigned conversations he’s had with others, and clips of a real life interview from a deputy of his, Cartha D. Deloach. The cutaways to Deloach add an air of documentary authenticity, though in truth they are almost wholly redundant: Deloach simply repeats what Borgnine’s Hoover has just said. I think the conceit is to give credulity to Hoover’s monologues, to let us know that this is not something a writer or director has concocted. But they don’t add much else, other than bumping up what would be a sixty minute film to ninety minutes.

The casting of Borgnine as Hoover is a wonderful choice. Not only does he bear some resemblance to Hoover (at least in terms of body type), but he also plays the part magnificently.

What’s refreshing as a whole about Hoover is its unabashed patriotism. The other recent one-act play/movie about a famous figure, Will Ferrell’s “You’re Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush,” is too easily savage and snooty but not surprising: the artistic class simply knows George W Bush was a never-grown-up frat boy with an objectionable worldview and dangerous religious tendencies. One might expect similar fare for a stodgy and conservative figure like J Edgar Hoover. Not so in Hoover. Instead of a cheap takedown of the man, this film is an unapologetic defense of him, an explanation of and a compelling rationalization for some of his most famous actions and decisions. I might, however, concede, that Hoover does go too far in its defense of the man—as the movie veers quite close to a hagiography if little else.

More importantly, Hoover’s mission is to dispel myths about the Bureau Director, which brings us back to our list of popular conceptions of J Edgar Hoover. Number two on our list — which is widely believed to be true — is that Hoover wore women’s clothing and had a secret homosexual life. Hoover opens with a complete repudiation of this myth and takes to task the ‘tabloid culture’ of the media and society which baked up this, in his words, fabrication. Hoover’s reputed penchant for women’s clothes and homosexual behavior, in my limited research on the topic, does seem to be based wholly on conjecture and unreliable testimony. It’s titillating and what his enemies and detractors would like to believe, but I don’t see any conclusive proof of it.

J Edgar Hoover was almost certainly an annoyingly puritanical and boring man. He’s the kind of person you respect and want on your side but probably wouldn’t enjoy being around much on a Saturday night (unless bridge and The Lawrence Welk Show are your things). Hoover doesn’t offer much balance, but it’s convincingly pulled off and an interesting cinematic alternative –if you are looking for one—about the life of one of the most influential Americans of the 20th century.

I do have this to say about “J. Edgar,” the biopic about the life of F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover that is one of many Oscar-bait flicks on tap: I certainly know a lot about the legendary administrator’s taste in clothing.

I speak not, of course, of the his rumored predilection for wearing women’s clothes (although that’s there as well), but rather his impeccable taste in men’s clothing. He apparently was quite the dandy, mocking the other agent’s for their shoddy attire, and hiring agents based on a man’s chosen cufflinks.

This is perhaps the most riveting aspect of this movie.

Director Clint Eastwood did a rare miss with this film. It could have been great. It could have been spectacular actually; the story of a man who became director of the FBI at 24, who was intensely powerful, one of the main protagonists in the story that is the 20th century. He made the FBI what it is today. He was an early advocate of forensic science. He was a spymaster. He was, in all likelihood, both gay and a cross-dresser. He was kind of a dweeb with a passion for devising elaborate catalog systems. He could act heroically, but thought Martin Luther King, Jr. was a filthy Communist.

But instead of a grand tale of the rise and decline of American dominance in the former century through one man’s eyes, we have a bloated, sepia-toned melodrama, complete with an over-bearing mother (played with relish by Judi Dench) and a weirdly campy love story. Leonardo DiCaprio is at his most squinty-eyed in this movie, both as the young, svelte Hoover, and the elderly, fat-suited, be-jowelled Hoover. DiCaprio’s performances are such gambles. Sometimes you get the brilliant, tight, cerebral DiCaprio from “The Departed”. Sometimes you get “The Beach”. He’s not terrible in this- not “Beach” terrible anyway- but there’s an absence of control in his performance, and trudging quality. He’s saying his lines, but doesn’t appear to be having any fun. The same goes true for Naomi Watts, who plays Hoover’s longtime secretary. Most of the fault seems to be with the script for them, which is written like a stodgy period piece on some sort of sub-BBC channel (Dustin Lance Black wrote the script, which seems incomprehensible after his luminous job a couple years ago on “Milk”.)

Armie Hammer is a bright spot in all the dourness. Playing Hoover’s second-in-command and possible lover Clyde Tolson, Hammer seems to glitter in the pool of mediocrity. His scenes with DiCaprio, while kind of melodramatic, are genuinely painful and gritty. Tolson and Hoover, whether or not they were actually romantically involved, had a wonderfully complex and layered relationship that’s conveyed well here. DiCaprio plays off of Hammer with a banter and casual affection that’s far more textured than the rest of the plots.

The primary issue is a simple one: the movie is just too long. At a solid two and a half hours, it slogs through the Red Scare, the bank robbery epidemic, the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and the Kennedy assassination. There’s an unforgivable amount of voice over (the pretense is Hoover is writing his autobiography and is dictating to a series of young agents), and by the end you are so sick of watching DiCaprio in old-person makeup you don’t care about his machinations against Richard Nixon. It’s a semester of contemporary American history condensed into a class period. Which can be useful. But it doesn’t make it very much fun to watch.

Four alleged members of the New England chapter of La Cosa Nostra were arrested and charged yesterday with racketeering, extortion and more, in a Providence, Rhode Island, court according to a statement made by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer and other law enforcement officials.

Those charged are Eduardo Lato, 64; Alfred Scivola, 70; Raymond R. Jenkins, 47; and Albino Folcarelli, 53.  They were arrested yesterday and eached charged ith an array of crimes.

“Relying on violence and intimidation to carry out their illegal activities, organized criminal groups often act as though if they operate in the shadows, they will escape punishment,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “As today’s arrests show, they couldn’t be more wrong. Our law enforcement operations over the past nine months should make clear that we are zeroing in on La Cosa Nostra and other organized criminal groups, and that we will not rest until our work is done.”

This is the second superceding indictment in this case.  The first charged were LCN boss Luigi Manocchio and his associates Thomas Iafrate, Richard Bonafiglia and Theodore Cardillo.  Iafrate pleaded guilty in July 2011 to racketeering conspiracy.  In total, 127 alleged members of LCN have been charged as a continuing action against organized crime.

“As Attorney General Holder said in New York last January, battling all forms of organized crime, including La Cosa Nostra, remains a priority for the Department of Justice,” said U.S. Attorney Neronha. “It remains a priority because history has demonstrated that, unchecked, it extends its tentacles into our citizens’ everyday lives. Let no one doubt the commitment of law enforcement to keeping this threat off balance and on the run.”

The new charges allege that since the mid 1980s, the LCN members in question used threatened or implied force, violence and fear to extort regular payments from the business owners of places such as the Cadillac Lounge, the Satin Doll, the Foxy Lady, Desire and other adult entertainment business in Providence, Rhode Island, and other places.

wireimage.com

After nude pictures leaked of Scarlett Johansson, the actress and her attorney are requesting that the hosting sites immediately remove the pictures.

Johansson’s attorney, Marty Singer, sent a furious letter to the websites to remove the “stolen copyright protected private photos,” according to the Toronto Sun.

Singer threatened to take legal action in the letter if the editors fail to comply.

“If you fail to comply, you will be acting at your own peril. Please govern yourselves accordingly,” Singer said in the letter obtained by TMZ.

The images show Johansson in her house “in a state of undress and/or topless.”

This leak is believed to be the work of a ring of hackers who have released other celebrities’ nude photos.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating., however TMZ reports that the FBI already knows the identity of the ringleader.

“The truth? You can’t handle the truth!” When Jack Nicholson snarled those famous lines in a courtroom during the film “A Few Good Men,” he could just as easily have been reciting lines in Martin’s Scorsese’s “The Departed,” where he played the role of Frank Costello, a Boston mobster, the inspiration for whom is none other than James J. “Whitey” Bulger.

Bulger, 81, was captured by chest-thumping federal agents in Santa Monica last week, and whisked to a Boston courtroom. He faces 19 murder charges, as well a series of other counts painting a picture of him as the consummate mobster.  He’s been on the run for 16 years, and lived for 15 of those years in plain view in the California sunshine.

FBI press releases make it sound like the capture of this aged star of its Most Wanted list is a brilliant law enforcement coup. Few stop to question how it is that he managed to elude detection in an affluent community for so long. Both Bulger and bin Laden can teach fugitives everywhere a thing or two. It pays, we learn, to have friends in high places.

The prosecution of Whitey Bulger may turn out to be the most significant investigation of how law enforcement does its job since the Church Committee blew the lid off the CIA and FBI treatment of domestic dissent in the 1970s. If Bulger strikes boldly and without flinching, he should be able to force the Government to make choices about how much truth it is willing to tell the people of Boston, and the American public, about the manner and means by which the feds seek to bring people to justice.

The truth is that the Government lies routinely. It seeks to hold people accountable by denying accountability for its own actions. Despite bold promises of transparency, the Justice Department shares plenty with the former Kremlin: knowing where the bodies lie is as important as knowing the way to the men’s room for the good little boys and girls hoping to hopscotch their way to the top.

Bulger was a federal informant. He was a rat. A tool in the Government’s hands as it sought to chip away at other organized crime families in New England. Just who was his handler? How much information did he give the feds? How much did the feds give him? Asking these questions, and insisting on answers, may well be Bulger’s best defense.

The FBI said Saturday that the tip that led to the arrest of James J. “Whitey” Bulger was taken seriously from the start, disputing news reports that the tip was given low priority when it came in.

“Those reports are false,” the FBI said in a statement. “The FBI Supervisory Special Agent responsible for the Bulger Task Force was the first to review the tip. He then consulted with other members of the task force. Together, they recognized that certain information appeared to be credible and promising. Immediately thereafter, the Boston FBI office requested the Los Angeles FBI office to initiate surveillance at the targeted location. Hours later, less than 24 hours after the supervisory agent first reviewed the tip, Mr. Bulger and Ms. Greig were arrested.”

In the statement, the FBI said that the task force looking for Bulger included members of the US Marshals, the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Massachusetts State Police, and FBI agents.

The FBI has released few details about the soon-to-be rich tipster who keyed federal agents in on the location of James J. “Whitey” Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

Some reports Friday indicated the tip came from Iceland. The FBI said Saturday that the tipster was female.

Officials have insisted that the tip came in because of the uptick in PSA ads targeting Greig on daytime television, most watched by women. The commercials focused on Greig’s plastic surgeries and her frequenting of beauty salons.

Bulger, 81, faces 19 murder charges.

LOS ANGELES — Former Winter Hill Gang boss James J “Whitey” Bulger was remanded back to Massachusetts to face a litany of charges against him.

Appearing in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday, Bulger had a full white beard, wire-rimmed glasses, and was visibly banding. He waved his right to a rendition hearing.

Bulger, accused of 19 murders, smiled as federal law enforcement agents led him away. He was also seen smiling next to longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig in an arrest photo.

James J. “Whitey” Bulger, the South Boston gangster charged with 19 murders, who was one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives, was arrested in Southern California Wednesday night.

The 81-year-old was captured in Santa Monica, near Los Angeles, along with his longtime companion Catherine Greig, 60. They did not resist arrest.

No vehicles were towed from the property, hinting that the couple did not have a car.

According to the FBI, agents acted on a tip from a CNN viewer and moved in.

The arrest caps a 16-year global manhunt. The FBI recently stepped up its efforts in tracking Bulger by targeting Greig, taking to the airwaves during women’s daytime television shows, including “Ellen,” “The View,” and “Live with Regis & Kelly.”

Bulger does not appear to be in good health, officials said.

The arrest begins to mend a black mark for the FBI involving Bulger’s reputed years as an informant and a corrupt agent who allowed him to get away with murder as Bulger’g gang consolidated power away from the Italian mafia in Boston.

Both fugitives are due in a California court on Thursday.

A 21-year-old student at the University of Connecticut was arrested on Wednesday and charged with possession, receipt, and distribution of child pornography, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Steven Donald Lewis, 21, of Plainville, Conn., was taken into custody by the Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force and will face the charges in Federal Court.

According to the complaint, a Bristol, Conn. police detective logged onto a file-sharing service on November 9 and downloaded 34 images that were found to be child pornography from a shared folder on Lewis’s computer.

Lewis was arrested Wednesday morning at his dorm at UConn, and police seized his laptop, the FBI said in a statement.

Lewis appeared before a federal judge in Hartford and was released on a $100,000 bond put up by his family.

He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for possessing the images and a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and up to 20 years behind bars for distributing the images.

SAN DIEGO — The El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County, Calif., has agreed to pay the US government $2.2 million, plus interest, to settle allegations it defrauded Medicare, the Justice Department announced today.

The case was brought by a whistleblower, protected under federal law.

The government alleged that the 165-bed acute care hospital fraudulently inflated its charges to Medicare patients to obtain larger reimbursements from the federal health care program. The settlement covers claims submitted by the hospital for short inpatient admissions, usually of one day or less, when the services should have been billed on an outpatient "observation" basis or as emergency room visits.

"Hospitals that participate in the Medicare program must bill for their services accurately and honestly," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We will take action to ensure that taxpayers do not pay the costs of health care providers’ fraudulent practices."

The lawsuit was brought under the qui tam — whistleblower — provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private citizens to bring an action on behalf of the federal government and share in any recovery.

The whistleblower in this case, Pietro Ingrande, a former employee of El Centro Regional Medical Center, will receive $375,000 as his share of the recovery.

"Whistleblowers are critical to ensuring that Medicare dollars are not siphoned off, but find their way to those who most need them," said Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the OIG-HHS. "Office of Inspector General special agents and our law enforcement partners have forged a powerful team that will work with private citizens who come forward to protect the Medicare Trust Fund and defend it from fraud and abuse."

The investigation was conducted by the Justice Department, US Attorney, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, and the FBI.

El Centro is a city in the Colorado Desert, an extension of the Sonoran Desert. It is about 100 miles east of San Diego.

"The Medicare system attempts to deliver much needed medical services to many Americans," said San Diego FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter. "Anyone who purposely defrauds the system, therefore, misappropriating its funds, and takes away resources from those who need Medicare’s services will be investigated by the FBI. We are committed to helping preserve the system’s integrity by vigorously pursuing those who attempt to steal the funds that help keep our fellow Americans in good health."

The case was part of a government initiative that has netted more than $4.4 billion recovered by allegedly Medicare and Medicaid defrauders.

In a statement released today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned people, particularly Internet users, to “apply a critical eye and do their due diligence” before responding to requests for money in relief of Tuesdays deadly 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti.

“Past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization and/or a good cause,” the FBI said in its statement.

Be mindful of the following:

• Do not respond to any unsolicited (spam) incoming e-mails, including clicking links contained within those messages.
• Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as surviving victims or officials asking for donations via e-mail or social networking sites.
• Verify the legitimacy of nonprofit organizations by utilizing various Internet-based resources that may assist in confirming the group’s existence and its nonprofit status rather than following a purported link to the site.
• Be cautious of e-mails that claim to show pictures of the disaster areas in attached files because the files may contain viruses. Only open attachments from known senders.
• Make contributions directly to known organizations rather than relying on others to make the donation on your behalf to ensure contributions are received and used for intended purposes.
• Do not give your personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions: Providing such information may compromise your identity and make you vulnerable to identity theft.

If you receive a suspicious e-mail, you can report it to ic3.gov.

A one time Bridgewater State College early childhood education student was sentenced on child pornography charges Wednesday in a U.S. District court, the FBI reports.

Johnny Pires, formerly of Middleboro, was sentenced to five years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. The 24-year-old was convicted of “one count of attempting to receive child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography,” the FBI states. Last summer, Pires was acquitted on one charge of attempting to receive child pornography.

This case arose from an undercover FBI investigation that focused on individuals believed to be using file sharing programs to swap child porn. Pires used the popular file sharing program, Limewire, to share images of children engaged in sexually explicit acts.

During the investigation a federal agent downloaded several sexually explicit images from Pires and was also able to access his publicly shared Limewire folder, in which he found more images of children being sexually abused. Following this discovery, a search warrant was issued for Pires’ residence after which Pires confessed to accessing child porn through file sharing programs and to downloading sexually explicit images of children.

In court however, Pires refuted his own confession, claiming that he did not intend to download or share photos of children in such condition. A hard drive obtained from his residence during the search revealed several images of child pornography and children being sexually abused, all of which, the FBI states, appear to have been downloaded using Limewire.

Pires’ case was brought forward with help from Project Safe Childhood, which, launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice, aims to “combat the growing epidemic of online sexual exploitation of children,” according to the FBI. For more information on Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Pires’ case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kanwit of Massachusetts.

A 24-year-old Colorado resident was indicted in a New York federal court Thursday on charges of conspiracy to use explosive bombs in the United States.

Najibullah Zazi, according to Justice Department documents, received “detailed bomb-making instructions in Pakistan, purchased components of improvised explosive devices, and traveled to New York City on September 10, 2009 in furtherance of his criminal plans. “¦ Zazi remained committed to detonating an explosive device up until the date of his arrest” according to the FBI.

FBI agents arrested Zazi last week on charges of lying to the FBI regarding a domestic and international terrorism case.

Zazi “”¦knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to use one or more weapons of mass destruction” the FBI reports.

A search of Zazi’s home computer turned up bomb-making instructions and frequent searches of hydrochloric acid, a highly corrosive mineral acid. He also allegedly purchased several items needed to produce Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) a highly unstable‚ powder used in the July 2005 London bombings.

According to the FBI, Zazi and his companions purchased “unusually large amounts” of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products – both of which can be used to produce TATP.

Authorities also intercepted e-mail and text messages that showed Zazi had deep interests in acquiring bomb-making instructions.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, though optimistic, acknowledged the case is ongoing and the threat has not been completely curbed. “We believe any imminent threat arising from this case has been disrupted, but as always, we remind the American public to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.”

If convicted, Zazi faces life imprisonment.

The investigation is being conducted by the Denver and New York FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which include officers from more than 50 local, state and federal agencies.

Illinois man arrested

On a related note, 29-year-old Michael C. Finton of Illinois was arrested Thursday on charges of planning to bomb the federal building in Springfield, Illinois. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, actually tried to detonate a vehicular bomb earlier this year, however undercover agents rendered the bomb inactive before allowing him to set off on his mission.

Finton also faces life in prison is convicted.

Gregg Woodward, 47, of Milford, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison followed by 7 years of supervised released after he pleaded guilty in January to possession of child pornography, according to acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston.

Prosecutors said Woodward, a former English teacher at Foxborough High School, had viewed and downloaded images of young girls, under the age of 12, having sex and engaged in sexual acts with adult men, and that he had been viewing such images for several years. The FBI found thousands of images of child pornography on his computers at home.

Some of the young girls were known to the government and provided victim impact statements which were read aloud at Woodward’s sentencing hearing. At the hearing, prosecutors also said that Woodward, while in prison awaiting sentencing, wrote stories and hand-drew pictures of young girls being raped, tortured and mutilated and passed them around to other inmates.

A former prison inmate at Plymouth County Correctional Facility pleaded guilty to the federal crime of damaging the prison’s computer systems.

Acting US Attorney Michael K. Loucks and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Boston Field Division announced September 15 that Francis G. Janosko, 43 pleaded guilty to one count of intentional damage to a protected computer in Federal District Court in Boston.

During 2006 and 2007 While an Inmate at Plymouth, Janosko hacked a computer provided to inmates for legal research. The computer had restrictions disallowing use of email or Internet and various other functionality. Janosko was also able to gain access to a file containing names, addresses and social security of around 1,000 current and former employees of Plymouth County Correctional Facility. Janosko also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully to access a vital prison management software.

Janosko had been released from Plymouth County Correctional for some time but has been incarcerated since his apprehension in November 2008. The FBI and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case. Assistant US Attorney Scott L. Garland of Michael K. Loucks’s Computer Crime Unit is prosecuting the case.

Judge O’Toole set the sentencing date for December 15. Under the terms set forth in a plea bargain Janosko faces 18 months in prison.

Annie Le, 24, went missing on Tuesday. Credit: Yale University

Police at Yale University have issued a missing person’s report on 24-year-old Pharmacology student Annie Le. Le, according to police, left her purse, money and credit cards, her cell phone and all of her identification behind before vanishing earlier this week.

Le was last seen wearing “a knee length brown skirt, bright green short sleeved T-shirt, brown shoes and a brown necklace” the New Haven Register reports. She was last seen outside Yale’s School of Medicine on 10 Amistad St., this past Tuesday.

Le has no medical conditions that could explain her absence, and apparently has no access to a vehicle. She is 4-foot-11 inches tall and of Asian descent with brown eyes and straight shoulder-length brown hair, weighing about 90 pounds.

CNN reports Le was scheduled to be married Sunday to Columbia University grad student Jonathan Widawsky. Widawsky has not heard from his fiancƒ©e. Le’s family is assisting Yale, Connecticut and New Haven police, as well as the FBI, with the case.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the Yale Police Department at 203-432-4400.

Timothy Silvia, the former President of the Brockton chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, was sentenced in a federal court Wednesday to more than 21 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release for “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine” the FBI reports.

His co-defendant and close gang associate Todd Donofrio, 39, of Stoughton, was sentenced to 10 years to be followed by five years of supervised release. Both pleaded guilty in October 2008.

The two men were arrested in July 2007 during a raid on their Taunton clubhouse. The search turned up 17 guns, $100,000 in cash and 116 grams of cocaine.

Silvia, 44, and Donofrio were charged in connection with “Operation Roadkill”, a two-year investigation in Southeastern, Mass. The operation has resulted in charges against 15 members and associates of the “Outlaws”, according to the FBI.

The case against Silvia and Donofrio was investigated by the FBI, Massachusetts State Police, Taunton Police, Brockton Police and the Plymouth County sheriff’s department.

The Outlaws Motorcycle Club was established in Illinois in 1935. Today the gang, who’s main rival is the Hell’s Angels, has more than 200 chapters across North America, Asia, Australia and Europe.

In a recent letter FBI head Robert Mueller brutally attacked the Scottish government and Secretary of Justice Kenny MacAskill over the recent release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the man widely known as the Lockerbie bomber.

Mueller described the decision as “detrimental to the cause of justice” and that the decision to release Megrahi on grounds of compassion because the 57-year-old is suffering from terminal prostate cancer is a “mockery of the emotions, passions and pathos of all those affected by the Lockerbie tragedy.”

Mueller makes it clear in his August 21 letter that he, in the past, has “made it a practice not to comment on the actions of other prosecutors.” He goes on to say that the release of Megrahi is so unbelievably unjustified that he could not stand idly by without commenting and giving his opinion.

Mueller then describes, in great detail, the suffering of American families who lost friends and family members in the 1988 Pan Am tragedy that killed all 270 passengers and crew. Most of the dead were Americans.

Mueller justifies his complaint by reminding MacAskill that he was the “Assistant Attorney General in charge of the investigation and indictment of Megrahi in 1991.”

The Scottish government has indicated it will stand by its decision.

Welcome Home

After his release Megrahi was escorted by Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar‚ Gadhafi, to his home country of Libya. Upon arrival Megrahi was showered with flower petals and greeted with cheers and jubilation from the massive crowd that stood waiting for him.

President Obama warned Libya not to turn Megrahi’s homecoming into a celebration, and that the convicted Libyan terrorist should be placed under house arrest. Obama has also criticized Megrahi’s release.

Oil release

Many are accusing the Scottish government of freeing Megrahi in exchange for oil. Several British news outlets have reported a negotiation deal that, in exchange for Megrahi’s release, would allow companies such as BP (British Petroleum) to gain access to lucrative wells of Libyan oil.

In 2007, BP signed an oil search deal with Libya worth $900 million. The deal has allowed BP to search for gas in west Libya and offshore. According to the Times Online however, BP has, since the start of the project, been hit with a string of delays in attempts to import equipment through Libyan customs and secure legal paperwork.

Some believe that Megrahi’s release would give BP the go-ahead to bypass certain security measurements and conduct their search in a more peaceful and, perhaps, prosperous way.

Britain has denied any such connection.

Adams Management Group, a contractor for one of the main Big Dig construction companies, was charged Tuesday in federal court with submitting false claims on a federal highway project after a federal investigation revealed the firm allegedly engaged in a scheme to falsely categorize laborers to overcharge the government.

The investigation alleges that, beginning in 2002 through 2006, Adams, a subcontractor to McCourt Construction Co., engaged in a scheme to overbill the Central Artery/Tunnel Project by falsely categorizing apprentice workers as journeymen on work performed.

The company faces a fine of up to $500,000.

According to the FBI, McCourt and two of its managers have previously been convicted in federal court regarding the same overbilling scheme. Three employees of Massachusetts Electric Construction Company, another McCourt subcontractor on the Big Dig, were also convicted in the same type of scam.

The FBI is making car cloning — identify theft for automobiles — a top priority after a huge bust in Tampa netted 17 arrests and the breakup of a long-term car cloning enterprise.

“It’s a serious crime problem that’s being aggressively investigated by law enforcement,” the FBI said in a statement this week.

So how does this work? When your car gets stolen — FBI says it’s usually a luxury car or stacked SUV — the thief pries off the VIN number and replaces it with another number, the VIN number of a legitimate, non-stolen car with the same make, model and year but usually from a different state.

The thief also doctors up phony ownership documents that allow the vehicle to be easily registered somewhere else.

In the Tampa case, more than 1,000 cars were cloned and sold in 20 states with a $25 million loss to owners and insurers.

The tactic was highlighted on the USA Network television show “Burn Notice” recently.

If you buy a cloned car, and the police bust the thief and find you, they’ll take the car back. Then you’re out of luck.

Worse, if your legitimate car gets cloned, you could be the victim of parking tickets, toll violations, speeding, and other nasty offenses.

The good news is that a new national database may help get rid of car cloning.

“Enter NMVTIS, or the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. This Department of Justice database, operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, is an electronic system that links state motor vehicle departments together “¦ and once fully operational should go a long way towards shutting down car cloning activities,” the FBI said. “If a car is titled in one state, a criminal should not be able to steal its VIN and use it on another vehicle in another state — the database will spit out a hit showing that the number is already in use.”

So far, 37 states participate or are in the process of participating in the system. A federal law mandated the creation of the database and the participation of all 50 states by next year.

How can you prevent cloning?

• If you think your car was cloned (for instance, you receive notice of unpaid parking tickets that aren’t yours), contact your local police.
• If you’re car shopping, beware of a car being sold for substantially less than comparable makes and models.
• Get a copy of the car’s vehicle history report.
• Check out the VIN plate on the dashboard for any evidence of tampering (scratches, etc.)
• Look for incorrect spellings on paperwork, like vehicle titles.
• Trust your intuition”"if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

A former Pfizer district sales manager was found guilty of obstruction of justice Monday, the FBI said in a statement.

Thomas Farina, 42, of Fairport, N.Y., faces 20 years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines after he allegedly made a Pfizer sales representative delete evidence that promoted a company drug for off-label usage not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

According to the FBI, Farina also had the sales rep. change the dates on a computer and “instructed his sales representative on how to change the clock and date setting on the computer, and then alter and re-save the documents in order to make the sanitized documents appear to have been last modified at an earlier time.”

Authorities said Pfizer has cooperated fully in the investigation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation offered some insight into the case of one of their most wanted criminals Wednesday, in a case that’s straight out of Boston.

James “Whitey” Bulger, the infamous South Boston crime boss, is reportedly responsible for the murders of 19 people.

The FBI believes that Bulger is living abroad, and scheduled the Wednesday briefing in order to give the case some “international exposure.”

“The focus of the case has become international. We hope to make his world smaller for him” said Richard Teahan, a Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI’s Boston office.

Though the FBI does not know his exact whereabouts, they did recently locate two of his international bank accounts — one in London and one in Ireland. The Bureau believes that Bulger’s criminal activities could have earned him anywhere from $10 million to $30 million.

Bulger has been at large for 14 years. His success in staying free is due in large part to his spending nearly two decades preparing to be a fugitive. He has money in accounts all over the world, and only ever uses cash, authorities say.

The alleged crime boss has several disguises and is constantly sporting fake mustaches and changing hair colors. He is said to be an avid collector of World War II and Adolf Hitler memorabilia and supposedly always pockets a knife.

Bulger, who is now 79, has vowed he will never return to prison. There is currently a $2 million reward for his capture, the largest the FBI has ever placed on a criminal in their top ten.

Even as a youth, Whitey was charged with assault, robbery and rape.

While in South Boston, Bulger infiltrated the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, creating a public distrust for the city’s police, that lasts even to this day.

“He left a scar on the community” said Teahan.

Bulger’s companion, Catherine Greig, is also wanted for harboring a fugitive. A force composed of the FBI, Massachusetts Department of Corrections, and Massachusetts State Police have been looking for both.

Authorities worldwide have completed a huge operation closing down seven child pornography rings.

US overview of Operation Joint Hammer

In 2006, authorities in Queensland, Australia received a tip regarding a sexually explicit video on the Internet. Police followed up on the tip, only to discover a video of a young Dutch victim being sexually molested. Soon after, the Belgian police were contacted and an investigation, nicknamed “Operation Koala,” began.

Belgian authorities tracked down and arrested the assailant, who then provided information on the video’s producer, an Italian pornographic website operator.

Belgian police then contacted Italian authorities, who located the producer, arrested him and shut down his website. Italian police then found 50,000 emails addressed to the website, which they handed over to Europol.

Europol sent the emails to authorities in the emails’ 28 countries of origin.

More than 11,000 of the emails originated from the United States.

Of those 11,000, 700 emails became leads, investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section also played a crucial role, along with local and state law agencies.

Several child predators have located and arrested in the United States, including:

A New Jersey father who pleaded guilty to taking sexually explicit images of his nine-year-old daughter, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Authorities also found approximately 130,000 sexually explicit images of minors upon searching the man’s home.

A fifth-grade teacher in Arizona, a customer on the Italian porn site, was charged with sexual exploitation of children, after a search of his home led to allegations he instigated sexual contact with his female students.

A convicted Philadelphia sex offender who had previously spent 15 years in prison was charged with distributing, advertising and receiving child pornography. Authorities say evidence indicated that he ran two global online child pornography bulletin boards.

The one tip, received three years ago by Australian authorities, has led to the unraveling of seven incomprehensibly large international porn rings on three continents.

Authorities in the United States, have so far conducted 250 investigations resulting in 60 arrests. Several at-risk children have been rescued as a result of the operation.

“We’re still working our way through all the cases” said an FBI agent in charge of the investigation. “Cooperation is the key. During our regular meetings with postal inspectors, ICE, and DOJ, we do whatever needs to be done as a team to make sure the cases keep moving forward.”

The FBI and state police in Illinois are reviewing all evidence from a series of 1982 deaths dubbed “The Tylenol murders.”

Given the many recent advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence,” the FBI Chicago office said in a statement Thursday.

The FBI says the review was prompted by the recent anniversary of the killings and a bevy of new tips that have come in. No new physical evidence has emerged, and no charges have been filed.

James W. Lewis, of Cambridge, served 12 years in federal prison for trying to extort $1 million from Tylenol, but was never charged in the killings.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, last April, when tornadoes were threatening Jackson, Mississippi, many residents were not alerted to the severe weather because five tornado warning sirens didn’t work. The reason: the sirens’ copper wiring had been stolen.

A month before that, 4,000 Polk County, Fla. residents were powerless when thieves ripped copper wire right off an electrical transformer, costing $500,000 to replace.

These cases and others, according to authorities, combine to form a very real threat to national security and American infrastructure.

“More and more since 9/11, we’re using intelligence to get our arms around emerging threats at the national level-not just when it comes to terrorism, but also in the criminal arena,” the FBI said in a statement recently. A recent FBI criminal intelligence report outlines the situation. It concluded that:

• “The demand for copper from developing nations such as China and India is creating a robust international copper trade,” and as the global supply of copper continues to tighten, “the market for illicit copper will likely increase.” From 2001 until 2008, the price of the metal has increased by more than 500 percent.
• The thieves-many of whom are drug addicts or gang members-may act individually or as part of organized groups and are interested in the quick cash they get from selling copper to scrap metal dealers.
• Their targets include electrical substations, railroads, security and emergency services, and other sensitive sites. Already, copper thefts have been responsible for shutting down railway systems and even 9-1-1 emergency systems.

“On the surface, it could be a relatively small theft,” said one FBI agent who specializes in major theft crimes and who commissioned the report after getting wind of the problem, “but the public safety impact could be significant.”

While the thieves may just be looking for a quick score and not mean to compromise national infrastructure, that’s just what’s happening, and the Feds are looking to find them and wrap thee thieves up heavy federal charges that include jail time.

The government has set up task forces between local, state an federal law enforcement agencies to combat the copper problem, which is particularly heavy in Nevada, where one thief now faces 20 years in prison.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Samuel Hicks, assigned to the Pittsburgh FBI Office, was shot and killed Wednesday while serving a federal search warrant on a suspected drug distribution ring.

One suspect is in custody, the FBI said in a statement.

Hicks, 33, joined the FBI in March 2007. The University of Pittsburgh graduate formally served as a Baltimore police officer. He leaves wife and three-year-old son.

“This is a real tragedy with the loss of such a talented agent who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country when putting on a badge and accepting the responsibility for protecting our nation,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Rodriguez. “The FBI family mourns alongside Agent Hicks’ family. We ask that the media and the public respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller echoed.

“The loss of Sam Hicks is a tragedy,” said Mueller. “Our hearts and prayers go out to Sam’s family and the members of the Pittsburgh Field Office.”

PITTSBURGH — The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and local police were executing a federal search warrant this morning when an FBI agent was shot at the scene.

“We are in the process of notifying the agent’s family and will provide more details later today,” the FBI said in a statement.

The FBI specifically points out that early media reports that this incident was associated with a home invasion are actually false.

Juvenile prostitution has long been a concern for officers across the country.‚  Children are forced into the sex trade without the ability to simply walk away at a whim.‚  The pimps decide their fate, and it’s usually an ugly one.

It’s a dirty reality, one that the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) plans to stop.‚  Slowly, but surely.

Last week, the three organizations along with local police conducted Operation Cross Country II, a three-day nationwide operation targeting juvenile prostitution.‚ ‚  The operation was conducted as part of Innocence Lost, an initiative created by the FBI, the DOJ and NCMEC in 2003 to address criminal organizations involved in the child sex trade.

Various stings were set up across the country. Agents contacted call girls over the internet and arranged to meet them in a designated hotel room armed with a plethora of surveillance equipment. In the adjoining room, FBI agents monitored the cameras, waiting for money to exchange hands.‚  Once the deal was made, the officers barged in and arrested the “escort.”

The stings resulted in the arrests of 518 prostitutes and 73 pimps.‚  Forty-nine children between the ages of 13 and 17 were recovered from forced sex trade, according to an FBI release.

“Sex trafficking of children remains one of the most violent and unconscionable crimes committed in this country. There are few law enforcement missions more important than protecting our nation’s children,” said FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole at a press conference.

Girls as young 12-years-old were taken into custody.

Some stings didn’t manage to rescue any children, however FBI authorities say that every prostitute arrested could lead to a larger ring and the discovery of juveniles in the underground sex trade.

Operation Cross Country I was conducted last June, resulting in the arrests of 389 people.‚  Twenty-one children were recovered.

So far, the Innocence Lost initiative has resulted in 265 indictments and 365 convictions on state and federal charges.‚  Thirty-six criminal rings have been broken up.

The FBI has made a large dent in the child sex trade; 577 child victims have been recovered in the program’s five year history, according to the FBI release.

Innocence Lost bears much resemblance to Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator,” an investigative initiative that targets men and women who chat with children on the internet and arrange meetings with the intention of engaging in sexual activity.

The program came under heavy fire after Texas District Attorney Louis Conradt Jr. committed suicide when a SWAT team tried to arrest him while NBC taped.

A Bolivar, Tenn., police officer faces federal charges after he was allegedly caught selling pain killers to young girls at a local Sonic Drive-In.

WIlliam Patrick Jordan, 37, faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine after an investigation revealed he was allegedly selling 50 to 70 hydrocodone pills twice a week for over a year at the restaurant, according to a statement from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to the charge, a confidential, undercover federal informant sold Jordan 40 hydrocodone tablets for $120, purportedly for resale. DEA agents swooped in and arrested Jordan, who was released on bond pending a hearing October 29. He faces charges of knowingly, unlawfully, and intentionally possessing hydrocodone with the intent to distribute.

Starting Monday,‚ more than 50‚ threatening letters started to arrive at Chase Bank, the FDIC, and government offices.

The letters, originating from‚ Amarillo, Texas, contained a white powdery substance that was found to be harmless, and the FBI is investigating.

“Sending a hoax letter is a serious crime, and a drain on law enforcement resources,” said FBI Section Chief Doug Perdue,‚ ”We will continue to work diligently to identify and arrest those responsible.”

Yesterday, the FBI released photographs of one of the hoax letter and its envelope.

“STEAL TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE’S MONEY AND NOT
EXPECT REPRERCUSSIONS. IT’S PAYBACK TIME. WHAT YOU
JUST BREATHED IN WILL KILL YOU WITHIN 10 DAYS
THANK —— AND THE FDIC FOR YOUR DEMISE”

Letters were received in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.‚ The FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and state and local authorities are investigating each incident.

“People who have mailed these kinds of hoax letters in the past have received some serious jail time” said FBI press chief, Richard Kolko, in a statement Wednesday.‚ ”This investigation will continue until those responsible are arrested, and we appreciate the public’s support by providing information.”

Authorities have set up a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever is behind the letter hoax.

For several weeks after September 11, 2001, a series of letter-based attacks occurred, with letters containing anthrax spores being mailed to several news media offices and two Democratic U.S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others. The primary suspect was not identified publicly until earlier this year.‚ Bruce Edwards Ivins, a former government scientist killed himself via drug overdose on August 1.

The bad guys are going virtual more and more, and American businesses and government networks are getting victimized at a record pace, according to an FBI report.

“The increasing number of such crimes not only impacts the economy but threatens national security,” the FBI said Friday.

The man at the head of the opposition is the FBI’s Shawn Henry, recently appointed head of their Cyber Division. He told reporters Wednesday that the FBI has literally thousands of open cyber crime cases.

“One case in point: We joined our international partners yesterday in announcing a major takedown of a transnational criminal network that was buying and selling stolen financial information through an online forum known as ‘Dark Market‘,” the FBI said Friday.

“The business of the United States is done on the Internet,” said Henry, “And the information that flows electronically 24/7 is increasingly the target of not only identity thieves and scammers, but organized crime groups, terrorists, and overseas governments.”

Yes, even other countries are trying to virtually penetrate the U.S. Henry says about 24 different governments have an “aggressive interest” in obtaining information from or making attacks against American cyber infrastructure.

Henry says that individual hackers and crackers have grouped up into “virtual gangs.”

“In years gone by, if a gang wanted to rob a bank, it needed crooks with various skills — safe cracker, get-away driver, look-out, etc. That’s essentially what we’re seeing in the cyber world today, only these virtual gang members have never met in the physical world,” Henry said.

“There are organized groups that are very successful.”

A Georgia man was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court for using a website to fraudulently get people to invest in so-called “certificates”, promising a guaranteed rate of return after nine months. Of course, he just pocketed the money, authorities say.

Michael Patrick Luckett, 37, of Gainesville, Ga. got three years in jail followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay almost $100,000 in restitution to his victims. The Securities and Exchange Commission previously froze $220,900 in Luckett’s accounts, and they will start to distribute that to victims as well.

Luckett pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud July 14.

In his scheme, Luckett worked from his Boston apartment and duped about 15 people all around the country to send him more than $450,000 for investment in the fake “Transnational Fund”.

To try and hide his tracks, Luckett filtered the checks through an address in Hartford, which forwarded to Boston. It did not work.

The FBI says Luckett used nearly $100,000 of the funds received for expenses such as his personal rent and meals, making cash withdrawals and promoting the Transnational Fund website to try and get more money.

On Thursday, some good news hit the battered lungs of a billion junk email filters like pure oxygen: Eleven of the world’s most prolific spammers — nine of whom live in the U.S. — were indicted by the Department of Justice.

According to papers unsealed in Detroit, the electronic highwaymen, facing a 41-count indictment, are a geographical grab bag, ranging from Queen Creek, Calif. to Hong Kong to Russia.

One of the alleged scams includes cooked up pump and dump stock schemes for Chinese corporations hungry to score First World dough. In these cases, Americans are told stocks are going to go up, people buy up the stock, and in the end only the company makes money.

According to U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy, it was, “one of the largest illegal spamming and fraud operations in the country.”

The indictment is the culmination of the three-year investigation, in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and even the Postal Service, all assisted. Not a bad coup for old snail mail.

In 2005 alone, federal investigators estimate that the ring generated $3 million with their scams.

Though it’s unclear how many of the spammers are in custody, and the indictment isn’t likely freeze the torrents of junk hitting your inbox every day, it is a refreshing bit of action from the Justice Department.

It’d be nice to see more of these shots across the bow in the future, and if the Postal Service has anything to say about it, a few more direct hits.

Charged:

• Alan M. Ralsky, 52, of West Bloomfield, Mich.
• Scott K. Bradley, 46, of West Bloomfield, Mich.
• Judy M. Devenow, 55, of Lansing, Mich.
• John S. Bown, 47, of Poway, Calif.
• William C. Neil, 45, of Fresno, Calif.
• Anki K. Neil, 36, of Fresno, Calif
• James E. Bragg, 39, of Queen Creek, Ariz.
• James E. Fite, 34, of Whittier, Calif.
• Peter Severa, age unknown, of Russia
• How Wai John Hui, 49, of Vancouver, Canada and Hong Kong
• Francis A. Tribble, of Los Angeles, Calif.