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Tag: Indictments

  • Fugitive convicted in US sex crimes case arrested in France after years on the run

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    PHOENIX — An Arizona man who fled the United States years ago while on probation for sex crime convictions was arrested earlier this month in France, where he was charged with sexually assaulting a child, authorities said.

    Michael Robert Wiseman, 51, was living in Kilstett in northeastern France when he arrested Nov. 1. Investigators discovered Wiseman had traveled to Vietnam and Poland before settling in France.

    Scottsdale police Sgt. Dustin Patrick told Phoenix television station 12News that Wiseman was captured after he tried applying for a pilot’s license in Spain using his real name. Patrick said investigators discovered that Wiseman had adopted two children in Vietnam and had obtained a legitimate Polish passport under an alias.

    “His potential employer Googled his name and found that he was on Scottsdale’s most wanted list and called Spain authorities,” Patrick said.

    It was the second time Wiseman fled the U.S. while his 2008 Arizona case hung over his head.

    While his charges were still pending, Wiseman cut off his ankle monitoring device and left the country in late 2008. The fugitive was arrested in 2009 in Spain, brought back to Arizona and pleaded guilty in metro Phoenix to three counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and one escape charge.

    The charges stemmed from child sexual abuse material found on his computer.

    In an interview with a probation employee, Wiseman said he left the country the first time after growing tired of the hardship from his wife leaving him after his 2008 arrest and his financial difficulties, according to court records.

    Wiseman, who spent over two years in jail after his return from Spain, was sentenced in 2012 to lifetime probation and a one-year deferred jail sentence. The additional incarceration was later deleted by a judge in at least one of his two Arizona cases.

    Then authorities say he skipped out of the United States for the second time after his 2012 sentencing.

    The lawyer who last represented Wisemen in his criminal case no longer works as a public defender, and efforts to located him through a bar directory and internet search weren’t successful.

    Scottsdale police say Wiseman will be extradited to the United States after his French case is completed. Arizona prosecutors say there is no timeline for when the extradition will occur.

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  • Former customs officer sentenced to 15 years for helping drug traffickers

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    A former Customs and Border Protection officer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to working with Mexican traffickers to bring drugs into the U.S. Diego Bonillo pleaded guilty in July to multiple charges, including conspir…

    LOS ANGELES — A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to working with Mexican traffickers to bring drugs into the U.S., officials said Thursday.

    Diego Bonillo, 30, pleaded guilty in July to multiple charges, including conspiracy to import controlled substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

    As part of his plea deal, he admitted to using his position to allow drug-filled cars into the U.S. from Mexico without inspection. He allowed at least 75 kilograms of fentanyl, 11.7 kilograms of methamphetamine, and more than 1 kilogram of heroin into the country, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego said in a news release Thursday.

    Prosecutors said in sentencing documents that Bonillo was using a secret phone to alert the drug trafficking group which lanes he would be overseeing at the Tecate and Otay Mesa border crossings so he could ensure their entry without inspection.

    Agents determined that Bonillo was part of the scheme no later than October 2023 and continued until April 2024, allowing at least 15 vehicles to enter uninspected, prosecutors said.

    Bonillo used his payments to travel internationally, purchase luxury gifts, attempt to purchase property in Mexico, and spend time at the Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club in Tijuana, Mexico, prosecutors said.

    He was sentenced Nov. 7 to 15 years in federal prison.

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  • Judge to Hear Arguments Challenging Appointment of Prosecutor Who Charged James Comey, Letitia James

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    ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Lawyers for two of President Donald Trump’s foes who have been charged by the Justice Department are set to ask a federal judge Thursday to dismiss the cases against them, saying the prosecutor who secured the indictments was illegally installed in the role.

    The challenges to Lindsey Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia are part of multi-prong efforts by former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James to get their cases dismissed before trial.

    At issue during Thursday’s arguments are the complex constitutional and statutory rules governing the appointment of the nation’s U.S. attorneys, who function as top federal prosecutors in Justice Department offices across the country.

    The role is typically filled by lawyers who have been nominated by a president and confirmed by the Senate. Attorneys general do have the authority to get around that process by naming an interim U.S. attorney who can serve for 120 days, but lawyers for Comey and James note that once that period expires, the law gives federal judges of that district exclusive say over who can fill the vacancy.

    But that’s not what happened in this instance.

    After then-interim U.S. attorney Erik Siebert resigned in September while facing Trump administration pressure to bring charges against Comey and James, Attorney General Pam Bondi — at Trump’s public urging — installed Halligan to the role.

    Siebert had been appointed by Bondi in January to serve as interim U.S. attorney. Trump in May announced his intention to nominate him and judges in the Eastern District unanimously agreed after his 120-day period expired that he should be retained in the role. But after the Trump administration effectively pushed him out in September, the Justice Department again opted to make an interim appointment in place of the courts, something defense lawyers say it was not empowered under the law to do.

    Prosecutors in the cases say the law does not explicitly prevent successive appointments of interim U.S. attorneys by the Justice Department, and that even if Halligan’s appointment is deemed invalid, the proper fix is not the dismissal of the indictment.

    Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges of making a false statement and obstructing Congress, and James has pleaded not guilty to mortgage fraud allegations. Their lawyers have separately argued that the prosecutions are improperly vindictive and motivated by the president’s personal animus toward their clients, and should therefore be dismissed.

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

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  • Titans Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed Indicted in Texas for Failing to Report an Aggravated Assault

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    DALLAS (AP) — Tennessee Titans cornerback L’Jarius Sneed has been indicted in Texas on a misdemeanor charge of failing to report an aggravated assault to law enforcement over an alleged shooting that happened last year in suburban Dallas, according to court records.

    Sneed, 28, was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on Tuesday for failing to report a felony. The indictment does not include details of the alleged incident, but says it took place on Dec. 6, 2024, the same day that two men alleged in a civil lawsuit that they were shot at from a Lamborghini Urus that Sneed and another man, Tekonzae Williams, were in.

    Williams was indicted Tuesday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Court records did not list an attorney for Williams.

    The Titans said in a statement that they were aware of the “legal matter” with Sneed and are in contact with NFL security per league protocol. The statement says the team had no further comment. Sneed’s agent, Jason Katz, said he had no comment.

    The lawsuit against Sneed and Williams, which seeks at least $1 million in damages, was filed by Christian Nshimiyimana and Avi Ahmed, who say they were sitting in a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon on a vehicle dealer lot in Carrollton when they were shot at. The lawsuit says that neither Nshimiyimana nor Ahmed recognized the two-time Super Bowl champion or Williams and said they didn’t think they had ever interacted with them previously.

    No people were hit by bullets fired from the Lamborghini Urus. The lawsuit says bullets did hit the Mercedes-Benz as well as a building.

    Sneed was placed on injured reserve last month with a quadricep injury. It’s the second straight season the Titans have put him on injured reserve. He played only five games in 2024 after Tennessee traded with Kansas City for him, giving Sneed a contract that made him the NFL’s fifth-highest-paid cornerback at the time.

    Sneed was drafted from Louisiana Tech University in the fourth round in 2020 by Kansas City. He won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Chiefs in 2022 and 2023.

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

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  • Prosecutors Turn Over 130,000 Pages of Evidence in the Killing of a Minnesota Lawmaker

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    MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys in the case of a man charged with killing a top Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband said Wednesday that prosecutors have turned over a massive amount of evidence to the defense, and that his lawyers need more time to review it.

    Federal prosecutor Harry Jacobs told the court that investigators have provided substantially all of the evidence they have collected against Vance Boelter. He’s pleaded not guilty to murder in the killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and to attempted murder in the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. Some evidence, such as lab reports, continues to come in.

    Federal defender Manny Atwal said at the status conference that the evidence includes over 130,000 pages of PDF documents, over 800 hours of audio and video recordings, and over 2,000 photographs from what authorities have called the largest hunt for a suspect in Minnesota history.

    Atwal said her team has spent close to 110 hours just downloading the material — not reviewing it — and that they’re still evaluating the evidence, a process she said has gone slowly due to the federal government shutdown.

    “That’s not unusual for a complex case but it is lot of information for us to review,” Atwal told Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster.

    Jacobs said he didn’t have a timeline for when the Department of Justice would decide whether to seek the death penalty against Boelter. The decision will be up to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

    Foster scheduled the next status conference for Feb. 12 and asked prosecutors to keep the defense and court updated in the meantime about their death penalty decision. She did not set a trial date.

    Boelter, 58, was captured near his home in rural Green Isle late the next day. He faces federal and state charges including murder and attempted murder in what prosecutors have called a political assassination.

    Boelter, who was wearing orange and yellow jail clothing, said nothing during the nine-minute hearing.

    Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911 and has never had a federal death penalty case. But the Trump administration is pushing for greater use of capital punishment.

    Boelter claimed to the conservative outlet Blaze News in August that he never intended to shoot anyone that night but that his plans went horribly wrong.

    He told Blaze in a series of hundreds of texts via his jail’s messaging system that he went to the Hoffmans’ home to make citizens’ arrests over what he called his two-year undercover investigation into 400 deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine that he believed were being covered up by the state.

    But he told Blaze he opened fire when the Hoffmans and their adult daughter tried to push him out the door and spoiled his plan. He did not explain why went on to allegedly shoot the Hortmans and their golden retriever, Gilbert, who had to be euthanized.

    Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said when she announced Boelter’s indictment on state charges in August that she gave no credence to the claims Boelter had made from jail.

    In other recent developments, a Sibley County judge last month granted Boelter’s wife a divorce.

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

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  • Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown gets $25K bail, GPS monitor on attempted murder charge

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    Former NFL star wide receiver Antonio Brown will be released on $25,000 bail and must wear a GPS ankle monitor on an attempted murder charge in Florida, a judge ordered Wednesday.

    Brown, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree attempted murder charge, which carries a potential 15-year prison sentence and a fine up to $10,000 if he is convicted. His lawyer, Mark Eiglarsh, said Brown would return to his home in Broward County, Florida, while the case proceeds.

    “He no longer has a passport. He’ll be living at his home. I look forward to working with him zealously on this case,” Eiglarsh told Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer at a bond hearing.

    Brown appeared at the hearing via video wearing a red jail shirt and spoke only to answer questions from the judge. Prosecutors had sought pretrial detention, contending Brown is a high-paid former professional athlete with the resources to flee.

    According to an arrest warrant, Brown is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer after a celebrity boxing match in Miami on May 16 and firing two shots at a man he had gotten into a fistfight with earlier. The victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.

    Brown’s attorney said Wednesday that the affidavit is mistaken and that Brown actually used his personal firearm, and that the shots were not aimed at anyone.

    “It was my client’s own gun,” Eiglarsh said.

    Based on his social media posts, Brown had been living in Dubai for several months. In a social media post after the altercation, Brown said he was defending himself because he was “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.”

    Eiglarsh said Brown has unspecified business interests in Dubai and always intended to turn himself in on the attempted murder charge.

    “He didn’t flee to Dubai,” the lawyer said. “He always had a desire and intention to answer this case.”

    Brown, who spent 12 years in the NFL, was an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in 2021 for Tampa Bay but spent most of his career with Pittsburgh. For his career, Brown had 928 receptions for more than 12,000 yards and accounted for 88 total touchdowns counting punt returns and one pass.

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  • Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown pleads not guilty to attempted murder charge after shooting

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    Former NFL star Antonio Brown was returning Tuesday to Miami to face an attempted murder charge stemming from a May shooting, with his lawyer filing a not guilty plea on his behalf.

    Jail records in Essex County, New Jersey, show Brown was released late Tuesday morning for the transfer to Florida. The former All-Pro wide receiver had waived extradition to Florida from New Jersey, where he was brought following his arrest in Dubai.

    Brown’s lawyer, Mark Eiglarsh, said in an email that he has already filed a written not guilty plea to the attempted murder charge. Brown could be in a Miami courtroom as early as Wednesday morning for a bond hearing, Eiglarsh said.

    According to an arrest warrant, Brown is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer after a celebrity boxing match on May 16 and firing two shots at a man he had gotten into a fistfight with earlier. The victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.

    Eiglarsh said Brown was simply protecting himself from a person he had problems with before.

    “The actions he was forced to take were solely in self-defense against the alleged victim’s violent behavior. Brown was attacked that night and acted within his legal right to protect himself,” Eiglarsh said.

    Brown was not immediately arrested that night because initially police did not identify Nantambu as a victim. It wasn’t until May 21 that Nantambu gave a full statement about the incident to police and identified Brown as the shooter, the affidavit says.

    Based on his social media posts, Brown had been living in Dubai for several months. In a social media post after the altercation, Brown said he was defending himself because he was “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.”

    A second-degree attempted murder charge in Florida carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence and up to a $10,000 fine in the event of a conviction.

    Brown, who spent 12 years in the NFL, was an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in 2021 for Tampa Bay but spent most of his career with Pittsburgh. For his career, Brown had 928 receptions for more than 12,000 yards and scored 88 total touchdowns counting returns and one pass. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection.

    Brown has dealt with several legal problems over the years. He previously had been accused of battery of a moving truck driver, several domestic violence charges, failure to pay child support and other incidents.

    During a 2021 game with Tampa Bay against the New York Jets, Brown took off his jersey, shoulder pads and gloves and ran off the field, leading to his release by the Buccaneers and effectively ending his football career.

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  • MLB pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz charged with taking bribes to rig pitches for bettors

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted on charges they took bribes from sports bettors to throw certain types of pitches, including tossing balls in the dirt instead of strikes, to ensure successful bets.

    According to the indictment unsealed Sunday in federal court in Brooklyn, the highly paid hurlers took several thousand dollars in payoffs to help two unnamed gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and outcome of certain pitches.

    Clase, the Guardians’ former closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB started investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched. Some of the games in question were in April, May and June.

    Ortiz, 26, was arrested Sunday by the FBI at Boston Logan International Airport. He is expected to appear in federal court in Boston on Monday. Clase, 27, was not in custody, officials said.

    Ortiz and Clase “betrayed America’s pastime,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said. “Integrity, honesty and fair play are part of the DNA of professional sports. When corruption infiltrates the sport, it brings disgrace not only to the participants but damages the public trust in an institution that is vital and dear to all of us.”

    Ortiz’s lawyer, Chris Georgalis, said in a statement that his client was innocent and “has never, and would never, improperly influence a game — not for anyone and not for anything.”

    Georgalis said Ortiz’s defense team had previously documented for prosecutors that the payments and money transfers between him and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for lawful activities.

    “There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning. Luis looks forward to fighting these charges in court,” Georgalis said.

    A lawyer for Clase, Michael J. Ferrara, said his client “has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win. Emmanuel is innocent of all charges and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

    The Major League Baseball Players Association had no comment.

    Unusual betting activity prompted investigation

    MLB said it contacted federal law enforcement when it began investigating unusual betting activity and has fully cooperated with authorities. “We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing,” a league statement said.

    In a statement, the Guardians said: “We are aware of the recent law enforcement action. We will continue to fully cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue.”

    Clase and Ortiz are both charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. The top charges carry a potential punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

    In one example cited in the indictment, Clase allegedly invited a bettor to a game against the Boston Red Sox in April and spoke with him by phone just before taking the mound. Four minutes later, the indictment said, the bettor and his associates won $11,000 on a wager that Clase would toss a certain pitch slower than 97.95 mph (157.63 kph).

    In May, the indictment said, Clase agreed to throw a ball at a certain point in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the batter swung, resulting in a strike, costing the bettors $4,000 in wagers. After the game, which the Guardians won, one of the bettors sent Clase a text message with an image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper, the indictment said. Clase responded with an image of a sad puppy dog face, according to the indictment.

    Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, had a $4.5 million salary in 2025, the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract. The three-time AL save leader began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 but didn’t ask for payoffs until this year, prosecutors said.

    The indictment cited specific pitches Clase allegedly rigged — all of them first pitches when he entered to start an inning: a 98.5 mph (158.5 kph) cutter low and inside to the New York Mets’ Starling Marte on May 19, 2023; an 89.4 mph (143.8 kph) slider to Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers that bounced well short of home plate on June 3, 2023; an 89.4 mph (143.8 kph) slider to Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. that bounced on April 12; a 99.1 mph (159.5 kph) cutter in the dirt to Philadelphia’s Max Kepler on May 11; a bounced 89.1 mph (143.4) slider to Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers on May 13; and a bounced 87.5 mph (140.8 kph) slider to Cincinnati’s Santiago Espinal on May 17.

    Prosecutors said Ortiz, who had a $782,600 salary this year, got in on the scheme in June and is accused of rigging pitches in games against the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals.

    Ortiz was cited for bouncing a first-pitch 86.7 mph (139.5 kph) slider to Seattle’s Randy Arozarena starting the second inning on June 15 and bouncing a first-pitch 86.7 mph (139.5 kph) slider to St. Louis’ Pedro Pagés that went to the backstop opening the third inning on June 27.

    Dozens of pro athletes have been charged in gambling sweeps

    The charges are the latest bombshell developments in a federal crackdown on betting in professional sports.

    Last month, more than 30 people, including prominent basketball figures such as Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested in a gambling sweep that rocked the NBA.

    Sports betting scandals have long been a concern, but a May 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling led to a wave of gambling incidents involving athletes and officials. The ruling struck down a federal ban on sports betting in most states and opened the doors for online sportsbooks to take a prominent space in the sports ecosystem.

    Major League Baseball suspended five players in June 2024, including a lifetime ban for San Diego infielder Tucupita Marcano for allegedly placing 387 baseball bets with a legal sportsbook totaling more than $150,000.

    ___

    This story was first published on Nov. 9. It was updated on Nov. 11 to correct that, according to an indictment, a bettor sent Clase an image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper. Clase didn’t send that image to the bettor.

    ___

    Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker in Washington and Ron Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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  • New Mexico Lawmakers Propose a Jeffrey Epstein Probe of Activity at Secluded Desert Ranch

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    SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A secluded desert ranch where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests is coming under new scrutiny in New Mexico, where two state legislators are proposing an investigative “truth commission” to guard against sex trafficking in the future.

    Democratic state Rep. Andrea Romero of Santa Fe said several survivors of Epstein’s abuse have signaled that sex trafficking activity extended to Zorro Ranch, a sprawling property with a hilltop mansion and private runway about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of the state’s capital city. Yet not enough is known about what went on there for the state to take precautions against abuse in the future, she said.

    “This commission will specifically seek the truth about what officials knew, how crimes were unreported or reported, and how the state can ensure that this essentially never happens again,” Romero told a panel of legislators on Thursday. “There’s no complete record of what occurred.”

    The investigation, with a proposed $2.5 million budget, would thrust New Mexico into an international array of probes into Epstein’s associations that is roiling the U.S. Congress and prompted King Charles III on Thursday to formally strip brother Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of the title of prince.

    Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.

    The case was brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of nearly identical allegations. Epstein was accused of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages and then molesting them.

    Epstein purchased the Zorro Ranch in New Mexico in 1993 from former Democratic Gov. Bruce King and built a 26,700-square-foot (2,480-square-meter) mansion. The property was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023, with proceeds going to creditors.

    While Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, the state attorney general’s office in 2019 confirmed that it was investigating and had interviewed possible victims who visited the ranch.

    In 2023, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez ordered an investigation into financial businesses utilized by Epstein and their legal obligations, said agency spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez. That resulted in agreements with two banks that dedicates $17 million to the prevention of human trafficking, she said.

    On Thursday, Democratic and Republican legislators expressed guarded support for a new probe, amid concern that New Mexico laws allowed Epstein to avoid registering locally as a sex offender long after he was required to register in Florida.

    In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution under an agreement that required him to spend 13 months in jail and register as a sex offender — an agreement widely criticized for secretly ending a federal sex abuse investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls.

    “I do feel like this is a unique opportunity to help victims,” said Republican Rep. Andrea Reeb, a former district attorney from Clovis. ”I do believe New Mexicans do have a right to know what happened at this ranch. And I didn’t get the impression it was gonna be a big political thing.”

    But another Republican legislator demanded, “Why now?” — noting tensions related to President Donald Trump and his vow to release documents related to the late sex trafficker.

    “Why not a long time ago?” said Rep. Stafani Lord of Sandia Park. “Every time I ride my motorcycle past there (Zorro Ranch), I get sick to my stomach.”

    Results are at least two years away. To move forward with a truth commission, approval first is needed from the state House when the Legislature convenes in January to create a bipartisan oversight committee of four legislators, said Democratic state Rep. Marianna Anaya, a cosponsor of the initiative.

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

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  • Ex-NBA player Damon Jones pleads not guilty to selling injury secrets

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    NEW YORK — Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he profited from rigged poker games and provided sports bettors with non-public information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

    Jones, a onetime teammate of James, said little during back-to-back arraignments in federal court in Brooklyn, letting his court-appointed lawyer enter not guilty pleas in a pair of cases stemming from last month’s federal takedown of sprawling gambling operations.

    Jones, 49, acknowledged he read both indictments and that he understood the charges and his bail conditions, which include his mother and stepfather putting up their Texas home as collateral for a $200,000 bond that will allow him to remain free pending trial.

    Jones’ lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, told a judge that they “may be engaging in plea negotiations.” He is due back in court for a preliminary conference with other defendants on Nov. 24.

    Jones was among more than 30 people arrested in the gambling sweep. The others included reputed mobsters and prominent basketball figures, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.

    Sports bettor Marves Fairley also pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges alleging he cashed in on information about injuries to NBA players, including some that prosecutors say Jones provided to him.

    Jones, an NBA journeyman, earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008 and he served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.

    According to prosecutors, Jones sold or attempted to sell non-public information to bettors that James was injured and wouldn’t be playing in a Feb. 9, 2023, game against the Milwaukee Bucks, texting an unnamed co-conspirator: “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out.”

    James wasn’t listed on the Lakers’ injury report at the time of the text message, but the NBA’s all-time scoring leader was later ruled out of the game because of a lower body jury, according to prosecutors, and the Lakers lost the game 115-106.

    On Jan. 15, 2024, prosecutors said, Fairley paid Jones approximately $2,500 for a tip that Davis, the Lakers’ forward and center at the time, would see limited playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of an injury.

    Fairley then placed a $100,000 bet on the Thunder to win, prosecutors said, but the tip was wrong. Davis played his usual minutes, scored 27 points and collected 15 rebounds in a 112-105 Lakers win, prompting Fairley to demand a refund of his $2,500 fee, prosecutors said.

    Jones, a native of Galveston, Texas, who played college basketball at the University of Houston, is charged in both cases with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. As part of his bail agreement, his travel is restricted to parts of Texas and New York City. He was allowed to keep his passport to use as identification for flying until he obtains a REAL ID, which his lawyer said should happen soon.

    A hot hand from outside the three-point arc, Jones once proclaimed himself in an interview with insidehoops.com as “the best shooter in the world.” He played in every regular season game for three consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2006.

    After his playing days, he worked as a “shooting consultant” for the Cavaliers and was an assistant coach when the team, led by James, won the NBA championship in 2016.

    In the poker scheme, according to prosecutors, Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.

    According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. His instructor likened those people to James and NBA All-Star Steph Curry, prosecutors said. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.

    In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”

    The poker scheme often made use of illegal poker games run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime families, according to prosecutors.

    Members of those families, in turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, officials said in court documents.

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  • Criminal Case Against Boeing Over Deadly 737 Max Plane Crashes Is Dismissed by a US Judge

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    A federal judge in Texas has agreed to dismiss a criminal conspiracy charge against Boeing in connection with two 737 Max jetliner crashes that killed 346 people.

    In a written decision issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor approved the federal government’s request to dismiss its case against Boeing as part of a deal that requires the aircraft maker to pay or invest an additional $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the crash victims’ families, and internal safety and quality measures.

    The ruling came after an emotional hearing in early September when relatives of some of the victims urged O’Connor to reject the deal and instead appoint a special prosecutor to take over the case.

    All passengers and crew members died when the planes went down off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019. Prosecutors had alleged that Boeing deceived government regulators about a flight-control system that was later implicated in the fatal flights.

    The long-running case has taken many twists and turns since the Justice Department first charged the American aerospace company in January 2021 with defrauding the U.S. government, including a failed deal that would have required Boeing to plead guilty. That plea agreement fell through after O’Connor did not approve it.

    Airlines began flying the Max in 2017. After the Ethiopia crash, the planes were grounded worldwide for 20 months while the company redesigned the flight-control software.

    The Justice Department had said it believed the latest agreement served the public interest more effectively than taking the case to trial and risking a jury verdict that might spare the company further punishment. It also said the families of 110 crash victims either support resolving the case before it reaches trial or did not oppose the deal.

    Meanwhile, more than a dozen relatives spoke at the Sept. 3 hearing, some of whom traveled to Texas from as far as Europe and Africa. They are among nearly 100 families who opposed the agreement.

    Catherine Berthet, who traveled from France, had asked the judge to send the case to trial.

    “Do not allow Boeing to buy its freedom,” she said. Her daughter, Camille Geoffroy, died when a 737 Max crashed shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

    The yearslong case centers around a software system that Boeing developed for the 737 Max, which began flying in 2017.

    In both of the deadly crashes, that software pitched the nose of the plane down repeatedly based on faulty readings from a single sensor, and pilots flying for Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines were unable to regain control. After the Ethiopia crash, the planes were grounded worldwide for 20 months.

    Investigators found that Boeing did not inform key Federal Aviation Administration personnel about changes it had made to the software before regulators set pilot training requirements for the Max and certified the airliner for flight.

    Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.

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

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  • Former South Carolina House Member Indicted on Federal Charges of Defrauding Legal Clients

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    A former South Carolina state lawmaker has been indicted on federal allegations that he schemed to defraud his legal clients.

    According to court papers, a federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted former Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, a Democrat and attorney, on 10 charges including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

    Federal prosecutors said that Pendarvis, between 2022 and 2024, negotiated financial settlements on behalf of his clients, but didn’t tell them that he had received the funds. Instead, according to the government, Pendarvis — who was at the time serving as a lawmaker representing the Charleston area — allegedly pocketed the money himself, either not telling his clients the money had been obtained, or ultimately giving them lesser sums than what he had negotiated.

    In all, according to prosecutors, Pendarvis deposited more half a million dollars into his law firm’s trust fund account, from which he paid nothing to clients.

    A message left Wednesday with Pendarvis was not immediately returned.

    Pendarvis’ law license was suspended last year after a former client accused him of forging his signature to reach a settlement in a lawsuit without his permission. The order issued then by the state Supreme Court didn’t detail why the suspension had been recommended, but the former client — whose initials matched one of the alleged victims detailed in Wednesday’s indictment — accused Pendarvis of sending him text messages asking him not to sue over the alleged forgery.

    “Let’s handle this (expletive). No need to try and hurt me man. I can help you,” Pendarvis wrote Lewis in text messages filed with the state lawsuit, which is still pending.

    First elected in a special election in 2017, he won three full terms before resigning from office about four months after the suspension of his law license.

    According to court records, Pendarvis is slated to appear in federal court on Nov. 18.

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

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  • Jury Deliberates in Assault Case Against DC Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent in Viral Video

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury began deliberating Wednesday in the Justice Department’s assault case against a man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent, turning him into a symbol of resistance to President Donald Trump’s law-enforcement surge in the nation’s capital.

    Prosecutors told jurors that Sean Charles Dunn broke the law when he threw his submarine sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent on the night of Aug. 10.

    One of Dunn’s lawyers urged the jury to acquit Dunn, a former Justice Department employee, of a misdemeanor assault charge after a two-day trial. Defense attorney Sabrina Shroff questioned why the case was brought in the first place.

    “A footlong from Subway could not and certainly did not inflict any bodily harm,” Shroff said during the trial’s closing arguments. “Throwing a sandwich is not a forcible offense.”

    Prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said Dunn knew he didn’t have a right to throw the sandwich at the agent.

    “This is not a case about someone with strong opinions,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiLorenzo said. “It’s about an individual who crossed the line.”

    Dunn didn’t testify at his trial. But the jury heard him explain why he confronted a group of CBP agents on the same weekend that Trump announced his deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops and federal agents to assist with police patrols in Washington, D.C.

    After his arrest, a law-enforcement officer’s body camera captured him saying: “I did it. I threw a sandwich. I did it to draw them away from where they were. I succeeded.”

    A grand jury refused to indict Dunn on a felony assault count, part of a pattern of pushback against the Justice Department’s prosecution of surge-related criminal cases. After the rare rebuke from the grand jury, Pirro’s office charged Dunn instead with a misdemeanor.

    When Dunn approached a group of CBP agents who were in front of a club hosting a “Latin Night,” he called them “fascists” and “racists” and chanted “shame” toward them. An observer’s video captured Dunn throwing a sandwich at an agent’s chest.

    “Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” Dunn shouted, according to police.

    Dunn ran away but was apprehended. DiLorenzo said the agents confronted by Dunn showed “the utmost restraint.”

    “He spent seven minutes trying to get them off that corner,” the prosecutor said.

    CBP Agent Gregory Lairmore testified that the sandwich “exploded” when it struck his chest hard enough that he could feel it through his ballistic vest.

    “You could smell the onions and the mustard,” he recalled.

    Lairmore’s colleagues jokingly gave him gifts making light of the incident, including a sandwich-shaped plush toy and a patch that said “felony footlong.” Lairmore acknowledged that he kept the gifts, placing the patch on his lunchbox.

    “If someone assaulted you, someone offended you, would you keep mementos of that assault?” Shroff asked jurors. “Of course not.”

    Dunn was released from custody but rearrested when a team of armed federal agents in riot gear raided his home. The White House posted a highly produced “propaganda” video of the raid on its official X account, Dunn’s lawyers said.

    Dunn worked as an international affairs specialist in the Justice Department’s criminal division. After Dunn’s arrest, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his firing in a social media post that referred to him as “an example of the Deep State.”

    His lawyers urged the judge to dismiss the case for what they allege is a vindictive and selective prosecution. They argued that the posts by Bondi and the White House show Dunn was impermissibly targeted for his political speech.

    Dunn is charged with assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating and interfering with a federal officer. Dozens of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol were convicted of felonies for assaulting or interfering with police during the Jan. 6 attack. Trump pardoned or ordered the dismissal of charges for all of them.

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

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  • 2 charged in Harvard Medical School explosion

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    BOSTON — Two men who were in the Boston area for college Halloween parties last weekend set off fireworks inside an empty Harvard Medical School building, authorities said Tuesday in announcing their arrests.

    Logan David Patterson, 18, and Dominick Frank Cardoza, 20, were taken into custody Tuesday on federal charges of conspiracy to damage by means of fire or an explosive.


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  • Trial Starts for Assault Case Against DC Man Who Tossed Sandwich at Federal Agent on Viral Video

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Throwing a sandwich at a federal agent turned Sean Charles Dunn into a symbol of resistance against President Donald Trump’s law-enforcement surge in the nation’s capital. This week, federal prosecutors are trying to persuade a jury of fellow Washington, D.C., residents that Dunn simply broke the law.

    That could be a tough sell for the government in a city that has chafed against Trump’s federal takeover, which is entering its third month. A grand jury refused to indict Dunn on a felony assault count before U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office opted to charge him instead with a misdemeanor.

    Securing a trial conviction could prove to be equally challenging for Justice Department prosecutors in Washington, where murals glorifying Dunn’s sandwich toss popped up virtually overnight.

    Before jury selection started Monday, the judge presiding over Dunn’s trial seemed to acknowledge how unusual it is for a case like this to be heard in federal court. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, said he expects the trial to last no more than two days “because it’s the simplest case in the world.”

    A video that went viral on social media captured Dunn hurling his subway-style sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent outside a nightclub on the night of Aug. 10. That same weekend, Trump announced his deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops and federal agents to assist with police patrols in Washington.

    When Dunn approached a group of CBP agents who were in front of a club hosting a “Latin Night,” he called them “fascists” and “racists” and chanted “shame” toward them. An observer’s video captured Dunn throwing a sandwich at an agent’s chest.

    “Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” Dunn shouted, according to police.

    Dunn ran away but was apprehended. He was released from custody but rearrested when a team of armed federal agents in riot gear raided his home. The White House posted a highly produced “propaganda” video of the raid on its official X account, Dunn’s lawyers said. They noted that Dunn had offered to surrender to police before the raid.

    Dunn worked as an international affairs specialist in the Justice Department’s criminal division. After Dunn’s arrest, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his firing in a social media post that referred to him as “an example of the Deep State.”

    Before trial, Dunn’s lawyers urged the judge to dismiss the case for what they allege is a vindictive and selective prosecution. They argued that the posts by Bondi and the White House prove Dunn was impermissibly targeted for his political speech.

    Julia Gatto, one of Dunn’s lawyers, questioned why Trump’s Justice Department is prosecuting Dunn after the Republican president issued pardons and ordered the dismissal of assault cases stemming from a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

    “It’s an obvious answer,” Gatto said during a hearing last Thursday. “The answer is they have different politics. And that’s selective prosecution.”

    Prosecutors countered that Dunn’s political expressions don’t make him immune from prosecution for assaulting the agent.

    “The defendant is being prosecuted for the obvious reason that he was recorded throwing a sandwich at a federal officer at point-blank range,” they wrote.

    Dunn is charged with assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating and interfering with a federal officer. Dozens of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol were convicted of felonies for assaulting or interfering with police during the Jan. 6 attack. Trump pardoned or ordered the dismissal of charges for all of them.

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

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  • Judge rejects plea deal for funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 bodies

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    DENVER — A Colorado judge rejected the plea deal of a funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested building Monday after family members of the deceased argued that the deal’s 15- to 20-year sentence was too lenient.

    Carie Hallford and her husband, Jon Hallford, owned Return to Nature Funeral Home and are accused of dumping the bodies in a building in a rural town between 2019 and 2023, giving families fake ashes and defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000.

    Jon and Carie Hallford both pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse last year, and State District Judge Eric Bentley has now rejected both of their plea deals after family members asked for a more severe punishment.

    A judge rejecting a plea deal is very unusual, and Carie Hallford can now either withdraw her guilty plea or continue without the deal, meaning she could get a higher sentence.

    Jon Hallford withdrew his guilty plea and is scheduled for trial.

    After the discovery of the bodies, families learned that their relatives’ remains weren’t in the urn or the ashes they ceremonially spread, but instead were languishing with nearly 190 other bodies. Some said they had nightmares of what their loved one must have looked like in that building; others wondered about their relatives’ souls.

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  • After mistaken deportation, Abrego Garcia fights smuggling charges

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    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation helped galvanize opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, has hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday in the human smuggling case against him in Tennessee.

    U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw will hear evidence on motions from the defense asking him to dismiss the charges and throw out some of the evidence.

    Here’s what to know about the latest developments in the case:

    Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child who has lived in Maryland for years. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager to join his brother, who had become a U.S. citizen. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to his home country, where he faces danger from a gang that targeted his family.

    While he was allowed to live and work in the U.S. under Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervision, he was not given residency status. Earlier this year, he was mistakenly deported and held in a notoriously brutal Salvadoran prison despite having no criminal record.

    Facing mounting public pressure and a court order, Trump’s Republican administration brought him back to the U.S. in June, but only after issuing an arrest warrant on human smuggling charges in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and asked Crenshaw to dismiss them.

    Abrego Garcia is charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling, with prosecutors claiming he accepted money to transport within the United States people who were in the country illegally.

    The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was eventually allowed to continue driving with only a warning.

    A Department of Homeland Security agent testified at an earlier hearing that he did not begin investigating the traffic stop until after the U.S. Supreme Court said in April that the Trump administration must work to bring back Abrego Garcia.

    Abrego Garcia has asked Crenshaw to dismiss the smuggling charges on the grounds of “selective or vindictive prosecution.”

    In a recent ruling, Crenshaw found “some evidence that the prosecution against him may be vindictive” and said many statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.” Crenshaw specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, on a Fox News Channel program, that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful-deportation case.

    The two sides have been sparring over whether senior Justice Department officials, including Blanche, can be required to testify in the case.

    Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire has argued in court filings that it doesn’t matter what members of the Trump administration have said about Abrego Garcia.

    “The relevant prosecutorial decision-maker, the Acting U.S. Attorney, has explained on the record that this prosecution was not brought for vindictive or discriminatory reasons,” McGuire writes in a court filing. He adds that any public statements by senior Trump administration officials about Abrego Garcia reflect public safety concerns that are “plainly consistent with a legitimate motivation to prosecute him.”

    Another motion from Abrego Garcia asks the judge to suppress evidence in the case. It claims the 2022 traffic stop that ultimately led to the smuggling charges was illegal, so evidence from that stop should not be used at trial.

    In support, court filings say the state trooper who pulled him over stated that the speed limit was 65 mph (105 kph) when it was actually 70 mph (113 kph). The trooper accused him of driving at 75 mph (120 kph), but there is no record that the trooper used a radar gun or pacing to gauge the speed. Abrego Garcia said he was driving at 70 mph, correctly noting the speed limit.

    Attorneys for the government argue that the trooper made an honest mistake. The speed limit decreases to 65 mph about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) farther down the interstate. The attorneys also note that Abrego Garcia was driving in the left lane “consistent with an individual traveling in excess of the posted speed limit.” And the trooper, they said, had “no reason or motivation to manufacture a traffic violation against him.”

    Abrego Garcia currently can’t be deported to El Salvador thanks to the 2019 settlement that found he had a “well founded fear” of danger there. However, the Trump administration has said he cannot stay in the U.S. Over the past couple of months government officials have said they would deport him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and, most recently, Liberia.

    The administration’s deportation agreements with so-called third countries have been contested in court by advocacy groups, which have noted that some immigrants are being sent to countries with long histories of human rights violations. But in June, a divided Supreme Court allowed the swift removal of immigrants to countries other than their homelands and with minimal notice.

    Abrego Garcia sued the Trump administration in a Maryland court over his earlier deportation, and the judge in that case has temporarily barred his removal. If the judge decides to lift that order, government attorneys have said they are ready to deport him right away.

    Meanwhile, Abrego Garcia has applied for asylum in the U.S. in immigration court.

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  • After Mistaken Deportation, Abrego Garcia Fights Smuggling Charges. Here’s What to Know

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    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation helped galvanize opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, has hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday in the human smuggling case against him in Tennessee.

    U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw will hear evidence on motions from the defense asking him to dismiss the charges and throw out some of the evidence.

    Here’s what to know about the latest developments in the case:


    Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

    Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child who has lived in Maryland for years. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager to join his brother, who had become a U.S. citizen. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to his home country, where he faces danger from a gang that targeted his family.

    Facing mounting public pressure and a court order, Trump’s Republican administration brought him back to the U.S. in June, but only after issuing an arrest warrant on human smuggling charges in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and asked Crenshaw to dismiss them.

    Abrego Garcia is charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling, with prosecutors claiming he accepted money to transport within the United States people who were in the country illegally.

    The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was eventually allowed to continue driving with only a warning.

    A Department of Homeland Security agent testified at an earlier hearing that he did not begin investigating the traffic stop until after the U.S. Supreme Court said in April that the Trump administration must work to bring back Abrego Garcia.


    What is the motion to dismiss about?

    In a recent ruling, Crenshaw found “some evidence that the prosecution against him may be vindictive” and said many statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.” Crenshaw specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, on a Fox News Channel program, that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful-deportation case.

    The two sides have been sparring over whether senior Justice Department officials, including Blanche, can be required to testify in the case.

    Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire has argued in court filings that it doesn’t matter what members of the Trump administration have said about Abrego Garcia.

    “The relevant prosecutorial decision-maker, the Acting U.S. Attorney, has explained on the record that this prosecution was not brought for vindictive or discriminatory reasons,” McGuire writes in a court filing. He adds that any public statements by senior Trump administration officials about Abrego Garcia reflect public safety concerns that are “plainly consistent with a legitimate motivation to prosecute him.”


    What is the main motion to suppress evidence about?

    Another motion from Abrego Garcia asks the judge to suppress evidence in the case. It claims the 2022 traffic stop that ultimately led to the smuggling charges was illegal, so evidence from that stop should not be used at trial.

    In support, court filings say the state trooper who pulled him over stated that the speed limit was 65 mph (105 kph) when it was actually 70 mph (113 kph). The trooper accused him of driving at 75 mph (120 kph), but there is no record that the trooper used a radar gun or pacing to gauge the speed. Abrego Garcia said he was driving at 70 mph, correctly noting the speed limit.

    Attorneys for the government argue that the trooper made an honest mistake. The speed limit decreases to 65 mph about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) farther down the interstate. The attorneys also note that Abrego Garcia was driving in the left lane “consistent with an individual traveling in excess of the posted speed limit.” And the trooper, they said, had “no reason or motivation to manufacture a traffic violation against him.”

    Abrego Garcia currently can’t be deported to El Salvador thanks to the 2019 settlement that found he had a “well founded fear” of danger there. However, the Trump administration has said he cannot stay in the U.S. Over the past couple of months government officials have said they would deport him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and, most recently, Liberia.

    The administration’s deportation agreements with so-called third countries have been contested in court by advocacy groups, which have noted that some immigrants are being sent to countries with long histories of human rights violations. But in June, a divided Supreme Court allowed the swift removal of immigrants to countries other than their homelands and with minimal notice.

    Abrego Garcia sued the Trump administration in a Maryland court over his earlier deportation, and the judge in that case has temporarily barred his removal. If the judge decides to lift that order, government attorneys have said they are ready to deport him right away.

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

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  • Judge to weigh plea deal of funeral home owner accused of stashing decaying bodies

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    A Colorado funeral home owner accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested building took a plea deal last year for abusing corpses, but on Monday, family members of the deceased will argue that the deal’s 15- to 20-year sentence isn’t enough.

    Carie Hallford and her husband, Jon Hallford, owned Return to Nature Funeral Home and are accused of piling the bodies in the building in a rural town between 2019 and 2023, giving families fake ashes and defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000.

    Families, who believed they had honored their loved ones’ wishes with a cremation, learned that their son’s, husband’s or mother’s remains weren’t in the urn or the ashes they ceremonially spread, but instead languishing with nearly 190 other bodies.

    The scene inside the building in Penrose, Colorado, about a two-hour drive south of Denver, was horrific, officials said. Decomposition fluid covered the floor, bugs swarmed and bodies were stacked atop each other in various states of decay — some had been there for four years.

    Last year, both Jon and Carie Hallford pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse, but State District Judge Eric Bentley rejected Jon Hallford’s plea deal in August after victims argued the sentencing was too lenient. After that, Jon Hallford withdrew his guilty plea, and he is scheduled for trial.

    Now, Carie Hallford’s plea deal will face victims’ objections. It’s unclear if the judge will accept or reject the deal on Monday, or at a later date.

    Both Hallfords also admitted in federal court to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid and taking payments from customers for cremations the funeral home never did. Officials said the two spent lavishly, buying a GMC Yukon, laser body sculpting, vacations, jewelry and cryptocurrency.

    After pleading guilty in federal court, Jon Hallford was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Carie Hallford’s sentencing in the federal case is scheduled for December.

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  • Rezonings, indictments and a “Shark Tank” star’s deal

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    As New York City prepares to elect a new mayor, Queens is set for a new chapter, courtesy of the outgoing hizzoner.

    On Wednesday, the City Council advanced the Long Island City rezoning, expected to create 14,700 new homes over the next decade. 

    The City Council Committee on Land Use and the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted in favor of the rezoning after the Adams administration promised to invest $1.5 billion in the neighborhood.

    The rezoning project is expected to net 4,300 affordable apartments and 3.5 million square feet of new commercial space. 

    In the same breath, the City Council also approved a big rezoning in Jamaica, a plan is expected to create 11,800 housing units, of which 4,200 will be permanently affordable.

    For those keeping score, that should be five rezonings pushed over the finish line during Eric Adams’ administration. Doing his best to back up his claim as the “most pro-housing mayor” in NYC history.

    The Chetrits, on the other hand, are doing little to shed a sordid reputation among tenants. Joseph Chetrit was indicted on felony charges of tenant harassment this week, joining brother Meyer as a defendant in a case accusing them of harassing elderly Chelsea tenants.

    The charges were the latest in Manhattan authorities’ enforcement push to pursue bad behavior by landlords. 

    It was a similarly bad week for Alex Sapir. The Sapir Corporation filed for insolvency, claiming it can no longer meet its bond payments or cover operating costs. All the company’s directors resigned, according to a filing with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which names Alex Sapir as the controlling shareholder.

    Israeli chain Dan Hotels is in contract to buy the troubled Nomo Soho for $125 million. The deal would mark Dan Hotels’ first step into the U.S. market following its recent international expansion in India.

    Jonathan Bennett’s AmTrustRE is in contract to buy the 22-story 260 Madison Avenue from Sapir for $217 million. The buyer said the 570,000-square-foot property is only 68 percent leased with about $10 million of annual net operating income.

    And speaking of buyers, we take you live to the set of “Shark Tank”:

    Hello, sharks. I’m Corcoran’s Carrie Chiang. I am seeking a buyer for a $16 million penthouse on Fifth Avenue. I represent the buyer, while Serena Boardman represents the seller.

    The unit has three bedrooms, formal dining and living rooms, a library and terrace, tall ceilings and many of its original details. 

    Mark Cuban, presumably: Sorry, I’m out.

    Barbara Corcoran: Count me in!

    The only thing more remarkable than the shortest segment in the show’s 16-year history is the fact that Barbara Corcoran listed and sold another penthouse in the neighborhood three weeks ago, roughly a dozen blocks north of her new digs. 

    Read more

    City Council reaches deal on Long Island City rezoning to build 15K homes


    Councilmembers Nantasha Williams and Adrienne Adams

    City Council approves Jamaica rezoning to build 12K apartments


    District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Joseph Chetrit and Meyer Chetrit

    Joseph Chetrit indicted in criminal tenant harassment case


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    Holden Walter-Warner

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