Fugitive Alters Fingerprints to Avoid Arrest

Boston, Mass. - Today, Freddie Davila was arraigned in Federal Court in Boston, on charges for re-entry after deportation and is currently awaiting sentencing. Davila was arrested on June 9, by Customs and Border Protection Officers from the port of Boston Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team outbound division, when it was discovered that Davila had altered his fingerprints to avoid arrest.

Davila was boarding a flight to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, when he was stopped and questioned by CBP officers. When resources permit, CBP conducts departure/outbound examinations for compliance of documentary and other regulatory requirements, focusing on currency, weapons, export violations, and fugitives exiting the U.S. In this case, CBP officers determined that Davila’s fingerprints appeared to have been altered and determined that further investigation was necessary.

Additional inquiries conducted by CBP officers into his past travel history and the documents he presented in the name of R. M. Mejia indicated that the passenger may not be who he says he is. Further inspection determined that Davila may have altered his fingerprints in order to avoid apprehension. A subsequent background check indicated Davila has multiple arrest warrants for distribution/dispensing of class B, a controlled narcotic. It was also discovered that Davila had been previously ordered formally removed from the U.S. but failed to depart and instead decided to unlawfully remain in the U.S.

Davila is being processed to re-instate his previous order of deportation and is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals awaiting sentencing. If convicted, Davila faces up to two year in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and one year of supervised probation.

“Through the use of law enforcement databases and various inspection techniques, this arrest demonstrates CBP’s commitment to protecting our homeland from all threats,” said Director of Field Operations Kevin Weeks. “I commend our officers for their vigilance in determining the true identity of this individual and the discrepancies with his travel documents.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

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Biometric Sharing Initiative: Making the World Safer

Known or suspected terrorists. Transnational criminals. Both threaten not only U.S. security but the security of nations around the world.

One way to help reduce this threat is for nations to share fingerprints and other kinds of biometric information on terrorist-related subjects and international criminals who’ve had previous brushes with law enforcement. Here in the U.S., the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division—through its Foreign Biometric Exchange program— serves as the centralized collection point for foreign fingerprint records and other biometric data.

Actually, the Bureau has been exchanging fingerprints internationally for nearly 80 years (see previous story), primarily in criminal matters. But after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, the U.S. Attorney General specifically directed the FBI to obtain and maintain fingerprints and other biometrics for known and suspected terrorists processed by foreign law enforcement agencies. We then expanded the initiative to include international criminals, who, like terrorists, routinely cross national borders to commit their crimes and often use aliases.

The Foreign Biometric Exchange program is coordinated by CJIS’s Global Initiatives Unit. Says Gary Wheeler, who heads up the unit, “Our mission is two-fold—in addition to collecting and analyzing the data we receive, we also offer assistance to nations who want to develop their own automated biometric systems that meet international standards.” To accomplish both tasks, unit personnel work with our International Operations Division at FBI headquarters, our legal attaché officers overseas, and sometimes INTERPOL and other U.S. federal agencies. 

How it all works

If a nation is interested in participating, we first assess its fingerprint capabilities through surveys and on-site visits. Then we determine what, if any, assistance we can provide in terms of equipment—like mobile fingerprint devices—and training in areas like basic fingerprinting and identification, crime scene preservation, and latent print collection.

Once we begin receiving data from a global partner—either in batches or on a case-by-case basis—we run their fingerprints (both known and unknown) against our Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Currently, IAFIS contains records of approximately 67 million criminal subjects, including known or suspected terrorists, military detainees, and international criminals.

If there’s a match in IAFIS, we notify the submitting nation. If there’s no match, a new IAFIS record can be created and included in future searches requested by international, national, and perhaps most importantly, local law enforcement officers who are our first line of defense against threats to public safety.

Since 2002, the Global Initiatives Unit has developed relationships with more than 50 countries and has received over 450,000 biometric records that have been added to IAFIS.

Success Story: Mexico

Earlier this year, CJIS provided fingerprints belonging to more than 200 FBI fugitives with violent criminal histories for comparison against the Mexico fingerprint system; in return, Mexico provided nearly 100 prints relating to high-ranking drug cartel members and prison escapees to be run against the FBI’s IAFIS.

The results? Of the records provided by the FBI to Mexico, nearly 20 percent of the fugitives had previously been arrested in Mexico, while more than a quarter of the records Mexico provided to the FBI revealed existing U.S. records.

And in the past couple of years—while working specific cases involving fingerprint exchanges—we’ve returned to Mexico dangerous fugitives who fled to the U.S., including two men wanted separately for child murders, one wanted for rape and murder, and five escapees from a Mexican prison.

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Digital Forensics: Regional Labs Help Solve Local Crimes

In 2008, Illinois police received disturbing information about a Chicago woman who had taken a 3-year-old to a “sex party” in Indiana where the child and an 11-year-old girl were abused by three adults. However, by the time the tip was received, the crime had already occurred, and there seemed to be no evidence to support criminal charges.

But there was evidence, buried deep within the woman’s computer, and examiners from our Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (RCFL) in Chicago found it—a deleted e-mail titled “map to the party” that contained directions to an Indiana hotel. The evidence led to charges against all three adults, who were later convicted of aggravated sexual abuse and are currently in prison serving life sentences.

“That’s just one example of what we do every day,” said John Dziedzic, a Cook County Sheriff’s Office forensic examiner who is the director of the Chicago RCFL. “Evidence we produce here—and testify to in court—is crucial in a variety of major investigations.”

The FBI established the first RCFL in San Diego in 2000, and today there 16 Bureau-sponsored labs located around the country, staffed by agents and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies (see sidebar).

Each facility is a full-service forensics laboratory and training center devoted to examining digital evidence in support of investigations—everything from child pornography and terrorism to violent crime and economic espionage cases.

Using sophisticated tools and technology, RCFLs analyze evidence from all kinds of electronic devices, including computers, cell phones, video game consoles, and even reel-to-reel tapes.

“Anything that can store data electronically can be analyzed,” said Special Agent Justin Poirier, deputy director of the Chicago RCFL.

RCFL examiners—all certified by the FBI—specialize in locating encrypted, deleted, or damaged file information that could be used as evidence in an investigation.

“Digital evidence has become part of just about every type of investigation,” Poirier said, “because today everybody uses computers and portable electronics such as cell phones.”

The benefit of having a regional forensic facility, he added, is that the FBI can bring its expertise and training directly to where it is needed.

“The idea is to create regional resources,” Poirier explained. “We train the state and local examiners, who make a three-year commitment to the RCFL. When they return to their agencies, they have expertise and access they didn’t have before. And in the process, we build lasting relationships with our regional partners.”

Dziedzic added, “Instead of sending evidence to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, we can analyze it much faster here in our own backyard.”

Chicago’s RCFL was established in 2003 and consists of five FBI employees and 13 examiners from agencies including the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It is the only digital forensics lab in Illinois to be accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board.

“Accreditation is the gold standard when it comes to prosecuting cases and testifying in court,” Dziedzic said. “It means that we operate at the highest professional standards.”

“Criminals are using more sophisticated electronic methods to commit crimes,” Poirier said. “This regional approach to digital forensics—pairing the Bureau with local law enforcement to collaborate on cases—is the future for law enforcement. It really works.”

RCFL By the Numbers

The Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory program, a national initiative funded and administered by the FBI, recently released its annual report for fiscal year 2010. Below are a few of the program’s accomplishments. For more information, read the entire report.

- Number of RCFLs nationwide: 16

- Participating agencies: 130, from 17 states

- Examinations conducted: 6,564

- Examiner court testimony: 80

- Computer hard drives processed: 57,067

- Agencies making requests: 722

- Training conducted: 7,403 law enforcement personnel.

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Free Continuing Education for Forensic Professionals Program

The NIJ-sponsored 2011 Summer Continuing Education for Forensic Professionals Program will be held August 22-27, 2011, in Jackson Hole, Wy.

When: August 22-27, 2011

Where: Jackson Hole, Wy.

Cost: Courses are free as is lodging for all approved attendees. Travel costs also will be covered for the first 100 people who register (1 person per agency location).

Registration: Opens at noon on June 1, 2011, and all courses will be filled first come, first served.

Description: The Program will be a week of training with 22 different courses that cover a wide range of forensic disciplines. The schedule allows attendees to participate in more than one course throughout the week. The Program is presented by the West Virginia University Forensic Science Initiative with funding from NIJ.

For more information visit http://fsi.research.wvu.edu/training/continuing_education_for_forensic_professionals_program/2011_jackson_hole.

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550 Year-Old Patients Get Scanned at NMCSD

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Samantha A. Lewis, Naval Medical Center San Diego Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) and the San Diego Museum of Man took a rare opportunity to collaborate on Peruvian mummies in the hopes of unveiling medical history using a Flash Dual Source 128 CT scanner, April 27.

Five Peruvian mummies (one adult and four young children) were transported to NMCSD to be x-rayed.

Recovered in 1915 by famous anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka, the mummies are estimated to be over 550 years-old. The Museum of Man asked NMCSD to help uncover medical data that could explain how each mummy died or if they suffered from any disease or trauma.

NMCSD is the only medical facility in San Diego County that has the technology, a Flash Dual Source 128 CT scanner, that can provide an in-depth detailed scan of tissue and bone structure of each mummy without damaging them. This scanner uses dual energy sources to provide 3-D detail characteristics in tissue and bone details compared to a conventional CT scanner that uses one energy source to provide an image.

"They have been CT scanned before, so it will be interesting to see how the different methods compare and what data can be obtained," said Tori Randall, curator, department of Physical Anthropology San Diego Museum of Man.

Randall hopes to find evidence of disease or trauma in the mummies that reveal how the mummies died.

"Differentiation of mummified tissues is of vital importance in the study of paleopathology and the evolution of human diseases," said Chairman of NMCSD Radiology, Cmdr. Ronald J. Boucher. "This scanner allowed for nondestructive discrimination of the dry and brittle soft tissue and bones."

Not only did the Museum of Man benefit from using the Flash Dual Source 128 CT scanner, but it also provided an opportunity to train NMCSD staff.

"Being a training institution, this also serves in training our technologists in how to obtain dual energy scans," said Boucher. "As well as train our residents in methods of advanced image post processing and mummy anatomy and disease, using modern day medical technology."

Randall was grateful for the opportunity to work with NMCSD.

"It has been wonderful to collaborate with such a great group of doctors and technicians," said Randall. "Their enthusiasm and expertise have been amazing, and has especially helped make this project timely and special for us. We here at the Museum of Man are so very grateful!"

The Museum of Man is a public anthropology museum that collects, interprets and preserves history related to human development to promote understanding for all cultures. The museum's collections total over 100,000 documented ethnographic items, nearly 50,000 photographic images, and 33,000 scientific publications.

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Forensic Testing on Faulty LCA-2

Technicians at the NASA Shuttle Logistic Depot in Cape Canaveral, Fla., are doing additional forensic engineering testing today on a faulty power distribution box, called a Load Control Assembly 2 (LCA-2). It was removed yesterday morning from the aft compartment of space shuttle Endeavour on Launch Pad 39A at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center.

Technicians are trying to determine what caused the power box to fail. Initial testing from yesterday shows a driver (circuit) inside the LCA-2 shorted out. The LCA-2 feeds power to heaters on the fuel line for Endeavour's auxiliary power unit-1 (APU-1). Initially, when the shorted out driver was replaced, the LCA-2 appeared to worked as designed.

Technicians are performing additional failure analysis on the driver today to confirm whether the short experienced by the system came from inside or outside the LCA-2. Depending on the results, additional testing of the box may be required.

On Launch Pad 39A, a new LCA-2 box was installed into Endeavour this morning, and technicians are preparing to retest the system before Endeavour's next launch attempt is scheduled. Currently, Endeavour's no earlier than launch date remains May 10.

The APU-1 fuel line heaters did not work on April 29, prompting the launch team to scrub the Endeavour's first launch attempt for the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station.

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Digital Forensics Challenge: 10 Days Left to Collect Bonus Points

By John Ohab

Is it April 21st already?

DC3 Digital Forensics Challenge participants have until May 1st, 2011, to receive a 20 percent bonus points on all exercise submissions.

Bonus points are calculated based on your team’s grade for each exercise submission and the submission date. Any team’s initial submission is the FINAL submission for that specific Challenge. Check out the official 2011 DC3 Challenge rules for all the details.

According to a recent Digital Forensics Challenge Status Report, participation has jumped to 716 teams from 43 countries. The challenge has also added a significant group of sponsors and prizes this year.

The DC3 Digital Forensics Challenge is a public, online, and international Challenge held annually by the Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Crime Center (DC3). The Challenge is a call to the digital forensics community to pioneer new investigative tools, techniques, and methodologies.

It encourages innovation from a broad range of individuals, teams, and institutions to provide technical solutions for computer forensic science examiners in the lab as well as in the field. The Challenge ends November 2, 2011!

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