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Strike Forces Told To Go After Big BoysWASHINGTON T'Ph — The head of the .fustire Department s criminal division todav said he is ordering organized crime strike forces to stop chasing pet-tv criminals and focus their in-vestigations on the major mobstersIn too manv cases the strike forces have become bogged down in routine investigations of minor figures — of the Indians and not the chiefs. AssistantAttorney General Richard L Thorn-*•burgh said The strike forces — there once were 18 of them in larger cities — bring together agents of the FBI Internal Revenue Service and other federalagencies to investigate racketeers who operate across state lines Thornburgh has closed some strike forces that did not have enough of the types of cases he believes they should work on is phasing nut others and has brought m Kurt Muellenberg to head the organized crime and racketeering section.Mr Muellenberg was instructed to got out in the field and explain mv conception of what should be that the emphasis should he prosecutions of major significance, Thornburgh said in an interviewThe strike forces bypass the U S attorneys who normally would conduct«!* r •• • Vithe investigations and Thornburgh former 11 S attorney for western Pennsylvania has been accused of being opposed to the concept Thornburghdenied thisThe critics said I was bent on cur tailing the effectiveness of the program. Thornburgh said Myresponse is we are not try ing to cut the progam but strengthen it by concentrated efforts against major crimefiguresThere are two unassailable virtuesabout the strike force concept ' he said First, the team concept, to get all investigative agencies together to share their intelligence and work a cooperative investigation Thornburgh saidSecond, these lawyers in the unit work separately from the U S. attorney and have far more time to concentrate on long term sophisticated and often complicated investigations entailed in getting at big fish in the operations. he sainSooners Charged With Stealing Texas Crude OilTULSA IUPI — Four men, including a Stroud. Okla police officer, have pleaded innocent to charges of stealing almost a half-million dollars in crude oil from a Texas-to-OklahomapipelineThe four entered the pleas Thursday in an appearance before Chief US District Court Judge Allen E Barrow Four other men are charged in the indictmentEntering pleas Thursday were policeman Bobby Walker Raymond Whipkey of Cushing. Okla . and Alta Kirk Manahan Sr and his son. Alta Jr both of Enid Tbev were released on $5 000 personal recognizance bondsThe other four men listed in the indictment are James H Cunningham Bobbv Joe Fowler Fred Flewellen and
Newspaper Details
Amarillo Globe Times
Amarillo, Texas, US
Fri, Nov 19, 1976
Page 50
Full Page
Clipped by
Madison H.
NA, 26 May 2023
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