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Crime

Soros-Backed DA’s Office Gave Free Consultations To Migrants Charged With Violent Crimes, Docs Show

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By JASON HOPKINS

 

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office provided free consultations and legal assistance to migrants charged with violent felonies in 2023, documents reveal.

The taxpayer-funded consultations were provided to migrants charged with various heinous crimes, such as rape, robbery, strangulation, aggravated assault and homicide by vehicle, in an ostensible effort to help them avoid convictions that would lead to their deportation, documents obtained by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) reveal. Krasner created the immigration counsel position in 2018 to provide the consultations and work on cases involving migrants.

“He is directly contradicting the purpose of a district attorney — to prosecute crimes — and using his office to help immigration violators evade the law,” Dale Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI, said of Krasner. “The last thing the city needs is to keep criminal aliens there who may have earned deportation.”

IRLI outlined the issues with the case list and questioned the objectives of the immigration counsel position in an investigative report published Thursday.

Krasner first won election to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office in 2017, after left-wing billionaire George Soros dropped well over $1 million to fund a super PAC to support him in the Democratic primary. Like all Soros-backed prosecutors, Krasner ran on a left-wing approach to criminal justice, which calls for ending mass incarceration and shielding migrants from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This position focuses on obtaining “immigration-neutral” outcomes for defendants facing prosecution in Philadelphia, according to its website.

In practice, reaching “immigration-neutral” outcomes typically means the immigration counsel works with prosecutors on lowering charges against non-citizens accused of various crimes — illegal immigrant defendants are not excluded from possible consultation, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and past reports. A foreign national charged with rape, for example, would likely face “immigration consequences,” i.e. apprehension and deportation by federal immigration authorities, upon the completion of their local criminal proceedings.

“I look at every case where the defendant has been identified as an immigrant to see if there’s an immigration-neutral outcome that is just,” explained immigration counsel Caleb Arnold. “Sometimes that means creating an outcome that doesn’t have any immigration consequences or minimized immigration consequences.”

On the onset of the new position, Krasner’s office repeatedly suggested the immigration counsel would not provide assistance to foreign nationals accused of high-level offenses like homicide and sex crimes.

Krasner said in a 2018 press release that the immigration counsel would focus on cases involving “low-level offenders who pose no threat to public safety” and that same day said his office would work on “cases that are not that serious, but have very serious immigration consequences.”

However, a case list of defendants who received consultations from the immigration counsel reveals that the district attorney’s office is helping potentially dangerous non-citizens avoid deportation.

IRLI filed a records request with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, asking for a list of “defendants Immigration Counsel Caleb Arnold has consulted with, or otherwise worked on, over the 2023 calendar year.”

The list that was handed over, which redacted names and case numbers, showed the following: 29 DUI cases; 21 aggravated assault, domestic violence and other crimes of violence cases; 26 possession of drugs with intent to distribute cases; 12 firearm cases; nine rape and indecent assault and sexual assault on a child cases, nine robbery or burglary cases and one vehicular homicide cases.

The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained the 2023 case list and confirmed the breakdown of charges.

It’s not immediately clear if the defendants charged with the most serious crimes were able to get their charges pleaded down or faced apprehension by federal immigration authorities. Krasner’s office did immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

In their investigative report, IRLI noted that the case list not only contradicts past claims by Krasner’s office, but it also gives special privileges to foreign nationals not afforded to U.S. citizens.

“However, prosecutors’ offices rarely, if ever, take special steps to minimize these consequences when defendants are U.S. citizens,” the report states. “And we are unaware of any DAs offices that employ special attorneys solely to insulate citizen criminal defendants from the effects of their criminal behavior.”

“It is utterly shocking that any DA’s office in the United States would pursue these kinds of irresponsible policies,” Matt O’Brien, director of investigation at IRLI, stated. “Essentially, DA Krasner is rewarding foreign nationals for committing crimes in the United States.”

“And he is doing so at the expense of the city he is sworn to protect,” he said.

(Featured image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/CBS Philadelphia)

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Crime

Despite recent bail reform flip-flops, Canada is still more dangerous than we’d prefer

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The Audit

 David Clinton

Our Criminal Justice System Is Changing

58 percent of individuals sentenced to community supervision had at least one prior conviction for a violent offence. 68 percent of those given custodial sentences were similarly repeat offenders. In fact, 59 percent of offenders serving custodial sentences had previously been convicted at least 10 times.

Back in 2019, the federal Liberals passed Bill C-75, “An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other Acts”. Among other things, the law established a Principle of Restraint that required courts to minimize unnecessary pre-trial detention. This has been characterized as a form of “catch and release” that sacrifices public safety in general, and victims’ rights in particular on the altar of social justice.

I’m no lawyer, but I can’t see how the legislation’s actual language supports that interpretation. In fact, as we can see from the government’s official overview of the law, courts must still give serious consideration to public safety:

The amendments…legislate a “principle of restraint” for police and courts to ensure that release at the earliest opportunity is favoured over detention, that bail conditions are reasonable, relevant to the offence and necessary to ensure public safety, and that sureties are imposed only when less onerous forms of release are inadequate.

So unlike in some U.S. jurisdictions, Canadian courts are still able use their discretion to restrict an accused’s freedom. That’s not to say everyone’s always happy with how Canadian judges choose to use such discretion, but judicial outcomes appear to lie in their hands, rather than with legislation.

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Arguably, C-75 did come with a “soft-on-crime” tone (in particular as the law relates to certain minority communities). But even that was mostly reversed by 2023’s Bill C-48, which introduced reverse onus for repeat offenders and required judges to explicitly consider the safety of the community (whatever that means).

Nevertheless, the system is clearly far from perfect. Besides the occasional high-profile news reports about offenders committing new crimes while awaiting trials for previous offences, the population-level data suggests that our streets are not nearly as safe as they should be.

As far as I can tell, Statistics Canada doesn’t publish numbers on repeat offences committed by offenders free while waiting for trial. But I believe we can get at least part of the way there using two related data points:

  • Conviction rates
  • Repeat offender rates

Between 2019 and 2023, conviction rates across Canada on homicide charges for adults averaged 42 percent, while similar charges against youth offenders resulted in convictions in 65 percent of cases. That means we can safely assume that a significant proportion of accused offenders were, in fact, criminally violent even before reaching trial.

We can use different Statistics Canada data to understand how likely it is that those accused offenders will re-offend while on pre-trial release:

58 percent of individuals sentenced to community supervision (through either conditional sentences or probation) had at least one prior conviction for a violent offence. 68 percent of those given custodial sentences were similarly repeat offenders. In fact, 59 percent of offenders serving custodial sentences had previously been convicted at least 10 times.

Also, in the three years following a term of community supervision, 15.6 percent of offenders were convicted for new violent crimes. For offenders coming out of custodial sentences, that rate was 30.2 percent.

In other words:

  • Many – if not most – people charged with serious crimes turn out to be guilty
  • It’s relatively rare for violent criminals to offend just once.

Together, those two conclusions suggest that public safety would be best served by immediately incarcerating all people charged with violent offences and keeping them “inside” either until they’re declared innocent or their sentences end. That, however, would be impossible. For one thing, we just don’t have space in our prisons to handle the load (or the money to fund it). And it would also often trample on the legitimate civil rights of accused individuals.

This is a serious problem without any obvious pull-the-trigger-and-you’re-done solutions. But here are some possible considerations:

  • Implement improved risk assessment and predictive analytics tools to evaluate the likelihood of re-offending.
  • Improve the reliability of non-custodial measures such as electronic monitoring and house arrest that incorporate real-time tracking and immediate intervention capabilities
  • Improve parole and probation systems to ensure effective monitoring and support for offenders released into the community. (Warning: expensive!)
  • Optimize data analytics to identify trends, allocate resources efficiently, and measure the effectiveness of various interventions.

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Crime

RCMP Bust B.C. Fentanyl Superlab Linked to Mexico and Transnational Exports

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Sam Cooper 

@samthebureau

In a remote mountainous area of British Columbia, federal police have dismantled the largest fentanyl laboratory ever discovered in Canada. This western province has become a critical front in the Five Eyes battle against the production and distribution of deadly synthetic narcotics trafficked globally by networks involving Chinese and Iranian state-sponsored mafias and Mexican cartels.

In a groundbreaking discovery, the RCMP located the superlab in Falkland—a village of 946 residents nestled in the rugged terrain between Calgary and Vancouver—using Phenyl-2-Propanone (P2P) to manufacture methamphetamine. This production method, primarily employed by Mexican cartels, stems from the precursors and scientific expertise Mexican cartels have gathered from elite Chinese criminals since the early 2000s, according to U.S. enforcement sources.

David Teboul, Commander of the RCMP Federal Policing program in the Pacific Region, underscored the significance: “Manufacturing methamphetamine using P2P had not been seen in Western Canada until now,” he said. “The P2P manufacturing method has been the primary method used by Mexican cartels to produce methamphetamine for years.”

Demonstrating the destructive power of the cartels involved, the RCMP seized a staggering cache of illicit substances and weapons. Officers confiscated 54 kilograms of fentanyl, massive amounts of precursor chemicals, 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, 35 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of MDMA, and 6 kilograms of cannabis. The superlab was described as the largest and most sophisticated of its kind, capable of producing multiple types of illicit drugs.

“To put things into context,” Teboul said, “the over 95 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl that have been seized could have taken the lives of every Canadian at least twice over.”

A large portion of the product was destined for other countries.

During the investigation, RCMP officers learned of several large shipments of methamphetamine prepared for international export. They intercepted 310 kilograms of methamphetamine before it could leave Canada, preventing a significant quantity from reaching global markets—a critical point as Canada faces pressure from its allies over its role in the global fentanyl and methamphetamine trade.

Teboul noted that the RCMP collaborated with its Five Eyes enforcement partners—an intelligence alliance comprising Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Although Teboul did not provide specific details, this cooperation underscores the international scope of the transnational investigation.

The first suspect, Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa, was identified and arrested during raids. He is currently in custody and faces multiple charges, including possession and export of controlled substances, possession of prohibited firearms and devices, and possession of explosive devices. More arrests are expected, Teboul said.

The scale of this criminal network echoes the power and violence fueling gang wars that have rocked British Columbia, putting innocent lives at risk during high-powered shootouts in Vancouver. Investigators seized a total of 89 firearms, including 45 handguns, 21 AR-15-style rifles, and submachine guns—many of which were loaded and ready for use. The searches also uncovered small explosive devices, vast amounts of ammunition, firearm silencers, high-capacity magazines, body armor, and $500,000 in cash.

British Columbia has been grappling with an influx of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, significantly exacerbating the opioid crisis across Canada. The province has witnessed a surge in overdose deaths, prompting law enforcement to intensify efforts against drug production and trafficking networks. Experts highlight weaknesses in Canadian laws and a lack of federal oversight at the Port of Vancouver, which have been exploited by transnational crime and money laundering organizations from China, Iran, and Mexico.

This significant bust comes at a time when Canada is under increased scrutiny from international allies over its role as a hub for the export of fentanyl and methamphetamine. The superlab takedown appears to align with serious concerns raised by lawmakers in Washington about how Canada and Mexico are being used by transnational crime organizations to distribute fentanyl worldwide.

A recent U.S. congressional report argues that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strategy relies less on overt military actions and more on covert tactics, including trafficking of fentanyl and leveraging money laundering, aimed at exploiting vulnerabilities across social, economic, and health domains.

“Fentanyl precursors are manufactured in China and shipped to Mexico and Canada. For precursors that arrive in Mexico, Chinese transnational mafias work with Mexican cartels to smuggle and distribute fentanyl in the United States on behalf of the CCP,” the report states. “The DEA confirmed Chinese transnational crime leaders hold government positions in the CCP and indicated that Chinese transnational crime organizations are dedicated to the CCP.”

“The public deserves to know about the CCP’s role in fentanyl production and how the Party is using fentanyl as a chemical weapon to kill Americans,” the report adds. It recommends that Washington publicly “blame the CCP as much as the DEA and its partners currently blame the Sinaloa Cartel” for fentanyl trafficking and urges the government to “educate international allies about CCP chemical warfare” and encourage them to condemn Chinese transnational crime.

According to congressional investigations, Beijing is actively incentivizing the export of fentanyl and methamphetamine worldwide. The report alleges that Chinese criminal organizations, including Triads led by individuals with official positions in the CCP, are working alongside Mexican cartels to generate profit to fund interference operations in America.

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