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Tag: criminal law

  • January 6 defendant who barged into Pelosi offices during attack found guilty of multiple counts | CNN Politics

    January 6 defendant who barged into Pelosi offices during attack found guilty of multiple counts | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Riley Williams, a Pennsylvania woman who barged into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s offices on January 6, 2021, was found guilty on Monday of multiple counts she faced over the Capitol attack.

    Williams was found guilty of six of the eight counts she was charged with, including assaulting or resisting an officer and disorderly conduct in the Capitol.

    A mistrial was declared on two of the remaining counts, including the government’s charge that Riley had aided and abetted in the theft of a laptop from Pelosi’s office. The jury also could not come to a unanimous decision on the charge of obstructing the certification of the electoral college, which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years.

    This is the first time a jury has not convicted a January 6 Capitol defendant of each count charged.

    Williams was detained following her conviction Monday, taking off her plaid tie before a Deputy US Marshal took her away.

    In agreeing with the Justice Department’s request that Williams be immediately locked up, Judge Amy Berman Jackson heavily reprimanded Williams and her actions on January 6.

    “She was profane, she was obnoxious and she was threatening,” Jackson said of Williams.

    “This is a person who was packed and ready to flee once before,” the judge added, saying that Williams’ father had offered her places to hide in the wake of the Capitol attack.

    Prosecutors say they are still determining whether to retry the case against Williams on the charges of obstruction and aiding and abetting in the laptop theft.

    “I don’t want to go to jail,” Williams said to her attorney Lori Ulrich, who told Williams as she was being taken away “You won. Riley, remember that. You won,” referring to the two counts the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on.

    During the trial prosecutors argued that while Williams, a 23-year-old with long amber hair, didn’t appear dangerous she in fact stirred up the mob, recruited and coordinated rioters to attack police and directed others to steal the laptop from Pelosi’s office.

    “Looks can be deceiving but evidence is not,” prosecutor Michael Gordon told the jury.

    During the trial, multiple videos were played of Riley – some of which she shared with people she knew online who gave them to law enforcement agents – inside of Pelosi’s offices allegedly yelling “take the f**king laptop” as well as pushing against officers in the Capitol with her back.

    The laptop was primarily used for conference videos and did not contain sensitive information, prosecutors said.

    Videos of Pelosi’s office during the Capitol attack showed an overturned table and broken window, rioters rummaging around, taking selfies and videos – bragging that they had reached the speaker’s office. “Where’s Nancy?” members of the mob could be heard asking, over and over again.

    Ulrich told the jury that what her client did on January 6 “was wrong,” but said she was young and simply “a girl wanting to be a somebody.”

    According to prosecutors, Williams was “consumed” by far-right white nationalist Nick Fuentes – whose internet show “she watched obsessively” – and the Stop the Steal movement, attending rallies in the lead up to January 6.

    After the riot, Williams bragged to people on the social media platform Discord that she had stolen the laptop and a gavel from the speaker’s office, none of which was true, her attorneys said.

    “Riley Williams lived in a fantasy world of sorts,” Ulrich said of her client’s online presence, where she messaged people she had never met about her alleged exploits that day, much of which was made up, according to her attorney.

    Williams will be sentenced on February 22 and, according to prosecutors, could face two to three years in prison, according to sentencing guidelines.

    This story has been updated with additional details.

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  • Todd and Julie Chrisley sentenced for fraud and tax crimes convictions | CNN

    Todd and Julie Chrisley sentenced for fraud and tax crimes convictions | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Reality TV Stars Julie and Todd Chrisley were sentenced to prison in federal court Monday.

    The “Chrisley Knows Best” couple were found guilty in June of conspiracy to defraud banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans, CNN previously reported. In addition, they were found guilty of several tax crimes, including attempting to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.

    Judge Eleanor L. Ross sentenced Todd Chrisley to 12 years in prison with three years of supervised release. His wife Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years of supervised release. Their accountant Peter Tarantino was sentenced to three years in prison and three years of supervised released, Ryan Buchanan, US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said during a press conference after the sentencing hearing.

    According to the Department of Justice, evidence in the case showed that the Chrisleys were able to obtain the loans by submitting false bank statements, audit reports and financial statements. The money was used to buy luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel, a DOJ press release stated.

    Then, while earning millions of dollars on their former reality show, the Chrisleys, along with their accountant, conspired to defraud the IRS and evade collection of delinquent taxes.

    “Chrisley Knows Best” debuted in 2014 on the USA Network. New episodes, filmed prior to the trial, will debut sometime next year.

    In a short statement to CNN in June, one of Todd Chrisley’s attorneys, Bruce Morris, said they were, “disappointed in the verdict” and planned to appeal.

    CNN has reached out to representatives of the Chrisleys and Tarantino for comment on Monday’s sentencing.

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  • Two Iranian actresses arrested as authorities ramp up crackdown on anti-regime protesters | CNN

    Two Iranian actresses arrested as authorities ramp up crackdown on anti-regime protesters | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Two well-known Iranian actresses have been arrested by security forces after they showed support for the protest movement gripping the country, as authorities intensify their crackdown on dissidents.

    Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi were arrested on separate occasions for publicly backing the nationwide protests, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

    Since September, the country has seen widespread demonstrations, triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police. Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, died after being detained for allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.

    Riahi was arrested by Iranian security forces on Sunday, Tasnim News Agency reported. The actress, who is known for her roles in television series “Joseph the Prophet” and “the Tenth Night,” as well as films such as “The Last Supper,” had posted a video of herself without a headscarf to her Instagram account on September 18 – two days after Amini’s death.

    In a separate incident, Ghaziani, who is known in Iran for her appearances in films such as “As Simple as That” and “Days of Life,” posted a video on her Instagram account Saturday which showed the Iranian actress in public without a headscarf, tying up her loose hair in a ponytail.

    “This might be my last post. From this moment on, if anything happens to me, know that I will always be with the people of Iran until my last breath,” she said in the caption.

    Ghaziani was arrested by security forces in possession of a court order just one day after the video was posted, according to Tasnim News Agency.

    She was then brought to the prosecutor’s office and charged with acting against Iranian security and engaging in propaganda activities directed against the Iranian regime, according to the state affiliated Fars News Agency.

    On Sunday, Iran’s judiciary said it had sentenced to death a sixth person accused of taking part in recent protests, according to Tasnim News Agency.

    Citing the Iranian judiciary, the agency said a demonstrator who blocked traffic during a recent protest on Tehran’s Sattar Khan Street and clashed with members of the Basij militia was given the death penalty.

    All death sentences issued are “preliminary and can be appealed” in Iran’s Court of Appeal, Tasnim added.

    At least 378 people have been killed by Iranian security forces in total, including 47 children killed in the country since September, according to Iran Human Rights on Saturday

    CNN cannot independently verify the death toll – a precise figure is impossible for anyone outside the Iranian government to confirm – and different estimates have been given by opposition groups, international rights organizations and local journalists.

    Four of Iran’s Kurdish cities have seen particularly intense clashes in recent days, with 13 people killed over the past 24-hours, activist Azhin Shekhi from the Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights told CNN on Monday.

    Casualties were recorded in Kermanshah Province, West Azerbaijan Province and Kurdistan Province – where the majority of Iran’s Kurdish population reside – according to Hengaw.

    The death toll since Tuesday last week has risen to 41 people killed in Kurdish cities, Shekhi added.

    Amini's death shed a spotlight on the historic grievances of Iranian Kurdish minorities in Iran.

    An Iranian MP representing Mahabad, which was the capital of a short-lived Kurdish breakaway republic in northwest Iran in 1946, said that at least 11 people had been killed in the city alone.

    Jalal Mahmoodzadeh was quoted in a reformist media outlet, saying it’s unclear if the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – Iran’s elite military wing – were part of security forces cracking down in Mahabad, but has written a letter to top military officials asking them to de-escalate the situation.

    The IRGC released a statement Sunday saying they were “strengthening forces” at a base in the northwest of Iran to deal with “terrorists and separatists,” a statement published by state-aligned news outlets said.

    The reported death toll followed comments from Hengaw to CNN at the weekend that regime forces’ “brutality” had “significantly increased” against protesters in the last few days.

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  • What we know about the suspect in the Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub shooting | CNN

    What we know about the suspect in the Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub shooting | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The suspect in a shooting at a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub this weekend has been identified as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, who police say walked into Club Q in Colorado Springs and immediately opened fire, killing five people and injuring 25 others.

    Investigators have yet to determine a motive, Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said Sunday, though they are considering whether the attack was a hate crime. Aldrich has yet to be formally charged.

    Here’s what we know about the suspected gunman.

    Police received several 911 calls about the shooting beginning at 11:56 p.m., according to police. Officers were dispatched at 11:57 p.m. and an officer arrived at Club Q at midnight. The suspect was detained at 12:02 a.m., police said.

    The shooting lasted only minutes because people inside the club were able to subdue the suspect, police said.

    “At least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect and were able to stop the suspect,” Vasquez said. “We owe them a great debt of thanks.”

    Matthew Haynes, one of the club’s owners, told The New York Times one of the customers “took down the gunman and was assisted by another.”

    “He saved dozens and dozens of lives,” Haynes said of the first patron. “Stopped the man cold. Everyone else was running away, and he ran toward him.”

    The suspect was taken into police custody and was being treated at a hospital Sunday, police said, adding officers did not shoot at the suspect.

    A long rifle was used in the shooting, according to the police chief. Two firearms were recovered at the scene.

    Two law enforcement sources told CNN records indicate the suspect purchased both weapons, an AR-style rifle and a handgun. CNN has not confirmed when those purchases were made.

    The gunman appeared heavily armed and wearing a military-style flak jacket as he arrived at the club, the club’s owners told the Times, citing their review of surveillance footage.

    Haynes said the gunman entered with “tremendous firepower,” the Times reported.

    Aldrich was arrested in June 2021 in connection with a bomb threat which led to a standoff at his mother’s home, according to a news release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at the time and his mother’s former landlord. Colorado Springs is in El Paso County.

    Two law enforcement sources confirmed the suspect in Saturday’s shooting and the bomb threat were the same person based on his name and date of birth.

    Video obtained by CNN shows Aldrich surrendering to law enforcement last year after allegedly making a bomb threat. Footage from the Ring door camera of the owner of the home shows Aldrich exiting the house with his hands up and barefoot, and walking to sheriff’s deputies.

    Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report by the man’s mother he was “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,” according to the release. Deputies called the suspect, and he “refused to comply with orders to surrender,” the release said, leading them to evacuate nearby homes.

    Several hours after the initial police call, the sheriff’s crisis negotiations unit was able to get Aldrich to leave the house, and he was arrested after walking out the front door. Authorities did not find any explosives in the home.

    Leslie Bowman, who owns the house where Aldrich’s mother lived, provided CNN with the videos. Aldrich’s mother rented a room in the house for a little over a year, Bowman said, and Aldrich would come visit his mother there. Attempts by CNN to reach Aldrich’s mother for comment were unsuccessful.

    It is not immediately clear how the bomb threat case was resolved, but the Colorado Springs Gazette reported the district attorney’s office said no formal charges were pursued in the case. The district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment from CNN.

    Aldrich’s arrest in connection to the bomb threat would not have shown up in background checks, according to the law enforcement sources who said records indicate he purchased the weapons, because the case was never adjudicated, the charges were dropped, and the records were sealed. It’s unclear what prompted the sealing of the records.

    Aldrich also called the Gazette in an attempt to get an earlier story about the 2021 incident removed from the website, the newspaper reported. “There is absolutely nothing there, the case was dropped, and I’m asking you either remove or update the story,” Aldrich said in a voice message, according to the Gazette.

    The revelation about the suspect’s run-in with law enforcement last year has raised questions about Colorado’s red flag law and whether it should have applied to Aldrich, or if it would have prevented the shooting at Club Q.

    Colorado, which has been the site of numerous high-profile mass shootings in the last two decades, passed its red flag law in 2019. It’s intended to temporarily prevent an individual in crisis from accessing firearms through a court order, triggered by the individual’s family, a member of their household or a law enforcement officer.

    It’s not clear if Aldrich had purchased firearms prior to his June 2021 arrest.

    Asked Monday if the red flag law should have been implemented in Aldrich’s case, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said it was “too early to make any decisions.”

    “It’s still a new tool that we are learning how to use,” Weiser said. “We know that each tragedy is a learning opportunity to ask what did we miss? What can we do better in the future?”

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  • The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes: A timeline | CNN Business

    The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes: A timeline | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    More than three years after Elizabeth Holmes was first indicted and nearly four months after her trial kicked off, the founder and former CEO of failed blood testing startup Theranos was found guilty on four out of 11 federal fraud and conspiracy charges.

    The verdict comes after a stunning downfall that saw Holmes, once hailed as the next Steve Jobs, go from being a tech industry icon to being a rare Silicon Valley entrepreneur on trial for fraud.

    A Stanford University dropout, Holmes – inspired by her own fear of needles – started the company at the age of 19, with a mission of creating a cheaper, more efficient alternative to a traditional blood test. Theranos promised patients the ability to test for conditions like cancer and diabetes with just a few drops of blood. She attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, a board of well-known political figures, and key retail partners.

    But a Wall Street Journal investigation poked holes into Theranos’ testing and technology, and the dominoes fell from there. Holmes and her former business partner, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, were charged in 2018 by the US government with multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. (Both pleaded not guilty.)

    Here are the highlights of the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.

    Holmes, a Stanford University sophomore studying chemical engineering, drops out of school to pursue her startup, Theranos, which she founded in 2003 at age 19. The name is a combination of the words “therapy” and “diagnosis.”

    Balwani joins as chief operating officer and president of the startup. Balwani, nearly 20 years her senior, met Holmes in 2002 on a trip to Beijing through Stanford University. The two are later revealed to be romantically involved.

    A decade after first starting the company, Holmes takes the lid off Theranos and courts media attention the same month that Theranos and Walgreens announce they’ve struck up a long-term partnership. The first Theranos Wellness Center location opens in a Walgreens in Palo Alto where consumers can access Theranos’ blood test.

    The original plan had been to make Theranos’ testing available at Walgreens locations nationwide.

    Holmes is named to the magazine’s American billionaire list with the outlet reporting she owns a 50% stake in the startup, pinning her personal wealth at $4.5 billion.

    Theranos has raised more than $400 million, according to a profile of the company and Holmes by The New Yorker. It counts Oracle’s Larry Ellison among its investors.

    The FDA clears Theranos to use of its proprietary tiny blood-collection vials to finger stick blood test for herpes simplex 1 virus – its first and only approval for a diagnostic test.

    The Wall Street Journal reports Theranos is using its proprietary technique on only a small number of the 240 tests it performs, and that the vast majority of its tests are done with traditional vials of blood drawn from the arm, not the “few drops” taken by a finger prick. In response, Theranos defends its testing practices, calling the Journal’s reporting “factually and scientifically erroneous.”

    A day later, Theranos halts the use of its blood-collection vials for all but the herpes test due to pressures from the FDA. (Later that month, the FDA released two heavily redacted reports citing 14 concerns, including calling the company’s proprietary vial an “uncleared medical device.”)

    One week after the Journal report, Holmes is interviewed on-stage at the outlet’s conference in Laguna Beach. “We know what we’re doing and we’re very proud of it,” she says.

    Holmes speaking at a Wall Street Journal technology conference in Laguna Beach, California on October 21, 2015.

    Amid the criticism, Theranos reportedly shakes up its board of directors, eliminating Henry Kissinger and George Shultz as directors while moving them to a new board of counselors; the company also forms a separate medical board.

    Safeway, which invested $350 million into building out clinics in hundreds of its supermarkets to eventually offer Theranos blood tests, reportedly looks to dissolve its relationship with the company before it ever offered its services.

    Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sends Theranos a letter saying its California lab has failed to comply with federal standards and that patients are in “immediate jeopardy.” It gives the company 10 days to address the issues.

    In response, Walgreens says it will not send any lab tests to Theranos’ California lab for analysis and suspends Theranos services at its Palo Alto Walgreens location.

    CMS threatens to ban Holmes and Balwani from the laboratory business for two years after the company allegedly failed to fix problems at its California lab. Theranos says that’s a “worst case scenario.”

    Balwani departs. The company also adds three new board members as part of the restructuring: Fabrizio Bonanni, a former executive vice president of biotech firm Amgen, former CDC director William Foege, and former Wells Fargo CEO Richard Kovacevich.

    Theranos voids two years of blood test results from its proprietary testing devices, correcting tens of thousands of blood-test reports, the Journal reports.

    Forbes revises its estimate of Holmes’ net worth from $4.5 billion to $0. The magazine also lowers its valuation for the company from $9 billion to $800 million.

    Walgreens, once Theranos’ largest retail partner, ends its partnership with the company and says it will close all 40 Theranos Wellness Centers.

    CMS revokes Theranos’ license to operate its California lab and bans Holmes from running a blood-testing lab for two years.

    Holmes tries to move past recent setbacks by unveiling a mini testing laboratory, called miniLab, at a conference for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. In selling the device, versus operating its own clinics, Theranos seeks to effectively side-step CMS sanctions, which don’t prohibit research and development.

    Theranos investor Partner Fund Management sues the company for $96.1 million, the amount it sunk into the company in February 2014, plus damages. It accuses the company of securities fraud. Theranos and Partner Fund Management settled in May, 2017, for an undisclosed amount.

    The company also lays off 340 employees as it closes clinical labs and wellness centers as it attempts to pivot and focus on the miniLab.

    Walgreens sues the blood testing startup for breach of contract. Walgreens sought to recover the $140 million it poured into the company. The lawsuit was settled August, 2017.

    Theranos downsizes its workforce yet again following the increased scrutiny into its operations, laying off approximately 155 employees or about 41% of staffers.

    The Wall Street Journal reports that Theranos failed a second regulatory lab inspection in September, and that the company was closing its last blood testing location as a result.

    Theranos settles with the CMS, agreeing to pay $30,000 and to not to own or operate any clinical labs for two years.

    Theranos also settles with the Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich over allegations that its advertisements misrepresented the method, accuracy, and reliability of its blood testing and that the company was out of compliance with federal regulations governing clinical lab testing. Theranos agrees to pay $4.65 million back to its Arizona customers as part of a settlement deal.

    The SEC charges Holmes and Balwani with a “massive fraud” involving more than $700 million from investors through an “elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company’s technology, business, and financial performance.”

    The SEC alleges Holmes and Balwani knew that Theranos’ proprietary analyzer could perform only 12 of the 200 tests it published on its patient testing menu.

    Theranos and Holmes agree to resolve the claims against them, and Holmes gives up control of the company and much of her stake in it. Balwani, however, is fighting the charges, with his attorney saying he “accurately represented Theranos to investors to the best of his ability.”

    Reporter John Carreyrou, who first broke open the story of Theranos for the Wall Street Journal, publishes “Bad Blood,” a definitive look at what happened inside the disgraced company. Director Adam McKay (who directed “The Big Short”) secures the rights to make the film, starring Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes, by the same name.

    Holmes and Balwani are indicted on federal wire fraud charges over allegedly engaging in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors, as well as a scheme to defraud doctors and patients. Both have pleaded not guilty.

    Minutes before the charges were made public, Theranos announced that Holmes has stepped down as CEO. The company’s general counsel, David Taylor, takes over as CEO. Holmes remains chair of the company’s board.

    Former Theranos COO Ramesh

    Taylor emails shareholders that Theranos will dissolve, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Taylor said more than 80 potential buyers were not interested in a sale. “We are now out of time,” Taylor wrote.

    Alex Gibney, the prolific documentary filmmaker behind “Dirty Money,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” and “The Armstrong Lie,” debuts “The Inventor” on HBO, following the rise and fall of Theranos.

    A new court document reveals Holmes may seek a “mental disease” defense in her criminal fraud trial. Later, in August 2021, unsealed court documents reveal Holmes is likely to claim she was the victim of a decade-long abusive relationship with Balwani. The allegations led to the severing of their trials. His trial is slated to begin in 2022.

    Initially set to begin in July 2020, Holmes’ criminal trial is further delayed til July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    News surfaces that Holmes’ is expecting her first child, once more further delaying her criminal trial. Holmes’ counsel advised the US government that Holmes is due in July 2021, a court document revealed. She gave birth in July.

    Holmes collects her belongings after going through security at the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building with her defense team on August 31, 2021 in San Jose, California.

    More than 80 potential jurors are brought into a San Jose courtroom for questioning over the course of two days to determine if they are fit to serve as impartial, fair jurors for the criminal trial of Holmes. A jury of seven men and five women is selected, with five alternatives.

    After three months of testimony from 32 witnesses, the criminal fraud case of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes makes its way to the jury of eight men and four women who will decide her fate. The jury would go on to deliberate for more than 50 hours before returning a verdict.

    Holmes is found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud investors as well as three wire fraud counts tied to specific investors. She is found not guilty on three additional charges concerning defrauding patients and one charge of conspiracy to defraud patients. The jury returns no verdict on three of the charges concerning defrauding investors. Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 plus restitution for each count.

    “The Dropout,” a scripted miniseries about Theranos produced by ABC, debuts on Hulu. Amanda Seyfried stars as Holmes and Naveen Andrews plays Balwani. Their romantic and professional relationship features prominently in the show.

    Following delays due to Holmes’ prolonged trial then a surge of Covid-19, jury selection for Balwani’s trial gets underway. On March 22, opening arguments are held and the government’s first witness, a former Theranos employee turned whistleblower, is called to the stand.

    After four full days of deliberations, a jury finds Balwani guilty of ten counts of federal wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Like Holmes, Balwani faces up to 20 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 plus restitution for each count of wire fraud and each conspiracy count.

    Holmes asks for a new trial after claiming that a key witness visited her house unannounced and allegedly said he “feels guilty” about his testimony.

    In a court filing with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Holmes’ attorneys said Adam Rosendorff, a former Theranos lab director who was one of the government’s main witnesses, arrived at her home on August 8 asking to speak with her. According to the filing, Rosendorff did not interact with Holmes but did speak to her partner Billy Evans, who recounted the exchange in an email to Holmes’ lawyers shortly after.

    “His shirt was untucked, his hair was messy, his voice slightly trembled,” Evans wrote about Rosendorff. According to Evans’ email, Rosendorff “said when he was called as a witness he tried to answer the questions honestly but that the prosecutors tried to make everybody look bad.”

    The former Theranos lab director also “said he felt like he had done something wrong,” Evans wrote.

    Rosendorff takes the stand again to address concerns from Holmes’ defense team and their claims he had shown up at her home after the trial concluded asking to speak with her and expressed regrets about his testimony.

    At the hearing, Rosendorff reaffirmed the truthfulness of his testimony at Holmes’ trial and said that the government did not influence what he said.

    A federal judge denies Elizabeth Holmes’ request for a new trial, according to court filings, paving the way for the founder of failed blood testing startup Theranos to be sentenced later in the month.

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  • Texas woman arrested after smuggling endangered spider monkey in box she claimed held beer | CNN

    Texas woman arrested after smuggling endangered spider monkey in box she claimed held beer | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Talk about monkey business.

    A Texas woman entering the US told border officials the wooden box in her car was filled with beer. In reality, it was an endangered spider monkey she planned to sell.

    The 20-year-old woman pleaded guilty to smuggling wildlife into the US without first declaring and invoicing it, and fleeing an immigration checkpoint, after a monthslong investigation, according to a news release from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    She attempted to enter the US from Mexico through the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas, on March 21, the release stated. Officers noticed a wooden box with holes inside her car, which she claimed contained beer she had bought in Mexico.

    However, when officers opened the box, they discovered a live spider monkey. Officers then referred the woman to a second inspection, but she sped off instead.

    Later that day, officers discovered online sales listings for the spider monkey with the woman’s phone number, according to the release.

    The woman turned herself in on March 28, according to the release. The monkey was recovered and placed in an animal shelter in Central Florida.

    The woman will be sentenced on January 25, 2023, the release noted.

    “Smuggling in endangered species for commercial gain is a tragic crime against nature’s precious resources,” said Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio, in the release. “HSI takes every opportunity to join our federal, private sector and international partners to share our knowledge, experience and investigative techniques designed to protect and preserve threatened and endangered species.”

    There are seven species of spider monkeys found across Central and South America, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Officials did not specify to which species the recovered spider monkey belonged.

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  • Who is Jack Smith, the special counsel named in the Trump investigations | CNN Politics

    Who is Jack Smith, the special counsel named in the Trump investigations | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Jack Smith, the special counsel announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday to oversee the criminal investigations into the retention of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and parts of the January 6, 2021, insurrection, is a long-time prosecutor who has overseen a variety of high-profile cases during a career that spans decades.

    Smith’s experience ranges from prosecuting a sitting US senator to bringing cases against gang members who were ultimately convicted of murdering New York City police officers. In recent years, Smith has prosecuted war crimes at The Hague. His career in multiple parts of the Justice Department, as well as in international courts, has allowed him to keep a relatively low-profile in the oftentimes brassy legal industry.

    His experience and resume will allow him, at least at first, to fly underneath the type of political blowback that quickly met former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team. It also shows he is adept at managing complex criminal cases related to both public corruption and national security – and that he has practice making challenging decisions with political implications.

    Smith is widely expected to be tasked with making policy decisions around whether to charge a former president of the United States. Garland’s statements on Friday and the recent steps taken in the Mar-a-Lago and January 6 investigations have signaled that, at the very least, Donald Trump is under investigation and could potentially be charged with a crime.

    “He knows how to do high-profile cases. He’s independent. He will not be influenced by anybody,” said Greg Andres, a former member of Mueller’s team.

    Andres, who has known Smith since the late 1990s when they started at a US attorney’s office together and ultimately became co-chiefs of the office’s criminal division, said it’s the breadth of Smith’s experience that will enable him to withstand the public scrutiny and make tough judgment calls.

    “He will evaluate the evidence and understand what type of case should be charged or not. He has the type of experience to make those judgments,” said Andres.

    “He understands the courtroom. He understands how to try a case. He knows how to prove a case,” he added. “Particularly in these circumstances it will be critical to understand what types of evidence is required to prove the case in court.”

    In a statement following his announcement, Smith pledged to conduct the investigations “independently and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice.”

    “The pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch. I will exercise independent judgment and will move the investigations forward expeditiously and thoroughly to whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate,” Smith said.

    One former colleague highlighted that Smith has prosecuted members of both parties.

    “He’s going to be really aggressive,” the person said, adding that “things are going to speed up.” Smith, they said, “operates very quickly” and has a unique ability to quickly determine the things that are important to a case and doesn’t waste time “hand-wringing over things that are real sideshows.”

    In court, Smith comes off as very down-to-earth and relatable, this person said, characterizing that as a good attribute to have as a prosecutor.

    Smith also will not care about the politics surrounding the case, they said, adding he has very thick skin and will “do what he’s going to do.”

    Smith began his career as an assistant district attorney with the New York County District Attorney’s Office in 1994. He worked in the Eastern District of New York in 1999 as an assistant US attorney, where he prosecuted cases including civil rights violations and police officers murdered by gangs, according to the Justice Department.

    As a prosecutor in Brooklyn, New York, one of Smith’s biggest and most high-profile cases was prosecuting gang member Ronell Wilson for the murder of two New York City police department detectives during an undercover gun operation in Staten Island.

    Wilson was convicted and sentenced to death, the first death penalty case in New York at the time in 50 years, though a judge later found he was ineligible for the death penalty.

    Moe Fodeman, who worked with Smith at EDNY, called him “one of the best trial lawyers I have ever seen.”

    “He is a phenomenal investigator; he leaves no stone unturned. He drills down to get to the true facts,” Fodeman said.

    Fodeman, who is still friends with Smith, said he is a “literally insane” cyclist and triathlete.

    Beginning in 2008, Smith worked for the International Criminal Court and oversaw war crimes investigations under the Office of the Prosecutor for two years.

    In 2010, he became chief of the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department, where he oversaw litigation of public corruption cases. Lanny Breuer, the former assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Criminal Division who recruited Smith, said his onetime employee was “a terrific prosecutor” with a “real sense of fairness.”

    “If you are going to have a special counsel, in my view, and you want someone who is going to be fearless, but fair, and not going to be intimidated and not overly bureaucratic, that’s Jack – he is all of these things,” Breuer told CNN.

    “Smith brings cases quickly. … He doesn’t sit on cases. He is a person of action,” Breuer added.

    After his stint at the Public Integrity Section, Smith was appointed first assistant US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee in 2015.

    Though he is not widely known in Washington, DC, legal circles, Smith is described as a consummate public servant.

    About a decade ago, he hired waves of line prosecutors into the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department, supervising dozens over his years in charge there.

    Brian Kidd, whom Smith hired at the unit, recalled how his boss walked him through every step of a complicated racketeering case against corrupt police officers.

    “He was not going to tolerate a politically motivated prosecution,” Kidd said. “And he has an incredible ability to motivate the people working with him and under him. He’s incredibly supportive of his team.”

    Smith handled some of the most high-profile political corruption cases in recent memory – to mixed outcomes.

    He was the head of the public integrity unit when then-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was indicted in 2014, and was in meetings with the defense team and involved in decision-making leading up to the charges, according to a person familiar with the case.

    McDonnell was initially convicted of receiving gifts for political favors, but then his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.

    Smith was also at the helm of the unit when the DOJ failed to convict at trial former Senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards.

    A Republican source familiar with Smith’s oversight of the investigation into former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay commended Smith’s non-biased approach, saying that he ultimately made a “just” decision to conclude the investigation without alleging DeLay committed any crime.

    In recent years while working at The Hague, he has not lived in the United States. He’s no longer on the US Triathlon team but is still a competitive biker.

    Smith took over as acting US Attorney when David Rivera departed in early 2017 before leaving the Justice Department later that year and becoming vice president of litigation for the Hospital Corporation of America. In 2018, he became chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, where he investigated war crimes in Kosovo.

    “Throughout his career, Jack Smith has built a reputation as an impartial and determined prosecutor, who leads teams with energy and focus to follow the facts wherever they lead,” Garland said during the announcement on Friday. “Mr. Smith is the right choice to complete these matters in an even-handed and urgent manner.”

    In May 2014, the House Oversight Committee interviewed Smith behind closed doors as part of the Republican-led investigation into the alleged IRS targeting of conservative groups. Then-Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa launched the probe following a 2013 inspector general report that found delays in the processing of applications by certain conservative groups and requesting information from them that was later deemed unnecessary.

    Republicans sought testimony from Smith, who at the time was Public Integrity section chief, due to his involvement with arranging a 2010 meeting between Justice Department officials and then-IRS official Lois Lerner, the official at the center of the IRS scandal. The meeting had been convened to discuss the “evolving legal landscape” of campaign finance law following the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, according to a May 2014 letter written by Issa and Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who is expected to be House Judiciary chairman next year.

    “It is apparent that the Department’s leadership, including Public Integrity Section Chief Jack Smith, was closely involved in engaging with the IRS in wake of Citizens United and political pressure from prominent Democrats to address perceived problems with the decision,” Issa and Jordan wrote in the letter seeking Smith’s testimony.

    Smith testified that his office “had a dialogue” with the FBI about opening investigations related to politically active non-profits following the meeting with Lerner, but did not ultimately do so, according to a copy of his interview obtained by CNN.

    Smith explained that he had asked for the meeting with the IRS because he wanted to learn more about the legal landscape of political non-profits following the Citizens United decision because he was relatively new to the public integrity section. He said that Lerner explained it would be difficult if not impossible to bring a case on the abuse of tax-exempt status.

    Smith repeated at several points in the interview that the Justice Department did not pursue any investigations due to politics.

    “I want to be clear – it would be more about looking at the issue, looking at whether it made sense to open investigations,” he said. “If we did, you know, how would you go about doing this? Is there predication, a basis to open an investigation? Things like that. I can’t say as I sit here now specifically, you know, the back-and-forth of that discussion. I can just tell you that – because I know one of your concerns is that organizations were targeted. And I can tell you that we, Public Integrity, did not open any investigations as a result of those discussions and that we certainly, as you know, have not brought any cases as a result of that.”

    Smith also testified that he was not aware of anyone at the Justice Department placing pressure on the IRS – and that he was never pressured to investigate any political groups.

    “No. And maybe I can stop you guys. I know there’s a series of these questions. I’ve never been asked these things, and anybody who knows me would never even consider asking me to do such a thing,” Smith said.

    This story has been updated with additional details.

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  • Former Trump Org. CFO toes line of allegiances while testifying under plea deal condition | CNN Politics

    Former Trump Org. CFO toes line of allegiances while testifying under plea deal condition | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Former CFO Allen Weisselberg appeared visibly pulled in his Friday testimony between allegiance to his employer and needing to cooperate with prosecutors to satisfy his plea agreement in the criminal trial of the Trump Organization.

    The defense attorneys challenged him to that effect several times Friday morning, and attorney Susan Necheles briefly grilled him on his fears of going to jail if the plea deal falls apart.

    “What is in my mind is to tell the truth at this trial,” Weisselberg maintained each time he was asked about his motives on the stand.

    The line of questioning on cross-examination quickly turned heated between the lawyers, with defense attorney Alan Futerfas objecting to Necheles’ questioning at one point in the exchange.

    Weisselberg, the government’s star witness, again distanced former President Donald Trump from the internal “clean up” at the Trump Org. He testified Friday that he mostly dealt with Trump’s sons after Trump was elected president, saying he is not sure what the president knew about the company situation or when.

    “Once he was in the White House we had very little communication about things going on in the company,” Weisselberg testified.

    He also said that Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., became aware of the illegal practices after an internal review was conducted in 2017 and 2018. Weisselberg acknowledged that no one was disciplined or demoted after the scheme came to light. In fact, he said, he asked Eric Trump for a $200,000 raise in 2019, which he received.

    To win a conviction, prosecutors need to prove that Weisselberg intended to benefit the Trump entities – exactly what the jury will need to find will be determined by the judge when he gives the case to the jury.

    Weisselberg tread a fine line in his testimony, telling the jury he never wanted to hurt the company – his aim, he said, was mainly to pay less in taxes – but he knew at the time the company would also benefit from his schemes to some extent.

    “It was a benefit to the company but primarily it was due to my greed,” he said.

    Necheles also pushed Weisselberg to acknowledge that prosecutors want him to draw a correlation between his own greed and the tax perks his scheme offered the companies.

    “It is important to the prosecutors for you to testify to that,” she said.

    “I don’t know what’s important to the prosecutors,” Weisselberg said.

    Weisselberg did testify, however, that he and Jeff McConney, Trump Org. controller, never spoke specifically about benefits to the company or calculated how much the company would save as a result of the under reported income.

    “It was understood that by having less payroll you have less payroll taxes,” he said.

    Defense attorney Futerfas suggested the benefit to the Trump entities was minimal. He showed the jury a disbursement journal of Trump Org. expenses, including nearly $54,000 on flowers. The defense attorney compared more than $267 million in expenses over eight years with the roughly $24,000 in payroll taxes the companies did not pay on Weisselberg’s unreported fringe benefits spanning 12 years.

    Despite Weisselberg’s “betrayal” of the Trumps and their companies, the Trump Org. is still footing the bill for his large team of lawyers from multiple firms. His attorneys are some of the best in the city, Susan Hoffinger, the executive assistant district attorney in the Manhattan prosecutor’s office, said on redirect examination.

    Cracking a smile, Weisselberg said: “I hope so.”

    The courtroom dissolved into laughter, including from the judge and some jurors, and the prosecutor turned around smiling at Weisselberg’s legal team sitting in the second row of the gallery.

    Necheles later clarified with the decades-long Trump Org. executive that he stuck by the Trump family through tough years on the brink of bankruptcy.

    “And now you are in the worst time of your life,” Necheles asked.

    “I would say yes,” Weisselberg said.

    “And he has not kicked you to the curb,” she said.

    “He has not,” he responded.

    “You don’t understand that to mean he approves of what you did, do you?” Necheles asked.

    “No,” Weisselberg said.

    The trial has adjourned for the week and will only sit Monday and Tuesday of next week due to the holiday.

    Weisselberg is off the stand, after testifying across three days.

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  • Elizabeth Holmes scheduled to be sentenced on Friday | CNN Business

    Elizabeth Holmes scheduled to be sentenced on Friday | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of failed blood testing startup Theranos who was convicted of fraud earlier this year, is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday morning by a judge in court in San Jose, California.

    Holmes, who was found guilty in January on four charges of defrauding investors, faces up to 20 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 plus restitution for each count.

    Lawyers for the government asked for a 15-year prison term, as well as probation and restitution, while Holmes’ probation officer pushed for a nine-year term. Holmes’ defense team asked Judge Edward Davila, who is presiding over her case, to sentence her to up to 18 months of incarceration followed by probation and community service.

    More than 100 people wrote letters in support of Holmes to Davila, asking for leniency in her sentencing. The list includes Holmes’ partner, Billy Evans, many members of Holmes’ and Evans’ families, early Theranos investor Tim Draper, and Sen. Cory Booker. Booker described meeting her at a dinner years before she was charged and bonding over the fact that they were both vegans with nothing to eat but a bag of almonds, which they shared.

    “I still believe that she holds onto the hope that she can make contributions to the lives of others, and that she can, despite mistakes, make the world a better place,” Booker wrote, noting that he continues to consider her a friend.

    Friday’s sentencing hearing caps off Holmes’ stunning downfall. Once hailed as a tech industry icon for her company’s promises to test for a range of conditions with just a few drops of blood, she is now the rare tech founder to be convicted and face prison time for her company’s missteps.

    Holmes, now 38, started Theranos in 2003 at the age of 19 and soon thereafter dropped out of Stanford University to pursue the company full-time. After a decade under the radar, Holmes began courting the press with claims that Theranos had invented technology that could accurately and reliably test for a range of conditions using just a few drops of blood taken from a finger prick.

    Theranos raised $945 million from an impressive list of investors, including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Walmart’s Walton family and the billionaire family of former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. At its peak, Theranos was valued at $9 billion, making Holmes a billionaire on paper. She was lauded on magazine covers, frequently wearing a signature black turtleneck that invited comparisons to late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. (She has not worn that look in the courtroom.)

    The company began to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 found the company had only ever performed roughly a dozen of the hundreds of tests it offered using its proprietary blood testing device, and with questionable accuracy. Instead, Theranos was relying on third-party manufactured devices from traditional blood testing companies.

    In 2016, Theranos voided two years of blood test results. In 2018, Holmes and Theranos settled “massive fraud” charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but did not admit to or deny any of the allegations as part of the deal. Theranos dissolved soon after.

    In her trial, Holmes alleged she was in the midst of a decade-long abusive relationship with her then-boyfriend and Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani while running the company. Balwani, she alleged, tried to control nearly every aspect of her life, including disciplining her eating, her voice and her image, and isolating her from others. (Balwani’s attorneys denied her claims.)

    In July, Balwani was found guilty on all 12 charges in a separate trial and faces the same potential maximum prison time as her. Balwani is scheduled to be sentenced on December 7.

    “The effects of Holmes and Balwani’s fraudulent conduct were far-reaching and severe,” federal prosecutors wrote in a November court filing regarding Holmes’ sentencing. “Dozens of investors lost over $700 million and numerous patients received unreliable or wholly inaccurate medical information from Theranos’ flawed tests, placing those patients’ health at serious risk.”

    Holmes’ sentencing, however, could be complicated by developments in her life after stepping down from Theranos. Holmes and her partner, Evans, who met in 2017, have a young son. Holmes is also pregnant, as confirmed by recent court filings and her most recent court appearance in mid October.

    Mark MacDougall, a white-collar defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor, told CNN Business that the fact that Holmes has a young child could impact how she is sentenced.

    “I don’t know how it can’t, just because judges are human,” he said.

    MacDougall also said he doesn’t see what a long prison sentence accomplishes. “Elizabeth Holmes is never going to run a big company again,” he said. “She’s never going to be in a position to have something like this happen again.”

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  • Senate clears key procedural step on bill to protect same-sex marriage | CNN Politics

    Senate clears key procedural step on bill to protect same-sex marriage | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Senate on Wednesday cleared a key procedural hurdle toward historic passage of the bipartisan bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage, voting 62-37 to break a filibuster.

    There could be additional votes before final passage, but Wednesday’s successful test vote signals the bill is on a glide path to succeed, a remarkable turn of events given how contentious the issue of same-sex marriage was just a few years ago.

    While the bill would not set a national requirement that all states must legalize same-sex marriage, it would require individual states to recognize another state’s legal marriage. So, in the event the Supreme Court might overturn its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage, a state could still pass a law to ban same-sex marriage, but that state would be required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state.

    All 50 members of the Democratic caucus voted to start debate on the bill as well as 12 Republicans.

    It’s unclear when the chamber will vote on final passage. Without an agreement to speed up passage of the bill which needs consent from all 100 senators, final passage will likely occur after the Senate returns from Thanksgiving recess.

    Still, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN he wants his chamber’s bill to pass by Thursday before senators leave for their Thanksgiving recess all next week.

    “We’re hoping that could happen,” he said.

    Earlier this week, Schumer expressed “hope” that after the vote Wednesday, “both sides can work quickly together to move this bill through the Senate and on to the president’s desk.”

    “It already passed the House earlier this year with significant 47 Republican votes and I’m optimistic we can achieve a significant result in this chamber,” he added.

    Once the bill passes the Senate, it will need to be passed again through the House before going to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Supporters of the bill hope to pass the legislation through the House before the end of the year as Republicans appear on track to take control of the chamber in the next Congress.

    Earlier this week, the bipartisan negotiators who worked on the legislation, announced they were “confident” the bill has enough votes to pass and were hoping the bill could be put to the floor for a vote.

    The bipartisan group, which includes Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, said in a statement Monday that they “look forward to this legislation coming to the floor.”

    Lawmakers had hoped to pass the bill before leaving for recess ahead of the midterm elections, but the chamber punted on a vote until after the November elections as negotiators asked for more time to lock down support. That gamble appears to have paid off for the bill’s supporters given the 12 Republican votes to break the filibuster Wednesday.

    In a sign of how much support has grown in recent years for same-sex marriage, the bill found backing from GOP senators including those in deeply red states.

    Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming told CNN’s Manu Raju that she voted to advance the Senate’s same-sex marriage bill due to “Article 1, Section 3 of the Wyoming Constitution,” which she read to reporters and includes an anti-discrimination clause.

    “That’s why we’re called the equality state,” she added.

    Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said the “bill made sense” and “provides important religious liberty protections.”

    “While I believe in traditional marriage, Obergefell is and has been the law of the land upon which LGBTQ individuals have relied,” Romney said in a statement. “This legislation provides certainty to many LGBTQ Americans, and it signals that Congress—and I—esteem and love all of our fellow Americans equally.”

    This story and headline have been updated to reflect additional developments.

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  • Former Trump Org. CFO testifies he didn’t pay taxes on $1.76 million in personal expenses | CNN Politics

    Former Trump Org. CFO testifies he didn’t pay taxes on $1.76 million in personal expenses | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg testified Tuesday that he knew he should have paid taxes on hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits he received annually, including a company-paid Manhattan apartment that he said former President Donald Trump suggested he move into.

    Weisselberg testified for about 90 minutes during the criminal trial of the Trump Organization in Manhattan, calmly walking the jury through the growth of the company from 50 employees when he started there in 1986 into an umbrella organization that includes 500 entities.

    Under questioning by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, Weisselberg answered “yes” as the prosecutor went through each of personal expenses he received from the Trump Org. – and that the company didn’t pay taxes on them from 2005 through 2017.

    One of those untaxed benefits Weisselberg received was a more than $7,000 per month 1200 square foot luxury apartment overlooking the Hudson River in Manhattan.

    The former CFO said Trump offered him the apartment in 2005 to cut his daily commute to Long Island where he lived at the time. Weisselberg sat down with Trump, who Weisselberg said asked him if he would consider moving into the city. Trump said, according to Weisselberg, it would “help you, help the company” and Weisselberg could work longer hours.

    Weisselberg said after speaking with his wife, they agreed to move in and Trump authorized the expense.

    He also said he expensed his utilities, phone, car leases and garage saying it was “part and parcel” with the apartment.

    Either Weisselberg or Trump would sign the rent checks for his apartment. In total, he received as much as $200,000 in untaxed compensation in a year from all those benefits, according to his testimony.

    Weisselberg testified had he asked for a raise the company would have had to pay him double – as much as $400,000, to cover the taxes.

    In all, Weisselberg said he didn’t pay taxes on approximately $1.76 million in personal expenses from 2005 through 2017.

    He acknowledged that he knowingly unreported his income on his tax forms to get the fringe benefits tax free, and he hid that information from the accountants at Mazars, he said, because he thought they would refuse to sign his tax returns had they known about it.

    Trump Organization Controller Jeff McConney knew the practice was illegal when he generated the false W-2 and 1099 tax forms on Weisselberg’s behalf, according to Weisselberg.

    McConney previously claimed on the stand that he didn’t think all of the expenses were handled improperly until an internal review years later.

    Weisselberg on Tuesday also acknowledged that he was stripped of the chief financial officer title after he was arrested and charged with 15 counts of tax fraud and grand larceny. Weisselberg, whose voice dropped to a whisper when discussing his crimes, said he continued to do most of the same work after he was indicted. That changed in October, several months after he pleaded guilty and agreed to testify, when Weisselberg said he began working from home and his contact with Eric Trump, who runs the company on a day-to-day basis, “stopped.”

    Weisselberg said he is on paid leave and still expects to receive a $500,000 bonus in January in addition to his $640,000 salary.

    The day Weisselberg finalized a plea deal with prosecutors in August, his son threw a birthday party for him at Trump Tower. Weisselberg attempted to downplay it, saying he regretted it, and that “it was a small cake.”

    Weisselberg is expected to continue on the stand Thursday morning.

    Two Trump Organization entities are charged with nine counts of tax fraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records in what prosecutors allege was a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation provided to employees. The former president is not a defendant in the case and is not expected to be implicated in any wrongdoing.

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  • Iran issues first death sentence linked to recent protests | CNN

    Iran issues first death sentence linked to recent protests | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    An Iranian court has issued the first death sentence linked to recent protests, convicting the unnamed person of “enmity against God” and “spreading corruption on Earth,” state media reports.

    It comes following weeks of nationwide demonstrations, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in September.

    Iran’s Revolutionary Court issued the sentence to a protester who allegedly set fire to a government building, reported state media.

    They were convicted on the charge of “disturbing public order and peace, community, and colluding to commit a crime against national security, war and corruption on Earth, war through arson, and intentional destruction,” according to state news agency IRNA on Sunday.

    Five others who took part in the protests received sentences of five to 10 years in prison, convicted of “collusion to commit a crime against national security and disturbance of public peace and order.”

    IRNA added that these decisions are preliminary and can be appealed. The news agency did not name the protester who received the death sentence or provide details on when or where they committed the alleged crime.

    Iran has been rocked by anti-regime protests since September in the greatest demonstration of dissent in recent years, sparked by outrage over the death of Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who had been detained by the morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

    Iranian authorities have since unleashed a brutal crackdown on protesters, having charged at least 1,000 people in Tehran province for their alleged involvement.

    Security forces have killed at least 326 people since the protests began two months ago, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO.

    That figure includes 43 children and 25 women, the group said in an update to its death toll on Saturday, saying that its published number represented an “absolute minimum.”

    CNN cannot independently verify the figure as non-state media, the internet, and protest movements in Iran have all been suppressed. Death tolls vary by opposition groups, international rights organizations and journalists tracking the ongoing protests.

    Despite the threat of arrests – and harsher punishments for those involved – Iranian celebrities and athletes have stepped forward to support the anti-government protests in recent weeks.

    On Friday, United Nations experts urged Iranian authorities “to stop indicting people with charges punishable by death for participation, or alleged participation, in peaceful demonstrations” and “to stop using the death penalty as a tool to squash protests.”

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  • Voters in four states approve effort to wipe slavery and indentured servitude off the books | CNN Politics

    Voters in four states approve effort to wipe slavery and indentured servitude off the books | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Voters in five states on Tuesday were asked whether to update their states’ constitutions to remove slavery and indentured servitude as potential punishments.

    Although the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibited slavery in 1865, it allowed an exception “for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,” and the proposed amendments asked voters to either explicitly rule out slavery and indentured servitude as potential punishments or remove the terms from state law altogether.

    Voters in four states agreed to strike the punishment from the books, CNN projects, while the effort fell short in one.

    Voters in Alabama approved a ballot measure that will overhaul the state’s constitution to rid it of racist language and make the constitution more accessible to Alabama’s citizens, CNN projects. One of the revisions in the overhaul will remove an exception clause as it applies to slavery and indentured servitude, changing the text of the constitution from:

    That no form of slavery shall exist in this state; and there shall not be any involuntary servitude, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, of which the party shall have been duly convicted.

    To:

    That no form of slavery shall exist in this state; and there shall not be any involuntary servitude.

    Voters in Oregon approved a ballot measure to remove “all language creating an exception” and make “the prohibition against slavery and involuntary servitude unequivocal.”

    As part of the initiative, the Oregon Constitution was amended to allow “programs to be ordered as part of sentencing,” such as ones for education, counseling, treatment and community service.

    Tennessee voters approved a measure to amend the state’s constitution to say slavery and indentured servitude shall be “forever prohibited,” CNN projects.

    In Vermont, a measure to amend the constitution passed, CNN projects.

    Although Vermont was the first state to outlaw slavery, the proposal sought to remove text that read “no person born in this country, or brought from oversea, ought to be holden by law, to serve any person as a servant, slave or apprentice, after arriving to the age of twenty-one years, unless bound by the person’s own consent, after arriving to such age, or bound by law for the payment of debts, damages, fines, costs, or the like.”

    Louisiana voters rejected an amendment that would have changed the state’s constitution by explicitly prohibiting the punishments, CNN projects.

    Louisiana voters had been asked to mark yes or no to the question, “Do you support an amendment to prohibit the use of involuntary servitude except as it applies to the otherwise lawful administration of criminal justice?”

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  • Australia blames cyber criminals in Russia for Medibank data breach | CNN Business

    Australia blames cyber criminals in Russia for Medibank data breach | CNN Business

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    Brisbane, Australia
    CNN
     — 

    Cyber criminals in Russia are behind a ransomware attack on one of Australia’s largest private health insurers that’s seen sensitive personal data published to the dark web, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said Friday.

    In a short press conference, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw told reporters investigators know the identity of the individuals responsible for the attack on health insurer Medibank, but he declined to name them.

    “The AFP is undertaking covert measures and working around the clock with our domestic agencies and international networks including Interpol. This is important because we believe those responsible for the breach are in Russia,” he said.

    Medibank says the stolen data belongs to 9.7 million past and present customers, including 1.8 million international customers. The files include health claims data for almost half a million people, including 20,000 based overseas.

    This week, the group started releasing curated tranches of customer data onto the dark web, in files with titles including good-list, naughty-list, abortions and boozy, which included those who sought help for alcohol dependency.

    Kershaw said police intelligence points to a “group of loosely affiliated cyber criminals” who are likely responsible for previous significant data breaches around the world, without naming specific examples.

    “These cyber criminals are operating like a business with affiliates and associates who are supporting the business. We also believe some affiliates may be in other countries,” said Kershaw, who declined to take questions due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

    Cyber security experts have said the criminals are likely linked to REvil, a Russian ransomware gang notorious for large attacks on targets in the United States and elsewhere, including major international meat supplier JBS Foods last June.

    That breach shut down the company’s entire US beef processing operation and prompted the company to pay an $11 million ransom. Last November, the US State Department offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification or location of key leaders of REvil, also known as the Sodinokibi organized crime group.

    In mid-January, Russian state news agency TASS reported that at least eight REvil ransomware hackers had been detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) at the request of the US.

    They were facing charges of committing “illegal circulation of payments,” a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison, TASS reported, citing Moscow’s Tverskoi Court.

    In March, Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi, one of the chief suspects linked to an attack on US software vendor, Kaseya, was extradited from Poland to the US to face charges, according to a statement from the Justice Department.

    Jeffrey Foster, associate professor in cyber security studies at Macquarie University, said there’s one major link between the REvil network and the group suspected of hacking the Medibank network.

    “The biggest link is that the REvil dark web website now redirects to this website. So that’s the biggest link we have between them, and the only link we have between them,” said Foster, who is monitoring the blog where the group is posting their demands.

    “As Russia has stated that they’ve arrested and disbanded REvil, it seems likely this is a case of maybe a former REvil member, who had access to the dark web website to be able to do the redirect which requires access to the hardware,” he said. “Whether or not REvil has returned, we don’t know.”

    Medibank first detected unusual activity in its network almost a month ago. On October 20, the company issued a statement saying a “criminal” had stolen information from its ahm health insurance and international student systems, including names, addresses, phone numbers and some claims data for procedures and diagnoses.

    An initial ransom demand was made for $10 million (15 million Australian dollars), but the company said after extensive consultation with cybercrime experts it had decided not to pay. It was later lowered to $9.7 million – one for every customer affected, according to Foster.

    At the time, Medibank said there was only a “limited chance” that paying the ransom would stop the data being published or returned to the company.

    In his statement on Friday, Kershaw, the AFP Commissioner, said Australian government policy did not condone paying ransoms to cyber criminals.

    “Any ransom payment small or large fuels the cybercrime business model, putting other Australians at risk,” he said.

    Kershaw said investigators at the Australian Interpol National Central Bureau would be talking with their Russian counterparts about the individuals, who he addressed directly with a threat to see them charged in Australia.

    “To the criminals, we know who you are. And moreover, the AFP has some significant runs on the scoreboard when it comes to bringing overseas offenders back to Australia to face the justice system,” he said.

    Earlier Friday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “disgusted” by the attacks and, without naming Russia, said the government of the country they come from should be held accountable.

    “The nation where these attacks are coming from should also be held accountable for the disgusting attacks, and the release of information including very private and personal information,” Albanese said.

    In a statement Friday, Medibank CEO David Koczkar said it was clear the criminal gang behind the breach was “enjoying the notoriety,” and it was likely they would release more information each day.

    “The relentless nature of this tactic being used by the criminal is designed to cause distress and harm,” he said. “These are real people behind this data and the misuse of their data is deplorable and may discourage them from seeking medical care.”

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  • Sister of executed Iranian wrestler arrested and identified by state news as ‘agent’ | CNN

    Sister of executed Iranian wrestler arrested and identified by state news as ‘agent’ | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Iranian officials said they have identified the “Iran International agent” arrested Thursday as Elham Afkari, the sister of famous Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, who was executed two years ago, according to state news agency IRNA.

    London-based news channel Iran International has become one of the go-to sources for many Iranians looking for news on the country’s ongoing protests in the country.

    The opposition television broadcaster, which was called a “terrorist” organization by the Iranian intelligence minister on Tuesday, has denied any association with Elham.

    In a statement sent to CNN, the London-based broadcaster said Elham “is not an employee of Iran International, nor is she an associate or agent of the company.”

    Her brother, Navid Afkari, was convicted of killing Hassan Torkman, a water company security employee, during a protest in Shiraz in 2018.

    Initially, Afkari confessed to the crime, but in court he retracted those words, arguing that he had been tortured into making a false confession.

    “It should be noted that she [Elham Afkari] is the sister of Navid Afkari, the killer of martyr Torkman, an employee of the regional water company of Fars province,” IRNA reported.

    “Intelligence operatives have been monitoring the activities of Elham Afkari for the past few years,” IRNA said, adding that “she was one of the main leaders in organizing recent riots.”

    State media shared pictures allegedly showing Elham’s arrest. The pictures show a woman seated in the backseat of a vehicle with barred windows, with a black blindfold over her face.

    Saeed Afkari, Elham and Navid’s brother, confirmed his sister’s arrest on Twitter on Thursday, saying that Elham’s three-year-old daughter was also missing.

    He later said Elham had been taken to a department of Iran’s intelligence ministry, and that his sister’s spouse and daughter had been released.

    “Elham was taken to No.100 intelligence ministry department,” he tweeted.

    Since Navid Afkari was executed, his family has faced many court cases over involvement in the demonstrations in 2018.

    Vahid Afkari, one of his brothers, remains in solitary confinement, according to the rights group Iran Human Rights.

    Founded in 2017, Iran International has been at the forefront of covering recent demonstrations following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini – a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman detained by morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

    However, the 24-hour news channel’s coverage of the demonstrations has brought it under the scrutiny of the Iranian government.

    This week, Iran International said two of its British-Iranian journalists working in the United Kingdom have been warned by police of a “credible” plot by Iran to kill them.

    In a statement Monday, the Farsi-language broadcaster said it was “shocked and deeply concerned” by the alleged lethal threats, while accusing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of being part of a “significant and dangerous escalation” of Tehran’s “campaign to intimidate Iranian journalists working abroad.”

    “Two of our British-Iranian journalists have, in recent days, been notified of an increase in the threats to them,” Iran International said in the statement.

    “The Metropolitan Police have now formally notified both journalists that these threats represent an imminent, credible and significant risk to their lives and those of their families.”

    Iran International did not name the journalists for security reasons.

    The Committee to Protect Journalists said that as of Monday at least 61 journalists have been arrested in Iran for reasons including covering the protests, reporting on the death of protesters, and taking photos of demonstrations, according to a report from the organization.

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  • 5 things to know for Nov. 10: Midterms, Tropical storm, Ukraine, Marijuana, Listeria | CNN

    5 things to know for Nov. 10: Midterms, Tropical storm, Ukraine, Marijuana, Listeria | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Election officials cautiously went into the midterms this week bracing for the possibility of harassment and hostility at some polling places. Luckily, voting went smoothly across the US – even after two years that election-deniers bragged that they would flood the polls with observers to find fraud.

    Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

    (You can get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

    Control of Congress remains undetermined as results continue to trickle in from Senate races in Arizona and Nevada. Georgia’s contest is also heading to a runoff on December 6 after neither Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock nor Republican challenger Herschel Walker surpassed the 50% threshold needed to win the race outright. In the House, it could be days until a full picture emerges as votes are still being counted in states like California, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. Although Republicans are inching toward a slim majority in the House, President Joe Biden called the midterm vote “a good day for democracy” and praised Democrats’ efforts to stave off resounding GOP wins. “While any seat lost is painful… Democrats had a strong night,” he said.

    Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane just south of Vero Beach, Florida, early this morning, packing winds of 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. While it has weakened to a tropical storm, Nicole is expected to lash the state with heavy rain and storm surge for the next several hours. Nicole’s colossal path has already caused power outages for nearly 110,000 customers and has prompted the closures of many schools, colleges and universities as well as the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the shuttering of amusement parks. Additionally, some residents evacuated their homes after they were deemed unsafe and at risk of collapse due to the storm’s impact. You can track the storm’s path here.

    CNN reporter shows scene in Florida as Nicole weakens after landfall

    Russia has ordered its troops to retreat from the key city of Kherson, the only regional capital it has captured since start of its war in Ukraine. This is a dramatic setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Ukrainian forces approach the city from two directions. The withdrawal “demonstrates the courage, the determination, the commitment of Ukrainian armed forces and also the importance of the continued support” of the West, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg told CNN. This comes as a top US general said Russia has suffered more than 100,000 killed and wounded soldiers as a result of the invasion – and Ukraine is probably looking at similar numbers.

    screengrab russian top general

    Big blow to Putin as Russia orders to withdraw from Kherson

    Ballot measures that will legalize marijuana are expected to pass in two states and fail in three others, CNN projects, as momentum has grown nationwide to push for lifting penalties once associated with cannabis. Voters in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota rejected measures that would have allowed certain amounts of cannabis possession and recreational consumption for people 21 and older. CNN projects Maryland and Missouri will approve measures to legalize recreational marijuana use. In Maryland specifically, individuals who were previously convicted of cannabis possession and intent to distribute will also be able to apply for record expungement. Recreational use of marijuana is currently legal in 19 states – along with Washington, DC.

    The CDC issued a warning Wednesday about a deadly listeria outbreak in six states that has been linked to contaminated deli meat and cheese. People at high risk of severe illness from listeria infection – such as pregnant people, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems – should not eat meat or cheese from any deli counter without first reheating it “steaming hot,” the CDC said in a statement. At least one death was reported in Maryland and 16 people have been infected, according to reports from six states. If you have recently purchased deli cheese or meat, the agency recommends a careful cleaning of your refrigerator – and any containers or surfaces the meat or cheese may have touched – with hot, soapy water.

    This illustration depicts a three-dimensional (3D) computer-generated image of a grouping of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. The artistic recreation was based upon scanning electron microscopic (SEM) imagery.

    What is listeria?


    01:20

    – Source:
    CNN

    Heat shield that could land humans on Mars is heading to space today

    NASA said this inflatable heat shield will hitch a ride to space today in the hope that it could eventually assist with human travel to other planets.

    Where you can pick up a classic Thanksgiving meal

    If you don’t feel like basting a turkey for hours on end this year, check out these restaurant chains and supermarkets that are offering take-out options.

    The lottery is preying on the poor, critics say

    Many lotto players this week had fun dreaming about the microscopic chance of winning a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. Critics, however, are pointing to the flaws of a lottery system they say unfairly targets poor people.

    Jennifer Aniston opens up about failed IVF and has ‘zero regrets’

    “I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it,” Aniston said. Read about her difficult IVF journey that made her the person she is today.

    Popular crypto entrepreneur loses 94% of his wealth in a single day

    After Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange, FTX, collapsed this week, Bloomberg said he may find himself off of their billionaires list within days.

    12

    That’s how many female governors the US will have in 2023, setting a new record for the nation. While the number still represents a small fraction of the top executives across the 50 states, it beats the previous record of nine female governors serving concurrently in 2004, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

    “Maybe this is a dumb decision, but we’ll see.”

    – Elon Musk, backing his plan to offer blue check marks to Twitter users who agree to pay $8 a month – a strategy that has been marred by uncertainty and abrupt changes. During a Twitter Spaces session on Wednesday, Musk pleaded with advertisers to keep using his platform to “see how things evolve.” Twitter currently appears to be battling a wave of celebrity and corporate impersonators on its platform who have quickly gamed the company’s new paid verification system.

    rain, snow, and ice thursday

    Hurricane Nicole makes landfall as winter strikes Upper Midwest


    01:40

    – Source:
    CNN

    Check your local forecast here>>>

    Human iPhone sound effects

    This a cappella group has mastered the art of singing iPhone ringtones and alert chimes! (Click here to view)

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  • Paul Pelosi’s alleged attacker indicted by federal grand jury | CNN Politics

    Paul Pelosi’s alleged attacker indicted by federal grand jury | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A grand jury has returned a federal indictment charging David DePape, the man accused of violently attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in late October, with attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault of an immediate family member of a federal official.

    “If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the assault count and 20 years in prison for the attempted kidnapping count,” the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday.

    With the indictment, DePape is facing both federal and state charges, which include “attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, as well as threats to a public official and their family,” according to San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins.

    DePape has already pleaded not guilty to all state charges during his initial appearance in San Francisco court, and he waived his right to a hearing within 10 days at his arraignment. He waived his appearance in court last week, where a status hearing was set for November 28 and a preliminary hearing was set for December 14.

    Depape is currently being held without bail.

    Jenkins has said that based on DePape’s statements, it appears the attack was “politically motivated.”

    “Yes, it appears as though this was, based on his statements and comments that were made in that house during his encounter with Mr. Pelosi, that this was politically motivated,” she said.

    The speaker’s husband, Paul, was attacked with a hammer at the couple’s home in San Francisco, and disturbing details have emerged about the incident, including that the alleged assailant told police he was on a “suicide mission” and had a list of other prominent targets.

    DePape, according to court documents, told police he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, calling her the “leader of the pack of lies” promoted by the Democrats.

    Following the attack, Paul Pelosi had surgery “to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands,” Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, said in an earlier statement.

    He has since been released from the hospital.

    “Paul remains under doctors’ care as he continues to progress on a long recovery process and convalescence,” Nancy Pelosi said after her husband’s hospital discharge. “He is now home surrounded by his family who request privacy.”

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • Australian who sexually abused children in the Philippines given 129-year jail term | CNN

    Australian who sexually abused children in the Philippines given 129-year jail term | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    An Australian man already sentenced to life in prison in the Philippines for human trafficking and rape has been given an extra 129-year sentence for sexually abusing children as young as 18 months, according to prosecutors.

    Peter Gerard Scully, his Filipina girlfriend Lezyl Margallo, and two accomplices were charged with 60 offenses that included child abuse, trafficking, rape and syndicating child pornography, Merlynn Barola-Uy, a prosecutor in the southern city of Cagayan de Oro, told CNN on Wednesday.

    Margallo was sentenced to 126 years in prison, while the two accomplices received prison terms of nine years each.

    All four were sentenced on November 3 after entering a plea bargaining agreement, Barola-Uy said, describing the convictions as a “sweet victory.”

    “The victim-survivors and their families together with the prosecution team have been, since day one, consistent in their resolve to fight Peter Scully and slay every (delaying) tactic he employed,” the prosecutor said.

    “They all want to bring closure to this dark phase of their lives and move on,” Barola-Uy added.

    The offenses date back to 2012 and are among dozens of charges filed against Scully after his arrest in 2015.

    In 2018, the Australian and his former live-in partner Carme Ann Alvarez were sentenced to life in prison for human trafficking and rape in six cases involving seven children – one of whom was killed and buried in one of the couple’s rented houses in Surigao City, according to state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA).

    The cases against Scully have thrown the spotlight on the Philippines’ enduring struggle against the online sexual exploitation of children.

    In 2020, a report by the Washington-based International Justice Mission described the Philippines as a global dark spot for online sexual abuse, saying youths were vulnerable due to a combination of entrenched poverty, high internet connectivity and opaque international cash transfer systems.

    Two years later, a study by UNICEF, Interpol and ECPAT International, a global network of organizations against children sexual exploitation, found around 20% of Filipino children who used the internet and were aged between 12 and 17 had experienced some form of online sexual abuse.

    In August, members of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s cabinet told a news conference the country had declared “all-out war” on the sexual exploitation of children online.

    Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla vowed at the conference to prosecute and jail people who sexually exploited minors online, but did not detail how the law and its enforcement might be strengthened.

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  • Indian diamond billionaire Nirav Modi loses appeal against extradition from UK | CNN

    Indian diamond billionaire Nirav Modi loses appeal against extradition from UK | CNN

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    London
    CNN
     — 

    A London court on Wednesday rejected an appeal from Indian billionaire Nirav Modi against his extradition from the United Kingdom to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering.

    British police arrested the diamond dealer in 2019 in London over his alleged involvement in a bank fraud that could be worth $2 billion.

    Modi’s lawyers last year challenged a court order allowing the British government to extradite the fugitive businessman, citing his mental health and risk of suicide.

    London’s High Court dismissed the appeal on Wednesday, saying Modi’s risk of suicide does not rule out his extradition.

    Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith, one of the two judges, said that they were “far from satisfied that Mr Modi’s mental condition and the risk of suicide are such that it would be either unjust or oppressive to extradite him,” according to the court ruling.

    “On the basis of the assurances that the (Indian government) has given, we accept that there will be suitable medical provision and an appropriate plan in place for the management and medical care of Mr Modi, which will be provided in the knowledge that he is a suicide risk,” the judges said.

    Modi’s alleged fraud first came to light in 2018 when Punjab National Bank, one of India’s largest banks, reported fraudulent activity at one of its branches.

    India then issued an Interpol Red Notice for Modi’s arrest and London authorities were asked to execute it. The Indian foreign ministry said in a statement at the time that it welcomed the arrest, and would seek to extradite Modi as soon as possible.

    Modi and officials at the bank allegedly issued fraudulent Letters of Undertakings to overseas banks to obtain buyer’s credit, according to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

    Forbes once ranked Modi as India’s 85th richest man, with a net worth of $1.8 billion.

    CNN has reached out to his lawyer after the court’s decision on Wednesday but is yet to hear back.

    Modi, who remains at Wandsworth Prison in London, can challenge Wednesday’s court ruling at the UK Supreme Court.

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  • The Iowa teen who killed her alleged rapist and escaped from a residential corrections facility is back in custody | CNN

    The Iowa teen who killed her alleged rapist and escaped from a residential corrections facility is back in custody | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Pieper Lewis, the Iowa teen and sex trafficking victim who killed a man she said raped her multiple times, is back in custody following her escape from the residential corrections facility where she was serving probation, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

    Lewis, 18, was arrested just days after she walked away from the Des Moines women’s center where she’d been sent as part of a deferred judgment she received after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and willful injury in the 2020 killing of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks. Lewis was 15 at the time.

    Lewis was found in Des Moines and taken back into custody Tuesday, the Iowa Department of Corrections said in a statement. The teenager is being held at the Polk County Jail, said Lt. Ryan Evans of the sheriff’s office, who told CNN she was expected to have a future court date for violating her probation.

    Lewis went missing early Friday, November 4, when she cut off an electronic monitoring device and left the Fresh Start Women’s Center, Jerry Evans, the executive director of the Fifth Judicial District Department of Corrections, previously told CNN.

    When she left, authorities filed a “probation violation report,” Evans told CNN, “recommending revocation of her probation” and requesting a warrant for her arrest.

    The probation violation report said an alarm sounded at the facility at 6:19 a.m., notifying staff a door had been opened. A residential officer then saw Lewis exiting the facility through a door, according to the report obtained by CNN.

    The report, which was signed by a probation officer and a residential supervisor, goes on to request the warrant for Lewis’ arrest, adding, “It is further ordered that her deferred judgments (be) revoked and original sentence imposed.”

    Lewis became a resident at the Fresh Start Women’s Center after pleading guilty in Brooks’ killing, saying in her plea agreement he raped her multiple times.

    She originally faced up to 20 years in prison. But in September, Polk County District Judge David Porter handed down a deferred judgment, meaning the plea could be expunged if she completed the probationary sentence at the residential correctional facility.

    Under Iowa law, the court additionally had to order Lewis to pay a $150,000 restitution fee to Brooks’ family, the judge said. He also ruled she should serve 200 hours of community service and pay more than $4,000 in civil penalties.

    In the plea agreement, Lewis outlined for the court the series of events that she said led up to the killing, beginning with her running away from home due to what she said was an abusive environment. She was eventually taken in by a man who she said trafficked her, forcing her to have sex with other men in exchange for money. Brooks was one of those men, according to Lewis, who described in her agreement being repeatedly assaulted, including while she was unconscious.

    On May 31, 2020, the man with whom Lewis lived confronted her with a knife and forced her to go to Brooks’ apartment, where Lewis said she was forced to drink vodka and eventually fell asleep. At one point, she woke up to find Brooks was raping her, she said.

    Later, Brooks fell asleep and Lewis, “overcome with rage” at the realization he had raped her again, “immediately grabbed the knife from his nightstand and began stabbing him,” she said in the plea agreement.

    Lewis’ attorney was pleased with the deferred judgment, but advocates for victims of sexual violence voiced concern about her ability to serve the sentence, pointing to the extent of her trauma.

    They also highlighted how her case echoed other recent cases in the US in which teenagers – often people of color – have been legally penalized or convicted of killing their sex trafficker or assaulter.

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