Archives: October2014

Multi-agency effort including St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office leads to arrests, $425,000 cash seizure and weapon

A felon on probation supervision is off the streets and facing new charges after officers with the New Orleans Probation and Parole District Office (NOD) and other agencies including the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office recently found a weapon and more than $425,000 in cash at his residence.

NOD officers, working in conjunction with the area’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Taskforce, arrested Gross Williams, 47, of New Orleans, who was on probation supervision for a conviction of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Williams was one of several individuals targeted in the sweep that focused on drug trafficking in the New Orleans East area from Sept. 22-24. The St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division, New Orleans Police and the Louisiana State Police also participated in the taskforce sweep.

Taskforce officers first located Williams at his business, Boss Auto Sales, in Arabi. Williams admitted to having more than $10,000 in cash on him at the time but no drugs or weapons. A narcotics dog working with the taskforce “alerted” on the money, indicating the presence of narcotics.

A search of the business didn’t net any drugs or weapons but NOD officers had sufficient suspicion to continue searching at Williams’ residence. There, officers located a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and $425,905 in cash. Williams was arrested on a weapons charge and faces a probation revocation hearing.

NOD and taskforce officers conducted several other checks on individuals under supervision, with the sweep netting four arrests, including three for supervision violations, three weapons, marijuana, cocaine and a total of $436,325 in cash.

NOD District Administrator Frank Palestina said collaborative law enforcement efforts such as this one are making a difference. “We all have information and resources that, when collectively pooled, lead to positive outcomes for law enforcement and the community.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Keith Brown said, “Drug trafficking and the cash it generates are at the center of a large number of the violent crimes that happen in New Orleans every day. I wish to commend the dedicated officers of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections – Probation and Parole Division, the New Orleans Police Department, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Louisiana State Police for coming together with the men and women of DEA in a single, unified objective: to make New Orleans and the surrounding area a safer and better place.’’

“These arrests are a direct result of the successful partnership the NOPD shares with local, regional and federal law enforcement agencies,” said interim New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison. “These individuals are known to play a role in drug trafficking and gun violence in New Orleans East and, thanks to this coordinated effort, they are now off the streets. We will continue to work together to pursue dangerous individuals who threaten the safety of our neighborhoods.”

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California woman and man arrested in Chalmette in stolen rental vehicle, carrying numerous fraudulent credit cards and she had a false driver’s license in the name of a nationally known author in California

A California woman with a history of arrests for identity theft and forgery and a man were arrested in Chalmettte in a stolen rental car and carrying numerous fraudulent credit cards, while she also had a false driver’s license in the name of a nationally known author and speaker in California, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Kian Lashawn Cobb. 33, of Emeryville, Calif., is being held in St. Bernard Parish Prison in lieu of bond set at $265,000 and Justin Merriwether-Phillips, 35, of Oakland is jailed in lieu of $100,000 bond.

“This woman has used various names at various times and has multiple felony convictions in several states involving identity theft, forgery and use of stolen access cards,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “She is a traveling criminal who has worked the Interstate 10 corridor from California to Florida.’’

Cobb has lived on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish and also claimed to have lived in Chalmette, the sheriff said.

Sheriff’s detectives handling the investigation have also notified the U.S. Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service because of the nature of the charges, which includes 25 counts of access device fraud involving fraudulent credit cards with re-encoded information, theft of checks from the United States Treasury and identity theft.

Deputies with the sheriff’s Special Investigations Division initially stopped Cobb and Merriwether-Phillips on Sept. 8 as she drove a stolen rental vehicle in Chalmette.

The vehicle stopped in Chalmette had been rented using the stolen identity of nationally known author and speaker Jill Lublin of California and Cobb had a fraudulent California driver’s license with Lublin’s name on it but with Cobb’s photo, the sheriff said.

Follow-up investigation by sheriff’s detectives has also revealed Lublin’s stolen ID and stolen access card data was also used in Wheeler, Texas, in Jefferson Parish and in Destin, Fla.

Both Cobb and Merriwether-Phillips were booked with access device fraud as well as possession of the stolen vehicle, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was also booked with misrepresenting her identity when arrested.

Cobb was also later booked with two counts of theft of U. S. Treasury checks totaling $11,302 and two additional counts of identity theft.

During the investigation, it was determined the two stolen Social Security checks were recently cashed at a check-cashing business in St. Bernard Parish. Both checks were stolen from persons in Alabama and each of the stolen checks were presented with a stolen, forged or counterfeit Alabama identification of the identity theft victim, the sheriff said.

Both Alabama victims have reported their identity as being stolen to their local law enforcement agencies in their area.

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