Sam’s Email
From: Samuel Ojugbele <sojugbele@publicdefender.lacounty.gov> Sent: Friday, July 3, 2048 11:13 PM To: Lisa Rose <LisaRose2024@qmail.com> Subject: Your inquiry re SdN Attachments: [BrazilWiki.pdf] [MorenoIndictment.pdf] [CEEGpaneldisc.pdf] [NYPost06112043.pdf]
ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE
Lisa,
It was a pleasure speaking with you this evening. Your concerns about the police interview last Sunday are quite understandable. You are correct that law enforcement agents often use manipulation techniques during suspect interrogation. It would not be unusual or surprising for Deputy Hernandez to have exaggerated or even lied in order to incentivize your cooperation. However, I am not sure he did so in every instance.
As you requested, I have researched Sombra do Norte (SdN) and its alleged illegal activity in Los Angeles County. A friend of mine in the U.S. Attorney’s office was also kind enough to send me a copy of a sealed indictment against Joaquim Moreno, which contains some information that you will find interesting. Please keep that information confidential as I need to preserve my source within the A.G.’s office.
There exist multiple ongoing state and federal investigations targeting individuals associated with SdN, including, as you know, yourself. As you are a relatively “small fish” (and I do not mean that disrespectfully), it is my suspicion that law enforcement is interested in developing leverage against you, in order to obtain your cooperation to go after higher value actors in SdN. With this in mind, I suggest that you and I meet to discuss your options after you have had a chance to digest the below information and attached documents.
Please forgive me if I repeat information you already know. I have no doubt that in most respects your knowledge of SdN is superior to mine, but the fact that you have asked me for this type of background material suggests to me that you have been kept in the dark about a few things.
From what I can ascertain, SdN is an offshoot of the Brazilian cartel known as Dragão (Portuguese: Dragão Sindicato). Dragão is based in Fortaleza, a city on the northern coast of Brazil, and its reputed head is a man named Joaquim Moreno, who is Evelyn Moreno’s father. The first document I have attached is a translation of the the Brazilian Wikipedia page regarding Dragão Cartel. My comments are in brackets.
Dragão Sindicato
Dragão Sindicato is a Brazilian criminal syndicate based in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, primarily involved in human trafficking, drug trafficking, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, bribery and other illicit activities. It is known for brutal tactics, including torture, kidnapping and murder. Despite numerous efforts to dismantle the cartel, it continues to wield considerable influence and power, both in northern Brazil and internationally. An offshoot of Dragão is suspected of operating in Los Angeles, California, United States.
[That offshoot would be SdN. —Sam]
Prainha Massacre
On 21 April 2013, a group of Dragão operatives stormed a tattoo shop in Prainha Beach, southeast of Fortaleza, Brazil, targeting individuals suspected of owing debts or betraying the organization. The assailants subjected five men and three women to vicious torture, hanging them by the limbs and beating them with leather straps for several hours until they bled to death.
Brazilian law enforcement agencies including Polícia Federal and Polícia Civil do Ceará launched a comprehensive investigation, identifying one female and two male perpetrators, but no arrests were ever made.
[Evelyn Moreno fled to America one year after the events at Prainha. It is conceivable that she was the female perpetrator, and if so, that would be another impetus for her emigration to America. —Sam]
The second attachment is a sealed RICO indictment from 2033, which I obtained from my friend. Here are relevant excerpts, again with my comments in brackets:
FILED UNDER SEAL
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
JOAQUIM MORENO,
Defendant.
INDICTMENT
The Grand Jury charges:
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
1. At all times material to this Indictment, the defendant, JOAQUIM MORENO (hereinafter MORENO), was a national of the Federative Republic of Brazil, residing in Fortaleza, Brazil. MORENO, by himself and/or through proxies, confederates, and co-conspirators, orchestrated, supervised, and directed a vast and intricate criminal syndicate known as the Dragão Cartel. The defendant is charged with engaging in and overseeing illicit activities within the United States, encompassing human trafficking, drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, prostitution, violations of the Mann Act, extortion, and conspiracy to commit murder against federal agents. This indictment further names two unindicted co-conspirators, identified as Co-Conspirator No. 1, JANE DOE, and Co-Conspirator No. 2, JOHN DOE, who are residents of the State of California, and who held instrumental roles in facilitating and perpetuating the aforementioned criminal activities within the United States.
[Although my friend would neither confirm nor deny it, I believe Co-Conspirator No. 1 is Evelyn Moreno. —Sam]
. . .
13. In furtherance of the Dragão Cartel's human trafficking operations, MORENO employed JANE DOE, to direct the recruitment, transportation, and exploitation of victims. JANE DOE utilized a network of intermediaries to identify vulnerable women and children, who were then deceitfully promised legitimate employment opportunities in California. JANE DOE arranged for the victims’ transportation across international borders, employing falsified documentation and bribing local officials to facilitate their illegal passage. Upon arrival, the victims were coerced into forced labor and sexual exploitation for hire under threat of violence and reprisal against their families. JANE DOE's activities were essential in maintaining human trafficking operations, ensuring a steady influx of new victims to be exploited, and generating substantial illicit profits for the criminal organization under MORENO's direction and for his benefit.
. . .
15. At MORENO’s direction, JANE DOE engaged in acts of torture to coerce compliance, inflicting physical and psychological harm on the victims. JANE DOE also threatened violence against the victims’s families to silence them and prevent their escape. Additionally, she planned and directed extortion, demanding large sums of money from the families of the abducted victims. Further, she supplied narcotics to control the victims and maintain their dependency. Additionally, JANE DOE managed the prostitution of the kidnapped females, organizing and overseeing their exploitation for profit within MORENO's criminal network. JANE DOE conducted these activities with MORENO’s full knowledge, under his direction and for his benefit.
. . .
16. Co-Conspirators JANE DOE and JOHN DOE employed brutal methods of torture to intimidate and control the victims including the use of a branding iron to inflict severe physical pain and permanent scars on the victims, marking them as property of the organization. This act of branding was not only a means of causing excruciating pain but also served as a psychological tool to break the victims' will, reinforcing their belief that escape was futile. In addition to branding, JANE DOE, JOHN DOE, and their associates, flogged victims with a leather strap, delivering repeated and agonizing blows to their victims. The relentless use of flogging as an instrument of punishment and control further terrorized the victims, leaving them physically battered and mentally subdued. The combination of these sadistic practices, branding, and flogging, was intended to crush any semblance of resistance, ensuring that the victims remained compliant and obedient under the constant threat of further violence.
[Lisa, as you may know, an unindicted co-conspirator may be so designated for a number of reasons. One is that the prosecutor does not feel there is enough evidence to proceed against that person. Another reason may be that the prosecutor has obtained the cooperation of that person. From what little I know about Ms. Moreno, I doubt she would have betrayed her father to the authorities, however anything is possible. —Sam]
The next document I have attached is the transcript of a panel discussion that took place a few years ago in Brussels. It was sponsored by a European NGO called CEEG. Much of the presentation involved regulatory matters, and you can skip over that. Here is an excerpt, which I found relevant to your concerns:
Current Trends in Multinational Regulatory Schema: Mitigating Unlawful Exploitative Networks
A Panel Discussion Hotel Le Sablon Royale, Bruxelles 30 May 2043 Conseil Européen pour l'Espoir Global (CEEG)
Moderator:
Adele Durant - Chief Policy Officer, Clinton Global Initiative, 2045-present; Former United States Ambassador to the European Union, Former Provost, Columbia University.
Panelists:
Micheline Junker-Schlumpf, Ph.D. - Criminology Chair, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Adjunct Professor, Universite Paris Cite; Lecturer on Criminology and Ethics, Imperial College London.
Luca Musumeci - Director, Italian Anti-Trafficking Task Force (TFIAT), 2047-present; Former Comandante, Italian Carabinieri Special Operations Group (ROS), 2039-2046.
Patricia Patel - Senior counsel, Krudd & Bayerstein, New York; Former Ambassador-at-Large, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (OMCTIP), U.S. Department of State, 2034–2036; President, The Jupiter Foundation.
Nils Hoel - Director, Division of Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 2044-present; Former Minister of Culture and Equality, Kingdom of Norway, 2040-2044.
. . .
MS. DURANT: Okay, let’s move on to our next distinguished panelist, Patricia Patel. Now, full disclosure. Patty and I have known each other since our days at Columbia…
MS. PATEL: [laughing] Yes, yes… oh my… are we that old?
MS. DURANT: [laughing] …certainly not…
MS. PATEL: [laughing] No, no…
MS. DURANT: And… and we’ve worked together on these issues for the CGI with… with…
MS. PATEL: Yes, yes… with Chelsea… yes we have…
MS. DURANT: And I don’t think there’s anyone in the world more qualified to…
MS. PATEL: You’re too…
MS. DURANT: …to speak to these issues from a victim’s advocacy perspective…
MS. PATEL: …too kind… really…
MS. DURANT: …than my friend, Patty, who has fought so tenaciously on behalf of those who, unfortunately, so many times have no voice… but you are their voice, dear… and yours is such an eloquent voice… so you have the floor. Please welcome Patty Patel.
[applause]
MS. PATEL: Thank you so much for… thank you… for that kind introduction, Adele.
I always say that human trafficking is a global scourge that we must fight locally. Case by case. Victim by victim. Luca, I’m sure you can back me up on this.
MR. MUSUMECI: Absolutely.
MS. PATEL: That’s how I choose to fight, case by case and story by story. And because I’m a litigator, I’m a storyteller, that’s how I make a living, that’s how I, hopefully, accomplish some good in this world.
And so I’d like to tell you a story about a young client of mine, a brave young client and her family, and our three-and-a-half year battle. A battle for justice and for freedom, against some very, very bad people.
My client was eleven when she was enticed to run away from home, by someone she thought was an online friend who turned out to be not only not a friend, but a much older person who told her he loved her and was going to take care of her, when instead he planned to sell her into slavery. And this man abducted my client, sexually abused her for several months, before turning her over to a network that put her into a commercial sex house—a factory really—where my client was raped multiple times a day by strangers in exchange for food and shelter and for the drugs that they’d hooked her on. For over a year, my client endured rape, psychological and emotional abuse, threats against her family, whom she had no contact with, and then when she tried to escape, she was stabbed resulting in the loss of so much blood that she should have gone to a hospital. But instead, she was taken to a remote location—I’m not at liberty to say where—but it’s a place where this group takes girls who are deemed problematic, for reeducation, and by that I mean torture. It was only by the grace of God that my client was able to slip free. What a brave, brave girl. She was able to get a message to her family, who found her and then contacted me.
[applause]
MS. PATEL: Thank you. Of course, the story doesn’t end there. Because for the next two years, with the help of this young… this heroic young woman, we’ve been working with federal authorities in Los Angeles to identify the network that abducted her, from the footsoldiers like the one who enticed her online, to its leader, a woman called Vespa. Yes, a woman, an evil and sadistic woman, who was once an international fugitive but who now lives quite comfortably in the United States. But we’re close, so close now to an indictment and I’m very confident she will be brought to justice soon.
[applause]
Lisa, the final attachment is troubling. It is an article from the New York Post, dated twelve days after Ms. Patel took part in the CEEG panel discussion.
THE NEW YORK POST
Prominent civil rights attorney and former State Department official found dead along with family in apparent domestic violence incident
By Laura Winger June 11, 2043 | 12:30 p.m. ET
A well-known civil rights attorney — who was reportedly facing financial troubles — was found dead on Wednesday along with her husband and teenaged daughter inside their $12 million Park Slope townhome in an apparent domestic violence incident, authorities said Thursday.
The bodies of attorney and former State Department Ambassador-at-Large, Patricia Patel, 57, her husband Raj Patel, 59, and their 18-year-old daughter Britney, were found in the townhome at about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, N.Y.P.D. Captain Dan Duggan said.
Duggan, who described the scene as “a horrific tragedy” and a “probable murder-suicide” said a gun was found near Mr. Patel’s body. Duggan declined to state who shot whom, pending completion of the medical examiner’s inquest, which is expected within a week.
The family appears to have experienced financial difficulties in recent years, and their sprawling Victorian-era townhouse was on the verge of foreclosure a year ago, according to one neighbor.
The gruesome discovery of the three bodies was made after relatives stopped by for what they expected to be a celebratory dinner. “This is shocking, completely unexpected,” said the neighbor.
Duggan added that there had been no history of police calls to the location, or reports of domestic strife, and that the neighborhood was considered “very safe.”
The daughter, a music student at Bard College, was home on summer break. “It’s just tragic,” said the neighbor. “They were all such lovely people. You really never know.”
[Without knowing the name of Ms. Patel’s young client, I was unable to research the girl’s fate. However, since Evelyn was never arrested, I am not optimistic. —Sam]
It probably does not need saying, but I will say it nevertheless. Please be careful, Lisa.
If you have any questions or would like to see any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.
Warmest regards,
Sam
Samuel Ojugbele, Esq. Deputy Public Defender I Los Angeles County Public Defender Inglewood Office One Regent Street Inglewood, CA 90301 Phone: (310) 555-5249 🌆L.A. County Public Defender🏙️ Advocacy - Compassion - Dedication - Dignity
~🌹~
Next: What’s in the Box
"It probably does not need saying, but I will say it nevertheless. Please be careful, Lisa." You think? I have been following Lisa Rose from the beginning and though she can be ruthless and violent, she is fearless and somehow lovable. She had no idea really, of the utter power and depravity of the people she is in league with. I can't imagine her choosing to continue working with them now, but how does she escape...? Impossible. Your use of the letters to give us all this information was effective, John. I admire the distinct voices you created for each document.
Thanks, Sharron. I know it’s an info dump, but I try to keep it fun, at least for me, by mimicking the voices of news articles or lawyers or seminar talkers etc.