Crime Time

Arlington home raided in hacker probe

FBI agents last week raided an Arlington house, saying a computer there was used in a cyber attack against PayPal, NBC5 reports. The raid was apparently part of an investigation into a hacker group known as "Anonymous" that attacked PayPal and other sites in retaliation for cutting off service to Wikileaks, which posted confidential government documents. Computers and other electronic devices were seized at the Arlington home.  

DPS worker who sold fake driver licenses gets 60-day sentence

Maritza De Leon, a long-time Texas Department of Public Safety employee, took $10,000 to help a man posing as a Mexican drug cartel leader get a driver license.Turns out, the man was an FBI informant and helped police bust a driver license selling ring, The Monitor reported Friday. Last week in McAllen, De Leon, who told a judge she had sold fake driver licenses at least 15 times since 2003, was sentenced to 60 days in prison and two years of probation. To the judge's frustration, federal sentencing guidelines for most of the ring members call for less than 6 months behind bars.

 

FBI reveals once-confidential celebrity files to the public

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is opening its files into important cultural figures of the past for anyone with a computer to see.

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently opened the files on public figures like Malcolm X, rock music legend Jimi Hendrix, sitcom icon Lucille Ball, and even the seemingly innocuous folk singer John Denver. 

The 359-page files on the 1997 murder of rapper Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G., has already made headlines with its disclosure of new details in the unsolved case.

The most recent files joined the likes of rock band KISS, Diana, Princess of Wales and actor Clark Gable.

Of course, the files aren't without some form of redaction so the whole picture is unlikely to ever be seen outside the people behind the investigations but it's an interesting glimpse into the FBI's fascination with celebrities and cultural figures.

-Chance Welch

Case closed: Deadly anthrax attacks were work of researcher, FBI concludes

Do you remember the deadly anthrax attacks in 2001 that terrified many in the nation and set off a massive government investigation?

Nobody was ever charged with sending the laced letters to lawmakers and news organizations, but now the FBI says the case is closed, concluding that the attacks were the work on a lone government researcher, Dr. Bruce Ivins, right, who killed himself in 2008 as he was about to be indicted, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

FBI wants your help to catch threatening-letter hoaxer

A series of letters, recently traced back to Amarillo, have threatened banking officials in 11 states, and the FBI wants your helping catching whoever sent them.

The agency on Thursday released photos of one of the "hoax" letters (right), some of which contained "an unknown powder substance."

Field tests, so far, have been negative, but more testing is being conducted at FBI regional laboratories.

“Sending a hoax letter is a serious crime, and a drain on law enforcement resources,” said Section Chief Doug Perdue, who oversees the bureau's weapons of mass destruction unit. “We will continue to work diligently to identify and arrest those responsible.”

Here's where you come in:

Anyone with information about these letters should contact the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, or their local authorities.

Click here, for more information about how to do that.

-- Bill Miller