Dallas News Blog

Mark Graham

​As he prepared to board an airplane bound for Austin at approximately 6 p.m. on Wednesday night, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster received a flurry of phone calls related to the now-infamous meeting that Dallas County Constable Jaime Cortes had with approximately 30 of his deputies. With Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez (who suffered minor injuries in a taxi cab accident shortly after her arrival) and other county employees already in Austin for a Texas Commission on Jail Standards meeting held on Thursday, Foster decided his best course of action was to stay in Dallas.

As Foster explained to Unfair Park this morning in his office on the second floor of the former Texas School Book Depository, he has firsthand knowledge of many of the complaints in the investigation of the constables, including those against Lt. Howard Watson, one of Cortes's deputy constables that was recently charged with bribery and sexual assault.

"I'm the person that they were going to, and they're still coming to me," he says. "I wish I weren't in the middle of it, but I am because they don't know where else to go."

​Reaction to Terri Hodge's plea deal with the feds continues to trickle in, with Angela Hunt telling us this afternoon that she has withdrawn her support of Hodge "for obvious reasons" and now supports Eric Johnson in the March 2 Democratic primary. (Update: Hunt, Craig Watkins, Royce West, Rafael Anchia and others are scheduled to appear at South Side on Lamar to endorse Johnson on Monday at 11:15 a.m.) While Hodge could still win the seat, forcing a vote of the precinct chairs in House District 100 to name her replacement on the November ballot, Hunt says that would be a mistake.

"There's no need to drag out the election process and create a situation where voters do not directly decide who's representing them," she says. "I hope that cooler heads prevail on that."

Hunt explains that she supported Hodge because she was the only other officeholder to join her in supporting the 2007 referendum to remove the Trinity River toll road from inside the floodway.

"She was on our side because she wanted to do what was right," Hunt says. "It was not politically helpful to her to stand with us against the mayor and all the other powerful interests, and I was impressed with that."

Sam Merten

Neil Emmons

​Democratic precinct chair and former City Plan Commissioner Neil Emmons was certainly not alone in his support of Terri Hodge in her bid for an eighth term in Texas House District 100, as Hodge's endorsements included several of the city's most notable politicos. But even after Hodge pleaded guilty in the City Hall corruption case, agreed to resign from her seat and, most important, admitted to the government's allegations of accepting more than $30,000 from Brian and Cheryl Potashnik and using campaign contributions for personal use, Emmons (one of several Hodge supporters we've contacted for comment) continues to stand by Hodge.

"I can think of so many public officials who have done so many underhanded things that aren't crimes that have much more negative impacts on people's lives long term," he tells Unfair Park.

Emmons, a resident in Hodge's district, says his relationship with her resembles extended family, and he praises her for often answering the phone in her office when constituents called with concerns. He says the indictment against Hodge was "painful" and he had hoped it wasn't true, but he doesn't regret endorsing her. "I don't because from where I stood, she did a great job as a rep."

​Back in December, Business Resources Corp. filed suit against Dallas County claiming officials hired Virginia-based GTSI to preserve county docs (birth records, death certificates, etc.) at a cost of $17.5 million over seven years -- even though the county didn't take bids on the contract and GTSI doesn't do the kind of work for which it was hired. Business Resources says the county's wasting millions and knows it, which is why it was going to void the GTSI deal in July but didn't for reasons that remain a mystery. Hence the lawsuit.

Got that? Because today Business Resources filed docs asking the court to stop the county from doing any more business with GTSI for the time being. The company has also asked the court to expedite discovery so it can take the depositions of Dallas County Clerk John Warren, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster and the county commissioners, if need be, as well as with GTSI officials to determine how they got the lucrative no-bid deal. Judge Bruce Priddy has set a hearing on the motion for expedited discovery for February 11; the temporary injunction hearing is on the docket for March 5.

Michael Hurst, representing Business Resources, says today that "we believe that millions of dollars in public money are being wasted, and we're asking the court to help us do something to stop that." As always, the legal docs filed today follow.

​The in-box is filling up with NBA All-Star Weekend party announcements -- no actual invites, though, which is just as well, as that's the weekend I'm planning a spiritual retreat or a lost weekend of drinking, either/or. The most recent: a three-day "epic extravaganza" spread out at the Ghostbar and The Boardroom that's supposed to feature the likes of Snoop Dogg, Common, Doug E. Fresh and Paul Pierce, among others. Which is in addition to something called Babes and Ballers benefiting Laptops for the Wounded at TePheJez on February 11 that's supposed to feature Hangover star Bradley Cooper (wonder if he knows). We'll have a much more complete All-Star Guide in next week's paper version of Unfair Park. I know, right?

On a very related note, the Dallas Police Department just sent a press release headlined: "Let the Games Begin: 2010 NBA All-Star Game Preparations in Dallas." Fun fact: That Bank of America "wrap" is the world's largest! Jump for that.

​Perhaps you recall the recent tale of Inequa Rushing and Waylon McDonald, who, late last month, robbed a bank at East R.L. Thornton Freeway and Grand Avenue -- and left a baby in the backseat, not to mention ID in the parking lot. It merited a brief mention in the regional roundup, but the U.S. Attorney's Office sends word this morning that the couple has been indicted by a federal grand jury for the bank robbery and for conspiracy to commit bank robbery -- two charges that carry max sentences of five years each. The release also provides further details concerning the couple's (alleged) crime(s):

According to the complaint filed in the case, Rushing entered the bank at approximately 1:51 p.m. and approached a teller station. Rushing was on her cell phone at the time. The teller asked Rushing if she could be of assistance and Rushing placed her brown purse and a handwritten note face down on the counter. The teller turned the note over to read it and it stated, "I HAVE A GUN GIVE ME THE MONEY - N- NO ONE WILL GET HURT.. 'HURRY' Bitch!!" The teller removed currency and a dye pack from her drawer and handed it to the suspect. Rushing then put the money in her purse and told the teller not to touch anything. Rushing left the bank with the money and fled in a getaway car driven by Waylon McDonald.

When Dallas Police Officers arrived at the bank, they found Rushing's brown purse in the parking lot, and could see the red dye stained money and assorted identification and personal papers for Inequa Rushing, listing an address in Dallas. They went to that address and spoke to Rushing and McDonald. Rushing told officers that she had robbed the bank and that McDonald had driven her to and from the bank. A search of the residence revealed the wig, clothing, and red dye-stained shoes that Rushing had worn during the robbery. According to evidence presented at their detention hearing, the red dye-pack exploded in the getaway car, spraying noxious fumes and dye. Rushing's four-month-old baby, who was on oxygen because of premature birth, was in the back seat of the getaway car at the time.

Hodge landed herself quite a deal.

​The indictment against Terri Hodge has always looked much more damning than the evidence facing the rest of the gang involved in the City Hall corruption case, and it turns out that, well, it's all true. Hodge admitted as much in her factual résumé, which she signed Monday as part of her plea agreement with the feds.

The document details Hodge's request for financial assistance from Brian and Cheryl Potashnik in February 2002. She moved into Southwest Housing's Rosemont at Arlington Park and lived in an apartment with a market rate of $899 a month. But because Hodge was broke, she paid $200 a month, and "the difference in rent was paid by the Potashniks."

The Potashniks also paid her utility bills, and they spent nearly $2,000 for carpeting in Hodge's house. In the end, Hodge accepted $32,541 from the couple while she was writing letters of support for their affordable-housing projects.

Hodge also admits to using campaign contributions "for her own personal benefit" from 2001 to 2005, which was a chunk of $41,465 in dough she didn't report as income for tax purposes.

Which, of course, leads us to Hodge's sweetheart deal. She pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and false statements on an income tax return in exchange for the dismissal of the other four counts of the same charge, one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of forfeiture and all eight counts of bribery.

She faces a maximum of three years, while Don Hill faces a maximum of 95. Try to wrap your mind around that logic.

(Jump for three updates, including Hodge's list of supporters and statements from Hodge and her opponent in the Democratic primary, Eric Johnson.)

Sam Merten

State Rep. Terri Hodge, a state representative no more

​The story's circulating this morning that Terri Hodge is this close to pleading guilty in her involvement in the Dallas City Hall federal corruption case and is stepping down from the Texas House of Representatives. Unfair Park has been unable to reach anyone in the U.S. Attorney's Office handling the case, or Hodge's attorney, but the Austin American-Statesman and Harvey Kronberg both insist she's minutes away from resigning her office and pleading guilty to a single count of not paying her taxes. If you recall, she was indicted on several counts related to her taking free rent from Brian Potashnik and wife Cheryl in exchange for her letters of support for their housing developments. Developing.

Hodge, of course, was supposed to go to trial on March 8.

Update at 9:07 a.m.: As soon as I posted this, I heard back from Kathy Colvin in the U.S. Attorney's Office, who confirms: Hodge, a Democrat, is taking a plea. Here's an excerpt from the press release; the legal docs are after the jump.

Gladys E. Hodge, also known as "Terri Hodge," who was to go on trial early next month on charges outlined in a 31-count indictment charging 14 public officials and their associates with various offenses related to a bribery and extortion scheme involving affordable housing developments in the Dallas area, has pleaded guilty, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. As a condition of her plea with the government, Hodge, who was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, District 100, in 1996, and re-elected to the same position in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008, has agreed to resign her office and never seek or hold future public office.

Hodge entered her guilty plea this morning, before U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn, to fraud and false statements on an income tax return. She faces a maximum statutory sentence of three years in prison, a $100,000 fine, and restitution to the IRS. At this morning's hearing, Judge Lynn indicated that she would be setting the sentencing date as expeditiously as possible.

Sam Merten

Ray Jackson (left), along with Sheila and Don Hill

​Attorneys for former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and Ray Jackson, who represented Hill during last year's City Hall corruption trial, argued in court Thursday afternoon that any violations of U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn's gag order issued shortly before Hill's trial began were not willful, and therefore not criminal. While Hill did not take the stand, Jackson spent the significant part of the six-and-a-half hour bench trial walking Lynn through the events following a June 18 interview granted to WFAA-Channel 8's Gary Reaves.

Former FBI Special Agent and Assistant U.S. Attorney Terence Hart, appointed by Lynn to investigate the case, maintained that the interview was "replete with violations," but Lynn outshined his aggressive prosecution during her questioning of Jackson. And although she said it wasn't an indication of how she planned to rule in the case, Lynn closed the trial with harsh words for both Jackson and Hill.

"I am extremely disappointed in your conduct, and I feel compelled to tell you that," Lynn said, adding that their statements to Reaves jeopardized an impartial jury, which was "just wrong."

Supertremendous

​Never heard of a store called Movies and CDs on Bruton Road till this morning. Then again, having someone burn me a bootleg of 27 Dresses for five bucks while I wait isn't exactly on my to-do list. The FBI, however, took a decided interest in the joint, and in February 2008, 26-year-old Oklahoman Robert Campbell Jr. was arrested by special agents who raided the storefront out of which feds allege Campbell and his father-in-law, Osborne Lowe, ran a DVD bootlegging operation.

Lowe, who was indicted by a Dallas federal grand jury two months ago, is waiting a March 10 trial. But Campbell today pleaded guilty to a single count of copyright infringement and aiding and abetting. He could get up to five years in prison and have to pay $250,000 in fines -- all for admitting to spending six months burning and churning 151 titles, among them, per the U.S. Attorney's press release, Bee Movie, Beowulf, The Brave One, Why Did I Get Married?, Rambo and Mad Money.

Kimberly Thorpe

​Public meetings often take on the tone of the most disgruntled citizen present, and last night was no exception. However, City Manager Mary Suhm tried to pretend she was genuinely interested in hearing from the 25 folks who showed up at Dallas City Hall last night to participate in the city's search for a new police chief. Not that she's going to listen to their suggestions -- hell, she's not even concerned with what the council has to say. As in: "Oh, good God, no." So, again, why is she asking us again?

We went downtown last night to see how seriously people were taking this exercise, which has two sessions left. Short answer: Enh. Attendees were split into two groups and asked to fill out that boring one-page survey to which we directed your attention last week. Afterward, the answers were scribbled on boards in front of the two breakout groups. Both ranked ... wait for it ... public safety as the most important concern.

Suhm approached the first group and observed the discussion from the back row. She saw people voicing concerns and describing characteristics other than those listed on the short survey. She interrupted the discussion to ask the city facilitator at the board to start a new page to add the additional input from this group.

"I've heard people saying other things that are not captured in this survey," Suhm yelled out over the heads of the gathered few to the city facilitator, Katina Johnson, the south central service area coordinator. "And I want to hear it." Does she?

​From April 1985 till May of '08, Barbara Nestel was a secretary for the Boy Scouts of America. Among her duties: reconciling financial accounts and processing payments for the National Catholic Committee on Scouting for merchandise and expenses. Which is how she could defraud the Boy Scouts out of $350,000, a crime to which she admitted in October of last year after she was indicted on one count of wire fraud by a federal grand jury.

The U.S. Attorney's Office just sent word that Nestel has till March 29 to turn herself into the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving a 24-month sentence, handed down yesterday by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey. The release also details how Nestel stole from the Boy Scouts, earning her the ultimate demerit badge:

In her employment capacity, Nestel used an electronic point-of-sale terminal to process debit and credit card transactions for customer purchases and refunds. Although she was not entitled to any refunds, Nestel would process or "swipe" her personal debit card through the electronic point-of-sale terminal which submitted the refund request. This process caused a wire transfer of funds from a BSA bank account in Dallas to Nestel's personal bank accounts.

Nestel admitted that she processed at least 500 fraudulent refunds which caused at least 500 unlawful interstate wire transfers to be made from the BSA bank account to her personal bank accounts.

KTRK-TV

​Speaking of courthouse filings, our sister paper in Houston and KTRK-TV, the ABC affiliate down thataways, bring news of a lawsuit filed here by a 25-year-old Chevron petroleum engineer who claims he was assaulted on New Year's Eve at the Magnolia Hotel downtown.

According to  the suit, Ivan Pinney of The Woodlands was attending a shindig in the Pegasus Grand Ballroom at the Magnolia when, he alleges, Cameron McGuire, a catcher with the United League Baseball's Edinburg Roadrunners, started getting overly friendly with one of Pinney's friend's girlfriends. Pinney says he asked McGuire to leave her alone. Pinney's attorney, Randy Sorrels, tells the Houston Press his client thought the issue had been resolved -- until McGuire had "taken his shirt off, he takes a running start from Ivan's left-hand side, punching Ivan in the left side of the face, knocking him out. It broke his orbital socket, broke his cheekbone...shattered his nose, detached his retina."  At some point, Sorrels says, Lance Broadway -- a former Grand Prairie High School and TCU pitcher now in the Toronto Blue Jays organization -- also got involved.

After the jump, KTRK's report about the assault, which Pinney says caused him to lose vision in one eye and his sense of smell. ("It's absolutely turned my life upside-down.") The Dallas Police Department does have an offense report on file, and has classified it as an aggravated assault.

An old Observer personal ad, circa 1983. Man, those were some good times.

​Seriously -- the city wants to know. Needs to know. Right now. So it claims, anyhow, which is why the city's official Web site-bulletin board now features a heads-up for three "community meetings" during which city officials will hear from you (and maybe you, but not you) about what you're looking for after Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle retires to the High Life on April 30. The confabs are: Monday at 6 p.m. at Dallas City Hall; Tuesday at Beckley-Saner Recreation Center on 114 W. Hobson Ave. and February 2 at the Walnut Hill Rec at 10011 Midway Road.

Per the announcement, a few options to consider:

Maybe you want a Police Chief that:

• Has a strong commitment to innovative crime reduction strategies
• Will take community policing to new levels
• Will focus more on foot patrols
• Will get the department to communicate with the public in real-time via Twitter

There's also a survey that features more even more choices, among them "Innovative/Visionary," "Uncompromising Honesty" and "Ruggedly Handsome."

A scene from our new favorite Internet short film: City of Dallas v. VSC, LLC

​As mentioned Monday, the city had one of its attorneys -- in this case, Charles Estee, joined by one of the state's lawyers -- down in Austin yesterday presenting oral arguments before the Supreme Court of Texas in a long-running case involving towed cars that were seized by the Dallas Police Department from the storage facility. DPD and the city claim that all the cars taken were stolen or otherwise "involved in car-jackings or had altered serial numbers," and as far as the city's concerned, it had every right to take close to 300 cars from VSC's storage facility -- in one instance, in the middle of an auction -- without paying VSC the storage fees.

VSC doesn't claim the city doesn't have a right to take the cars, but it says DPD did so inappropriately in this instance, referring to the seizure as an unconstitutional taking for which it received not a cent in storage fees. (VSC claims the seizure cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.) Lower courts have agreed with VSC, for the most part; hence, the city's taking the case to state Supreme Court.

Yesterday's proceedings, available here, are must-see viewing for anyone who's ever had a car towed or who's ever towed a car. Far as VSC's attorney Jim Mosser's concerned, tow companies and storage facilities get a bad rap -- "the press has been unkind toward the towing industry," he tells Unfair Park this morning -- and the justices seemed awfully interested in learning about its myriad machinations. Because, look, they all drove a car to the court.

​While we await the Supreme Court of Texas's ruling in the city's so-called billion-dollar case later this year, let's consider another city of Dallas case going before the court at 9 a.m. sharp tomorrow: City of Dallas. v. VSC, LLC. The court will hear oral arguments in the years-old suit that has worked its way from state court to federal court to the appeals court; two years ago it became the Supreme Court's problem, after the lower courts ruled against the city. Ah, yes. Right: What's the suit about? So glad you asked.

VSC was a tow company that, back in 2002, had in its possession some 320 cars the Dallas Police Department claimed "had been reported stolen, had been involved in car-jackings, or had altered serial numbers," according to court documents filed by the Dallas City Attorney's Office. DPD went to VSC's storage facility and took the cars without compensating the tow company -- because, look, as far as DPD was concerned, they were evidence, so there.

When DPD seized and summarily disposed of the cars, that didn't go over well with VSC, which wanted some kind of compensation due to the "taking," as it's called. In short, the city's (and Office of the Solicitor General's) position is: "Fortunately 'finders keepers, losers weepers' has never been part of Texas law," in the words of City Attorney Tom Perkins. Messages have been left for VCS's attorney Jim Mosser, whose outgoing voice-mail message says his firm has "lawyers for warriors." Does that even rhyme?

​Turns out, reports of Michael Faulkner's death were highly exaggerated. Special Agent Mark White, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas spokesman, tells Unfair Park today that the Southlake resident -- who was among the 19 indicted by a federal grand jury last week for a "massive cybercrime conspiracy" -- was arrested today by Mexican authorities at his home in Cancun. Also taken into custody: his wife Chastity and Jason and William Watts, both of Plano. All were named in the indictment.

"Chastity was arrested while driving their children to school," White says, "and Michael was arrested at home. Jason and William Watts were at the house as well."

Last week, if you'll recall, the U.S. Attorney's Office, in releasing the indictment, noted that "one anonymous internet report suggested that Michael Faulkner was killed attempting to reenter the U.S. from Mexico." White says authorities still aren't sure who posted that.

The foursome will be back in Dallas tonight or tomorrow, White says; they're actually being deported, as the FBI worked with Mexican authorities to make the arrests today. White couldn't say for how long the four had been under surveillance before they were taken into custody. "I know our initial investigation said they'd first fled to Monterrey," White says, "but I don't know when they moved to Cancun."

Last week's indictments are tied to the April 2009 raid at 2323 Bryan Street and the feds' seizures at Core IP Networks' data center downtown, which left dozens of innocent companies and Internet service providers in the dark. So happens, I have the original search warrant on the Faulkners' Southlake home -- it's after the jump. The house was abandoned (of course) and is in the process of being seized by Tarrant County authorities.

​More than two years ago, Kevin Colquitt filed a lawsuit in Dallas federal court in which he alleges "the makers of stents approved to treat digestive tract cancers had illegally marketed them for years to treat blocked blood vessels in other parts of the body," as The New York Times recaps this morning. The initial complaint, which you'll find after the jump, was only unsealed on Monday, and it's a mammoth, fascinating document in which Colquitt, who now works at Baron & Budd, recounts his years spent selling medical devices on behalf of Guidant, among the defendants named in the suit for which Colquitt's seeking whistle-blower protection.

As The Times points out, Colquitt says he was trained to market the devices, known as biliary stents, to doctors "for off-label uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration." And research shows that's isn't good:

A 2008 study in a medical journal, the American Journal of Therapeutics, estimated that one million biliary stents were used off-label from 2003 to 2006 to open clogged blood vessels in other parts of the body. That report also found that deaths and injuries had occurred as a result of device malfunctions when the stents were used off-label.

Biliary stents have a lower regulatory threshold because they were approved for use in cancer patients who are not expected to live long. By contrast, vascular stents must demonstrate an ability to last years or decades.

​When the shooting occurred in June, it merited but a few paragraphs in a crime brief headlined, "19-year-old fires on gang officers, Dallas police say." Today, though, the U.S. Attorney sends word that a federal jury found Rene Salazar, a member of the East Side Homeboys, guilty of two counts of assault on a federal officer and one count of possession of a firearm. He faces a max sentence of life in prison. Salazar's trial took four days; it took the jury all of half an hour to convict.

According to federal prosecutors, on June 24, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents and two officers from the Dallas Police Department's Gang Unit were out rounding up gang members in East Dallas as part of something called Operation Community Shield. At about 9:45 that night, officers arrested one suspect near the intersection of Grandview and Santa Fe Avenues, about a block away from Woodrow Wilson High School. What happened after that? Jump for the U.S. Attorney's narrative that led to Salazar's arrest and prosecution.

Morrey Taylor

Roosevelt Holiday

​Back in August of '08, Sam wrote about the case of the Dallas Police Department's Roosevelt Holiday, who claimed at the time that he'd been pushed out of his job as a crime scene detective by higher-ups who didn't like the color of his skin. Holiday, who's black, initially filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which gave him the OK to pursue a lawsuit against the city and DPD; and colleagues to whom Sam spoke corroborated Holiday's story, though, one said it wasn't necessarily about race: "I got the sense that somebody didn't like Roosevelt, and they obviously wanted to get rid of Roosevelt."

Holiday got his old gig back shortly after the story ran, but that apparently wasn't enough to appease him as this morning Unfair Park stumbled across court filings that show on December 1, 2009, Holiday filed a federal suit against the city, Mayor Tom Leppert, DPD Chief David Kunkle and others, alleging "White employees formed their own internal 'selection committee' to determine credentials for crime scene detectives." Holiday is seeking compensation for lost wages and benefits, along with damages related to harassment, mental anguish and emotional pain.

The city's response? Well, it pretty much denies everything other than admitting that the city of Dallas and DPD are located in Texas.

Court documents say a deposition is scheduled for today, and a settlement could be reached at a mediation scheduled for next month.

As always, the relevant legal docs are after the jump.

Update at 3 p.m. from Sam Merten: A representative from Holiday's attorney's office tells Unfair Park that today's deposition was with Chief Kunkle, but it was postponed pending the result of the mediation, which is set for February 2.

While we're on the subject of embarrassing videos, let's take a peek at the one above, posted by the Dallas Police Department a few days ago. In it, a man breaks into a DPD bait car to steal the GPS device, and the department's asking if anyone knows who's responsible for the smash-and-grab. But I had a question for DPD spokesman senior corporal Kevin Janse: If it's a bait car, and the department had the car wired, why the need for the public heads-up?

Well, as it turns out, it wasn't a bait car, but a car with bait -- in this case, the GPS device, which officers had planned on using to track down whoever was dumb enough to break into the car to steal the thing.

"Unfortunately, the tracking device malfunctioned, and we lost track of it," Janse says. "But that is an extremely rare occurrence. I don't think we've had that occur yet since we started it at Northwest."

​Courthouse News this morning brings us The Case of the For-Profit Vocational School vs. The Personal-Injury Law Firm. The former is Rhodes Colleges, a California-based chain of campuses that offers courses in everything from criminal justice to HVAC repair (maybe you've seen the ads?). Locally, Rhodes has three DFW locations (under its Everest College brand name), including one near Mockingbird Station. Then there's Van Wey & Johnson just south on Central Expressway on Monticello Avenue, which says on its Web site that Everest engages in "educational fraud" and claims to "have represented hundreds of students in confronting educational fraud at Everest College and other for-profit educational institutions."

According to Rhodes, attorneys at the firm, including namesake Julie Johnson, have gone even further: "Johnson paid a recruiter to stand just off of School property and to pass out business cards and materials to students leaving class," alleges last week's filing, which accuses Johnson of "publicly defaming the School and luring students with enticing and false promises of tuition recovery and other cash rewards."

According to the Google Machine, Rhodes and Everest are actually subsidiary schools of Corinthian Colleges, which, in 2007, was the subject of a lengthy investigation by the California Office of the Attorney General. The AG's office filed suit against Corinthian alleging unlawful business practices, including promising more than it delivers, and Corinthian settled by offering to dole out $5.8 million to students.

​After the jump, in its entirety, is a release we just received that offers sketchy details involving 19 people -- most of them locals -- who were indicted by a federal grand jury this week for their involvement in what the U.S. Attorney's Office calls a "massive cybercrime conspiracy." We will follow up, but the story may take quite a bit of untangling: It involves allegations that these 19 defrauded telecommunications companies (among them, AT&T and Verizon) and "various other service providers, such as power companies, insurance companies, air-conditioning companies, web site developers, and others for goods and services amounting to more than $15 million." Which is only the start.

According to the release, prosecutors think several of those indicted -- including two Southlake residents, among them 36-year-old Michael Faulkner, and two from Plano -- fled the country to avoid arrest and prosecution. The U.S. Attorney also says that "one anonymous internet report suggested that Michael Faulkner was killed attempting to reenter the U.S. from Mexico. This report has not been confirmed." So jump, but I've already secured the movie rights, far as you know.

Update: Also after the jump, the entire 56-page indictment.

Update at 12:16 p.m.: If my read my indictments correctly, today's announcement appears to be tied to the April 2009 raid at 2323 Bryan Street and the feds' seizures at Core IP Networks' data center downtown. I am pulling those old search warrants now.

Mike Orozco

​Four years ago we were writing about the race for Dallas County Precinct 5 constable: Mike Dupree v. Jaime Cortes. Ah, the good ol' days; how things have .... changed? Now, it's Jaime Cortes v. a handful of comers looking to snatch away his job, which he only got after Dallas County Commissioners appointed him to replace Dupree, who resigned in June 2007 after years of allegations and investigations. Cortes, of course, has his own dark cloud now -- criminal and civil investigations stemming from an ever-lengthing laundry list of allegations.

Among the contenders to take Cortes's gig: Mike Orozco, a current deputy constable in Precinct 3 -- who, according to Kevin Krause, is also the co-owner of apartment-security firm Archer Consultants with Precinct 5 deputy constable Leo Armendariz, who also owns Encore Ultra Lounge on Lower Greenville. Orozco actually worked as a deputy constable in Precinct 5 from '97 till '07 and served under Dupree. Orozco just sent an e-mail directing us to check out his Web site. And, while there, we noticed the following caveat: "Orozco has not served in Precinct 5 under embattled Constable Jaime Cortes and is not included in the ongoing county and criminal investigations currently taking place." You know who else is running in Precinct 5? Sam's buddy, Chief Ozumba Lnuk-X.

We've written quite a bit about the Dallas Police Department's efforts to treat prostitutes not as criminals, but as victims: In '06, Jesse Hyde profiled the so-called "whore cop" who works truck stops; two years later, he wrote about the Letot Center, where minors on the run from their pimps are offered safe haven. In November, Megan, working on a cover story for the paper version of Unfair Park that runs next week, attended the first National Prostitute Diversion Conference at the Old Red Courthouse, where DPD Sgt. Louis Felini's Prostitute Diversion Initiative was hailed as a national role model. And last month, Sgt. Byron Fassett, who created the department's High Risk Victim and Trafficking Unit and child exploitation squad, was brought to D.C. by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon to discuss how DPD tends to "the forgotten children" victimized by sex trafficking.

The Associated Press follows up this morning with a lengthy piece, in addition to the video above, that ties all those things together. And while there's been only limited success so far ("about half of the 375 women have chosen rehab, and just 21 have turned their lives around"), there are signs that DPD's efforts are accruing interest in other cities, among them Atlanta and Fort Worth.

Patrick Michels

Is Caraway responsible for less noise on New Year's? Sure, why not.

​Admit it. You laughed when the DPD and city officials held a press conference last week urging locals to stop firing guns while bringing in the new year.

"No ... gunfire ... on ... New ... Year's ... Eve," Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway said nice and slow in an effort to deter potential derelicts.

We'll credit Caraway's measured approach for the noticeable silence this year, or perhaps fewer gun lovers were willing to waste a bullet in a down economy. Either way, police received a total of 1,118 calls about random gunfire this New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, including both named complainants and anonymous callers, compared to the 1,762 calls received last year.

Careful readers will note the apparent discrepancy between these numbers and the ones from last week's press conference. The DPD switchboard receives both anonymous complaints and complaints from named sources. Officers are dispatched to answer only the calls from named sources, although they may choose to drive and check out the neighborhood from where the anonymous complaint was filed. But as far as counting how many calls officers specifically responded to, the DPD generally counts the named callers.

Without spending more time trying to understand the DPD's endlessly complicated numbers-reporting tactics, we'll leave you with the department's explanation for the decline.

"A lot of it had to be to the increase in officer presence in the community," says DPD spokesperson Gerardo Monreal. "Knowing the area that people were reporting that there were gunshots being fired, a lot of times officers position themselves in those areas. And again, letting the public be aware that officers were going to be out there and that this is dangerous...The more you bring it out to the public, the more the public responds."

Patrick Michels

Why's Kunkle smiling? "I'm lucky to have good health and a wonderful wife, so it's pretty good."

​Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle says he's not interested in committing initially to any of the numerous job offers he's received since announcing his retirement in November. He's been approached mostly with consulting and teaching positions, he says, and no one has asked him to become the top cop someplace else. Yet.

"I think they probably will, but I don't anticipate wanting to do that in the future," Kunkle tells Unfair Park. "I'm not sure. After a month or two of not working regularly, I might feel differently. I'm just looking more to make it through the end of April."

Kunkle, whose last day is April 30, says after working for 41 years, he's not looking for a full-time gig and looks forward to discretionary time. "I'd like to have time to do small things that are important to me."

Delia Jasso, Dwaine Caraway and Lt. Andy Harvey today at DPD HQ

​In some parts of town, you can tell when the calendar needs flipping when the guns start firing; apparently, nothing says "Happy New Year!" like shooting a pistol in the air. And while there haven't been any serious injuries due to the celebratory pop-pop-pop in recent years, according to Dallas police spokesman Lt. Andy Harvey, city officials would really like locals to stop with the shooting already.

"No ... gunfire ... on ... New ... Year's ... Eve," said Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway at today's press conference at DPD HQ, pausing between words to give more authority to his directive. Caraway also wanted the public to understand that guns will be confiscated if the police catch somebody firing a weapon, since it is, ya know, against the law.

"Please do not fire guns," added the far more soft-spoken Delia Jasso. "That is not a way to bring in the New Year."

Last year, Harvey says, DPD officers were dispatched to 615 random gunfire calls between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Brian Harkin

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins

​It's always a good idea 'round this time of the year to make a list of accomplishments, if only to figure out what you need to get done in the coming year. So happens, of course, that Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins needs to get re-elected in 2010, and, as our friend Scott Henson noted only yesterday:

Among sitting District Attorneys, Dallas' Craig Watkins has a big bullseye on his back. He's definitely the favorite going into the race, but Watkins has taken a lot of hits recently and if the GOP can't knock off the rookie DA in 2010, they're likely stuck with him or some other Democrat for quite a long time. That tells me the Dallas GOP will likely throw the kitchen sink at him hoping to stem the recent tide of Democratic victories in that county. It's what I'd do in their shoes.

With that in mind, after the jump you'll find a very lengthy missive titled "End of the Year Overview from District Attorney Craig Watkins," which was just sent out by spokesperson Jamille Bradfield.

​While waiting for Macerich officials to return our calls concerning Valley View Center, where I spent some of this afternoon, there's this story out of Phoenix worth a look-see, if only as a cautionary tale. Because if the movies have taught us anything, it's that couples stopped by the police really need to get their stories straight before being taken in for questioning.

Take the tale of Charley Taylor and Theressa Mills, two Dallas residents who were pulled over in Arizona on Christmas Eve for weaving on the interstate. According to this freshly rolled story out of KPHO-TV, a CBS affiliate in Phoenix:

When interviewed separately, Taylor told deputies the couple was traveling from Dallas to Los Angeles to visit their children, [Yavapai County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dwight] D'Evelyn said. Mills told deputies they were traveling from Phoenix to Dallas to visit their children.

Based on this suspicious behavior and "indicators of narcotics involvement," deputies asked Taylor if he had any contraband in the van, D'Evelyn said.

Long story short, officials say they were told, yeah, there was "a little" weed in the back -- and by "little," they meant 275 pounds that were due for Dallas.