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Tag: Indictments

  • US House members hear pleas for tougher justice policies after stabbing death of refugee

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — U.S. House members visited North Carolina’s largest city on Monday to hear from family members of violent-crime victims who pleaded for tougher criminal justice policies in the wake of last month’s stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte commuter train.

    A judiciary subcommittee meeting convened in Charlotte to listen to many speakers who described local court systems in North Carolina and South Carolina that they say have failed to protect the public and keep defendants in jail while awaiting trials.

    The meeting was prompted by the Aug. 22 stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska on a light rail car and the resulting apprehension of a suspect who had been previously arrested more than a dozen times.

    “The same system that failed Mary failed Iryna. Our hearts are broken for her family and her friends and we grieve with them,” Mia Alderman, the grandmother of 2020 murder victim Mary Santina Collins in Charlotte, told panelists. Alderman said defendants in her granddaughter’s case still haven’t been tried: “We need accountability. We need reform. We need to ensure that those accused of heinous crimes are swiftly prosecuted.”

    A magistrate had allowed the commuter train defendant, Decarlos Brown Jr., to be released on a misdemeanor charge in January on a written promise to appear, without any bond. Now Brown is charged with both first-degree murder in state court and a federal count in connection with Zarutska’s death. Both crimes can be punishable by the death penalty.

    Public outrage intensified with the release of security video showing the attack, leading to accusations from Republicans all the way to President Donald Trump that policies by Democratic leaders in Charlotte and statewide are more focused on helping criminals than victims. Democratic committee members argued that Republicans are the ones who have reduced crime-control funds or failed to provide funding for more district attorneys and mental health services.

    “The hearing for me is not really about public safety,” Democratic Rep. Alma Adams, who represents most of Charlotte. “It’s about my colleagues trying to paint Democrats as soft on crime — and we’re not — and engaging in political theater, probably to score some headlines.”

    Dena King, a former U.S. attorney for western North Carolina during Joe Biden’s administration, testified that Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, needs dozens of additional prosecutors to cover a county of 1.2 million people. And a crime statistician said that rates of murder and violent crime are falling nationwide and in Charlotte after increases early in the 2020s.

    Republicans, in turn, blasted Democratic members, saying additional funding wouldn’t have prevented the deaths of Zarutska or the other homicide victims highlighted Monday. And they attempted to question the crime figures as misleading.

    “This is not time for politics. This is not time for any race. It’s not time of any party. It’s about a time of justice,” said GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, representing in part Charlotte’s suburbs. He spoke while holding a poster of a screenshot of the video showing Zarutska and her attacker. Adams protested Norman’s use of the placard.

    In response to Zarutska’s death, the Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature last week approved a criminal justice package that would bar cashless bail in many circumstances, limit the discretion magistrates and judges have in making pretrial release decisions and seek to ensure more defendants undergo mental health evaluations. The bill now sits on Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk for his consideration.

    Committee Republicans also cited the need for more restrictive bail policies for magistrates and aggressive prosecutors not willing to drop charges for violent crimes.

    Another speaker, Steve Federico, from suburban Charlotte, demanded justice for his 22-year-old daughter, Logan, who was shot to death in May at a home in Columbia, South Carolina, while visiting friends. The suspect charged in her killing had faced nearly 40 charges within the last decade, WIS-TV reported.

    “I’’m not going to be quiet until somebody helps. Logan deserves to be heard,” Steve Federico told the representatives. “Everyone on this panel deserves to be heard. And we will — trust me.”

    __

    Robertson reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.

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  • Louisiana issues a warrant to arrest California doctor accused of mailing abortion pills

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    BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana is pursuing a criminal case against another out-of-state doctor accused of mailing abortion pills to a patient in the state, court documents filed this month revealed.

    A warrant for the arrest of a California doctor is a rare charge of violating one of the state abortion bans that has taken effect since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and allowed enforcement.

    It represents an additional front in a growing legal battle between liberal and conservative states over prescribing abortion medications via telehealth and mailing them to patients.

    Pills are the most common way abortions are accessed in the U.S., and are a major reason that, despite the bans, abortion numbers rose last year, according to a report.

    Louisiana said in a court case filed Sept. 19 that it had issued a warrant for a California-based doctor who it says provided pills to a Louisiana woman in 2023.

    Both the woman, Rosalie Markezich, and the state attorney’s general, are seeking to be part of a lawsuit that seeks to order drug regulators to bar telehealth prescriptions to mifepristone, one of the two drugs usually used in combination for medication abortions.

    In court filings, Markezich says her boyfriend at the time used her email address to order drugs from Dr. Remy Coeytaux, a California physician, and sent her $150, which she forwarded to Coeytaux. She said she had no other contact with the doctor.

    She said she did not want to take the pills but felt forced to and said in the filing that “the trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me” and that it would not have happened if telehealth prescriptions to the drug were off limits.

    The accusation builds on a position taken by anti-abortion groups: That allowing abortion pills to be prescribed by phone or video call and filled by mail opens the door to women being coerced to take them.

    “Rosalie is bravely representing many woman who are victimized by the illegal, immoral, and unethical conduct of these drug dealers,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement.

    Murrill’s office did not immediately answer questions about what charges Coeytaux faces, or when the warrant was issued. But under the state’s ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy, physicians convicted of providing abortion face up to 15 years in prison and $200,000 in fines.

    Coeytaux is also the target of a lawsuit filed in July in federal court by a Texas man who says the doctor illegally provided his girlfriend with abortion pills.

    Coeytaux did not immediately respond to emails or a phone message.

    The combination of a Louisiana criminal case and a Texas civil case over abortion pills is also playing out surrounding a New York doctor, Margaret Carpenter. New York authorities are refusing to extradite Dr. Carpenter to Louisiana or to enforce for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton the $100,000 civil judgment against her.

    In the Louisiana case, officials said a pregnant minor’s mother requested the abortion medication online and directed her daughter to take them. The mother was arrested, pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.

    New York officials cite a law there that seeks to protect medical providers who prescribe abortion medications to patients in states with abortion bans — or where such prescriptions by telehealth violate the law.

    New York and California are among the eight states that have shield laws with such provisions, according to a tally by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

    The legal filings that revealed the Louisiana charge against Coeytaux are part of an effort for Louisiana, along with Florida and Texas, to join a lawsuit filed last year by the Republican attorneys general for Idaho, Kansas and Missouri to roll back federal approvals for mifepristone.

    This year, both Louisiana and Texas have adopted laws to target out-of-state providers of abortion pills.

    The Louisiana law lets patients who receive abortions sue providers and others. The Texas law goes further and allows anyone to sue those who prescribe such pills in the state.

    Both Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary have said they are conducting a full review of mifepristone’s safety and effectiveness.

    Medication abortion has been available in the U.S. since 2000, when the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of mifepristone.

    ___

    Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

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  • US House Members Hear Pleas for Tougher Justice Policies After Stabbing Death of Refugee

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    CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — U.S. House members visited North Carolina’s largest city on Monday to hear from family members of violent-crime victims who pleaded for tougher criminal justice policies in the wake of last month’s stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte commuter train.

    A judiciary subcommittee meeting convened in Charlotte to listen to many speakers who described local court systems in North Carolina and South Carolina that they say have failed to protect the public and keep defendants in jail while awaiting trials.

    The meeting was prompted by the Aug. 22 stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska on a light rail car and the resulting apprehension of a suspect who had been previously arrested more than a dozen times.

    “The same system that failed Mary failed Iryna. Our hearts are broken for her family and her friends and we grieve with them,” Mia Alderman, the grandmother of 2020 murder victim Mary Santina Collins in Charlotte, told panelists. Alderman said defendants in her granddaughter’s case still haven’t been tried: “We need accountability. We need reform. We need to ensure that those accused of heinous crimes are swiftly prosecuted.”

    A magistrate had allowed the commuter train defendant, Decarlos Brown Jr., to be released on a misdemeanor charge in January on a written promise to appear, without any bond. Now Brown is charged with both first-degree murder in state court and a federal count in connection with Zarutska’s death. Both crimes can be punishable by the death penalty.

    Public outrage intensified with the release of security video showing the attack, leading to accusations from Republicans all the way to President Donald Trump that policies by Democratic leaders in Charlotte and statewide are more focused on helping criminals than victims. Democratic committee members argued that Republicans are the ones who have reduced crime-control funds or failed to provide funding for more district attorneys and mental health services.

    “The hearing for me is not really about public safety,” Democratic Rep. Alma Adams, who represents most of Charlotte. “It’s about my colleagues trying to paint Democrats as soft on crime — and we’re not — and engaging in political theater, probably to score some headlines.”

    Dena King, a former U.S. attorney for western North Carolina during Joe Biden’s administration, testified that Mecklenburg County, which includes Charlotte, needs dozens of additional prosecutors to cover a county of 1.2 million people. And a crime statistician said that rates of murder and violent crime are falling nationwide and in Charlotte after increases early in the 2020s.

    Republicans, in turn, blasted Democratic members, saying additional funding wouldn’t have prevented the deaths of Zarutska or the other homicide victims highlighted Monday. And they attempted to question the crime figures as misleading.

    “This is not time for politics. This is not time for any race. It’s not time of any party. It’s about a time of justice,” said GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, representing in part Charlotte’s suburbs. He spoke while holding a poster of a screenshot of the video showing Zarutska and her attacker. Adams protested Norman’s use of the placard.

    In response to Zarutska’s death, the Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature last week approved a criminal justice package that would bar cashless bail in many circumstances, limit the discretion magistrates and judges have in making pretrial release decisions and seek to ensure more defendants undergo mental health evaluations. The bill now sits on Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk for his consideration.

    Committee Republicans also cited the need for more restrictive bail policies for magistrates and aggressive prosecutors not willing to drop charges for violent crimes.

    Another speaker, Steve Federico, from suburban Charlotte, demanded justice for his 22-year-old daughter, Logan, who was shot to death in May at a home in Columbia, South Carolina, while visiting friends. The suspect charged in her killing had faced nearly 40 charges within the last decade, WIS-TV reported.

    “I’’m not going to be quiet until somebody helps. Logan deserves to be heard,” Steve Federico told the representatives. “Everyone on this panel deserves to be heard. And we will — trust me.”

    Robertson reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.

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

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

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    Associated Press

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  • 79-year-old US citizen injured in Los Angeles immigration raid files $50M claim

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    LOS ANGELES — A 79-year-old man in Southern California filed a claim against the federal government Thursday for $50 million in damages, saying federal agents violated his civil rights when they tackled him during a Sept. 9 immigration raid at a car wash business.

    Rafie Ollah Shouhed, the owner of a car wash in Los Angeles, suffered several broken ribs and chest trauma, elbow injuries, and has symptoms of a traumatic brain injury, according to the claim. Shouhed is a naturalized U.S citizen from Iran.

    Video surveillance footage from inside the car wash shows a federal officer running in through a hallway. The agent encounters Shouhed and knocks him to the ground before running past him. In footage from outside the car wash, Shouhed walks toward a federal officer who appears to be detaining one of his employees. Shouhed briefly grapples with a second officer, before a third officer runs in and tackles him to the ground.

    The claim was filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection.

    In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said authorities arrested five people from Guatemala and Mexico “who broke our nation’s immigration laws” from the car wash and that Shouhed “impeded the operation and was arrested for assaulting and impeding a federal officer.”

    Shouhed and his attorney V. James DeSimone denied the accusation at a press conference Thursday.

    “What can I do for you? Can I help you?” Shouhed recalled saying to the officers.

    He said he wanted to tell agents he had documents to show his employees were eligible to work. There is no audio on the surveillance footage.

    “This is the way ICE is operating in our community,” DeSimone said. “They use physical force, they don’t speak to the people in order to ascertain who is there legally in order to do their job. Instead, they immediately resort to force.”

    After Shouhed was detained, he said he showed an officer at the detention center his ID. He was held for 12 hours and released without charges, the claim says.

    The agency has six months to settle or deny the claim, after which Shouhed can file a lawsuit in federal court.

    Several other U.S. citizens have also filed civil rights claims against the government for being wrongly detained during federal immigrant enforcement operations in Southern California. They include Andrea Velez, who was detained June 24 on her way to work in downtown Los Angeles. She was held for two days and faced a charge for obstructing a federal officer that was eventually dropped.

    Federal immigration officers have also come under scrutiny for their aggressive tactics in raids. While DHS has usually defended its tactics, the agency issued a rare rebuke of one of its officers Friday after he shoved an Ecuadorian woman to the floor at a courthouse in New York.

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  • The Flimsy, Dangerous Indictment of James Comey

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    Thursday’s indictment of the former F.B.I. director James Comey bore a single, telling signature: that of Lindsey Halligan, installed by President Donald Trump just three days earlier to serve as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan is an insurance lawyer turned Trump attorney and White House aide; in March, Trump appointed her to remove “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian. She has scant experience in federal courts and none as a prosecutor. Her predecessor in the position, a seasoned prosecutor nominated by Trump, was forced out last Friday, according to numerous news reports, after balking at demands to concoct cases against Comey, in addition to New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, and others.

    The next day, Trump addressed a post on his Truth Social platform to Attorney General Pam Bondi: “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Prosecutors in Halligan’s office reportedly submitted a memorandum to Halligan outlining the weakness of the Comey case. None of those concerns mattered, apparently. Trump finally secured the indictment he had long been calling for. At this point, a prudent President would have stayed silent. Not this one. He posted, “JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI. . . . He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation.” The Department of Justice’s own news release contained the usual boilerplate about an indictment being merely an allegation and the presumption of innocence that all defendants enjoy—legal niceties that struck a particularly disingenuous note in light of Trump’s triumphalism. The President went on to suggest that more of his enemies may face charges: “It’s not a list, but I think there will be others,” he said on Friday morning, en route to watch the Ryder Cup.

    Grand-jury proceedings are well known to favor the prosecutor—a state-court judge famously remarked that “any good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich”—but there is not much meat in the Comey indictment. One meagre count alleges false statements to Congress; the other alleges obstruction of a congressional proceeding arising from the same testimony. (Notably, the grand jurors refused to approve a third count, which reportedly pertained to another allegedly false statement.) Both charges stem from Comey’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020—specifically, the indictment cites an exchange Comey had with the Republican senator Ted Cruz about whether Comey had authorized leaks to the media about the F.B.I.’s 2016 investigations involving Trump and Hillary Clinton. Cruz referenced a 2017 hearing, during which the Republican senator Chuck Grassley asked Comey whether he had “ever been an anonymous source” or “authorized someone else at the F.B.I. to be an anonymous source” in news reports about matters concerning the Trump or Clinton investigations. When Comey denied both, Cruz pressed him about a contrary account provided by his former deputy director, Andrew McCabe.

    CRUZ: “Now, what Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who’s telling the truth?”

    COMEY: “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.”

    The indictment alleges that “that statement was false,” because, as Comey “then and there knew, he in fact had authorized PERSON 3 to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an F.B.I. investigation concerning PERSON 1.” This was presumably Hillary Clinton, because the leak at issue related to the F.B.I.’s investigation into Clinton’s e-mails and the Clinton Foundation.

    That’s it? That’s the crime? It’s hard to imagine that any responsible or ethical prosecutor would bring this case. In order for a false statement to be criminal, it must be made “knowingly and willfully.” Obstruction of Congress requires the defendant to have acted “corruptly.” The evidence that Comey did either appears sorely lacking. According to a 2018 report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, McCabe authorized F.B.I. officials to speak with the reporter Devlin Barrett, who was with the Wall Street Journal at the time, about the F.B.I. investigation of the Clinton Foundation in October, 2016. But Comey did not join in that authorization, the inspector general found. Indeed, according to the inspector general, the evidence suggested that, after the article was published, McCabe misled Comey about McCabe’s role in the leak. While the two men remembered their conversation differently, the inspector general found that “the overwhelming weight of that evidence supported Comey’s version of the conversation.” (McCabe disputed the inspector general’s conclusions.)

    In other words, there’s no evidence that Comey pre-approved the leak of information; the evidence that he blessed such action after the fact is contested at best. Who is Halligan’s chief witness going to be? McCabe, a man whom Trump repeatedly attacked for being biased against him? Among other inconvenient facts, the Justice Department unsuccessfully set out during Trump’s first term to prosecute McCabe over his alleged misstatements to investigators. As Benjamin Wittes and Anna Bower wrote for Lawfare before the Comey indictment was issued, “It would be quite rich, having sought and failed to charge one party to a memory dispute to turn around and try to charge the other.” (It’s unlikely but conceivable that the indictment references a different episode: Comey’s use of the Columbia Law School professor Daniel Richman to funnel information to the New York Times about Trump’s demands, in 2017, that Comey pledge loyalty to him. Prosecutors reportedly interviewed Richman recently, but Richman’s role did not come up during Comey’s Senate testimony.)

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    Ruth Marcus

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  • British court throws out terror-related charge against hip-hop group Kneecap member

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    LONDON — A London court on Friday threw out a terror-related charge against a member of the controversial Irish-language hip-hop band Kneecap, basing its decision on a technical error in the way the charge was brought forward.

    Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who is also referred to by his anglicized name Liam O’Hanna and performs under the name Mo Chara, had been charged after waving a flag of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is banned in Britain as a terrorist organization, during a London concert last year.

    Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring sitting at Woolwich Crown Court said the case should be thrown out, agreeing with O’Hanna’s lawyers that there was an error in the way the rapper was charged.

    “These proceedings were instituted unlawfully and are null,” he said.

    The three-member Kneecap, which hails from Belfast, Northern Ireland, has faced criticism for political statements seeming to glorify militant groups including Hamas and Hezbollah. Canada and Hungary have previously banned the group.

    Kneecap has accused critics of trying to silence the band because of its support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza. The band says it doesn’t support Hezbollah and Hamas, nor condone violence.

    O’Hanna, 27, had claimed the prosecution was a politically motivated effort to silence the band’s support for Palestinians.

    “We will not be silent,” the rapper told supporters outside the court after the charges against him were thrown out.

    Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill welcomed the move, saying the charges were part of “a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.”

    “Kneecap have used their platform on stages across the world to expose this genocide, and it is the responsibility of all of us to continue speaking out and standing against injustice in Palestine,” she added.

    The Crown Prosecution Service said it was “reviewing the decision of the court carefully” and pointed out that it can be appealed.

    London’s Metropolitan Police said it was working with the prosecutors to “understand the potential implications of this ruling for us and how that might impact on the processing of such cases in the future.”

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  • Comey indicted on charges of lying to Congress, obstruction

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    WASHINGTON — James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

    The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump’s chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.


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    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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    By ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN – Associated Press

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  • Jury deadlocks again in trial of officer charged with sexually abusing inmates at California prison

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    OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal jury has deadlocked for the second time in a trial of a former correctional officer charged with sexually abusing four inmates at a now-closed federal women’s prison in California.

    Prosecutors said Darrell Wayne Smith, who worked at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, assaulted the women in their cells and in the prison’s laundry room between 2019 and 2021. He faced 14 counts related to sexual abuse.

    Jurors, who had been deliberating since Sept. 18, could not reach a unanimous verdict and deadlocked on Wednesday, KTVU-TV reported. In March, Smith faced similar charges in a trial that also ended with a deadlock.

    Defense attorneys at both trials argued there was no DNA, no forensic evidence, no surveillance video and no diaries to prove what the government was alleging.

    Michelle Lo, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, thanked the jury for their service but would not comment on whether prosecutors would retry Smith for a third time.

    An Associated Press investigation in 2022 revealed a culture of abuse and cover-up that had persisted for years at FCI Dublin, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Oakland. That reporting led to increased scrutiny from Congress and pledges from the federal Bureau of Prisons that it would fix problems at the prison, which was eventually closed last year.

    In a statement Thursday, the California Coalition for Women Prisoners expressed disappointment at a lack of a verdict in Smith’s case. But the advocacy group pointed out that nine other FCI Dublin correctional officers all have either pleaded guilty to or been convicted by juries of various sex crimes.

    The prison’s former warden, Ray Garcia, was convicted in late 2022 of molesting inmates and forcing them to pose naked in their cells. He was sentenced to serve six years in prison.

    “We will channel our outrage by growing the movement to address the root causes of this systemic violence and bring survivors home from the abusive Bureau of Prisons,” said Emily Shapiro, an advocate with the coalition.

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  • New York woman accused of incapacitating 4 men with fentanyl-laced drugs, killing 3

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    A New York woman is accused of using fentanyl-laced drugs to incapacitate and then rob four men of cash, phones, sneakers and other belongings, killing three of the men in the process.

    Tabitha Bundrick, 36, was indicted Wednesday on 11 counts of murder, robbery, burglary and assault charges. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg called her alleged actions “extremely calculated” and noted other recent cases in New York where people died after being drugged and robbed, including outside nightclubs.

    “This type of callous behavior will not be tolerated in Manhattan,” he said during a news conference.

    Bundrick, who pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, is accused of targeting men between 2023 and 2024. On April 20, 2023, prosecutors said she approached two men on the street in Washington Heights under the guise of selling them soap. Prosecutors said she then offered to have sex in exchange for money and led them to an empty apartment she broke into, offering them fentanyl-laced drugs she claimed were cocaine.

    One of the men told police he woke up the next morning to find his friend, Mario Paullan, 42, dead beside him and their belongings missing. Prosecutors said the man had no memory of what had occurred.

    Prosecutors said the second death occurred on Sept. 27, 2023, in Washington Heights when Bundrick met Miguel Navez, 39, and went back to his apartment where she allegedly provided him with fentanyl-laced drugs. Navez’s brother found him dead three days later and his personal belongings missing.

    During a third fatal incident, which occurred on Feb. 25, 2024, prosecutors said Bundrick followed Abrihan Fernandez, 34, to his apartment building where she allegedly provided him with fentanyl-laced drugs. Prosecutors said she took several large bags from the apartment.

    Prosecutors said Bundrick used Fernandez’s credit card multiple times, as well as stolen cellphones belonging to the other men.

    An email was sent seeking comment to her city public defender.

    Bundrick pleaded guilty in February to federal drug-related charges stemming from the same deaths and was sentenced on Aug. 6 to serve 156 months in prison.

    Her lawyers said in a sentencing memo that Bundrick “is not a calculated killer, a cold-hearted manipulator, or someone who lacks a conscience,” but rather a victim of childhood sexual abuse who functions intellectually at a third-grade level.

    They said Bundrick, a mother, is also is not a drug dealer and only used the drugs to get through the experience of having to prostitute herself.

    “Ms. Bundrick undoubtedly made a poor decision when she shared her drugs with men who were just ‘looking for a good time.’ But she never intended to kill anyone,” the lawyers said in the memo. “Indeed, she used the same exact drugs alongside each of them.”

    Federal prosecutors said in a separate sentencing memo that even though Bundrick “may not have specifically intended to kill her victims when she drugged them with fentanyl,” she knew the drug could kill them and she gave it to them anyway and continued to give it to more men.

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  • Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs returns to court a week before he faces sentencing

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs returns to court Thursday for a hearing that could help decide how long the Grammy-winning producer will stay in prison.

    Judge Arun Subramanian plans to listen to arguments from lawyers on points of law that could help him decide a sentence for the Bad Boy Records founder, who was convicted of prostitution-related charges in July.

    Combs, 55, will have been jailed for nearly 13 months when he is sentenced Oct. 3.

    His lawyers argued in court papers submitted this week that he should be sentenced to no more than 14 months in prison. With credit for good behavior, that would mean he would be released immediately.

    Prosecutors have suggested that they believe he should spend at least several more years behind bars, although they haven’t submitted their sentencing recommendations to the judge yet.

    The judge has signaled that he, too, is leaning toward a substantial amount of prison time, twice refusing to grant bail since the jury returned its verdict, citing Combs’ history of violence.

    Combs was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have led to a life sentence, but convicted of arranging interstate travel for people engaged in prostitution. Prosecutors said he arranged for paid sexual encounters between male sex workers and his girlfriends, some of whom testified about being beaten, kicked and choked by Combs.

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  • Navajo man pleads guilty for illegal marijuana grow operations

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    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Navajo man has pleaded guilty to 15 charges stemming from allegations that he ran illegal marijuana growing operations in New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation, smuggled pesticides into the U.S. and employed workers who were in the country illegally.

    Federal prosecutors announced the plea agreement Tuesday, saying Dineh Benally admitted to leading what they described as a vast cultivation and distribution ring that spanned several years, exploited workers and polluted the San Juan River on tribal lands.

    An indictment naming Benally, his father and a business partner was unsealed earlier this year after authorities raided farms in a rural area east of Albuquerque. The document said the enterprise involved the construction of more than 1,100 cannabis greenhouses, the solicitation of Chinese investors to bankroll the effort and the recruitment of Chinese workers to cultivate the crops.

    Benally, 48, first made headlines when his operations in northwestern New Mexico were raided by federal authorities in 2020. The Navajo Department of Justice sued him, leading to a court order halting those operations.

    A group of Chinese workers also sued Benally and his associates. The workers claimed they were lured to New Mexico and forced to work long hours trimming marijuana on the Navajo Nation, where growing the plant is illegal.

    Federal authorities said about 260,000 marijuana plants and 60,000 pounds of processed marijuana were confiscated from the operation in northern New Mexico while the subsequent raid at farms near Estancia uncovered about 8,500 pounds (3,855 kilograms) of marijuana, $35,000 in cash, illegal pesticides, methamphetamine, firearms and a bulletproof vest.

    Federal prosecutors said Benally faces a mandatory 15 years and up to life in prison when he’s sentenced.

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  • Suspect convicted in Trump assassination attempt

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    FORT PIERCE, Fla. — The man who was charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at a Florida golf course last year tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen shortly after being found guilty of all counts on Tuesday.

    Officers quickly swarmed him and dragged him out of the courtroom.


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    By DAVID FISCHER – Associated Press

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  • Defense tells judge Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has served enough time behind bars

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    NEW YORK — Lawyers for music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs urged a New York federal judge Monday to sentence him early next month to no more than 14 months in prison for his conviction on two prostitution-related charges, meaning he’d go free almost immediately if the judge agreed.

    The lawyers made their arguments in a written submission to Judge Arun Subramanian, who has already rejected a proposed $50 million bail package, signaling that he doesn’t believe the Grammy-winning artist is close to being released.

    “Mr. Combs’s celebrity status in the realms of music, fashion, spirits, media, and finance has been shattered and Mr. Combs’s legacy has been destroyed,” the lawyers wrote, saying their client has been punished enough.

    The submission provided new information about what life behind bars for nearly 13 months has been like for Combs, what’s happened to his businesses and other interests and explains why he turned down a plea-deal offer from prosecutors prior to his trial.

    Combs faces an Oct. 3 sentencing after his July conviction by a Manhattan jury on two Mann Act charges that outlaw interstate commerce related to prostitution. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

    The Bad Boy Records founder was exonerated on more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that would have required a minimum of 15 years in prison and the possibility of a life sentence.

    In their submission, Combs’ lawyers argued that a jury sent a loud message to the judge by exonerating him of the most serious charges.

    “Put simply, the jury has spoken. Its verdict represents an ‘affirmative indication of innocence,’” the lawyers said.

    “He has served over a year in one of the most notorious jails in America — yet has made the most of that punishment. It is time for Mr. Combs to go home to his family, so he can continue his treatment and try to make the most of the next chapter of his extraordinary life,” they added.

    Prosecutors, who will submit their recommendations prior to the Oct. 3 sentencing, have already said they’ll urge Combs stay imprisoned substantially longer than the four to five years they originally thought.

    Defense lawyers, though, wrote in their submission Monday that prosecutors “have lost all perspective.”

    “Mr. Combs’s career and reputation have been destroyed,” they wrote. “His life outside of jail has been systematically dismantled.”

    Among other things, they noted that he had to let go over 100 employees from his businesses and many of them have been unable to get new jobs because of their past association with Combs.

    His seven children, they said, have faced “devastating consequences,” including lost business opportunities in acting, television, fashion and concerts, with some of them being included in some of the nearly 100 civil lawsuits filed against Combs since his arrest.

    The lawyers also noted that Combs and his family were set to star in a Hulu show about their lives, but the show was cancelled once the allegations against him became public.

    Combs was removed from the boards at three charter schools he created in Harlem, the Bronx and Connecticut and was stripped of an honorary doctorate degree from Howard University, which plans to return his prior donations, they said.

    Meanwhile, Combs’s life in prison has been harrowing at times, even as it has allowed him to become sober for the first time in 25 years, his lawyers said.

    On one occasion, another inmate approached Combs with a shiv, accusing Combs of sitting on a chair that the inmate wanted to sit on, before Combs defused the situation and calmed the man and his makeshift weapon down, the lawyers said.

    They said he has been under constant suicide watch, meaning every two hours he must present his identification card to guards to show he is alive and well and is awakened from sleep in a brightly lighted cell by a guard to ensure he is well.

    He also has limited access to clean water, leaving him to heat the water that he drinks to ensure it won’t make him sick and he must sleep within two feet of other inmates in a dorm-style room containing a bathroom and no door, the lawyers wrote.

    “Mr. Combs has not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months, or felt sunlight on his skin, often walking with a limp due to a painful knee injury that requires surgery,” they said. And the food, they added, sometimes contains maggots.

    Prior to trial, the lawyers said, prosecutors offered Combs a plea deal that would have recommended a prison sentence of at least 25 years and required him to plead guilty to crimes of which he was acquitted.

    They portrayed their client as a changed man, who had realized that his overuse of drugs, including some prescribed by doctors, had contributed to violent acts he participated in.

    “Without minimizing Mr. Combs’s conduct, this is in many ways a ‘sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll’ story,” they said. “Mr. Combs had severe substance abuse problems throughout the entirety of the offense conduct and participated in a high-octane celebrity lifestyle.”

    The music maven’s trial featured lengthy testimony from two former girlfriends of Combs who said they felt forced to participate in drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers as Combs watched and sometimes filmed the dayslong encounters.

    R&B singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura testified that she participated in hundreds of the meetups that were referred to as “freak-offs” while she was his most frequent girlfriend from 2007 to 2018.

    Another ex-girlfriend, testifying under the pseudonym “Jane,” said she also felt pressured to perform sexually with male sex workers while she dated Combs from 2021 until his arrest at a New York hotel a year ago.

    There was also extensive testimony during the trial about Combs beating his girlfriends and using violence and the fears of it to control those around him.

    Defense lawyers at trial conceded there was domestic abuse but said the charges brought by prosecutors were not proven.

    While he was once so depressed in jail that “there were days when he was unable to get out of his bed or even talk to the psychology department,” his lawyers said he looks forward to the future.

    They said he has begun teaching other inmates essential skills in business management, entrepreneurship and personal development.

    The lawyers wrote that the education program has become “one of the most impactful and important endeavors of his life” and he hopes to expand it to state-run facilities once he is released.

    “He is a humbled man who understands that the most important things in life are his devotion to and quality time with his family and his contributions for the benefit of others,” they said.

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  • Trump nominates White House aide to be top US prosecutor for office probing Letitia James

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    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would be nominating senior White House aide Lindsey Halligan to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the Virginia office that was thrown into turmoil when its U.S. attorney was pushed out Friday.

    In a social media post just after he departed the White House for an event at Mount Vernon, Trump wrote he was nominating Halligan as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, writing that she “will be Fair, Smart, and will provide, desperately needed, JUSTICE FOR ALL!”

    The announcement came as Trump pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi to move forward with pursuing cases against some of his political opponents, part of a vow for retribution that has been a theme of his return to the White House.

    The nomination would place one of the president’s legal defenders in charge of an office in tumult over political pressure by administration officials to criminally charge New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime foe of Trump, in a mortgage fraud investigation.

    Erik Siebert, who had been the office’s top prosecutor, resigned amid a push by Trump administration officials to bring charges in the investigation, which stems from allegations of paperwork discrepancies on James’ Brooklyn townhouse and a Virginia home.

    The Justice Department has spent months investigating, and there’s been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any degree of incriminating evidence necessary to secure an indictment. James’ lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.

    Halligan has been part of Trump’s legal orbit for the last several years, including serving as one of his attorneys in the early days of the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. She has more recently been enlisted in a White House effort to remove what the administration contends is “improper ideology” from Smithsonian properties.

    Earlier Saturday, Trump posted to social media what appeared to be somewhat of an open letter to Bondi, saying he had “reviewed over 30 statements and posts” that he characterized as criticizing his administration for a lack of action on investigations, including the one into James’ dealings. Trump’s message mentioned former FBI Director James Comey, Trump’s longtime foil whom he fired during his first term amid the Russia election interference investigation.

    The FBI acknowledged this summer that it was investigating Comey, who was interviewed by the Secret Service after an Instagram post that Republicans insisted was a call for violence against Trump. Comey has said he did not mean the post as a threat and removed it once he realized how it was being interpreted.

    Asked as he departed the White House if he was criticizing Bondi, Trump said he just wanted action.

    “We have to act fast — one way or the other,” Trump said. “They’re guilty, they’re not guilty — we have to act fast. If they’re not guilty, that’s fine. If they are guilty or if they should be charged, they should be charged. And we have to do it now.”

    In announcing Halligan’s nomination soon after on social media, Trump said that Bondi was “doing a GREAT job.”

    The selection of Halligan came just hours after another conservative lawyer, Mary “Maggie” Cleary, said in an email to staff that she had been named acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to a copy viewed by The Associated Press.

    “While this appointment was unexpected, I am humbled to be joining your ranks,” Cleary, a conservative lawyer who has said she was falsely accused of being at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, told employees in the email.

    While Siebert said in an email to colleagues Friday evening that he had submitted his resignation, Trump said in a social media post: “He didn’t quit, I fired him!” Trump noted he was backed by the state’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, adding: “Next time let him go in as a Democrat, not a Republican.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

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  • Gary Busey gets probation for sexual offense at 2022 horror convention

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    CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Actor Gary Busey has been sentenced to two years probation for a sexual offense stemming from an appearance at a 2022 horror convention in New Jersey, according to court records.

    The sentence was handed down Thursday during a virtual hearing in state court in Camden. Busey did not speak during the hearing.

    The 81-year-old “Buddy Holly” star had pleaded guilty in July to a single count of criminal sexual contact for touching a woman’s buttocks “over clothing during an 8-10 second photo op.” The actor had been accused of inappropriately touching at least three women at the Monster-Mania Convention at the Doubletree Hotel in Cherry Hill, a South Jersey town and suburb of Philadelphia.

    Organizers of the event acknowledged at the time that an unnamed celebrity guest was “removed from the convention and instructed not to return” and that affected attendees were encouraged to contact police.

    Busey had been scheduled as a featured guest for all three days of the event. He was initially charged with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, one count of attempted criminal sexual contact and one count of harassment.

    Busey is widely known as a character actor, largely in supporting roles, though he came to attention and was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for playing the title role in the 1978 film “The Buddy Holly Story.”

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  • Why prosecutors charged Luigi Mangione with terrorism and a judge said no

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    NEW YORK — New York prosecutors tried to use a 9/11-era terrorism law in their case against Luigi Mangione. But a judge ruled Tuesday that the state anti-terror statute doesn’t apply to the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive on a midtown Manhattan street last year.


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    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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    By Jennifer Peltz and Michael R. Sisak | Associated Press

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  • As officials searched for Charlie Kirk’s shooter, suspect confessed to his partner, prosecutor says

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    PROVO, Utah — As authorities worked feverishly to find the person who assassinated Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University last week, the 22-year-old man now charged with the crime was texting with his romantic partner and acknowledging he was the shooter, court documents revealed.

    Tyler Robinson fired a single fatal shot from the rooftop of a building overlooking the outdoor venue where Kirk was speaking to about 3,000 people on Sept. 10, investigators say. Afterward, prosecutors say he texted with the partner, who he lived with near St. George, Utah, about 240 miles (387 kilometers) southwest of the campus.

    He said to look under his keyboard at their home. There was a note that said, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

    After expressing shock, his partner asked Robinson if he was the shooter. Robinson responded, “I am, I’m sorry.”

    The partner apparently never went to law enforcement with the information. Robinson remained on the run until the next night, when his parents recognized he was the person in a photo released by authorities as they searched for the shooter. They helped organize Robinson’s peaceful surrender.

    The partner was not named in the charging documents that contained the narrative of the shooting and were made public Tuesday when authorities charged Robinson with capital murder and other counts. He could face the death penalty.

    Law enforcement officials say they are looking at whether others knew about or aided Robinson in the assassination. They have not said if the partner is among those being investigated but have publicly expressed appreciation for the partner sharing information.

    Prosecutors allege Robinson used a bolt-action rifle to shoot Kirk in the neck on the campus in Orem, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. DNA on the trigger of the rifle matched Robinson, according to Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray. The rifle had been Robinson’s grandfather’s.

    Robinson appeared briefly Tuesday before a judge by video from jail. He nodded slightly at times but mostly stared ahead as the judge read the charges and said he would appoint an attorney to represent him. Robinson’s family has declined to comment to The Associated Press since his arrest.

    Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, was a prominent force in politics credited with energizing the Republican youth movement and helping Donald Trump win back the White House in 2024. He gained a large following through social media, his podcast and campus events that featured him responding to a line of questioners who could query and debate him on any topic.

    Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but Gray said that Robinson wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

    The prosecutor said Robinson also wrote in one text that he spent more than a week planning the attack on Kirk. Authorities have not said what they believe the planning entailed.

    Gray declined to answer whether Robinson targeted Kirk for his anti-transgender views. Kirk was shot while taking a question that touched on mass shootings, gun violence and transgender people.

    “That is for a jury to decide,” Gray said.

    Robinson was involved in a romantic relationship with his roommate, who investigators say is transgender.

    While authorities say Robinson hasn’t been cooperating with investigators, they say his family and friends have been sharing information.

    Robinson’s mother told investigators that their son had turned hard left politically in the last year and became more supportive of gay and transgender rights, Gray said.

    Those decisions prompted several conversations in the household, especially between Robinson and his father. They had different political views and Robinson told his partner in a text that his dad had become a “diehard MAGA” since Trump was elected.

    Robinson’s mother recognized him when authorities released a picture of the suspect and his parents confronted him, at which time Robinson said he wanted to kill himself, Gray said.

    The family persuaded him to meet with a family friend who is a retired sheriff’s deputy. That person was able to get Robinson to turn himself in, the prosecutor said.

    Robinson was arrested late Thursday near St. George, where he grew up.

    In a text exchange with his partner released by authorities, Robinson wrote about planning to get his rifle from his “drop point,” but that the area was “locked down.”

    Later he sent: “I can get close to it but there is a squad car parked right by it. I think they already swept that spot, but I don’t wanna chance it.” The texts cited in court documents did not include timestamps and it was unclear how long after the shooting Robinson was texting.

    “To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you,” Robinson wrote in another text to his partner.

    Robinson discarded the rifle and clothing and asked his roommate to conceal evidence, Gray said.

    Robinson also was charged with felony discharge of a firearm, punishable by up to life in prison, and obstructing justice, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

    He also was charged with witness tampering because he had directed his partner to delete their text messages and told his partner to stay silent if questioned by police, Gray said.

    FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday that agents are looking at “anyone and everyone” who was involved in a gaming chatroom on the social media platform Discord with Robinson. The chatroom involved “a lot more” than 20 people, he said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington.

    The charges filed Tuesday carry two enhancements, including committing several of the crimes in front of or close to children and carrying out violence based on the subject’s political beliefs.

    Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics, became a confidant of President Donald Trump after founding Arizona-based Turning Point USA, one of the nation’s largest political organizations. He brought young, conservative evangelical Christians into politics.

    In the days since Kirk’s assassination, Americans have found themselves facing questions about rising political violence, the deep divisions that brought the nation here and whether anything can change.

    Despite calls for greater civility, some who opposed Kirk’s provocative statements about gender, race and politics criticized him after his death. Many Republicans have led the push to punish anyone they believe dishonored him, causing both public and private workers to lose their jobs or face other consequences at work.

    ___

    Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.

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  • What we’ve learned about the suspect in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination

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    Authorities released new information Tuesday indicating that the 22-year-old Utah man accused in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk did a fair amount of planning before the attack on a college campus.

    Tyler Robinson is charged with aggravated murder and other crimes. He appeared briefly Tuesday before a judge by video from jail. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray earlier said he would file a notice to seek the death penalty and that Robinson would remain jailed without bond.


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  • Prosecutor: Suspect left note saying he would kill Kirk

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    PROVO, Utah — Prosecutors brought a murder charge Tuesday against the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk and outlined evidence, including a text message confession to his partner and a note left beforehand saying he had the opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices “and I’m going to take it.”

    DNA on the trigger of the rifle that killed Kirk also matched that of Tyler Robinson, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said while outlining the evidence and announcing charges that could result in the death penalty if Robinson is convicted.


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  • Strip club executives charged with bribing NY official to avoid paying $8M in taxes

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    A company that owns strip clubs around the country and several of its executives have been charged with bribing a government official with free trips to some of the clubs and thousands of dollars in spending money to avoid paying more than $8 million in sales taxes to New York City and the state of New York, prosecutors said Tuesday.

    New York Attorney General Letitia James said the alleged scheme by Houston-based RCI Hospitality Holdings and its corporate leaders ran from 2010 to 2024 and involved bribing a New York state tax auditor, in exchange for receiving favorable treatment during at least six tax audits that were performed over a decade.

    RCI Hospitality, publicly traded on the Nasdaq composite, owns and operates more than 60 clubs and sports bars and restaurants across the county, including Rick’s Cabaret establishments located in more than a dozen cities including New York City, according to the company’s website. It also owns two other businesses in Manhattan.

    A 79-count grand jury indictment that was unsealed Tuesday charges RCI, five of its executives and the three clubs in Manhattan with conspiracy, bribery, tax fraud and other crimes.

    “RCI’s executives shamelessly used their strip clubs to bribe their way out of paying millions of dollars in taxes,” James said in a statement. “I will always take action to fight corruption and ensure everyone pays their fair share.”

    Daniel Horwitz, a New York lawyer for RCI, disputed the allegations and said the defendants will fight the charges in court.

    “We are clearly disappointed with the New York Attorney General’s decision to move forward with an indictment and look forward to addressing the allegations,” Horwitz said in a statement. “We remind everybody that these indictments contain only allegations, which we believe are baseless. RCI and the individuals involved are presumed innocent and should be allowed to have their day in court.”

    He added that RCI’s policy is to pay “all legitimate and non-contested taxes” and all three Manhattan clubs remain open.

    Among the RCI executives who were indicted are Eric Langan of Bellaire, Texas, chief executive officer, president and board chairman; and Timothy Winata of Houston, a controller and accountant. Prosecutors allege Langan and other executives authorized and oversaw the bribes, and Winata directly provided the bribes and accompanied the auditor on trips to the clubs.

    James’ office did not name the New York state auditor. It said that a sixth person who was not publicly named was indicted but not yet arrested. James’ office declined to say whether that person was the auditor. The name of the auditor, who worked for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, is redacted in the indictment.

    Prosecutors said RCI gave the auditor at least 13 complimentary, multiday trips to Florida and up to $5,000 per day to spend on private dances at RCI strip clubs, including Tootsie’s Cabaret in Miami. The auditor’s hotel and restaurant expenses were also paid for by RCI, authorities said.

    Winata also traveled from Texas to Manhattan to give the auditor bribes at the three Manhattan clubs — Rick’s Cabaret, Vivid Cabaret and Hoops Cabaret and Sports Bar, prosecutors said.

    The indictment alleges RCI failed to pay over $8 million in sales taxes on the sale of “dance dollars,” which are purchased by customers and redeemed for private dances. The auditor, prosecutors alleged, settled tax audits of RCI’s Manhattan clubs for substantially less in back taxes, penalties and interest than were owed, saving the company millions of dollars.

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