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Tag: co-conspirator

  • Guthrie’s husband’s company is not Epstein ‘co-conspirator’

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    After Nancy Guthrie’s Feb.1 abduction from her Tucson, Arizona, home, her daughter “Today” host Savannah Guthrie put out a call on social media for tips on her mother’s whereabouts, pleading for her safe return. 

    So far, social media users have been less than helpful. With the Justice Department’s Jan. 30 release of more than 3 million pages of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, X users proposed bogus links between the abduction and the file release.

    Multiple X posts include a photo of Savannah Guthrie’s family and an accusation about her husband, Michael Feldman. 

    “Her husband’s company is listed as a co conspirator in the Epstein files… FGS Global,” reads a Feb. 12 X post with over 1 million views. “In case you’re wondering why now of all times for Savannah Guthrie’s mother to be ‘kidnapped.’”

    The co-anchor’s husband isn’t named in the Epstein files, and neither is his current company.

    Searching the digital Epstein files, we found one 2013 email to Epstein from a person named Michael Feldman, but it seems to be someone else, introducing himself as a “theoretical physicist.”

    Guthrie’s husband is a communications consultant who previously worked in the Clinton administration as chief liaison to Congress and senior adviser for former Vice President Al Gore. Feldman currently works as North American co-chairman of FGS Global, an international public relations firm.

    We did not find FGS Global listed in Justice Department files, but another public affairs company that was merged to found FGS Global was listed. As a community note on one of the X posts said, Feldman helped found Glover Park Group in 2001, and its name appears twice in the Epstein files. The firm merged with other companies to form FGS Global in 2021. 

    PolitiFact reached out to FGS Global, but didn’t receive an immediate response.

    The first mention was in 2014. The office of Terje Rød-Larsen, a former diplomat and former president of the International Peace Institute, shared a list of articles with Epstein, and one story mentioned the Glover Park Group’s work lobbying for Egyptian interests. 

    The second was in a 2015 email forwarded by Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary and former Harvard University president. Summers suggested that Epstein contact Joe Lockhart, who worked at the Glover Park Group and served as press secretary during the Clinton administration, as well as other Democratic politicians. The initial email says Lockhart “helped Clinton and Genera= (sic) Petraeus.” (Former CIA director and retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus had an extramarital affair uncovered in 2012.)

    (Screenshot of a Jan. 8, 2015, email exchange in the Epstein files)

    These mentions are not evidence that Feldman, FGS Global or Glover Park Group were “co-conspirators” with Epstein. 

    Being mentioned in the files does not mean criminal wrongdoing. We reported in 2025 that figures such as President Donald Trump and Clinton appear in the files, but that doesn’t mean they are guilty or charged with crimes. As of February 2026, Epstein and his coconspirator Ghislaine Maxwell are the only people who have been convicted in the scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls.

    Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said Feb. 16 on X that the Guthrie family, including “all siblings and spouses,” had been cleared as possible suspects in the Nancy Guthrie case.

    We rate the X posts’ claims about Guthrie’s husband’s company False. 

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  • Co-conspirator of suspended Osceola County sheriff pleads guilty to money laundering

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    Co-conspirator of suspended Osceola County sheriff pleads guilty to money laundering

    WESH TWO NEWS ON CW STARTS NOW. FIRST TONIGHT, TWO MORE CO-DEFENDANTS IN THE CASE AGAINST SUSPENDED OSCEOLA SHERIFF MARCOS LOPEZ TOOK PLEA DEALS. TODAY. I’M JESSE PAGAN AND I’M MICHELLE IMPERATO LOPEZ’S ESTRANGED WIFE. AND ANOTHER CODEFENDANT. CHRISTINA DURAN. AN ALLEGED ILLEGAL GAMBLING OPERATION. THEY BOTH PLED GUILTY. WESH TWO HAYLEY CROMBLEHOLME IS LIVE AT THE LAKE COUNTY JAIL. HAYLEY. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THEM? SO AT THIS POINT, ANY SENTENCE COULD BE FACING THAT’S YET TO BE DETERMINED. THAT’S GOING TO BE UP TO THE COURT TO DECIDE. BUT FOR ROBIN LOPEZ, AFTER SHE WAS RELEASED FROM THE LAKE COUNTY JAIL HERE THIS AFTERNOON, IT APPEARS SHE’LL BE AVOIDING PRISON TIME AND AVOIDING A FELONY CONVICTION. NOW THIS ALL COMES. THESE PLEA DEALS JUST DAYS AFTER COURT DOCUMENTS ALLEGE THAT DIOR WAS PREPARED TO TESTIFY THAT HE GAVE CASH IN AN ENVELOPE TO ROBIN LOPEZ FROM THAT GAMBLING OPERATION TO GIVE TO MARCOS. IN THIS VIDEO FROM BACK IN JULY, ROBIN LOPEZ WAS RELEASED FROM JAIL FOR THE FIRST TIME ON A CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT RACKETEERING CHARGE. WHAT IS THIS FOR? IT’S A WARRANT OUT OF LAKE COUNTY. SHE WAS ARRESTED AGAIN IN OCTOBER FOR PROVIDING FALSE OR MISLEADING INFORMATION OR OMITTING MATERIAL INFORMATION ON HER BOND APPLICATION, BUT MONDAY AFTERNOON, SHE LEFT THE LAKE COUNTY JAIL ONCE AGAIN AND BASED ON HER PLEA DEAL, IT DOESN’T SEEM LIKELY SHE’LL RETURN. THE AGREEMENT SAID LOPEZ IS CHANGING HER PLEA TO GUILTY ON A REDUCED CHARGE OF MONEY LAUNDERING AND PLEADING GUILTY TO THE CHARGE RELATED TO HER BAIL APPLICATION. IT SAYS SHE WILL FACE A MINIMUM OF 24 MONTHS PROBATION, BUT HER ADJUDICATION WILL BE WITHHELD. HER ATTORNEY, MICHELLE YARD, SAID IN A STATEMENT TODAY. ROBIN LOPEZ MADE THE DIFFICULT DECISION TO ENTER A PLEA IN HER CASES. THIS PLEA ALLOWS HER TO IMMEDIATELY RETURN HOME TO HER FAMILY AND MOVE FORWARD WITH HER LIFE. IMPORTANTLY, THE COURT HAS WITHHELD ADJUDICATION, MEANING THAT SHE HAS NOT BEEN FORMALLY CONVICTED AND WILL NOT CARRY THE LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES OF A FELONY CONVICTION. THIS DIFFICULT DECISION WAS MADE WITH CAREFUL CONSIDERATION AND IN THE BEST INTEREST OF HER FUTURE. WE SPOKE WITH CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY RAJAN JOSHI ABOUT WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN ON THE LINE IF ROBIN LOPEZ WAS CONVICTED. BEING A CONVICTED FELON WOULD HAVE BEEN LIFE CHANGING FOR HER, HE SAID. THAT KIND OF CONVICTION CAN IMPACT WHERE YOU CAN RENT AN APARTMENT, WHAT WEAPONS YOU CAN HAVE. AND IN SOME CASES, IF YOU CAN VOTE. ROBIN LOPEZ WASN’T THE ONLY CODEFENDANT TO STRIKE A DEAL MONDAY. KRISHNA DAREN, WHO INVESTIGATORS HAVE DESCRIBED AS AT THE HELM OF THE OPERATION, PLED GUILTY TO A MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGE, WITH THE AGREEMENT SAYING THE TIME HE WILL SERVE IS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE COURT. IT COULD MEAN A MAXIMUM OF FIVE YEARS IN PRISON. WITH THE PLEA DEALS REACHED MONDAY, MARCOS LOPEZ REMAINS THE ONLY CODEFENDANT ARRESTED TO NOT STRIKE A DEAL. WE ASKED JOSHI WHAT THAT COULD MEAN FOR HIS CASE. THAT’S NOT GOOD FOR SHERIFF LOPEZ BECAUSE HE’S THE LAST MAN STANDING, AND THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE SOMEBODY WHO’S GOING TO TAKE THE FALL FOR ALL THIS. EVERYONE ELSE CUT A DEAL, AND A LOT OF THE CO-DEFENDANTS ARE GOING TO BE TESTIFYING AGAINST HIM. NOW, WE DO EXPECT TO BE TESTIFYING IN THE CASE AGAINST MARCOS LOPEZ. AND ROBIN LOPEZ’S ATTORNEY SAYS HER CLIENT PROVIDED A SWORN STATEMENT TO PROSECUTORS TOD

    Co-conspirator of suspended Osceola County sheriff pleads guilty to money laundering

    Updated: 11:04 PM EST Nov 24, 2025

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    A co-conspirator of suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez has pleaded guilty to money laundering, according to court records.Krishna Deokaran’s guilty plea came on the same day as the estranged wife of the former sheriff, Robin Severance-Lopez, pleaded guilty to money laundering Monday. While Deokaran never faced any racketeering charges, investigators described him as standing “at the helm of the operation, overseeing its financial and logistical framework.”Unlike Severance-Lopez, Deokaran is being adjudicated guilty by the court. Deokaran could face up to five years in prison, according to court records. His sentence is to be decided at a later date. Marcos Lopez is accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from Deokaran in exchange for protecting the casino, the Eclipse Social Club Casino, where the illegal gambling ring was based in Kissimmee.Deokaran is expected to testify at the eventual trial for the former sheriff, but the date has not yet been set. >> This is a developing story and will be updated as new information is released.

    A co-conspirator of suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez has pleaded guilty to money laundering, according to court records.

    Krishna Deokaran’s guilty plea came on the same day as the estranged wife of the former sheriff, Robin Severance-Lopez, pleaded guilty to money laundering Monday.

    While Deokaran never faced any racketeering charges, investigators described him as standing “at the helm of the operation, overseeing its financial and logistical framework.”

    Unlike Severance-Lopez, Deokaran is being adjudicated guilty by the court.

    Deokaran could face up to five years in prison, according to court records. His sentence is to be decided at a later date.

    Marcos Lopez is accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from Deokaran in exchange for protecting the casino, the Eclipse Social Club Casino, where the illegal gambling ring was based in Kissimmee.

    Deokaran is expected to testify at the eventual trial for the former sheriff, but the date has not yet been set.

    >> This is a developing story and will be updated as new information is released.

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