(NEW YORK) — A New York man who allegedly faked his own death last year in an attempt to avoid sentencing on felony charges was ultimately thwarted by a typo on his forged death certificate, prosecutors said this week.
Robert Berger, 25, of Huntington, Long Island, was charged Tuesday with offering a false instrument for filing, a felony.
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said the typo, along with formatting errors, alerted officials that Berger allegedly forged the death certificate “to avoid accountability for other crimes.”
“Submitting fake documents to prosecutors is always a bad idea, and while he’d have been caught regardless, failure to use spell check made this alleged fraud especially glaring,” she said.
According to Singas, Berger was supposed to be sentenced in Nassau County on Oct. 22, 2019, after pleading guilty to two felony charges, but then his attorney’s office notified the court that Berger had died. The following week, his then-attorney provided the Nassau County District Attorney with a New Jersey death certificate in order to dismiss the pending sentences, officials said. The death certificate stated that Berger had died of suicide by suffocation one month prior, on Sept. 21.
Upon inspection, prosecutors noticed discrepancies in the font type and size throughout the document, and, glaringly, that the word “Registry” was misspelled as “Regsitry” for the issuer, the New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry. A call to the department confirmed that the certificate was fraudulent, officials said.
According to prosecutors, Berger’s fiancée allegedly gave the lawyer the death certificate. Upon the discovery of the alleged forgery, the lawyer, who told the court he believed he was used to perpetrate fraud, ended his representation, officials said. The district attorney did not indicate in a press release if the fiancée has also been charged in the alleged forgery scheme.
While supposedly dead, Berger was arrested on Nov. 14, 2019, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, for charges including providing a false identity to law enforcement, Nassau County prosecutors said. He was being held at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility and was extradited to Nassau County earlier this year and remanded, officials said.
Berger faces up to four years in prison for the forgery charge. His bail was set at $1 at his arraignment on Tuesday, but he remains remanded on the two prior charges — possession of a stolen Lexus and attempted grand larceny of a truck — prosecutors said. He has not entered a plea for the latest charge and is due back in court on July 29.
ABC News was unable to reach the public defender who is now representing his cases.
(WASHINGTON) — The logistics of getting even one can of pinto beans into the hands of a hungry family is no small feat, but an army of volunteers in the nation’s capital is banding together to make it happen.
Those beans, and thousands of pounds of other food, often arrive via freight truck to the Capital Area Food Bank, which has seen skyrocketing demand over the last few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nobody likes to ask for help to be able to put food on the table,” Capital Area Food Bank CEO Radha Muthiah told ABC News, standing in the nonprofit’s 100,000-square-foot warehouse in northeast Washington, D.C.
“But to put this in perspective, in the month of April, we purchased about 100 truckloads of food. And that is about three times what we purchased in the entire last year,” she continued, as employees zoomed around her moving food pallets on fork lifts.
The food bank has also seen a rise in callers to its “Hunger Lifeline,” where people can find out where to get food locally.
“People start by almost apologizing, you know, before they find out where they need to go to get food,” said Muthiah. “Often people are saying, ‘I’m sorry I have to call; I’m sorry that I need to avail myself of the food that you’re providing. In fact, in the past, I may have been a donor to you, you know, or I volunteered with you, but I am in need now.'”
After the food bank receives pallets of donations, the group divides them up among partners like Martha’s Table, a nonprofit in Washington that is helping to distribute the food directly to the individual. Before COVID-19, the organization was focused on education, creating healthy food options and job opportunities, but has since been forced to focus almost solely on community food needs.
Some volunteers, like 25-year-old Ian Yanusko, are taking advantage of their work-from-home schedules to help their neighbors.
“When COVID started, The Washington Post had a great article detailing different ways to get involved around the district,” said Yanusko, “and that made me think about the privilege that I have and how I can best use this time when a lot of people are struggling economically.”
Jason Tankersley retired just prior to the pandemic and was looking for a way to fill his free time while also giving back.
“I’m old enough to remember 9/11, and after 9/11, everything seemed to change,” said Tankersley. “There was a real shift in public opinion, and, you know, the spirit of ‘we’re all in this together.'”
Martha’s Table volunteers bring in the beans and other food, dividing it up into individual plastic bags. The bags are then transported back into a van and driven back to northeast D.C. to be handed out to the needy the next day.
Sequoya Pollard was a teacher at Martha’s Table before the pandemic hit, but now oversees the distribution of food at the group’s Maycroft location in Columbia Heights.
“The one thing that I do like about Martha’s Table is that we help people where they are. A lot of times, people can have a job, go to school, have a career. Unfortunately, rent is so expensive in D.C. The one thing that someone might have to sacrifice is putting food on the table,” said Pollard, as a bag containing the pinto beans is handed to a D.C. resident behind her.
“I hope that this whole COVID-19 really opens people’s eyes to see that there are truly people out here who are hungry, who need food, who need help,” she added. “These people are our neighbors, they live right here in the city with us, and they’re struggling.”
(NEW YORK) — Scientists are flocking to Florida’s Gulf Coast for a glimpse of a mysterious 425-feet-deep “blue hole” on the ocean floor.
The glowing mystery hole, about 155 feet below the water’s surface, is similar to the sinkholes seen on solid land, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The site, dubbed the “Green Banana,” has been a hot topic for scientists and deep-sea explorers who’ve been hoping for a glimpse of the phenomenon from afar.
Surprisingly, the first reports of blue holes came from fishermen and recreational divers, not scientists or researchers. In general, the holes appear to host diverse biological communities full of marine life, including corals, sponges, mollusks, sea turtles and sharks.
NOAA scientists already have collected 17 water samples from the area surrounding the hole along with four sediment samples.
Remarkably, they also discovered two dead but intact smalltooth sawfish, an endangered species, at the bottom of the hole, according to NOAA. Remains of one of the animals were recovered for examination.
NOAA scientists plan to embark on a new mission to a second, deeper area of the hole in August. That mission will consist of a team of scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida Atlantic University, Georgia Institute of Technology and the U.S. Geological Society, according to NOAA.
Researchers are interested in studying the seawater chemistry in the holes for its unique qualities.
“Little is known about blue holes due to their lack of accessibility and unknown distribution and abundance,” NOAA said in a statement. “The opening of a blue hole can be several hundred feet underwater, and for many holes, the opening is too small for an automated submersible.”
Researchers don’t know much about blue holes, but scientists are hoping to learn if the holes are connected to Florida’s groundwater or if there is groundwater intrusion into the Gulf of Mexico.
They’re also looking to see if a particular blue hole is secreting nutrients or harbors microenvironments or new species of microbes.
ABCBy KRISTOFER RIOS, MARJORIE MCAFEE, NEIL GIARDINO, ZOE LAKE, JOHN KAPETANEAS, and ANTHONY RIVAS
(PORTLAND) — Garrison Davis, a 17-year-old videographer and citizen journalist in Portland, Oregon, has documented the city’s Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality nearly every night since they began more than 50 days ago following the death of George Floyd.
Over the weekend, he posted images on Twitter of a group of moms who had created what they called a “Wall of Moms” to protect protesters. On the other side of their barrier, however, were not the city’s own police force, but rather federal authorities. A few hours after they’d formed the wall, the moms were among protesters who were tear gassed by these agents during violent clashes.
Some of the federal agents in Portland are part of a Department of Homeland Security task force established to respond to the growing protests and acts of civil disobedience that have occurred across the country. The U.S. Marshals Service, which operates under the Department of Justice and partners with the DHS’ Federal Protective Service to protect federal properties, had also been sent to the city. The DHS said these forces were there to protect the federal properties from “criminal acts of violence and vandalism.”
But as violence between the federal authorities and protesters increases, questions about their use of force and whether federal agents should be there in the first place have emerged.
“What’s going on here isn’t the federal government coming in to address real needs,” said Vera Eidelman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. “There are real needs elsewhere. It’s the government miscasting protesters as violent criminals and trying to scare people from going out and protesting police brutality.”
Davis told ABC News the federal agents began arriving around the Fourth of July and that within days he “saw Portland police pull back and the federal officers really take over trying to quell the protests.”
Those on the ground, however, say the federal agents have only inflamed tensions.
“The federal response, I think, caught a lot of people off guard,” said Davis. “A lot of people here were not ready for that. Protesters weren’t ready for that. Journalists were not expecting this to happen. So I think that definitely caught a lot of people off guard.”
Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, told ABC News that “every night we have violence — we have rocks, bottles, bioweapons thrown at us. … And we are showing great restraint.” He also called for the federal authorities to work “in concert with local police.”
“Right now, that’s not happening and that concerns me,” he said.
“I heard the impact. I heard him fall. I was standing like 10 feet away,” said Davis. “I immediately turned to the side and I saw his body just on the ground, just blood pouring from his head. People were grabbing him, pulling him into the park to get medical treatment. … His body was limp. His head bobbing around. He was taken to the hospital. His skull was fractured. … It’s that kind of unnecessary display of violence that didn’t accomplish anything and wasn’t a response to anything.”
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon also raised alarms last week when he tweeted a video that had circulated online showing agents pulling up to arrest a protester in what appeared to be an unmarked van.
Mark Pettibone, another protester, says he too was taken by federal agents in an unmarked van and that he still doesn’t know why he was detained.
“We were stopped by a smaller group of protesters … and they warned us that there had been some vans that they saw driving around, basically snatching up protesters that were by themselves, away from larger crowds — kind of vulnerable,” Pettibone, 29, said. “And within seconds of them warning us about that, sure enough, one pulled up right in front of us. So I fled.”
Pettibone said he ran because he had “no idea who these people were.” They were dressed in unmarked military gear and they did not state why they were stopping the protesters, he said.
“So I feared for my life and I ran. They eventually caught up with me and pulled me into the van,” Pettibone said, adding that the men who grabbed him pulled his hat down over his eyes as they searched for weapons.
Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli said Tuesday that federal agents had been deployed to Portland after 35 to 40 straight days of violence during which “we obtained intelligence that the federal facilities there were going to be targeted and were going to see directed violence.”
He said that officers were sent to help the base officers already present at these facilities and claimed the intelligence was correct. “Over the Fourth of July weekend, when we had advanced other officers to Portland, there were additional assaults on the individuals and the facilities themselves.”
Cuccinelli said that “as long as the violence continues at that level associated with federal facilities, we’ll have to maintain our elevated presence.” He also said all federal agents are in uniform.
“The same protesters are coming night after night. They all recognize them as uniformed and all of our agents that you’ve seen interact with any of these crowds have their insignia on their sleeves — they’re identified as police front and back — so Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection or Federal Protective Service. They are all clearly marked. They all identify themselves to individuals with whom they are interacting. For instance, if they are seizing somebody because they match the description of someone who assaulted a law enforcement officer, they identify themselves as federal agents immediately upon addressing that person. So that’s going on on a regular basis — that’s standard procedure.”
The incidents involving protesters being pulled into unmarked vehicles caught the attention of 53-year-old Christopher David, a U.S. Navy veteran, who said he was shocked by the agents’ actions.
“I saw the video of the men in combat fatigues with no insignia abducting citizens off the streets of Portland and stuffing them into unmarked vans,” David said. “And I was very concerned about that because if the federal government can do that, anybody can go to the store and … acquire used combat fatigues … get an unmarked minivan and then go off and abduct people off the streets. And we don’t know whether that’s the federal government or just a bunch of civilians playing dress up.”
David dressed in his old Naval Academy sweatshirt Saturday night when he attended the protests. He said he had hoped to start a dialogue with the federal agents, and remind them of their responsibility to defend American citizens and the Constitution.
“I took the oath of office — the oath of the Constitution — extremely seriously, and I know that all federal employees do as well, including those men who are down there attacking people and gassing people in downtown Portland,” David said. “And I wanted to ask them why they were no longer honoring their oath of office, why they were no longer honoring the Constitution, because what they were doing was blatantly unconstitutional.”
David wouldn’t see federal agents for most of the night, during which he said the protests were mostly peaceful. However, just as he was thinking about going home, he said eight to 10 of them came “rushing” out of the courthouse to confront a group of protesters.
“I had been standing in the park across from the courthouse when that happened,” he said. “So I walked into the street right in front of the courthouse. … And after they got done with that group, chasing them off, they came to me and surrounded me, and I started trying to talk to them. I said, ‘Why are you dishonoring your oath to the Constitution? Why are you doing unconstitutional things?'”
MORE: Oregon attorney general announces lawsuit against federal agents for their tactics on protesters David said that as the officers approached him, one of them “about 3 feet away” pointed a semiautomatic weapon at his chest.
“Then another officer came and plowed into me … he knocked me off balance,” David said. “Then I plant myself right there. I’m going to stand my ground right there.”
David said he knew the federal agents were going to beat him. “So I put my hands down and I just took it,” he said. He suffered a broken hand in two places and was treated by medics on site before being taken to the hospital, he said.
“I wasn’t a real person. I was a target with that guy,” he said. “When that little dude started whacking me with his baton, I really wonder what he was thinking at that moment.”
David said he still doesn’t know who they are or what agency they’re from, and that he only saw alphanumeric codes on a little patch on their clothing.
Richard Cline, deputy director of the DHS’ Federal Protective Service, said during a press conference Tuesday that the incident involving David was being investigated.
The U.S. Marshals, whose officers were involved in the incident, told ABC News in part that their actions were based upon the circumstances at the time of the incident and that the deputies believed that the force used was necessary to protect themselves and others from physical harm.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was among six mayors from across the U.S. on Monday who signed a letter demanding the federal government remove its agents from their cities, calling their deployment to the protests “unacceptable” and “chilling” and accusing Trump of “terror tactics.”
Wheeler told ABC News he wants federal authorities removed before the violence goes too far.
“Your presence here isn’t wanted,” he told ABC News of the federal agents. “It is clearly ratcheting up the violence and the vandalism. Local and state law enforcement can handle this, and we need you to leave right now before somebody dies.”
After months of unrest, the clashes in Portland seem far from over. But there is still hope about where the movement will lead next.
“I want to use my 15 minutes to put out a message to my fellow vets,” David said. “I also want to use my 15 minutes to try to refocus this whole discussion back to Black Lives Matter.”
(WASHINGTON) — A Raytheon engineer who “endangered national security” was sentenced Wednesday to 1 1/2 years in prison.
Ahmed Serageldin had worked on a radar system used to defend against ballistic missiles and had pleaded guilty to keeping classified national defense documents about that system at his home without authorization.
Serageldin apologized for his behavior in court Wednesday.
“I was sloppy, but I have always been loyal to my job and to the country,” Serageldin said before the sentence was handed down.
Federal prosecutors in Boston had asked for five years in prison.
“He took over 3,100 digital documents,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Garland said, adding he also took more than 100 physical documents. More than 500 of those documents were labeled classified and “exposed” to anyone who wanted to see them.
“Defendant deserves this serious sentence because he deliberately endangered national security, at the very least by keeping national defense information where it was viewable and available to others,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
The judge said five years was too much and questioned whether the offense was as serious as prosecutors portrayed.
“You have no evidence that he actually transmitted it to a foreign power,” said Judge Patti Saris.
“That is correct we do not have that evidence,” Garland replied.
“That’s very important,” Saris said. “He’s not a trader or a spy. He basically misused classified information in his home.”
Defense attorneys called Serageldin, 67, of Sharon, Massachusetts, a “loyal American” who deserved nothing more than three years probation.
“He didn’t transfer secret documents anywhere,” defense attorney George Vien said. “He worked on them at home.”
Capt. Jason Hall, who oversees the Dual Band Radar for the United States Navy, told the judge that Serageldin’s conduct “could degrade the effectiveness” of the radar system.
“Compromise of this sensitive technical information would diminish the strategic advantage of successor radars,” Hall said.
While Saris said Serageldin intended no harm, she cited the volume of documents he kept at home when she imposed her 18-month sentence.
“I don’t think you intentionally harmed the United States, but you put it at risk,” the judge said.
Johnrob/iStockBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News
