Month: April 2021

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

SEATTLE, WA—The FBI’s Seattle Field Office, ATF, and the Seattle Police Department are investigating an arson which occurred on August 24, 2020, at 11 p.m., in the SODO region of Seattle, Washington. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual(s) responsible. See poster for more information.

Two suspects were observed scouting the area around the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild building in the hour before the attack. The suspects changed into all black clothing and returned to the building, where they ignited and threw three Molotov cocktails at the structure and then fled the area on foot.

Suspect #1 is described as a White female between 5’8” and 5’10”, weighing approximately 120 pounds with dirty blonde/purple hair. Suspect #2 is described as a Black person between 5’5” and 5’7”, weighing approximately 120 pounds.

Anyone with information regarding these incidents should contact the FBI’s Seattle Field Office at 206-622-0460 or tips.fbi.gov.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

Special Agent in Charge Stanley M. Meador, Federal Bureau of Investigation Richmond Division; Chief Gerald Smith, City of Richmond Police Department; and Special Agent in Charge Raymond Villanueva, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C., announce the convictions of subjects responsible for the 2016 murder of Clemente Jimenez-Lopez.

On March 6, 2016, officers from the City of Richmond Police Department responded to a call for service within the 1400 block of Armfield Road in the Town and Country Townhomes and Apartment complex in Richmond. On scene, officers learned that three male victims were approached by multiple subjects demanding their belongings. The victims fled on foot in different directions while being pursued by the subjects. Officers discovered two of the victims were caught, assaulted, and robbed by their assailants; the third victim, Clemente Jimenez-Lopez, was located deceased from a gunshot wound to the head.

Almost five years after the murder of Mr. Lopez and following a two-day jury trial in the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond on March 23 and March 24, 2021, MS-13 member Osmar Hernandez Santamaria was found guilty of one count of 1st degree murder, one count of use of a firearm in the commission of murder, three counts of attempted robbery, and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of attempted robbery. Santamaria’s formal sentencing is scheduled for August 24, 2021.

MS-13 member Francisco Ovidio Lemus-Castillo previously pled guilty on March 9, 2021, to one count of 2nd degree murder and one count of attempted robbery. Castillo was sentenced on that date to 40 years in prison with 15 years suspended for the murder charge and 10 years in prison with all 10 years suspended for the attempted robbery charge, resulting in 25 years of actual incarceration.

These recent convictions are part of a multi-year investigative effort targeting the MS-13 gang in the Richmond area and comes off the heels of the October 2019 and January 2020 guilty pleas by MS-13 associates Arsenio Joshua Alers and Jose Rivas-Santiago. Alers and Rivas-Santiago pleaded guilty to one count of 2nd degree murder and one count of attempted robbery, respectively.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Richmond Area Violent Enterprise (RAVE) Task Force, the City of Richmond Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Richmond office. Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Brooke E. Pettit from the City of Richmond Commonwealth Attorney’s Office prosecuted these cases.

The FBI RAVE Task Force is an established team of federal, state, and local law enforcement partners and prosecutors dedicated to addressing gang and drug related violent criminal activity. The RAVE Task Force identifies and targets gangs as criminal enterprises, investigating the enterprise’s activities and focusing resources to obtain successful prosecutions.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the FBI has presented a prestigious award to a San Antonio-based nonprofit that assists abused children.

Today, FBI San Antonio Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs presented the 2019 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award to a local organization, Ransomed Life. Ransomed Life cares for minors who are survivors, victims, or at risk of commercial sexual exploitation. Due to public health concerns connected to the COVID-19 virus, the award ceremony had to be postponed until today, April 5, 2021.

Ransomed Life is one of the only organizations in San Antonio that offers one-on-one mentoring for this specific demographic and its mentors are in contact with the affected minors on a weekly basis. The nonprofit takes a wholistic approach to each activity in order to encompass spiritual, mental, behavioral, and physical care, while having fun.

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 virus, the FBI Director holds the Director’s Community Leadership Award ceremony in Washington, D.C., in May to honor the outstanding contributions of community leaders and organizations from around the country. Due to the pandemic, the event had to be cancelled.

One of top priorities of Ransomed Life is educating the community about the realities of sex trafficking. Team members educate schools, churches, businesses, and organizations all across San Antonio. The organization also helps educate and equip young people to recognize the tricks and lures of traffickers.

“Ransomed Life has truly been a force multiplier for the FBI San Antonio Division,” said Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs. “Their community outreach and education events have helped protect children and prevent young people from being ensnared by the perpetrators of human trafficking.”

In 2019, Ransomed Life’s significant accomplishments and contributions to the community included:

• 1,100 hours of court advocacy
• 3,526 hours of counseling
• 1,306 hours of detention visits
• 2,804 hours of mentoring activity
• 6,774 people in the community educated on sex trafficking

The FBI, through its Community Outreach Program, has recognized the achievements of individuals or organizations for their supportive efforts in the areas of terrorism, crime, cyber, drug, gang, or violence prevention and education by presenting the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award since 1990. Each year, the Special Agent in Charge of each FBI field office selects an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to their communities in these areas.

The San Antonio Division is honored to recognize Ransomed Life as its recipient for the 2019 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

FBI Pittsburgh would like to congratulate the winners of our sixth annual Heroin Outreach Prevention and Education initiative or HOPE PSA contest. Opioid abuse and heroin remain at pandemic levels across Western Pennsylvania. In response, FBI Pittsburgh partnered with key community stakeholders, including the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, to form this program. This year we also welcomed partners from the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, CentiMark, Levitt Legacy, Gateway Rehab, and The Bradley Center. Together, alongside our community partners, the FBI Pittsburgh HOPE Initiative strives to formulate proactive solutions, particularly in areas of education, prevention and awareness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact our world in unpredictable ways. Virtual schooling and social isolation have had a catastrophic effect on mental health and increased the risk for substance abuse. Overdoses and mental health crises are worsening, and our world continues to present challenges that require us all to reinvent our daily lives, routines, and goals. For this reason, our theme this year went a little deeper. We asked students to create a 1 to 3 minute video looking at the following questions:

Throughout these unsettling times, what are the everyday challenges young adults face this academic year, and why do young adults choose to self-medicate? How can young adults choose a safer coping method?

“We wanted students to remember that anyone can turn their bad decisions into good ones at any given moment,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples. “These videos gave students a chance to think about the stressors we all face in life from anxiety to fear and isolation and loss of control. I’m so proud of the videos all the students put together and for our partners for continuing to support this important program.”

“We are honored to partner with the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association for another year to combat opioid addiction within Western Pennsylvania,” said Jim Britt, executive director of the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation. ‘Our hope is that these PSA videos bring awareness and educate students about the dangers of drug misuse, and how to steer clear of them, in order to live a life of physical and mental wellness.”

“The Levitt Legacy is proud to be a sponsor of the HOPE PSA Video Contest. We found that the contest is a great way to educate students on the Opioid Epidemic while providing a creative outlook and rewarding activity for the students to become involved with. These videos are then used to educate others about this horrible epidemic,” said Barb Levitt, Founder of Levitt Legacy

The winners will receive monetary gifts from our partners, including CentiMark, Levitt Legacy, Gateway Rehab and The Bradley Center. The Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation is also providing gift packages for the students, including a Pens Duffle Bag, bobble heads and hat.

Here is a list of the winners with a direct link to the winning video.

First Place:

• South Fayette Township School District
• South Fayette High School: This is Temporary, Addiction Isn’t
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6f01J4UuSE

Second Place:

• Indiana County Technology Center: The Darkness:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CS7frmlubg

Third Place:

• Forest Hills School District-Cambria County
• Forest Hills High School: Blink of an Eye
• https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YDw0t4tz6EY

This year,16 videos from nine school districts across eight different counties in Western Pennsylvania were submitted. For more information on the HOPE initiative and to view all the videos, click here: https://fbipghcaaa.org/hope/youth/psacontest/

For media inquiries please call (412) 396-9504 or e-mail cpolicicchio@fbi.gov

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

Pedro Sanchez-Laporte, a fugitive wanted in connection with a quadruple murder and for gun and drug crimes, has been arrested in Florida, announced Michael J. Driscoll, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, and Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams. FBI Tampa SWAT personnel took Sanchez-Laporte into custody this morning, April 6, 2021, without incident at a residence in Lake Alfred, Florida.

On January 28, 2018, Sanchez-Laporte and four other alleged members of the Trinidad Drug Trafficking Organization confronted four individuals selling narcotics in Reading, Pennsylvania, in a location operated and controlled by the Trinidad Drug Trafficking Organization. The confrontation escalated into threats, then Sanchez-Laporte and associates allegedly opened fire on the individuals. Three victims died at the scene, with the fourth, Sanchez-Laporte’s nephew, succumbing to his wounds at the hospital.

Sanchez-Laporte’s associates have been indicted, arrested, and are awaiting trial in this case; only Sanchez-Laporte had remained at large.

He will be returned by the U.S. Marshals Service to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where he was charged by indictment with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and murder in the course of using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly A. Lewis Fallenstein and Vineet Gauri, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rosalynda M. Michetti.

The FBI Philadelphia Field Office would like to thank the Reading Police Department and the Berks County District Attorney’s Office for their partnership in this matter, and the FBI Tampa—Lakeland Resident Agency and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with today’s arrest.