Category: Crime

Mary sends us a link from Get West London which tells the tale of Jason O’Neill who forged documentation and made a collection bucket for the UK charity for British soldiers “Help for Heroes” and took up collections outside Wembley Stadium, only the cash went in his own pocket;

Help For Heroes, which raises money to help British servicemen and women injured in conflict, later confirmed O’Neill was not a registered collector and had never sent the charity any money.

O’Neill, of Barbot Close, Edminton, north London, admitted fraud by false representation and possessing articles for use in fraud at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on March 20 and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for nine months.

Case officer PC Roisin Daly said: “This was a greedy and selfish act.

“O’Neill pre-planned to take advantage of generous members by making a bucket and a pass.

Mr. O’Neill ended up with a suspended jail sentence. So, I guess we’re not the only ones with grifting fakes.

Jilly sends us a link to News4 in Nashville with the news that Ricky Lee Coleman Jr. pleaded guilty to defrauding thousands of veterans and others with his little job training and job placement services companies;

Federal prosecutors said Coleman admitted in court that about 2,600 customers paid his companies more than $900,000 thinking he was going to provide training in the areas of counter-terrorism, counter-assault, personal security and special operations. Authorities said that he also admitted that fewer than 20 of the thousands who paid him were ever assigned to training classes.

The Department of Justice says that he faces extensive jail time;

If convicted, Coleman faces up to 25 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and mail fraud and 20 years in prison for each count of credit card fraud, as well as an additional two year mandatory sentence for aggravated identity theft.

Dude’s gonna have to start training body guards to protect his own body for the next several decades in the Graybar Hotel.

Marine_7002 sends us a link from Detroit News in which they report that Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who we’ve discussed recently, is being blamed for the recent cases of homeowners defending themselves and their families and property from criminals;

At last week’s Command Accountability Meeting, Sandra Hines of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality called the chief “irresponsible” for his comments, and said he is encouraging vigilantism.

Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality Director Ron Scott on Tuesday echoed Hines’ sentiments.

“I think it’s inappropriate for a law enforcement official who’s supposed to be promoting peace to suggest what people already know about their right to defend themselves,” said Scott, whose organization promotes “Peace Zones for Life” as a way to resolve conflicts non-violently.

“When you take a Wild West approach and say, ‘Shoot them,’ it’s irresponsible,” Scott said. “It’s frontier justice at its worst.”

Sure, it’s the police chief’s fault, not the criminals. Craig says that the “recent rash” of shootings this year is only one more justifiable shooting for the same time period as last year. Yep, the “recent rash” surged from 11 last year to 12 this year. So, yeah, clearly the chief is encouraging criminals to go out and get shot.

Adagun Moshood Olalekan was arrested last month, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch for pretending to be a US soldier in Afghanistan to soak the lonely ladies out of their cash;

Olalekan used those profiles on dating sites like Zoosk.com, where he claimed to be widower with a 16-year-old daughter, and romanced American women via “romantic emails and instant messages” and “false promises of marriage,” the indictment claims.

Olalekan then manipulated the women into wiring him thousands of dollars by claiming his grandmother needed medical treatment for mouth cancer, the indictment says.

Olalekan was indicted on four wire fraud charges Tuesday in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, for four payments sent by someone from Collinsville totaling $1061.

Ladies, the simple rule is; if you haven’t met the fellow, don’t send him money. If you have met him, don’t send him money. They don’t need money for operations or to go on leave or to come home from the war.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC in Nigeria actually charged the little dude and he’s facing 17 counts;

Olalekan’s arrest followed a complaint by the United States Department of Homeland Security, alleging that the accused had been impersonating one Lieutenant-Colonel Cabin Cayce Webb, an American soldier on special duties in Afghanistan.

Part of the charge against Olalekan reads: “Adagun Moshood Olalekan (a.k.a Lieutenant Colonel Cadin Cayce Webb) on or about 6th day of October, 2013 in Lagos within the Lagos Judicial Division with intent to defraud obtained the sum $800 (Eight Hundred United States Dollar) by false pretence from Diana Snow by falsely representing to her that you are one Lieutenant Colonel Cadin Cayce Webb which representation you know to be false”.

It’s nice that Nigeria is prosecuting these fellows and that DHS is complaining about them. But, it’s really just easier to avoid these proceedings in the first place.

The Kansas City Star reports that it is suspected that F. Glenn Miller, the fellow who killed three outside a Jewish center last week, got his gun from another person (a straw buyer) since he was a convicted felon and would have been prevented by current laws from purchasing the gun himself.

The person who bought the guns intended for Miller purchased them from a licensed merchant, the law enforcement official said. The source declined to say whether authorities have identified the merchant or determined when the firearms were bought.

A straw buyer breaks the law by lying on the ATF’s Form 4473 that asks about the identity of the true purchaser. (“Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form?”) False statements on the form carry a fine of up to $250,000 and a prison term up to 10 years.

Last week, in New York State, Dawn Nguyen, who bought a gun for murderer and previously convicted felon William Spengler was convicted by state authorities of falsifying a business record and giving the guns to a convicted felon. Spengler used the gun he got from Nguyen to kill two firefighters in Webster, New York last year which contributed to the passage of New York’s draconian SAFE Act. Nguyen now faces federal charges after her sentencing on state charges set for May 19th.

Nothing in the SAFE Act would have prevented Spengler from getting a gun or committing his crime. The fact remains that criminals don’t pay attention to laws, no matter how many get passed to keep guns out of their grubby little paws. Gun laws only punish people willing to obey the law.