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June 11, 2008

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/June/08-crm-525.html

Appeals Court Affirms Decision to Revoke U.S. Citizenship of Pittsburgh-Area Man Who Served as Nazi Concentration Camp Guard

WASHINGTON – The Third Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed a ruling by the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh revoking the U.S. citizenship of Anton Geiser of Sharon, Pa., due to his participation in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution while serving during World War II as an armed SS guard at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and other places of persecution, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania announced today.

Geiser admitted under oath that he served during most of 1943 as an armed SS guard at the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp near Berlin, Germany; that his duties included escorting prisoners to slave labor sites and standing guard in the camp’s guard towers; and that he was under standing orders to shoot any prisoner attempting escape. He also admitted serving as a guard at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp and its Arolsen subcamp. Prisoners held at Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald were forced to engage in hard physical labor under extraordinarily brutal conditions. Many prisoners died from exhaustion or disease and many were shot or hanged. During the period when Geiser served at Sachsenhausen, more than 3,000 prisoners were murdered or died from the brutal treatment.

“By serving as an armed SS guard at two different Nazi concentration camps, Anton Geiser directly assisted in the persecution of thousands of prisoners held under brutal conditions they could not escape,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Friedrich. “The appellate court’s agreement in an earlier decision to strip Mr. Geiser of his U.S. citizenship proves that passage of time does not make these crimes any more acceptable.”

Geiser, 81, immigrated to the United States from Austria in October 1956, and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in March 1962. The Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding that he was not eligible for citizenship because his service to Nazi Germany made him ineligible to immigrate to the United States. The appellate court concluded that Geiser’s “personal actions assisted in keeping the prisoners confined in the camps where they were persecuted” and that he therefore should not have received a visa under the Refugee Relief Act.

“This important and unanimous appellate court decision confirms that Anton Geiser and others who took part in Nazi crimes during World War II were not legally eligible to come to this country. The federal government remains unswervingly committed to identifying all such perpetrators and removing them from the United States,” said Eli M. Rosenbaum, Director of the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations (OSI), which investigated the case.

“Individuals like Anton Geiser, who assisted the Nazis in their quest to extinguish the lives of millions of innocent men, women and children, do not deserve the benefits of U.S. citizenship,” said U.S. Attorney Buchanan. “The Third Circuit’s decision affirms that the United States will not be a sanctuary for perpetrators of the Holocaust.”

The proceedings to denaturalize Geiser were instituted in 2004 by OSI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh. The case is a result of OSI’s ongoing efforts to identify, investigate and take legal action against former participants in Nazi persecution who reside in the United States. Since OSI began operations in 1979, it has won cases against 107 individuals who assisted in Nazi persecution. In addition, more than 175 individuals who sought to enter the United States in recent years have been blocked from doing so as a result of OSI’s “Watchlist” program, which is enforced in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security.

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08-525

June 9, 2008

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://baltimore.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/ba060908b.htm

MS-13 LEADER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON ON RACKETEERING, MURDER AND FIREARMS CHARGES

Greenbelt, Md. – Israel Ramos Cruz, 30, of Wheaton, Md., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow to life in prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, witness tampering murder, murder resulting from use of a gun, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, being an alien in possession of a gun and ammunition, and to an additional consecutive 35 years in prison for two counts of use and carrying of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

“Joining MS-13 is a ticket to federal prison. Forty-nine alleged MS-13 gang members have been charged with federal crimes in Maryland. This young man will spend the rest of his life in federal prison, and some of the remaining defendants may face death sentences,” said U.S. Attorney Rosenstein. “Most Maryland jurisdictions have adopted anti-gang strategies that combine law enforcement, education and community awareness in a coordinated program to deter gang violence.”

According to testimony presented at the six week trial, Cruz, a/k/a “Taylor” or “Sastre,” and co-defendant Santos Maximo Garcia, 30, a/k/a “Curley,” conspired between at least 2001 and March 2007 to operate an MS-13 enterprise in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland through a pattern of racketeering activity which included eight murders in Maryland and one in Virginia; the use of deadly weapons including firearms, baseball bats, machetes, bottles or knives in the commission of numerous murders, attempted murders and assaults; assaults on an MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, juvenile females and rival gang members; kidnaping; obstruction of justice; and witness tampering.

Cruz was the leader of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside (SLSW) clique in Prince George’s County. Garcia collected and distributed dues from MS-13 members as a de facto treasurer for the SLSW clique. Cruz and other members of SLSW stabbed Osmin Alfaro Fuentes, a/k/a “Buso,” an MS-13 member from El Salvador on Jan. 1, 2003.

Gang members including Randy Calderon, a/k/a “Fenix,” murdered suspected rival gang member Eliuth Madrigal in Silver Spring, Md., on Nov. 22, 2003. Shortly thereafter, Cruz and others attempted to cover up the murder by painting the walls of the residence in which Madrigal had been repeatedly stabbed.

On Nov. 22, 2003, Cruz told Calderon that they wanted to “tag” (put graffiti on) a wall to “celebrate” the murder of Madrigal. In fact, Cruz had decided to kill Calderon because Calderon participated in the murder of Madrigal, which had not been sanctioned by MS-13, and they feared that Calderon would implicate himself and other gang members to law enforcement. It was another gang member who fatally shot Calderon.

On July 22, 2004, Cruz and Garcia falsely testified before a state grand jury in Prince George’s County that was investigating MS-13 and the May 2004 gang murder of Ashley Antonio Urias. During their sworn testimonies, Cruz and Garcia falsely and repeatedly indicated that they were not current MS-13 members and that they did not know many MS-13 members.

Between June 2002 and August 2005, Cruz and Garcia attended numerous MS-13 meetings, including one in which gang members watched a videotape of gang investigators from the Prince George’s County Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Gang members identified investigating officers and agents, discussed ways to thwart law enforcement efforts and commented on the possibility of retaliation against police during several meetings.

“The successful investigation and prosecution of Israel Ramos Cruz demonstrates that ATF’s RAGE Task Force will not cease in our relentless pursuit to put violent gang members behind bars,” said ATF Special Agent-in-Charge Gregory K. Gant. “We hope that with each passing year of his sentence, Cruz ponders his decision to become a violent member of MS-13, and how that decision has now earned him a membership card to federal prison.”

Garcia faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow scheduled sentencing for Garcia on Aug. 15, 2008.

“This life sentence proves that violent crime does not pay and should send a message to anyone contemplating gang activity,” said James A. Dinkins, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “Successful cases such as this can only be accomplished through the joint efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.”

To date, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Maryland has charged 49 gang members with various federal offenses, with 30 defendants charged in this RICO conspiracy case. Eighteen MS-13 members have been convicted in this RICO conspiracy case.

Two MS-13 gang members were convicted at trial in November 2006 of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and conspiracy to commit assaults with a deadly weapon. These two individuals are Oscar Ramos Velasquez, 23, of Baltimore, who was sentenced to 37 years in prison, and Edgar Alberto Ayala, 30, of Suitland, Md., who was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Three MS-13 leaders were convicted at trial in April 2007 on all counts of the racketeering conspiracy involving murder, robbery, obstruction of justice and witness tampering These three individuals are Henry Zelaya, 23, of Woodbridge, Va., and Omar Vasquez, 29, of Alexandria, Va., who were both sentenced to life in prison, and Jose Hipolito Cruz, 28, of Lanham, Md., who was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Rosenstein expressed his appreciation for the investigative work performed by the ATF; the Prince George’s County Police Department; the FBI; ICE; the Montgomery County Department of Police; the Howard County Police Department; the Maryland National Capital Park Police; and the Maryland State Police. The U.S. Attorney also recognized Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey, and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy, for the assistance that they and their offices provided.

U.S. Attorney Rosenstein also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Trusty and Chan Park, who prosecuted the case.