Thursday, June 18, 2015
243 INDIVIDUALS CHARGED IN $712 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD CASE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, June 18, 2015
National Medicare Fraud Takedown Results in Charges Against 243 Individuals for Approximately $712 Million in False Billing
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced today a nationwide sweep led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in 17 districts, resulting in charges against 243 individuals, including 46 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $712 million in false billings. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also suspended a number of providers using its suspension authority as provided in the Affordable Care Act. This coordinated takedown is the largest in Strike Force history, both in terms of the number of defendants charged and loss amount.
Attorney General Lynch and Secretary Burwell were joined in the announcement by FBI Director James B. Comey, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and Deputy Administrator and Director of CMS Center for Program Integrity Shantanu Agrawal, M.D.
The defendants are charged with various health care fraud-related crimes, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violations of the anti-kickback statutes, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. The charges are based on a variety of alleged fraud schemes involving various medical treatments and services, including home health care, psychotherapy, physical and occupational therapy, durable medical equipment (DME) and pharmacy fraud. More than 44 of the defendants arrested are charged with fraud related to the Medicare prescription drug benefit program known as Part D, which is the fastest-growing component of the Medicare program overall.
“This action represents the largest criminal health care fraud takedown in the history of the Department of Justice, and it adds to an already remarkable record of enforcement,” said Attorney General Lynch. “The defendants charged include doctors, patient recruiters, home health care providers, pharmacy owners, and others. They billed for equipment that wasn’t provided, for care that wasn’t needed, and for services that weren’t rendered. In the days ahead, the Department of Justice will continue our focus on preventing wrongdoing and prosecuting those whose criminal activity drives up medical costs and jeopardizes a system that our citizens trust with their lives. We are prepared – and I am personally determined – to continue working with our federal, state, and local partners to bring about the vital progress that all Americans deserve.”
“This Administration is committed to fighting fraud and protecting taxpayer dollars in Medicare and Medicaid,” said Secretary Burwell. “This takedown adds to the hundreds of millions we have saved through fraud prevention since the Affordable Care Act was passed. With increased resources that have allowed the Strike Force to expand and new tools, like enhanced screening and enrollment requirements, tough new rules and sentences for criminals, and advanced predictive modeling technology, we have managed to better find and fight fraud as well as stop it before it starts.”
According to court documents, the defendants participated in alleged schemes to submit claims to Medicare and Medicaid for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided. In many cases, patient recruiters, Medicare beneficiaries and other co-conspirators allegedly were paid cash kickbacks in return for supplying beneficiary information to providers, so that the providers could then submit fraudulent bills to Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary or never performed. Collectively, the doctors, nurses, licensed medical professionals, health care company owners and others charged are accused of conspiring to submit a total of approximately $712 million in fraudulent billing.
“The people charged in this case targeted the system each of us depends on in our most vulnerable moments,” said Director James Comey. “Health care fraud is a crime that hurts all of us and each dollar taken from programs that help the sick and the suffering is one dollar too many.”
“Every day, the Criminal Division is more strategic in our approach to prosecuting Medicare Fraud,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “We obtain and analyze billing data in real-time. We target hot spots – areas of the country and the types of health care services where the billing data shows the potential for a high volume of fraud – and we are speeding up our investigations. By doing this, we are increasingly able to stop schemes at the developmental stage, and to prevent them from spreading to other parts of the country.”
“Health care fraud drives up health care costs, wastes taxpayer money, undermines the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and endangers program beneficiaries,” said Inspector General Levinson. “Today’s takedown includes perpetrators of prescription drug fraud, home health care fraud, and personal care services fraud, three particularly harmful types of fraud plaguing our health care system. This record-setting takedown sends a message to would-be perpetrators that health care fraud is a risky way to line your pockets. Our agents and our law enforcement partners stand ready to protect these vital programs and ensure that those who would steal from federal health care programs ultimately pay for their crimes.”
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged over 2,300 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $7 billion.
Including today’s enforcement actions, nearly 900 individuals have been charged in national takedown operations, which have involved more than $2.5 billion in fraudulent billings. Today’s announcement marks the first time that districts outside of Strike Force locations participated in a national takedown, and they accounted for 82 defendants charged in this takedown.
*********
In Miami, a total of 73 defendants were charged with offenses relating to their participation in various fraud schemes involving approximately $263 million in false billings for home health care, mental health services and pharmacy fraud. In one case, administrators in a mental health center billed close to $64 million between 2006 and 2012 for purported intensive mental health treatment to beneficiaries and allegedly paid kickbacks to patient recruiters and assisted living facility owners throughout the Southern District of Florida. Medicare paid approximately half of the claimed amount.
In Houston and McAllen, Texas, 22 individuals were charged in cases involving over $38 million in alleged fraud. One of these defendants allegedly coached beneficiaries on what to tell doctors to make them appear eligible for Medicare services and treatments and then received payment for those who qualified. The company that paid the defendant for patients submitted close to $16 million in claims to Medicare, over $4 million of which was paid.
In Dallas, seven people were charged in connection with home health care schemes. In one scheme, six owners and operators of a physician house call company submitted nearly $43 million in billings under the name of a single doctor, regardless of who actually provided the service. The company also significantly exaggerated the length of physician visits, often times billing for 90 minutes or more for an appointment that lasted only 15 or 20 minutes.
In Los Angeles, eight defendants were charged for their roles in schemes to defraud Medicare of approximately $66 million. In one case, a doctor is charged with causing almost $23 million in losses to Medicare through his own fraudulent billing and referrals for DME, including over 1000 expensive power wheelchairs and home health services that were not medically necessary and often not provided.
In Detroit, 16 defendants face charges for their alleged roles in fraud, kickback and money laundering schemes involving approximately $122 million in false claims for services that were medically unnecessary or never rendered, including home health care, physician visits, and psychotherapy, as well as pharmaceuticals that were billed but not dispensed. Among these are three owners of a hospice service who allegedly paid kickbacks for referrals made by two doctors who defrauded Medicare Part D by issuing medically unnecessary prescriptions.
In Tampa, five individuals were charged with participating in a variety of schemes, ranging from fraudulent physical therapy billings to a scheme involving millions in physician services and tests that never occurred. In one case, a licensed pain management physician sought reimbursement for nerve conduction studies and other services that he allegedly never performed. Medicare paid the defendant over $1 million for these purported services.
In Brooklyn, N.Y., nine individuals were charged in two separate criminal schemes involving physical and occupational therapy. In one case, three individuals face charges for their roles in a previously charged $50 million physical therapy scheme. In the second case, six defendants were charged for their roles in a $8 million physical and occupational therapy scheme.
In New Orleans, 11 people were charged in connection with $110 million in home health care and psychotherapy schemes. In one case, four individuals who operated two companies – one in Louisiana and one in California – that mass-marketed talking glucose monitors (TGMs) across the country allegedly sent TGMs to Medicare beneficiaries regardless of whether they were needed or requested. The companies billed Medicare approximately $38 million for the devices and Medicare paid the companies over $22 million.
The cases announced today are being prosecuted and investigated by Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams from the Fraud Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices of the Southern District of Florida, Eastern District of Michigan, Eastern District of New York, Southern District of Texas, Central District of California, Eastern District of Louisiana, Northern District of Texas, Northern District of Illinois and the Middle District of Florida; and agents from the FBI, HHS-OIG and state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
In addition to the Strike Force, today’s enforcement actions include cases brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices of the Southern District of California, Southern District of Illinois, Northern District of Ohio, Western District of Kentucky, District of Maryland, District of Connecticut, District of Alaska and the Southern District of Georgia.
A complaint or indictment is merely a charge, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Affordable Care Act has provided new tools and resources to fight fraud in federal health care programs. The law provides an additional $350 million for health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts, which has allowed the Justice Department to hire more prosecutors and the Strike Force to expand from two cities to nine. It also toughens sentencing for criminal activity, enhances provider and supplier screenings and enrollment requirements, and encourages increased sharing of data across government.
In addition to providing new tools and resources to fight fraud, the Affordable Care Act clarified that for sentencing purposes, the loss is determined by the amount billed to Medicare and increased the sentencing guidelines for the billed amounts, which has provided a strong deterrent effect due to increased prison time, particularly in the most egregious cases.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
National Medicare Fraud Takedown Results in Charges Against 243 Individuals for Approximately $712 Million in False Billing
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced today a nationwide sweep led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in 17 districts, resulting in charges against 243 individuals, including 46 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $712 million in false billings. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also suspended a number of providers using its suspension authority as provided in the Affordable Care Act. This coordinated takedown is the largest in Strike Force history, both in terms of the number of defendants charged and loss amount.
Attorney General Lynch and Secretary Burwell were joined in the announcement by FBI Director James B. Comey, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson of the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and Deputy Administrator and Director of CMS Center for Program Integrity Shantanu Agrawal, M.D.
The defendants are charged with various health care fraud-related crimes, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud, violations of the anti-kickback statutes, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. The charges are based on a variety of alleged fraud schemes involving various medical treatments and services, including home health care, psychotherapy, physical and occupational therapy, durable medical equipment (DME) and pharmacy fraud. More than 44 of the defendants arrested are charged with fraud related to the Medicare prescription drug benefit program known as Part D, which is the fastest-growing component of the Medicare program overall.
“This action represents the largest criminal health care fraud takedown in the history of the Department of Justice, and it adds to an already remarkable record of enforcement,” said Attorney General Lynch. “The defendants charged include doctors, patient recruiters, home health care providers, pharmacy owners, and others. They billed for equipment that wasn’t provided, for care that wasn’t needed, and for services that weren’t rendered. In the days ahead, the Department of Justice will continue our focus on preventing wrongdoing and prosecuting those whose criminal activity drives up medical costs and jeopardizes a system that our citizens trust with their lives. We are prepared – and I am personally determined – to continue working with our federal, state, and local partners to bring about the vital progress that all Americans deserve.”
“This Administration is committed to fighting fraud and protecting taxpayer dollars in Medicare and Medicaid,” said Secretary Burwell. “This takedown adds to the hundreds of millions we have saved through fraud prevention since the Affordable Care Act was passed. With increased resources that have allowed the Strike Force to expand and new tools, like enhanced screening and enrollment requirements, tough new rules and sentences for criminals, and advanced predictive modeling technology, we have managed to better find and fight fraud as well as stop it before it starts.”
According to court documents, the defendants participated in alleged schemes to submit claims to Medicare and Medicaid for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided. In many cases, patient recruiters, Medicare beneficiaries and other co-conspirators allegedly were paid cash kickbacks in return for supplying beneficiary information to providers, so that the providers could then submit fraudulent bills to Medicare for services that were medically unnecessary or never performed. Collectively, the doctors, nurses, licensed medical professionals, health care company owners and others charged are accused of conspiring to submit a total of approximately $712 million in fraudulent billing.
“The people charged in this case targeted the system each of us depends on in our most vulnerable moments,” said Director James Comey. “Health care fraud is a crime that hurts all of us and each dollar taken from programs that help the sick and the suffering is one dollar too many.”
“Every day, the Criminal Division is more strategic in our approach to prosecuting Medicare Fraud,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “We obtain and analyze billing data in real-time. We target hot spots – areas of the country and the types of health care services where the billing data shows the potential for a high volume of fraud – and we are speeding up our investigations. By doing this, we are increasingly able to stop schemes at the developmental stage, and to prevent them from spreading to other parts of the country.”
“Health care fraud drives up health care costs, wastes taxpayer money, undermines the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and endangers program beneficiaries,” said Inspector General Levinson. “Today’s takedown includes perpetrators of prescription drug fraud, home health care fraud, and personal care services fraud, three particularly harmful types of fraud plaguing our health care system. This record-setting takedown sends a message to would-be perpetrators that health care fraud is a risky way to line your pockets. Our agents and our law enforcement partners stand ready to protect these vital programs and ensure that those who would steal from federal health care programs ultimately pay for their crimes.”
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative announced in May 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Since their inception in March 2007, Strike Force operations in nine locations have charged over 2,300 defendants who collectively have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $7 billion.
Including today’s enforcement actions, nearly 900 individuals have been charged in national takedown operations, which have involved more than $2.5 billion in fraudulent billings. Today’s announcement marks the first time that districts outside of Strike Force locations participated in a national takedown, and they accounted for 82 defendants charged in this takedown.
*********
In Miami, a total of 73 defendants were charged with offenses relating to their participation in various fraud schemes involving approximately $263 million in false billings for home health care, mental health services and pharmacy fraud. In one case, administrators in a mental health center billed close to $64 million between 2006 and 2012 for purported intensive mental health treatment to beneficiaries and allegedly paid kickbacks to patient recruiters and assisted living facility owners throughout the Southern District of Florida. Medicare paid approximately half of the claimed amount.
In Houston and McAllen, Texas, 22 individuals were charged in cases involving over $38 million in alleged fraud. One of these defendants allegedly coached beneficiaries on what to tell doctors to make them appear eligible for Medicare services and treatments and then received payment for those who qualified. The company that paid the defendant for patients submitted close to $16 million in claims to Medicare, over $4 million of which was paid.
In Dallas, seven people were charged in connection with home health care schemes. In one scheme, six owners and operators of a physician house call company submitted nearly $43 million in billings under the name of a single doctor, regardless of who actually provided the service. The company also significantly exaggerated the length of physician visits, often times billing for 90 minutes or more for an appointment that lasted only 15 or 20 minutes.
In Los Angeles, eight defendants were charged for their roles in schemes to defraud Medicare of approximately $66 million. In one case, a doctor is charged with causing almost $23 million in losses to Medicare through his own fraudulent billing and referrals for DME, including over 1000 expensive power wheelchairs and home health services that were not medically necessary and often not provided.
In Detroit, 16 defendants face charges for their alleged roles in fraud, kickback and money laundering schemes involving approximately $122 million in false claims for services that were medically unnecessary or never rendered, including home health care, physician visits, and psychotherapy, as well as pharmaceuticals that were billed but not dispensed. Among these are three owners of a hospice service who allegedly paid kickbacks for referrals made by two doctors who defrauded Medicare Part D by issuing medically unnecessary prescriptions.
In Tampa, five individuals were charged with participating in a variety of schemes, ranging from fraudulent physical therapy billings to a scheme involving millions in physician services and tests that never occurred. In one case, a licensed pain management physician sought reimbursement for nerve conduction studies and other services that he allegedly never performed. Medicare paid the defendant over $1 million for these purported services.
In Brooklyn, N.Y., nine individuals were charged in two separate criminal schemes involving physical and occupational therapy. In one case, three individuals face charges for their roles in a previously charged $50 million physical therapy scheme. In the second case, six defendants were charged for their roles in a $8 million physical and occupational therapy scheme.
In New Orleans, 11 people were charged in connection with $110 million in home health care and psychotherapy schemes. In one case, four individuals who operated two companies – one in Louisiana and one in California – that mass-marketed talking glucose monitors (TGMs) across the country allegedly sent TGMs to Medicare beneficiaries regardless of whether they were needed or requested. The companies billed Medicare approximately $38 million for the devices and Medicare paid the companies over $22 million.
The cases announced today are being prosecuted and investigated by Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams from the Fraud Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices of the Southern District of Florida, Eastern District of Michigan, Eastern District of New York, Southern District of Texas, Central District of California, Eastern District of Louisiana, Northern District of Texas, Northern District of Illinois and the Middle District of Florida; and agents from the FBI, HHS-OIG and state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
In addition to the Strike Force, today’s enforcement actions include cases brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices of the Southern District of California, Southern District of Illinois, Northern District of Ohio, Western District of Kentucky, District of Maryland, District of Connecticut, District of Alaska and the Southern District of Georgia.
A complaint or indictment is merely a charge, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Affordable Care Act has provided new tools and resources to fight fraud in federal health care programs. The law provides an additional $350 million for health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts, which has allowed the Justice Department to hire more prosecutors and the Strike Force to expand from two cities to nine. It also toughens sentencing for criminal activity, enhances provider and supplier screenings and enrollment requirements, and encourages increased sharing of data across government.
In addition to providing new tools and resources to fight fraud, the Affordable Care Act clarified that for sentencing purposes, the loss is determined by the amount billed to Medicare and increased the sentencing guidelines for the billed amounts, which has provided a strong deterrent effect due to increased prison time, particularly in the most egregious cases.
DEPUTY SECRETARY ROBERT WORK MEETS WITH CANADIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Right: Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work meets with Canadian Defense Minister Jason Kenney and Associate Defense Minister Julian Fantino at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, Canada, June 15, 2015. The leaders discussed global security challenges, including collaboration for ongoing operations in Iraq to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. DoD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Clydell Kinchen.
Work Travels to Ottawa to Meet With Canadian Officials
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, June 16, 2015 – Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work began a two-day visit to the Canadian capital of Ottawa yesterday to meet with senior Canadian government officials and the Permanent Joint Board on Defense.
In a statement announcing the trip, Pentagon officials said the deputy secretary visited the Canadian Parliament and National Defense headquarters.
He also met with Canadian officials, including Defense Minister Jason Kenney, Associate Defense Minister Julian Fantino, Deputy Defense Minister John Forster, Associate Deputy Defense Minister John Turner, and Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson, officials said.
The leaders discussed global security challenges, including collaboration for ongoing operations in Iraq to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, officials said.
Commending Canada’s Contributions
“Work commended Canada for its contributions, particularly in conducting airstrikes against ISIL targets, ways to address the risks to minority populations in Syria, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Kurdish forces in Northern Iraq,” the Pentagon statement said. “Additionally, the deputy secretary and Canadian officials discussed the situation in Ukraine, and efforts to provide assistance to Ukraine, as well as NATO reassurance initiatives.”
Regarding Western Hemisphere defense, the statement said, Work and Canadian leaders professed support for the North American Aerospace Defense Command and modernization of the North Warning System.
Anniversary Dinner
The deputy secretary also attended a dinner celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense, the most senior bilateral defense forum between the United States and Canada. Established in 1940, the board focuses on policy issues related to continental defense and security, such as asymmetric threats, officials explained.
At the dinner, officials said, Work noted that the bilateral defense cooperation between the United States and Canada remains one of the world's strongest, as demonstrated by operations at NORAD and the work of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense.
Throughout his visit, officials added, Work reaffirmed the Defense Department's commitment to sustaining a strong bilateral relationship with Canada.
DEFENSE CONTRACTOR TO PAY $7.1 MILLION TO RESOLVE FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT INVESTIGATION
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
IAP Worldwide Services Inc. Resolves Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation
Former Company Vice President Pleads Guilty to Participating in Bribery Scheme
A Florida defense and government contracting company, IAP Worldwide Services Inc. (IAP), entered into a non-prosecution agreement and agreed to pay a $7.1 million penalty to resolve the government’s investigation into whether the company conspired to bribe Kuwaiti officials in order to secure a government contract. A former vice president of IAP also pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for his involvement in the bribery scheme.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew G. McCabe of the FBI’s Washington, D.C., Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office made the announcement.
James Michael Rama, 69, of Lynchburg, Virginia, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge James C. Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2015.
In 2004, Kuwait’s Ministry of the Interior (MOI) initiated the Kuwait Security Program (KSP), a project that was intended to provide nationwide surveillance capabilities for several Kuwaiti government agencies primarily through the use of closed-circuit television. The project was divided into two phases: a planning and feasibility period called “Phase I” and an installation period called “Phase II.” The MOI was responsible for overseeing the KSP, including selecting contractors to facilitate its implementation. Revenues from the Phase II contract were expected to be substantially greater than from Phase I.
According to admissions made in connection with both the non-prosecution agreement and Rama’s plea agreement, IAP and Rama schemed to ensure that IAP worked as the consultant for Phase I so that it could tailor the requirements for the Phase II contracts to IAP’s strengths, which would give the company an advantage in the Phase II bidding. To that end, both IAP and Rama admitted that in February 2006, executives and senior employees of IAP, including Rama, set up a shell company called “Ramaco” to bid on Phase I, in part to conceal IAP’s role in crafting the Phase II requirements and its conflict of interest in connection with securing the Phase II contract.
Ultimately, Ramaco secured the Phase I contract for approximately $4 million. According to admissions made in connection with both agreements, the Rama and IAP agreed that half of that amount would be diverted to a consultant who would pay bribes to Kuwaiti government officials to assist IAP in obtaining and retaining the Phase I contract and to obtain the Phase II contract. IAP and Rama admitted that they disguised the payments by transferring funds Ramaco received to an IAP bank account and then to the consultant through a series of accounts and intermediaries. According to the factual statements incorporated into both the non-prosecution agreement and Rama’s plea agreement, between September 2006 and March 2008, IAP and its co-conspirators paid the consultant approximately $1,783,688 understanding that some or all of the funds would be used to bribe Kuwaiti government officials.
Based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to IAP’s cooperation, the Criminal Division entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the company. The non-prosecution agreement requires IAP’s continued cooperation. In addition, the non-prosecution agreement requires IAP to conduct a review of its existing internal controls, policies and procedures, and make any necessary modifications to ensure that the company maintains accurate record keeping and a rigorous anti-corruption compliance program. The non-prosecution agreement further requires IAP to report periodically to the Criminal Division and to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia regarding remediation and implementation of the aforementioned compliance program and internal controls, policies and procedures.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Washington, D.C., Field Office and the DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Tarek Helou and Trial Attorney James P. McDonald of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Nathanson of the Eastern District of Virginia. The United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance during the investigation.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
IAP Worldwide Services Inc. Resolves Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation
Former Company Vice President Pleads Guilty to Participating in Bribery Scheme
A Florida defense and government contracting company, IAP Worldwide Services Inc. (IAP), entered into a non-prosecution agreement and agreed to pay a $7.1 million penalty to resolve the government’s investigation into whether the company conspired to bribe Kuwaiti officials in order to secure a government contract. A former vice president of IAP also pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for his involvement in the bribery scheme.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew G. McCabe of the FBI’s Washington, D.C., Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office made the announcement.
James Michael Rama, 69, of Lynchburg, Virginia, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge James C. Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2015.
In 2004, Kuwait’s Ministry of the Interior (MOI) initiated the Kuwait Security Program (KSP), a project that was intended to provide nationwide surveillance capabilities for several Kuwaiti government agencies primarily through the use of closed-circuit television. The project was divided into two phases: a planning and feasibility period called “Phase I” and an installation period called “Phase II.” The MOI was responsible for overseeing the KSP, including selecting contractors to facilitate its implementation. Revenues from the Phase II contract were expected to be substantially greater than from Phase I.
According to admissions made in connection with both the non-prosecution agreement and Rama’s plea agreement, IAP and Rama schemed to ensure that IAP worked as the consultant for Phase I so that it could tailor the requirements for the Phase II contracts to IAP’s strengths, which would give the company an advantage in the Phase II bidding. To that end, both IAP and Rama admitted that in February 2006, executives and senior employees of IAP, including Rama, set up a shell company called “Ramaco” to bid on Phase I, in part to conceal IAP’s role in crafting the Phase II requirements and its conflict of interest in connection with securing the Phase II contract.
Ultimately, Ramaco secured the Phase I contract for approximately $4 million. According to admissions made in connection with both agreements, the Rama and IAP agreed that half of that amount would be diverted to a consultant who would pay bribes to Kuwaiti government officials to assist IAP in obtaining and retaining the Phase I contract and to obtain the Phase II contract. IAP and Rama admitted that they disguised the payments by transferring funds Ramaco received to an IAP bank account and then to the consultant through a series of accounts and intermediaries. According to the factual statements incorporated into both the non-prosecution agreement and Rama’s plea agreement, between September 2006 and March 2008, IAP and its co-conspirators paid the consultant approximately $1,783,688 understanding that some or all of the funds would be used to bribe Kuwaiti government officials.
Based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to IAP’s cooperation, the Criminal Division entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the company. The non-prosecution agreement requires IAP’s continued cooperation. In addition, the non-prosecution agreement requires IAP to conduct a review of its existing internal controls, policies and procedures, and make any necessary modifications to ensure that the company maintains accurate record keeping and a rigorous anti-corruption compliance program. The non-prosecution agreement further requires IAP to report periodically to the Criminal Division and to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia regarding remediation and implementation of the aforementioned compliance program and internal controls, policies and procedures.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Washington, D.C., Field Office and the DCIS Mid-Atlantic Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Tarek Helou and Trial Attorney James P. McDonald of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Nathanson of the Eastern District of Virginia. The United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance during the investigation.
U.S. SPOKESPERSON EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER SHAIKH ALI SALMAN CONVICTION IN BAHRAIN
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Concern Over the Conviction of Shaikh Ali Salman in Bahrain
Press Statement
John Kirby
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
June 16, 2015
The U.S. Government is deeply concerned by the June 16 conviction and sentencing by a Bahraini court of Shaikh Ali Salman, the Secretary General of al Wifaq. As we have consistently said, opposition parties that peacefully voice criticism of the government play a vital role in inclusive, pluralistic states and societies. Creating an atmosphere in which a full range of political opinions can be peacefully expressed is essential in Bahrain, across the Middle East, and globally. As we pointed out in our December 31 statement, we are also concerned that this action has the potential to inflame tensions.
The United States believes that no one, anywhere, should be prosecuted or imprisoned for engaging in peaceful expression or assembly. Any charges against Ali Salman that were brought on that basis should be dropped. We also strongly urge the Government of Bahrain to abide by its commitment to the protection of freedom of expression.
Concern Over the Conviction of Shaikh Ali Salman in Bahrain
Press Statement
John Kirby
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
June 16, 2015
The U.S. Government is deeply concerned by the June 16 conviction and sentencing by a Bahraini court of Shaikh Ali Salman, the Secretary General of al Wifaq. As we have consistently said, opposition parties that peacefully voice criticism of the government play a vital role in inclusive, pluralistic states and societies. Creating an atmosphere in which a full range of political opinions can be peacefully expressed is essential in Bahrain, across the Middle East, and globally. As we pointed out in our December 31 statement, we are also concerned that this action has the potential to inflame tensions.
The United States believes that no one, anywhere, should be prosecuted or imprisoned for engaging in peaceful expression or assembly. Any charges against Ali Salman that were brought on that basis should be dropped. We also strongly urge the Government of Bahrain to abide by its commitment to the protection of freedom of expression.
U.S.M.S. ANNOUNCES 41 PEOPLE CHARGED FOR ROLES IN MASSIVE HEROIN TRAFFICKING OPERATION
FROM: U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE
Multi-State Heroin Trafficking Operation Based in Baltimore, Maryland
Fractured by Federal Indictment
Harrisburg, PA – Multiple individuals were arrested today pursuant to a 163-count federal indictment charging 41 people with facilitating an extensive, multi-state heroin trafficking operation, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, West Virginia State Police Colonel Jay Smithers, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott Smith, announced.
On June 16, 2015, the USMS in the Middle District of Pennsylvania arrested two of the suspects named in the indictment. They are 46 year-old Craig Rhodes and 24 year-old Veronica Thomas. Both suspects were arrested at a residence on North 4th Street in Chambersburg, Pa.
United States Marshal Martin J. Pane stated, “Heroin is a cancer on our society. The Marshals Service will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to rid our communities of those who prey upon our youth. Those charged will now face appropriate charges in the federal criminal justice system.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Krasinski is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the West Virginia State Police, and the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, are leading the investigation. The United States Marshals Service and the Baltimore County Police Department in Maryland are also supporting the investigation.
The USMS M/PA Task Force worked jointly in this investigation with personnel from the York City Police Department, York County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, Harrisburg Bureau of Police and the Chambersburg Police Department.
Multi-State Heroin Trafficking Operation Based in Baltimore, Maryland
Fractured by Federal Indictment
Harrisburg, PA – Multiple individuals were arrested today pursuant to a 163-count federal indictment charging 41 people with facilitating an extensive, multi-state heroin trafficking operation, United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, West Virginia State Police Colonel Jay Smithers, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott Smith, announced.
On June 16, 2015, the USMS in the Middle District of Pennsylvania arrested two of the suspects named in the indictment. They are 46 year-old Craig Rhodes and 24 year-old Veronica Thomas. Both suspects were arrested at a residence on North 4th Street in Chambersburg, Pa.
United States Marshal Martin J. Pane stated, “Heroin is a cancer on our society. The Marshals Service will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to rid our communities of those who prey upon our youth. Those charged will now face appropriate charges in the federal criminal justice system.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Krasinski is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the West Virginia State Police, and the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, are leading the investigation. The United States Marshals Service and the Baltimore County Police Department in Maryland are also supporting the investigation.
The USMS M/PA Task Force worked jointly in this investigation with personnel from the York City Police Department, York County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, Harrisburg Bureau of Police and the Chambersburg Police Department.
CO2, BIG DINOSAURS AND THE EQUATOR
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Big dinosaurs steered clear of the tropics
Climate swings lasting millions of years too much for dinos
For more than 30 million years after dinosaurs first appeared, they remained inexplicably rare near the equator, where only a few small-bodied meat-eating dinosaurs made a living.
The long absence at low latitudes has been one of the great, unanswered questions about the rise of the dinosaurs.
Now the mystery has a solution, according to scientists who pieced together a detailed picture of the climate and ecology more than 200 million years ago at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico, a site rich with fossils.
The findings, reported today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), show that the tropical climate swung wildly with extremes of drought and intense heat.
Wildfires swept the landscape during arid regimes and reshaped the vegetation available for plant-eating animals.
"Our data suggest it was not a fun place," says scientist Randall Irmis of the University of Utah.
"It was a time of climate extremes that went back and forth unpredictably. Large, warm-blooded dinosaurian herbivores weren't able to exist close to the equator--there was not enough dependable plant food."
The study, led by geochemist Jessica Whiteside, now of the University of Southampton, is the first to provide a detailed look at climate and ecology during the emergence of the dinosaurs.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels then were four to six times current levels. "If we continue along our present course, similar conditions in a high-CO2 world may develop, and suppress low-latitude ecosystems," Irmis says.
"These scientists have developed a new explanation for the perplexing near-absence of dinosaurs in late Triassic [the Triassic was between 252 million and 201 million years ago] equatorial settings," says Rich Lane, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research.
"That includes rapid vegetation changes related to climate fluctuations between arid and moist climates and the resulting extensive wildfires of the time."
Reconstructing the deep past
The earliest known dinosaur fossils, found in Argentina, date from around 230 million years ago.
Within 15 million years, species with different diets and body sizes had evolved and were abundant except in tropical latitudes. There the only dinosaurs were small carnivores. The pattern persisted for 30 million years after the first dinosaurs appeared.
The scientists focused on Chinle Formation rocks, which were deposited by rivers and streams between 205 and 215 million years ago at Ghost Ranch (perhaps better known as the place where artist Georgia O'Keeffe lived and painted for much of her career).
The multi-colored rocks of the Chinle Formation are a common sight on the Colorado Plateau at places such as the Painted Desert at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
In ancient times, North America and other land masses were bound together in the supercontinent Pangea. The Ghost Ranch site stood close to the equator, at roughly the same latitude as present-day southern India.
The researchers reconstructed the deep past by analyzing several kinds of data: from fossils, charcoal left by ancient wildfires, stable isotopes from organic matter, and carbonate nodules that formed in ancient soils.
Fossilized bones, pollen grains and fern spores revealed the types of animals and plants living at different times, marked by layers of sediment.
Dinosaurs remained rare among the fossils, accounting for less than 15 percent of vertebrate animal remains.
They were outnumbered in diversity, abundance and body size by reptiles known as pseudosuchian archosaurs, the lineage that gave rise to crocodiles and alligators.
The sparse dinosaurs consisted mostly of small, carnivorous theropods.
Big, long-necked dinosaurs, or sauropodomorphs--already the dominant plant-eaters at higher latitudes--did not exist at the study site nor any other low-latitude site in the Pangaea of that time, as far as the fossil record shows.
Abrupt changes in climate left a record in the abundance of different types of pollen and fern spores between sediment layers.
Fossilized organic matter from decaying plants provided another window on climate shifts. Changes in the ratio of stable isotopes of carbon in the organic matter bookmarked times when plant productivity declined during extended droughts.
Drought and fire
Wildfire temperatures varied drastically, the researchers found, consistent with a fluctuating environment in which the amount of combustible plant matter rose and fell over time.
The researchers estimated the intensity of wildfires using bits of charcoal recovered in sediment layers.
The overall picture is that of a climate punctuated by extreme shifts in precipitation and in which plant die-offs fueled hotter fires. That in turn killed more plants, damaged soils and increased erosion.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, calculated from stable isotope analyses of soil carbonate and preserved organic matter, rose from about 1,200 parts per million (ppm) at the base of the section, to about 2,400 ppm near the top.
At these high CO2 concentrations, climate models predict more frequent and more extreme weather fluctuations consistent with the fossil and charcoal evidence.
Continuing shifts between extremes of dry and wet likely prevented the establishment of the dinosaur-dominated communities found in the fossil record at higher latitudes across South America, Europe, and southern Africa, where aridity and temperatures were less extreme and humidity was consistently higher.
Resource-limited conditions could not support a diverse community of fast-growing, warm-blooded, large dinosaurs, which require a productive and stable environment to thrive.
"The conditions would have been something similar to the arid western United States today, although there would have been trees and smaller plants near streams and rivers, and forests during humid times," says Whiteside.
"The fluctuating and harsh climate with widespread wildfires meant that only small two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs could survive."
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Big dinosaurs steered clear of the tropics
Climate swings lasting millions of years too much for dinos
For more than 30 million years after dinosaurs first appeared, they remained inexplicably rare near the equator, where only a few small-bodied meat-eating dinosaurs made a living.
The long absence at low latitudes has been one of the great, unanswered questions about the rise of the dinosaurs.
Now the mystery has a solution, according to scientists who pieced together a detailed picture of the climate and ecology more than 200 million years ago at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico, a site rich with fossils.
The findings, reported today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), show that the tropical climate swung wildly with extremes of drought and intense heat.
Wildfires swept the landscape during arid regimes and reshaped the vegetation available for plant-eating animals.
"Our data suggest it was not a fun place," says scientist Randall Irmis of the University of Utah.
"It was a time of climate extremes that went back and forth unpredictably. Large, warm-blooded dinosaurian herbivores weren't able to exist close to the equator--there was not enough dependable plant food."
The study, led by geochemist Jessica Whiteside, now of the University of Southampton, is the first to provide a detailed look at climate and ecology during the emergence of the dinosaurs.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels then were four to six times current levels. "If we continue along our present course, similar conditions in a high-CO2 world may develop, and suppress low-latitude ecosystems," Irmis says.
"These scientists have developed a new explanation for the perplexing near-absence of dinosaurs in late Triassic [the Triassic was between 252 million and 201 million years ago] equatorial settings," says Rich Lane, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research.
"That includes rapid vegetation changes related to climate fluctuations between arid and moist climates and the resulting extensive wildfires of the time."
Reconstructing the deep past
The earliest known dinosaur fossils, found in Argentina, date from around 230 million years ago.
Within 15 million years, species with different diets and body sizes had evolved and were abundant except in tropical latitudes. There the only dinosaurs were small carnivores. The pattern persisted for 30 million years after the first dinosaurs appeared.
The scientists focused on Chinle Formation rocks, which were deposited by rivers and streams between 205 and 215 million years ago at Ghost Ranch (perhaps better known as the place where artist Georgia O'Keeffe lived and painted for much of her career).
The multi-colored rocks of the Chinle Formation are a common sight on the Colorado Plateau at places such as the Painted Desert at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
In ancient times, North America and other land masses were bound together in the supercontinent Pangea. The Ghost Ranch site stood close to the equator, at roughly the same latitude as present-day southern India.
The researchers reconstructed the deep past by analyzing several kinds of data: from fossils, charcoal left by ancient wildfires, stable isotopes from organic matter, and carbonate nodules that formed in ancient soils.
Fossilized bones, pollen grains and fern spores revealed the types of animals and plants living at different times, marked by layers of sediment.
Dinosaurs remained rare among the fossils, accounting for less than 15 percent of vertebrate animal remains.
They were outnumbered in diversity, abundance and body size by reptiles known as pseudosuchian archosaurs, the lineage that gave rise to crocodiles and alligators.
The sparse dinosaurs consisted mostly of small, carnivorous theropods.
Big, long-necked dinosaurs, or sauropodomorphs--already the dominant plant-eaters at higher latitudes--did not exist at the study site nor any other low-latitude site in the Pangaea of that time, as far as the fossil record shows.
Abrupt changes in climate left a record in the abundance of different types of pollen and fern spores between sediment layers.
Fossilized organic matter from decaying plants provided another window on climate shifts. Changes in the ratio of stable isotopes of carbon in the organic matter bookmarked times when plant productivity declined during extended droughts.
Drought and fire
Wildfire temperatures varied drastically, the researchers found, consistent with a fluctuating environment in which the amount of combustible plant matter rose and fell over time.
The researchers estimated the intensity of wildfires using bits of charcoal recovered in sediment layers.
The overall picture is that of a climate punctuated by extreme shifts in precipitation and in which plant die-offs fueled hotter fires. That in turn killed more plants, damaged soils and increased erosion.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, calculated from stable isotope analyses of soil carbonate and preserved organic matter, rose from about 1,200 parts per million (ppm) at the base of the section, to about 2,400 ppm near the top.
At these high CO2 concentrations, climate models predict more frequent and more extreme weather fluctuations consistent with the fossil and charcoal evidence.
Continuing shifts between extremes of dry and wet likely prevented the establishment of the dinosaur-dominated communities found in the fossil record at higher latitudes across South America, Europe, and southern Africa, where aridity and temperatures were less extreme and humidity was consistently higher.
Resource-limited conditions could not support a diverse community of fast-growing, warm-blooded, large dinosaurs, which require a productive and stable environment to thrive.
"The conditions would have been something similar to the arid western United States today, although there would have been trees and smaller plants near streams and rivers, and forests during humid times," says Whiteside.
"The fluctuating and harsh climate with widespread wildfires meant that only small two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs could survive."
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
DOJ SAYS 7 BOA CONSTRICTORS SENT BACK TO BRAZIL
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
United States Repatriates Seven Boa Constrictors to Brazil
Seven boa constrictors seized in connection with an illegal wildlife smuggling scheme have been returned to the government of Brazil, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney John W. Huber of the District of Utah.
“This case exhibited many of the hallmarks that make illegal wildlife trafficking a growing international scourge, including actors motivated by greed who illegally smuggled rare and precious wildlife across international boundaries,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “The return of the precious snakes to Brazil brings to an end this years-long international saga, and serves as an example of our commitment to working with law enforcement partners in Brazil and elsewhere to combat transnational crime.”
“The successful prosecution of Mr. Stone and the recovery and repatriation of the offspring from this rare and valuable leucistic boa constrictor are due to the exceptional cooperation between the United States and Brazilian authorities,” said U.S. Attorney Huber. “The illegal wildlife trade threatens the survival of many threatened and endangered species and Mr. Stone’s conviction in this case demonstrates our resolve to prosecute those who engage in such activities.”
The seven boa constrictors are the offspring of a rare and extremely valuable white (leucistic) boa constrictor known as “Lucy” or “Diamond Princess” that was found in the Niterói district of Rio de Janerio in 2006. Because of its rarity, Brazilian authorities housed the white boa at the Niterói Zoo, a private foundation that rescued and rehabilitated injured wild animals. In January 2009, Jeremy Stone, a Utah-based collector, breeder and seller of reptiles, traveled to Brazil, secured possession of the snake and unlawfully returned with it back to the United States.
After learning that Stone was marketing snakes bred from a rare white boa, the Brazilian government requested assistance from the United States in securing the return of the leucistic boa and any offspring. Thereafter, pursuant to a mutual legal assistance treaty, federal investigators obtained a warrant authorizing the seizure of the snake and any offspring from Stone’s property in Utah. In executing the warrant, agents from the FBI learned that the leucistic boa constrictor had died. Agents turned the offspring over to the U.S. Marshals Service, which delivered the eight surviving offspring to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. One of the snakes died shortly thereafter.
In July 2014, Stone pleaded guilty plea to unlawfully transporting wildlife into the United States. As part of his plea agreement, Stone agreed to forfeit the boa’s offspring to the United States.
In October 2014, the government of Brazil filed a petition asserting its ownership of the white boa and its offspring because it had been caught in the Brazilian wild. Thereafter, the United States asked the court to amend the preliminary order of forfeiture to recognize Brazil’s claim to the snakes. In February 2015, the court entered a final order of forfeiture awarding the white boa’s seven surviving offspring to the government of Brazil.
The Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and Office of International Affairs, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Utah and the FBI, worked jointly with the government of Brazil to secure the repatriation of the seven offspring.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
United States Repatriates Seven Boa Constrictors to Brazil
Seven boa constrictors seized in connection with an illegal wildlife smuggling scheme have been returned to the government of Brazil, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney John W. Huber of the District of Utah.
“This case exhibited many of the hallmarks that make illegal wildlife trafficking a growing international scourge, including actors motivated by greed who illegally smuggled rare and precious wildlife across international boundaries,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “The return of the precious snakes to Brazil brings to an end this years-long international saga, and serves as an example of our commitment to working with law enforcement partners in Brazil and elsewhere to combat transnational crime.”
“The successful prosecution of Mr. Stone and the recovery and repatriation of the offspring from this rare and valuable leucistic boa constrictor are due to the exceptional cooperation between the United States and Brazilian authorities,” said U.S. Attorney Huber. “The illegal wildlife trade threatens the survival of many threatened and endangered species and Mr. Stone’s conviction in this case demonstrates our resolve to prosecute those who engage in such activities.”
The seven boa constrictors are the offspring of a rare and extremely valuable white (leucistic) boa constrictor known as “Lucy” or “Diamond Princess” that was found in the Niterói district of Rio de Janerio in 2006. Because of its rarity, Brazilian authorities housed the white boa at the Niterói Zoo, a private foundation that rescued and rehabilitated injured wild animals. In January 2009, Jeremy Stone, a Utah-based collector, breeder and seller of reptiles, traveled to Brazil, secured possession of the snake and unlawfully returned with it back to the United States.
After learning that Stone was marketing snakes bred from a rare white boa, the Brazilian government requested assistance from the United States in securing the return of the leucistic boa and any offspring. Thereafter, pursuant to a mutual legal assistance treaty, federal investigators obtained a warrant authorizing the seizure of the snake and any offspring from Stone’s property in Utah. In executing the warrant, agents from the FBI learned that the leucistic boa constrictor had died. Agents turned the offspring over to the U.S. Marshals Service, which delivered the eight surviving offspring to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. One of the snakes died shortly thereafter.
In July 2014, Stone pleaded guilty plea to unlawfully transporting wildlife into the United States. As part of his plea agreement, Stone agreed to forfeit the boa’s offspring to the United States.
In October 2014, the government of Brazil filed a petition asserting its ownership of the white boa and its offspring because it had been caught in the Brazilian wild. Thereafter, the United States asked the court to amend the preliminary order of forfeiture to recognize Brazil’s claim to the snakes. In February 2015, the court entered a final order of forfeiture awarding the white boa’s seven surviving offspring to the government of Brazil.
The Criminal Division’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and Office of International Affairs, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Utah and the FBI, worked jointly with the government of Brazil to secure the repatriation of the seven offspring.
DOD REPORTS ISIL TACTICAL LOSSES
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
ISIL Tactical Losses Continue in Iraq, Syria
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 17, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Airstrikes in Syria
Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted four airstrikes in Syria:
-- Near Hasakah, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL antenna arrays and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Aleppo, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Kobani, one airstrike struck an ISIL large tactical unit.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Baghdadi, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL resupply vehicle and an ISIL weapons cache.
-- Near Huwayjah, one airstrike struck an ISIL staging area.
-- Near Beiji, one airstrike destroyed two ISIL armored vehicles.
-- Near Mosul, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL mortar firing positon, destroying an ISIL structure.
-- Near Sinjar, three airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying three ISIL heavy machine guns, three ISIL fighting positons, three ISIL tunnel entrances, an ISIL structure and an ISIL rocket propelled grenade.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
ISIL Tactical Losses Continue in Iraq, Syria
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 17, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Airstrikes in Syria
Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted four airstrikes in Syria:
-- Near Hasakah, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL antenna arrays and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Aleppo, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Kobani, one airstrike struck an ISIL large tactical unit.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Baghdadi, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL resupply vehicle and an ISIL weapons cache.
-- Near Huwayjah, one airstrike struck an ISIL staging area.
-- Near Beiji, one airstrike destroyed two ISIL armored vehicles.
-- Near Mosul, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL mortar firing positon, destroying an ISIL structure.
-- Near Sinjar, three airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying three ISIL heavy machine guns, three ISIL fighting positons, three ISIL tunnel entrances, an ISIL structure and an ISIL rocket propelled grenade.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
DOD VIDEO: COAST GUARD COMBATS INTERNATIONAL CRIME
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
2015 - U.S. Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Operations, VADM Charles Michael testified before a House subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Drug Interdiction Efforts.
U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UN TESTIFIES TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Washington, DC
June 16, 2015
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Congressman Engel. Distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. And thank you for being here. Thank you also for your leadership in advancing America’s national security interests and our values in the world.
Last week I traveled to Ukraine, where I had the chance to see up close what happens when the rules undergirding our international peace and security are ignored. At a shelter for displaced families in Kyiv, I met a mother who told me how her husband and two-year-old child had been killed in February when a shell struck their home in a village in eastern Ukraine. The shelling, as you all know, was part of a sustained assault by combined Russian-separatist forces – and the victims just two of the more than 6,300 people who have been killed in the Moscow-manufactured conflict. Shortly after the attack, the mother fled town with her five surviving children in a van whose roof and doors had been blasted out. Her plea – one I heard echoed by many of the displaced families I met from eastern Ukraine and occupied Crimea – was for the fighting to stop, and for their basic rights to be respected.
As the members of this Committee know, we are living in a time of daunting global crises. In the last year alone, Russia continued to train, arm, and fight alongside separatists in eastern Ukraine; a deadly epidemic spread across West Africa; and monstrous terrorist groups seized territory across the Middle East and North Africa, committing unspeakable atrocities. These are the kinds of threats that the United Nations exists to prevent and address. Yet it is precisely at the moment when we need the UN most that we see the flaws in the international system, some of which have been alluded to already.
This is true for the conflict in Ukraine – in which a permanent member of the UN Security Council is violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity that it was entrusted with upholding. It is true of the global health system that – despite multiple warnings of a spreading Ebola outbreak, including those from our own CDC – was slow to respond to the epidemic. And it is true of UN peacekeepers, who too often stand down or stand by when civilians they are responsible for protecting come under attack. Thus leaving populations vulnerable and sometimes open to radicalization.
Representing our nation before the United Nations, I have to confront these and other shortcomings every day. Yet though I am clear-eyed about the UN’s vulnerabilities, the central point I want to make to this Committee is that America needs the United Nations to address today’s global challenges. The United States has the most powerful set of tools in history to advance its interests, and we will always lead on the world stage. But we are more effective when we ensure that others shoulder their fair share and when we marshal multilateral support to meet our objectives. Let me quickly outline five ways we are doing that at the UN.
First, we are rallying multilateral coalitions to address transnational threats. Consider Iran. In addition to working with Congress to put in place unprecedented U.S. sanctions on the Iranian government, in 2010 the Obama Administration galvanized the UN Security Council to authorize one of the toughest multilateral sanctions regimes in history. The combination of unilateral and multilateral pressure was crucial to bringing Iran to the negotiating table, and ultimately, to laying the foundation whereby we were able to reach a framework agreement that would, if we can get a final deal, effectively cut off every pathway for the Iranian regime to develop a nuclear weapon.
Consider our response to the Ebola epidemic. Last September, as people were dying outside hospitals in West Africa, hospitals that had no beds left to treat the exploding number of Ebola patients, the United States chaired the first-ever emergency meeting of the UN Security Council dedicated to a global health issue. We pressed countries to deploy doctors and nurses, to build clinics and testing labs, and to fill other gaps that ultimately helped bend the outbreak’s exponentially rising curve. America did not just rally others to step up, we led by example, thanks also very much to the support of this Congress, deploying more than 3,500 U.S. Government civilian and military personnel to Liberia, which has been Ebola-free since early May.
Second, we are reforming UN peacekeeping to help address the threats to international peace and security that exist in the 21st century. There are more than 100,000 uniformed police and soldiers deployed in the UN’s sixteen peacekeeping missions around the world – that is a higher number than in any time in history – with more complex responsibilities also than ever before. The United States has an abiding strategic interest in resolving the conflicts where peacekeepers serve, which can quickly cause regional instability and attract extremist groups, as we have seen in Mali. Yet while we have seen peacekeepers serve with bravery and professionalism in many of the world’s most dangerous operating environments, we’ve also seen chronic problems, too often, as mentioned, including the failure to protect civilians.
We are working aggressively to address these shortfalls. To give just one example, we are persuading more advanced militaries to step up and contribute soldiers and police to UN peacekeeping. That was the aim of a summit that Vice President Biden convened at the UN last September, where Colombia, Sweden, Indonesia and more than a dozen other countries announced new troop commitments; and it is the message I took directly to European leaders in March, when I made the case in Brussels that peacekeeping is a critical way for European militaries to do their fair share in protecting our common security interests, particularly as they draw down in Afghanistan. This coming September, President Obama will convene another summit of world leaders to build on this momentum and help catalyze a new wave of commitments and generate a new set of capabilities for UN peacekeeping.
Third, we are fighting to end bias and discrimination at the UN. Day in and day out, we push back against efforts to delegitimize Israel at the UN, and we fight for its right to be treated like any other nation – from mounting a full-court diplomatic press to help secure Israel’s permanent membership into two UN groups from which it had long and unjustly been excluded, to consistently and firmly opposing one-sided actions in international bodies. In December, when a deeply unbalanced draft resolution on the Israel-Palestinian conflict was hastily put before the Security Council, the United States successfully rallied a coalition to join us in voting against it, ensuring that the resolution failed to achieve the nine votes of Security Council members required for adoption. We will continue to confront anti-Israel bias wherever we encounter it.
Fourth, we are working to use UN tools to promote human rights and affirm human dignity, as we did by working with partners to hold the first-ever Security Council meeting focused on the human rights situation in North Korea in December. We used that session to shine a light on the regime’s horrors – a light we kept shining through a panel discussion I hosted in April, with escaped victims of the regime. One woman told of being forced to watch the executions of fellow prisoners who committed the “crime” of daring to ask why they had been imprisoned, while another woman told how members from three generations of her family – her grandmother, her father, and her younger brother – had starved to death. This is important for UN Member States to hear.
Fifth, we are doing everything within our power to make the UN more fiscally responsible, more accountable, and more nimble – both because we have a responsibility to ensure American taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, and because maximizing the efficiency of our contributions means saving more lives and better protecting the world’s most vulnerable people. Since the 2008 to 2009 fiscal year, we have reduced the cost-per-peacekeeper by 18 percent, and we are constantly looking for ways to right-size missions in response to conditions on the ground, as we will do this year through substantial drawdowns in Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, and Liberia, among other missions.
Let me conclude. At the outset, I spoke of my recent visit to Ukraine. Across the range of Ukrainians I met – from the mother who lost her husband and two-year-old child in the assault by combined Russian-separatist forces; to the brave students who risked their lives to take part in the Maidan protests against the kleptocratic Yanukovych government; to the young members of parliament working to fight corruption and increase transparency – what united them was the yearning for certain basic rights. And, the belief that the United States could lead other countries – and the United Nations – in helping make their aspirations a reality.
I heard the same sentiment when visiting UN-run camps of people displaced by violence in the Central African Republic, and South Sudan, and in the Ebola-affected communities of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone at the peak of the outbreak.
Some may view the expectation that America can help people overcome their greatest challenges and secure their basic rights as a burden. In fact, that expectation is one of our nation’s greatest strengths, and one we have a vested interest in striving to live up to – daunting as it may feel in the face of so many crises. But we cannot do it alone, nor should we want to. That is why it is more important than ever that we use the UN to rally the multilateral support needed to confront today’s myriad challenges.
Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
Testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Washington, DC
June 16, 2015
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Congressman Engel. Distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. And thank you for being here. Thank you also for your leadership in advancing America’s national security interests and our values in the world.
Last week I traveled to Ukraine, where I had the chance to see up close what happens when the rules undergirding our international peace and security are ignored. At a shelter for displaced families in Kyiv, I met a mother who told me how her husband and two-year-old child had been killed in February when a shell struck their home in a village in eastern Ukraine. The shelling, as you all know, was part of a sustained assault by combined Russian-separatist forces – and the victims just two of the more than 6,300 people who have been killed in the Moscow-manufactured conflict. Shortly after the attack, the mother fled town with her five surviving children in a van whose roof and doors had been blasted out. Her plea – one I heard echoed by many of the displaced families I met from eastern Ukraine and occupied Crimea – was for the fighting to stop, and for their basic rights to be respected.
As the members of this Committee know, we are living in a time of daunting global crises. In the last year alone, Russia continued to train, arm, and fight alongside separatists in eastern Ukraine; a deadly epidemic spread across West Africa; and monstrous terrorist groups seized territory across the Middle East and North Africa, committing unspeakable atrocities. These are the kinds of threats that the United Nations exists to prevent and address. Yet it is precisely at the moment when we need the UN most that we see the flaws in the international system, some of which have been alluded to already.
This is true for the conflict in Ukraine – in which a permanent member of the UN Security Council is violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity that it was entrusted with upholding. It is true of the global health system that – despite multiple warnings of a spreading Ebola outbreak, including those from our own CDC – was slow to respond to the epidemic. And it is true of UN peacekeepers, who too often stand down or stand by when civilians they are responsible for protecting come under attack. Thus leaving populations vulnerable and sometimes open to radicalization.
Representing our nation before the United Nations, I have to confront these and other shortcomings every day. Yet though I am clear-eyed about the UN’s vulnerabilities, the central point I want to make to this Committee is that America needs the United Nations to address today’s global challenges. The United States has the most powerful set of tools in history to advance its interests, and we will always lead on the world stage. But we are more effective when we ensure that others shoulder their fair share and when we marshal multilateral support to meet our objectives. Let me quickly outline five ways we are doing that at the UN.
First, we are rallying multilateral coalitions to address transnational threats. Consider Iran. In addition to working with Congress to put in place unprecedented U.S. sanctions on the Iranian government, in 2010 the Obama Administration galvanized the UN Security Council to authorize one of the toughest multilateral sanctions regimes in history. The combination of unilateral and multilateral pressure was crucial to bringing Iran to the negotiating table, and ultimately, to laying the foundation whereby we were able to reach a framework agreement that would, if we can get a final deal, effectively cut off every pathway for the Iranian regime to develop a nuclear weapon.
Consider our response to the Ebola epidemic. Last September, as people were dying outside hospitals in West Africa, hospitals that had no beds left to treat the exploding number of Ebola patients, the United States chaired the first-ever emergency meeting of the UN Security Council dedicated to a global health issue. We pressed countries to deploy doctors and nurses, to build clinics and testing labs, and to fill other gaps that ultimately helped bend the outbreak’s exponentially rising curve. America did not just rally others to step up, we led by example, thanks also very much to the support of this Congress, deploying more than 3,500 U.S. Government civilian and military personnel to Liberia, which has been Ebola-free since early May.
Second, we are reforming UN peacekeeping to help address the threats to international peace and security that exist in the 21st century. There are more than 100,000 uniformed police and soldiers deployed in the UN’s sixteen peacekeeping missions around the world – that is a higher number than in any time in history – with more complex responsibilities also than ever before. The United States has an abiding strategic interest in resolving the conflicts where peacekeepers serve, which can quickly cause regional instability and attract extremist groups, as we have seen in Mali. Yet while we have seen peacekeepers serve with bravery and professionalism in many of the world’s most dangerous operating environments, we’ve also seen chronic problems, too often, as mentioned, including the failure to protect civilians.
We are working aggressively to address these shortfalls. To give just one example, we are persuading more advanced militaries to step up and contribute soldiers and police to UN peacekeeping. That was the aim of a summit that Vice President Biden convened at the UN last September, where Colombia, Sweden, Indonesia and more than a dozen other countries announced new troop commitments; and it is the message I took directly to European leaders in March, when I made the case in Brussels that peacekeeping is a critical way for European militaries to do their fair share in protecting our common security interests, particularly as they draw down in Afghanistan. This coming September, President Obama will convene another summit of world leaders to build on this momentum and help catalyze a new wave of commitments and generate a new set of capabilities for UN peacekeeping.
Third, we are fighting to end bias and discrimination at the UN. Day in and day out, we push back against efforts to delegitimize Israel at the UN, and we fight for its right to be treated like any other nation – from mounting a full-court diplomatic press to help secure Israel’s permanent membership into two UN groups from which it had long and unjustly been excluded, to consistently and firmly opposing one-sided actions in international bodies. In December, when a deeply unbalanced draft resolution on the Israel-Palestinian conflict was hastily put before the Security Council, the United States successfully rallied a coalition to join us in voting against it, ensuring that the resolution failed to achieve the nine votes of Security Council members required for adoption. We will continue to confront anti-Israel bias wherever we encounter it.
Fourth, we are working to use UN tools to promote human rights and affirm human dignity, as we did by working with partners to hold the first-ever Security Council meeting focused on the human rights situation in North Korea in December. We used that session to shine a light on the regime’s horrors – a light we kept shining through a panel discussion I hosted in April, with escaped victims of the regime. One woman told of being forced to watch the executions of fellow prisoners who committed the “crime” of daring to ask why they had been imprisoned, while another woman told how members from three generations of her family – her grandmother, her father, and her younger brother – had starved to death. This is important for UN Member States to hear.
Fifth, we are doing everything within our power to make the UN more fiscally responsible, more accountable, and more nimble – both because we have a responsibility to ensure American taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, and because maximizing the efficiency of our contributions means saving more lives and better protecting the world’s most vulnerable people. Since the 2008 to 2009 fiscal year, we have reduced the cost-per-peacekeeper by 18 percent, and we are constantly looking for ways to right-size missions in response to conditions on the ground, as we will do this year through substantial drawdowns in Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, and Liberia, among other missions.
Let me conclude. At the outset, I spoke of my recent visit to Ukraine. Across the range of Ukrainians I met – from the mother who lost her husband and two-year-old child in the assault by combined Russian-separatist forces; to the brave students who risked their lives to take part in the Maidan protests against the kleptocratic Yanukovych government; to the young members of parliament working to fight corruption and increase transparency – what united them was the yearning for certain basic rights. And, the belief that the United States could lead other countries – and the United Nations – in helping make their aspirations a reality.
I heard the same sentiment when visiting UN-run camps of people displaced by violence in the Central African Republic, and South Sudan, and in the Ebola-affected communities of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone at the peak of the outbreak.
Some may view the expectation that America can help people overcome their greatest challenges and secure their basic rights as a burden. In fact, that expectation is one of our nation’s greatest strengths, and one we have a vested interest in striving to live up to – daunting as it may feel in the face of so many crises. But we cannot do it alone, nor should we want to. That is why it is more important than ever that we use the UN to rally the multilateral support needed to confront today’s myriad challenges.
Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
IMPERIAL GANGSTERS LEADER RECEIVES LIFE SENTENCE FOR FIVE MURDERS AND OTHER CRIMES
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, June 15, 2015
Leader of Imperial Gangsters Sentenced to Life in Prison for Five Murders, One Attempted Murder and Other Gang-Related Crimes
A leader of the Imperial Gangsters street gang was sentenced today to life in prison for five counts of murder in aid of racketeering and other RICO-related charges, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David A. Capp of the Northern District of Indiana.
Juan Briseno, aka Tito, 25, of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip P. Simon of the Northern District of Indiana to a total of six life sentences plus 10 years in prison. The sentences will run consecutively.
On March 6, 2015, a federal jury in the Northern District of Indiana convicted Briseno of engaging in a RICO conspiracy, engaging in a drug distribution conspiracy, five counts of murder in aid of racketeering, one count of attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and a firearms count related to the attempted murder.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Briseno was a leader of the 149th Street Imperial Gangsters, a violent clique of the Imperial Gangsters based in East Chicago, Indiana. In his leadership role, Briseno supervised prospective gang members known as “shorties.”
The evidence showed that the Imperial Gangsters had a long-standing rule that gang members were to shoot rival gang members on sight, and that they had a policy to shoot anyone selling drugs in their neighborhood when such persons had not either purchased the drugs from the Imperial Gangsters or paid “taxes” to the gang for the right to sell drugs in their territory. The five murders of which Briseno was convicted were committed consistent with these directives.
According to witness testimony, Briseno expressed no remorse for his participation in various murders. Indeed, he bragged about killings and encouraged others to do the same.
With regard to the specific murders, the evidence at trial demonstrated that, on Sept. 26, 2007, Briseno knocked on Luis Ortiz’s apartment door in Hammond, Indiana, and shot him dead in the doorway. According to the evidence presented at trial, Briseno targeted Ortiz because he was a member of the rival Latin King Street Gang.
Additionally, the evidence showed that, on June 3, 2008, Briseno killed both Miguel Mejias, a former member of the Latin Kings, and Michael Sessum, an associate of Mejias, while they were unarmed and bringing takeout food to their pregnant girlfriends. According to the evidence presented at trial, Briseno fired multiple shots into Mejias’ residence, striking a female victim in the arm while she was holding her infant child. Another pregnant female victim and multiple minor victims also were inside the apartment at the time. According to testimony presented at trial, in the weeks prior to the confrontation, Mejias implored a common friend to tell Briseno that Mejias was no longer “gangbanging” and did not want any trouble. In response to this message, Briseno said, “[expletive] him, he was going to bring [Latin] Kings into our neighborhood.”
The evidence at trial also demonstrated that, on Feb. 7, 2010, Briseno and his associates murdered rival Two-Six gang member Miguel Colonas he was leaving a party in the Harbor Area of East Chicago. In this incident, Briseno and several associates laid in wait for Colon to leave the party, and then shot the unsuspecting Colon from a vehicle.
Finally, the evidence at trial demonstrated that, on June 19, 2010, Briseno murdered Latroy Howard because he was selling drugs in Imperial Gangster territory. A video introduced at trial showed Briseno’s vehicle circling the block several times prior to the murder, and then showed Briseno confronting Howard on foot and shooting him twice in the head at point-blank range.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the FBI; and the East Chicago Police Department. The Gary, Indiana, Police Department; the Hammond Police Department; and the Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program provided assistance. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Nozick of the Northern District of Indiana and Trial Attorney Bruce R. Hegyi of the Criminal Division’s Capital Case Section.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Leader of Imperial Gangsters Sentenced to Life in Prison for Five Murders, One Attempted Murder and Other Gang-Related Crimes
A leader of the Imperial Gangsters street gang was sentenced today to life in prison for five counts of murder in aid of racketeering and other RICO-related charges, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David A. Capp of the Northern District of Indiana.
Juan Briseno, aka Tito, 25, of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip P. Simon of the Northern District of Indiana to a total of six life sentences plus 10 years in prison. The sentences will run consecutively.
On March 6, 2015, a federal jury in the Northern District of Indiana convicted Briseno of engaging in a RICO conspiracy, engaging in a drug distribution conspiracy, five counts of murder in aid of racketeering, one count of attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and a firearms count related to the attempted murder.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Briseno was a leader of the 149th Street Imperial Gangsters, a violent clique of the Imperial Gangsters based in East Chicago, Indiana. In his leadership role, Briseno supervised prospective gang members known as “shorties.”
The evidence showed that the Imperial Gangsters had a long-standing rule that gang members were to shoot rival gang members on sight, and that they had a policy to shoot anyone selling drugs in their neighborhood when such persons had not either purchased the drugs from the Imperial Gangsters or paid “taxes” to the gang for the right to sell drugs in their territory. The five murders of which Briseno was convicted were committed consistent with these directives.
According to witness testimony, Briseno expressed no remorse for his participation in various murders. Indeed, he bragged about killings and encouraged others to do the same.
With regard to the specific murders, the evidence at trial demonstrated that, on Sept. 26, 2007, Briseno knocked on Luis Ortiz’s apartment door in Hammond, Indiana, and shot him dead in the doorway. According to the evidence presented at trial, Briseno targeted Ortiz because he was a member of the rival Latin King Street Gang.
Additionally, the evidence showed that, on June 3, 2008, Briseno killed both Miguel Mejias, a former member of the Latin Kings, and Michael Sessum, an associate of Mejias, while they were unarmed and bringing takeout food to their pregnant girlfriends. According to the evidence presented at trial, Briseno fired multiple shots into Mejias’ residence, striking a female victim in the arm while she was holding her infant child. Another pregnant female victim and multiple minor victims also were inside the apartment at the time. According to testimony presented at trial, in the weeks prior to the confrontation, Mejias implored a common friend to tell Briseno that Mejias was no longer “gangbanging” and did not want any trouble. In response to this message, Briseno said, “[expletive] him, he was going to bring [Latin] Kings into our neighborhood.”
The evidence at trial also demonstrated that, on Feb. 7, 2010, Briseno and his associates murdered rival Two-Six gang member Miguel Colonas he was leaving a party in the Harbor Area of East Chicago. In this incident, Briseno and several associates laid in wait for Colon to leave the party, and then shot the unsuspecting Colon from a vehicle.
Finally, the evidence at trial demonstrated that, on June 19, 2010, Briseno murdered Latroy Howard because he was selling drugs in Imperial Gangster territory. A video introduced at trial showed Briseno’s vehicle circling the block several times prior to the murder, and then showed Briseno confronting Howard on foot and shooting him twice in the head at point-blank range.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the FBI; and the East Chicago Police Department. The Gary, Indiana, Police Department; the Hammond Police Department; and the Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program provided assistance. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Nozick of the Northern District of Indiana and Trial Attorney Bruce R. Hegyi of the Criminal Division’s Capital Case Section.
ARMED INTRUDER ON WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS SENTENCED TO 17 MONTHS IN PRISON
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Omar Gonzalez Sentenced to 17 Months in Prison for Armed Intrusion on White House Grounds
Omar Gonzalez, 43, of Copperas Cove, Texas, was sentenced today to 17 months in prison on charges stemming from an incident in which he climbed a fence and ran toward and into the White House while armed with a folding knife.
The sentencing was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. for the District of Columbia and Acting Special Agent in Charge James M. Murray of the Washington Field Office for the U.S. Secret Service.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty on March 13, 2015, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to two federal offenses: one count of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds, while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon and one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees. He was sentenced by the Honorable Rosemary M. Collyer. Upon completion of his prison term, Gonzalez will be placed on three years of supervised release.
Judge Collyer also prohibited Gonzalez from entering the District of Columbia for the duration of his supervision, except for court appearances and meetings with his attorney. He also will be required to participate in a psychiatric evaluation and cooperate fully with the Secret Service in any assessments they deem necessary to make of Gonzalez’s risk.
“Mr. Gonzalez is now paying the price for his foolish decision to jump the fence and run inside the White House,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen. “When he finishes his prison term, he will be barred from entering the District of Columbia and must receive psychiatric treatment. The prison sentence imposed by the court should deter others from taking actions that needlessly put the First Family and White House employees at risk.”
According to the government’s evidence, on Sept. 19, 2014, at about 7:19 p.m., Gonzalez climbed over the north fence of the White House. While he was climbing over the fence, officers with the U.S. Secret Service’s Uniformed Division ran towards him and repeatedly yelled at him to stop and get down. Gonzalez, however, ignored the commands and landed on the north grounds of the White House.
Moments later, after ignoring additional, repeated commands from uniformed officers to stop, Gonzalez went through the north doors of the White House, knocking a uniformed officer backwards. Another uniformed officer then tackled him inside the White House.
Gonzalez was searched and a folding knife, with a serrated blade that was over three and one-half inches long, was discovered in his right front pants pocket. After his arrest, he gave oral consent to search his vehicle, located on Constitution Avenue NW. The vehicle contained hundreds of rounds of ammunition, in boxes and in magazines, hatchets and a machete.
Gonzalez has been in custody since his arrest on Sept. 19, 2014.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Mudd and Thomas A. Gillice of the National Security Section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Omar Gonzalez Sentenced to 17 Months in Prison for Armed Intrusion on White House Grounds
Omar Gonzalez, 43, of Copperas Cove, Texas, was sentenced today to 17 months in prison on charges stemming from an incident in which he climbed a fence and ran toward and into the White House while armed with a folding knife.
The sentencing was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr. for the District of Columbia and Acting Special Agent in Charge James M. Murray of the Washington Field Office for the U.S. Secret Service.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty on March 13, 2015, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to two federal offenses: one count of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds, while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon and one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees. He was sentenced by the Honorable Rosemary M. Collyer. Upon completion of his prison term, Gonzalez will be placed on three years of supervised release.
Judge Collyer also prohibited Gonzalez from entering the District of Columbia for the duration of his supervision, except for court appearances and meetings with his attorney. He also will be required to participate in a psychiatric evaluation and cooperate fully with the Secret Service in any assessments they deem necessary to make of Gonzalez’s risk.
“Mr. Gonzalez is now paying the price for his foolish decision to jump the fence and run inside the White House,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen. “When he finishes his prison term, he will be barred from entering the District of Columbia and must receive psychiatric treatment. The prison sentence imposed by the court should deter others from taking actions that needlessly put the First Family and White House employees at risk.”
According to the government’s evidence, on Sept. 19, 2014, at about 7:19 p.m., Gonzalez climbed over the north fence of the White House. While he was climbing over the fence, officers with the U.S. Secret Service’s Uniformed Division ran towards him and repeatedly yelled at him to stop and get down. Gonzalez, however, ignored the commands and landed on the north grounds of the White House.
Moments later, after ignoring additional, repeated commands from uniformed officers to stop, Gonzalez went through the north doors of the White House, knocking a uniformed officer backwards. Another uniformed officer then tackled him inside the White House.
Gonzalez was searched and a folding knife, with a serrated blade that was over three and one-half inches long, was discovered in his right front pants pocket. After his arrest, he gave oral consent to search his vehicle, located on Constitution Avenue NW. The vehicle contained hundreds of rounds of ammunition, in boxes and in magazines, hatchets and a machete.
Gonzalez has been in custody since his arrest on Sept. 19, 2014.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Mudd and Thomas A. Gillice of the National Security Section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
EDUCATION SECRETARY DUNCAN ACCUSES REPUBLICANS OF PROTECTING FRAUDULENT CAREER COLLEGES
FROM: U.S. EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
JUNE 16, 2015
Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on House Republicans Proposing to Block Gainful Employment Regulations
“With students across the country reeling from the predatory behavior of failed and fraudulent ‘career’ colleges, it’s truly mind-boggling that House Republicans are still fighting tooth and nail to protect schools that take advantage of students and leave taxpayers with the bill. Make no mistake: a vote for this proposal is a vote to leave students in the dark and taxpayers holding the bag. Both deserve better.”
JUNE 16, 2015
Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on House Republicans Proposing to Block Gainful Employment Regulations
“With students across the country reeling from the predatory behavior of failed and fraudulent ‘career’ colleges, it’s truly mind-boggling that House Republicans are still fighting tooth and nail to protect schools that take advantage of students and leave taxpayers with the bill. Make no mistake: a vote for this proposal is a vote to leave students in the dark and taxpayers holding the bag. Both deserve better.”
SCIENTISTS STUDY CORAL REEFS AND OCEAN ACIDIFICATION
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Coral reefs defy ocean acidification odds in Palau
Palau reefs show few of the predicted responses
Will some coral reefs be able to adapt to rapidly changing conditions in Earth's oceans? If so, what will these reefs look like in the future?
As the ocean absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) released by the burning of fossil fuels, its chemistry is changing. The CO2 reacts with water molecules, lowering ocean pH (making it more acidic) in a process known as ocean acidification.
This process also removes carbonate, an essential ingredient needed by corals and other organisms to build their skeletons and shells.
Scientists are studying coral reefs in areas where low pH is naturally occurring to answer questions about ocean acidification, which threatens coral reef ecosystems worldwide.
Palau reefs dodge ocean acidification effects
One such place is Palau, an archipelago in the far western Pacific Ocean. The tropical, turquoise waters of Palau's Rock Islands are naturally more acidic due to a combination of biological activity and the long residence time of seawater in their maze of lagoons and inlets.
Seawater pH within the Rock Island lagoons is as low now as the open ocean is projected to reach as a result of ocean acidification near the end of this century.
A new study led by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found that coral reefs in Palau seem to be defying the odds, showing none of the predicted responses to low pH except for an increase in bio-erosion--the physical breakdown of coral skeletons by boring organisms such as mollusks and worms.
A paper reporting the results is published today in the journal Science Advances.
"This research illustrates the value of comprehensive field studies," says David Garrison, a program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research through NSF's Ocean Acidification (OA) Program. NSF OA is supported by the Directorates for Geosciences and for Biological Sciences.
"Contrary to laboratory findings," says Garrison, "it appears that the major effect of ocean acidification on Palau Rock Island corals is increased bio-erosion rather than direct effects on coral species."
Adds lead paper author Hannah Barkley of WHOI, "Based on lab experiments and studies of other naturally low pH reef systems, this is the opposite of what we expected."
Experiments measuring corals' responses to a variety of low pH conditions have shown a range of negative effects, such as fewer varieties of corals, more algae growth, lower rates of calcium carbonate production (growth), and juvenile corals that have difficulty constructing skeletons.
"Surprisingly, in Palau where the pH is lowest, we see a coral community that hosts more species and has greater coral cover than in the sites where pH is normal," says Anne Cohen, co-author of the paper.
"That's not to say the coral community is thriving because of the low pH, rather it is thriving despite the low pH, and we need to understand how."
When the researchers compared the communities found on Palau's reefs with those in other reefs where pH is naturally low, they found increased bio-erosion was the only common feature.
"Our study revealed increased bio-erosion to be the only consistent community response, as other signs of ecosystem health varied at different locations," Barkley says.
The riddle of resilience
How do Palau's low pH reefs thrive despite significantly higher levels of bio-erosion?
The researchers aren't certain yet, but hope to answer that question in future studies.
They also don't completely understand why conditions created by ocean acidification seem to favor bio-eroding organisms.
One theory--that skeletons grown under more acidic conditions are less dense, making them easier for bio-eroding organisms to penetrate--is not the case on Palau, Barkley says, "because we don't see a correlation between skeletal density and pH."
Though coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean, these diverse ecosystems are home to at least a quarter of all marine life. In addition to sustaining fisheries that feed hundreds of millions of people around the world, coral reefs protect thousands of acres of coastlines from waves, storms and tsunamis.
"On the one hand, the results of this study are optimistic," Cohen says. "Even though many experiments and other studies of naturally low pH reefs show that ocean acidification negatively affects calcium carbonate production, as well as coral diversity and cover, we are not seeing that on Palau.
"That gives us hope that some coral reefs--even if it is a very small percentage--might be able to withstand future levels of ocean acidification."
Along with Barkley and Cohen, the team included Yimnang Golbuu of the Palau International Coral Reef Center, Thomas DeCarlo and Victoria Starczak of WHOI, and Kathryn Shamberger of Texas A&M University.
The Dalio Foundation, Inc., The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and the WHOI Access to the Sea Fund provided additional funding for this work.
-NSF-
Coral reefs defy ocean acidification odds in Palau
Palau reefs show few of the predicted responses
Will some coral reefs be able to adapt to rapidly changing conditions in Earth's oceans? If so, what will these reefs look like in the future?
As the ocean absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) released by the burning of fossil fuels, its chemistry is changing. The CO2 reacts with water molecules, lowering ocean pH (making it more acidic) in a process known as ocean acidification.
This process also removes carbonate, an essential ingredient needed by corals and other organisms to build their skeletons and shells.
Scientists are studying coral reefs in areas where low pH is naturally occurring to answer questions about ocean acidification, which threatens coral reef ecosystems worldwide.
Palau reefs dodge ocean acidification effects
One such place is Palau, an archipelago in the far western Pacific Ocean. The tropical, turquoise waters of Palau's Rock Islands are naturally more acidic due to a combination of biological activity and the long residence time of seawater in their maze of lagoons and inlets.
Seawater pH within the Rock Island lagoons is as low now as the open ocean is projected to reach as a result of ocean acidification near the end of this century.
A new study led by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found that coral reefs in Palau seem to be defying the odds, showing none of the predicted responses to low pH except for an increase in bio-erosion--the physical breakdown of coral skeletons by boring organisms such as mollusks and worms.
A paper reporting the results is published today in the journal Science Advances.
"This research illustrates the value of comprehensive field studies," says David Garrison, a program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research through NSF's Ocean Acidification (OA) Program. NSF OA is supported by the Directorates for Geosciences and for Biological Sciences.
"Contrary to laboratory findings," says Garrison, "it appears that the major effect of ocean acidification on Palau Rock Island corals is increased bio-erosion rather than direct effects on coral species."
Adds lead paper author Hannah Barkley of WHOI, "Based on lab experiments and studies of other naturally low pH reef systems, this is the opposite of what we expected."
Experiments measuring corals' responses to a variety of low pH conditions have shown a range of negative effects, such as fewer varieties of corals, more algae growth, lower rates of calcium carbonate production (growth), and juvenile corals that have difficulty constructing skeletons.
"Surprisingly, in Palau where the pH is lowest, we see a coral community that hosts more species and has greater coral cover than in the sites where pH is normal," says Anne Cohen, co-author of the paper.
"That's not to say the coral community is thriving because of the low pH, rather it is thriving despite the low pH, and we need to understand how."
When the researchers compared the communities found on Palau's reefs with those in other reefs where pH is naturally low, they found increased bio-erosion was the only common feature.
"Our study revealed increased bio-erosion to be the only consistent community response, as other signs of ecosystem health varied at different locations," Barkley says.
The riddle of resilience
How do Palau's low pH reefs thrive despite significantly higher levels of bio-erosion?
The researchers aren't certain yet, but hope to answer that question in future studies.
They also don't completely understand why conditions created by ocean acidification seem to favor bio-eroding organisms.
One theory--that skeletons grown under more acidic conditions are less dense, making them easier for bio-eroding organisms to penetrate--is not the case on Palau, Barkley says, "because we don't see a correlation between skeletal density and pH."
Though coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean, these diverse ecosystems are home to at least a quarter of all marine life. In addition to sustaining fisheries that feed hundreds of millions of people around the world, coral reefs protect thousands of acres of coastlines from waves, storms and tsunamis.
"On the one hand, the results of this study are optimistic," Cohen says. "Even though many experiments and other studies of naturally low pH reefs show that ocean acidification negatively affects calcium carbonate production, as well as coral diversity and cover, we are not seeing that on Palau.
"That gives us hope that some coral reefs--even if it is a very small percentage--might be able to withstand future levels of ocean acidification."
Along with Barkley and Cohen, the team included Yimnang Golbuu of the Palau International Coral Reef Center, Thomas DeCarlo and Victoria Starczak of WHOI, and Kathryn Shamberger of Texas A&M University.
The Dalio Foundation, Inc., The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and the WHOI Access to the Sea Fund provided additional funding for this work.
-NSF-
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
AGREEMENT FOR PEACEFUL NUCLEAR COOPERATION BETWEEN U.S.-REPUBLIC OF KOREA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S.-Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation
Fact Sheet
Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
June 16, 2015
New 123 Agreement Would Strengthen the U.S.-R.O.K. Bilateral Strategic Relationship and Enhances Cooperation for the Long Term
The United States and the Republic of Korea have signed a successor agreement for civil nuclear cooperation, also known as a “123 Agreement.”
The United States and the R.O.K. have had a strong partnership in the field of peaceful nuclear cooperation for more than half a century, and the United States is pleased that the R.O.K. has become one of the world’s leading nations in the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
The agreement would enhance the strategic relationship between the United States and the R.O.K. across the spectrum of political, economic, energy, science, and technology issues.
The agreement would establish a new standing, High-Level Bilateral Commission for our two governments to work together to advance mutual objectives such as addressing spent fuel management, an assured stable fuel supply, nuclear security, and enhancing cooperation between the U.S. and R.O.K. nuclear industries.
The new Commission would allow for deepened cooperation and more regular interaction between our two governments on the state of nuclear energy in both countries and allow us to account for new developments in technology, spent fuel management, security, and safety.
The agreement would reinforce the importance of our ongoing Joint Fuel Cycle Study to review and identify appropriate options for addressing spent fuel management challenges, and facilitate cooperation on research and development (R&D) in this context, including R&D at specified facilities on the use of electrochemical reduction.
The new agreement also would provide the R.O.K. with consent to produce radioisotopes for medical and research purposes, as well as to conduct examination of irradiated fuel rods using U.S.-obligated material.
The agreement would allow for the continuation and expansion of our robust and mutually beneficial trade relationship.
For example, the United States supplies enrichment services to the R.O.K. to support its fabrication of nuclear fuel, and the R.O.K. supplies the United States with significant reactor components such as pressure vessels.
Due to this trade relationship, the contract between the R.O.K. and the United Arab Emirates to build four reactors has already brought hundreds of new jobs and approximately $2 billion in additional revenue to U.S. nuclear suppliers.
The agreement would allow this type of cooperation to continue and flourish in the future.
The agreement would be fully reciprocal, requiring the United States to undertake most of the same obligations as the R.O.K. The only exceptions relate to different obligations that each country has under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The New 123 Agreement Would Strengthen Nonproliferation Cooperation Between the United States and the Republic of Korea
Like all our 123 agreements, this agreement contains essential provisions related to nonproliferation and nuclear security, and would thereby enhance the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.
The terms of the U.S.-R.O.K. 123 agreement strongly reaffirm the two governments’ shared commitment to nonproliferation as the cornerstone of their nuclear cooperation relationship.
The R.O.K. has a strong track record on nonproliferation and the R.O.K. has consistently reiterated its commitment to nonproliferation. It has been an extremely active partner with the United States across a wide breadth of bilateral and multilateral activities designed to ensure the implementation of the highest standards of safety, security, and nonproliferation worldwide.
The agreement would update the nonproliferation conditions from the prior agreement and fully meet the nonproliferation requirements of Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act, as amended by the 1978 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act (NNPA).
The agreement would provide for the cooperation between the United States and the R.O.K. to be subject to the relevant IAEA safeguards requirements, assurance that all activities under the agreement will be for peaceful purposes only, and express reciprocal consent rights over any retransfers or subsequent reprocessing or enrichment of material subject to the agreement.
The R.O.K. Is a Strong Nonproliferation Partner
The R.O.K. is one of the United States’ strongest partners on nonproliferation and has consistently reiterated its commitment to nonproliferation.
It is a member of the four multilateral nonproliferation regimes (Missile Technology Control Regime, Wassenaar Arrangement, Australia Group, and Nuclear Suppliers Group, for which it served as Chair in 2003-2004 and will do so again in 2016-17) and recently completed its term as chair of the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.
The R.O.K. became a State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on April 23, 1975, and has in force a comprehensive safeguards agreement and additional protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The R.O.K. has also demonstrated its commitment to nuclear security and addressing the threat of nuclear terrorism, including through hosting the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit and being an active contributor to the Summit process, and through its support for the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and the Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative.
The R.O.K. has been an active participant in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) since 2009, having hosted regional and global meetings and two operational exercises. It has also conducted outreach to states that have not yet endorsed PSI.
The R.O.K. has been a consistent advocate of nonproliferation in the IAEA Board of Governors, including support for strengthening safeguards and calling to account Iran and Syria for violations of their safeguards obligations.
The R.O.K. has also been a strong and close partner in addressing the security and proliferation threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, including at the IAEA and the UN Security Council. The United States and the R.O.K. continue to cooperate closely in our shared objective to achieve North Korea’s complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearization and to bring North Korea into compliance with its commitments under the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and its obligations under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
U.S.-Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation
Fact Sheet
Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
June 16, 2015
New 123 Agreement Would Strengthen the U.S.-R.O.K. Bilateral Strategic Relationship and Enhances Cooperation for the Long Term
The United States and the Republic of Korea have signed a successor agreement for civil nuclear cooperation, also known as a “123 Agreement.”
The United States and the R.O.K. have had a strong partnership in the field of peaceful nuclear cooperation for more than half a century, and the United States is pleased that the R.O.K. has become one of the world’s leading nations in the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
The agreement would enhance the strategic relationship between the United States and the R.O.K. across the spectrum of political, economic, energy, science, and technology issues.
The agreement would establish a new standing, High-Level Bilateral Commission for our two governments to work together to advance mutual objectives such as addressing spent fuel management, an assured stable fuel supply, nuclear security, and enhancing cooperation between the U.S. and R.O.K. nuclear industries.
The new Commission would allow for deepened cooperation and more regular interaction between our two governments on the state of nuclear energy in both countries and allow us to account for new developments in technology, spent fuel management, security, and safety.
The agreement would reinforce the importance of our ongoing Joint Fuel Cycle Study to review and identify appropriate options for addressing spent fuel management challenges, and facilitate cooperation on research and development (R&D) in this context, including R&D at specified facilities on the use of electrochemical reduction.
The new agreement also would provide the R.O.K. with consent to produce radioisotopes for medical and research purposes, as well as to conduct examination of irradiated fuel rods using U.S.-obligated material.
The agreement would allow for the continuation and expansion of our robust and mutually beneficial trade relationship.
For example, the United States supplies enrichment services to the R.O.K. to support its fabrication of nuclear fuel, and the R.O.K. supplies the United States with significant reactor components such as pressure vessels.
Due to this trade relationship, the contract between the R.O.K. and the United Arab Emirates to build four reactors has already brought hundreds of new jobs and approximately $2 billion in additional revenue to U.S. nuclear suppliers.
The agreement would allow this type of cooperation to continue and flourish in the future.
The agreement would be fully reciprocal, requiring the United States to undertake most of the same obligations as the R.O.K. The only exceptions relate to different obligations that each country has under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The New 123 Agreement Would Strengthen Nonproliferation Cooperation Between the United States and the Republic of Korea
Like all our 123 agreements, this agreement contains essential provisions related to nonproliferation and nuclear security, and would thereby enhance the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.
The terms of the U.S.-R.O.K. 123 agreement strongly reaffirm the two governments’ shared commitment to nonproliferation as the cornerstone of their nuclear cooperation relationship.
The R.O.K. has a strong track record on nonproliferation and the R.O.K. has consistently reiterated its commitment to nonproliferation. It has been an extremely active partner with the United States across a wide breadth of bilateral and multilateral activities designed to ensure the implementation of the highest standards of safety, security, and nonproliferation worldwide.
The agreement would update the nonproliferation conditions from the prior agreement and fully meet the nonproliferation requirements of Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act, as amended by the 1978 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act (NNPA).
The agreement would provide for the cooperation between the United States and the R.O.K. to be subject to the relevant IAEA safeguards requirements, assurance that all activities under the agreement will be for peaceful purposes only, and express reciprocal consent rights over any retransfers or subsequent reprocessing or enrichment of material subject to the agreement.
The R.O.K. Is a Strong Nonproliferation Partner
The R.O.K. is one of the United States’ strongest partners on nonproliferation and has consistently reiterated its commitment to nonproliferation.
It is a member of the four multilateral nonproliferation regimes (Missile Technology Control Regime, Wassenaar Arrangement, Australia Group, and Nuclear Suppliers Group, for which it served as Chair in 2003-2004 and will do so again in 2016-17) and recently completed its term as chair of the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.
The R.O.K. became a State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on April 23, 1975, and has in force a comprehensive safeguards agreement and additional protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The R.O.K. has also demonstrated its commitment to nuclear security and addressing the threat of nuclear terrorism, including through hosting the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit and being an active contributor to the Summit process, and through its support for the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and the Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative.
The R.O.K. has been an active participant in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) since 2009, having hosted regional and global meetings and two operational exercises. It has also conducted outreach to states that have not yet endorsed PSI.
The R.O.K. has been a consistent advocate of nonproliferation in the IAEA Board of Governors, including support for strengthening safeguards and calling to account Iran and Syria for violations of their safeguards obligations.
The R.O.K. has also been a strong and close partner in addressing the security and proliferation threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, including at the IAEA and the UN Security Council. The United States and the R.O.K. continue to cooperate closely in our shared objective to achieve North Korea’s complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearization and to bring North Korea into compliance with its commitments under the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and its obligations under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
U.S. DOD REPORTS ON AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA, IRAQ
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Airstrikes Hit ISIL in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 16, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Airstrikes in Syria
Bomber and fighter aircraft conducted nine airstrikes in Syria:
-- Near Raqqah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL excavator.
-- Near Kobani, three airstrikes struck one large and two small ISIL tactical units, destroying an ISIL fighting position.
-- Near Tal Abyad, five airstrikes struck three large and two small ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL vehicles.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 16 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Baghdadi, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Huwayjah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL structure.
-- Near Beiji, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Fallujah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL structure.
-- Near Makhmur, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Mosul, seven airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL mortar firing position, destroying an ISIL excavator, an ISIL rocket system, an ISIL structure and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Ramadi, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL motorcycle.
-- Near Sinjar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL mortar firing position, destroying three ISIL structures, two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Tal Afar, two airstrikes struck two ISIL fighting positions.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Airstrikes Hit ISIL in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 16, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Airstrikes in Syria
Bomber and fighter aircraft conducted nine airstrikes in Syria:
-- Near Raqqah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL excavator.
-- Near Kobani, three airstrikes struck one large and two small ISIL tactical units, destroying an ISIL fighting position.
-- Near Tal Abyad, five airstrikes struck three large and two small ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL vehicles.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 16 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Baghdadi, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Huwayjah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL structure.
-- Near Beiji, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Fallujah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL structure.
-- Near Makhmur, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Mosul, seven airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL mortar firing position, destroying an ISIL excavator, an ISIL rocket system, an ISIL structure and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Ramadi, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL motorcycle.
-- Near Sinjar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL mortar firing position, destroying three ISIL structures, two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Tal Afar, two airstrikes struck two ISIL fighting positions.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)