FEMA Employee Pleads Guilty to Embezzling $143,000

Fifty-six-year-old Sheila Ann Howard entered a guilty plea to the charge of embezzling $143,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison  and a fine of $250,000 at her sentencing scheduled to take place on Feb. 1.

Between December 2009 and March 2011, Howard used her position at the agency to process 28 fraudulent payment claims in the names of 18 former FEMA employees and one current employee, depositing the payments in four bank accounts she controlled.

According to prosecutors the former employees were not aware of the scheme or of Howard’s use of their personal information.

An investigation began after one of the employees was mailed a tax form indicating she had been paid more than $9,000 by FEMA in 2010 for leave compensation, even though she had left the agency in 2009.

Authorities looked into the payments and found that they had been processed by Howard and deposited into a bank account on which she was the primary account holder. The employee whose name the payments were made under was listed as a secondary account holder, but had no knowledge of the account, prosecutors said.

 

 

Looters Target Superstorm Sandy Victims

Victims of superstorm Sandy are facing a new threat as looting is being reported across the New York New Jersey areas.

Queens residents told 1010 WINS reporter Gary Baumgarten that looting has become a serious problem and that taking up arms or leaving town are the two best options for staying safe.

“The Queens District Attorney’s Office, the New York City Police Department, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have zero tolerance for looters who would exploit a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy for their own personal gain,” said District Attorney Richard Brown last week. “Having personally viewed yesterday the devastation that encompasses the Rockaway peninsula and other areas of Queens, I want to make it clear that such lawlessness will be vigorously prosecuted by my office and that we will seek appropriate punishment.”

13 people have been arrested in Staten Island for looting according to the D.A.”s office, residents say the looting started almost immediately after the storm. Alfonso Manzo of the island’s Tottenville neighborhood was arrested for impersonating a Red Cross worker while looking into people’s windows.

Four men were arrested and charged with planning to loot a business on Long Island, eight suspects were arrested in Coney Island, Brooklyn and a woman, also from Coney Island, was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a firearm when the safe she was carrying from a store was found to contain a firearm.

The New York Daily News spoke with an alleged looter, who defended his actions, saying, “Look, they’ve been looting our wallets for too long,”as he took a TV from a Rent-A-Center in Coney Island. “It’s about time we start taking this sh—back,”.

 

NAACP Official Says Obama Campaign Staffer Threatened Him

David Lowery, President of the South Suburban Branch of the NAACP, says that  Louis Raymond, political director of Obama for America, threatened him during a phone conversation because Lowery doesn’t support the president’s reelection bid.

Lowery said he was explaining to Raymond  that the president has not been addressing issues important to the black community when the Obama campaign official told him, “You know what? I know everything about you. We’ve been watching you, and since you don’t support Obama, we’ll deal with you,” before hanging up.

Lowery filed a report with the Oak Forest police report “in case something happens.”

He says it was suggested that the NAACP should automatically back the president even though non-profits can not support a particular candidate and it is a clear signal that the Obama campaign is concerned about the black vote.

Lowery hosts an internet radio program called “Let the Truth Be Told,” on which he has often made his displeasure with the president be known.

Louis Raymond declined to comment. The Obama re-election campaign issued a written statement in response to Lowery’s claims.

“Unfortunately there seems to have been a miscommunication regarding this conversation and we have since discussed with the campaign staffer in an effort to clarify the matter. The President continues to support the mission and principles of the NAACP and the work they do,” the statement said.

Lowery said he does not support Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney either.

Detroit Police Union Says ‘War-Like’ City Is Unsafe For Visitors

The Detroit Police Department believe the city is too dangerous to enter, and they want citizens to know it.

Detroit Police Officer Association (DPOA) Attorney Donato Iorio, said officers were holding an “Enter At Your Own Risk” rally at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in front of Comerica Park to remind the public that the officers are overworked, understaffed, and often fearful for their lives.

“Detroit is America’s most violent city, its homicide rate is the highest in the country and yet the Detroit Police Department is grossly understaffed,” Iorio told WWJ’s Kathryn Larson. “The DPOA believes that there is a war in Detroit, but there should be a war on crime, not a war on its officers.”

Iorio said hundreds of officers have left the department since the start of the summer.

“These are the men and women who we look to protect us… and police officers can’t protect you if they’re not there. Officers are leaving simply because they can’t afford to stay in Detroit and work 12 hour shifts for what they are getting paid… These police officers are beyond demoralized, these officers are leaving hand over fist because they can no longer afford to stay on the department and protect the public,” he said.

And that’s why Iorio is cautioning anyone who enters the city.

“The explosion in violent crime, the incredible spike in the number of homicides and for officers trying to work 12 hours in such deplorable, dangerous and war like conditions is simple untenable,” he said.

Iorio said the department today has less officers than ever, even though crime rates are through the roof.

“By denying police officers the appropriate manpower, there’s a manpower crisis right now, there’s 1,000 fewer police officers today than there was 10 years ago, yet the homicide rate is higher. There’s more crime now than before, so if anything you need more officers, not fewer officers,” he said.

TSA Agent on Camera Admitting to Detaining Traveler for Having a Bad Attitude

Via YouTube user AirportVideosofTSA

 

Tampa Authorities Empty Jail In Anticipation Of Mass Arrests At GOP Convention

To prepare for the Republican National Convention taking place in Tampa, Florida next week, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee has emptied the 1,700 bed Orient Road Jail. Some inmates have been relocated to another nearby prison while others have been released on bond. The facility has been turned into a one-stop booking, detention, and bond-issuance center capable of handling large numbers of arrests in anticipation of all the Americans who will be out exercising their constitutional right to voice their displeasure with their government.

Sheriff Gee stated in a letter posted on a county website that his department would have very little tolerance for anything more than chanting and holding up signs:

To the agitators and anarchists who want only to bring a dark cloud to this event, let me be clear: criminal activity and civil disturbances will not be tolerated and enforcement actions will be swift.

Four years ago, police in Minneapolis were sued for their treatment of protesters and reporters covering the RNC, and settled an excessive force lawsuit. In 2004, the NYPD were found to have been surveilling protest groups leading up to the RNC, even embedding undercover officers within several larger groups.

Former Marine Detained Over Facebook Posts About 911/Impending Revolution

According to Brandon Raub’s mother, the FBI, Secret Service and Chesterfield County PD came to their door, questioned her son about his Facebook posts, then handcuffed and took him to John Randolph Psychiatric Hospital in Hopewell, Va.

Raub’s mother said he returned a year ago from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and did not suffer from PTSD.

The Chesterfield PD said that the situation “was an FBI matter and we were just there to assist them” but did not provide an official reason why Raub was detained.

Raub’s mother said that an FBI agent told her Raub was “arrested by the Chesterfield police department” because he “assaulted an officer and resisted arrest,” then asked her if Raub “was having any issues relating to people” and told her that “the threats he was making were terrorist in nature.”

When asked the Chesterfield PD said Raub has not been charged with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer.

The most recent posts by Brandon J Raub include “AND THEY WILL SAY HE SAID IT TO THE NSA FIRST.” on August 16, “Feelin like Pac all Eyes on me.” on August 15 and “The Revolution will come for me. Men will be at my door soon to pick me up to lead it. ;)” on August 14.

A post on August 12 said: “There has been an overwhelming amount of evil enacted and planned against you, your children, and your countrymen. It is great in scope. Your government evil. It is as simple as that. And the calvary is coming.”

Raub’s mother said he was told that he will see a judge on Monday but has not been told what he has been charged with and has not been read his rights.

12 Year Old Fined For Selling Hamburgers to Raise Money for Vets

12 year old Justin Peterson was holding his usual fundraiser, selling hamburgers, for the Honor Flight Program, which flies vets to Washington, D.C., to see the National World War II Memorial , when a local health inspector approached his stand in a Chewelah park and issued him a $170 for not having the proper food permit.

“She charged us for it and I was kind of sad,” Peterson told local TV station KREM. “I was just trying to raise money for vets.”

Dave Windom, administrator for the health district said the inspector was only following policy.

“You don’t want someone in the field making judgment calls on what they consider a worthy cause and cutting people slack. It opens the door for accusations of favoritism,” he said.

Faced with an embarrassing situation, the health district board members decided to pay the fine themselves.

Peterson has helped send more than three dozen veterans to the nation’s capital by selling hamburgers, holding nacho dinners and selling Honor Band wristbands (available for $5 by emailing JP4vets@yahoo.com). He called the whole thing “kind of cool.”

Peterson was honored last year with the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, one of only two honorees from Washington state, for his fundraising on behalf of Honor Flight. The year before that, the Spokesman-Review dubbed Peterson a “fundraising phenomenon” for his efforts.

Ben Swann’s Reality Check: “Obama Administration Refuses To Tell Judge If NDAA is Being Illegally Enforced?”

Obama Administration Let’s Goldman Sachs Off the Hook, Ends Investigations

The Obama administration has ended two investigations into the actions of Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis, allowing the bank to escape any responsibility for it’s role in the near collapse of the US economy.

The Justice Department released a statement Thursday claiming that there was “no viable basis to bring a criminal prosecution” against Goldman or its employees after a Congressional committee asked prosecutors to investigate several of the mortgage bank’s deals.

The Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations examined mortgage securities that Goldman sold to investors, who later sustained steep losses during the economic crisis. The subcommittee also suggested prosecutors investigate whether the chief executive of the bank, Lloyd Blankfein, lied to lawmakers during public testimony.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also ended an investigation, on Thursday, into a $1.3 billion subprime mortgage deal, taking no action. The move was a complete about face for the commission, which notified the bank in February that it planned to pursue a civil action.

“We are pleased that this matter is behind us,” a bank spokesman said.

The only law enforcement case to have surfaced against Goldman was a civil case that the bank settled for $550 million in 2010 over a mortgage investment that investigators said had been intended to collapse.

After President Obama announced the creation of a special task force in January to investigate the mortgage melt down, the S.E.C. and other authorities claimed to hold the banks accountable. Wall Street, after all, had packaged and sold subprime mortgages not only to investors but to the government-owned, tax payer backed mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Billions of dollars were lost.