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Tag: Courts

  • Judge Orders New Alabama Senate Map After Ruling Found Racial Gerrymandering

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    MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Alabama to use a new state Senate map in upcoming legislative elections after ruling that districts drawn by lawmakers illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents in the state’s capital city.

    U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco, appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, issued the ruling Monday putting a new court-selected map in place for the 2026 and 2030 elections. Manasco ruled in August that the state had violated the Voting Rights Act by “packing” Black voters into Montgomery’s Senate District 26 to limit their influence elsewhere. Manasco selected one of three proposed plans drawn by a court-appointed expert.

    “The Court orders the use of a remedial map that was prepared race-blind and affords Black voters in the Montgomery area an equal opportunity, but certainly not a guarantee, to elect Senators of their choice,” Manasco wrote.

    The order came from a 2021 lawsuit that argued the Alabama Senate district lines diluted the voting strength of Black citizens in Montgomery. The lawsuit maintained that in Montgomery, Black voters were unnecessarily packed into a single district, preventing them from influencing elections elsewhere, while white voters in the majority-Black city of Montgomery were “surgically” extracted into a neighboring district.

    The selected map adjusts two Montgomery-area districts — District 26, now represented by Democratic Sen. Kirk Hatcher, and District 25, now represented by Republican Sen. Will Barfoot. Manasco said the remedial plan “unpacks District 26 by moving some Black voters from District 26 into the adjacent District 25.”

    Court-appointed special master Richard Allen had cautioned in an earlier court filing that the plan only “weakly remedies” the Voting Rights Act violation. Manasco wrote the plan does enough to fix the violation while leaving most voters and district lines untouched.

    The civil rights groups that had filed the lawsuit that led to the redistricting order had objected to the selected plan. Lawyers for plaintiffs said the plan creates an opportunity district in Senate District 25 “at the expense of the existing opportunity in SD26.”

    “Although in Plan 3 Black-preferred candidates win around 89% of the time in SD25, such candidates win less than 50% of the time in SD26,” lawyers for plaintiffs wrote in an Oct. 31 court filing. They added that the analysis of past elections showed that Black candidates “almost never win in SD26.”

    Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen had also objected to the selected plan.

    The ruling will not change the partisan power balance in the Alabama Senate, where Republicans hold 27 of the 35 seats.

    Manasco had given Alabama lawmakers an opportunity to draw a new map, but Gov. Kay Ivey declined to call lawmakers into special session.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • State Justice Will Step Down to Lead the University of Florida’s Classical Education Center

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida Supreme Court justice has announced he’ll be stepping down from the bench to lead a center dedicated to classical education at the University of Florida.

    In a statement released by the state Supreme Court, Justice Charles Canady said that beginning in 2026 he will serve as the director of UF’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education. The center was established in 2022, with recurring funding from the state legislature, and is dedicated to teaching and researching the “foundations of Western and American civilization.”

    Canady, who previously served as a Republican state lawmaker, a member of Congress, and general counsel to then-Gov. Jeb Bush, was known for his anti-abortion views as a lawmaker when he joined the bench in 2008.

    Canady’s departure will open up a vacancy on the court for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill. DeSantis has appointed five of the court’s seven sitting justices.

    Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Judge approves opioid settlement for Purdue Pharma and Sackler family members who own the company

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    A federal bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday formally approved OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harms of opioids.

    U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane gave reasoning Tuesday for approving the plan, which requires members of the Sackler family who own the company to contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years. Most of the money is to go to government entities to fight the opioid crisis that has been linked to 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999.

    A portion of the money is to be distributed next year to some people who had OxyContin prescriptions and their survivors.

    “My heart goes out to all those who have suffered such pain,” Lane said.

    The new agreement replaces one the U.S. Supreme Court rejected last year, finding it would have improperly protected members of the family against future lawsuits. Under the current agreement, entities that do not opt into the payments can still sue members of the family.

    The deal, which the judge said he would accept last week, is among the largest in a series of opioid settlements brought by state and local governments against drugmakers, wholesalers and pharmacies that totaled about $50 billion.

    Sackler family members agreed to pay up to $7 billion over 15 years, providing most of the cash involved in the settlement.

    The funds distributed to state, local and Native Americans is to be used mostly to address the opioid crisis, as has been the case with other opioid settlements.

    About $850 million of that is to go to individual victims, including children born with opioid withdrawal.

    People with addiction and survivors of those who died must prove they were prescribed OxyContin to participate. Those who do could receive payments of around $8,000 or around $16,000, depending on how long they received the drug and how many other people qualify. The money for individual victims is to be distributed next year.

    Members of the Sackler family are agreeing to give up ownership of Purdue.

    For them, that won’t be a major change since no family member has served on Purdue’ board or received money from the company since 2018. The plan calls for Purdue to be replaced with a new company, Knoa Pharma, to be controlled by a board appointed by states and with a mission of benefiting the public.

    Sackler family members are also agreeing not to have their name put on institutions in exchange for contributions — something they’ve done often in the past, though many institutions have cut ties with them.

    The company has also agreed to make public a trove of internal documents that could shed additional light into how the company promoted and monitored opioids.

    One feature that won’t be repeated under this new deal that was in a previous one: forcing members of the Sackler family to hear directly from people harmed by OxyContin.

    Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 when it was facing thousands of opioid-related lawsuits from state and local governments and others.

    A judge approved a settlement two years later. But the U.S. Supreme Court later rejected that plan because it gave members of the Sackler family protection from lawsuits over opioids even though they were not personally declaring bankruptcy.

    The latest plan allows lawsuits against Sackler family members by those who don’t opt into the deal. That change was a key to getting the new version approved in the aftermath of the high court’s ruling.

    This time, few parties objected to the settlement, although some people who represented themselves and who were addicted to opioids — or had loved ones who were — raised concerns during the three-day confirmation hearing last week.

    One of those self-represented people told Lane during the virtual hearing Tuesday that she planned to appeal.

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  • Judge to explain why he’s approving Purdue Pharma settlement plan

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    A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge is set to give his reasoning Tuesday for approving OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids.

    The deal calls for members of the Sackler family who own the company to pay up to $7 billion over time.

    Judge Sean Lane said last week that he would accept the plan, which ranks among the largest opioid settlements ever and would do something other major ones don’t: Pay some victims of the crisis.

    Sackler family members agreed to pay up to $7 billion over 15 years, providing most of the cash involved in the settlement.

    The funds distributed to state, local and Native Americans is to be used mostly to address the opioid crisis, as has been the case with other opioid settlements.

    About $850 million of that is to go to individual victims, including children born with opioid withdrawal.

    People with addiction and survivors of those who died must prove they were prescribed OxyContin to participate. Those who do could receive payments of around $8,000 or around $16,000, depending on how long they received the drug and how many other people qualify. The money for individual victims is to be distributed next year.

    Members of the Sackler family are agreeing to give up ownership of Purdue.

    For them, that won’t be a major change since no family member has served on Purdue’ board or received money from the company since 2018. The plan calls for Purdue to be replaced with a new company, Knoa Pharma, to be controlled by a board appointed by states and with a mission of benefiting the public.

    Sackler family members are also agreeing not to have their name put on institutions in exchange for contributions — something they’ve done often in the past, though many institutions have cut ties with them.

    The company has also agreed to make public a trove of internal documents that could shed additional light into how the company promoted and monitored opioids.

    One feature that won’t be repeated under this new deal that was in a previous one: forcing members of the Sackler family to hear directly from people harmed by OxyContin.

    Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 when it was facing thousands of opioid-related lawsuits from state and local governments and others.

    A judge approved a settlement two years later. But the U.S. Supreme Court later rejected that plan because it gave members of the Sackler family protection from lawsuits over opioids even though they were not personally declaring bankruptcy.

    The latest plan allows lawsuits against Sackler family members by those who don’t opt into the deal.

    This time through, few parties objected to the settlement, though some people who represented themselves and who were addicted to opioids — or had loved ones who were — raised concerns during the three-day confirmation hearing last week.

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  • Actor Danny Masterson asks for rape convictions to be tossed over lawyer errors

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    LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson filed a petition Monday for his two rape convictions and long prison sentence to be thrown out, saying that his trial lawyer failed to call key witnesses and introduce essential evidence that might have exonerated him.

    The petition for habeas corpus filed with California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal argues that lawyer Philip Cohen did not represent Masterson properly at the 2023 retrial that ended with the actor being convicted of raping two women at his Los Angeles home in 2003. He was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.

    The petition also argues that the trial judge demonstrated a bias against the Church of Scientology, allowing an “unconstitutional intrusion” into the church’s doctrine and a misinterpretation of its scripture.

    Masterson is a member of the church, whose practices were a major issue at his trial, and the women are former members.

    The petition says that Cohen spoke to only two of the 20 potential witnesses brought to his attention by his co-counsel and an investigator. It says the witnesses included some who would have testified that the women spoke favorably of the sexual relationships they had with Masterson. And they included psychological and pharmacological experts who would have testified about the effects of alcohol and drugs on memory.

    The court filing says there was “unexpected and unreasonable failure of trial counsel to present any of the mountain of exculpatory evidence” that had been amassed by Masterson’s pretrial attorney Shawn Holley, and the result was a violation of his constitutional rights.

    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo declined to delay Masterson’s first trial to accommodate Holley’s representation of former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer against his own allegations of sexual misconduct. Cohen then took over as lead attorney.

    Masterson’s first trial ended in a mistrial with a jury unable to reach consensus on any of three rape counts against him. He was promptly retried, and a jury found him guilty of two counts while failing to reach a verdict on the third.

    Cohen did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the petition, nor did an attorney for the women.

    “The unfairness of the second Masterson trial was the result of prosecutorial misconduct, judicial bias, and the failure of defense counsel to present exculpatory evidence,” Eric Multhaup, the attorney who filed the petition for Masterson, said in a statement. “The jury heard only half the story – the prosecution’s side. Danny deserves a new trial where the jury can hear his side as well.”

    The petition says Olmedo erred in allowing the prosecution to negatively cast the Church of Scientology as a force of intimidation. It alleges that Cohen also did not present available evidence that would countered the portrayal.

    Masterson’s new motion is separate from his main appeal to the same court, a process that is pending.

    Masterson, 49, is serving his sentence at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo. He will not be eligible for parole for more than 20 years.

    Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in “That ’70s Show” from 1998 until 2006. He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” but was written off the show when the Los Angeles Police Department investigation was revealed the following year.

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  • Man Charged With Killing 4 in Rural Tennessee to Make First Court Appearance Since Indictment

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    A Tennessee man charged with killing four members of the same family and kidnapping a baby before eluding authorities for a week is scheduled Monday to make his first court appearance since he was indicted.

    Austin Robert Drummond is expected to appear before a judge for an afternoon arraignment in circuit court in Lake County, located in rural northwest Tennessee.

    A grand jury indicted Drummond on Nov. 10 on charges including first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in the July 29 shootings. Drummond had pleaded not guilty in a lower court before a judge ruled there was enough evidence for his case to proceed to the grand jury.

    Drummond is accused of the deaths of the parents, grandmother and uncle of an infant found abandoned in a home’s front yard in rural west Tennessee. A weeklong search for Drummond ended on Aug. 5 in Jackson, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) southeast of the location of the killings in Tiptonville.

    An FBI agent testified at a hearing in September that data from a cellphone used by Drummond showed he was in the vicinity of a wooded area where the bodies were found with gunshot wounds and covered by tarpaulins.

    But Drummond’s attorney, Bryan Huffman, argued that there was no evidence presented during the hearing that showed Drummond actually shot any of the victims.

    On the day of the shootings, officers responded to a call of an infant in a car seat being dropped off at a “random individual’s front yard” roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Tiptonville, the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office has said.

    Then investigators in neighboring Lake County reported four people had been found dead from gunshot wounds in Tiptonville. They were identified as the baby’s parents, James M. Wilson, 21, and Adrianna Williams, 20; Williams’ brother, Braydon Williams, 15; and their mother, Cortney Rose, 38.

    Drummond’s girlfriend is the sister of the infant’s grandmother, according to Lake County District Attorney Danny Goodman.

    In all, five people have been charged with being accessories after the fact in the case.

    Drummond has served prison time for robbing a convenience store and threatening to go after jurors. He was also charged with the attempted murder of a prison guard while behind bars, and he was out on bond at the time of the killings, Goodman has said.

    With a population of about 3,400 people, Tiptonville is about 120 miles (195 kilometers) north of Memphis, near the Mississippi River and scenic Reelfoot Lake.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • FBI charges New Jersey man for alleged property damage in federal prosecutor office

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    NEWARK, N.J. — A man has been arrested after federal officials alleged that he destroyed property while trying to confront New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, Alina Habba.

    Keith Michael Lisa, 51, has been arrested, FBI spokesperson Emily Molinari confirmed Saturday.

    Molinari did not say when or where Lisa was arrested, what charges he might face, whether he was in jail, or when he might go before a judge. It’s unclear whether Lisa is represented by a lawyer. The federal public defender in Newark didn’t immediately respond to an electronic message Saturday asking whether it was representing Lisa.

    The FBI on Friday had offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information about Lisa, saying he was wanted on charges of destroying government property and possession of a dangerous weapon inside a U.S. court facility. That bulletin said Lisa tried to enter a federal office building in downtown Newark on Wednesday with a bat and was turned away. Lisa returned without the bat, the bulletin said, and was admitted. He then went to the U.S. Attorney’s office, where Habba works, and destroyed property, the bulletin said.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a post on X on Saturday that the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations had worked together to arrest Lisa.

    “No one will get away with threatening or intimidating our great U.S. attorneys or the destruction of their offices,” Bondi wrote.

    Habba was previously President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, representing him in various cases and acting as his spokesperson on legal matters. She served as a White House adviser briefly before Trump named her as interim U.S. attorney in March.

    “We got him,” Habba wrote on X on Saturday. “This Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi and our federal partners will not tolerate any acts of intimidation or violence toward law enforcement. So grateful to the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations for their tireless work to capture him. Now justice will handle him.”

    Bondi had vowed that federal officials would find and prosecute the person, writing earlier that “Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period.”

    Trump formally nominated Habba as New Jersey’s permanent U.S. attorney on July 1, but the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim opposed it, stalling the confirmation process.

    A few weeks later, as Habba’s 120-day interim appointment was expiring, New Jersey federal judges moved to replace her with her second-in-command. Bondi then fired that prosecutor and renamed Habba as acting U.S. attorney.

    Last month, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in a case challenging her appointment. It hasn’t ruled.

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  • Federal Oversight of Special Education in New Orleans Could Soon End

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    A decade of court oversight of special education services in New Orleans public schools, the result of a legal settlement, will most likely cease by the end of the year, the judge presiding over the legal settlement said Wednesday.

    The decision, if it comes to pass, would come at the request of the Louisiana Department of Education and the Orleans Parish School Board, which have been subjected to intensive monitoring under a consent decree since 2015. The agreement settled a 2010 class-action lawsuit that alleged the city’s charter schools discriminated against special education students in their application processes and did not provide them appropriate educational services, as federal law requires.

    The case was brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of parents and guardians of special-needs students in New Orleans schools. Though problems with special education continue to be identified at some New Orleans charter schools, the consent decree was intended to address systemic issues — whether the state and district are catching those issues and implementing plans to correct them — not individual students’ experiences, said U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey.

    For the past eight years, an independent monitor assigned by the court has found the defendants — the Department of Education and OPSB — in substantial compliance with all provisions outlined in consent decree. Citing those findings, the state and school board earlier this year formally requested an end to the agreement.

    The plaintiffs oppose terminating the settlement, arguing that the state and NOLA Public Schools district have not created sufficient monitoring, oversight or complaint systems. Their opposition hinges on a 2024 report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor that found faults in the state’s monitoring of special education programs — most districts self-reported their compliance with federal rules dictating education plans, without on-site monitoring. (However, some of those problems resulted from the fact that much of the state’s monitoring capacity has been directed toward New Orleans schools, possibly as a result of the consent decree, according to the audit report.) The audit also noted that the agency reduced the number of workers dedicated to special education between 2012 and 2019.

    Lauren Winkler, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said her team has asked the district to make it easier for parents to bring issues about schools forward to the central office through creating an open complaint system on their website. That was never implemented.

    “(There are) really simple solutions that are not super costly,” Winkler said. “We tried to meet with them to agree to some and they just wouldn’t.”

    Winkler said noncompliance still exists in the schools. More people contacted the SPLC about their negative experiences with New Orleans schools’ special education programs ahead of this week’s hearing.

    “If we didn’t have any parents coming forward with issues, we’d maybe have a different position,” Winkler said. “With the breadth of issues in the amount of people that came to us, as we’ve been preparing for this, I think that’s indicative of the systemic issues that are still here.”

    But in a court filing last week, Zainey wrote that the court anticipates ending federal oversight by the end of the year.

    “The consent judgement was a temporary measure and was never meant to be a permanent fixture of the school system,” Zainey said in court. “Things have been much improved from how they used to be in Orleans Parish.”

    Zainey invited parents to share their experiences with the court and representatives from the LDOE and Orleans Parish School Board during informal hearings on Nov. 12 and 13. Most parents asked the court to continue the federal monitoring of New Orleans schools, but it’s unclear whether their statements will change Zainey’s plans. Zainey encouraged the state’s ombudsman, who connects families with resources and informs them of their rights in relation to special education, to connect with parents following their statements.

    But most of the parents speaking at the informal hearing were those who had already tried, and were still trying, to seek recourse through communication with district or state officials.

    Grace Thompson spoke in front of the judge Wednesday morning about her son’s experience at Audubon Gentilly. According to Thompson, her son was supposed to receive speech therapy and a one-on-one aide to help in class, but never received them. Thompson said she’s tried to seek help through the district’s accountability office, which, she said, has offered little guidance and has been “slow” and “inconsistent” in its communications.

    “I’ve literally been calling them for the last year and a half,” Thompson told the judge. “They know who I am.”

    Steve Corbett, CEO of Audubon Schools, said Audubon Gentilly has provided students with all necessary services and has been found fully compliant with federal special education law. The most recent state special education monitoring report found “no unresolved areas of noncompliance” at the school.

    Other parents also spoke of slow communication with the district and the schools their children attend. They said their children weren’t receiving the services outlined in their individualized education plans, that their learning has regressed, that schools were slow in performing evaluations and reevaluations, and that oversight was only afforded to children with parents that could be there to actively fight for them.

    District Superintendent Fateama Fulmore and state representatives were present at the hearing. In response to hearing parent concerns, Fulmore said she appreciated the opportunity to hear from them directly and that her team will follow up.

    “We have an obligation to every child in this system to get this right,” Fulmore said. “We are doing better.”

    Lyric Lee, a former student at Morris Jeff Community School who had an IEP and graduated last year, said she learned at a young age how to advocate for herself, her brother and other students who have special needs. She said the consent decree should continue.

    “I’ve learned when people are not kept on a watch, they feel like they don’t have to do it, and they’ll do everything possible to make sure they don’t have to,” Lee said.

    This story was originally published by Verite News and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • US appeals court upholds hate crime convictions of white men in Ahmaud Arbery killing

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    SAVANNAH, Ga. — A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the hate crime convictions of three white men who chased Ahmaud Arbery through their Georgia subdivision with pickup trucks before one of them killed the running Black man with a shotgun.

    A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals took well over a year to rule after attorneys for the defendants urged the judges in March 2024 to overturn the case, arguing the men’s history of racist text messages and social media posts failed to prove they targeted Arbery because of his race.

    Federal prosecutors used those posts and messages in 2022 to persuade a jury that Arbery’s killing was motivated by “pent-up racial anger.”

    Even if the appeals judges had thrown out their hate-crime convictions, the trio faced no immediate reprieve from prison. That’s because they’re also serving life terms for murder after being convicted in a Georgia state court.

    Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and used a pickup truck to pursue 25-year-old Arbery after spotting him running in their neighborhood just outside the port city of Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range.

    More than two months passed without arrests, until Bryan’s graphic video of the killing leaked online. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police as outrage over Arbery’s death became part of a national outcry over racial injustice. Charges soon followed.

    All three men were convicted of murder by a state court in late 2021. After a second trial in U.S. District Court in early 2022, a jury found the trio guilty of hate crimes and attempted kidnapping.

    Greg McMichael’s attorney, A.J. Balbo, declined to comment on the appellate ruling. Attorneys for Bryan and Travis McMichael did not immediately return phone and email messages.

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  • Court blocks new rules limiting which immigrants can get commercial drivers’ licenses

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    The Transportation Department’s new restrictions that would severely limit which immigrants can get commercial driver’s licenses to drive a semitrailer truck or bus have been put on hold by a federal appeals court.

    The court in the District of Columbia ruled Thursday that the rules Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in September a month after a truck driver not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people can’t be enforced right now.

    The court said the federal government didn’t follow proper procedure in drafting the rule and failed to “articulate a satisfactory explanation for how the rule would promote safety.” The court said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s own data shows that immigrants who hold these licenses account for roughly 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses but only about 0.2% of all fatal crashes, the court said.

    Duffy has been pressing this issue in California because the driver in the Florida crash received a license in California, and an audit of that state’s records showed that many immigrants received licenses in California that were valid long after their work permits expired. Earlier this week, California revoked 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses because of that problem.

    Neither Duffy nor California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded immediately Friday to questions about the ruling. Newsom’s office has said the state followed guidance it received from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about issuing these licenses to noncitizens.

    Duffy has said the Florida crash, along with fatal truck crashes in Texas and Alabama earlier this year, highlighted questions about these licenses. A fiery California crash that killed three people last month involved a truck driver in the country illegally, only adding to the concerns.

    The driver in the Florida crash, Harjinder Singh, appeared before a judge in St. Lucie County, Florida, on Thursday, where his attorneys asked to continue his court proceedings into January as they prepare for trial. Singh has pleaded not guilty to three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter.

    The new restrictions on these licenses would only allow immigrants who hold three specific classes of visas to be eligible to get the licenses. States would also have to verify an applicant’s immigration status in a federal database. The licenses would be valid for up to one year unless the applicant’s visa expires sooner.

    Under the new rules, only 10,000 of the 200,000 noncitizens who have commercial licenses would qualify for them, which would only be available to drivers who have an H-2a, H-2b or E-2 visa. H-2a is for temporary agricultural workers while H-2b is for temporary nonagricultural workers, and E-2 is for people who make substantial investments in a U.S. business. But the rules won’t be enforced retroactively, so those 190,000 drivers would be allowed to keep their commercial licenses at least until they come up for renewal.

    Trucking trade groups like the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have supported the new rule. There is a bill in Congress that would enshrine the new restrictions on commercial driver’s licenses in law.

    “For too long, loopholes in this program have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways, putting professional truckers and the motoring public at risk,” said Todd Spencer, the trucking association’s president.

    Duffy has said that California and five other states had improperly issued commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens, but California is the only state Duffy has taken action against because it was the first one where an audit was completed. The reviews in the other states have been delayed by the government shutdown, but the Transportation Department is urging all of them to tighten their standards.

    Duffy has revoked $40 million in federal funding because he said California isn’t enforcing English language requirements for truckers, and he said earlier this week that he may take another $160 million from the state over these improperly issued licenses if they don’t invalidate every illegal license and address all the concerns.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Kate Payne contributed to this report from Tallahassee, Florida.

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  • Central African Republic Leader Cleared for Third Term in Key Vote Followed Closely by Russia

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    BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The top court in the Central African Republic on Friday cleared President Faustin Archange Touadera to run in December’s election, a contest that will unfold amid a deepening security crisis and the leader’s growing reliance on Russia for protection.

    The Central African Republic’s constitutional court approved Touadera’s candidacy alongside prominent opposition leader Anicet Georges Dologuélé and five other candidates for the Dec. 28 vote.

    Touadera, who has led the country since 2016 and was reelected in 2021, is one of Russia’s closest allies in Africa. Central African Republic is one of the first countries in which the Russian mercenary group Wagner established operations with the pledge of fighting rebel groups and restoring peace.

    But disagreements around the nature of Russia’s military presence in the country have cast a shadow over the Central African Republic’s relations with Moscow.

    In August, state and military officials told The Associated Press that Russia has called on the country to replace the private Wagner mercenary group with Moscow’s state-run Africa Corps and requested payment for further security services.

    The Central African Republic’s government has been reluctant to agree to Russia’s demands, because it sees Wagner as more effective and they prefer to pay for services with minerals, not in cash.

    For years, Wagner has been protecting Touadera and his government, and helped him win a 2023 constitutional referendum that could extend his power indefinitely. In exchange, they’ve enjoyed access to the country’s rich minerals, including gold.

    The Central African Republic has been in conflict since 2013, when predominantly Muslim rebels seized power and forced the president from office. A 2019 peace deal was signed, but six of the 14 armed groups involved in the deal withdrew from it. Wagner is credited for helping prevent the rebels from retaking the capital in 2021.

    The validation of Touadera’s candidacy came on the same day as the U.N. Security Council extended its peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic for a year.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Hungary to mount court challenge to EU’s planned phase-out of Russian energy, Orbán says

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    BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary will challenge the European Union’s plan to end Russian energy imports and take the case to an EU court, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday.

    Speaking on state radio, Orbán accused the bloc of trying to sidestep his veto power over sanctions on Russian energy by using trade rules instead in its plan to phase out all imports of Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027.

    “We are turning to the European Court of Justice in this matter,” Orbán said Friday. “This is a flagrant violation of European law, the rule of law and European cooperation … They will pay a very high price for this.”

    Hungary remains heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuels and has sought exemptions and threatened to veto EU sanctions since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. During a visit to Washington last week, Orbán secured an exemption from U.S. sanctions on two Russian energy companies following a White House meeting with President Donald Trump.

    Numerous U.S. officials have said the waiver, which ensures Russian oil and gas will continue to flow to Hungary, will last one year, though Orbán has insisted it is indefinite. On Friday, Orbán credited his close personal relationship with Trump for receiving the exemption, and said it would remain in place as long as both he and the president remain in office.

    Orbán has called continued access to Russian energy “vital” for his landlocked country and warned cutting it off would result in an economic collapse, though some critics dispute that claim.

    The Hungarian leader on Friday said he was “also exploring other means of a non-legal nature” to avoid falling under the EU’s planned Russian energy phase-out, but declined to say what they were.

    ___

    Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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  • Latest opioid settlement plan with OxyContin maker Purdue and Sackler

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    NEW YORK — Lawyers representing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, branches of the Sackler family that own it, cities, states, counties, Native American tribes, people with addiction and others across the U.S. are expected to deliver a nearly unanimous message for a bankruptcy court judge Friday: Approve a plan to settle thousands of opioid-related lawsuits against the company.

    If U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane abides, it will close a long chapter — and maybe the entire book — on a legal odyssey over efforts to hold the company to account for its role in an opioid crisis connected to 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999, including deaths from heroin and illicit fentanyl.

    Closing arguments were expected Friday in the third day of a hearing over a bankruptcy plan for the company, which filed for protection six years ago as it faced lawsuits with claims that grew to trillions of dollars.

    The saga has been emotional and full of contentious arguments between the many groups that took Purdue to court, often exposing a possible mismatch between the quest for justice and the practical role of bankruptcy court.

    The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a previous deal because it said it was improper for Sackler family members to receive immunity from lawsuits over opioids. In the new arrangement, entities who don’t opt into the settlement can sue them. Family members are collectively worth billions, but much of their assets are held in trusts in offshore accounts that would be hard to access through lawsuits.

    This time, the government groups involved have reached an even fuller consensus and there’s been mostly subdued opposition from individuals. Out of more than 54,000 personal injury victims who voted on whether the plan should be accepted. just 218 said no. A larger number of people who are part of that group didn’t vote.

    A handful of objectors spoke Thursday at the hearing, sometimes interrupting the judge. Some said that only the victims, not the states and other government entities, should receive the funds in the settlement. Others wanted the judge to find the members of the Sackler family criminally liable — something Lane said is beyond the scope of the bankruptcy court, but that the settlement doesn’t bar prosecutors from pursuing.

    A Florida woman whose husband struggled with addiction after being given OxyContin following an accident told the court that the deal isn’t enough.

    “The natural laws of karma suggest the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma should pay for what they have done,” Pamela Bartz Halaschak said via video.

    A flood of lawsuits filed by government entities against Purdue and other drugmakers, drug wholesalers and pharmacy chains began about a decade ago.

    Most of the major ones have already settled for a total of about $50 billion, with most of the money going to fight the opioid crisis.

    The Purdue deal would rank among the largest of them. Members of the Sackler family would be required to pay up to $7 billion and give up ownership of the company. None have been on its board or received payments since 2018. Unlike a similar hearing four years ago, none were called to testify in this week’s hearing.

    The company would get a name change and new overseers who would dedicate future profits to battling the opioid crisis.

    There are also some non-financial provisions. Certain members of the Sackler family would be required to give up involvement in companies that sell opioids in other countries.

    Family members would also be barred from having their names added to institutions in exchange for charitable contributions. The name has already been removed from museums and universities.

    And company documents, including many that would normally be subject to lawyer-client privilege, are to be made public.

    Unlike the other major opioid settlements, individuals harmed by Purdue’s products would be in line for some money as part of the settlement. About $850 million would be set aside for them, with more than $100 million of that amount carved out to help children born dealing with opioid withdrawal.

    About 139,000 people have active claims for the money. Many of them, however, have not shown proof that they were prescribed Purdue’s opioids and will receive nothing. Lawyers expect that those who had prescriptions for at least six months would receive about $16,000 each and those who had them more briefly would get around $8,000. Legal fees would reduce what people actually receive.

    One woman who had a family member suffer from opioid addiction told the court by video Thursday that the settlement doesn’t help people with substance use disorder.

    “Tell me how you guys can sleep at night knowing people are going to get so little money they can’t do anything with it,” asked Laureen Ferrante of Staten Island, New York.

    Most of the money is to go to state and local governments to be used in their efforts to mitigate damage of the opioid epidemic. Overdose death numbers have been dropping in the past few years, a decline experts believe is partly due to the impact of settlement dollars.

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  • Norman Rockwell sketches once hung in White House up for auction

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    WASHINGTON — The White House Historical Association is bidding to reclaim a series of sketches by American painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell that once hung in the West Wing but ended up at auction after a family dispute over their ownership.

    The association could face some stiff competition as the opening bid is $2.5 million and auction house clients have been lining up with offers.

    The four 1940s-era sketches are titled “So You Want to See the President!” and depict people from all walks of life hanging out in the White House lobby as they anticipate meeting President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They were put up for sale by a grandson of the White House official who received them as a gift from Rockwell after a court battle over their ownership was settled.

    The sketches are set to be sold by a Dallas-based auction house Friday. In keeping with its mission to help the White House collect and display artifacts that represent American history and culture, including the history of the White House, the association hopes to prevail. It wants to add the drawing to the vast White House collection of art, furniture and other items.

    “They’re so different from any of the other art that was exhibited in the West Wing,” said Anita McBride, who sits on the association’s board of directors.

    McBride remembers seeing the drawings in 1981 when she went to work in Ronald Reagan’s administration. They were a “focal point” when staffers took visitors on tours, she said. “People just loved seeing” the “wide array and depiction of Americans that have access to their president.”

    The series, created in 1943 and published in the Saturday Evening Post during World War II, “offers an intimate and deeply human portrayal of American democracy in action,” according to a description on the Heritage Auctions website.

    The sketches show a variety of people — journalists, military officers and even a Miss America Pageant winner and her publicist — waiting on plush-looking red chairs in the West Wing lobby as they waited to meet Roosevelt. A Secret Service agent stands watch in one of the scenes.

    “In a way, it sort of illustrates how FDR always talked about the ‘arsenal of democracy’ and what made the United States unique,” said Matthew Costello, the association’s chief education officer. “It’s an incredible series of renderings.”

    The sketches are Rockwell’s only known collection of four interrelated paintings that he conceived to tell a story, the auction house said.

    Rockwell gave the original drawings to Stephen Early, who was Roosevelt’s longtime press secretary, seen in a drawing smoking a pipe as reporters huddle around him. A family member turned them over to the White House in 1978, and they were on display throughout the West Wing for more than four decades, sometimes in a hallway between the press offices that are mere steps from the Oval Office.

    The family’s ownership dispute began in 2017 when Thomas Early, one of the press secretary’s sons, was watching a television interview with President Donald Trump and spied them on a wall in the White House, according to court records.

    William Elam III, a grandson of Stephen Early’s, said his mother received the drawings as a gift from her father, the former press secretary, before he died, and that ownership had later passed to him.

    The illustrations had gone to the White House in 1978 under an agreement which obligated the White House to return them to Elam upon request. The White House gave back the drawings in 2022.

    A federal appeals court settled the dispute in May, upholding a lower-court ruling in favor of Elam, according to court records.

    Bidding will start at $2.5 million and clients are “ready and waiting to compete for this American icon,” Christina Rees, director of communications for Heritage Auctions, said in an email. The auction house has estimated the drawings will sell for between $4 million and $6 million.

    That price tag could present a hurdle for the White House Historical Association, which was created in 1961 by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy to help preserve the museum quality of the interior of the White House and educate the public. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that receives no government funding. It raises money mostly through private donations and merchandise sales, including an annual Christmas ornament.

    The association did not reveal how much it is willing to spend, but the most it has ever paid for a painting in the past was $1.5 million for “The Builders,” by African American artist Jacob Lawrence, in 2007, McBride said. That work depicts hard-working men in orange, red and brown tones, and hangs in the White House Green Room.

    McBride said she expected stiff competition for Rockwell’s work because of the broad interest in Americana, as well as the artist’s work. But the association’s mission is to go after art, furniture and other items it believes belong in the White House.

    “We try hard to bring them back,” McBride said.

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  • Families of Two Babies Sickened by Infantile Botulism Sue ByHeart Over Recalled Formula

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    Stephen and Yurany Dexter, of Flagstaff, Arizona, said their 4-month-old daughter, Rose, had to be flown by air ambulance to a children’s hospital two hours from home and treated for several weeks this summer.

    Michael and Hanna Everett, of Richmond, Kentucky, said their daughter, Piper, also 4 months, was rushed to a hospital Nov. 8 with worsening symptoms of the rare and potentially deadly disease.

    The lawsuits, filed in federal courts in two states, allege that the ByHeart formula the babies consumed was defective and that the company was negligent in selling it. They seek financial payment for medical bills, emotional distress and other harm.

    Both families said they bought the organic formula to provide what they viewed as a natural, healthier alternative to traditional baby formulas, and that they were shocked and angered by the suffering their children endured.

    “I wouldn’t guess that a product designed for a helpless, developing human in the United States could cause something this severe,” said Stephen Dexter, 44.

    “She’s so little and you’re just helplessly watching this,” said Hanna Everett, 28. “It was awful.”

    Rose Dexter and Piper Everett are among at least 15 infants in a dozen states who have been sickened in the outbreak that began in August, according to federal and state health officials. No deaths have been reported.

    Both received the sole treatment available for botulism in children less than a year old: an IV medication called BabyBIG, made from the blood plasma of people immunized against the neurotoxins that cause the illness.

    Investigations into more potential botulism cases are pending after ByHeart, the New York-based formula manufacturer, recalled all of its formula nationwide on Tuesday. At least 84 U.S. babies have been treated for infantile botulism since August, including those in the outbreak, California officials said.

    The company sells about 200,000 cans of formula per month. It can take up to 30 days for signs of infantile botulism infection to appear, medical experts said.

    California officials confirmed that a sample from an open can of ByHeart formula fed to an infant who fell ill contained the type of bacteria that can lead to illness.

    The lawsuits filed Wednesday could be the first of many legal actions against ByHeart, said Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety lawyer who represents Dexter.

    “This company potentially faces an existential crisis,” he said.

    ByHeart officials didn’t respond to questions about the new lawsuits but said they would “address any legal claims in due course.”

    “We remain focused on ensuring that families using ByHeart products are aware of the recall and have factual information about steps they should take,” the company said in a statement.


    Parents fretted as babies grew sicker

    In Rose Dexter’s case, she received ByHeart formula within days of her birth in July after breast milk was insufficient, her father said. Stephen Dexter said he went to Whole Foods to find a “natural option.”

    “I’m a little concerned with things that are in food that may cause problems,” he said. “We do our best to buy something that says it’s organic.”

    But Rose, who was healthy at birth, didn’t thrive on the formula. She had trouble feeding and was fussy and fretful as she got sicker. On Aug. 31, when she was 8 weeks old, her parents couldn’t wake her.

    Rose was flown by air ambulance to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where she stayed for nearly two weeks.

    Hanna Everett said she used ByHeart to supplement breastfeeding starting when Piper was 6 weeks old.

    “It’s supposed to be similar to breast milk,” she said.

    Last weekend, Piper started showing signs of illness. Everett said she became more worried when a friend told her ByHeart had recalled two lots of its Whole Nutrition Infant Formula. When a family member checked the empty cans, they matched the recalled lots.

    “I was like, ’Oh my god, we need to go to the ER,” Everett recalled.

    At Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Piper’s condition worsened rapidly. Her pupils stopped dilating correctly and she lost her gag reflex. Her head and arms became limp and floppy.

    Doctors immediately ordered doses of the BabyBIG medication, which had to be shipped from California, Everett said. In the meantime, Piper had to have a feeding tube and IV lines inserted.

    In both cases, the babies improved after receiving treatment. Rose went home in September and she no longer requires a feeding tube. Piper went home this week.

    They appear to be doing well on different formulas, the families said.

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • Prosecutors Turn Over 130,000 Pages of Evidence in the Killing of a Minnesota Lawmaker

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    MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys in the case of a man charged with killing a top Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband said Wednesday that prosecutors have turned over a massive amount of evidence to the defense, and that his lawyers need more time to review it.

    Federal prosecutor Harry Jacobs told the court that investigators have provided substantially all of the evidence they have collected against Vance Boelter. He’s pleaded not guilty to murder in the killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and to attempted murder in the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. Some evidence, such as lab reports, continues to come in.

    Federal defender Manny Atwal said at the status conference that the evidence includes over 130,000 pages of PDF documents, over 800 hours of audio and video recordings, and over 2,000 photographs from what authorities have called the largest hunt for a suspect in Minnesota history.

    Atwal said her team has spent close to 110 hours just downloading the material — not reviewing it — and that they’re still evaluating the evidence, a process she said has gone slowly due to the federal government shutdown.

    “That’s not unusual for a complex case but it is lot of information for us to review,” Atwal told Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster.

    Jacobs said he didn’t have a timeline for when the Department of Justice would decide whether to seek the death penalty against Boelter. The decision will be up to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

    Foster scheduled the next status conference for Feb. 12 and asked prosecutors to keep the defense and court updated in the meantime about their death penalty decision. She did not set a trial date.

    Boelter, 58, was captured near his home in rural Green Isle late the next day. He faces federal and state charges including murder and attempted murder in what prosecutors have called a political assassination.

    Boelter, who was wearing orange and yellow jail clothing, said nothing during the nine-minute hearing.

    Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911 and has never had a federal death penalty case. But the Trump administration is pushing for greater use of capital punishment.

    Boelter claimed to the conservative outlet Blaze News in August that he never intended to shoot anyone that night but that his plans went horribly wrong.

    He told Blaze in a series of hundreds of texts via his jail’s messaging system that he went to the Hoffmans’ home to make citizens’ arrests over what he called his two-year undercover investigation into 400 deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine that he believed were being covered up by the state.

    But he told Blaze he opened fire when the Hoffmans and their adult daughter tried to push him out the door and spoiled his plan. He did not explain why went on to allegedly shoot the Hortmans and their golden retriever, Gilbert, who had to be euthanized.

    Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said when she announced Boelter’s indictment on state charges in August that she gave no credence to the claims Boelter had made from jail.

    In other recent developments, a Sibley County judge last month granted Boelter’s wife a divorce.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • Douglas County middle school teacher accused of sexually assaulting child

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    A middle school health teacher in Douglas County was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child, according to the sheriff’s office.

    Teresa Whalin, a 28-year-old woman from Centennial, was arrested on investigation of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, internet exploitation of a child and stalking, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

    Whalin, an integrated wellness teacher at Ranch View Middle School teacher, has been employed by Douglas County School District since July 2021, according to a letter sent to parents by Ranch View principal Erin Kyllo.

    As of Wednesday, Whalin had been placed on administrative leave by the school district, Kyllo wrote in the letter.

    “We are working to find a long-term substitute teacher for our impacted students,” Kyllo wrote. “In the meantime, the entire Ranch View Middle School administrative team will support our students and ensure learning continues.”

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  • Chinese ‘cryptoqueen’ who scammed thousands jailed in UK over Bitcoin stash worth $6.6 billion

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    LONDON (AP) — A Chinese woman who was found with 5 billion pounds ($6.6 billion) in Bitcoin after defrauding more than 128,000 people in China in a Ponzi scheme was sentenced by a U.K. court on Tuesday to over 11 years in prison.

    Police said the investigation into Zhimin Qian, 47, led to officers recovering devices holding 61,000 Bitcoin in the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the U.K.

    Qian, dubbed “cryptoqueen” by British media, was arrested in April 2024 after spending years evading the authorities and living an “extravagant” lifestyle in Europe, staying in luxury hotels across the continent and buying fine jewelry and watches, prosecutors said.

    Police said she ran a pyramid scheme that lured more than 128,000 people to invest in her business between 2014 and 2017, including many who invested their life savings and pensions. Authorities said she stored the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin assets.

    When she attracted the attention of Chinese authorities, Qian fled to the U.K. under a fake identity. Once in London, police said she rented a “lavish” house for over 17,000 pounds ($23,000) per month, and tried but failed to buy multimillion pound properties in a bid to convert the Bitcoin.

    Investigators found notes Qian had written documenting her aspirations — including her “intention to become the monarch of Liberland, a self-proclaimed country consisting of a strip of land between Croatia and Serbia.”

    They said other notes showed Qian detailing her hopes of “meeting a duke and royalty.”

    Judge Sally-Ann Hales said Qian was the architect of the crimes from start to finish.

    “Your motive was one of pure greed. You left China without a thought for the people whose investments you had stolen and enjoyed for a period of time a lavish lifestyle. You lied and schemed, all the while seeking to benefit yourself,” Hales said.

    The businesswoman, who had pleaded guilty to money laundering offenses and transferring and possessing criminal property, was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years and eight months at Southwark Crown Court.

    She was sentenced alongside her accomplice Seng Hok Ling, 47, a Malaysian national who was accused of helping Qian transfer and launder the cryptocurrency. Ling was jailed at the same court for four years and 11 months after he pleaded guilty to one count of transferring criminal property.

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  • Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown pleads not guilty to attempted murder charge after shooting

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    Former NFL star Antonio Brown was returning Tuesday to Miami to face an attempted murder charge stemming from a May shooting, with his lawyer filing a not guilty plea on his behalf.

    Jail records in Essex County, New Jersey, show Brown was released late Tuesday morning for the transfer to Florida. The former All-Pro wide receiver had waived extradition to Florida from New Jersey, where he was brought following his arrest in Dubai.

    Brown’s lawyer, Mark Eiglarsh, said in an email that he has already filed a written not guilty plea to the attempted murder charge. Brown could be in a Miami courtroom as early as Wednesday morning for a bond hearing, Eiglarsh said.

    According to an arrest warrant, Brown is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer after a celebrity boxing match on May 16 and firing two shots at a man he had gotten into a fistfight with earlier. The victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.

    Eiglarsh said Brown was simply protecting himself from a person he had problems with before.

    “The actions he was forced to take were solely in self-defense against the alleged victim’s violent behavior. Brown was attacked that night and acted within his legal right to protect himself,” Eiglarsh said.

    Brown was not immediately arrested that night because initially police did not identify Nantambu as a victim. It wasn’t until May 21 that Nantambu gave a full statement about the incident to police and identified Brown as the shooter, the affidavit says.

    Based on his social media posts, Brown had been living in Dubai for several months. In a social media post after the altercation, Brown said he was defending himself because he was “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.”

    A second-degree attempted murder charge in Florida carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence and up to a $10,000 fine in the event of a conviction.

    Brown, who spent 12 years in the NFL, was an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in 2021 for Tampa Bay but spent most of his career with Pittsburgh. For his career, Brown had 928 receptions for more than 12,000 yards and scored 88 total touchdowns counting returns and one pass. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection.

    Brown has dealt with several legal problems over the years. He previously had been accused of battery of a moving truck driver, several domestic violence charges, failure to pay child support and other incidents.

    During a 2021 game with Tampa Bay against the New York Jets, Brown took off his jersey, shoulder pads and gloves and ran off the field, leading to his release by the Buccaneers and effectively ending his football career.

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  • MLB pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz charged with taking bribes to rig pitches for bettors

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted on charges they took bribes from sports bettors to throw certain types of pitches, including tossing balls in the dirt instead of strikes, to ensure successful bets.

    According to the indictment unsealed Sunday in federal court in Brooklyn, the highly paid hurlers took several thousand dollars in payoffs to help two unnamed gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and outcome of certain pitches.

    Clase, the Guardians’ former closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB started investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched. Some of the games in question were in April, May and June.

    Ortiz, 26, was arrested Sunday by the FBI at Boston Logan International Airport. He is expected to appear in federal court in Boston on Monday. Clase, 27, was not in custody, officials said.

    Ortiz and Clase “betrayed America’s pastime,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said. “Integrity, honesty and fair play are part of the DNA of professional sports. When corruption infiltrates the sport, it brings disgrace not only to the participants but damages the public trust in an institution that is vital and dear to all of us.”

    Ortiz’s lawyer, Chris Georgalis, said in a statement that his client was innocent and “has never, and would never, improperly influence a game — not for anyone and not for anything.”

    Georgalis said Ortiz’s defense team had previously documented for prosecutors that the payments and money transfers between him and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for lawful activities.

    “There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning. Luis looks forward to fighting these charges in court,” Georgalis said.

    A lawyer for Clase, Michael J. Ferrara, said his client “has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win. Emmanuel is innocent of all charges and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

    The Major League Baseball Players Association had no comment.

    Unusual betting activity prompted investigation

    MLB said it contacted federal law enforcement when it began investigating unusual betting activity and has fully cooperated with authorities. “We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing,” a league statement said.

    In a statement, the Guardians said: “We are aware of the recent law enforcement action. We will continue to fully cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue.”

    Clase and Ortiz are both charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. The top charges carry a potential punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

    In one example cited in the indictment, Clase allegedly invited a bettor to a game against the Boston Red Sox in April and spoke with him by phone just before taking the mound. Four minutes later, the indictment said, the bettor and his associates won $11,000 on a wager that Clase would toss a certain pitch slower than 97.95 mph (157.63 kph).

    In May, the indictment said, Clase agreed to throw a ball at a certain point in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the batter swung, resulting in a strike, costing the bettors $4,000 in wagers. After the game, which the Guardians won, one of the bettors sent Clase a text message with an image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper, the indictment said. Clase responded with an image of a sad puppy dog face, according to the indictment.

    Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, had a $4.5 million salary in 2025, the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract. The three-time AL save leader began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 but didn’t ask for payoffs until this year, prosecutors said.

    The indictment cited specific pitches Clase allegedly rigged — all of them first pitches when he entered to start an inning: a 98.5 mph (158.5 kph) cutter low and inside to the New York Mets’ Starling Marte on May 19, 2023; an 89.4 mph (143.8 kph) slider to Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers that bounced well short of home plate on June 3, 2023; an 89.4 mph (143.8 kph) slider to Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. that bounced on April 12; a 99.1 mph (159.5 kph) cutter in the dirt to Philadelphia’s Max Kepler on May 11; a bounced 89.1 mph (143.4) slider to Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers on May 13; and a bounced 87.5 mph (140.8 kph) slider to Cincinnati’s Santiago Espinal on May 17.

    Prosecutors said Ortiz, who had a $782,600 salary this year, got in on the scheme in June and is accused of rigging pitches in games against the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals.

    Ortiz was cited for bouncing a first-pitch 86.7 mph (139.5 kph) slider to Seattle’s Randy Arozarena starting the second inning on June 15 and bouncing a first-pitch 86.7 mph (139.5 kph) slider to St. Louis’ Pedro Pagés that went to the backstop opening the third inning on June 27.

    Dozens of pro athletes have been charged in gambling sweeps

    The charges are the latest bombshell developments in a federal crackdown on betting in professional sports.

    Last month, more than 30 people, including prominent basketball figures such as Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested in a gambling sweep that rocked the NBA.

    Sports betting scandals have long been a concern, but a May 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling led to a wave of gambling incidents involving athletes and officials. The ruling struck down a federal ban on sports betting in most states and opened the doors for online sportsbooks to take a prominent space in the sports ecosystem.

    Major League Baseball suspended five players in June 2024, including a lifetime ban for San Diego infielder Tucupita Marcano for allegedly placing 387 baseball bets with a legal sportsbook totaling more than $150,000.

    ___

    This story was first published on Nov. 9. It was updated on Nov. 11 to correct that, according to an indictment, a bettor sent Clase an image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper. Clase didn’t send that image to the bettor.

    ___

    Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker in Washington and Ron Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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