Wisconsin
Prosecutors say police chief helped California gun dealer in scheme to import illegal ammo
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two California brothers could each face up to five years in prison for allegedly recruiting a small-town Wisconsin police chief to help them illegally import nearly half-a-million armor-piercing rounds into the U.S.
Jacob and Darin Dowd ran a gun dealership in Vacaville, California, federal prosecutors say in online court records. In June 2021, Jacob Dowd submitted an application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fires and Explosives to import about 490,000 armor-piercing rounds from Smart Energeo Sistemi, an arms company based in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Federal law generally bars importation of such ammunition but makes an exception for law enforcement agencies. The brothers’ application stated that the ammunition was for “law enforcement sales,” according to prosecutors. It included a purchase order for 1.5 million rounds from James Bushey, then chief of police in the Town of Linn, a community of about 2,700 people in southeastern Wisconsin.
That purchase order apparently piqued investigators’ interest and the ATF ultimately stopped the importation. “TLPD is a small police department,” prosecutors wrote. “It had no intention to purchase the ... ammunition, had no funds to purchase the ammunition, and had no legitimate use for that ammunition.”
Prosecutors allege that the Dowds approached Bushey using a Wisconsin resident as a middleman. The court documents identify that person only as J.W., but news outlets have reported the person was one of Bushey’s former roommates.
The brothers told the chief that if he signed a fake purchase order backing up their import application, they would give him money to buy squad cars and other equipment that would help advance his career, prosecutors allege. Bushey agreed, creating a fraudulent order on department letterhead.
A search warrant stated that the town board signed off on the deal after Bushey told members that the Dowds would donate the ammunition to the police department, Wisconsin Pubic Radio reported. Bushey didn’t tell the board that he would receive payments for submitting the fraudulent purchase order, however.
The brothers intended to sell the ammunition to “other buyers,” prosecutors allege in the court documents, which don’t disclose the alleged buyers’ names but also don’t suggest the ammunition was meant to be used in any sort of attack.
Darin Dowd was charged with conspiracy last July and pleaded guilty in October. He has yet to be sentenced. Jacob Dowd was charged with conspiracy last week and has agreed to plead guilty during a May 19 hearing, according to an online plea agreement and court schedule. They each face up to five years in federal prison.
Neither Jacob Dowd’s attorney, Julian Linnen, nor his brother’s attorney, Paul Jannuzzo, immediately responded to Monday emails seeking comment.
Bushey has not been charged. The Associated Press could not find a phone listing or other contact information for him or his attorney, if he has one. A message left on a possible LinkedIn account for him wasn’t immediately returned.
Linn’s interim police chief, Graham Gunyon, said Bushey left the department of his own accord. He was replaced by Jon Albrecht in March 2022, according to the department’s Facebook page, but Albrecht left in March to become chief in nearby Elkhorn, Wisconsin.
Gunyon declined to provide contact information for Bushey. He also declined to comment on the former chief’s alleged role in the importation scheme or what Bushey told the town board.
New York
Judge tosses man’s murder conviction
NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan judge has tossed the murder conviction of a man who spent 25 years in prison after a review of his case revealed new evidence that may have been withheld by prosecutors, including thousands of dollars in payments made to the mother of their key eyewitness.
The man, Harry Ruiz, has maintained his innocence since his 1994 conviction for the fatal shooting of Emmanuel Felix, an alleged drug dealer in Harlem. Ruiz, now 58, was released on parole in 2019.
At the hearing, Judge Robert Mandelbaum took the unusual step of rebuking the former assistant district attorney in charge of Ruiz’s trial for her “troubling” refusal to participate in the reinvestigation.
Reached by phone, the attorney, Helen Sturm, called the judge’s comments “inappropriate,” adding that she was not required “to go over a case from 30 years ago.”
The case first gained renewed interest after a New York City detective, Carlos Vasquez, stumbled on his file while investigating another killing and quickly became convinced of Ruiz’s innocence.
When the Manhattan district attorney’s post-conviction review unit opened an inquiry two years ago, they found that prosecutors had provided payments and housing worth $17,000 to the mother of a 13-year-old girl, the only witness to identify Ruiz as the shooter.
The review found no evidence those payments were disclosed to the defense, as legally required. When investigators reached out to Sturm, the trial attorney, to discuss the matter, she declined to be interviewed.
“What do you want me to say? That I feel badly that he was convicted?” she said by phone. “You don’t get a long sentence like this without evidence.”
She added that she did not remember the exact details of the case, but felt confident that the prosecution had followed relevant disclosure laws.
According to the post-conviction review, the teenager’s testimony shifted dramatically throughout the trial. At one point, when asked to identify Ruiz, she picked out someone sitting in the courtroom audience.
Despite three family members vouching for his alibi, Ruiz was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder. At the age of 25, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison by Judge Harold Rothwax — nicknamed Prince of Darkness for his notoriously harsh sentences.
As part of the review, investigators also learned that a federal informant had admitted in 2002 to having paid someone to kill Felix — and that Ruiz was not involved. A second person came forward the same year to corroborate that account, according to the review.
Prosecutors under then-Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau were aware of the statements, but declined to reopen the case or disclose the developments to Ruiz’s appeal team, according to court filings.
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that dozens of interviews and an in-depth document review had produced new evidence that “significantly undermines the case presented at trial.”
Prosecutors say police chief helped California gun dealer in scheme to import illegal ammo
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two California brothers could each face up to five years in prison for allegedly recruiting a small-town Wisconsin police chief to help them illegally import nearly half-a-million armor-piercing rounds into the U.S.
Jacob and Darin Dowd ran a gun dealership in Vacaville, California, federal prosecutors say in online court records. In June 2021, Jacob Dowd submitted an application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fires and Explosives to import about 490,000 armor-piercing rounds from Smart Energeo Sistemi, an arms company based in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Federal law generally bars importation of such ammunition but makes an exception for law enforcement agencies. The brothers’ application stated that the ammunition was for “law enforcement sales,” according to prosecutors. It included a purchase order for 1.5 million rounds from James Bushey, then chief of police in the Town of Linn, a community of about 2,700 people in southeastern Wisconsin.
That purchase order apparently piqued investigators’ interest and the ATF ultimately stopped the importation. “TLPD is a small police department,” prosecutors wrote. “It had no intention to purchase the ... ammunition, had no funds to purchase the ammunition, and had no legitimate use for that ammunition.”
Prosecutors allege that the Dowds approached Bushey using a Wisconsin resident as a middleman. The court documents identify that person only as J.W., but news outlets have reported the person was one of Bushey’s former roommates.
The brothers told the chief that if he signed a fake purchase order backing up their import application, they would give him money to buy squad cars and other equipment that would help advance his career, prosecutors allege. Bushey agreed, creating a fraudulent order on department letterhead.
A search warrant stated that the town board signed off on the deal after Bushey told members that the Dowds would donate the ammunition to the police department, Wisconsin Pubic Radio reported. Bushey didn’t tell the board that he would receive payments for submitting the fraudulent purchase order, however.
The brothers intended to sell the ammunition to “other buyers,” prosecutors allege in the court documents, which don’t disclose the alleged buyers’ names but also don’t suggest the ammunition was meant to be used in any sort of attack.
Darin Dowd was charged with conspiracy last July and pleaded guilty in October. He has yet to be sentenced. Jacob Dowd was charged with conspiracy last week and has agreed to plead guilty during a May 19 hearing, according to an online plea agreement and court schedule. They each face up to five years in federal prison.
Neither Jacob Dowd’s attorney, Julian Linnen, nor his brother’s attorney, Paul Jannuzzo, immediately responded to Monday emails seeking comment.
Bushey has not been charged. The Associated Press could not find a phone listing or other contact information for him or his attorney, if he has one. A message left on a possible LinkedIn account for him wasn’t immediately returned.
Linn’s interim police chief, Graham Gunyon, said Bushey left the department of his own accord. He was replaced by Jon Albrecht in March 2022, according to the department’s Facebook page, but Albrecht left in March to become chief in nearby Elkhorn, Wisconsin.
Gunyon declined to provide contact information for Bushey. He also declined to comment on the former chief’s alleged role in the importation scheme or what Bushey told the town board.
New York
Judge tosses man’s murder conviction
NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan judge has tossed the murder conviction of a man who spent 25 years in prison after a review of his case revealed new evidence that may have been withheld by prosecutors, including thousands of dollars in payments made to the mother of their key eyewitness.
The man, Harry Ruiz, has maintained his innocence since his 1994 conviction for the fatal shooting of Emmanuel Felix, an alleged drug dealer in Harlem. Ruiz, now 58, was released on parole in 2019.
At the hearing, Judge Robert Mandelbaum took the unusual step of rebuking the former assistant district attorney in charge of Ruiz’s trial for her “troubling” refusal to participate in the reinvestigation.
Reached by phone, the attorney, Helen Sturm, called the judge’s comments “inappropriate,” adding that she was not required “to go over a case from 30 years ago.”
The case first gained renewed interest after a New York City detective, Carlos Vasquez, stumbled on his file while investigating another killing and quickly became convinced of Ruiz’s innocence.
When the Manhattan district attorney’s post-conviction review unit opened an inquiry two years ago, they found that prosecutors had provided payments and housing worth $17,000 to the mother of a 13-year-old girl, the only witness to identify Ruiz as the shooter.
The review found no evidence those payments were disclosed to the defense, as legally required. When investigators reached out to Sturm, the trial attorney, to discuss the matter, she declined to be interviewed.
“What do you want me to say? That I feel badly that he was convicted?” she said by phone. “You don’t get a long sentence like this without evidence.”
She added that she did not remember the exact details of the case, but felt confident that the prosecution had followed relevant disclosure laws.
According to the post-conviction review, the teenager’s testimony shifted dramatically throughout the trial. At one point, when asked to identify Ruiz, she picked out someone sitting in the courtroom audience.
Despite three family members vouching for his alibi, Ruiz was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder. At the age of 25, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison by Judge Harold Rothwax — nicknamed Prince of Darkness for his notoriously harsh sentences.
As part of the review, investigators also learned that a federal informant had admitted in 2002 to having paid someone to kill Felix — and that Ruiz was not involved. A second person came forward the same year to corroborate that account, according to the review.
Prosecutors under then-Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau were aware of the statements, but declined to reopen the case or disclose the developments to Ruiz’s appeal team, according to court filings.
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that dozens of interviews and an in-depth document review had produced new evidence that “significantly undermines the case presented at trial.”
