Law Enforcement

LOS ANGELES -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today convened a Leadership Group of the state’s district attorneys to collectively develop smart and practical recommendations to reduce gun violence through enforcement of existing laws and prevention efforts.

“Gun violence continues to be a distressing and persistent problem in the United States, but California is leading the nation in smart, common-sense gun policies designed to protect our communities,” said Attorney General Harris. “By working together, law enforcement and our state’s district attorneys can make a difference by improving enforcement and increasing prevention to help keep all Californians safe from gun violence.”

At the meeting, district attorneys discussed current programs that effectively reduce gun violence and how to better enforce current gun laws. The Leadership Group will prepare a report of best practices that will serve as models for law enforcement in other communities to adopt and as models for potential legislative reform.

Attorney General Harris discussed the importance of the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) which takes guns out of the hands of those prohibited from owning them.

“The APPS program is unique to California and it is simple common-sense that prohibited persons should not possess firearms in violation of the law,” Attorney General Harris said. “The Department of Justice will be increasing the number of agents conducting these smart and effective operations.”

Earlier this month, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 140, which gives $24 million to the APPS program. With the funds, the Attorney General will hire 36 additional agents. The Department of Justice will be able to increase enforcement operations statewide, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno and Riverside.

California is the only state with a program like APPS, which identifies people who previously purchased one or more guns, but are later prohibited from owning them. A person becomes prohibited if he or she is convicted of a felony or a violent misdemeanor, is placed under a domestic violence restraining order or is determined to be mentally unstable.

Over the last two years, DOJ agents have investigated nearly 4,000 people and seized nearly 4,000 weapons, including nearly 2,000 handguns and more than 300 assault weapons. In the first four months of 2013, agents have collected 461 firearms and 23,080 rounds of ammunition statewide and collected 84 firearms and 9,482 rounds in the Los Angeles area.

LOS ANGELES -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today filed an enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (Chase) alleging that the bank engaged in fraudulent and unlawful debt-collection practices against tens of thousands of Californians.

The suit alleges that Chase engaged in widespread, illegal robo-signing, among other unlawful practices, to commit debt-collection abuses against approximately 100,000 California credit card borrowers over at least a three-year period.

“Chase abused the judicial process and engaged in serious misconduct against California credit card borrowers,” Attorney General Harris said. “This enforcement action seeks to hold Chase accountable for systematically using illegal tactics to flood California’s courts with specious lawsuits against consumers. My office will demand a permanent halt to these practices and redress for borrowers who have been harmed.”

From January 2008 through April 2011, Chase filed thousands of debt collection lawsuits every month in the State of California. On one day alone, Chase filed 469 such lawsuits in California. The Attorney General’s complaint against Chase alleges that, to maintain this pace, Chase employed unlawful practices as shortcuts to obtain judgments against California consumers with speed and ease that could not have been possible if Chase had adhered to the minimum substantive and procedural protections required by law.

“At nearly every stage of the collection process, Defendants cut corners in the name of speed, cost savings, and their own convenience, providing only the thinnest veneer of legitimacy to their lawsuits,” the complaint states.

Chase used California’s judicial system as a mill to obtain default judgments, the suit alleges, using illegal tactics to flood the state’s court system in order to secure default judgments and garnish wages from Californians.

The alleged misconduct includes:

• Robo-signing: Chase illegally robo-signed various litigation filings, including sworn documents, declarations, and verified complaints, without reviewing the relevant files or bank records or even reading the documents before signing.

• “Sewer Service”: Chase failed to properly serve notice of debt collection lawsuits against consumers while claiming they had been served as required by law. This practice, known as “sewer service,” deprives the consumer of any notice of the lawsuit.

• Filing Irregularities: Chase haphazardly assembled its official legal filings. For example, Chase failed to redact consumers’ personal information in attachments to filings, potentially exposing them to identity theft and in violation of California law. In addition, when asking courts to enter default judgments against consumers, Chase consistently swore under penalty of perjury that the consumers were not on active military duty. In fact, Chase never checked.  This deprived servicemembers of important legal protections to which they are entitled while on active duty.

The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and a copy of the complaint is attached to the online version of this release at http://oag.ca.gov.

Consumers who believe they have been victims of this misconduct may submit a complaint online at http://oag.ca.gov/consumers.

SACRAMENTO -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today praised the passage of a bill she is sponsoring to upgrade and expand California’s prescription drug monitoring program as an important step in combating a serious public health and law enforcement issue. The bill passed out of the Senate Business and Professions Committee on a 7 to 2 vote.

The Department of Justice’s Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) program and Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) allow authorized prescribers and pharmacists to quickly review controlled substance information and patient prescription history in an effort to identify and deter drug abuse and diversion.

“This legislation will modernize and strengthen the program and provide doctors and law enforcement with a powerful tool to fight prescription drug abuse,” Attorney General Harris said. “CURES is about making government smarter and more efficient. Senate Bill 809 will help save lives.”

Senate Bill 809 by Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) will require all prescribers and dispensers to enroll in and use the system.

“SB 809 allows us to not only save, but strengthen, the CURES program,” said Senator DeSaulnier. “This must be a top priority for California. The technology exists for us to make a real difference in the prescription drug epidemic, and too many lives have been lost for us not to take action. The price to pay is small when there are thousands of lives on the line.”

“Criminal street gangs use the sale of prescription drugs to fund their operations in the United States,” said Chief Dan Drummond of the West Sacramento Police Department. “CURES is a multi-faceted tool that can be used for intervention, prevention, education and ultimately enforcement.”

Attorney General Harris has worked hard to save the CURES program, which had its funding slashed to almost nothing when the Department of Justice took a $71 million budget cut two years ago. She formed a working group with interested parties to push for an improved prescription drug monitoring system.

SB 809 includes a small increase in the provider license fee of 1.16 percent to pay for the annual cost to operate the program and a one-time assessment on health care plans for the upgrade, which will modernize and improve the information gathering and sharing.

In addition, an annual fee on narcotic drug manufacturers who do business in California will pay for two State of California Regional Investigative Prescription Teams. These teams will increase investigation into incidents of prescription drug abuse, pursue organized crime and provide oversight and auditing of prescription pad printers.

Current funding sources are insufficient to operate and maintain CURES.  If another source of funding is not identified, the program will be eliminated on July 1, 2013.

Video of the press conference can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV33itjsrxE

HUMBOLDT COUNTY -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the results of a multi-year operation that resulted in six arrests and the seizure of nearly 3,000 marijuana plants and 44 weapons, including five assault weapons.

The investigation by the North State Marijuana Investigation Team (NSMIT), a California DOJ-led task force, targeted a ring that cultivated and trafficked large amounts of marijuana to be sold illegally on streets across the United States.

“California Department of Justice-led task forces target criminal enterprises running drugs, guns and human beings up and down California,” said Attorney General Harris. “In this case, we have shut down an illegal, multi-state operation and seized drugs, guns and assault weapons.”

On Tuesday, NSMIT agents served 12 search warrants at several locations, in Humboldt County, San Francisco and Sonoma. Agents also served two additional follow-up warrants later in the day at Coldwell Banker office and a storage unit in Fortuna.

As a result of the search warrants, NSMIT agents seized the following: 2,896 marijuana plants, 44 weapons (9 handguns, 9 shotguns, 5 assault rifles, 21 rifles), 15 high-capacity magazines, approximately 400 pounds of processed marijuana, 2 ounces of cocaine, 2 ounces of mushrooms and $74,000 in cash.

Six individuals were arrested during yesterday’s operation: Erik Sordal, 31, charged with child endangerment, cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and possession of assault weapons; Jamie Gilbert, 35, charged with possession of marijuana for sale; Scott Moore, 31, charged with possession of marijuana for sale; Emory “Kip” Ayers, 64, charged with possession of cocaine; Shawn Mitten, 35, charged with possession of marijuana for sale; and Alvin Cody Machado, 27, charged with a probation violation, possession of cocaine. Jamie Gilbert was booked into the San Francisco County Jail; Emory Ayers and Alvin Machado were booked into the Sonoma County Jail; and the others were booked into the Humboldt County Jail.

In 2010, NSMIT agents received a tip and launched an investigation.  The DOJ task force was assisted by the Alcohol Beverage Control, California Highway Patrol, Central Valley Marijuana Investigation Team, DEA, Eureka Police Department, Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, Humboldt County Drug Task Force, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team, Siskiyou County-wide Interagency Narcotic Task Force, and Trinity County Sheriff’s Office.

Photographs from the seizure are attached to the online version of this press release at www.oag.ca.gov.

SACRAMENTO -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the arraignment of two individuals who allegedly bought large numbers of stolen smartphones in California for resale in Hong Kong, raking in nearly $4 million in less than a year. The arraignment follows a six-month, multi-state investigation into the trafficking of stolen smart phones by the California Attorney General’s eCrime Unit.

“This international theft ring used fraud and deceit to steal smartphones and exploit the homeless,” said Attorney General Harris. “I applaud the hard work of our Special Agents whose tenacious investigation put an end to this criminal enterprise.”

Defendants Shou Lin Wen, 39, of Sacramento, and Yuting Tan, 27, of Sacramento, were arrested on March 6 and arraigned today on eight felony counts of money laundering, grand theft, possession of stolen property and conspiracy. They are being held in Sacramento County Jail on $1 million bail each.

According to the arrest warrant, co-conspirators in the scheme enlisted individuals from homeless shelters to purchase multiple smart phones such as the Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Blackberry from cell phone carriers. Carriers allow individuals to purchase up to five phones in their name under one plan at a discounted rate. The straw purchasers then delivered the phones to the co-conspirators for a nominal payment. It is alleged that the straw purchasers never intended to follow through with paying for the phones’ contracts which, under California law, constitutes committing theft by false pretenses and designates the phones as stolen property.

Hundreds of stolen phones were then bundled from across the country by middlemen and sent to Wen and Tan, the scheme’s ringleaders, in California. Wen and Tan profited by shipping the stolen phones to Hong Kong, where iPhones can go for as much as $2,000.

Special Agents with the eCrime Unit conducted surveillance operations and tracked parcels across the country to identify the ringleaders. According to the arrest warrant, agents intercepted four of the 110 parcels shipped by Wen and Tan to Hong Kong during the past 12 months. The 412 phones seized from these packages were traced back to phony customers as far away as North Carolina.

During an eight-month period, the defendants’ business self-reported gross sales of $3,948,485.

On March 6, Special Agents with the eCrime Unit conducted an undercover operation in the Sacramento West Marine parking lot, during which they offered to sell 408 “stolen” iPhone 4s and iPhone 5s to Wen and Tan. The defendants agreed to pay $60,600 in cash for 163 phones and were arrested after producing the cash.

In 2011, Attorney General Harris created the eCrime Unit to investigate and prosecute identity theft crimes, cyber crimes and other crimes involving the use of technology.

Photos, and the complaint are attached to the electronic version of this release at: http://oag.ca.gov/news

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Justice announced today that a multi-agency investigation targeting a Sacramento-area burglary ring netted the arrests of more than a dozen gang members, as well as the seizure of assault rifles, handguns and narcotics.

The operation, code-named “Red Bandits,” involved the collaboration of a Department of Justice task force – the Yolo Narcotic Enforcement Team (YONET) – and the West Sacramento Police Department.

Operation Red Bandits targeted a burglary ring made up of Norteno gang members, who committed more than 80 home burglaries and 51 vehicle burglaries in the Sacramento region beginning in December 2012 – along with other violent crimes, including car jackings and shootings. 

Law enforcement from nearly a dozen local, state and federal agencies served 12 state search warrants today in an attempt to recover stolen property.  In total, 13 individuals were arrested and booked into the Yolo County Jail and juvenile hall.  Police also seized three assault rifles, four handguns, (several of which were stolen), two active honey oil labs, five pounds of marijuana, 1/4 pound methamphetamine, ammunition and body armor.  In three of the locations, children were removed by Child Protective Services (CPS) due to their access and proximity to firearms and drugs. 

The individuals arrested today face multiple felony charges related to the possession, sale and distribution of narcotics, as well as conspiracy and other property and violent crimes. Many have prior arrests for firearms-related charges. 

YONET and the West Sacramento Police Department were assisted in today’s search warrants by two of Attorney General Kamala D. Harris’ task forces – the Placer Special Investigations Unit and the Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team (MAVMIT) – as well as the following agencies:  the California Highway Patrol SWAT and High Risk Warrant Entry Team, the Davis Police Department SWAT, FBI SAFE Streets Task Force, West Sacramento Police Department SWAT, Woodland Police Department SWAT, Yolo County Sheriff’s Department SWAT, Yolo County District Attorney’s Office and the Yolo County Gang Task Force.  

SANTA ROSA -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the arrest of three suspects who have been charged in a mortgage fraud scheme targeting struggling Northern California homeowners. Six websites allegedly used by the suspects to advertise their scheme have been intercepted and redirected to a resource page on the California Attorney General’s website.

The felony complaint alleges that Ronald Vernon Cupp, 58, of Santa Rosa, deceived homeowners by falsely advertising a way to “kill” their mortgage debt on six websites including www.wekillyourmortgage.com. Cupp was assisted by Randall Gilbert Heyden, 69, of San Rafael, and Angelle Wertz, 38, of Santa Rosa, a public notary who allegedly certified phony legal documents. Cupp allegedly recorded fraudulent documents, which would only delay a foreclosure, not actually satisfy the preexisting mortgage debt.

“Vulnerable California homeowners thought they were working to save their homes but were actually the victims of a fraudulent scheme,” Attorney General Harris said. "Today, it's not enough to dismantle the brick-and-mortar aspect of a criminal operation; we need to shut down criminal operations in cyberspace as well." 

Cupp, Heyden and Wertz are charged in a 57-count complaint alleging theft, forgery, notary fraud and recording of false documents. They were booked at the Sonoma County Jail on Wednesday, January 23. Cupp and Heyden are being held with bail set at $500,000 and $75,000 respectively. Wertz was released but ordered to appear for arraignment on Friday, January 25.

Through Cupp’s business, North Bay Trust Services, homeowners would often allegedly pay upfront fees of between $1,000 and $10,000 and sign a promissory note or new mortgage for a phony offer to eliminate their mortgage debt. Requiring up-front fees is illegal in California. The suspects would then allegedly record fraudulent documentation purporting to be the attorney for the homeowner’s actual lender and then relinquish the mortgage and record a new deed of trust in favor of North Bay Trust Services. The debt to the original lender was never actually satisfied.

The following six websites have had their service suspended pursuant to a court order at the request of the Attorney General Harris’s eCrime Unit:

http://www.northbaytrustservices.com/

http://wekillyourmortgage.com/

http://santarosatrustandtitle.com/

http://sonomafidelitytitle.com/

http://cortemaderafidelityandtitle.com/

http://marintrustandtitle.com/

These pages have been redirected to the California Attorney General’s website (http://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/doj-investigation) where individuals are able to file an online complaint form if they believe they may have been the victim of the scheme.

The arrests were a result of a joint investigation by the California Department of Justice Mortgage Fraud Strike Force, Northern California Computer Crimes Task Force, Marin County District Attorney’s office, Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office and Santa Rosa Police Department.

Below are tips for homeowners on how to avoid mortgage fraud schemes:

• Never pay an up-front fee for mortgage-related services. It is against California law and should be reported to the California Department of Justice.
• Be skeptical of third party phone or online solicitations.
• Do not give your personal financial information, such as your bank account number, social security number or the name of your loan servicer, to a solicitor. Your bank or loan servicer already has this information.

For free, trustworthy advice, on mortgage related matters call a HUD approved counselor – (888) 995-4673.

The arrest warrant is attached to the online version of this press release at http://oag.ca.gov/.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued recommendations for mobile application (app) developers and the mobile industry to safeguard consumer privacy. Today’s report provides guidance on developing strong privacy practices, translating these practices into mobile-friendly policies, and coordinating with mobile industry actors to promote comprehensive transparency.

“Californians want to know what personal information their apps collect, how it is used and with whom it is shared,” said Attorney General Harris. “To meet this need and keep pace with rapidly changing technology, these recommendations strike a responsible balance between protecting consumers’ personal information and fostering the continued growth of the innovative app economy.”

Today’s report, Privacy on the Go: Recommendations for the Mobile Ecosystem, is the result of an outreach effort that compiled input from stakeholders throughout the mobile industry. Its purpose is to serve as a template for the mobile industry to develop mobile-friendly privacy policies and practices that will improve consumer privacy without stifling innovation.  To accommodate the smaller screens of mobile devices, the report recommends the use of special notifications such as icons, or pop-up notifications to inform consumers about how personally identifiable information is being collected and shared.

The issue of mobile privacy is increasingly pressing as more than half of American adult cell phone owners access the Internet from their phones, and more than 1,600 mobile apps are released every day.

To protect consumers’ online privacy, Attorney General Harris forged an agreement among the seven leading mobile and social app platforms in 2012. The agreement – with Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Research in Motion – involved displaying app privacy policies that users could find in a consistent location in the platform store and review before downloading an app. 

In October 2012, the Attorney General sent letters to approximately 100 mobile app developers and companies that were not in compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act and gave 30 days to post a conspicuous privacy policy. In December, the Attorney General filed the first legal action against Delta Airlines, Inc. for violating California’s online privacy law, which requires apps that collect personally identifiable information to conspicuously post a privacy policy.

Last year, Attorney General Harris also established the Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit to enforce federal and state privacy laws regulating the collection, retention, disclosure, and destruction of private or sensitive information by individuals, organizations, and the government. This includes California’s Online Privacy Protection Act, as well as laws relating to cyber privacy, health and financial privacy, identity theft, government records and data breaches.

A copy of the report is available here: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/privacy/privacy_on_the_go.pdf

To learn more about the Attorney General’s privacy work, visit http://oag.ca.gov/cybersafety.

BAKERSFIELD -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the sentencing of the former Director of Nursing of a Kern Valley Healthcare District hospital with a skilled nursing facility, a rare case in which a medical professional has been criminally charged and sentenced under elder abuse laws for the illegal chemical restraint of patients. 

Gwen D. Hughes, 59, the former Director of Nursing, was sentenced to three years in state prison Wednesday in Kern County Superior Court. Hughes pled no contest on October 11, 2012 to one felony count of elder abuse with a special allegation that the abuse contributed to the victim’s death.

Hughes ordered the administration of psychotropic medications to 23 elderly residents of the skilled nursing facility not for therapeutic reasons, but instead to control and quiet them for the convenience of staff. The drugs were given to patients who were noisy, prone to wandering, who complained about conditions or were argumentative. The drugs hastened three patients’ deaths, according to the investigation, and all 23 suffered some form of adverse physical reaction as a result. Many of the patients were under care for Alzheimer’s or dementia.

“Elder abuse in skilled nursing facilities is a particularly heinous crime because vulnerable victims and their families have placed their trust in the facilities to provide quality care, preserve their dignity and enjoy a better quality of life,” Attorney General Harris said. “This defendant maliciously and dangerously drugged patients for her own personal convenience. This is clearly outrageous conduct that justifies a state prison sentence.”

This case was investigated and charged by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Medical Fraud and Elder Abuse (BMFEA). Reflecting Attorney General Harris’ career-long commitment to elder abuse prosecutions, BMFEA has created specialized teams in Sacramento and Los Angeles composed of legal and medical professionals to investigate cases involving systemic elder abuse.

The California Department of Public Health began an initial investigation in 2007, following complaints from an ombudsman that a patient in the skilled nursing facility had been held down and injected with psychotropic medicine by force. They found evidence of patient harm, and issued a Certificate of Immediate Jeopardy against the facility, before turning the case over to the Justice Department.

Evidence indicated that Hughes directed the hospital’s director of pharmacy to write doctor’s orders for the unnecessary psychotropic medications.   

The orders were signed at a later time by the medical director. Pamela Ott, former chief executive officer of the Kern Valley Health District, pled no contest to one felony count of conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public health based on her failure to adequately supervise the Director of Nursing. Ott was sentenced to three years formal probation, 300 hours of volunteer service, restitution pending conclusion of civil lawsuits. She is required to comply with all orders from the Registered Nursing Board, which is conducting its own investigation into the matter. 

In July 2012, Dr. Hoshang Pormir, the Medical Director, was also sentenced to 300 hours of volunteer service, restitution pending conclusion of civil lawsuits, and a requirement to comply with all orders from the Medical Board. Pormir failed to conduct examinations of patients or monitor their reactions to medications.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris issued the following statement on the decision to overturn the rape conviction of Julio Morales by the 2nd District Court of Appeal:

"The evidence is clear that this case involved a nonconsensual assault that fits within the general understanding of what constitutes rape. This law is arcane and I will work with the Legislature to fix it."