Four missing miners found dead

The grim discovery in West Virginia makes it the worst mining disaster in the U.S. in 40 years.

By Kim Geiger and David Zucchino

April 10, 2010

Reporting from Montcoal, W.Va.

The remains of all four miners missing from the devastating explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine were found by rescue crews late Friday night, ending a desperate, four-day search for men who authorities now say were killed by the blast Monday afternoon.

"We did not receive the miracle we prayed for," West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III said at a news conference at 12:30 a.m. Eastern time.

The discovery of the four bodies brings the total death toll from the explosion Monday at the mine to 29, making it the worst mining disaster in nearly 40 years.

Authorities said they are now focusing on bringing out all 22 bodies still inside. Seven bodies were recovered after the explosion.

Rescue commanders had battled combustible and poisonous gases, a rainstorm that expanded those gases, two bore holes that missed their marks, a fire and noxious smoke. And that was after bulldozers had to carve a road to the top of a mountain to bring in rescue equipment.

The first plan was to drill two bore holes to ventilate gases. But that process was slow, and the second bore hole missed its target and was never used.

A backup plan was devised to pump nitrogen into the mine to neutralize the gases in case the ventilation plan failed. But there was not enough nitrogen on hand, prompting emergency leaders to scramble for alternatives.

One was to drill yet another bore hole to lower a camera into the mine to get a look at the chamber, but that drill also went off course.

Asked why nitrogen was not used earlier, Kevin Stricklin, an administrator for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, replied: "We did not have the nitrogen available to us when the [gas] readings started going into the explosive range."

He said federal mine safety authorities discussed the option for two days with mine owner Massey Energy Co.

J. Christopher Adkins, Massey chief operating officer, said nitrogen supplies were nearby but getting the gas to the mountaintop site risked blocking the only available road during rescue operations.

Once sufficient nitrogen supplies were available Friday morning, emergency crews were able to lower dangerous gas levels enough to allow rescue crews to make progress. The nitrogen also extinguished the fire, which had slowed rescue efforts.

Stricklin said that the four missing miners could have survived only if they were able to enter a refuge chamber, which provides enough food, water and oxygen to sustain 15 men for four days.

Rescue workers got deep enough into the mine early Friday to determine that no miners had reached one of two possible rescue chambers.

Crews were sent underground once again when nitrogen pumped into the mine smothered the fire and neutralized the gases.

Stricklin and the governor have been the public faces of the disaster, standing before television cameras several times a day for updates on a situation that has become more tenuous with every passing hour.

Saturday morning, Stricklin struggled to hold back tears as he explained to reporters how the miners were found. The governor was subdued, his voice barely audible as he told reporters, "The journey has ended."

The mine, operated by Massey Energy Co., was shut down temporarily for safety violations 29 times last year, some of them for ventilation infractions, Stricklin said. Massey was cited for 515 safety violations at the mine in 2009 and 124 so far this year.

An investigation has been ordered, but Stricklin said it will not begin in earnest until the rescue and recovery is completed.

The bodies of 22 miners remain inside the badly damaged mine.

Once recovery efforts begin, Stricklin said, the positions of all remains will be noted on maps to assist investigators.

Extra nitrogen tankers were brought to the mine Friday night to ensure that any sudden rise in methane levels doesn't impede the investigation.

President Obama ordered federal mine safety officials to report next week on the possible cause of the explosion and on recommendations for improving safety enforcement.

The cause of the explosion has not been determined, but methane gas is considered a likely cause.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-coal-mine10-2010apr10,0,2058245,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father Gregory Boyle: Life among the homies

Father Gregory Boyle talks about his book 'Tattoos on the Heart' and Homeboy Industries, the L.A. gang 'exit' program that is his labor of love.

Patt Morrison

April 10, 2010

I should have known better than to try to interview Father Gregory Boyle on his home turf, at the Homegirl Café in the Homeboy Industries building on the edge of Chinatown. It was like trying to interview Elvis in the lobby of the Flamingo Hotel.

Old ladies, homeboys, artists, a City Council member -- everybody wanted to say hi to the man who, from nothing -- less than nothing, which is to say, derision and debt and doubt -- crafted what is now the biggest gang "exit" program in the country.

Homeboy Industries, a complex of ex-gangster-run businesses, has been a 20-year-plus labor of, yes, love, and now Boyle is telling tales. Homilies, tear-jerkers and even bursts of humor from the barrio families and felons he serves are collected in his new book, published in English and Spanish. He sat across from me, drinking coffee and writing messages on flyleaf after flyleaf of "Tattoos on the Heart," which could have been subtitled "Life Among the Homies."

Your book made The Times' best-seller list.

If this could become "Tuesdays with Homie," I could keep my doors open!

You go into Borders, it's in the religion section; Barnes & Noble, the sociology section; Amazon characterizes it in the motivational category. I'm happy with all of them. I don't want anybody to pigeonhole it -- "Oh, it's just a memoir by a priest who works with gangs." Christian publishers all turned it down because of the language. I'm really happy that they did -- I'd rather it have as broad an audience as possible.

Were you even aware of the Eastside, growing up in the Wilshire area?

I never would have known where to find a gang. It never was part of my consciousness until I came to Dolores Mission.

I was kind of evangelized by the poor in Bolivia [ where he was sent after ordination ]. That changed my life. The poor evangelize you about what's important and what is the Gospel, and that that's where the joy is. I said, "I want to work for the poor. I want to go to Dolores Mission," and [my superior] said, "How fortuitous; the pastor's just left."

When it comes to dogma, are you pretty ecumenical? Could you have as easily been, say, a Buddhist as a Catholic?

I like Eastern stuff and I think you can marry it to Jesus in a way that's quite compatible and whole. It enriches my own Christian faith.

There are iterations of Christianity that say, "My way or the highway."

I'm not down with that, as the homies would say. That doesn't make sense to me.

Even within [my] own sad, tragic church, there's a clerical culture that's not very helpful -- it's just about power and privilege and secrecy and sometimes even a willful wandering away from Jesus and the living of the Gospel. I think that the church can be returned to itself. It's about standing at the margins and with the right people, with these people [ he looks around the cafe ], and that's what the church ought to be.

What do you think about the newly designated archbishop, Jose Gomez?

Everybody's talking about him being Latino. Frankly, I think people get nervous around Opus Dei, but I watched his press conference and it completely won me over because he got emotional when he remembered the people in San Antonio and said the real home for any priest and bishop is in the love for the people. I thought, "That's a pretty beautiful line." So I found myself cleaning whatever slate needed to be cleaned in terms of Opus Dei. It gets people like me a little nervous -- [people] who want to open the windows even more than Vatican II. But then he won me over. So actually I felt hopeful by the end of the day.

Your leukemia is in remission -- "intermission," as one homie told you.

Now my visits with my hematologist are longer [apart]. It was once every three months. Now it's once every six months.

So now you know what parole is like.

That's right! I'm not on high-control parole any more. Fortunately. It's a kind of leukemia that's supposed to come back, and they're all kind of wondering why it hasn't.

I read that after your 1993 "tertianship," a spiritual sabbatical, some forces didn't want you to come back to gang work. Was that church politics or civilian politics?

I think it was a combo-burger of all those things. So I was in exile briefly, then I got a new [superior] and he let me come back. It was the most painful period in my life, frankly. It was complicated -- I think there was a lot of "this town ain't big enough for the two of us" feeling.

And now you're in this astounding house that Boyle built.

Obviously lots of people built it and lots of people are part of it. I've been gone two weeks, so I see this kid I don't know, and we start talking and he says, "I have to work here." I said why? Then he starts to cry and says, "Because this is a blessful place." The fact that he recognizes this as a blessful place, that's palpable.

I was at St. Peter's College in Jersey City and saw a quote from a Martin Luther King Jr. speech: "I have felt the power of God transform the fatigue of despair into the buoyancy of hope." Well, I've felt that here; they've all felt that here, and I defy anybody to walk into this building and not feel that. It's not pie in the sky, it's not Pollyanna, it's deeper and stronger.

When it comes to funding, why has this place had more near death scenes than Sarah Bernhardt?

Because there's a fullness to the place, and funding the fullness is a $10 million annual concern. Three and a half million gets raised by our businesses, so I have to raise $6 million, and that's a daunting task. But you think Homeboy Industries costs a lot, wait until you get the bill for our nonexistence. It's not just that we serve 12,000 gang members a year, but we stand as a symbol to even those who don't walk in, and who are locked up. If you didn't have [us] as some future possibility [for them], that would have a devastating impact to the county.

So why is that 6 million so hard to get?

People say, "Gosh there's no money." I say, in six months, MOCA got $60 million. I don't begrudge the fact that they got their money -- I love MOCA. But that's the truth. This is a harder sell. We had difficulty at the same moment it was publicly known that [MOCA] needed money. And the people in this city came to MOCA's aid, and with us, not so much.

How well is the city reconfiguring its gang program funding?

The City Council was saying, "Look, we don't have gang problems in [each of] our district[s]. It's unconscionable for [each] to take a slice of this money." That's progress. Every Tuesday morning, [Chief Bill Bratton] would meet here with his brass -- it's a symbol, but it's important. I'm a little discouraged with Bratton as he would point at good [crime] numbers and take sole credit for them -- its an enormously complex dilemma, so it stands to reason there are a whole set of solutions that have to be equally complex. Look at the last 20 years: We're here, and A Place Called Home is here and LA's Best is here. I know that's why the numbers have gone down, along with the sensible deployment of police. Lots of things have worked.

You always bring up the number of young people you've buried. Why keep the tally?

Because you want them to matter. There's an idea that's taken root in the world: There just might be lives out there that matter less than other lives. And so the minute you can get people to say, "I don't want to live in a society where that's true," then suddenly 168 lives matter to you.

Don't criminals need to take responsibility?

A politician said, "Gang members should pay the consequences of their crimes." I go, "Not only do I agree with you, find one person on the planet Earth who's going to disagree." You hear that all the time, that [we] coddle gang members. Would you ever accuse a drug rehab center -- oh you're coddling addicts? No, we're trying to help them leave that behind. If you don't have exit ramps, then how is it we can tell them to get off the freeway?

Don't you ever get frustrated and want to shake people by the lapels?

Oh, I get frustrated. You just want to throttle people. I tell my staff, "You have to get used to two steps forward, five steps back."

We don't save anybody here, because no amount of me wanting that guy to have a life is the same as that guy wanting to have one. Ours is a God who waits. So who are we not to?

There's always a question about what happens when you're gone .

I'm not going to pretend I don't have this role in this place, but I'm not where I was 20 years ago, 10 years ago. I don't micromanage anything anymore, which is nice. The issue has gotten answered in a way that, I'll be honest, it wasn't true 10 years ago, but it is now.

What do you do for yourself ?

I try to catch a dinner with a friend, maybe a movie. I love movies. I'm pretty eclectic -- I'll go to the Laemmle in Pasadena for the foreign kind of thing. I don't mind something like "Avatar," more popular stuff.

Let me guess that your favorite isn't "The Bells of St. Mary's"?

Probably my least!

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-morrison10-2010apr10,0,4538372,print.column

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When guilty means deported

Defendants have a right to know

April 10, 2010

The Supreme Court has recognized what would be obvious to any layperson: A competent defense attorney must inform a client that a guilty plea might lead not only to prison time but to deportation from the country.

The court last week ruled 7 to 2 for Jose Padilla, a legal resident from Honduras who was wrongly told by his lawyer that pleading guilty to a marijuana trafficking charge wouldn't change his immigration status because he'd been in the country for more than 40 years. In an opinion for himself and four colleagues, Justice John Paul Stevens said that "deportation is an integral part -- indeed sometimes the most important part -- of the penalty that may be imposed on noncitizen defendants who plead guilty to specific crimes." He noted that, because judges have lost their previous authority to block deportations of immigrants, accurate legal advice "has never been more important."

That's especially true because the interplay of state and federal laws can target an immigrant for deportation for a minor offense and not only for an "aggravated felony," as intended by the law. The court is currently studying the case of a Texas man who could be deported to Mexico for possessing one tablet of an anti-anxiety drug after he pleaded guilty the year before to having less than 2 ounces of marijuana.

Commonsensical as the court's conclusion might seem, the majority had to address fears that requiring defense attorneys to make known one "collateral" consequence of a guilty plea -- deportation -- would require them to be experts on every conceivable indirect result of a conviction, from loss of child custody to revocation of a driver's license to unemployment.

But Stevens' majority opinion stops this "parade of horribles" in its tracks. Unlike the other consequences of a guilty plea -- some of which may be unknown to a hard-pressed a defense lawyer -- deportation is so central to loss of liberty that it is easy for the court to draw a bright line. Henceforth, competent defense attorneys serving legal U.S. residents must be educated about the immigration consequences of their advice. It isn't enough, as Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. suggested in a concurring opinion, that a lawyer refrain from offering inaccurate advice and refer the client to an immigration attorney if he has further questions.

This decision doesn't guarantee that Padilla won't be deported. Under Supreme Court precedents, he must also show that his case wouldn't have ended up the same way without the bad advice. If Padilla is convicted at trial, he may still be forced to leave the country. Still, his successful lawsuit is a victory for thousands of immigrants who each year face deportation in addition to the justice meted out to other defendants.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-deport10-2010apr10,0,3157480,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Wall Street Journal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S., Russia Clash on Adoption

American Woman Ignites Furor by Sending Boy Back Alone, Saying She Was Duped

Russia's foreign minister called for a suspension of child adoptions by U.S. families after a Tennessee woman sent her recently-adopted son back to Moscow alone with a letter calling him "violent" and accusing Russian officials of lying about his psychological state.

Artyom Savelyev, born in 2002, was examined by doctors and officials in Moscow Friday after arriving unaccompanied on a United Airlines flight from Washington, D.C., a day earlier, according to Russian authorities.

In a letter addressed to the Russian Ministry of Education—the only explanatory document that the boy carried—Torry Hansen of Shelbyville, Tenn., said she was returning the boy she adopted in September 2009 because he had "severe psychopathic issues/behaviors" and she was concerned for her safety.

"I was lied to and misled by the Russian Orphanage workers and director regarding his mental stability and other issues," Ms. Hansen wrote in the letter, which was posted on the Web site of the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda and confirmed by Russian officials as authentic. "The orphanage employees were definitely aware of the major problems that this child has. Yet, they chose to grossly misrepresent those problems, in order to get him out of their orphanage."

It was the latest in a handful of cases of adoptions of Russian children by U.S. families that have ended badly, causing outrage in Moscow. Calling the case "the last straw," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian television that he would propose adoptions by U.S. parents be suspended until the two parties are able to agree on a formal plan to govern the flow of children. Nearly 1,600 Russian children were adopted in the U.S. last year.

U.S. officials called a meeting with Russian authorities in Washington Friday to discuss the boy's case, according to a U.S. State Department official.

The U.S. has been pushing for Russia to sign onto the Hague Convention's international agreement on inter-country adoptions, which sets strict terms on who should be eligible for international adoptions and how those adoptions should be regulated, the State Department official said. Russian officials weren't available to respond.

In Moscow, Russian prosecutors said local investigators would check the legality of the adoption in the case. The U.S. embassy also said it was investigating whether a crime had been committed. Ms. Hansen couldn't be reached Friday for comment.

Ms. Hansen's mother, Nancy Hansen, said the boy had made threats, according to the Associated Press. "He drew a picture of our house burning down and he'll tell anybody that he's going to burn our house down with us in it,'' she said. "It got to be where you feared for your safety. It was terrible."

In a statement, the World Association for Children and Parents, a Renton, Wash., agency that facilitated the adoption, said that it was "saddened to learn that a child adopted from Russia traveled to Moscow without his parent." The agency said it was alerted to the situation by its Moscow office. Russian officials suspended their license pending their investigation. The agency declined to comment beyond its statement.

The Bedford County sheriff's office said Ms. Hansen didn't come in to be interviewed Friday, as scheduled. The authorities added that they talked with her attorney and agreed to conduct the interview next week. The sheriff's office declined to release the attorney's name.

A complaint of Ms. Hansen's treatment of the boy was filed with the Tennessee Department of Children's Services. The agency is consulting with the sheriff's office and prosecutor for Bedford County, where Ms. Hansen lives. "We are working on the case because of allegations of abuse and neglect," department spokesman Robert Johnson says. "Law enforcement will be working at case to determine whether laws were broken or whether charges will be filed."

It is rare for a child to be returned to his or her country of origin, adoption experts say. "It's the first case I have ever heard of with a Russian child," said Tom diFilipo of the Joint Council on International Children's Services, a child advocacy group that supports adoption. Russia was the No. 3 source of adoptive children to U.S. families last year, after China and Ethiopia. But Russian adoptions have dwindled to less than a quarter of the number adopted annually from a decade ago, adoptions experts say, due to a burgeoning program in that country to bolster foster care and local adoption. Artyom Savelyev was born in a small town in Russia's Far East, near Vladivostok to an alcoholic single mother, officials said. He was placed in an orphanage after a court rescinded the mother's parental rights. Local officials told Russian media that Ms. Hansen visited the orphanage several times, brought the boy gifts and passed the complex screening process, including a court hearing needed for approval of the adoption in September 2009. "The American woman knew the child was complicated," Mikhail Zhurasvky, chief of staff of the regional government's office for children's rights, told Komsomolskaya Pravda. "But all the children who end up in orphanages are complicated." Artyom was met at Moscow's Domodedovo airport Thursday by a translator arranged by his American grandmother. The translator took the boy to the Ministry of Education and Science, which handles adoptions, early Thursday afternoon. They called the police, who first took him to the local precinct and then to a Moscow hospital. Pavel Astakhov, the Kremlin's ombudsman for children's rights, said the boy, who he visited in the hospital Friday, has scratches and scars on his arms, but wouldn't explain how he got them. Mr. Astakhov said he asked Artyom if his adopted mother beat him. "No, she didn't beat me, but she was always pulling my hair," Mr. Astakhov said Artyom told him. The adoptive grandmother didn't hurt him either, but "she screamed so loud my ears rang," Mr. Astakhov said Artyom told him. He said Artyom was tired and thin.

He dismissed Ms. Hansen's allegation that Artyom was psychologicall y unstable. "That's nonsense," Mr. Asktakhov said. "I studied his medical history and the boy is absolutely healthy...He's a very good and open boy. He brought a package of American cookies and immediately gave them out in the hospital."

Mr. Astakhov said three Russian families have already expressed interest in adopting Artyom.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304222504575173741062876452.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Shared Vein of Danger

When Yang Shirong heard about the rescue Monday of 115 miners eight days after the flooding of the Wangjialing mine, he rushed to the scene and two nearby hospitals, searching for news of his missing nephew. He got no answers, he says.

Around the same time, Edith Willingham stood on the doorstep of her three-bedroom home in Corinne, W.Va., seeing her husband, Benny, off to work at the Upper Big Branch coal mine. She sent him along with words she's used on many mornings in their 33 years of marriage: "Goodbye, and be careful."

There are stark differences in the lot of miners in the U.S. and China. Mine accidents in the U.S. are rare, while in China, an average of seven mine workers die daily. U.S. miners' relatives are supplied with abundant information after an accident; a family in China may get little. Even as the Chinese government celebrates the heroism of rescuers, it continues to forbid surviving Wangjialing miners to meet their families.

Yet the Chinese and West Virginia families, a world apart, share a bond forged in the coal beds that have helped build two nations. Both have lived with the knowledge of ever-present deadly danger. Now both are reeling, though one family knows the fate of their miner while the other remains in the dark.

On the morning of March 28, miner Shi Weike rode his motorcycle past the house of his uncle, Mr. Yang, as he made his way to the early shift at the Wangjialing coal mine.

Mr. Shi, 35 years old, hails from a small village in the mountains nearby. For generations, families like his scraped out a living farming the sandy soil in the craggy yellow hills.

Poverty above ground hides vast mineral wealth beneath. Shanxi is one of China's most vital sources of coal. The province is dotted with giant coal-fired plants making everything from cement to detergent.

After graduating from school, Mr. Shi gave up farming to follow his two uncles into mining. One uncle, Mr. Yang, says he repeatedly warned of the job's dangers, which he knew well after surviving a gas explosion a decade ago. At one point he persuaded his nephew to quit and learn to operate a forklift.

Yang Shirong spent years working in the coal mines near his home in Shanxi Province, but finally quit the perilous profession. He tried to convince his nephew to do the same. WSJ's Josh Chin reports.

But that work was spotty, and Mr. Shi needed steady income to support his wife, small daughter and sick parents. Working as an electrician below ground, he could earn 100 yuan a day, about $15, a nice wage in rural Shanxi. Early this year, he said he'd go back to mining.

"This mine is a big, state-owned mine—it's safe," Mr. Shi's relatives recall him saying. He promised it would be temporary. He would quit again after the wheat harvest in a few months.

On that morning in March, Mr. Shi passed shabby pre-fab dormitories that house workers from faraway provinces. He took off his motorcycle helmet, signed out his yellow miner's hat and boarded a rail cart ferrying workers underground.

The area is riddled with abandoned mines. Some are filled with water, hidden dangers to those in active mines nearby.

Mr. Shi and his fellow miners worked for a subcontractor hired to excavate the mine in time for production scheduled to begin this October. Instead of first creating ventilation shafts, they as they should have, they carved out a tunnel from where the coal would be mined, a preliminary government investigation said.

Workers saw water seeping into the tunnel, but managers ordered excavation to continue, investigators and state media have said. So far, there has been no reply to these criticisms.

A few days before, Mr. Shi had come home with his pants soaked to the knees, says his wife of 12 years, Guo Qinqin, 32. "I didn't ask him about his job because every day he came home exhausted," she says.

Mr. Shi's relatives say he usually worked in a storage shed underground. It's not clear where he was when workers accidently punched a hole in an abandoned shaft and water surged in. By official count, there were 261 men in the mine. Some were swept away. In a mad dash, 108 got out.

Around 3 p.m., a relative told Mr. Yang about the flooding and said his nephew was missing. "We rushed down there to look but didn't see him," Mr. Yang recalls. "We went to the workers' dorms. There was a guy there.... He said our nephew was down in the mine." Mr. Yang saw his nephew's motorcycle helmet and street clothes lying in a dorm. "Seeing them filled me with dread," he says.

The government mobilized 3,000 rescuers to reach the 153 men trapped below. They threaded mile-long pipes in to pump out water.

For a week, Mr. Yang each day left his house, a place with worn brick floors and portraits of Mao, and went to the mine seeking information. There was little. Authorities wouldn't release the names of survivors. Some relatives who came were rounded up by government officials and placed in hotels, where they were monitored closely.

In China, security is often tight around mine accidents because of official anxiety about families' anger and questions about safety and compensation. Doctors said the survivors were too weak to see visitors.

Mr. Yang held out hope. Water levels went down. Shortly after midnight last Sunday, rescuers reached nine miners who had survived by squatting in two floating coal carts. Another 106 of the 153 trapped underground had been rescued by Monday afternoon, leaving 38.

"I used to be a miner myself," Mr. Yang says. "I was very optimistic because I know that with air and water, there's still a chance of survival."

That Monday morning in West Virginia, April 5, Benny Willingham kissed his wife and climbed into a car with two other men who worked with him at the Massey Energy Co. mine.

The son of a coal miner, Mr. Willingham, 61, had wrestled in high school and enlisted in the Air Force, where he trained as a supply clerk and shipped to Vietnam. "He loved it," his wife says.

Four years later, he returned to his rugged hometown in southern West Virginia bearing a shoulder tattoo of four aces over the inscription "Born to Lose." He blew through his discharge cash and did what most able-bodied men in his part of the world did: He became a miner.

He met Edith Prillaman at a local honky tonk. They married in 1977 and bought a two-story house in Corinne, a village of about 50 homes nestled between a mountainside and the Guyandotte River.

Everyone in Corinne has a connection to mining. Most are grateful for the work, mindful of the dangers, and deeply religious. Mr. Willingham read the Bible most mornings before work and was a deacon at his church. He worked as a miner for more than 30 years, the last 17 with the same crew of men. Most were killed with him in the explosion. Each morning, he pulled on coveralls stitched with reflective tape, a hard hat and $250 steel-toed boots before descending into the mine.

A muscular man with a bushy black mustache and close-cropped hair, Mr. Willingham mostly "bolted roof," driving three-foot steel spikes into the mine ceiling to shore it up.

The work was hard but he loved it because of the guys he worked with, says his brother-in-law, Bobby Sanger Jr. "It was like a sports team, that's the only way I can describe the camaraderie."

The possibility of an accident is always in the back of a miner's mind, says Jody Canada, Mr. Willingham's stepson, also a miner. "But you don't think about it, you can't, you just do the work."

After his shift, Mr. Willingham would shower off coal dust and drive home to watch "Wheel of Fortune" with his wife. "We're both smart," Mrs. Willington said from the maroon recliner in her den, where the walls are hung with pictures of Jesus. "We would compete."

They lived comfortably. Last year, Mr. Willingham took home more than $70,000, Mr. Canada says. When Mrs. Willingham, a diabetic, complained she was having trouble seeing the letters on "Wheel of Fortune," her husband paid cash for a 52-inch flat-screen television, she says.

Mr. Willingham was set to retire May 13, the day before his 62nd birthday. He and his wife and another couple were going to Florida for a cruise in the Virgin Islands. They planned to "eat a lot," Mrs. Willingham says with a laugh. "And honeymoon."'

Mr. Willingham was riding out of the mine in a rail car at the end of his Monday shift when the explosion struck. His wife saw the news on her new TV. Family and friends began showing up. An early news report said six were dead and many more missing.

When an accident occurs, miners know to find a phone and let their family know they're OK. "I sat here waiting for a call," Mrs. Willingham says.

That evening, Mr. Sanger, who sells mining equipment, and his wife, Jeanie, Mr. Willingham's sister, drove to the mine. In the mine office, someone pointed Mr. Sanger toward a woman in human resources. "I'm so sorry your brother's dead," the woman said, embracing Mrs. Sanger.

In Corinne, about 30 people gathered at the Willingham home. Mrs. Willingham was sitting in her recliner. Her friends and family closed in around her. "I knew when I saw their faces," she says.

On Tuesday, a coroner performed an autopsy on Mr. Willingham to inspect him for black lung. The amount of lung capacity he'd lost would determine what his heirs would get from an industry-financed trust fund.

Mrs. Willingham walked into the medical office where his body lay in a blue-and-white hospital gown. She leaned over and gently kissed him.

"They had bathed him," she says. "He didn't have any bruises. He looked peaceful."

By Wednesday afternoon, all of Corinne had been through the Willingham home. The kitchen table groaned with casseroles, lasagnas, cakes and bottles of soda. The den filled with laughter and some tears.

Mrs. Willingham says she isn't angry with Massey. "Benny chose that job," she says. "He enjoyed it."

In China, Mr. Yang and his younger brother, Yang Xiaolin, frantically searched for Mr. Shi at the mine, a makeshift rescue headquarters and the hospitals where surviving miners had been sent in a nearby town.

"We went to the mine and tried to ask for information about Shi Weike, but no one could tell us," says Mr. Yang's younger brother, who works in a coal-coking plant.

At the hospitals, paramilitary police guarded wards where injured miners were being treated. The guards refused to let the Yangs in, the brothers say. Local officials urged them and other family members to go home. They said too much excitement could hurt miners still weak from their ordeal.

By midweek, rescuers had begun to pull up bodies.

At a news conference a few days after the rescue, authorities read aloud a list of the 153 miners who had initially been trapped but refused to release the list. A list reviewed by The Wall Street Journal showed Mr. Shi's name at the top, but didn't make clear whether he was among the 115 who had survived.

Mr. Yang and his brother began to lose hope. They lied to Mr. Shi's parents about his whereabouts, telling them he was among the 115 rescued but wasn't yet allowed to talk.

Bodies coming out are being identified with DNA testing. Doctors came to take a blood sample from Mr. Shi's father.

Mr. Shi's wife, Ms. Guo, lies in bed in the one-room house they rent near the mine. She has an intravenous drip providing glucose, because she stopped eating. At any mention of her husband, she begins to cry. She has been telling her daughter that her father will be "coming home soon."

She herself no longer believes that. "For the first 10 days after the accident, I had hope," she says. "Now I don't have any hope left. How could anyone survive for so long?"

The Yang brothers say they are angry and frustrated at the lack of information about Mr. Shi. They haven't returned to the mine since Wednesday.

"He went back to the mine purely for the money," the elder Mr. Yang says. "See what's happened."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304703104575174011644056810.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_World#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the New York Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

President of Poland Killed in Plane Crash in Russia

MOSCOW — A plane carrying the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, and his wife crashed in western Russia on Saturday morning, and there were no survivors, according to Russian media.

Officials did not immediately have information on the identities of the dead.

A spokeswoman for the emergency management ministry said on Russian television that the plane, a Tupolev 154, crashed as it was landing in Smolensk, and 87 people on board had died.

Mr. Kaczynski had been due in western Russia to commemorate the anniversary of the murder of thousands of Polish officers by the Soviet Union at the beginning of World War II.

The ceremonies were to be held at a site in the Katyn forest close to Smolensk, where 70 years ago members of the Soviet secret police executed more than 20,000 Polish officers captured after the Soviet Army invaded Poland in 1939.

The Tupolev Tu-154, operated by the Polish air force, made its first flight in 1990, according to information posted on the Web site of the Aviation Safety Network, a Virginia-based organization that compiles statistics on air accidents.

Since it first entered service in 1968, the Tu-154 has been involved in 66 crashes that resulted in 2,725 fatalities.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/world/europe/11poland.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Psychologist Steeped in Treatment of Sexually Active Priests

Leslie Lothstein has seen them all: priests sexually active with adult men, others with adult women, others with adolescents, others with children. By his own count, Dr. Lothstein, a psychologist at the Institute of Living , in Hartford, has treated about 300 Roman Catholic priests, not only those with sexual problems, but also those with alcoholism, depression and other mental illnesses.

He has written widely on the topics of pedophilia and ephebophilia, or sexual interest in adolescents. And, when interviewed in his office last month, he was not at all surprised by the continuing revelations about sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church.

“I had predicted 15 years ago that this would go up to the pope,” Dr. Lothstein said.

He unwittingly found himself in the news almost 10 years ago, when it was reported that the Catholic Church had sent priests to the Institute of Living for treatment without always telling the doctors the full details of the priests' transgressions. (One of those priests was the superpredator John Geoghan , whom Dr. Lothstein treated.) What's more, the Catholic hierarchy often ignored the institute's recommendations about the priests' fitness for service.

“I found that they rarely followed our recommendations,” Dr. Lothstein told The Hartford Courant in 2002. “They would put them back into work where they still had access to vulnerable populations.”

Although the institute no longer has a formal relationship with the Catholic Church — it had been the only secular hospital to serve as a regular treatment center for priests with psychological problems — Dr. Lothstein, who joined the institute in 1986, still treats priests. And given his vast experience, as well as his independence from the church, his insights are disturbing, but also helpful.

“It was a surprise for me to see how many psychopaths I met in the priesthood,” Dr. Lothstein said. “Glib, callous, could say anything to you and be charming.”

Still, it was only a small minority who were true pedophiles, he said, adding, “You have to distinguish pedophiles, who were interested in children under 13, prepubescent, no pubic hair, small penises, and would lose interest any time the children became pubescent, from people interested in adolescents, 13 to 15 years old, or interested in later adolescents.”

The ephebophiles had far more hope of successfully managing their preferences, Dr. Lothstein said. “The psychological tests show that if you're heterosexual it's normal to be interested in adult and teenage females,” he said, “or if you're a gay man, then adult and teenage males.”

Liaisons with teenagers might still be criminal, of course, or socially unacceptable. And for priests, any sexual relations are a violation of their vows.

But those interested in young children seem to be wired differently. “There seemed to be a specific fingerprint,” Dr. Lothstein said. “They would like blue eyes, or a black child, or a white child, or Hispanic girls.” And their predilections were unchangeable. “You can't treat heterosexuality,” he said. “You can't treat homosexuality. You can't treat pedophilia.”

“So what do you treat?” Dr. Lothstein asked, rhetorically. “You make them aware of the damage. And if they don't have a conscience, you try to give them a mentalizing function” — to help them imagine other people's feelings. The doctor must also, in some cases, help the pedophile understand that a child is not capable of the romantic interest the pedophile, in his or her fantasies, thinks is being reciprocated.

“Let's say he's saying, ‘This boy, he's 5 years old, he's seducing me, he's coy, he's making eyes at me.' ” The pedophile must learn that the child “doesn't have the libido that I have as a 67-year-old,” Dr. Lothstein said. With pedophiles, “it's not just sex, it's romance,” he said, adding, “They're in love with the 5-year-old.”

Dr. Lothstein is, relative to some of his peers, a bit of an optimist. He believes that sexual offenders, even pedophiles, can sometimes learn the empathy that will help them control their urges. “But the treatment is slow,” he said. It draws on a range of techniques, from cognitive behavioral therapy to group work to intensive individual sessions.

The work of healing is no easier for priests. Catholic treatment centers, like Southdown in Aurora, Ontario, have a spiritual component to their residential life, but their psychologists and psychiatrists rely on the same psychodynamic treatments used by secular therapists like Dr. Lothstein.

Describing the treatment at Southdown, which she led from 1993 to 2003, Donna Markham , a psychologist and Dominican nun, said, “It's excellent psychotherapy, but it's not religiously based.”

And as the therapists continue to discover, no therapeutic technique can heal a church of all its pathology. “And I treated half a dozen priests who fathered children,” Dr. Lothstein said. “I treated priests who had two children. I treated priests who got women pregnant and got them abortions.

“I said to one of them, ‘Why didn't you just use a condom?' And he said, ‘Because birth control is against the law of the church.' ”

Dr. Lothstein is not a Catholic; he is a Conservative Jew. But he said he felt for the priests he had treated, at least the ones he did not consider psychopaths and child rapists. The priests were his patients. And he felt for the Catholic Church. Of priests he knew who had affairs with married women, he said plaintively, “They destroyed the sacrament of marriage.” Could the pope, who is having a very busy month, have said it any better?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/us/10beliefs.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the White House

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ONAP Releases Report of Community Recommendations for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy

Last fall, the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) asked Americans to give us their input for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which will be released in the coming months.  From the beginning, ONAP recognized that community feedback would be invaluable to our National HIV/AIDS Strategy development so we hosted 14 community discussions and meetings throughout the United States, in addition to launching an online portal for Americans to send their comments directly to the White House.  In the end, we received over 1000 written responses from nearly every state and U.S. territory, from people affected by or living with HIV, from men, women, and transgender individuals, from young and old, and from respondents of various ethnicities, racial backgrounds and sexual orientation. 

Despite the diversity in setting and respondents, a core set of common themes emerged across all of the recommendations.  Today, we are releasing a report of the major themes that we heard from the public .

Throughout this process we heard that people want to bring the issue of HIV/AIDS back into the forefront of the American psyche through efforts such as social marketing campaigns and comprehensive HIV prevention and education for youth, injection drug users, communities of color, and gay and bisexual men.  Access to care was also commonly discussed.  Specifically, expanding support services for people living with HIV and the need to diagnose and treat co-occurring conditions such as Hepatitis, substance use, mental health, and markers of economic instability (e.g. housing, joblessness).    

Even when access to treatment is available, the stigma surrounding an HIV diagnosis may be too great for people to get tested or enroll in care. We heard from many people living with HIV who spoke about the stigma associated with being HIV-positive and its effect on their daily lives.    Many people discussed the ways in which stigma and discrimination contributed to HIV-related racial, geographic, and gender disparities. People also described personal accounts of discrimination and stigma from providers and difficulties in accessing a range of services, including dental care and prenatal care. 

Last, many expressed the importance of coordinating HIV prevention and treatment activities across the Federal government.  Many also expressed the importance of evaluating current HIV prevention and care efforts and making sure that these evaluation activities help guide Federal, state and local activities and funding. 

These recommendations are only a subset of the input that we had received and many more recommendations for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy are detailed in the community discussions report. Not all of the recommendations, however, will appear in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.  To be effective, the strategy must include a small number of high payoff items that will address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.  Nevertheless, we intend for this community report to provide a baseline for the status of the domestic epidemic and serve as a planning tool and resource for Federal, State and local agencies. We are grateful for the many Americans who helped make this report possible and for the many insightful recommendations that will go a long way in ensuring that the National HIV/AIDS Strategy is a success.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/04/08/onap-releases-report-community-recommendations-national-hivaids-strategy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Justice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WASHINGTON– A former Jackson County, Mo., sheriff's deputy was sentenced in federal court today for violating the civil rights of a teenage girl whom he sexually assaulted in his patrol car, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri announced today.

Steven W. Burgess, 35, of Independence, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith this morning to 14 years in federal prison without parole.

On Nov. 12, 2009, Burgess pleaded guilty to depriving a 15-year-old girl of her Constitutional rights by sexually assaulting her while she was in his custody. Burgess was on-duty and in uniform when he encountered the victim and some friends in Haynes Park in Sibley, Mo., at approximately 2 a.m. on July 24, 2007. Burgess told the victim's friends to leave the park, but ordered her to stay at the park with him.

Burgess then put the victim in handcuffs and, while patting her down, inappropriately touched her in a sexual manner. Burgess removed the handcuffs and told her to get into the car, keeping the door open and her feet touching the ground outside the car. Burgess stood in front of her and compelled her to perform oral sex on him while she sat in his patrol vehicle. At one point, Burgess made her get on her knees to perform oral sex on him.

Afterward, Burgess took the victim to her aunt's house. He told her that she could not tell anyone about the forced oral sex, or he would disclose that she had been caught in the park drinking. Once inside the house, she told her family what had happened and was immediately taken to Children's Mercy Hospital.

Burgess violated the victim's right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which includes the right to bodily integrity. Burgess used force against his victim and placed her in fear of death, serious bodily injury and kidnapping.

“A law enforcement officer who abuses his authority by sexually assaulting a child not only violates the law, but also the child's civil rights and the public trust,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez for the Civil Rights Division said. “Today's sentence should remind any law enforcement officer inclined to violate the most basic Constitutional rights of our citizens that we will aggressively prosecute.”

“No one is above the law,” U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips said. “When a uniformed law enforcement officer violates the civil rights of a vulnerable victim, especially in such a repugnant manner, he must be held to the highest standard of justice. Today's lengthy prison sentence holds this defendant accountable for violating the public trust and abusing his position of authority to victimize a young girl. We are sending a strong message to our community that civil rights violations won't be tolerated.”

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Michael Warner and Trial Attorney Eric L. Gibson with the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division. It was investigated by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/April/10-crt-391.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From ICE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton addresses HIDTA conference

How ICE fights the flow of dirty money in targeting transnational crime

Nearly 400 federal, state and local law enforcement representatives converged at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C., on April 7-8 to attend the 2010 High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Conference.

Under HIDTA, law enforcement agencies partner together to combat drug-trafficking crimes in designated areas around the country that have a high concentration of drug distribution, transportation, smuggling and other drug-related activities.

In addressing the group Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton explained how ICE fights transnational criminal activity by depriving criminals and criminal organizations of their sole motivator-money.

"When we undercut the profit, we also take away the single recruitment tool drug trafficking organizations have-making a quick buck," Morton said.

Morton cited the El Dorado Task Force's Operation Triple Play where law enforcement officers made 28 arrests and seized large amounts of currency, vehicles and drugs. The case demonstrates how ICE "successfully navigates the shady underworld of narcotics money laundering-a world replete with money brokers, sham businesses, hidden accounts and other byways of illicit finance," Morton said.

ICE's latest advance in disrupting the lifeline that fuels criminal enterprises is the Bulk Cash Smuggling Center (BCSC) in Williston, Vt. Law enforcement officials can contact the BCSC for timely actionable intelligence related to BCS interdiction and receive ongoing BCS operational support.

Also in ICE's arsenal is a comprehensive study with DHS Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement . ICE has gathered and synthesized information from both U.S. law enforcement agencies and the government of Mexico to learn more about the criminal proceeds supply chain. Knowing where criminals are consolidating cash and how they're transporting it, law enforcement agents and officers will be armed with critical inside information needed to halt bulk cash smugglers and money launderers in their tracks. Morton said that the results of the study will be revealed at a meeting in Mexico within the next six weeks.

ICE participates in 30 of the 32 HIDTA programs around the country and Morton said, "We intend to continue working collaboratively in them for many more years to come."

The HIDTA conference was sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) , the leading agency that develops and coordinates drug control policies and acts as a central organizing body to manage the anti-drug efforts. The ONDCP initiated HIDTA in 1990 .

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1004/100408washingtondc.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

26 gang members, associates and others arrested following 4-day targeted operation by ICE

Among those arrested were members of Surenos, Bloods, M Zone Rydas and Sugar Loaf Clique 31

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Gang members, associates and other law violators were arrested here following a four-day targeted multi-agency law enforcement effort which culminated Sunday between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Henderson County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) and the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office (BCSO).

Twenty-six individuals were arrested as a result of this effort. Of those arrested, 19 face state criminal charges and seven face immigration administrative charges. The criminal charges range between violent assault offenses which include stabbing incidents to narcotics violations. ICE agents also seized marijuana and cocaine.

Those arrested, which included U.S. citizens, were from various countries including Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Some were gang members or associates of the Surenos, Bloods, M Zone Rydas and Sugar Loaf Clique 31.

The arrests occurred at various locations to include Oriental Pavilion, a nightclub known as a gang hangout, which was operating illegally.

"Operations such as these speak to the outstanding law enforcement partnerships here in North Carolina," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigation in North Carolina Delbert Richburg. "I commend both the Henderson and Buncombe County Sheriffs' for their dedication to working with ICE in an effort to protect our law abiding citizens."

Henderson County Sheriff Davis said, "The location where most of the suspects were arrested was a well-known haven for active gang members. Gang recruiting and criminal activity for the entire region was in full view for anyone who attended this Asheville club. This joint operation with ICE, Buncombe and Henderson County Sheriffs' Offices is precisely what this area needs to break up and halt gang activity."

"Partnerships such as the Western North Carolina Gang Task Force have enabled law enforcement to combine resources and have a very positive effect on the safety and security of our communities," said Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan. "Working with local agencies as well as ICE on this problem has made a significant impact on gang activity in Asheville and Buncombe County."

The North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE), the North Carolina State Probation and the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles played a critical law enforcement role in this targeted operation.

ICE's Gang Unit identifies violent street gangs and develops intelligence on their membership, associates, criminal activities and international movements to deter, disrupt and dismantle gang operations by tracing and seizing cash, weapons and other assets derived from criminal activities.

Operation Community Shield partners with existing federal, state and local anti-gang efforts to share intelligence on gang organizations and their leadership, share resources and combine legal authorities to arrest, prosecute, imprison and/or deport transnational gang members.

Since inception in 2005 to date, ICE agents working in conjunction with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies nationwide have arrested more than 16,700 street gang members and associates linked to 900 different gangs. Of those arrested, 206 were gang leaders; 196 have been charged criminally, and 9,546 have been charged with immigration violations and processed for removal. Through this initiative, ICE has also seized 1,060 firearms.

To report suspicious activity, call ICE's 24-hour toll-free hotline at: 1-866-347-2423 or visit www.ice.gov .

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1004/100406asheville.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the DEA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Operation ‘Fertile Ground' Takes Down Major Drug Trafficking Network

Multi-agency Operation nets multiple indictments and Stops the Flow of PCP and other dangerous drugs into Pinal County

APR 6 -- (Casa Grande, AZ) – Over the last seven months Casa Grande and Coolidge have been the scene of the largest anti-drug operation in the recent history of Pinal County, as 24 suspects were indicted in what became operation “Fertile Ground”.

Police seized large quantities of PCP, methamphetamine, crack and powder cocaine, all very dangerous illegal drugs.

“This investigation illustrates the value of combining the strengths, resources and skills of federal, state and local agencies to fight these drug trafficking networks,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Elizabeth W. Kempshall. “DEA will use all the resources at our disposal to bring down these violent drug dealers who think they can peddle these poisons in our communities without facing justice.”

“The Pinal County Attorney's Office and local police cannot go after the drug-lords of Mexico, but we can take a significant bite out of the local street-level networks which damage our communities and neighborhoods,” said James P. Walsh, Pinal County Attorney.

The operation was a joint effort of the Casa Grande Police Department, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Mobile Enforcement Unit (DEA-MET) and the Pinal County Attorney's Office.

The Casa Grande Police Department led the effort to drive drug traffickers from the city.

“The fight against drugs is a never ending proposition, one that requires ever changing tactics and approaches. We are very pleased with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration and their Mobile Enforcement Team to be willing to come into our Community to work with us, and with our neighboring Law Enforcement Agency Partners to continue to address these problems,” Casa Grande Police Chief Robert Huddleston said. “We have, with their help, made a dent in a huge problem. We and our local partners look forward to a continued productive relationship with DEA so that we may keep the heat on those involved in illegal drug trafficking, and serve to keep our communities safe and secure.”

The Casa Grande PD was supported by the DEA-MET. The DEA-MET groups were formed in 1995 as a way of responding to state and local law enforcement's concerns about the spread of drug trafficking and the associated violence. More than two dozen DEA MET teams operating throughout the United States are tasked with identifying and dismantling violent drug trafficking groups that have gained a foothold in urban and rural areas.

For about seven months, this task force targeted the sales, distribution and violence associated with PCP and other dangerous drugs in Casa Grande, Coolidge and surrounding communities. During this same period the task force conducted over 100 enforcement operations. Officers of these different agencies worked together to arrest and indict more than 24 accused drug dealers and suppliers.

Two of the indicted defendants traveled to south Phoenix and purchased large quantities of liquid PCP and then distributed this PCP at street-level in the form of “sherm-sticks” (a standard cigarette dipped in PCP). The individual “sherm-sticks” were sold in Casa Grande and Coolidge areas for approximately $10.00 to $15.00 each.

The operation attacked more than a dozen different locations in Casa Grande. A smaller number of locations were involved in Coolidge. The Special Weapons and Tactics team led by the Pinal County Sheriff's Office supported the effort.

"We worked together with the CGPD, DEA and our County Attorney's Office on this operation. This combined effort should send a clear message to criminals that we will aggressively pursue them to achieve justice. We will continue to work with other law enforcement to keep our families safe," Sheriff Paul Babeu said.

Cooperation of different law enforcement agencies played a key role to the success of this operation.

“All the locations are in residential communities that were negatively impacted by brazen drug dealing,” said Kelly Neal, Drug Unit Bureau Chief. “These defendants conducted their activities in shopping malls, gas stations and other public areas. We need to keep our public spaces safe for our community.”

“I call the public to assist us now and in the future,” Walsh said. “We need everyone's help to protect our communities from predatory drug dealers.”

For further media inquires please contact:

DEA
Ramona F. Sanchez, SA - PIO
Phoenix Division
602 664-5725
602 664-5616 fax
ramona.f.sanchez@usdoj.gov

Pinal County Attorney's Office
Kostas Kalaitzidis, PIO
520 709 1333 Cell
520 866 6699 Land line
Kostas. Kalaitzidis@pinalcountyaz.gov

Attached
1. Appendix A – List of indicted defendants
2. Appendix B – Indictments
3. Appendix C – Photograph of PCP vials and area maps

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/phnx040610.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

$1 Million in Heroin Seized from Bronx Mill: Four Members of Drug Trafficking Ring Arrested

APR 9 -- John P. Gilbride, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Field Division, New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan, and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced today the arrests of 4 individuals in connection with an extensive investigation into a major heroin trafficking operation in The Bronx. During a court authorized search of an apartment at 2112 Starling Avenue, investigators seized 7 kilos of heroin worth approximately $1 million.

The heroin had been packaged into 50,000 user-ready envelopes, or “glassines,” inside the apartment, which served as a “mill” for processing the drug. This is one of many significant heroin seizures in the city over the past nine months, including a search that netted a quarter of a million glassines in July. The Bronx ring had 50 different stamps for branding the glassines with different names, including “Almighty,” “Heat Wave,” “Maserati” and “Body Bag.” Cardboard boxes of empty glassines, scales, and coffee grinders used for cutting the heroin were also seized, among other paraphernalia.

The operation was spearheaded by the NYPD's Bronx Narcotics Major Case Squad and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Special Narcotics Prosecutor's Office obtained the search warrant on Wednesday evening. During the course of probe, police identified Luis Lara, 28, as a manager of the drug trafficking organization. Lara was observed travelling to both JFK Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday and then returning to The Bronx. He was arrested yesterday as he climbed into a livery car on Castle Hill Avenue along with two other defendants who worked in the mill. A fourth man, Jose Polo, 28, was stopped as he left the apartment building with a backpack that contained approximately 3,000 glassines of heroin.

The four defendants are expected to be arraigned on criminal complaints later today. The top charge, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, carries a maximum 20-year sentence.

The charges and allegations are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/nyc040910.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

34 Charged In Rockland County Drug Sweep Following Eleven-Month Undercover Investigation

Drugs, Weapons and Cash Seized In Multi-Agency Law Enforcement Crackdown Dubbed “Operation Deadliest Catch”; Defendants Face Up To Fifteen Years In Prison

APR 7 -- Special Agent-in-Charge John P. Gilbride, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Field Division and Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe, joined by police chiefs from several county police departments, today announced the filing of criminal charges against 34 individuals for selling powdered and crack cocaine and heroin on the streets of Rockland County. The arrests with seventeen indictments are the result of an eleven-month undercover narcotics probe dubbed “Operation Deadliest Catch.”

The far-reaching investigation was initiated in May, 2009 with information developed through a confidential source. During the next several months, undercover detectives from the Rockland County Narcotics Task Force conducted court-authorized wiretap surveillance of several telephones that were identified as being used by the suspected drug dealers. Pursuant to those wiretaps and other physical surveillance, detectives uncovered evidence of regular sales of cocaine and heroin to a large number of customers in nearly every Rockland County town.

“Today's arrests are a testament to the DEA's commitment to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking rings. Without the continued partnership of the DEA and our fellow law enforcement agencies, these arrests wouldn't have been possible,” said Wilbert L. Plummer, Associate Special Agent-in-Charge, DEA, NYFD.

Rockland County District Attorney Zugibe said, “Today's arrests not only underscore the continuing commitment of prosecutors and police to improving the quality of life in the county, but send a message to those who flood the streets with illegal drugs that drug use and drug-related violence will not be tolerated and will be vigorously prosecuted.”

Investigators intercepted a staggering 84,000 communications between suspected drug dealers during the period. Most defendants were overheard ordering cocaine from their supplier or arranging cocaine sales to clients.

The defendants, who range in age from 22 to 53, had several cocaine suppliers, including Jairo Taveras, a known drug trafficker in the Bronx.

“Operation Deadliest Catch” recovered approximately seven pounds of cocaine, one hundred grams of crack cocaine, one ounce of heroin, over $100,000 in cash and several weapons, including two .38 caliber handguns, a Tech 11 machine gun and a bulletproof vest.

Said Zugibe, “Cocaine and heroin can have a  devastating effect on our community. Illegal drug trafficking and weapons charges are serious offenses that are often at the root of many additional and violent crimes in our towns and villages. The result of this joint investigation will make Rockland County a safer place for all residents”

The 34 defendants are variously charged with numerous counts of felony criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy, each punishable by up to fifteen years in prison.

The investigation continues into the reach and scope of the illicit operation and further arrests may be made.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/nyc040710a.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges 22 Members Of Bi-Coastal Quaalude Trafficking Ring

Since 2008, Ring Allegedly Manufactured And Distributed More Than 100,000 Quaalude Pills Worth Over $3.5 Million In Manhattan and Long Island

Authorities Seize More Than $1 Million In Bank Accounts And File Civil Actions Against Laboratory In Brooklyn And $1.4 Million Apartment On 5th Avenue In Manhattan

APR 7 -- JOHN P. GILBRIDE, the Special-Agent-in-Charge of the New York Division of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, KATHLEEN M. RICE, the District Attorney for the County of Nassau, and LAWRENCE MULVEY, the Commissioner of the Nassau County Police Department, today announced the unsealing of a Complaint charging 22 members of a criminal organization that extended from California to New York with conspiracy to distribute methaqualone, in the form of pills commonly known as "Quaaludes." In the culmination of a three-year investigation dubbed "Operation Lude Behavior," last night and this morning, more than 100 federal and local law enforcement officers arrested 22 defendants in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk, New York; Paramus, New Jersey; and Oakland, California. Twenty of the arrested defendants are expected to be presented this afternoon in Manhattan federal court; KEVIN YAN and THOMAS FAIRLEY are expected to be presented in federal court in the Northern District of California later today.

"These arrests serve as a warning to anyone trafficking drugs. The DEA and our fellow law enforcement agencies remain vigilant in finding and bringing to justice anyone that perpetrates this type of activity. Criminals should remember that no matter how driven they are to circumvent the law, we are equally as committed to finding and locking them up, wherever they traffic in illegal drugs," said Associate Special Agent in Charge WILBERT L. PLUMMER of the New York Field Division of the DEA.

According to the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

Between August 2008 and April 2010, DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY, a chemist by trade, led a narcotics trafficking ring that distributed more than 100,000 Quaaludes worth more than $3.5 million in Manhattan and Long Island, New York. During the course of the conspiracy, DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY manufactured the Quaaludes at a laboratory in California called CalCoast Labs, among other places, with the assistance of THOMAS FAIRLEY, ANA SANCHEZ, and KEVIN YAN. DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY then transported the pills to New York, where they were sold directly to FRANK BISMAN, JASON ABBATE, and NEIL WEINSTOCK.

BISMAN and ABBATE sold the Quaaludes they bought from DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY to BARRY GOLDRING and THERESA GOLDRING. The GOLDRINGs sold the pills to KENNETH KUTIN, BRUCE SIEGMAN, and MARK VANDERBORG. VANDERBORG then sold the Quaaludes to HOWARD ARONSON, GARY BRUSTEIN, LEONARD ROSENFELD, and MICHAEL SILVERMAN, who in turn sold the pills to EDWARD RUBIN, MELANIE TAXIN, MITCHELL TEPPER, RALPH MARAZZO, NINA MARAZZO, and RONALD VESSIA. Each of these defendants then resold the Quaaludes to others.

Earlier today, law enforcement officers executed court-authorized search warrants on eight locations from which certain of the defendants distributed Quaaludes. In addition, officers conducted a court-authorized search of a Brooklyn laboratory where DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY met with BISMAN and ABBATE, among others, to distribute Quaaludes. Finally, the DEA's chemical diversion team simultaneously conducted an administrative search of CalCoast Labs in Emeryville, California, where DENNIS PATRICK FARLEY and his co-conspirators allegedly manufactured the Quaaludes.

During these searches, officers located:

• thousands of pills from the lab facility in Brooklyn;
  
  
• approximately two kilos of finished powder, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a large bag containing many unfilled pill capsules, a pill press machine, and a firearms from DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY's Manhattan residence;
  
  
• two kilos of unfinished powder, one kilo of finished powder, and a pill press from the laboratory facility in California; and
  
  
• another firearm at the GOLDRING's residence.
  

Law enforcement officers also executed seizure warrants for the following five luxury automobiles which were used to transport Quaaludes for distribution: a 2002 Lexus ES 300, a 2007 BMW 335I convertible, a 1998 Mercedes Benz SL500, a 2007 Mercedes Benz ML350 sport utility vehicle, and a 2010 Mercedes Benz C300. Several bank accounts containing more than $1 million in proceeds from the sale of Quaaludes were also seized. Finally, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York will file civil complaints against certain of the homes and the laboratories that were used to manufacture and facilitate the distribution of Quaaludes, including the laboratory in Brooklyn and an apartment on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan worth approximately $1.4 million.

U.S. Attorney BHARARA praised the investigative work of the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, the DEA, and the Nassau County Police Department. He added that the investigation is continuing.

"Dennis Patrick Fairley's alleged drug racket stretched literally from California to the New York Island. Instead of applying his training as a chemist to advance science, he allegedly used it to concoct dangerous poisons and advance his personal wealth. Today's coast to coast takedown ends Fairley's toxic experiment and nips in the bud any apparent re emergence of Quaaludes in our communities. By seizing both their drugs and their assets, and working closely with our partners at the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, the DEA, and the Nassau County Police Department, we have ensured that Fairley and his crew will not enjoy the ill gotten gains from their trafficking crimes," said U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA.

"This case should serve as a model of what law enforcement agencies can do together and as a warning to those who manufacture and sell illegal drugs. If you think you are untouchable and that no one is watching, you are wrong," said Nassau County District Attorney KATHLEEN M. RICE.

"As police commissioner, I am very pleased to note the success of this investigation is greatly due to the efforts of many facets within the Nassau County Police Department beginning with the level of execution, the patrol force. What initially began as a simple petit larceny arrest, uncovered a multi dimensional drug operation that spanned across the country. It was the intuition and investigative prowess of all the police officers and investigators involved in this investigation that brought this illegal drug enterprise to a close," said Nassau County Police Commissioner LAWRENCE W. MULVEY.

The attached charts set forth the charges, and their corresponding maximum penalties, contained in the Complaint unsealed earlier today, as well as the defendants' ages and places of residence.

Assistant United States Attorneys JENNIFER E. BURNS, BRIAN A. JACOBS, and JASON P. HERNANDEZ, and Special Assistant United States Attorney RICK WHELAN of the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

U.S. v. Dennis Patrick Fairley

Defendant	Age	City and State
DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY	65	New York, New York
THOMAS FAIRLEY	50	Modesta, California
ANA SANCHEZ	37	Baldwin, New York
KEVIN YAN	54	San Ramom, California
FRANK BISMAN	56	Fresh Meadows, New York
JASON ABBATE	50	Huntington, New York
BARRY GOLDRING	57	Bellmore, New York
THERESA GOLDRING	50	Bellmore, New York
KENNETH KUTIN	55	Little Neck, New York
MARK VANDERBORG	53	Woodbury, New York
BRUCE SIEGMAN	53	Bellmore, New York
HOWARD ARONSON	57	Jericho, New York
GARY BRUSTEIN	53	Brookville, New York
LEONARD ROSENFELD	59	Plainview, New York
MICHAEL SILVERMAN	62	Bayside, New York
EDWARD RUBIN	58	Oceanside, New York
MELANIE TAXIN	53	Roslyn, New York
MITCHELL TEPPER	50	Whitestone, New York
RALPH MARAZZO	65	Woodbury, New York
NINA MARAZZO	50	Woodbury, New York
RONALD VESSIA	65	Oakland Gardens, New York
NEIL WEINSTOCK	51	Paramus, New Jersey

.

Ct.	Charge	Defendants	Maximum Penalty
1	Conspiring to distribute methaqualone	DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY THOMAS FAIRLEY ANA SANCHEZ KEVIN YAN FRANK BISMAN JASON ABBATE BARRY GOLDRING THERESA GOLDRING KENNETH KUTIN MARK VANDERBORG BRUCE SIEGMAN HOWARD ARONSON GARY BRUSTEIN LEONARD ROSENFELD MICHAEL SILVERMAN EDWARD RUBIN MELANIE TAXIN MITCHELL TEPPER RALPH MARAZZO NINA MARAZZO RONALD VESSIA	Maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and fine of the greater of $1,000,000, or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the crime
2	Conspiring to distribute methaqualone	DENNIS PATRICK FAIRLEY NEIL WEINSTOCK	Maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and fine of the greater of $1,000,000, or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the crime

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/nyc040710.html

.