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Jerry Seper

Jerry Seper was a writer for The Washington Times.

Articles by Jerry Seper

Image: Associated Press

Feds arrest dozens, seize $15M in nationwide synthetic-drug sweep

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and its law enforcement partners have made 75 arrests and confiscated more than $15 million in cash and assets in a sweep of 35 states targeting gangs that traffic in designer synthetic drugs, the DEA said Wednesday. Published June 26, 2013

Colombia's National Police Chief Gen. Jose Roberto Leon Riano announces the arrest of four gang members Tuesday in the death last week of DEA Special Agent James "Terry" Watson.

Four men arrested in the killing of DEA agent in Colombia

Colombian law enforcement authorities have arrested four men in the killing of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent James "Terry" Watson," who was fatally stabbed last week during what police said was an aborted robbery attempt. More arrests are expected. Published June 25, 2013

Watson

Body of DEA agent killed in Colombia returned home

The body of slain U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent James "Terry" Watson was returned to his Louisiana home Monday following his stabbing last week in Colombia during an aborted robbery attempt. Published June 24, 2013

Court says United Technologies liable for damages in fighter jet contract

A federal court has found United Technologies Corp. liable for more than $473 million in damages and penalties arising out of a contract to provide the Air Force with engines for F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft from 1985 to 1990, the Justice Department said Thursday. Published June 20, 2013

**FILE** Chris Simcox, the president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, addresses the media at West Houston Airport on Aug. 14, 2005, regarding the issue of border patrols and their training and tactics. (Associated Press)

Minuteman border watch co-founder Simcox jailed on child sex charges

Chris Simcox, who founded a border-watch group known as the Minutemen to look for illegal immigrants coming into Arizona from Mexico, has been arrested in Phoenix on suspicion of having sexual contact with three girls under the age of 10, police said. Published June 20, 2013

**FILE** Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation's top law enforcement official, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 15, 2013, before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the U.S. Department of Justice. (Associated Press)

Eric Holder celebrates gay pride with speech at Justice Dept. before Supreme Court decisions

With the Supreme Court preparing to deliver two landmark decisions on same-sex marriage, the Justice Department on Tuesday celebrated gay pride with speeches by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Democrat, the first openly gay member of the Senate, and singer-songwriter and lesbian activist Melissa Etheridge. Published June 18, 2013

**FILE** Some of the more than 500 Texas fifth- and sixth-grade students are shown during a red-ribbon rally against drug use at the Capitol in Austin on Oct. 19, 2000. Celebrating national Drug Prevention Month, the event also honors the memory of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who was murdered by drug dealers in Mexico in 1985. (Associated Press)

Feds target contacts of DEA agent’s killer

The Treasury Department has targeted under the "Kingpin Act" 18 persons and five companies tied to a Mexican drug trafficker convicted in the brutal 1985 kidnapping and murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent — prohibiting U.S. residents from conducting financial or commercial transactions with them and freezing any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction. Published June 18, 2013

B. Todd Jones, nominated to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, faces a claim that he retaliated against a whistleblower. (Associated Press)

Grassley sees rush to confirm ATF chief facing probe

President Obama's nominee to head the embattled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives remains the focus of a federal investigation and a senior Republican is asking why his confirmation hearings last week weren't postponed until the case has been resolved. Published June 17, 2013

Jordan

FBI chief has little to say on IRS probe

Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III locked horns during a rancorous House Judiciary Committee hearing over the bureau's investigation into whether the IRS inappropriately subjected conservative or conservative-sounding groups filing for tax-exempt status to extra scrutiny. Published June 13, 2013

** FILE ** J. Russell George is the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration. (Associated Press)

IRS criticized for payment of $4B to workers not legally in the U.S.

The IRS is under fire for a program that allows workers not legally in the U.S. to claim tax credits for dependent children. Recipients of the program, which includes illegal immigrants, foreign nationals not eligible for Social Security cards, nonresident aliens, resident aliens and their dependents, has been criticized roundly by the Treasury Department's office of the inspector general. It noted Thursday that while some corrective actions have since been taken, additional improvements still are needed. Published June 13, 2013

**FILE** FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III testifies on May 16, 2012, on Capitol Hill before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Associated Press)

FBI Director Mueller defends surveillance programs

FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House committee on Thursday the government's massive undercover surveillance programs were court-approved and have been conducted in compliance with U.S. law and with oversight from Congress. Published June 13, 2013

Software theft nets 12-year prison term

A Chinese national was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and criminal copyright infringement in connection with operating a website to distribute more than $100 million in pirated software around the world. Published June 12, 2013

"I'm excited. It's such a new and novel thing for us," said Sarah Freedman, who manages a Walgreens in Washington, D.C., that is participating in the pilot program. At her pharmacy, the testing is done in a private room. They've also taken steps to make sure that a customer can very quietly request the test. (Associated Press)

Walgreens pays record $80 million settlement for improper drug sales

Walgreens Corp., the nation's largest drugstore chain, agreed Tuesday to pay $80 million in civil penalties to resolve accusations of negligently letting controlled substances such as oxycodone and other prescription pain killers be diverted for abuse and black-market sales. Published June 11, 2013

B. Todd Jones, President Obama's nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was conducting his nomination hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Justice Department rarely prosecutes ‘straw buyers,’ ATF nominee Todd Jones says

U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones, President Obama's choice to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told a Senate committee on Tuesday the arrest of "straw buyers" — those who falsely buy guns for others, mostly criminals — was a top Justice Department priority but the department rarely prosecutes the cases "due to limited resources." Published June 11, 2013

Inspector criticizes GSA contracting

The embattled General Services Administration, which became embroiled in a controversy last year over an $800,000 Las Vegas conference featuring clowns and a mind reader, continues to show "malfeasance and disregard for taxpayer dollars" in its award of contracts, a report says. Published June 6, 2013

SEC freezes Thai trader’s windfall on Smithfield

The assets of a Thailand-based trader, who made more than $3 million in profits by trading in advance of last week's announcement that Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Ltd. had agreed to a multibillion-dollar acquisition by China-based Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd., were frozen Thursday by the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of an emergency court order. Published June 6, 2013

Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Accounting of U.S. Marshals Service expenses questioned

A government report Wednesday found significant deficiencies in how the U.S. Marshals Service accounts for overtime and supplemental pay for law enforcement officers; identifies more than $275,000 in unsupported costs associated with district-level salaries, fleet cards and purchase cards; and concludes that the agency needs to take multiple actions to strengthen its internal controls to ensure it is adequately preventing waste, fraud and abuse. Published June 5, 2013

**FILE** Bags of confiscated cocaine are shown at the office of the Guinean drug enforcement agency in Conakry, Guinea, on March 11, 2009. (Associated Press)

DEA charges four with trafficking heroin from Africa

Saying that drug trafficking in West Africa has become "a plague," the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday announced the unsealing of charges against four suspected drug traffickers accused of attempting to secured safe passage for millions of dollars worth of heroin from West Africa to the United States by paying off an airport insider. Published June 5, 2013