No More Drug War: Mother Crystal Munoz doing 19 years for DEA Set Up

http://www.ladybud.com/2015/04/14/mother-crystal-munoz-doing-19-years-for-dea-setup/

Marijuana users are frequently given the advice to never chat or “cooperate” with law enforcement, and there’s no better example of why not than Crystal Munoz, currently in her 7^th year of incarceration on a 19 year, 10 month sentence.

Her nightmare began when DEA agents visited Munoz’s home. They assured the young mother of an infant daughter, who happened to be pregnant with her third child at the time, that she was not in any kind of trouble. The agents claimed they merely needed to speak with Crystal to get a few questions answered and details cleared up about an incident that had taken place 3 years earlier.

The activities in question involved a map that Crystal had drawn showing how to circumvent a drug checkpoint. She herself was never caught with any drugs. Her indictment and prosecution was based entirely on the testimony of the people who were actually caught trafficking the drugs 3 years earlier.

The government offered no plea deal. Crystal plead not guilty and took her case to trial.

Because she had drawn the map, prosecutors painted Crystal as a leader in the conspiracy to distribute 1000 kilos or more of marijuana, a factor that played into her long sentence, along with two prior misdemeanors for possession on her record. Her original indictment included charges for cocaine, which prosecutors dropped the day of trial, as they had no proof of the allegation.

While the people who were actually doing the dealing received between 5 to 7 years each, Munoz, who only drew a map, received a sentence of 19 years and 10 months.

Even before incarceration Crystal had experienced great tragedy in her life. Her first child, a son, tragically choked to death while at school at the age of five.

Locking away the young wife and mother for the greater part of two decades has only added to the stress and hardship the entire family has endured. Crystal’s second daughter was born in prison. Her husband and mother struggle every day to keep the family going and care for the two young girls.

Nonetheless, Crystal Munoz has used her time behind bars to better herself, completing a yearlong Change program, an 18-month long Life Connection program, a 40- hour residential drug abuse program, and completed a course to become a personal fitness trainer. She has even worked as a hospice volunteer.

Crystal is grateful that so many of her family members have stepped up to help care for her children, but is always aware of the burden her incarceration has placed on them and she longs to be able to take an active role in her children’s lives as well as care for her aging parents and grandparents.

Crystal’s biggest hope is for executive clemency, as a Presidential pardon would allow her to return to her family and once again become a wife and mother, before her children are already grown.

 How you can help:

• Email President Obama and ask him to grant clemency to Crystal Munoz, federal inmate #79319-180.
  
• Email your senators (www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm)
  and Congressional representatives (www.house.gov/representatives/find/)
  and ask them to urge the President to grant clemency for Crystal Munoz, federal inmate #79319-180.

Write to Crystal:

Crystal Munoz #79319-180
FMC Carswell
PO BOX 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127

Want to help more?

Here’s how to put money directly onto a prisoner’s books — no middle man, ALL of the money goes DIRECTLY to the prisoner – to be used for phone calls, email, legal expenses, food, personal hygiene items, etc.:

1. Send money directly through Western Union’s Send Money to a Prisoner link.

2. Send a postal money order (Must be a POSTAL money order or the Bureau of Prisons will not accept it):

Federal Bureau of Prisons*
Inmate Name, Inmate Register Number
(Crystal Munoz #79319-180)
PO Box 474701
Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001

*Note: this is not the address to which you can write her, it is to process any payments through FBOP.

More about Crystal Munoz at Clemency for All Non-violent Drug Offenders (CAN-DO)

**

More Drug War Prisoners Who Deserve Clemency

**

FREE IRMA ALRED

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U.S. Hydrocodone Prescriptions Dropping

http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2015/4/14/us-hydrocodone-prescriptions-dropping

By Pat Anson, Editor

The number of prescriptions filled in the U.S. for hydrocodone declined in 2014, an early sign that restrictions on the widely used opioid painkiller are starting to have an impact.   

According to the IMS Institute, 119.2 million prescriptions for hydrocodone pain medications were dispensed by pharmacies last year — down from 129.5 million the year before – a decline of 8 percent. Hydrocodone is typically combined with acetaminophen in Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet, Norco, and other hydrocodone products.

The IMS report also found that levothyroxine – a synthetic hormone used to treat thyroid deficiency — has replaced hydrocodone as the #1 most widely filled prescription in the U.S.

The decline in hydrocodone prescriptions is striking because it was only in the last three months of 2014 that the painkiller was reclassified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from a Schedule III drug to a more restrictive Schedule II medication.

The DEA and Food and Drug Administration have been under pressure to restrict access to opioids because of the so-called epidemic of prescription drug abuse. Over 16,000 Americans die annually from painkiller overdoses, although most of those deaths involved other drugs or alcohol.

The rescheduling of hydrocodone limits pain patients to an initial 90-day supply of hydrocodone — and also requires them to see a doctor for a new prescription each time they need a refill. Prescriptions for Schedule II drugs also cannot be phoned or faxed in by physicians.

Since the rescheduling, many patients have complained that their doctors were no longer willing to prescribe hydrocodone and that pharmacists were unwilling to fill valid prescriptions. A recent survey found that many pain patients had suicidal thoughts after being denied a prescription. Others said that rescheduling hard been harmful to their relationship with their doctor.

Hydrocodone prescriptions were dropping even before the rescheduling took effect. They peaked in 2011 with nearly 137 million prescriptions filled by pharmacies.

The IMS report found that prescriptions of tramadol, a weaker Schedule III opioid, rose by over 5% in 2014 – a possible sign that tramadol is being used as a substitute for hydrocodone. The number of tramadol prescriptions being dispensed has nearly doubled since 2010 from 28 million to over 44.2 million in 2014.

Total spending on medications in the U.S. rose over 10% to $373.9 billion in 2014, with a record volume of 4.3 billion prescriptions filled, according to the IMS.

 

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Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and other House Republicans on Tuesday were left aghast at testimony from the administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, who said she has no authority to fire DEA agents for any reason, even when they decide to use prostitutes provided by drug cartels they’re supposed to be investigating.

DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart testified at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing after a damning Inspector General report said DEA agents used prostitutes in Colombia that were provided by a drug cartel in that country. The report also said the DEA didn’t fully cooperate in the investigation.

Leonhart said some of these agents lost their security clearances and were eventually removed from the DEA, but only after a convoluted process was followed under federal civil service rules. But that wasn’t good enough for Chaffetz and others who said the person in charge of the agency should have the right to fire agents directly.

“Based on the testimony we have read from the DEA administrator, she says she doesn’t have the power to simply fire these people,” Chaffetz said. “I don’t buy it. The American public doesn’t buy it.”

“When we have bad apples who repeatedly do the same type of behavior, compromise our national security, then they need to lose their national security clearances, and they need to be fired,” he said.

Chaffetz noted that some of the initial penalties handed out by DEA were unpaid suspensions of just a few days, after which they returned to work.

“The punishment for engaging in this type of behavior was two to 10 days off, non-paid leave,” he said. “That sounds like a vacation to me, it doesn’t sound like punishment.”

“So they are receiving prostitutes from cartels that they are supposed to be investigating, and she can’t fire those agents?” Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) asked at the hearing.

Both Leonhart and Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said that Title V of U.S. civil service law holds that the leaders of most federal agencies can’t fire people directly, no matter what they’ve done. Instead, these decisions go to “deciding officials,” who must recommend a punishment — those recommendations then go to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

“I can’t revoke their security clearance,” Leonhart said. “I can ensure that there’s a mechanism that’s in place, like I did after the Cartagena incident, make sure that there’s a mechanism in place for … a security review, which resulted in those three agents having their security clearances revoked and they were fired.”

“The Merit Systems Protection Board serves as the guardian of the federal government’s merit-based system of employment, and MSPB caselaw establishes that comments by senior agency officials about the merits of a particular case before it is finally decided can be deemed harmful procedural error and can actually result in the disciplinary action being overturned,” she added in her prepared remarks.

“So you have any idea how absurd all of that sounds to an ordinary human being?” asked Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.). “This is nuts.”

Mulvaney suggested that the law should be changed to allow the DEA administrator fire agents in these sorts of cases. This could be done by giving the DEA and possibly other agencies an exemption to the civil service laws, something the FBI already has.

The debate is similar to that heard last year, when it became clear that the Department of Veterans Affairs didn’t have the authority to directly fire officials who were corrupt or negligent in their duties to provide health care to veterans.

But while Congress changed that law, the VA has yet to get anyone fired for their role in the health care scandal. Some were allowed to retire with full benefits, and others who were targeted were ultimately fired for reasons other than their role in the health care scandal.

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Pharmacy Employees Said Competitor Won’t Transfer Prescriptions

When the Lifechek pharmacy closed, all patient files were transferred to CVS

http://www.krgv.com/news/local-news/Pharmacy-Employees-Said-Competitor-Won-t-Transfer-Prescriptions/32349994   Video on website

SAN JUAN –

A small pharmacy is battling a larger national pharmacy for customers. CVS recently bought out two Lifechek pharmacies, one in Elsa and one in San Juan.

Many of the former employees of the shutdown pharmacy are working for DLS pharmacy in McAllen. Those employees said many of their Lifechek customers want to follow them to their new business, but CVS will not transfer the prescriptions.

Nearly every customer CHANNEL 5 NEWS approached at the CVS on Raul Longoria in San Juan was a new pharmacy client.

Former Lifechek Customer Jose Martinez said, “They are just giving me my medicine. It’s been eight days. After ordering my medicine, I just got it now, and I’m still missing some of them.”

Martinez was a longtime customer of Lifechek pharmacy, more commonly known as San Juan Pharmacy.

Doors to the Lifechek Pharmacy are closed. They went out of business more than two weeks ago. All the patient files transferred to CVS, but those patients have the right to transfer their prescriptions to another pharmacy if they want to.

Many former Lifechek employees work at DLS pharmacy in McAllen.

“So we know most of these customers. They liked our services back then, and they like our services now,” said Pharmacy Tech Ramiro Silva. He said about 30 patients have asked DLS to fill their prescriptions.

Those transfers can only be done pharmacist to pharmacist. Silva said when his pharmacist calls CVS “they tell us that they’re real busy. They’ll get back to us in a couple of hours, and you know, 24 hours pass by and we still won’t get them.”

CHANNEL 5 NEWS reached out to the CVS corporate office. CVS Public Relations Director Mike DeAngelis said, “Absolutely. Any patient who wants to transfer their prescription to another pharmacy, we’re happy to facilitate that.”

They said they received an unusually high number of transfer requests from DLS. When CVS called to confirm with a few of those patients, CVS said not all of those patients wanted their files transferred.

“So we told that pharmacy that you know we’re going to be confirming with patients before we do any additional transfers,” DeAngelis said.

When asked if all these transfers that were requested by the patient, Silva said, “By the patients, yes ma’am. We cannot transfer legally without the patient consent.”

This small pharmacy said they just want to service their longtime clients like Guadalupe Martinez.

“The problem is that there is a delay in giving me the medicine. It took one or two weeks, and those medicines are needed,” said Martinez.

Martinez finally got his prescriptions transferred to the pharmacy of his choice.

Something both big and small businesses agree he has the right to do.

CVS said the law requires all patient files be transferred to the pharmacy acquiring another that is shutting down. As soon as the acquisition process is complete, patients have the right to transfer their files to another pharmacy.

Ladislao Cardenas is the pharmacist for DLS pharmacy. He said he has filed complaints on CVS with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.

Anyone can file a complaint on a specific pharmacist or pharmacy.

Link: Texas State Board of Pharmacy – File a Complaint

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State Fights Lawsuit to Allow Medically-Assisted Drug Treatment in Courts

http://wkms.org/post/state-fights-lawsuit-allow-medically-assisted-drug-treatment-courts

An eastern Kentucky nurse is suing the state for not allowing her to take addiction medicine like Suboxone or Vivitrol while she’s out of jail on bond.

The terms set by Floyd County District Court, where Stephanie Watson’s court case is still pending, prevent her from using medically-assisted drug treatment.

Most courts in Kentucky don’t allow those who are on probation, in jail or out on bond to use drugs that treat addiction because some, like Suboxone, are addictive.

Stephanie Watson was arrested for breaking into a Prestonsburg biohazard waste container to retrieve remnants from disposed drug vials.

Watson’s lawyer, Ned Pillersdorf, has filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Eastern Kentucky. He says that judges who refuse to allow addicts to use Suboxone and Methadone are part of a system that violates the Americans With Disabilities act.

“They don’t need to have judges or drug courts looking over their shoulder and saying we will approve or won’t approve that particular prescription,” Pillsersdorf said. “Our position is that opiate addicts should have the right to receive lawful prescriptions from doctors who are able to prescribe without interference from the court system.”

Opiate addicts have been recognized as being “disabled” as a result of a 2002 Sixth Circuit Court decision. Pillserdorf argues that preventing addicts from receiving drugs that are prescribed to them amounts to a denial of services under the ADA.

The Administrative Office of the Courts, which on its website describes itself as “the operational arm of the Judicial Branch,” is a defendant in the suit along with AOC Director Lorie Dudgeon and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The state has responded to her complaint with a motion to dismiss the case, saying that it has no authority to tell county judges how to administer rules of their drug courts.

“The AOC is merely the administrative ‘fiscal agent’ that applies for federal grant funding on behalf of Kentucky’s treatment-options program called ‘Drug Court,’” says the complaint.

AOC officials were not available to comment on Friday.

The lawsuit comes at a time when federal officials are threatening to pull drug treatment funding from states that don’t allow medically assisted drug treatment in their drug courts.

Kentucky’s drug courts currently receive about $12 million in federal grants.

The AOC is currently evaluating whether to expand medically-assisted drug treatment programs in its drug courts.

Currently one Kentucky circuit judge, David Tapp, who serves Lincoln, Pulaski and Rockcastle counties, has been running a pilot project that uses the drug Vivitrol as part of medically-assisted treatment.

In late March, the Kentucky Supreme Court changed its blanket restrictions on medically-assisted drug treatment in the state. Previously, judges were only allowed to give addicts a six-month window to wean off addiction drugs. Now that restriction has been waved and full discretion has been given to the judges.

Pillersdorf says most judges still aren’t on board with the practice and that prescriptions should be left to the doctors.

“Our position is it’s none of the court system’s business. If the doctor deems fit to prescribe these things the court system needs to stop interfering,” Pillersdorf said.

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Should Heroin Dealers Be Charged When Their Customers Die?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/04/13/should-heroin-dealers-charged-when-their-customers-die/tTKqNhTihIgrPu7Zor2j9I/story.html

The way Sean Moran remembers it, his best friend was begging for it. And he knew his friend was going to get it somewhere.

So Moran gave him what he wanted: heroin. And with that, his friend overdosed and died.

“No matter what, someone’s going to sell it to them,” Moran said.

Should Moran have been charged with killing his friend? Some in law enforcement, including the head of the Massachusetts State Police, think so.

Last month, Colonel Timothy P. Alben tweeted that charging heroin dealers with murder or manslaughter should be part of the “strategy to attack (the) problem” of opiate abuse in a state that lost 978 people to overdoses in 2013—nearly three times the number who died in 2000.

Massachusetts has it worse than the nation as a whole. The state’s overdose rate in 2013 was double the national average of 7.7 deaths per 100,000 to heroin and prescription narcotics.

Charging dealers when their customers die is not a new idea. But is it a good idea? And does it work?

“It’s not a matter of whether it’s a good thing to do. Everyone wants to do it,” said Berkshire County District Attorney David F. Capeless. “But these are extremely difficult cases to develop evidence in that would result in a viable prosecution.”

There are many reasons why. Capeless said in his county—which had 16.2 overdoses for every 100,000 people in 2013—every overdose death is fully investigated with an eye toward charging someone. But it doesn’t happen often.

“Obviously, the most important witness is deceased,” Capeless said. “And other witnesses who might be of help are typically not helpful. You’re talking about people who are addicted and they don’t want to turn in their dealer very often.”

“You have instances where a best friend can be lost,” he continued, “yet that person won’t cooperate because they’re all thinking about their own survival.”

Capeless got his first manslaughter conviction against a drug dealer in 2009, when a North Adams woman was found guilty and sentenced to three to six years in prison after selling 10 patches of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, to a woman who later died.

Other counties have gotten convictions for drug providers. Christine Callahan was a jail guard at the Norfolk County House of Corrections in 2002 when she gave heroin to an inmate who died. She later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 15 months.

In 2002, a Walpole heroin dealer pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of a friend and was given a three-year sentence in Norfolk County.

Prosecuting these cases is an “uphill battle,” said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

“Ultimately, as sad and tragic as it may be,” he said, “drug use is a voluntary act in almost every case we see.”

There are lots of players between the manufacture of the drug and the ingestion by the user, said Rosanna Cavallaro, a Suffolk University School of Law professor. Charging the dealer is “almost like saying we’re going to prosecute a gun manufacturer.”

“Someone else intervened and used it under their own free will and choice,” she said.

***

And there’s another wrinkle: some dealers are addicts themselves.

Joanne Peterson founded Learn to Cope in 2004 after desperately trying to find help for her son, who she said was an addict. The organization now has chapters across the state to help families whose loved ones are battling addiction.

She says some dealers are addicted to drugs, too, just like their customers.

“I don’t think it’s going to solve the problem to arrest everybody,” she said. “What’s going to solve the problem is treatment availability, insurance companies covering treatments where someone needs it.”

“It would cost us a lot less to help them with their addiction before they become dealers,” she said.

The source of the problem includes the pharmaceutical companies that produce powerful pills like Oxycodone, which when misused becomes a gateway to harder opiates for some addicts. And the pipeline includes traffickers who bring heroin over the borders.

Moran, 28 and clean for six months, said there’s an endless number of dealers waiting to supply addicts.

“Someone’s going to sell it if there’s a need,” he said.

Moran’s girlfriend, Mellissa Lavallee, has been clean eight years and relies on methadone to stay that way. The 27-year-old from South Boston thinks it’s a good idea to prosecute dealers, though it’ll be up to addicts themselves to stop the demand for drugs.

“It’s like a variety store selling cigarettes,” she said. “They’re always going to be around.”

***

So far this year, state police detectives have handled 22 homicides across the Commonwealth, not including Boston, Worcester and Springfield, which investigate their own deaths.

State troopers have been called on 10 times as many suspected heroin overdoses as homicides– 238.

Alben declined to talk to Boston.com about his tweet. But in an interview with WBUR, he called heroin a “poison,” while also acknowledging the difficulty of linking dealers to deaths.

“Just because it’s difficult or it’s challenging doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it,” Alben said.

Other states have pursued charges against dealers after overdoses, including Ohio, New Jersey, and Iowa.

New Jersey has trained investigators on how to investigate overdose deaths under the state’s “Strict Liability in Drug-Induced Deaths” statute that was enacted in 1986 as a response to the crack epidemic.

State law in Massachusetts makes it slightly more difficult to hold dealers accountable. Investigators need to prove “wanton and reckless” action, not just negligence.

Prosecutors would have to prove that the dealer knowingly had a potent batch, or had other customers overdose, yet sold anyway, said Wark, the Suffolk County spokesman.

“The person who provided the heroin would need to recognize that there is a foreseeable likelihood that the user would overdose and die as a result,” he said. “They would need to recognize there was a serious risk to life.”

In such a case, peddling especially dangerous drugs would be like reckless driving said Cavallaro, the law professor.

“Those drug dealers are putting people at a different, higher level of risk,” she said.

Dealers can also face charges federally. The cocaine-related death of Boston Celtics draft pick Len Bias in 1986 prompted the federal government to pass a law that levied stiff penalties on drug dealers whose sales can be directly tied to overdoses—a minimum of 20 years, and up to life in prison. The law has been occasionally used in Massachusetts. Other states, like Oregon, federal authorities have charged dealers dozens of times.

But just like their state counterparts, federal prosecutors have the same challenges in gathering the evidence for a successful prosecution: the main witness is dead and connecting the links back to the big distributor isn’t easy. And the U.S. Supreme Court last year further raised the bar by ruling that the drug in question can’t just have contributed to the user’s death (such as in a cocktail of other drugs). It needs to have actually caused the death.

As a dealer, there’s a way to be somewhat responsible about the poison you’re peddling, said one man now in recovery, who spoke to Boston.com on condition of anonymity.

He said and his roommate would get heroin in bulk and test it before cutting and distributing it. That way, they knew how potent it was.

But many users don’t want a weak batch.

”It’s sick,” he said. “But when people are overdosing, they want to try it.”

Filed under: General Problems | 3 Comments »

https://youtu.be/ZfTY5Hw6wmE

The above video is from a group of former cops, judges, attorneys and others in law enforcement, called  Law Enforcement Against Prohibition… www.leap.cc the video describes how “taking out ” part of the illegal distribution cartels.. is like trying to dig out a hole in the sand at the beach.. within a short period of time, you can’t tell the sand was ever taken away.  This video was shot over a decade ago and notice how Indianapolis is dealing with the increased drug traffic… notice how it seems that some things never seems to change. Are we continuing to support and promote FAILURE ?

http://www.jconline.com/story/news/crime/2015/04/13/violence-drug-trafficking-indianapolis-leads-federal-involvement/25630201/

Violence, drug trafficking in Indianapolis lead to more federal involvement

The severity of the situation became obvious from the moment officials began speaking — this was no ordinary drug bust.

Acting U.S. Attorney Josh J. Minkler rattled off a series of eye-popping numbers during the March 26 announcement: $4 million in cash; 25 kilograms of cocaine; enough heroin for a user to shoot up 100,000 times.

But it wasn’t just the quantity of drugs that made this bust unique. Federal prosecutors say the dealers at the center of the case were getting their supply directly from the Mexican border with a single stop in Phoenix — a sign that Indianapolis is becoming a major Midwest drug distribution hub, which may be fueling violent crime.

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

35 kilos of cocaine, heroin seized as authorities bust Indianapolis trafficking ring

 

In recent years, the city has seen the number of criminal homicides escalate, from 96 in 2012 to 135 last year. The number of suspects and victims with criminal pasts in those cases also has increased, according to Department of Public Safety data.

In a desire to stem the violence, local and federal officials are using crime-fighting tactics not often seen outside the nation’s largest cities. One example of the change is a decision by the FBI last fall to beef up its Indianapolis office. The bureau would not disclose how many agents are working here but said it split its division in two, one covering violent crime, and another covering gangs.

Kevin Lyons, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis office, said the split is akin to those seen in Chicago and New York.

“It’s unique to this division because we’re not the same size as those divisions,” Lyons said. “Because of the violent crime issues that have been happening in the past year and a half, past year, it’s why our FBI headquarters was saying, ‘Yeah, you guys, you justify needing the additional squad to handle this problem.’ ”

Public Safety Director Troy Riggs called the city’s additional federal resources a proactive step toward mitigating issues of violence by hitting criminals with tougher federal laws.

“It far exceeds any relationship that I’ve ever had with the FBI,” said Riggs, a 25-year law enforcement veteran. “They are taking this seriously.”

Local and federal prosecutors say they’re prioritizing violent crimes. Local policing agencies, including the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, are digging in, too.

Last October, IMPD and the Department of Public Safety said they would target six hot spots they say are the most dangerous in Indianapolis.

Interagency teamwork

The drug operation broken up last month started with investigations by local police detectives, Minkler said. The fruits of those efforts were initially seen in January 2014, when IMPD announced it had busted a large drug trafficking ring in the Butler-Tarkington area during a probe called “Operation Family Ties.”

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

Feds charge 11 in ‘Operation Family Ties’ drug case

 

Eleven of the people arrested during that investigation were eventually charged in federal court, and the bust led detectives to identify Geraldo Colon, the alleged ringleader arrested last month, as “a major target.” By bringing the case to federal court, officials are able to pursue harsher punishments — in this case, Colon faces 10 years to life in prison on a charge of conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine.

“This wasn’t an FBI case, but I certainly think it shows that we have a more collaborative relationship with IMPD,” Minkler said. “The nice thing with this relationship with IMPD is we can take their investigations, because they’re on the streets, they see what’s going on, they find out about it, they bring it to us and we can take it to another level.”

Riggs pointed to what he called a concerning trend — 92 percent of homicide suspects and 81 percent of victims last year had a criminal history. In 2012, those rates were 70 percent and 73 percent, respectively.

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

What is causing Indy’s rise in homicides?

 

The hope is that federal prosecutors can lock up career criminals for longer periods.

“It’s our biggest city, the center of commerce, and public safety is a huge issue here,” Minkler said. “I think all the federal agencies have prioritized — and our office has prioritized — working with IMPD as closely as possible to specifically address acute problems with violence, drug distribution (and) firearms possession that we see here in Indianapolis.”

Gangs not widespread

Despite the creation of two FBI units, one for violence and one for gangs, Riggs and IMPD Chief Rick Hite said that Indianapolis does not have a widespread gang problem.

And there is evidence that, across the city, violence is not skyrocketing.

Although last year’s criminal homicide rate was the highest since 2006, Riggs said the number of nonfatal shooting victims has dropped. In 2012, there were 472, compared with 409 last year.

“We are in a better situation than we were in 2012, quite frankly,” Riggs said. But he said the city still has work to do, especially in those hot spots, which account for 4.7 percent of the city’s population and 27 percent of the homicides.

INDIANAPOLIS STAR

Mayor Ballard and IMPD to focus on 6 dangerous Indy-area neighborhoods

 

Those homicide numbers alone are enough to make Indianapolis a priority for federal officials, said Tim Horty, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.

“The yardstick by which almost every city is measured is that homicide rate,” Horty said. “I’m not sure it’s the most fair way, but it is the standard, and for that, you have to sit up and take notice.”

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Georgia Woman Claims Pharmacist Refused To Fill Prescription For Miscarriage Treatment, ‘Shamed’ Her

http://www.inquisitr.com/2001658/georgia-woman-claims-pharmacist-refused-to-fill-prescription-for-miscarriage-treatment-shamed-her/

Filed under: General Problems | 17 Comments »

Former Downtown Drug employee receives deferred judgment for stealing drugs

The former pharmacy employee was accused of stealing 18,000 hydrocodone pills

http://thegazette.com/subject/news/former-downtown-drug-employee-receives-deferred-judgment-for-stealing-drugs-20150410

A former Downtown Drug employee who stole 18,000 hydrocodone pills over two years, which led to the pharmacy’s owner losing his license, received a deferred judgment and probation Thursday in Linn County District Court.

Charles A. Long, 48, of Cedar Rapids, made an Alford plea to second-degree theft. He is accused of unlawfully obtaining hydrocodone, a controlled substance, by fraud or deceit while an employee at Downtown Drug in Cedar Rapids.

Sixth Judicial District Senior Judge Thomas Koehler gave Long a deferred judgment with three years’ probation, which was part of the plea agreement. Long also must pay restitution to Downtown Drug owner Chris Tuetken. The amount hasn’t been determined at this time.

According to an Iowa Board of Pharmacy order filed last year, Tuetken discovered Long was ordering large amounts of hydrocodone from a wholesaler, but the orders never were entered into the pharmacy’s inventory. Long had access to the system, but ordering controlled substances wasn’t part of his duties.

The unauthorized hydrocodone orders were found when invoices were reconciled for the pharmacy, according to the order filed by the pharmacy board. Numerous orders for 500-count bottles of hydrocodone tablets this year and last were larger than the pharmacy typically would order given its volume of business.

The board ordered Tuetken to sell his drugstores as a result of controlled substances being diverted without his knowledge. Tuetken’s license was suspended for a year, and he will be required to pay a $10,000 civil penalty, according to the order.

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http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/67345-150411-us-warns-agents-not-to-consort-with-prostitutes

Justice Department employees who violate ban are subject to ‘suspension or termination’

The head of the US Justice Department on Friday warned the agency’s employees — including FBI and DEA agents — not to solicit prostitutes.

The stern memo comes on the heels of a scandal in which federal agents admitted to attending orgies put on by Latin American cartels.

And it said government staff should not hire sex workers even if deployed in countries or regions where such behavior is legal or tolerated.

Attorney General Eric Holder said paying prostitutes “threatens the core mission” of the department, because it can lead to extortion and blackmail and can support human trafficking.

Even where the sex trade is legal, Justice Department staff are “prohibited from soliciting, procuring, or accepting commercial sex,” Holder wrote, in a memo dated Friday.

The memo was addressed to the Justice Department’s more than 100,000 employees, including those at the FBI and numerous other law enforcement bodies that frequently work alongside foreign governments.

Last month, the department issued a report that found US Drug Enforcement Administration agents attended “sex parties” with prostitutes paid for by local drug cartels.

The DEA is a federal law enforcement agency under the Justice Department.

The report was part of a wider investigation prompted by a scandal in which US Secret Service agents hired prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia in advance of a visit by President Barack Obama.

Justice Department employees who violate the ban on soliciting prostitutes are subject to “suspension or termination,” Holder wrote.

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