FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending April 30, 2010

Washington, D.C. April 30, 2010

FBI National Press Office (202) 324-3691

New York: U.S. Citizen Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to al Qaeda

Syed Hashmi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda. Hashmi was arrested on June 6, 2006 at Heathrow Airport in London, shortly before he was to board a flight to Pakistan. He was later extradited to the United States. Hashmi is the first individual to be extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States on terrorism charges. Full Story
Miami: Former COO of Law Firm Charged with Money Laundering Conspiracy

Debra Villegas, formerly the chief operating officer of the Ft. Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt & Adler, was charged with a money laundering conspiracy in connection with the operation of a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. Full Story
Washington Field: Former Head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel Pleads Guilty to Criminal Contempt of Congress

Scott J. Bloch, the former head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for willfully and unlawfully withholding pertinent information from a House committee investigating his decision to have several government computers wiped. Full Story
Sacramento: Man Sentenced to Prison for Sending Anthrax Hoax Letters

Marc M. Keyser was sentenced to 51 months in prison for of three counts of committing an anthrax hoax and two counts of mailing threatening communications. Keyser mailed over 100 packages that contained a CD with excerpts of a new book on terrorism that was labeled in large print “Anthrax Shock and Awe Terror” and a small sugar packet that had been re-labeled with a biohazard symbol and the words “Anthrax sample.” The mailings were sent to various newspapers and other media companies, officials, and retail outlets nationwide, causing police, fire, and hazmat teams to respond to emergency calls in many states. Full Story
Los Angeles: Operator of Best Diamond Funding Sentenced for Running Ponzi Scheme that Defrauded 2,300 Spanish-Speaking Investors

Milton Retana was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for six counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements to government agents. During the course of Retana’s Ponzi scheme, he collected about $62 million from approximately 2,300 victims, who suffered actual loses of about $33 million. Full Story
San Diego: Defendant Sentenced to Prison for Murder of Border Patrol Agent

Christian Daniel Castro-Alvarez was sentenced to serve 480 months in federal prison based on his guilty plea in connection with the death of Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol Agent Robert W. Rosas, Jr. Agent Rosas was shot and killed on July 23, 2009, while he was on a routine patrol near San Diego. Full Story
Philadelphia: Murder of a Federal Witness Leads to Life in Prison for Drug Dealer

Maurice Phillips, the leader of the Phillips Cocaine Organization, was sentenced to life in prison for contracting his cousin to kill a federal witness. Phillips was convicted earlier this month of the murder-for-hire of Chineta Glanville and the killing of her godson, Dane King; conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire; use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire; conspiracy to distribute cocaine; engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise; conspiracy to commit money laundering; concealment of money laundering; and aiding and abetting. Full Story
New Orleans: Fourth New Orleans Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Danziger Bridge Case

Former New Orleans Police Department Officer Robert Barrios pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring with fellow officers to obstruct justice by covering up a police-involved shooting that occurred on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina. Full Story
Boston: Delta Flight 273 Passenger Charged with Interfering with Flight Crew and Making False Bomb Threats on Aircraft

Derek Michael Stansberry was charged in a criminal complaint in the District of Maine with interfering with flight crew members and willfully making false threats about an explosive device on an aircraft. Stansberry, a passenger on Delta flight 273 from Paris to Atlanta on April 27, 2010, was arrested after the flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine, in connection with his alleged illegal activities. Full Story
Charlotte: MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to Death for Racketeering Charge Related to Murder

A federal jury voted unanimously to impose the death penalty against Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umana, convicted earlier this month for conspiracy to participate in racketeering, two counts of murder in aid of the racketeering enterprise known as MS-13, two counts of murder resulting from the use of a gun in a violent crime, possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, extortion, and two criminal counts associated with witness tampering or intimidation. The charges relate to the murders of Ruben Garcia Salinas and his brother, Manuel Garcia Salinas, in 2007 in Guilford County, North Carolina. The jury also found Umana responsible three murders in Los Angeles in 2005; he will be sentenced for those murders at a later date. Full Story

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FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending April 30, 2010