The Washington Post: Jailhouse Rock contest winners selected

You can lock it up — the winner of The Crime Scene’s first-ever contest, in which the Post asked readers to create a five-song playlist of tunes an FBI agent might put on an inmate’s iPhod, has been selected.

The Washington Post selected two, but they were on the same team.

After considering all the entries — without paying mind to who sent what — the Post selected the entry from Steve Levin and Michael Leotta (click the links below to hear the tracks on another web site):

·       Somebody’s Watching Me — Rockwell

·       Every Breath You Take — The Police

·       Gee, Officer Krupke — Leonard Bernstein (from West Side Story)

·       I’m Getting Nothin’ for Christmas — Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett

·       Trial by Jury — Gilbert and Sullivan

So, who are these guys? As it happens, they were ringers.

Leotta, 37, lives with his wife and two kids in Takoma Park. He’s the Appellate Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

Levin, 42, is a former federal prosecutor. He now works as a criminal defense attorney in Maryland and the District; he lives in Baltimore with his family.

Neither one, they insist, has ever done hard time.

Their prizes are coming soon. Thanks to those who participated.

– The Editors

By Washington Post Editors  |  December 9, 2009; 11:22 AM ET

USAO-EDVA:  Virginia Beach woman, Glenda Roberts, sentenced for embezzling almost $750,000.00 from the Navy.

One of America’s foremost veterans service organizations, AMVETS (American Veterans), launched its new effort to help report individuals claiming military honors and awards they never earned, a problem that the organization fears is on the rise.

The veterans group bills the site as “a first-of-its-kind clearinghouse of information where concerned citizens can learn how to report phony veterans and see the latest headlines on those exposed for their lies.” Under legislation passed in 2006, individuals fraudulently wearing or claiming military medals can face federal misdemeanor charges, punishable by up to a year in prison and a $150,000 fine.

The web site features links to report possible frauds to FBI officials, as well as a link to the Hall of Valor project assembled by noted military medals expert Doug Sterner so individuals can verify some claims on their own.

And the site offers tips on how to report frauds to local news outlets as well. Recently press reports have helped note a number of military phonies (including this, this and this).

In a statement AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin said the problem of military frauds is “one that cuts to the core of what it means to be a veteran and robs rightfully deserving vets of their hard-earned dignity and the honor of a grateful nation.”

http://www.reportstolenvalor.org/

The New York Times:  Bruno, Former Albany Leader, Convicted of Corruption.

Apparently, Tiger Woods has a new nickname:  Cheetah.  And with that, we have learned from our sources (our sources being something called Radaronline.com) that Elin Nordegren has moved out of their $2.6 million Windermere home.  Cheetahs never prosper.

Main Justice:  Two Florida Executives, One Florida Intermediary and Two Former Haitian Government Officials Indicted for Their Alleged Participation in Foreign Bribery Scheme.

Main Justice:  Three South Carolina Men Plead Guilty to Federal Civil Rights and Carjacking Charges.

Main Justice:  Chicagoan Charged with Conspiracy in 2008 Mumbai Attacks in Addition to Foreign Terror Plot in Denmark.  Additional Charges Unsealed Alleging Retired Pakistani Major Conspired in Danish Plot.

SEC:  SEC charges former officers of subprime lender New Century with fraud.

SEC:  Special Advisor and Former Deputy Director of the Division of Enforcement George Curtis Leaves the SEC.  Who’s next, we wonder?

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and The Heritage Foundation:  Audio Recording of Panel discussion, Legislating Chaos:  Has Congress Made Playing Hooky A Federal Crime?

On Tuesday, December 8, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two high-profile “honest services” fraud cases, Conrad Black v. United States and Bruce Weyhrauch v. United States.  In his often-quoted dissent from denial of certiorari in Sorich v. United States, Justice Scalia wrote:  “If the ’honest services’ theory … is taken seriously and carried to its logical conclusion, presumably the statute also renders criminal a state legislator’s decision to vote for a bill because he expects it will curry favor with a small minority essential to his reelection [and] a mayor’s attempt to use the prestige of his office to obtain a restaurant table without a reservation …. Indeed, it would seemingly cover a salaried employee’s phoning in sick to go to a ball game.” 

Listen in as the panel members participate in a vigorous discussion of the cases and statute (18 U.S.C. § 1346) that the Supreme Court will be scrutinizing.

New York Law Journal:  Defense Attorney Robert Simels gets 14 years in prison for conspiring to threaten witnesses.

USAO-EDVA:  Annandale loan broker sentenced to 48 months for two fraud schemes.

The Washington Post:  Not so “secret” service.  The Secret Service counts 91 breaches.

The Washington Post:  Ted Stevens prosecutors face questioning.

The Baltimore Sun:  The jury is still out on effect of “Mayor” Dixon’s conviction on city’s reputation.

WBAL:  “Mayor” Dixon’s motion for new trial expected this week.

The Philadelphia Inquirer:  Penn State scientist at center of storm.

Bloomberg:  Sarbarnes-Oxley law may be reshaped by US Supreme Court.

The Recorder:  Retrial on tap for former Brocade CEO Reyes over stock option backdating. 

The USA Today:  An Honest (Services) Debate.