Jerry Seper
Articles by Jerry Seper
Sequester cuts raising fears of security setback near the border
Roger Barnett began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 after they started to vandalize his property — destroying water pumps, killing calves, vandalizing fences and gates, stealing trucks and breaking into his house. Published March 27, 2013
Lawmaker calls for review Justice’s of Civil Rights Division
The chairman of a House subcommittee that funds the Justice Department wants Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to call for an independent review of the department's Civil Rights Division in the wake of a government report that documented widespread abuses within the division. Published March 27, 2013
Justice attorneys wary of Perez’s nomination for Labor, cite ‘most devastating indictment’
Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez's nomination by President Obama as labor secretary has been met with criticism from Republicans and widespread concern among current and former Justice Department attorneys who question whether the Civil Rights Division chief is qualified for the post. Published March 24, 2013
Justice Department probes Cleveland police over allegations of excessive force
The Justice Department on Thursday targeted the Cleveland Police Department in a civil rights investigation to determine whether police in that city used excessive force, including "unreasonable deadly force," in violation of the Constitution and federal law. Published March 14, 2013
Grassley: Why were ‘racist’ acts tolerated at Justice Department?
A senior Republican in Congress said Wednesday that he wants to know why Justice Department employees whose "hostile, racist and inappropriate behavior" was documented in a new report — including one who admitted lying to the department's office of inspector general — are still employed. Published March 13, 2013
Likely Labor Secretary pick Perez oversaw Justice Department unit with racially charged divisions
An assistant attorney general President Obama is considering for labor secretary oversaw a Justice Department section hampered by racially-charged ideological divisions, an inspector general report says. Published March 12, 2013
Ga. man admits to charges of prostituting teen girls
A 27-year-old Georgia man, described by federal prosecutors as the ringleader of a sex business that prostituted juvenile girls in Virginia, Maryland and four Southeastern states, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Alexandria to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. Published March 11, 2013
Mexican drug kingpin federally indicted in Va.
A man the U.S. government has identified as a narcotics kingpin and top lieutenant in the Sinaloa drug cartel has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia, accused of helping deal more than $280 million in drugs. Published March 8, 2013
GOP Sen. Cornyn rips Napolitano for releasing detainees
A senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary committee on Friday called into question the leadership abilities of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, expressing "outrage" at what he called the department's questionable response to sequestration — including the release of detainees from detention centers across the country. Published March 8, 2013
Md. men sentenced in $16M loan scheme
Two Maryland men have been sentenced to prison in a scheme to steal nearly $16 million from a Virginia residential property management company, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride in the Eastern District of Virginia and FBI Assistant Director Valerie Parlave, who heads the bureau's Washington field office, said Friday. Published March 8, 2013
Japanese air freight forwarders fined $18.9M for price-fixing
Two Japanese air freight forwarding companies agreed Friday to plead guilty and pay $18.9 million in criminal fines in a conspiracy to fix air freight forwarding fees for cargo shipments from Japan to the United States. Published March 8, 2013
U.S. man fought to the end, despite Singapore’s ‘suicide’ claims, his family says
A 31-year-old U.S. citizen, whose questionable death in June is believed by authorities in Singapore to have been a suicide, had defensive wounds on his body and hands and had tried unsuccessfully to slip his fingers under a garrote that had been wrapped tightly around his neck to end his life, his family says. Published March 6, 2013
‘Suicide’ of American engineer in Singapore questioned
The mysterious death by hanging of a 31-year-old U.S. citizen in Singapore has his family asking questions over what it has described as the many discrepancies in how, where and why the young electrical engineer died, and has raised questions for authorities in two countries. Published March 3, 2013
Federal judge to hear ex-Sen. Craig’s suit on use of campaign funds for solicitation-case legal fees
A hearing this week in federal court in Washington involving former Sen. Larry Craig, whose political career crashed after his 2007 arrest for soliciting sex in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, could have far-reaching ramifications on the future use by lawmakers of campaign cash to pay legal bills. Published March 3, 2013
Ex-USAID contractor, wife sentenced in $1 million embezzlement
A former deputy director at a private contractor that did business with the U.S. Agency for International Development was sentenced Friday to 51 months in prison in the embezzlement of more than $1 million from a program meant to address global health problems. Published March 1, 2013
MS-13 gang member gets 10 years in sex-trafficking case
Federal prosecutors in Virginia continue to target the violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, the latest focus of a gang task force being a 21-year-old Maryland man who pleaded guilty Friday to sex-trafficking charges. Published March 1, 2013
Judge to rule on ex-Sen. Larry Craig’s use of campaign funds in solicitation case
A federal court hearing in a lawsuit by the Federal Election Commission accusing former Sen. Larry Craig, whose political career crashed after his 2007 arrest for soliciting sex in a bathroom at a Minneapolis airport, of misusing campaign funds was postponed Wednesday until March 6. Published February 27, 2013
Conviction of woman in Maryland concludes four-year drug probe
The murder conviction this week in federal court in Baltimore of a Jamaican woman brought to a close a four-year undercover investigation that targeted a brutal criminal gang responsible for the distribution of millions of dollars worth of drugs in five states, including Maryland. Published February 21, 2013
Jesse Jackson Jr. pleads guilty to misusing campaign cash
Former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., to misusing more than $750,000 in campaign cash, tearfully telling a judge he used the money to pay off restaurant and nightclub tabs, and for personal expenditures at sports clubs and expensive lounges. Published February 20, 2013
ICE alleges imported honey scam
Five persons and two domestic honey-processing companies were charged Wednesday in a federal probe targeting a multimillion dollar smuggling operation bringing Chinese-origin honey into the United States. Published February 20, 2013
