THE US REPORT

(Columbia, SC)—Jesus Perez-Laguna, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced today in federal court in Columbia, SC, on charges stemming from a sex trafficking ring involving at least one teenage girl. Perez-Laguna was sentenced to more than 14 years imprisonment and ordered to pay $52,500 in restitution to his victims. After his release from prison, Perez-Laguna will be on federal supervised release for the rest of his life. As a condition of supervised release, U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Anderson ordered that Perez-Laguna be surrendered to immigration officials for deportation proceedings and further ordered that Perez-Laguna not return to the United States while on supervised release.

In April, Perez-Laguna’s co-defendant, Ciro Bustos-Rosales, was sentenced to 70 months in prison, ordered to pay restitution, and ordered to comply with similar terms and conditions of release as those included in Perez-Laguna’s sentence.

During their guilty plea hearings in September 2007, both men admitted that they were involved with transporting a 14-year-old girl across the border between the United States and Mexico and the border between North Carolina and South Carolina in order for the minor to engage in prostitution. Additionally, both men admitted that they harbored illegal aliens for the purpose of prostitution.

"Perez-Laguna and Bustos Rosales ruthlessly stole the innocence of young girls and profited from their exploitation," said Kenneth Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Investigations in Atlanta. "Bringing these criminals to justice would not have been possible without cooperation among international, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies."

Many Americans express concern not over immigration, but over those who come to the US illegally, possibly with intent to commit crime. Gary Bauer, in the essay, ‘Will Obama’s ‘hateful rhetoric’ draw Hispanic voters?’  for Human Events, noted, “During the first half of 2008, ICE deported 5,889 illegal immigrants in Florida, including 1,251 criminal aliens with criminal records that included everything from murder and sex offenses to drug crimes.  ICE also has played a key role in arresting persons involved in child pornography.” Bauer further notes, “In the first nine months of fiscal year 2008, ICE returned 7,345 illegal aliens to their home countries who had been living in Washington, Oregon and Alaska, a 39 percent increase in the volume of deportations from the three states since 2007.  Of the more than 7,300 deportations, over 2,000 had prior criminal convictions in addition to being in the country illegally.”

Perez-Laguna and Bustos-Rosales are two of three defendants indicted in August, 2007 by a federal grand jury in Columbia following a federal sex trafficking investigation. The third co-defendant, Guadalupe Reyes-Rivera, also known as "Mama Martina," is a fugitive.

[Source: Dept. of Justice Release, Jul, 18, 2008; no photo of the fugitive was posted with the release. Photo by Kay B. Day: Traffic heading north on I-95.)

Since the mortgage crisis broke, I’ve wondered if fraud figures into the losses and I’ve made a point to ask people if they know a person who lost their home. I haven’t met a single person who has, and I've talked to a broad variety of people. The FBI announced this  week the sentencing of a woman for mortgage fraud and identity theft. The case was prosecuted in the US Court for the Western District of Missouri. Kimberly M. Davis, 43, of Lee’s Summit (Mo.) was sentenced to four years in federal prison without parole. The FBI investigated and solved the case. The court also ordered Davis to pay $191,000 in restitution. Davis used stolen identities to purchase homes. Davis tied up more than $1,000,000 in mortgage loans.

On Dec. 9, 2007, Davis pleaded guilty to using the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of three separate victims, without their permission, to purchase two homes in Lee's Summit. Davis worked as a mortgage broker at firms in Liberty and Gladstone from November 2003 through January 2005.  Between Nov. 19 and 25, 2003, Davis used a stolen identity to obtain a $317,894 loan from Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., for the purchase of a Lee's Summit residence at 704 S.W. Winterstar Dr. Between July 2 and Sept. 17, 2004, Davis used another stolen identity to obtain a $347,438 loan from Countrywide for the purchase of another Lee's Summit residence at 2520 Wintercreek Dr. Between Dec. 31, 2004, and Jan. 7, 2005, Davis used a third stolen identity to obtain a $362,424 loan from Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., for the purchase of the second Lee's Summit residence (at 2520 Wintercreek Dr.), ostensibly by the third identity theft victim.

So I wonder how much of this “mortgage crisis” is really a crisis. Congress spent tons of time investigating allegations of steroids in baseball players, an act that really cost me nothing even if the players had used steroids. But the mortgage crisis which will definitely cost taxpayers money received little attention in the way of investigations, at least until now at a point when it's basically too late. And you wonder why this Congress has such low approval ratings.

TV and film often portray serial killers as white males and dysfunctional loners who really want to get caught. Or, they’re super-intelligent monsters who frustrate law enforcement at every turn. But according to a new publication from the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime—entitled Serial Murder: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators—serial killers are much different in real life. One revelation: serial killers are not all dysfunctional loners: some have had wives and kids and full-time jobs and have been very active in their community or church or both. The BTK killer comes to mind—Dennis Rader held a steady job and was both a Boy Scout leader and active church member. Ted Bundy was attractive to young women and earned their trust quickly. Compare those real serial killers with the two maniacs in the movie 'Silence of the Lambs.'  Dr. Hannibal Lecter—educated, intellectual and on the surface quite respectable— comes closer to the real model than the other serial killer known as Buffalo Bill.

The publication also discloses serial killers are not all white males: the racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors the overall U.S. population. Nor do serial killers want to get caught. Over time, as they kill without being discovered, they get careless during their crimes.

Serial killers also seize opportunity. An offender selects a victim, regardless of the category, based upon availability, vulnerability, and desirability. Availability is explained as the lifestyle of the victim or circumstances  that allow the offender access to the victim. Vulnerability is defined as the degree to which the victim is susceptible to attack by the offender. Desirability is described as the appeal of the victim to the offender. Desirability involves numerous factors based upon the motivation of the offender and may include factors dealing with the race, gender, ethnic background, age of the victim, or other specific preferences the offender determines.

You can access the lengthy report at the FBI’s NCAVC page. It’s worth repeating you can’t always judge a person by his or her lifestyle and you can’t buy into the myths Hollywood projects when it comes to serial killers.

[Text & Photo by Kay B. Day. Follow the links below under ‘References’ for additional reading.]

Michael J.Garcia, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Anil Anand, former CFO of Allied Deals, Inc., was sentenced to time served, 7 months in prison, on charges stemming from his participation in a sprawling, international Ponzi scheme. The scheme resulted in more than $680 million in losses to approximately 20 banks worldwide—among them, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Fleet National Bank, PNC Bank, N.A., KBC Bank, N.V., Hypo Vereins Bank, N.A., Dresdner Bank Lateinamerika AG, China Trust Bank, and General Bank. Anand had pleaded guilty in December 2002, pursuant to an agreement to cooperate with the Government, to participating in the Ponzi scheme by, among other things, inducing banks to issue hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. In Manhattan federal court, the judge ordered 46-year-old Anand, a New Jersey resident, to pay forfeiture of $600 million and restitution of more than $683 million.
The scheme involved fake credit reports, a fake credit reporting agency, fake companies who purchased nonexistent metal and fictional businesses that acted as fronts to deal with bankers and auditors. Details of the elaborate scheme read like a sequel to the film Ocean's 11.

Click to read more ...

(Lakeland, Fla.)—The Polk County sheriff’s office is searching for two individuals, John Eugene Odom and Susan Marie Wallen of Lakeland, named as “persons of interest” in a double homicide and suspects in a Grand Theft Auto case. The sheriff’s bulletin says Todd Bruder was “brutally murdered” and his stepbrother Dion White suffered the same fate. Bruder’s 2005 Nissan Altima was stolen during the time frame when the homicides occurred.

Because Odom and Wallen are believed to be heading north on I-75 in a 14-foot-long 1997 Ford F-350 U-Haul [Ariz. tag #AA67396], I decided to let my readers know about the sheriff’s bulletin. Contact law enforcement if you see these two. Read the sheriff’s full bulletin at the Polk County website. Note that Wallen and Odom are described as persons of interest but I’d advise you to be cautious if you encounter them or anyone else described in that manner by law enforcement.

Speak out about your ideas or share your website links/news in our Community. See link in the right-hand column under 'Navigation.'