According to The Baltimore Sun:

“New security screening procedures will be tested at O’Hare International Airport starting this summer to allow pilots to speed through checkpoints without undergoing scans or pat-downs, officials said.

It’s a first step toward transitioning to a more logical risk-based screening and away from the current system of treating pilots and passengers as equal potential security threats, according to the Transportation Security Administration. 

Expedited screening of flight attendants, who undergo less rigorous security and background checks than pilots during the hiring process, will occur later, officials said.”

Really?  Hasn’t the TSA learned anything from the recent incident at Miami International Airport where an illegal immigrant from Guyana was found working as a flight attendant?  This person was able to get this job using a stolen identity and his deception was not uncovered during the background screening process – it only came to light after the identity theft victim attempted to apply for food stamps and was denied because government records matched his SSN to the airline job.

I think before the TSA grants less rigorous security to airline personnel, they need to work with the airlines to ensure incidents like this don’t happen! 

New screening will let pilots fly through security

It’s that time of year when the ice cream trucks start patrolling the streets looking for their target customers – kids on summer vacation.  I remember the excitement of hearing the ice cream truck coming and tearing across my front lawn into the house to ask my mother and father for a dollar to buy any one of my favorite ice cream treats - the pink panther ice cream bar with the bubblegum eyes, an orange sherbet push up, a red white and blue rocket popsicle…just to name a few.  But I can honestly say I never once thought about who I was buying that treat from! 

One of our neighboring counties is though - just in time to kick off the summer season.  While one could argue that conducting background checks on these drivers should have always been mandatory, it’s better late than never.  Here’s hoping other communities follow suit!

Summit County officials push for ice cream truck driver screenings

AKRON, Ohio – Summit County officials are considering tougher restrictions on ice cream truck drivers.

“It’s been brought to my attention, some of them could be selling drugs out of them or be sexual predators and is in close contact with your kids. To me, it just didn’t sit well,” said Summit County Council President Jerry Feeman.

Feeman is behind the legislation similar to city of Barberton, requiring drivers to get a background check before getting behind the wheel of an ice cream truck.

The drivers would also have to be fingerprinted by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Under the proposal, people with an offense against a child, a sex offense, recent drug, assault or weapons conviction, or a homicide conviction wouldn’t be given a license.

“I’m not a big fan of legislating, legislating different things, but it just makes sense,” Feeman said.

He said the proposal would cover only ice cream truck drivers and not affect other groups that fall under the solicitor category, like Boy Scouts or high school groups, selling door to door for fundraising.

Bob Tanner has been an ice cream man in Ohio for 20 years. He’s now selling his ice cream truck to focus on his other food business, but he agrees something should be done.

“It would probably be a wise idea, especially no violent felonies,” Tanner said.

Feeman told ONN the legislation should be passed Monday.

Somebody didn’t do their homework…

A London man was able to gain employment as the Deputy CEO of a Middle Eastern bank after a headhunting firm located his fictitious resume online.  His resume claimed degrees from both Harvard and Oxford as well as long term employment at one of the world’s top financial institutions – J.P. Morgan.  The headhunters forwarded the resume to their client who promptly interviewed and hired the fraudster.  It was only after they had flown him to the Middle East to meet their wealthiest clients that they discovered his lies.

A few simple inquiries into this person’s past prior to a job offer would have saved this bank a little bit of money and a lot of embarrassment.

Fraudster conned his way to top bank job

A conman used a fake CV to trick his way into becoming the £165,000-a-year deputy chief executive of a City investment bank, a court heard.

By Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent – London Evening Standard – 1/31/2011

Peter Gwinnell, 49, posted a résumé online which claimed he had degrees from Oxford and Harvard and had worked for JP Morgan for 20 years.

The fake was enough to convince City headhunters Connaught Partners to put him in touch with Ahli United Bank, which was looking for a new deputy chief executive, in the autumn of 2009. Gwinnell played the role of senior banker so well that after two interviews he was appointed to the job.

He worked for a month, flying out to the Middle East several times to meet wealthy clients and collecting £14,500 in salary. It was only when Ahli ran extra checks that it realised Gwinnell’s story was a lie.

In reality he was a convicted conman who had served six months in prison in the Nineties and had not attended either university, or worked at JP Morgan. Gwinnell, of Harrow, admitted a single count of fraud and was handed a 50-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Southwark crown court. Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC spared him an immediate jail term after hearing he had already spent 12 weeks in custody on remand, and was suffering from serious depression.

The judge instead ordered Gwinnell to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, 18 months of supervision with a probation officer and to continue to undergo treatment for his depression.

He also banned him from uploading a CV onto the internet without the court’s permission. Sentencing, he told Gwinnell: “Somehow or other you managed to convince Connaught Partners that you were a suitable candidate for employment by the bank.

“This offence was deliberately planned, and it caused loss, but also no doubt much trouble and aggravation, and quite obviously embarrassment to the bank who determined that you were suitable for employment.”

The court heard that even after Gwinnell was questioned by police, he sent a fraudulent CV to a Swiss bank before withdrawing the job application.

Bragging to your buddies about your days in the trenches doesn’t hurt anyone or anything, unless of course they find out you’re a big fat liar and your ego gets bruised.  Masquerading these lies as expertise and profiting from it, on the other hand, has a tremendously adverse effect on those supposed to benefit from your instruction – especially when those people are federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who need this knowledge in the event of an attack or disaster. 

This story can be added to our ever growing list of why you have to background check before you let someone in the front door.

Maryland Man Arrested for Allegedly Lying About Military Service

By Edmund DeMarche, FoxNews.com – 01/26/2011

A Jet Blue flight attendant quit his job in a very interesting way on Monday.  I’ll refrain from paraphrasing because I believe this article does it enough justice.  Should any future employer  conduct an employment verification with Jet Blue, he can pretty much bank on not receiving a good reference.  Not to mention he may also have to explain a stint in prison.  Best of luck buddy!

Cursing, beer and a popped chute as flight attendant quits

New York (CNN) — Call them the not-so-friendly skies.

A flight attendant cursed out passengers, grabbed a beer then triggered an emergency chute Monday at a JFK Airport terminal, authorities say.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said it “appears” Steven Slater was quitting.

“It’s a strange way to quit, let’s put it that way,” he said. “I don’t think he’ll be able to come back.”

Police arrested Slater for allegedly triggering the emergency escape chute, a spokeswoman for the district attorney said.

Slater was arrested at his home and charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, said Helen Peterson at the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

The incident took place just after the Jet Blue flight landed when a passenger stood to remove a bag from the overhead bin while the plane was still taxiing, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge said. A flight attendant exchanged words with the passenger, and the conversation escalated.

Slater picked up the intercom and used expletives directed at the passengers, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. It is not clear exactly what was said on the intercom. The source said that when the plane at stopped at the gate, Slater then grabbed some beer from the beverage cart before deploying the emergency slide and using it to leave the plane.

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The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, signed into law on December 20, 2006 by President George W. Bush, makes it illegal to falsely claim to be a recipient of military awards and medals handed out by Congress to military personnel.  A little over three years later, the constitutionality of this Act was challenged. 

Rick Strandlof, a Colorado man accused of posing as a Marine Captain and claimed to have received a Silver Star and Purple Heart during the Iraq War, argued that prosecution under the Stolen Valor Act violated his First Amendment right to free speech.  A district court judge agreed.

This isn’t the last we’ve heard on this issue as I’m sure the government is gearing up for an appeal.  However, it is important to point out that any claims of military honors can be verified by employers by requesting a copy of an applicant’s military records, commonly known as the DD Form 214.

Judge Says Constitution Protects Right to Lie About Purple Heart

By David Kravets,  Wired.com – July 19, 2010

A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a little-known law making it a crime to falsely claim to have been awarded a military medal.

A Colorado man who was never in the military was arrested for falsely claiming to have won the Purple Heart and other medals as a Marine in Iraq. He challenged the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which provides penalties up to a year in prison, on grounds it breached the First Amendment.

In the first ruling declaring the measure unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn agreed with defendant Rick Strandlof’s contention. The judge said the government’s defense of the act was “troubling” as well as “contrary, on multiple fronts, to well-established First Amendment doctrine” (.pdf). The Purple Heart is awarded to military personnel wounded or killed in “any action against an enemy of the United States.”

Dozens of defendants have been charged under the statute. The San Francisco–based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing the statute’s constitutionality in a case brought by a man sentenced to 400 hours of community service and fined $5,000.

The government, which is mulling an appeal, argued that the law should be upheld.

“By allowing anyone to claim to possess such decorations, could impact the motivation of soldiers to engage in valorous, and extremely dangerous, behavior on the battlefield,” the government wrote.

Judge Blackburn was not buying it.

“This wholly unsubstantiated assertion is, frankly, shocking, and indeed, unintentionally insulting to the profound sacrifices of military personnel the Stolen Valor Act purports to honor,” the judge ruled. “To suggest that the battlefield heroism of our servicemen and women is motivated in any way, let alone in a compelling way, by considerations of whether a medal may be awarded simply defies my comprehension.”

Strandlof told CNN last year that he lied about his record because, among other things, of a “severely underdiagnosed mental illness.”

Two judges in Centre county Pennsylvania have rescinded orders requiring local newspapers to destroy their archives of news reports about criminal cases the judges’ recently approved for expungement.  It is unclear how this stipulation worked its way into the courts’ orders but the defense attorney for the cases argued ““What’s the sense in having your record expunged if anyone can Google you and it comes up?”  While I understand the point he is trying to make, I don’t support trampling all over the First Amendment. 

The broken record continues to play –  this is yet another reason why employers should not rely on social media sites and Internet search engines as tools to conduct background checks on potential hires.  The information found could include facts about an applicant that cannot be taken into consideration when making the hiring decision.  And once you know something, it may prove difficult to unknow it, so to speak.

Win or Lose in Court, You Cannot Erase the News

By Gene Policinski, eNews Park Forest – July 13, 2010

Sometimes the meaning of the 45 words of the First Amendment seems to escape even those trained in the law.

In Pennsylvania last week, two judges in Centre County — home to Penn State University — signed off on what generally are standard instructions to police and other agencies to expunge certain official records of five people involved in criminal investigations.

But the orders, thanks to the defense attorney for the five, also required that two area newspapers erase archived news reports about the defendants, who faced charges ranging from assault to drug possession.

“Imagine getting such an order, right before the July 4th holiday,” said Bob Heisse, executive editor of the Centre Daily Times, one of the newspapers involved.

Both judges have now voided the orders, but news reports now say as many as 41 orders presented to the court by defense attorney Joe Amendola included similar demands of news organizations.

“What’s the sense in having your record expunged if anyone can Google you and it comes up?” Amendola told the Centre Daily Times. The lawyer, in later news reports, said the newspapers were added to the orders without his knowledge, by a staffer in his office.

Regardless of how the newspapers came to be included in the various court orders, what makes “sense” is to report — and retain those reports — on arrests and court recordings, whether it’s the era of Google or in earlier times when the nation’s Founders took care to provide for an independent news media.

Yes, none of us likely would look forward to having our name or face in a newspaper, on a website or on TV if we were to be arrested and face trial. And there surely is a certain amount of pain and shame in having those facts come up in an online search later in life.

But, as Heisse said, “Facts are facts, and we don’t go back and alter the historical record to suit someone.” Elizabeth Murphy, editor in chief of the second newspaper involved, the Daily Collegian, said it “is a record of history as it happens from day-to-day. … We’re here to report the facts as they are and that’s what we did.”

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Tennessee Circuit Court Judge Jim Hamilton is accused of expunging the criminal records of two convicted felons when he did not possess the authority to do so.  This was only discovered after employees of the Sheriff’s office recognized one of the felons names on a request for a gun permit and could not locate his records.  The District Attorney in Maury County is  looking to reinstate those convictions immediately.

A criminal record that has been expunged would not show up on a background check.  Expunging a record from a person’s criminal history means that it’s gone, it never happened.  Typically, serious criminal convictions do not qualify for the expungement process.  This story does not indicate what crimes these two individuals committed, but does say that the individual applying for the firearm was convicted three times and served time in prison.  That sounds pretty serious to me.

This judge has some explaining to do.

Judge Accused of Illegally Expunging Criminal Records

By Nick Beres, NewsChannel5.com – July 7, 2010

COLUMBIA, Tenn. –Senior Maury County Circuit Court Judge Jim Hamilton is accused of illegally wiping the records clean for felons. Now, District Attorney Mike Bottoms wants to know why.

“We’ve got a judge who is granting pardons and he doesn’t have that power,” said District Attorney Mike Bottoms.

Bottoms has filed lawsuits to reinstate the criminal records of two men with multiple felonies. His petition reads: “The state seeks to have illegal orders of expungement set aside …. The judge who signed the expungement orders was without the legal authority to do so.”

Bottoms said Hamilton illegally expunged the felony records of Phillip Williams and Rodney Gillespie. Typically expungement orders have the approval of the district attorney, defense attorneys and the judge. But in both cases, the orders only had Hamilton’s signature.

Hamilton was on vacation and unavailable for comment. Newschannel5 questioned the Circuit Court Clerk Kathy Kelley.

“Mike Bottoms is alleging the judge gives pardons to felons,” said NewsChannel 5′s Nick Beres.

“I don’t know anything about this,” said Kelley.

“Does Judge Hamilton expunge records illegally?” asked Beres.

“Not to my knowledge,” answered Kelley.

Bottoms called this a public safety issue. He says one of the men involved, Gillespie, was already taking steps to get a gun.

“I was shocked that someone convicted three times and served time in a penitentiary could have his record expunged. And now he has a gun permit,” said Bottoms.

At this moment, Gillespie and Williams are no longer felons. Their records have been cleared. Bottoms said they can buy guns, vote, even apply for jobs in law enforcement.

Gillespie and Williams could not be reached for comment.

Bottoms said there’s no indication Hamilton was bribed for the expungements. So his reasons for granting the expungements remain unclear. It’s all part of a growing investigation that may now include the TBI.

Bottoms said he only learned of the expungements after Gillespie applied for the gun permit and employees at the Maury county sheriff’s department recognized his name, but couldn’t find his record.

Bottoms said he worries there may be others who have received similar pardons.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a convicted sex offender in Alabama did not by law have to register in the state of Indiana because his conviction pre-dates the 2006 passage of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).   Thomas Carr, convicted in Alabama in 2004 of first degree sexual abuse of a minor, was arrested in Indiana and faced a 30 month prison sentence for failing to register as a sex offender in that state.  Carr took his case to the Supreme Court arguing that since his conviction pre-dated the SORNA law, imprisoning him for not registering would be unconstitutional.  The Supreme Court agreed.

One of the reasons the Justice’s agreed with Carr was the use of the word “travel” in the language of the Act.  Congress used the present tense of the word (travels), not the past tense (traveled) when referring to sex offenders who move from state to state.  In the Justice’s opinion, if Congress had wanted to make registration requirements retroactive, they would have used the word “traveled.” 

A very big mistake on Congress’ part or too narrow of a reading of the law?  Perhaps both.  Either way, a hard hit to law enforcement and the general public.

So, yet another very valid reason that running a background check in an applicant’s state of residence alone is not a good policy.  If Carr had applied for a position with a company in Indiana that only conducted state of residence background checks, they would not have known about his sex offender status in Alabama.  If running state of residence only checks, employers may miss some very key components of their applicants’ past that could alter their hiring decision by 180 degrees.

Registry law doesn’t apply to all sex offenders, Supreme Court rules

A sex offender who moved from Alabama to Indiana in 2004 does not have to register with authorities because his move predates the registry law Congress enacted in 2006, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

By Warren Richey – June 1, 2010

A national sex offender registry law does not apply to interstate travel by a sex offender that took place before Congress passed the registry statute in 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

In a 6-to-3 decision, the high court rejected the Obama administration’s expansive reading of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Instead, the majority justices embraced a narrower view of the law, while overturning a convicted sex offender’s 30-month prison sentence for traveling to another state and failing to register.

The decision triggered a heated dissent by three justices who warned that the ruling will impair the ability of law enforcement officials to locate and register some 100,000 convicted sex offenders who have eluded authorities.

“Under the court’s interpretation, the many sex offenders who had managed to avoid pre-existing registration regimes, mainly by moving from one state to another before SORNA’s enactment, are placed beyond the reach of the federal criminal laws,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote.

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Usually when we talk about fake degrees, we are referring to diploma or degree mills.  There have been many stories in the news as of late about people using academic credentials purchased by these “schools” to either land a job or obtain a higher position or pay.  In addition to the issuing the diploma or degree, many of these institutions offer to verify their “authenticity” in order to make their product seem like the real deal. 

In this story, however, the degree this individual claimed was not from a diploma mill – it was from the University of Miami.  Apparently this guy thought it would be a good idea forge a degree document from the school, photocopy it and submit it to a potential employer in order to land a $127,932/year paying position.  All it took was one phone call to the University of Miami to find out he had never attended the college.  He now faces one charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument and three charges of offering a false instrument for filing.  If convicted, he could end up serving an 11-year prison sentence.

BUSTED: Sanitation construction project manager arrested for submitting a fake degree

Myles Miller, NY City Hall Examiner – May 26, 2010

MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO COLLEGE.

The Department of Investigation arrested city Sanitation Department construction project manager Bernard Feraca, 57 of Bronxville, NY for using a “fake academic degree to land a high paying City job”, according to DOI Commissioner Rose Gil Hearn.

Feraca, who submitted a fake Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Miami, was charged today with criminal possession of a forged instrument and three counts of offering a false instrument for filing. If convicted, Feraca could face 11 years in prison. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., has assigned ADA Peter Rienzi to prosecute this case.

Fereca, joined the Department of Sanitation in February 2010, and was assigned to the Engineering Support Services unit.

His city salary was $127,932; he has been suspended without pay.

Under a city policy the DOI conducts a thorough background check of roughly 2,000 employees annually who are promoted to management positions, earn more than $80,000 annually and deal with city contracts or  super sensitive city computer programs.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court a DOI “investigation found that on January 22nd, 2010, the defendant submitted to DSNY a photocopy of his purported Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.”

The investigation proved there was no record of Feraca ever being a student at the University of Miami.
On Feraca’s Facebook page he has two friends who went to the University of Miami, and lists among his likes “Big Prize Giveaways.”

This is the latest in a series of bogus diplomas and degrees from city employees. In 2007, a DOI report showed the submission of “bogus degrees” in the Fire Department. That investigation resulted in “14 disciplinary actions and improved verification procedures at the FDNY” according to the Department of Investigation.