Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Inmate Convicted in Plot to Kill Ex-Wife With Mail Bomb from Dark Web

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Michael James used a contraband cell phone to organize the mail bomb plot from behind bars

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — A jail inmate serving a 50-year sentence for killing his father-in-law, has been convicted of trying to murder his ex-wife with a package bomb he had bought on the dark web from behind bars.

Michael James Young, Jr., 32, had hatched the elaborate plot while serving time in a maximum security prison in South Carolina for a 2007 shopping mall shooting in which he wounded his wife and killed his father-in-law when he got in the way. Young pleaded guilty in 2011.

The bomb plot to get back at his ex-wife began when Young was able to get a cell phone and get onto the dark web — a secretive part of the Internet where illicit activity occurs, such as drug dealing, gun-running and the exchange of child pornography.

Early last year, Young made contact with a person he thought was a European arms dealer, but was, in fact, an undercover FBI agent. “Let me ask you this … could u possibly booby trap a box? So that as soon its opened … boom? Just curious,” Young asked.

Through the exchange, Young arranged for the purported arms dealer to send a package bomb to friend’s home in Irmo, South Carolina. A second pal, Vance “Dank” Volious received a shipping label with Young’s ex-wife’s name and address on it.

The person who received the bomb and Volious, then handed the package and address label to Tyrell Fears, who brought it to the post office and mailed it. The whole exchange was monitored by the FBI, and after Fears posted the package, he, Volious and Young were all arrested.

In addition to the bomb plot, Young had similarly used his contraband cell phone to operate an illicit marijuana dealing operation with Volious.

At the time of their arrests, the State newspaper reported that it was believed that Young wanted his ex-wife dead so she couldn’t testify against him if he were to win a retrial on his original conviction.

He and Volious face 45 years in prison when they are sentenced in the bomb plot. Fears pleaded guilty last year.

Brooklyn Mobsters Threatened Doc to Write Scripts for 230K Oxycodone Pills

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The mobsters admitted capitalizing on the opioid epidemic

NEW YORK — Two mobsters strong-armed a Brooklyn doctor into writing prescriptions for hundreds of thousands of Oxycodone pills by threatening to put a bullet in his head if he stopped, federal prosecutors said.

Anthony Grado, a 54-year-old foot soldier in the Luchese family, was caught on tape telling the doctor that he would feed him “to the f**king lions” if he ever wrote prescriptions without the family’s permission, prosecutors said.

The shakedown came to light as Grado and his accomplice, Lawrence Tranese, 55, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to distribute Oxycodone in Brooklyn federal court.

The men admitted that they enlisted the help of other gangsters to fill the prescriptions and they would then sell them, the US Attorney’s office said. In all, they purloined 230,000 of the highly addictive pills through the scheme.

Grado used a mixture of threats and violence to keep the doctor in line.  At one point, Grado was recorded saying, “I’ll put a bullet right in your head,” if the doctor’s new prescription pads “go in anybody’s hands” but his.

Later, the doctor was stabbed by a Luchese associate on Grado’s orders, prosecutors said.

“Lucchese family member Grado imperiled our community, threatening a doctor to force him to write prescriptions for Oxycodone and then trafficking in the addictive drugs,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue. “Violent threats to a doctor by Mafia defendants, combined with their trafficking of Oxycodone pills, posed an especially serious danger to our community.”

The defendants face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million when sentenced.

 

3 Nine Trey Gangsters Convicted in 2015 Murder Spree That Killed 5 in Virginia

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Malek Lassiter (l), Nathaniel Mitchell and Anthony Simmons were convicted in a brutal 33-day killing spree

NORFOLK, Virginia — Three members of a brutal gang dubbed a “fraternity of death,” by prosecutors, have been convicted of a violent 33-day crime spree in 2015 in which five people were murdered and six others wounded.

It took a federal jury just five hours to convict the three members of the Nine Trey Gangsters who killed the victims for reasons stemming from witness intimidation, retaliation against perceived disrespect and robbery.

In one case, a woman was shot and killed because two gang members were vying to see who could kill more people and she was simply walking on the wrong side of the street, prosecutors said.

Antonio Lee Simmons, 38, who prosecutors described as the gang’s leader, faces multiple life sentences. Nathaniel Mitchell, 25, one of the gang’ “shooters” was found guilty of four of the killings and also faces numerous life sentences.

Malek Lassiter, a 22-year recruit who took part in the spree as part of his initiation into the gang,  faces a minimum of 85 years on racketeering and assault charges.

Three other gang members had previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the murder spree that stretched from Chesapeake, Norfolk and Portsmouth to Virginia Beach during the holiday season in 2015.

Trial testimony revealed that the bloody orgy of violence was triggered when Simmons got into trouble with his superiors for messing up the gang’s finances. The hope was that the spree would help him pay back the money. But it also stemmed from a war between Simmons and the leader of another line of Nine Trey Gangsters, which is a branch of the United Bloods Nation.

From approximately Thanksgiving through Christmas of 2015, the gang members murdered two men and three women, most of whom had no affiliation with the gang, prosecutors said.

Among the victims, Linda Lassiter, 48, and her boyfriend Wayne Davis, 48, were killed just weeks after speaking to the police about a gang-connected shooting at her daughter’s house.

Another victim, Al-Tariq Tynes, 26, was killed because gang members thought he was talking to police. His body was stuffed in the trunk of his car and driven around for days before he was dumped into a ditch.

Jamesha Roberts, 25, a young mother of two children under the age of five, was gunned down in Norfolk after her shift at the airport Starbucks. Trial testimony revealed that Mitchell was in a competition with another Nine Trey member to see who could shoot the most people,  and killed her for “walking on the wrong side of the street.”

Pimp Turned in By High School Teacher Mom After Prostituting Her Student

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Pimp Sean Hayes hit a little too close to home in finding a new worker for his escort business

MILWAUKEE — A mother’s love only goes so far.

A Milwaukee pimp was busted after his mother, who is a high school teacher, turned him in for prostituting one of her students.

Sean Hayes, 50, is accused of approaching the 17-year-old girl who was living in a group home as she waited for the bus, telling her she could be a model and giving her a card for “Shining Stars Adult Entertainment,” cops said.

The following day, Hayes had sex with her and then got her into the sex trade. Between August and October of last year, he had the girl — who worked under the name “Honey” — travel to Waukesha, Wauwatosa, Green Bay and Chicago to have sex for money, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, citing the criminal complaint.

But then the girl told her teacher at James E. Groppi High School, who happened to be Hayes’ mother, that she was working for him as an escort. She then called the cops.

Hayes has denied the allegations. He says he was approached by a girl by the name Honey, but that he wouldn’t let her work for him because she wouldn’t show him identification.

Hayes is scheduled to go to trial June 18 on sex trafficking charges.

 

Tennessee Drug Lord Who Shot His Own Son Convicted in Trafficking Case

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James “Boogie” Simonton’s drug empire was brought down after he shot his own son

GREENEVILLE, Tennessee — A cocaine kingpin was convicted of running a drug trafficking empire that only came to light when he shot his own son for knocking over his motorcycles.

James “Boogie” Simonton, 50, of Kingsport, Tennessee, faces a minimum of 15 years for his conviction in federal court on drug conspiracy and weapons charges.

Police initially caught wind Simonton when his 23-year-old son, James Jr., and a 14-year-old pal, showed up at a local hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and in a car riddled with bullet holes.

The day before the shooting, police say the younger Simonton had knocked over four of his father’s motorcycles with his car, causing thousands of dollars in damage. The son had apparently accused his father of stealing his cell phone.

As detectives investigated they discovered that the elder Simonton and another of his sons had been involved in smuggling large amounts of crack cocaine from Georgia into Tennessee. They also found the weapon he used to shoot his son — a Hungarian-made AK-63 assault rifle — as well as other guns.

After his arrest, and while in a federal lock-up, investigators say Simonton threatened a cooperating witness against him in an effort to influence the person’s testimony.  Simonton was also convicted of intimidating a witness.

Sultry ‘Cocaine Cowgirl’ Pleads Guilty to Drug Smuggling Charges Down Under

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Isabelle Lagace (l) and Melina Roberge chronicled their drug-smuggling tour on Instagram

SYDNEY, Australia — This pleasure cruise has sunk.

A comely Canadian tourist has pleaded guilty to smuggling $30 million worth of cocaine into Australia during a round-the-world voyage she and pal chronicled through sultry photo shoots on Instagram.

Melina Roberge, 25, and her pal Isabelle Lagace, 30, both of Quebec, had been traveling for 40 days aboard the Sea Princess when they were caught with two giant suitcases stuffed with nearly 200 pounds of cocaine as the ship docked in Sydney.

The seizure was one of the largest of its kind in Australian history.

Lagace, a former porn model, pleaded guilty in November, saying she agreed to smuggle the drugs to clear a $20,000 debt she owed. She was sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison.

Melina Roberge

Roberge had initially insisted she didn’t know the drugs were in the bags, but changed her story in hopes of a more favorable sentence. An accomplice, Andre Tamine, 65, also pleaded guilty.

The story made international headlines due to the fact that the two women had posted numerous bikini shots online as they made stops in the U.S., South America and the South Pacific.

The two were dubbed “cocaine cowgirls” — a reference to the free-wheeling, south Florida drug importers of the 1980s who were called “cocaine cowboys.”

 

Head of Violent Texas Mail Theft Ring Pleads to Shooting Postal Worker

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Bradley A’Hearm (middle) ran the dangerous band of mail thieves, and engaged police in numerous high-speed gun battles

SAN ANTONIO — The 23-year-old ringleader of a gang of mail thieves who shot a postal worker and engaged authorities on a series of dangerous, running gun battles over several days before being caught, has pleaded guilty.

Bradley A’Hearn admitted that he shot a mail carrier in Spring Branch, Texas last February after she failed to hand over her cell phone fast enough and then stole her postal truck loaded with mail.

Witnesses told investigators they saw a maroon Toyota Venza speed off after the stolen truck. Two days later,  when a postal inspector tried to pull the vehicle over after spotting it on a road with A’Hearn behind the wheel and his girlfriend, Sara Richford, 27, alongside. A’Hearn opened fire numerous times during a 19-mile, high-speed chase and then escaped.

The following day, employees at a local motel contacted authorities after finding a large amount of U.S. Mail that had been tampered with and a handgun case in a room that had been occupied by A’Hearn and Richford. Police determined that the crew had since been joined by 41-year-old Piper Lee.

When San Antonio police later saw Lee driving his yellow Volkswagen with A’Hearn and Richford as passengers, they attempted to stop it, which led to another high-speed chase in which A’Hearn opened fire on cops.

They ultimately abandoned the car inside a parking garage of a local mall where they managed to elude capture.

Police finally caught up with the violent stick up gang the following day when an informant told them they were staying at another area motel. They were stopped in the motel parking lot and taken into custody without incident.

A’Hearn pleaded guilty to a total of seven federal counts, including carjacking, robbery of U.S. Mail; and assault on a federal officer.  He faces 20 years in federal prison.

Richford and Lee are charged with aiding and abetting carjacking, the assault of a federal officer, and stealing U.S. mail.

Longtime Baseball Pitcher Esteban Loaiza Nabbed in Major Coke Bust

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Esteban Loaiza went from being a diamond king to a major cocaine kingpin, cops say

IMPERIAL BEACH, California — That was a big league bust.

Former major league baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza may soon be trading in his uniform for a prison jumpsuit after narcotics officers found 44 pounds of cocaine in a home he recently had rented.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s office said they stopped the 46-year-old Loaiza for a minor traffic infraction after he pulled out from a home in Imperial Beach in a 2010 Mercedes 450 investigators believed has been used for smuggling drugs.

A search of the vehicle turned up an elaborately concealed compartment typically used to hide contraband, the police said.

With that, investigators were able to get a warrant for a home Loaiza gad just leased in early February where they discovered a major league stash of coke worth approximately $500,000.

Loaiza was charged with cocaine possession with intent to sell and other charges and was held on $200,000 bond.

Loaiza was born just across the border in Tijuana and went to high school in Imperial Beach. He pitched in the bigs for 14 seasons for nine major league teams — including the the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox  and the New York Yankees. He ended his career in 2008 with a 126-114 record.

Loaiza was an All-Star in 2003 and 2004, and finished second in the AL Cy Young award voting in 2003 when he finished 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA for the White Sox.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, Loaiza made just over $43.7 million in his major league career.

Two Charged With Draining ATMS in High Tech Jackpotting Scheme

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The scam artists were caught attempting to hack Citizens Bank ATMs in Cromwell, Connecticut

HARTFORD, Connecticut — They were aiming for a jackpot but crapped out in the eyes of the law.

Two men have been charged with running a high-tech “jackpotting” scheme in which they allegedly posed as ATM repairmen to install malware on cash machines causing them to suddenly spew out cash.

ATMS can hold up to $50,000 at a time.

Federal prosecutors say they believe that Alex Alberto Fajin-Diaz, 31, of Spain, and Argenys Rodriguez, 21, of Springfield, Massachusetts are behind a string of recent jackpot heists in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

They were finally caught in Jan. 27, when employees of a Citizens Bank in Cromwell, Connecticut called police to report what they believed was an attack on an ATM in progress.

When cops arrived, they found Fajin-Diaz and Rodriguez holding bag in front of an ATM that was spitting out $20 bills.

A search of their car revealed tools and electronic devices that could be used for such a jackpotting scheme as well as $9,000 in $20 bills. The car also bore stolen license plates.

The two men face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

 

Last ‘Cocaine Cowboy’ Finally Pleads Guilty After 26 Years on the Lam

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‘Cocaine Cowboy’ Gustavo Falcon had been living in Florida under a phony name

MIAMI — A notorious “Cocaine Cowboy” who spent 26 years in hiding after being indicted on charges of trafficking thousands of kilos of cocaine has finally pleaded guilty following his capture last year.

Gustavo Falcon had been indicted along with his older brother, Willie, and his partner, Sal Magluta in 1991 for smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States, but fled before standing trial.

While authorities thought he had led to Columbia or Mexico, it turned out Falcon had lived quietly since then under the assumed name Luis Reiss in the Kissimmee, Florida area, federal prosecutors said.

He was finally nabbed last April as he and his wife took a long bicycle ride near their home.

His brother served 20 years and is now fighting a deportation order back to Cuba while their partner, Magluta, is serving a life sentence in a Supermax prison in Colorado.

Gustavo Falcon, 56, ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of arranging a 400-kilo shipment of Colombian cocaine from Southern California to South Florida in late 1989. He faces up to 14 years in prison.

But the charge only scratches the surface of the scope of the drug empire the Falcons and Magluta ran.

Ledger books seized at the time of their arrests showed that between Jan. 1, 1990, and Oct. 15, 1991, the group distributed almost nine tons of cocaine, raking in $142.5 million.

The gang were among the largest kingpins of south Florida’s “Cocaine Cowboys” era — a period vividly depicted in the hit TV series “Miami Vice. Using powerful speedboats, the gang brought in giant loads of Colombian cocaine from the Caribbean to the shores of South Florida.

The case against the elder Falcon and Magluta nearly was scuttled when they were acquitted in 1996 after paying off three juries, including the foreman.

Magluta was retried and sentenced to life on drug-related money-laundering charges in 2002. The elder Falcon pleaded guilty and served 20 years in prison.