Category: FBI

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

Today the FBI released Hate Crime Statistics, 2020, the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s latest compilation about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. The 2020 data, submitted by 15,136 law enforcement agencies, provide information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

Law enforcement agencies submitted incident reports involving 7,759 criminal incidents and 10,532 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. Please note the UCR Program does not estimate offenses for the jurisdictions of agencies that do not submit reports. Highlights of Hate Crime Statistics, 2020, follow. (Due to rounding, percentage breakdowns may not add to 100%.)

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

Director Christopher Wray has named four new special agents in charge at the Washington Field Office and shifted a fifth to a different SAC position.

Michael H. Glasheen, SAC, Counterterrorism Division 

Mr. Glasheen joined the FBI as a special agent in 2001 and was assigned to the Chicago Field Office to investigate international terrorism matters. He moved in 2011 to the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington as a supervisory special agent. In 2014, Mr. Glasheen transferred to the Seattle Field Office, where he first led the Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force then served as the assistant special agent in charge of Seattle’s Counterterrorism Division. He returned to FBI Headquarters as a section chief in the Counterterrorism Division in 2019.

Mr. Glasheen earned a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University and a master’s degree from Gonzaga University. Prior to joining the FBI, he served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Jeffrey L. Cannon, SAC, Mission Services Division 

Mr. Cannon joined the FBI as a special agent in 1999. He served on the Organized Crime/Drug Task Force and then the Joint Terrorism Task Force in the Phoenix Field Office before his promotion to the Counterterrorism Division at Headquarters in 2005. In 2007, he was promoted to unit chief in the International Operations Division and was named the assistant legal attaché in Athens in 2009. Two years later he took charge of the violent crime program in Phoenix, and, in 2014, was appointed an assistant special agent in charge in the San Diego Field Office. Mr. Cannon was promoted to section chief in the Counterterrorism Division at Headquarters in 2016. In 2020, he was named a deputy assistant director of the Security Division at Headquarters.

Mr. Cannon earned a bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s University. Prior to joining the FBI, he worked at one of the Big Four accounting firms.

Wayne A. Jacobs, SAC, Criminal/Cyber Division 

Mr. Jacobs joined the FBI as a special agent in 2003 and was assigned to the New York Field Office to work government and financial fraud and, later, violent crimes and gangs. He was promoted to supervisory special agent in 2014 and transferred to the Criminal Investigative Division at Headquarters. In 2016, he was named a violent gangs task force squad supervisor in the Los Angeles Field Office. He was named the assistant special agent in charge of the Mission Support Branch of the Newark Field Office in 2018, and in 2020 was promoted to a section chief in the Counterintelligence Division at Headquarters.

Mr. Jacobs earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree from Columbia University. Before he joined the FBI, he was a trading systems analyst.

Anthony T. Riedlinger, SAC, Counterintelligence Division 

Mr. Riedlinger joined the FBI as a special agent in 1996 and was assigned to the Merrillville Resident Agency of the Indianapolis Field Office to investigate violent crime and public corruption. He worked a temporary assignment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and was named the assistant legal attaché in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2006. He moved to the Criminal Investigative Division at Headquarters in 2009 and was promoted to unit chief in the International Operations Division in 2012. He moved to the Louisville Field Office in Kentucky in 2013 and worked violent crimes against children. In 2016, he was selected as an assistant special agent in charge for the Chicago Field Office and as a section chief for the Counterintelligence Division at Headquarters in 2018.

Mr. Riedlinger earned a bachelor’s degree from Millikin University. Before joining the FBI, he was a public accountant and police officer in Bloomington, Illinois.

Stacey Moy, SAC, Intelligence and Incident Response Division 

Mr. Moy joined the FBI as a special agent in 2004 and investigated foreign counterintelligence and espionage cases in the Washington Field Office, where he was also a SWAT operator. He was promoted to supervisory special agent in the Counterintelligence Division at Headquarters in 2009, the first of several assignments there. He transferred in 2011 to supervise a counterproliferation squad in the Oakland Resident Agency of the San Francisco Field Office, and returned to the Counterintelligence Division at Headquarters as a unit chief in 2014; he was later an assistant section chief. He moved to the San Francisco office as an assistant special agent in charge in 2016 for criminal programs, including financial crimes, public corruption, civil rights, and crimes against children. He returned to the Counterintelligence Division as section chief in 2017 and was promoted to deputy assistant director in 2019. Mr. Moy was appointed SAC of the Counterintelligence Division at the Washington Field Office in 2020.

Mr. Moy graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served as a Navy officer in the Surface Warfare and Naval Special Warfare communities. He earned a master’s degree from U.S. Naval War College and is a senior executive fellow from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

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

Director Christopher Wray has named Nicholas Boshears as special agent in charge of the Operations Support Division of the New York Field Office. Mr. Boshears most recently served as a supervisory inspector in the Inspections Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington.

Mr. Boshears joined the FBI as a special agent in 1999 and was assigned to the Boston Field Office. He worked white-collar and counterterrorism cases, served on the Evidence Response Team, was the coordinator of the Hazardous Materials Response Team, and was also a special agent bomb technician.

He was promoted in 2008 to supervisory special agent and transferred to the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center in the FBI Laboratory Division. He supervised intelligence operations involving the exploitation of items collected from around the world.

In 2012, Mr. Boshears was promoted to unit chief in the International Operations Division and was responsible for the operation of seven legal attaché offices in Africa. The next year, Mr. Boshears transferred to the Washington Field Office, where he supervised intelligence operations.

He was promoted to legal attaché of Tunis, Tunisia, in 2016, overseeing FBI investigative and operational activities in Algeria, Libya, Niger, and Tunisia. When he returned, Mr. Boshears reported to the Pittsburgh Field Office as an assistant special agent in charge, responsible for the national security program and resident agencies in West Virginia. He was promoted to the Inspection Division in 2020.

Mr. Boshears deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq on several occasions to support counterterrorism operations. He was awarded the FBI Shield of Bravery and a Superior Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State, and was decorated by the Department of Defense for his interagency efforts in Afghanistan.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Boshears was a U.S. Navy surface warfare officer and was a firefighter in Knoxville, Tennessee. He earned a Bachelor of Science in liberal arts from Oregon State University and a master’s degree in military science from the Marine Corps University.

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

HOUSTON, TX—The FBI Violent Crime Task Force needs the public’s help identifying and locating a suspect dubbed the “Backpack Bandit” who hit two west Houston banks in two days. Crime Stoppers of Houston is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the robber. He used a military green or khaki backpack during both robberies.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. on August 25, 2021, a man entered Regions Bank located at 1502 Eldridge Pkwy. He walked behind the teller counter, pulled out a gun, and ordered the employees to give him cash. The suspect placed the undisclosed amount of money in a military green or khaki backpack, left the bank, and was seen walking south through the parking lot.

The same man is believed to have robbed another bank at approximately 11:24 a.m. on Thursday, August 26, 2021, at the Member’s Choice Credit Union located at 1657 S. Fry Rd. in Katy, TX. He entered the bank, immediately pulled out a gun, corralled all employees behind the teller counter, and demanded cash. The suspect went behind the teller counter and placed an undisclosed amount of money into the same military backpack he had used the day before. After leaving the bank, he was seen running around the shopping center to the back of the bank.

Witnesses described the “Backpack Bandit” as a black male in his late 20s or early 30s, approximately 5’11” tall, with a thin build. On Wednesday he wore a white long-sleeved shirt, black Adidas track pants, and black sneakers. On Thursday he was dressed in a brown hoodie with a stripe down the sleeves that read “Los Angeles,” blue jeans, and orange or red sneakers. During both robberies, the man wore white-framed sunglasses, a black Adidas baseball cap, a black COVID mask, and black gloves.

Crime Stoppers may pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification, charging, and/or arrest of the suspect in this case. Information may be reported by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477), submitted online at www.crime-stoppers.org or through the Crime Stoppers mobile app. Only tips and calls DIRECTLY TO Crime Stoppers are anonymous and eligible for a cash reward.

Photographs of the bank robbery suspect can be found on Twitter @FBIHouston.

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

SANTA ANA, CA—A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging a Huntington Beach man with child exploitation offenses, including the possession, distribution, and production of child pornography, the Justice Department announced today.

Mark Phillip Oster, 61, who served as a referee and a coach in the American Youth Soccer Organization from 2015 through 2021, was named in a four-count indictment filed Wednesday. The indictment charges Oster with two counts of producing child pornography, one count of distributing child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography.

Oster has been in federal custody since July 30, when FBI agents arrested him pursuant to a criminal complaint that charged him with possession of child pornography.

During this investigation, the FBI uncovered evidence indicating Oster engaged in illegal conduct with minor victims.

Anyone who has information regarding the case against Oster or who may know someone victimized by the defendant is requested to contact the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565 or through the FBI online tip portal. Identified victims may be eligible for certain services and rights under federal and/or state law.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Oster is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment in United States District Court in Santa Ana on September 7.

If he were to be convicted of the four counts in the indictment, Oster would face a statutory maximum sentence of 100 years in federal prison. Additionally, each count production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Beshai of the Santa Ana Branch Office and Trial Attorney Kyle Reynolds of the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section are prosecuting this case.