WelcomeTo My World

WelcomeTo My World

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

CORRECTION - Former Legal Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee Confirms IRP6 Case Not Criminal, Says Advocacy Group, A Just Cause

Source: A Just Cause

A Just Cause 
October 14, 2015 10:07 ET

CORRECTION - Former Legal Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee Confirms IRP6 Case Not Criminal, Says Advocacy Group, A Just Cause

A Just Cause Radio Interviews Ron LeGrand, Former Legal Counsel to House Judiciary Committee

DENVER, CO--(Marketwired - October 14, 2015) - In the news release, "U.S. House of Representatives Attorney Confirms IRP6 Case Not Criminal, Says Advocacy Group, A Just Cause," issued earlier today by A Just Cause, we are advised by the company that the headline should read "Former Legal Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee Confirms IRP6 Case Not Criminal, Says Advocacy Group, A Just Cause" rather than "U.S. House of Representatives Attorney Confirms IRP6 Case Not Criminal, Says Advocacy Group, A Just Cause" as originally issued. Complete corrected text follows.
Former Legal Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee Confirms IRP6 Case Not Criminal, Says Advocacy Group, A Just Cause
A Just Cause Radio Interviews Ron LeGrand, Former Legal Counsel to House Judiciary Committee
DENVER, CO -- October 14, 2015 -- In an interview with A Just Cause Radio on October 8, 2015, Ron LeGrand, former legal counsel to the both the House and Senate judiciary committees categorically stated that the IRP6 case was strictly a civil matter and not criminal. "As a former federal prosecutor I am hurt," says LeGrand. "I am really, really disappointed at how this case was handled...If there was a case. IF! Big IF! If there was a case at all, it was a civil case and should have been handled as such," adds LeGrand (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ajcradio2/2015/10/09/a-just-cause--spotlight-on-capitol-hill-former-counsel-ron-legrand).
According to U.S. House of Representatives website, the Committee on the Judiciary has oversight on matters related to the administration of justice in the federal courts, administrative bodies and law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice. The scope of the committee's jurisdiction includes the judiciary, civil and criminal judicial proceedings, protection of civil liberties and criminal law enforcement. "As senior legal counsel with congressional judiciary committees and as trial attorney for the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, Ron LeGrand clearly sees that prosecutors abused and manipulated both criminal statutes and the judicial process to criminalize the debt of the IRP Solutions Corporation," says Lamont Banks, Executive Director, A Just Cause. "Other legal experts have come to the same conclusion as LeGrand," adds Banks.
After reviewing trial transcripts, former federal appellate judge, the Honorable H. Lee Sarokin of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, said on the Huffington Post: "For basically the crime of failing to pay corporate debts...these business men, five black, and one white, all members of the same church, several of them veterans, with no criminal records, were charged convicted and are serving sentences of seven to 11 years in prison, even though they had every intention to make their business a success and pay their debts. The government's contention that their business was nothing but a scam defies reality." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judge-h-lee-sarokin/the-case-of-the-missing-t_3_b_5651489.html)
Court documents show that in August 2005, the head of the Denver Division of the FBI, Richard Powers, responded in a letter to a company who complained that IRP Solutions had not paid them for services they rendered, stated that the matter with IRP Solutions would be "best handled civilly" and declined to conduct a criminal investigation. Also on November 19, 2010 and October 13, 2011, FBI Special Agent John Smith, testified in open court that if IRP had paid their debts there would be no criminal case. "It appears a crime was committed at the very beginning of the IRP6 case when a former federal prosecutor, who had recently left the Colorado U.S. Attorney's Office, sent a letter to his friend and colleague in the Colorado U.S. Attorney's Office to prosecute the IRP6 for their debt," says Banks.
18 U.S.C 207(c) restricts senior officials from communicating with their former agency for a period of one year after they leave their post. "For one year after service in a "senior" position terminates, no former senior employee may knowingly make, with the intent to influence, any communication to or appearance before an employee of a department or agency in which he/she served in any capacity during the one-year period prior to termination from "senior" service, if the communication or appearance is made on behalf of any other person (except the United States), in connection with any matter on which he/she seek official action by any employee of such agency.
Court records show that Holland and Hart Attorney Greg Goldberg, left the Colorado U.S. Attorney's Office sometime in 2003. However, in March 2004, less than a year after departing his job as a federal prosecutor, Goldberg hand-delivered a letter about the IRP6 to his former colleague, Assistant United States Attorney Matthew T. Kirsch. In the letter, Goldberg claimed that the IRP6 were acting "as though they were running a legitimate business" but were really operating a "bogus" business with the "specific intent of executing a scheme to obtain money from staffing companies...under the guise of work in conjunction with law enforcement." In violation of 18 U.S.C. 207(c), Goldberg influenced Kirsch to prosecute the IRP6. Court documents also show FBI Agent Smith directing staffing companies to contact Goldberg instead of Kirsch.
"There is strong evidence of gross misconduct and intentional violations of both constitutional and criminal law by government officials in the IRP6 case," says Banks. "I would ask President Obama to seriously ponder his feelings if Michelle or his daughters were in prison for a crime they didn't commit and pleas to their government seem to be falling on deaf ears." adds Banks. "And I would ask Attorney General Lynch to close her eyes and imagine her father being one of the IRP6." "It is imperative that that President Obama, Attorney General Lynch and the Judiciary Committee members show compassion to the plight of the IRP6 and their families by acting swiftly to correct this injustice by immediately releasing them from prison where they have spent the last 38 months." "I would also ask that an independent counsel be assigned to investigate both Department of Justice officials and the judiciary involved in this case," adds Banks. "It appears to me that their conduct could warrant impeachment by the House," concludes Banks.
For more information about the story of the IRP6 or for copies of the legal filings go to http://www.freetheirp6.org.

Contact Information

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)