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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

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Feds: Ex-NSA analyst had top-secret-plus info on home computers

McNabb Associates, P.C. (Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers)
Submitted at 2:10 PM January 18, 2012

Politico on January 18, 2012 released the following: By JOSH GERSTEIN Computers seized from a retired National Security Agency analysts home in 2007 contained information that is classified at a level beyond top secret, officials said in court filings Tuesday. A prosecutor and a senior NSA official made the claim to a federal court in Baltimore in response to a motion ex-NSA analyst Kirk Wiebe filed in November, demanding that the Federal Bureau of Investigation return items seized from Wiebes Westminster, Md. home four-and -a-half years ago. Documents [found on hard drives in Wiebe's home] contain information that is currently and properly classified TOP SECRET//SI/REL to USA, FVEY, the deputy chief of staff for signals intelligence policy and corporate issues in NSAs Signals Intelligence Directorate wrote in a declaration. The NSA official who signed the declaration [] gave his name solely as Steven E. T., in keeping with an NSA policy of not publicly identifying most of its employees. Steven E. T. did not detail the nature of the ostensibly classified documents, but explained that SI is an SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) compartment used to protect especially sensitive communications intelligence information. FVEY stands for five eyes, a restriction limiting disclosure of information to officials of the U.S. and four key allies who cooperate closely with NSA: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. According to sources familiar with the case, Wiebes home was searched pursuant to a search warrant issued in 2007 as he, several other NSA veterans and a former House Intelligence Committee staffer were investigated in connection with leaks related to the NSAs warrantless wiretapping program and claims of mismanagement of NSA

programs. Wiebe was never charged with a crime. Justice Department officials say the probes are now closed. A friend and colleague of Wiebe at NSA, Thomas Drake, was indicted in 2010 on 10 felony charges related to alleged mishandling of NSA information. Prosecutors said Drake passed some of the information on alleged NSA mismanagement to the Baltimore Sun, though he was not charged directly with leaking. On the eve of trial last year, prosecutors dropped the felony charges and Drake pled guilty to a misdemeanor offense of accessing a government computer for an unauthorized purpose. Drake was sentenced to one year probation and community service. Wiebe said Tuesday that he was troubled by the governments claim that his computers had critical secrets on them. I am dismayed to hear the government thinks there is classified information on either or both of my two computers. Frankly, I wouldnt put classified information on my computers. After 32 plus years in the business, you dont do that sort of thing, and again frankly speaking I could not conceive of a need to ever do so, Wiebe told POLITICO via e-mail. I have no idea what documents the government is referring to and I am more than a little surprised to hear the government thinks I have 150 pages of NSA information on one of the computers. Secondly, the government does not say I put classified information on my computers, just that there is some there, in the governments opinion, Wiebe said. He said its possible the government concluded that information not considered classified previously or that was never removed from NSA is now classified. Wiebe said NSA may have now deemed to be classified research he and others put together as part of business proposals drafted after leaving the agency. Might the government nowyears laterclaim those concepts are classified? I dont know, but something doesnt seem right, if thats the case, he said.

An attorney for Wiebe and other selfstyled whistleblowers who worked at NSA said she is dubious about the governments classification claims since prosecutors gave Wiebe immunity in 2010 in connection with his statements. It defies credulity that if my clients hard disk drives contained not only classified informationbut SI, a Sensitive Compartmented Information category used to protect especially sensitive intelligence information, that the Justice Department would have given them immunity letters, Jesselyn Radack of the Government Accountability Project said. Prosecutor Thomas Barnard said in a court filing (posted here) that the hard drives cannot be returned to Wiebe now because of the classified information they contain. He also said a 10-page hard-copy document agents found cannot be returned for the same reason. Barnard asked Judge Richard Bennett to appoint a magistrate judge to oversee the process of separating Wiebes personal data from the classified information on the disks. Its unclear from the court filings whether the computers found in Wiebes home were thoroughly analyzed at the time they were seized. The NSA personnel whose declarations were filed with the court on Tuesday seemed to be examining the hard drives for the first time. The NSA experts make no reference to what the FBI concluded about the data back in 2007. To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Crimes Watch Daily. Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/ or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition and OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal. The author of this blog is Douglas McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

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Three arrested, charged with Alleged Wall Street insider trading

McNabb Associates, P.C. (Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers)
Submitted at 8:25 AM January 18, 2012

ABC7 on January 18, 2012 released the following: NEW YORK (WABC) Three financial executives are charged as part of an ongoing federal probe into insider trading on Wall Street. John Hovarth was arrested in Manhattan Wednesday morning, and Todd Newman was taken into custody in Boston. Police say 38-year-old Anthony Chiasson, who co-founded Level Global Investors in 2003, is expected to surrender. He was not at home when FBI agents arrived at his Upper East Side apartment Wednesday. All three will face insider trading charges. FBI agents raided the Midtown offices of Level Global in November of 2010. Level

Global managed about $4 billion in assets at the time of the raid, but it closed last year. Todd Newman was a portfolio manager at hedge fund firm Diamondback Capital Management. Newman was placed on a leave of absence soon after the firms Stamford offices were raided by federal agents in Nov. 2010. Newman managed a portfolio of technology stocks for Diamondback. John Hovarth is an employee of Sigma Capital Management, a firm affiliated with the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors. Douglas McNabb McNabb Associates, P.C.s Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos: Federal Crimes Be Careful

Federal Crimes Be Proactive Federal Crimes Federal Indictment Federal Crimes Detention Hearing Federal Mail Fraud Crimes To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Crimes Watch Daily. Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/ or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition and OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal. The author of this blog is Douglas McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

Third Springfield, Massachusetts, Man Sentenced to Prison for Arson of AfricanAmerican Church
(USDOJ: Justice News)
Submitted at 6:21 PM January 18, 2012

Alabama Woman Pleads Barrio Azteca Gang Member Pleads Guilty in Texas to Guilty to Conspiring to Defraud the United States Racketeering Conspiracy (USDOJ: Justice News)
(USDOJ: Justice News)
Submitted at 2:32 PM January 18, 2012 Submitted at 1:11 PM January 18, 2012

Thomas Gleason, 24, was sentenced today in federal court for his role in the arson of the predominately AfricanAmerican Macedonia Church of God in Christ just hours after the election of President Barack Obama. Gleason was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor to 54 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Gleason was also ordered to pay over $1.7 million in restitution, including $123,570 to the Macedonia Church of God in Christ.

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Tracey Fergerson pleaded guilty today before Magistrate Judge Charles S. Coody in Montgomery, Ala., to conspiring to defraud the United States government. Fergerson and a co-defendant were charged by a grand jury in a 22-count indictment that was unsealed on March 30, 2011.

Ricardo Gonzalez, 44, aka Cuate, of El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Norbert J. Garney in the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, to racketeering conspiracy.

Justice Department Announces Grant Solicitation for Funding to Federally-Recognized Tribes and Tribal Consortia
(USDOJ: Justice News)
Submitted at 3:04 PM January 18, 2012

Former Oklahoma Detention Officer Indicted for Assaulting an Inmate

(USDOJ: Justice News)
Submitted at 6:05 PM January 18, 2012

Arkansas Man Pleads Guilty to Claiming Fraudulent Tax Refunds

(USDOJ: Justice News)
Submitted at 5:13 PM January 18, 2012

The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that the comprehensive grant solicitation for funding to support improvements to public safety, victim services and crime prevention in American Indian and Alaska Native communities will be posted at 3:00 p.m. EST today.

A federal grand jury in Muskogee, Okla., has indicted Jerrod Porter Lane, 26, former detention officer at the Muskogee County Jail (MCJ) in Oklahoma, on six charges related to two separate assaults of an inmate housed at MCJ and the subsequent attempts to cover up his behavior, all during October 2011.

Philip Butcher pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz in Miami to filing a false claim for a tax refund, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

Justice Department Asks Federal Court to Shut Down Louisiana Tax Preparer
(USDOJ: Justice News)
Submitted at 11:13 AM January 18, 2012

The United States has sued Larry Carnell Dixon Sr., seeking to bar him and his

business, Dixons Tax Service, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.