Though, someone decided to dub February 20th as “National Handcuff Day” (because there national holidays devoted to donuts, potato chips, silence, clam chowder, and the Tooth Fairy), being handcuffed is never a pleasurable experience outside of the BDSM realm. The restriction is enough to make a person lose it. Handcuffs can also cause physical problems like “Cheiralgia paresthetica, or handcuff neuropathy, happens when the radial nerve is compressed and traumatized, causing numbness or pain that can last for months.” In fact, in France, the media is not allowed to air images of people in handcuffs before being convicted.

However, somebody has taken it upon themselves to make handcuffs even worse. That “someone” was Arizona-based Scottsdale Inventions, who filed a patent for the most diabolical handcuffs yet in November 2012. As if being handcuffed wasn’t stressful enough, the new proposed handcuffs can deliver an electric shock from 20,000 to 150,000 volts for .5 to ten second intervals. The shock can be activated from up to 300 feet away. That’s not where it ends. The handcuffs also contain a movable needle that can deliver drug or gas injections into the detainee. The device will also be able to record the amount of each shock or injection. On the bright side, the cuffs will give the detainee a warning that he/she will be shocked if they don’t adjust their behavior.

Police already do horrible things to people who are handcuffed. People have been beaten, shot and raped by police while handcuffed. If these handcuffs are approved, the door is wide open for even more brutality on behalf of corrupt cops.

[FREE THOUGHT PROJECT]

The post These New Proposed Handcuffs Sound Pretty Awful appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

Jonathan Bleiweiss was once crowned “Officer of the Year” in his Oakland Park District in 2008. That title should be stripped after he recently admitted to raping 20 undocumented immigrants through intimidation. While the book would be thrown at a regular citizen with a sentence of life in prison, Bleiweiss’s privilege as a police officer got him a plea deal. He was able to plead guilty to 14 counts of armed false imprisonment, 15 counts of battery and four counts of stalking in exchange for five years in prison and 10 years of probation. He will not be forced to register as a sex offender under the plea deal.

Bleiweiss, a former Broward Sheriff’s deputy, was arrested in 2009 after word of his transgressions started spreading throughout the illegal immigrants in the community. 20 men who were living in this country illegally told investigators that Bleiweiss, an openly gay man, would fondle them as he patted them down and demanded that they give him their phone numbers. They were too scared to resist. It is reported that the incidents began in 2008 and Bleiweiss’s picture was posted in an Oakland Park soup kitchen warning people to avoid him.

Bleiweiss faced as many as 70 charges, many of which accused him of sexual battery. Lawsuits were filed in federal and state court, some of which were settled and other were dismissed. The resolved civil cases hurt prosecutors’ criminal case because the victims refused to testify. They had seven victims lined up to testify with about a dozen others waiting in the wing who claimed sexual abuse.

Only one of the immigrants bringing accusations against Bleiweiss showed up in court when he accepted the plea deal. It has been said that most of the victims have since been deported.

[SUN-SENTINEL]

The post “Officer Of The Year” Gets Plea Deal For Sexually Assaulting 20 Male Illegal Immigrants appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

While the “I Can’t Breathe”/”Black Lives Matter” movements focused on many names like Eric Garner, Mike Brown, John Crawford and Ezell Ford, there are many lesser known names that they represent. One of them is Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old kid from Chicago killed in October. An autopsy report reveals that police shot the teen was shot 16 times by police.

The teen was stopped by police when he was mischievously slashing tires with a knife on that fateful October night. A law enforcement spokesman described McDonald as “having a strange gaze about him.” That spokesperson went on to say that police boxed him in against a fence on 41st and Pulaski when “An officer shot him in the chest when he refused to comply with orders to drop the knife and continued to approach the officers.”

Representatives of the “Invisible Institute,” a local journalistic production company obtained a copy of McDonald’s autopsy report through the Freedom of Information Act and call bullshit on the cops’ story. The autopsy shows that the teen was not simply shot in the chest. He was “riddled with bullets,” with “wounds to the left scalp, neck, left chest, right chest, left elbow, right upper arm, left forearm, right upper leg, left upper back, left elbow, posterior right upper arm, right arm, right forearm, right hand, right lower back, right upper leg.”

The case is being reviewed by the Independent Police Review Authority, as is the case with all police shootings. However, it generally takes them anywhere from a year to 18 months to complete an investigation.

[CHICAGO SUN TIMES]

The post Chicago Teen Shot 16 By Police Times According To Autopsy appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

As if HIV/AIDS wasn’t bad enough, it has managed to get worse. Right when the United States mends its fractured relationship with Cuba, a new, more powerful strain of HIV has been discovered there that can change into AIDS before a patient even knows he or she is infected. The aggressive strain of HIV can develop into full-blown AIDS in a three year period, whereas this process usually takes from five to ten years.

All of the infected patients had recently contracted HIV, evidenced by the fact that they were HIV-negative one to two years prior. The New York Daily News reports:

HIV develops into AIDS when a person’s CD4 count, which reflects white blood cells, falls below 200 or the patient gets a disease that wouldn’t affect someone with a healthy immune system.

95 recently infected Cubans were examined by medical professionals and the new HIV strain was identified in the small group that who developed AIDS at a rapid pace. It is reported that this new strain is a combination of three subtypes of HIV. These subtypes then combine in the body of the infected person.

This strain of HIV has been seen in HIV/AIDS ravaged Africa, but it is believed to be more widespread on the island of Cuba. It is said to be responsive to medications used to fight the virus, but (as stated before) the fact that it can morph into AIDS so quickly means that many will not be aware that they are infected until it becomes AIDS.

The post New Strain Of HIV Found In Cuba That Can Become AIDS In Three Years appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

George Zimmerman just seems to have nine lives. Every few months he pops up in the news for some type of mess, but the charges end up dropped. Now, he has evaded federal charges from he Department of Justice for the slaying of teenager Trayvon Martin. The DOJ has decided to not move ahead with charges due to lack of evidence.

Attorney General Eric Holder says that the investigation of George Zimmerman did not yield enough evidence that met the “high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution.” However, Holder is hoping that the highly publicized case will make room for more discourse about racial tension in the justice system.

In a statement, Holder said, “This young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.”

The feds started investigating Zimmerman shortly after the fatal shooting that killed Trayvon Martin in 2012. They postponed to allow the prosecution to proceed during the trial, but resumed the investigation in July of 2013, the same month Zimmerman beat the case.

Federal agents reviewed evidence presented during the trial. They also independently conducted 75 witness interviews as well as reviewing the interactions George Zimmerman had with law enforcement after the fact.

Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ echoed Holder, “Our decision not to pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to these cases.”

[USA TODAY]

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The post George Zimmerman Evades Federal Charges For Killing Trayvon Martin appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

Dell’s Maraschino Cherries in Brooklyn is one of the nation’s premier vendors of maraschino cherries, servicing big chains such as Red Lobster, TGI Friday and Buffalo Wild Wings. However, the company took a huge blow when its owner, Arthur Mondella, 57, killed himself in the factory during a police raid where marijuana was discovered.

Law enforcement were tipped off by allegations that the Dell’s factory was doubling as a “massive drug front” for a marijuana business from a confidential informant. They attempted to get a warrant to search the facilities in Red Hook, but were unsuccessful. However, they found another way in through the Department of Environmental Protection. They were technically searching the joint for possible waste dumping violations. The city had placed traps in the sewers which proved that the factory was definitely dumping waste. Mondella was said to be cooperative throughout the search which lasted hours. That is, until officers reached a private room that housed covered up vintage cars, including a Rolls Royce, a Porsche and a Harley Davidson motorcycle. In there, they discovered a “magnetically operated secret compartment” behind “weird shelving.” There were three bags on marijuana in this compartment. Mondella asked if he could use the bathroom and shot himself in the head with his legally registered .357 Magnum.

Upon a further search of the factory, “hundreds of thousands of dollars” were reportedly recovered. Officers also discovered generators and a system of surveillance cameras which are being considered evidence of a growing operation.

Mondella was said to be paranoid and using cocaine in the days leading up to the bust. According to his wife, he used marijuana casually.

[NY POST]

The post Brooklyn Factory Owner Commits Suicide During Raid Where Marijuana Was Found appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

Prodigy’s autobiography is filled with violence and mayhem. It’s hard to imagine that a rapper/entertainer of his stature was involved with all that petty and gratuitous violence, but according to the book and rumors in the hip-hop world, it’s all true. Prodigy is a true thoroughbred and thug of epic proportions, unlike many of todays so called gangsta rappers. Hip-hop is filled with studio gangsters, hustlers, wannabe’s and clowns. But like a true thug, Prodigy was ready to jump it off at anytime, in the streets or right before he went on stage to perform. It was on and popping whenever. That’s just how he carries it.

The parts of the book I enjoyed the most were those that veered into the lives of the real life crime figures that Prodigy was either associated with or that ran in the underground hip-hop circles he frequented. He paints a vivid picture of the 90s era scene, where clubs like The Tunnel and the Latin Quarter played center stage. Hosting a mix of alpha b-boys, drug lords, promoters, dime pieces galore, crime figures and the rappers themselves. The hustling and hip-hop landscapes portrayed are as harrowing as they are intriguing. I found the stories on Nathan “Green Eyed Born” May from the infamous Supreme Team, who Prodigy called Green Eyes in his book and his recollections of Eric “E-Money Bags” Smith, a wannabe rapper, gun thug and Mobb Deep affiliate, now deceased, both of whom were close to Prodigy, the most interesting.

The Southside of Jamaica Queens and Queensbridge, though close in proximity have always been rivals and Prodigy, firmly in the Queensbridge camp, found himself on the wrong side of Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff in the late-90s. Supreme is a legendary former drug lord who ran the Supreme Team in the crack era. He had done his time, got out and hooked up with Irv Gotti and Ja Rule’s Murder Inc. entertainment group. Riding shotgun with them, providing street cred and muscle.

Supreme had some long standing beefs with associates of Prodigy, including Supreme’s former cohort, the above mentioned Green Eyed Born and Prodigy’s rap protégé E-Money Bags. As Murder Inc. gained popularity in the late-90s, the battle lines were evenly drawn, not to be altered until 50 Cent entered the fray at a later date.

The story with Green Eyed Born, who was a member of the “original seed” of the Supreme Team, was that he felt slighted by Supreme after he came home from doing fifteen years for a robbery; he claimed to Prodigy, he didn’t even do. Back in the early-80s it has been alleged that the Supreme Team were vicious and accomplished bank robbers and when a few of them got busted for a bank robbery, Green Eyed Born got arrested, stayed true to the code of the streets and took the fall for other members of the team, maybe even for Supreme himself. But when he came home he didn’t get his just due as he expected.

Green Eyed Born was an O.G. and street legend that had always been very sure of himself and had even fancied himself as a potential leader of the Supreme Team at one time. Prodigy got to know the oldhead and admitted him into his inner circle. “I realized Green Eye’s was cool,” Prodigy wrote in his book. “He was just an O.G. suspended in time, 1984 to be exact. He told me how the gang leader, Supreme McGriff, didn’t take care of him while he was locked up and never sent his family money.”

This led to Green Eyed Born feeling like he needed to steal some of Supreme’s jewelry when he came home, but he was caught. When confronted about it he was shot in the leg by Supreme’s right hand man, Babywise, another long time Supreme Team member from back in the day. The shooting is mentioned in passing in the book, but not the real reason for its occurrence. Allegedly Green Eyed Born tried to sell the jewelry to Chaz Williams and when Chaz recognized it as Supreme’s, he let Supreme know, thus the confrontation with Green Eyed Born and ultimate shooting.

The E-Money Bags beef stemmed from his shooting of Colbert “Black Justice” Johnson, which resulted in Black Just’s death. Prodigy had befriended E-Money Bags before that and even paid him $2,500 for a beat he produced for the Murda Muzik soundtrack. “Before I gave Bags the money for the song he did for the Murda Muzik soundtrack he was planning to buy a tagged car from his girl Z, who sold tagged cars for Supreme.” Prodigy wrote. “Bags gave Z a thousand dollars for a down payment, but when he got the $2,500 from me, he decided he wanted his money back to get a legit car – a silver Navigator – instead.”

“You’ve gotta take that up with Preme,” the girl Z told Bags. “Because he told me not to give you anything back.” Prodigy felt that Supreme brushed E-Money Bags off like a punk. “Bags broke down the whole story about the connection between Irv Gott, Ja Rule and Supreme. Bags told me they were just two studio gangsters, herbs in the hood, and now Supreme’s got them under his wing.” Prodigy wrote. “Bags told me he was coming out of the Coliseum on Jamaica Avenue one day and saw Preme parked in a Land Rover with Black Just. Bags proceeded to shoot up the Rover with bullets, learning later that he missed Preme and shot Black Just in his upper inner thigh. Preme drove back to the hood to get somebody to drive Black Just to the hospital, but Black Just bled to death.”

Supreme was enraged at the killing of his longtime friend, ally and Supreme Team loyalist. Black Just had held Supreme down through thick and thin and now he was dead by a bullet meant for Supreme. Supreme vowed revenge. Prodigy didn’t know this all at the time but he would be warned. Supreme had no beef with Prodigy, only two of his associates. But in the streets you are be guilty by association. Green Eyed Born got with Prodigy to let him know E-Money Bags was being green lighted for death.

“Green Eyes said he needed to talk,” Prodigy said. “He told me to stop hanging out with Bags. He said stay away because Bags was about to be hit.” Even though Green Eyed Born was beefing with Supreme, he still had contact with his old boss through mutual connections. In Supreme’s eyes once Green Eyed Born was disciplined it was over, especially considering they had grown up together. Prodigy was also supposed to do a song with Irv Gotti and Ja Rule, but his relationship with E-Money Bags fucked that up.

“Irv brought me into the studio and played me some beats,” Prodigy wrote. “I get a call from E-Money Bags. When I told him I was at Irv’s studio, Bags said, ‘Tell that nigga Irv that E-Money Bags said what’s up. He knows me.’ I told Irv and his face instantly changed.” Since Prodigy was still associating with E-Money Bags, after he was given a direct warning by Supreme, he was put on the burn and created enemies and a situation where there had been none before, due to his affiliations.

Also with Prodigy being aligned with the up and coming anti-Murder Inc. 50 Cent, he was lining himself up directly against the Irv Gotti/Ja Rule/Supreme/Murder Inc. faction. “50 Cent felt the same way about Irv and Ja, Bags said, and he didn’t get along with Preme either. So when 50 first came on the rap scene with songs dissing Irv and Ja, Preme put a hit on 50,” Prodigy wrote. “That’s  why 50 got shot up. Bags knew that Preme put a hit on him, but he said he was going to kill Preme first. Now I understood what Green Eyes was telling me and why Irv Gotti looked the way he did.”

So it is no wonder Prodigy had spit venom toward Supreme, even though Supreme never had anything against him. But unlike Prodigy, Supreme is a real bonifide gangster, one of the baddest men to ever walk the streets ofNew York. Supreme is a true gangster in the mold of Al Capone, Pablo Escobar and John Gotti. Not to diminish Prodigy’s credibility, but he is no Supreme.

On July 16, 2001, E-Money Bags was killed, Dead President’s style, by a four man hit team Supreme allegedly hired for the job. Informants told authorities that Supreme bragged about the slaying and told friends that, “Black Just could now rest in peace.” Prodigy broke down how it happened, “Bags had parked his new Navigator next to a house to take a smoke break because he didn’t want to smoke weed in front of the kids in the yard. Four masked gunmen ran up on the Navigator from behind and opened fire. Bags truck and body were riddled with bullets. Bags died with his gun in his hand. He must’ve seen them coming but it was too late.” Obviously Prodigy was upset because his friend was killed.

And Prodigy’s line from Rotten Apple on Return of the Mac, If Pac was still alive we’d be on the same team, we got bigger fish to fry than that bitch Supreme is also misleading, as Tupac was down with Supreme back in the early-90s in an organization geared to clean up the city’s streets, before he was killed. Tupac was down with Supreme on his idea to unite O.G.’s, community leaders and rappers. Tupac would have never gone against Supreme. It’s said that Preme mediated Tupac’s conflicts in New York and gave Pac a pass to walk in the city. Some think the reason Tupac got shot was because Preme got put back in jail on a violation. If Preme was out he would have been able to mediate that situation just out of the respect he got.

When Preme found out Prodigy was rapping about him, he sent word through Green Eyes. “Look the nigga Preme is upset with you because you’ve been talking about him on your songs,” Green Eyed Born told Prodigy. “He had some niggas out here looking for you. I already told niggas they gotta fall back because you my nigga, P, but just stop talking about all that shit in your songs. You my nigga, P, you know I love you. Preme just feel like it’s none of your business, so just leave all that shit alone.”

Prodigy said about the song, “I called Preme a bitch because he had E-Money Bags killed and got 50 shot up. So fuck Supreme. They told me that some Supreme Team niggas were walking around the projects asking about me, saying they were going to kill me.” But if Supreme wanted Prodigy he could have got him. His track record in the drug and murder game speaks for itself. Supreme has a long gangster resume. And don’t get it twisted, Prodigy wasn’t beefing with Supreme while he was on the street. All this came about afterward. When the bodies were dropping, nothing was mentioned. Yet it’s all in his book now. The story gets deeper.

The post Dissecting My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

It’s no question that Bobbi Kristina Brown has been in the headline for weeks. According to updates, she has been taken out of a coma and put back on life support. Everyone has high hopes that prayers will work and Brown will pull through. Prior, Brown continued to be unresponsive and kept in a medically induced coma since Jan. 31st. Her condition remains severe, but doctors have taken her off several medications that helped induce the coma for the hope of better results. Allegations are spewing about what caused this tragedy. Reporters claim drug abuse and suicidal attempts. “We are leaving the investigation in the hands of the authorities. Our focus has always been Bobbi Kristina’s health recovery. That’s all that matters to us right now” according to family sources. Doctors are trying everything they can to ensure Bobbi Kristina pulls through.

Star from “Star and Buckwild” did an interview with Bobby Kristina’s cousin Shayne Brown. Star made it very clear at the beginning of the interview about his feelings toward Bobby Brown. “I have to be honest with you Shayne. I am not a fan of your uncle and I’m sure he’s no fan of mine”. The interview spiraled out of control when Shane refused to answer questions about Bobbi’s condition. Shane stated that Bobbi is doing well with prayer and that’s not what he’s here to discuss. Shayne wanted to discuss the fighting and family drama. Star sniffed out the stench before it spread. “Your people reached out to me and Bobbi Kristina is the topic. I’m not going down this path of people trying to come up”. After curse words flew Star lets Shane know he’s “A f*ggot a** n*gga” and to meet him in New York.  Check out the flammed argument between Shayne and Star. Out of control or Nah?

The post Bobbi Kristina’s Cousin to F*ck Off Says Star appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

Fellas, you ever went to a club with the new Jordans gleaming on your feet and a fresh new designer t-shirt, only to be turned around by the bouncer for your clothes. You’re thinking, “He tripping! I’m wearing about a rack right now.” You ever wonder why the dress code is so strict at these spots? Because the last dude dressed like that shot the club up!  I’m just kidding . . . sort of. On a serious note, the reason why most clubs have a dress code is because common logic is that a certain element of people dress a certain type of way. They feel if they can weed this certain element out, then the chances of their nightclub being destroyed are minimized. In the Don’s Corner, we are all about dissecting the  world from the lens (and for the lens) of men. So fellas, stereotypes aside,  what does your dress code say about you?

A lot of us grew up on hip-hop. Hip-hop culture has defined so much of our lives,  from the way we walk and talk,  to the way we dress. Hip-hop has also defined the way the world views us – for better or worse. In many ways,  the popularity of hip-hop has redefined style and what is acceptable, so we are allowed more leeway in terms of what constitutes proper dress. However,  just as hip-hop slang is still a second language to the dominant society,  certain dress codes are still viewed with a certain prejudice. The same way our respective environments have a particular vernacular, or dialect, clothing has an unspoken dialect as well.

Think about this, when you see a woman in skin tight pants with her camel toe bulging out, and cleavage spilling everywhere, what is your first thought?  Do you say,  “Now that’s my future wife and mother of my kids right there!” Or, are you wondering how long it will take you to get what you see bulging out? Be honest.  If you retained a high-dollar lawyer, and he comes into the court room to represent you wearing   Akoo jeans, sagging on top of new Jordans, would you feel confident that you’re going home that day, or would you start kissing your family goodbye? If we’re honest with ourselves,  we can admit that we form perceptions on people based on their appearances, and in most cases,  perception is reality – real or contrived. So what perception does your clothes say about you?

As dons (or aspiring dons), we are constantly working to carve out our slice of pie in this world. It is only reasonable that we should dress for the way we want to be perceived, and subsequently, treated. We must dress for the next level of our goals. Dress for the position we want in life. We should dress for whatever it is we are trying to achieve that day. If we’re just going out to kick it with the fellas? Timbs and hoodies it is. If we out here on our grind for the day? We should dress according to our goals. With so many uncontrollable  factors against us, we should strive to control the factors we can. Our dress code is a great place to start. You ever heard the phrase, ‘You can steal more with a briefcase and a suit than you can with a mask and a gun.’ That is the truth! What was Bernie Madoff’s dress code? Hell, even Big Meech donned a suit from time to time. The lessson here: Dress for success!

Of course,  if you don’t have any goals,  then this probably wasn’t meant for you.  I’m speaking to my dons…because this is our corner. Peace!

The post Don’s Corner: Dress Code appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

The Chicago Police Department has long been known as one that executes corrupt practices. However, recently, the top was blown off of one of its darkest secrets. That secret is a facility called Homan Square, which can be likened to the CIA’s black sites. Suspects are brought in unbeknownst to family and attorneys.

Homan Square has been in operation for about 40 years according to reports. It said to be “the scene of secretive work by special police units.” Reports indicate that Chicago police keep detainees out of official booking databases, administer beatings which cause head wounds, shackle suspects for extended periods and deny lawyers access to the facility. Suspects as young as 15 years old are held there between 12 and 24 hours. At least one man was found dead in one of the “interview rooms.” The facility reportedly holds several military-style vehicles, interrogation cells and a cage. Detainees there are most often poor Black and brown individuals.

According to The Guardian:

Unlike a precinct, no one taken to Homan Square is said to be booked. Witnesses, suspects or other Chicagoans who end up inside do not appear to have a public, searchable record entered into a database indicating where they are, as happens when someone is booked at a precinct. Lawyers and relatives insist there is no way of finding their whereabouts. Those lawyers who have attempted to gain access to Homan Square are most often turned away, even as their clients remain in custody inside.

In a statement, the Chicago PD said:

CPD [Chicago police department] abides by all laws, rules and guidelines pertaining to any interviews of suspects or witnesses, at Homan Square or any other CPD facility. If lawyers have a client detained at Homan Square, just like any other facility, they are allowed to speak to and visit them. It also houses CPD’s Evidence Recovered Property Section, where the public is able to claim inventoried property.

For more about Homan Square, click here.

The post Secret Homan Square Facility Brought To Light In Chicago appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

Colombia is one of (if not the) premier cocaine manufacturer and distributor in the world. It’s been that way for years. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that the country produces around 300 tons of cocaine annually. Last year, it is reported that authorities confiscated some 166 tons in raids. However, one of the nation’s criminal outfits took quite a blow as police seized 3.3 tons of cocaine in an offensive against them.

On Tuesday, police seized the cocaine in the jungle region of Colombia that borders Panama. The drugs are said to belong to the Usuga Clan of Colombia and is worth a reported $90 million. The shipment was believed to be intended for a Mexico destination. This follows a 3 ton seizure of cocaine last week in port terminal in popular tourist destination, Cartagena. That was also believed to be headed to Mexico.

The Usuga Clan reportedly is 2,000 deep, making them the nation’s largest criminal organization. They traffic drugs heavily, but have also said to be involved in illegal mining. Authorities are offering $600,000 to anyone who can provide information on the gang’s leader.

According to Canoe:

Many crime gangs are comprised of ex-members of paramilitary groups who officially demobilized nearly a decade ago.

Marxist rebels also reap hefty profits. Cocaine and other drugs are some of the principal sources of financing for groups fighting in the country’s 50-year armed conflict, which has killed over 200,000 people.

The northeast area of Colombia where the cocaine was seized is said to be an important strategic area for the underworld for the trafficking of drugs and guns.

The post 3 Tons Of Cocaine Seized In Colombia appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

The 10th annual CIAA was held in Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend, and I  was there, with copies of Don Diva Mag on deck. If you saw me out and about, you already know how it went down. I appreciate the love, and hope that you continue to support the magazine. The parties were on fleek, but  before we get to that, let’s give a little insight on what CIAA actually is.

CIAA stands for Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association (formerly called the Colored Intercollegiate Athletics Association.) It is an NCAA division II conference composed of mostly HBCU’s (Historically Black colleges and universities) that was established in the year 1912. It is the oldest African-American college conference in the United States. The conference members are primarily located in North Carolina and Virginia, which explains why  Charlotte  is the location for the tournament each year. Each year during the tournament there is a champion crowned for the men’s and women’s basketball tournament.  This year, Livingstone took home the championship for the men’s division, while Virginia State took home the honor for the women’s division.   This is the homecoming of sorts for the CIAA division,  and the festive environment reflected that.

Everybody who is anyone in the entertainment industry had a party in Charlotte this past weekend, and all of them were jumping. The downside was the T.I., Young Jeezy, and Yo Gotti party that was interrupted by a shooting, in which two people were injured, but expected to live. The highlights were the  Nicki  Minaj and Meek Mill  party, where they shared  the stage and performed for quite some time. There was also a celebrity basketball game in which one member of our cover story’s, Money and Violence crew  showed off his skills on the court. Outside of these events, the Kartel Gang seemed to have the city on smash, and we rode shotgun with them for the weekend at their Day Party that featured legendary DJ Kay Slay, along with Straight Stuntin’ model and Love and Hip Hop reality star, Jhonni Blaze. Atlanta’s Shawty Lo was also in the building,  and producer/songwriter/ artist, Rico Love came through as well. In the evening,  we attended the models and bottles party at Club Cosmos (another Kartel Gang production) that featured model Yolie Monroe, and the First Lady of Trill, Wankaego, who broke out in a freestyle while working the turntables simultaneously and had everybody in a frenzy. Angela Yee from Power 105 and Plies were also spotted in the building.  The club was packed, the atmosphere was great, and fortunately, there were no incidents. The next day, I attended the 3 Kings Book Tour signing, and got an opportunity  to interview one of the authors, Adonte Cherry, who is doing big things.

Overall,  the CIAA weekend was a blast.  If you’ve never been,  I encourage you to experience it. People from all over the world converging on a city to party for a purpose. What could be better than that?

The post CIAA Recap appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

It seems like more and more often, stories come up about a teacher having an improper, sexual relationship with students. The latest comes out of West Covina, California where a teacher and staffer at South Hills High School have been slapped with multiple charges after going on trips to the beach with male students. On these trips, 38-year-old English teacher Melody Lippert and 30-year-old district employee Michelle Ghirelli allegedly had sex with students and provided them with liquor and cocaine.

There were two camping trips that took place, both times were  about an hour south of West Covina on Orange County’s Pacific Coast at San Clemente State Beach.  According to the investigation, Lippert, the supposed ring leader of the excursions, first took a group of high school boys there in November 2014. This time, she provided the boys with alcohol. The second trip happened in December. This time Ghirelli came along and cocaine was added to the equation. For the most part, the same boys were taken each time. It is said that Lippert had sex with an 18-year-old. Ghirelli had sex with a 17-year-old and their hook up was allegedly arranged by Lippert. Investigators allege that the women performed oral sex on the students.

According to The Daily Caller:

Lippert, a 15-year veteran teacher with the West Covina school district, now faces a felony count of unlawful sexual intercourse and another felony count of furnishing a controlled substance to a minor charge in addition to the original charges of conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Ghirelli, a school district employee for five years, faces a felony count of furnishing a controlled substance to a minor in addition to the original counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation of a minor.

Enhanced sentencing guidelines apply because the teachers are at least four years older than the students. Specifically, Lippert is 20 years older than the student with whom she allegedly had sex. Ghirelli is 13 years older than her alleged campsite lover.

Lippert faces up to almost 11 years in prison. Ghirelli faces up to nearly 12 years behind bars.

The post Teacher and School Employee Charged For Booze, Cocaine and Sex With Minors appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

Yet again, somebody got busted trying to smuggle contraband without it being detected through an airport. Be it drugs, cash or guns, people these days seem to think they can get illegal items through Customs. No matter how many stories come out about people getting busted in the airport, bold folks out there are willing to test their luck. Colin McKenzie, a Guyanese man had his excuse all ready when he was nailed with bricks of cocaine in his suitcase on Friday. He told law enforcement agents that he thought he had diamonds in his bag.

McKenzie’s bags were selected to be inspected by Customs and Border Patrol officers when he stepped off of his Caribbean Airlines flight at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. Inside of his two suitcases were three large tin cans which he claimed contained diced fruit. In a Brooklyn Federal Court complaint, U.S. Department of Homeland Security special agent Edward Gonzalez said that the cans “felt unusually heavy and did not feel as though it contained liquid or syrupy material.”

The cans were X-rayed and the results showed that the substance inside of the cans was not a liquid of any type. When the material inside was tested, it proved to be white powder cocaine. There were 10 kilos in total.

After that, McKenzie told the officers that he thought the bags contained diamonds, not cocaine. He then told officers that someone in Guyana offered him between $5,000 and $6,000 to deliver the bags to an identified person here in The States. He is being held without bail, now.

[NY DAILY TIMES]

The post This Man Tried To Tell The Cops He Thought The Cocaine He Tried To Smuggle Through The Airport Was What?! appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

The heroin epidemic has been brewing across the nation for a few years now. Heroin is being used at a high rate in communities of all kinds throughout the country these days. Being a hard, powerful drug, those looking for a high run the risk of death by overdose. Studies have shown that deaths caused by heroin overdoses have quadrupled over the last 13 years.

Number show that the number of heroin deaths have jumped from 0.7 deaths per 100,000 people in the year 2000, to 2.7 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013. The biggest incline occurred between 2010 and 2013 when the number skyrocketed by 37 percent in comparison to a six percent rise the previous decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The demographic of the people dying from heroin overdoses has also changed. In 2000, the ethnic group with the highest number of deaths was Black adults aged 45 to 64, with 2 deaths per 100,000 yearly. In 2013, the report shows that the leading group is now White adults aged 18 to 44, with a rate of 7 deaths per 100,000.

Reports also show that the males are dying from heroin more than women with 6,500 male deaths compared to 1,700 female deaths. The deaths increased in all regions of the country, but the Midwest showed the biggest leap with the death rate in 2013 being 11 times higher than it was in 2000. The rate quadrupled in the Northeast, tripled in the South and doubled in the West.

Doctors cite the rise of prescription pills as a reason for the spike in heroin use. The prescription pills turn into an addiction for people and they go on to transition to heroin use because it is cheaper and produces a quicker high.

[HUFFINGTON POST]

The post Heroin Deaths Have Quadrupled In 13 Years appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

These days, just about everyone is getting up-to-the-minute notifications from their smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers about what people they know are doing, to the point where it gets annoying. It’s just the way the world works now. You don’t have to see anybody face to-face; everything is virtual and instantaneous. Friend, follow, like, post, comment, tweet, status update, check in, upload a photo—social media seems to compromise the majority of our interactions these days.

Inside the belly of America’s prison-industrial complex it’s harder for inmates to live online the same way—especially since they’re not allowed to have cell phones—but in practice, they’re all over social media.

Recently, I called an inmate in the California state prison system to get the low-down on the availability of smartphones in prison, what they’re used for, and how much they cost. My source told me that prisoners are posting to Facebook, uploading videos and photos to Instagram, and tweeting directly from their cell blocks. There have been plenty of reports about this trend, but most of them have centered around the use of contraband and illegal cell phones and the prison authorities’ attempts to combat their introduction and use.

But as a former prisoner I know that you don’t need a cell phone to gain access to social media. I began my career as a writer from inside, enjoying all the social media platforms available to people on the outside. With the growth of the internet, the world has opened up, even to prisoners. The technological advances we take for granted have made their way into the darkest corners of America. With most prisoners enjoying access (of a sort) to email these days, it’s made it that much easier for them to get on social media.

“I have been incarcerated for the past 12 and a half years for bank robbery, a crime that I committed when I was 23 years old,” says John “Judge” Broman, a 35-year-old from Pittsburgh serving an 18-year sentence at USP Hazelton in West Virginia. “Coming of age in the penitentiary caused me to lose touch with pretty much everyone I ever knew while I was free.”

Things changed a few years back when the Bureau of Prisons introduced the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System (TRULINCS), an email service for prisoners. Electronic messaging has become a standard form of communication within most American homes and businesses, and it can now be used to help inmates stay connected to their families. TRULINCS allows messages to be exchanged between inmates and the general public in a secure manner. Maintaining family ties can improve the likelihood of a successful reentry into the community, thus reducing the potential for recidivism.

That’s the intent, anyway, but in truth, the emergence of social media has enabled prisoners to make minute-by-minute updates from the cell block and reconnect with the world that they left behind. Before TRULINCS, prisoners could only communicate with the outside world through letters. I did this for years, because even though I was communicating by email, all my messages were coming in as hard copies: I would answer the email and send it back out to my wife, who would send the reply back to the sender. She would just print out the email and forward it to me. This is how I started my writing career from prison.

“Mail call is either the highlight or low point of every day for convicts,” Judge says. “A constant reminder that you’re either loved out there, or forgotten. I’m lucky enough to have a family that helps me communicate with people in the free world. Creating a Facebook page brought all types of people back into my life that thought I was dead and buried under the prison. It also brought me in touch with people I never knew before.”

But how do prisoners access social media platforms like Facebook? Alex “Boudreaux” Cook, a 28-year-old from Memphis who has served five years of a ten-year sentence for manufacturing marijuana, tells me, “My mom forwards my emails and I send her my artwork and she takes pictures and posts them for me. When people comment on my art or just my page, she forwards the messages for me. It helps me let my friends and family see what I am up to and know that I’m doing something productive.”

Using Facebook through TRULINCS circumvents the prison mailroom completely. All over Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, prisoners are posting photos of themselves straight from the penitentiary, with all their tattoos and gang affiliations displayed for the world to see. People in the real world are friending and following them, liking their posts and leaving comments, creating feedback and a dialogue with those trapped in the netherworld of corruption and violence. But not all prisoners are lucky enough to have a family member to act as proxy for their Facebook page and even fewer have enough money or underworld clout to obtain a contraband smartphone. So what do they do if they want to keep in touch with the world through social media?

“Being a federal inmate, it can often be difficult to hold down a social media page like Facebook, MySpace, etc.” Jesse Jongeward, a 42-year-old from Minneapolis who has been in eight and a half years on an 11-and-a-half-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute narcotics, says. “You have to find a provider that is going to get you your messages and post your pictures and text accordingly. I dealt with a company called voiceforinmates.com for three years and I was rarely satisfied with their performance. I paid $100 a year to get my messages and have my photos and updates posted, but it was rarely done. The whole experience stressed me out, but in the end it was cool to access some of my old classmates, musician buddies, and friends I haven’t talked to in a while. Plus it gave me a sense of still being out there in the mix of the free world.”

That is what social media is all about—getting out there and connecting with old friends and making new ones. I know in my case I thrived as I made connections and got my work published. It made me feel like I was living and transcending the mundane nature of prison life. But if TRULINCS has been a boon to prisoners, companies like Voice for Inmates have used it as an opportunity to exploit those trapped behind the fences of our nation’s correctional facilities. Without a proxy to administer the social media pages or a contraband cell phone to do it themselves, prisoners are bereft of the opportunity to connect. Prisoners will use anyone, even ex-wives or girlfriends, to set up their pages, even if that can cause trouble in their personal lives.

“It would be nice if I had a woman who didn’t have ulterior motives to keep me connected to the world, but I don’t, so I use what I got,” says Kevin Smith, a 48-year-old convict from Fort Worth, Texas, who is finishing up a 15-year sentence for a gun charge. “In a perfect world, I would have my Facebook page showcase some of my original songs and push my friends to a website I have created just for that. I have been gone over a decade and when I was out there, MySpace was the leading site. Twitter, Facebook and the others showed up later. It would be nice to be able to access our own account from here, but we are limited due to the sex offenders wanting to gain access and manipulate to their own sick desires. But I am still happy to have this expensive, slow, and monitored texting service which they refer to as emails.”

For me and a lot of other prisoners, TRULINCS was a tremendous resource. Used in the right way and with the right people helping, a lot can be accomplished. Since the whole world is digital and mobile these days, it’s nice to be plugged in.

Of course, like everything in life, there’s a price.

TRULINCS isn’t a free service. The Bureau of Prisons charges five cents per minute to read or type an email. Not much, you might think, but it adds up. I used to spend up to 1200 minutes a week on my writing career from prison. That’s like $240 a month for an email service. And since most prisoners only make $15 or $20 a month, many simply can’t afford to stay connected.

That’s why so many inmates turn to illicit ventures like smuggling drugs or smartphones into their institutions. The money can be too hard to pass up. And for real, what are they going to do if they catch you, throw you in jail? But a bigger reason is that just like people in the real world, prisoners want to know what is going on, they want to let people know what is up with them and get some type of recognition and acknowledgement from people in return. When you are serving time in a correctional facility, social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are a lifeline to the real world. And prisoners will do whatever it takes to hold onto that.

Follow Seth Ferranti on Twitter. This piece was originally published on vice.com

The post How Inmates Access Facebook, Instagram and Twitter appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

In the Don’s Corner, we focus on making men, better men – dons. Previously, we addressed the importance of the dress code of a don. In this segment, we discuss possibly one of the most important characteristics of a powerful man: vision.

Question: Where do you see yourself in five years . . .? If you don’t know the answer to that question, then chances are,  you are already there. See, if you don’t know where you are going,  then you aren’t going anywhere. It is said that a life without purpose is death in disguise. It is also said that, so a man thinketh, so a man is. So the questions we, as men, should ask ourselves daily are: where am I going?  What are my goals? What type of vision do I have for myself and my family?  The hidden truth is that once we visualize ourselves making moves and pursuing goals,  our subconscious minds will drive us toward that very thing. Additionally,  once we have a clear vision on what we DO want,  then we can adequately assess what we DON’T want,  and then make the appropriate decisions. To illustrate this more clearly,  I’ll recall a turning point in my life.

Back when I decided to throw my hat in the hustling arena, my stepfather discovered it, and came to me with a serious question. He asked me, “Why are you hustling?” Of course,  I said, “To get money.” His response baffled me. “For what? You get money,  then what?” He asked. I was dumbfounded. Surely I thought that was a stupid question initially, but the more I pondered his question, the more I realized it wasn’t so stupid after all. See,  all the things I thought to buy with my money were just more of the same things I already had,  or things that didn’t matter much. My father concluded his interrogation with a lesson. “You can’t live off a hustle,  ’cause a hustle is just that,” he said. “Always have a goal in mind,  otherwise you just hustling blindly. ” Now, I didn’t fully understand his lesson then,  but the words always remained in my head. Later, as I became more wiser,  I understood it fully. I needed to have a clear vision for myself, otherwise I would be parallel to the hamster on the wheel, running nowhere fast.

Having a vision is what separates bosses from workers, leaders from followers. In any structure, the leader is the person with a vision. From drug kingpins to politicians to clergymen, the dynamic is the same. People follow the person (or people) with the best vision for the team.  Think about it, how are you going to be a leader if you don’t know where you are going?

On an individual level, having a vision for yourself can keep you focused. That focus will render a lot of petty inconveniences powerless.  Martin Luther King had a vision.  The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad had a vision.  Barack Obama won his campaign on a vision – change.  These men go down in the annals of history because they carried out their vision. When the book is closed on your life,  what will be your legacy? Will you have been a man with your own vision,  or one who succumbed to the vision of others?

What is your vision?  What is the single most thing you want to accomplish in this life we are given?  Do you have a vision,  or are you just wandering around aimlessly?  As dons (or aspiring dons) we must know that whatever we believe,  we can achieve. However,  we first must visualize something to believe in.  Once we put the proper vision on our mind’s eye, the universe will propel us toward that vision as if we’ve been shot from a cannon! Don’t believe me? Just watch.

Vision is what separate the dons from everybody else, and we are claiming a vision because we all are dons. . .and this is our corner.

The post The Don’s Corner: Vision appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

Get Down or Lay Down

Junior Black Mafia’s (JBM) Aaron Jones

By: Tiffany Chiles

He’s been called the “Black John Gotti,” not by his comrades or the people he did business with but by the people who were trying to crucify and execute him. Now there are a lot of young brothers out there (and sisters for that matter) who may think that being called the “Black John Gotti” is some kind of honor or “prop.” The reality is that this personification is what assisted in Aaron Jones receiving LIFE and DEATH from the United States of America. He’s alleged to be the founder of the “Junior Black Mafia” (J.B.M.). An organization that has been made out to be one of the most feared in the history of black organized crime in Philadelphia. Anybody and everybody living in hilly was talking about him and the J.B.M. During the mid 80’s and early 90’s. If you weren’t talking about them then you weren’t down. Everyone had their own version of things and most made it up as they went along, but everyone agreed that; “They were not to be fucked with. The J.B.M. had Philly on lock.” According to the Philadelphia Crime Commission, Aaron Jones and his associates built the J.B.M. into a violent multi-million-dollar drug organization that controlled all of Philadelphia between 1985 and 1991.

According to the newspapers and other media: It is alleged that the J.B.M. was comprised of 50 members and had up to 300 associates that were responsible for the sale of 100 to 300 kilos of cocaine generating between $10 and $30 million dollars a month. The J.B.M. assets included plenty of money, mansions, luxury cars, furs, jewelry and weapons. The J.B.M. was also linked to 33 legitimate businesses, such as, auto detail shops, barbershops and restaurants. It is rumored that the members of the J.B.M. were young, well-connected, street-smart hustlers with a no-nonsense approach to their business. It wasn’t until the guns began firing and the bodies began to drop that they began making newspaper headlines. The local gossips said the J.B.M. was in business 2 years, quietly amassing millions, before a local federal task force was formed to bring them down.

“Get Down or Lay Down”- simply put: join them or be killed-was their motto according to police. This was used to headline many stories done on Aaron Jones and the J.B.M. by the media and used by the prosecution to further substantiate their claim of unscrupulous violence.

AJ:     The motto “Get down or lay down” is the police motto coming from suckers on the streets. No one ever went around telling people that or giving this ultimatum.

By 1989, the government associated 25 murders with the JBM. It was rumored that many of the alleged victims of the J.B.M. were rival dealers and anyone who “played” with their money. The rumors about their violent tactics soured; if you skimmed off the top, if you tried to become independent, if you threatened their business in any way you were “dealt” with. The J.B.M. had become so feared that survivors of alleged assassination attempts refused to testify against them in fear of their lives. An alleged J.B.M. member was arrested for possession of a handgun while in the courtroom where a government witness was set to testify against Aaron Jones for allegedly shooting him. The witness, who was confined to a wheelchair after being shot 10 times in the arm, hip, chest and face recanted his testimony (for the time being). After a grand jury investigation, Aaron was re-arrested and the witness testified at the preliminary hearing with a sheriff’s deputy standing between him and Jones to prevent eye contact.

Now this really sounds like these brothers were ballin’- right? They were definitely puttin’ their thing down, right? Now the trouble with all this information is that it came from government and media sources- who often exaggerate facts to justify the exorbitant amounts of money the government often spends investigating and prosecuting individuals. Let’s face it, it wouldn’t look good for the media to write a story about a drug dealer who was moving 1 kilo every month that the government spent thousands of man hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars to investigate- now would it? And, it would be politically damaging for the government to admit that they investigated a brother for years (spending hundreds of thousands of dollars) and were not able to get anything on them. I am not trying to imply that there is absolutely no truth in what has been written about Aaron Jones and the J.B.M. because, I don’t know! No one knows, but Aaron Jones and his real comrades- but over the last few years, it seems like everyone wants to write their story.

Don Diva contacted Aaron to set the record straight and give him an opportunity to tell his truth. While it seems everyone wants to tell stories of the evil streets and make confessions, Aaron being a true Don, was very hesitant.

AJ: ” I am very apprehensive about responding to your request… because you never know ones true intentions, ulterior motives behind things…So many people try to come at you with games, only to exploit you for financial purposes.”

There has been an explosion of books claiming to be about the “infamous” Aaron Jones and his comrades known as the J.B.M… all of which are unauthorized and very inaccurate according to Jones. AJ: ” I have nothing but contempt for the books written about me…. These so-called authors [are] trying to capture the psyche of my thing but all fall way short…you can’t get information from none of these books about me, because believe me they don’t have a clue.”

After overcoming his initial reluctance, Don Diva magazine is the first publication to interview Aaron, who is on death row in a maximum-security prison, to give his sentiments on his case and the game. I visited Aaron on Death Row in February 2000, and although doing interviews in jail is nothing new to me, it was a new experience. Stay tuned for part II “The Interview”

The post Aaron Jones of Philly’s Junior Black Mafia (JBM) appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.

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It should be known by now that if you are doing dirt, it is best to keep you exploits off of social media. So many times, people who are being sought by the police are nailed on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, giving up their whereabouts or making posts boasting their illegal activities.  Andrew Dale Marcum of Ohio got caught up recently after making a bold, yet ill-thought reply on Facebook.

Earlier on in the week, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office (Ohio) posted Marcum’s photo on Facebook with the following message:

Time for another featured warrant of the week! BCSO is looking to apprehend ANDREW DALE MARCUM on numerous warrants. He has previously been known to reside on Route 4 in Lemon Township, but also tends to commit crimes in Hamilton and Middletown.

The highlight of his recent criminal past involves burglary / safe-cracking (a Felony 2). He’s also been dabbling in abduction (F2), assault (M1), domestic violence (M1), criminal endangering (M1) and he has some bench warrants.

The post Man Arrested After Replying To Police Facebook Post About Him appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.