Month: October 2021

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

Director Christopher Wray has named Jacqueline Maguire as the special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Field Office. Ms. Maguire most recently served as special agent in charge of the Criminal Division of the New York Field Office.

Ms. Maguire was assigned to the New York Field Office when she joined the FBI as a special agent in 2000 and was a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. She was the lead agent for the investigation of the five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77 after the 9/11 terror attacks.

In 2006, Ms. Maguire was promoted to supervisory special agent, and then to unit chief, in the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington. She moved to the Washington Field Office in 2011 as a supervisory special agent. She returned to FBI Headquarters in 2014 when she was named the special assistant to the executive assistant director of the Human Resources Branch.

Ms. Maguire was promoted in 2016 to assistant special agent in charge of the Birmingham Field Office in Alabama, where she oversaw all criminal and administrative matters. She was named section chief in the Office of Public Affairs at FBI Headquarters in 2017 and promoted to deputy assistant director in 2018. She was promoted in 2019 to special agent in charge of the Criminal Division of the New York Field Office.

Ms. Maguire has earned several awards during her FBI career, including the 2006 Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security and the 2009 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service.

Prior to joining the FBI, Ms. Maguire worked at the Office of the Medical Examiner in Suffolk County, New York. She earned a bachelor’s degree in comprehensive science from Villanova University; a master’s degree in criminal justice from Long Island University; and a master’s degree in homeland defense and security from the Naval Postgraduate School.

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

Today the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program released amended 2020 hate crime statistics about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. Hate crime statistics for 2020 were originally released in August 2021. Due to a technical issue with submission, only partial Ohio data for 2020 were released. For that reason, modifications were made to Ohio’s hate crime data in the FBI’s database following the release. In turn, these updates affected the national hate crime totals. The updated 2020 data, submitted by 15,138 law enforcement agencies, provide information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

Law enforcement agencies submitted incident reports involving 8,263 criminal incidents and 11,129 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. Highlights of Hate Crime Statistics, 2020, follow. (Due to rounding, percentage breakdowns may not add to 100%.)

Victims of Hate Crime Incidents

• There were 8,052 single-bias incidents involving 11,126 victims. A percent distribution of victims by bias type shows that 61.8% of victims were targeted because of the offenders’ race/ethnicity/ancestry bias, 20.0% were victimized because of the offenders’ sexual-orientation bias, 13.3% were targeted because of the offenders’ religious bias, 2.7% were targeted because of the offenders’ gender identity bias, 1.4% were victimized because of the offenders’ disability bias, and 0.7% were victimized because of the offenders’ gender bias.
• There were 211 multiple-bias hate crime incidents that involved 346 victims.

Offenses by Crime Category

• Of the 7,750 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against persons in 2020, 53.1% were for intimidation, 27.9% were for simple assault, and 17.9% were for aggravated assault. Twenty-two (22) murders and 21 rapes were reported as hate crimes. The remaining 32 hate crime offenses were reported in the category of other.
• Of the 3,147 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against property, most (74.1%) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. Robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other offenses accounted for the remaining 25.9% of crimes against property.
• Two hundred thirty-two (232) additional offenses were classified as crimes against society. This crime category represents society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity such as gambling, prostitution, and drug violations. These are typically victimless crimes in which property is not the object.

Known Offenders

• In the UCR Program, the term known offender does not imply that the suspect’s identity is known; rather, the term indicates that some aspect of the suspect was identified, thus distinguishing the suspect from an unknown offender. Law enforcement agencies specify the number of offenders and, when possible, the race of the offender or offenders as a group. Beginning in 2013, law enforcement agencies began reporting whether suspects were juveniles or adults, as well as the suspect’s ethnicity when possible.
  • Of the 6,780 known offenders, 55.1% were white, and 21.2% were Black or African American. Other races accounted for the remaining known offenders: 1.1% were Asian, 1% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.5% were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 5.4% were of a group of multiple races. The race was unknown for 15.7%.
  • Of the 6,169 known offenders for whom ethnicity was reported, 39.3% were Not Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% were Hispanic or Latino, and 2.4% were in a group of multiple ethnicities. Ethnicity was unknown for 48.1% of these offenders.
  • Of the 6,264 known offenders for whom ages were known, 89.1% were 18 years of age or older.

Locations of Hate Crimes

Law enforcement agencies may specify the location of an offense within a hate crime incident as one of 46 location designations. In 2020, most hate crime incidents (28.9%) occurred in or near residences/homes. Nearly 20% (19.9) occurred on highways/roads/alleys/streets/sidewalks, 6.5% happened at parking/drop lots/garages, 4.2% occurred at schools/colleges, 3.6% occurred at parks/playgrounds, and 3.4% took place in churches/synagogues/temples/mosques. The location was reported as other/unknown for 8.6% of hate crime incidents. The remaining 24.8% of hate crime incidents took place at other or multiple locations.

Updated 2020 hate crime figures for Ohio, as well as the nation, are available on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer.

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

The FBI has received several reports through its Internet Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov) of a new threat that businesses and agencies across the state of Oregon are receiving. The language in every case appears to be very similar.

The threat message says that the bad actor has planted bombs in the organization and that if anyone contacts the police, the bombs will be detonated remotely. There is a demand for a payment of $5,000—$20,000 to be made through an email or cryptocurrency address.

The messages also include death threats to the recipients and their families.

So far, the threats are targeting Internet service providers, education institutions, and health care providers.

If you receive such a threat, the FBI recommends that you do NOT pay the ransom and that you notify us at www.ic3.gov.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

SEATTLE, WA—Jeffrey Mendoza, 36, of Federal Way, Washington, was sentenced today, October 15, 2021, to six months in prison and must register as a sex offender, among other conditions. Mendoza pleaded guilty on September 15 to two counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes and second-degree assault with intent to commit sexual exploitation of a minor.

Several of Mendoza’s teenage cheer students informed law enforcement that Mendoza had lured them to a rental property in the Puget Sound area with the promise of taking modeling photos. While at the rental property, Mendoza convinced them to either remove their clothing or wear sheer lingerie and pose in a sexually explicit manner while he photographed them. Mendoza also verbally abused, intimidated, and humiliated the victims in front of others if they were not compliant. The victims said they complied because they were afraid of him due to his emotional outbursts and threat of public humiliation.

Mendoza was brought to justice based upon the testimony of these victims, who provided victim impact statements to the court. Without their continued bravery throughout the investigation, Mendoza may well have continued his pattern of abuse with other children.

“This cheer coach exploited his position of trust and leadership to cause long-lasting harm to the children in his care,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald M. Voiret of the FBI’s Seattle Field Office. “Due to the hard work of our team at FBI Seattle, Washington State Patrol, and the King County Prosecuting Attorney, this predator will be held accountable for his actions and be identified as a sex offender.”

The case was investigated by FBI Seattle and the Washington State Patrol. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.

FBI Seattle is one of 56 FBI field offices located in major U.S. cities with nine satellite offices called resident agencies in Washington state. The mission of the FBI is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States. For more information, visit www.fbi.gov or www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/seattle.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

DENVER, CO—The Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force and the Denver Police Department need the public’s help identifying an individual who robbed the Wells Fargo Bank located at 1701 Lincoln Street, Denver, Colorado, at approximately 10:40 a.m. on Monday, October 18, 2021. The suspect is being dubbed the “Just the Fax Bandit,” due to multiple robberies on Colfax.

The suspect is believed to be responsible for additional bank robberies:

• October 16, 2021, at 1:30 p.m., Chase Bank; 2310 E. Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado.
• October 13, 2021, at 9:20 a.m., Wells Fargo Bank; 9000 E. Colfax Avenue, Aurora, Colorado.
• October 9, 2021, at 12:40 p.m., Chase Bank; 6160 E. Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado.
• October 1, 2021, at 9:30 a.m., BOK Financial Bank, 1600 Broadway, Denver, Colorado.

The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic male, 35 to 50 years old, 5’5” to 5’7” tall, medium build, and a bald or shaved head.

Please be on the lookout for anyone matching the above descriptions. Be aware of anyone similar who might have recently changed their spending habits or discussed coming into money suddenly.

Bank robbery is punishable up to a 20-year prison sentence for each offense and increases if a dangerous weapon is used in the commission of the crime. The FBI continues to provide financial institutions with the best practices for security to make them less vulnerable to robberies.

If anyone has any information on the bank robbery above, or any bank robbery, please call the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force at 303-629-7171; or remain anonymous by calling CRIMESTOPPERS at 720-913-STOP (7867).