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FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 29, 2010

January 29, 2010

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1. WASHINGTON (RPRN) 01/29/10 — New Orleans: Four Men Arrested for Entering Government Property Under False Pretenses for the Purpose of Committing a Felony
   
   Joseph Basel, Robert Flanagan, James O’Keefe, and Stan Dai were charged in a criminal complaint with entering the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu. According to the complaint, several of the young men represented themselves as telephone repair technicians. They requested access to the main telephone on the office’s reception desk and tried to get into the telephone closet because they claimed they needed to make repairs. Full Story

2. Newark: International FBI Fugitive Captured in Toronto
   
   Myfit Dika was captured by the Toronto Fugitive Task Force in Canada Monday afternoon. Dika was wanted in connection with the takedown of a Balkan criminal enterprise in New Jersey and New York in March of 2009 in which 26 individuals were charged by indictment with a laundry list of crimes, including narcotics and firearms trafficking and money laundering. Full Story

3. Philadelphia: Chiropractor and Assistant Charged in Health Care Fraud Scheme

   Dr. Neil H. Hollander was charged Tuesday with health care fraud, mail fraud, and making false statements in a health care investigation. The indictment alleges that between 2002 and 2006, Hollander, a chiropractor, billed Independence Blue Cross approximately $914,503 for chiropractic treatments that he had not actually rendered to the insured patients. Full Story

4. Boston: Medford Man Convicted of Lasering LNG Tanker Helicopter Escort and Making False Statements
   
   Gerard Sasso, 51, was convicted Monday in U.S. District Court following a one-week jury trial of shining a powerful green laser beam into a State Police helicopter that was escorting a liquid natural gas tanker (LNG) through Boston Harbor, forcing the helicopter to abandon its escort mission. Sasso was convicted of one count of willfully interfering with an aircraft operator with reckless disregard for human life, and one count of making false statements. Full Story

5. New Orleans: New York Man Sentenced for Impersonating an Air Marshal
   
   Paul Henry Boritzer was sentenced Thursday to 10 months' incarceration for interfering with a flight crew and impersonating a federal air marshal while he was traveling from New York to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in February 2009. The jury unanimously found that while onboard JetBlue flight 119, Boritzer created a disturbance by refusing to obey the lawful instructions of the flight attendants and the captain. Full Story

6. Miami: Fort Lauderdale Attorney Pleads Guilty in Billion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme
   
   Attorney Scott Rothstein admitted on Wednesday that he engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity through his law firm, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler, P.A. (RRA). Specifically, Rothstein admitted that RRA was the criminal enterprise through which he and others fraudulently obtained approximately $1.2 billion from investors through bogus investment and other schemes. Full Story

7. Washington Field: Businessmen Sentenced for Their Roles in Foreign Bribery Scheme
   
   Two former executives of Willbros International Inc., a subsidiary of Houston-based Willbros Group Inc., were sentenced Thursday for their roles in a conspiracy to pay more than $6 million in bribes to Nigerian government officials. Jason Edward Steph and Jim Bob Brown pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and were sentenced to 15 months and 12 months, respectively. Full Story

8. New York: Acting Crime Family Boss Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Offenses
   
   Daniel Leo, aka “The Lion,” and his nephew and primary lieutenant, Joseph Leo, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges Thursday in Manhattan federal court. In about 2005, Daniel Leo became the acting boss of the Genovese organized crime family. During that time Daniel Leo served as acting boss, he continued to supervise a crew of Genovese organized crime family members and associates, including Joseph Leo and others, who committed loansharking, extortion, and illegal gambling offenses under Daniel Leo’s direction. Full Story

9. Los Angeles: Gang with Links to Mexican Mafia Targeted in Federal Case that Alleges Methamphetamine Trafficking
   
   Law enforcement authorities arrested six defendants Thursday who are linked to a Riverside street gang that is alleged to act under the control of the Mexican Mafia and engages in methamphetamine trafficking and other federal offenses that include hate crimes targeting African-Americans. Full Story

10. San Antonio: Former Army Staff Sergeant Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering
    
    A former staff sergeant in the U.S. Army pleaded guilty Thursday to a one-count criminal information charging her with money laundering arising from a scheme involving the fraudulent awarding and administration of U.S. government contracts in Iraq. According to court documents, from January 2004 through October 2004, Theresa Russell was deployed to Logistical Support Area Anaconda, a U.S. military installation near Balad, Iraq. As part of the plea, Russell admitted that from April 2004 to February 2005, she received more than $30,000 in cash. Full Story

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