Tag: Indictments

Weinstein faces a 2nd long sentence in LA rape conviction

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LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harvey Weinstein could see the long prison term he is already serving nearly doubled at his California sentencing, bringing the onetime movie magnate and lord of the Oscars to a new low after convictions for rape and sexual assault.

Unless she grants a defense motion for a new trial, Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench is scheduled to sentence the 70-year-old Weinstein in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Thursday. She could give him up to 18 years in prison. He has more than 20 years left on his sentence in New York after a 2020 conviction there.

Jurors in December convicted Weinstein of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against an Italian model and actor during a 2013 film festival in the run-up to that year’s Academy Awards. The jury spared Weinstein an even longer sentence when they acquitted him of the sexual battery of a massage therapist and failed to reach verdicts on counts involving two other women.

The victim whose dramatic testimony led to the guilty counts may make a statement on the toll the attack has taken on her.

Last week, Lench rejected a request from Gloria Allred, an attorney for some of the women who testified at trial, to allow others to make similar statements in court about the man who has for five years been a magnet for the #MeToo movement.

“I’m not going to make this an open forum on Mr. Weinstein’s conduct,” Lench said.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

The judge will first hear arguments over a defense motion that Weinstein should be given a new trial or have his verdict reduced. Weinstein’s lawyers say Lench’s rejection of evidence they wanted to use at trial proved prejudicial to him.

The defense attorneys argue that they ought to have been allowed to introduce private Facebook messages that showed there was a sexual relationship between the Italian woman and Pascal Vicedomini, director of the Los Angeles Italia Film Festival, which she was attending when she said the attack occurred.

The motion says the messages would have shown that both were lying under oath when they testified that they were merely friends and colleagues. The court filing also says that such a relationship would have made it unlikely that Vicedomini would give Weinstein the number of her hotel room, where according to her testimony Weinstein appeared uninvited. And it says the messages would have bolstered the lawyers’ contention the woman was spending the night with Vicedomini at another hotel on that night.

The defense argued in their closing that the two had a sexual relationship, but Lench allowed jurors to see only the messages between them that established her timing and location.

The law gives Lench “the singular responsibility of setting right those prejudicial errors which often become apparent only with the benefit of hindsight,” the lawyers wrote in the motion.

Lench has said she will move forward with the sentencing immediately if she rejects the defense motion.

But legal uncertainties will remain on both coasts for Weinstein.

New York’s highest court has agreed to hear his appeal in his rape and sexual assault convictions there. And prosecutors in Los Angeles have yet to say whether they will retry Weinstein on counts they were unable to reach a verdict on.

It is not yet clear where he will serve his time while these issues are decided.

His New York sentence would be served before a California prison term, though a retrial or other issues could keep him from being sent back there soon.

Weinstein is eligible for parole in New York in 2039.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

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For more on the Harvey Weinstein trial, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/harvey-weinstein

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February 22, 2023
House January 6 investigator says it’s ‘likely’ 2020 election subversion probes will produce indictments | CNN Politics

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Washington
CNN
—

The top investigator on the House committee that probed the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack said Wednesday it is “likely” that the Georgia and federal investigations into efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election will produce indictments.

Timothy Heaphy told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on “Erin Burnett OutFront” that “unless there is information inconsistent, which I don’t expect, I think there will likely be indictments both in Georgia and at the federal level.”

In Georgia, the foreperson of the Atlanta-based grand jury that investigated former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election told CNN on Tuesday that the panel is recommending multiple indictments and suggested “the big name” may be on the list.

The grand jury met for about seven months in Atlanta and heard testimony from 75 witnesses, including some of Trump’s closest advisers from his final weeks in the White House.

Now that the grand jury is finished, it’s up to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to review the recommendations and make charging decisions. Willis’ decisions in this case will reverberate in the 2024 presidential campaign and beyond.

Trump, who has launched his 2024 campaign for the White House, denies any criminal wrongdoing.

At the federal level, special counsel Jack Smith is overseeing parts of the criminal investigation into the Capitol attack and has subpoenaed members of Trump’s inner circle. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Smith had subpoenaed the former president’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner for testimony.

“I think it could be very important,” Heaphy said of the pair’s potential testimony.

“They were present for really significant events. The special counsel will want to hear about the president’s understanding of the election results and also what happened on January 6. And they both had direct communications with him about the events preceding the riot at the Capitol,” he said.

The special counsel has a massive amount of evidence already in-hand that it now needs to comb through, including evidence recently turned over by the House January 6 committee, subpoena documents provided by local officials in key states and discovery collected from lawyers for Trump allies late last year in a flurry of activity, at least some of which had not been reviewed as of early January, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN at the time.

“He will not stop because of a family relationship, because of purported executive privilege,” Heaphy said of Smith. “He believes that the law entitles him to all of that information, and he’s determined to get it.”

Ivanka Trump and Kushner previously testified to the House select committee, which expired in January after Republicans took control of the House. The panel had referred the former president to the Justice Department on four criminal charges in December, and while largely symbolic in nature, committee members stressed those referrals served as a way to document their views given that Congress cannot bring charges.

This story has been updated with additional information Wednesday.

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February 22, 2023
Lawsuit: Steve Bannon owes $480K for unpaid legal bills

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NEW YORK — Steve Bannon’s latest legal trouble: a lawsuit alleging he stiffed his former lawyers out of more than $480,000.

Bannon, a conservative strategist and longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sued for breach of contract last week by a Manhattan law firm that defended him in several recent high-profile legal battles.

The firm, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, represented Bannon from 2020 to 2022 in matters including criminal cases stemming from his refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena and from allegations that he duped donors who gave money to build a wall on the southern U.S. border.

The firm said it also aided Bannon in obtaining a presidential pardon just before Trump left office in 2021.

Davidoff Hutcher & Citron said in its lawsuit that Bannon racked up a bill totaling more than $855,000 but that he has only paid $375,000, in violation of his retainer agreement.

The firm is seeking payment of $480,487, plus interest and legal costs for its lawsuit against Bannon.

Messages seeking comment were left for Bannon.

Trump’s pardon, in January 2021, forced federal prosecutors to drop Bannon from a criminal case involving the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign. Manhattan prosecutors revived the matter in September with state-level charges, which aren’t covered by presidential pardons.

Bannon, 69, has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges.

The New York case is pending with yet more legal drama: Bannon has until next week to find new lawyers after his current attorneys, who are not affiliated with Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, said they have “irreconcilable” differences about how to proceed.

Bannon is accused of falsely promising donors that all money given to “We Build the Wall” would go to building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, instead using the funds to enrich people involved in the project. Prosecutors say Bannon was involved in transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars to third-party entities and using them to funnel payments to two other people involved in the scheme.

The Manhattan indictment didn’t identify those people by name, but the details match those of Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in April. A third defendant, Timothy Shea, was convicted in October.

Bannon was convicted last July of contempt for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He was sentenced in October to four months in jail. But he remains free while he appeals.

Bannon, a former U.S. Navy officer and Harvard MBA, worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and as a Hollywood producer before turning to politics. One of his most notable deals left him with a share of “Seinfeld” royalties.

He took over the conservative news site Breitbart News in 2012, had a leading role in the late stages of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and worked in the White House for about seven months as Trump’s chief strategist. He now hosts a pro-Trump podcast called “Bannon’s War Room.”

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Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak

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February 22, 2023
Former Theranos exec seeks to avoid lengthy prison sentence

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Former Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani returned to federal court Friday in a last-ditch attempt to stay out of prison while appealing a jury’s verdict convicting him of orchestrating a blood-testing hoax with his former boss and lover, Elizabeth Holmes.

Besides overseeing arguments about Balwani’s attempt to delay the start of his nearly 13-year prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila also heard a vigorous debate about how much money Balwani should pay investors and patients duped by the Theranos blood tests that never worked as promised. The deceit resulted in Balwani’s conviction on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy.

Davila didn’t issue any rulings at the end of the 90-minute hearing. His decision on whether Balwani can remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction, however, is likely to come soon. That’s because Balwani, 57, is scheduled to report to prison in Lompoc, California, on March 15.

The judge said he doesn’t expect to decide on the question of how much Balwani should pay in restitution until another hearing on the same issues is held for Holmes, Theranos’ disgraced CEO, on March 17.

Holmes, 38, also is seeking to remain free on bail while she appeals her conviction on four counts of fraud and conspiracy. She is scheduled to report to a prison in Bryon, Texas, on April 27 to begin a sentence of more than 11 years.

In Friday’s hearing, one of Balwani’s lawyers sought to deflect the blame for Theranos’ eventual collapse to Holmes. In her presentation, Amy Walsh asserted Theranos still had $350 million in cash and intellectual property worth about $100 million in May 2016 when Holmes fired Balwani as the company’s chief operating officer and ended their romantic relationship.

“When he walked out the door, the company was extremely valuable,” Walsh said in Balwani’s defense.

Davila seemed skeptical of that rationale, asking Walsh: “Are you saying his conduct was completely divorced from Theranos’ demise?”

Federal prosecutors are seeking a court order that would saddle Balwani with a restitution bill of nearly $900 million — a figure that would likely be largely symbolic. It would also be far larger that than the $120 million loss estimate that Davila used in calculating Balwani’s prison sentence.

Prosecutor Robert Leach openly scoffed at Walsh’s contention that Balwani should owe nothing, calling it a “remarkable position.”

The two sides also painted radically different pictures in their arguments about whether Balwani should be allowed to remain free during his appeal.

Balwani attorney Mark Davies alleged that government misconduct in the presentation of evidence during Balwani’s trial makes it likely he will prevail in the appeal of his convictions. But federal prosecutor Kelly Volkar repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Davies also stressed Balwani’s compliance with all bail requirements since he was indicted in 2018 as evidence that he isn’t a flight risk. The lawyer also pointed to Balwani’s non-violent history and past charity work in India as evidence he poses no danger to the community.

Volkar suggested Balwani may have more incentive to flee with his lengthy prison sentence now less than a month away and argued he remains a potential menace.

“Damage can come in the form of economic harms as much as it can come in the form of violent harm,” Volkar said.

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February 17, 2023
Europe’s youngest country Kosovo now 15, but problems endure

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PRISTINA, Kosovo — Europe’s youngest country, Kosovo, on Friday launched festivities for the 15th anniversary of its independence from neighboring Serbia with a military parade, wreath-laying ceremonies and a special Parliament session.

But the celebrations are overcast by revived tension with Serbia, despite yearslong Western efforts to reconcile the former foes. Both want into the European Union, and have been told they must first overcome their differences.

Speaking in the capital Pristina Friday, Prime Minister Albin Kurti steered away from the violence of Kosovo’s begetting, describing his country — one of Europe’s poorest — as “a project of peace, a contributor to peace and a guarantor of peace.”

Ethnic-Albanian-dominated Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on Feb. 17, 2008. That came nearly nine years after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended Serbia’s bloody crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. The International Court of Justice ruled in 2010 that the independence declaration did not violate international law.

The United States and most Western powers are among the 117 countries that have recognized Kosovo’s statehood, and about 200 international organizations have accepted Kosovo as a member — although not the United Nations.

Serbia, which for centuries considered Kosovo the cradle of its civilization, still sees it as part of its territory and refuses to recognize its independence, backed by Russia and China.

That makes for uneasy relations. Underlying tension has flared recently over matters as seemingly trivial as vehicle license plate formats, or the arrest of an ethnic Serb police officer, triggering concern among Western leaders who fear another Balkan conflict amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani played to that concern on Friday, urging NATO and the EU to accept Kosovo and other Western Balkan countries “the soonest possible … as a preventive step toward political, military and economic violation from Russia and its regional satellites.”

Osmani also said Pristina’s negotiations with Belgrade must lead to mutual recognition, adding that Kosovo’s “territorial integrity, constitutionality, legal order and sovereignty are non-negotiable.”

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell on Friday said Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic would meet in Brussels on Feb. 27.

U.S. and EU envoys visited Pristina and Belgrade regularly in recent months with a new proposal for normalizing relations. Its details have not yet been made public. Until now, 12 years of EU-mediated talks produced 33 agreements, which have only been partially implemented or largely ignored.

In Serbia, pro-Russia nationalist groups have demanded that Belgrade stop all normalization talks. But Vucic said that would isolate Serbia internationally and kill its EU prospects. Vucic has said he is ready to consider the latest Western plan.

Kosovo is still grappling with the political legacy of the war with Serbia.

Former President Hashim Thaci and four other wartime leaders from the Kosovo Liberation Army are in the detention center of a tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, facing charges of murder, torture and persecution. All have denied the charges.

The special court is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the actions of the KLA during and after the war.

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Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.

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February 17, 2023
US prosecutors ask for 25 more years in prison for R. Kelly

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CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors Thursday asked a judge to give singer R. Kelly 25 more years in prison for his child pornography and enticement convictions last year in Chicago, which would add to 30 years he recently began serving in a New York case.

The 56-year-old wouldn’t be eligible for release until he was around 100 if the judge agrees both to the 25-year sentence and another government request that Kelly begin serving his Chicago sentence only after the 30-year New York sentence is fully served.

In their sentencing recommendation filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, prosecutors described Kelly’s behavior as “sadistic,” calling him “a serial sexual predator” with no remorse and who “poses a serious danger to society.”

“The only way to ensure Kelly does not reoffend is to impose a sentence that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life,” the 37-page government filing says.

Kelly’s sentencing in Chicago is set for Thursday next week.

Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, wrote in a filing last week that even with his existing 30-year New York sentence, “Kelly would have to defy all statistical odds to make it out of prison alive.” She cited data that the average life expectancy of inmates is 64.

She recommended a sentence of around 10 years, at the low end of the sentencing guidelines range, which she said could be served simultaneously with the New York sentence.

In arguing for the lesser sentence, Bonjean alleged Kelly, who is Black, was singled out for behavior that she said white rock stars have gotten away with for decades.

“None have been prosecuted and none will die in prison,” she wrote.

Prosecutors acknowledged that a 25-year sentence in the Chicago case would be more time than even sentencing guidelines recommend. But they argued imposing a long sentence and instructing it be served only after the New York sentence was appropriate.

“A consecutive sentence is eminently reasonable given the egregiousness of Kelly’s conduct,” the filing argued. “Kelly’s sexual abuse of minors was intentional and prolific.”

At the trial in Chicago last year, jurors convicted the Grammy Award winning singer on six of 13 counts. But the government lost the marquee count that Kelly and his then-business manager successfully rigged his state child pornography trial in 2008.

Both of Kelly’s co-defendants, including longtime business manager Derrel McDavid, were acquitted of all charges.

Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, rose from poverty in Chicago to superstardom, becoming known for smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and sex-infused songs such as “Bump n’ Grind.”

While the Grammy Award-winner went to trial in 2008, it wasn’t until after the airing of Lifetime’s 2019 docu-series, “Surviving R. Kelly” — featuring testimonials by his accusers — that criminal investigations were kicked into high-gear, ending with federal and new state charges.

In January, an Illinois judge dismissed state sex-abuse charges prior to a trial on the recommendation of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Foxx said she was comfortable dropping the case because Kelly would spend decades in prison for his federal convictions.

Prosecutors at Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago portrayed him as a master manipulator who used his fame and wealth to reel in star-struck fans to sexually abuse, in some cases to video record them, and then discard them.

After deliberating over two days, jurors convicted Kelly of three counts each of producing child pornography and enticement of minors for sex, while acquitting him of obstruction of justice, one count of production of child porn and three counts of receiving child porn.

The Chicago verdict came months after a federal judge in New York sentenced Kelly to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking. Based on that sentence alone, he wouldn’t eligible for release until he is around 80.

Even if granted time off for good behavior, Kelly would be only be eligible for release if he serves 25 years after the New York sentence in the year 2066, the government’s Thursday filing said.

It will be up to Judge Harry Leinenweber in Chicago to decide the crucial question of whether Kelly serves whatever sentence he imposes concurrently, simultaneously, with the New York sentence or consecutively.

Kelly’s legal team is appealing his New York and Chicago convictions. Prosecutors sometimes press for long sentences for defendants sentenced at earlier trials in a bid to ensure that, if some convictions are later tossed, they will still do some time behind bars.

Bonjean argued that traumas throughout Kelly’s life, including abuse as a child and illiteracy throughout adulthood, justified leniency in sentencing the singer.

Kelly “is not an evil monster but a complex (unquestionably troubled) human-being who faced overwhelming challenges in childhood that shaped his adult life,” she said.

That the conduct for which he was convicted occurred decades ago should also be factored in, she said.

“While Kelly was not a child in the late 1990s, he also was not the middle-aged man he was at the time of his 2019 indictment,” she argued. “Kelly was a damaged man in his late 20s.”

She added that Kelly has already paid a heavy price from his legal troubles, including a financial one. She said his worth once approached $1 billion but that he “is now destitute.”

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Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mtarm

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Find more of AP’s coverage of R. Kelly’s trials at https://apnews.com/hub/r-kelly

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February 17, 2023
US prosecutors ask for 25 more years in prison for R. Kelly

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CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors Thursday asked a judge to give singer R. Kelly 25 more years in prison for his child pornography and enticement convictions last year in Chicago, which would add to 30 years he recently began serving in a New York case.

The 56-year-old wouldn’t be eligible for release until he was around 100 if the judge agrees both to the 25-year sentence and another government request that Kelly begin serving his Chicago sentence only after the 30-year New York sentence is fully served.

In their sentencing recommendation filed before midnight Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, prosecutors described Kelly’s behavior as “sadistic,” calling him “a serial sexual predator” with no remorse and who “poses a serious danger to society.”

“The only way to ensure Kelly does not reoffend is to impose a sentence that will keep him in prison for the rest of his life,” the 37-page government filing says.

Kelly’s sentencing in Chicago is set for Thursday next week.

Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, wrote in a filing last week that even with his existing 30-year New York sentence, “Kelly would have to defy all statistical odds to make it out of prison alive.” She cited data that the average life expectancy of inmates is 64.

She recommended a sentence of around 10 years, at the low end of the sentencing guidelines range, which she said could be served simultaneously with the New York sentence.

In arguing for the lesser sentence, Bonjean alleged Kelly, who is Black, was singled out for behavior that she said white rock stars have gotten away with for decades.

“None have been prosecuted and none will die in prison,” she wrote.

Prosecutors acknowledged that a 25-year sentence in the Chicago case would be more time than even sentencing guidelines recommend. But they argued imposing a long sentence and instructing it be served only after the New York sentence was appropriate.

“A consecutive sentence is eminently reasonable given the egregiousness of Kelly’s conduct,” the filing argued. “Kelly’s sexual abuse of minors was intentional and prolific.”

At the trial in Chicago last year, jurors convicted the Grammy Award winning singer on six of 13 counts. But the government lost the marquee count that Kelly and his then-business manager successfully rigged his state child pornography trial in 2008.

Both of Kelly’s co-defendants, including longtime business manager Derrel McDavid, were acquitted of all charges.

Kelly, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, rose from poverty in Chicago to superstardom, becoming known for smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and sex-infused songs such as “Bump n’ Grind.”

While the Grammy Award-winner went to trial in 2008, it wasn’t until after the airing of Lifetime’s 2019 docu-series, “Surviving R. Kelly” — featuring testimonials by his accusers — that criminal investigations were kicked into high-gear, ending with federal and new state charges.

In January, an Illinois judge dismissed state sex-abuse charges prior to a trial on the recommendation of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Foxx said she was comfortable dropping the case because Kelly would spend decades in prison for his federal convictions.

Prosecutors at Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago portrayed him as a master manipulator who used his fame and wealth to reel in star-struck fans to sexually abuse, in some cases to video record them, and then discard them.

After deliberating over two days, jurors convicted Kelly of three counts each of producing child pornography and enticement of minors for sex, while acquitting him of obstruction of justice, one count of production of child porn and three counts of receiving child porn.

The Chicago verdict came months after a federal judge in New York sentenced Kelly to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking. Based on that sentence alone, he wouldn’t eligible for release until he is around 80.

Even if granted time off for good behavior, Kelly would be only be eligible for release if he serves 25 years after the New York sentence in the year 2066, the government’s Thursday filing said.

It will be up to Judge Harry Leinenweber in Chicago to decide the crucial question of whether Kelly serves whatever sentence he imposes concurrently, simultaneously, with the New York sentence or consecutively.

Kelly’s legal team is appealing his New York and Chicago convictions. Prosecutors sometimes press for long sentences for defendants sentenced at earlier trials in a bid to ensure that, if some convictions are later tossed, they will still do some time behind bars.

Bonjean argued that traumas throughout Kelly’s life, including abuse as a child and illiteracy throughout adulthood, justified leniency in sentencing the singer.

Kelly “is not an evil monster but a complex (unquestionably troubled) human-being who faced overwhelming challenges in childhood that shaped his adult life,” she said.

That the conduct for which he was convicted occurred decades ago should also be factored in, she said.

“While Kelly was not a child in the late 1990s, he also was not the middle-aged man he was at the time of his 2019 indictment,” she argued. “Kelly was a damaged man in his late 20s.”

She added that Kelly has already paid a heavy price from his legal troubles, including a financial one. She said his worth once approached $1 billion but that he “is now destitute.”

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Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mtarm

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February 17, 2023
Wisconsin nurse pleads not guilty to amputating man’s foot

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ELLSWORTH, Wis. — A western Wisconsin nurse accused of amputating a hospice patient’s frostbitten foot without his consent and without doctor’s orders pleaded not guilty Thursday.

A lawyer for 38-year-old Mary K. Brown, of Durand, Wisconsin, entered pleas of not guilty for her to charges of mayhem, physical abuse of an elderly person and intentionally abusing a patient, causing great bodily harm, WEAU-TV and WQOW-TV reported.

After she cut off the man’s right foot on May 27, Brown told her colleagues that she wanted to display it at her family’s taxidermy shop with a sign that said: “Wear your boots kids,” according to charges filed in Pierce County.

The amputation happened May 27, and within about a week the 62-year-old man was dead. A criminal complaint gave no indication the amputation was a factor in his death.

According to the complaint, the man was admitted to Spring Valley Health and Rehab Center, where Brown worked at the time, after he fell at his home in March. The heat in his home was not turned on, and he suffered frostbite to both feet, leaving the tissue necrotic. His right foot remained attached to his leg by a tendon and roughly 2 inches (5 centimeters) of skin.

Brown is not allowed to work in any capacity as a caregiver, whether employed or as a volunteer, online court records state. She no longer works at Spring Valley.

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February 16, 2023
Grand jury indicts father of July 4 parade shooting suspect

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CHICAGO — An Illinois grand jury on Wednesday formally indicted the father of a man charged with fatally shooting seven people at a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago, the Lake County State’s Attorney Office said.

The indictment charges Robert Crimo Jr., 58, with seven counts of reckless conduct. Prosecutors have said he helped his son, Robert Crimo III, obtain a gun license years before the shooting in Highland Park, even though the then-19-year-old had threatened violence.

Sara Avalos, a spokesperson for the prosecutors office, confirmed the grand jury indictment and said the father will be arraigned Thursday.

Robert Crimo Jr. was arrested in December, also on seven felony counts of reckless conduct, one for each person killed. Each count carries a maximum 3-year prison term. The longtime resident and well-known figure in Highland Park was released after his arrest on a $50,000 bond.

At a brief hearing last month, prosecutors had told Judge George Strickland at a Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, north of Highland Park, they needed more time to present evidence to the grand jury.

In a brief statement released by his office later Wednesday, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the grand jury agreed the case against the father should move forward.

“Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons,” Rinehart said.

George M. Gomez, the father’s Chicago-area attorney, didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment Wednesday. But he earlier called the accusations against his client “baseless and unprecedented.”

Rinehart has previously said the accusations against the father are based on his sponsorship of his son’s application for a gun license in December 2019. Authorities say Robert Crimo III attempted suicide by machete in April 2019 and in September 2019 was accused by a family member of making threats to “kill everyone.”

“Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenagers should have a weapon,” Rinehart said after the father’s arrest. “In this case, the system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son. He knew what he knew and he signed the form anyway.”

Authorities say Illinois State Police reviewed the son’s gun license application and found no reason to deny it because he had no arrests, no criminal record, no serious mental health problems, no orders of protection and no other behavior that would disqualify him.

Legal experts have said it’s rare for an accused shooter’s parent or guardian to face charges — in part because it’s difficult to prove such charges.

In one notable exception, a Michigan prosecutor in 2021 filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of a teen accused of fatally shooting four students at his high school. A trial date was delayed while the state appeals court considers an appeal.

A grand jury indicted Robert Crimo III in July on 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery, representing the seven people killed and dozens wounded in the attack at the holiday parade in Highland Park.

Robert Crimo Jr. has shown up at several of his son’s pretrial hearings, nodding in greeting when his son entered the courtroom shackled and flanked by guards. The father is a familiar face around Highland Park, where he was once a mayoral candidate and operated convenience stores.

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Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at @mtarm.

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February 15, 2023
Russian journalist sentenced to 6 years over Ukraine posts

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MOSCOW — A Russian journalist was convicted of disparaging the military Wednesday and received a six-year prison sentence, the latest punishment in a relentless crackdown on critics of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

The court in the city of Barnaul in southern Siberia found Maria Ponomarenko guilty of “spreading false information about the Russian armed forces’ actions” with her posts on a messaging app. Ponomarenko, who worked for the RusNews portal, denied the charges.

Days after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the Kremlin-controlled parliament approved legislation that outlawed the spread of “false information” about the country’s military campaign in Ukraine.

Russian authorities have used the law to stifle any criticism of what the Kremlin refers to as a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Some members of Russia’s beleaguered political opposition, activists, journalists and bloggers were previously convicted and imprisoned under the law.

In December, prominent opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced to 8½ years in prison. Earlier last year, Alexei Gorinov, a member of a Moscow municipal council, received a 7-year sentence for his critical remarks about the hostilities in Ukraine.

Another leading opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza, has been in custody awaiting trial on the same charge.

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February 15, 2023
China national soccer boss arrested on corruption charges

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BEIJING — The head of China’s national soccer federation has been arrested on corruption charges in the latest blow to the country’s effort to grow its standing at home and internationally.

A one-sentence statement from the ruling Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog body said Chen Shuyuan had been placed under investigation by national and Hubei provincial sports bodies. No details were given about the accusations against him.

Chen is head of the Chinese Football Association and vice chair of its party committee, underscoring the government’s heavy hand in attempting to direct success in the game.

Despite its success in the Olympics, China has only qualified for one World Cup almost 20 years ago.

China’s president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping declared a goal to make the country a superpower, but funding and enthusiasm have appeared to dwindle.

The national team has seen a revolving door of foreign and domestic managers and one if its most decorated past leaders, former Everton and Sheffield United midfielder Li Tie, has been jailed amid a graft investigation.

China’s top division clubs paid eye-watering salaries to attract foreign talent, but the league has virtually collapsed under the now-abandoned “zero-COVID” policy and lingering economic malaise.

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February 15, 2023
China national soccer boss arrested on corruption charges

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BEIJING — The head of China’s national soccer federation has been arrested on corruption charges in the latest blow to the country’s effort to grow its standing at home and internationally.

A one-sentence statement from the ruling Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog body said Chen Shuyuan had been placed under investigation by national and Hubei provincial sports bodies. No details were given about the accusations against him.

Chen is head of the Chinese Football Association and vice chair of its party committee, underscoring the government’s heavy hand in attempting to direct success in the game.

Despite its success in the Olympics, China has only qualified for one World Cup almost 20 years ago.

China’s president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping declared a goal to make the country a superpower, but funding and enthusiasm have appeared to dwindle.

The national team has seen a revolving door of foreign and domestic managers and one if its most decorated past leaders, former Everton and Sheffield United midfielder Li Tie, has been jailed amid a graft investigation.

China’s top division clubs paid eye-watering salaries to attract foreign talent, but the league has virtually collapsed under the now-abandoned “zero-COVID” policy and lingering economic malaise.

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February 15, 2023
Prosecutor: Gang dispute led to shooting at Chicago school

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CHICAGO — A gang dispute led to a December shooting near a Chicago high school that left two students dead and two other teens wounded, a prosecutor suggested.

The 16-year-old suspect charged in the Dec. 16 shooting outside Benito Juarez High School asked one of the victims about his gang affiliation before he opened fire, Assistant State’s Attorney Thomas Darman said during the suspect’s bail hearing Saturday.

A Cook County judge denied his bail and said life in prison is a possibility. The suspect was charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. He also faces juvenile weapon charges.

Brandon Perez, 15, and Nathan Billegas, 14, were both shot in the head and pronounced dead at a hospital. Another boy and a girl, both 14, also were shot and wounded, police said.

The suspect attended the school during the 2021-22 academic year but prosecutors said he was expelled for behavior, academic and attendance issues.

After the suspect was arrested at his home Thursday and officers served a search warrant, they found four guns, all loaded and with extended magazines, Darman said. Three of the guns also had switches that made them fully automatic.

Defense attorney Nicholas Giordano questioned why it took the police months to arrest his client if they had “all these identifications.”

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February 12, 2023
Arrests made in Louisiana mass shooting that wounded 12

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BATON ROUGE, La. — Police in Louisiana’s capital city have arrested two people for a mass shooting that left 12 others wounded at a nightclub in January.

Two 19-year-olds, Nikeal Franklin and Jy’Shaun Jackson, were arrested Friday, the Baton Rouge Police Department said. Franklin was charged with 12 counts of attempted first-degree murder while Jackson was charged with 12 counts of principal to attempted first-degree murder.

On Jan. 22, shots rang out around 1:30 a.m. in the Dior Bar & Lounge in Baton Rouge. A dozen people were injured, and most sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Three victims were initially listed in critical condition, but their conditions later improved.

Police said they believe the shooting was not a random act of violence and that it was “targeted.” Sgt. L’Jean McKneely Jr., a police spokesman, told The Associated Press in the days following the shooting that investigators believed the shooting was targeted at one partygoer and that bystanders were hurt in the process.

Before the shooting, the nightclub had advertised a Southern University and Louisiana State University-themed party as the two schools kicked off new semesters. Spokespeople for both LSU and Southern University told The Advocate that the event at the club that evening in Baton Rouge was not affiliated with either school.

In a social media post Friday, police said the investigation was ongoing and did not release any details beyond an announcement of the arrests.

Although the number of homicides in Baton Rouge decreased last year from 2021, Louisiana’s capital city has been plagued by gun violence. In October, an early-morning shooting near Southern University’s campus in Baton Rouge left nine people injured.

The Baton Rouge shooting occurred just hours after a gunman killed 11 people and wounded nine others at a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, California.

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February 12, 2023
San Francisco’s DA drops charges against former officer

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SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said she plans to drop manslaughter charges against a former police officer who became the first ever to be charged for an on-duty killing in the city because the charges were politically motivated.

Jenkins said in a letter sent Wednesday to Attorney General Rob Bonta that she intends to drop the charges against San Francisco police officer Christopher Samayoa at a March 1 hearing.

Samayoa was on his fourth day on the job when in 2017 he fatally shot Keita O’Neil, a carjacking suspect, during a police chase.

Chesa Boudin, Jenkins’ predecessor, charged Samayoa with manslaughter and other charges after he took office in 2020, calling his decision “historic.” Boudin was part of a politically progressive wave of prosecutors committed to seeking restorative justice over mass incarceration. He was recalled from his post last year amid frustration and anxiety over the pandemic and viral footage of Asian seniors being assaulted in San Francisco.

In the letter obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Jenkins said that an investigation into the Boudin’s handling of the case revealed internal conflicts. She said the charges were filed just before the statute of limitations for manslaughter was to expire and the warrant was signed by an investigator who had been assigned to the case days earlier — while the longtime lead investigator was on vacation.

“The irregularities and facts that have come to light surrounding the case against officer Samayoa suggest that the charges were not filed in good faith, appear to have been politically-motivated, and have made it impossible for us to proceed forward with this prosecution,” Jenkins said in a statement Friday.

Boudin didn’t immediately return a message Friday seeking comment. He told the San Francisco Chronicle he filed the case on the facts, which he said also led the Police Department to fire Samayoa and the city to pay O’Neil’s family a $2.5 million settlement.

“It’s clear Jenkins has been coordinating with the officer’s defense team to avoid a public hearing on the disturbing facts of the case,” he said. “She is scapegoating me to try to divert attention from what this decision ultimately reveals about her: Jenkins will not hold everyone equally accountable under the law, she is deeply politically motivated, and she does not care about victims of police violence.”

Jenkins said that her office has asked the state Attorney General’s Office to review the case in support of O’Neil’s family’s wishes.

The office on Friday confirmed it received the request and is reviewing it.

O’Neil, who died at a hospital, was suspected of assaulting a California Lottery employee and stealing a van that belonged to the agency. Police said they chased the van and another SUV seen traveling with it to a public housing area. O’Neil abandoned the stolen vehicle and started running toward the patrol car occupied by Samayoa, who was in the passenger seat, and his training officer.

Body camera footage shows Samayoa drawing his pistol while the cruiser was still moving. The video then shows him opening the side door and firing a single shot through the window as O’Neil runs by in the opposite direction. O’Neil, who died later at a hospital, was not armed.

An attorney for O’Neil’s family, Brian Ford, called Jenkins’ decision to drop the charges “shameful and cowardly.”

“She is more interested in protecting murderous cops and attacking Boudin than in seeking justice for the citizens of San Francisco,” Ford told the newspaper. “But it means that Attorney General Rob Bonta has all the more duty to investigate and take up the prosecution of Christopher Samayoa for the murder of Keita O’Neil.”

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February 10, 2023
Revived Trump probe puts Manhattan DA back in spotlight

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NEW YORK — When Alvin Bragg became Manhattan’s first Black district attorney last year, one of his first big decisions was to tap the breaks on an investigation that had been speeding toward a likely criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

The move won him few friends. Exasperated liberals dreaming of Trump in handcuffs threw up their hands. Conservatives gloated that the Democrat’s hesitation to bring a charge was proof Trump had been investigated for political reasons.

A year later, Bragg is shaking up that first impression.

Fresh from winning a conviction against Trump’s family company for tax fraud, Bragg convened a new grand jury last week in a reinvigorated investigation that could lead to the first ever criminal charges against a former U.S. president.

The probe, lately focused on hush money payments made to two women in 2016, is one of several legal challenges Trump faces as he seeks a return to the White House. It is putting Bragg back in the spotlight after a grueling first year in office.

“We’re going to follow the facts and continue to do our job,” Bragg said, speaking broadly about the investigation in a recent interview with the Associated Press.

Asked if charging Trump was a real possibility, or if the former president could rest easy, Bragg replied: “I’m not going to tell anyone how to rest.”

Bragg came into office 13 months ago amid what he calls a “perfect storm” of rising crime and political pressure. A Harvard-educated former federal prosecutor, chief deputy state attorney general and civil rights lawyer, he came equipped with legal and management credentials, but not much experience navigating New York City politics.

He campaigned as a progressive reformer, but one with a strong record as a prosecutor, and won an eight-way party primary before soaring to victory with 83% of the vote in deep blue Manhattan.

Yet he got off to a rocky start. Shortly after taking office, he wrote a “Day One” memo for his staff that outlined his philosophy on prosecuting — or not prosecuting — certain crimes. Among other things, it said the district attorney would no longer prosecute some low-level misdemeanor crimes, including subway fare evasion and marijuana possession.

Republicans, and some centrist Democrats, pounced.

Bragg, they said, was soft on crime. New York’s police commissioner said Bragg’s intention not to prosecute some people accused of resisting arrest would invite violence against police officers.

U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican running for governor, campaigned partly on a promise to remove the independently elected Bragg from office. He also featured Bragg in a campaign ad, even though Bragg wasn’t even on the ballot.

The vitriol became so rancid — and sometimes racist — Bragg said his friends worried for his safety.

But Bragg, an old-school lawyer, was hesitant to push back publicly, something he now regrets.

“I’ve learned that the work doesn’t always speak for itself,” said Bragg, who’s been appearing more on TV and giving interviews to outlets as varied as Teen Vogue and Manhattan’s West Side Rag.

He likened Zeldin’s TV attack ad to an infamous “Willie Horton” commercial that aired in the 1980s in support of George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign. That ad featured a Black prison inmate who committed violent crimes while on a weekend leave as part of a program authorized by Bush’s Democratic rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

“If someone wants to have substantive discussion, we can have that,” Bragg told the AP. “But if someone wants to put a Black face in an ad and have Willie Horton-type fears raised, we don’t have time for that.”

While some types of crime increased in Manhattan during Bragg’s first year in office, the number of murders and shootings actually dropped.

Inside the district attorney’s office, Bragg faced dissent over the direction of the Trump investigation — grievances that are being aired anew in a book by a former prosecutor.

In 2021, Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., had authorized top deputies to seek an indictment on charges that Trump had exaggerated the worth of his assets in financial statements he gave to lenders. A grand jury had been collecting evidence. Vance retired before the case was finished, leaving the decision about whether to go forward to Bragg.

Bragg decided not to proceed immediately, citing concerns about the strength of the case.

The delay prompted two prosecutors leading the investigation to resign.

One of them, Mark Pomerantz, has written about his disagreement with Bragg in a new book, “People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account.” In it, Pomerantz outlines his case for charging Trump and laments Bragg’s decision not to pursue an indictment.

Bragg countered in a statement that, in his assessment, “Pomerantz’s plane wasn’t ready for takeoff.”

Bragg also took issue with Pomerantz’s criticism of his prosecution team. “It is appalling that he insulted the skill and professionalism of our prosecutors,” he said at an event this week. “We have the most outstanding lawyers in the country working every day in the Manhattan DA’s office to keep our city safe from the streets to the suites.”

Lately, those lawyers have again been turning up the heat on Trump.

On Dec. 6 they won a conviction against the Trump Organization for helping the company’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, and other executives avoid paying personal income taxes. The company got a $1.6 million fine. Weisselberg pleaded guilty and got jail time. He qualifies for release in April.

And a new grand jury is hearing evidence related to payments made in 2016 to two women who alleged they had sexual encounters with Trump.

Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has already served prison time in connection with those payments after pleading guilty to campaign finance crimes. He has said the Trump Organization reimbursed him for one of the payouts and rewarded him with extra pay disguised as reimbursement for legal services.

Bragg declined to discuss the investigation in detail, but said prosecutors had paused certain aspects of the probe until the Trump Organization trial was finished. The verdict was a green light to get back to work.

“The trial is sort of a strong demarcation line for us,” Bragg said.

With that, the Manhattan investigation is suddenly back on the list of potential legal perils for Trump.

In Fulton County, Georgia, the district attorney is investigating Trump’s alleged interference in that state during the 2020 election. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Trump’s storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Florida and the former president’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump has lashed out at Bragg and Pomerantz on social media, calling the district attorney’s investigation “fake,” “weak,” and “fatally flawed.”

“THE BIGGEST PROBLEM THEY HAD WITH THE “CASE” IS THAT I DID NOTHING WRONG!” he said in one recent post.

But now, a year later, Bragg and his team might have other thoughts.

__

Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak and send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/.

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February 9, 2023
Lawyer: Santos had 2017 Pennsylvania theft charge expunged

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U.S. Rep. George Santos was charged with criminal theft in Pennsylvania in 2017 in connection with bad checks apparently used to buy puppies from dog breeders, according to a lawyer who said she helped the Republican with the case.

The case was ultimately dismissed after Santos said the nine checks, totaling more than $15,000, were from a checkbook that had been stolen from him, according to information provided to The Associated Press on Thursday by the attorney, Tiffany Bogosian.

The theft case, first reported by Politico, adds to the controversy surrounding the first-term Long Island congressman, who faces multiple investigations and has acknowledged lying about elements of his life story.

A spokesperson for the York County district attorney’s office in Pennsylvania, where the charges were filed, said the office cannot comment on expunged cases. Pennsylvania state police officials did not return messages seeking comment.

A congressional aide to Santos referred questions to his attorney, Joseph Murray, who didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Santos has previously denied any illegal doings.

The charges date to a time when Santos claimed to be leading a group, Friends of Pets United, that benefited sick, abandoned or neglected animals.

Some people familiar with the group have questioned what became of the money it raised. FBI agents recently visited a New Jersey man who complained that Santos had raised $3,000 for his terminally ill dog, but never delivered the cash or helped the sick animal.

Bogosian said she began helping Santos with the theft case in 2020, after he told her he had been served with an extradition warrant. She gave the AP email correspondence she had with a Pennsylvania state trooper in February 2020.

In the email to the trooper, she wrote that Santos told her one of four checkbooks he received from his bank disappeared in 2017 and he immediately called the bank, had the checks canceled and put stop pay orders on all the checks. He later closed the account.

In the email, Bogosian said Santos was not aware of the checks written to the dog breeders until after he was charged. Defending her friend, she also wrote that the signatures on the checks differed from each other and from Santos’ own signature.

“A review of the below and attached will make clear my client is not only the victim of fraud but so are the additional payees listed below and whom received the attached checks,” Bogosian wrote in the email.

Santos, she wrote, suspected that his roommate at the end of 2017, “a person only known as ‘Sydney Lima,’” had access to the checks and was perhaps responsible.

The charges were later expunged, but it is not clear exactly why.

The memo lines on some of the bad checks written to the dog breeders said they had been used to buy “puppies.”

Shortly after the checks were written, Friends of Pets United held a puppy adoption event at a pet store in New York City, at which people paid hundreds of dollars for the animals.

The New York Times reported Monday that after that adoption event, in November 2017, Santos asked the pet store owner to write a check from the proceeds to Anthony Devolder, the name Santos was going by at the time.

The owner rejected the request and instead made the check payable to Friends of Pets United. The owner, Daniel Avissato, told the Times he later discovered in his bank records that someone had blotted out Friends of Pets United on the check’s recipient line and replaced it with Anthony Devolder.

Santos has refused to answer questions about Friends of Pets United, but said in a tweet responding to some of the fundraising allegations that “my work in animal advocacy was the labor of love & hard work.”

He said he had rescued many dogs over the years.

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February 9, 2023
Quebec parents recount moments after bus hit daycare center

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LAVAL, Quebec — Parents returned Thursday to the Montreal-area daycare center where two children were killed when a bus rammed into the building, stopping to grieve and to recount the difficult moments they witnessed.

André Beaudoin, a father of a 2-year-old boy who attends the center in Laval, said he had to push through debris Wednesday to help pull injured children from under the bus, which had shattered the front of the building.

“I managed to get four out; the last girl … her head was stuck really bad,” he said.

Beaudoin said he had just parked to drop off his son when he saw the city bus barrel into the daycare. He said he ran into the building, and although most of the children had fled, “we heard the screams” of those still trapped.

Two children, both 4years old, were killed and six were hospitalized. Pierre Ny St-Amand, a 51-year-old driver with the Laval transit corporation, was arrested at the scene and later charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as seven other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.

Large sheets of plywood covered the damaged wall Thursday, next to a cheerful sign with pink letters bearing the name of the center, Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose. Piles of debris from the damaged roof and interior lay in the snow.

People, many in tears, stopped by to pay their respects and add to the growing memorial of flowers and stuffed toys in a snowbank outside the center where two 4-year-olds died in the incident.

Two of the six children had been released from the hospital, while four youngsters remained under treatment, Montreal health officials said.

Montreal’s Sainte-Justine children’s hospital said in a statement that the two children remaining there were in a “favorable” state of health. Two kids remained at a Laval hospital, and doctors said their lives were not in danger.

Pierre Ny St-Amand, a 51-year-old driver with the Laval transit corporation, was arrested at the scene Wednesday. He faces two counts of first-degree murder as well as seven other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.

Authorities said Thursday that they were still trying to understand what could have led someone to drive a bus into the daycare center.

“The motive remains incomprehensible still today,” Public Security Minister François Bonnardel told reporters in Quebec City.

Asked what authorities could have done to prevent the incident, Bonnardel said: “No one can predict this kind of event. No one can predict that someone gets up in the morning, takes off with a bus and decides to hit a daycare with a bus.”

Witnesses said the driver was delirious after exiting the bus, tore off his clothes and screamed as several people restrained him on the ground until police arrived.

Late Wednesday, a police cruiser and two officers were stationed outside St-Amand’s home on a quiet suburban street about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the daycare center. Several neighbors described him as a quiet, pleasant father of two young girls.

One man, Thanh-Ry Tran, said his family got together with St-Amand’s family a few times a year, adding that their wives would sometimes help each other in picking up or dropping off children. He said St-Amand had never shown signs of distress.

Lionel Carmant, the government minister responsible for social services, told reporters in Quebec City that regional health officials in Laval found no evidence that St-Armand had received care for mental health issues.

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February 9, 2023
The spy who wasn’t? New York police officer wants badge back

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GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — On a September day in 2020, New York City Police Officer Baimadajie Angwang kissed his toddler goodbye and was about to drive to work when he was surrounded by rifle-toting FBI agents.

You’re under arrest, the bewildered cop was told. The charge: Being a secret agent for China.

Angwang, a former U.S. Marine, spent six months in a federal detention center before he was freed on bail while awaiting trial on charges that he fed information about New York’s Tibetan community to officials at the Chinese consulate in New York.

Then, just as suddenly, it was over. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn dropped the charges Jan. 19, saying only that they were acting “in the interest of justice.” They didn’t explain further.

Now Angwang says he wants to be reinstated to the police force, which suspended him with pay while the case was pending. But more than that, he wants answers.

“Why did you start the investigation on me? Why did you drop all the charges?” said Angwang, who was born in Tibet but was granted political asylum in the U.S. as a teenager.

“We want an explanation. We’re demanding it because you owe me,” he said during an interview at his attorney’s office. “You can’t just put me in jail for six months and ruin my name, ruin my reputation and give all this stress to my family members and friends, and then you say, ‘in the interest of justice.’ You just going to leave it like that?”

China’s Communist Party has ruled over Tibet for seven decades and China has claimed a vast stretch of the Himalayas as part of its territory since the 13th century. But the relationship has been fraught with tension, with many Tibetans — some in exile — seeking independence.

The original charge against Angwang was that he began supplying information to Chinese officials on Tibetan independence groups in New York in 2018.

In court documents, prosecutors said Angwang was a threat to national security. He was charged with being an unregistered foreign agent, making false statements to federal investigators, obstruction of justice and wire fraud. There were no allegations of espionage, a more serious accusation.

In building its initial case against Angwang, prosecutors argued that he provided intelligence on ethnic Tibetans who might cooperate with Chinese officials and advised them on how to expand China’s “soft power” in New York.

Specifically, the government said, he sought a tit-for-tat arrangement that would give him a 10-year visa to his homeland in return for surveillance information and access to the police department.

The case was built partly on recorded phone calls, including some in which authorities said Angwang called a consular official “big brother” and “boss.”

Angwang told The Associated Press his words were either mistranslated from Mandarin or taken out of context. He said he became superficially friendly with Chinese officials because he needed the visa to visit his homeland, so his parents and other relatives could finally meet his daughter.

The judge presiding over the case sought answers about why the charges were dismissed, but federal prosecutors declined to divulge classified information that might have given clues.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn declined to comment.

The judge agreed to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning the government could press charges again, a possibility hanging over Angwang but his lawyer suggests is unlikely.

The attorney, John Carman, surmised his client became caught up in the Trump administration’s effort to root out Chinese espionage across U.S. institutions, including the economy, academics and other facets of public life. Angwang contends there were shades of racism targeting people with Chinese links.

“I think our criminal justice system sometimes goes off the track when it has a publicity aspect to it and when it has a political aspect to it. And this case had both,” Carman said.

Angwang first visited the U.S. as a teen on a cultural exchange visa. He went back to Tibet but later returned to the U.S., saying he had been arrested and beaten by Chinese authorities. He moved in with an uncle in Queens and was granted asylum at age 17.

In his adopted country, Angwang enlisted in the U.S. Marines and served in Afghanistan. After being discharged, he joined the Army Reserves and enrolled in the police academy.

He said it was his way of giving back to a country that has been so good to him.

With the charges dropped, he said he wants to regain the good graces of his Tibetan community, which remains suspicious.

“I’m very proud of my heritage. I love my culture and I love the community,” Angwang said. He said he was wrongly depicted as a three-way traitor.

“So I’m a traitor of my birthplace? I’m a traitor of America? I’m a traitor of the Tibetan community — which I was never a traitor. I never betrayed anyone — my fellow Tibetans, my fellow Americans, anybody.”

Norbu Choezung, the president of the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey, a group comprising some 10,000 members of Tibetan heritage, remains wary. He, too, wants the government to provide more details about why it dropped the case.

“It’s a little fishy,” Choezung said. “We as a community definitely want to dig deeper why his charges have been dropped, and how those things happened.”

U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee, who presided over the case, was left with questions but said he was glad Angwang’s ordeal was over.

“In some ways a straightforward case but also in some ways, especially given the landscape of statutes at issue, a complicated matter,” the judge said, also noting the “fanfare” in which the case was brought.

“It’s unfortunate, obviously, that Mr. Angwang did serve as much time as he did in jail pretrial or in detention pretrial,” the judge said, “but better late, as they say, than never.”

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February 8, 2023
Chasing Horse charged with federal crimes in sex abuse probe

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NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A former “Dances With Wolves” actor accused of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls for decades was charged with federal crimes Wednesday, adding to the growing list of criminal cases against Nathan Chasing Horse since his arrest last week in Nevada.

Chasing Horse, 46, now faces two counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday afternoon in Nevada U.S. District Court. Authorities have said Chasing Horse filmed sexual assaults.

The federal charges came hours after a state judge on Wednesday granted $300,000 bail to Chasing Horse, who has been in Las Vegas police custody since his Jan. 31 arrest near the home he shared with his five wives.

Earlier Wednesday, about two dozen of Chasing Horse’s relatives and friends had filed into a North Las Vegas courtroom in a show of support, hoping he would be released on bail. They cheered and celebrated the judge’s decision as they left the courthouse, waving signs that translate to “Justice for Chasing Horse.” Now, if he posts bail, he is likely to be taken into federal custody.

In state court, Chasing Horse is charged with eight felonies, including sexual assault, sex trafficking and child abuse. He has not entered a plea.

Canadian police in British Columbia confirmed this week they also are pursuing a criminal case against the former actor, who is known for his portrayal of Smiles A Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film. He is accused in a 2018 sexual assault in the British Columbia village of Keremeos near the Washington state border.

Authorities in Nevada have said his crimes date to the early 2000s and stretch across the United States and into Canada.

It wasn’t immediately clear how, if at all, the federal charges will affect Chasing Horse’s case in Clark County. His public defender, Kristy Holston, did not immediately respond Wednesday evening to a request for comment.

At his bail hearing Wednesday morning, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney William Rowles told the judge that Chasing Horse should remain in custody because he was “grooming” girls to replace his older wives at the time of his arrest.

“There is evidence that this individual is still in the process of grooming young children to replace the others as they grow up,” Rowles said.

Nevada authorities have described Chasing Horse in more than a hundred pages of court documents as the leader of a cult known as The Circle, whose followers believed Chasing Horse, as a “medicine man,” could communicate with higher beings. Police said he abused that position to physically and sexually assault women and girls and take underage wives.

At its peak, Rowles said, The Circle had about 300 members.

Investigators and victims had been expected to speak in court Wednesday, because Nevada law requires prosecutors to show convincing evidence that a defendant should remain jailed as they await trial. But after delays in the proceedings, the judge heard only from Rowles, who requested $2 million bail, and Holston, who asked the judge to set bail at $50,000.

After the hearing, Holston told The Associated Press she also was happy with the judge’s decision and said she is looking forward to his next court date in North Las Vegas, currently scheduled for Feb. 22. At that hearing, a judge is expected to hear evidence in the case and decide whether Chasing Horse will stand trial.

“We’re really looking forward to the preliminary hearing in this case,” she said, “because it’s another public hearing where we will have an opportunity to point out the weaknesses in the state’s case.”

Rulon Pete, a representative of the victims and the executive director of the Las Vegas Indian Center, said they were disappointed with the judge’s decision. Some of the victims were in the courtroom Wednesday.

“What happened this morning was like a slap in the face,” Pete told The Associated Press.

Police have said they have identified at least six victims, including one who was 13 when she said she was abused, and another who said she was offered to Chasing Horse as a “gift” when she was 15.

Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation. In 2015, he was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, following allegations of human trafficking.

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February 8, 2023