New York Paralegal Blog

A major victory for international justice! Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, the former director of Venezuela's military intelligence, has pleaded guilty to serious charges, including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. This marks a significant step in holding accountable those who exploit their power for criminal gain and intentionally harm other nations. Carvajal Barrios, 65, was a high-ranking official in Venezuela, serving as the director of the Direccion de Inteligencia Militar (DIM), Venezuela's military intelligence agency, between 2004-2011 and again in 2013. However, instead of protecting his country, he allegedly used his position to lead and manage the "Cartel de Los Soles" (Cartel of the Suns). What is the "Cartel de Los Soles"? The "Cartel of the Suns" is a Venezuelan organization allegedly comprised of high-ranking members of the Venezuelan armed forces who are involved in international drug trafficking. The name comes from...

Donald E. Oswald, Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis Office of the FBI, today announces the identity of one of the two suicide bombers responsible for the suicide bombing attack at a Transitional Federal Government checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia on May 30, 2011. One suicide bomber has been positively identified as Farah Mohamed Beledi. Following the attack, the FBI obtained fingerprints of one of the bombers and forwarded them to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Those fingerprints were compared against the known fingerprints of Beledi, and a positive match was made. The FBI is continuing efforts to identify the unknown suicide bomber. Beledi, 27 years old, was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Minneapolis in July 2010. He is one of thirteen men from the Twin Cities who have been charged with terrorism offenses for traveling to Somalia and joining the designated terrorist organization al-Shabaab. Beledi was charged with...

WASHINGTON—Farooque Ahmed, 35, of Ashburn, Va., was sentenced today to 23 years in prison, followed by 50 years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to charges stemming from his attempts to assist others whom he believed to be members of al Qaeda in planning bombings at Metrorail stations in the Washington, D.C., area. Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after Ahmed entered his guilty plea and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Bruce Lee.

NEW YORK—“Today, in Manhattan federal court, justice was served. Ahmed Ghailani is a remorseless terrorist, mass murderer, and Al Qaeda operative, and now he will spend the rest of his life in prison. As we said in court on the day this trial began, Ghailani was a vital member of the East African terror cell that murdered 224 innocent people and wounded thousands of others in the 1998 bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Finally, twelve-and-a-half years after those devastating and despicable attacks, Ahmed Ghailani will pay for his crimes. This was a difficult case for a number of reasons. Our goal all along was to hold Ghailani accountable for his heinous conduct, and, no matter the obstacles, to see to it that he would receive the punishment he deserved. Today, our goal was achieved, as Ahmed Ghailani will never again breathe free air.