CRIME_PUNISHMENT

8 S U N DAY, AU G U S T 2 3 , 2 0 0 9 THE EXAMINER CRIME&PUNISHMENT By FREEMAN KLOPOTT and SCOTT McCABE Write us: Want to comment? Got a hot tip? Send us the inside scoop. crime@washington examiner.com WHAT’S MAKING NEWS Montgomery officer indicted on perjury charges A Montgomery County police officer who arrested a man for drunken driving was indicted on perjury charges after a defense attorney produced video of the defendant sleeping in the back seat of the car when the officer arrived. Officer Dina Hoffman was charged with one count of perjury and one count of misconduct in office. Hoffman is accused of testifying in court that George Zaliev had been behind the wheel of a black Lexus when she first encountered him. But surveillance video from a nearby building shows Zaliev was in the back seat of the car when she pulled up in her patrol car. Police say Hoffman, a threeyear veteran of the Montgomery County force, is now on administrative leave. – Scott McCabe VISIT US ONLINE AT WASHINGTON EXAMINER.COM/CRIME OF THE BEST LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, OPINIONS AND PHOTOS, DISTRICT Head credit-card skimmer sentenced to seven years Mastermind must also pay restitution of up to $815,000 By Scott McCabe Examiner Staff Writer THE BLOTTER Police ID man killed in Metro-related accident The mastermind behind a credit -card skimming scheme was sentenced to seven years in prison for racking up more than $800,000 on cards stolen from Washingtonarea diners. Joseph A. Bush III, 29, was also ordered to pay $815,000 in restitution that prosecutors said the gang stole from more than 50 financial institutions in thousands of transactions. “The message must be that people who steal customers’ credit card numbers and use them for personal gain will be punished appropriately,” said assistant U.S. Attorney Charles F. Connolly in his sentencing memo. Bush, a former Eagle Scout from Fort Washington, was the front man for the criminal operation, selected to recruit serving staff because of his engaging personality, his attorneys said. Restaurants where the servers worked included M&S Grill, 701 Restaurant, Clyde’s of Gallery Place and Bowie’s Carrabba’s Italian Restaurant to steal credit card numbers from diners. Bush is the seventh person to be sent to prison in the scam. The ring was busted in March after a Secret Service agent spent a year tracking complaints of fraudulent charges back to their source at the restaurants. Managers were able to identify the employees behind the stolen cards: In most cases, waitstaff had to enter employee identification numbers before running a diner’s credit card. According to attorneys for the waiters and waitresses, Bush paid the servers about $20 per card number. Bush and two other leaders converted the stolen data to clone credit cards, used them to buy American Express gift cards at Target and Wal-Mart stores, then used the gift cards to make purchases at expensive stores like Gucci and Barney’s of New York. Bush was caught several times by video surveillance camera con- ducting transactions using the counterfeit cards. When police searched Bush’s Fort Washington home, they found 55 gift cards issued by WalMart, MasterCard and American Express, search warrants said. They also found four credit card skimming devices stuffed into an Eddie Bauer backpack. Inside his truck, outside a Rockville condominium, police found a Nintendo Wii and a piece of paper with Social Security numbers. Inside the Rockville condo were three Louis Vuitton purses, another from Gucci and one more from Prada. In one bedroom, they found 22 pairs of shoes with names like Louis Vuitton and Gucci. smccabe@washingtonexaminer.com Police have identified the man who was electrocuted Tuesday while doing work at a Metro bus garage. Steven Troy Griffith, 30, of Jacksonville, Fla., was relocating an electronic panel while working on an air compressor at the Bladensburg bus garage in Northeast D.C. when he touched a live wire, according to D.C. Metropolitan Police. He was rushed to Washington Hospital Center where he was later pronounced dead. He had been working for Jaxson Point Inc. of King George, Va., as a subcontractor. – Kytja Weir Police are investigating a fatal pedestrian crash that occurred on New Braddock Road near Singletons Way. When officers arrived at the intersection around 5:50 a.m. they found a deceased woman in the roadway and the striking vehicle nearby. The woman has been identified as Usha R. Menon, of 6326 Betsy Ross Court in Centreville. Speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash. – David Sherfinski Crash victim identified CRIME HISTORY Feds arrest Civil War spy On this day, Aug. 23, in 1861, Allan Pinkerton, head of the new secret service agency of the federal government, placed Confederate spy Rose O’Neal Greenhow under arrest in Washington, D.C. Born in Montgomery County, Greenhow became a leader in political circles and one of the most renowned spies of the Civil War, using Greenhow her connections to extract key information. Jefferson Davis credited her with winning the battle of Manassas. Pinkerton imprisoned her in her home and then sent her to the Old Capitol Prison. Still, Greenhow continued to pass information on by hiding messages with her 8-year-old daughter or in a woman’s hair bun. She won her release but was exiled, and she traveled to Europe to lobby on behalf of the South and promote her book about her imprisonment. On her return, her vessel ran aground near North Carolina. Rose took a rowboat to avoid capture, but the boat capsized and she was dragged to her death by the weight of the gold she received for her book. – Scott McCabe TOP COP Parole officer works with former inmates, police Williams strives to integrate ex-cons back into community By Freeman Klopott Examiner Staff Writer The federal Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency overseas a standing population of 16,000 on probation or parole. And it’s Tom Williams’ job to help them integrate into the community. But as an associate director of community supervision services, Williams also must work closely with law enforcement to track down the one-third who end up back behind bars. Before coming to D.C. 10 years ago, you were the director of Maryland’s parole and probation. Why did you make the move? The main reason was the amount of resources available. A lot of states have tight budgets. ... In D.C. there was an opportunity for more resources and an opportunity to help reduce crime in violent neighborhoods. How do you keep track of the 16,000? We work closely with law enforcement. We meet weekly with each district station and let them know who we’ve released into their coverage area. Police officers also join us when we meet with them. It gives the police an idea of who is in their community and former inmates an idea of who the officers are. What happens when they stray from the law again? Law enforcement has access to our databases. They can bring a suspect who has a “mother” tattoo on his left bicep and we can print them out a list of everyone who has gone through the system who meets that description. ... We also use [Global Positioning System] devices on noncompliants so we can track them in real time. ... A GPS monitor can show us if a sex offender is hanging around a Little League baseball park, and we might bring him in for questioning. fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com Husband, wife found dead in Prince William home Prince William County Police are investigating an apparent murdersuicide. On Thursday at about 8:30 p.m., police were called to 3045 Sigel Court in Dumfries to check on the welfare of a husband and wife. When officers arrived they found Wallis Ray Fay, 52, and Julie Kay Fay, 56, dead of gunshot wounds. The investigation is continuing. – David Sherfinski Williams What challenges do you face? There are some violent neighborhoods that released inmates return to that are not supportive for integration. We try to get people into transitional housing when we can. A man robbed a check cashing store along Columbia Pike Thursday, police said. The suspect entered the Ace Americas Cash Express store at 5624 Columbia Pike, produced a handgun and gave the store employee a note demanding money. The 28-year-old employee gave the suspect an undisclosed amount of cash and he fled on foot. The suspect was described as thin, black, in his 30s, and between 6 feet and 6 feet 2 inches tall. – David Sherfinski Check cashing store robbed