Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI Probes Ron Calderon, One of California's Worst Legislators

Update: Top Sacramento officials deny earlier official reports that the FBI took files from the Latino Caucus offices. See at bottom. First posted at 11:53 a.m. The FBI is investigating California state Sen. Ron Calderon, a Los Angeles-area legislator exposed by L.A. Weekly for putting his own nam ... More >>

Christmas Police Pursuit Tragedy in Pasadena

Tracey Tan and Kendrick Ng might not be dead, if cops in Pasadena used LAPD's rules

Sex Trafficking Sweep Rescues 79 Children Nationwide, 5 in L.A.

Sex trafficking is a huge national story with little evidence that it's as pervasive as some of its critics say. But today the FBI came up with a solid case that minors are indeed being prostituted across America, including the "recovery" of 79 children and the arrests of 104 alleged pimps. The L. ... More >>

Eugene Ballantyne, SoCal Educator, Sexted With Three Underage Teens, FBI Alleges

Another educator in sexual hot water? You betcha. The FBI announced that Eugene Ballantyne, a 29-year-old former middle school teacher in San Bernadino was arrested after he allegedly engaged in cross-country sexting with one underage girl, exchanged explicit photos with her, and traveled 180 mile ... More >>

Alain Salas, Fremont High School Girls' Volleyball Coach, Arrested by FBI for Alleged Sex Crime

Updated at the bottom with a few more details from the FBI and a possible Facebook connection to the case. First posted at 6:40 a.m. It seemed like a week or so could go by without another sex abuse arrest of an L.A. Unified School District employee. Nope. KTLA News this morning reports that a Fr ... More >>

L.A. Pedophile Bust Dismantles International Child Porn Ring

Illegal Immigrants Beware: L.A. Sheriff's Deputies Can Now Run Your Fingerprints in the Field

The L.A. Sheriff's Department is busting with pride over its brand-new fleet of "state-of-the-art mobile data computers" -- the first of which are now installed in the patrol vehicles of a few lucky deputies. In some ways, the computers are an overdue boot into the 21st century. Turns out deputies ... More >>

Scarlett Johansson Nude Photo Phone Hacker Arrested, FBI Claims

BuzzFeedScarlett.​Updated at the bottom with the suspect's name, more details. First posted at 11:35 a.m. The FBI has been on the case of the phone hacker(s) who mined nude photos form the handsets of the likes of Scarlett Johansson and possibly also violated the mobile devices of Miley Cyrus ... More >>

Raoul Joseph Germain Gets 21 Months in Federal Lockup After Taking Cash For No-Look Building Inspections

​One of the dirtiest scandals to hit City Hall in a while made headlines again today when a building inspector got 21 months behind bars for taking bribes to approve projects. Sixty-year-old L.A. building inspector Raoul Joseph Germain was sentenced to federal time today after he pleaded guil ... More >>

Scarlett Johansson Nude Photos: Anonymous Hackers Called Hollywood Leaks at Work Again?

buzzfeed.comA self portrait of Scarlett Johansson.​If you ask us, it looks like the celebrity-focused offshoot of hacker group Anonymous, Hollywood Leaks, has been hard at work uncovering the finer details of celebrity skin. Today's leak of nude photos of Scarlett Johansson (NSFW, and much cl ... More >>

9/11's 10-Year Anniversary Prompts LAPD to be at 'Full Strength,' Chief Beck Says

​Updated at the bottom with news of a "credible" terrorist threat for the East Coast. First posed at 7 a.m. Though we know that two of the 9/11 attackers spent time in Los Angeles before the events that changed the course of contemporary American history, our city is often though of as a low- ... More >>

Briefcase Filled With $20K Stolen From Burbank Home by Fake FBI Agents in Ski Masks

Really?​Early this morning, just after midnight, a home-invasion robbery to make Steven Soderbergh proud went down near Burbank's Debell Golf Club, in a super lavish slice of suburbia: Three dudes outfitted in ski masks -- and gloves, and guns, and FBI badges, because they just that Hollywood ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 6/20-6/24

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "But keep in mind, I am not a trained physician -- I'm a guy who likes to justify an occasional shot of sotol or xtabentún." Ask Mr. Gold: Thoughts on Digestifs, or Drinking to Digest. "It's not ... More >>

Bud Ovrom, L.A. Building and Safety Manager, Accidentally Outs Himself as Scheming Media Manipulator in FBI Bribery Scandal

Building and Safety General Manager Bud Ovrom: Ignorant, or guilty?​First clue that Robert "Bud" Ovrom is unfit to hold a six-figure seat at the head of the massive L.A. Building and Safety Department? He doesn't know how to send an email. We've often wondered how a man can climb the politica ... More >>

Alleged Marijuana Growers in L.A.'s Valley Targeted by DEA, FBI Raids

Law enforcement fanned out across the Valley today to bust alleged weed growers.​Updated after the jump with details on what was seized and where. Looks like the long arm of the law fanned out across the San Fernando Valley and Palmdale today to raid alleged pot-growing operations. The Los A ... More >>

The 10 Most Embarrassingly Named L.A. Bandits

Just don't call her Snowflake Bandit​It's got to be rough, naming a bandit. In one short, catchy phrase, you've got to embody a criminal's entire countenance and M.O., so that he (or she -- can't forget the Bonnies of the world) will be instantly recognizable to all who come in contact. Of t ... More >>

PEACE, FREEDOM AND BIG NUTS

FBI Task Force Busts Credit Card Identity Theft Ring; 40,000 Local Victims Possible

​According to NBC Los Angeles, a task force consisting of members from the FBI and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has busted a alleged identity theft ring that reportedly stole from tens of thousands of credit card holders throughout California. The alleged mastermind behind the ... More >>

Video: FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Jose Saenz's Horrific Execution of Gangster Buddy Oscar Torres

In this week's print story "The Killer of His Daughter's Mother," reporter Christine Pelisek writes about FBI 10 Most Wanted fugitive Jose Saenz who raped and executed his former girlfriend, mother of his two-year-old baby girl, and, horribly, left her ravaged body sprawled in his grandmother's bedr ... More >>

Self-Proclaimed SoCal Mosque Spy Sues FBI

John Gilhooley for OC WeeklyCraig Monteilh.​A man who has repeatedly claimed he performed counter-terrorism spy work for the FBI in Southern California mosques is suing the agency essentially for cutting him off and failing to pay him what he says he was promised. Forty-seven-year-old Irvine ... More >>

Woman Allegedly Sold Fake Picasso, Bought Real De Kooning With Proceeds

'La Femme Au Chapeau Bleu.'​Federal authorities today announced charges against Los Angeles gallery owner Tatiana Khan, whom the FBI alleges commissioned a fake Picasso drawing, sold it for $2 million, and purchased a real Willem de Kooning painting with part of the profits. The 69-year-old p ... More >>

Continued Decline For L.A. Crime According To Latest FBI Stats

​It could be a blessing or a curse for new Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck: Rates for major crimes in Los Angeles continued to dip in 2009. With continuing joblessness, a city struggling to find money to hire officers, and a looming release of 40,000 state prisoners, the only direction f ... More >>

Secret criminal billionaires: Big-rig cargo thefts worth $$$ are hitting L.A.'s port

Huge big-rigs are quietly vanishing from the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach regularly, their cargo whisked away by sophisticated crime teams using regional leaders, fencers, "lumpers" and drivers who hijack the entire big-rig container, each stuffed with goods worth between $12,000 -- in ... More >>

Weathermen’s Ticking Time Bomb

The investigation into a cop killing in the ’70s leads to a Chicago law professor involved in the early stages of Barack Obama’s political career

Pot Pharmacies Raided, Dog Shot

The L.A. Times reports that federal and local law enforcement agencies raided a pair of Westside medical marijuana pharmacies today, along with the homes of their owners. In one of the raids a pit bull was shot although, according to the Times report, it is expected to fully recover. It's unclear wh ... More >>

Traitor: Spy vs. Why

Little logic, less intrigue in terrorism thriller

The Caged Lion

Environmentalist Rod Coronado returns to prison a decade after his radical heyday

The Wild Goat Farmer

Should anyone take Adam Gadahn’s terrorist threat seriously?

A Vulgar Betrayal

The FBI’s troubled history with terrorism

Bush’s Biggest Mistake

The pre-9/11 blunder you’ve probably never heard of

Hard Cell

Exclusive interview with Caltech’s 'accused terrorist'

The Pelican Briefs

Hollywood is not messing its shorts over FBI investigation

In the Land of the SUV

In the Land of the SUV Josh Connole meets the FBI

The War on Due Process

With Patriot Act power, Bush and Ashcroft try to conquer the legal system

I Give

Espionage suspect Katrina Leung and L.A. city politicians

If It Happened Here

A bioterrorism attack on Los Angeles might look a lot like this

No Secrets

Two courts reject ashcroft's anti- terror strategy

Shrieking in Cyberspace

Relax. Your computer’s fine. We’re only blowing billions on an overhyped terror threat

No One To Tell

FBI whistle blower gets turned away

The Terrorist Motel

The I-40 connection between Zacarias Moussaoui and Mohamed Atta

Indicting Ashcroft

For bumbling before and after 9/11

Watching the Detectives

How a couple of middle-aged P.I.'s and world-class raconteurs survived the DEA, the mob and the tabloid wars to take on their most elusive target yet -- Hollywood

Mum’s the Word

10 Insects To Look for In 2002

Radiating Fear

In dire need of a plan to protect nuclear power plants

The Back Story

A Week 6 reading list

Crack Cop

FBI memos released to the Weekly show ties of convicted dealer to former CIA official

The Short List

L.A. Mob Does Vegas

Mickey Mouse Mafia still kicking

Back to Iraq

Ex–CIA chief to help Iraqis fight secret charges