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Archive for October, 2007
These three links are to the .PDF file Indictments that the Government has handed down. Feel free to download them (right click, save as) and read them at your leisure. Sheriff Carona’s Indictment (PDF)Sheriff Haidl’s Plea Agreement (PDF)Sheriff Jaramillo’s Plea Agreement (PDF)
This is a history of Mike S Carona, the Orange County Sheriff of the past 5 years. We are absolutely appalled by the things this man has done, and yet he is still THE SHERIFF of ORANGE COUNTY! Mike Carona and Rick Rizzolo (FBI noted Mob Boss)
Pictures speak volumes, and they can raise questions—like what the hell was Sheriff Mike Carona thinking when he posed for a photo with Rick Rizzolo, a man the FBI calls a mob associate? That’s Rizzolo—shirt untucked, gold bracelet and pinky ring, cocktail, smile—with his arm draped around Orange County’s top cop. Rizzolo is a wealthy man, a Las Vegas strip club owner with unusual access to Nevada politicians, Hollywood celebrities, and colorful criminals who’ve been featured in mob books and movies. Even by that standard, his time with Carona, who hails himself as “America’s sheriff,” must have seemed surreal. It’s not often, if ever, that a big-shot California cop will openly party with a well-known underworld figure. Organized-crime agents say the two men posed for the shot at Newport Beach’s posh Ritz restaurant sometime between 2002 and 2004. They declined to be more specific about the date. But they will say the two men drank, chatted and shared laughs at the Ritz, exchanged warm embraces, and, as absurd as it seems, posed for photographs, including this one obtained by the Weekly, providing a record of the odd meeting. Investigators have tied Rizzolo to Chicago and New York mob families. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that he’s the target of an ongoing corruption probe. A federal indictment describes his topless joint as a “racketeering enterprise.” The club’s general manager, Albert Rapuano, can’t get a gaming license because of his own mob ties. Rizzolo has employed as bouncers the sons and brothers of high-ranking Mafia bosses. He cracked a man’s skull with a baseball bat to resolve a 1985 dispute. In 1999, FBI surveillance caught him in Chicago discussing gambling and construction interests with notorious hit man Joey “The Clown” Lombardo as well as John “No Nose” DiFronzo, Joe “The Builder” Andriacchi, Rudy Fratto and William Messino, a convicted felon and loan shark. You might expect that Carona, who has his own organized-crime unit and is seeking re-election in June despite a series of corruption scandals, would stay far from trouble. He heads California’s second-largest sheriff’s department, once served as the chairman of a state crime commission and has the ear of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s a senior adviser on national security issues to President George W. Bush. Last spring, Rizzolo—who owns a 3,700-square-foot oceanfront estate in Newport Beach—attended Carona’s 50th birthday party and was among the first to contribute to the sheriff’s re-election campaign. When The Orange County Register’s Tony Saavedra disclosed in November 2005 that the sheriff had accepted Rizzolo’s $1,500, Carona’s media consultants acknowledged that the men had met “two or three times.” Two weeks ago, they told the Weekly that there might have been meetings but insisted that the sheriff was clueless about Rizzolo’s occupation and mob ties. If that assertion raised eyebrows in Carona’s own department, it enraged anti-mob cops. “It’s disgusting,” one high-level officer said of the Rizzolo-Carona relationship. “It’s a slap in the face to law enforcement. What is Sheriff Carona thinking? He’s either incredibly stupid or dirty as hell. Or both.” Mike Carona, Freddie Glusman, and Gary Primm
Carona’s job comes with a $550 million annual budget, 1,800 deputies and access to secret organized-crime databases. If he’s really unaware of the activities of La Cosa Nostra (LCN) in Orange County, state investigators aren’t. According to a 2003 report, LCN and its associates are responsible for a “broad spectrum” of crimes in Southern California: murder, drug trafficking, gambling, labor racketeering, extortion, infiltration of legitimate businesses, loan sharking, pornography, prostitution, tax fraud and financial market manipulations. The report notes that this region “has always been an attractive location for traditional organized crime families” because of its proximity to Las Vegas. It also claims LA, San Diego and Orange counties are “open” territories where no single mafia family dominates. Organized-crime cops here won’t publicly discuss Rizzolo’s activities, and Sheriff Carona did not respond to questions. But numerous sources in and outside the sheriff’s department say the men were introduced by Freddie Glusman, owner of the Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach since May 2002. Glusman, a Carona campaign contributor, also owns upscale Piero’s Italian Restaurant in Las Vegas. Glusman doesn’t hide the fact that Piero’s is a mob hangout. In advertising, Glusman brags that his patrons include “businessmen in the casino industry with Italian surnames” or “local color guys.” He boasts that these men like his restaurant for “confidential encounters.” Years ago, he installed a private wine cabinet for Rizzolo. Joey Cusumano—a former Laguna Beach resident, Rizzolo pal and alleged mob associate who is banned for life from the Nevada gaming industry—is also a regular at Piero’s, according to published reports in Las Vegas. “No one gets bothered in my restaurant,” Glusman says in an ad. “I don’t care who the celebrity is or what they have done. I see to it that they are allowed to dine in peace and quiet. No exceptions!” But last year, even Glusman couldn’t deliver on the promise: the FBI arrested two retired New York City police officers, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, while dining at Piero’s. Earlier this month, a federal jury convicted the ex-cops of secretly moonlighting for East Coast organized-crime outfits for more than a decade while carrying badges. Eppolito and Caracappa were involved in at least 11 attempted or successful mob-ordered hits, according to federal prosecutors. Of course, Glusman isn’t responsible for the actions of his patrons. But you might expect that his friendship with Rizzolo and other mob associates would disqualify him from membership in any law-enforcement agency in the U.S. Thanks to Carona, you’d be wrong. Sometime between 2002 and 2004 (the sheriff’s department refuses to say when), Carona gave Glusman and Nevada casino owner Gary Primm (another campaign contributor) official Orange County sheriff’s badges and swore them in as reserve deputies. The ceremony didn’t take place in public or in the sober offices of the sheriff’s Santa Ana headquarters: it happened inside the Ritz, just a few feet from the bar. Along with the badges, Carona, dressed in full uniform, brought taxpayer-funded presents: engraved bottles of wine and a cake (white icing and strawberries) with the inscription, “Congratulations Sheriff Glusman and Sheriff Primm.” Sheriff’s department officials, including Carona, claim everyone who receives a badge has been cleared by a thorough background check. But law-enforcement sources say the sheriff gave Glusman and Primm badges before real deputies were allowed to vet them. (Carona did not respond to the Weekly’s request to publicly release the dates of the Glusman/Primm swearing-in ceremony and the completion of the background checks.) It didn’t take long for Glusman to abuse his power. In July, a Newport Beach shop owner refused to let Glusman use a private parking space. Glusman cursed and flashed his sheriff’s badge. “How do you like that?” he yelled. The shop owner, a former cop, wasn’t impressed. He reported the incident to police. Glusman resigned in October before internal-affairs agents could finish their investigation. Carona, Glusman, and Primm at the Ritz bar
Carona, who reneged last April on his pledge to relinquish control of the sheriff’s department after two terms, has presided over an ethical mess. Several women have filed sexual harassment complaints against him. The attorney general’s office is investigating the sheriff’s questionable use of $130,000 in campaign funds. George Jaramillo, his longtime No. 1 deputy, faces bribery charges. Attorney Joe Cavallo, his longtime drinking buddy, was arrested for an alleged bail bonds scheme at the Orange County jail. Liquor-store owner Jack Henshaw, a major Carona donor whose identity was concealed for years, was fined $200,000 for attempting to bribe a federal court official. Raymond Yi, his personal martial arts instructor, allegedly flashed a sheriff’s badge and pointed a gun at fellow golfers. POST, a state police licensing agency, refused to recognize 87 individuals Carona had deputized without thorough background checks or training requirements. Don Haidl, a wealthy businessman who won appointment as assistant sheriff after raising the most money for Carona’s first campaign, paid the state attorney general’s office $104,000 to end a whistleblower action alleging fraudulant business deals. Charles Gabbard, the largest individual contributor to Carona’s 2002 re-election campaign, is a convicted felon (murder, robbery, burglary) seeking police agency contracts; last year, the Weekly disclosed that Carona had promised Gabbard the free use of inmate labor at the same time Gabbard was funneling $29,000 in illegal contributions to the sheriff’s campaign. It’s a record that’s in stark contrast to promises Carona made in his first months in office seven years ago. “No one is ever going to get close enough to me to compromise me,” the sheriff said. “It just won’t happen.”
Neither Sheriff Mike Carona nor his attorney, H. Dean Steward, could be reached for immediate comment on the 10-count federal complaint. The court papers allege that Carona was boosted into office with the help of businessman Don Haidl, who, among other things, made regular $1,000 monthly payments in exchange for full access to the resources of the sheriff’s department and a get-out-of-jail-free card. For more, on Sheriff Michael S Corona click here to link to the CBS2.com article!
Worse than Abu Ghraib, but does the world care when non-US troops and “peacekeepers” are involved. Not that you would know from newspapers and TV, but the U.N. “peacekeepers” in East Timor have been quietly using the local population as their own private sex slaves A UN investigation has also uncovered a culture of cover-up, in which the births of babies born to peacekeepers and sex crimes committed by UN personnel over the past seven years have been kept secret because of a “fear of shame and embarrassment” in the deeply religious country.
Makes you wonder what the previous policy was.
Did I get that right? They have to have training sessions to tell people that the UN hired, that sexual abuse of children, rape of women, and sex with animals is, in fact not acceptable. So, they believe the people they hired are so clue-less to moral standards that without proper training on sexual misconduct they may in fact rape the 4 year old and believe it to be OK? How this fails to be newsworthy I just cannot understand. It involves GOATS, for goodness sake. What will it take for media to cover abuses not committed by U.S. troops?
This story just makes me sick, for a few reasons. 1. The US soldiers are supposed to be the Good Guys 2. The terrorists are supposed to be the insane killers 3. It puts us on thier level of hatred 4. Not one of the American soldiers stopped it and they all went along with killing 2 children for no reason other than hatred. 5. The US media tends to overlook these stories and we rarely hear of them at all, but when an Iraq native murders a US soldier, we hear about it for months. So here is the Story Steven D. Green, was arrested and charged on July 3, 2006 with raping and killing Hamza and killing her father Qassim Hamza Raheem, 45, her mother Fakhriya Taha Muhasen, 34, and her seven-year-old sister, Hadeel Qassim Hamza. In court, Cortez (another soldier involved) admitted the plan was hatched as they played cards and that the girl had been targeted because there was only one male in her house, making it an easy target.He said: “During the time me and Barker were raping Abeer, I heard five or six gunshots that came from the bedroom. “After Barker was done, Green came out of the bedroom and said that he had killed them all, that all of them were dead.” Paul Cortez added: “Green then placed himself between Abeer’s legs to rape her. When Green was finished, he stood up and shot Abeer in the head two or three times.” The entire crime took about five minutes and the girl knew her parents and sister had been shot while she was being raped, the hearing heard. All five belonged to the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, which is also where the hearing took place. Military investigators believe that Green and as many as four other soldiers were involved in the commission of the murders while on active duty. A criminal affidavit filed in U.S. federal court states that Green and one other participant raped Hamza and that Green killed all four individuals himself. Abeer’s uncle, Ahmad, says he has “no faith” in the Court Martial, requesting that the Americans “hand the criminals to us, to an Iraqi Court. We don’t trust their justice, they should be tried here in Iraq.” Iraqi insurgents kidnapped two American troops whom they later killed, claiming that the killing was retaliation for Abeer’s rape. Army Sgt. Paul Cortez was sentenced February 22, 2007 to 100 years in prison for his participation in the rape and murder. Cortez, 24, also was given a dishonorable discharge. Cortez wept as he apologized for the crimes, saying he could not explain why he took part. But here is the odd part… the men involved all got different sentences from 5 years to 110, a few of them got a slap and a discharge for rape and 1st degree murder. from a comment on another site The impression I’m getting is that when it comes to war crimes committed by US military the average sentence is about 1/4 of what it’d have been if the same crime had been committed in the USA - except for one random guy in each case who gets the book thrown at him. If you read closely he is able for parole in 10 years. He won’t serve more than that I assure you. The 110 year thing was just for the Media and politics. Again.. this is not something I have seen on the news much hmm… if anyone knows more, please let us know!
This is the typical police officer in the USA! Now I’m obliviously not being sexist, or racist, as the officers in question are African American Women! I’ll bet dollars to the cops donuts that these officers still have their jobs, and were decorated with valor for their amazing contribution to the Katrina Disaster. THESE PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK! WAKE UP AMERICA!!! You will find content on this site that will amaze, and confuse you, but the reality is that IT’S TRUE, our police forces are severely corrupt to a point that they will steal right in front of a News camera, and not care.
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WATCH THIS SHIT! These officers are going to arrest a man for holding a sign up that claims that the local Police Dept. is corrupt, and BIG surprise they arrest him. FOR WHAT???? #2 #3
August 29, 2007Index of Sanders’ Senate Sketches Senate Sketches # 1056NOTE: Sen. Hank Sanders has written a weekly column for papers in his legislative district for the past twenty years. These rural, weekly papers lack a web presence, and therefore a link to the publication is not available. The column below is provided by Sen. Sanders’ office for inclusion in the Daily News Digest. Senate Sketches # 1056 By Senator Hank Sanders ************** I want to tell you a scary story. Once upon a time, a lawyer enters into a courtroom on another case. She sees a young Black man on trial. In her perception, it’s clearly a case where a lawyer should have been appointed because the defendant is indigent and already on probation. Any conviction will result in jail or prison time. The lawyer asks the mother of the defendant if she can represent her son. The mother enthusiastically says “Please do.” Since the trial is already in progress, the lawyer approaches the chief Judge, explains the situation and asks permission to represent the defendant. The judge gives permission since the prosecutor has no objections. When the prosecutor finishes examining the policeman that is testifying, the lawyer immediately cross examines the witness. When she finishes the cross examination, the prosecution rests. The judge immediately finds the defendant not guilty on one charge. The policeman expresses great disapproval through his body language. Seemingly in response, the judge rushes to pronounce the defendant guilty on two other charges. The lawyer strongly objects, pointing out that the defendant did not have any opportunity to put on any defense - to testify himself, or call other witnesses. The judge announces that she has already ruled. The lawyer argues that even Sadaam Hussein of Iraq had a chance to testify and put on a defense. The chief judge, in recognition that her position is untenable, pronounces, “I will give you five minutes to present your case.” The lawyer objects on the grounds that no five minute or any other time limitation was placed on the prosecutor. Arguments about constitutional rights grow vigorous. The judge tells the lawyer to get out of her court. The lawyer, her client still standing before the judge, refuses. The judge does not cite the lawyer for contempt or anything else. The judge is White. The attorney is Black. Two Black police officers are standing on either side of the attorney. Jim Crowe, a White policeman, without any directive from the judge, comes from out of nowhere and directs the attorney to leave the court. When she does not, he handcuffs her and takes her out of the courtroom. She goes peacefully. The policeman charges the attorney with disorderly conduct allegedly for arguing the case too loudly and refusing to obey his order. The attorney asks to call her attorney, who is also her husband. She is told that she cannot call anyone. She is fingerprinted and booked. Outside the presence of the attorney and the defendant, the judge imposes sentences in both cases. The probation hold immediately sends the defendant to jail. The attorney gets out of jail and tries desperately to get the defendant out of jail. She calls the Mayor. He, having appointed the chief judge, refuses saying, “You are my worst enemy.” The attorney tries to appeal the defendant’s convictions. The magistrate will not accept the appeal. After great effort, the attorney finally gets the defendant out of jail. Seemingly under pressure, the poor defendant sends a typewritten certified letter firing the attorney. When the cases against the attorney come up, the judge cannot hear them and the prosecutor cannot prosecute them because they are both witnesses. The Mayor, who had said to the attorney, “You are my worst enemy,” appoints a new judge and prosecutor. He hides the identity of the judge because she is the lawyer for the police department of a large city and had previously sentenced the attorney’s son, a young Black lawyer only months out of Harvard Law School, to four months in jail as a special judge in this same court. The police had beat him up but falsely charged that he beat them up. The four month sentence of the attorney’s son was eventually set aside and a jury of 12 White and Black citizens renders a $310,000 verdict against the policemen. At the civil trial, a policeman testified that the written statement attributed to him that wrongly accused the son was forged by other policemen. The Mayor refuses to investigate the forgery. After strong objections to this particular judge, she gets out of the case. Then the Mayor picks another judge and hides the identity. Key witnesses under subpoenas, including the defendant, his mother, and a policeman refuse to show up for the trial. The hand picked judge goes ahead with the trial anyway. Witness after witness testifies that the chief judge found the defendant guilty without a chance to put on his defense. The judge expresses how deeply troubled he is about how the chief judge’s court was conducted but finds the attorney guilty of disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer. These arguments fall on deaf ears: a lawyer has a duty to vigorously represent a client; only a judge can order the arrest of an attorney standing before the court; and no policeman, on his own, can arrest a lawyer standing before the court with her client. I wish this scary story was fiction, but it’s a real life story. The place is Selma, Alabama. The defendant is Roosevelt Cleveland. The judge is Valerie Chittom. The Mayor is James Perkins, Jr, the first African American Mayor of Selma. The lawyer is Faya Rose Toure’, my wife.
Alleged beating victim talks about his ordeal By Victor Inge The Selma Times-Journal A young man alleging to have been beaten by five police officers broke his silence Tuesday, speaking to the media for the first time since his March 2007 arrest. Mayor James Perkins Jr. had asked Police Chief Jimmy Martin to contact the Alabama Bureau of Investigations to look into the incident. The ABI completed the investigation and turned the findings over to the District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Michael Jackson has forwarded the findings to the Alabama Attorney General Troy King’s office. The attorney general’s office does not comment on ongoing investigations. “The attorney general has a couple options,” Jackson said. “They can further investigate, or present the findings to a Dallas County grand jury.” Jackson declined to comment on the details of the report. “It’s thick,” he said. “It’s two different versions of what happened.” Kourtney Gordon, who has been absent from news conferences and several appearances family members made before the Selma City Council, told The Selma Times-Journal he was glad to hear something was being done. Gordon, 20, said Selma police officers had harassed him prior to that night, stopping him several times in his Lincoln LS his father bought for him, asking if he was on cocaine or sold cocaine. “One stopped me and asked me if it were my car. He asked me three times,” Gordon said. “He told me to get out and made me hold my head back, looking up my nose.” According to police reports, Gordon and his 64-year-old grandfather Walter Hollman Jr., were both arrested outside Hollman’s 2307 West Dr. home just after 11 p.m. that Friday. Gordon and Hollman were charged with assault third degree on a police officer, and resisting arrest. They were booked and released on $1,000 bond each, according to police reports. Their cases have not been scheduled for Municipal Court. Police reportedly attempted to stop Gordon for a traffic violation while driving a family member’s Chevrolet Cobalt, but he continued to his grandparents’ residence. “I told my dad what was happening, and he told me if it happened again to get to a safe place,” Gordon said. “That’s why I didn’t stop when the police tried to pull me over.” Gordon, a former math major at Alabama State University, was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Family members said they are considering legal action against the officers and the city, and wanted the officers involved “off the streets” until the investigation was complete. There have been no officers reassigned due to the investigation. In a letter to the family Perkins stated the ABI findings had been sent to the attorney general’s office, and should wrongdoing be found, appropriate disciplinary action would be taken. |
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Ok, come see for your self! Read these Federal Indictments, and comment back here. I’m betting this man never spends a day in Jail, or pays a penny of the Millions he’s bilked the taxpayers back. This ladies and gentalmen is what your “Local Law Enforcement” is up to. And then they have the ball’s to call your house at dinner time and ask for you to make a donation. We’ll give you a sticker for your vehicle for donating they tell you. Hmmm, does this sticker get you the same “Get out of Jail” free status that Sheriff Carona gives to his buddies for $1000 a month. Get used to it people, if you’re going to hang with Corruption.JustSickShit.com these are the articles you’re going to come accross. No one else wants to talk about it! WE DO!!!
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