1. Sacramento: Former Owner and CEO of SK Foods Indicted; Vice President for Operations Agrees to Plead Guilty to Related Charges
A federal grand jury returned a seven-count indictment charging Frederick Scott Salyer, the former owner and CEO of SK Foods, with violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in connection with his direction of various schemes to defraud SK Foods’ corporate customers through bribery and food misbranding and adulteration, and with wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Additionally, the former vice president for operations, Steven James King, was charged with one count of food adulteration and misbranding. He has agreed to plead guilty and to cooperate in the ongoing investigation and prosecution. These cases are the product of a joint and extensive investigation by the FBI, the IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, and the United States Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. Full Story
2. New York: Leader of Chinese Organized Crime Group Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to Life in Prison
Sui Min Ma, the leader of a Chinese organized crime group, was sentenced to life in prison for ordering the murder of two individuals in Toronto, Canada, on July 20, 1994, in connection with his group’s heroin trafficking activities. Co-defendant Bing Yi Chen, who, according to the Superseding Indictment, was the lieutenant of Ma’s criminal enterprise, was sentenced to 35 years in prison on January 4, 2010. Full Story
3. Boston: Ex-Stoughton Police Detective Pleads Guilty in Public Corruption Investigation
Anthony Bickerton, a recently retired Stoughton police officer, pleaded guilty to a criminal Information charging him with obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI in a public corruption investigation centered on the activities of various members of the Stoughton Police Department. Full Story
4. Houston: Italian Subsidiary of U.S.-Based Company Agrees to Plead Guilty for Participating in International Price-Fixing Conspiracy
An Italian subsidiary of a U.S.-based company has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $2.29 million criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix prices and allocate market shares of marine hose sold in the United States and elsewhere. A one-count felony charge was filed against Parker ITR S.r.l., a manufacturer of marine hose, headquartered in Veniano, Italy. Parker ITR is the fourth company to be charged in the investigation. To date, nine individuals have been convicted for their involvement in the marine hose conspiracy. Full Story
5. Chicago: Alleged Mexican Drug Cartel Leader Extradited from Mexico to United States to Face Federal Drug-Trafficking Charges
An allegedly high-ranking leader of one of Mexico’s largest drug cartels, whose father allegedly heads a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and is among Mexico’s most powerful drug kingpins, was extradited from Mexico to face federal narcotics trafficking conspiracy charges in the United States. Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla is believed to be one of the most significant Mexican drug defendants extradited from Mexico to the United States since Osiel Cardenas Guillen, the accused leader of the notorious Gulf Cartel, was extradited in 2007. This development is a result of the continuing close cooperation between the United States and Mexico to investigate and prosecute the leaders of international drug-trafficking cartels. Full Story
6. Washington Field: Two Former Executives of Video Relay Services Company Plead Guilty to Defrauding Video Relay Service Program
Irma Azrelyant and Joshua Finkle, the former co-owners of New York and New Jersey-based Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreting Services Inc., pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Communications Commission’s Video Relay Service program of more than $7 million. Full Story
7. New York: Former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik Sentenced in White Plains Federal Court to 48 Months in Prison
Bernard B. Kerik, the former commissioner of the New York City Police Department and Department of Corrections, was sentenced in White Plains federal court to 48 months in prison in connection with eight felonies. He was ordered to surrender on May 17, 2010. Full Story
8. Baltimore: Title Company Owner Arrested on Mortgage Fraud and Money Laundering Charges
Daniel E. Fink Jr.,, who owned and operated Homemaxx Title & Escrow LLC, a title company that conducted residential real estate closings with offices in Middle River and Parkville, Maryland, was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida. Fink was a fugitive since March 26, 2009, when a federal grand jury in Baltimore returned an indictment charging him with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud lenders and homeowners of over $500,000. Full Story
9. Houston: Man Charged with Interfering with a Flight Crew and Assaulting Federal Air Marshal
Robert Wade Prince, a 47-year-old Alabama man, was arrested and charged with interfering with a flight crew aboard a Continental Airlines flight, assault, and assaulting a federal air marshal. Full Story
10. New York: Federal Officials Close Investigation into Death of Sean Bell
The Justice Department announced that there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against New York City Police Department officers involved in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell. Officials from the department’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and the FBI met with Bell’s family, his fiancée, and their representatives to inform them of this decision, as well as with Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, friends of Bell who were wounded during the tragic incident. Full Story
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