SHOCKER: Colombians Launder Funds Through Colorado to Operate Marijuana Business

05/03/2014

Money was being wired from bank accounts in Colombia to bank accounts in Colorado for purchase of marijuana grow facility

DENVER – Hector Diaz, age 49, David Jeffrey Furtado, age 48, Luis Fernand Uribe, age 28, and Gerardo Uribe, age 33, were named in a just unsealed superseding indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Denver on April 22, 2014, federal law enforcement agencies announced.

The superseding indictment alleges violations of federal firearms law and money laundering related to marijuana laws. Diaz, who was previously charged, was sent a summons to appear in court Wednesday, April 30, 2014. Furtado and Luis Uribe were arrested on Friday, April 25, 2014. Furtado and Luis Uribe made their initial appearances this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland, where they were advised of their rights and the charges pending against them. Gerardo Uribe has been charged but is not in custody. He is currently considered a fugitive from justice. Furtado, Luis Uribe, and Hector Diaz were scheduled to be back in court on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.

The superseding indictment includes the original charge that Hector Diaz illegally possessed a firearm. The superseding indictment further alleges that Diaz committed visa fraud by making a false statement regarding the purpose of his visit to the United States.

The superseding indictment alleges that all four defendants conspired with each other and others known and unknown to the grand jury, to commit offenses against the United States. The manner and means of their conspiracy include:

• Affect the international transfer of funds from the Republic of Colombia into the United States to facilitate the purchase of real property, with existing physical structures, located at 5200 East Smith Road, in Denver, Colorado.



• The defendants intended to permit the use of the Smith Road property to cultivate, manufacture, and/or distribute marijuana.



• In 2013, Gerardo Uribe filed documents with the Colorado Secretary of State to incorporate a company known as Colorado West Metal, LLC. Attorney David Furtado was the registered agent. Hector Diaz was listed as the person responsible for forming the corporation.



• Furtado opened a bank account at Wells Fargo in the name of Colorado West Metal, LLC, and was the sole signor on that account.



• Furtado used his attorney trust account, held in the name of his law firm, to facilitate the purchase of the Smith Road property.



• It was part of the conspiracy for Furtado, Gerardo Uribe and Hector Diaz to communicate regarding a wire transfer associated with Colorado West Metal, which was later used to purchase the Smith Road property.



• On November 7, 2013, Furtado transferred $424,000 from the Colorado West Metal Wells Fargo account to a Colorado First Bank account, held in the name of Land Title Guarantee Company.



• The conspirators caused and/or agreed for Land Title Guarantee Company to transfer those same funds to Westerra Credit Union – the mortgagor for the Smith Road property.



• Between November 1, 2013 and November 4, 2013, Furtado made and caused to be made two separate wire transfers in the amount of $200,000 each from his attorney trust account into the Colorado First Bank account in the name of Land Title Guarantee to facilitate the purchase of the Smith Road property.



• Members of the conspiracy deposited, and attempted to deposit into financial institutions, and/or converted to cashier’s checks and/or bulk U.S. currency (cash) to facilitate the purchase of the Smith Road property. These bulk currency amounts included proceeds from the cultivation and sale of marijuana.



• On October 31, 2013, Furtado met with Gerardo Uribe and obtained $449,980 in U.S. currency (cash). Those funds represented proceeds of specified unlawful activity, namely the cultivation and sale of marijuana, as derived through the operation of the “VIP Wellness Center,” operated by Gerardo Uribe, Luis Uribe and others.

The superseding indictment also alleges that Diaz, Furtado and Gerardo Uribe did transfer $424,000 using wire transfers from the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenteria (BBVA) in the Republic of Colombia to the Colorado West Metal, LLC Wells Fargo account with the intent to cultivate, manufacture and distribute marijuana. Also, Furtado did two wire transfers, one for $100,000 and a second for $20,000 from the Banco de Occidente, in the Republic of Colombia, to his attorney trust account with Wells Fargo in Colorado, with the intent to promote the cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana.

Finally, Furtado, Luis Uribe and Gerardo Uribe did knowingly engage in money laundering by and through a financial institution affecting interstate and foreign commerce, in criminally derived property greater than $10,000; that is, the attempted deposit of $449,980 in U.S. Currency (cash) into a Wells Fargo bank account, with such property having been derived from a specified unlawful activity, namely the cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana.

The superseding indictment includes an asset forfeiture allegation, which includes the firearms possessed by Diaz, and the money derived from the unlawful activity, namely the cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana, a Schedule I controlled substance.

The investigation and charges closely follow the guidance provided by the Department of Justice in August 2013. More than one of the enforcement priorities outlined in the Department guidance are implicated in this ongoing criminal matter.

In the superseding indictment, Hector Diaz is named in counts one, two, three and four. David Furtado is named in counts three, four, five, six and seven. Luis Uribe is named in counts three and seven. Gerardo Uribe is named in counts three, four and seven.

Count one is possession of a firearm by a prohibited possessor. If convicted, the defendant faces not more than 10 years imprisonment, and up to a $250,000 fine. Count two is false statements with respect to a material fact. If convicted, the defendant faces not more than 20 years imprisonment, and up to a $250,000 fine. Count three is conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, the defendants face not more than 20 years imprisonment, and a $500,000 fine (or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater). Count four is money laundering and aiding and abetting the same. If convicted, the defendants face not more than 20 years imprisonment, and a $500,000 fine (or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater). Counts five and six are money laundering and aiding and abetting the same. If convicted, the defendants face not more than 20 years imprisonment, and a $500,000 fine (or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater). Count seven is engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. If convicted, the defendants face not more than 10 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.

This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), and the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Services (DSS). This investigation is ongoing, and no further information outside of the superseding indictment can or will be provided.

The defendants are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys M.J. Menendez and Bradley Giles. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya Andrews is handling the asset forfeiture aspect of this case.

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Dispicable and uncouth Left honors recently deceased literature writer by expanding her work to promote their agenda

05/03/2014

Written invitation: Asheville Wordfest expands its literary reach and community focus

Write on: Local author Patti Digh discusses her book, The Geography of Loss, at Asheville Wordfest. The weekend is dedicated to the memory of writer, chef and community activist, Laurey Masterton. Photo by Jeremy Madea

Asheville Wordfest expands its literary reach and community focus

Festivals are meant to be celebrations — hence etymological inclusion of the root word “festive.” But Asheville Wordfest, now in its seventh year, sets its sights beyond mere merriment. “It’s a reflection of what Asheville is, what matters to us, what we love,” says event founder and organizer Laura Hope-Gill. “It’s about the whole community, the story of our community.”

Wordfest — which takes place at Asheville’s Lenoir-Rhyne University branch on Montford Avenue, from Friday, May 2 through Sunday, May 4 — kicks off with a special acknowledgement of that community and one of its most ardent supporters: Laurey Masterton, the local chef, writer and activist, who passed away in February.  This year’s Wordfest is dedicated to her memory. A Friday night session titled “Embrace What Is, Honor What Was, Love What Will Be” will feature a few readings of Masterton’s writings as well as The Geography of Loss, a new book by local author Patti Digh.

“Narrative,” Hope-Gill says, “[is] a form of knowledge, a way of perceiving the world through story — our own and everyone else’s.” It’s this connection that she attributes to Masterton’s love of community, and ultimately, to the art of storytelling. “Every community is bonded by stories, so that’s the best substance for bringing them together.”

Last year’s Wordfest saw the inclusion of storytelling. This year, the event — which originally focused on poetry — expands even further to envelop fiction and longer forms of both narrative writing and verse. Stories presented throughout the weekend range from a microbiologist’s view of life on Earth and meditations on tech startups, to presentations about autism and afternoon sessions on the medicinal benefits of narrative in the fields of physiology and psychology. As Hope-Gill sees it, “Wordfest is more a listening device than a teaching device.”

Poetry is still well-represented. The literary festival features poetry recitations, theory and practice workshops, oral histories and musical performances by an array of area and regional academics and professionals, writers and songwriters — not to mention the poets. Presenters include Quraysh Ali Lansana, author of They Shall Run: Harriet Tubman Poems and editor of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill’s African American Literature Reader; and Aimee Nezhukumatathil, a professor whose multiple accolades include the Global Filipino Award.

“Wordfest started as an attempt to get poetry back on the scene after a decadeslong quiet,” says Hope-Gill. Now that that scene is flourishing, she says, the festival is beginning to organically move into new territory. The expansion is all about greater accessibility, says the event founder. Poetry isn’t always the easiest literary form to casually grasp, much less dive into. And literary festivals can often intimidate audiences by bombarding them with formulaic, listlike reasons (rave reviews, commanding resumes, etc.) for appreciating an author’s work.

Not so at Wordfest. The weekend is less about accolades than it is about connecting to the audience. By including storytelling and narrative fiction, Hope-Gill and the featured poets, writers  and presenters (including storyteller Connie Regan-Blake; artist, curator and peace activist Kiran Singh Sirah; and filmmaker Lisa Smith Bruer) aim to reach a broader audience and ultimately enhance the appreciation of verse. That’s to say, the festival has something for everyone. “If an attendee needs intellectual stimulation, they get it,” says Hope-Gill. “If they need some soul healing, as poetry has been known to deliver for ages, they get it. If they need conversation about current trends in literature and sociology and politics, they get it.”

She adds, “This festival is about the writers inviting us into their work.”

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Is law enforcement prepping for a revolution?

05/03/2014

Boston preps for Urban Shield training

(NECN: Kathryn Sotnik, Boston) - The city of Boston is getting ready for massive training with thousands of first responders.

The training, called Urban Shield Boston, will go on for a full 24 hours in Boston, starting at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

"The public should not be alarmed if they see increased public safety activity across Boston," said Rene Fielding of Boston Emergency Management.

Two thousand police, fire, EMS, and others will come together to train for the unexpected and the unforeseeable.

Commissioner William Evans of the Boston Police says the incidents will include an active shooter situation, a building collapse, and a hospital evacuation among other scenarios.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh also credits previous years training for the fast response to the Boston Marathon Bombings.

This year, emergency workers will also train around detection of Improvised Explosive Devices and other confidential scenarios.

The idea is to manage multiple public safety threats that are happening all at once.

Funding for the training comes from a US Homeland Security grant.


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MSM stays silent: Marines kidnaped by our "kind and gentle" southern neighbors would threaten narrative

05/03/2014

Another US Marine shackled in Mexican prison on gun charges

 “I accidentally drove into Mexico with 3 guns, a rifle (AR-15), a .45 cal pistol and a 12 gauge pump shotgun...."

Prison authorities in Tijuana, Mexico, have shackled a decorated U.S. Marine veteran of two combat tours in Afghanistan to his cot in a prison infirmary, restraining each of his limbs, on charges of introducing outlawed weapons into Mexico.

The Marine reservist, Andrew Tahmooressi, 25, who is from Weston, Fla., outside Miami, drove his black Ford F-150 pickup through the San Ysidro, Calif., border crossing into Tijuana on April 1, carrying his worldly possessions, including three U.S.-registered firearms.

Tahmooressi, who suffers from what his mother calls “directional dysfunction,” got lost near the border after dark. He and his family say he took a wrong turn into Mexico.

Mexican prosecutors have slapped three firearms charges on him, and his fate has been clouded by an attempt to escape the La Mesa penitentiary April 6 that involved ninja-style scaling of a wall topped with coiled barbed wire.

Tahmooressi’s situation parallels that of a another Florida Marine veteran who was held for four months in a Mexican border prison in 2012 for carrying an antique shotgun in his motor home on his way to surf in Costa Rica. A media uproar and pressure from U.S. legislators helped win the freedom of that Marine, Jon Hammar, who grew up in Miami.

In a statement that he signed earlier this week, Tahmooressi said he had crossed the border inadvertently while he was looking for housing in the San Diego area so he could begin treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at a nearby Veterans Affairs facility. Tahmooressi had received his official PTSD diagnosis on March 20.

“I accidentally drove into Mexico with 3 guns, a rifle (AR-15), a .45 cal pistol and a 12 gauge pump shotgun with no intentions on being in Mexico or being involved in any criminal activity,” Tahmooressi wrote in a signed privacy waiver this week for the office of U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a Marine veteran himself whose district is near the border.

Tahmooressi grew up in a gated community in Weston and graduated with honors from Cypress Bay High School in 2007. He earned a pilot’s license at age 17, then headed off to Alaska’s Kodiak Island, where he fulfilled a dream of joining a commercial fishing crew.

“They went out into the Bering Sea. They pulled up something like 20,000 pounds of halibut a day,” said his mother, Jill Marie Tahmooressi, a nurse at Miami Children’s Hospital.

After returning to Florida and entering a local community college, Andrew Tahmooressi decided he wasn’t ready for schooling, and joined the Marines in 2008.

He served two combat tours in Afghanistan, winning a rare combat field promotion to sergeant in Helmand province. Earlier, in Marjah district, a homemade bomb upended his combat vehicle but he survived.

In 2012, Tahmooressi mustered out with an honorable discharge but he remains a reservist with a commitment until 2016.

He returned to Weston to be with his father, Khosrow “Paul” Tahmooressi, an Iranian-born engineer, and his mother, and to pursue a dream of training as a professional pilot at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. But the demons of war dogged him.

“He had been struggling for all of 2013,” his mother said.

He borrowed the family’s Ford pickup and drove to California, where he received an official PTSD evaluation at a VA facility.

U.S. officials have visited Tahmooressi at least nine times since his arrest the night of April 1, and the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana “is taking all possible steps” to ensure his safety, William W. Whitaker, the American citizen services chief, said in an email to a staff member of Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., that McClatchy obtained.

Tahmooressi’s two-day detention in a holding pen, followed by detention at La Mesa Penitentiary, has been far from calm. The first night was the worst.

“When he called me, with all the background noise, it sounded like a riot was going on,” his mother said. “He said, and I quote, ‘Mom, I’m not going to make it through the night. … There are hit men in that cell with me”

His escape attempt came after he was put in with the general prison population at La Mesa. On April 6, he was placed in a single-person cell, where he apparently stabbed himself in the neck, either as a suicide attempt or a ploy. After getting stitches at Tijuana General Hospital, he was placed in the infirmary.

His “arms and legs are restrained because the infirmary is an open room with access to many objects, but the cuffs are doubled in length so that he has some movement and padding and bandages are between his skin and the cuffs to prevent injury,” Whitaker wrote in the email.

Tahmooressi’s mother visited him April 14 at the penitentiary.

His mood was grim.

“I would say, precarious at best, fearful, nervous,” she said in a telephone interview. “He’d already had his life threatened. Very anxious about the legal process, highly distraught.”

More news came this week. Whitaker wrote to Jill Tahmooressi to say the consulate had gathered a summary of VA medical records of her son’s ailment, and an affidavit, and presented them to the judge. A trial is set to begin May 28.

“We learned today that the prison system intends to move Andrew to another penitentiary called El Hongo II, a new facility located near the town of Tecate, about 40 minutes east of Tijuana,” Whitaker wrote. “There, he will be in a single cell.”

That move may be imminent. Whitaker wrote the family Wednesday that prison authorities “indicated that this would happen in around a week.”

Legislators, including Hunter and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat who lives in Weston and is the chair of the Democratic National Committee, have voiced concern about the case.

A spokesman for Wasserman Schultz, Sean Bartlett, said she had “instructed her staff to get in touch with the State Department right away to ensure that Andrew’s case was being handled as expeditiously as possible.” He said the legislator was “in close contact with the State Department as the trial approaches.”

For his part, Tahmooressi offered a simple plea at the bottom of his half-page handwritten statement allowing the public to be informed of his plight.

“Please help, thank you very much. I appreciate anything you can do. Thank you,” he wrote on his U.S. privacy waiver form.

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TODAY'S KUDOS AWARD: 3 Armed Robbers with illegal guns lose battle to 1 business owner with a legal one

05/03/2014

Teen accomplice charged with murder in smoke shop robbery

Authorities arrested a teen linked to the botched robbery at a Pharr smoke shop, and released the identity of the suspect that was killed during the incident.

The Pharr Police Department told Action 4 News police arrested a 16-year-old male from Donna.

Authorities charged the 16-year-old with murder since he was involved with the aggravated robbery that led to the death of 18-year-old Julio Cesar Perez from Edinburg.

The 16-year-old is now at the Hidalgo County Juvenile Detention Center.

His identity has not been released at this time.

Pharr police said Perez, the 16-year-old and another suspect attempted to rob Deuce’s Smoke Shop in Pharr early Monday morning.

Three suspects stormed the shop wearing hoodies and when the three gunmen walked in, they shouted "hands up!"

The owner of the smoke shop told Action 4 News that he feared for his life especially when he saw three armed suspects walk through the front door.

Investigators said the owner, who feared for his life, reached for his gun and fatally shot 18-year-old Perez.

Police are still searching for one more suspect linked to the botched robbery.

The suspect reportedly fled the scene of the incident in a black Cadillac CTX with paper plates and chrome rims.

If you have any information on this incident, you can contact the Pharr Crime Stoppers at 787-8477 (TIPS).

Police are also looking at another robbery that happened back in in April 11, 2011 at the smoke shop.

Three suspects entered the shop with guns with handkerchiefs covering their faces.

According to police, the suspects stole a lock box and safe with a gun inside.

The suspects left the scene in a Pontiac Grand Prix.

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Rick Scott destroys 2016 chances with promise to succomb to mainstream idiology, betray Floridians, Americans and the Constitution

05/03/2014

Florida Lawmakers Approve In-State Tuition for DREAMers

MIAMI – The Florida House of Representatives ratified Friday by a vote of 85-32 a bill making qualified undocumented immigrants eligible for in-state tuition at public universities and community colleges.

The Senate approved the measure on Thursday and it is now headed to Gov. Rick Scott, who has promised to sign it as soon as it reaches his desk.

The move will benefit students covered by the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, created in 2012 to help the undocumented young people that the long-stalled DREAM Act was intended to benefit.

“We’re very happy and excited that the bill has been approved by the state Senate and confirmed by the House of Representatives,” Julio Calderon, a 24-year-old student at Florida International University in Miami, told Efe.

The in-state tuition rate is about one-quarter the amount paid by non-Florida residents.

Scott and predecessors Jeb Bush and Bob Martinez – all Republicans – applauded Friday the passing of the bill.

The law will benefit some 200,000 undocumented students in Florida,” Kathy Bird, coordinator of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, told Efe, while expressing her great satisfaction and pride for this legal victory “after a fight that’s gone on for more than 10 years.”

Florida becomes the 21st state to establish some kind of university enrollment benefit for undocumented immigrants, after Virginia did the same earlier this week.

The bill offers the advantages of in-state enrollment and tuition for undocumented students who attended high school in Florida for three years prior to graduation.

Before receiving these benefits, undocumented students must take an oath to apply for regularization of their immigration status. 

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Drug Trade Takes a Toll on Puerto Rico, Police Chief Says

05/02/2014

Narcotics trafficking “has more or less remained the same” for more than 20 years, the new top cop of Puerto Rico said, based on data from U.S. intelligence agencies and the DEA

SAN JUAN – Eighteen percent of the drugs that pass through the Caribbean stay in Puerto Rico, the new top cop of this U.S. commonwealth told Efe on Friday.

In his office at police headquarters in San Juan, Jose Caldero recalled that no drugs are made in Puerto Rico and their transit through the Caribbean island en route to mainland United States takes a terrible toll locally.

Narcotics trafficking “has more or less remained the same” for more than 20 years, Caldero said, based on data from U.S. intelligence agencies and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“The evidence in recent years is that we have doubled drug seizures, but people keep trying to smuggle them in,” he said.

While crime in Puerto Rico has diminished over the past three years, from 1,136 homicides in 2011 – the highest number recorded since 1940 – to 1,005 in 2012 and 883 last year, 70 percent of murders on the island are drug-related, according to Caldero.

He noted that to understand the nature of the problem, it must be taken into account that when authorities dismantle a drug corner, other criminals immediately come along and reorganize it.

An estimated 175,000 are involved in drug trafficking in Puerto Rico, an island of 3.7 million and with some 1,600 drug corners.

Caldero noted that most of those running drug corners are young people who “don’t want to study or work” and who prefer to follow the trail of “easy money.”

“Unfortunately, drugs only take you two ways – to jail or to death,” he said.

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FYI: The Real Unemployment Rate: In 20% Of American Families, Everyone Is Unemployed

05/03/2014

Submitted by Tyler Durden 

• BLS
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Real Unemployment Rate
• Unemployment

inShare

 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The American Dream blog,
According to shocking new numbers that were just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 percent of American families do not have a single person that is working.  So when someone tries to tell you that the unemployment rate in the United States is about 7 percent, you should just laugh.  One-fifth of the families in the entire country do not have a single member with a job.  That is absolutely astonishing.  How can a family survive if nobody is making any money?  Well, the answer to that question is actually quite easy.  There is a reason why government dependence has reached epidemic levels in the United States.  Without enough jobs, tens of millions of additional Americans have been forced to reach out to the government for help.  At this point, if you can believe it, the number of Americans getting money or benefits from the federal government each month exceeds the number of full-time workers in the private sector by more than 60 million.

When I was growing up, it seemed like anyone that was willing to work hard could find a good paying job.  But now that has all changed.  At this point, 20 percent of all the families in the entire country do not have a single member that has a job.  That includes fathers, mothers and children.  The following is how CNSNews.com broke down the numbers…

A family, as defined by the BLS, is a group of two or more people who live together and who are related by birth, adoption or marriage. In 2013, there were 80,445,000 families in the United States and in 16,127,000—or 20 percent–no one had a job.

To be honest, these really are Great Depression-type numbers.  But over the years “unemployment” has been redefined so many times that it doesn’t mean the same thing that it once did.  The government tells us that the official unemployment rate is about 7 percent, but that number is almost meaningless at this point.
A number that I find much more useful is the employment-population ratio.  According to the employment-population ratio, the percentage of working age Americans that actually have a job has been below 59 percent for more than four years in a row…

That means that more than 41 percent of all working age Americans do not have a job.
When people can’t take care of themselves, it becomes necessary for the government to take care of them.  And what we have seen in recent years is government dependence soar to unprecedented levels.  In fact, welfare spending and entitlement payments now make up 69 percent of the entire federal budget.  For much more on this, please see my previous article entitled “18 Stats That Prove That Government Dependence Has Reached Epidemic Levels“.
And what is even more frightening is that more families are falling out of the middle class every single day.  As a recent CNN article explained, approximately one-third of all U.S. households are living “hand-to-mouth”.  In other words, they are constantly living on the edge of financial disaster…

About one-third of American households live “hand-to-mouth,” meaning that they spend all their paychecks. But what surprised the study authors is that 66% of these families are middle class, with a median income of $41,000. While they don’t have liquid assets, such as savings accounts or mutual fund holdings, they do have homes and retirement accounts, with amedian net worth of $41,000.
“We don’t expect them to be living paycheck to paycheck,” said Greg Kaplan, study co-author and assistant professor of economics at Princeton University.

The American Dream is rapidly becoming an American nightmare.
When I was growing up, I lived in a pretty typical middle class neighborhood.  Everyone had a nice home, a couple of cars and could go on vacation during the summer.  I don’t remember ever hearing of anyone using food stamps or going to a food bank.  In fact, I can’t even remember anyone having a parent that was unemployed.  If someone did leave a job, it was usually quite easy to find another one.
But today, the middle class is being ripped to shreds and according to one new report there are 49 million Americans that are dealing with food insecurity in 2014.
How can anyone not see what is happening to us?  America is in the midst of a long-term economic decline, but the mainstream media and most of our politicians seem to think that things are better than ever.  They continue to try to convince us that “business as usual” is the right path to take.
But one-fifth of the families in the entire nation are already totally unemployed.
At what point will we finally admit that what we are doing right now is simply not working?
30 percent of all families unemployed?
40 percent?
50 percent?
If we stay on the road that we are on now, things are going to continue to get worse.  Millions more jobs will be shipped overseas, millions more jobs will be replaced by technology and crippling government regulations will kill millions more jobs.  The middle class will continue to shrink and government dependence will continue to rise.
Most people just want to work hard, put food on the table, pay their mortgages and provide a nice life for their families.
But the percentage of Americans that are successfully able to do that just keeps getting smaller.
Wake up America.
Your middle class is dying.

Second Man Sues NYPD Over Jolly Rancher Arrest

05/02/2014

Lawsuit: Cops mistook hard candies for methamphetamine

MAY 1--A second Brooklyn man has sued New York Police Department officers for arresting him for possessing methamphetamine that was actually Jolly Rancher candies.

Omar Ferriera, 23, alleges that he was collared last June after departing It’Sugar, a Coney Island candy store where he and a friend had “purchased various candies,” including “some ‘Jolly Rancher’ brand candy,”according to U.S. District Court records.

Ferriera and Love Olatunjiojo, 26, were “detained, handcuffed and searched” by cops who suspected them of drug dealing. The officers recovered what they described in subsequent criminal complaints as a “quantity of methamphetamine” from both Ferriera and Olatunjiojo.

Ferriera alleges that he was “repeatedly punched” in the face and body by cops prior to being placed in a squad car. The blows, he said, left his face “bloodied, bruised and swollen.” After being transported to the 60th Precinct, Ferriera added, he and Olatunjiojo were both strip-searched.

While a patrolman initially told prosecutors that the seized items field tested positive for the presence of narcotics, a subsequent NYPD lab analysis revealed that the red and blue “crystalline rocks of solid material” contained no controlled substances.

Three months after Ferriera and Olatunjiojo were arrested, prosecutors dismissed separate misdemeanor criminal complaints filed against them. The complaints included assertions from an arresting officer that he “had professional training as a police officer in the identification of methamphetamine.”

Olatunjiojo sued cops last year for false arrest and civil rights violations. Ferriera recently joined that federal lawsuit, which also accuses NYPD officers of falsifying evidence and excessive use of force. The amended complaint does not specify monetary damages being sought by Ferriera and Olatunjiojo. (7 pages)

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