Posted on 08/11/2006 3:01:13 PM PDT by madison10
February 2, 2009
Note: The following text is a quote:
ANNAPOLIS MAN SENTENCED TO NEARLY FOUR YEARS FOR RECEIVING STOLEN CELL PHONES
Trailer Filled with Cell Phones Stolen from Freight Terminal
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Walter Lee Green, age 50, of Annapolis, Maryland, today to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for receipt and possession of stolen goods from interstate carrier shipments in connection with a scheme to steal cellular telephones, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to the plea agreement, on August 29, 2006, a trailer containing a shipment of Cingular Wireless cellular telephones was stolen by a white tractor from the parking lot of a freight terminal in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Cingular had placed a box within this cargo that contained a global positioning system (“GPS”) to address a rash of recent cargo thefts. Once the trailer was reported stolen, the GPS was activated and the FBI was provided with its coordinates. The FBI located the stolen and stationary trailer in Annapolis and observed 19 shrink-wrapped pallets of unopened cellular telephone cases, as well as one opened case of cellular telephones with several individual cellphone boxes missing, inside the trailer.
At 10:00 p.m. on August 30, 2006, a blue tractor hooked up to the stolen trailer in Annapolis and towed it to a warehouse area rented to co-defendant Lawrence Branch, on Wilkens Avenue in Baltimore City. A few hours later, the trailer began to move again and stopped in Jessup, Maryland. When the GPS unit embedded in the cargo began to move again, law enforcement recovered the now-empty white trailer in Jessup while other agents continued to follow the embedded GPS unit to Annapolis, where law enforcement had also located the blue and white tractors used to move the stolen trailer.
Early on August 31, 2006, law enforcement observed Green driving the white tractor and stopped him for traffic infractions. During an interview, Green said that he knew of the shipment of stolen cellular telephones, showing officers five stolen Cingular wireless cellular telephones in a storage compartment in the tractor. Green then took law enforcement to the warehouse space on Wilkens Avenue. According to the plea agreements of Green and Branch, both defendants had helped unload pallets of cellular phones at the warehouse on the previous evening in order to store them until they could decide how to sell them for profit.
Of the 19 pallets originally stolen, authorities recovered 13, containing approximately 4,500 stolen phones. The total value of the shipment was $585,000.
Lawrence Michael Branch, Jr. pleaded guilty to the same offense and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Anne Arundel County Police Department for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Solette Magnelli, who prosecuted the case.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2138741/posts?page=2872#2872
“Mumbai attackers’ cellphones linked to U.S., Italy: Report
Accused gunman to be charged Wednesday”
REUTERS, AFPFEBRUARY 24, 2009
SNIPPET: “ROME - Militants behind last year’s attacks on Mumbai used cellphones that were activated in the United States and paid for with funds sent from Italy, an Italian newspaper reported on Tuesday.”
2,872 posted on February 24, 2009 5:32:58 PM PST by Cindy
March 5, 2009
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://baltimore.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/ba030509a.htm
SECOND ANNAPOLIS MAN SENTENCED TO OVER THREE YEARS IN PRISON FOR RECEIVING STOLEN CELL PHONES
Trailer Filled with Cell Phones Stolen from Freight Terminal
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Lawrence Michael Branch, Jr., age 44, of Annapolis, Maryland today to 37 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for receipt and possession of stolen goods from interstate carrier shipments in connection with a scheme to steal cellular telephones, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Blake also ordered Branch to pay restitution of $6,179.
According to his plea agreement, on August 29, 2006, a trailer containing a shipment of Cingular Wireless cellular telephones was stolen by a white tractor from the parking lot of a freight terminal in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Cingular had placed a box within this cargo that contained a global positioning system (“GPS”) to address a rash of recent cargo thefts. Once the trailer was reported stolen, the GPS was activated and the FBI was provided with its coordinates. The FBI located the stolen and stationary trailer in Annapolis and observed 19 shrink-wrapped pallets of unopened cellular telephone cases, as well as one opened case of cellular telephones with several individual cellphone boxes missing, inside the trailer.
At 10:00 p.m. on August 30, 2006, a blue tractor hooked up to the stolen trailer in Annapolis and towed it to a warehouse area rented to Branch, on Wilkens Avenue in Baltimore City. A few hours later, the trailer began to move again and stopped in Jessup, Maryland. When the GPS unit embedded in the cargo began to move again, law enforcement recovered the now-empty white trailer in Jessup while other agents continued to follow the embedded GPS unit to Annapolis, where law enforcement had also located the blue and white tractors used to move the stolen trailer.
Early on August 31, 2006, law enforcement observed co-defendant Walter Lee Green driving the white tractor and stopped him for traffic infractions. During an interview, Green said that he knew of the shipment of stolen cellular telephones, showing officers five stolen Cingular wireless cellular telephones in a storage compartment in the tractor. Green then took law enforcement to the warehouse space on Wilkens Avenue. According to the plea agreements of Green and Branch, both defendants had helped unload pallets of cellular phones at the warehouse on the previous evening in order to store them until they could decide how to sell them for profit.
Of the 19 pallets originally stolen, authorities recovered 13, containing approximately 4,500 stolen phones. The total value of the shipment was $585,000.
Walter Lee Green, age 50, of Annapolis, Maryland, was sentenced on February 2, 2009 to 46 months in prison for receipt and possession of stolen goods from interstate carrier shipments
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Anne Arundel County Police Department for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Solette Magnelli, who prosecuted the case.
A bit off topic, but interesting.
#
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090302/tc_nm/us_technology_un
“Mobile phone growth helps poorer states: U.N. (Reuters)”
Posted on Mon Mar 2, 2009 4:40AM EST
SNIPPET: “GENEVA (Reuters) - Two thirds of the world’s cell phone subscriptions are in developing nations, with the highest growth rate in Africa where a quarter of the population now has a mobile, a United Nations agency said on Friday.
While just 1 in 50 Africans had a mobile in the year 2000, now 28 percent have a cellular subscription, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
The world has more than three times more mobile cellular subscriptions than fixed telephone lines, and in some countries in Asia and Europe people have more than one contract each, pushing the mobile access rate above 100 percent.
In its Measuring the Information Society report, the ITU said the Internet is far less accessible in poorer parts of the world, for instance in Africa where just 5 percent of the population now uses the Internet.”
Hat Tip: Tiger Likes Rooster
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2222216/posts
#
Off Topic, but interesting.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4352642.cms
“China-made mobiles will go dead soon”
3 Apr 2009, 0346 hrs IST, Vinay Madhav, TNN
SNIPPET: “BANGALORE: China-made mobile handsets that have flooded the grey market are to be phased out within the next 10 days. These handsets are seen as
a security threat, prompting the move.
The department of telecommunication has sent a communication to Cellular Operators Association of India asking them to block services to handsets that have 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers. It is only the Chinese mobiles that have 15-digit numbers; other handsets come with 16-digit IMEIs.
The problem arises because on service providers’ computers, the Chinese handsets show up as having an endless list of digits as their IMEI numbers.
Due to this, these handsets cannot be traced. Also, it has been found that usually over 1,000 of these handsets share a single IMEI number. This has posed a big problem for the police.
Whenever criminals changed their numbers, or in cases of cellphone thefts, police used to track them through IMEI numbers. Chinese phones make that virtually impossible.
Recently, COAI made a representation to the government explaining the problem. The DoT, which took the issue seriously, directed COAI to stop mobile phone services to persons having Chinese handsets.”
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/November/09-nsd-1270.html
Arrests Made in Case Involving Conspiracy to Procure Weapons, Including Anti-Aircraft Missiles
US DOJ.gov - JUSTICE.gov/opa - Press Release ^ | November 23, 2009 | n/a
Posted on November 23, 2009 2:32:12 PM PST by Cindy
Note: The following text is a quote:
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, November 23, 2009
Arrests Made in Case Involving Conspiracy to Procure Weapons, Including Anti-Aircraft Missiles
Arrests were made today in a case involving a conspiracy to procure weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles.
A criminal complaint, unsealed today, charged Dani Nemr Tarraf with conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles (FIM-92 Stingers) and conspiring to possess machine guns (approximately 10,000 Colt M4 Carbines). In addition, Tarraf and other defendants — including Douri Nemr Tarraf, Hassan Mohamad Komeiha, and Hussein Ali Asfour — were charged with conspiring to transport stolen goods. Dani Nemr Tarraf and Ali Fadel Yahfoufi were charged with conspiring to commit passport fraud.
“Keeping missiles, machine guns and other sensitive U.S. weapons technology from falling into the wrong hands is one of the Justice Department’s top priorities. I applaud the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who worked tirelessly to bring about these charges and arrests,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
“This investigation demonstrates the dedication and cooperation of law enforcement agents from numerous agencies,” said U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy. “These cases show the breadth of criminal activity engaged in by those who oppose us. The crimes charged here range from the purchase of stolen and counterfeit goods, to the purchase of false visas and passports, to the purchase of weapons. I want to compliment the law enforcement agents, the Assistant United States Attorneys, and the attorneys in the National Security Division of the Department of Justice for their efforts.”
According to the complaint, Hassan Mohamad Komeiha began purchasing purportedly stolen cellular telephones from a law enforcement officer acting in an undercover capacity (the “UC”) in or about June 2007. Over the next several months, Komeiha and his co-conspirators [Dani Nemr Tarraf, Douri Nemr Tarraf, and Hussein Ali Asfour] purchased purportedly stolen goods from the UC, including cellular telephones, laptop computers, Sony Play Station 2 systems and automobiles.
The complaint also alleges that Dani Nemr Tarraf conspired to acquire anti-aircraft missiles and conspired to possess machine guns. According to the complaint, in or about mid-June 2009, Tarraf asked whether the UC could supply guided missiles and told the UC that he (Tarraf) wanted the UC to export approximately 10,000 “commando” machine guns [Colt M4 Carbines with short barrels] from the United States. On or about July 28, 2009, in Philadelphia, Tarraf paid the UC a deposit of approximately $20,000 toward the cost of purchasing FIM-92 Stinger missiles and approximately 10,000 Colt M4 Carbines and shipping these items outside the United States.
Finally, the complaint alleges that Dani Nemr Tarraf and his assistant, Ali Fadel Yahfoufi, conspired to commit passport fraud. In furtherance of their scheme, Yahfoufi provided passport photos of himself to the UC, Tarraf agreed to pay the UC to obtain a U.S. passport in Yahfoufi’s name, and Yahfoufi instructed the UC to submit false information to the U.S. government in a passport application.
“The FBI remains resolutely committed to working with our law enforcement partners to find and stop those individuals who commit crimes, such as those alleged today, in support of a broader intent to commit acts of terrorism against the United States,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk, of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI. “Today, through the well-coordinated effort of all involved agencies, dangerous weapons have been kept out of the hands of those who would turn those weapons against the United States.”
“ICE will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to disrupt networks involved in the illegal sale and distribution of weapons and critical technologies,” said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton. “Today’s arrests are a clear indication of the federal government’s commitment to keeping Americans safe.”
Information regarding the defendants is below:
Dani Nemr Tarraf, of Trnava, Slovakia, was born in 1971 and faces a potential maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted. Douri Nemr Tarraf, of Trnava, Slovakia, was born in 1973 and faces a potential maximum sentence of five years imprisonment if convicted. Hassan Mohamad Komeiha, of Lebanon and Dearborn, Mich., was born in 1970 and faces a potential maximum sentence of five years imprisonment if convicted. Hussein Ali Asfour, a/k/a “Alex,” of Centreville, Ga., was born in 1976 and faces a potential maximum sentence of five years imprisonment if convicted. Ali Fadel Yahfoufi, of Trnava, Slovakia, was born in 1969 and faces a potential maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted. This case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the New Jersey State Police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Secret Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Department of Commerce, Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Air Marshals, Pennsylvania State Police, and the Department of State.
It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy Beam Winter and Stephen A. Miller, and National Security Division Counter-terrorism Section Trial Attorney Jolie F. Zimmerman.
"According to the complaint, Hassan Mohamad Komeiha began purchasing purportedly stolen cellular telephones..."
“/or don’t want a contract and don’t talk much.”
That’s me. Since I started total telecommute I don’t talk 10 min. a week on my mobile.
Pre-paid cell phones replaced public pay phones in most of America.
Well then, get a prepaid Go-Phone or T-Mobile phone and top it up with at least $25, so the minutes will last 90 days. Or you could top it up with $100 and it will last for a year.
Do you realize that you replied to a post from August, 2006?
Takes me a while to process information...
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2393853/posts
Centerville Man Charged in International Theft Ring
13WMAZ ^ | November 24, 2009 | Bernard O’Donnell
Posted on November 24, 2009 4:05:09 PM PST by Never on my watch
The FBI says a Centerville man is charged with buying and shipping about 7,000 stolen cell phones in connection with an international ring trafficking weapons and stolen goods.
According to the FBI, Hussein Ali Asfour of Centerville is charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property and faces up to five years in prison. A criminal complaint in the case listed his address as 100 Cross Link Trail.
USA Today reports that Asfour was charged along with four other men, including three accused of trying to buy Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and machine guns destined for Syria or Iran.
USA Today describes the five men as Lebanese...
(Excerpt) Read more at 13wmaz.com ...
http://news8austin.com/content/headlines/271654/lawmakers-crack-down-on-prepaid-cells—cite-terror
06/08/2010 12:16 PM
“Lawmakers crack down on prepaid cells, cite terror”
By: News 8 Austin Staff
SNIPPET: “While prepaid phones might be cheaper and more accessible for people with limited incomes or poor credit, the phones can also be purchased anonymously and thrown away after each use. Consequently, they’ve gained a reputation of being popular among drug dealers, gang members and terrorists wanting to make their criminal activity untraceable.
Authorities say accused Times Square bomb plotter Faisal Shahzad used one to purchase a car in which to hide the bomb.”
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