Jerry Seper
Articles by Jerry Seper
DNA not a match for latest tip to ID skyjacker in 1971
FBI officials in Washington state, who last week were investigating a "promising lead" in the nearly 40-year-old case of skyjacker D.B. Cooper who escaped with a $200,000 ransom after parachuting out of a commercial airliner over the Pacific Northwest, said a new DNA test does not match a new suspect in the case. Published August 8, 2011
Eminent domain used to push out blacks, suit says
The Justice Department has brought a lawsuit against Joliet, Ill., accusing the city of seeking to "limit or reduce" its number of black residents by seizing a federally subsidized housing development through eminent domain. Published August 7, 2011
$1 million Romney donor steps forward
Just hours after two Washington-based campaign-finance watchdogs requested an investigation of a company they suspected had been created to funnel $1 million to a Super PAC supporting presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the anonymous donor identified himself as a Romney associate. Published August 7, 2011
Watchdogs want FEC, Justice probe of Romney fund-raising
The Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department have been asked by two Washington, D.C. watchdog groups to investigate possible violations of campaign finance law by a company they suspect was created to funnel $1 million to a Super PAC operated by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign staffers. Published August 5, 2011
Jury convicts five police officers in post-Katrina shootings
A federal jury on Friday convicted five officers from the New Orleans Police Department on 25 counts in connection with the federal prosecution of a police-involved shooting on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina and an extensive cover-up of those shootings. Published August 5, 2011
U.S. sues Joliet, Ill., in low-income housing battle
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the city of Joliet, Ill., alleging it violated the law in the taking through eminent domain a federally-subsidized affordable housing development that will displace more than 750 low-income residents, more than 95 percent of whom are black, the department said Friday. Published August 5, 2011
Secret club rewarded lurid child sex abuse
Some of the children featured in the images and videos were just infants. Others, all of them 12 or younger, were crying, the victims of intentional and obvious pain. It was just what the online members of "Dreamboard" wanted, in fact required as part of the initiation fee. Published August 3, 2011
Alabama defends its immigration law
Alabama officials Tuesday criticized a Justice Department lawsuit challenging the state's tough new immigration law, arguing that the federal government's failure to enforce its own immigration statutes had forced the states to do so. Published August 2, 2011
Suspect arrested in slayings of U.S. Consulate employees
Mexican authorities have arrested a former federal police officer accused of ordering 1,500 killings during a campaign of terrorism along the U.S.-Mexico border and masterminding the attack last year that killed a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another Consulate worker in Ciudad Juarez. Published July 31, 2011
Dow to pay $2.5 million for leaks at Michigan plant
The Dow Chemical Company will pay $2.5 million to settle violations of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conversation and Recovery Act at its chemical manufacturing and research complex in Midland, Mich., the Justice Department said Friday. Published July 29, 2011
Bill targets public corruption
Bipartisan legislation giving prosecutors new tools to identify, investigate and prosecute criminal conduct by public officials - including an extension of the statute of limitations and an increase in maximum penalties - was approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Published July 28, 2011
Agents could lose thousands in salary
Officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have proposed a new salary plan for Border Patrol agents that could cost them an average of $7,000 a year in lost pay and spark what some say would be an exodus of veteran agents to higher-paying agencies. Published July 24, 2011
675,000 stolen credit card numbers gets hacker 10 years in prison
A Georgia man was sentenced Friday in federal court in Virginia to 10 years in prison for trafficking in counterfeit credit cards and aggravated identity theft, accused of stealing 675,000 credit card numbers leading to $36 million in losses. Published July 22, 2011
DEA: 1,900 Mexican cartel members nabbed in drugs, money probe
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, following a 20-month nationwide investigation, said Thursday it has arrested more than 1,900 members of a Mexican drug cartel as part of an operation known as "Project Delirium." Published July 21, 2011
House to question ATF officials on guns to Mexico
Several top ATF officials will testify Tuesday before a House committee investigating the controversial "Fast and Furious" weapons program and likely will be asked whether they were ordered not to tell Mexican authorities that guns recovered at crime scenes in that country had been illegally purchased in the U.S. Published July 20, 2011
Citizen help sought in stopping ‘slavery’
A public awareness campaign designed to educate citizens and encourage vigilance to combat human trafficking within local communities will begin Monday, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) asking the public to join the fight against "this form of modern-day slavery." Published July 20, 2011
FBI arrest points to Pakistan influence-peddling scheme
A Virginia man was arrested Tuesday by FBI agents in a suspected influence-peddling scheme to funnel millions of dollars from the Pakistani government, including its military intelligence service, to U.S. elected officials to help drive India out of the disputed Kashmir territory in South Asia. Published July 19, 2011
Lawmakers want answers about ATF gun operation
Two Republican lawmakers investigating a controversial Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives weapons operation known as "Fast and Furious" have asked the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration to explain what role their agents played in the investigation. Published July 18, 2011
Dozens arrested, charged in Calif. gang sweep
More than 500 federal agents and state and local law enforcement authorities swept through an Orange County, Calif., neighborhood Friday that had been the territory of the Mexican Mafia in what one official called a "critical blow" to the gang's prison-based leadership and those members and associates they control throughout the region. Published July 15, 2011
Florida firm tied to foreign bribery
A Florida company, its president and director, the president of a second firm and two former Haitian government officials were named Wednesday in an indictment that accuses them of having roles in a foreign bribery, wire fraud and money laundering scheme. Published July 13, 2011
