by KS
UNITED STATES: Amy Coney Barrett Appointed to Supreme Court
One of the most prestigious in the United States has been filled – and it literally took just one month.
On Sept. 26, 7th District Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett was nominated by President Donald Trump to take a seat on the Supreme Court, which was vacated by the heartbreaking death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. One month later, on Oct. 26, she was confirmed by a 52-48 near-party line vote, with Republicans sans Susan Collins (R-ME) making up the 52, and Democrats in full opposition at 48. That same night, Trump held a White House ceremony, where Barrett was sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas. The next day, she was sworn-in again by Chief Justice John Roberts.
While practically all the Democrats have suggested that karma is coming for the GOP, who hastily rushed the confirmation process “just because they could,” some Republicans feel that this action was karma for the Democrats, who impeached President Trump in 2018 “just because they could.”
Barrett is a native of New Orleans, is married, and a mother to seven children – including two adopted children from Haiti. They currently live in South Bend, Indiana. She once served as a clerk under the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
NXIVM Founder Keith Raniere Gets 120 Years
On Oct. 27, Keith Raniere, the founder and leader of Nxivm, was sentenced to 120 years in prison by United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in federal court in Brooklyn. Raniere was convicted by a federal jury in June 2019 of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. The Court also imposed a fine of $1,750,000.
At the sentencing hearing, the Court heard victim impact statements from 15 individuals, including “Camila,” the victim who was sexually exploited by Raniere when she was 15 years old. A hearing on victim restitution will be held at a later date.
Seth D. DuCharme, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office (IRS-CI), announced the sentence.
“The 120-year sentence imposed on Keith Raniere today is a measure of his appalling crimes committed over a decade,” stated Acting United States Attorney DuCharme. “Raniere exploited and abused his victims emotionally, physically and sexually for his personal gratification. It is my hope that today’s sentence brings closure to the victims and their families.”
Mr. DuCharme extended his grateful appreciation to the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the New York State Police and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York for their valuable assistance during the investigation and prosecution.
“Raniere’s reign of control over the women he scarred, both physically and emotionally, is the making of a horror story. It is inconceivable to think of the sexual exploitation, abuse, seclusion, and mind control his victims suffered – at his direction. Today the judge has given him 120 years to think about whether or not the torture he inflicted on others for more than a decade, and the distress he brought to their families, was worth it in the end,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.
Raniere led a criminal racketeering enterprise and relied on an “inner circle” of co-conspirators to carry out his orders. The purpose of the enterprise was to promote Raniere and to recruit individuals into purported self-help organizations that Raniere founded, including Nxivm and DOS (“Dominus Obsequious Sororium”). Raniere and his co-conspirators committed a wide range of criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labor, alien smuggling, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Specifically, Raniere sexually exploited “Camila,” then a 15-year-old child, and took photographs of his abuse. At the time, Raniere was 45 years old. Raniere and his co-conspirators also trafficked “Daniela” for labor and services and confined her to a room for nearly two years in an attempt to force Daniela to do work for him. Daniela was told that if she left the room, she would be sent to Mexico without any identification documents.
Daniela went months without human contact and was denied prompt medical care. During this time, Daniela wrote hundreds of letters to Raniere pleading to be released from her confinement. Daniela testified at trial that while confined to the room, she contemplated suicide.
In late 2015, Raniere created and led DOS, a secret organization in which women were recruited under the false pretense of joining a women-only mentorship group, later discovering that they had taken “vows of obedience” to women who were “slaves” to Raniere. Prospective DOS victims were required to provide “collateral” – including damaging confessions about themselves and loved ones (truthful or not), rights to financial assets, and sexually explicit photographs and videos – to prevent them from leaving the group or disclosing its existence to others.
Raniere required DOS “slaves” to take nude photographs, perform labor, and in some cases, to engage in sex acts with him. As proved at trial, the victims “Nicole” and “Jay” were among the DOS victims directed to have sex with Raniere.
Each of Raniere’s co-defendants previously pleaded guilty. In September 2020, Clare Bronfman was sentenced to 81 months’ imprisonment after having been convicted of conspiracy to conceal and harbor aliens for financial gain and fraudulent use of personal identification information. The remaining co-defendants are awaiting sentencing. On March 12, 2019, Nancy Salzman, Nxivm’s president and co-founder, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. On March 25, 2019, Lauren Salzman, a first-line “master” in DOS, pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. On April 8, 2019, actress Allison Mack, another first-line “master” in DOS, pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. On April 19, 2019, Kathy Russell, a bookkeeper for Nxivm, pleaded guilty to visa fraud.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Tanya Hajjar, Mark J. Lesko and Kevin Trowel are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant United States Attorney Karin Orenstein of the Office’s Civil Division is handling forfeiture matters.
EUROPE: COVID-19 Spread Draws Concerns
COVID-19 is now the fifth leading cause of death in Europe, where nearly 700,000 cases were reported this week: the highest weekly incidence since the pandemic began in March, the regional head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) told journalists on Oct. 15.
Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge said the tightening up of restrictions by governments is “absolutely necessary” as the disease continues to surge, with “exponential increases” in cases and deaths.
“The evolving epidemiological situation in Europe raises great concern: daily numbers of cases are up, hospital admissions are up, COVID-19 is now the fifth leading cause of death and the bar of 1,000 deaths per day has now been reached,” he reported.
Dr. Kluge said overall, Europe has recorded more than seven million cases of COVID-19, with the jump from six million taking just 10 days.
Within two weeks, daily case totals surpassed 120,000 for the first time, and on both Saturday and Sunday, reaching new records. However, he stressed that the region has not returned to the early days of the pandemic.
“Although we record two to three times more cases per day compared to the April peak, we still observe five times fewer deaths. The doubling time in hospital admissions is still two to three times longer,” he said, adding “in the meantime, the virus has not changed; it has not become more nor less dangerous.”
Dr. Kluge explained that one reason for the higher case rates is increased COVID-19 testing, including among younger people. This population also partly accounts for the decreased mortality rates.
“These figures say that the epidemiological curve rebound is so far higher, but the slope is lower and less fatal for now. But it has the realistic potential to worsen drastically if the disease spreads back into older age cohorts after more indoor social contacts across generations,” he warned.
Looking ahead, Dr. Kluge admitted that projections are “not optimistic.”
Reliable epidemiological models indicate that prolonged relaxing of policies could result in mortality levels four to five times higher than in April, with results visible by January 2021.
He stressed the importance of maintaining simple measures already in place, as the modelling shows how wearing masks, coupled with strict control of social gathering, may save up to 281,000 lives across the region by February.
This assumes a 95 percent rate for mask use, up from the current rate, which is less than 60 percent.
RUSSIA: Six Russian Hackers Charged with Using Highly Destructive Malware
On Oct. 15, a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh returned an indictment charging six computer hackers, all of whom were residents and nationals of the Russian Federation (Russia) and officers in Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
These GRU hackers and their co-conspirators engaged in computer intrusions and attacks intended to support Russian government efforts to undermine, retaliate against, or otherwise destabilize: (1) Ukraine; (2) Georgia; (3) elections in France; (4) efforts to hold Russia accountable for its use of a weapons-grade nerve agent, Novichok, on foreign soil; and (5) the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games after Russian athletes were banned from participating under their nation’s flag, as a consequence of Russian government-sponsored doping effort.
Their computer attacks used some of the world’s most destructive malware to date, including: KillDisk and Industroyer, which each caused blackouts in Ukraine; NotPetya, which caused nearly $1 billion in losses to the three victims identified in the indictment alone; and Olympic Destroyer, which disrupted thousands of computers used to support the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy, computer hacking, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and false registration of a domain name.
According to the indictment, beginning in or around November 2015 and continuing until at least in or around October 2019, the defendants and their co-conspirators deployed destructive malware and took other disruptive actions, for the strategic benefit of Russia, through unauthorized access to victim computers (hacking).
Cybersecurity researchers have tracked the Conspirators and their malicious activity using the labels “Sandworm Team,” “Telebots,” “Voodoo Bear,” and “Iron Viking.”
The charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers; FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich; U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott W. Brady; and Special Agents in Charge of the FBI’s Atlanta, Oklahoma City, and Pittsburgh Field Offices, J.C. “Chris” Hacker, Melissa R. Godbold, and Michael A. Christman, respectively.
The defendants and their co-conspirators caused damage and disruption to computer networks worldwide, including in France, Georgia, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
NotPetya malware, for example, spread worldwide, damaged computers used in critical infrastructure, and caused enormous financial losses. Those losses were only part of the harm, however. For example, the NotPetya malware impaired Heritage Valley’s provision of critical medical services to citizens of the Western District of Pennsylvania through its two hospitals, 60 offices, and 18 community satellite facilities. The attack caused the unavailability of patient lists, patient history, physical examination files, and laboratory records.
Heritage Valley lost access to its mission-critical computer systems (such as those relating to cardiology, nuclear medicine, radiology, and surgery) for approximately one week and administrative computer systems for almost one month, thereby causing a threat to public health and safety.
The conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; the two counts of wire fraud carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; intentional damage to a protected computer carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and the two counts of aggravated identity theft carry a mandatory sentence of two years in prison.
The indictment also alleges false registration of domain names, which would increase the maximum sentence of imprisonment for wire fraud to 27 years in prison; the maximum sentence of imprisonment for intentional damage to a protected computer to 17 years in prison; and the mandatory sentence of imprisonment for aggravated identity theft to four years in prison.
These maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress, however, and are provided here for informational purposes only, as the assigned judge will determine any sentence of a defendant.
