Bobby Thompson

Even Behind Bars, Infamous Scammer's Identity Remains A Mystery

Eric Lach | May 14, 2012, 4:54AM

On the last day of April, after a nationwide search that lasted almost two years, law enforcement officials from Ohio finally nabbed "Bobby Thompson," one of America's most-wanted fugitives, a man suspected of stealing millions from the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a charity whose stated mission was to help veterans and members of the U.S. armed forces. But even now that he's behind bars, awaiting trial on a host of charges, no one knows who Bobby Thompson really is.

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Peter King

Rep. Peter King Defends Videotaped Raid

Nick R. Martin, Ryan J. Reilly, Michael Lester | March 14, 2012, 1:00PM

Rep. Peter King (R-NY)

Updated: 3:30PM

First it was edited. Then it was scraped from his YouTube account altogether. But on Wednesday, Rep. Peter King said there was nothing wrong with videotaping an action-packed raid he participated in earlier in the week with federal law enforcement in New York.

Following inquiries from TPM, the US Marshals Service on Tuesday said they were investigating whether the video King (R-NY) posted, which showed agents kicking down doors and chasing after a suspect in Brooklyn while he tagged along, violated federal policy.

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Peter King

Rep. Peter King 'Manhunters' Video Sparks U.S. Marshals Probe

Nick R. Martin & Ryan J. Reilly | March 13, 2012, 6:00PM

Updated: March 13, 2012, 9:46 PM

A video posted to the YouTube account of Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has sparked an investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service into why a videographer accompanying the New York Republican was allowed to film inside private residences against a federal policy.

Shortly after noon on Tuesday, a tweet from King's account linked to an eight minute video of a ride-along with a "fugitive task force" including U.S. marshals on Monday. It showed King, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, joining police as they broke down doors and arrested a suspected fugitive. The video carried the logo of the "Manhunters" reality TV show and featured one of its stars, marshals commander Lenny DePaul.

After TPM made inquiries about the video with King's office, it was marked "private" and no longer available to the public on YouTube. Later, the video was removed from YouTube entirely.

A shorter version, with almost a minute of footage cut out, was posted later in the day, and tweeted from King's account. Clips of an officer kicking in a door, a joke about how King "got" a suspect and an officer describing to King how he kicked someone, perhaps the suspect, off a ladder were cut out.

But even the new video features shots that appear to have been filmed within the confines of a private residence in violation of federal policy.

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U.S. Marshals Service

Three Charged In Connection To U.S. Marshal's Death

Ryan J. Reilly | April 20, 2011, 10:35AM

Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller

Two family members and an associate of fugitive Charles Smith, whose attempted apprehension in February ended in a shootout in which Deputy Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller was killed, have been charged in connection with helping him hide out from the feds.

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U.S. Marshals Service

Why The Spike In Shootings Of U.S. Marshals?

Ryan J. Reilly | March 9, 2011, 11:35AM

The death of Deputy U.S. Marshal John Perry in St. Louis yesterday marked the second death of an officer with the nation's oldest federal law enforcement agency in the line of duty this year. The incidents are shining a light on the expanding role of federal law enforcement in apprehending state and local felons and raising questions about the impact of proposed budget cuts on the safety of federal law enforcement officers.

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) hadn't had an officer die in the line of duty from gunfire since the Ruby Ridge incident in 1992 until the death of 24-year-old Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller last month. Tuesday's incident also marked at least the fourth violent confrontation the U.S. Marshals have been involved with since the beginning of the year.

There's no one answer for why the U.S. Marshals have found themselves increasingly in the line of fire. But all four incidents this year -- the deaths of the two U.S. Marshals and the deaths of two task force officers working with the USMS as well as the deaths of two additional Florida police officers in January -- came when the agency was pairing with local law enforcement to apprehend non-federal fugitives.

The USMS has seven Fugitive Apprehension Task Forces around the country and another 75 Violent Offender Task Forces run by various regional USMS offices. And the volume of state and local fugitives apprehended or cleared by the Marshals Service through a decade-old initiative has surged from just 15,412 in 2004 to 34,015 in 2007 and 73,915 in 2008. The number peaked at 101,910 in 2009 (likely due to apprehension and Fugitive Safe Surrender programs funded by stimulus funds) then dropped in 2010, when the agency captured or cleared 52,519 violent state and local felony fugitives. The USMS is planning to apprehend or clear 52,000 state and local felony fugitives in 2012.

So for one, the USMS is simply involved in more incidents. Part of that is due to state law enforcement budget cuts, which have made local law enforcement more reliant on the Marshals for help in apprehending dangerous criminals.

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John Perry

Deputy U.S. Marshal John Perry Dies After Shootout In St. Louis

Ryan J. Reilly | March 8, 2011, 9:52PM

John Perry

John Perry, a 48-year-old Deputy U.S. Marshal who had been with the agency for nearly 10 years, died at 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday night after being shot during a fugitive apprehension in St. Louis, Mo.

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U.S. Marshals Service

UPDATE: U.S. Marshal Critically Wounded After Shootout In St. Louis

Ryan J. Reilly | March 8, 2011, 11:06AM

UPDATE: The U.S. Marshals Service originally said that a deputy U.S. Marshal had died, but new information indicates he is still in critical condition.

A suspect who allegedly told law enforcement officers in Missouri that he was "only going out in a body bag" was killed after a shootout with law enforcement officers that left one deputy U.S. Marshal critically injured, and another deputy U.S. Marshal and a police officer wounded.

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U.S. Marshals Service

Deputy U.S. Marshal Killed In Shooting Was 24-Year-Old Recent Academy Grad

Ryan J. Reilly | February 16, 2011, 4:33PM

Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller

The deputy U.S. Marshal who was killed while serving an arrest warrant on a residence in Elkins, West Virginia this morning was a 24-year-old who graduated from the U.S. Marshals Academy just over a year ago.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller of Bridgeport, W. Va., had worked for the U.S. Marshals Service's Clarksburg office since his graduation just over a year ago from the U.S. Marshals Academy, spokesman Jeff Carter told reporters in an e-mail.

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U.S. Marshals Service

Two Florida Police Officers Killed, U.S. Marshal Shot In St. Petersburg

Ryan J. Reilly | January 24, 2011, 11:25AM

Hydra Lacy Jr.

A gunman killed two police officers and shot a U.S. Marshal this morning while they were serving a search warrant in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to Tampa Bay Online.

St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon told reporters that the gunman was still inside the house and shooting at officers.

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U.S. Marshals Service

Miami Police Officer On U.S. Marshals Task Force Killed In Shooting

Ryan J. Reilly | January 20, 2011, 12:25PM

US Marshals

Two Miami Dade Police Department officers on a U.S. Marshals task force have been shot and killed in Miami, a federal law enforcement official tells TPM.

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John Roll

Marshals: We're Taking 'Appropriate Actions' Following Murder Of Federal Judge John Roll

Ryan J. Reilly | January 8, 2011, 7:25PM

Judge John Roll

Following the murder today of Arizona's Chief Federal Judge John McCarthy Roll at the shooting incident in Arizona, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service told TPM the federal agency is taking "appropriate actions to ensure the security of the federal judiciary."

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John Roll

Federal Judge John Roll Killed In Arizona Shooting

Ryan J. Reilly | January 8, 2011, 3:21PM

Judge John Roll

John Roll, Arizona's chief federal judge, was killed in the same incident in which Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot on Saturday morning.

A federal law enforcement official first confirmed to TPM that a federal judge was shot. The U.S. Marshals Service is on the scene of the shooting, the federal official told TPM. The Marshals Service employees responded to the scene after the shooting, the official said.

WNBC reporter Jonathan Dienst confirmed Roll was killed. A statement from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement that Roll had been attacked.

Roll faced death threats in 2009 after presiding over a $32 million civil-rights lawsuit, the Arizona Republic reported:

When Roll ruled the case could go forward, Gonzales said talk-radio shows cranked up the controversy and spurred audiences into making threats.

In one afternoon, Roll logged more than 200 phone calls. Callers threatened the judge and his family. They posted personal information about Roll online.

"They said, 'We should kill him. He should be dead,' " Gonzales said.

Roll, who is the chief federal judge in Arizona, said both he and his wife were given a protection detail for about a month.

"It was unnerving and invasive. . . . By its nature it has to be," Roll said, adding that they were encouraged to live their lives as normally as possible. "It was handled very professionally by the Marshals Service."

At the end of the month, Roll said four key men had been identified as threat makers.

The Marshals Service left to him the decision to press charges but recommended against it. Roll said he had no qualms about following their advice.

The recommendation was based on the intent of those making the threats.

"I have a very strong belief that there is nothing wrong with criticizing a judicial decision," he said. "But when it comes to threats, that is an entirely different matter."

Editor's Note: This post has been updated since it was first published.

U.S. Marshals Service

Suit Says U.S. Marshals Mishandled Forfeiture Of Madoff Assets

Ryan J. Reilly | December 28, 2010, 9:52AM

A government whistleblower charges that the 73-year-old man the U.S. Marshals Service put in charge of auctioning off the property forfeited by white-collar criminals, including Bernie Madoff, undervalued what could be millions of dollars in assets.

Leonard Briskman, the man in charge of the Marshals unit and the Asset Forfeiture Program, is accused of selling the assets without public notice or competitive bidding, finding buyers through business contacts and maintaining a secret bank account not accessible to government auditors, the New York Times reported.

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Stacia A. Hylton

Senate Confirms U.S. Marshals Director With Private Prison Ties

Ryan J. Reilly | December 24, 2010, 11:25AM

Stacia A. Hylton

The Senate this week confirmed President Barack Obama's nominee, Stacia A. Hylton, to head the U.S. Marshals Service. Hylton has come under fire from human rights groups who are concerned about her ties to a private prison company.

Critics said that Hylton, was too cozy with private prison companies that work with the U.S. Marshals Service in part because she worked as a consultant for the GEO Group, the second largest private prison company in the U.S. But Hylton defended her work during her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, stating that she followed all ethics requirements and regulations before she left federal service in early 2010.

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Stacia A. Hylton

U.S. Marshals Nominee: Work For Private Prison Corp Was Ethical

Ryan J. Reilly | November 18, 2010, 9:15AM

Stacia A. Hylton

Stacia A. Hylton, the Obama administration's nominee to head the U.S. Marshals -- who came under fire from human rights groups and criminal justice organizations for her ties to the private prison industry -- told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she followed all ethics requirements before beginning her consulting work.

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U.S. Marshals Service

Critics: U.S. Marshals Nominee Too Cozy With Private Prison Interests

Ryan J. Reilly | November 12, 2010, 1:29PM

Employees of the for-profit prison company GEO Group.

Human rights groups and criminal justice organizations are criticizing President Barack Obama's nomination of Stacia A. Hylton for director of the U.S. Marshals Service because of her ties to the for-profit prison industry.

Hylton was a 29-year career employee of the Justice Department until she left her post earlier this year and accepted $112,500 in consulting fees from the GEO Group, a for-profit prison industry group. Hylton awarded contracts worth up to $88 million to the GEO Group during her nearly six years as DOJ's Federal Detention Trustee, according to a press release. The GEO Group is the second largest operator of for-profit prisons in the United States.

"Sounds like the fox watching the henhouse to me," Ken Kopczynski, the director of the nonprofit watchdog group Private Corrections Working Group, told TPMmuckraker.

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