According to the indictment, Ruben Garcia-Rosario, 25, and Linda Gonzalez, 21, aided and abetted one another in the attempted kidnapping through the use of cellular telephones and a motor vehicle. Garcia-Rosario is also charged in three additional counts alleging possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, illegal re-entry into the United States, and use and possession of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.

According to the criminal counts, Garcia-Rosario and his wife, Linda Gonzalez, wrote a ransom note that demanded money from the family of two children who, on several occasions, Garcia-Rosario had observed by driving a motor vehicle to an elementary school bus stop in a residential neighborhood in Cornelius, N.C.

The indictment also alleges that the ransom note threatened the killing of the minor victims if the family failed to pay the ransom amount. The conspiracy is alleged to have taken place from about July 2009 until September 29, 2009.

Allegations contained in the indictment reveal that on September 29, law enforcement authorities apprehended Garcia-Rosario in Charlotte and that at that time he possessed multiple ransom notes, a photograph of the minor victims contained in a cell phone, a loaded FIE .25 caliber semiautomatic pistol, Winchester .25 caliber ammunition, duct tape, latex gloves, two Mexican passports and a ski mask.

Garcia-Rosario is currently in federal custody in Mecklenburg County and is scheduled to make an initial appearance before a federal magistrate judge in Charlotte on November 23. Linda Gonzalez is currently in state custody in Texas and will be brought to North Carolina to face currently pending North Carolina state charges and the federal charges contained in today’s superseding bill of indictment.

If convicted, Ruben Garcia-Rosario faces up to life imprisonment on count three and 20 years in prison on count four. In addition, he faces maximum statutory penalties of 10 years and a $250,000 fine, or both, as to count one; two years and a $250,000 fine, or both, as to count two; and up to life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, or both, as to count five. Linda Gonzalez faces life imprisonment on count three and 20 years of imprisonment as to count four.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

All of the charges concern multi-billion dollar contracts issued by the Department of Defense for feeding American troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan. PWC officials made an initial appearance and were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Janet F. King in Atlanta on Friday, November 20, 2009, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police’s White Collar Crime Committee.

Criminal Division Chief F. Gentry Shelnutt, who is currently serving as the Acting U.S. Attorney on this case, said, “This indictment is the result of a multi-year probe into abuses in vendor contracts in the Middle East involving the illegal inflation of prices in contracts to feed our troops. The indictment alleges PWC submitted false information and manipulated prices to overcharge for food. Others who have engaged in similar conduct should beware. This indictment is only the first step. Our investigation of entities and persons who have defrauded the United States and our military is ongoing.”

In Arlington, Va., Sharon E. Woods, Director, Defense Criminal Investigative Service said, “The Pentagon’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service will aggressively pursue any and all allegations of fraud and abuse perpetrated on the U.S. Department of Defense. Our constant focus is on ensuring taxpayer dollars are not wasted or stolen, and on protecting America’s warfighters.”

Brigadier General Rodney Johnson, the commander of U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, said, “These indictments are the culmination of the steadfast dedication and professionalism of our Special Agents, the FBI and other law enforcement counterparts. I am proud that U.S. Army CID could play a major role in bringing this case to justice. The defendants, tempted by monetary gain, betrayed the trust invested in them by the U.S. Army and now they must face the consequences.”

The indictment charges PWC in six counts. Count one charges PWC and unidentified co-conspirators with conspiracy to defraud the United States, including committing major fraud against the United States and making and submitting false statements to the United States. Count two charges PWC and unidentified coconspirators with a second conspiracy to defraud the United States, including committing major fraud against the United States, making and submitting false, fictitious or fraudulent claims to the United States, making false statements to the United States and wire fraud. Counts three and four are substantive major fraud charges brought against PWC, and counts five and six are substantive wire fraud charges.

According to the charges and other information presented in court: PWC offered proposals and was awarded a Prime Vendor contract on May 28, 2003 (PV-I), on February 16, 2005 (Bridge), and on July 7, 2005 (PV-II). Each of these contracts was a prime vendor contract for the provision of food and other items to military customers in the Middle East, including Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan. PWC has been paid over $8.5 billion for the contracts.

The conspiracy alleged in count one is based upon PWC allegedly providing false invoices and statements to the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), a troop support center component of the Defense Logistics Agency, which is a logistics combat support agency within the Department of Defense. DSCP is the center for managing the purchase and acquisition of four major commodities, including subsistence/garrison feeding, used to support the U.S. military throughout the world.

In count one, PWC, along with others, is charged with conspiring to submit false information and documents to DSCP with regard to the Delivered Prices of Market Basket items as part of its proposal for the award of PV-II. It is alleged in count one that PWC’s submission of false Market Basket Pricing information was done to impair and pervert the functioning of DSCP in its evaluation of proposals, and later to conceal the use of such false statements and documents.

The conspiracy alleged in count two is based upon PWC’s allegedly fraudulent overbilling of the United States through multiple means. The multiple means alleged include the following:

The first means alleged in count two is that PWC allegedly intentionally failed to purchase less expensive food items based upon a vendor’s failure to provide PWC with a discount.

The second means alleged in count two relates to PWC’s alleged fraudulent overbilling of the United States by having vendors use a consolidation facility and placing the consolidation costs plus a PWC profit into the Delivered Price paid by the United States contrary to the prime vendor contracts.

The third means alleged in count two relates to PWC’s knowing manipulation and inflation of Delivered Prices. Examples of this manipulation include PWC’s knowing participation in structuring billings from vendors so that non-product costs that were supposed to be paid by PWC, instead were hidden in the Delivered Price of the products, resulting in the submission of inflated and fraudulent claims to the United States. Count two also alleges that PWC received product rebates, allowances, and discounts that PWC did not return to the United States as required by the prime vendor contracts.

Count two also alleges that PWC insisted that vendors provide a discount to it and label that discount something other than what it was to facilitate PWC not passing the discount on to the United States. Examples of this fraudulent conduct noted in the indictment include:

* asking a vendor for a “prompt payment discount ” in exchange for making that vendor a “preferred customer” and then providing that vendor with more business because of the discount.

* asking a vendor for a “prompt payment discount” and when the vendor refused, instead securing a discount that was labeled a “damage allowance.”

* asking a vendor to increase its “prompt payment discount” and when the vendor agreed to do so, providing the vendor with more business.

* using a vendor’s volume-based growth incentive program to pay consolidator costs that should have been paid by PWC and to give PWC a “prompt payment discount,” rather than returning the growth incentive to the United States or reducing the prices to the United States.

Count two also charges that PWC fraudulently inflated the Distribution Fees that it billed to the United States by asking vendors to manipulate the way products were packed, thus enabling PWC to bill the United States twice as much as it should have.

Counts three and four charge substantive counts of major fraud against the United States alleging schemes to defraud the United States and obtain money and property from the United States by means of false or fraudulent promises and representations with respect to “PV-I” and “PV-II,” both of which are prime contracts with values of at least $1,000,000.

Specifically, Count three charges PWC with a fraudulent scheme to persuade a vendor located in Rome, Ga., to reduce the pack sizes of products that it sold to PWC, thus enabling PWC to bill the United States for twice as many packs of products and thus collect twice as much in Distribution Fees for the same amount of product.

Count four alleges a fraudulent scheme by PWC in which it encouraged a vendor with facilities in Conyers, Ga., to conceal consolidation fees that should have been paid by PWC in the prices of the products that it sold to PWC, thus resulting in inflated Delivered Prices being billed to the United States.

Counts five and six charge substantive counts of wire fraud, relating to the use of interstate wires with respect to the fraudulent scheme described in Count four involving the company with facilities in Conyers.

As a corporate defendant, PWC faces a sentence of probation and a fine of up to twice the pecuniary gain realized by PWC, or twice the loss to the United States.

FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Greg Jones said, “The FBI is well-suited to the task of investigating such extensive government fraud cases. It is very unfortunate that established companies that have contracted to do business with the U.S. Government would abuse this relationship by falsifying and overcharging the billing to the government.”

“It is more unfortunate that this company chose to do so when these funds are in such demand for other support and equipping of our U.S. troops in various combat zones around the world. We are committed to continuing the necessary work with our law enforcement and military partners in pursuing this and other such acts of government or defense contractor fraud,” he said.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

“The President of the United States asked that politicians not use the Ft. Hood attack to engage in ‘political theater’. It appears those committed to attacking gun owners and the Second Amendment simply can’t help themselves and are engaged in blaming guns and gun owners on the heels of this terrorist attack. Sadly it looks like ‘politics as usual’,” said LEAA’s spokesperson, Ted Deeds.

After explaining and defending his decision to give enemy combatants constitutional protections and the right to public trial in civilian courts in New York City, Attorney General Holder revealed his support for a national gun owner registration scheme and authorizing the government to ban firearm possession for any person by merely adding that person’s name to the terror watch list, Deeds revealed in a statement.

Drawing reasonable conclusions from what Holder publicly said, Deeds points out that:

* Holder wants a national, permanent gun registration system administered by law enforcement. A registration of honest citizens that have cleared the federal background check for gun purchases with those records permanently retained by and shared among law enforcement.

* Holder wants new federal authority to prohibit any person on the federal watch list (reported to be 400,000 names) from buying guns and supports confiscating guns from those on the list who posses them.

General Holder testified: “The position of the Administration is that there should be a basis for law enforcement to share information about gun purchases.”

“… [It’s not] inconsistent to allow law enforcement agencies to share that kind of information, for that information to be retained and then to be shared by law enforcement.” “It seems incongruous to me that we would bar certain people from flying on airplanes because they are on the terrorist watch list and yet we would still allow them to posses weapons,” said Holder.

LEAA’s Executive Director Jim Fotis replied, “Those behind the badge don’t believe more restrictions on honest gun owners is a reasonable, practical or constitutional response to acts of terrorism. As a retired officer, I know that America’s men and women in blue want to fight terrorism, to stop terrorists; not waste time keeping records on innocent gun owners!”

Based in Virginia with over 65,000 members and supporters nationally, the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA) is the nation’s largest coalition of law enforcement professionals, crime victims, and concerned citizens dedicated to making America safer. Visit the groups web site at www.LEAA.org

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com), Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

In a letter to President Obama, the Ranking Members outlined the national security concerns posed by the decision and insisted that the Administration provide responses to the American people before any terrorists are imported to the U.S. for detention or prosecution.

Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee Ranking Member Frank Wolf (R-Va.) released the letter at press conference yesterday in Washington.

“Throughout this year, a bipartisan majority in Congress has listened to the American people and voted against importing these dangerous terrorists into the U.S.,” the Members said in the letter to President Obama. “Republicans want to work in a bipartisan way on a comprehensive plan to keep America safe, but we will not stand by as your Administration defies the will of the American people and brings these terrorists to U.S. soil.”

The members also introduced a discharge petition to force a vote H.R. 2294, the “Keep Terrorists Out of America Act.” Republican Leader Boehner introduced the bill earlier this year, along with 169 Republicans, to require the President to notify Congress 60 days before the transfer or release of a Gitmo detainee occurs and to certify that such a transfer or release will not result in the release of any detainee into the U.S., adversely affect the prosecution of any detainee, or otherwise pose a security risk to the U.S.

Also, following the testimony of Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the terrorist trials scheduled in New York City, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-Texas) yesterday criticized testimony by Attorney General Eric Holder, saying:

“The Administration continues to insist that the prosecution against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9-11 conspirators is a shoo-in. Unless the Attorney General has suddenly developed ESP, there is no way that the Administration can guarantee that these prosecutions will be successful. If anything, bringing terrorists to the U.S.—and granting them additional constitutional rights—undermines our ability to ensure that justice is served.

“The 9-11 conspirators are enemies of war, not common criminals. This Administration has banned the terms ‘war on terror’ and ‘enemy combatants.’ Maybe the Obama Administration doesn’t see the distinction between terrorists and common criminals, but the American people do. The only way to keep Americans safe and to ensure justice is served is to try these non-citizen terrorists in military commissions at Guantanamo Bay.”

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com), Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

Many police officers and prosecutors have become increasingly frustrated by their inability to investigate and prosecute cases successfully when key witnesses refuse to provide critical evidence or to testify because they fear retaliation by the defendant or his family and friends. They’ve also found it difficult to protect jurors or their families.

This problem is particularly acute, and apparently increasing, in gang, terrorism, and drug-related criminal cases. Witnesses’ refusal to cooperate with investigations and prosecutions should be a major concern: it adversely affects the justice system’s functioning while simultaneously eroding public confidence in the government’s ability to protect citizens.

A number of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices across the country have already taken steps to prevent witness intimidation and jury tampering. These include increased use of traditional witness security measures such as routinely requesting high bail for known intimidators, aggressively prosecuting reported intimidation, closely managing key witnesses, expanding victim/witness assistance services, and sequestering jury members at an undisclosed location..

Several jurisdictions have also adopted innovative approaches, such as emergency and short-term relocation of witnesses (sometimes in collaboration with local public housing authorities), methods to prevent intimidation in the courthouse and jails, and outreach programs to reduce community-wide fear and intimidation.

Most innovative witness security programs include provisions for relocating genuinely endangered witnesses, and most of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers interviewed report that confidential witness relocation is the core protection service that all programs need to provide. Respondents identified three levels of relocation:

* emergency relocation — placing the witness and his or her family in a hotel or motel for up to a few weeks;

* short-term or temporary relocation — using a hotel or motel for up to a year or placing the witness with out-of-town relatives or friends; and

* permanent relocation — moving the witness between public housing facilities or providing a one-time grant to reestablish the witness in new private housing.

Because most relocations involve witnesses living in public housing, prosecutors and police investigators have implemented a variety of approaches to working with local housing authorities to arrange the necessary transfers.

Gang members and associates of defendants often appear in court in order to frighten witnesses into not testifying. Since the threat may be very subtle and because judges often feel that the constitutional requirement of a public trial prevents them from removing such individuals from the courtroom, it is often difficult to stop this kind of intimidation. Nevertheless, a number of judges have taken steps to remove gang members from the courtroom, to segregate gang members and other intimidating spectators, or to close the courtroom entirely to spectators.

Incarcerated witnesses who are targets for intimidation in gang-and drug-related cases require special protection, including separation from the defendant within the same correctional facility or transfer to a nearby correctional facility, and separate transportation to court to testify.

An atmosphere of community-wide intimidation, even when there is no explicit threat against a particular person, can also discourage witnesses from testifying.

Prosecutors and police investigators try to reduce community-wide intimidation through community-based policing and prosecution strategies, vertical prosecution, and other strategies.

Whenever possible, jurisdictions can combine the range of witness protection approaches discussed above into a coordinated, comprehensive, and formal witness security program.

Prosecutors and police investigators recommend that a witness security program be structured carefully in order to maximize the use of shared resources, reduce prosecutor and police investigator involvement with time-consuming witness management tasks, and minimize civil liability of the prosecutor’s office and police department.

To achieve these goals, a comprehensive witness security model includes an organizing committee, an operational team, a program administrator, and case investigators. Formal interagency cooperation among the groups involved in protecting witnesses is essential to achieving these goals.

Prosecutors often have statutory authority to prevent intimidation through techniques ranging from requesting the exclusion of gang members from the courtroom to impeaching the prosecution’s own witnesses if they change their testimony between deposition or preliminary hearing and trial.

To avoid liability for the safety or misconduct of witnesses participating in witness security programs, experts strongly advise that no promises be made to witnesses unless they can be kept and that any promises that are made be cleared first with whoever has authority to comply with the promises.

Sources: US Department of Justice, National Criminal Justice Research Service, New York City Police Department, National Association of Chiefs of Police

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com), Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

“We had a specific deadline that we missed,” President Obama told reporters accompanying him on a weeklong trip to Asia. He added that his administration won’t set a new deadline, but does expect the facility shut down sometime next year.

“We are on a path and a process where I would anticipate Guantanamo will be closed next year,” Obama told Fox News Channel’s Major Garrett, during an exclusive interview.

“I’m not going to set an exact date, because a lot of this is also going to depend on cooperation from Congress,” he told Garrett.

According to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, Obama signed an executive order in January that suspended military commissions for detainees held at Guantanamo and ordered the detention facility closed within a year. Congress recently approved reforms to the Military Commissions Act, allowing officials to move forward with determining how and where the detainees are tried.

Decisions this week to pursue the prosecution of 10 Guantanamo detainees pave the way toward resolving the disposition of others there and eventually closing the detention facility, a senior Defense Department official said on background Nov. 13.

Justice department officials announced last Friday that the five detainees accused of conspiring to commit the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will be tried in federal court in New York. Another five, one of whom is accused of orchestrating the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, will be charged in military commissions.

“The announcement today in terms of the prosecutable detainees was basically Round 1,” the official said. “I think now that we have the process in place [and] we have the prosecution teams in place, … the process will move along at a fairly efficient rate.”

There are many Americans angered over President Barack Obama’s decision to bring 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to New York City to stand trial in civilian court, some saying that terrorists are receiving preferential treatment over US soldiers.

“As a former [NYPD] cop and US soldier, I’m appalled that Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder believe that military courts are inferior to — even less fair than — the civilian justice system. In other words, it’s okay to try US soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in military courts, but terrorists are to be given rights not afforded American patriots?” asks Det. Stephen Rodgers.

“This President should be ashamed of himself and his administration for treating murdering terrorists better than they treat soldiers — at least in their minds,” he added.

A top al-Qaeda leader, Khalid was captured in 2003 while in Pakistan . He admitted during a military hearing last December that he intends to plead guilty to all criminal charges. While Khalid openly admits his guilt in planning the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, some security experts are concerned that his attorneys will capitalize on allegations of torture.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com), Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

One such weapon — the Taser — is a hand-held weapon that delivers an electric shock via two stainless steel barbs, effectively incapacitating an individual.

According to the manufacturer — Taser International, Incorporated – Tasers or stun guns are currently used by over 7,000 of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, with more than 140,000 Tasers in use by police officers in the field and an additional 100,000 Tasers owned by civilians worldwide.

According to a survey of federal, state and local police chiefs, county sheriffs and directors of security conducted by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, almost 30 percent say their officers and agents are armed with Tasers.

Tasers have been used on over 100,000 volunteers, including individuals involved in training seminars and research experiments, and involved in over 70,000 actual field uses during police encounters. In light of the expanding interest in the Taser, Government Accountability Office was asked to provide information on the policies and procedures related to the issues of “use-of-force,” training, operations, and safety for selected law enforcement agencies that have purchased and used Tasers; and federal, state, and local laws that specifically address Tasers, including the Transportation Security Administration’s authority to regulate Tasers on aircraft.

The seven law enforcement agencies the GAO contacted have established use-of-force policies, training requirements, operational protocols, and safety procedures to help ensure the proper use of Tasers. Although none of the agencies have separate use-of-force policies that specifically address Tasers, all seven agencies include the use of Tasers into their existing policies, which are based on the Resistance/Force Continuum.

Taser training is required for officers who use the weapons, and agency officials said that training for officers and other non-law enforcement persons who are allowed to use Tasers is critically important to help ensure their safe use. Operational protocols require that Tasers be visually inspected daily, appropriately safeguarded, and, in some cases, tested weekly or at the beginning of an officer’s shift.

Safety procedures require that Tasers not be used on children, pregnant suspects, or near bystanders or flammable liquids and that individuals hit in specific body areas with Taser barbs, such as the neck or face, be examined by a physician. Some federal, state, and local jurisdictions have laws that address Tasers but requirements differ.

For example, at the federal level, the Army prohibits Tasers from being brought into selected military installations in Georgia. Also, TSA may approve the use of Tasers on aircraft but must prescribe training rules and guidance on appropriate circumstances for using Tasers.

At the state and local levels, the state of Indiana and the city of Chicago, Illinois, regulate the sale or possession of Tasers by non-law enforcement persons by subjecting Tasers to the same restrictions that apply to firearms. Other states, such as California, prohibit Tasers from being carried into public facilities such as airports.

The GAO observes that as the Taser becomes more widely used, especially by non-law enforcement persons, training is critical to help ensure its safe, effective, and appropriate use. TSA, Taser International, and the seven law enforcement agencies contacted generally agreed with the information in the GOA’s report.

Sources: US General Accountability Office, National Association of Chiefs of Police, American Federation of Police & Concerned Citizens, National Security Institute

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com), Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

However, Attorney General Eric Holder’s move to transfer jurisdiction from the military to the civil criminal justice system sends another message: military courts are good enough for America’s protectors, but they’re not good enough for mass-murdering terrorists.

President Obama has always shown a soft spot in his heart for the Islamic religion. During his presidential campaign, then-Senator Barack Obama told a Christian Broadcasting Network correspondent something that should have alerted every one of the tens of millions of Christians in the United States.

Obama told CBN’s David Brody: “I think that the [political] right might worry a bit more about the dangers of sectarianism. Whatever we once were, we’re no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”

If that tidbit of information wasn’t enough to question Obama’s vision for America, he previously said in a 2007 speech that “whatever we once were, we’re no longer a Christian nation.”

It’s safe to assume that Obama included Jews out of a desire to drive a wedge between them and conservative Christians. However, only a fool would buy his rhetoric since the President has shown he’s no friend to Israel, while conservative Christians have supported the Jewish state — in both word and deed — against its enemies.

Then he uttered his zinger: “Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked. Part of it’s because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us.”

While Obama professes to be a Christian, Americans learned his pastor and religious mentor was an America-bashing racist who found a “trusted friend” in the Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan, a man known for his unbridled bigotry against Jews and white Christians. Of course, being the political animal he is, Obama eventually distanced himself from his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

According to a news story in World Net Daily, Obama’s comment about the “Christian Right” was mild compared to statements made by his national campaign co-manager, Merrill A. McPeak.

McPeak seemed to compare evangelical Christians to the terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah. He told the newspaper The Oregonian that Hamas and Hezbollah were similar to Oregonian Christians whom he labeled radicals.

Once safely entrenched in the Oval Office, President Obama decided to show his true stance on Christianity. He did away with the annual National Day of Prayer on which the White House traditionally hosted a service in its East Room. When a reporter asked Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs about Obama’s decision, Gibbs replied, “Prayer is something that the president does everyday.” Then Gibbs promised that Obama would sign a proclamation to recognize the day, as many administrations in the past have done.

While President George W. Bush marked the National Day of Prayer with a service at the White House for each of the eight years he served, this year, President Obama decided against holding a public ceremony.

However, in the midst of a war against radical Islam and his push to takeover health care, President Obama found time to hold a White House dinner honoring the Muslim holiday of Ramadan Kareem. And the guest list did not only include Muslims. Many Washington elites attended the ceremony including some Republicans such as Senator Richard Lugar.

But there’s more. They held a national prayer gathering of Muslims on September 25 in front of the US Capitol Building. According to one source, there were at least 50,000 attendees from Mosques all across America. They said that they wanted Americans to see how they pray.

The planners of the event even set up a web site http://islamoncapitolhill.com

It’s a shame that the Obama White House ignored the National Day of Prayer and instead issued a paper proclamation, meanwhile he had a White House Celebration for a Muslim holiday. Most Americans have no problem with the Muslim holiday but they do have a problem when it is celebrated in lieu of the National Day of Prayer. With Obama ramming Ramadan down the throats of Americans, it’s hoped Americans will finally realize that their leaders use faith as a political prop.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the former editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

Bernie Hoffman, aka Tony Alamo, founder and leader of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, was sentenced to 175 years’ imprisonment on Friday by District Court Judge Harry F. Barnes in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

The 75-year old evangelist was convicted this summer of charges that he transported minor girls across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity.

On July 24, 2009, after six days of testimony, the jury found Alamo guilty on all 10 counts of the federal indictment. During the trial, the women testified Alamo had sexual relations with them while they were underage and that they traveled across state lines with Alamo, or at his request, for the purpose of his having sexual relations with them.

The five women who testified at Hoffman’s trial — who are now ages 17 to 33 — told jurors that Alamo “married” them in secret ceremonies while they were still minors. According to their testimony the evangelist went as far a giving them gold wedding bands.

Besides the prison sentence, the well-known Christian preacher was fined $250.000.00. The 175-year sentence represents the maximum sentence on each of the 10 counts and they will be served consecutively.

“This court believes you should be incarcerated in a federal prison for the rest of your natural life,” U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes told Alamo. “Some day you will meet a judge with higher authority than me. May he have mercy on your soul.”

The case was investigated by agents of the FBI and the Arkansas State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyra Jenner, Candace Taylor, and Clay Fowlkes prosecuted the case for the United States.

In addition, a bankruptcy court demanded that a Tony Alamo Christian Ministries staff member, Tommy Scarcello, surrender financial and property records by November 30.

The bankruptcy case was developed by prosecutors amid allegations he may have committed fraud when he filed for Chapter 7 debt relief in the Eastern District of Oklahoma in September 2008.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com), Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

“I am appalled by the amount of leaking that has been going on,” Gates told reporters traveling with him yesterday in the wake of media reports following a national security session on Afghanistan, President Barack Obama’s eighth in the past two months.

Gates said he has little doubt that some of those leaks have come from within the Defense Department. “If I found out who” was involved, he said, “it would probably be a career ender.”

Leaking information as Obama is weighing critical factors serves neither the interest of the country nor the military, the secretary said. He refrained from sharing his own views about the best option, but said Obama appears to be leaning toward one that combines parts of various alternatives presented so far.

The question, he said, comes down to “How do we signal resolve, and at the same time, signal to the Afghans and the American people that this is not open-ended?”

Returning to the leaking issue, Gates condemned information made public about the alleged Fort Hood gunman that he said could jeopardize the investigation.

“Everybody out there with their own little piece of the action” doesn’t understand how it fits into the big picture, he said. “Everybody out there ought to just shut up.”

During the Bush Administration, the problem of leaks reached the highest level in years, with classified information frequently appearing on the frontpages of national newspapers. Observers believe the leaks came from members of the security and intelligence agencies and from unscrupulous Senators and members of the House of Representatives. Also suspected were Senate and House staffers.

Gates also announced a new task force focused on protecting U.S. troops in Afghanistan against improvised explosive devices. The new counter-IED task force will oversee the full range of efforts already under way, including the Joint IED Defeat Organization, MRAP production and other measures.

“It will bring together the range of capabilities we already have, and make them more collaborated and more integrated,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell explained.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com), Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.