Fbi

Thomas J.A. Henry, an FBI special agent and former Philadelphian whose multi-faceted talents made him an invaluable asset to the San Francisco division of the bureau, died Tuesday. He was 48 and lived in Orinda, Calif. Tom "Big Bear" Henry was an FBI agent who could analyze the knottiest legal problem, earn the confidence of judges, build instant rapport with local police officers and "put away pasta like no Irishman I've ever seen," said fellow agent Lou Caputo of the San Francisco office.

The FBI has subpoenaed records on the city's Class 500 grant program as part of an investigation into how City Council spent money set aside for two non-existent youth groups within the program, Council President Joseph E. Coleman and other officials said yesterday. Coleman said that officials in the city solicitor's office told him late last week about the subpoena, which he said asked for documents on the Class 500 program of grants to community, arts and other non-profit groups.

Philadelphia police and FBI agents continued an intensive search throughout the city yesterday for 4-month-old LaShae Cherry, who was taken Saturday from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Hospital officials yesterday defended security at the world-renowned hospital, where a 24-hour visiting policy is designed to comfort the young patients. Philadelphia police records indicate that hospital officials did not notify the police of the alleged abduction until 3:35 p.m. Saturday, more than three hours after the baby was discovered missing.

The son of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah tried hard to keep up the image of a rising young entrepreneur, talking about his work for high-living clients and moving in to the luxurious Residences at the Ritz-Carlton in Center City. But behind the facade, Chaka Fattah Jr.'s troubles were rising. Taxes went unpaid, checks started bouncing, and loan officers began calling about missed payments on a $50,000 loan, according to records and interviews. And the FBI was secretly digging into his finances - even recording his conversations as he talked about his work as a budding political consultant.

Months after the FBI began probing allegations against Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), investigators are now looking at whether someone set out to smear him while he was running for reelection last year and then ascending to his new post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to four people briefed on the inquiry. As part of a wider public-corruption investigation into the senator, the FBI has been examining whether Menendez patronized prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

Benny the Bum ain't talking. Nor is he supplying a federal grand jury with his photo, his fingerprints, or a handwriting sample. Not without a court order, anyway. Benny the Bum, in fact, is Matt Levy, the 34-year-old proprietor of Benny the Bum's Crabhouse & Bar in Northeast Philadelphia. He is attempting to duck a subpoena that, his attorney says, is a not-so-subtle move by the FBI to "coerce" him into cooperating in a mob investigation. Arthur R. Shuman said his client has angered federal agents by refusing to answer any questions and by turning down a request to wear a body wire and record conversations with targets of the probe.

PITTSBURGH - The FBI seized documents Tuesday from the headquarters of the Pittsburgh Police Department. Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the FBI removed documents, but did not provide details of what was taken. Police Chief Nate Harper has been under scrutiny since a former friend of his was charged last year in connection with a bribery scheme on a contract to install radios and computers in police cars. Last week it emerged that Harper helped form a private security consulting firm with a civilian clerk and three city officers, including one he promoted from sergeant to commander.

Joel R. Davis works in the Philadelphia office of the FBI as an accounting aide, and wants to become a special agent or an investigative specialist. But Davis has diabetes, and the FBI refuses to consider him and other diabetics for promotion to these higher-paying jobs, solely because of their condition. Medication and food required to control diabetes might not be available if the agent found himself in a remote area, and lives might be endangered, an FBI spokesman said yesterday.

For more than a year, the system worked flawlessly. Containers of counterfeit cigarettes shipped from China to the ports of Newark and New York moved easily through U.S. Customs and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security without inspection. From the docks, the cigarettes, falsely labeled as Marlboro and Marlboro Lights, made their way to a nondescript warehouse in southern New Jersey, where they were readied for the final leg of their trip, to California. The transport crew, responsible for smoothing the way through Homeland Security and making sure the cigarettes - nearly 2.3 million packs of them - got to California safely, was none other than the FBI. The FBI's elaborate logistics operation was part of a sting set up to stem the tide of contraband cigarettes into the United States, according to court documents filed this week in U.S. District Court in Camden.

Plans to expand the FBI crime computer to include tracking of suspects not charged with any crime pose serious problems for constitutional rights, a panel of computer scientists says. "The files pose a potential threat to the privacy and civil liberties of persons included in the files and to the civil liberties of the public in general," says a report by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. The report, prepared at the request of Rep. Don Edwards (D., Calif.), was made public last week.