Federal Prosecutor

Maryland's top federal prosecutor defended the decision not to bring charges against any Baltimore area police officers in an FBI investigation of alleged moonlighting violations, saying yesterday there was no evidence that the off-duty officers were paid for work they didn't do. U.S. Attorney Thomas M. DiBiagio said that court records filed by prosecutors in his office Friday incorrectly stated that more than 39 off-duty officers were paid by Staples Inc....

In Washington, as in any seat of power, most acts of folly begin with hubris. Government leaders, elected or appointed, usually don't intend to do the wrong thing, to overstep or cause harm, but they become so convinced, so certain of their purpose, that they are blinded by their pride. Perhaps that's the root of the problem infecting the Justice Department, where officials secretly obtained months of telephone records of journalists working for the Associated Press. That Attorney General Eric Holder or anyone else there could find that action acceptable is frightening, to say the least.

Quieting a heated duel over gun-crime prosecutions, Maryland's top federal prosecutor reversed course yesterday and said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will help attorneys in her office screen potential firearm cases. U.S. Attorney Lynne A. Battaglia set off a rancorous debate in June when she told local ATF officials that federal prosecutors could more efficiently determine which cases should be tried under the growing Project Disarm program, which is designed to bring tougher sentences for felons caught with guns.

Federal prosecutors in Maryland hauled in almost $25 million owed to the U.S. government and victims of federal crimes in the most recent fiscal year, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The office said it collected $11 million in criminal cases, mostly as restitution for government agencies and other victims, with some coming in fines and other assessments. Almost $14 million came in through civil fraud cases, along with penalties imposed on people and corporations for breaking federal laws.

Authorities probing the mysterious death of Baltimore federal prosecutor Jonathan P. Luna now think the young lawyer likely suffered from stab wounds inflicted with his own pocketknife and are re-examining financial records that may shed more light on the final months of Luna's life. In a recent recanvassing of the rural Pennsylvania field where Luna's body was found, investigators found a penknife that they believe caused his wounds, according to two federal law enforcement sources. They also said that investigators believe the pocketknife is the one that Luna regularly carried.

Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein announced Thursday the launch of a new "Major Investigations Unit" devoted to dealing with violent repeat offenders — a criminal class that was key to his campaign last year. "Research and data reveal that a relatively small number of violent, repeat offenders commit a disproportionately large amount of the violent crime," Bernstein said in a statement. "By strategically and aggressively pursuing, prosecuting and imprisoning these individuals, we will have a dramatic impact on the level of violence in the city, and as a result make Baltimore a safer place to live and work.

The Baltimore state's attorney is threatening to recall a city prosecutor assigned to the U.S. attorney's office because the city plans to give $200,000 directly to federal prosecutors to go after criminals who use firearms to commit crimes. In a letter dated Friday, State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy questioned why the city planned to bypass her office to give the federal funds to the state's top federal prosecutor. The money would be used to hire two new prosecutors and a paralegal.

WASHINGTON - President Bush is nominating Rod J. Rosenstein, a fast-rising Justice Department official who once served as a federal prosecutor in Maryland, as the state's next U.S. attorney, the White House announced late yesterday. Rosenstein, 40, is principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's tax division. He will replace interim U.S. Attorney Allen F. Loucks, who has been on the job since January. "I think he'll be a terrific U.S. attorney," said Loucks, who did not seek a permanent appointment.

WASHINGTON - President Bush nominated yesterday Robert S. Mueller III, a veteran federal prosecutor with deep roots in the Justice Department, as the next director of the FBI, which recently has suffered a series of embarrassing blows to its credibility. If confirmed by the Senate, Mueller would take over the nation's premier law enforcement agency at a time when it has lost the trust of many in Congress. In addition to lapses that led to the recent spy scandal involving former agent Robert P. Hanssen, the FBI was accused of bungling the espionage investigation of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee and of mishandling documents in the prosecution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy J. McVeigh.

Federal prosecutor Allen F. Loucks is scheduled to be sworn in Monday as interim Maryland U.S. attorney, replacing Thomas M. DiBiagio. Prosecutors in the office received an e-mail this week announcing the temporary appointment, which will last 120 days or until the president appoints a permanent U.S. attorney. Loucks, 47, heads the Maryland U.S. attorney's civil division, which prosecutes civil fraud matters and represents the government when it is sued. Reached by telephone at home last night, Loucks confirmed the appointment but declined to comment.

At a community meeting for paroled felons in the East Baltimore, the mother of Bloods gang leader Kevin Gary faced down federal prosecutor Jason Weinstein. She told him to stop harrassing her son, whom she described as "a champion for the downtrodden," recalls former city police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, who also attended the meeting. Weinstein, familiar with Gary's criminal record, did not back down. "I hear you ma'am, but if your son doesn't stop what he's doing he's going to prison with the rest of these guys," he responded, according to Bealefeld.

A former Maryland assistant U.S. attorney resigned today in the wake of an internal watchdog report on the ATF's botched gun operation known as "Fast and Furious. " The U.S. Justice Department's Inspector General on Wednesday referred 14 employees, including Jason Weinstein, a senior aide to Lanny Breuer and former federal prosecutor in Baltimore, for possible internal discipline. Read the report from Reuters here . After the news broke, Weinstein's attorneys sent out several documents that they say refute the Inspector General's findings.  Read Weinstein's resignation letter here.  A " fact sheet " that Weinstein says "identifies the most egregious inaccuracies" in the report.  A letter on Weinstein's legacy from retired Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III.  “It is a horribly sad day for this country when a professional who has dedicated his life to law enforcement and the rule of law falls victim to criticism that is so profoundly wrong and so deeply flawed," his attorney, former Inspector General Michael R. Bromwich, said in a statement.

Just days after Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosensteinand another federal prosecutor were appointed to look into national security leaks, a group of Republican senators called for their ouster, claiming the men can't be trusted to investigate the Obama administration because they work for it. "A lot of us believe if there was ever a need for an outside special counsel, it is now," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said during a Judiciary Committee...

The head of Wings to Go, a Buffalo wings franchise restaurant company based in Severna Park that has outlets in 12 states and Washington, was indicted Tuesday for embezzling $885,000 from the company — money that he allegedly used to pay for telephone sex and prostitutes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore. Mark Chandler Goodnow, 55, of Pasadena, faces one count of wire fraud for writing hundreds of corporate checks from 2006 to 20011 to pay three Texas women for phone sex, as well as personal expenses for one of the women, the indictment alleges.

An attorney for one of two Baltimore police officers fighting accusations that they were part of a broad kickback scheme said Monday that his client referred cases to a towing company in Rosedale but did not personally profit. Thomas Crowe, an attorney for Officer Samuel Ocasio, said federal prosecutors won't be able to prove that Ocasio took money to refer drivers, and said that the towing company owners, who are expected to testify Tuesday, are making false allegations. "There's nothing that says an officer can't suggest to someone that a particular place is a good repair shop," Crowe told jurors.

The U.S. Attorney's Office approves reduced sentences for criminals who deserve them, but with the caveat that some crack cocaine dealers seeking early release from federal prison are violent. The Sun obscures the issue by claiming that federal crack guidelines led to convictions of "hundreds of thousands of petty offenders who were sentenced to long prison terms" ("Crack and the courts," Dec. 1). The truth is that only a few hundred Maryland drug dealers are eligible for sentence reductions.

The first sentence of Jean Marbella's piece ("Jessamy draws challenger to re-election," July 5) said it all: Four mayors, six police commissioners and one chief prosecutor over the past 15 years. Time to let someone else see if a better job can be done, having in mind plea deals accepted and numerous excuses over the years for cases either not pursued or lost for various reasons. With his experience as a former federal prosecutor, Gregg Bernstein should be given an opportunity to show a better job can be done in the position.

A Howard County police officer charged with arranging a cocaine deal at the Fort Meade Non-Commissioned Officers Club last April has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to one count of distributing cocaine, a federal prosecutor said yesterday.As part of the plea bargain, Gregory Albert Thomas, who had been with the county police force for three years, has resigned from the department. He had been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case since his arrest May 17.Thomas, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Frank A. Kaufman Dec. 3. Assistant U.S. attorney Andrea Smith said she and her co-counsel, Brent J. Gurney, will request an eight-year prison sentence.

Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia are asking for a postponement until spring in the trial for an Ellicott City teen charged with aiding a terrorist, citing complexities in a case filled with classified information, voluminous evidence and multiple defendants. Also, according to documents filed by the U.S. attorney's office for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, an alleged accomplice remains incarcerated in Ireland pending extradition. Prosecutors say he has neither retained an attorney nor had a single court appearance related to the case.

A federal prosecutor said Thursday that the government has recovered only a third of the $9 million that authorities charge a Perry Hall businessman with taking from his customers in a massive biofuel fraud scheme. The businessman, Rodney R. Hailey, president of the now-shuttered Clean Green Fuel, appeared in U.S. District Court for what had been scheduled as an arraignment. But Hailey surprised prosecutors by not going through with a guilty plea that they said he had agreed to before the proceeding.