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D.C. Public Schools Contract Specialist
Awaits Sentencing in Bribe Conspiracy
A former District of Columbia Public Schools contract specialist is awaiting sentencing after being convicted last month of taking bribes to steer government contracts to local vendors.
Dana Garnett, 61, faces up to 15 years in prison after conviction for charges related to a conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud.
As part of the years-long scheme, she defrauded the school system by accepting significantly fewer quantities of supplies than school officials ordered, according to prosecutors. In exchange, the local vendors allegedly paid Garnett kickbacks and bribes.
The evidence against Garnett showed that some of the illegal payments she received came from falsified orders for supplies that were awarded to the vendors.
The vendors would deliver fewer goods than listed on the orders but the school system would pay the full invoice amount.
Garnett and a co-conspirator would then share part of the money, prosecutors said.
The vendors would make the payments in various locations, such as restaurant parking lots. Garnett would use the money for gambling expenses and to purchase a major household appliance.
Three other defendants have pleaded guilty in the conspiracy. They included a former school system administrative officer and two business supply company owners. Charges are pending against another business owner.
For more information, contact The Legal Forum (www.legal-forum.net) at email: tramstack@gmail.com or phone: 202-479-7240.
FBI Data Security Breach in Mexico
Led to Murders of Drug Informants
The Justice Department is being accused of a security breach that allowed a notorious Mexican drug gang to track down and to kill FBI informants.
An auditor’s report late last month says the Sinaloa drug cartel hired a hacker in 2018 who tapped into an FBI official’s phone data as well as surveillance cameras in Mexico City to identify people entering and leaving the U.S. Embassy.
The hacker identified some of them as “people of interest,” including an embassy legal attaché. Many of them were informants who helped police track down the cartel’s drug-making operations and arrest some of its members.
Assassins overseen by Sinaloa founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman are accused of killing some of the persons the hacker identified. Guzman is serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison after convictions for drug smuggling, murder, kidnapping and related charges.
The auditor’s report said the security lapses indicate the possibility of a larger problem that should motivate improvements in the way the FBI protects informants and secures its telecommunications.
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Latest News
Supreme Court Agrees to Rehear Case
Seeking End to Campaign Finance Limits
The Supreme Court agreed last week to hear a lawsuit during its next term that seeks to end some restrictions on campaign spending by political parties.
The limits were imposed during the Nixon administration to prevent political parties from coordinating efforts with candidates on how campaign advertising money is spent.
The law included restrictions on donations from special interest groups trying to elect their favored candidates. The limits have been upheld by a federal court.
The Federal Election Commission varies the limits year-by-year and between states, depending on their populations.
This year, the limits can be as high as $3.9 million for Senate candidates and $127,000 for U.S. House candidates in states with one representative. In other states, the limit is $63,600 per House candidate.
Power the Civil Rights Work of Our Time
Each day members of our community are experiencing wage theft, the effects of gentrification, discriminatory policing, collateral consequences, marginalization in schools, and barriers to public accommodations.
We fight alongside people facing the effects of gentrification like Amira Moore. Our work empowers the people and communities who need it most, “We can do more than we think. There’s a path to equity, we just have to step to it.” –Ms. Moore
For more than 50 years, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee has been on the frontlines of the fight for civil rights in our community. We deploy the best legal talent, we tackle the tough cases, we fight, and we win.
Our work is as important today as it has ever been. Through your support, you can play a role in creating justice for thousands of marginalized members of our community. Together, we will dismantle injustice and pursue lasting change.
Join us! Donate & subscribe: https://www.washlaw.org/support-us
Volunteer with us: https://www.washlaw.org/get-involved/
For more information, contact Gregg Kelley at Gregg_Kelley@washlaw.org
About Us
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Letters to the Editor
D.C. in Brief
New Laws Take Effect
In Washington, D.C. Area
Several laws took effect throughout the Washington area last week that impose new criminal penalties and fees on residents or create procedures police are required to follow.
The only significant difference for the District of Columbia is that employers are now required to pay a minimum wage of $17.95 per hour, up from $17.50 per hour.
Virginia was more active with its law-making.
Anyone who makes or sells fentanyl that contributes to the death of another person could now be convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Virginia. The penalty could be as much as 10 years in prison.
Court rulings, including the 1969 U.S. Supreme Court case of Frazier v. Cupp, have upheld the authorization for police to lie to suspects during investigations and interrogations. Deception still is allowed in Virginia but only if the police are dealing with adults.
A new law bans Virginia police from lying or presenting false documents to minors they interrogate as criminal suspects.
Other new Virginia laws require adults in the back seats of cars to fasten their seatbelts. Students must give up their cellphones while in their schools and restaurants must cease putting takeout food in polystyrene containers.
Maryland’s new laws are more administrative than Virginia.
In one example the Maryland Behavioral Health Crisis response system is consolidating some parts of its Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in a move to save money and to better coordinate with the national 988 network.
In separate legislation, unemployed residents who must pay child support can join a pilot program designed to help them find jobs. About 2,000 Marylanders would be eligible.
Justice Dept. Appeals Court Judgment
That Blocked Trump’s Law Firm Sanctions
The Justice Department is appealing a court judgment that blocked sanctions against the law firm of Perkins Coie in what appears to be a resumption of President Donald Trump's reprisals against lawyers who oppose his policies.
The Justice Department has argued that Perkins Coie represents a national security risk and should be banned from federal buildings and contracts.
The Justice Department’s notice of appeal is filed in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Perkins Coie operates in Washington, D.C., with a staff of more than 200.
The law firm represented the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee in 2016 during Trump's first run for the presidency.
Perkins Coie argued successfully earlier this year that Trump's executive order imposing sanctions was retaliatory rather than representing well-reasoned government policy.
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Legal Briefs
We Could Use Your Help
Thousands of DC residents need a lawyer, but can’t afford one. They could be illegally evicted from their homes, lose custody of their children, experience domestic violence, and more, all because they lack legal representation.
You could make a difference. By making a donation to the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, you will provide free, high-quality, zealous legal representation to low-income DC residents.
Your support could prevent homelessness, domestic violence, hunger, or family separation. In fact, if just 10 people who see this ad give $28 to Legal Aid, it will be enough to staff an experienced attorney at the courthouse for a day.
That way, DC residents like Keith King (pictured above) can get the legal representation they need to win their cases. As Mr. King put it, if it wasn’t for his Legal Aid lawyer, “I would have been homeless again.”
Here is the link to the Legal Aid website for donations: https://www.legalaiddc.org/donate-to-legal-aid/
For more information, contact Rob Pergament at Legal Aid at rpergament@legalaiddc.org