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Tag: iab-law

  • Case dismissed against teenage cousin of Uvalde school shooter for allegedly threatening school shooting | CNN

    Case dismissed against teenage cousin of Uvalde school shooter for allegedly threatening school shooting | CNN

    Editor’s Note: (6/27/24) Since this story was published in August 2023, the case against Nathan James Cruz was dismissed due to a missing witness, according to court records in Bexar County, Texas.



    CNN
     — 

    The teenage cousin of the gunman responsible for the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting was arrested Monday on suspicion of threatening to “do the same thing” to a school, according to court documents obtained by CNN.

    Nathan James Cruz, 17, was arrested on a felony charge of making a terroristic threat to a public place and a misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat against a family member, according to Bexar County Central Magistrate records.

    Cruz is the cousin of Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old who fatally shot 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in May 2022, San Antonio police Sgt. Washington Moscoso told the New York Times on Monday.

    CNN has sought comment from San Antonio police.

    Ramos stormed into Robb Elementary last year armed with an assault rifle and tactical vest and opened fire on two adjoining classrooms – perpetrating one of the deadliest school shootings in modern US history. Law enforcement’s response has been heavily scrutinized, as officers waited outside the classrooms for more than an hour before entering and fatally shooting Ramos.

    Cruz’s mother contacted police on Monday after her daughter reported that Cruz said he planned to “do the same thing” as his cousin, according to an affidavit obtained by CNN.

    His mother told investigators she was “especially concerned because the suspect is currently on probation, was intoxicated at the time” and because the family lives across the street from an elementary school, the affidavit states.

    Cruz’s sister told investigators that while she was giving her brother a ride, he “threatened to shoot her in the head and stated he would ‘shoot the school,’” according to the affidavit.

    The mother allegedly overheard a phone conversation in which Cruz was attempting to illegally acquire an AR-15-style assault rifle – the same style used by Ramos to carry out the Uvalde shooting, according to the affidavit.

    Following his arrest, Cruz “denied making any threats” when interviewed by a detective, the document states.

    CNN has been unable to confirm whether Cruz has an attorney. His charges carry a combined $160,000 bond, according to the magistrate records.

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  • Mark David Chapman Fast Facts | CNN

    Mark David Chapman Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of Mark David Chapman, who was convicted of murdering musician John Lennon.

    Birth date: May 10, 1955

    Birth place: Fort Worth, Texas

    Birth name: Mark David Chapman

    Father: David Chapman, former sergeant, US Air Force

    Mother: Diane Chapman, nurse

    Marriage: Gloria (Abe) Chapman (June 1979-present)

    Education: Attended DeKalb Junior College and Covenant College in Georgia

    As documented in the press, Chapman is known for an obsessive devotion to “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger’s novel about teenage alienation.

    Suffers from depression and was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic by Dr. Bernard Diamond, a psychiatrist for the defense.

    Started using drugs and skipping school his freshman year in high school. This behavior ended when he turned 16 and became a born-again Christian, as documented in the book, “Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, the Man Who Killed John Lennon,” by Jack Jones.

    1971-1975 – Works on and off as a YMCA counselor.

    1977 – Purchases a one-way ticket and flies to Hawaii. Attempts suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. Once recovered, Chapman takes a job at the hospital where he received treatment.

    1978 – Embarks on an around-the-world trip.

    1979 – Marries Gloria Abe, the travel agent who helped plan his around-the-world trip. Chapman then quits his job at the hospital and takes a job as a security guard.

    1980 – Reads a book on Lennon and becomes enraged that Lennon has so much money.

    October 23, 1980 – Quits his job as a security guard, signing himself out as “John Lennon.”

    October 27, 1980 – Purchases a .38 caliber revolver.

    October 30, 1980 – Flies to New York. He is unable to purchase bullets, so he flies to Atlanta to acquire them, then goes back to New York. His wife convinces him to return home to Hawaii.

    December 6, 1980 – Returns to New York.

    December 8, 1980 – Spends the entire day outside the Dakota, the Central Park West apartment building in Manhattan where Lennon and his family live. Meets Lennon’s 5-year-old son, Sean, with his nanny and shakes hands with him. Encounters Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, as they are leaving their apartment. Lennon signs a copy of his recently released “Double Fantasy” album for Chapman. Chapman remains outside the Dakota until Lennon and Ono return home. Chapman shoots Lennon in the back four times with a .38 caliber revolver. Chapman makes no attempt to flee; he is disarmed by the doorman. When police arrive, Chapman is reading “The Catcher in the Rye,” by Salinger. Lennon is pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospital.

    December 9, 1980 – Chapman is arraigned on charges of second-degree murder. Following the arraignment, he is taken to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric evaluation and placed under suicide watch.

    June 22, 1981 – Chapman’s legal defense prepares to argue an insanity defense but Chapman pleads guilty saying that he received a message from God telling him to do so.

    August 24, 1981 – Judge Dennis Edwards sentences Chapman to 20 years to life in prison and recommends Chapman undergo psychiatric treatment. Just prior to sentencing, Chapman reads a passage from “The Catcher in the Rye.”

    2000-2022 – Denied parole 12 times.

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  • Penn State Scandal Fast Facts | CNN

    Penn State Scandal Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the Penn State sexual abuse scandal. On November 4, 2011, a grand jury report was released containing testimony that former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sexually abused eight young boys over a period of at least 15 years. Officials at Penn State purportedly failed to notify law enforcement after learning about some of these incidents. On December 7, 2011, the number of victims increased to 10. Sandusky was found guilty in 2012.

    Included is a timeline of accusations, lists of the charges against Sandusky, a list of involved parties, a post grand jury report timeline, information about The Second Mile charity and Sandusky with links to the grand jury investigation.

    Jerry Sandusky

    Birth date: January 26, 1944

    Birth place: Washington, Pennsylvania

    Birth name: Gerald Arthur Sandusky

    Marriage: Dorothy “Dottie” (Gross) Sandusky (1966-present)

    Children: (all adopted) E.J., Kara, Jon, Jeff, Ray and Matt. The Sanduskys also fostered several children.

    Occupation: Assistant football coach at Penn State for 32 years before his retirement, including 23 years as defensive coordinator.

    Initially founded by Sandusky in 1977 as a group foster home for troubled boys, but grew into a non-profit organization that “helps young people to achieve their potential as individuals and community members.”

    May 25, 2012 – The Second Mile requests court approval in Centre County, Pennsylvania, to transfer its programs to Arrow Child & Family Ministries and shut down.

    August 27, 2012 – The Second Mile requests a stay in their petition to transfer its programs to Arrow Child & Family Ministries saying, “this action will allow any pending or future claims filed by Sandusky’s victims to be resolved before key programs or assets are considered for transfer.”

    March 2016 – After years of dismantling and distributing assets to Arrow Child & Family Ministries and any remaining funds to the Pennsylvania Attorney General to hold in escrow, the organization is dissolved.

    Source: Grand Jury Report

    1994-1997 – Sandusky engages in inappropriate conduct with different boys he met separately through The Second Mile program.

    1998 – Penn State police and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare investigate an incident in which the mother of an 11-year-old boy reported that Sandusky showered with her son.

    1998 – Psychologist Alycia Chambers tells Penn State police that Sandusky acted the way a pedophile might in her assessment of a case in which the mother of a young boy reported that Sandusky showered with her son and may have had inappropriate contact with him. A second psychologist, John Seasock, reported he found no indication of child abuse.

    June 1, 1998 – In an interview, Sandusky admits to showering naked with the boy, saying it was wrong and promising not to do it again. The district attorney advises investigators that no charges will be filed, and the university police chief instructs that the case be closed.

    June 1999 – Sandusky retires from Penn State after coaching there for 32 years, but receives emeritus status, with full access to the campus and football facilities.

    2000 – James Calhoun, a janitor at Penn State, tells his supervisor and another janitor that he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the Lasch Building showers. No one reports the incident to university officials or law enforcement.

    March 2, 2002 – Graduate Assistant Mike McQueary tells Coach Joe Paterno that on March 1, he witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy in the Lasch Building showers. On May 7, 2012, prosecutors file court documents to change the date of the assault to on or around February 9, 2001.

    March 3, 2002 – Paterno reports the incident to Athletic Director Tim Curley. Later, McQueary meets with Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. McQueary testifies that he told Curley and Schultz that he saw Sandusky and the boy engage in anal sex; Curley and Schultz testify they were not told of any such allegation. No law enforcement investigation is launched.

    2005 or 2006 – Sandusky befriends another Second Mile participant whose allegations would form the foundation of the multi-year grand jury investigation.

    2006 or 2007 – Sandusky begins to spend more time with the boy, taking him to sporting events and giving him gifts. During this period, Sandusky performs oral sex on the boy more than 20 times and the boy performs oral sex on him once.

    2008 – The boy breaks off contact with Sandusky. Later, his mother calls the boy’s high school to report her son had been sexually assaulted and the principal bans Sandusky from campus and reports the incident to police. The ensuing investigation reveals 118 calls from Sandusky’s home and cell phone numbers to the boy’s home.

    November 2008 – Sandusky informs The Second Mile that he is under investigation. He is removed from all program activities involving children, according to the group.

    November 4, 2011 – The grand jury report is released.

    November 5, 2011 – Sandusky is arraigned on 40 criminal counts. He is released on $100,000 bail. Curley and Schultz are each charged with one count of felony perjury and one count of failure to report abuse allegations.

    November 7, 2011 – Curley and Schultz are both arraigned and resign from their positions.

    November 9, 2011 – Paterno announces that he intends to retire at the end of the 2011 football season. Hours later, university trustees announce that President Graham Spanier and Coach Paterno are fired, effective immediately.

    November 11, 2011 – McQueary, now a Penn State receivers’ coach, is placed on indefinite administrative leave.

    November 14, 2011 – In a phone interview with NBC’s Bob Costas, Sandusky states that he is “innocent” of the charges and claims that the only thing he did wrong was “showering with those kids.”

    November 15, 2011 – The Morning Call reports that in a November 8, 2011, email to a former classmate, McQueary says he did stop the 2002 assault he witnessed and talked with police about it.

    November 16, 2011 – Representatives of Penn State’s campus police and State College police say they have no record of having received any report from McQueary about his having witnessed the rape of a boy by Sandusky.

    November 16, 2011 – A new judge is assigned to the Sandusky case after it is discovered that Leslie Dutchcot, the judge who freed Sandusky on $100,000 bail, volunteered at The Second Mile charity.

    November 21, 2011 – It is announced that former FBI Director Louis Freeh will lead an independent inquiry for Penn State into the school’s response to allegations of child sex abuse.

    November 22, 2011 – The Patriot-News reports that Children and Youth Services in Pennsylvania has two open cases of child sex abuse against Sandusky. The cases were reported less than two months ago and are in the initial stages of investigation.

    November 22, 2011 – The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts announces that all Centre County Common Pleas Court judges have recused themselves from the Sandusky case. This is to avoid any conflicts of interest due to connections with Sandusky, The Second Mile charity, or Penn State.

    November 30, 2011 – The first lawsuit is filed on behalf of a person listed in the complaint as “John Doe,” who says he was 10 years-old when he met Sandusky through The Second Mile charity. His attorneys say Sandusky sexually abused the victim “over one hundred times” and threatened to harm the victim and his family if he alerted anyone to the abuse.

    December 2, 2011 – A victim’s attorneys say they have reached a settlement with The Second Mile that allows it to stay in operation but requires it to obtain court approval before transferring assets or closing.

    December 3, 2011 – In an interview with The New York Times, Sandusky says, “If I say, ‘No, I’m not attracted to young boys,’ that’s not the truth. Because I’m attracted to young people – boys, girls – I …” His lawyer speaks up at that point to note that Sandusky is not “sexually” attracted to them.

    December 7, 2011 – Sandusky is arrested on additional child rape charges, which raises the number of victims from eight to 10 people. He is charged with four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two counts of unlawful contact with a minor. He also faces one new count of indecent assault and two counts of endangering a child’s welfare, in addition to a single new count of indecent assault and two counts of corruption of minors.

    December 8, 2011 – Sandusky is released on $250,000 bail. He is placed under house arrest and is required to wear an electronic monitoring device. He is also restricted from contacting the victims and possible witnesses, and he must be supervised during any interactions with minors.

    December 13, 2011 – Sandusky enters a plea of not guilty and waives his right to a preliminary hearing.

    December 16, 2011 – A hearing is held for Curley and Schultz. McQueary testifies he told university officials that he saw Sandusky possibly sexually assaulting a boy in 2002. Following the testimony, the judge rules that the perjury case against Curley and Schultz will go to trial. The incident is later said to have happened in 2001.

    January 13, 2012 – Curley and Schultz enter pleas of not guilty for their failure to report child sex abuse.

    January 22, 2012 – Paterno dies at the age of 85.

    February 14, 2012 – Penn State says that the Sandusky case has cost the university $3.2 million thus far in combined legal, consultant and public relations fees.

    June 11, 2012 – The Sandusky trial begins. On June 22, Sandusky is found guilty on 45 counts after jurors deliberate for almost 21 hours. His bail is immediately revoked, and he is taken to jail.

    June 30, 2012 – McQueary’s contract as assistant football coach ends.

    July 12, 2012 – Freeh announces the findings of the investigation into Penn State’s actions concerning Sandusky. The report accuses the former leaders at Penn State of showing “total and consistent disregard” for child sex abuse victims, while covering up the attacks of a longtime sexual predator.

    July 23, 2012 – The NCAA announces a $60 million fine against Penn State and bans the team from the postseason for four years. Additionally, the school must vacate all wins from 1998-2011 and will lose 20 football scholarships a year for four seasons.
    – The Big Ten Conference rules that Penn State’s share of bowl revenues for the next four seasons – roughly $13 million will be donated to charities working to prevent child abuse.

    August 24, 2012 – “Victim 1” files a lawsuit against Penn State.

    September 20, 2012 – Penn State hires Feinberg Rozen LLP (headed by Kenneth Feinberg who oversaw the 9/11 and BP oil spill victim funds).

    October 2, 2012 – McQueary files a whistleblower lawsuit against Penn State.

    October 8, 2012 – An audio statement from Sandusky airs in which he protests his innocence and says he is falsely accused.

    October 9, 2012 – Sandusky is sentenced to no less than 30 years and no more than 60 years in prison. During the hearing, Sandusky is designated a violent sexual offender.

    October 15, 2012 – Plaintiff “John Doe,” a 21-year-old male, files a lawsuit against Sandusky, Penn State, The Second Mile, Spanier, Curley and Schultz. Doe alleges that he would not have been assaulted by Sandusky if officials, who were aware he was molesting boys, had not covered up his misconduct.

    November 1, 2012 – The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania files eight charges against former Penn State President Spanier. The charges include perjury and endangering the welfare of a child. Former university Vice President Schultz and former Athletic Director Curley face the same charges, according to Attorney General Linda Kelly.

    November 15, 2012 – The Middle States Commission on Higher Education lifts its warning and reaffirms Penn State’s accreditation.

    January 30, 2013 – Judge John M. Cleland denies Sandusky’s appeal for a new trial.

    July 30, 2013 – A judge rules that Spanier, Curley and Schultz will face trial on obstruction of justice and other charges.

    August 26, 2013 – Attorneys announce Sandusky’s adopted son and six other victims have finalized settlement agreements.

    October 2, 2013 – The Superior Court of Pennsylvania denies Sandusky’s appeal.

    October 28, 2013 – Penn State announces it has reached settlements with 26 victims of Sandusky. The amount paid by the university totals $59.7 million.

    April 2, 2014 – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania also denies Sandusky’s appeal.

    September 8, 2014 – NCAA ends Penn State’s postseason ban and scholarship limits. The $60 million fine and the 13 years of vacated wins for Paterno remain in place.

    January 16, 2015 – The NCAA agrees to restore 111 of Paterno’s wins as part of a settlement of the lawsuit brought by State Senator Jake Corman and Treasurer Rob McCord. Also, as part of the settlement, Penn State agrees to commit $60 million to the prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.

    December 23, 2015 – A spokeswoman for the State of Pennsylvania employee retirement system says Sandusky will receive $211,000 in back payments and his regular pension payments will resume. This is the result of a November 13 court ruling that reversed a 2012 decision to terminate Sandusky’s pension under a state law that allows the termination of pensions of public employees convicted of a “disqualifying crime.” The judge said in his ruling that Sandusky was not employed at the time of the crimes he was convicted of committing.

    January 22, 2016 – A three-judge panel reverses the obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges against Spanier, Curley and Schultz, and the perjury charges against Spanier and Curley.

    May 4, 2016 – A new allegation purports Paterno knew that his assistant coach Sandusky was sexually abusing a child as early as 1976, according to a new court filing. The ongoing lawsuit, filed in 2013, seeks to determine whether Penn State or its insurance policy is liable for paying Sandusky’s victims. At least 30 men were involved in a civil settlement with Penn State, and the number of victims could be higher.

    May 6, 2016 – CNN reports the story of another alleged victim who explains how he was a troubled young kid in 1971 when Sandusky raped him in a Penn State bathroom. He says his complaint about it was ignored by Paterno.

    July 12, 2016 – Newly unsealed court documents allege that Paterno knew about Sandusky’s abuse and that he dismissed a victim’s complaint.

    August 12, 2016 – In a bid for a new trial, Sandusky testifies at a post-conviction hearing claiming his lawyers bungled his 2012 trial. On the stand, Sandusky describes what he said as bad media and legal advice given to him by his former lawyer, Joseph Amendola.

    November 3, 2016 – The Department of Education fines Penn State $2.4 million for violating the Clery Act, a law that requires universities to report crime on campuses. It’s the largest fine in the history of the act.

    March 13, 2017 – Curley and Schultz plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of children in exchange for the dismissal of felony charges.

    March 24, 2017 – Spanier is found guilty on one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child. Spanier was acquitted of more serious allegations, including conspiracy charges and a felony count of child endangerment.

    June 2, 2017 – Spanier and two other former administrators are sentenced to jail terms for failing to report a 2001 allegation that Sandusky was molesting young boys. Spanier whose total sentence is four to 12 months incarceration, will be on probation for two years and must pay a $7,500 fine, according to Joe Grace, a spokesman for Pennsylvania’s attorney general’s office.

    – Curley is sentenced to seven to 23 months’ incarceration and two years’ probation, Grace said. He will serve three months in jail followed by house arrest and pay a $5,000 fine.

    – Schultz is sentenced to six to 23 months’ incarceration and two years’ probation. He will serve two months in jail, followed by house arrest and pay a $5,000 fine, according to Grace.

    January 9, 2018 – Penn State reports that the total amount of settlement awards paid to Sandusky’s victims is now over $109 million.

    February 5, 2019 – In response to an appeal for a new trial that also questions the validity of mandatory minimum sentencing, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania orders Sandusky to be re-sentenced. The request for a new trial is denied.

    April 30, 2019 – US Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick vacates Spanier’s 2017 conviction for endangering the welfare of a child. Spanier was set to be sentenced on the one count conviction, instead, the court ordered the conviction be vacated because it was based on a criminal statute that did not go into effect until after the conduct in question. The state has 90 days to retry him, according to court documents. The following month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro appeals the judge’s decision to throw out the conviction.

    November 22, 2019 – Sandusky is resentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison, the same penalty that was previously overturned. The initial sentence of at least 30 years in prison was overturned by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, which found that mandatory minimum sentences were illegally imposed.

    March 26, 2020 – The US Office for Civil Rights finds that Penn State failed to protect students who filed sexual harassment complaints. OCR completed the compliance review after it was initially launched in 2014, and found that the University violated Title IX for several years, in various ways. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announces that the US Department of Education and the university have entered into a resolution agreement that compels Penn State to address deficiencies in their complaint process, reporting policy requirements, record keeping, and training of staff, university police and other persons who work with students.

    December 1, 2020 – Spanier’s conviction is restored by a federal appeals court.

    May 26, 2021 – A judge rules that Spanier will start his two month prison sentence on July 9. Spanier reports to jail early and is released on August 4 after serving 58 days.

    Sandusky Verdict

    Victim 1
    Count 1 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 2 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 3 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Felony 3)
    Count 4 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 5 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 6 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 2
    Count 7 – not guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 8 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 9 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 10 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 11 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

    Victim 3
    Count 12 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 13 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
    Count 14 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 15 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 4
    Count 16 – ****DROPPED****: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 17 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 18 – ****DROPPED*****: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 19 – ****DROPPED*****: Aggravated Indecent Assault (Felony 2)
    Count 20 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 21 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 22 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 23 – guilty” Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 5
    Count 24 – not guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 25 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
    Count 26 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 27 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 6
    Count 28 – not guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 29 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 3)
    Count 30 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 31 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

    Victim 7
    Count 32 – guilty: Criminal Attempt to Commit Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 33 – ****DROPPED****: WITHDRAWN BY PROSECUTORS (unlawful contact with minors)
    Count 34 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 35 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

    Victim 8
    Count 36 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 37 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 2)
    Count 38 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 39 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 40 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Misdemeanor 1)

    (Due to 2nd indictment, counts start over with Victims 9 and 10)

    Victim 9
    Count 1 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 2 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 3 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Felony 3)
    Count 4 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 5 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 6 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

    Victim 10
    Count 7 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 8 – guilty: Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse (Felony 1)
    Count 9 – guilty: Indecent Assault (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 10 – guilty: Unlawful Contact with Minors (Felony 1)
    Count 11 – guilty: Corruption of Minors (Misdemeanor 1)
    Count 12 – guilty: Endangering Welfare of Children (Felony 3)

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  • Notable US Spies Fast Facts | CNN

    Notable US Spies Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at some US citizens who have been convicted of spying against the United States.

    1962 – Aldrich Ames, son of a CIA analyst, joins the agency as a low-level documents analyst.

    1967-1968 – Enters the Career Trainee Program at the CIA and becomes an operations officer.

    1970s – Specializes in Soviet/Russian intelligence services.

    April 16, 1985 – Volunteers to spy against the United States to KGB agents at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, DC. He receives a payment of $50,000.

    1986-1989 – Ames is stationed in Rome and continues to pass information to Soviet agents. He is paid approximately $1.8 million during this period.

    Late 1980s – The CIA and FBI learn that a number of Russian double agents have been arrested and some executed.

    May 1993 – The FBI begins investigating Ames, with both physical and electronic surveillance.

    February 21, 1994 – Ames and his wife, Rosario, are arrested in Arlington, Virginia, by the FBI, accused of spying for the Soviet Union and later, Russia. It is estimated that Ames has received approximately $2.5 million from Russia and the Soviet Union for his years of spying.

    April 28, 1994 – Ames pleads guilty and is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In October 1994, Ames’ wife receives 63 months in prison.

    October 31, 1995 – CIA Director John Deutch testifies before Congress about the scope of Ames’ espionage. He states that more than 100 US spies were compromised and that tainted intelligence was given to Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

    1970-1991 – David Boone serves in the US Army as a signals intelligence analyst. During the late 1980s, he is assigned to the National Security Agency as a senior cryptologic traffic analyst.

    October 1988 – In the midst of a divorce and financial problems, Boone goes to the Soviet embassy in Washington, DC, and offers to spy on the United States. He is paid about $20,000 a year for his work over the next three years. He continues spying after being transferred to a post in Germany.

    1991 – Boone loses his security clearance and retires from the Army, remaining in Germany.

    1998 – He is contacted by a retired FBI agent posing as a Russian agent. The agent meets with Boone in London and the United States and pays him $9,000 to return to spying for Russia.

    October 14, 1998 – Boone is charged with passing defense documents to the Soviet Union. He pleads guilty in December 1998.

    February 26, 1999 – He is sentenced to 24 years in prison.

    January 14, 2020 – Boone is released from prison.

    1996 – Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins makes visits to Russia to meet with their intelligence agents. He is given a code name and signs a settlement “attesting that he wanted to serve” them.

    1998-2005 – Debbins joins the Army, where he serves in chemical units before being selected for the US Army Special Forces.

    August 21, 2020 – The Department of Justice announces that Debbins has been charged with providing information about US national defenses to Russian agents.

    May 14, 2021 – The DOJ announces that Debbins is sentenced to 188 months in federal prison for conspiring with Russian agents to provide them with US defense intelligence.

    1968-1986 – Noshir Gowadia is employed by Northrop Grumman where he works on technology relating to the B-2 Spirit Bomber, aka the “Stealth” bomber.

    July 2003-June 2005 – Travels to China six times to “provide defense services in the form of design, test support and test data analysis of technologies to assist the PRC with a cruise missile system by developing a stealthy exhaust nozzle.” He is paid over $100,000 during this period.

    October 2005 – Arrested and charged with passing national defense information to China. Superseding indictments are issued in 2006 and 2007.

    August 9, 2010 – Gowadia is found guilty.

    January 24, 2011 – He is sentenced to 32 years in prison.

    January 12, 1976 – Robert Hanssen joins the FBI.

    1979 – Begins spying for the Soviet Union.

    1980 – Begins working for the counterintelligence unit, focusing on the Soviet Union.

    1981 – Transfers to FBI headquarters, initially tracking white-collar crime and monitoring foreign officials assigned to the United States. He is later assigned to the Soviet Analytical Unit.

    1981 – Hanssen’s wife catches him with classified documents and convinces him to stop spying.

    October 4, 1985 – Resumes spying.

    1991 – Breaks off relations with the KGB.

    1999 – Resumes spying, this time for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

    2000 – The FBI identifies Hanssen from a fingerprint and from a tape recording supplied by a disgruntled Russian intelligence operative. The FBI also obtains the complete original KGB dossier on Hanssen.

    December 2000 – The FBI begins surveillance of Hanssen.

    February 18, 2001 – Hanssen is arrested in a Virginia park after making a drop of classified documents. Agents find a bag nearby containing $50,000 that they believe is Hanssen’s payment for the documents.

    July 6, 2001 – Pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty.

    May 10, 2002 – He is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    June 5, 2023 – Hanssen dies in prison.

    1984 – Ana Montes is recruited to spy for Cuba. She is never paid for her spying.

    1985-2001 – She is employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency as an analyst. She is promoted several times, eventually becoming the DIA’s top Cuba analyst.

    Fall 2000 – The FBI and DIA begin investigating Montes.

    September 11, 2001 – In response to attacks on the United States, Montes is named acting division chief, which gives her access to the plans to attack Afghanistan and the Taliban.

    September 21, 2001 – Montes is arrested in Washington, DC, and is charged with conspiracy to deliver defense information to Cuba.

    March 20, 2002 – Pleads guilty to espionage and is sentenced to 25 years in prison.

    January 6, 2023 – Montes is released from prison.

    1977 – Walter Kendall Myers begins working for the US State Department on contract, as an instructor.

    1978 – Myers travels to Cuba and is recruited by Cuban intelligence.

    1979 – Myers and his girlfriend [later his wife], Gwendolyn, begin spying for Cuba. It is believed they receive little to no payment for their services.

    1985 – He is hired by the State Dept. as a senior analyst.

    October 31, 2007 – Myers retires from the State Dept.

    June 4, 2009 – The Myers are arrested.

    November 20, 2009 – He pleads guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit espionage. Gwendolyn Myers pleads guilty to conspiracy to gather and transmit national defense information.

    July 16, 2010 – Myers is sentenced to life in prison. His wife is sentenced to 81 months.

    1980 – Harold Nicholson joins the CIA after serving in the United States Army.

    1982-1989 – Nicholson works for the CIA in the Philippines, Thailand and Japan.

    1992-1994 – Deputy Chief of Station/Operations Officer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    June 1994-November 1996 – Provides Russian Intelligence with sensitive information.

    November 16, 1996 – Arrested at Dulles International Airport carrying classified CIA information.

    November 27, 1996 – Nicholson pleads not guilty.

    June 5, 1997 – He is convicted of espionage and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

    2008 – Nicholson’s son, Nathaniel, is arrested on charges he met with Russian agents to collect money owed to his father.

    January 18, 2011 – Harold Nicholson is sentenced to an additional eight years in prison on charges of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Nathaniel Nicholson is sentenced to five years probation.

    1965-1979 – Ronald Pelton works for the National Security Agency, with top-level security clearance.

    1979 – Pelton leaves the NSA due to financial problems.

    January 1980 – After declaring bankruptcy in 1979, Pelton begins spying for the Soviet Union. He discloses classified information on the United States’ ability to intercept Soviet communications.

    November 25, 1985 – After a KGB defector reveals his name, Pelton is arrested and charged with espionage.

    June 5, 1986 – He is convicted of spying.

    December 17, 1986 – Pelton is sentenced to three concurrent life sentences plus 10 years.

    November 24, 2015 – Pelton is released from prison.

    1983-1996 – Earl Edwin Pitts works at the FBI.

    1987-1992 – Pitts passes information on FBI operations to the Soviet Union and Russia.

    1995 – A Russian diplomat at the UN names Pitts as a former spy. FBI agents posing as Russian intelligence officers contact Pitts to attempt to lure him back to spying. Pitts delivers documents in exchange for $65,000.

    December 18, 1996 – Pitts is arrested. He is charged two days later with conspiring and attempting to commit espionage.

    February 28, 1997 – Pleads guilty. At the time, he is only the second agent in the FBI’s history to be found guilty of espionage.

    June 23, 1997 – He is sentenced to 27 years in prison.

    December 20, 2019 – Pitts is released from prison.

    1979 – Pollard is hired to work at the Navy Field Operational Intelligence Office. He had been rejected previously from employment at the CIA due to drug use. His specialty is North America and the Caribbean.

    June 1984 – He begins spying for Israel, passing on information on Arab countries. He earns $1,500-$2,500 a month.

    November 21, 1985 – Pollard is arrested outside the Israeli Embassy after his request for asylum is denied.

    June 4, 1986 – Pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage.

    March 4, 1987 – US District Judge Aubrey Robinson Jr. rejects a plea agreement reached by federal prosecutors and Pollard. Instead, he sentences Pollard to life in prison. Pollard is the only person in US history to receive a life sentence for spying on behalf of a US ally. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have rejected pleas for clemency.

    1995 – Israel grants Pollard citizenship.

    May 11, 1998 – Israel admits for the first time that Pollard was working as its agent.

    2002 – Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Pollard in prison.

    July 28, 2015 – Pollard’s attorney announces that Pollard has been granted parole and will be released in November.

    November 20, 2015 – Pollard is released on parole.

    November 20, 2020 – Pollard completes his parole. A month later Pollard and his wife arrive in Israel to start a new life.

    1969-1994 – George Trofimoff, a naturalized American citizen of Russian parentage, works as a civilian for the US Army at the Joint Interrogation Center in Nuremberg, Germany. He also attains the rank of colonel in the Army reserve.

    1994 – Trofimoff and a priest in the Russian Orthodox church, Igor Susemihl, are arrested in Germany on spying charges. The charges are later dropped.

    1994 – Retires and moves to South Florida.

    June 14, 2000 – Trofimoff is arrested. US Attorney Donna Bucella describes him as “the highest-ranking US military officer ever charged with espionage. He is accused of passing classified information on Soviet and Warsaw Pact military capabilities from 1969-1994. Allegedly, he received payment of over $250,000 during that time.

    June 27, 2001 – He is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia. He is later sentenced to life in prison.

    September 19, 2014 – Trofimoff dies in prison.

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  • Genocide Fast Facts | CNN

    Genocide Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at genocide, the attempted or intentional destruction of a national, racial, religious or ethnic group, whether in wartime or peace.

    The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations after World War II.

    Article II of the Convention defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group:
    (a) Killing members of the group;
    (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
    (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
    (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
    (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

    1932-1933 – Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union inflict a famine upon Ukraine after people rebel against the imposed system of land management known as “collectivization,” which seizes privately owned farmlands and puts people to work in collectives. An estimated 25,000-33,000 people die every day. There are an estimated six million to 10 million deaths.

    December 1937-January 1938 – The Japanese Imperial Army marches into Nanking, China, and kills an estimated 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers. Tens of thousands are raped before they are murdered.

    1938-1945 – Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, deems the Jewish population racially inferior and a threat, and kills six million Jewish people in Germany, Poland, the Soviet Union and other areas around Europe during World War II.

    1944 – The term “genocide” is coined by lawyer Raphael Lemkin.

    December 9, 1948 – The United Nations adopts the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

    January 12, 1951 – The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide enters into force. It is eventually ratified by 142 nations.

    1975-1979 – Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot’s attempt to turn Cambodia into a Communist peasant farming society leads to the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, forced labor and executions.

    1988 – The Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein attacks civilians who have remained in “prohibited” areas. The attacks include the use of mustard gas and nerve agents and result in the death of an estimated 100,000 Iraqi Kurds.

    1992-1995 – Yugoslavia, led by President Slobodan Milosevic, attacks Bosnia after it declares its independence. Approximately 100,000 people – the majority of whom are Muslims, or Bosniaks, – are killed in the conflict. There are mass executions of “battle-age” men and mass rape of women.

    1995 – Ratko Mladic, former leader of the Bosnian Serb army, is indicted by the UN-established International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for war crimes and atrocities. In 2011, Mladic is arrested in Serbia. On November 22, 2017, Mladic is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.

    1994 – In Rwanda, an estimated 800,000 civilians, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group, are killed over a period of three months.

    July 17, 1998 – The Rome Statute, to establish a permanent international criminal court, is adopted.

    1998 – The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) establishes the precedent that rape during warfare is a crime of genocide. In Rwanda, HIV-infected men participated in the mass rape of Tutsi women.

    1998 – The first genocide conviction occurs at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Jean Paul Akayesu, the Hutu mayor of the town, Taba, is convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity.

    July 1, 2002 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) opens at The Hague, Netherlands, as the first permanent war crimes tribunal, with jurisdiction to try perpetrators of genocide. Previously, the UN Security Council created ad hoc tribunals to try those responsible for genocide in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda.

    2003-2004 – In the Darfur region of Sudan, the United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been killed. In July 2004, the US House of Representatives and the Senate pass resolutions declaring the crisis in Darfur to be genocide.

    2008 – Fugitive Radovan Karadzic, former Bosnian Serb leader, is arrested. He is charged with genocide in connection with the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. On March 24, 2016, Karadzic is found guilty of 10 of the 11 charges against him, including one count of genocide. He is sentenced to 40 years in prison. Three years later, the sentence is changed to life in prison by appeal judges at a UN court in the Hague, Netherlands.

    March 4, 2009 – The ICC issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    June 4, 2013 – The ICTR unseals a 2012 updated indictment against Ladislas Ntaganzwa. The former mayor of a town in south Rwanda is indicted on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and other violations of international humanitarian law during the 1994 killings in Rwanda.

    August 2014 – ISIS fighters attack the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, home of a religious minority group called the Yazidis. A Yazidi lawmaker says that 500 men have been killed, 70 children have died of thirst and women are being sold into slavery.

    December 9, 2015 – The arrest of Ntaganzwa is announced. On May 28, 2020, Ntaganzwa is convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law by the High Court Chamber for International Crimes in Rwanda. He is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

    January 2016 – According to a 2016 United Nations report, ISIS is believed to be holding 3,500 people as slaves, most of which are women and children from the Yazidi community and other minority groups. On March 17, 2016, US Secretary of State John Kerry announces that the United States has determined that ISIS’ action against the Yazidis and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria constitutes genocide.

    September 18, 2018 – In its “Report of the independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar,” the United Nations finds that “there is sufficient information to warrant the investigation and prosecution of senior officials” on charges of genocide against Rohingya Muslims.

    November 2018 – Two Khmer Rouge senior surviving leaders are found guilty of genocide and other charges against Cambodians between 1975 and 1979. Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, now 92 and 87, are sentenced to life in prison by an international tribunal in Cambodia.

    January 23, 2020 – The UN’s top court orders Myanmar to prevent acts of genocide against the country’s persecuted Rohingya minority and to stop destroying evidence, in a landmark case at The Hague. The case was brought to the International Court of Justice by the tiny West African nation of The Gambia, which in November alleged that Myanmar committed “genocidal acts.”

    May 16, 2020 – Félicien Kabuga, one of the last key suspects in the Rwandan genocide, is captured in Asnières-Sur-Seine, a Paris suburb. Indicted in 1997 on seven counts including genocide, he has been a fugitive for more than 20 years. Kabuga is transferred to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) October 26. In an order published June 6, 2023, the IRMCT rules that Kabuga is no longer capable of “meaningful participation” in his trial.

    March 21, 2022 – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces that the United States has determined that the military of Myanmar committed genocide against the country’s Rohingya population in 2016 and 2017.

    December 29, 2023 – According to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa has filed an application at the court to begin proceedings over allegations of genocide against Israel for its war against Hamas in Gaza. In a hearing on January 26, 2024, the ICJ orders Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza but stopped short of calling for Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza, as South Africa had requested.

    February 2, 2024 – The ICJ says that it will move forward with a 2022 case brought by Ukraine over Russia’s justification of its February 2022 invasion. Kyiv had asked the court to declare it did not commit genocide in eastern Ukraine – a claim made by Russia as a pretext for launching its attack.

    Remembering the Rwanda genocide, 25 years on

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  • Cory Booker Fast Facts | CNN Politics

    Cory Booker Fast Facts | CNN Politics



    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of Cory Booker, US senator from New Jersey and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

    Birth date: April 27, 1969

    Birth place: Washington, DC

    Birth name: Cory Anthony Booker

    Father: Cary Booker, IBM executive

    Mother: Carolyn Booker, IBM executive

    Education: Stanford University, B.A., 1991; Stanford University, M.A, 1992; University of Oxford, Honors Degree, 1994 (Rhodes Scholar); Yale Law School, J.D., 1997

    Religion: Baptist

    Received a football scholarship to attend Stanford University.

    Became a vegetarian in 1992 and went vegan (no eggs or dairy) in 2014.

    Lived in a public housing complex in Newark called Brick Towers for eight years. The dilapidated building was demolished in 2007, the year after Booker moved out.

    While serving as mayor of Newark, Booker developed a reputation for engaging in personal acts of heroism like rescuing a neighbor from a house fire and chasing down a suspected bank robber. Using social media to connect with constituents, he shoveled snowbound driveways by request and invited nearby city residents to his home when Hurricane Sandy caused widespread power outages.

    Booker was elected mayor as a reformer with a vision to revitalize the struggling city yet high unemployment rates and violent crime continued to plague Newark while he was in office.

    Booker was criticized by the New Jersey state comptroller for failing to conduct oversight on the city’s watershed management program, where corruption was rife.

    1997 – Staff attorney at the Urban Justice Center in New York.

    1998-2002 – Newark city councilman.

    2002-2006 – Partner at the law firm, Booker, Rabinowitz, Trenk, Lubetkin, Tully, DiPasquale & Webster.

    2006-2013 – Mayor of Newark, New Jersey.

    September 24, 2010 – Booker appears with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Mark Zuckerberg on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to announce the Facebook founder’s $100 million donation to Newark schools. The school reform initiative, centered on promoting privately-run charter schools as an option for parents with children in failing public schools, yields mixed results. Researchers at Harvard University conclude that Newark students showed improvement in English but made no significant gains in math.

    December 4, 2012 – Booker begins a week of food rationing to raise awareness of poverty and hunger in America, for the campaign SNAP Challenge.

    October 31, 2013 – Sworn in to the US Senate after winning a special election earlier in the month to replace the late Frank Lautenberg.

    November 4, 2014 – Reelected to the Senate.

    February 16, 2016 – Booker’s memoir, “United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good,” is published.

    January 11, 2017 – Booker breaks with Senate precedent to deliver testimony against the appointment of Jeff Sessions as attorney general, becoming the first sitting senator to testify against a fellow sitting senator at a confirmation hearing for a cabinet position.

    August 1, 2017 – Booker introduces a bill to remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of controlled substances. The Marijuana Justice Act would also expunge federal marijuana use and possession offenses from criminal records. The bill is referred to committee.

    August 3, 2017 – Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduces the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act. The measure, cosponsored by Booker, would shield Special Counsel Robert Mueller from actions taken by the executive branch to interfere with the probe of Russian interference during the 2016 election. The bill is sent to committee.

    September 6, 2018 – Republicans accuse Booker of grandstanding after he likens himself to Spartacus, a Roman slave who led a failed revolt, during Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

    December 21, 2018 – President Donald Trump signs a criminal justice reform bill, the First Step Act, into law. Booker endorsed the bipartisan legislation and added an amendment that limits the usage of solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody.

    February 1, 2019 – Booker releases a video announcing his presidential candidacy. Later, he appears on the ABC talk show, “The View,” participates in multiple radio interviews and holds a press conference in Newark.

    January 13, 2020 – Booker ends his 2020 presidential campaign after failing to qualify for the January 14, 2020, Democratic debate.

    March 9, 2020 – Booker endorses Joe Biden for president.

    November 3, 2020 – Reelected to the Senate.

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  • Hank Greenberg Fast Facts | CNN

    Hank Greenberg Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of former AIG Chief Executive Officer Hank Greenberg.

    Birth date: May 4, 1925

    Birth place: New York, New York

    Birth name: Maurice Raymond Greenberg

    Father: Jacob Greenberg

    Mother: Ada (Rheingold) Greenberg

    Marriage: Corinne (Zuckerman) Greenberg (1950-March 17, 2024, her death)

    Children: Jeffrey, Evan, Scott and Cathleen

    Education: University of Miami, B.A., 1948; New York Law School, LL.B., 1950

    Military: US Army, Captain

    Recipient of the Bronze Star for his service during the Korean War.

    Awarded the Legion of Honor from France.

    Chairman of the Board of The Starr Foundation.

    Vice chairman of the National Committee on United States-China Relations.

    Member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations.

    1952-1960 – Works for Continental Casualty Company.

    1960 – Is hired as a vice president for the insurance-holding company C.V. Starr & Co., Inc.

    1968 – C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. begins distributing some the firm’s subsidiaries in order to raise capital to establish American International Group, Inc. (AIG). Greenberg becomes the Chairman and CEO of AIG.

    1988-1995 – Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

    1994-1995 – Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

    March 2005 – Greenberg resigns as CEO and chairman of the board of AIG.

    May 2005 – New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer files a lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court against Greenberg on behalf of the state, charging him with engaging in fraud to exaggerate AIG’s finances.

    2005-present – Chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. and Starr International Company, Inc.

    September 16, 2008 – The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announces an emergency $85 billion loan to AIG to rescue the company, on the condition that the federal government own 79.9% stake in the company. Greenberg is AIG’s largest individual shareholder before the bailout, with 11% ownership in the company.

    April 2009 – The loan expands to $184.6 billion. The government eventually owns a 92% stake in the company.

    August 2009 – The Securities and Exchange Commission charges Greenberg for his involvement in the fraudulent accounting transactions that inflated AIG’s finances. Without conceding or denying the SEC charges, Greenberg agrees to pay $15 million in penalties, and AIG settles the charges by repaying $700 million plus a fine of $100 million.

    November 21, 2011 – Greenberg and his Starr International Company sue the federal government for $25 billion, claiming the 2008 takeover was unconstitutional. Starr International also sues the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in federal district court in Manhattan.

    November 2012 – Greenberg and Starr International’s lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is dismissed. The ruling is upheld in appeals court in January 2014.

    January 2013 – Greenberg’s book, “The AIG Story,” is released.

    May 2013 – Greenberg’s lawsuit against the federal government achieves class action status. Three hundred thousand stockholders, including AIG employees and retirees, would share the reward if they win the lawsuit.

    June 25, 2013 – A New York appeals court rules that the 2005 fraud lawsuit, filed by Spitzer, against Greenberg, will not be dismissed.

    July 2013 – Greenberg files a lawsuit against Spitzer in New York’s Putnam County Supreme Court, alleging defamation related to statements he made between 2004 and 2012.

    June 25, 2014 – After granting a request by Spitzer to dismiss most of his statements, a judge rules that Greenberg’s defamation lawsuit against him will go to trial.

    October 6, 2014 – Greenberg and Starr International’s class action lawsuit against the government officially begins in the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC. Closing arguments take place on April 22, 2015.

    June 15, 2015 – Starr International wins its lawsuit against the federal government “due to the Government’s illegal exaction,” but the court awards no monetary damages.

    February 10, 2017 – Greenberg and the New York attorney general’s office reach a settlement in the 2005 civil fraud lawsuit. Greenberg agrees to pay $9 million, and former AIG Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith agrees to pay $900,000.

    September 13, 2017 – The Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division denies summary judgment for several of Greenberg’s defamation charges against Spitzer.

    January 15, 2020 – St. John’s University’s presents Greenberg with a Lifetime Leadership Award at its Annual Insurance Leader of the Year Award Dinner. The school also announces that it has voted to rename its School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science in his honor. It is now the Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science.

    November 12, 2020 – A judge in New York’s Putnam County Supreme Court rules to dismiss Greenberg’s defamation case against Spitzer.

    January 2023 – The Starr Foundation gifts Georgia State’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business $15 million. Georgia State University announces they will rename its Department of Risk Management & Insurance to the Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Science in recognition of the donation.

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  • Los Angeles Riots Fast Facts | CNN

    Los Angeles Riots Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. The riots stemmed from the acquittal of four white Los Angeles Police Department officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King in 1991.

    The riots over five days in the spring of 1992 left more than 50 people dead, and more than 2,000 injured.

    The rioting destroyed or damaged over 1,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area. The estimated cost of the damages was over $1 billion.

    More than 9,800 California National Guard troops were dispatched to restore order.

    Nearly 12,000 people were arrested, though not all the arrests were directly related to the rioting.

    March 3, 1991 – Rodney King is beaten by LAPD officers after King leads police on a high-speed chase through Los Angeles County. George Holliday videotapes the beating from his apartment balcony. The video shows King being struck by police batons more than 50 times. Over 20 officers were present at the scene, most from the LAPD. King suffered 11 fractures and other injuries due to the beating.

    March 4, 1991 – Holliday delivers the tape to local television station KTLA.

    March 7, 1991 – King is released without being charged.

    March 15, 1991 – Sergeant Stacey Koon and officers Laurence Michael Powell, Timothy Wind, and Theodore Briseno are indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury in connection with the beating.

    May 10, 1991 – A grand jury refuses to indict 17 officers who stood by at the King beating and did nothing.

    November 26, 1991 – Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg orders the trial of the four officers charged in the King beating moved to Simi Valley.

    April 29, 1992 – The four white LAPD officers are acquitted of beating King. Riots start at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Central Los Angeles. Reginald Denny, a white truck driver, is pulled from his truck and beaten. A news helicopter captures the beating on videotape. Mayor Tom Bradley declares a state of emergency, and Governor Pete Wilson calls in National Guard troops.

    April 30-May 4, 1992 – Dusk to dawn curfews are enforced in the city and county of Los Angeles.

    May 1, 1992 – King makes an emotional plea for calm, stating, “People, I just want to say, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids?”

    May 3, 1992 – Over 1,100 Marines, 600 Army soldiers, and 6,500 National Guard troops patrol the streets of Los Angeles.

    August 4, 1992 – A federal grand jury returns indictments against Koon, Powell, Wind and Briseno on the charge of violating the civil rights of King.

    October 21, 1992 – A commission headed by former FBI and CIA Director William Webster concludes that the LAPD and City Hall leaders did not plan appropriately for the possibility of riots prior to the verdicts in the King case.

    February 25, 1993 – The trial begins.

    April 17, 1993 – The federal jury convicts Koon and Powell of violating King’s civil rights. Wind and Briseno are found not guilty. No disturbances follow the verdict.

    August 4, 1993 – US District Court Judge John Davies sentences both Sergeant Koon and Officer Powell to 30 months in prison for violating King’s civil rights. Powell is found guilty of violating King’s constitutional right to be free from an arrest made with “unreasonable force.” Ranking officer Koon is convicted of permitting the civil rights violation to occur.

    April 19, 1994 – The US District Court in Los Angeles awards King $3.8 million in compensatory damages in a civil lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. King had demanded $56 million, or $1 million for every blow struck by the officers.

    June 1, 1994 – King is awarded $0 in punitive damages in a civil trial against the police officers. He had asked for $15 million.

    April 2012 – King’s autobiography, “The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption. Learning How We Can All Get Along,” written with Lawrence J. Spagnola, is published.

    June 17, 2012 – Rodney King, 47, is found dead in the swimming pool of his Rialto, California, home.

    Read More: Family, friends remember Rodney King at funeral.

    August 23, 2012 – The San Bernardino coroner releases an autopsy report which states that his death was the result of an accidental drowning, and that King was in a “drug and alcohol-induced delirium” when he died.

    Read More: Why the 1992 L.A. riots matter 25 years later.

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  • O.J. Simpson Fast Facts | CNN

    O.J. Simpson Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of former NFL star O.J. Simpson.

    Birth date: July 9, 1947

    Birth place: San Francisco, California

    Birth name: Orenthal James Simpson

    Father: Jimmie Lee Simpson, custodian and cook

    Mother: Eunice Simpson, nurse’s aide

    Marriages: Nicole (Brown) Simpson (February 2, 1985-1992, divorced); Marguerite (Whitley) Simpson (June 24, 1967-1979, divorced)

    Children: with Nicole (Brown) Simpson: Justin (August 6, 1988) and Sydney (October 17, 1985); with Marguerite (Whitley) Simpson: Aaren (September 24, 1977-August 18, 1979); Jason (April 21, 1970) and Arnelle (December 4, 1968)

    Education: City College of San Francisco (1965-1967); University of Southern California (1967-1969)

    Heisman Trophy winner, Pro Football Hall of Fame member, former sports commentator and actor.

    1968 – Receives the Heisman Trophy at the New York Downtown Athletic Club.

    1969-1977 – Plays halfback for the Buffalo Bills.

    1970 – Voted college football player of the decade by ABC Sports.

    1972-1976 – Makes the NFL Pro Bowl team each year.

    1974 – Appears in his first big budget film, “The Towering Inferno.”

    1978-1979 – Plays halfback for the San Francisco 49ers.

    1979-1986 – Sports commentator for ABC Sports.

    1984-1985 – Commentator for ABC Monday Night Football.

    1985 – Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

    1988 – Portrays an accident-prone detective in the cop movie spoof, “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” Simpson later costars in two sequels: “The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear” and “Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult.”

    June 12, 1994 – Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and Ronald Lyle Goldman, 25, are stabbed to death.

    June 13, 1994 – Simpson is questioned by the LAPD for three hours and released.

    June 17, 1994 – Simpson is charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances. He does not surrender and is declared a fugitive. A suicide letter is found shortly before Simpson is spotted riding in friend Al Cowlings’ white Ford Bronco. With Cowlings driving, they lead police on a 60-mile slow speed chase and end up at Simpson’s Brentwood mansion. Simpson surrenders to police at his home.

    July 22, 1994 – Simpson pleads not guilty.

    November 3, 1994 – The jury is selected. It consists of four men and eight women: eight are African American, one is Hispanic, one is White and two are multiracial.

    January 24, 1995 – Simpson’s criminal trial begins.

    May 4, 1995 – The Goldmans file a wrongful death suit against Simpson.

    June 15, 1995 – In court, Simpson tries on leather gloves connected to the case, and says they do not fit.

    July 6, 1995 – The prosecution rests.

    September 27, 1995 – Defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran reminds the jury about the glove, “If it doesn’t fit; you must acquit.”

    September 29, 1995 – The defense rests, and the case goes to the jury to reach a verdict.

    October 3, 1995 – The jury returns a not guilty verdict after less than four hours of deliberations.

    October 23, 1996 – The civil trial begins in the wrongful death suit brought against Simpson by the victims’ families. The jury is made up of five men and seven women: nine are Whites, one is Hispanic, one is African American and one is of Asian and African descent.

    November 22, 1996 – Simpson, for the first time, testifies before a jury and denies the murder of his ex-wife and Goldman.

    December 20, 1996 – Simpson is awarded custody of his children.

    February 4, 1997 – The jury finds Simpson liable in the civil wrongful death suit brought by the victims’ families and awards the plaintiffs $8.5 million in damages.

    February 6, 1997 – Testimony in the punitive phase of the civil trial begins.

    February 10, 1997 – Simpson is ordered to pay $25 million in punitive damages to the victims’ families.

    March 26, 1997 – The court orders Simpson to turn over his assets, including a set of golf clubs, his 1968 Heisman Trophy and a Warhol painting.

    November 20, 2006 – News Corp announces the cancellation of Simpson’s book and two-part FOX TV interview, called “If I Did It.” The book was promoted as a hypothetical account of the murders.

    March 13, 2007 – A California judge rules that the rights to Simpson’s book will be publicly auctioned so that Goldman’s family can receive the future proceeds. The auction is canceled in early April 2007 when the holding company Lorraine Brook Associates declares bankruptcy.

    June 15, 2007 – A bankruptcy judge in Miami orders a new auction of the book rights to “If I Did It,” with all proceeds going to Fred Goldman, Ron Goldman’s father.

    July 11, 2007 – The family of Nicole Brown Simpson files court papers in connection to the auction of the book rights to “If I Did It.” The family believes it is entitled to 40% of any proceeds from the book, based on the $24.7 million civil judgment it won against Simpson.

    July 30, 2007 – A federal bankruptcy court awards Goldman’s family 90% of the proceeds from the sale of the publishing rights to “If I Did It.” The rest will go to Simpson’s creditors.

    September 16, 2007- Is arrested in connection with a robbery at a Las Vegas hotel room on September 13, 2007. Simpson contends that he was retrieving personal items that had been stolen from him and were being sold as memorabilia. Police announce they have booked him on six counts of robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy.

    November 14, 2007 – Clark County Judge Joe M. Bonaventure rules that Simpson will stand trial on charges including kidnapping, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

    November 28, 2007 – Simpson pleads not guilty.

    January 10, 2008 – Simpson is arrested in Florida and is to be extradited to Nevada for violating the terms of his bail by contacting individuals involved in the trial.

    September 8, 2008 – Jury selection begins in Simpson’s trial.

    September 15, 2008 – Trial begins.

    October 3, 2008 – Simpson is found guilty on 12 counts, including kidnapping and armed robbery.

    December 5, 2008 – Simpson is sentenced to up to 33 years in jail but will be eligible for parole after nine years.

    July 20, 2017 – A Nevada parole board grants Simpson parole. On October 1, Simpson is released from prison.

    January 30, 2018 – A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge rules that Simpson doesn’t have to hand over money he gets from selling autographs or for making public appearances to pay the civil judgment, now at more than $70 million, in the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman.

    June 14, 2019 – Simpson launches his new Twitter account with a video saying he’s “got a little getting even to do.” He adds that he plans to use his new Twitter account to “set the record straight,” as well as to talk sports, fantasy football and even some politics.

    December 6, 2021 – Simpson is granted early discharge from his parole in Nevada.

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  • Dominique Strauss-Kahn Fast Facts | CNN

    Dominique Strauss-Kahn Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director.

    Birth date: April 25, 1949

    Birth place: Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

    Birth name: Dominique Gaston Andre Strauss-Kahn

    Father: Gilbert Strauss-Kahn, a legal and tax advisor

    Mother: Jacqueline Fellus, a journalist

    Marriages: Myriam L’Aouffir (October 2017-present); Anne Sinclair (1991-2013, divorced); Brigitte Guillemette (1984-date unavailable publicly, divorced); Helene Dumas (1967-date unavailable publicly, divorced)

    Children: with Brigitte Guillemette: Camille; with Helene Dumas: Vanessa, Marine and Laurin

    Education: HEC Paris (École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris), Public Law, 1971; Paris Institute of Political Studies (Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris), Political Science, 1972; University of Paris, Ph.D., Economics, 1977

    His 2010 IMF salary was tax free, amounting to more than $500,000 with perks.

    Taught economics at the prestigious Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, commonly known as Sciences Po, and at Stanford University in California.

    Was considered to be the leading contender to run against Nicolas Sarkozy for the 2012 presidency of France.

    1981-1986 – Deputy Commissioner of the Economic Planning Agency.

    1986 – Wins election to France’s National Assembly – the lower house of parliament.

    1988-1991 – Chairs the Finance Commission.

    1991- 1993 – Minister of Industry and International Trade under President Francois Mitterrand.

    1997-1999 – Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry. Resigns amid allegations that as a practicing lawyer he was involved in party campaign funding irregularities. Strauss-Kahn is later cleared of the charges.

    2001-2007 – Elected three times to the French National Assembly.

    2006 – Loses to Segolene Royal for the Socialist Party’s presidential nomination.

    November 1, 2007-May 18, 2011 – IMF Managing Director.

    2008 – Is reprimanded by the IMF for a relationship with a subordinate, Piroska Nagy.

    May 14, 2011 – Is escorted off an Air France flight headed to Paris and taken to a New York police station for questioning about the alleged sexual assault of a Sofitel Hotel housekeeping employee. The hotel employee says that Strauss-Kahn attempted to force himself on her when she came to clean his room. By the time police officers arrived, Strauss-Kahn had already left the Manhattan hotel.

    May 14, 2011 – Is charged with attempted rape and imprisonment of the hotel employee.

    May 16, 2011 – Is denied bail and transferred to New York’s Rikers Island jail.

    May 18, 2011 – Resigns his position with IMF. His 2007 contract includes a severance package with a $250,000 one-time payout and a smaller annual pension.

    May 19, 2011 – Is indicted on seven counts: two counts of a criminal sexual act, two counts of sexual abuse, and one count each of attempt to commit rape, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.

    May 19, 2011 – Is granted bail based on these conditions: home confinement, the surrender of his travel documents, and the posting of $1 million in cash bail and a $5 million bond.

    June 6, 2011 – Pleads not guilty to all seven charges.

    July 1, 2011 – Is released from house arrest after prosecutors disclose that the accuser admitted to lying about certain details.

    July 4, 2011 – French journalist Tristane Banon’s lawyer says that Banon will be filing a complaint claiming Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her in 2003. In anticipation of the filing, Strauss-Kahn files a counterclaim against Banon for “false declarations.”

    July 5, 2011 – Banon files a criminal complaint against Strauss-Kahn, alleging attempted rape.

    August 8, 2011 – Nafissatou Diallo, the Manhattan maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, files a civil lawsuit against him.

    August 23, 2011 – All sexual assault charges against Strauss-Kahn, related to Diallo, are dismissed at the request of the prosecutor.

    September 3, 2011 – Leaves New York to return to France.

    September 18, 2011 – In an interview with French television station TF1, Strauss-Kahn says the incident at the Sofitel Hotel was “not only an inappropriate relationship, but more than that – an error, a mistake, a mistake concerning my wife, my children, my friends, but also a mistake that the French people placed their hope in change on me.”

    October 13, 2011 – French prosecutors announce that charges will not be filed against Strauss-Kahn for the alleged sexual assault of Banon due to a lack of sufficient evidence and a statute of limitations that applies to the case.

    February 21-22, 2012 – Is questioned by French police about an alleged prostitution ring possibly operated out of luxury hotels.

    March 26, 2012 – Strauss-Kahn is warned that he is under investigation for “aggravated pimping” for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring.

    May 14, 2012 – Files a countersuit for at least $1 million against Diallo, the Manhattan maid who accused him of sexual assault.

    May 21, 2012 – A French investigation into Strauss-Kahn’s alleged involvement in a prostitution ring widens. Authorities say that police will open a preliminary inquiry into acts that allegedly took place in Washington, DC, in December 2010, which they believe could constitute gang rape.

    October 2, 2012 – A French prosecutor drops the investigation connecting Strauss-Kahn to a possible gang rape in Washington, DC. The testimony on which the investigation is based has been withdrawn and the woman is declining to press charges.

    December 10, 2012 – Diallo and Strauss-Kahn reach a settlement in her civil lawsuit against him. Terms of the settlement are not released.

    July 26, 2013 – Prosecutors announce that Strauss-Kahn will be tried on charges of “aggravated pimping” for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring.

    September 17, 2013 – It is announced that Strauss-Kahn has been appointed as an economic adviser to the Serbian government.

    February 2, 2015 – The trial concerning “aggravated pimping” charges against Strauss-Kahn begins.

    February 17, 2015 – A prosecutor tells a French criminal court that Strauss-Kahn should be acquitted of aggravated pimping charges because of insufficient evidence. The Lille prosecutor’s office said in 2013 that evidence didn’t support the charges, but investigative magistrates nevertheless pursued the case to trial.

    June 12, 2015 – Strauss-Kahn is acquitted of charges of aggravated pimping.

    February 2016 – Is named to the supervisory board of Ukrainian bank Credit Dnepr.

    June 2016 – Strauss-Kahn and seven others are fined in civil court after the anti-prostitution group Mouvement du Nid appeals the June 2015 acquittal. Strauss-Kahn is ordered to pay more than $11,000 in damages to the group.

    December 7, 2020 – Netflix releases “Room 2806: The Accusation,” a documentary series covering the 2011 sexual assault case involving Strauss-Kahn and Diallo.

    December 15, 2022 – Le Monde reports that French authorities are investigating Strauss-Kahn for potential tax fraud related to his consulting activities in Morocco. Strauss-Kahn was one of dozens whose financial secrets and offshore dealings were released in the “Pandora Papers” by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2021.

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  • Melania Trump Fast Facts | CNN

    Melania Trump Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at the life of Melania Trump, wife of 45th US President Donald Trump.

    Birth date: April 26, 1970

    Birth place: Novo Mesto, Yugoslavia (now Slovenia)

    Birth name: Melanija Knavs

    Father: Viktor Knavs

    Mother: Amalija (Ulcnik) Knavs

    Marriage: Donald Trump (January 22, 2005-present)

    Children: Barron

    Education: University of Ljubljana, Yugoslavia (now Slovenia)

    Changed the spelling of her name from Melanija Knavs to Melania Knauss while modeling professionally.

    Speaks six languages: Slovenian, French, Serbian, German, Italian and English.

    She is the second foreign-born first lady in US history, after Louisa Adams, the English-born wife of sixth US president John Quincy Adams, who served from 1825 to 1829.

    Became a model in Yugoslavia at the age of 16.

    She has appeared in magazines such as GQ, Vanity Fair and Sports Illustrated.

    1996 – Moves to the United States, heading to New York to work for ID Models.

    1998 – Meets Trump at a party at the Kit Kat Club in New York.

    2000 – Appears in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

    March 19, 2001 – Obtains her green card.

    July 2006 – Becomes a US citizen.

    2010 – Launches her jewelry line, Melania Timepieces and Jewelry, on QVC.

    April 2013 – Launches a caviar-based skincare line, Melania Caviar Complexe C6.

    July 18, 2016 – Parts of her campaign speech during the 2016 Republican National Convention are alleged to have been plagiarized from a speech delivered by First Lady Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. A speechwriter working for Donald Trump’s company later assumes responsibility for the similarities in the two speeches.

    September 1, 2016 – Files a defamation lawsuit against British newspaper The Daily Mail and the US-based blog Tarpley, accusing them of publishing claims that she was an escort in the 1990s. The Daily Mail and Tarpley both issue retractions.

    November 3, 2016 – During a campaign speech in Philadelphia, Trump announces she intends to make ending social media bullying her focus as first lady.

    November 20, 2016 – Donald Trump confirms he will live in the White House as president, but says Melania and their son, Barron, will remain in New York initially, so that Barron can finish out the year at the same school.

    January 20, 2017 – Becomes first lady of the United States.

    February 2, 2017 – A Maryland judge dismisses Trump’s defamation lawsuit against British newspaper The Daily Mail on jurisdictional grounds. Previously, it was ruled that Trump’s lawsuit against blogger Webster Griffin Tarpley will move forward.

    February 6, 2017 – Trump’s lawyers refile the defamation lawsuit against British newspaper The Daily Mail. This time it is filed in the Supreme Court of New York where its publisher, Mail Media Inc., has offices.

    February 7, 2017 – Trump’s defamation lawsuit against Tarpley is settled.

    April 12, 2017 – Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Daily Mail and Mail Online is settled for $2.9 million.

    September 23, 2017 – Trump arrives in Canada for her first solo foreign trip as first lady, traveling to Toronto to lead the US delegation to the Invictus Games. She meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Great Britain’s Prince Harry, before attending the opening ceremony of the Paralympic-style games.

    March 20, 2018 – At a roundtable event with technology executives, Trump addresses those who have criticized her for taking on a platform that includes cyberbullying saying, “I have been criticized for my commitment to tackling this issue and I know that will continue. But it will not stop me from doing what I know is right.”

    May 7, 2018 – Trump announces her formal platform during a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden. The initiative, called “Be Best,” focuses on well-being, combating opioid abuse and positivity on social media.

    May 14, 2018 – Undergoes a procedure to treat a benign kidney condition, according to a White House statement.

    June 6, 2018 – Makes her first public appearance after the kidney procedure, attending a hurricane season preparedness briefing.

    June 17, 2018 – Issues a statement, via her spokeswoman, expressing concern about family separation at the border: “Mrs. Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform. She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart.”

    June 21, 2018 – Visits facilities in Texas that are housing children separated from their parents at the border.

    August 9, 2018 – Trump’s parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, are granted US citizenship, according to their immigration attorney. They obtain their citizenship through the sponsorship of their adult daughter, one of the categories of family visas that the Trump administration has sought to end.

    October 2-6, 2018 – Makes a solo trip abroad, visiting Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt on a tour of Africa.

    January 26, 2019 – British magazine, The Telegraph, issues an apology to Trump for the article titled “The Mystery of Melania,” that included several inaccuracies about her life and her family.

    March 5, 2020 – Receives criticism after she shares pictures on social media of the private White House tennis pavilion renovations amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

    October 2, 2020 – Donald Trump announces that he and Melania have tested positive for coronavirus.

    October 13, 2020 – The Justice Department files a lawsuit against Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, an ex-friend and former adviser to Trump, claiming she breached a confidentiality agreement by publishing a tell-all book. The complaint asserts that neither the first lady, her chief of staff nor the White House counsel’s office received a draft of the book from Wolkoff and that the former adviser never sought authorization to disclose details of her work for the first lady. On February 8, 2021, the Justice Department drops the lawsuit.

    December 16, 2021 – Trump announces she is selling an NFT, or a non-fungible token, titled “Melania’s Vision.” The NFT is the first digital art to be sold on her newly launched platform, which will release NFTs regularly and is powered by Parler.

    January 4, 2022 – Trump announces an auction of some of her personal items, including a white hat she wore during a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018, a watercolor painting, and an NFT of the white hat.

    April 11, 2023 – The Office of Melania Trump issues a statement after she did not appear at her husband’s court appearance on April 4.

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  • Enron Fast Facts | CNN

    Enron Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at Enron, an energy trading company that collapsed after a massive accounting fraud scheme was revealed. Its 2001 bankruptcy filing was the largest in American history at the time. Estimated losses totaled $74 billion.

    Enron was ranked as America’s fifth largest company by Fortune magazine in 2002, despite its 2001 bankruptcy filing.

    An independent review published in 2002 detailed how executives pocketed millions of dollars from complex, off-the-books partnerships while reporting inflated profits to shareholders.

    Executives including Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were prosecuted for fraud-related crimes.

    Key figures sold their stock shortly before the company announced a sharp downturn in earnings.

    Lower-level employees were encouraged to invest in company stock for their retirement savings just before the company collapsed. The workers later filed a class action lawsuit and won an $85 million settlement.

    1985 – Houston Natural Gas merges with Omaha-based InterNorth to form Enron.

    1986 – Lay is appointed chairman and CEO of Enron.

    1989 – Enron enters the natural gas commodities trading market.

    1990 – Skilling, an energy consultant, is hired to run a new subsidiary called Enron Finance Corp.

    February 12, 2001 – Skilling becomes CEO while Lay stays on as chairman.

    August 14, 2001 – Skilling resigns and Lay becomes CEO again.

    August 2001 – Sherron Watkins, a vice president, warns Lay that the company could “implode in a wave of accounting scandals.”

    October 16, 2001 – Enron announces a third-quarter loss of $618 million. The company later reveals that it overstated earnings dating back to 1997.

    October 31, 2001 – The company discloses that it is under formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    November 9, 2001 – Enron confirms that it has agreed to be purchased by a rival company, Dynegy for $9 billion. On November 28, Dynegy announces it has terminated merger talks with Enron.

    December 2, 2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

    January 9, 2002 – The US Department of Justice opens a criminal investigation into Enron’s collapse.

    January 10, 2002 – Arthur Andersen LLP, the accounting firm that handled Enron’s audits, discloses that its employees had destroyed company documents.

    January 15, 2002 – The New York Stock Exchange suspends trading of Enron shares.

    January 17, 2002 – Enron ends its partnership with Arthur Andersen.

    January 23, 2002 – Lay resigns as CEO. He later steps down from the board of directors.

    January 25, 2002 – Former Enron vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter is found dead in an apparent suicide.

    February 12, 2002 – Lay invokes his Fifth Amendment right before the Senate Commerce Committee.

    March 14, 2002 – The DOJ indicts Arthur Andersen for obstruction of justice. A jury later returns a guilty verdict for the accounting firm. The Supreme Court later overturns the conviction.

    February 19, 2004 – Skilling is charged with 35 counts of fraud and insider trading. He pleads not guilty.

    July 7, 2004 – Lay is indicted. He is charged with conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and making false statements. During his arraignment the next day, he pleads not guilty to all 11 charges and is released on $500,000 unsecured bond.

    May 25, 2006 – Skilling and Lay are convicted of conspiracy and fraud. Skilling is also convicted on one count of insider trading and five counts of making false statements. The jury acquits Skilling on nine additional counts of insider trading.

    July 5, 2006 – Lay dies of a heart attack while awaiting sentencing.

    September 8, 2008 – A class action lawsuit filed by shareholders and investors is settled in federal court. The $7.2 billion settlement will be paid out by a group of banks accused of participating in the accounting fraud scheme.

    May 11, 2009 – Skilling files a petition with the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction after appeals with the lower courts fail.

    May 9, 2010 – “Enron,” a musical about the company’s collapse, closes on Broadway 12 days after opening amid slow ticket sales.

    April 16, 2012 – The Supreme Court rejects Skilling’s appeal.

    June 21, 2013 – A federal judge reduces Skilling’s sentence by more than 10 years. In return, Skilling agrees to stop challenging his conviction and forfeit roughly $42 million that will be distributed among the victims of the Enron fraud.

    December 8, 2015 – The SEC announces that it has obtained a summary judgment against Skilling, permanently barring him from serving as an officer or director of a publicly held company. The judgment settles a long-running civil suit by the SEC.

    February 21, 2019 – Skilling is released after serving over 12 years in federal prison.

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  • Affirmative Action Fast Facts | CNN

    Affirmative Action Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is some background information about affirmative action as well as a few notable court cases.

    Affirmative action policies focus on improving opportunities for groups of people, like women and minorities, who have been historically excluded in United States’ society. The initial emphasis was on education and employment. President John F. Kennedy was the first president to use the term in an executive order.

    Supporters argue that affirmative action is necessary to ensure racial and gender diversity in education and employment. Critics state that it is unfair and causes reverse discrimination.

    Racial quotas are considered unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court.

    The state of Texas replaced its affirmative action plan with a percentage plan that guarantees the top 10% of high-school graduates a spot in any state university in Texas. California and Florida have similar programs.

    1954 – The US Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, rules that the “separate but equal” doctrine violates the Constitution.

    1961 – President Kennedy creates the Council on Equal Opportunity in an executive order. This ensures that federal contractors hire people regardless of race, creed, color or national origin.

    1964 – The Civil Rights Act renders discrimination illegal in the workplace.

    1978 – In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, a notable reverse discrimination case, the Supreme Court rules that colleges cannot use racial quotas because it violates the Equal Protection Clause. As one factor for admission, however, race can be used.

    1995 – The University of Michigan rejects the college application of Jennifer Gratz, a top high school student in suburban Detroit who is white.

    October 14, 1997 – Gratz v. Bollinger, et al., is filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan. The University of Michigan is sued by white students, including Gratz and Patrick Hamacher, who claim the undergraduate and law school affirmative action policies using race and/or gender as a factor in admissions is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

    December 3, 1997 – A similar case, Grutter v. Bollinger, is filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan. Barbara Grutter, denied admission to the University of Michigan Law School, claims that other applicants, with lower test scores and grades, were given an unfair advantage due to race.

    December 2000 – The judge in the Gratz v. Bollinger case rules that the University of Michigan’s undergraduate admissions policy does not violate the standards set by the Supreme Court.

    March 2001 – The judge in the Grutter v. Bollinger case rules the University of Michigan Law School’s admissions policy is unconstitutional.

    December 2001 – The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals hears appeals in both University of Michigan cases.

    May 14, 2002 – The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses the district court’s decision in Grutter v. Bollinger.

    January 17, 2003 – The administration of President George W. Bush files a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court, opposing the University of Michigan’s affirmative action program.

    April 1, 2003 – The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the two cases. US Solicitor General Theodore Olson offers arguments in support of the plaintiffs.

    June 23, 2003 – The Supreme Court rules on Grutter v. Bollinger that the University of Michigan Law School may give preferential treatment to minorities during the admissions process. The Court upholds the law school policy by a vote of five to four.

    June 23, 2003 – In Gratz v. Bollinger, the undergraduate policy in which a point system gave specific “weight” to minority applicants is overturned six to three.

    December 22, 2003 – The Supreme Court rules that race can be a factor in universities’ admission programs but it cannot be an overriding factor. This decision affects the Grutter and Gratz cases.

    November 7, 2006 – The Michigan electorate strikes down affirmative action by approving a proposition barring affirmative action in public education, employment, or contracting.

    January 31, 2007 – After the Supreme Court sends the case back to district court; the case is dismissed. Gratz and Hamacher settle for $10,000 in administrative costs, but do not receive damages.

    2008 – Abigail Noel Fisher, a white woman, sues the University of Texas. She argues that the university should not use race as a factor in admission policies that favor African-American and Hispanic applicants over whites and Asian-Americans.

    July 1, 2011 – An appeals court overturns Michigan’s 2006 ban on the use of race and/or gender as a factor in admissions or hiring practices.

    November 15, 2012 – The US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals throws out Michigan’s 2006 ban on affirmative action in college admissions and public hiring, declaring it unconstitutional.

    June 24, 2013 – The Supreme Court sends the University of Texas case back to the lower court for further review without ruling.

    October 15, 2013 – The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a case concerning Michigan’s 2006 law on affirmative action.

    April 22, 2014 – In a six to two ruling, the Supreme Court upholds Michigan’s ban of using racial criteria in college admissions.

    July 15, 2014 – The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upholds the use of race by the University of Texas as a factor in undergraduate admissions to promote diversity on campus. The vote is two to one.

    November 17, 2014 – Students for Fair Admissions sues Harvard University, alleging Harvard intentionally discriminates against Asian-Americans. Students for Fair Admissions is run by Edward Blum, a conservative advocate, who sought Asian-Americans rejected by Harvard.

    December 9, 2015 – The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the University of Texas case regarding race as a factor in admissions policies.

    June 23, 2016 – The US Supreme Court upholds the Affirmative Action program by a vote of four to three with Justice Elena Kagan taking no part in the consideration. The ruling allows the limited use of affirmative action policies by schools.

    October 15, 2018 – The lawsuit against Harvard filed in 2014 by Students for Fair Admissions goes to trial.

    February 2019 – Texas Tech University enters an agreement with the Department of Education to stop considering race and/or national origin as a factor in its admissions process, concluding a 14-year-long investigation into the school’s use of affirmative action.

    October 1, 2019 – US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs upholds Harvard’s admissions process in the Students for Fair Admissions case, ruling that while Harvard’s admissions process is “not perfect,” she would not “dismantle a very fine admissions program that passes constitutional muster, solely because it could do better.”

    November 12, 2020 – A Boston-based US appeals court rejects an appeal brought by the Students for Fair Admissions group.

    January 24, 2022 – The US Supreme Court announces it will reconsider race-based affirmative action in college admissions. The justices will hear challenges to policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina that use students’ race among many criteria to decide who should gain a coveted place in an entering class. On June 29, 2023, the US Supreme Court says colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis for granting admission.

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  • Boston Marathon Fast Facts | CNN

    Boston Marathon Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the Boston Marathon, run from Hopkinton to Boston. The finish line is in front of the Boston Public Library on Boylston Street.

    April 15, 2024 – The 128th Boston Marathon is scheduled to take place.

    April 17, 2023 – The 127th Boston Marathon takes place. The winners are Evans Chebet of Kenya in the men’s division and Hellen Obiri of Kenya in the women’s division.

    The race is organized by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), and the principal sponsor is John Hancock Financial Services.

    Runners are categorized by gender, then by age. Qualifying times depend on the age of the participant on the day of the race.

    Participants must be 18 years of age on the day of the race and must meet certain time standards to qualify for their age group.

    Visually impaired runners are allowed to participate, but they must have a five hour qualifying time. There are also categories for wheelchairs and handcycles.

    Runners come from all over the world to participate.

    Best Men’s Open time – 2:03:02 – Geoffrey Mutai, Kenya – (2011)
    Best Women’s Open time – 2:19:59 – Buzunesh Deba, Ethiopia – (2014)
    Best Men’s Wheelchair time – Marcel Hug, Switzerland, 1:18:04 (2017)
    Best Women’s Wheelchair time – Manuela Schar, Switzerland – 1:28:17 (2017)

    April 19, 1897 – The first marathon is run and is 24.8 miles. The winner is John J. McDermott of New York, with a time of 2:55:10. There are 18 entrants, 15 starters and 10 finishers.

    1897-1968 – The race is run on April 19, Patriots’ Day, a holiday commemorating the start of the Revolutionary War only recognized in Massachusetts and Maine. In those years that April 19 falls on a Sunday, the race is held the next day, Monday the 20th.

    1918 – A military relay is held instead of the marathon due to the United States’ involvement in World War I.

    April 19, 1924 – The race is lengthened to 26.2 miles to conform to Olympic standards.

    April 17, 1967 – Kathrine Switzer becomes the first woman to receive a number to run in the Boston Marathon. She enters the race under the name K.V. Switzer and wears baggy clothes to disguise herself. Females are not officially allowed to enter until 1972.

    1969 – Patriots’ Day is changed to the third Monday in April, so the date of the race is also changed.

    1975 – A wheelchair division is added to the marathon. Bob Hall finishes the race in two hours and 58 minutes in a wheelchair.

    April 15, 1996 – The 100th Boston Marathon is run. There are a record 35,868 finishers.

    April 15, 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring at least 264 others.

    May 15, 2015 – Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is sentenced to death for his role in the 2013 marathon bombings. In July 2020, an appeals court vacates Tsarnaev’s death sentence and rules he should be given a new penalty trial. In March 2021, the Supreme Court agrees to review the lower court opinion that vacated Tsarnaev’s death sentence. The Supreme Court upholds his death sentence in March 2022. In January 2023, attorneys for Tsarnaev request his death sentence be vacated during a federal appeals court hearing.

    October 26, 2016 – Three-time winner Rita Jeptoo of Kenya, loses her 2014 title and record for the fastest women’s finish ever (2:18:57), as part of a ruling on her two-year ban for doping.

    May 28, 2020 – Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announces that the 2020 marathon is canceled because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A virtual event, in which participants can earn their finisher’s medal by verifying that they ran 26.2 miles on their own within a six-hour time period, will take place September 7-14.

    October 28, 2020 – The B.A.A. announces that the 2021 marathon will be postponed until the fall of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    April 7, 2022 – Sixty-three entrants living in Russia and Belarus are banned from participating in the 2022 Boston Marathon and Boston Athletic Association 5K. After the invasion of Ukraine, various sports teams from Russia and Belarus have been banned entirely from competition as part of a sanctions package.

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  • Pete Rose Fast Facts | CNN

    Pete Rose Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of former Cincinnati Reds player and manager Pete Rose.

    Birth name: Peter Edward Rose

    Birth date: April 14, 1941

    Birth place: Cincinnati, Ohio

    Father: Harry Rose, bank clerk and semi-pro baseball and football player

    Mother: LaVerne Rose

    Marriages: Carol (Woliung) Rose, (April 11, 1984-2011, divorced); Karolyn (Englehardt) Rose (January 25, 1964-1980, divorced)

    Children: with Carol (Woliung) Rose: Kara and Tyler; with Karolyn (Englehardt) Rose: Pete Jr. and Fawn

    Military: Ohio Army National Guard

    He was nicknamed “Charlie Hustle” as a rookie.

    Rose holds the Major League Baseball record for the number of games played (3,562) and hits (4,256).

    He was on the National League All-Star team 17 times between 1965 and 1985.

    July 8, 1960 – Rose begins his pro career with the minor league team the Geneva Redlegs of the New York-Penn League.

    1963 – Plays his first season for the Cincinnati Reds. At the end of the season he is voted National League Rookie of the Year.

    1965 – Leads the league in hits with 209 and a batting average of .312. It is the first of 16 seasons in which his batting average is at least .300, the first of 10 seasons with 200 or more hits and the first of seven years leading the league in hits.

    1968-1969 – Wins the first two of his three batting titles.

    1969-1970 – Wins a Gold Glove both years for fielding excellence as an outfielder.

    1973 – Named National League Most Valuable Player and wins the batting title.

    1975 – Rose is named World Series Most Valuable Player after the Reds defeat the Boston Red Sox 4-3.

    December 5, 1978-October 19, 1983 – Plays for the Philadelphia Phillies and wins the 1980 World Series, beating the Kansas City Royals 4-3.

    1984 – Plays 95 games with the Montreal Expos.

    August 16, 1984 – Rose is hired as player/manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

    September 11, 1985 – At home against the San Diego Padres, Rose breaks Ty Cobb’s 57-year record of 4,191 career hits.

    November 11, 1986 – Rose is released as a player from the Reds but continues to manage the team through the 1988-1989 season.

    March 20, 1989 – An announcement from the office of the Baseball Commissioner reveals an ongoing investigation into allegations of Rose’s gambling. Details of the allegations are reported the next day in Sports Illustrated.

    August 24, 1989 – With a 225-page report, witness testimony and volumes of evidence to support his findings, baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti bans Pete Rose from baseball for life for gambling, with the stipulation he may apply for reinstatement after one year.

    August 1990-January 1991 – Serves five months in the Federal Prison Camp in Marion, Illinois, after pleading guilty to tax evasion.

    September 23, 2002 – Plays in a celebrity softball game that he organized, to mark the closing of Cincinnati’s Cinergy Field; his first public game since banishment.

    January 8, 2004 – Rose’s autobiography, “My Prison Without Bars,” is published. In the book Rose admits to betting on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds.

    March 14, 2007 – During a radio interview with ESPN, Rose admits to betting on every Cincinnati game while he was manager.

    January 13, 2013 – The reality show “Pete Rose: Hits and Mrs.,” about life with fiancée, Kiana Kim, premieres on TLC. The show is canceled after the fourth episode.

    March 2015 – Rose submits a formal request to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred seeking reinstatement. On December 14, 2015, it is announced that Rose’s application has been denied.

    April 18, 2015 – It is announced that Rose has been hired by Fox as a baseball analyst.

    July 7, 2016 – Files a defamation lawsuit against attorney John Dowd for comments Dowd made suggesting that Rose committed statutory rape. Dowd, who led the investigation into Rose’s gambling on baseball, tells NJ Advance Media the allegations have been “blown out of proportion.”

    September 27, 2016 – Rose sends a letter to the National Baseball Hall of Fame asking that he be made eligible for inclusion, which would put his name on the ballot to be voted on by baseball writers.

    July 31, 2017 – Court records reveal an unidentified woman has provided a sworn statement alleging that in the 1970s she had sex with Rose before she turned 16. The statement is part of the defamation lawsuit Rose filed against Dowd. Rose acknowledged that he had a relationship with the woman but said he believed she was 16 at the time. On December 14, 2017, the defamation lawsuit is dismissed.

    February 5, 2020 – Rose’s attorneys petition MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred for Rose to be reinstated. They argue that Rose’s “ongoing punishment for an act that never impacted a single play or game outcome is no longer justifiable as a proportional response to his transgressions.”

    October 7, 2021 – Debut of “Pete Rose’s Daily Picks,” a sports betting podcast hosted by Rose.

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  • Oklahoma City Bombing Fast Facts | CNN

    Oklahoma City Bombing Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is some background information about the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.

    The blast killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured several hundred more.

    Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols were convicted of the attack.

    The federal building was later razed and a park and memorial were built on the site.

    The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum has 168 stone and glass chairs placed in rows on a lawn, one for each victim.

    Both McVeigh and Nichols were former US Army soldiers and were associated with the extreme right-wing and militant Patriot movement.

    The Patriot movement rejects the legitimacy of the federal government and law enforcement.

    April 19 marked two anniversaries. Patriots’ Day is the anniversary of the American rebellion against British authority at Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1775. It is also the date that federal agents raided the compound of a religious sect in Waco, Texas, after a 51-day standoff in 1993. At least 75 members of the Branch Davidian sect died in a fire that began during the raid.

    McVeigh claimed he targeted the building in Oklahoma City to avenge the raid on Waco.

    April 19, 1995 – At 9:02 a.m. CT, a rental truck filled with explosives is detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

    April 19, 1995 – Near Perry, Oklahoma, Army veteran McVeigh is arrested during a traffic stop for driving a vehicle without a license plate.

    April 21, 1995 – McVeigh’s alleged co-conspirator Nichols turns himself in.

    May 23, 1995 – The remaining parts of the Murrah federal building are imploded.

    August 11, 1995 – McVeigh and Nichols are indicted on murder and conspiracy charges.

    April 24, 1997 – McVeigh’s trial begins in Denver.

    June 2, 1997 – McVeigh is convicted on 11 counts of murder, conspiracy and using a weapon of mass destruction. He is later sentenced to death.

    November 2, 1997 – Nichols’ trial begins in McAlester, Oklahoma.

    December 23, 1997 – Nichols is convicted on federal charges of conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter. He is later sentenced to life in prison. He is serving his sentence at USP Florence ADMAX federal prison, nicknamed “Supermax,” in Florence, Colorado.

    June 11, 2001 – McVeigh is executed by lethal injection. He is the first person executed for a federal crime in the United States since 1963.

    May 26, 2004 – Nichols is found guilty in Oklahoma state court on 161 counts of murder. The jury spends five hours deliberating before announcing the verdict.

    August 9, 2004 – District Judge Steven Taylor sentences Nichols to 161 consecutive life terms, without the possibility of parole.

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  • Columbine High School Shootings Fast Facts | CNN

    Columbine High School Shootings Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is some background information about the deaths of 13 people at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999.

    Twelve students and one teacher were killed by students Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18.

    The pair made home videos prior to the attack making references to what they were going to do and apologizing to their parents for it.

    Harris and Klebold killed themselves with gunshot wounds to the head in the school’s library at approximately 12:08 p.m. on the day of the shootings.

    SWAT teams entered the school 47 minutes after the shootings started. Five hours passed before law enforcement declared the school under control.

    Cassie Bernall, 17
    Steven Curnow, 14
    Corey DePooter, 17
    Kelly Fleming, 16
    Matthew Kechter, 16
    Daniel Mauser, 15
    Daniel Rohrbough, 15
    William “Dave” Sanders, 47
    Rachel Scott, 17
    Isaiah Shoels, 18
    John Tomlin, 16
    Lauren Townsend, 18
    Kyle Velasquez, 16

    January 1998 – Klebold and Harris are arrested after stealing items from a van. After pleading guilty, they are sent to a juvenile diversion program.

    March 1998 – Randy and Judy Brown, parents of student Brooks Brown, file a report with the sheriff’s office stating that Harris had threatened to kill Brooks and had written on the internet that he would like to kill people.

    April 20, 1999 – At approximately 11:19 a.m., two students, Klebold, 17, and Harris, 18, carrying guns and bombs, open fire inside Columbine High School, killing 13 and wounding 23 others before killing themselves.

    November 12, 1999 – Mark Manes is sentenced to six years in prison for selling a gun used in the murders to minors Harris and Klebold.

    April 2001 – Close to three dozen families of Columbine victims settle suits with the parents of the suspects and gun suppliers. The settlement totals close to $2.5 million. The Harris’ and Klebold’s homeowners insurance will pay a large part and the rest will come from insurance company payments on behalf of the gun suppliers. The family of victim Isaiah Shoels does not accept the settlement.

    August 20, 2002 – The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office settles with the daughter of teacher Dave Sanders for $1.5 million.

    June 2003 – Judge Robert Blackburn orders the family of Shoels to accept a $366,000 settlement in the lawsuit against the gunmen’s families.

    August 12, 2003 – The families of victims Daniel Rohrbough, Kelly Fleming, Matt Kechter, Lauren Townsend, and Kyle Velasquez settle a wrongful death lawsuit against parents Susan and Thomas Klebold and Wayne and Katherine Harris, in which the victims’ families claim that the suspects’ parents should have known what their sons were up to before the shootings. The terms of the settlement have not been released.

    October 22, 2003 – Home video of the two suspects is released by authorities. In the video, made six weeks before the murders, the suspects are seen in a forested area shooting at bowling pins.

    February 26, 2004 – Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar releases an investigative report about the attack. Authorities also release thousands of pages of documents and physical evidence.

    September 21, 2007 – The Columbine Memorial, adjacent to Columbine High School, is dedicated and opened to the public.

    February 12, 2016 – In her first television interview, Susan Klebold speaks to Diane Sawyer. Klebold states that “If I had recognized that Dylan was experiencing some real mental distress, he would not have been there,” she says. “He would’ve gotten help. I don’t ever, for a moment, mean to imply that I’m not conscious of the fact that he was a killer, because I am.”

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  • Bill Gross Fast Facts | CNN

    Bill Gross Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of Bill Gross, founder of PIMCO, Pacific Investment Management Company.

    Birth date: April 13, 1944

    Birth place: Middleton, Ohio

    Birth name: William Hunt Gross

    Father: Sewell “Dutch” Gross, a steel company sales executive

    Mother: Shirley Gross

    Marriages: Amy Schwartz (2021-present); Sue (Frank) Gross (1985-2017, divorced); Pamela Roberts Gross (divorced)

    Children: with Sue Frank: Nick; with Pamela Roberts: Jeff and Jennifer

    Education: Duke University, B.A. in Psychology, 1966; University of California at Los Angeles, M.B.A, 1971

    Military: US Navy, 1966-1969

    Billionaire, bond investor, philanthropist and avid stamp collector.

    Founder, former co-chief investment officer and managing director of PIMCO, one of the world’s largest mutual funds. Under Gross, PIMCO became the world’s largest bond fund manager.

    1966 – While recuperating from injuries suffered in a serious car accident, Gross teaches himself to count cards in blackjack. After college graduation, he turns $200 into $10,000 in four months.

    1971 – Is hired as a junior bond analyst for Pacific Mutual Insurance Company.

    1971 – PIMCO is formed as a division of Pacific Mutual with colleagues William Podlich and James F. Muzzy.

    1985 – PIMCO formally splits from Pacific Mutual.

    2003 – Founds the William and Sue Gross Family Foundation, through which millions of dollars are donated to universities, hospitals and organizations.

    2005 – Gross and his wife, Sue, give $23.5 million to Duke University for undergraduate and medical school students and for the Fuqua School of Business.

    2006 – Donates $10 million to the University of California at Irvine for stem cell research and to help build a new research lab. The lab opens in 2010 and is named in their honor, Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.

    2007 – A stamp collector since childhood, Gross auctions his collection of British stamps for $9.1 million and donates the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders.

    2009 – Donates $8 million for the establishment of a stamp gallery at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, DC. The gallery is named in his honor, the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, and opens in September 2013.

    September 2014 – Gross unexpectedly resigns from PIMCO to join Janus Capital Group, where he manages the Janus Unconstrained Bond Fund.

    July 1, 2015 – The Smithsonian Institution includes Gross’s old Bloomberg keyboard in its American Enterprise exhibition at the National Museum of American History. The keyboard, used by Gross during the 1990s and 2000s, has function keys for accessing real-time financial information.

    October 8, 2015 – Gross sues former employer PIMCO for hundreds of millions of dollars, alleging he was wrongfully ousted from the firm as part of a vast conspiracy. The lawsuit claims a “cabal” of PIMCO executives driven by a “lust for power, greed” and self-interest plotted for Gross’s demise. On March 27, 2017, Gross and PIMCO announce they reached an “amicable settlement.”

    February 4, 2019 – Announces he will retire. Janus Henderson (formerly Janus Capital Group) says he will leave the firm on March 1.

    October 13, 2020 – Gross and his partner Amy Schwartz sue their neighbors, Mark Towfiq, CEO of data center development company Nextfort Ventures, and his wife Carol Nakahara. Towfiq and Nakahara file a countersuit the next day, on October 14. According to court filings, Gross and Schwartz installed a large art installation along the property line, partially blocking Towfiq and Nakahara’s ocean views. After an investigation, the city of Laguna Beach determined the installation, netting and lights were a violation of city code and did not have the proper permits. Shortly after, Towfiq and Nakahara allege Gross began retaliating against them by harassing and disturbing them with “loud music and bizarre audio recordings at excessive levels” during various hours of the day and night – including pop or rap music, and often a series of television theme songs, according to the lawsuit, including the “Gilligan’s Island” theme on a loop.

    October 1, 2021 – Gross and his wife are found guilty in contempt of court after violating a 2020 order that prohibited them from playing loud music outside their home. The two are fined $1,000 each and face five days in jail as well as a ban on outdoor music. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, their jail sentences are suspended and replaced with two days of community service.

    March 2, 2022 – Self-publishes his memoir “I’m Still Standing: Bond King Bill Gross and the PIMCO Express.”

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  • Vatican Fast Facts | CNN

    Vatican Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the Vatican, also known as the Holy See, the spiritual and governing center of the Roman Catholic Church.

    The full name of the country is State of Vatican City.

    It stands on Vatican Hill in northwestern Rome, Italy west of the Tiber River. It is comprised of roughly 100 acres.

    Tall stone walls surround most of Vatican City.

    Historical documentation says that St. Peter was crucified at or near the Neronian Gardens on Vatican hill and buried at the foot of the hill directly under where the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica now stands. Excavations at the basilica between 1940 and 1957 located the tomb believed to be St. Peter’s.

    Vatican City has its own pharmacy, post office, telephone system and media outlets. The population is 1,000 (2022 est.)

    The Vatican is an absolute monarchy. Full legislative, judicial and executive authority resides with the pope.

    The world’s second-largest Christian church after the Yamoussoukro Basilica in Cote d’Ivoire. St. Peter’s is not a cathedral, which is a bishop’s principal church. The pope is the bishop of Rome, and his cathedral church is in Rome.

    Built on the foundation of the first St. Peter’s, the new basilica took 120 years to complete. Masonry, sculpture, painting and mosaic work continued for nearly 200 years.

    The dome of the basilica was designed by Michelangelo.

    The church is shaped like a cross and is almost 650 feet long.

    In the grottoes, beneath the basilica, is a papal burial chamber.

    The Vatican Palaces consist of several connected buildings with over 1,000 rooms. Within the palaces there are apartments, chapels, museums, meeting rooms and government offices.

    The Palace of Sixtus V is the pope’s residence.

    The Vatican museums, archive, library, gardens and other offices make up the remainder of the palaces.

    A separate structure from the basilica, designed for the papal court, was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere.

    It is the site of the papal conclave and where elections for the new pope are held.

    It is one of the world’s most famous galleries of biblical art with the ceiling by Michelangelo, tapestries by Raphael and Rosselli’s Last Supper.

    320s – Construction begins on the first St. Peter’s, by order of Constantine the Great.

    1473-1481 – The Sistine Chapel is constructed.

    April 18, 1506 – Pope Nicholas V begins rebuilding and expanding St. Peter’s Basilica.

    1508-1512 – Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

    February 11, 1929 – The signing of the Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy establishes Vatican City State, the smallest independent nation in the world, covering only 109 acres.

    June 7, 1929 – The Treaty of the Lateran is ratified. Pope Pius XI gives up all claims to the Papal States, and Italy agrees to the establishment of the independent State of Vatican City.

    October 11, 1962-November 21, 1964 – The 21st Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church, known as Vatican II, is held under orders of Pope John XXIII. The council included 2,700 clergymen from all walks of Christiandom looking to improve relations with the Catholic Church. By the end of the council there is a new pope, Paul VI, a new constitution for the Church and new reforms.

    June 2011 – Pope Benedict XVI sends the first Vatican tweet announcing the opening of a news site, “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.”

    October 6, 2012 – The pope’s former butler Paolo Gabriele is convicted of aggravated theft for leaking confidential papal documents and sentenced to 18 months in prison. In December 2012, Gabriele is pardoned by the pope and released to his family.

    November 10, 2012 – Claudio Sciarpelletti, a computer technician, receives a two-month suspended sentence for leaking Vatican secrets to the media.

    May 2013 – Missio, a smartphone app, is launched by Pope Francis. The app provides Catholic news from the Vatican and around the world.

    November 24, 2013 – The Vatican exhibits the bones of a man long believed to be St. Peter, one of the founding fathers of the Christian church, for the first time.

    January 10, 2019 – The Holy See launches its official athletics team after receiving the blessing of the Italian Olympic Committee. Among the first members of the Vatican Athletics track team are nuns, priests, Swiss Guards, museum workers, carpenters and maintenance workers.

    March 2, 2020 – The Vatican opens its secret archives containing World War II-era documents from the controversial papacy of Pope Pius XII.

    December 24, 2020 – Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the pope holds a sparsely attended Christmas Eve mass with only 200 people in attendance, including 30 cardinals. The Christmas Eve mass, which usually attracts up to 10,000 people, is a landmark event in Vatican City.

    July 3, 2021 – The Vatican releases a statement saying that it has indicted 10 people, including an Italian cardinal, for several alleged financial crimes including extortion, corruption, fraud, forgery, embezzlement and abuse of power. The investigation, which started in July 2019, was carried out by the Vatican in cooperation with Italian authorities and revealed “a vast network of ties between financial market operators who generated substantial losses for the Vatican finances.” In December 2023, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu is sentenced to five and a half years in prison for his role in financial crimes. Others indicted are convicted on some counts and acquitted on others. One, Monsignor Mauro Carlino, former secretary to Becciu, is acquitted on all counts.

    June 22, 2023 – The Vatican announces it will hand over evidence in the disappearance of a 15-year-old daughter of one of its employees 40 years ago to the Rome city prosecutor. Emanuela Orlandi, who was the daughter of a prominent Vatican employee and lived within the walls of the holy city, disappeared in the summer of 1983 while on her way home from a music lesson in central Rome. The Vatican – which has come under scrutiny over the years for its handling of the case – announced in January that it had opened a fresh investigation.

    November 16, 2023 – The Vatican announces that, as part of a move to reduce its carbon emissions, it will gradually electrify its fleet of vehicles. The Holy See also pledges to build a charging network within Vatican City and in other areas it controls. The city state plans to ensure that electricity for its charging network comes from renewable sources.

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  • Jacob Zuma Fast Facts | CNN

    Jacob Zuma Fast Facts | CNN

    Here’s a look at the life of Jacob Zuma, former president of South Africa. Zuma survived at least half a dozen no-confidence votes during his presidency.

    Birth date: April 12, 1942

    Birth place: Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

    Birth name: Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma

    Father: Gcinamazwi Zuma, police officer

    Mother: Nobhekisisa Bessie, domestic worker

    Marriages: Bongi Ngema (2012-present); Thobeka Stacy Mabhija (2010-present); Nompumelelo Ntuli (2008-present); Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini (1982-1998, divorced); Kate Mantsho Zuma (1976-2000, her death); Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo Zuma (1973-present)

    Children: Reportedly has more than 20 children

    ANC Work and Exile

    1958 – Joins the African National Congress (ANC).

    1962 – Becomes a member of the Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), the military arm of the ANC.

    1963 – Arrested with other Spear of the Nation members and convicted of conspiring to overthrow the South African government. Zuma spends 10 years in prison on Robben Island.

    1975 – Flees South Africa and lives in exile for 15 years in Swaziland, Mozambique, Zambia and several other African countries, while continuing his work with the ANC.

    February 1990 – President F. W. de Klerk lifts the ban on the ANC and other opposition groups. Zuma returns to South Africa.

    ANC Leadership and Corruption Charges

    1990 – At the ANC’s first Regional Congress in KwaZulu-Natal province, Zuma is elected chairperson of the Southern Natal region and takes a leading role in fighting violence in the region. This results in peace accords between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party.

    December 1994 – Is elected as the national chairperson of the ANC.

    1997-2007 – Deputy president of the ANC.

    October 1998 – Receives the Nelson Mandela Award for Outstanding Leadership.

    1999-2005 – Deputy president of South Africa.

    June 2, 2005 – A South African court finds businessman Schabir Shaik guilty of bribing Zuma between 1995 and 2002.

    June 14, 2005 – President Thabo Mbeki fires Zuma over his alleged involvement in the Shaik bribery scandal.

    December 6, 2005 – Charged with raping a young female family friend; he claims the sex was consensual. He is acquitted on May 8, 2006.

    September 5, 2006 – Brought to trial and charged with corruption for allegedly accepting bribes from French arms company Thint Holdings. On September 20, the charges are dismissed by the court after numerous extensions by prosecutors to build the state’s case.

    2007-2017 – President of the ANC.

    December 28, 2007 – New corruption charges are brought against Zuma, along with counts of racketeering and money laundering. The corruption charges are tossed by the court in September 2008.

    May 1, 2008 – Named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People.

    January 12, 2009 – The Supreme Court of Appeal overturns the lower court ruling that threw out corruption charges against Zuma, stating that the ruling was riddled with errors. This new ruling means that the National Prosecuting Authority can press new charges against Zuma.

    April 6, 2009 – Prosecutors drop all corruption charges against Zuma.

    Presidency and Resignation

    April 26, 2009 – The ANC wins a majority of votes in South African elections, ensuring that Zuma will be the country’s next president.

    May 9, 2009 – Inaugurated as president.

    February 2010 – Zuma admits to fathering a child out of wedlock with the daughter of the head of South Africa’s World Cup organizing committee.

    December 2010 – Zuma files a $700,000 defamation lawsuit over a 2008 political cartoon which portrays him raping a female figure symbolizing justice.

    March 20, 2012 – The Supreme Court of Appeal rules that the Democratic Alliance (an opposition party) can challenge a previous court’s decision to drop corruption charges against Zuma.

    May 7, 2014 – Zuma secures a second term as president, with the ANC winning a majority of votes.

    March 31, 2016 – The South African Constitutional Court rules that Zuma defied the constitution when he used 246 million rand ($15 million) in state funds to upgrade his private home. The court says Zuma must repay money spent on renovations unrelated to security.

    April 29, 2016 – A South African court rules that prosecutors acted “irrationally” when they decided to drop more than 700 corruption and fraud charges against Zuma in 2009. The court says the decision should be set aside and reviewed. It remains up to prosecutors whether to reinstate the charges.

    November 2, 2016 – A report containing corruption allegations against Zuma is published. The 355-page “State of Capture” report contains allegations, and in some instances evidence, of cronyism, questionable business deals and ministerial appointments, and other possible large-scale corruption at the very top of government. Zuma denies any wrongdoing.

    November 10, 2016 – Zuma avoids a vote of no-confidence in parliament, with 214 votes against the motion, 126 for and 58 abstentions. It’s the third time Zuma has faced such a vote in less than a year. The Democratic Alliance brought the motion of no confidence to parliament in an attempt to remove the president amid charges of corruption.

    November 29, 2016 – Members of the ANC say that Zuma will not step down as president, despite calls from people within his own party to resign.

    August 8, 2017 – A motion of no-confidence in Zuma is defeated, 198 votes to 177.

    October 13, 2017 – South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal upholds an April 2016 ruling by the High Court to reinstate corruption charges against Zuma.

    February 13, 2018 – The ANC announces a “recall” of Zuma, demanding that he resign. He resigns the next day.

    Charges and Prison Sentence

    March 16, 2018 – South Africa’s national prosecuting authority announces that Zuma will be charged with 16 counts of corruption, money laundering and racketeering.

    February 4, 2020 – A South African judge issues Zuma an arrest warrant after he fails to appear to face charges in his long-running corruption case.

    February 2021 – A South African inquiry into corruption during Zuma’s time in power is seeking the former president’s imprisonment for two years, after he defied a summons and court order to appear and give evidence. In an application in the constitutional court seen by Reuters, the “state capture” inquiry is seeking an order that Zuma is guilty of contempt of court. Zuma has denied wrongdoing and refuses to cooperate with the inquiry.

    June 29, 2021 – South Africa’s highest court finds Zuma guilty of contempt of court and sentences him to 15 months in prison. On July 3, the court agrees to hear Zuma’s application for a review of their decision. In the application, Zuma and his lawyers claim that the 15-month prison sentence threatens his life and that the constitutional court’s decision is unfair.

    July 4, 2021 – At a press conference at his homestead in Nkandla, Zuma likens his treatment to Apartheid-era detention without trial, saying, “Things like detention without trial should never again see the light of day in South Africa. The struggle for a free South Africa was a struggle for justice that everyone was treated equally before the law.”

    July 7, 2021 – Zuma hands himself over to police to begin serving his 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court.

    August 6, 2021 – Is admitted to an outside hospital where he undergoes surgeries for an undisclosed ailment, according to prison authorities.

    September 5, 2021 – The government’s correctional services department says Zuma has been released from prison on medical parole due to ill health.

    December 15, 2021 – The Gauteng High Court in South Africa rules that the decision to place Zuma on medical parole was unlawful and that Zuma needs to be returned into custody to serve the remainder of his sentence. Zuma appeals and remains on parole.

    October 7, 2022 – South Africa’s Correctional Services department announces Zuma has been released from the correctional services system.

    November 21, 2022 – South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal rules Zuma should return to prison, saying the decision to release Zuma on medical parole was unlawful.

    August 11, 2023 – Zuma is returned to prison to comply with a ruling that his release on ill health was unlawful – but is freed after just an hour under a remission process to address overcrowding in jail.

    January 29, 2024 – The ANC announces it has suspended Zuma’s membership. In December 2023, Zuma announced his support for a rival political party.

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