Tag: crime

An Arsenal of Guns Were Stolen From Epstein’s Zorro Ranch Back in 2018, but Staff Would Not Cooperate With Police Investigation

No cooperation with the cops was the norm.

During the absolute deluge of DOJ-released information about the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking ring that we’ve had access to, plenty of information concerned his many properties: his Manhattan townhouse, his Palm Beach mansion, and of course, his ‘Pedophile Island’ of Little Saint James in the US Virgin Islands.

The property less talked about, until now, was the New Mexico ‘Zorro’ Ranch – but now, more and more information is coming to light – to the point where New Mexico police raided the property, looking for the bodies of two young women reportedly buried in the desert after getting killed during a rough sex session.

And yesterday (28), it was reported that ‘dozens of guns were reportedly stolen from Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch back in 2018’ a year before he was arrested.

Not only that, but also that Epstein’s staff refused to cooperate when police tried to investigate.

The New York Post reported:

“Much of the 32-weapon arsenal was stolen from a ‘very large gun safe’ in a garage at the pedo’s mysterious New Mexico property, while some were also snatched from two other buildings on the grounds in August 2018, a New Mexico State Police report obtained by the Santa Fe New Mexican showed.

The buildings had apparently been broken into, with at least one window smashed in the garage. Tire tracks were also found cutting across the desert grounds and leading to a slashed-open fence.”

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Former St. Louis Alderman Sentenced to 16 Months in Prison for Fraud, Lying to the FBI

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced former St. Louis Alderman Brandon Bosley to 16 months in prison for insurance fraud and lying to the FBI.

Bosley will be on supervised release for three years after his release from prison. Judge Autrey also ordered Bosley to pay restitution of $6,253.90 to the insurance company that he defrauded.

Bosley, 38, was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in January of three felony wire fraud charges and one count of making a false statement to the FBI. Evidence and testimony at trial showed that after an auto accident, Bosley hatched a scheme to defraud an insurance company by falsely inflating the cost of needed repairs and then lied when FBI agents asked him about it.

In September of 2021, Bosley’s 2010 Toyota Prius, which was parked, was hit by another vehicle. The drivers’ insurance company contacted Bosley in February of 2022 and told him that they would pay for the damage. Bosley then asked the auto repair shop owner who had sold him the used Prius for the deeply discounted price of $500 to prepare and submit an inflated repair estimate in exchange for a bribe, evidence and testimony showed. “Mark that (expletive) all the way up,” Bosley told the business owner during the conversation, which was captured on audio and video. Bosley also had discussions with the business owner about buying the car back if it was totaled and then paying the estimated repair costs of $2,000 to $2,200, thus retaining the car while fraudulently netting thousands of dollars, evidence and testimony showed.

After the insurance company balked at a $6,800 repair estimate, Bosley caused a second estimate of $4,333 to be submitted, the trial showed. The insurance company ultimately totaled the car and paid Bosley $7,978.90. At the time, he had $14.93 in his bank account. He lived off the insurance proceeds for about six weeks.

When FBI agents interviewed Bosley in the presence of his lawyer in March of 2023, Bosley repeatedly lied, jurors found during the trial. He falsely stated to agents that he never saw the two fraudulent repair bills that were prepared. He falsely claimed the repair estimates were not inflated and denied asking the business owner to inflate the repair estimates.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith wrote in a sentencing memo that “this criminal scheme was instigated, planned, designed, and carried out by Defendant once he was advised by the insurance carrier that there was money to be had for repairs to the damaged Prius automobile. From his very first conversation with the auto repair shop owner, without any idea of the extent of the necessary repairs, Defendant indicated that he wanted the Prius considered a total loss.” Bosley “used his position as an elected official in discussions with representatives of the insurance company, presumably to influence their decision on his claim,” the memo says.  During the sentencing hearing, in requesting a sentence of imprisonment, Goldsmith advised the Court that, “the public is frustrated and fed up with these ticky-tacky fraud and bribery schemes committed by their elected officials,” “the public deserves some sense of justice here, and only a fair and just punishment will achieve that.”  

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FBI Raids 22 Minnesota Child Care Centers and Businesses, Including the Infamous ‘Quality Learing Center,’ as Part of Fraud Investigation Linked to the Somali Community

The FBI, along with federal, state, and local law enforcement, executed 22 search warrants across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area in Minnesota early Tuesday morning.

The targets included multiple childcare centers and other businesses, most reportedly tied to the Somali community, as part of the ongoing investigation into social services fraud that has allegedly cost American taxpayers hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars.

A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the operation in a statement to NBC News.

“Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation,” the spokesperson said.

The raids were not related to immigration enforcement, officials stressed repeatedly.

Instead, they focused on alleged fraud in programs such as childcare assistance, Medicaid-funded services including autism support, and pandemic-era initiatives.

One high-profile location hit was the “Quality Learing Center” in Minneapolis, a day care that gained national attention after a viral video by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley showed no children present despite receiving millions in public funds.

The center was later reported to be closed.

Minnesota has been the center of repeated, large-scale fraud schemes involving federally funded social services.

The Feeding Our Future case alone involved over $250 million in fraudulent claims for meals that were never served.

The Department of Justice charged 47 defendants in that scheme in 2022, with dozens pleading guilty and additional convictions continuing to be secured.

Separate investigations have targeted fake autism services that allegedly defrauded taxpayers of $14 million, with multiple defendants indicted since September and at least one guilty plea.

The Trump administration has estimated total fraud losses in Minnesota social services programs at up to $19 billion.

The raids come just months after President Donald Trump declared a “war on fraud” and appointed Vice President JD Vance to lead a dedicated task force to root out waste in federal programs.

Vance commented on the raids in a post on X.

“The task force and the DOJ will be relentless in exposing these fraudsters wherever they may be hiding,” Vance wrote.

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The Moral Malaise: The New York Times Makes The Case For “Microlooting” To Murder

“It is so hard to live ethically in an unethical society.” That lament heard this week from New York Times opinion culture editor Nadja Spiegelman could well be the Democratic Party’s epitaph.

Spiegelman was interviewing two left-wing influencers about how everything from shoplifting to murder may be excusable today in light of the unfairness they see in society.

The podcast, a product of the nation’s newspaper of record, reveled in the moral relativism that has taken over the American left. It featured the ravings of the antisemitic Marxist streamer Hasan Piker, who calmly explained how the murder of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson was perfectly understandable. His rationalization came from Marxist revolutionary Friedrich Engels, who had called capitalism “social murder.” If capitalists are “social murderers,” then why not kill them? The logic is liberating and lethal for some on the left looking for a license for violence.

Mind you, this same newspaper had once condemned and effectively banned a U.S. senator for writing an op-ed advocating the use of the military to quell violent protests during the summer of George Floyd’s death. The Times even forced out its own opinion editor for having the temerity to publish such an opinion.

But glorifying murder? The suggestion of open hunting season on corporate executives did not appear to shock or repel Spiegelman. After all, we are living in “an unethical society.” She explained that many felt that the murder of Thompson, the father of two, meant that “finally, someone can actually do something about health care.”

Even liberal comedians are practicing a literal version of slapstick. Margaret Cho this week declared that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.”

To be fair, Spiegelman did concede that it might seem a bit “scary” for some to start murdering our way to social justice.

She also explained that shoplifting can be justifiable because people are “stealing from Whole Foods — not just for the thrill of it, but out of a feeling of anger and moral justification.”

New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino also contributed to the podcast, titled “The Rich Don’t Play by the Rules. So Why Should I?” She immediately threw in her own experience with “microlooting” and explained why it is arguably moral: “I have, under very specific circumstances. I will say, I think that stealing from a big-box store [isn’t] significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest.”

She detailed her own past thefts and added, “I didn’t feel bad about it at all, in part because the store was a corporation. And it certainly felt, in a utilitarian sense, I was like, this is not a big deal. Right, guys?”

Not in the confines of the New York Times, where apparently you are entitled to all goods that are fit to pilfer.

The bizarre exchange highlighted the moral chasm that is opening its maw on today’s political left. In my book “Rage and the Republic,” I write about how rage helps people excuse any offense or attack. It dismisses the humanity of others and provides a license to hate completely and without reservation.

It is not really murder or theft if there are no real humans on the other side, is it?

Other columnists have defended such property crimes. Washington Post writer Maura Judkis ran a column mocking shoplifting stories as the “moral panic” of a nation built on “stolen land.” It is reminiscent of those who excused rioting in past summers “as an expression of power” and demanded that the media refer to looters as “protesters.”

Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones went so far as to call on journalists not to cover shoplifting crimes.

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More Than 40 Mexican Mafia Members And Associates Indicted In California: DOJ

A total of 43 alleged members and associates of the Mexican Mafia prison gang were arrested this week on multiple charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the central district of California said on April 23.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the total includes individuals already in custody, with 25 of them being arrested in Orange County, California, on April 23. They face charges including kidnapping, extortion, fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking, running illegal gambling businesses, and murder.

First assistant U.S. attorney Bill Essayli said the arrests reflected joint efforts between federal and local law enforcement and their commitment to cracking down on violent felons and organized crime.

“Gang members who murder, extort, kidnap, and traffic drugs and firearms are a menace to our communities and our way of life,” Essayli said in a statement.

The investigation also led to the seizure of 4 kilograms (8.8 lbs) of fentanyl, 54.4 kilograms (120 lbs) of methamphetamine, 0.9 kilograms (2 lbs) of heroin, 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs) of cocaine, 25 firearms, and more than $30,000 in cash, according to the office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the gang sold illegal drugs in Orange County and ran illicit gambling businesses within commercial strip malls and private residences. It also collected “extortionate taxes” and used violence to safeguard those gambling businesses, the office added.

One of the defendants, identified as Luis Cardenas, was accused of overseeing the gang’s criminal activities from his prison cell using “an encrypted messaging application on contraband cell phones” between June 2024 and April 2026. Cardenas allegedly instructed gang members to kidnap and assault those “in bad standing” with him.

Two other defendants—Matthew Kundrat and Manuel Ramos—were charged with murder that occurred at the Akua Inn, a gang-run motel in Anaheim, California, on Feb. 3, 2025. Prosecutors said the two allegedly committed the murder to be part of the Mexican Mafia and increase their standing within the gang.

“These defendants allegedly ran a ruthless criminal enterprise that murdered, kidnapped, extorted, and flooded our communities with deadly drugs,” FBI director Kash Patel said in a statement.

“The FBI will never stop working alongside our law enforcement partners to hold these individuals accountable and protect the people of Southern California.”

Some of the defendants made their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana and Los Angeles on April 23, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Mexican Mafia, also known as “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that started in the 1950s. Federal authorities said the gang exerts “immense control” over Hispanic street gangs in Southern California, directing illegal activities from within prisons and taking a portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other crimes.

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Supreme Court To Review Geofencing In Pivotal Case For Privacy Rights

The Supreme Court on April 27 will hear oral arguments in a case with major implications for privacy rights—and how law enforcement uses Americans’ cell phone data while investigating crimes.

The case, Chatrie v. United States, centers on law enforcement’s use of “geofencing warrants”—judge-authorized requests for cell phone location data near the scene of a crime.

Okello Chatrie told the Supreme Court that the government’s use of these warrants, which resulted in a criminal conviction over his robbing a bank while his smart phone was on his person, violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The government, meanwhile, has argued that such data is not protected when provided voluntarily to a “third party” like Google.

The court said it would focus on the circumstances of Chatrie’s case rather than the constitutionality of geofencing more generally. However, experts say that the Supreme Court’s decision will reverberate through future cases concerning privacy in the digital age.

Dr. David Super, a professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, described the case to The Epoch Times as “once-in-a-generation,” whatever the outcome.

Chatrie’s Warrant

In 2019, law enforcement received a geofence warrant from a state court seeking anonymized location data for devices within 150 meters (about 500 feet) of the bank robbery. In this form, the data couldn’t be used to identify specific cellphone users.

After Google complied with the first request, law enforcement then sought location data for devices over a longer, two-hour period, without seeking an additional court warrant. Google again provided the information.

Then—still without seeking a warrant—investigators asked Google for “de-anonymized subscriber information for three devices,” and Google complied.

One of those devices belonged to Chatrie, and the information provided the basis for Chatrie’s eventual conviction for armed robbery.

Though Chatrie confessed, his lawyers argue that the geofencing evidence should be tossed because the warrant deprived him of his Fourth Amendment rights, which guarantees that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.”

Chatrie’s lawyers argued that the geofence warrant allowed investigators to gather the location history of people who were near the scene of the crime even though there was no other probable cause.

Super told The Epoch Times that geofencing was “pivotal” to the case against Chatrie. “The question in Chatrie is whether something as dramatic as a geofencing search is limited by the Fourth Amendment and requires the government to show specific needs with a proper basis,” he said.

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Former Epstein Employee Accused of Kidnapping at Little St. James

Police found two men stripped and bound in separate incidents on Little St. James Island in recent weeks, both allegedly at or near the former island home of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein without permission, according to court records posted Monday.

Longtime Epstein property manager Ann Rodriquez was charged with kidnapping, assault and destruction of property for allegedly aggressively boating after two men on jet skis, forcing one man to strip and be hog-tied at gunpoint.

Agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Virgin Islands Police Department descended on the island March 1 when the man’s brother fled on a Jet Ski to alert authorities.

The brothers were attempting to film a documentary about the island when Rodriquez and other men, not named in police reports, allegedly sped up. Rodriquez allegedly leveled a handgun at one man while shouting, “I will kill you,” according to court records. She allegedly ordered the man to swim to her boat, where he was made to kneel with his hands over his head. The other brother filmed part of the encounter and then, fearing he was next, sped away to summon police.

Authorities arrived to find the victim hog-tied naked in the back of the boat, according to court records.

Rodriquez had allegedly rifled the victim’s bag and thrown memory cards containing drone footage of the island into the sea. The handgun turned out to be a BB gun designed to look like a Glock 19, with no orange safety markings. Police found two more similar weapons on the island, according to court records.

Rodriquez, who identified herself as still the property manager of Little Saint James Island, now owned by billionaire investor Stephen Deckoff, told police uninvited visitors frequently approached the island to obtain social media content.

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4 men arrested after podcast helps solve decades-old murder of teen girl

Louisiana detectives are crediting a local podcast with helping to solve the decades-old rape and murder of a teenage girl. 

Over the past few days, police charged four men with aggravated rape and second-degree murder for killing Roxanne Sharp, 44 years after her body was found in the woods. 

Who killed Roxanne Sharp? 

The backstory:

Sharp was 16 years old in 1982 when she was raped and murdered in the woods in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, about 30 miles north of New Orleans. 

Eventually, the case went cold, remaining unsolved for decades until investigators asked a local media company to produce a podcast about Sharp’s murder. “Who Killed Roxanne Sharp?” went live last year with six episodes. 

What followed were crucial tips from the public and new witnesses contacting investigators. 

What they’re saying:

“It helped our investigators piece together where Roxanne was days before to the time she died, to where we’re at now,” Louisiana State Police spokesperson Marc Gremillion told The Associated Press. “It was a very large help with getting that message out to the public, and then, therefore, those witnesses getting back to us.”

Perry Wayne Taylor, 64; Darrell Dean Spell, 64; Carlos Cooper, 64; and Billy Williams, Jr., 62, have all been charged in connection with Sharp’s death. 

Cooper and Taylor were already in prison on unrelated charges, and Williams and Spell were arrested earlier this week. Police said Sharp knew the four suspects and frequented the neighborhood where they lived. 

Northshore Media Vice President Charles Dowdy, who helped produce the podcast, said his team didn’t think there’d be much interest in the case, but “we were quickly corrected.”

“Cold cases don’t close themselves,” Covington Police Department Chief Michael Ferrell said in a statement. “They close because people show up, year after year, and refuse to quit. That is exactly what our agencies did, and today, Roxanne and her family finally have the justice they have waited so long for.”

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Picture-postcard mountain city becomes a hotbed for crime and homelessness leaving locals frightened and scaring tourists away

A picturesque mountain city has turned into a hotbed for crime and homelessness, severely unsettling locals and deterring tourists from visiting.

Asheville, North Carolina, has long been touted as a city with a homely feel on the Blue Ridge Mountains which embodies its motto of ‘quality of service, quality of life.’

However, locals in the city of 95,000 residents have claimed that quality of life has turned dour as the city struggles to deal with rampant homelessness.

This has caused encampments and panhandling to become much more common around town.

‘Homelessness, drug abuse and related crimes have increased relentlessly under the watch of local homelessness experts and a governing body that is dominated by liberal Democrats and those with an even more extreme view to the left,’ Carl Mumpower, a lifelong Asheville resident, told Fox News Digital.

‘The single most common phrase uttered by county and surrounding area residents is ‘I don’t go downtown anymore – it’s nasty, crazy and scary,’ Mumpower added.

Mumpower argued that Asheville has struggled to address homelessness since about three decades ago, slamming what he perceived to be a liberal bias among local leadership.

‘That lack of balance – the last conservative on the council was in 2009 – has led to a myopic repeat of errors,’ he told the outlet.

Mumpower said Asheville had a ‘persisting history of pursuing fantasized interventions over more realistic, measurable and trackable solutions.’ 

At least 824 people experienced homelessness in Asheville last year, according to city data reported by Blue Ridge Public Radio.

That marked a nine percent uptick from last year, largely due to the continued effects of Hurricane Helene in 2024.

That marked a slight uptick from 739 in 2024, largely due to the effects of Hurricane Helene that September.

‘Asheville began its efforts to address homelessness at least three decades ago,’ he explained. ‘This effort accelerated in the early part of this century with the first ‘Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.’

Mumpower, who who was a City Council member from 2001 until 2009, called that plan was ‘ill–advised.’ Mumpower told Fox News Digital.

‘At the time, I suggested to the council that any plan that removed personal accountability from the helping equation was doomed to fail,’ he said.

The disgruntled local said ‘that plan and subsequent plans have failed with equal enthusiasm.’

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Sophisticated Theft of 15 Cop-Drones in New Jersey Sparks Bioterrorism Fears

The theft of 15 crop-drones in New Jersey has sparked concerns among the FBI.

National security news outlet High Side reported that 15 agricultural Ceres Air C31 drones were stolen from a New Jersey warehouse last month.

According to the report, a man impersonating a delivery driver deceived logistics company CAC International into giving him the fleet of drones.

The drones have the ability to spray up to 40 gallons of liquid chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, but authorities are concerned the drones could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons.

Per Yahoo News:

Fifteen industrial spray drones vanished from a New Jersey facility last month in what investigators call a sophisticated, coordinated theft. These aren’t hobby quadcopters—they’re precision farming machines capable of dispersing 40 gallons of liquid across 30 acres per flight, all guided by GPS autopilot.

Federal investigators launched a probe amid bioterrorism concerns, treating the theft as more than expensive equipment loss. Each drone operates as a potential delivery system that could disperse hazardous materials over wide areas without human pilots at risk.

Retired FBI agent Steve Lazarus warned of serious consequences and called it a concerning scenario, emphasizing these are industrial sprayers designed for precision agriculture, not weekend flying. The sophisticated coordination required suggests professional thieves who understood the equipment’s capabilities and value.

The theft revives post-September 11th anxieties about agricultural aircraft being weaponized for chemical or biological attacks. Today’s threat multiplies exponentially—instead of recruiting and training pilots for single planes, bad actors could deploy swarms of pre-programmed drones simultaneously.

The report comes a month after The Gateway Pundit reported that the U.S. Army Fort Campbell Facebook Page revealed that four Skydio X10D Drone Systems were stolen from the 326th Division Engineer Battalion building.

A spokesperson at Fort Campbell has since announced that the suspects behind the drone theft have been identified, but did not release their names.

Drone threats have reportedly increased since the United States began military operations in Iran.

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