Law Enforcement

EAST PALO ALTO – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., community leaders and regional law enforcement officials today announced the completion of Project Safe Neighborhood, a nine-month multi-agency “crime crackdown and citizen mobilization” aimed at curbing a wave of violence plaguing the City of East Palo Alto.

“This multi-agency crime crackdown and citizen mobilization put a real dent in the wave of violent crime plaguing East Palo Alto because law enforcement agencies joined together with a large group of involved citizens,” Brown told a news conference with community leaders and officials from the East Palo Alto Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. “Nevertheless,” Brown added, “the fight against crime in East Palo Alto is far from over. Gangs in California are getting increasingly bold, spreading out from neighborhoods to terrorize whole cities and even regions. Combating this new breed of urban gangsters requires widespread citizen involvement and a coordinated attack by both uniformed and undercover officers, suppressing mid and low level drug dealers day after day.”

A wave of violence struck East Palo Alto in late 2006, resulting in six homicides and 67 shootings. In response, Brown sent undercover agents from the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement to gather intelligence and lead an anti-violence task force. Bureau agents joined with law enforcement agencies including the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, San Jose Police Department and East Palo Alto Police Department to conduct undercover investigations into upper-level drug traffickers, leading to arrests and drugs seizures including:

• 77 grams of heroin and 28 grams of black tar heroin
• 156 grams of cocaine
• 558 grams of crack-cocaine
• Two pounds of crystal methamphetamine

Together with numerous law enforcement agencies, the East Palo Alto Police Department made over 250 arrests, 400 parole and probation searches, 500 gang contacts and seized 45 firearms. Since the project was initiated, crime and violence has dropped dramatically in the city and there has been only one homicide.

The East Palo Alto Police Department also mobilized community members to participate in a 1000 person unity march and a 300 person youth summit. Community Organizations and police also engaged in crisis intervention, conflict mediation and negotiated cease-fires between rival gangs.

Other participants in today’s press conference include: City of East Palo Alto Mayor David Woods, City of East Palo Alto Vice-Mayor Patricia Foster, San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks, San Mateo County District Attorney Jim Fox, United States Attorney’s Office, California Highway Patrol Deputy Commissioner Art Anderson, San Mateo County Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association Chief Susan Manheimer, San Mateo County Chief Probation Officer Loren Buddress, For Youth By Youth (FYBY) Douglas Fort, One East Palo Alto Executive Director Faye McNair-Knox, EPA Unity March & Rally Director Marina Latu, Pastor Paul Baines, East Palo Alto Police Chaplains, City of East Palo Alto Police Chief Ronald Davis.

California Attorney General Brown has made the fight against crime a top priority. In June, Brown’s Gang Suppression Enforcement Team took down 32 key leaders and associates of the Loc Town Crips, a Stockton-based Cambodian street gang responsible for extensive drug and gun trafficking. Agents uncovered widespread violence and drug dealing, including drive-by shootings and sales of methamphetamine, ecstasy and marijuana in California and around the United States.

In August, The Department of Justice cracked down on the A-Town Gang, a major central valley gang that terrorized the town of Atwater with robberies and murders and ran narcotics to states including Montana and Washington. Special agents joined the Atwater Police Department to serve 40 search warrants, arrest 26 suspects, and intercept a bulk delivery of marijuana, dismantling the gang’s criminal apparatus.

The California Department of Justice, Division of Law Enforcement is one of the largest state investigative law enforcement agencies in the United States. The division employs 450 sworn Special Agents, 200 forensic scientists, 600 civilian employees, and has an annual budget of $182 million. It is comprised of eight operational bureaus which include the California Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, the Bureau of Gambling Control, the Bureau of Firearms, the Bureau of Forensic Services, the Criminal Intelligence Bureau, the Mission Support Branch, and the Western States Information Network.

In August, Brown announced the appointment of George Anderson, Sacramento County Undersheriff, as the 13th Director of the Division of Law Enforcement for the California Department of Justice.

SAN FRANCISCO—California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that the Division of Gambling Control has caught, red-handed, two counterfeiters who were feeding fake $100 bills into slot machines at a Tribal Casino in Mendocino County.

Commenting on the counterfeiter’s tactics, Attorney General Brown said, “These two bandits used home printers to make fake bills that tricked casino slot machines into paying out more than $100,000. Our Division of Gambling Control demonstrated great skill and incredible ingenuity in catching and arresting these counterfeiters.

Jack Daniels Ewing, 27, and Mikael Inturbe, 27, were arrested today at the Sho-Ka-Wah Casino in Hopland on charges of conspiracy, counterfeiting and burglary after a four-month investigation revealed that the two-man team was bleaching real $1 bills and using home printers to make counterfeit $100 bills. The counterfeiters bilked at least 20 casinos in Northern California and Nevada out of more than $100,000.

While under surveillance, the suspects were observed passing off large quantities of counterfeit “old style” $100 bills through the bill validators of gaming machines at Northern California and Nevada casinos. The suspects demonstrated familiarity with the security features of the bill validators and were proficient at avoiding detection.

In most cases the suspects fed bills into the machine, cashed out, and left the casino. Occasionally, the suspects used the fake bills to play the slot machines, sometimes winning up to $4000.

The suspects leased rental cars from a variety of Bay Area rental car companies in an effort to evade authorities. They also employed the services of third party associates to rent the vehicles on their behalf. The suspects were known to wear a variety of baseball-style caps from different sports teams, a trademark disguise that used as they moved from casino to casino.

During a raid of an Extended Stay Hotel in Richmond California where one of the suspects was residing, investigators found two printers, a scanner, rubber gloves, chemical bleaching solutions, a stack of bleached bills, and a pile of baseball caps.

The California Department of Justice joined the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department in apprehending the suspects today at the Sho-Ka-Wah Casino in Hopland, Mendocino County. The suspects were caught red-handed as they were feeding fraudulent bills into machines.

Today’s Arrestees include:

• Mikael Inturbe (DOB 1/18/1980) who resides at the 100 Block of Oxford Street in Hercules, California.

• Jack Daniels Ewing (DOB 7/28/1980) who was apprehended at an Extended Stay Hotel on the 3100 Block of Garrity Way in Richmond, California. His permanent address is in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Both suspects were charged with 182 PC (Conspiracy), 475(a) PC (Counterfeiting) and 182 PC (Burglary). Bail is set at $300,000 for each defendant.

According to FBI statistics, there are approximately 100,000 forgery and counterfeiting charges filed in the United States annually. The Division of Gambling Control’s investigation into this case remains active and ongoing.

Photos of the suspects and a counterfeit bill will be uploaded to the Attorney General’s website: www.ag.ca.gov/newsalerts. Stay tuned for updates.

LOS ANGELES – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that the backlog of DNA samples collected from convicted felons—which stood at 295,000 in July 2006—has been eliminated.

At a news conference with Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, Brown said: “The state has the third largest DNA database in the world so eliminating the backlog is a major milestone in combating crime in California. The next phase—collecting DNA samples from all persons arrested for felonies in California—will begin January 1, 2009. I will use the full resources at my command to meet this challenging goal.”

Proposition 69, passed in November 2004, required all convicted felons to submit a DNA sample to the CAL-DNA Data Bank Program. In response, the Program immediately hired and trained new DNA analysts and started a statewide DNA sample collection training program. An executive order, requiring expedited DNA collection from all incarcerated felons and parolees resulted in a peak of 70,000 submissions in April of 2005—over twice the number received in the year prior to Proposition 69—for a total submission in 2005 alone of about 300,000 samples.

The Attorney General’s Office, in collaboration with the Governor, identified the critical need to eliminate the developing backlog. Utilizing existing personnel in a special overtime project, along with the validation and implementation of new methods, the Program boosted analytical capacity to over 40,000 DNA samples per month. Increased efforts to enhance recruitment and retention allowed CAL-DNA to find the trained analysts necessary to meet the next wave of Proposition 69 mandates—the implementation of the all-adult-felon-arrestee provision in January 2009—estimated at 390,000 submissions per year.

In 1990 CAL-DNA was established in the Division of Law Enforcement, Bureau of Forensic Services in DOJ; and in 1994 funding for sex offender collections was obtained. The expected number of offender DNA samples submitted at that time was 40,000 per year. After 10 years, the inclusion of violent felons and other qualified offenders in 2004 had expanded the database to about 300,000.

California Attorney General’s Office now has the third largest DNA Database in the world, just behind the United States as a whole and Great Britain. CAL-DNA has over 940,000 in the searchable database, known as the CAL-DNA Data Bank, as part of the National DNA Index System, which is operated and overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Unit.

CAL-DNA has to date reported over 5,000 offender hits, or linkages established by a common DNA profile between crime evidence and an offender in the database. These hits continue to solve crimes and improve public safety.

A press release with charts is attached.

In response to requests for reaction to yesterday's arrest of Norman Hsu, the California Department of Justice is providing the following information:

As you know, Norman Hsu was charged in an 18 count felony complaint in August 1991 with stealing $1 million from approximately 20 investors in a Ponzi-type scheme to buy and resell latex gloves that did not exist. He was held to answer after a preliminary hearing in November of 1991 and an information was filed in the superior court charging Hsu with 16 counts of grant theft and excessive taking allegations.

Mr. Hsu agreed to a negotiated disposition of the case on February 6, 1992; he entered a no contest plea to one count of grand theft and admitted an excessive taking allegation. The agreement called for a three year sentence to state prison and an order for restitution to all of the victims.

Mr. Hsu failed to appear for sentencing on June 10, 1992, and a bench warrant issued for his arrest with bail set at $2,000,000.

On August 31, 2007, Mr. Hsu surrendered at the San Mateo County Superior Court before Judge James Ellis. Judge Ellis denied a request to lower the bail and remanded Mr. Hsu pending the posting of bail or a bail hearing. He posted the $2 million bond and agreed to return to court for a hearing where he would turn in his passport on September 5, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. He did not appear at that hearing and his bail was revoked and a bench warrant for his arrested was issued by the San Mateo Superior Court.

Yesterday, a federal arrest warrant for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution was issued for his arrest. FBI agents arrested Norman Hsu yesterday evening at a hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado.

The bench warrant, issued Wednesday by the San Mateo Superior Court after Hsu failed to appear, is still in effect.

Here are the next steps: Hsu is currently still in the hospital in Colorado. After a hearing before a federal magistrate in Colorado, Hsu will be transferred to a federal district court in California for release back to San Mateo County where he will face the felony grand theft charge of which he pled no contest to in 1992. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office will lead the extradition from Colorado back to California after Hsu is released from the hospital and federal custody.

You may attribute the following quote to Deputy Attorney General Ralph Sivilla: 'We appreciate the excellent work by the FBI and the United State Attorney's Office in obtaining an arrest warrant and apprehending Mr. Hsu as quickly as possible.'

SACRAMENTO – At a meeting with the League of California Cities, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today challenged local officials to “jump in now and lead the California campaign against oil dependency and worsening climate change.” Brown’s meeting with the League comes on the heels of a landmark agreement with San Bernardino County to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the county level.

During an address presented today at the 109th annual League meeting in Sacramento, Attorney General Brown said: “Under the Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, California is required to cut greenhouse gases dramatically, starting in 2012. Yet the challenge is so daunting—and growing daily—that we can’t wait five years to act. With intensifying hurricanes, heat waves and forest fires, the problem is upon us. Local governments should jump in now and lead the campaign against oil dependency and worsening climate change.”

Brown warned the officials that increasing oil dependency and global warming threaten the well-being of communities throughout the state. Potential problems, he said, include the following:

• Higher temperatures that reduce the amount of water stored in the Sierra snow pack and threaten the reliability of half the surface water in the state.
• Rising sea levels that increase coastal erosion and introduce seawater into the delta and levee systems.
• Increasing levels of smog.
• Increasing electricity demands that overburden the state’s power grid.
• Extreme heat events that increase the risk of dehydration, heatstroke and heart attack.

Under California law, the state is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and then reducing 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. To achieve the state’s 2020 target, California must reduce current emissions by at least 25%.

Local governments and agencies are responsible, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), to address the potential impacts of global warming. To date, the Attorney General has submitted formal comments to thirteen local jurisdictions, under CEQA, encouraging them to evaluate and lessen the increases in CO2 emissions caused by land use decisions. A recent agreement with San Bernardino established a unique greenhouse gas reduction plan that identifies sources of emissions and sets reduction targets for the County.

Local government is already taking a leadership role in California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Institute for Local Government has partnered with the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties to launch a California Climate Action Network to fight global warming. The network proposes a variety of actions that can be taken by local jurisdictions to cut greenhouse gas emissions including: conserving energy, reducing travel distances, and using lower carbon fuels.

The Climate Action Network’s brief overview is attached. For more information visit: http://www.ca-ilg.org/climatechange/

To watch footage from Brown's speech please visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsOptWbPjI

EL CENTRO – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the “total dismantlement” of a significant Mexican Mafia cell in Imperial and San Diego Counties after a twenty-month investigation led to the indictment of 31 mafia members. The attorney general will prosecute the case with the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office.

California Attorney General Brown said: “The state will prosecute, to the fullest extent, these Mexican Mafia members and associates for their heinous crimes. Today’s arrests should send a strong message--law enforcement at all levels will fight for total dismantlement of these violent criminal organizations.”

In 2005, officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, California Department of Corrections, Imperial County District Attorney’s Office and California Attorney General’s Office formed the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force to conduct an investigation into the mafia’s criminal activities. The results of the investigation led the San Diego County Grand Jury to provide an indictment of the 31 defendants on August 21, 2007.

The indictment indicates that in November 2005, Mexican Mafia member Richard Buchanan of San Diego transferred authority over criminal activities in Imperial County to Patrick Ponce. Ponce oversaw drug trafficking operations and the extortion of local criminals, such as drug dealers and alien smugglers, in Imperial County.

Under the 46-count indictment, defendants are charged with violations of the California Penal, Health and Safety Codes, including: conspiracy to commit extortion and distribution of narcotics, attempted murder, solicitation to commit murder, kidnapping, extortion, attempted extortion, torture, drug sales, firearms sales, assault with the intent to commit great bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of an assault weapon. All 46 counts are gang-related under the California’s Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, an enhancement that ensures all mafia members will face stiff sentences, if convicted, of seven years to life imprisonment.

The Mexican Mafia was formed as prison gang in Los Angeles during the mid-1950s and today it is considered to be one of most powerful, violent, and well-organized criminal organizations in California. The mafia’s connections reach beyond California prison walls to locations throughout the United States and Mexico. The California Department of Corrections reports that there are approximately 150 validated members and associate members of the Mexican Mafia that constitute the organization’s top leadership. A typical Mexican Mafia member has authority over criminal activities in a given jurisdiction, such as a prison or an entire county. In California, the Mexican Mafia sends orders, from prison, to thousands of local Hispanic gang members who carry out commands within prisons and on the streets.

During the investigation that led up to today’s crackdown, agents arrested 12 gang members and seized firearms, heroin, and methamphetamine.

Other law enforcement agencies who assisted with the investigation were the El Centro Police Department, Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, Calexico Police Department, Brawley Police Department, Holtville Police Department, California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Border Patrol, California Department of Corrections, Parole Division, Imperial Valley Narcotic Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The defendants will be arraigned next Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. in San Diego Superior Court, Department 11. The indictment is attached.

LOS ANGELES-Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that special agents of the California Department of Justice and Riverside deputy sheriffs have apprehended Rolando Luda Ramos, 25, a Soboba Casino surveillance technician, believed to have master-minded last week's $1.5 million casino robbery.

Attorney General Brown, praising the officers involved, said, 'These officers demonstrated incredible ingenuity in tracking down Ramos and taking him into custody. The suspect apparently used knowledge from his work at the casino to plot the robbery. Our D.O.J. Special Investigation Unit joined with the Sheriff's Department in providing the rapid response that made the arrest possible.'

Riverside Sheriff Bob Doyle said, “Our team of investigators did a remarkable job of tracking Ramos and those who assisted him in this robbery. Ramos is in our Southwest Detention Center and we are holding him without bail. We are charging him with robbery, kidnapping, and false imprisonment. We have recovered approximately 1.3 of the 1.5 million dollars taken at gun point by Ramos and we are actively working leads to recover as much of the outstanding balance as possible.”

Ramos was caught Saturday at a hotel on El Segundo Boulevard near the Los Angeles International Airport. Recently, Ramos had applied for an emergency passport and may have been preparing to flee the country. He was found wearing a costume and in possession of cocaine.

On Friday, officials apprehended Eric Alan Aguilera, 23, the suspected getaway driver from the Casino robbery.

ATWATER — California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced a “major gang takedown,” following the arrest of dozens of A-Town Gang members in the town of Atwater. The crackdown, by State Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agents, includes significant drug and gun seizures.

Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. said: “Too many Central Valley gang members think they can act with impunity. Law abiding citizens have too long been terrorized by thugs and small-time gangsters. Today’s major gang takedown should send a message: the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement will use every available legal tactic to rid rural counties of this growing cancer.”

The 150 member A-Town gang ran narcotics to states including Montana and Washington and terrorized Atwater--for decades--with robberies, murders, and illegal use of dangerous weapons. Today’s takedown culminated a focused effort to dismantle the A-Town crime apparatus and provide evidence for prosecution of its members to the fullest extent of the law. Investigations by Department of Justice agents garnished extensive intelligence on the gang’s national drug trafficking and criminal activity.

During Phase I of the takedown, which occurred Saturday morning, agents arrested seven top gang members and seized cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, firearms, vehicles and approximately $40,000. To date, agents have served approximately 40 search warrants, arrested approximately 26 suspects, and intercepted a bulk delivery of marijuana destined for Montana. Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agents utilized intelligence tactics including gang graffiti tracking, arrest statistics analysis, and gang member and informant interviews.

Gang activity has plagued the city of Atwater and County of Merced for a number of years. Around 1990 the A-Town Dukes criminal gang was formed in Atwater and eventually became the A-Town Surenos, now commonly known as A-Town. This is the city’s largest gang and members are located all over Merced County. Gang members have been involved in numerous crimes including shootings, drug possession, drug sales, vehicle thefts, robberies and homicides.

Agencies involved in today’s operation include: California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement GSET (Gang Suppression Enforcement Team), Atwater Police Department, Merced County District Attorney’s Office, Merced County Sheriff’s Department, Merced Police Department, and the California Highway Patrol.
GSET Agents are experts in conducting complex investigations needed to dismantle violent criminal street gangs. The agents identify gang members, investigate gang-related violent crime, and assist local law enforcement agencies in gathering intelligence to conduct investigations and arrest top-level gang members.

WHAT: California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. will join with law enforcement at the 16th Annual National Gang Violence Conference sponsored by the California Gang Investigators Association and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, July 17, 2007. Attorney General Brown will be giving opening remarks.

WHO: Attorney General Brown joins with national and state law enforcement officials including Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Michael Sullivan. 1700 members of law enforcement are expected to attend the conference.

WHEN: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, July 17, 2007.

WHERE: Anaheim Marriott Hotel, Grand Ballroom

NOTE: for more conference information: http://www.cgiaonline.org/Conference2007/Six-Page-Flyer.pdf

SAN DIEGO -- The California Department of Justice today presented its evaluation of the fifth and final case reviewed by the San Diego District Attorney’s Office involving an officer-involved shooting in the Vista area. In each of these five cases the San Diego District Attorney’s Office concluded the shootings were justified and declined to prosecute.

The Department of Justice released its findings on four of these cases in May, 2007 and determined that the involved deputies acted without discriminatory animus and justifiably used deadly force either in self defense of in defense of others. In this final case, the July 29, 2005 shooting of Jorge Ramirez by Deputy Mark Ritchie, the Department of Justice finds that the District Attorney’s decision not to prosecute was reasonable and not an abuse of her discretion.

In February of this year, after the District Attorney declined prosecution in these cases, the Coalition for Justice and El Grupo asked the Department of Justice to review the District Attorney’s decision and the department agreed to do so. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and Sheriff William Kolender cooperated fully with the Department of Justice’s review.

A case summary and facts concerning the shooting and conclusions of the District Attorney and Department of Justice are discussed in the attached memorandum.