Oct. 1, 2014

Spot digital risks during cyber security month
BBB and Attorney General partner to increase online safety and awareness

DUPONT, Wash. – October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month.  As part of a global cyber security awareness campaign, Better Business Bureau serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office are partnering with STOP.THINK.CONNECT.™ to help digital citizens stay safe online.

Defendant billed Medicaid more than $600,000 for new wheelchairs, actually provided used ones

OLYMPIA — In a case brought by the Attorney General, the owner of a wheelchair company that fraudulently delivered 119 used or refurbished wheelchairs to the poor and disabled across the state was convicted on felony charges Sept. 25 in Thurston County Superior Court.

SEATTLE – Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson offered the following statement after today’s announcement that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will resign when his successor is confirmed.

“Civil rights, marriage equality, sentencing reform and crime prevention are but a few of the issues on which we have made progress in our country due to the leadership of U.S. Attorney Eric Holder.

SEATTLE — In the first enforcement action of its kind, Attorney General Bob Ferguson is suing a Philadelphia-based online company for violations of the federal Restore Online Shopper’s Confidence Act (ROSCA) and the state’s Consumer Protection Act.

Attorney General’s Office opposed habeas corpus petition by convicted Spokane South Hill rapist 

A federal judge in Tacoma has agreed with the Attorney General's Office that convicted South Hill rapist Kevin Coe is not entitled to a new trial. Coe will remain confined at the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.

SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson is warning consumers that phone scammers posing as legitimate computer technicians are on the prowl in Washington and other states across the country.

“These scammers claim to be calling to help resolve problems that have been detected on the consumer’s personal computer, such as harmful viruses or malware,” warned Ferguson.  “What they really want is access to your computer and, ultimately, your money.”

KENNEWICK — At the request of Attorney General Bob Ferguson, the Benton County District Court today ordered defendant Brandon Traner to pay the state $144,000 for the cleanup of a fishing trawler that Traner was recently convicted of abandoning in the Columbia River. Ferguson’s office obtained the first derelict vessel conviction in Washington state last month after Traner’s trawler, the M/V Forus, sank and released 50 gallons of diesel fuel and 8 gallons of motor and hydraulic oils into the Columbia,

Former corrections officer sentenced for sexual misconduct 

OLYMPIA — A former Franklin County corrections officer will spend nearly a year in jail and have to register as a sex offender because of sexual misconduct with two inmates in the Franklin County Jail. 

Justin Thomas Husom was sentenced Sept. 12 in Franklin County Superior Court to 10 months in jail for first-degree custodial sexual misconduct, a Class C felony.

SEATTLE – Attorney General Bob Ferguson has invited attorneys from around the state to meet with him about volunteering to provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children.

OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson has joined the latest effort to stop child sex trafficking on Backpage.com.