Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Law Enforcement News

Strafford County Sheriff's Office Coordinating Drones and Dogs to Find Missing People
New Hampshire Union Leader, (05/08/2019), Kimberly Haas
The sheriff's office in Strafford County, N.H., recently purchased two drones, one with a thermal imaging camera and one that can be used indoors, and plans to pair them with K-9 teams to help search for suspects and for missing people. Previously, the office needed to call in a helicopter for aerial searches.
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Under Partnership, Departing U.S. Army Soldiers Will Have Easy Path to State Police
WBAL, (05/08/2019), Dawn White
The Maryland State Police have joined the U.S. Army's Partnership for Youth Success (PaYS) program, which creates a partnership that enables registered recruits to quickly join the police force on discharge from the service. More than a dozen other police agencies have already joined the program since its inception in 2000, including Baltimore City police, Baltimore County police and the Harford County Sheriff's Office. 
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High-tech Dispatch Tool Will Help Ohio County Dispatchers Track Mobile Phone Users
PoliceOne.com, (05/13/2019), Robert Wang for The Repository
The emergency management and sheriff's offices in Stark County, Ohio, have announced plans to install new software and hardware at the county's dispatch centers that will give dispatchers immediate location data within three feet of a mobile phone making a 911 call. That includes accuracy indoors, which is problematic with most equipment.
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K9 Officer Program Adds More Dogs to Help Colorado Parks & Wildlife
CBS4 Denver, (05/10/2019), Jamie Leary
A Colorado Parks and Wildlife pilot program is testing ways that K9 officers can help their human counterparts in the field. The three dogs in the pilot program have been trained to look for physical evidence, such as shell casings, which poachers may have left behind, and also to intervene in encounters between humans and bears. The program has been funded by donations.
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Corrections News

Cheaper to Educate Than Incarcerate: 2 Parolees Take the Prison-to-School Pipeline
The Buffalo News, (05/13/2019), Barbara O'Brien
This article profiles two formerly incarcerated men who recently received associate's degrees from Houghton College as part of a program with Hope House in Buffalo and Peaceprints of Western New York. Studies show that individuals who receive an education and job skills are far less likely to re-offend and return to prison.
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Criminal Justice Technology in the News

Law Enforcement News

As Meth Use Surges, First Responders Struggle to Help Those in Crisis
NPR, (05/01/2019), April Dembosky
This article discusses the increase in methamphetamine use and efforts by some jurisdictions to address the problem. San Francisco recently established a task force to combat the new epidemic. Since 2011, emergency room visits related to meth in San Francisco have jumped 600 percent to 1,965 visits in 2016, the last year for which ER data is available. Admissions to the hospital are up 400 percent to 193.
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Law Enforcement Officers Participate in Crisis Intervention Training
WiProud, (05/01/2019)
Law enforcement officers in the area of La Crosse, Wis., recently participated in crisis intervention training. The goal of the training is to teach officers more about different mental illnesses, so that when a crisis occurs they are better equipped to handle the situation.
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Some Officers to Begin Wearing Body Cameras This Spring, Walsh says
The Boston Globe, (05/02/2019), Milton J. Valencia
Boston has begun issuing body camera equipment to police officers in two precincts that patrol South Boston and parts of Dorchester, following a pilot program that examined the use of 100 cameras in the field over a year.
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More Than 20 States Have Shown Interest in Idaho State Police's Sexual Assault Kit Tracking System
Idaho Press, (05/02/2019), Emily Lowe
More than 20 states have contacted the Idaho State Police Forensic Services lab inquiring about the tracking system it uses to track sexual assault kits. The state created an online sexual assault kit tracking system in January 2017 after legislation transformed how sexual assault kits would be tracked in Idaho. The laws created uniformity in how kits would be submitted to the state lab for testing. Legislation also included creating software that would track sexual assault kits, allowing victims to anonymously see the status of the kit testing.
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Pennsylvania Approves $40 Million in Grants for School Safety
USA Herald, (05/02/2019), Marivic Cabural Summers
Pennsylvania has approved $40 million in grants for school safety and $7.5 for community violence prevention and reduction. There are 234 recipients for the school safety grants and 25 recipients for the community violence prevention and reduction grants across the state.
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In Dallas, Police Can Now Handle 911 Texts
The Dallas Morning News, (05/03/2019), Cassandra Jaramillo
Dallas police now offer text-to-911 service. While phone calls are preferred, city officials say the option for emergency texting will help those who are deaf, hearing-impaired or in a situation where talking will make them at risk. In the first two weeks of April, Dallas police said they received 176 emergency texts.
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NARCAN Drug Overdose Kits Deployed to DPS, Ellis County Law Enforcement
Daily Light, (05/06/2019, David Dunn
The Texas Department of Public Safety is deploying Narcan kits and tactical emergency training to Texas state troopers across the state. Narcan is used to reverse opioid overdoses.
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Corrections News

Plan to Boost Alabama Prison Officers Pay Passes House
AL.com, (04/30/2019), Mike Cason
The Alabama House of Representatives has approved a plan to increase pay and bonuses for correctional officers in Alabama prisons. The bill, which moves to the Senate, would give correctional officers a 5-percent pay raise and allow them to earn bonuses up to a total of $7,500 for training and experience milestones.
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Pa. Prisons to Extend Medication-Assisted Treatment for Drug Addition to Incoming Inmates
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, (05/06/2019), Shelly Bradbury
Beginning June 1, Pennsylvania state prisons will allow people who are receiving medication-assisted treatment for drug addiction to continue receiving that treatment once in prison, Department of Corrections officials said. People receiving such treatment and entering the state prison system as new inmates or as parole violators will be able to continue receiving treatment instead of being weaned from medications designed to ease their cravings and treat their addictions.
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Four Texas Men Arrested and One Fugitive Sought for their Roles in Scheme to Launder Millions from Business Email Compromise Fraud

Two Austin Men Previously Pleaded Guilty to their Roles in the Scheme

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed in Austin charges five Texas residents, all Nigerian nationals, for their roles in laundering millions derived from Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes. Two Austin residents, also Nigerian nationals, pleaded guilty earlier this year for their roles in the scheme.

That announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney John F. Bash; Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), San Antonio; and, Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Houston Division.

Bameyi Kelvin Omale, a 31-year-old resident of Houston; Nnamdi Nwosu, a 32-year-old resident of Houston; Chinonso Agbaji, a 29-year-old resident of Houston; Igho Calaba, a 25-year-old resident of Austin; and Chibuzor Stanley Uba, a 30-year-old resident of San Antonio, were all charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy. Nwosu, Agbaji, and Calaba were also each charged with one count of passport fraud in furtherance of the money laundering conspiracy. Yesterday and today, federal authorities arrested Omale, Agbaji, Calaba and Uba.  Nwosu remains a fugitive in this case.

According to the indictment, the funds were largely derived from BEC schemes perpetrated against U.S. and foreign victims. Over $10 million was allegedly sent by victims to accounts controlled by the defendants, who were able to take in excess of $3 million before law enforcement or financial institutions stopped the fraudulent transfers.  In a BEC scheme, scammers target businesses and individuals making wire transfer payments, often targeting employees with access to company finances. The scammers trick the employees into making wire transfer payments to bank accounts thought to belong to trusted partners—except the money ends up in accounts controlled by the fraudsters. Sometimes the scammers use computer intrusion techniques to alter legitimate payment request emails, changing the recipient bank accounts. Sometimes they send spoofed emails from email addresses similar to trusted partners.

Whatever the BEC method used, the scammers need bank accounts controlled by coconspirators to collect the stolen money. The indictment alleges that the conspirators acquired or controlled dozens of bank accounts opened in the United States, including in Austin, TX, utilizing fraudulent identification documents, including fraudulent foreign passports in fake names.  The indictment alleges that once the funds were fraudulently procured and deposited into these bogus accounts, the defendants worked quickly to withdraw or transfer the funds.

The indictment further alleges that some of the conspirators also received funds sent by the victims of romance fraud.

In February 2019, Joseph Odibobhahemen, a 28-year-old resident of Austin, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy. In December 2018, Nosa Onaghise, a 32-year-old resident of Austin, pleaded guilty to one count of passport fraud in furtherance of the money laundering conspiracy. As alleged in court documents, they were acting as part of the same scheme to launder funds from BEC fraud.  Both remain in federal custody awaiting sentencing.

Money laundering conspiracy calls for up to 20 years in federal prison upon conviction; passport fraud calls for up to 10 years in federal prison upon conviction.

This indictment resulted from a continuing investigation by HSI and USPIS.  The FBI also assisted in the investigation as did the California Highway Patrol. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Texas and the Southern District of New York also provided assistance.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Galdo and Keith Henneke are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Nnamdi Nwosu is asked to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  ICE encourages the public to report any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

It is important to note that an indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.