FORMER U.S. COAST GUARD OFFICIAL PLEADS GUILTY TO EXTORTION

DHS Report

A former U.S. Coast Guard petty officer pleaded guilty to using his position to extort tens of thousands of dollars from the family of an illegal immigrant, Acting United States Attorney Terrence Berg announced today.

Mr. Berg was joined in the announcement by Armando Lopez, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago, Illinois office of the Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General, Rear Admiral Peter V. Neffenger, Commander, Ninth Coast Guard District, Neal Marzloff, Special Agent in Charge, Coast Guard Investigative Service Central Region and Andre G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Benjamin Bostic, age 35, of Macomb Township, Michigan entered the guilty plea in United States District Court in Ann Arbor, Michigan before Judge John Corbett O’Meara.

Senator Claiborne Pell (Retired Captain, USCG) died Thursday

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Claiborne Pell, the quirky blueblood who represented blue-collar Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate for 36 years and was the force behind a grant program that has helped tens of millions of Americans attend college, died Thursday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 90.

Pell graduated from Princeton in 1940, and served in the Coast Guard during World War II. He remained in the Coast Guard Reserve until retiring as a captain in 1978.