Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers www.McNabbAssociates.comMonday, October 24, 2011

Federal Criminal Trial Starts for Mine SecurityBoss Hughie Elbert Stover in West VirginiaBlastMcNabb Associates, P.C. (Federal Criminal DefenseLawyers)

Submitted at 4:23 PM October 24, 2011

Hughie Elbert Stover(Photo by F. Brian Ferbuson/Beckley,W.Va., Register-Herald) CBS News on October 24, 2011 releasedthe following:“Trial starts for mine security boss inW.Va. blast(AP) BECKLEY, W.Va. — Federalprosecutors said Monday the formersecurity chief at Massey Energy’s UpperBig Branch mine where 29 miners died ina 2010 explosion lied to investigators andattempted to destroy related documents indefiance of company orders. Opening statements were given Mondayin U.S. District Court in the trial ofHughie Elbert Stover, 60. It is the firstcriminal proceeding to come from thenation’s deadliest coal mine explosion indecades. Stover is accused of lying to federalinvestigators looking into the explosion.An indictment alleges he sought toconceal that he instructed the mine’ssecurity guards to announce by radiowhen federal inspectors were on theproperty.“Not only did he train his guards to makethe announcement, he enforced thepolicy,” Assistant U.S. Attorney PhilWright told jurors. Federal law forbids such advancewarnings of spot mine safety checks.Stover had told investigators that minepolicy barred this illegal practice, and thathe would have fired any guard whoviolated it, the indictment alleges. Federal prosecutors say Stover alsoordered a subordinate to destroy

thousands of security-related documentsthat were kept in barracks on the UpperBig Branch property. Two orders hadbeen issued to company employees afterthe explosion not to destroy thedocuments. Defense attorney William Wilmothargued the charges were the government’srush to justice and that Stover is beingused as a scapegoat. Wilmoth said the company had a practiceof clearing out old property from thebarracks because several years ago thebuilding’s contents were contaminated bysewage. Among the documents tossed were oldcomputer screens and video-cassetterecords. Throwing out the security-relateddocuments was simply “a stupid mistake,”Wilmoth said. After the documents were thrown out,Wilmoth noted “each and every one ofthese documents were retrieved and thegovernment didn’t lose anything.” Wilmoth also said the area where thedocuments were discarded into a trash binwas covered by security cameras and thatinvestigators were in the area at the time.“If he was trying to do that, why did he

involve another person?” Wilmoth toldjurors. “Why didn’t he try to do ithimself? Do those sound like the kind ofthings someone would intentionally do ifthey were trying to obstruct aninvestigation?” Among the early witnesses called totestify by the government were KevinStricklin, MSHA’s administrator of coalmine safety and health, and Tim Watkins,an MSHA district manager. Massey is now owned by Abingdon, Va.-based Alpha Natural Resources.”————————————————————– Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates,P.C.’s Federal Criminal Defense AttorneysVideos: Federal Crimes – Be Careful Federal Crimes – Be Proactive Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment Federal Crimes – Detention Hearing Federal Mail Fraud Crimes Federal Crimes – Appeal————————————————————– To find additional federal criminal news,please read Federal Crimes Watch Daily. Douglas McNabb and other members ofthe U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involvingFederal Criminal Defense, INTERPOLRed Notice Removal, InternationalExtradition and OFAC SDN SanctionsRemoval. The author of this blog is DouglasMcNabb. Please feel free to contact himdirectly atmcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at oneof the offices listed above.

Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at theInternational Association of Chiefs of Police AnnualConference(USDOJ: Justice News)Submitted at 11:03 AM October 24, 2011

"As our nation’s Attorney General, as aprosecutor and former judge, and as thebrother of a retired police officer, I amextremely grateful – for your service, for

your courage, for your commitment to theobjectives that we share, and for yourcontributions to the achievements that wecelebrate this week," said AttorneyGeneral Holder.

Utah Man Pleads Guilty forHis Role in ProcurementFraud Scheme(USDOJ: Justice News)Submitted at 5:05 PM October 24, 2011

Jose Mendez, 50, of Farr West, Utah,pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracyto commit bribery and procurement fraud,one count of bribery and one count ofprocurement fraud.

http://www.McNabbAssociates.comhttp://federalcrimesblog.com/2011/10/24/federal-criminal-trial-starts-for-mine-security-boss-hughie-elbert-stover-in-west-virginia-blast/http://federalcrimesblog.com/2011/10/24/federal-criminal-trial-starts-for-mine-security-boss-hughie-elbert-stover-in-west-virginia-blast/http://federalcrimesblog.com/2011/10/24/federal-criminal-trial-starts-for-mine-security-boss-hughie-elbert-stover-in-west-virginia-blast/http://federalcrimesblog.com/http://federalcrimesblog.com/http://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Be-Carefulhttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Be-Proactivehttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Federal-Indictmenthttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Detention-Hearinghttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Mail-Fraud-Crimeshttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Appealhttp://www.mcnabbassociates.com/TheFederalCrimesWatchDaily.pdfhttp://mailto:mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.comhttp://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ag/speeches/2011/ag-speech-111024.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ag/speeches/2011/ag-speech-111024.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ag/speeches/2011/ag-speech-111024.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/justicenews.phphttp://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-crm-1398.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-crm-1398.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-crm-1398.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/justicenews.php

2 Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

William Hochul puts death penalty to frequenttestMcNabb Associates, P.C. (Federal Criminal DefenseLawyers)

Submitted at 3:39 PM October 24, 2011

Derek Gee / Buffalo New Buffalo News on October 22, 2011(updated Oct. 23rd) released thefollowing: By Dan Herbeck“U.S. attorney uses federal charge often,unsuccessfully and at a significant cost It’s hard to find a federal prosecutoranywhere in the nation who has filed asmany potential death penalty cases asWilliam J. Hochul Jr., the U.S. attorneyfor Western New York. So far, none of those cases has led to anexecution. But they have cost taxpayers a bundle ofmoney — more than $661,000 in the pastyear. Since taking office in March 2010,Hochul has filed potential death penaltycases against 24 people. That’s more thanthose filed by federal prosecutors in LosAngeles, Chicago, Detroit, Miami or anycity in Texas. In fact, among the 94 federal prosecutorsthroughout the land, only two others —both from New York City-area districtsfar more populous than Western NewYork — have filed as many potentialdeath penalty cases with Washington asHochul in the past two years. So far, Washington has not approved anyof Hochul’s cases for a death penaltyprosecution, though a dozen decisions arepending before the U.S. attorney general.But it often takes months from the time aU.S. attorney files a potential deathpenalty case until the attorney generaldecides whether to pursue the deathpenalty. As a result, the Buffalo andRochester federal courts where Hochulfiles cases spent more than $661,000during his first full year in office onlawyers and other defense costs fordefendants in the early stages of deathpenalty-eligible cases. The $661,000 is more than the combinedamount spent by the region’s fourprevious U.S. attorneys on death penalty-eligible cases over the previous 11 years.During those 11 years, a total of 12 deathpenalty-eligible cases were filed. Hochulhas filed twice that many in less than twoyears.“The numbers in Buffalo are not part of anational trend. It does not appear to besomething that is coming out ofWashington. It’s something that Mr.Hochul does far more often than almostany other federal prosecutor,” said JamesP. Harrington, one of a handful of Buffalo

defense lawyers who are certified tohandle death penalty-eligible cases.“It is a colossal waste” of court time, courtresources and money, said Harrington,who also opposes the death penalty onmoral grounds. According to death penalty defenselawyer Kevin M. McNally, Hochul is oneof a small number of federal prosecutorswho file death penalty-eligible charges incases involving drug gang members whokill other drug gang members. He saidjuries are rarely willing to pronounce thedeath penalty in “gangster-on-gangster”cases.“I seriously doubt whether any of [theHochul] defendants will actually face thedeath penalty at trial,” said McNally, ofFrankfort, Ky., who heads the FederalDeath Penalty Resource Counsel Project. While some defense lawyers say Hochulis overzealous and is wasting taxpayermoney, Hochul, 52, defends his record.He said he is enforcing federal law andtrying to protect law-abiding people inneighborhoods terrorized by gangviolence. Hochul said his office does elect to filemurder and racketeering charges in somegang-murder cases, and it’s the murdercharge in the context of racketeering thatmakes the cases death penalty-eligible.But ultimately — after a review processthat usually takes months — the finaldecision on whether to pursue the deathpenalty is made by Attorney General EricHolder in Washington. And after a deathpenalty case goes to trial, a jury decideswhether the defendant will face execution.“I often go out and speak to block clubs inthe inner city, and people come up to meand tell me they are afraid to go out for awalk in their own neighborhood, or sit intheir own backyard,” Hochul said. “Wewill continue to bring these cases againstthe most violent offenders and leave theultimate decisions to the attorney generaland juries.” Statistically, gang violence in the regionhas decreased over the past two years, andHochul contends that prosecutionsundertaken by his office with the FBI andother agencies helped. Buffalo Police

Commissioner Daniel Derenda andNiagara Falls Police Superintendent JohnR. Chella agree.“I would absolutely not want to see the[federal] death penalty taken off thebooks,” said Chella. While such casesrarely lead to executions, they often leadto guilty pleas that put violent criminals inprison for decades, sometimes life, Chellasaid.“[Hochul] has helped us to take somevery, very dangerous people off thestreets,” Derenda said. Harrington agreed Holder makes the finaldecision on whether to pursue the deathpenalty, but he said a case only becomeseligible for the death penalty after a localfederal prosecutor — such as Hochul —proposes a case as potentially worthy ofthe death penalty. “You can file a federalmurder charge without seeking the deathpenalty,” he said. If any of Hochul’s cases do result infederal death sentences, it would be thefirst time that has happened in WesternNew York. New York is one of 16 statesthat do not have a state death penalty. 3 federal executions Nationally, the Justice Department hasauthorized about 500 death penaltyprosecutions — only one in Western NewYork — since Congress reinstated federalcapital punishment in 1988. And since1988, only three men in the nation havebeen federally executed. There have beenno federal executions in more than eightyears. Timothy J. McVeigh, the Pendletonnative and decorated Gulf War veteranwho bombed a federal office building inOklahoma City and killed 168 people, wasput to death by a lethal drug injection inJune 2001. A few weeks after McVeigh’sdeath, a murderous Texas drug dealer,Juan Raul Garza, was federally executed. The last federal execution in Americawas that of Louis Jones Jr., anotherdecorated Gulf War veteran, whokidnapped, raped and murdered a 19-year-old female soldier in Texas. He wasexecuted in March 2003. Though hundreds of millions of dollarshave been spent on such cases since Joneswas put to death, no one has beenexecuted under the federal death penaltysince. At least 66 federal defendants havebeen sentenced to death since 1988, buttheir executions have been held off bylegal appeals. According to court statistics, federaldeath penalty prosecutions can cost up to

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3Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Mark A. Conner Plead Guilty to Charges of Conspiracy toCommit Bank Fraud and to Perjury in Connection with HisPersonal Bankruptcy Filing in Federal Bankruptcy CourtMcNabb Associates, P.C. (Federal Criminal DefenseLawyers)

Submitted at 9:26 AM October 24, 2011

The Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) on October 21, 2011 released thefollowing:“Former Bank President Agrees to PleadGuilty in Multi-Million-Dollar BankFraud Conspiracy and Perjury in HisPersonal Bankruptcy Case Conner Fleeced Failed Stockbridge Bankand at Least Ten Other Federally InsuredBanks ATLANTA—MARK A. CONNER, 45,formerly of Canton, Georgia, andTallahassee, Florida, and the formerpresident of FirstCity Bank ofStockbridge, Georgia, pleaded guiltytoday to charges of conspiracy to commitbank fraud in connection with misconductat FirstCity Bank in the years before thebank’s seizure by state and federalauthorities on March 20, 2009. CONNERalso pleaded guilty to perjury inconnection with his personal bankruptcyfiling in federal bankruptcy court inJanuary 2011. United States Attorney Sally QuillianYates said, “Our nation’s bank problemshave contributed to the economic distressour citizens continue to experience acrossthe country. We have felt this keenly inGeorgia, with more than 70 bank failuressince mid-2008, and another failure asrecently as October 14, 2011. Thisdefendant treated FirstCity Bank’scommercial real estate lending operationslike his own personal piggy bank,siphoning off millions of dollars fromfraudulent commercial real estate loans,ultimately running FirstCity into theground. Along the way, CONNER andothers defrauded federal and stateregulators and at least ten other federallyinsured banks in Georgia and Florida thatinvested in the fraudulent multi-million-dollar loans.” FDIC Inspector General Jon Rymer said,“The Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation Office of Inspector General ispleased to join our law enforcementcolleagues in defending the integrity ofthe financial services industry byinvestigating bank fraud perpetrated bysenior bank officers. We are especiallyconcerned in situations like this one wherethe former Chairman and CEO of the bankmisused his position of trust to defraudFirstCity Bank of Stockbridge, thuscontributing to its failure. When he andhis co-conspirators convinced at least 10other federally insured institutions to

invest in fraudulent loans to further thescheme, they jeopardized the safety andsoundness of those institutions as well.We are committed to continuing ourefforts to prosecute such criminalmisconduct, help maintain the stability ofthe Nation’s financial institutions, andensure the viability of the DepositInsurance Fund.” Christy Romero, Acting Special InspectorGeneral for the Troubled Asset ReliefProgram (“SIGTARP”) said, “DespiteConner’s fiduciary duties as president,CEO, and chairman of FirstCity Bank, foryears he went to great lengths to lie tobank regulators, cheat the bank, and stealmillions of dollars. He then attempted tosteal more than $6 million in TARPfunding from U.S. taxpayers and Treasuryto cover his tracks. It is precisely this typeof deception and greed by key bankinsiders that contributed to andexacerbated the financial crisis. Fraud inconnection with TARP will beaggressively investigated and prosecutedby SIGTARP and its law enforcementpartners.” According to United States AttorneyYates, the charges, and other informationpresented in court, CONNER served in avariety of top positions at FirstCity Bankbetween 2004 and 2009, including as vicechairman of the board of directors, as amember of the bank’s loan committee, aspresident, and later as acting chairman andchief executive officer. While serving inthese positions, CONNER conspired withothers to defraud FirstCity Bank’s loancommittee and Board of Directors intoapproving multiple multi-million-dollarcommercial loans to borrowers who,unbeknownst to FirstCity Bank, wereactually purchasing property owned byCONNER or his co-conspirators. CONNER and his co-conspiratorsmisrepresented the essential nature, terms,and underlying purpose of the loans andfalsified documents and informationpresented to the loan committee and theBoard of Directors. CONNER and his co-conspirators caused at least 10 otherfederally insured banks to invest in, or“participate in” the fraudulent loans basedon these and other fraudulentmisrepresentations, shifting all or part ofthe risk of default to the other banks.CONNER alone reaped almost $7 millionin proceeds from the loans alleged in theindictment. In the process of defrauding FirstCityBank and the “participating” banks, toconceal their unlawful scheme, CONNER

and his co-conspirators routinely misledfederal and state bank regulators andexaminers. They also unsuccessfullysought federal government assistancethrough the U.S. Treasury Department’sTroubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”)and engaged in other misconduct in anattempt to avoid seizure by regulators andprevent the discovery of their fraud. In aneffort to make FirstCity Bank’s financialposition look much better than it reallywas, they made loans to buyers topurchase property that FirstCity Bank heldas a result of foreclosure or similar actionswithout requiring that such buyers makethe required down payments. With respect to the perjury charge, onJanuary 5, 2011, knowing that he wasunder federal criminal investigation forhis conduct at FirstCity bank, CONNERfiled a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition inthe United States Bankruptcy Court forthe Northern District of Georgia. Amongother misrepresentations and omissions,CONNER’s bankruptcy petition statedthat he had a little over $3,000 in cash andfinancial accounts and essentially no un-encumbered interests in real estate. OnFebruary 3, 2011, CONNER falselytestified under oath at a bankruptcyhearing in federal court that, among otherthings, his bankruptcy petition was trueand accurate in all respects and that hewas “down to less than nothing” despitehaving a large liquid reserve several yearsago. The investigation showed that intruth, CONNER had and controlled off-shore accounts containing over $545,000when he swore under oath that he wasbroke. In addition, CONNER had $4million in real estate investments from hisoff-shore accounts (that is, assets of hisbankruptcy estate) that were not disclosedin his bankruptcy petition or in his sworntestimony in open court on February 3,2011. Today, CONNER tendered a guilty pleato one count of conspiracy to commitbank fraud. He was originally indicted inMarch 2011, along with FirstCity bank’sformer chief loan officer, CLAYTON A.COE, on 12 counts of conspiracy tocommit bank fraud, bank fraud, andoperating a continuing financial crimesenterprise. The grand jury chargedCONNER and COE with additionalcrimes in a superseding indictmentreturned in June 2011, which also addedFirstCity Bank’s former inside attorney,ROBERT E. MALONEY, Jr., as a new

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WILLIAMcontinued from page 2

eight times as much as a non-deathpenalty prosecution. Death penalty experts estimate the JusticeDepartment and the courts spend at least$86 million a year on federal deathpenalty cases. They can only estimatebecause the Justice Department declinesto say how much of its $28 billion annualbudget goes toward death penaltyprosecutions. Hochul said he doesn’t worry about howhis death penalty numbers stack up againstother cities or how much the prosecutionscost. He said enforcing federal laws andprotecting the public are his topconsiderations. Hochul is filing these cases because “Ibelieve he is an overzealous prosecutor,”said Terry Granger, a Buffalo defenselawyer whose clients have includedconvicted murderer and gang-leaderDonald “Sly” Green.“I do not see how even the staunchestsupporter of the death penalty could arguethat these prosecutions are an efficient useof taxpayer money,” added DavidKaczynzki, with New Yorkers forAlternatives to the Death Penalty. Supporters of the death penalty say it isthe kind of tough law enforcementmeasure that has helped deter violentcrime in recent years, and they point tolocal, state and national crime statistics asproof. Officials said crime in the state was down4.4 percent in the first six months of 2011,as compared with 2010. The rates ofmurder, rape, robbery and assault were alldown. The FBI reported Sept. 19 that thenation’s violent crime rate dropped 6percent in 2010, the fourth straight year inwhich violent crime went down. In Buffalo, homicides were down 23percent, shootings were down 25 percentand violent crime in general was down 18percent in the first half of this year,Derenda said. Niagara Falls’ crime rate isalso down. But Harrington argues that the federaldeath penalty has nothing to do with thosedeclines. No one has been federallyexecuted since 1954 for a crimecommitted in New York State, he said.“There are plenty of other federal charges— including drug conspiracy charges andoperating a continuing criminalconspiracy — that can be used, and areused, to lock up gang suspects for a verylong time,” Harrington said. “You don’tneed to tie up the courts and go throughall the expense of using the death penaltylaws.” According to federal court records, 24people in the region have been targeted inpotential death penalty cases since Hochul

began serving as U.S. attorney. Most weresuspected drug gang members chargedwith murdering people in Buffalo orRochester. Half of those people no longer face deathpenalty-eligible charges, because theJustice Department — after examining allthe circumstances of the crimes formonths — decided not to push forexecution. In the other cases, JusticeDepartment officials have not decided yet. Among those who still face potentialdeath penalty prosecutions are:• Three men accused of ambushing andmurdering Quincy Turner, a race cardriver who was a federal witness in aJamestown drug probe.• Six people accused of torturing andmurdering Francisco Santos, whose bodywas found on the Seneca Nation’sCattaraugus Territory, and other violence.• Three alleged members of the SeventhStreet gang who are accused of murders,assaults and drug trafficking on Buffalo’sWest Side.

“We take these decisions very seriously,”Hochul said. “We only file capital chargesagainst those defendants who appear to bethe worst of the worst.” Once a potential death penalty case isfiled, each defendant is assigned two topdefense attorneys, who are each paid $178an hour by the federal courts. The usualrate for a court-appointed federal defenseattorney is $125 an hour, and — asidefrom death penalty-eligible cases —defendants rarely get more than one. Because only a few local lawyers arequalified to handle death penalty-eligiblecases, lawyers sometimes are brought infrom other cities or states to help with thedefense. The travel costs are paid bytaxpayers. Other support personnel for the defenseattorneys are also hired, including“mitigation experts,” who dig into thedefendants’ backgrounds seekinginformation that might convince theJustice Department not to pursue the deathpenalty. Mitigation experts get up to $100an hour, plus travel expenses. In severallocal cases, mitigation experts traveled toPuerto Rico to interview friends andfamilies of defendants. Costly N.Y. City case“The federal system is good in that itusually guarantees that each defendantwill get highly qualified representation,”said Richard C. Dieter, executive directorof the Death Penalty Information Centerin Washington. “But it adds a whole newlayer of costs that taxpayers have to pay.” How expensive can a single federal deathpenalty case become? According to the Death Penalty

Information Center, the JusticeDepartment’s recent unsuccessful effort toexecute New York City mobster and killerVincent “Vinnie Gorgeous” Basciano costtaxpayers between $4 million and $10million. Basciano was already serving a prisonterm of life without parole when federalprosecutors from Brooklyn took him totrial earlier this year. A jury convicted himof murder and racketeering, but on May31 declined to impose the death penalty,deciding instead to again sentence him tolife in prison. Western New York has never had a deathpenalty case as expensive as Basciano’s,but according to District Court ClerkMichael J. Roemer, death penalty caseswere by far the most costly in the regionlast year. Over the past year, more than $661,000was spent by the court system on defense-related expenses for 24 death penalty-eligible defendants in the district, saidLisa G. Ball, chief financial officer for thedistrict. On average, that’s more than $25,800 percase, and all half of those cases are stillpending. During the same time period,about $2.47 million was spent defendingat least 230 other defendants who receivedlegal aid. That’s about $10,700 per case,and many of those cases have beencompleted. Those death penalty expenses are fordefense and court costs only. They do notinclude the costs of investigating, jailingand prosecuting death penalty-eligibledefendants, which are kept secret by thegovernment. Dieter said he believes thoseother costs are at least as high as thosespent on defense. The last time the Justice Departmentapproved a local death penalty case fortrial was the 1993 case of Darryl “Reese”Johnson, an enforcer for the LA Boysgang. Johnson was accused of multiplekillings, assaults and kidnappings. Hochulhandled the case as an assistant U.S.attorney. Rather than face such a trial, Johnsondecided to plead guilty to murder andracketeering. He was sentenced to eightterms of life imprisonment — believed tobe the longest sentence ever handed downin a Buffalo courtroom — in 1995.Hochul said that case took one of mostviolent criminals in Buffalo’s history offthe streets forever.“Under Justice Department regulations,my duty is to file the highest provablefederal charge against a defendant, andthat is what we do,” Hochul said. Defense lawyer Harrington sees it

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5Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

Manssor Arbabsiar Pleads Not Guilty in FederalCourt to Allegedly Plotting to Kill SaudiAmbassadorMcNabb Associates, P.C. (Federal Criminal DefenseLawyers)

Submitted at 4:50 PM October 24, 2011

Manssor Arbabsiar Fox News on October 24, 2011 releasedthe following:“Man Charged With Plotting to Kill SaudiAmbassador Pleads Not Guilty A man charged in a plot to assassinate theSaudi ambassador to the United States haspleaded not guilty in a New York Citycourtroom. Manssor Arbabsiar, who did not speakduring the proceeding, entered a not guiltyplea on each of the five counts chargedagainst him, which include conspiracy tomurder a foreign official and conspiracyto use a weapon of mass destruction. According to the Department of Justice,Arbabsiar — a naturalized US citizen whoholds both Iranian and US passports —allegedly confessed to planning theassassination when he was arrested byfederal agents at JFK International Airportin New York City on Sept. 29. In court Monday, Arbabsiar, 56, wasdressed in blue prison clothing and hisgray beard had noticeably grown since hislast court appearance earlier this month,the New York Post reports. At least oneSaudi diplomat attended the hearing, buthe declined to comment to the newspaper. The arraignment lasted just five minutes.Arbabsiar’s next court appearance wasscheduled for Dec. 31. The other suspect in the case, GholamShakuri, remains at large, presumably inIran. Shakuri is allegedly an Iran-basedmember of Iran’s Quds Force special

operations unit. Arbabsiar and Shakuri were each indictedlast Thursday in connection with the $1.5million assassination plot allegedlydirected by elements of the Iraniangovernment. Arbabsiar allegedly contracted with menhe believed were Mexican drug cartelassociates to set off explosives at a publicrestaurant in Washington, D.C., whereAdel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Arabianambassador to the US, was to be dining.The men turned out to be paid informantsof the U.S. government. A paid confidential informant told federalinvestigators that Arbabsiar said that itwas “no big deal” when he was informedthere could be as many as 150 casualties,

including U.S. Senators known to frequentthe establishment, as a result of therestaurant bombing. Earlier this month, authorities in the U.S.and UK froze the assets of Iranian-basedQuds Force members Qasem Soleimani,Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlaifor their alleged roles in the plot. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has calledthe assassination-for-hire accusations“baseless.”"————————————————————– Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates,P.C.’s Federal Criminal Defense AttorneysVideos: Federal Crimes – Be Careful Federal Crimes – Be Proactive Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment Federal Crimes – Detention Hearing Federal Mail Fraud Crimes Federal Crimes – Appeal————————————————————– To find additional federal criminal news,please read Federal Crimes Watch Daily. Douglas McNabb and other members ofthe U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involvingFederal Criminal Defense, INTERPOLRed Notice Removal, InternationalExtradition and OFAC SDN SanctionsRemoval. The author of this blog is DouglasMcNabb. Please feel free to contact himdirectly atmcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at oneof the offices listed above.

WILLIAMcontinued from page 4

differently.“If nobody ever gets convicted of capitalcrimes in this district,” he said, “how canyou call it the highest provable charge?”"————————————————————– Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates,P.C.’s Federal Criminal Defense AttorneysVideos: Federal Crimes – Be Careful Federal Crimes – Be Proactive Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment Federal Crimes – Detention Hearing Federal Mail Fraud Crimes Federal Crimes – Appeal————————————————————–

To find additional federal criminal news,please read Federal Crimes Watch Daily. Douglas McNabb and other members ofthe U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involvingFederal Criminal Defense, INTERPOLRed Notice Removal, InternationalExtradition and OFAC SDN SanctionsRemoval. The author of this blog is DouglasMcNabb. Please feel free to contact himdirectly atmcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at oneof the offices listed above.

General Services AdministrationEmployee Sentenced to Prisonfor Role in Bribery Scheme asPart of Multi-Year CorruptionInvestigation(USDOJ: Justice News)Submitted at 1:52 PM October 24, 2011

A General Services Administration(GSA) customer service manager wassentenced today to 30 months in prison forhis role in a bribery scheme related topayments he received for awarding GSAcontracts to various governmentcontractors.

Federal Criminal Justice

http://federalcrimesblog.com/2011/10/24/manssor-arbabsiar-pleads-not-guilty-in-federal-court-to-allegedly-plotting-to-kill-saudi-ambassador/http://federalcrimesblog.com/2011/10/24/manssor-arbabsiar-pleads-not-guilty-in-federal-court-to-allegedly-plotting-to-kill-saudi-ambassador/http://federalcrimesblog.com/2011/10/24/manssor-arbabsiar-pleads-not-guilty-in-federal-court-to-allegedly-plotting-to-kill-saudi-ambassador/http://federalcrimesblog.com/http://federalcrimesblog.com/http://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Be-Carefulhttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Be-Proactivehttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Federal-Indictmenthttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Detention-Hearinghttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Mail-Fraud-Crimeshttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Appealhttp://www.mcnabbassociates.com/TheFederalCrimesWatchDaily.pdfhttp://mailto:mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.comhttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Be-Carefulhttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Be-Proactivehttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Federal-Indictmenthttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Detention-Hearinghttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Mail-Fraud-Crimeshttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Appealhttp://www.mcnabbassociates.com/TheFederalCrimesWatchDaily.pdfhttp://mailto:mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.comhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-crm-1397.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-crm-1397.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-crm-1397.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-crm-1397.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-crm-1397.htmlhttp://www.justice.gov/opa/justicenews.php

6 Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers

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defendant in the case. United States District Judge Steve C.Jones will determine whether to acceptCONNER’s guilty pleas after thepreparation of a presentencing report. IfJudge Jones accepts CONNER’s guiltypleas, CONNER will be sentenced to 12years in federal prison on all of thecharges, be banned from the bankingindustry for life, forfeit $7 million and paysignificant restitution to the FDIC andvictim banks. Sentencing is set forJanuary 31, 2011, at 10 a.m. CONNER has been in federal custodysince March 20, 2011—the two-yearanniversary of FirstCity Bank’sfailure—when he was arrested by federalagents at Miami International Airportupon his arrival from the Turks andCaicos Islands in the West Indies. This case is being investigated by specialagents of the FDIC, Office of InspectorGeneral; the Office of the SpecialInspector General for the Troubled AssetRelief Program (“SIGTARP”), the FederalBureau of Investigation, and InternalRevenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States AttorneysDouglas W. Gilfillan and David M.Chaiken are prosecuting the case.”—————————————————

———– Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates,P.C.’s Federal Criminal Defense AttorneysVideos: Federal Crimes – Be Careful Federal Crimes – Be Proactive Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment Federal Crimes – Detention Hearing Federal Mail Fraud Crimes Federal Crimes – Appeal————————————————————– To find additional federal criminal news,please read Federal Crimes Watch Daily. Douglas McNabb and other members ofthe U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involvingFederal Criminal Defense, INTERPOLRed Notice Removal, InternationalExtradition and OFAC SDN SanctionsRemoval. The author of this blog is DouglasMcNabb. Please feel free to contact himdirectly atmcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at oneof the offices listed above.

FBI Releases 2010 Statisticson Law Enforcement OfficersKilled and Assaultedfbi (Current)Submitted at 6:00 AM October 24, 2011

— Washington, D.C.

FBI

http://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Be-Carefulhttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Be-Proactivehttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Federal-Indictmenthttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Detention-Hearinghttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Mail-Fraud-Crimeshttp://mcnabbassociates.com/federal-crimes-video.html#Federal-Crimes-Appealhttp://www.mcnabbassociates.com/TheFederalCrimesWatchDaily.pdfhttp://mailto:mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.comhttp://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2010-statistics-on-law-enforcement-officers-killed-and-assaultedhttp://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2010-statistics-on-law-enforcement-officers-killed-and-assaultedhttp://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2010-statistics-on-law-enforcement-officers-killed-and-assaultedhttp://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/current