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LA County Probation Chief Notes Improvements in the Safety and State Compliance of Department’s Juvenile Facilities

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LA County Probation Chief Notes Improvements in the Safety and State Compliance of Department’s Juvenile Facilities

 

LOS ANGELES — In a presentation to the LA County Board of Supervisors last week, Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa said the Department has gone from “a place where we essentially lost public trust” to an agency that is now in compliance with state standards and eager to work more closely with county partners to rehabilitate youth.

Viera Rosa said the Probation Department will be reaching out to county partners — the Office of Education, and the Department of Youth Development, Mental Health, Public Health, and Health Services — to form interdisciplinary teams to care for youth at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall or LPJH and the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility or BJN.

“We’re all there and while there is corroboration, there are different departments with different budgets making different decisions” at the facilities, Viera Rosa said. “What you’ll see in the coming months is an invitation to the other County partners to physically be there with us and make decisions with us.”

Viera Rosa said the reason the department is now ready to focus more on county team building is because it has spent the last year addressing safety issues and staffing shortages that have been plaguing juvenile operations.

One key to the Department’s progress, he said, has been the ability to train officers to interact with youth up to modern standards. “It’s a game-changer,” he said.

Viera Rosa also noted there is less contraband going into LPJH and BJN. “The number of people found under the influence in our facilities is different today than a year ago,” he said.

While Viera Rosa acknowledged that callouts at LPJH and BJN are “still at a level that is unacceptable,” he noted “there is improvement.”

Viera Rosa’s remarks came during a hearing in which he and Chief Deputies Kimberly Epps and Sheila Williams briefed the Supervisors on the steps that the probation department took to come into compliance with California Board of State and Community Corrections or BSCC standards on April 11.

Their presentation enumerated the steps, including temporarily reassigning 202 probation officers from field offices to LPJH and BJN, forming a BSCC leadership task force to meet with state regulators, and conducting internal audits to verify that juvenile operations remain in compliance during continuing BSCC reviews.

Meanwhile, Viera Rosa laid out his long-term vision for the department based on three core values and concepts. The first is the “joint ownership” with county partners who would share responsibility and accountability for the mental health, physical well-being, programmatic and educational needs of youth.

The other two core values are interrelated, he said.

They include the concept of adopting an interdisciplinary approach within the department that would help probation officers deal with the increasingly sophisticated needs of youth in county care. Viera Rosa said current probation officer training is wholly insufficient and there is a need to provide officers better education in such matters as family dynamics, substance use disorders and other cultural issues that affect the youth in the county’s care.

The other value involves making significant investments in the capabilities and wellness of probation officers.

“The world has changed and we’re asking our employees to do something significantly different than the day we hired them,” he said, adding: “We are asking them to do things that are extraordinarily difficult and over time have an effect on their health.”

Viera Rosa told Supervisors that he will be announcing additional initiatives soon to further implement his vision for the department.

soundpedro2024 surveys past/present/future on 20th anniversary of inaugural SoundWalk

Greggory Moore
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soundpedro2024 surveys past/present/future on 20th anniversary of inaugural SoundWalk

Twenty years ago today (or at least come August), Long Beach didn’t know what hit it when for a single night artist/curatorial group FLOOD first transformed the East Village Arts District into an extended gallery of sound-focused multisensory installations spread across 30 indoor and outdoor locations that attendees encountered as they steered themselves through the area.

Marco Schindelmann was one of those attendees by happenstance on that fateful Saturday. After having dinner with friends, Schindelmann trekked through the East Village to get to his car — and what he encountered changed the course of his life.

“I walked past the 1st & Elm Community Garden and saw it was strewn with televisions, which was surreal and wonderful,” he recalls. “Then a little farther down in an alley was a pair of cowboy boots broadcasting sound of some sort. Then I came across the tiny little speakers, like little mushrooms, and you had to bend down on one knee and put your ear really close to them to hear what they were playing. […] Multifarious manifestations of aesthetic experience everywhere. That really appealed to me.

The following year, Schindelmann’s MLuM was a SoundWalk participant, staging a five-hour performance-art piece in the Grand Salon of the Cooper Arms Building (with “all sorts of sound elements occurring at the same time; real-time manipulation; it worked with muzak; there was a Buddhist element, a Christian element, a shamanistic element; women in evening gowns…”). FLOOD was impressed and asked him to join as a full-fledged member, and from 2006 he was a SoundWalk co-producer until 2013, when FLOOD decided that the 10th iteration would be the last.

“Like the rest of the country, Long Beach was hit hard by the financial collapse that began in 2007,” he says. “Some small businesses in the East Village didn’t survive, limiting the number of indoor spaces that could host installations. Also, I’m sorry to say that some of the surviving local businesses got greedy and wanted to charge rent to host installations — even though SoundWalk activated the area in a way that few events ever did. After SoundWalk 2012, [FLOOD co-founder and SoundWalk originator] Kamran Assadi suggested that perhaps we had exhausted the possibilities in the East Village, and after deliberation we decided that the 10th SoundWalk would be the last.”

But in 2016, Schindelmann was approached by Angels Gate Cultural Center Executive Director Amy Eriksen about reincarnating/reimagining SoundWalk there. Deeply involved in planning an alternate event, Assadi gave his blessing for Schindelmann to be the main producer for what became soundpedro, which (COVID interruptions aside) has been preserving and advancing a unique South Bay sound-art tradition since 2017.

For the uninitiated, an obvious question: What the fuck is “sound art”? One possible answer: Think of it as any intentional shaping of the sonic landscape, large or small. (Consider music a specialized subgenre of sound art with special attention paid to rhythm and melody.) At its abstract best, a work of sound art will draw your attention to auditory phenomena that otherwise you might have taken for granted or missed entirely — including the aural ambiance in which you are immersed wherever you go.

Across an extended space beset with multiple works, you may find yourself wondering whether this or that sonic element was a preplanned part of a particular installation or the event in general. The point is: it doesn’t matter. It’s part of your experience in that given moment.

Apropos, soundpedro2024’s theme is CHARIVARI (from the Latin caribaria, “mess, pandemonium, commotion,” etc.), which FLOOD notes “has a rich history [including] ‘absurd portraits,’ ‘a loud, unmelodious cacophony’ sometimes used to make a statement or to protest (think clanging pots and pans), a potpourri or bringing together of unrelated elements, and even a Bavarian belt chain adorned with amulets.”

While the annual onsite soundpedro centerpiece takes place June 1, part and parcel of the 2024 event is the soundplay <=> southbay retrospective, which looks back over 20 years since the seminal SoundWalk 2004 event, bears witness to the present, and hearkens to the future.

“The act of listening — aurally or non-aurally — entails focusing on a sound, be it in front, behind, above, below, or through one’s body,” Schindelmann says. “Part of the beauty of most sound-art events is that contextural [sic] bleed is inevitable, be it sonic or mental. Whispers and chirps seep in, as do recollection and foresight. During soundplay <=> southbay, one’s internal grasp of the moment leans on past experience and future projection to reshape the present. We can be fully focused on the present moment, here at Angels Gate in 2024, but we’re also getting a wonderful bleed from the 20 years previous, and we’re letting the possibilities of the next 20 years bleed into our present considerations.”

Looking forward, FLOOD’s future may include a new sound-art event in the Yucca Valley, where Assadi moved recently in the wake of deciding to close his Utopia Restaurant after 24 years as an East Village anchor.

In the present, soundpedro’s June 1 transformation of Angels Gate’s seven acres will feature nearly 50 installations, including:

  • 3TONcinema, “a dynamic installation wherein a series of visual symbols is sonified by way of a performative 16mm film projection”;
  • As Seen On TV, “an interactive installation using old TV’s, camcorders, CCTV cameras, and VHS footage captured at previous onsite soundpedro events. The audio will be captured live from audience interaction through microphones, contact microphones, looping and reverb pedals”;
  • Bug Tag, which “is played when a micro-radio transmitter sends out cricket field recordings. The space will be filled with 25-30 radios (battery operated and wall plugs) and viewers and participants will be invited to tune the radios to the station transmitting the cricket recordings. Once the crickets are found, the radios will be set down, building a meadow. The radio transmitter is to be placed in the center of the room, allowing bodily interaction in the space to effect the signals being picked up by the radios. When a radio goes out of tune, viewers/participants will be invited to retune the radios, searching through the sea of signals, playing tag with the bugs”;
  • Meanderthals, who “will stroll throughout [Angels Gate] producing various sounds as they travel in costume — part troubadours, part jesters, part moving installations, activating the space briefly with new textures as they move along”;
  • Sound of War our Bodies Store, a “sound compilation extracted from UNICEF and found recordings which explore the manipulation in news dissemination related [to] weapons of war. Audio loops mirror and echo the relentlessness of war and its destruction.Audio and video installation serve as a conduit shifting perspectives on the human condition and ways in which death and suffering are utilized as tools.”

Another is J3M5’s “experimental live [performance] of glitch, r[h]ythmic noise and dubtronics [which] explores technical integrations with stereo effects, extensive MIDI, CV and modified hardware.” The man behind the moniker, James Allen (no relation to RLn’s publisher), says recent happenings make soundpedro more important to the sound-art community than ever.

“soundpedro is always very relevant and important due to the close connection with visual/conceptual arts,” Allen says. “I’m very thankful to take part in soundpedro this year, without which I’m not sure how much visibility/audibility this facet of my live practice would presently have,” especially in light of “cancellation [of the] NorCal Noise Festival, and with the International Noise Conference, [which is] no longer a large-scale fest [and] being mostly limited to locals.”

Schindelmann is gratified that, seven years on, soundpedro’s reanimation of the SoundWalk tradition is not only alive and well but growing by the year.

“Each year with soundpedro we’re seeing new faces; it’s not just the same group of artists year after year,” he says. “One of [this year’s participants] commented that one of the things he appreciates about soundpedro is the diversity of approaches, aesthetics, and sensibilities that are part of the event. Whereas most other sound-art events tend to be more specialized, FLOOD takes more of a generalist approach, which leads to cross-pollination within the community.”

WHAT / WHEN:

  • soundplay <=> southbay: an ongoing retrospective of 20 years of SoundWalk/soundpedro, open Thursday through Saturday 10am–4pm through June 1.
  • soundpedro, an evening of ear-oriented multisensory presentations: Saturday, June 1, 7pm–10pm.

WHERE: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro 90731; angelsgateart.org
ADMISSION: free! (includes parking)
MORE INFO: soundpedro.art

LA County Rent Relief Program Accepting New Applications Until June 4

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LA County Rent Relief Program Accepting New Applications Until June 4

 

The Los Angeles County Rent Relief Program is now open for new applications until 4:59 p.m., June 4.

If you’ve been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, you can apply to receive up to $30,000 per rental unit to cover past-due rent and other eligible expenses incurred since April 1, 2022. Make sure to apply early, but note that submitting a completed application does not guarantee funding.

Community partners are offering free webinars and technical assistance in multiple languages to guide you through the process. To register, visit lacountyrentrelief.com/webinars.

If you applied in the first round and haven’t received a decision yet, check your rent relief portal for any pending tasks and contact the rent relief customer call center at 877-849-0770 for quicker processing. The call center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Landlords who have already been awarded a grant from the program will have their existing applications reviewed to determine eligibility for additional assistance with rental debt. If you qualify, the program will notify you. Please do not reapply as this may cause a delay in processing.

Details: lacountyrentrelief.com and https://tinyurl.com/Rent-relief-apps-reopen

LA County Briefs: Home Kitchen Operations Ordinance Passed, County Prepares Region for Impact of LA28 Games and New Executive Officer Named

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LA County Briefs: Home Kitchen Operations Ordinance Passed, County Prepares Region for Impact of LA28 Games and New Executive Officer Named

County Passes Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations Ordinance

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors May 21 approved the final reading of the county’s Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations or MEHKOs ordinance. This ordinance goes into effect Nov. 1, 2024. It is the result of Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell’smotionthat passed last year calling for a streamlined process for the over 50,000 home cooks and sidewalk vendors throughout the County to become permitted to cook safe and regulated food for the public.

In addition, the board approved Supervisors Mitchell and Hilda L. Solis’smotionto help remove financial barriers to applying for MEHKOs by allocating $600,000 in American Rescue Plan Act recovery funds to cover the $597 initial application fee for 1000 eligible MEHKO permittees. The motion also calls for $600,000 invested into an extensive outreach and education campaign led by the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity.

Los Angeles County becomes the 15th jurisdiction in the state to authorize MEHKOs. A statewide survey by COOK Alliance reported 84% of sidewalk vendors and home cooks in the informal economy are women, and 48% identify as Black, Latinx, or multi-racial. MEHKOs provide a feasible pathway for diverse populations, including first-generation immigrants, to be part of the formal economy and further legitimize their businesses.

Details: To read the entire ordinance, clickhere.

Supervisors Prepare County for Impact of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion authored by Supervisors Holly J. Mitchell and Hilda L. Solis calling for the county’s chief executive office in collaboration with the Department of Economic Opportunity to conduct an analysis within 150-days of the economic opportunities and potential impact of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games for Los Angeles County and its unincorporated communities.

The economic and opportunity analysis will also include anticipated costs to unincorporated communities, revenue-generating opportunities, expected jobs created, and proposed metrics that align with the priority outcomes identified by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games. The motion also calls for the county’s Internal Services Department to collaborate with the City of Los Angeles to ensure that all county contracting opportunities for the Olympics are listed on the Regional Alliance Marketplace for Procurement, which will be used for Olympic procurement.

Details: To read the entire motion, click here.

Edward Yen Named Executive Officer of the LA County Board of Supervisors

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors May 21 appointed Edward Yen as the new executive officer to oversee the administration of the Board of Supervisors. Mr. Yen, better known as Eddie, is the first Asian American of Chinese descent to hold the position leading the executive office of the Board of Supervisors. With nearly two decades of exemplary performance in local government, Mr. Yen most recently served as the assistant executive officer overseeing technology, planning, legislation, operations, and the Assessment Appeals Board.

Executive Officer Edward Yen. Photo by: David Franco

In his new role, Mr. Yen reports to all five members of the Board of Supervisors and exercises full responsibility for the direction and administration of the department to maintain and improve operational efficiency and facilitate transparent governance. With a budget of $340 million, which includes funding for nearly 500 budgeted positions, the executive office is responsible for operating efficient and inclusive public meetings. The department also provides administrative support to 33 boards and commissions, including the Office of Inspector General, Sheriffs Civilian Oversight Commission, Office of Child Protection and more.

“I’m honored to be chosen for this leadership role,” said Mr. Yen. “I embrace the opportunity to lead as the Executive Officer. My passion for public service drives me to innovate, collaborate, and make a positive impact on our community.”

Prior to joining the Department, Mr. Yen spent five years with the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor, holding the positions of assessment and public services director and as general counsel. He began his county career with the Los Angeles County Office of County Counsel as a deputy county counsel. Before joining the County workforce, Mr. Yen was an attorney in private practice.

Mr. Yen also serves as the president of the Los Angeles County Asian American Employees Association and recently served as the chair of the San Marino Recreation Commission. He has a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management from the University of Southern California.

Construction Begins on Truck Charging Depot at POLB

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Construction Begins on Truck Charging Depot at POLB

A new charging depot that will be operated by Forum Mobility broke ground last week, aimed at meeting the accelerating demand for heavy-duty electric trucks serving the Port of Long Beach.

The facility, scheduled to go online in fall, moves the port closer toward achieving a goal of zero-emissions operations for drayage trucks by 2035.

Forum Mobility’s facility, located just north of the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge at 260 Pico Ave., will be equipped with 19 dual-port chargers and six single-dispenser chargers capable of powering up 44 heavy-duty electric trucks simultaneously in about 90 minutes – depending on battery size.

In addition to the Port of Long Beach, Forum Mobility has eight additional stations scheduled to open within the next two years along critical freight corridors throughout California, including locations in Compton, the Inland Empire, Oakland and Stockton.

The Port of Long Beach is assisting truck drivers by partnering with the Port of Los Angeles, the California Air Resources Board and CALSTART to make $60 million in clean truck fund rate funding available for vouchers toward the purchase of zero-emission, Class 8 drayage trucks operating within the San Pedro Bay ports complex.

Small trucking fleets (20 trucks and fewer) can receive up to $436,000 for a battery-electric truck, and up to $676,000 for a hydrogen fuel cell truck in incentives. Funds are available through the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Incentive Project or HVIP; funding information can be found at https://californiahvip.org/.

CA Senate Passes Reparations Legislation

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CA Senate Passes Reparations Legislation

 

Sen. Steven Bradford’s three pieces of legislation implementing reparations in California have passed the state Senate.

After two years of study by the California Reparations Task Force on the impact of slavery and institutional discrimination on African Americans in California, the state is now taking action.

These three bills confront the harms caused by both slavery and the discriminatory actions by state and local governments and establish a way for people who lost property for racially-motivated reasons to receive restitution.

  • SB 1403 is the foundation that would create the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency to administer all future reparations.
  • SB 1050 would provide restitution for Californians who lost homes or had their land taken without fair compensation as a result of the racially-motivated use of eminent domain.
  • SB 1331 would establish an account in the state treasury for the purpose of funding reparations policies approved by the Legislature and the Governor.

These three bills are critical for setting up the framework for reparations.

The bills will now go to the members of the Assembly to similarly pass SB 1403, SB 1050 and SB 1331 so they can be presented to Gov. Newsom for his signature.

City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto Announces $7.9 Million Settlement in Statewide Environmental Protection Lawsuit

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City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto Announces $7.9 Million Settlement in Statewide Environmental Protection Lawsuit

 

LOS ANGELES — City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto May 22 announced that the statewide coalition her office is part of has settled its civil lawsuit against XPO Inc. and XPO Logistics, a global freight and shipping company alleged to have violated California laws related to the storage and handling of hazardous materials at facilities it owned or leased throughout the state of California, including two in the city. XPO will pay $7.9 million in penalties – $685,000 of which will go to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office and $304,000 to the Los Angeles Fire Department Certified Unified Program Agency. In addition, XPO is required to make upgrades and changes to its protocols and facilities, including hiring an environmental compliance manager to ensure adherence with California Law relating to underground storage tanks, hazardous waste, hazardous materials and above ground storage tanks.

The settlement was entered in conjunction with 20 district attorneys’ offices. XPO’s corporate office and environmental compliance group were extremely cooperative with the prosecutors throughout the investigation and settlement process. This Stipulated Final Judgment shall be in place for a minimum of five years.

“California’s stringent environmental protection laws have been enacted for a reason, and when they are violated, we will take action,” said Hydee Feldstein Soto, Los Angeles City Attorney. “I am proud to have partnered with this coalition to protect public health and safety here in our city, and throughout California.”

XPO owned, operated, licensed, or leased freight transportation and logistics services with facilities throughout the State of California, including in the City of Los Angeles. Through the regular course of business, they stored hazardous materials at these facilities, including ignitable, toxic, and corrosive materials. Despite being legally responsible for compliance with numerous provisions of California’s Health and Safety Code related to the management of hazardous materials, aboveground petroleum storage tanks, and underground storage tanks, XPO failed to prevent the violations.

This litigation was managed by the City Attorney’s Public Rights Branch which is also overseeing the recently announced lawsuit filed against more than two dozen chemical companies over toxic substances known as “forever chemicals” that don’t readily break down in the environment. Another environmental lawsuit — against Monsanto over PCB contamination in LA waterways — is continuing.

Supervisors Initiate Plan to Reduce Wait Times at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall

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Supervisors Initiate Plan to Reduce Wait Times at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors May 21 approved a motion authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Chair Lindsey Horvath which aims to decrease the amount of time that lawyers, social workers, doctors, and other professionals wait to see young people detained at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.

Reporting by the Southern California News Group’s Jason Henry detailed the challenges that attorneys, social workers, and other professionals have experienced getting timely access to their clients at Los Padrinos. Multiple attorneys and social workers experienced wait times of two to three hours. In some instances, other professional experts, like doctors, began refusing to evaluate clients at Los Padrinos because of the excessive wait times.

Long wait times seem to be driven by staffing challenges the Probation Department is experiencing. As a response, the Probation Department recently added four privacy booths to the chapel, where juvenile clients meet with their attorneys at Los Padrinos, to accommodate and speed up visits.

The motion directed the Los Angeles County Probation Department to report back to the Board of Supervisors in four weeks with data on the professional visitor wait times at Los Padrinos in the past three months as well as an analysis of any factors contributing to long wait times and strategies being implemented to reduce wait times and ensure timely access to visits from counsel, social workers, and other experts (e.g. adding more pods to the visitation area, increasing staff on busy days to bring youth to the visitation area, creating an electronic sign up system, etc.). The motion also directs the department to include data on wait times in its regular quarterly reports to the Board of Supervisors.

Lastly, the motion directs the Probation Department to update their existing policy or create a new procedure to include expected maximum wait times for visitation with legal counsel that are consistent with industry standards and a process for documenting extenuating circumstances when a wait time exceeds the expectation.

Food 4 Less Faces Backlash for Attempting to Silence Workers Ahead of Contract Expiration, June 8

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Food 4 Less Faces Backlash for Attempting to Silence Workers Ahead of Contract Expiration, June 8

 

LOS ANGELES — With the current contract between Food 4 Less and UFCW local unions – representing nearly 6,000 Food 4 Less/Foods Co employees across California– set to expire on June 8, Food 4 Less workers have been targeted by the grocery chain with a threatening cease and desist letter.

This aggressive anti-union tactic comes on the heels of store management’s refusal to accept workers’ petitions demanding a fair contract, further highlighting the company’s disregard for the voices of its employees.

Statement posted on SM

“We will not be intimidated by Food 4 Less’ attempts to silence us,” said Kathy Finn, President of UFCW 770, after Food 4 Less sent a cease and desist letter to stop workers standing up for their rights in their own stores. “Food 4 Less workers deserve a contract that reflects their essential work, gives them equity with other grocery stores, fair wages, safer stores, and more staffing. We will continue to fight for our voices to be heard and not stop until we get a fair contract.”

Background

Workers have been frustrated by the company’s unwillingness to discuss key issues like fair wages and equity with other grocery stores in the first several bargaining sessions, even though the contract is set to expire in a few weeks. In an unusual move, store management has even refused to accept petitions from workers at stores throughout Los Angeles and Orange County, as you can see in these videos, which have gone viral on social media with over 275k views.

Videos of store delegations

Van Nuys store

Pacoima Store

Boyle Heights

North Hills store

Three Suspects Arrested for Alleged Mail Theft, Robbery and other Criminal Charges

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Three Suspects Arrested for Alleged Mail Theft, Robbery and other Criminal Charges

 

LOS ANGELES – Antonio Hernandez, alleged Avenues gang member, was arrested by Postal Inspectors and charged with mail theft, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and robbery of a Post Office. His co-conspirators, Ivan Murillo-Hernandez, and Alexis Garcia Martinez were also charged with the same crimes.

As alleged in the indictment, since at least November 2022, to about August 2023, these defendants and their juvenile co-conspirators would steal mail from Post Offices across the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, using threats of force and other tactics, with the aim of stealing mail containing checks belonging to various victims. To date, intended victim losses total more than $800,000.

Among the several post office theft incidents alleged in the indictment, and in furtherance of the conspiracy, on April 4, 2023, after robbing a Post Office in Anaheim of trays of mail, Hernandez, Murillo-Hernandez, and other co-conspirators allegedly fled law enforcement in a vehicle that Garcia Martinez provided. Over the course of that afternoon, the vehicle with Hernandez, Murillo-Hernandez, and other co-conspirators ultimately led police on a high-speed pursuit across multiple local freeways before abandoning the vehicle.

These defendants also allegedly recruited juveniles and other conspirators through social media, by requesting that they provide their debit cards or bank account information to the co-conspirators, promising these account holders a cut of any fraudulent funds deposited into their accounts. To circumvent the fraud protections of the financial institutions, the defendants would specifically request bank accounts that were open long enough to be established so the co-conspirators could get access to the stolen funds quickly. Once the funds were available the defendants would then rapidly deplete the fraudulently deposited funds from the account holders’ accounts by making cash withdrawals, electronic transfers, and/or debit card purchases.

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