Gangs and Organized Crime Groups
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE JOURNAL OF FEDERAL LAW AND PRACTICE Volume 68 November 2020 Number 5 Acting Director Corey F. Ellis Editor-in-Chief Christian A. Fisanick Managing Editor E. Addison Gantt Associate Editors Gurbani Saini Philip Schneider Law Clerks Joshua Garlick Mary Harriet Moore United States The Department of Justice Journal of Department of Justice Federal Law and Practice is published by Executive Office for the Executive Office for United States United States Attorneys Attorneys Washington, DC 20530 Office of Legal Education Contributors’ opinions and 1620 Pendleton Street statements should not be Columbia, SC 29201 considered an endorsement by Cite as: EOUSA for any policy, 68 DOJ J. FED. L. & PRAC., no. 5, 2020. program, or service. Internet Address: The Department of Justice Journal https://www.justice.gov/usao/resources/ of Federal Law and Practice is journal-of-federal-law-and-practice published pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 0.22(b). Page Intentionally Left Blank Gangs & Organized Crime In This Issue Introduction....................................................................................... 1 David Jaffe Are You Maximizing Ledgers and Other Business Records in Drug and Organized Crime Investigations? ............. 3 Melissa Corradetti Jail and Prison Communications in Gang Investigations ......... 9 Scott Hull Federally Prosecuting Juvenile Gang Members........................ 15 David Jaffe & Darcie McElwee Scams-R-Us Prosecuting West African Fraud: Challenges and Solutions ................................................................................... 31 Annette Williams, Conor Mulroe, & Peter Roman Gathering Gang Evidence Overseas ............................................ 47 Christopher J. Smith, Anthony Aminoff, & Kelly Pearson Exploiting Social Media in Gang Cases ....................................... 67 Mysti Degani A Guide to Using Cooperators in Criminal Cases...................... 81 Katy Risinger & Tim Storino Novel Legal Issues in Gang Prosecutions ................................... 99 Teresa Wallbaum The Transnational Anti-Gang Forces ........................................ 117 Charles R. Walsh Wisconsin Native American Drug and Gang Initiative .......... 125 Andrew J. Maier An Introduction to the Office of Enforcement Operations .... 133 J. Robert Bryden II The Federal Witness Security Program: A Retrospective Look................................................................................................. 135 Susan K. Dozier & Donald O’Hearn Thwarting White-Supremacist Gangs: DOJ’s Early Mission and Federal Prosecutors’ Current Battle................... 155 Seth Adam Meinero Gangs & Organized Crime In This Issue Violent Neighborhood Gangs: Two Districts, Two Strategies ....................................................................................... 187 Gretchen C.F. Shappert & Christopher F. Murray Cryptic Communications Used by MS-13 and 18th Street Gangs .............................................................................................. 207 Jessica Affeldt Note From the Editor-in-Chief ................................................... 211 Christian A. Fisanick Introduction David Jaffe Chief Organized Crime and Gang Section Criminal Division Since the Department of Justice (Department) was created 150 years ago, it has been committed to investigating, prosecuting, and vanquishing organized criminal groups and gangs. Organized crime and gang crime exact a harrowing toll. Criminal groups are diverse in both their compositions and the ways they cause misery in lives around the country. Neighborhood gangs and transnational gangs like MS-13 spread violence, traffic drugs, intimidate, threaten, and extort, hurting innumerable victims in countless communities. White-supremacist gangs wreak havoc in prisons and on streets while spewing their racist ideology. Organized West African fraudsters prey on lonely hearts seeking romance and ensnare them in illicit schemes. Domestic and foreign organizations employ a variety of sophisticated methods to hide their communications, launder their assets, plot against rivals, and harm everyday Americans. Unfortunately, I am well acquainted with the proliferation and operation of organized criminal groups. For the past 10 years, I have been honored to work alongside and lead the attorneys and staff of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS), a specialized unit charged with developing and implementing strategies to disrupt and dismantle the most significant regional, national, and international gangs and organized crime groups. Along with United States Attorney’s Offices (USAOs) across the country, we investigate and prosecute important racketeering and gang cases and work with numerous domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies to construct and coordinate effective enforcement strategies. Despite the sinister designs of organized criminals and gangs, Assistant United States Attorneys and talented OCGS trial attorneys, intrepid agents, marshals, and officers, savvy forensic examiners and analysts, and other able staff and partners are meeting the challenge to thwart them. Because of the Department’s dedicated public servants, more and more of these gang members and associates are being brought to justice. And for those who have not been caught and November 2020 DOJ Journal of Federal Law and Practice 1 prosecuted yet, they can be assured they will be held accountable soon. This issue of the Journal of Federal Law and Practice showcases just some of the Department’s efforts to tackle a wide array of organized crime and gangs through painstaking investigations and successful prosecutions. As to investigation and enforcement, this issue features articles on forensic examinations of illicit business records, such as those racketeering enterprises maintain; cryptanalysis of jail and prison communications of prison gangs and communications of Sureño gangs; obtaining gang evidence in foreign countries; exploiting social media in gang cases; the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement’s Transnational Anti-Gang Task Force and its efforts to disrupt and dismantle gangs in Central America; and a task force addressing drug trafficking and gang activity in Native American communities in Wisconsin. As to prosecution, this issue focuses on prosecuting juvenile gang members in the federal system; boons and pitfalls of using gang cooperators; prosecuting West African romance and re-shipping schemes; the Federal Witness Protection Program as a durable tool for developing organized crime prosecutions; novel legal issues in racketeering cases; and two USAOs’ strategies to address the bane of loosely knit, violent neighborhood gangs. In addition, an article on the Department’s prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction Era and other white-supremacist gangs today demonstrates the Department’s historic commitment to battling not only criminal organizations in general, but the long-standing fight against violent white supremacists. My deep thanks to OCGS and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys’ Office of Legal Education and Legal Programs for organizing this issue and to all the authors, reviewers, and editors for their hard work on these thoughtful, informative articles. 2 DOJ Journal of Federal Law and Practice November 2020 Are You Maximizing Ledgers and Other Business Records in Drug and Organized Crime Investigations? Melissa Corradetti Forensic Examiner Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit Federal Bureau of Investigation All businesses keep records. Whether it is legitimate or illicit, a multi-billion-dollar corporation or a small, home-based operation, all businesses need to keep track of inventory, shipments, debt, expenses, profit, payroll, and other critical information. How these records are kept can vary greatly from one organization to the next. Illicit business records in particular are often voluminous, complex, incomplete, and cryptic in nature. Understanding and interpreting the information in these records can give investigators and prosecutors a unique view into an operation from the perspective of the business transactions. The Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU) of the FBI Laboratory has forensic examiners specially trained to examine these records. I. Illicit business records examinations The CRRU examines records of suspected illicit businesses to determine their true nature. Specifically, the Illicit Business Records team specializes in records of drug, gambling, loan, commercial sex, and human smuggling businesses. The evidence CRRU routinely examines includes ledgers, notebooks, pay/owe sheets, and other handwritten documents. Manually entered spreadsheet data, such as Microsoft Excel sheets and the like can also be examined, and with prior approval on a case-by-case basis pending available resources, electronic communications may be accepted. Forensic examiners undergo extensive training on illicit business records and follow established procedures to determine whether records contain characteristics of illicit businesses and, if so, which business. If a specific business is identified, the examiner sets out to determine the size and scope of the business, including the following analytical findings when applicable: November 2020 DOJ Journal of Federal Law and Practice 3 • Revenues and profits; • Dates of operation; • Names and/or roles of participants;1 and • Other related information as found, such as bulk