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Tag: Indictments

  • Oklahoma Black Lives Matter Leader Indicted for Fraud, Money Laundering

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal grand jury indicted the leader of the Black Lives Matter movement in Oklahoma City over allegations that millions of dollars in grant funds were improperly spent on international trips, groceries and personal real estate, prosecutors announced Thursday.

    Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52, was indicted earlier this month on 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering, court records show.

    Court records do not indicate the name of Dickerson’s attorney, and messages left Thursday at her mobile number and by email were not immediately returned.

    According to the indictment, Dickerson served since at least 2016 as the executive director of Black Lives Matter OKC, which accepted charitable donations through its affiliation with the Arizona-based Alliance for Global Justice.

    In total, BLM OKC raised more than $5.6 million dating back to 2020, largely from online donors and national bail funds that were supposed to be used to post bail for individuals arrested in connection with racial justice protests after the killing of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer in 2020, the indictment alleges.

    When those bail funds were returned to BLM OKC, the indictment alleges, Dickerson embezzled at least $3.15 million into her personal accounts and then used the money to pay for trips to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, retail shopping, at least $50,000 in food and grocery deliveries for herself and her children, a personal vehicle, and six properties in Oklahoma City deeded to her or to a company she controlled.

    The indictment also alleges she submitted false annual reports to the alliance stating that the funds were used only for tax-exempt purposes.

    If convicted, Dickerson faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count of wire fraud and 10 years in prison and fines for each count of money laundering.

    In a live video posted on her Facebook page Thursday afternoon, Dickerson said she was not in custody and was “fine.”

    “I cannot make an official comment about what transpired today,” she said. “I am home. I am safe. I have confidence in our team.”

    “A lot of times when people come at you with these types of things … it’s evidence that you are doing the work,” she continued. “That is what I’m standing on.”

    The Black Lives Matter movement first emerged in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. But it was the 2014 death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, that made the slogan “Black lives matter” a rallying cry for progressives and a favorite target of derision for conservatives.

    The Associated Press reported in October that the Justice Department was investigating whether leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement defrauded donors who contributed tens of millions of dollars during racial justice protests in 2020. There was no immediate indication that Dickerson’s indictment is connected to that probe.

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

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  • Crypto mogul Do Kwon to be sentenced for misleading investors who lost billions

    NEW YORK — Cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for misleading investors who lost billions when his company’s crypto ecosystem collapsed in 2022.

    Kwon, known by some as “the cryptocurrency king,” pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court in August to fraud charges stemming from Terraform Labs’ $40 billion crash.

    The company had touted its TerraUSD as a reliable “stablecoin” — a kind of currency typically pegged to stable assets to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. But prosecutors say it was all an illusion that came crumbling down, devastating investors and triggering “a cascade of crises that swept through cryptocurrency markets.”

    Kwon, who hails from South Korea, has agreed to forfeit over $19 million as part of the plea deal.

    While federal sentencing guidelines would recommend a prison term of about 25 years, prosecutors have asked the court to sentence Kwon to 12 years. They cited his guilty plea, the fact that he faces further prosecution in Korea and that he has already served time in Montenegro while awaiting extradition.

    “Kwon’s fraud was colossal in scope, permeating virtually every facet of Terraform’s purported business,” prosecutors wrote in a recent memo to the judge. “His rampant lies left a trail of financial destruction in their wake.”

    Kwon’s attorneys asked that the sentence not exceed five years, arguing in their own memo that his conduct stemmed not from greed, but hubris and desperation.

    In a letter to the judge, Kwon wrote, “I alone am responsible for everyone’s pain. The community looked to me to know the path, and I in my hubris led them astray,” while adding, “I made misrepresentations that came from a brashness that is now a source of deep regret.”

    Authorities said investors worldwide lost money in the downfall of the Singapore crypto firm, which Kwon co-founded in 2018. Around $40 billion in market value was erased for the holders of TerraUSD and its floating sister currency, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg.

    Kwon was extradited to the U.S. from Montenegro after his March 23, 2023, arrest while traveling on a false passport in Europe.

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  • Pakistan Military Court Sentences Ex-Spy Chief Faiz Hameed to 14 Years in Prison

    ISLAMABAD (AP) — A military court on Thursday sentenced a former spy chief of Pakistan to 14 years in prison, more than a year after court-martial proceedings began against him on multiple charges, including engaging in political activities and violating the Official Secrets Act, the military said.

    In a statement, it said the Field General Court Martial tried the former Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence, retired Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, under the Pakistan Army Act during proceedings that lasted 15 months.

    “The accused was tried on four charges related to engaging in political activities, violation of the Official Secrets Act detrimental to the safety and interest of the state, misuse of authority and government resources, and causing wrongful loss to individuals,” the statement said.

    The military said the court found Hameed guilty on all charges after “lengthy and laborious” legal proceedings and sentenced him to 14 years of imprisonment. It said the court-martial followed all legal requirements and that Hameed was provided full rights of defense, including counsel of his choice.

    Hameed has the right to appeal the verdict before the relevant forum, it said.

    The military provided no additional details, but Hameed was widely known to be a close associate to imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is serving multiple sentences on graft and other charges since he was arrested in 2023.

    Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022.

    Hameed was detained in 2024 following an internal probe ordered by Pakistan’s Supreme Court into allegations linked to what became known as the Top City project scam. The Top City company had been developing land near Islamabad for a private housing project.

    Since his arrest, neither the military nor the government had publicly disclosed the specific charges against him.

    The arrest of such a high-profile retired officer last year surprised many in Pakistan, where the army wields significant influence and where detentions of senior or former military officials are rare.

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

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  • Crypto Mogul Do Kwon to Be Sentenced for Misleading Investors Who Lost Billions in Stablecoin Crash

    NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for misleading investors who lost billions when his company’s crypto ecosystem collapsed in 2022.

    Kwon, known by some as “the cryptocurrency king,” pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court in August to fraud charges stemming from Terraform Labs’ $40 billion crash.

    The company had touted its TerraUSD as a reliable “stablecoin” — a kind of currency typically pegged to stable assets to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. But prosecutors say it was all an illusion that came crumbling down, devastating investors and triggering “a cascade of crises that swept through cryptocurrency markets.”

    Kwon, who hails from South Korea, has agreed to forfeit over $19 million as part of the plea deal.

    While federal sentencing guidelines would recommend a prison term of about 25 years, prosecutors have asked the court to sentence Kwon to 12 years. They cited his guilty plea, the fact that he faces further prosecution in Korea and that he has already served time in Montenegro while awaiting extradition.

    “Kwon’s fraud was colossal in scope, permeating virtually every facet of Terraform’s purported business,” prosecutors wrote in a recent memo to the judge. “His rampant lies left a trail of financial destruction in their wake.”

    Kwon’s attorneys asked that the sentence not exceed five years, arguing in their own memo that his conduct stemmed not from greed, but hubris and desperation.

    In a letter to the judge, Kwon wrote, “I alone am responsible for everyone’s pain. The community looked to me to know the path, and I in my hubris led them astray,” while adding, “I made misrepresentations that came from a brashness that is now a source of deep regret.”

    Authorities said investors worldwide lost money in the downfall of the Singapore crypto firm, which Kwon co-founded in 2018. Around $40 billion in market value was erased for the holders of TerraUSD and its floating sister currency, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg.

    Kwon was extradited to the U.S. from Montenegro after his March 23, 2023, arrest while traveling on a false passport in Europe.

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

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  • Prison officials tell judge ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO is competent to stand trial

    NEW YORK — Federal prison officials say the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is fit to stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges after he was hospitalized with Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and a traumatic brain injury.

    Michael Jeffries had been ordered to be hospitalized in May. But in a letter filed in federal court in New York on Wednesday, Blake Lott, the acting warden at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina said the 81-year-old is “now competent to stand trial.”

    Lott didn’t provide further details in the letter but said the center has provided a report to the judge handling the case. Jeffries had been discharged from FMC-Butner on Nov. 21, according to previous filings in the case.

    Brian Bieber, an attorney for Jeffries, responded that other doctors had previously found his client incompetent to proceed.

    “A doctor from the Bureau of Prisons is of a different opinion,” he said in an email Wednesday. “We look forward to the Judge hearing the medical evidence, and deciding on the appropriate course of action moving forward.”

    The letter comes as prosecutors and Jeffries’ lawyers are expected to confer by phone Thursday with U.S. District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury on the status of the case.

    Jeffries pleaded not guilty last year to federal charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

    His lawyers had argued that the former executive required around-the-clock care and was unable to understand the nature and consequences of the case against him or to assist properly in his defense.

    They had said at least four medical professionals concluded that Jeffries’ cognitive issues were “progressive and incurable” and that he would not “regain his competency and cannot be restored to competency in the future.”

    Jeffries’ lawyers and prosecutors had requested that he be hospitalized in federal Bureau of Prisons custody so he could receive treatment that might allow his criminal case to proceed.

    Choudhury agreed, ordering him placed in a hospital for up to four months. Before then, Jeffries had been free on a $10 million bond.

    Prosecutors say Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man used the promise of modeling jobs to lure men to drug-fueled sex parties in New York City, the Hamptons and other locations. The charges echoed sexual misconduct accusations made in a civil case and the media in recent years.

    Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after more than two decades at the helm. His partner, Matthew Smith, has also pleaded not guilty and remains out on bond, as has their co-defendant, James Jacobson.

    ___

    Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

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  • Trump Vows to ‘Permanently Pause’ Migration From Poor Nations in Anti-Immigrant Social Media Screed

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump vowed on Thanksgiving night to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations in a blistering anti-immigrant screed posted to social media.

    The extended rant came in the wake of the Wednesday shooting of two National Guard members who were deployed to patrol Washington, D.C. under Trump’s orders, one of whom died shortly before the president spoke to U.S. troops by video on Thursday evening.

    A 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War is facing charges for the shooting.

    The president said on his Truth Social platform that “most” foreign-born U.S. residents “are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels” as he blamed them for crime across the country that is predominantly committed by U.S. citizens.

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

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  • Louisiana death row inmate released on bail after decades behind bars

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana man who spent nearly three decades on death row has been released on bail Wednesday after his conviction was overturned earlier this year.

    Jimmie Duncan had originally been convicted of first-degree murder in 1998 after prosecutors accused him of raping and drowning 23-month-old Haley Oliveaux, the daughter of his then-girlfriend Allison Layton Statham.

    Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Alvin Sharp threw out that conviction in April after hearing expert testimony that the forensic evidence which put Duncan behind bars was “not scientifically defensible” and that Oliveaux’s death appeared to be the result of an “accidental drowning.” Similar faulty forensic bite mark analysis has led to dozens of other wrongful convictions or charges.

    “The presumption is not great that he is guilty,” Sharp wrote in his order Friday granting Duncan bail, citing the new evidence presented at an evidentiary hearing last year and Duncan’s lack of prior criminal history.

    Duncan’s attorneys said in a statement that Sharp’s ruling earlier this year provided “clear and convincing evidence showing that Mr. Duncan is factually innocent.” They added that Duncan’s release on bail “marks a significant step forward for Mr. Duncan’s complete exoneration.”

    Since 1973, more than 200 people on death row have been exonerated, including 12 people in Louisiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In Louisiana, which has one of the highest wrongful conviction rates in the nation, the last death row exoneration came in 2016. Earlier this month, a man who served decades in prison before being exonerated won election to serve as the chief recordkeeper of New Orleans’ criminal court.

    Duncan, whose vacated conviction is still being reviewed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, was released after posting a $150,000 bond. He plans to live with a relative in central Louisiana.

    Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who is pushing to hasten executions of death row inmates, said that Duncan should not be released on bail while the Louisiana Supreme Court reviews his case.

    But the high court agreed to let a district judge rule on Duncan’s bail request.

    During Duncan’s bail hearing in Ouachita Parish, the mother of the girl he was accused of killing told the judge that she had become convinced of Duncan’s innocence. Instead, Statham believed her daughter, who she said had a history of seizures, had accidentally drowned in a bathtub.

    Her daughter “wasn’t killed,” Statham said according to court records. “Haley died because she was sick.”

    Statham told the court that the lives of her family and Duncan “have been destroyed by the lie” she believed prosecutors and forensic experts had concocted.

    Prosecutors had relied on bite mark analysis and an autopsy conducted by two experts later linked to at least 10 wrongful convictions, according to Duncan’s legal team, which described the pair as discredited “charlatans.”

    Mississippi-based forensic dentist Michael West and pathologist Steven Hayne examined Oliveaux’s body.

    A video recording of the examination shows West “forcibly pushing a mold of Mr. Duncan’s teeth into the child’s body — creating the bite marks” later used to convict him, a court-filing from Duncan’s legal team stated. A state-appointed expert, unaware of this method, testified during trial that the bite marks on the body matched Duncan’s.

    “The horror story that they put out and desecrated my baby’s memory makes me infuriated,” Statham said.

    “I was not informed of anything that would have exonerated Mr. Duncan at all,” she added. “Had I been then, things would have turned out a lot different for Mr. Duncan and all of our families.”

    An Associated Press review from 2013 found at least two dozen wrongful convictions or charges based on bite mark evidence since 2000.

    “Bite mark evidence is junk science, and there is no more prejudicial type of junk science that exists than bite mark evidence,” M. Chris Fabricant, an Innocence Project lawyer representing Duncan, told the court during the bail hearing.

    Hayne, the pathologist, is deceased. West has previously said that DNA testing has made bite mark analysis obsolete, yet he has defended his work in other cases that led to overturned convictions. The pair’s testimony led two Mississippi men, Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer, to serve a combined three decades in prison in two separate cases for the rape and murder of young girls until DNA evidence cleared them of the crimes.

    Prosecutors are seeking to reinstate Duncan’s conviction and pointed to the 1994 grand jury indictment in his case as grounds for keeping him locked up, court records show. The office of Ouachita Parish District Attorney Robert Tew declined to comment, citing the Louisiana Supreme Court’s pending review.

    Duncan was one of 55 people on death row in Louisiana, held at the state prison in Angola. After a 15-year hiatus, Louisiana carried out its first execution in March.

    Duncan’s legal team described him as a “model prisoner” who helped other death row inmates obtain their GEDs and has “strong community support for his release.”

    ___

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

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  • California labor leader pleads not guilty to misdemeanor over immigration protest

    LOS ANGELES — The leader of a major labor union in Southern California who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge and will face trial in January.

    David Huerta is president of the Service Employees International Union California. He was arrested June 6 while joining a large crowd of demonstrators outside a business in Los Angeles where federal agents were investigating suspected immigration violations.

    Huerta was initially charged with obstruction, resistance or opposition to a federal officer — a class A felony. However, federal prosecutors last month dismissed the original felony charge of conspiracy to impede an officer.

    On Tuesday, he entered a not guilty plea to misdemeanor obstruction of justice. His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 20, 2026, the Los Angeles Times reported.

    During the June protest, Huerta sat down in front of a vehicular gate and encouraged others to walk in circles to try to prevent law enforcement from going in or out, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in an earlier federal court filing.

    An officer told Huerta to leave, then put his hands on Huerta to move him out of the way of a vehicle, the agent wrote. Huerta pushed back, and the officer pushed Huerta to the ground and arrested him, according to the filing.

    Huerta’s union represents hundreds of thousands of janitors, security officers and other workers across California. His arrest became a rallying cry for immigrant advocates across the country as they called for his release and an end to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

    Abbe David Lowell and Marilyn Bednarski, Huerta’s attorneys, said in a statement that they will seek “the speediest trial” to vindicate him.

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  • Man who fatally attacked a San Francisco woman will get life in prison

    SAN FRANCISCO — A man convicted of beating a San Francisco grandmother who later died is facing life in prison, a judge said Tuesday.

    San Francisco Superior Court Judge Eric Fleming said Keonte Gathron, 25, will likely be sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole in the death of Yik Oi Huang. The judge postponed sentencing until next week because the defendant had not received a presentence report, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

    Gathron was convicted earlier this month of murder, carjacking, robbery, elder abuse, child endangerment and other charges stemming from a two-week crime rampage in January 2019. Authorities say he targeted victims of Asian descent or who spoke little English.

    Huang, 88, was attacked on her morning walk. She was found injured at a playground in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood where she lived. Her skull, arms and neck were broken. Her home was burglarized minutes afterward.

    Huang received long-term care at a hospital but died in January 2020. Her assault preceded the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic and rattled the city’s Asian American community.

    Gathron represented himself and denied culpability but produced no evidence. He also accused police of manipulating surveillance video, DNA and other evidence.

    Fleming announced he intends to sentence Gathron to two life sentences — one with the possibility of parole — and over 30 years for other offenses. Gathron plans to appeal.

    Huang’s three daughters and several grandchildren spoke in court, in English and Cantonese. They described Huang as a hard-working wife, mother and garment factory employee in China who made sure her children were fed. She realized a dream of moving to the U.S. and owning a home in San Francisco.

    A tearful Gathron said he “understood the pain and loss” but insisted he was innocent.

    The park where Huang died was renamed Yik Oi Huang Peace and Friendship Park last year.

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  • Rights Groups Slam Trump Administration for Ending Myanmar Deportation Protection as Civil War Rages

    BANGKOK (AP) — Rights groups on Tuesday slammed the Trump administration’s decision to end protected status for Myanmar citizens due to the country’s “notable progress in governance and stability,” even though it remains mired in a bloody civil war and the head of its military regime faces possible U.N. war crimes charges.

    “The situation in Burma has improved enough that it is safe for Burmese citizens to return home,” she said in a statement.

    The military under Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing seized power from democratically-elected Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 and is seeking to add a sheen of international legitimacy to its government with the upcoming elections. But with Suu Kyi in prison and her party banned, most outside observers have denounced the elections as a sham.

    “Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem is treating those people just like her family’s dog that she famously shot down in cold blood because it misbehaved — if her order is carried out, she will literally be sending them back to prisons, brutal torture, and death in Myanmar,” Phil Robertson, the director of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates, said in a statement.

    “Secretary Noem is seriously deluded if she thinks the upcoming elections in Myanmar will be even remotely free and fair, and she is just making things up when she claims non-existent ceasefires proclaimed by Myanmar’s military junta will result in political progress.”

    The military takeover sparked a national uprising with fierce fighting in many parts of the country, and pro-democracy groups and other forces have taken over large swaths of territory.

    In its fight, the military has been accused of the indiscriminate use of landmines, the targeting of schools, hospitals and places of worship in its attacks, and the use of civilians as human shields.

    An arrest warrant was also requested last year for Min Aung Hlaing by International Criminal Court prosecutors accusing him of crimes against humanity for the persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority before he seized power.

    The shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, established by elected lawmakers who were barred from taking their seats after the military took power in 2021, said it was saddened by Homeland Security’s decision.

    NUG spokesperson Nay Phone Latt said the military is conducting forced conscription, attacking civilians on a daily basis, and that the elections were excluding any real opposition and would not be accepted by anybody.

    “The reasons given for revoking TPS do not reflect the reality in Myanmar,” Nay Phone Latt told The Associated Press.

    In her statement, Noem said her decision to remove the “TPS” protection was made in consultation with the State Department, though its latest report on human rights in Myanmar cites “credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; disappearances; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest or detention.”

    And the State Department’s latest travel guidance for Americans is to avoid the country completely.

    “Do not travel to Burma due to armed conflict, the potential for civil unrest, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, poor health infrastructure, land mines and unexploded ordnance, crime, and wrongful detentions,” the guidance reads.

    According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 30,000 people have been arrested for political reasons since the military seized power, and 7,488 have been killed.

    Still, Homeland Security said that “the secretary determined that, overall, country conditions have improved to the point where Burmese citizens can return home in safety,” while adding that allowing them to remain temporarily in the U.S. is “contrary to the national interest.”

    John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said that “extensive reporting on Myanmar contradicts almost every assertion” in the Homeland Security statement.

    The decision could affect as many as 4,000 people, he said.

    “Homeland Security’s misstatements in revoking TPS for people from Myanmar are so egregious that it is hard to imagine who would believe them,” he said in a statement.

    “Perhaps no one was expected to.”

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

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  • Lithuanian Court Convicts Man in Arson Attack on IKEA Store Last Year

    VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — A Lithuanian court convicted a Ukrainian national on Monday of carrying out an arson attack last year on an IKEA store in the Baltic nation’s capital, which authorities have accused Russian military intelligence of being behind.

    The Vilnius regional court convicted Daniil Bardadim of charges including a terrorist act, illegal possession of explosives and arrival in Lithuania with the aim of carrying out terrorist acts. Bardadim, who had pleaded guilty, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison — a bit short of the four years prosecutors had sought.

    The store in Vilnius was attacked on May 9, 2024. Investigators have said that Bardadim and another person agreed during a secret meeting in Poland to set fire to and blow up shopping centers in Lithuania and Latvia for a reward of 10,000 euros ($11,500) plus a BMW car.

    Prosecutors said that Bardadim, who was a minor at the time of the attack, acted “in the interests of the military structures and security services of the Russian Federation.” IKEA was allegedly targeted because the company withdrew from Russia and because of Sweden’s aid to Ukraine.

    The device was set off around 4 a.m. but the resulting blaze was extinguished quickly by employees and firefighters.

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  • Federal Prosecutors Say 2 Texas Men Made Plans to Take Over a Haitian Island

    DALLAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors say two Texas men plotted to take over a Haitian island, one going so far as joining the U.S. military to acquire training for an armed attack, with the goal of killing all the men and using the women and children for sex.

    Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, who are from the Dallas area, were indicted Thursday on charges of conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Texas. They were also charged with production of child pornography over allegations they persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

    Attorneys for both men said Friday they will enter not guilty pleas.

    “They never tried to do any of this,” said John Helms, who is Thomas’ attorney.

    An indictment filed in a Texas federal court accuses the men of planning to recruit the homeless to join their coup in Haiti, buy a sailboat and seize power on Gonave Island, which has about 87,000 residents. It covers roughly 290 square miles (751 square kilometers) square miles and is the largest island surrounding Hispaniola.

    Helms said that while he has not yet seen the government’s evidence, he thinks prosecutors “are going to have a real hard time” trying to prove that Weisenburg and Thomas actually intended to carry out such a plot.

    David Finn, Weisenburg’s attorney, said he encourages everyone to “tap the breaks” and reserve judgment. He said people have been telling him it is “the craziest thing” they have heard, and his response has been: “Yeah, it is.”

    According to the indictment, the two men worked on the plot from August 2024 through July and that preparations included researching weapons and ammunition and plans to buy military-type rifles. Prosecutors also allege that both men tried to learn the Haitian Creole language.

    Weisenburg allegedly enrolled in a fire academy around Dallas to receive training that would be useful in the attack but failed out of the school. He then allegedly traveled to Thailand and planned to learn to sail, only to never end up enrolling in lessons because of the cost.

    Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January, according to the indictment, and told Weisenburg in a social media message that he had joined the military to further their planned attack. While in the Air Force, Thomas changed his assignment to Andrews Air Base in Maryland to help in the recruiting of homeless people in Washington, D.C., the indictment said.

    The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations was among the investigating agencies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The Air Force did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Thomas’ service on Friday.

    The men face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the child pornography charge and up to life in prison if convicted on the conspiracy charge.

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  • Network that trafficked stolen antiquities across Europe dismantled with 35 arrests

    SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Law enforcement agencies working across several countries dismantled a sophisticated criminal network trafficking stolen cultural goods across Europe, Bulgarian authorities said Thursday.

    A coordinated operation spanning seven countries working with Eurojust and Europol led to the arrest of 35 suspects linked to a smuggling ring that was attempting to sell thousands of ancient artifacts stolen from museums across Europe. Around 20 people face charges of antiquities trafficking and money laundering, Bulgarian Prosecutor Angel Kanev told a news briefing.

    Kanev said the criminal group has been operating in Western Europe, the Balkans, the United States and other countries for over 16 years. The money laundering investigation has so far identified over $1 billion in illicit funds.

    On Wednesday, judicial and law enforcement authorities from Albania, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom executed coordinated actions in their respective countries.

    According to a Europol news release, the operation included 131 searches of houses, vehicles and bank safes in those countries. More than 3,000 artifacts were seized, including antique golden and silver coins and other antiquities with an estimated value of over 100 million euros ($116 million). Other seized items included artworks, weapons, documents, electronic equipment, large amounts of cash, and investment gold.

    Paolo Befera, deputy head of the Italian Carabinieri’s specialized cultural heritage protection directorate, hailed the operation as “the largest of this manner ever conducted,” noting that in Italy alone, around 300 historical artifacts were seized from the alleged traffickers.

    The Balkan region and Italy — home to invaluable Greek and Roman archaeological treasures — have long attracted criminal networks engaged in looting and theft. Despite strict national laws, such artifacts remain highly sought-after on the international black market.

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  • Ex-Georgia Deputies Cleared of Murder in Death of Black Man Shocked at Least 15 Times

    SANDERSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Three former Georgia sheriff’s deputies have been found not guilty of murder in the death of a Black man who raised a white homeowner’s suspicions by asking for a drink of water while walking through a small Georgia town.

    Eurie Martin, 58, was repeatedly shocked with Tasers after he refused to answer their questions. Henry Lee Copeland, Michael Howell and Rhett Scott said he was walking illegally in the road, littered by dropping a soda can and aggressively refused to follow their commands.

    After eight years and two trials, the jury verdicts late Thursday also cleared all three of aggravated assault. Scott was acquitted on all charges, but jurors deadlocked on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct against Copeland and Howell. A mistrial in 2021 had ended in a deadlock on all counts.

    “We’re elated,” Karen Scott said after her son Rhett was finally cleared. “Sorry for the Martin family, but we are just elated.”

    It wasn’t immediately clear Friday morning if prosecutors would pursue a third trial against Copeland and Howell on the charges the jury couldn’t decide.

    Attorney and civil rights activist Francys Johnson is still pursuing a lawsuit in federal court on the family’s behalf. “As a free man in this country, he should have been able to walk home,” Johnson said.

    “After eight long years, I’m just very disappointed,” said Martin’s sister Helen Gilbert.

    Martin had been walking through the town of Deepstep in 95-degree heat in July 2017, taking a 30-mile (50-kilometer) journey to see his relatives for his birthday. Trial testimony showed he was under considerable stress from the heat, had a preexisting weakened heart and was dehydrated. He also had been treated for schizoaffective disorder, his family said. The trial was covered by Georgia Public Broadcasting and WMAZ.

    The homeowner who alerted authorities, Cyrus Harris Jr., testified about seeing Martin walk into his yard.

    “He was a Black man, big guy,” Harris recalled. “He was a rough-looking character. He looked like he hadn’t had a bath in several days.”

    Harris said he noticed Martin carried half a soda can in his hand.

    “That’s when he told me he wanted some water. And I wasn’t going to go for that,” said Harris, who called 911.

    The responding deputies found Martin in the roadway. They said he refused to stop walking, threw down the can and took an aggressive stance, prompting them to fire Tasers when he didn’t follow instructions. Dash-cameras and bystander cellphones recorded what happened next: Martin was surrounded by the deputies as a puff of smoke appeared when a Taser discharged. Martin flopped to the ground, then picked himself up and tried to walk away.

    Deputies ultimately pulled the triggers at least 15 times, sending current into Martin’s body for about a minute and a half in total. An autopsy by a Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner concluded his death was a homicide. The Washington County sheriff fired all three of these men after Martin’s death

    In his closing argument, defense attorney Shawn Merzlak said their use of force was reasonable.

    “This case is not ‘poor Mr. Eurie Martin getting tased because he wanted water,’” Merzlak told jurors. “Police officers have a right to detain somebody if they suspect they have committed a crime.”

    Prosecutor George Lipscomb closed by calling that rationale absurd.

    “They want this to be the standard for your community: People killed for littering?” Lipscomb asked jurors. “People killed by walking in the street? Is that Washington County? Is this who you are?”

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  • Fugees rapper sentenced to prison over illegal donations to Obama campaign

    WASHINGTON — Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.

    Michel, 52, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

    In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

    Justice Department prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for Michel, whom they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”

    “His sentence should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed,” they wrote.

    Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

    Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment for Michel given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys said in a court filing.

    “The Government’s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence,” they wrote.

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  • Fugees Rapper Pras Michel Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison Over Illegal Donations to Obama Campaign

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.

    Michel, 52, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

    In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

    Justice Department prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for Michel, whom they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”

    “His sentence should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed,” they wrote.

    Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

    Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment for Michel given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys said in a court filing.

    “The Government’s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence,” they wrote.

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  • Woman Who Worked for Congressman Accused of Staging Politically Motivated Attack

    EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A former staffer for a congressman told authorities she was attacked by three armed men who tied her up, slashed her and scrawled an anti-Trump statement on her stomach while she was walking in a New Jersey nature preserve this summer, according to authorities. But federal prosecutors are now accusing her of staging the scene and making the whole thing up.

    The 26-year-old woman, who worked for Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew, and a friend had reported the attack July 23 at a nature preserve in Egg Harbor Township, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. The friend called 911 saying the attackers had a gun, knew the woman’s name and that she worked for Van Drew, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump.

    Responding police soon found the woman lying in a wooded area with her shirt pulled over her head and her hands and feet zip tied, according to prosecutors. She had several cuts on her face, neck, chest and shoulder, while slogans criticizing Trump and Van Drew were written with black marker on her stomach and back.

    The woman later repeated her claims about the attack while being interviewed by police and FBI agents, according to prosecutors. But authorities allege the story soon started to unravel when they searched the woman’s Maserati and found zip ties and duct tape inside.

    A search of her cellphone found she was following communities on Reddit for “bodymods” and “scarification” and had obtained directions to the studio of a body-modification artist in Pennsylvania, court documents say.

    The artist at the studio showed investigators messages from the woman requesting specific scar patterns on her body and photos from after the procedure, which matched the lacerations she had when she was found in the woods, prosecutors say.

    The woman was charged with conspiracy to convey false statements and hoaxes and another count of making false statements to federal law enforcement. She made her initial court appearance Wednesday.

    A statement issued by Van Drew’s office said he was “deeply saddened” about the incident and said their “thoughts and prayers” were with the woman, adding “we hope she’s getting the care she needs.” His office did not immediately respond Thursday to questions on whether she was still working for the congressman at the time of the incident.

    Louis Barbone, a lawyer representing the woman, noted she is presumed innocent of the charges.

    “At the age of 26, my client served her community working full time to serve the constituents of the Congressman with loyalty and fidelity. She did that while being a fulltime student,” Barbone said in a statement issued Thursday. ”Under the law she is presumed innocent and reserves all her defenses for a presentation in a court of law.”

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  • What to Know About Florida Congresswoman Charged With Stealing Disaster Funds

    A federal indictment charges U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida with stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds, laundering some of the money through straw donors to her congressional campaign and then conspiring to file a false tax return, the Justice Department announced.

    Federal prosecutors accused the Democrat of stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency overpayments that her family health care company received through a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract. Cherfilus-McCormick has denied the charges and has no plans to resign, according to a statement shared by her chief of staff.

    “This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment — and I am innocent. The timing alone is curious and clearly meant to distract from far more pressing national issues,” Cherfilus-McCormick’s statement reads in part. “I look forward to my day in court. Until then, I will continue fighting for my constituents.”


    What’s in the indictment?

    The indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Miami on Wednesday accuses Cherfilus-McCormick and several co-defendants of conspiring to steal $5 million in overpayments to her family’s health care company, Trinity Healthcare Services, under a 2021 contract to register people for COVID-19 vaccinations.

    Prosecutors allege the funds were distributed to various accounts, including to friends and relatives who in turn donated to the campaign that got her elected to Congress. A “substantial portion” of the misappropriated funds were used for the campaign or for the “personal benefit” of Cherfilus-McCormick and others accused, prosecutors claim.

    Cherfilus-McCormick maintains her innocence. She also said she’s cooperated with “every lawful request,” and will continue to do so “until this matter is resolved,” according to a statement provided by her chief of staff.

    “Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick is a committed public servant, who is dedicated to her constituents. We will fight to clear her good name,” wrote her attorneys David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss and Melissa Madrigal.

    Cherfilus-McCormick won a special election in January 2022 to represent Florida’s 20th District in parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties after Rep. Alcee Hastings died in 2021.


    What did previous investigations find?

    In December 2024, a Florida state agency sued Trinity Healthcare Services, saying the company owned by Cherfilus-McCormick’s family had overcharged the state by nearly $5.8 million for work done during the pandemic and wouldn’t give the money back.

    The Florida Division of Emergency Management said it discovered the problem after a single $5 million overpayment drew attention. Cherfilus-McCormick was the CEO of Trinity at the time.

    The House Ethics Committee unanimously voted in July to reauthorize an investigative subcommittee to examine the allegations involving the congresswoman.

    The Office of Congressional Ethics said in a January report that Cherfilus-McCormick’s income in 2021 was more than $6 million higher than in 2020, driven by nearly $5.75 million in consulting and profit-sharing fees received from Trinity Healthcare Services.

    The indictment charges Cherfilus-McCormick and her 2021 tax preparer with conspiring to file a false federal tax return by falsely claiming political spending and other personal expenses as business deductions and inflated charitable contributions.

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

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  • Philippine Court Convicts Former Mayor of Human Trafficking

    MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine court convicted a former mayor, who officials say is a Chinese national, of human trafficking charges for helping establish an illegal online gaming complex in a northern province where hundreds of Chinese and other foreign nationals were forced to conduct scams.

    The Pasig city regional trial court in metropolitan Manila sentenced Alice Guo to life in prison with seven other Filipino and Chinese co-accused, and ordered them to pay a fine of 2 million pesos ($34,000) each and compensate several trafficking victims, who filed the complaints.

    Guo denied all allegations against her and says she is a Filipino citizen.

    Vast online scam centers have flourished in Southeast Asia in recent years, especially in the border areas of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The U.N. has estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have been trapped in virtual slavery by gangs who force them to financially exploit people around the world through false romances, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.

    In the Philippines, scam operations rapidly built vast compounds with buildings or rented upscale offices in Manila’s financial districts and moved around large numbers of workers by bribing authorities.

    Philippine authorities allege that Guo is a Chinese national named Guo Huaping, who faked Filipino citizenship to run for mayor of the town of Bamban in northern Tarlac province, where she ran a sprawling illegal scam compound near the town hall.

    “They used the parcels of land and buildings to house the trafficked workers and to force them to work as scammers,” the court said in its decision.

    Last year, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a ban on hundreds of mostly Chinese-run online gaming operations, which proliferated under the administration of previous President Rodrigo Duterte. Marcos accused the gaming operations of crimes including financial scams, human trafficking, torture, kidnapping and murder.

    Many have been raided and shut down since then, with tens of thousands of trafficked workers rescued and sent back to their home countries. But more scam centers remain in operation, officials said.

    “The conviction of Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, is a victory against corruption, human trafficking, cybercrime and many other transnational crimes,” said Sen. Risa Hontiveros. “But it is far from over.”

    Hontiveros led televised Senate inquiries last year that exposed underground online scam operations in the Philippines, along with Guo’s alleged criminal involvement.

    Philippine security officials and Hontiveros have said the scam centers operated by Guo and other Chinese nationals may have also been used for espionage by China, which has had increasingly fierce territorial conflicts with the Philippines in the South China Sea and has strongly opposed the presence of American forces in the country. The Philippines is the oldest U.S. treaty ally in Asia.

    “We will continue to demand accountability from every government agency that failed in their duties, and we will continue to investigate the full extent of Chinese intelligence operations in our country,” Hontiveros said. “And to all others who enabled Alice Guo’s criminal empire: the Philippines is not a playground for exploitation, infiltration and espionage.”

    Guo has not been charged with espionage and she denies any connection to spying.

    The town of Bamban is located several kilometers (miles) from a Philippine air force base, where American forces have been allowed to maintain a rotating presence with their aircraft and weapons under a 2014 defense pact.

    Guo was dismissed from her post as mayor last year by a state Ombudsman, who cited grave misconduct. She fled the Philippines in July 2024, but was tracked down in Indonesia, where she was arrested and deported to the Philippines. She has been in detention since last year.

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  • US Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida Indicted on Charges of Stealing $5M in Disaster Funds

    MIAMI (AP) — U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida has been indicted on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to aid her 2021 campaign, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

    The Democrat is accused of stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency overpayments that her family health care company had received through a federally funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract, federal prosecutors said. A portion of the money was then funneled to support her campaign through candidate contributions, prosecutors allege.

    “Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”

    A phone message left at Cherfilus-McCormick’s Washington office was not immediately returned.

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