A federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Md., has charged leaders of the violent street gang known as MS-13 with federal racketeering crimes, including two men who allegedly ordered murders inside the United States from their prison cells in El Salvador, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced today.

The 30-count superseding indictment returned June 4, 2007, alleges that the three defendants—Dany Fredy Ramos Mejia, aka “Sisco,” Saul Antonios Turcio Angel, aka “Trece,” and Rigoberto Del Transito Mejia Regaldo, aka “Ski”—conspired to participate in a racketeering enterprise in the United States and El Salvador that involved murder, robbery, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering through their participation in La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. Two of the defendants allegedly communicated with MS-13 gang members from prison in El Salvador to commit a variety of crimes, including one instance which resulted in the murders of two persons in the United States.

Specifically, the indictment alleges that the three defendants and at least 13 others in the United States conspired from at least 2001 to March 2007 to operate an MS-13 enterprise in the United States and El Salvador through a pattern of racketeering activity, including: 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 murders, attempted murders, and assaults on juvenile females, rival gang members, and an MS-13 gang member from El Salvador; kidnapping; robbery; obstruction of justice; and witness tampering.

“Today's announcement results, in part, from a series of comprehensive anti-gang initiatives undertaken by the Department to target and pursue America's most violent and dangerous gangs,” said Attorney General Gonzales.  "I also want to acknowledge the cooperation provided by officials in the government of El Salvador who have strongly demonstrated their commitment to combating MS-13 and other violent gangs that operate in El Salvador, and elsewhere in Central America, Mexico and the United States.”

Among other things, the indictment alleges that in or about September or October 2004, Mejia and Angel produced a videotape of themselves and fellow MS-13 gang members in El Salvador, in which they communicated to MS-13 gang members in Maryland regarding the activities of MS-13 in El Salvador. The indictment also alleges that on or about Oct. 9, 2005, Angel communicated with members of the Teclas Locos Salvatruchos clique in Maryland via cell phone from inside prison in El Salvador regarding acts of violence, including murder, against rival gang members, and that later that same day, other gang members in Maryland killed two people and wounded a juvenile.

The indictment also alleges that on or about Aug. 21, 2005, Regaldo participated in the premeditated murder of Anber Juarez Sanchez in Howard County, Md. The indictment further alleges that on or about May 27, 2006, Regaldo and others participated in the armed robbery of a grocery story in Reisterstown, Md.

All three defendants are currently incarcerated in El Salvador on charges for crimes allegedly committed in that country. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence in the United States of life in prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise. All defendants are presumed innocent under the law until and unless convicted.

“This indictment is an example of the strategic approach that the Department of Justice has taken to combating the international and multi-jurisdictional problem of violent gangs,” said Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division.  “We have marshaled our resources to ultimately target the leadership of these gangs, whether on the streets of our neighborhoods or in cities abroad.”

“Federal, state and local law enforcement authorities are united with our international partners in pursuing gang leaders who direct criminal activity as well as members who carry it out,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the District of Maryland. “If you join a gang that commits crimes, you can be held accountable for all criminal activity committed by other gang members.”

“MS-13 is a criminal organization that has terrorized our nation’s neighborhoods and jeopardized community safety for far too long,” said Acting Director Michael J. Sullivan, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. “This indictment sends a strong signal that anyone who joins the gang and participates in violent acts on its behalf will continue to be brought to justice, no matter where they may hide.”

“This indictment should send a message to MS-13 and other gangs that their violence will not be tolerated in our streets and our neighborhoods, and we will not permit gang leaders to seek refuge outside of our borders to commit crimes within the United States,” said Assistant Director Kenneth W. Kaiser, FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI’s MS-13 National Gang Task Force, in partnership with local, state, federal and international law enforcement, is working diligently to dismantle MS-13 and eradicate the threat it poses around the world.”

Attorney General Gonzales announced in San Salvador on Feb. 5, 2007, a far-reaching set of anti-gang initiatives in cooperation with El Salvador, Mexico, and neighboring countries. The February announcement included the establishment of a new Transnational Anti-Gang Center (TAG), including up to a dozen investigators from the Civilian National Police (PNC) in El Salvador, embedded prosecutors from the El Salvador Attorney General’s office, special FBI teams assigned to El Salvador, and State Department support. The effort to stand up the TAG center is underway, and PNC investigators who are part of the new center assisted in the investigation in this case.

In matters related to this case to date, 42 MS-13 gang members have been charged with various federal offenses, with 30 defendants charged in this RICO conspiracy case. Jose Hipolito Cruz Diaz, a/k/a “Pirana,” Omar Vasquez, a/k/a “Duke,” and Henry Zelaya, a/k/a “Homeboy,” were convicted at trial by a federal jury on April 27, 2007, of the racketeering conspiracy and face a maximum sentence of life in prison. Edgar Alberto Ayala, a/k/a “Pony,” and Oscar Ramos Velasquez, a/k/a “Casper,” were convicted at trial by a federal jury in November 2006 of racketeering conspiracies. Ayala was sentenced on June 1, 2007, to 35 years in prison, and Velasquez faces a maximum sentence of life at his sentencing scheduled for July 23, 2007. Nine defendants, all of Maryland, have pleaded guilty, including: Walter Barahona, who was sentenced on April 16, 2007, to 14 years in prison; Franklin Mejia Molina, who was sentenced on Dec. 4, 2006, to more than nine years in prison; and Juan Lopez, who was sentenced on Oct. 16, 2006, to 87 months in prison. Jose Pena Aguilar was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Nov. 6, 2006, for using a firearm in furtherance of a racketeering conspiracy, to be served consecutive to a 20-year sentence received in the Circuit Court of Prince George’s County for attempted murder.

The charges span three states, three federal districts, and two countries. In addition to the murders in Maryland and Virginia, and the conduct in El Salvador, the indictment also alleges a relationship to alleged MS-13 gang members and activity charged recently by a federal grand jury in Nashville. That indictment charges 14 defendants with RICO and gun charges and is being prosecuted by the Criminal Division’s Gang Squad and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The charges stem from a long-term investigation initiated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, conducted jointly with the Gang Squad of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and a task force headed by the ATF. The Regional Area Gang Enforcement (RAGE) Task Force is comprised of agents and officers from the ATF; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Department of Homeland Security; the Maryland National Capital Park Police; the Prince George’s County, Howard County and Montgomery County Police Departments; as well as the Maryland State Police. Both the FBI’s MS-13 National Gang Task Force and the PNC in El Salvador assisted the Task Force with investigating the international defendants in El Salvador.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Trusty and Chan Park from the District of Maryland and Trial Attorney David Jaffe from the Justice Department’s Gang Squad are prosecuting this case.

Carlos Burruezo, who had been managing partner in Fisher & Phillips' Orlando office, led the exodus of six lawyers to Littler Mendelson, which has made Orlando the site of its 43rd office nationwide and second in Florida after Miami.

Burruezo said he had been contacted by Littler "not many weeks ago to found an office in Orlando," and that by joining a significantly larger firm he and his colleagues could "take our practice to the next level."

Meanwhile, Theresa Gallion, the manager and sole remaining lawyer at Fisher & Phillips' Orlando office, is actively recruiting replacements, she said this week. Expressing no hard feelings, she said she expects to have three or four new lawyers working in the Orlando office by summer's end, and as many as 10 lawyers in the office within a year or two.

"We don't want people to be concerned with our commitment to Orlando," said Gallion, who also manages Fisher & Phillips' Tampa office, one of 18 nationwide.

Joining Burruezo at Littler Mendelson are Anthony Hall, Desiree Hill-Henderson, Jeffrey Jones, Juan Lopez-Campillo and Janine Toner. Burruezo said the office will move from its temporary quarters in Baldwin Park to permanent space in downtown Orlando within the next few months.

www.littler.com

Gov. Tim Kaine's office announced Tuesday that Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP will assist the panel, which Kaine appointed shortly after the April 16 shootings. Two litigation partners from the firm's 300-person Washington, D.C., office will be the lead attorneys responsible for the pro bono work.

Kaine and Attorney General Bob McDonnell agreed on the need for outside counsel to assist the panel, which has confronted an array of difficult legal questions during its first month of work. Among other things, the panel has confronted privacy laws that prevent it from gaining access to gunman Seung-Hui Cho's academic and mental health records.

"The legal questions were more plentiful than any of us anticipated," said the panel's chairman, retired Virginia State Police Superintendent Gerald Massengill.

Spokesmen for Kaine and McDonnell said the reliance on outside counsel makes sense because the attorney general's office already represents Tech, the state police and state mental health agencies. Massengill said he agreed that "independent, outside counsel would be helpful."

Skadden has extensive experience representing special commissions and boards of inquiry, according to the governor's office. The international firm has about 2,000 lawyers in 22 offices around the globe.

"As citizens, and especially as parents, we are pleased that we are able to assist the panel with this very important inquiry," said Michael Rogan, head of Skadden's Washington, D.C., office, in a statement released by the governor's office.

Kaine has asked the panel to produce recommendations before state colleges begin fall semester classes. The panel will hold the third of its four scheduled public meetings Monday at George Mason University in Fairfax County.

The session will include a report on Cho's interactions with the mental health system by the state inspector general.

On the Net: vtreviewpanel.org

A high-stakes legal battle over a century of smelter contamination dumped into the Columbia River by a Canadian mining and smelting giant may be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court issued an order today inviting the U.S. Solicitor General – the lead lawyer for the Bush administration – to file an amicus brief on behalf of one or more of the parties in the complex case, filed in 2004 against Teck Cominco Ltd. by two leaders of the Colville Confederated Tribes.

The high court’s order doesn’t necessarily mean the justices have agreed to accept the case, said Mary Sue Wilson, a senior assistant attorney general for Washington state in Olympia.

“We don’t think it’s a signal either way. It’s not unusual for the court to ask, what does the U.S. government have to say?,” Wilson said.

The litigation was brought by Joe Pakootas and D.R. Michel under the “citizen’s suit” provisions of Superfund in an effort to force Teck Cominco to pay for an environmental cleanup of Lake Roosevelt.

Teck Cominco, based in Vancouver, B.C., claims it would only be subject to Superfund, the U.S. law governing toxic waste cleanups, if it had “arranged” for the waste to end up in the United States.

Last July, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rebuffed that argument and ruled that Teck Cominco is subject to U.S. toxic waste cleanup laws. That ruling was hailed by Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, who called it “good news for all Washingtonians.”

On Oct. 30, the court reiterated its position after lawyers for Teck Cominco unsuccessfully petitioned for a rehearing. Teck Cominco filed an immediate appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

For months, the court has been silent on whether it would accept or reject the case, which legal experts have called a unique use of Superfund’s “citizen’s suit” provision in an effort to compel a foreign company to clean up under strict U.S. cleanup laws.

Additional briefing in the case could take two to six months, Wilson said.

The judges on Monday said they lacked jurisdiction under the strict definition of those eligible for trial by military tribunal under a law enacted last year.

The Defense Department "will make a determination as to whether it's appropriate to file an appeal or not," Fratto said. "It does show that the system is taking great care to be within the letter of the law."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was traveling in Asia, said he was not familiar with the details of the ruling.

"If it is as described, that's the reason we have a judicial process in all of this and we'll have to take a look at it and see what the implications are," he said.

Setback for administration
The rulings did not affect U.S. authority to indefinitely hold the terrorism suspects detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in southeast Cuba.

But it was the latest setback for the Bush administration's efforts to put the Guantanamo captives through some form of judicial process.

"In no way does this decision affect the appropriateness of the military commission system," Fratto said.

The surprise decisions do not spell freedom for the detainees.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen and Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 15 when he was arrested on an Afghan battlefield, were the only two of the roughly 380 prisoners at Guantanamo charged with crimes under a reconstituted military trial system.

Experts blame haste

Defense attorneys and legal experts blamed the rush by Congress and President Bush last year to restore the war-crimes trials after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the previous system, declaring it unconstitutional. In a remarkable coincidence, it was Hamdan's lawsuit that wound up in the Supreme Court.

In both of Monday's cases, the judges ruled that the new legislation says only "unlawful enemy combatants" can be tried by the military trials, known as commissions. But Khadr and Hamdan previously had been identified by military panels here only as enemy combatants, lacking the critical "unlawful" designation.

"The fundamental problem is that the law was not carefully written," said Madeline Morris, a Duke University law professor. "It was rushed through in a flurry of political pressure from the White House ... and it is quite riddled with internal contradictions and anomalies."

Prosecuting attorneys in both cases indicated they would appeal the dismissals. But the court designated to hear the appeals - known as the court of military commissions review - doesn't even exist yet, said Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan, chief of military defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay.

Army Maj. Beth Kubala, spokeswoman for the Office of Military Commissions that organizes the trials, said "the public should make no assumption about the future of military commissions."

She said they will continue to operate openly and fairly and added that dismissals of the charges "reflect that the military judges operate independently."

She declined to comment on how the Office of Military Commissions planned to respond to the setbacks, saying she didn't want to speculate.

Military prosecutors declined to appear before reporters after their cases collapsed.

The distinction between classifications of enemy combatants is important because if they were "lawful," they would be entitled to prisoner of war status under the Geneva Conventions.

A Pentagon spokesman said the issue was little more than semantics.

Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon said the entire Guantanamo system deals with people who act as "unlawful enemy combatants," operating outside any internationally recognized military, without uniforms or other things that make them party to the Geneva Conventions.

"It is our belief that the concept was implicit that all the Guantanamo detainees who were designated as 'enemy combatants' ... were in fact unlawful," Gordon said.

But Morris said the Military Commissions Act defines a lawful enemy combatant, in addition to a uniformed fighter belonging to a regular force - as "a member of a militia, volunteer corps or organized resistance movement belonging to a state party engaged in such hostilities and who meets four additional criteria."

Seymour M. Lazar and Paul T. Selzer were accused of participating in a kickback and laundering scheme that involved $2.4 million in alleged secret payments dating back to 1981 in connection with more than 50 class-action or shareholders lawsuits.

The far-reaching indictment cites dozens of class- and shareholder-derivative action lawsuits against corporate giants including Denny's, United Airlines, Standard Oil, Genentech and Pacific Gas & Electric. The indictment says the suits netted Lerach's former firm, Milberg Weiss, more than $44 million in fees over more than 25 years.

The statement by the San Diego-based Lerach Coughlin firm came amid speculation over William Lerach's possible legal situation. Federal prosecutors in California have been investigating for seven years whether Lerach and his former law partners played a role in possibly illegal kickbacks to clients in multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuits.

Word that Lerach, 61, may retire from the firm came around the same time one of his former law partners, David Bershad, reportedly has been in discussions with prosecutors about a possible plea deal. Lerach's former firm, Milberg Weiss, as well as former partners Bershad and Steven Schulman, were indicted last year.

Under Bush, the FCC has expanded its indecency rules, taking a much harder line on obscenities uttered on broadcast television and radio.

While the court sent the case back to the commission to rewrite its indecency policy, it said that it was "doubtful" that the agency would be able to "adequately respond to the constitutional and statutory challenges raised by the networks."

The networks hailed the decision.

Martin, the chairman of the commission, attacked the court's reasoning.

He said that if the agency was unable to prohibit some vulgarities during prime time, "Hollywood will be able to say anything they want, whenever they want."

Beginning with the FCC's indecency finding in a case against NBC for an obscenity uttered by the U2 singer Bono during the Golden Globes awards ceremony in 2003, Bush's Republican and Democratic appointees to the commission have imposed a tougher policy by punishing any station that broadcasts a fleeting expletive.

That includes profanities blurted out on live shows like the Golden Globes or scripted shows like "NYPD Blue," which was cited in the case.

Reversing decades of more lenient policy, the commission had found that the mere utterance of certain profane words implied that sexual or excretory acts were carried out and therefore violated the indecency rules.

But the court said vulgar words were just as often used out of frustration or excitement, and not to convey any broader obscene meaning.

"In recent times even the top leaders of our government have used variants of these expletives in a manner that no reasonable person would believe referenced sexual or excretory organs or activities," the court said

Adopting an argument made by lawyers for NBC, the court then cited examples in which Bush and Cheney had used the same language that would be penalized under the policy. Bush was caught on videotape last July using a common vulgarity that the commission finds objectionable in a conversation with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain.

Three years ago, Cheney was widely reported to have muttered an angry profane version of "get lost" to Sen. Patrick Leahy on the floor of the U.S. Senate.