News

Teen recovered in nationwide prostitution ring

A 17-year-old girl was one of the 105 children recovered in Operation Cross Country VII, a three-day enforcement action to address commercial child sex trafficking throughout the United States, federal officials said.

In Jackson, one of the 76 cities included in this initiative, the FBI teamed with the Mississippi State Attorney General’s Office, Hinds County Sheriff’s Department, Jackson Police Department, Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, Pearl Police Department, Ridgeland Police Department, and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. As a result of this cooperative effort between state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies, one child was recovered, and 10 pimps were arrested on July 29.
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Events

FBI Jackson Hosts Public Safety Training

The Jackson Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigations is facing their second day of their Active Shooter Executive Law Enforcement Conference in Starkville.

The conference, which began on Tuesday and will wrap up on Wednesday, July 17, is the second of at least three to be held in various locations in Mississippi.

The conference was developed pursuant to a 2013 White House training initiative and was designed to present local, tribal, federal, and state law enforcement partners with best crisis management practices and lessons learned in mass casualty/active shooter events. […]

News

Missing 6-year-old found, suspect charged

The FBI confirmed that a 6-year-old girl from Scooba was found safe Wednesday afternoon after she was reported missing on April 30. The search for Jashayla Markayia Hopson ended around 1:25 p.m., on May 1 after Jashayla was located in Enterprise, Miss.

An Alabama woman has been charged with her kidnapping.

After she was found, Daniel McMullen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi, said the Jashayle was taken to Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian for observation. […]

Statewide News

Former Mendenhall police chief arrested for witness tampering

Donald “Bruce” Barlow, 50, who served as the Mendenhall, Mississippi chief of police until Oct. 2010, has been arrested by special agents of the FBI.

The arrest took place on March 7, around 12 p.m. at his residence in Mendenhall pursuant to an indictment filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

While federal officials would not release the details of the allegations against Barlow, they said he is charged with extortion and witness tampering. The arrest follows an investigation by the FBI, with support from the Mississippi State Auditor’s Office and the Simpson County Sheriff’s Office. […]

News

“FBI Alert” e-mail not from FBI, officials say

Recently, some Mississippi residents have received an alarming e-mail, supposedly containing an “FBI Alert” about someone with whom they’ve communicated on line. This e-mail requests that recipients contact the “FBI secret service” by following a link provided in the e-mail.

Well, be warned! The e-mail is not from the FBI and if users click on the embedded link, they run the risk of infecting their computer with a malicious virus, FBI personnel said. […]

News

Men arrested for selling copper from Delta farms

Two local men have been charged with stealing copper from irrigation systems on farms in the Delta and trying to sell it in another state.

Felicia C. Adams, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, and Daniel McMullen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jackson Division, said that: Curtis Tigues, 29, of Inverness and Ernest Calvin, 31, of Belzoni were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit interstate theft. Each man is charged in a one count indictment alleging conspiracy to possess, sell, and dispose of copper metal stolen from irrigation systems on farms in the Mississippi Delta and then sold in Arkansas.

Both appeared in U.S. District Court on the charges and were released on bond pending trial. […]

News

Sixth man pleads to hate crime against blacks in Jackson

Joseph Dominick, 21, from Brandon, Mississippi, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Mississippi, to one count of conspiracy to commit federal hate crimes in connection with his role in the assault of African-Americans in Jackson.

Defendants Deryl Paul Dedmon, 20; John Aaron Rice, 19; Dylan Wade Butler, 21; William Kirk Montgomery, 23; and Jonathan Kyle Gaskamp, 20, all from Brandon, have previously entered guilty pleas in connection with their roles in these offenses. The conspiracy culminated in the death of James Craig Anderson, who was assaulted and killed on June 26, 2011. […]

News

Former governor receives FBI community leadership award

Former Mississippi Governor William F. Winter has been awarded the 2012 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award. Daniel McMullen, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI in Mississippi, presented the award to Governor Winter during the Jackson Field Office All-Employee Conference on Dec. 7.

Since 1990, the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) has been a principal means by which the FBI has publicly recognized the achievements of individuals and organizations who have worked diligently to prevent crime, drug and gang violence, and to promote education in their community. Each of the FBI’s field offices selects one individual or organization each year to receive this award. […]