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From LA Times

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Groups donate $42,000 to families of firefighters killed in Station fire

The Los Angeles County Fire Department announced today that it received $42,000 in donations from two organizations to help the families of two firefighters killed battling the huge Station fire.

One donation of $30,000 was made by the Master Wan Ko Yee International Cultural Institute, which promotes Chinese culture and arts. An additional $12,000 was donated by the United Relief Committee, which provides help to disaster victims, the Fire Department said.

L.A. County reaches agreement with 90,000 union workers

Los Angeles County officials announced today that they reached a two-year agreement with 90,000 unionized workers that avoids layoffs but also provides no wage increases.

"Our union partners stepped up and recognized the shared sacrifice we are all in right now," Supervisor Don Knabe said in a prepared statement.  "Los Angeles County is in difficult financial times, between diminishing tax revenue from the local economy and round after round of funding hits from the state of California.  We are all in this together as we weather this economic storm."

Still, total labor cost will increase after county officials agreed to pay nearly all health insurance increases. County Chief Executive William T Fujioka said the cost for county health insurance plans is expected to increase by 9% in 2010, and the county contribution will increase by 8%. He was unable to immediately provide a dollar figure for the resulting cost to taxpayers.

Los Angeles County is the the region's largest employer.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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Doctor, 90, accused in mercy killing of wife dies

The 90-year-old doctor who was accused last month in a mercy killing for his terminally ill wife before turning the gun on himself has died of his injuries.

As a result, the Orange County district attorney's office has dismissed the case, officials announced today.

Authorities alleged that James Fish gave his 88-year-old wife, Phyllis, morphine before opening fire at their home in the Laguna Woods retirement community. 

The district attorney's office had charged Fish with voluntary manslaughter.

He died Tuesday at an Orange County hospital.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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Records in Mel Gibson inquiry show calls to TMZ, efforts by sheriff's officials to conceal actor's anti-Semitic tirade

 Authorities investigating media leaks surrounding Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic tirade during a 2006 drunk driving arrest found that two calls were made the same day to celebrity news website TMZ.com from the home of the sheriff's deputy who arrested the actor, records reviewed by The Times show.

Despite the findings, Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against Sheriff's Deputy James Mee, concluding that they could not identify who made the brief calls from his home or who leaked portions of his report about Gibson's arrest.

Mee, reached at home, said he was relieved by the district attorney's decision and insisted he had done nothing wrong. He declined to comment further.

Sheriff's supervisors attempted to prevent details of Gibson's inflammatory remarks from becoming public, according to a July 21 district attorney's memo explaining why prosecutors declined to file charges. The memo said that a sheriff's captain ordered that Mee rewrite his initial report to remove the actor's anti-Semitic statements. 

Capt. Thomas Martin ordered that Mee then write a supplemental report that would include the statements and be placed in a locked safe along with a video of Gibson's booking and a bottle of tequila taken from the actor, the memo said.

“This procedure would prevent the press from getting a copy of the report,” the memo said.

Prosecutors noted, however, that the supplemental report was never placed in a safe. A sheriff's spokesman initially described the arrest as having occurred “without incident.”

But TMZ later posted excerpts of Mee's initial report on its website, detailing Gibson's profane outbursts, his alleged attempt to escape custody and repeated threats against the arresting deputy. The report also detailed Gibson's anti-Semitic remarks.

“The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” the actor was quoted as saying before asking the deputy, who is Jewish, “Are you a Jew?”

The news sparked outrage at the actor's behavior as well as fierce criticism of the Sheriff's Department, which was accused of giving Gibson special treatment.

The Sheriff's Department launched a probe into who leaked Mee's report. Investigators obtained a search warrant for the cellphone records of Harvey Levin, the founder of TMZ, as well as phone and bank records for Mee and his family, according to the memo.

The records showed no unusual payments to Mee, his wife or daughter, the memo said. But the phone records showed eight more calls from Levin to Mee's home in the two days after the arrest, including a 10-minute call the next day and a 25-minute call the day after.

The memo said that investigators found no evidence that anyone used Mee's home computer or fax machine to electronicially share the initial arrest report. Mee was one of three sheriff's officials who had access to the report that was leaked, the memo said.

This week, Gibson's drunk driving conviction was expunged after completing the terms of his probation.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/records-show-efforts-by-sheriffs-officials-to-conceal-mel-gibsons-antisemitic-tirade-calls-to-tmz.html#more

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FBI snags 100 people in global identity-theft scheme

More than 50 people have been indicted in Southern California, Las Vegas and Charlotte, N.C., in connection with a "phishing" scheme to steal bank account information from thousands of victims in the United States, an FBI spokeswoman said.

The federal indictment, which is due to be unsealed today, names 53 indicted suspects as well as 47 unindicted co-conspirators from Egypt, said Laura Eimiller, the FBI spokeswoman.

Among those named in the indictment are suspects from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties.

The suspects are accused of posing as legitimate bank representatives and sending e-mails to victims, seeking to "update" their records. After the victims would send their personal information, the suspects allegedly withdrew money from their bank accounts.

Eimiller said Egyptian authorities would be seeking charges against the suspects from that country.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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Roman Polanski risked extradition back to U.S. as early as 1980, biographer says

In the wake of Roman Polanski's arrest last month, many people have asked why the famed director risked extradition back to the United States by attending a film festival in Zurich.

Going into a country that had a extradition treaty with the U.S. was risky for Polanski, who has been wanted for three decades after he fled before being sentenced in L.A. court for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

But Polanski's biographer said the director has long been a risk taker -- both before and after the sex assault case. Christopher Sandford, writing in the Telegraph , noted that Polanski risked being arrested and sent back to the U.S. as early as 1980 -- just two years after he fled.

"In February 1980, Polanski managed to appear in Holland, a country with an extradition treaty with the U.S., in order to attend the premiere of his film ' Tess,'" Sandford wrote. He quoted Polanski as saying, "I'll be home again before there's any legal nonsense."

Sandford continues:

In recent years, Polanski has continued to visit several "off-limits" countries with impunity, and has even bought a home in Gstaad [Switzerland], where he counts the local prefect of police among his neighbours.

No wonder, perhaps, that one of Polanski's friends told me last week that "Roman had possibly come to believe over the last 30 years that he was less and less bound by any restrictions on his liberty." If so, it's an assumption that may yet be tested by events in the weeks ahead.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/polanski-risked-extradition-back-to-us-as-early-as-1980-biographer-says.html#more

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Mother of L.A. student slain in Ecuador seeks answers to daughter's death

The mother of a Cal State L.A. student slain in Ecuador is pushing for an investigation, claiming local police in the South American country and the U.S. Embassy are doing little about the case.

Gloria Daniela Lopez, 26, was stabbed and her throat slit Sept. 9 in Ambato, Ecuador, where she had been on vacation since late June, said her mother, Gloria Lema of Los Angeles. A family friend, Meghan Kendal, said Lopez also had been decapitated and was possibly raped. Lopez was studying sociology at Cal State L.A.

Lema, who immigrated to the United States from Ecuador 28 years ago, traveled to Ambato after the killing to identify her daughter's body. There she contacted local police and the U.S. Embassy.

“The police investigation, they can't do anything, because they said she's American, they need to send someone from here to investigate,” Lema said she was told by local police. “It's a month already, and they don't have anybody, they don't do anything, nothing, nothing much.”

A U.S. State Department official would confirm only that Lopez had died in Ambato, about 70 miles from the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, and that her body had been discovered Sept. 10.

The official, who requested anonymity because she is not authorized to speak about the case publicly, would not confirm whether Lopez was raped or murdered. But she said an investigation is ongoing and that the U.S. Embassy in Quito is working closely with local authorities.

Lema said police officials in Ambato told her they have no evidence, and she said embassy officials told her they do not have a police department to investigate the case.

Kendal said she and Lema have reached out to U.S. officials, including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), to push for an investigation and to help bring Lopez's body home.

“I talked with her every single night,” Lema said, referring to when Lopez was alive in Ecuador. “I said, 'How are you?' and "How are you doing?' She was so happy there. She said, 'I have nice people here.'”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/ecuador-killing.html#more

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Los Angeles neighborhood councils' cash tempts some

Felony charges against four treasurers have city rethinking oversight.

By Maeve Reston

October 8, 2009

Los Angeles police are investigating a community activist and convicted felon accused of misusing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars while serving as chairman of his neighborhood council.

The case of James Harris is just one of six involving neighborhood council treasurers or chairmen who are believed to have misspent as much as $250,000 in city money.

The investigations have raised questions about the city's financial oversight of the volunteer community groups -- for example, none of the treasurers were subject to credit or background checks. And the probes have drawn attention to what some activists view as a system that poses challenges for even the most well-meaning participants.

Although the neighborhood council system was created in 1999 as a way to give residents a greater voice in community affairs, some members say they have been distracted by difficulties resolving internal quarrels, confusion over the laws governing their meetings and burdensome financial paperwork. Four councils are currently unable to hold meetings because of internal disputes, according to city officials.

To pay for projects in their communities, each of the city's 89 groups has historically been allotted $50,000, which can be spent through city checks or a credit card issued to each treasurer. Although every expenditure is supposed to be approved by the full neighborhood council, investigators have found that some were not.

So far the Los Angeles County district attorney has filed felony charges against four treasurers. In addition to Harris', at least one other case is still under investigation. Tips about misconduct have trickled in to the city's Department of Neighborhood Empowerment ever since officials there began posting neighborhood council transactions on the Internet in 2007 to enhance transparency.

Two treasurers pleaded guilty to felonies involving misuse of public funds this summer, one faces her next court hearing later this month and one case was dismissed because the defendant died before trial.

"I can't believe the city hands out credit cards like this -- it's incredible," said David Demerjian, head of the district attorney's Public Integrity Division. He added "there wasn't much of a defense in any of these cases."

Michele Siqueiros, president of the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, said "the majority of [neighborhood council] money has been spent to do great things" such as graffiti cleanups, community events and beautification projects.

"There are powerful things that neighborhoods are doing with these funds, and we want to them to continue," she said.

BongHwan Kim, who assumed the role of general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment in late 2007, said the problems were confined to a small group of treasurers who acted alone and the department is proactively addressing the issues. But he said that at its inception, the $4.5-million neighborhood council funding program "was never really well thought out enough to prevent these kinds of criminal activities."

Although an online ethics training session is required for every neighborhood council board member every two years, only a third of more than 1,600 members have complied, records show. And there have been few consequences for treasurers who fail to submit budgets or documentation for their expenses. Recently city officials have begun freezing their funds.

In the case of Harris, who served as chairman and temporarily as treasurer of the Empowerment Congress Southwest Area Neighborhood Development Council, city officials asked the Los Angeles Police Department to investigate repeated cash withdrawals that occurred without the knowledge of his council.

In a memo to police, Kim said Harris submitted what appeared to be fraudulent invoices and event sign-in sheets with fictitious names. Officials were also concerned about Harris' "possible self-dealing with another community organization and gift cards purchased for questionable purposes." The neighborhood council paid $6,784 to Harris' employer, a South Los Angeles economic development and anti-drug-abuse group known as the Community Coalition. The group was founded by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), and its board includes the Rev. Leonard Jackson, a senior advisor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

City officials also asked police to look into what they described as excessive payments for two administrative assistants that totaled more than $53,000 between June 2006 and January of this year.

Harris' work with ex-offenders, gangs and substance abuse organizations was praised by both by Deputy Mayor Larry Frank, who oversees community affairs, and the Community Coalition's executive director, Marqueece Harris-Dawson.

"We have tremendous respect for James; we really hope this matter can be resolved where James can continue his work in the community," Harris-Dawson said. "Losing someone like James in a community like ours can be devastating."

Harris declined to comment for this report.

Officials would not comment on Harris' background, but court records show that he was convicted in 1990 of disorderly conduct involving prostitution and of illegal possession of a firearm in 1996.

In the summer of 2007, members of the Central Alameda Neighborhood Council noticed curious charges by their treasurer, Genia Jackson, who did not turn in her financial reports.

Records show that she withdrew $5,000 in cash over two months alone and made more than 30 purchases at clothing, thrift and shoe stores and a school uniform shop after assuming the post in September 2006. There were also purchases at Hertz Rent-A-Car, the Premier Inn, New Wave Beauty Supply, New Fashion Wigs and L.A. Nails.

At Jackson's preliminary hearing this year on charges of misuse of funds by a public official, her fellow neighborhood council member, Jimena Toscano, testified that council members never asked Jackson how the money was being spent "because we always assumed it was for our neighborhood projects." After being alerted to the suspicious charges, it was three months before city officials took away Jackson's city credit card. After entering a guilty plea in August, Jackson is now on a plan to repay the city more than $18,000.

Her lawyer, Louisa Pensanti, said there was no excuse for Jackson's actions, but she noted that her client had cancer. Pensanti added that she was shocked by the city's lack of oversight: "It was unlimited credit. It was like somebody handing you a credit card and saying: 'Go ahead.' "

Similarly, Chris Elwell, former president of the Olympic Park Neighborhood Council said "it took an astonishing amount of time" for city officials to suspend treasurer Verna Jones, who is alleged to have withdrawn $15,000 in cash, according to a city memo, and used the council's credit card for car rentals, gas, mailing charges and trips to restaurants across the city.

Elwell said the problems with Jones inflamed already fractious relations among the neighborhood council's members who could not agree on how to handle the matter. "When the board did meet, it was 'The Ricki Lake Show,' " Elwell said.

Advice from the neighborhood empowerment department was continually changing, Elwell said: "They kept trying to put it back on us to somehow review the expenses -- we were not capable of having a meeting."

After discovering unauthorized charges online, members of the Empowerment Congress Central Area Neighborhood Development Council also had trouble getting answers from Chairman Frank Prater, who was later charged with illegally spending $30,797.

When Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas served on the City Council and later in the California Assembly, Prater was on his staff. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks subsequently appointed Prater to the Neighborhood Council Review Commission.

Prosecutors alleged that Prater, who died before his case went to trial, made cash withdrawals at the Normandie Casino, and spent $8,315 at Jimmy Jam's T-Shirt business, $4,500 in food purchases, close to $2,000 on vehicle expenses and nearly $250 at a jewelry shop.

Former North Hollywood Northeast Neighborhood Council Treasurer Jeffrey Brooks admitted to using his group's city credit card for household expenses, including his cable bill, after losing his job, according to court papers. He was ordered to pay the city $28,637 in restitution.

The neighborhood empowerment department is considering tighter limits on cash withdrawals, a formalized system for councils to approve each transaction and a requirement that treasurers submit fingerprints.

Siqueiros said "there has to be a balance between providing support and adequate training for the neighborhood councils" while preserving their autonomy.

But with deep budget cuts over the last two years, Kim said that his staff struggles to stay abreast even of the quarterly audits they perform of each neighborhood council.

The 43-position department currently has just one auditor, who is assisted by two accountants, doing that work.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-neighborhood-treasurers8-2009oct08,0,4827019,print.story

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Top Obama administration officials pledge to help fight youth violence

Atty. Gen. Holder and Education Secretary Duncan visit a Chicago high school where a teen was beaten to death. They call the attack a wake-up call for the country and a call to action for government.

Associated Press

October 8, 2009

Chicago

Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. and Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday pledged federal support to fight a surge in youth violence in Chicago and other cities, calling the brutal beating death of a teenager on the city's South Side a wake-up call for the country.

But neither offered specifics or outlined any strategies on how the government would help quell the increase in the number of violent deaths among teens.

Duncan and Holder were sent to Chicago by President Obama to meet with officials, parents and students from Christian Fenger Academy High School after the beating death of a 16-year-old sophomore was captured on a cellphone video.

Holder said the disturbing images of the attack on Derrion Albert have been a wake-up call for the country and a call to action for the Obama administration.

"Youth violence is not a Chicago problem, any more than it is a black problem, a white problem or a Hispanic problem," Holder said. "It is an American problem."

A study on youth violence funded by the Department of Justice and released Wednesday found that 60% of respondents had been exposed to violence in the last year, and nearly half had been assaulted at least once, Holder said. Exposure to violence included minor to serious incidents. The findings also appeared Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

The Obama administration has asked for $25 million in next year's budget for community-based crime prevention programs, Holder said. Duncan said an emergency grant of about $500,000 would go to Fenger for counselors or other programs.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said the administration's high-profile involvement isn't "show and tell," but a genuine commitment to address youth violence.

Some Fenger students said they appreciated the visit from Duncan and Holder because it showed that the outside world cares about them.

But they said the power to stop the violence ultimately lies with them.

"It's up to us to make a change," said junior Shanequa Burgess, 17. "All of these adults are doing what they need to do to help us."

Derrion, an honor roll student, was attacked when he got caught up in a mob of teens about six blocks from school. The video shows him curled up on the sidewalk as teens kick him and hit him with splintered railroad ties.

So far, four teens have been charged in his death.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-chicago-beating8-2009oct08,0,3870236,print.story

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Wild horse preserves proposed for Midwest and East

Thousands of mustangs that roam the West would be moved to preserves to protect the horses and rangelands, the Interior secretary says

From Times Wire Services

October 8, 2009

Washington

Thousands of mustangs that roam the West would be moved to preserves in the Midwest and East to protect the wild horses and the rangelands that support them, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday.

The plan would not require killing any wild horses, he said. Interior Department officials had warned in recent months that slaughtering some wild horses and burros might be necessary to combat the rising cost of maintaining them.

"We have a huge problem -- out-of-control populations of wild horses and burros on our public lands," Salazar said in a conference call with reporters. "The problem has been growing and simmering over time, and it's time for us to do something about it that protects the horses, the public lands and the taxpayers."

With no natural predators left in their habitat, the wild horses and burros have grown from 25,000 in 1971 to 69,000 today. They compete with cattle and wildlife for food and water.

The Bureau of Land Management says the range can support about 26,600 wild horses and burros. Today, about 37,000 wild horses and burros roam on federal land in Nevada, California, Wyoming and other Western states -- a difference of 10,400. An additional 32,000 horses and burros are cared for in corrals and pastures in Kansas, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

The wild horse program, run by the BLM, cost about $50 million this year, officials said, up from $36 million last year. The bureau rounds up thousands of the animals annually but has had a hard time finding buyers in recent years. Federal law prohibits sending the horses to slaughter.

Animal advocates including Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, praised the plan. But American Horse Defense Fund President Shelley Sawhook said she was skeptical. She blamed the herd's predicament on the fact that officials had taken 19 million acres of federal habitat away from the horses and burros.

Salazar and BLM Director Bob Abbey urged Congress to authorize seven wild horse preserves -- including two owned and operated by the BLM. The agency would work with private groups on the remaining reserves, which would be somewhere in the Midwest and East.

Salazar did not identify where the preserves would be, but he said the two federally owned preserves would cost about $92 million.

The seven preserves would hold about 25,000 horses. Many of those that remain on the range would be neutered, Salazar said.

BLM spokesman Tom Gorey said the preserves should be accessible to the public.

"We think there is real potential for ecotourism," he said. "Everybody loves horses."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wild-horses8-2009oct08,0,7841544,print.story

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UAE: Government to create DNA database of all residents, starting with children

Within a year, the United Arab Emirates will become the first country to begin building a national DNA database of all residents , the Abu Dhabi-based National newspaper reported today.

Authorities say the program will help solve and prevent crimes, but critics see the database as a potentially dangerous violation of civil liberties, especially because the program is expected to be initiated as a security directive, thus bypassing the legislative process entirely.

But Sir Alec Jeffreys, the British geneticist who invented the technology, questioned the ethics of the UAE's planned database, calling for a “full transparent justification of why a universal database is needed compared with a criminal DNA database." 

The National points out that although the UAE is home to a large and transient expatriate population, the DNA profiles would be stored in the database indefinitely, and that some information could be shared with other governments or Interpol, depending on specific treaties or cooperation agreements.

Marzooqi maintained the government is taking privacy concerns very seriously, and will implement "strict usage rules and will take secondary tests in court cases to verify the identity matches.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/10/uae-government-to-create-dna-database-of-all-residents-starting-with-children.html

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Tehran says U.S. had role in nuclear scientist's disappearance

Shahram Amiri, who might have worked at a recently disclosed nuclear plant, went missing during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Iran's foreign minister says Tehran has proof of U.S. interference.

By Jeffrey Fleishman and Ramin Mostaghim

October 8, 2009

Reporting from Cairo and Tehran

Intrigue over Iran's nuclear program deepened Wednesday when Tehran accused the U.S. of involvement in the disappearance of a nuclear scientist it claims vanished after leaving for a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in late May.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Shahram Amiri has not been heard from since shortly after he entered the Saudi kingdom, a close U.S. ally agitated over Iran's nuclear program. Iranian news media reported that Amiri researches nuclear technology uses for medicine, but other reports suggested he worked at a recently disclosed uranium enrichment plant near Qom.

"We have found documents that prove U.S. interference in the disappearance of the Iranian pilgrim Shahram Amiri in Saudi Arabia," Mottaki told reporters after a Cabinet meeting, according to Iran's state-owned Press TV. He did not release the documents.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Mottaki as saying, "We hold Saudi Arabia responsible."

The accusations come as the U.S. and other world powers are threatening Iran with new sanctions if it doesn't cooperate with United Nations inspectors regarding its nuclear program. The scientist's disappearance raises the possibilities of kidnapping; an intellectual seeking asylum; or a defection arranged by American and Saudi intelligence agencies.

Iranian officials said Saudi Arabia had not responded to inquiries on the scientist's whereabouts.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said he had no information about the matter, according to the Associated Press. "The case is not familiar to us," he said.

The Saudi-owned Al Sharq al Awsat newspaper reported that Amiri sought protection in Saudi Arabia. The story could not be independently confirmed, and it was not known whether the scientist provided information to the U.S. about the Fordu plant near Qom.

The Obama administration has said U.S. intelligence had known about the plant's construction near a military base for several years -- well before Amiri's pilgrimage in May.

"If Saudi Arabia claims Shahram Amiri has sought asylum, the best way to prove it is to hold a press conference," said Ebrahim Yazdi, secretary-general of the Freedom Movement of Iran and a former foreign minister. "And if Iran claims there is evidence that he has been kidnapped with USA involvement, it is advisable to demonstrate the evidence to the public."

Relations between the Sunni Muslim kingdom and Shiite-dominated Iran have been strained in recent years. Saudi Arabia has blamed Iran for creating instability in the region through its support of the militant groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The kingdom and other Sunni nations in the Persian Gulf have been uneasy about Iran's nuclear program, which Washington claims is aimed at building nuclear weapons.

Tehran says its nuclear efforts are for civilian use.

The recent revelation of the Fordu plant -- which is expected to house 3,000 new centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium -- spurred Washington and its European allies to pressure Iran to divulge more about its nuclear sites. Iran agreed over the weekend to allow U.N. inspectors into the Fordu plant on Oct. 25.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-scientist8-2009oct08,0,3145948,print.story

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Colombia rebel groups recruiting indigenous youths

A recent study found that 64% were 14 or younger when recruited, an expert on armed groups says. Many, eager to escape poverty and isolation, become prime targets for guerrilla recruiters.

By Chris Kraul

October 7, 2009

Reporting from Toribio, Colombia

Craving adventure and escape from his broken home, Jerson enlisted with leftist guerrillas when he was in his early teens. He saw it as a way to emulate Che Guevara and bring social justice to this impoverished region of Colombia.

Plus the rebels offered him new clothes and a cellphone.

So three years ago the indigenous youth found himself in the Sixth Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which patrols the mountains of Cauca state. Two months later, chafing under strict rules and horrified by the killing of a childhood friend and fellow recruit by Colombian soldiers, he fled the rebel ranks.

"I was just a mule forced to carry water to the camps, look for firewood and move things to keep a step ahead of the army. All you do is obey orders," said Jerson, now a 17-year-old high school student in Toribio, a town 150 miles southwest of Bogota, the capital. "But I couldn't forget how my friend was killed. I knew death was waiting for me if I stayed."

Studies by Colombia's public defender and independent researchers indicate that the FARC and other armed groups increasingly are focusing their recruiting efforts on youths like Jerson, who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisal. Their success underscores the difficulty of ending the country's decades-long violence.

Based on interviews with 8,000 rebels who have been captured or have surrendered since 2002, a recent study found that 64% were 14 or younger when recruited, said Natalia Springer, a dean at Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota and an expert on children and armed groups.

The FARC, right-wing paramilitary groups and drug traffickers see young people as prime candidates for recruitment because of their poverty, poor education opportunities and isolation, Springer said.

Even the military at times presses youths to serve as informants or spies, human rights groups say.

"The kids are attracted by the arms, the uniforms, the adventure and the money they are offered," Springer said in an interview in Bogota. "But they don't have the intellectual tools or maturity to make a decision by themselves. They are seduced."

Young people living on Indian reservations, which provide indigenous Colombians with a degree of autonomy, are increasingly targeted by recruiters.

Springer said nearly half of all those joining armed groups have indigenous backgrounds.

"Armed groups don't just recruit anyone anywhere," she said. "They take a strategic approach in targeting vulnerable communities."

"It's a general problem not limited to rebels or paramilitary groups," said an official with the Assn. of Indigenous Councils of North Cauca, a regional advocacy group known by its Spanish initials, ACIN. "The army and police are using us as informants and militia members."

He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The thousands of minors now believed to be fighting with armed groups put Colombia in the top tier of countries beset by the problem, which includes Sudan, Somalia, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Colombian public defender's office calls it "a grave human rights crisis," and UNICEF has said that protecting youths is key to ending the nation's four-decade civil war.

Youths from the estimated 100,000 transient families dedicated to seasonal harvesting of coca leaves, coffee, cotton and other crops in Colombia are also vulnerable to recruitment. Many are illiterate, homeless and prone to accept offers of an education, or of food when crops fail, Springer said.

Toribio, an isolated farming town 90 minutes' drive up a winding mountain road east of the Pan-American Highway, is ripe recruiting ground for the FARC. The rebels, who maintain camps nearby, move cocaine through here to Pacific ports to the west and rely on numerous informants in the town.

"The guerrillas circulate easily here," said the official with ACIN. "They can walk right up to people's houses, talk to the youths, offer economic resources that the families don't have."

Julian, 19, an indigenous Toribio resident who joined the FARC three years ago, said the rebels recruit youths here because "people in the country can withstand hardship better than the white people down in the valley. We are more resistant and ready to risk everything."

But Julian, who enlisted to escape family problems, fled the FARC after only three weeks. He also requested that his last name not be used for fear of retribution.

"Life with the rebels is hard," he said. "You don't sleep, you're always hungry and if you make a mistake, they bring you before a war council. The penalties can be doing more guard duty or going before a firing squad."

Jerson and Julian said it was easy to join because FARC informants and militia members are everywhere in the Toribio area and are active in the recruitment process.

A few days after Jerson was interviewed last month, rebels attacked the town and briefly took up positions in the school where he had spoken with The Times, firing at the police station before army troops arrived in helicopters. None of the 1,000 children who attend the school were hurt.

"They're always around and they have a better image than the army, which only comes up here to bother people," Jerson said of the FARC presence.

With help from the United Nations and a Dutch social group called IKV Pax Christi, ACIN has begun a program called "Come Home" to reintegrate young ex-rebels into the community with education and economic support. About 60 former guerrillas from the Toribio area are participating, and an additional 250 would join if the program had more resources, ACIN officials said.

The FARC usually does not allow desertions but tolerates the participation of demilitarized youths in the ACIN program in part because the guerrillas are seeking good relations with the indigenous community, officials said.

Julian said the ACIN program helped him finance the construction of a small house and has paid him a small monthly stipend. His goal is to become a computer technician.

"I'm thinking only about life now, not war," he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-colombia-children7-2009oct07,0,5349975,print.story

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Opinion

Facing disaster

Earthquakes, tsunamis: We know they're coming; why won't we prepare?

By Oakley Brooks

October 8, 2009

Writing From Padang, Indonesia

I went to a flattened college on Saturday. The names of the dead were scrawled on a sliver of salvaged dry-erase board. A crowd of gawking teenagers hovered near an excavator working the rubble, along with the dowdy, fidgeting headmistress. Periodically sobbing parents were hanging about in the background. When the searchers reached five students crushed below a staircase, and soldiers emerged from the rubble bearing black body bags, a grim practice followed: A rescue worker would bring a student's putrid backpack or purse to a shocked mother or father to confirm whom they'd found. And the waiting youngsters with camcorders and cellphone cameras flocked around the scene like moths to a light.

"It's Indonesian culture," said a young social worker from Jakarta, watching the scrambling crowds.

I'll raise him one. It's universal culture. The innate drama of life and death, ramped up by natural disaster. Survivors and observers -- we're always the obliging spectators, either pushing the boundaries of decency on site or sitting on the couch at home.

Here's the real trouble with this culture: We haven't figured out how to convert our post-disaster fascination into an enthusiasm for pre-disaster adaptation. We don't quite know how, or aren't quite willing to convert, a robust body of information about hazards into action, especially in the developing world.

An earthquake, tsunami and typhoon-filled week like the last one only confirms our preference for reacting to hazards after the fact. West Sumatra's situation is one of the most frustrating. More than 70 aid agencies and millions of dollars worth of help are pouring in here, as they should, with the right spirit even if aid doesn't get to the neediest. But another point of urgency might have come almost five years ago after the Aceh earthquake and tsunami to the north, when scientists, using a history of earthquakes extracted from offshore corals, unequivocally forecasted more major activity and tsunami potential along the Sunda megathrust fault here.

The West Sumatran government in Padang, however, seemed only mildly interested in motivating people to change -- offering little in the way of education or proactive urban planning in a compact city of 900,000 squeezed in next to the ocean. The attitude changed after a hard shake from a magnitude 7.9 quake offshore in 2007, and there have been efforts since then to identify tsunami escape roads and safe buildings. The irony is that many of the tall buildings identified as havens in case of a tsunami crumbled in last week's quake.

And scientists say another great earthquake, up to magnitude 8.8, is still in store for West Sumatra within a generation.

Padang is a prime example of our modern hazard problems: heedless growth on the site of a series of historic, great earthquakes and tsunamis, one of which flattened what was a small trading town in 1797. We're amassing too many people in risky places, such as earthquake-prone Tehran and Istanbul, and the U.S. Gulf Coast and West Coast, where seismic, hurricane and other threats are clear and population numbers and development patterns promise to turn a bad event into an all-out humanitarian crisis. Potential sea-level rise and more frequent tropical storms because of global warming will only compound the risk.

Governments cannot be counted on to manage the situation -- not in China's Sichuan province, where shoddy construction and little oversight from corrupt bureaucrats led to at least 5,000 dead schoolchildren in last year's earthquake, or in the American West, with its spreading population on the fire-prone forest fringe and along myriad fault lines.

In the developing world, humanitarian organizations are making disaster risk reduction a new priority. But where scientists have outlined natural hazards, we need a grass-roots movement to prepare and adapt to the hazards.

In West Sumatra, before the government began to act after Aceh, a group of Padang students backed by conscientious elders and informed by scientists went door to door to explain the risk of tsunamis and the need to move to high ground after a big earthquake. Now the local government treats the members of the Tsunami Alert Society as advisors. It remains to be seen if a culture of resilient building can germinate here, where concrete offices, hotels and houses for the wealthy looked strong but proved deadly last week.

Building one's life around sporadic events seems like an unnecessary worry in the workaday world, for people in West Sumatra as on the San Andreas fault. But the long history of earthquake faults and other natural phenomena fits us into a compelling story spread over the centuries, a tale populated by people and societies that have ignored that history at their peril, and brings meaning to today's seemingly random events and an urgency to getting prepared. Already in the remote Mentawai Islands, 90 miles west of Padang, some villagers are uprooting themselves and moving closer to the hills in the face of new tsunami risk and the evidence in the historical record. "They say this low land here was ocean in the past and might be again," Alpaus, a former village head on one of the islands, said in July in a recently constructed settlement close to a steep, tsunami-safe ridge.

The choices seem tougher in urban Padang and Los Angeles and all around the modern and modernizing world. Days ago, Sumatran businesswoman Yenni Gunawan admitted to an Indian geophysicist at a hotel here that she had never paid attention to what he and his colleagues had to say about seismic dangers. But her shop in Padang's Chinatown was heavily damaged in the earthquake. Now she is considering moving to eastern Sumatra with some close friends.

"What would you do?" Gunawan asked the scientist.

"This thing can possibly be beat with smart construction," he said.

"That takes a long time," she groaned, and walked off, undecided.

One thing is for sure: Standing and watching is out of the question.

Oakley Brooks is writer in residence at the Earth Observatory of Singapore and at work on a book about natural hazards in Sumatra.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brooks8-2009oct08,0,4685574,print.story

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From the Daily News

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L.A. County, SIEU get new deal

Los Angeles County officials and its biggest union have reached a new contract deal that increases job protections, boosts benefits and even calls for improved public service in lieu of salary increases, officials announced Wednesday.

The Service Employees International Union Local 721 had sought to avoid layoffs and furloughs and try to improve efficiency in delivering county services instead of fighting for cost-of-living increases.

"We took a totally new approach and we are proud of it because it worked," said union vice president Linda Dent, an intermediate clerk in the Treasurer & Tax Collector's Office.

SEIU Local 721 represents 55,000 county employees, including nurses, park and library employees and social workers. The union's members are expected to vote on whether to ratify the deal by the end of this month.

The county also reached tentative agreements with tens of thousands of Sheriff's Department, Fire Department and other public safety workers that also call for zero cost-of-living increases, Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka said.

Although the two-year contracts do not include salary increases, the agreements do include a total of 15 percent in increases in the county's contribution to employees' "Choices" benefits plan to help offset rising health care and dental costs, Board of Supervisors Chairman Don Knabe said.

Dent said the county has committed to work with the union to pursue employees' cost-saving ideas that could be used to buy uniforms for county parks employees, helping the public identify parks workers during emergencies.

For example, last summer there were several incidents in which people passed out in the heat while waiting in lines at the Registrar-Recorder's Office. Dent said the union plans to work with the county to shorten lines and wait times by opening more windows and getting managers out of their offices to make sure people are in the right lines.

The union is also optimistic the county will work with librarians who have expressed concerns that centralized book selection has resulted in the county ordering millions of dollars worth of books people don't read. The librarians say they often can't get the books the public really wants to read.

"Nobody knows more about how the county operates than those at the worker-bee level," Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. "They can see the things that will save money and improve the quality of services to our constituents. That kind of input is very constructive and helpful to our citizens."

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13509972

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Hollywood gets VIP treatment from city officials

Here are the recommendations adopted by the Los Angeles City Council on ways to reduce runaway production:

• Direct the Business Tax Advisory Committee to evaluate a business tax credit for building owners that allow the exteriors to be filmed for free.
• Direct the BTAC to evaluate a business tax credit for building owners that allows interior filming for a "reasonable rate."
• Instruct the Office of Finance to report to the Jobs and Business Development Committee in 30 days on the feasibility and fiscal impact of a sales tax refund for purchases made for filming within the city when at least 75 percent of the shooting is done in the city of Los Angeles.
• Direct the Department of General Services and Los Angeles Department of Transportation to implement a free parking program, except for the cost of providing security, in all available city parking lots after business hours and during weekends and further direct the GSD and LADOT to report in 30 days to the Jobs and Business Development Committee, with the assistance of the chief legislative analyst, in regard to said free parking program.
• Direct the BTAC to evaluate a proposal to provide business tax incentives to private parking companies that provide parking to film shoots as a "reasonable rate."
• Request the council president and chair, Jobs and Business Development Committee, to send a letter to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power requesting that the LADWP create three power utility nodes as part of a pilot project in downtown Los Angeles that film production companies can use in lieu of generators.
• Request the LADWP provide free parking/base camp use for up to one week under LADWP power lines and further request the LADWP to report back to the Jobs and Business Development Committee with a map of locations.
• Direct the Film Industry Parking Task Force to report back to the Jobs and Business Development Committee in regard to partnering with other government entities to find additional parking opportunities.
• Request the council president and the chair, Jobs and Business Development Committee, to send a letter to all council members asking for them to designate one staff person per office that is the film contact.
• Direct the city administrative officer and chief legislative analyst to collect, distribute and place on the city Web site a list of each of the city department contacts regarding filming.
• Direct the CAO and CLA to work with film industry location managers to create a "10 hardest to film in" location list and further direct the CAO and CLA to report back to the Jobs and Business Development Committee in 30 days with solutions to identified problems.
• Direct the CAO and CLA to work with FilmLA to develop a process whereby FilmLA can manage vacant city property.
• Direct and request the CAO, CLA and city attorney, as appropriate, to prepare and present an ordinance whereby the Los Angeles Police Department can legally enforce properly permitted film shoots to include making it illegal to disrupt a properly permitted film shoot.
• Direct the CAO, with assistance of the CLA and city attorney, to review the draft contract for FilmLA and to look for opportunities to increase FilmLA's role in marketing the film industry to city residents and to act as an ambassador between the city and the film industry.
• Direct the Department of Recreation and Parks to report back to the Jobs and Business Development Committee within 30 days on its film policy and with said report to include cost and availability of its locations; the film coordinator for each location; and the discrepancies found between locations.
• Direct Recreation and Parks to report back to the Jobs and Business Development Committee within 30 days with recommendations on how to make it easier to film in RAP locations.
• Direct FilmLA, which is currently creating a comprehensive location Web site, to include on that Web site a list of city properties, city incentives, contact information, parking and base camp locations and costs and further direct that said Web site should highlight locations outside of the downtown area in areas where there is less filming.
• Direct the General Services Department to report back to the Jobs and Business Development Committee with a comprehensive list of vacant city properties that will update the list that was prepared in 1996.

Tired of losing millions of dollars and thousands of jobs each year to cities like Albuquerque, New Orleans and Vancouver, Los Angeles city officials Wednesday offered a simple message to studio executives: Let's keep Hollywood in Hollywood.

On a 12-0 vote, the City Council approved an 18-point package by Councilman Richard Alarc n aimed at keeping television and film productions in the city.

"I think the most important thing we can do is send a message to the film industry that we believe you belong in Los Angeles and we want to increase film production," Alarc n said.

"We can be part of the balancing act needed between community harmony and the film industry. And we need to sell the film industry to our communities, so people understand this is good for Los Angeles."

The recommendations by Alarc n fall into four general categories: tax incentives, city regulations on property use, working with community groups and coordinating programs with other governmental jurisdictions.

Among the first recommendations, Alarc n said, is for each City Council office to designate a staff member to be responsible for dealing with the industry and community complaints.

One of the major roadblocks for the industry in recent years has been community complaints over the intrusions of film crews.

"The problem is these crews come in and take over a neighborhood and leave nothing behind," said Councilman Bernard Parks, who has received a number of complaints from his district.

"We keep hearing it's important because they create jobs, but we aren't seeing the jobs in these areas. They say they leave behind improvements, but we aren't seeing those."

Alarc n said that is the reason each council office needs someone knowledgeable about the industry and its needs to work with communities.

Melissa Patack of the Motion Picture Association of America praised the council for its efforts.

"The City Council is recognizing that it is a very competitive environment for film production across the country, across the world," Patack said.

"In order to be competitive in this environment, we recognize there aren't the financial resources available, but the city can work to improve to be more cooperative and remove some of the impediments to production."

Many of the recommendations were first developed at the urging of Council President Eric Garcetti when production of the "Ugly Betty" show moved to New York City.

"We've already seen some improvement with `All My Children' moving back to Los Angeles," Garcetti said. "We can make things easier to film in L.A."

Garcetti said even the fact city officials were talking about the issue will help in its relations with Hollywood.

"When I first brought this up, I was meeting with some ABC officials and they said it was creating a buzz in the industry that we did want them to stay."

However, Councilman Paul Koretz warned that the competition for the industry was growing more challenging.

"In Michigan, they are building modern, state-of-the-art studios out of old factories," Koretz said. "We will never be the cheapest place to film, but we have to make it easier for them to film."

Among the proposals made by Alarc n was having city agencies make it easier for the productions, such as allowing parking on DWP properties at no charge, developing power plug-ins to allow the companies to avoid bringing generators to locations and working to increase understanding of the importance of the industry.

Deputy Legislative Analyst John Wickham said the city has taken a number of steps over the years to be competitive with other jurisdictions.

"We have been offering the same incentives, but the industry is not aware of it," Wickham told the council. "Los Angeles is offering services, ways to facilitate permits and productions. We have to make sure they know it is available."

Wickham said one area that still needs to be explored is having the state offer more tax incentives to large productions that are now limited to films of up to $75 million.

"That keeps out the really large productions," Wickham said.

Koretz, who served in the state Assembly for six years, said it will be difficult to get anything through the Legislature.

"I worked on this for six years and got nowhere," Koretz said. "They just don't seem to understand the importance of the industry to the city and the state."

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13507739

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Retired LAFD inspector gets six months in jail for accepting bribe

A retired Los Angeles Fire Department inspector who admitted accepting a bribe was sentenced on Wednesday to six months in jail and ordered to pay a $10,000 restitution fine to the county.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David M. Horwitz also ordered Dennis Martin Archie, 59, to serve three years on probation.

Archie surrendered immediately to begin serving his jail term.

"He's a proud retired member of the fire department," Archie's attorney, Robert Rico, said outside court. "It's been a learning experience and he's looking forward to the next half of his life."

Archie was charged in July with soliciting and accepting bribes from operators of small nursing care facilities run out of private homes in the San Fernando Valley. He pleaded guilty Sept. 23 to one count of accepting a bribe.

Archie had been assigned to the San Fernando Valley as a fire inspector. Part of his job was to inspect nursing homes for the elderly that were operated out of private residences, according to Deputy District Attorney Gary Nielsen.

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13506282

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From the LAPD

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Armed Robbery Leads to Shooting, Victim Survives

Los Angeles: A man was shot inside of his home by two suspects inside of his residence in Woodland Hills.

On October 5, 2009 at around 12:30 a.m., the victim confronted two suspects inside of his home in the 4900 block of Alatar Drive and started arguing with them.  During the argument, one of the suspects pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the upper torso.  The suspects then ran away from the scene.  The victim was transported to a nearby hospital where he is expected to fully recover from his wounds.

Detectives are looking for two suspects described only as males in a white vehicle. 

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Los Angeles Police Department Topanga Area Robbery Homicide Detectives Jeff Briscoe and Pam Pitcher at 818-756-3523.  After hours or on weekends, calls may directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 or by texting CRIMES (274637) and beginning the message with the letters LAPD.  Tipsters may also submit information on the LAPD website www.lapdonline.org.  All tips will remain anonymous.

October 07, 2009

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Police and Family Seek Help Finding Missing Adult

Los Angeles: Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and family members are asking for help in finding an elderly female who was last seen walking from her residence in the 1400 block of South Sherbourne Drive on October 1, 2009.

Chaja Tuchband, a 74-year-old woman, was last seen at 5:30 p.m., leaving her home to take a routine walk in the neighborhood.  Tuchband was wearing a wool hood, a white robe with flowers, an off-white T-shirt, and green pants.  She has grey hair, blue eyes, stands 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds.

Tuchband's family is very concerned about her welfare and wants her to return home safely.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Chaja Tuchband is urged to call the LAPD Missing Persons Unit at 213-485-5381.  During off-hours, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (527-3247).  Callers may also text “Crimes” with a cellular phone or log on to www.lapdonline.org and click on Web tips.  When using a cellular phone, all messages should begin with “LAPD.”  Tipsters may remain anonymous.     

October 07, 2009

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Los Angeles Police Department to Increase Enforcement to Motorcyclist Driving Recklessly

Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) will be conducting a specialized Motorcycle Safety Enforcement Operation to combat reckless driving.

On Saturday, October 10, 2009, extra officers will be patrolling areas frequented by motorcyclists where crashes often occur.  Officers will be cracking down on traffic violations made by motorcyclists and other vehicle drivers that lead to injury and fatal motorcycle traffic collisions.

Motorcycle fatalities have been on the rise in California, increasing 91 percent from 275 killed in 2000 to 533 killed in 2008.  Fatal motorcycle traffic collisions in Los Angeles County have increased 62 percent from 70 in 2004, to 114 in 2008.  In the same period, injury motorcycle collisions have increased 47 percent from 1,996 to 2,927.  From 2003 to 2008, motorcycle fatalities in the 21- to-24-year-old age group have increased 122 percent and 102 percent in the 55-and-over age group.

Factors contributing to motorcycle crashes include speeding and impairment due to alcohol and/or other drugs by motorcyclists and other drivers.  Another major factor leading to fatal and injurious motorcycle collisions are inexperience.  Riders, young and old, are encouraged to seek training and safety information. 

Many people are riding motorcycles without the proper motorcycle license and without the skills necessary to ride safely.  Thirty-six percent of the motorcyclists killed in California are not properly licensed. Improper licensing is a greater problem among younger riders, where 63% of the 16- to-24-year-old operators killed were not properly licensed.  It is every motorcyclist's responsibility to be properly licensed and have the skills necessary to ride safely.  Riders without the proper motorcycle license may be subject to impound for up to 30 days.

The LAPD is reminding all motorists to always be alert and watch out for motorcycles, especially when turning and changing lanes.

For further information, please contact LAPD Traffic Coordination Section, Officer Don Inman at 213-847-1624.  Riders can receive training through the California Motorcyclist Safety Program, and information is available at www.CA-msp.org or 1-877 RIDE 411 or 1-877-743-3411.  Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

October 07, 2009

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Woman, 78, Killed by Hit-and-Run Driver

Los Angeles:  Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is searching for the driver of a vehicle who struck and killed a 78-year-old woman this morning as she walked across the street in South Los Angeles.

Ye Sook Lee of Los Angeles was struck around 6:00 a.m. and pronounced dead at the scene.  The driver did not stop as required by law.  LAPD South Traffic Detective Rodney Jones said the victim was walking east across the street on Western Avenue, when a car travelling north on Western Avenue near 79th Street fatally hit her and drove off.

Police are looking for a blue/purple florescent colored vehicle.  There is no other description at this time. 

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact LAPD South Traffic Division Detective Jones at 323-290-6063.  After hours or on weekends, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (527-3247) or by texting CRIMES (274637) and beginning the message with the letters LAPD.  Tipsters may also submit information on the LAPD website: www.lapdonline.org.  All tips may remain anonymous.

October 07, 2009

http://lapdblog.typepad.com/lapd_blog/

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From ICE

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October 7, 2009

ICE deports former Mexican police officer wanted for murder
Victim died following severe injuries sustained after being doused with gasoline and lighted on fire

HOUSTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Wednesday deported a former police officer who is wanted by Mexican authorities for aggravated homicide.

Samuel Cruz-Delgado, 33, a former Mexican police officer, was turned over to Mexican authorities on Oct. 7 at the Lincoln/Juarez Bridge in Laredo, Texas. He was charged in November 2003 by the Seventh Judge of the Judicial District of El Centro in Oaxaca, Mexico with aggravated homicide.

The State of Oaxaca issued an arrest warrant on Jan. 14, 2002 alleging that Cruz-Delgado physically assaulted a female by dousing her with gasoline and lighting her on fire. She died after being hospitalized for 38 days.

Cruz-Delgado illegally entered the United States at an undisclosed location along the Arizona-Mexico border. He has remained a fugitive from Mexican authorities since he was charged in 2003. He was apprehended without incident on Aug. 31 by ICE Houston officers and agents in collaboration with Houston Police Department officers and special agents with the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force.

Cruz-Delgado has been in ICE custody since his arrest for violating U.S. immigration laws. On Sept. 23, a federal immigration judge ordered him deported. The Mexican attorney general's office asked ICE for assistance in returning the fugitive to Mexico.

"Apprehending and removing dangerous foreign fugitives hiding in the United States remains a top priority of ICE," said Kenneth Landgrebe, field office director for the Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Houston. "ICE is committed to enforcing the nation's immigration laws and ensuring that foreign criminal aliens do not use the United States as a safe haven from their prosecution or penalty."

Nationwide, ICE has arrested more than 190 foreign fugitives from countries around the world since fiscal year 2007. ICE returned more than 369,000 illegal aliens to their countries of origin during fiscal year 2008, a nearly 27 percent increase over the previous year.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0910/091007houston.htm

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October 7, 2009

Florida man convicted of smuggling over $120,000 of undeclared money into the United States

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A Davie man was found guilty before a federal jury in West Palm Beach Tuesday of bulk cash smuggling, failure to report transported monetary instruments, and making false statements to a federal agency following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Juan Antonio Moya-Rodriguez, 31, faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count to be followed by a term of up to three years of supervised release at his sentencing hearing on Dec. 14 before U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks.

According to evidence presented at trial, on July 26, ICE special agents arrested Moya-Rodriguez after he was found with approximately $123,548 in undeclared U.S. currency by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. Rodriguez was traveling on Spirit Airlines from Panama City, Panama, to the United States and had the U.S. currency taped to the inside of three pairs of jeans hidden at the bottom of his suitcase. Moya-Rodriguez initially told CBP officers that he only was in possession of $7,500. However, upon being confronted with the money recovered in his jeans, he admitted to law enforcement that he possessed approximately $127,000.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of ICE's Office of Investigations in Miami, CBP, and the Broward County Sheriff's Office Money Laundering Task Force.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lothrop Morris and Jennifer C. Millien.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0910/091007miami.htm

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October 7, 2009

BEST members seize more than 190 grams of meth and arrest 3 people

DEMING, N.M. - Three individuals arrested by members of the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) remain in custody on drug charges stemming from a Sept. 29 crystal methamphetamine seizure.

BEST is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) national initiative spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It was created along the U.S.-Mexico border to respond to cross-border crime and violence.

BEST and the Border Operations Task Force worked with the Silver City Police Department to execute a search warrant on Sept. 29 in a home on Burke Loop in Silver City, N.M. ICE agents seized 193.5 grams (6.8 ounces) of methamphetamine and arrested three people, including Christopher Llamas-Valdovinos, 25, Estrella Granado, 32, and Oswaldo Gonzalez, 42. They are charged with conspiring and possessing with the intention to distribute a controlled substance. All three remain in federal custody.

Llamas-Valdovinos, Granado and Gonzalez are among more than 60 individuals that local BEST members have arrested and charged criminally since the local task force was established on March 30.

"BEST's mission is clear - identify and eliminate cross-border criminal organizations by closely coordinating with our partner law enforcement agencies," said Manuel Oyola-Torres, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in El Paso.

In addition to ICE, Deming BEST members also include: U.S. Customs and Border Protection's U.S. Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations, New Mexico State Police; Grant and Hidalgo County sheriff's departments, Lordsburg and Silver City police departments, and the New Mexico 6th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

In Deming, BEST members from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are collocated in the task force. This interaction allows them to share information about criminal networks, such as drug and alien smuggling organizations, weapons and bulk cash smuggling networks, and the supporting infrastructures that sustain them. The task force conducts criminal investigations, and other enforcement actions against violent street gangs and others who pose a threat to public safety in New Mexico's southwestern border region.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0910/091007deming.htm

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From OurLA

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