Spy suspects are traded to Russia after guilty pleas

Ten accused spies plead guilty in U.S. federal court to lesser charges and are released to Moscow. In return, Russia is freeing four prisoners convicted for contact with Western agencies.

Richard A. Serrano, Tribune Washington Bureau and Los Angeles Times

July 9, 2010

Reporting from Washington and New York

In a high-stakes trade reminiscent of the Cold War, 10 men and women accused of spying for Russia abruptly pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in New York and were traded to the Russian government for four prisoners convicted there of espionage.

The 10 defendants, who were arrested late last month, pleaded to the relatively minor charges of failing to register as foreign agents and were sentenced to time served — the equivalent of about 12 days or less.

In a courtroom in Lower Manhattan, they were marched in wearing jail garb or street clothes, some in handcuffs.

They were seated in what normally serves as the jury box as U.S. District Judge Kimba M. Wood asked each to reveal his or her true identity and admit guilt.

"Uh, which name?" replied the first defendant, who had been living under the name Richard Murphy in a New Jersey suburb with his wife, who went by the name Cynthia Murphy.

Their real names, they said in court, are Vladimir Guryev and Lydia Guryev.

One by one, the other defendants gave their true names, birth dates and educational backgrounds, most of them speaking into a microphone passed from one to another as if they were guests on a television talk show.

Then, they each said, "Yes, your honor," when asked if they wanted to plead guilty to the charges.

Most appeared calm and relaxed, sometimes smiling and laughing lightly. One defendant, Anna Chapman, who after her arrest gained instant American celebrity as a Russian "femme fatale," played with her hair, braiding and rebraiding it.

Another defendant, Vicky Pelaez, a U.S. citizen who worked as a Spanish-language reporter in New York, was alone in breaking down into tears. In the courtroom, her eldest son sat with his head in his hands during much of the proceedings.

In the end, all 10 agreed never to return to United States and had to forfeit property and other assets in this country. An 11th defendant, Christopher Metsos, was arrested in Cyprus last month and freed on bail. He has since disappeared.

When the courtroom drama ended, the defendants were scheduled to be processed, taken by bus to a New York airport and placed by Russian officials aboard a plane bound for Moscow.

In return for the 10 secret agents, the Russian government agreed to release four individuals incarcerated there for "contact with Western intelligence agencies." Three of them were convicted of treason and, according to the U.S. officials, "all have served a number of years in prison and all are in poor health."

U.S. prosecutors announced that the Russian government had "agreed to release the Russian prisoners and their families for resettlement."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree pardoning four Russian citizens serving in prisons for espionage, presidential spokeswoman Natalia Timakova said.

She identified them as Igor V. Sutyagin, Sergei Skripal, Alexander Zaporozhsky and Gennady Vasilenko. Timakova said the four appealed to the Russian president for clemency and admitted the crimes they had committed.

U.S. authorities said in court papers in New York that "some of the Russian prisoners worked for the Russian military, and/or for various Russian intelligence agencies."

Sutyagin, a former scientist, was arrested in 1999. He spent five years in pretrial detention, and in 2004 was convicted of passing classified data on Russian submarines and missile systems.

Skripal, a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence, was given 13 years in 2006 for spying for England. Zaporozhsky, another former Russian intelligence officer, was serving an 18-year sentence after a 2003 espionage arrest.

The four were transferred this week to a prison in Moscow, where they were offered the opportunity to leave Russia with their families. They also had to sign statements admitting their guilt.

A State Department official said negotiations for the trade with Russia began "very early on after the individuals were arrested in this country. The Russian government did move very quickly."

A Kremlin official, speaking to the Interfax news agency Friday, said the transfer was organized quickly and without complications. "This became possible thanks to the new spirit of Russian-U.S. relations, high level of mutual understanding and confidence between the presidents of the two countries no one will be able to shake," the official said.

Top Department of Justice and FBI officials insisted that the swap would not deter the U.S. from continuing to ferret out other would-be spies.

"This was an extraordinary case, developed through years of work by investigators, intelligence lawyers and prosecutors, and the agreement we reached today provides a successful resolution for the United States and its interests," said Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller added that "counterintelligence is a top FBI investigative priority" and said that his agents would work "tirelessly behind the scenes to counter the efforts of those who would steal our nation's vital secrets."

Charles Pinck, a partner in the Georgetown Group, a private investigative firm in Washington and president of the OSS [Office of Special Services] Society of McLean, Va., which celebrates the historical accomplishments of spying during World War II, said Russia may have ended up with the better deal.

He argued that the U.S. would have been smarter to wait longer and learn more about the spy ring here, perhaps hoping some or all of the defendants would tell all before they were sent out of the country.

"The longer they were here, the more they would talk,'' he said. "So I have to think these arrests were causing serious repercussions back in Russia."

Robert Baum, a New York public defender who represented Chapman, intimated that she was eager to leave the United States. He said she hoped to eventually return to England after being deported to Moscow.

"It was a difficult decision," he said of Chapman's agreement to plead guilty. But he said she had been housed in solitary confinement and let out only for an hour a day, and forbidden from seeing newspapers or television. "She is happy to be out of jail," he said, but "unhappy this has probably destroyed her business and that she has to return to Moscow."

John Rodriguez, the attorney representing Pelaez, said she received a promise from the Russian government of $2,000 dollars a month for life wherever she goes after abiding by a deal to travel first to Moscow with the other defendants. Rodriguez said she hoped to return to her native Peru eventually.

He also said she was not acting on behalf of the Russian government but rather was trying to help her husband, codefendant Juan Lazaro, who actually is Mikhail Anatonoljevich Vasenkov. "She loved him," he said, adding that Pelaez had not even known her husband's true identity. "She loved America."

In Russia, the mother of Igor V. Sutyagin said her son had done nothing wrong. "I don't know how to react to this announcement yet," Svetlana Sutyagina said in a telephone interview. "I am happy that Igor is pardoned and free now, but Igor is innocent and he bought his freedom by admitting the crime he never committed."

Sutyagina said that she learned about her son's release and transfer from media reports. The number of prisoners exchanged by the two countries surprised her.

"Igor told me in prison when I met with him earlier that the list for exchange contained 10 names of Russian prisoners," she said. "I don't understand what happened. Maybe the other six didn't sign a confession."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-russia-spies-20100709-13,0,4277103,print.story

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

Arraignment for suspected Grim Sleeper postponed until August

The suspected Grim Sleeper serial killer made his first court appearance Thursday afternoon, but an arraignment was postponed until Aug. 9. He is being held without bail.

Lonnie David Franklin, Jr. was arrested Wednesday after a "familial DNA" search led police to the suspect on charges that he had killed at least 10 women since 1985 . Franklin, a retired city trash collector, lived in the heart of the neighborhood where the killings occurred.

The Grim Sleeper slayings occurred over parts of three decades along the major boulevards of South Los Angeles. But it wasn't until the California Department of Justice matched DNA from the crime scenes to a young man who had been arrested in recent months that authorities were able to identify the man's father, Franklin, as the suspect.

"For the next 25 years, one man preyed on the innocent," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference Thursday. "Today I'm proud to announce that this terror has finally come to an end.... We have our suspect."

Authorities gathered at the news conference -– including Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca -– praised the use of familial DNA matching.

The controversial process allowed the Department of Justice to search the state's criminal database to find relatives of those whose DNA has been collected from murder scenes. The procedure uses software that officials say does not exist anywhere else in the country  

"This will change the way policing is done in the United States," Beck said. "This will bring justice to the victims to which it has been denied."

"Great work on the part of the scientists," said Brown, who had approved the use of the relatively new tool. "We're going to fight to protect this technology."

Brown said that only data from convicted felons were used in the database search. His office will be defending the controversial practice in court next week, he said, noting that protecting people's privacy is a top priority

For the victims' families, Wednesday's arrest was a long time coming.

Porter Alexander, father of 18-year-old Alicia "Monique" Alexander, who was killed in 1988, said: "God is good. I had doubt in my mind after all the years had passed that I would not live to see this day. But as it shows today, the long arm of the law still prevails."

When homicide Det. Dennis Kilcoyne called him Wednesday to tell him about the arrest, he said one relative began "whooping and hollering."

"She just busted loose," Alexander said at Thursday's news conference. "I wanted to bust loose.... I just praise God for the fact that he gave me the ability to be here … and come to the conclusion of bringing this man to justice."

Individually, the slayings didn't generate much attention.

But then the Los Angeles Police Department concluded that the killings of 10 women were the work of one killer. And this gave relatives of the victims new hope the cases might eventually be solved.

In interviews, some family members expressed joy that closure might finally come -- but it was joy mixed with anger because the suspect turned out to be a resident of the neighborhood, described by those who lived near him as kind and generous.

The suspect is Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57. Police said DNA evidence linked him to the killings.

Franklin is charged with 10 counts of murder in the deaths of Debra Jackson , 29; Henrietta Wright , 35; Barbara Ware , 23; Bernita Sparks , age unknown; Mary Lowe , 26; Lachrica Jefferson , 22; Alicia Alexander , 18; Princess Berthomieux , 15; Valerie McCorvey , 35; and Janecia Peters , 25. He also is charged with one count of attempted murder.

Relatives of the victims said there was a time when they lost faith in the system. But when the killings continued and police concluded they were the work of a serial killer, the families said police redoubled their efforts.

Alexander was one of the Grim Sleeper's first victims, killed in 1988. Her brothers Donnell Alexander, 47, and Darin Alexander, 45, said they "never gave up hope. We were just hoping with all the new technology out now with DNA testing that they would get him. This brought us closer together. That's the positive that came out of her death. Now we hug one other not just on special occasions but every day."

"This won't bring our sister back, but our heart goes out to all the families that were as affected," Donnell Alexander said.

Franklin was a garage attendant at the LAPD's 77th Street Division station in the early 1980s, according to city and police sources. He worked as a garbage collector for the Los Angeles Department of Sanitation during the years that the first eight killings occurred. The first string of slayings began with the death of Jackson on Aug. 10, 1985, and ended with the death of Alexander on Sept. 11, 1988.

Franklin has at least four prior convictions, two for felony possession of stolen property in 1993 and 2003, one for misdemeanor battery in 1997 and one for misdemeanor assault in 1999, according to court records. He was sentenced to a year in jail for the first stolen-property charge and 270 days for the second one.

Three years ago, Janecia LaVette Peters was found dead at Western Avenue near 92nd Street in South Los Angeles. She had been shot in the back and stuffed into a trash bag. She was considered the most recent victim of the Grim Sleeper serial killer.

Her aunt, Diane McQueen, 55, said the slaying shattered her family. "She was 25. It hit my family real hard. I had lost hope this day would come. I feel a lot of joy it did at last."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/arraignment-for-suspected-grim-sleeper-postponed-until-august.html#more

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

Grim Sleeper: Detectives look at 30 additional unsolved killings

Los Angeles police detectives are re-examining at least 30 unsolved killings of women in South Los Angeles to see if they can link the homicides to the man accused of being the Grim Sleeper serial killer.

LAPD sources told The Times that the 30 cases share similarities to the slayings linked to Lonnie David Franklin Jr., who appeared briefly in court Thursday charged with 10 counts of murder involving women killed over parts of three decades in South L.A.

Some – but not all – of the victims in the unsolved cases lived on the margins of society, including drug users, prostitutes and the mentally ill. Officials suspect that Franklin may be responsible for more homicides because of a lengthy, unaccounted-for gap in the Grim Sleeper killings.

Franklin allegedly killed seven women between 1985 and 1988, when the crimes abruptly stopped. The homicides resumed in 2002, with a killing that year, another in 2003 and a third in 2007, police said.

“I believe we will find additional victims,” said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, calling the gap in slayings “one of the troubling aspects of the case.”

Detectives have spent the last two days scouring Franklin's home, collecting photo albums, documents, business cards and other records that they hope can provide a better picture of the suspect and perhaps provide links to other victims.

In addition, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is examining unsolved killings in parts of the South L.A. area that it patrols, searching for links to Franklin. Officials acknowledge that tying more cases to Franklin could be challenging.

There is no DNA evidence in any of the 30 cases, which is significant because authorities said they tied Franklin to some of the 10 killings based on information from DNA databases. Many of the cases are three decades old and occurred during a period when several serial killers were allegedly on the loose in South L.A.

In addition to focusing on the apparent hiatus in the Grim Sleeper homicides, detectives are trying to determine whether the killer might have started his crimes earlier than police previously believed.

“Now that we know who he is, we can get out and show his picture and talk to neighbors, co-workers, friends,” said Det.Dennis Kilcoyne, who heads a task force that is investigating the killings.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/los-angeles-police-detectives-are-examining-at-least-30-unsolved-killings-of-women-i.html#more

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

Former BART officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter in racially charged shooting case

A former transit police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man at an Oakland train station was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, capping a racially charged case that raised fears in the Bay Area of possible violence after the verdict.

Prosecutors accused the former BART officer of intentionally firing his handgun as he tried to handcuff Oscar J. Grant III on New Year's Day 2009. Johannes Mehserle, 28, tearfully testified that the shooting was a tragic accident caused when he mistakenly grabbed his firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon during a struggle with Grant.

The shooting was captured on video by several witnesses. Mehserle, who is white, fired a single round into the back of Grant, who was black and was lying face-down on the station platform. Mehserle resigned a week after the shooting.

The killing provoked protests and violence in Oakland. The case, which has drawn comparisons to the videotaped beating of Rodney G. King that ultimately triggered riots in Los Angeles in 1992, was moved to Los Angeles for trial amid concern about the extensive media coverage of the killing in the Bay Area.

Many civil rights activists considered the case a test of how the justice system treats police officers accused of abusing minorities. The trial also captured the attention of law enforcement officers who feared that a guilty verdict could raise the stakes for cops who make mistakes.

Mehserle faces a minimum of five years and a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, authorities said.

Aidge Patterson, a spokesman for the L.A. Coalition of Justice for Oscar Grant, called the verdict a "perversion of justice that seeks to absolve Johannes Mehserle in his cold-blooded killing of Oscar Grant."

Olis Simmons, executive director of an Oakland youth group that is advocating a peaceful reaction, called the verdict a miscarriage of justice.

"It is a walk for him. It is a walk," said the head of Youth UpRising. "I think everyone -- the family, every young black person who is afraid of the police -- everybody is going to see this as a miscarriage of justice."

She said federal prosecutors should file a civil rights case against the former BART officer.

"It doesn't reflect well that we had an all-white jury, and it really leaves people feeling that his occupation and his race mattered more than the life of the young man. "

She said she feared there would be violence but she hoped "for the best."

Workers began leaving downtown Oakland shortly after 3 pm after receiving word that a verdict had been reached. BART trains were jammed, but the evacuation was orderly. Some business owners were seen putting plywood over their windows.

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

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

BART verdict: Some family and activists not satisfied with manslaughter ruling

Family members of the victim and activists said they were disappointed and angry that a former BART officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man at an Oakland train station. 

John Burris, an attorney for the victim's family, said he was "extremely disappointed" with the verdict, which he considered a slap in the face to the family of Oscar Grant.  

“The verdict is not a true representation of what happened to Oscar Grant and what the officer did to him that night," he said. "This is not an involuntary manslaughter case. This is a truly compromised verdict.... The family is extraordinarily unhappy about what has happened. It is not a true reflection of how the criminal justice system should work.”

Olis Simmons, executive director of an Oakland youth group that is advocating a peaceful reaction, called the verdict a miscarriage of justice.

"It is a walk for him. It is a walk," said the head of Youth UpRising. "I think everyone -- the family, every young black person who is afraid of the police -- everybody is going to see this as a miscarriage of justice."

She said federal prosecutors should file a civil rights case against the former BART officer.

"It doesn't reflect well that we had an all-white jury, and it really leaves people feeling that his occupation and his race mattered more than the life of the young man."

She said she feared there would be violence, but she hoped "for the best."

Former Bart Officer Johannes Mehserle was accused of intentionally firing his handgun as he tried to handcuff Oscar J. Grant III on New Year's Day 2009. Mehserle, 28, tearfully testified that the shooting was a tragic accident caused when he mistakenly grabbed his firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon during a struggle with Grant.

Wanda Johnson, Grant's mother, said, “The system has let us down, but God will never, ever let us down.”

“As a family and as a nation of African American people, we will continue to fight for our rights in this society,” she said.

“My son was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered,” she said. “... My son was murdered, and the law has not held that officer accountable the way he should have been held accountable.”

“Do not give up. Do not give up. God will never let us down. And I will trust in him until I die.”

Cephus Johnson, Grant's uncle, said he felt “great disappointment” when he heard the verdict.

“We knew from the beginning that we was at war with the system,” he said. “African Americans have been taking a look at this case in hopes that we could see the system work on behalf of us.… We as the family have been slapped in the face by this system.”

“It is my belief and the family's belief that Mehserle committed murder. It is the community's belief … that Mehserle committed murder. How the jury saw this and came to this decision is not understandable to me and the family…. We believe that his battle is not over,” Johnson said.

There is a higher “moral justice” that Mehserle must answer to, Johnson said.

A crowd of 100 people gathered near Oakland City Hall when the verdict was read. Loud groans were heard.

Alameda County Dist. Atty. Nancy E. O'Malley said she was “disappointed” and “frustrated” by the verdict.

However, “the jury clearly did not find that his was an accident,” O'Malley said during a post-verdict news conference in the lobby of the Alameda County Courthouse. “What this jury found was that when Mehserle committed the crime, he was acting with criminal negligence and acted recklessly, and he intentionally pulled out his weapon and not his Taser.”

“They rejected that he was going for a Taser and found he used that gun in a negligent and criminally reckless manner,” she said, “…. in the course of committing a crime.”

“The jury also found true that Johannes Mehserle used his gun, and that finding itself indicates to us that the jury completely rejected the Mehserle claim that he had actually been grabbing his Taser,” she said. “We believe that Johannes Mehserle was guilty of the crime of murder…. The jury found otherwise. But it was important to note that this jury did not relieve Johannes Mehserle of of his criminal liability.”

O'Malley pleaded with the public not to resort to violence, asking that they express their frustration and anger calmly. “I urge those in our community to use their voices in a nonviolent manner. Let their important message not be lost in the violence.”

She said the prosecution team did the best it could. She said Mehserle “is going to prison, and he will pay for the crime the jury convicted him of.” The minimum Mehserle could get is five years, the maximum 14.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/bart-verdict-some-activists-not-satisfied-with-manslaughter-ruling.html#more

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

BART verdict: Scores arrested in Oakland after protesters loot stores and smash windows

Just before 11 p.m., Batts said there were still disturbances along the 1700 blocks of Broadway and Franklin Street and the corner of Grand Avenue and Broadway.

Putting the Grim Sleeper behind bars

A suspect's arrest may finally solve the killings of more than 10 young black women over two decades in Los Angeles.

July 9, 2010

With the arrest of Lonnie David Franklin Jr., a former Los Angeles Police Department garage attendant and onetime garbage collector, a murder spree spanning more than two decades may be at an end. The investigation required extraordinary and painstaking police work, as well as community and political pressure and a unique use of DNA evidence. But before all that happened, Christine Pelisek, the LA Weekly reporter who dubbed California's most enduring serial killer the Grim Sleeper, forced the city to care about a group of victims who had been largely forgotten by all but their families and a few LAPD detectives.

The murders, when they occurred between 1985 and 2003, barely garnered public notice. Wednesday, however, a news conference drew a throng to police headquarters: elected officials, local and national media, community activists and relatives of the 10 murdered women and one man, some clutching framed photos of their daughters, mothers and sisters.

The case involved efforts and innovations that stretch back years. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks opened what is believed to be the nation's first cold case unit when he was the department's chief. In 2007, then-Chief William J. Bratton established a task force devoted solely to catching the killer, and his successor, Chief Charlie Beck, made it his top priority. The City Council offered the largest reward in Los Angeles history — $500,000 — for information leading to an arrest. An innovative program launched by state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown allowed for the "familial" DNA testing that ultimately led to Franklin.

But the urgency arose only after Pelisek reminded the public that over a period of 23 years, one man had killed 10 or more young black women in South Los Angeles — and he was still on the loose. This is not to disparage or diminish the extraordinary police work done by the LAPD. But good journalism certainly assisted in this case.

The arrest was made after detectives collected DNA from a pizza that Franklin had discarded and matched it to crime scene evidence. Brown and L.A. County District Atty. Steve Cooley say that they worked within strict legal protocols and that the use of the suspect's DNA was entirely permissible. We'll see. It may yet be challenged in court.

At the news conference, Parks reminded the victims' families that a trying time awaits them; court proceedings will require them to relive in detail their suffering and loss. This time, however, will be different. "This time," he said, "you all will have the city behind you."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-sleeper-20100709,0,3959974,print.story

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

From the New York Times

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

Loophole May Have Aided Theft of Classified Data

WASHINGTON — The soldier accused of downloading a huge trove of secret data from military computers in Iraq appears to have exploited a loophole in Defense Department security to copy thousands of files onto compact discs over a six-month period. In at least one instance, according to those familiar with the inquiry, the soldier smuggled highly classified data out of his intelligence unit on a disc disguised as a music CD by Lady Gaga .

Criminal charges were filed this week against the soldier, Pfc. Bradley E. Manning , 22, who was accused of downloading more than 150,000 diplomatic cables, as well as secret videos and a PowerPoint presentation. Since his arrest in May , with initial accounts blaming him for leaking video of a deadly American helicopter attack in Baghdad in 2007, officials have sought to determine how he could have removed voluminous amounts of secret data without being caught.

A Defense Department directive from November 2008 prohibits the use of small thumb drives or larger external memory devices on any of the estimated seven million computers operated by the Pentagon and armed services. The order was issued to forestall the accidental infection of national security computer networks by viruses — and the intentional removal of classified information.

Defense Department computers have their portals disabled to prevent the use of external memory devices that are ubiquitous in homes, offices and schools, officials said. A recent amendment to the order allows the rare use of thumb drives, but only with official approval as required by a current mission.

But the Pentagon directive and the amendment did not ban the use of compact-disc devices, which are built into many computers and therefore not included in the prohibition against the use of external memory devices.

According to Pentagon officials and one former hacker who has communicated with Private Manning, he appears to have taken compact discs that can accept text, video and other data files into an intelligence center in the desert of eastern Iraq to copy and remove the classified information.

He was able to avoid detection not because he kept a poker face, they said, but apparently because he hummed and lip-synched to Lady Gaga songs to make it appear that he was using the classified computer's CD player to listen to music.

Adrian Lamo, a well-known former hacker, had traded electronic messages in which Private Manning described his unhappiness with the Army — and, Mr. Lamo said, his activities downloading classified data.

Mr. Lamo said Private Manning described how he had used compact discs capable of storing data, but tucked inside recognizable music CD cases, “to bring the data out of the secure room.”

“He indicated he disguised one as a Lady Gaga CD,” Mr. Lamo said Thursday in a telephone interview. “He said he lip-synched to blend in.”

The four pages of official charges against Private Manning accuse him of downloading and removing the classified data from last November to May. The charges say he also loaded unauthorized software onto a computer linked to the military's classified computer network, called the SIPR-Net. The charges do not explain the significance of that action, nor how it might have aided his alleged effort to download classified files.

In downloading more than 150,000 diplomatic cables, the charges state, Private Manning did “intentionally exceed his authorized access on” the SIPR-Net. This statement appears to be at least a partial explanation of how a soldier assigned to an Army brigade outpost in eastern Iraq was able to gain access to classified diplomatic cables on a variety of unrelated subjects.

At a Pentagon news conference on Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen , the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , said they would reserve judgment on whether to order a sweeping review of security measures until it was determined whether the actions of which Private Manning is accused represent a broader problem.

“What this illustrates is the incredible amount of trust we place in even our most junior men and women in uniform,” Mr. Gates said. “We have over two million men and women in uniform, and I believe we should always err on the side of trusting them because virtually all of them — not 100 percent, but nearly 100 percent — give us reasons every single day to continue trusting them.”

Pentagon officials said they expected investigators to review the actions of Private Manning's supervisors to determine whether enforcement of security rules was lax in a remote outpost where soldiers are assigned to duty at computers virtually around the clock.

Another line of inquiry is expected to look at whether digital red flags were raised, or should have been raised, by Private Manning's actions, including the accusation that he spent time downloading information from classified databases not directly related to the mission of his unit, the Second Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, based at Contingency Operating Station Hammer east of Baghdad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/world/09breach.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=print

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

Draft Avoids Condemning North Korea in Ship Attack

UNITED NATIONS — Key Security Council members have agreed on a statement, presented to the council on Thursday, that condemns the sinking of a South Korean warship that left 46 sailors dead, but avoids singling out North Korea for the attack.

Since early June, the United States and its main Asian allies on the issue, Japan and South Korea , have been pressing the Security Council to take a firm stance on the fatal attack on the ship, the Cheonan , in March. But China and Russia were adamant that the council not blame North Korea directly, according to Security Council diplomats.

The statement “condemns the attack which led to the sinking of the Cheonan” and “calls for appropriate and peaceful measures to be taken against those responsible,” without blaming North Korea. It also notes that North Korea denied involvement.

But it does cite a South Korean investigation, in which five nations participated, that concluded that North Korea torpedoed the ship.

“We think the statement is very clear,” said Ambassador Susan. E. Rice of the United States, which circulated the draft. “It puts forth the factual foundation and it expresses the council's judgment that the attack on the ship is to be condemned and that no further attacks against the Republic of Korea should be contemplated.”

Ms. Rice also avoided naming North Korea as directly responsible in her statements to the news media. The wording was reached through negotiations among the permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain — along with Japan, a temporary member, and South Korea.

It was presented to the remaining council members on Thursday and was expected to pass Friday.

Security Council diplomats and experts noted that the language, though convoluted, was probably the best achievable result, given that Beijing had initially wanted the sinking referred to as an incident or an act, not an attack. Neither the Chinese nor Russian ambassadors commented after Thursday's council session.

“It strikes me as the best that South Korea could have hoped for, given that China was not going to go forward with an outright condemnation, but it seems unlikely to satisfy anybody,” said David C. Kang, the director of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California . “It condemns the attack without stating exactly who they think the attackers were.”

North Korea has threatened to respond with force to any Security Council action. But given the indirect condemnation, Pyongyang would most likely see the outcome as a victory and do nothing, Mr. Kang said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/world/asia/09nations.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

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

‘Grim Sleeper' Arrest Fans Debate on DNA Use

LOS ANGELES — The arrest in the case of the “Grim Sleeper” — a serial killer who terrorized South Los Angeles for two decades — has put one of the hottest controversies in American law enforcement to its first major test.

Only two states, Colorado and California, have a codified policy permitting a so-called familial search, the use of DNA samples taken from convicted criminals to track down relatives who may themselves have committed a crime. It is a practice that district attorneys and the police say is an essential tool in catching otherwise elusive criminals, but that privacy experts criticize as a threat to civil liberties.

This week, law enforcement struck a significant blow for the practice when the Los Angeles Police Department used it to arrest a man who they say murdered at least 10 residents here over 25 years. It is the first time an active familial search has been used to solve a homicide case in the United States.

Lonnie D. Franklin Jr., 57, was charged Thursday with 10 counts of murder and one of attempted murder after the state DNA lab discovered a DNA link between evidence from the old crime scenes and that of Mr. Franklin's son, Christopher, who was recently convicted of a felony weapons charge.

The information developed from the state's familial search program suggested that Christopher Franklin was a relative of the source of the DNA from the old crime scenes. The police confirmed the association of Lonnie Franklin through matching of DNA from a discarded pizza slice. The match provided the crucial link in a seemingly unsolvable crime that struck terror and hopelessness throughout one of the city's poorest areas for years.

Chief Charlie Beck of the Los Angeles Police said Thursday that he expected to connect Mr. Franklin, who is being held without bail, to other murders.

“This is truly a breakthrough,” said Attorney General Jerry Brown, whose office wrote the DNA policy, in a telephone interview. The use of the practice demonstrates that law enforcement can “stop criminals in their tracks and lock up some of the most vicious and dangerous members of our society,” Mr. Brown said. “That's why this technology is so important.”

The arrest in the protracted, gory case could settle the internal debate among lawmakers and the law enforcement agencies across the country currently considering the use of familial search, evidence law experts said. California is awaiting a court ruling on whether its DNA database can be expanded to include people who have been arrested.

The Los Angeles case “shows why it can be tremendously useful in cases that seem pretty dead and hard to crack,” said Jennifer Mnookin, a law professor and evidence expert at the University of California, Los Angeles . “So therefore we will very likely see an increasing use of these techniques, and at a minimum one hopes it is done in a sensitive way that is thoughtful and attentive to the concerns” of its critics, she said.

At least some of those critics remain skeptical.

“Familial searching is a tool, and at this point it is a very imprecise tool,” said Michael Risher, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, who added there was the possibility of innocent people being harassed in the pursuit of a crime. “It has the potential to invade the privacy of a lot of people,” he said.

Many law enforcement agencies collect DNA samples of convicted felons in hopes that DNA from other crime scenes can be matched to those individuals.

In the case of a close but imperfect match between crime scene DNA and that of someone locked up, forensic scientists say, the person responsible in that crime may well be a relative of the person locked up. Through a software tool, scientists are then able to painstakingly parse the DNA to determine sibling or parent-child relationships, information the police use to pursue possible suspects.

While the practice is common in England, it has been limited largely to Colorado in the United States. But in 2008, the California Department of Justice began using familial searches — in the face of significant protests — to solve hard crimes. The state restricted the practice to major, violent crimes in which all other investigative techniques had proved fruitless.

Those who oppose the technique argue that there are inherent privacy concerns, and that it serves, in essence, as a form of racial profiling because a higher proportion of inmates are members of minorities.

“I can imagine lots of African-American families would think it is not fair to put a disproportionate number of black families under permanent genetic surveillance,” said Jeffrey Rosen , a law professor at George Washington University who has written about this issue.

Further, Mr. Rosen said, if other jurisdictions were not as strict at California about the technique's application — expanding it to nonviolent crimes, for instance — the issue would be even more complex. “The technique is not inherently good or evil,” he said. “It all has to do with what crimes it is used for, who's in the database, how the database is regulated and what is done with the samples.”

Investigators here had tried for years to solve the case of the Grim Sleeper, so known because of a 13-year hiatus in the killing streak, who committed the majority of his killings in the 1980s but in recent years had restarted his spree. The department, in conjunction with the state attorney general's office, ran a familial DNA search for the first time in 2008 that was unsuccessful, said Detective Dennis Kilcoyne, who led the investigation, at a news conference on Thursday.

About a year and a half later there was the second run through the system, the detective said, and the department “learned of a man that as we know now turned out to be a direct relative of our suspect.” The authorities were then able to narrow their focus to the elder Mr. Franklin over the past weekend based on the proximity of his residence to the crime scenes, race, age and other factors.

Police then conducted around-the-clock surveillance of Mr. Franklin, following him as he walked or went on drives, and retrieved a plate and napkin he had thrown away after eating pizza, which provided the DNA match.

Only after closely guarded procedures were the victims' families alerted and Mr. Franklin arrested Wednesday as he went to move his car.

The Grim Sleeper began his killing of women (and one man) in South Los Angeles in 1985, shooting his victims and leaving them in alleyways and Dumpsters. The killer stopped in 1988, then started again in 2002.

Gurtha Cole, 80, lives with her 38-year-old granddaughter in a building across the street from the home of Mr. Franklin, who the police say worked as a mechanic for the city's Department of Transportation. She expressed surprise. “He's very social with us,” she said. “On holidays and stuff he would invite the neighbors to come over to a picnic, and host everyone.”

At a news conference in downtown Los Angeles, a smattering of victims' relatives squeezed together into the crowd, wearing solemn expressions. LaVerne Peters held a photo of her daughter Janecia Peters — the most recent victim, killed in 2007 — wearing a green cap and gown.

“This presents some relief,” Ms. Peters said. “There is nothing worse than having a child murdered.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/us/09sleeper.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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

U.S. to Provide $25 Million to Help Buy AIDS Drugs

WASHINGTON — Kathleen Sebelius , the secretary of health and human services, said Thursday that she would provide $25 million more to help states buy life-saving medications for people with H.I.V. or AIDS.

Advocates for patients said the money was not nearly enough to eliminate waiting lists, which have surged to record levels as people have lost health insurance , along with their jobs, and states have cut their budgets.

Ms. Sebelius said she was “reallocating and transferring $25 million in existing resources” to provide medicines for people on waiting lists.

Dr. Howard K. Koh, the assistant secretary of health and human services in charge of the program, said the action “reflects the administration's commitment to H.I.V. treatment and care.”

In an interview, Dr. Koh repeatedly refused to say where the money had come from.

Ms. Sebelius said she was confident that the $25 million would meet the existing and projected need until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

As of July 1, about 2,100 people were on waiting lists for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in 11 states: Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.

Other states have narrowed eligibility, limited enrollment or restricted the drugs for which they will pay. These measures affect thousands of people.

Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of the AIDS Institute, an advocacy group for patients, said: “The $25 million will help. It's a start. But it's definitely not enough.”

Ann Lefert, a policy analyst at the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, said, “We appreciate the action taken by the Obama administration, but we are not sure it will be sufficient.”

Advocacy groups and state officials had urged the administration to provide $126 million in emergency assistance for the current fiscal year, on top of the $835 million that Congress had already appropriated.

The administration's action follows expressions of deep concern by members of Congress from both parties.

Three Republican senators — Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming — had implored Ms. Sebelius to address what they described as a public health crisis.

John Hart, a spokesman for Mr. Coburn, said, “The secretary is taking a step in the right direction, but it's not enough to serve the more than 2,000 patients who are on waiting lists.”

Many people with H.I.V. have been able to live long lives, with the use of antiretroviral treatments. But the drugs cost an average of $12,000 a year a person, and many people cannot afford them without public assistance.

“Once patients start taking these drugs, they must continue taking them every day for the rest of their lives,” Mr. Schmid said.

The AIDS Drug Assistance Program serves mainly low-income, uninsured people, many of whom are members of minority groups.

More than 168,000 people received medications through the program last year. About 45 percent of them had incomes below the poverty level ($10,830 for an individual), and all but 2 percent had incomes less than four times the poverty level ($43,320).

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/health/research/09aids.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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

From the White House

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

More Seniors to Receive One-Time Donut Hole Rebate Checks

If you or a loved one are one of the millions of seniors who fall into the “donut hole” every year, help is on the way thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

Most Americans know about the “donut hole” – the coverage gap in Medicare Part D where beneficiaries have to pay all their drug costs.  Seniors in the donut hole often must choose between their prescriptions and basic living expenses.

This year, as qualifying seniors enter the “donut hole,” Medicare will send them a tax-free, one-time rebate check for $250. 

The second round of checks was mailed this week, helping more than 300,000 seniors struggling to pay their prescription drug costs thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

The first round of checks went out in June, and 70 percent of those checks were cashed within a week of eligible Medicare recipients receiving them, so we know that folks really need some help.

These one-time rebate checks are the first step in closing the prescription drug coverage gap under the Affordable Care Act.   In 2011, the Affordable Care Act calls for Medicare beneficiaries in the donut hole to receive a 50 percent discount on their brand name medications.  Every year from 2012-2020, the Affordable Care Act will take another step to close the “donut hole.”

The rebate checks are just one new benefit for Medicare beneficiaries under the Affordable Care Act.  Today, I joined New Hampshire senior citizens in Manchester for a forum to discuss the rebate checks and other benefits of the Affordable Care Act as well as efforts to fight Medicare fraud.  You can find more information on these new benefits here at www.HealthCare.gov .

Kathleen Sebelius is Secretary of Health and Human Services

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/07/08/more-seniors-receive-one-time-donut-hole-rebate-checks

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

From ICE

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

ICE activates Secure Communities in 10 more west Texas counties

Uses biometrics to prioritize immigration enforcement actions against convicted criminal aliens

EL PASO, Texas - On Wednesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using a new biometric information sharing capability in 10 additional west Texas counties that helps federal immigration officials identify aliens, both lawfully and unlawfully present in the United States, who are booked into local law enforcement's custody for a crime.

This capability is part of Secure Communities - ICE's comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States.
With these 10 new counties just added, all 18 westernmost counties of Texas, which are part of the ICE El Paso Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field office, are currently using Secure Communities.

Previously, fingerprint-based biometric records were taken of individuals charged with a crime and booked into custody and checked for criminal history information against the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Now, through enhanced information sharing between DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), fingerprint information submitted through the state to the FBI will be simultaneously checked against both the FBI criminal history records in IAFIS and the biometrics-based immigration records in DHS's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).

If fingerprints match those of someone in DHS's biometric system, the new automated process notifies ICE, enabling federal authorities to prioritize immigration enforcement action against those who are or become subject to removal based on their criminal convictions. Top priority is given to criminal aliens who pose the greatest threat to public safety, such as those convicted of major drug offenses, murder, rape, robbery and kidnapping.

"The Secure Communities strategy provides ICE with an effective tool to identify criminal aliens in local custody," said Secure Communities Executive Director David Venturella. "Enhancing public safety is at the core of ICE's mission. Our goal is to use biometric information sharing to remove criminal aliens, preventing them from being released back into the community, with little or no additional burden on our law enforcement partners."

Today's announcement adds the following 10 west Texas counties: Andrews, Crane, Ector, Loving, Martin, Midland, Reeves, Upton, Ward and Winkler.

Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio and Terrell counties were activated last year.

With the expansion of the biometric information sharing capability to these counties, ICE is now using it in 135 Texas jurisdictions. Across the country, ICE is using this capability in 437 jurisdictions in 24 states. ICE expects to make it available in jurisdictions nationwide by 2013.

Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said he looks forward to the activation of Secure Communities, which will allow his staff to instantly check the immigration status of all persons booked into the Midland County Jail.

"We are very excited about this new law enforcement tool and the great cooperation being implemented by ICE and Homeland Security. We look forward to a long and productive relationship," Painter said.

Since ICE began using this enhanced information sharing capability in October 2008, immigration officers have removed from the United States more than 8,500 criminal aliens convicted of Level 1 crimes, such as murder, rape and kidnapping. Additionally, ICE has removed more than 22,200 criminal aliens convicted of Level 2 and 3 crimes, including burglary and serious property crimes, which account for the majority of crimes committed by aliens. In accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, ICE continues to take action on aliens subject to removal as resources permit.

The IDENT system is maintained by DHS's US-VISIT program and IAFIS is maintained by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS).

"US-VISIT is proud to support ICE, helping provide decision makers with comprehensive, reliable information when and where they need it," said US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny. "By enhancing the interoperability of DHS's and the FBI's biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state and local decision makers information that helps them better protect our communities and our nation."

"Under this plan, ICE will be utilizing FBI system enhancements that allow improved information sharing at the state and local law enforcement level based on positive identification of incarcerated criminal aliens," said Daniel D. Roberts, assistant director of the FBI's CJIS Division. "Additionally, ICE and the FBI are working together to take advantage of the strong relationships already forged between the FBI and state and local law enforcement necessary to assist ICE in achieving its goals."

For more information, visit www.ice.gov/secure_communities .

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1007/100708elpaso.htm

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

18 arrested in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area during ICE-led anti-gang operation

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Assisted by local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested 18 men during a weeklong operation targeting gang members and their associates in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Richfield Police Department assisted ICE with this operation, along with the Bloomington and Minneapolis police departments.

This is the latest local effort in ICE-HSI's ongoing Operation Community Shield initiative in Minnesota, which targets, investigates and arrests gang members and gang associates operating within the state.

This multi-agency operation, which ended July 2, targeted gang members and associates engaged in organized criminal activity. Fifteen of those arrested during this operation are known gang members or associates from the "Vatos Locos" street gang. The other three are known gang members or associates from the "Sureño-13" street gang.

Those found to be illegally present in the country were charged with administrative immigration violations and are awaiting deportation. One of the men was arrested on state charges for attempted murder and is being held at the Hennepin County Jail. During the operation, ICE and its law enforcement partners also seized a .25-caliber handgun and ammunition, and illegal narcotics.

Information received by ICE-HSI and other law enforcement indicates that criminal gangs, such as Vatos Locos and others, are becoming increasingly involved in Minnesota with smuggling and distributing narcotics, laundering illicit drug proceeds and other illegal activities.

"Street gangs account for a significant amount of crime nationally and locally," said William Lowder, acting special agent in charge of HSI in Bloomington. "Our ICE-HSI agents work closely with our local law enforcement partners to identify, locate, investigate and arrest these gang members in order to disrupt and dismantle their operations, which positively impacts public safety within our communities."

"The Richfield Police Department is committed to maintaining a safe community," said Richfield Police Chief Barry Fritz. "Gang members pose a significant threat to that commitment, so we are thankful for our ability to partner with ICE in initiatives such as Operation Community Shield. The recent arrests of transnational gang members will have a significant impact on their illegal activity in Richfield and the metropolitan area."

The arrests were made as part of Operation Community Shield, a national initiative whereby ICE partners with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to target the significant public safety threat posed by transnational criminal street gangs. Since Operation Community Shield began in February 2005, ICE agents nationwide have arrested more than 17,500 gang members and associates linked to more than 900 different gangs. More than 200 of those arrested were gang leaders.

The National Gang Unit at ICE 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 seized activities.

For more information, visit www.ice.gov .

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1007/100708bloomington.htm

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

Former children's author sentenced in child pornography case

PORTLAND, Ore. - A published children's author from Portland, Ore., was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI.

Kevin Patrick Bath, 51, who wrote under the name K.P. Bath, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ancer L. Haggerty. After serving his prison sentence, Bath will be subject to a five-year term of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.

Bath was originally charged with transporting, distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography. The counts charging transportation, distribution, and receipt of child pornography were dismissed as part of a plea agreement between Bath and the government. Under the agreement, Bath could ask the court for a sentence of not less than six years in prison, while the government could seek a sentence of not more than seven years in prison.

The investigation revealed that Bath had actively traded images of child pornography with at least two different collectors in at least two separate states - Washington and Ohio. Those individuals were prosecuted separately in their home states. Following the execution of a federal search warrant at Bath's North Portland residence in June 2008, investigators found a large collection of still images and video clips depicting child pornography - including images and videos depicting sadistic conduct, rape, sodomy, and bestiality - on computer equipment and data storage media owned by Bath. Many of the videos graphically depict the sexual abuse of very young children.

"Child pornography indelibly victimizes our kids," said U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton.  "It is a permanent record of the sexual abuse of children, many of whom are very, very young. It is shocking that a children's author would contribute to the trauma these kids endure - both physical and emotional trauma from the sexual abuse itself, and psychological trauma from knowing that images of that abuse are circulating on the Internet - by trading in such images."

He added, "We will continue to aggressively pursue and prosecute those who traffic in and collect those horrible, degrading images."

"This sentence should serve as a sobering reminder about the consequences facing those who use the Internet to trade and collect child pornography," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Homeland Security Investigations in Portland. "ICE has a message for those involved in this type of activity who think they can escape justice by hiding in cyberspace. This is not a victimless crime. We will use every tool at our disposal to end the sexual exploitation of children and keep our children safe, whether they are around the block or around the world."

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U. S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov .

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Gary Sussman, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the District of Oregon.

ICE's participation in this case was part of their initiative known as Operation Predator, an ongoing enforcement effort targeting those who sexually exploit children. The public is encouraged to report suspected child predators and suspicious activity by contacting ICE's 24-hour toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE; or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678, or online at http://www.cybertipline.com .

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1007/100708portland.htm

.