Friends of Ours

U.S. Government Crisis: Mexico Drug Cartels: Are they Number #1 Organized Crime Threat in America?

Clarence Walker, an investigative crime journalist, has a piece in the New Criminologist detailing the ominous threat that the Mexican drug cartels pose to the United States:

The U.S. government is on the defensive. There's a major crisis threatening America's security. This diabolical threat do not involve foreign terrorists, Chinese spys, Al-Qaeda, nor the Russian Mafia. This unrelenting threat comes from major narco gangsters known throughout the U.S. and South America as Mexican drug traffickers.  

News: Gambino Crime Family

***  Gambino capo Salvatore "Fat Sal" Scala, one of the four gunmen suspected of whacking boss Paul Castellano outside Sparks Steak House in 1985, died in a prison hospital on Monday of liver cancer.  The 65-year-old was serving a six-year term after being convicted for shaking down the owners of the Manhattan strip club VIP for $2.5 million over a ten-year period.  Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan, who sentenced Scala last year, urged the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, to no avail, to let the gangster die at home:

"At the time of the sentencing I made clear my view that his offense, though serious, did not in my view warrant his dying in prison," Kaplan wrote to Director Harley Lappin. "I respectfully urge you to look into this man's situation with a view to the possibility of compassionate release of this apparently dying man."

***   Earlier this month a federal judge in Tampa, FL granted John "Junior" Gotti's motion to move his racketeering trial to New York where the reputedly retired gangster could enjoy a home court advantage.  In NY, Gotti's case then was randomly assigned to Judge Kevin Castel but his lawyers now have filed a motion to have Judge Shira Scheindlin preside over the trial:

[T]he mob scion's lawyers filed court papers Tuesday to transfer the case to Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin, who presided over his last three trials that ended in hung juries. "Judge Scheindlin's familiarity with the facts and the attendant legal issues will greatly streamline the process and ensure that Gotti receives a fair and swift trial," defense lawyer Seth Ginsberg wrote. Scheindlin had made several rulings in the past that confounded federal prosecutors - including releasing Gotti on bail - and threw out a money laundering count in the indictment. Junior joined in singing "Happy Birthday" to Scheindlin in court in August 2006 after her deputy asked everyone to sing in honor of the judge's 60th birthday. "I will thank our good fortune every day for a judge like Shira Scheindlin. She is the difference between a fair trial and a railroad job. God bless her," family matriarch Victoria Gotti told the Daily News in September 2006 after the last mistrial.

JibJab: 2008 Year In Review

Bar Flies Ran Cocaine Ring For Mexican Cartel In Ohio Town

A couple employed at a popular local bar in Xenia, OH have been indicted for allegedly running a cocaine trafficking ring in Greene County for a Mexican drug cartel, and authorities seized 121 pounds of cocaine and $625,000 cash from their home.  The couple -- Sheldon Smith and his girlfriend Kelly Brown -- were "arrested Dec. 24 outside LA's Sports Bar and Grille in Xenia where Smith worked as a bartender and Brown an assistant manager."  Although police do not suspect that drugs were sold out of the bar, they did seize cash from the bar believed to be drug proceeds.  An unidentified woman claimed to be the owner of the bar, and stated that her business was not involved in the drug ring:

However, business incorporation records filed with the secretary of state in 2006 record Smith and Brown's home address as the original business address. In February 2008, paperwork changed it to the bar's current location at 44 Xenia Towne Square.

Last May law enforcement arrested Ismael Gonzalez, of California, and Carlos A. Tartida-Villalba, of Mexico, in connection with the case.

Corruption in Bulgaria Tests EU Expansion

Doubts persist whether European Union member Bulgaria ever will be able to flush political corruption and organized crime from its system, and even after the appointment of Meglena Plugchieva to target the misappropriation of EU funds no prosecutions have been brought:

Some progress was marked over the summer: the Interior Minister was forced to resign, several new investigations were launched to find stolen EU funds, and 10 parliamentarians were stripped of immunity from prosecution. Bulgaria also talked of passing tougher conflict-of-interest laws and requiring top government officials to fully disclose property ownership and other business interests. Once again, though, in the end there were no prosecutions. Lack of political will paralyzes the process, say observers, and Plugchieva herself often sits across the same table from colleagues suspected of criminal ties. Her hands are tied, without the power to fire anyone. Besides, outing a corrupt official can be a death sentence; several have been gunned down in mafia disputes already.