Virginia Man Sentenced In Philadelphia To Three Years In Prison For Sextortion Scheme Targeting More Than 100 Young Female Victims Across The Country

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the below information:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Terrell Ashby, aka “Jason Brandon,” 26, of Williamsburg, Virginia, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Gerald McHugh to 36 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release, for engaging in a widespread “sextortion” scheme targeting young women across the country. Ashby was also ordered to pay $28,883.64 in restitution to the victims.

In April, the defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of cyberstalking (one count resulting in serious bodily injury) and two counts of extortion.

From at least February 2020 to December 2020, Ashby engaged in an extensive sextortion scheme affecting more than 100 young female victims. Targeting women based on their social media profiles, he systematically tricked the victims into participating in nude video chats with him or sending him explicit photos of themselves by promising to pay them $70,000. However, instead of paying the victims, he surreptitiously took screenshots during the nude video chats. Then he used the explicit images to extort the victims, threating to disseminate the images publicly unless they paid him.

Many victims succumbed and paid Ashby anywhere from $25 to $50. After receiving such extortion payments, he continued to haunt the victims – sometimes for months. He created numerous shaming profiles on social media using the victims’ identities and explicit photos. He stalked the victims, repeatedly sending them threatening messages that their “expose” page had been created and would be shared with their friends and contacts.

One of the victims who resided in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was so distraught that she overdosed on her prescription medication and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Fortunately, she recovered from the incident, but was hospitalized for a period of time. During her hospitalization, Ashby continued to harass her, advertising her explicit images to others using various social media accounts. Even months later, Ashby continued his extortion of this victim.

“Terrell Ashby was absolutely relentless in terrorizing these women online,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “It’s hard to understand what prompted, and then perpetuated, his criminal cruelty. At the end of the day, though, we don’t really need to know why he did it. It’s more important to know where he’s headed for doing so — and that’s federal prison, for the next several years of his life. That’s a measure of justice for his many victims, but it will never erase all the harm done.”

“We hope today's sentencing brings justice to the countless victims this defendant harassed, violated, and extorted,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The FBI and our partners at the U.S. Attorney's Office encourage any victim of sextortion to report information to law enforcement so we can continue to identify, investigate and prosecute these crimes.”

The case was investigated by the Philadelphia FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Wolfe. The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia also provided assistance in the investigation.

Dangerous Car Stops Claim Another Cop

Broad & Liberty ran my piece on dangerous car stops.

You can read the piece via the below link or the below text:

Paul Davis: Dangerous car stops claim another cop’s life (broadandliberty.com)

Dangerous Car Stops Claim Another Cop

By Paul Davis

Philadelphia Police Officer Jaime Roman (seen in the above photo) died on September 10th, three months after he was shot while performing a motor vehicle investigation, commonly called a “car stop” by the police.

Roman, a 31-year-old and six-year police veteran, survived and was hospitalized until his death from the shooting.   

The Philadelphia Police Department issued the below statement on September 11th:

“It is with a profound sadness that we announce the passing of our brave 25th District colleague and brother, Police Officer Jaime Roman. Officer Roman passed away shortly after 8:30 PM on 9/10/24, surrounded by his loving family.”

It was on the evening of June 22, 2024, that Officer Jaime Roman and his partner, both assigned to the 25th Police District pulled over a blue Toyota Echo on the 3600 block of F Street. During the traffic stop, the officers discovered that the vehicle lacked registration and insurance, and the driver did not have a license.

While allowing the driver, 36-year-old Ramon Vazquez, to remove personal belongings from the vehicle, one of the officers spotted an empty holster on the floorboard. As the officer held up the holster, the suspect fled on foot, with both officers pursuing the man.

Vasquez then turned and fired three shots at Officers Roman and his partner, striking Officer Roman in the neck. Officer Roman’s partner returned fire and then rendered aid to his injured partner before transporting him to the hospital.

Vazquez fled the location but was later apprehended after forcing his way into a residence on the 800 block of E. Schiller Street. A firearm and magazines believed to be used by Vasquez were recovered from the scene. Vazquez is currently in custody and his charges are expected to be upgraded.

Officer Roman remained in intensive care at Temple University Hospital until he succumbed to his injuries on the evening of September 10, 2024.

“It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of Officer Jaime Roman, a dedicated and courageous member of our department,” said Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel. “Jaime’s unwavering commitment to serving and protecting our community was an inspiration to us all. His passing leaves a void that cannot be filled. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and the entire PPD family during this difficult time.” 

“We will forever honor his sacrifice.”

Jamie Roman is the latest police officer to die from a car stop, which police officers have told me is one of the most dangerous police actions a cop can take. 

In my many years of covering the police, I’ve gone out on many a ride-along with Philadelphia police officers and I’ve observed the cops pull over cars and approach the car’s driver with apprehension and adherence to professional procedure.

I recall first hearing about the dangers of car stops when I attended the pilot class of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Civilian Police Academy back in 1994. 

On assignment for the South Philadelphia Review, I attended the pilot class at the Philadelphia Police Academy’s paramilitary compound on State Road in Northeast Philly every Tuesday night for twelve weeks. The sessions were designed to run the civilian “recruits” through a miniature version of what actual police recruits go through in the Police Academy. 

The first 40 citizens attending the class were a mixed lot consisting of Police District advisory council members, town watch volunteers, members of the clergy, community leaders, political aides, corporate security people, police spouses, and one reporter – me.

“This program is intended to show how the police and citizens interact through the concepts of community policing and explore how information can be exchanged that would enhance the relationship between the police department and the community,” then-Police Commissioner Richard Neal wrote in his introductory letter. 

The Civilian Police Academy’s slogan, Neal wrote, is “Understanding Through Education and Training.”      

It was during week two that car stops were addressed by Police Lt. William Hughes, then an instructor at the Police Academy. He noted that the law states that probable cause or reasonable suspicion, such as an expired tag or registration, allows an officer to perform a low-risk stop. 

“A low-risk stop does not involve a felony, and the occupants do not have weapons to the best of the officer’s knowledge,” Hughes told those in attendance. “Although a low-risk stop can quickly elevate into a high-risk one.”

Hughes said that the officer uses dome lights, head lights, sirens, or the horn to indicate a stop. The police officer should then call the dispatcher and give the location of the car stop, the color and make of the stopped car and indicate that the officer is a one-person vehicle. “I am solo,” or “two man.” Communication and caution are essential, Hughes said.

Police officers are trained to write the tag number on their log prior to the car stop. They should always keep their eyes on the car’s occupants. The officers should check the car’s trunk before approaching the driver. If the trunk is opened, close it and step back. Nothing should ever be in the officer’s gun hand. 

“High-risk or felony car stops are a team effort,” Hughes said. “Back-up units are essential. If the officer knows that the car’s occupants are armed and dangerous. he or she orders the suspects out into the street and places them in a prone position on the ground. Little is left to chance.”

Like the true police recruits, the civilian recruits sat through a Texas police officer’s unit video that recorded his death. After he stopped a car containing occupants suspected of dealing drugs, the officer was punched, kicked, and shot to death with his own service weapon. 

The video was shocking, which is why police recruits are shown it. 

The car stop police training has no doubt saved many an officer’s life. But even with extensive training, officers like Jamie Roman can be killed when a dangerous car stop turns deadly.

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes the “On Crime” column for the Washington Times. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com.   

Two Philadelphia Men Convicted At Trial For August 2023 Armed Carjacking

 The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia offers the below information:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Quadir Findley, 24, and Eric Dickerson, 24, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were convicted Monday at trial on one count each of carjacking for stealing a victim’s vehicle at gunpoint in the early hours of August 5, 2023. Findley was also convicted of using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. He was previously convicted of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated jury tampering, and drug distribution.

The defendants will be sentenced at a later date. Findley faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment. The maximum possible sentence for Dickerson is 15 years’ imprisonment.

“Don’t say anything or I’ll blow your ‘f---ing’ head off — those were Quadir Findley’s words to the carjacking victim he forced down to the ground at gunpoint,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “No one should be terrorized like that and made to fear for their life. Findley and Eric Dickerson are violent criminals, exactly the type of offenders that the Philadelphia Carjacking Task Force is focused on, and we’ll continue to lock these carjackers up to make the city safer.”

“Carjacking is a serious federal crime that will not go unpunished,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Eric DeGree. “ATF Philadelphia Field Division and the Philadelphia Carjacking Task Force will continue to ensure justice for the victims and make our communities safer through federal prosecution.”

The case was investigated by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Catherine Dos Santos and Priya De Souza.

How Mad Magazine's Humor Created A Revolution

David Pogue at CBS News offers a piece on a Mad Magazine exhibit.

Nestled in the rolling hills of rural Massachusetts. swathed by manicured grounds, sits the Norman Rockwell Museum. And there, side-by-side with the wholesome works of America's most beloved illustrator, is the world's dumbest cover boy: Alfred E. Neuman.

"It's sacrilegious! It's an outrage!" laughed political cartoonist Steve Brodner. "But I do think if Norman Rockwell were here, he'd laugh his head off. He'd think this was fantastic."

These hallowed halls are now home to the world's largest exhibit of artwork from Mad Magazine, co-curated by Brodner. "I was formed by Mad," he said. "My idea of comedy, humor, irreverent drawing comes from this."

Mad began in 1952 as a comic book that made fun of other comic books. But if you came of age during Mad's peak - the sixties, seventies and eighties – you know what it became: A hilarious guide to the hypocrisy of the authority figures in your life, whom Mad kept characterizing as idiots. "I know! Isn't that marvelous?" said Brodner.

Mad made fun of dumb ads, and dumb politicians, and dumb trends and dumb movies.

You can read the rest of the piece and watch the news video via the below link:

How Mad Magazine's humor created a revolution (msn.com)

FBI Philadelphia Provides Back-To-School Tips For A Safe And Successful School Year

 The FBI’s Philadelphia Office released the below information:

As the summer winds down and the school year begins, FBI Philadelphia wants to remind students, parents, and educators of a few important back-to-school cyber safety topics.

“It takes all of us—law enforcement, schools, and the community—to ensure our students are safe as they prepare to return to school,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The FBI remains committed to working with our community to provide information, best practices, and tips to make sure students have the tools they need to have a safe and successful school year.”

Below are a few examples of the risks students may face online, and information to help guide students and parents navigate the cyber landscape. The most important advice for parents is to have open and ongoing conversations about safe and appropriate online behavior.

Hoax Threats:

Hoax threats are no joke. Issuing a threat, via social media, text message, or through email is a federal crime (threatening interstate communications). Individuals who post or send these threats can receive up to five years in federal prison, or they can face state or local charges.

In addition to consequences for the perpetrator, these threats impact students, school personnel, and our communities. Cyber Hygiene: Everyday tasks on your devices—from opening an e-mail attachment, following a link in a text message, or making an online purchase—can open you up to online criminals who want to harm your systems or steal from you. Internet-enabled crimes and cyber intrusions are becoming increasingly sophisticated and preventing them requires good cyber practices. Below are some tips you can follow to protect your data, your connections, and your information:

• Keep systems and software up to date and install a strong, reputable anti-virus program.
• Create a strong and unique passphrase for each online account you hold. Using the same passphrase across several accounts makes you more vulnerable if one account is breached.
• Do not open any attachments unless you are expecting the file or document and have verified the sender’s e-mail address.
• Carefully scrutinize all electronic requests for a payment or transfer of funds.
• Be careful when connecting to a public Wi-Fi network and do not conduct any sensitive transactions, including purchases, when on a public network.

Sextortion:

Sextortion involves an offender coercing a minor to create and send sexually explicit images or videos. An adult offender obtains sexually explicit material from the child, and then threatens to release that compromising material unless the victim produces more. These offenders are seeking sexual gratification. Offenders may also coerce their victims for payment by threatening to release the images unless the victims send money or other compensation through what is called financially motivated sextortion. In financially-motivated sextortion, victims are typically males between the ages of 14 to 17, but any child can become a victim.

These crimes can lead victims to self-harm and has led to suicide. From October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations received over 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors. The sextortion involved at least 12,600 victims—primarily boys—and led to at least 20 suicides.

If you or someone you know believes that they are a victim of sextortion or financially motivated sextortion, immediately report the activity to law enforcement. You can report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or visiting tips.fbi.gov.

FBI Philadelphia can be reached at 215-418-4000.

Thriller Writer Nelson DeMille Dies at 81

Michael Schaub at Kirkus Reviews reports that Nelson DeMille died. He was 81.

Nelson DeMille, a New York City native, was raised on Long Island and educated at Hofstra University. He joined the U.S. Army in 1966 and served in Vietnam, where he earned a Bronze Star.

He made his literary debut in 1974 with the novel The Sniper, which introduced Joe Ryker, a tough New York police detective; the character would return in several more novels, including The Hammer of God and The Night of the Phoenix.

DeMille was known for his series of books featuring U.S. Army investigator Paul Brenner, whom he introduced in the 1992 novel The General’s Daughter, which was adapted into a 1999 film starring John Travolta. He also published several novels with the character John Corey, a retired New York detective; that series debuted in 1997 with Plum Island.

His most recent book, Blood Lines, co-written with his son Alex DeMille, was published last year.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

Nelson DeMille Dies at 81 | Kirkus Reviews 

I enjoyed his novels. I interviewed Nelson DeMille in 2017 for Counterterrorism magazine.

You can read my Q&A with him below:

Ryan Wesley Routh Charged With Firearms Charges Related To An Incident At Trump International Golf Club In West Palm Beach on Sept. 15.

 The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, has been charged by a criminal complaint in the Southern District of Florida with firearms charges related to an incident at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15.

Routh was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and made his initial appearance today before Magistrate Judge Ryon M. McCabe in the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach. A detention hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 23. The investigation remains ongoing.

According to allegations in the criminal complaint, a Secret Service agent walking the golf course perimeter saw what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line. After the agent fired a service weapon in the direction of the rifle, a witness saw a man later identified as Routh fleeing the area of the tree line. Routh was later apprehended by officers from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The complaint alleges that in the area of the tree line from which Routh fled, agents found a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a black plastic bag containing food. The serial number on the rifle was obliterated.

According to the complaint, Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010.

The FBI is leading the ongoing investigation. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Secret Service are providing assistance.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case. 

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Note: View the criminal complaint here. 

Cosa Nostra: A Look Back At The Threat Of Organized Crime In America

Back in 2018 I wrote a piece on the history and the threat of Cosa Nostra organized crime in America for Counterterrorism magazine.

You can read the piece above and below (click on the page to enlarge):

Former CIA Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Espionage

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71, of Honolulu, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, was sentenced today to conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Ma was arrested in August 2020, after admitting to an undercover FBI employee that he had facilitated the provision of classified information to intelligence officers employed by the PRC’s Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB).

According to court documents, Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989. His blood relative (identified as co-conspirator #1 or CC #1 in court documents), who is deceased, also worked for the CIA from 1967 until 1983. As CIA officers, both men held Top Secret security clearances that granted them access to sensitive and classified CIA information, and both signed nondisclosure agreements.

As Ma admitted in the plea agreement, in March 2001, over a decade after he resigned from the CIA, Ma was contacted by SSSB intelligence officers, who asked Ma to arrange a meeting between CC #1 and the SSSB. Ma convinced CC #1 to agree, and both Ma and CC #1 met with SSSB intelligence officers in a Hong Kong hotel room for three days. During the meetings, CC #1 provided the SSSB with a large volume of classified U.S. national defense information in return for $50,000 in cash. Ma and CC #1 also agreed to continue to assist the SSSB.

In March 2003, while living in Hawaii, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist in the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office. The FBI, aware of Ma’s ties to PRC intelligence, hired Ma as part of a ruse to monitor and investigate his activities and contacts with the SSSB. Ma worked part time at an offsite location for the FBI from August 2004 until October 2012.

As detailed in the plea agreement, in February 2006, Ma was tasked by the SSSB with asking CC #1 to identify four individuals of interest to the SSSB from photographs. Ma convinced CC #1 to provide the identities of at least two of the individuals, whose identities were and remain classified U.S. national defense information.

Ma confessed that he knowingly and willfully conspired with CC #1 and SSSB intelligence officers to communicate and transmit information that he knew would be used to injure the United States or to advantage the PRC.

In court documents and at today’s sentencing hearing, the government noted that Ma was convicted of a years-long conspiracy to commit espionage, a serious breach of national security that caused the government to expend substantial investigative resources. The government also noted that Ma’s role in the conspiracy was to facilitate the exchange of information between CC #1 and the SSSB, which consisted of classified CIA information that CC #1 had obtained between 1967 and 1983.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ma must cooperate with the United States for the rest of his life, including by submitting to debriefings by U.S. government agencies. At the sentencing hearing, government counsel told the court that Ma has been cooperative and has taken part in multiple interview sessions with government agents.

Ma has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors for the District of Hawaii and Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI's National Security Branch made the announcement.

The FBI’s Honolulu and Los Angeles Field Offices investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Sorenson and Craig Nolan for the District of Hawaii, and Trial Attorneys Scott Claffee and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.

My Crime Beat Column: A Look Back At A New York Cop's 9/11 After-Action Report

Below is my Crime Beat column on 9/11, which originally appeared in the Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine:  

I covered the Police-Security Expo in Atlantic City in June and heard Joseph Dunne, who served as the New York City deputy police commissioner during 9/11, speak to the attendees.  

Sponsored by the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police, the theme of the expo was to prepare to act and respond to terrorism. Previous to 9/11, counterterrorism was largely a federal responsibility, but now police officers have become front line soldiers. 

I sat in on a seminar conducted by Joseph Dunne (seen in the below photo), who retired from the NYPD. He gave what we used to call in the military a commander’s "after-action report" on the 9/11 attack. 

Dunne played tapes of some of the 911 emergency calls, one of which had the voice of a young woman on the 110th floor pleading with the operator to tell her what she should do. The woman paused and told the operator that she was pregnant. 

The audience was a tough group of cops and security people, but most of them were touched by the woman’s frantic call for help.

While standing near the towers, Dunne said he thought debris was falling around him, but he discovered that it was people. This, he said, left an indelible image in his mind.

"Consider the state of mind of the people who elected to jump and end their lives," Dunne said. "What awful choices these poor people had." 

Dunne said that the Port Authority and NYPD quickly closed tunnels and bridges and kept the lines open for rescue personnel. This quick action saved countless lives, he said.

Dunne recalled hearing a plane overhead and tensed up, "Don’t worry," someone told him. "It’s one of ours." Before 9/11, a conversation like that took place only on a foreign battlefield.

"The people in the buildings were innocent victims and rescue officers voluntarily rushed in," Dunne said, proud of his officers.

Dunne spoke of one officer who was filling out his retirement papers when the call came in. He left the retirement papers on his desk and rushed out to help. Like 22 other NYPD officers, he lost his life that day.

Dunne rolled out some gruesome stats: 19,000 body parts were signed into the morgue, and they collected 12,622 DNA samples.

"No one signs on to policing to deal with the collection of bodies and body parts," Dunne said sadly. 

By Dunne’s account, 25,000 lives were saved thanks to the NYPD’s rapid and skilled response. 

"As memories of September 11th fade, we have to remain resolved," Dunne advised. "It’s going to happen again."

9/11 was perhaps America’s worst disaster, but the acts of heroism and humanity that followed the attack led me to believe that we have the resolve to win the war on terrorism. 

Note: The above FBI.gov photo shows the Statute of Liberty and beyond it the World Trade Center on fire on 9/11. 

A Look Back At The 9/11 Attack On The Pentagon

I recall vividly the horrific 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 

On September 11, 2001, I was the civilian administrative officer of a Defense Department command in Philadelphia, where I oversaw security, safety and other programs.

I was sitting in my office that morning on a naval base in Philadelphia when one of our people stopped in and told me a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.

"Accident or terrorism?" I asked.

When we later learned that a second aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center, we knew we were under attack. Our commander, a U.S. Army colonel, sent all of our military and civilian employees home, as he didn’t know if, when or where another attack might occur.  

I remained at the base, along with the colonel and his deputy, and the three of us monitored the situation via the media and the classified communication equipment in my office. 

I remember the shock and dismay we felt when we learned that our headquarters, the Pentagon, was also attacked.  

My security job more than doubled from that day until the day I retired from the Defense Department in 2007.

I wrote a piece for Counterterrorism magazine on the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon in August of 2011.

You can read the piece below:

My Crime Beat Column: Riding Shotgun Through The Philadelphia Badlands

I’ve been thinking about my good friend Mark Tartaglia (seen in the above photo) lately. The retired Philadelphia detective died far too soon a few years ago. 

Back in 2006 I wrote a column about my ride-along with Mark through North Philadelphia’s “Badlands.” 

You can read the column below:

“Saddle up,” Detective Mark Tartaglia said as he walked towards his unmarked car and motioned for me to sit in the front passenger seat.

His choice of a Wild West expression made me laugh to myself as, unbeknown to him, I thought of this outing as my riding shotgun through the "Badlands." Not the American Wild West Badlands, but rather the thoroughly modern Philadelphia Badlands.

In the Wild West, the front passenger seat of a stagecoach was called the shotgun seat, as the rider usually held one across his lap as they drove through hostile outlaw territory. I took the shotgun seat next to the veteran detective, who said he was counting down the days until his retirement.

In modern-day Philadelphia, “The Badlands” is the nickname the cops gave a 4-square mile section of North Philly. The Badlands are some of the worst neighborhoods in the city. The Philadelphia Badlands can be as hostile as the old frontier and modern-day outlaws rule the open-air drug markets.

I toured the badlands some years ago when I was covering “Operation Sunrise” for Counterterrorism magazine. At the time, a massive force of Philadelphia police, state troopers and federal agents rolled into to the Badlands to reclaim the neighborhood from the drug dealers who then dominated it and perpetuated violence on its decent, law-abiding citizens.

According to the DEA, Philadelphia has the dubious honor of having the purist heroin in the country. Philadelphia was a major distribution center, part of a triangle, with New York being one point, San Juan being a second point, with Philadelphia as the third point. Drugs are coming in at every level of sophistication, a DEA special agent told me. Drugs are coming in commercial cargo shipments in the thousands of pounds and people are bringing in pounds in suitcases. The DEA agent told me of an incident where one smuggler swallowed 99 condoms tied with dental floss and filled with 10 grams of heroin each.

The trafficking of drugs within the U.S. was for many decades principally controlled by traditional organized crime groups that lived and operated inside the country. According to The President’s Commission on Law Enforcement (1986), La Cosa Nostra controlled an estimated 95 percent of the heroin entering New York City, as well as most of the heroin distributed throughout the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s.

New York City’s organized crime families brought in heroin from Corsican sources that had French sailors ship the drugs directly to the U.S. The drugs were then distributed throughout the country by regional organized crime families to street level dealers.

The emergence of criminal syndicates based in Columbia and the shutting down of The French Connection, which was dramatized in Robin Moore’s true crime book and the 1971 Academy award-winning film, changed the face of the drug trade. The Colombian traffickers introduced cocaine into America on a massive scale, which set off a record rise in crime and violence.

The DEA reports that today the traffic in illegal drugs, from the manufacture to street-level sale, is controlled by international organized crime syndicates from Colombia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and other countries. Many of the dealers on Philadelphia streets are illegal aliens.

I’ve interviewed the Philadelphia police commissioner, the deputy commissioner, the U.S. Attorney for Eastern PA and the Philadelphia area special agents-in-charge of the FBI and the DEA concerning this problem. But on this day, I was touring the area at street level with a veteran Philadelphia detective.

Detective Tartaglia is an Italian American in his early 50s. Both the detective and I grew up in South Philadelphia. We were raised and continue to live in what we regard as a tough neighborhood, but South Philly is Disneyland compared to the badlands.

Tartaglia is armed with his ever-ready 9-mm standard police issue Glock, which he called “Betsy,” reminding me of the name of Davy Crockett’s rifle “Old Betsy." Tartaglia said he was issued his firearm and a radio and then you were on your own.

“You have to take care of yourself - and your partners.”

Like most police officers, the detective endures long periods of boredom, which can be punctuated with moments of terror. While performing his daily tasks – investigating, interviewing, arresting people – he knows that at any time he could be the target of any insane person or criminal.

“Parts of North Philly up here remind me of war-torn Berlin,” he said. “Look at the blocks and blocks of abandoned and boarded-up homes, empty lots – unbelievable.”

We drove past wall after wall of graffiti, burned-out cars and homes and vacant lots loaded with trash and junk. The detective pointed out the drug dealers, who were so blatant, they needed no introduction. Of course, they are smart enough not to be holding drugs as the police roll by. They rely on an elaborate hide & hand off system to thwart the police.

Driving up a main thoroughfare, I took note that all of the stores on one entire block were closed and boarded up, while the main commerce was of the open-market variety. Heroin packets are sold here with colorful brand names such as “Scarface,” Pure Hell” and “I’ll Be Back.”

One brand of heroin was so pure that it recently killed several addicts. Public service announcements were issued, hoping that the addicts would play it safe and abstain, but the deaths merely acted as an advertisement that the heroin was the good stuff.

Operation Safe Streets, a police plan that followed Operation Sunrise, moved many of the drug dealers indoors or to new areas of operation. Safe Streets, and the new and improved Safer Streets program, were meant to improve the quality of life by creating a partnership with the police, the city’s network of social services, the clergy and community groups.

Operation Safe Streets was supposed to return control of the streets by preventing any open-air drug markets. The police identified more than 200 “drug corners” and the plan was to “disrupt, dissuade, and deter” the drug trade by committing an unrelenting presence of police officers on the corners – which some have derisively call “scarecrow policing.” There have been inroads, but, as the detective noted, the drug trade is a deeply entrenched criminal enterprise. Drugs bring on other crimes as well, such as burglary, prostitution, theft and shoplifting. Drug wars and violent drug-induced altercations greatly contribute to the city’s high homicide rate.

I asked Detective Tartaglia if his daily tours through the badlands depressed him, and he replied that it was good in one way, as it made him appreciate what he had at home. But on the other hand, it was bad, as he saw so many awful things.

“Even in the Badlands, there are many decent people who try to live right,” Tartaglia explained. “I feel sorry for the decent people. It’s the crumbs here who make life bad.”

Tartaglia noted that when you drive through a safer neighborhood, you see young people and mothers with their babies. Kids out of school in the summertime. In the Badlands, the detective said you’ll see able-bodied people on the street selling drugs, hustling, robbing and committing other crimes.

“Here’s a guy and a couple of girls,” he pointed out as we rolled past one street corner. “They should be doing something constructive with their lives, but all they do is scam, sell drugs and drink and take drugs.”

Tartaglia said that he personally doesn’t have many problems or violent confrontations while working the badlands. A cop’s presentation, he said, makes the situation. A cop should be authoritative, yet casual.

“I just treat people like I want to be treated.”

As we cruised around the Badlands, Tartaglia talked about his career. He did not aspire to become a police officer, as he thought he had a future as a baseball player. But he had the opportunity to become a cop, and thinking of the good pay and benefits, he entered the Police Academy in 1981.

He worked patrol in South Philly until he was promoted to detective in 1985.

He married a neighborhood girl in 84, had a child in 85. He said he regretted that he missed out on much of his early family’s life due to his odd shifts and overtime.

“I thought that I was going to save the world, cleaning up whatever district I was in,” Tartaglia recalled. “It took about six months on the job to have that dreamed squashed,” he said, chuckling.

Homicide is the worst type of crime he encountered in his police career. Murder affects so many people and so many of the homicides he saw were horrible. Tartaglia recalled how he came on his first murder victim, a store owner who was behind the counter, wedged in, blood all over the place. They later discovered that the store owner’s partner murdered him. He also recalled his first visit to the morgue.

“You have to bring the body to the morgue and you get that formaldehyde smell – it’s the first thing that hits you – but what got to me was the sight of about six or seven gurneys with bodies on them covered up,” he said. “You eventually get so cold-hearted and callus.”

Another murder that came to mind occurred in the South Philly Passyunk Homes Project. They got the call of a report of a stabbing. He said there was a man standing outside who told the officers that he just came home from court and found his mother dead.

“We suspected him and stuck him in the wagon,” the detective said. “We went into the house and found the woman. She was stabbed repeatedly, blood all over. We checked his alibi and he was legit.”

That was a good alibi,” he said. “You can’t lie about being in court.”

Detective Tartaglia talked about other homicides cases involving drugs, organized crime, rape and robberies, as well as the less-severe crimes he has encountered, such as neighbor and family disputes.

In the Badlands, the police make arrests and then they see the criminals return all too soon to the same corners and bars.

"It’s disheartening," Tartaglia said.

As he swung out and headed back to his office, Detective Tartaglia again stated his sympathy for the good people who have to endure the drug gangs and the other criminals who inhabit the badlands.

The Badlands may be "outlaw country" – to use the Wild West term – but thankfully we have modern-day lawmen like Detective Mark Tartaglia, who “saddle up” every day and ride rough through the Philadelphia Badlands.

Note: The above column originally appeared in the Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine in 2006.

Below is a photo of Mark Tartaglia with me on a Caribbean cruise vacation with our wives.

Tom Selleck: What I've Learned

Michael Sebastian interviewed Tom Selleck for Esquire magazine.

Tom Selleck, 79, has been an actor for more than five decades. His memoir, You Never Know, is out now. He spoke to Esquire in May in New York City. Here is Selleck in his own words.

I was playing baseball in our little neighborhood. I got ahold of one and it broke a window. We all scattered and ran to our houses. My mom found out about it. I said, “Are you going to tell Dad?” She said, “No. You’re going to tell Dad.”

He wasn’t one to fly off the handle. He said, “Thank you for telling me. I’ll see you in the morning.” In the morning, he took me down the block to the Rockwell house. He said, “Knock on the door and tell him.” Mr. Rockwell answered. I said, “I’m the one who broke your window.” He said, “Thank you for telling me.”

We went in the house and measured the window, and then my dad took me to the hardware store and bought all the stuff to replace a window. We replaced that window.

I played forward on the USC basketball team, riding the pine.

I didn’t think a lot of things through then. I was on academic probation every year, always on the edge, almost ineligible once.

You were deferred from the draft if you were in college. I had signed a contract at 20th Century Fox, and I was in their new-talent program. I didn’t have a student deferment anymore. So I was either going to be drafted or I’d volunteer for the Army. I enlisted in the California Army National Guard and did six years. I’m proud to be a vet.

After my six months of active duty, I drove down from Fort Ord in Monterey. I wore my uniform because I wanted to have it on when I saw my folks. It was a very difficult time in the country. Military veterans weren’t treated very well. The country was going in a different way, and I didn’t agree.

You can read the rest of the interview via the below link:

Tom Selleck Talks 'Blue Bloods,' 'Magnum,' and Being in the Military (esquire.com)