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Tag: Indictments

  • Ex-Amazon driver sues civil rights agency for dropping her case following Trump’s executive order

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — A former Amazon delivery driver has filed a lawsuit accusing a federal civil right agency of abruptly and unlawfully abandoning her sex discrimination case and others like it following an executive order from President Donald Trump.

    The lawsuit filed by the former Colorado driver demands that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission resume investigating her claims that Amazon discriminates against female drivers by failing to provide adequate bathroom breaks.

    The lawsuit is the latest example of workers and others scrambling to find recourse as federal agencies abandon their cases in response to Trump’s shake-up of the country’s civil rights enforcement infrastructure.

    The EEOC, which enforces civil rights laws in the workplace, decided last month to discharge any complaints based on “disparate impact liability,” which holds that policies that are neutral on their face can be discriminatory if they impose unnecessary barriers that disadvantage different demographic groups.

    The EEOC’s decision came in response to an executive order in April directing federal agencies to deprioritize the use of disparate impact liability. The Trump administration argues that disparate impact assumes any racial or gender imbalance in workplaces is the result of discrimination and leads to practices that undermine meritocracy.

    The former driver, Leah Cross, filed a motion Tuesday asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stay the EEOC’s new rule prohibiting investigations and enjoin the agency from enforcing it.

    The EEOC has already dropped its sole lawsuit arising from a disparate impact liability charge, a case alleging that the Sheetz convenience store chain’s background check practices discriminated against Black, Native American and multiracial job applicants.

    Separately, the agency has dropped lawsuits on behalf of transgender workers and subjected new complaints to a higher level of scrutiny, following Trump’s executive order declaring that the government would only recognize two unchangeable sexes.

    It’s unclear how many worker complaints involving disparate impact liability or LGBTQ+ workers have been sidelined by the EEOC. In her lawsuit, Cross demanded that the EEOC, which handled more than 88,000 discrimination charges in 2024, give the court a list of the disparate impact liability charges it has shut down.

    The EEOC referred questions about the lawsuit to the Department of Justice, which declined to comment.

    Cross, who worked as a driver from August to November 2022, filed her EEOC charge two years ago, arguing that the company’s delivery schedules make it nearly impossible for drivers to find time to use bathrooms. An EEOC investigator told her lawyers last month it was closing her case because of the disparate impact rule, according to the lawsuit.

    Amazon declined to comment on Cross’ case but referred The AP to its policies around its drivers, who deliver packages in Amazon-branded vehicles but work indirectly for the company through third-party companies called Delivery Service Partners. Amazon says its technology builds routes that ensure time for two 15-minute rest breaks and a 30-minute meal break. The company also said its Amazon Delivery app provides a list for drivers to see nearby restroom facilities and gas stations.

    But in an interview with The AP, Cross said it was so hard for to her stop for breaks that she had to pack a Shewee — a portable urination device for women — as well as a change of pants “in case I ended up accidentally urinating on myself.”

    Cross’ lawsuit against the EEOC argues that the agency is legally obligated to investigate all charges based on disparate impact liability, which Congress codified in the 1991 Civil Rights Act.

    The EEOC “isn’t allowed to throw away an entire category of charges without looking into their facts just because the president doesn’t like the type of discrimination those charges are based on,” said Karla Gilbride, an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group, one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit.

    Gilbride was the EEOC’s general counsel until she was fired in January along with two Democratic commissioners in a purge that cleared the way for the Trump administration to root out diversity and inclusion programs, roll back protections for transgender workers and elevate religious rights. ________

    The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Comey’s Lawyers Say Case Against Him Is Driven by Trump’s ‘Personal Animus’ and Must Be Thrown Out

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for former FBI Director James Comey urged a judge Monday to dismiss the case against him, calling it a vindictive prosecution motivated by “personal animus” and orchestrated by a White House determined to seek retribution against a perceived foe of President Donald Trump.

    The two-prong attack on the indictment, which accuses Comey of lying to Congress five years ago, represents the opening salvo in what is expected to be a protracted court fight ahead of a trial currently set for Jan. 5. The motions take aim not at the substance of the allegations but rather on the unusual circumstances of the prosecution, which included Trump exhorting his attorney general to bring charges against Comey as well as his administration’s abrupt installation of a White House aide to serve as top prosecutor of the elite office overseeing the case.

    “Bedrock principles of due process and equal protection have long ensured that government officials may not use courts to punish and imprison their perceived personal and political enemies,” wrote Comey’s defense team, which includes Patrick Fitzgerald, the former U.S. Attorney in Chicago and a longtime Comey friend. “But that is exactly what happened here.”

    They said the Justice Department had brought the case because of Trump’s hatred of Comey, who as FBI director in the first months of Trump’s first term infuriated the president through his oversight of an investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign. Trump fired Comey in May 2017. The two have been open adversaries in the years since, with Comey labeling Trump “unethical” and comparing him to a mafia boss and Trump branding Comey an “untruthful slimeball” and calling for him to be punished because of the Russia investigation.

    “The government has singled out Mr. Comey for prosecution because of his protected speech and because of President Trump’s personal animus toward Mr. Comey,” defense lawyers wrote, adding that such a “vindictive and selection prosecution” violates multiple provisions of the Constitution and must be dismissed.

    Comey’s defense team had foreshadowed the arguments during his first and only court appearance in the case, where he pleaded not guilty.

    Though motions alleging vindictive prosecutions do not often succeed, this one lays out a timeline of events intended to link Trump’s demands for a prosecution with the Justice Department’s scramble to secure an indictment last month just before the statute of limitations was set to lapse.

    Last month, for instance, he complained in a Truth Social post directed to Attorney General Pam Bondi that “nothing is being done” on investigations into some of his foes and called for action, specifically referencing inquiries into Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California.

    “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” part of the message said.

    He installed Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who had been one of Trump’s personal lawyers but had no experience as a federal prosecutor, to run the Eastern District of Virginia and replace Erik Siebert, who had resigned as U.S. attorney one day earlier amid administration pressure to charge Comey and James. Comey was indicted days later.

    Comey’s lawyers argued that that social media post represented an admission that the government was prosecuting Comey for “an impermissible discriminatory purpose.”

    “For many years, President Trump has sought to prosecute or otherwise punish Mr. Comey because of overt hostility to Mr. Comey’s protected speech and because of his personal bias against Mr. Comey,” the attorneys said. “But despite President Trump’s yearslong campaign to prosecute Mr. Comey, no career or appointed prosecutor had ever agreed to do so. Thus, Mr. Trump made clear to his Attorney General that the only way to achieve ‘JUSTICE’ against Mr. Comey was by ousting Mr. Siebert and installing Ms. Halligan.”

    Defense lawyers in a separate motion argued that the case was “fatally flawed” because Halligan was unlawfully appointed before she signed the indictment late last month.

    “The President and Attorney General appointed the President’s personal lawyer as interim U.S. Attorney in violation of a clear statutory command so that the interim U.S. Attorney could indict an outspoken critic of the President just days before the relevant statute of limitations was set to expire,” defense lawyers said.

    Halligan is not the only U.S. attorney facing a court challenge.

    Separately Monday, defense lawyers and prosecutors argued in court papers over a suggestion by the Justice Department that Fitzgerald, might have to step aside. Prosecutors late Sunday asserted in a court filing that Comey’s “lead defense counsel” had earlier been used by Comey to disclose classified information, a claim the defense team called “provably false” and defamatory.

    Associated Press writer Mike Catalini in Philadelphia contributed.

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

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  • What to know about the murder trial of a sheriff deputy who killed Sonya Massey

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    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The murder trial of an Illinois sheriff’s deputy charged with killing Sonya Massey, a Black woman shot in her home last year after calling police for help, is set to begin Monday.

    Sean Grayson, 31, responding to a call about a suspected prowler, fired on the 36-year-old Massey in her Springfield home early on July 6, 2024, after confronting her about how she was handling a pan of hot water Grayson had ordered removed from her stove.

    Jurors will report Monday and the trial could continue into next week.

    Massey’s killing raised new questions about U.S. law enforcement shootings of Black people in their homes and it prompted a change in Illinois law requiring fuller transparency on the background of candidates for law enforcement jobs.

    Here’s what to know about the charges.

    In addition to first-degree murder, Grayson is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty.

    Widespread attention on Grayson’s shooting of Massey prompted Sangamon County Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin to move the trial from Springfield, 200 miles (322 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. Jurors will instead come from Peoria and surrounding areas, an hour’s drive north, and will hear the case in their local courthouse.

    Grayson, who is white, faces a sentence of 45 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.

    After Grayson and another deputy checked the area around Massey’s house, body camera video shows Grayson knocked on her door to report they had found nothing suspicious. He entered the house to obtain details for a report, noticed a pan on the stove and ordered its removal. Massey picked it up.

    She laughingly asked Grayson why he was backing away; he said he was trying to avoid the “hot, steaming water.” Massey responded, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson wrote in an incident report, “I interpreted this to mean she was going to kill me.”

    According to body camera video, Grayson pulled his 9 mm pistol and yelled at Massey to drop the pot. She apologized then put the pan down and ducked behind a counter, but in the confusion, as Grayson yelled, it appears she picked it up again. Grayson fired three times, hitting Massey once just below the left eye.

    Massey, a single mother of two teenagers who had a strong religious faith, was beset by mental health problems. When she answered Grayson’s knock minutes before the shooting, she said, “Don’t hurt me,” and then, as she was questioned and Grayson asked her if she was all right, she repeatedly said, “Please God.”

    Earlier that same week, Sonya Massey had admitted herself to a 30-day inpatient mental health program in St. Louis but returned two days later without explanation.

    County records indicate that in the days leading up to the shooting, three 911 calls were made by Massey or on her behalf. In one, her mother, Donna Massey, told authorities her daughter was suffering a “mental breakdown.” Donna Massey also told the dispatcher, “I don’t want you guys to hurt her.”

    Grayson was not aware of the calls or Massey’s background. County officials have since said there’s no practical way to determine and communicate such information for police responding to emergency calls.

    Grayson was arrested 11 days after killing Massey and fired from the sheriff’s department.

    As his background was scrutinized, Massey’s family and others questioned why Grayson, who had been a Sangamon County deputy sheriff for 14 months, had been hired at all.

    In his early 20s, he was ejected from the Army for a drunken-driving arrest in which he had a weapon in his car. He was convicted of a DUI again within the year.

    Before joining the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department, Grayson had four policing jobs in six years — the first three of which were part-time.

    There was no indication Grayson had been fired from any job, but evaluations from past employers documented concerns about him. One department reported that while Grayson worked hard and had a good attitude, he struggled with report writing, was “not great with evidence — left items laying around office” and was “a bragger.”

    Jack Campbell, the Sangamon County sheriff, was forced to retire six weeks after the shooting. He insisted though that none of Grayson’s issues disqualified him from working as a deputy.

    State law enforcement authorities had certified Grayson to serve in each of his previous jobs, but Campbell required him to attend the 16-week police academy training course nonetheless.

    In August, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law requiring that prospective police officers permit the release of all personal and employment background records to any law enforcement agency considering hiring them. Legislative sponsors of the measure acknowledged it doesn’t prevent candidates with checkered paths from being hired but provides greater transparency.

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  • California Labor Leader’s Felony Charge Over Immigration Protest Is Reduced

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — The leader of a labor union in Southern California who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid earlier this year will have his felony obstruction charge reduced to a misdemeanor, court records show.

    David Huerta had been charged with obstruction, resistance or opposition to a federal officer — a class A felony, according to a Friday filing by Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in federal court.

    However, prosecutors filed a proposed order Saturday seeking dismissal without prejudice of the original felony charge of conspiracy to impede an officer.

    The Associated Press sent an email Saturday seeking comment from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

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

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

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

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

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

    “In the four months that have passed since David’s arrest. it has become even clearer there were no grounds for charging him and certainly none for the way he was treated,” they wrote. “This case is not a good-faith pursuit of justice but a bald act of retaliation, designed to silence dissent and punish opposition. It reflects the Trump Administration’s continued weaponization of prosecutorial power against its perceived opponents.”

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

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  • Fourth person charged in Alabama shooting that killed 2 and injured 12

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    MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A fourth person was arrested and charged Friday in connection with a shooting that killed two people and injured 12 others in a crowded downtown nightlife district in Alabama’s capital city in early October, police said.

    Kemontae Hood, 21, is charged with one count of capital murder and 12 counts of assault, according to Montgomery police.

    Hood is the fourth person charged in the Oct. 4 shooting that unfolded just before midnight in a crowded section of the city’s downtown filled with bars, hotels and restaurants. Police also arrested an unnamed juvenile last Friday, as well as Dantavious McGhee, 19, on Monday on capital murder charges and Javorick Whiting, 19, on Thursday on an attempted murder charge.

    It was not immediately known if Hood or the others had lawyers who could comment for them. Online jail records don’t list attorneys for them.

    A 43-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy were killed, police said. Investigators said they determined that multiple people fired weapons in a crowd just after the Tuskegee-Morehouse College football game had ended blocks away, after a day celebrating the two historically Black schools’ longstanding rivalry. At the time, five of the wounded had life-threatening injuries and seven had non-life-threatening injuries.

    Investigators have not said what led to the shooting, but they said the initial gunfire targeted one of the 14 victims, prompting multiple people to pull their own weapons and start firing back. Seven of the 14 victims were under 20, and the youngest was 16. At least two of the victims were armed.

    Multiple weapons and shell cases were recovered from the scene, and more arrests are expected, police said.

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  • Trump commutes sentence of former US Rep. George Santos in federal fraud case

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he had commuted the sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, who is serving more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft charges.

    The New York Republican was sentenced in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.

    He reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, in southern New Jersey, on July 25 and is being housed in a minimum security prison camp with fewer than 50 other inmates.

    “George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump posted on his social media platform. He said he had “just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”

    “Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump said.

    Andrew Mancilla, one of Santos’ lawyers, said Friday he was “very, very happy with the decision,” though he said it’s unclear at this point when Santos will be released. Spokespersons for the Bureau of Prisons didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

    Santos’ account on X, which has been active throughout his roughly 84 days in prison, reposted a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post Friday.

    During his time behind bars, Santos has been writing regular dispatches in a local newspaper on Long Island, The South Shore Press. In his latest letter, published Oct. 13, Santos pleaded to Trump directly, citing his fealty to the president’s agenda and to the Republican Party.

    “Sir, I appeal to your sense of justice and humanity — the same qualities that have inspired millions of Americans to believe in you,” he wrote. “I humbly ask that you consider the unusual pain and hardship of this environment and allow me the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community.”

    Santos’ commutation is Trump’s latest high-profile act of clemency for former Republican politicians since retaking the White House in January.

    In late May, he pardoned former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who in 2014 pleaded guilty to underreporting wages and revenue at a restaurant he ran in Manhattan. He also pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose promising political career was upended by a corruption scandal and two federal prison stints.

    But in granting clemency to Santos, Trump was rewarding a figure who has drawn scorn from within his own party.

    After becoming the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress in 2022, Santos served less than a year after it was revealed that he had fabricated much of his life story.

    On the campaign trail, Santos had claimed he was a successful business consultant with Wall Street cred and a sizable real estate portfolio. But when his resume came under scrutiny, Santos eventually admitted he had never graduated from Baruch College — or been a standout player on the Manhattan college’s volleyball team, as he had claimed. He had never worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

    He wasn’t even Jewish. Santos insisted he meant he was “Jew-ish” because his mother’s family had a Jewish background, even though he was raised Catholic.

    In truth, the then-34-year-old was struggling financially and even faced eviction.

    Santos was charged in 2023 with stealing from donors and his campaign, fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits and lying to Congress about his wealth.

    Within months, he was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives — with 105 Republicans joining with Democrats to make Santos just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues..

    Santos pleaded guilty as he was set to stand trial.

    Still, a prominent former House colleague, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, urged the White House to commute Santos’ sentence, saying in a letter sent just days into his prison bid that the punishment was “a grave injustice” and a product of judicial overreach.

    Greene was among those who cheered the announcement Friday. But U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota, a Republican who represents part of Long Island and has been highly critical of Santos, said in a post on social media that Santos “didn’t merely lie” and his crimes “warrant more than a three-month sentence.”

    “He should devote the rest of his life to demonstrating remorse and making restitution to those he wronged,” LaLota said.

    In explaining his reason for granting Santos clemency, Trump said the lies Santos told about himself were no worse than misleading statements U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal — a Democrat and frequent critic of the administration — had made about his military record.

    Blumenthal apologized 15 years ago for implying that he served in Vietnam, when he was stateside in the Marine Reserve during the war.

    “This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Trump wrote.

    The president himself was convicted in a New York court last year in a case involving hush money payments. He derided the case as part of a politically motivated witch hunt.

    __

    Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Susan Haigh in Connecticut contributed to this report.

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  • Philadelphia Officials Seek Tips About Kada Scott, Who Disappeared 2 Weeks Ago

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    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities in Philadelphia said Friday that they are no closer to locating a missing 23-year-old woman who disappeared from her nursing home job nearly two weeks ago, urging residents to come forward with even the smallest of potential clues.

    District Attorney Larry Krasner used an afternoon news conference to lament “systemic issues” that he said led to 21-year-old Keon King, the man arrested and charged with kidnapping, stalking and other charges in the disappearance of Kada Scott, to go free after being charged in a similar case earlier this year.

    “There is no doubt that there’s a list of people in this office, outside of this office — and, no, it doesn’t matter who they are — but there’s a list of people who made a lot of good decisions and a couple decisions that could have been made better,” he said.

    Krasner pointed, in part, to the cash bail system. He said that prosecutors sought bail of just under $1 million in the earlier case but that the judge set the amount at $200,000 — which King was able to pay.

    That meant his accuser would have had to come to the courthouse and testify “knowing that the defendant will walk out the same door she came in.” That reality likely deterred her from testifying against King, he said, which resulted in the charges being dropped. Since Scott disappeared on Oct. 4, charges in the earlier case have been refiled.

    In the Scott case, King’s bail has been set at $2.5 million and he remains in custody. Krasner urged any other women he has victimized to come forward now with their stories — promising that they will be kept safe.

    Police have found a damaged car they believe King was driving at the time of Scott’s disappearance and other evidence linking him to the missing woman. Authorities also say King was the last person in contact with Scott, but Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski said Friday that investigators are no closer to locating her or determining what happened to her.

    King has a preliminary hearing in the Scott case on Nov. 3. A message was left seeking comment for a lawyer listed as his defense attorney.

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

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  • University of Southern California grad student charged with drugging and raping

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    LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — A University of Southern California graduate student who police say is a serial sexual predator has been charged with drugging and raping multiple women as investigators look for additional victims, Los Angeles authorities said.

    Sizhe Weng, a 30-year-old Chinese national also known as Steven Weng, was arrested Aug. 28, though the district attorney and police just released statements about the case on Wednesday.

    Weng has pleaded not guilty to eight felony counts including forcible rape and sodomy by controlled substance or anesthesia, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.

    Weng was held without bail and could not be reached for comment. A lawyer for him could not be found, and the LA Public Defender’s Office didn’t respond to an email asking if one of its attorneys is representing Weng.

    USC said in a statement Wednesday that it is cooperating fully with police and has taken steps to bar Weng from campus.

    “Providing a safe environment for learning, teaching, and research is our top priority,” the statement said.

    Detectives began investigating in January after receiving information from authorities about a potential suspect who plied women with drugs before raping them in Los Angeles, police said in a statement.

    “Evidence was recovered at Weng’s residence that corroborated his involvement in drug facilitated sexual assaults of multiple victims dating back to 2021 and continuing into 2025,” the police statement said. Investigators said Weng put unspecified incapacitating drugs in his victims’ food or drinks.

    Weng first enrolled as a doctoral student at USC in 2021, prosecutors said.

    District Attorney Nathan Hochman urged any other potential victims to contact the police department’s Robbery-Homicide Division.

    “We want every victim to know that their voices matter and we will fight to ensure you are heard,” Hochman said in a statement.

    If convicted as charged, Weng faces 25 years to life plus 56 years in state prison, the DA’s office said.

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  • St. Louis sheriff jailed over accusation he meddled in an investigation

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    The sheriff in Missouri’s most populous county was jailed Tuesday and faced mounting calls to resign just 10 months into the job over accusations that he ordered deputies to handcuff the jail chief and then meddled with an investigation.

    Federal Judge John Bodenhausen ordered the bond revoked for 28-year-old Alfred Montgomery, the sheriff of St. Louis, after the prosecution argued in court filings that there was a serious risk he would “attempt to threaten, injure or intimidate” witnesses or jurors.

    St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer issued a statement Tuesday calling for Montgomery to resign and describing the situation as “absurd.” Days earlier, the Missouri attorney general’s office tried and failed yet again to oust Montgomery.

    But he has no plans to step down, said David Mason, a retired city judge who now works as an attorney for the sheriff’s department.

    Montgomery has been at the center of controversy since he was sworn into office in January after narrowly beating out an incumbent in the Democratic primary. The Missouri attorney general first demanded his resignation in June, accusing him of refusing to transport detainees for medical care, misspending and nepotism.

    But just as his legal team disproved the nepotism claim, he was indicted in August on a federal misdemeanor alleging that he deprived the acting commissioner of St. Louis City Justice Center of her rights by ordering her to be handcuffed.

    The county’s sheriff’s office does not run the jail, although it does transport people being detained there, so the jail official denied the sheriff’s request to gain access to a detainee who had made sexual misconduct claims against one of his deputies.

    Five additional felony charges, alleging witness retaliation and tampering, were added this month.

    Montgomery’s attorney Justin Gelfand said that any adverse employment action that was taken against employees stemmed from misconduct, and not based on information provided to law enforcement. He said he planned to appeal.

    __

    This story has been updated to remove references to ‘St. Louis County.’

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  • US strikes another boat accused of carrying drugs

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    WASHINGTON — The United States struck another small boat accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, killing six people, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

    Those who died in the strike were aboard the vessel, and no U.S. forces were harmed, the Republican president said in a social media post. It’s the fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean as Trump’s administration has asserted it’s treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.


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  • Suspect in killing of elderly NYC couple also tried to drain bank accounts

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — The New York City man charged with killing an elderly couple and then setting their house on fire during a horrific home invasion last month had also attempted to drain their bank accounts before using their credit cards to go on a shopping spree, prosecutors said Tuesday.

    Jamel McGriff, a serial robbery suspect on parole, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to multiple counts of murder, kidnapping and arson, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office.

    The 42-year-old Bronx resident is charged in the Sept. 8 killings of Frank Olton, 76, and Maureen Olton, 77, in their home in the New York City borough of Queens.

    Prosecutors say McGriff had been going door-to-door asking residents if he could come in to charge his cellphone. They say he spoke with Frank Olton, who had offered to help, before McGriff forced his way into the couple’s home, where he remained for nearly five hours.

    Firefighters responding to a report of a house fire found Frank Olton’s body in the basement tied to a pole and with multiple stab wounds to his neck and chest. Maureen Olton’s badly burned body was found in the living room.

    Prosecutors in court Tuesday said McGriff had set the house on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence of the killings, the Daily News reports. They said Maureen Olton appears to have been tied to a chair and strangled to death.

    Prosecutors said McGriff also unsuccessfully attempted to transfer more than $10,000 from the couple’s accounts to his own.

    He took the couple’s credit cards as well, spending nearly $800 on clothes at a Macy’s in midtown Manhattan just hours after the killings, they said. McGriff was caught the following day after going to a movie in Times Square, prosecutors said in court Tuesday, the Daily News reports.

    The convicted felon, who was on parole after serving 16 years in prison, was ordered held until his next court date on Nov. 12. If convicted, McGriff faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    The Legal Aid Society, which is representing McGriff, said in a statement Tuesday that it is in the early stages of investigating the case and urged the public “not to draw any conclusions until all the facts are known.”

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  • California’s Prop. 36 Promised ‘Mass Treatment’ for Defendants. A New Study Shows How It’s Going

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    It’s been nearly a year since Californians overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime measure providing what backers called “mass treatment” for those facing certain drug charges. But few defendants have found a clear path to recovery under the law, according to new data released by the state.

    Prop. 36 gave prosecutors the ability to charge people convicted of various third-time drug offenses with a so-called treatment-mandated felony, which would give them a choice between behavioral health treatment or up to three years in jail or prison. If they accept, they would enter a guilty or no contest plea and begin treatment. Those who complete treatment have their charges dismissed.

    In the first six months since the law took effect, roughly 9,000 people have been charged with a treatment-mandated felony, according to the first-of-its-kind report released this month by the state’s Judicial Council. Nearly 15% — or 1,290 people — elected treatment.

    So far, of the 771 people placed into treatment, 25 completed it.

    The data reflects how different counties are using the law, with the highest number of treatment-mandated felonies charged in Orange County at 2,395. Kings and Napa counties each had one such charge.

    San Diego County accounted for roughly one-third — or 427 of 1,290 — cases in which defendants chose to pursue treatment, but did not report how many were placed into treatment or completed it.

    The report notes that this missing data contributes to “a substantial portion of the drop-off” in regards to the overall number of people who elected treatment but have not yet been placed.

    Francine Byrne, director of criminal justice services at the Judicial Council, said counties are still figuring out how to implement the law — and in many jurisdictions, it can take people a while to opt-in to treatment as they move through the court process.

    “It’s not acceptable that so few people are actually going into treatment,” said Jonathan Raven, an executive at the California District Attorneys Association, which supported the measure. “The goal of this ballot measure was to take that population of people who have a substance use disorder and get them help, find them a pathway out of the criminal justice system and dismiss their cases. And that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening across the state.”

    Raven said that district attorneys have been trying to implement Prop. 36 based on the will of the voters, but have been doing it “with one hand tied behind their back.”

    The measure did not include dedicated funding when voters passed it, which was one of the reasons why Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed the measure. Behavioral health experts have long sounded the alarm over the lack of behavioral health treatment and staffing across California, but proponents argued that Prop. 36 would be the great “forcing function” for the state to scale up treatment.

    Since the law passed, Republican and Democratic state lawmakers requested upwards of $600 million annually to implement it. Newsom and the Legislature ultimately approved a one-time state budget allocation of $100 million.

    On top of that, Newsom last month announced that the state had awarded $127 million in grant funding to build more behavioral health treatment capacity. Those funds were made available through Proposition 47, a 2014 voter-approved measure that reduced the penalties for certain non-violent drug and property crimes and stipulated that the resulting savings would be used for, among other things, substance use disorder and mental health treatment.

    None of that funding was available during the time period associated with the report, which looked at case counts between Dec. 18 and April 30.

    Kate Chatfield, executive director of the California Public Defenders Association said the data proves that Prop. 36 “is a fail” — not because people are treatment resistant but because treatment is not available.

    “There’s no indication that anything will change,” she said. “Meanwhile, proponents are spending precious county resources on prosecution and incarceration in local jails and saying — magically — some money will appear for treatment. Proponents are the ones preventing those resources from being spent on treatment.”

    This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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

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  • Ex-NFL QB Mark Sanchez Released From Custody a Week After Parking Fight Arrest and Stabbing

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    A police affidavit says the 38-year-old Sanchez, smelling of alcohol, accosted 69-year-old Perry Tole, who had backed his truck into a hotel’s loading docks in downtown Indianapolis on Oct. 4. Tole claims in a lawsuit filed Monday that Sanchez entered the truck without permission, then physically blocked and shoved Tole, who then doused Sanchez with pepper spray.

    When Sanchez advanced after being sprayed, Tole pulled a knife to defend himself, authorities said.

    Sanchez was hospitalized with stab wounds to his upper right torso, according to a police affidavit. A picture of Tole circulating online shows him in a neck brace on a hospital bed, covered in blood with a deep slash to the side of his face.

    Sanchez was in Indianapolis for Fox’s coverage of last Sunday’s game between the Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders.

    Sanchez had a 10-year NFL career before retiring in 2019. He spent four seasons with the New York Jets and also appeared in games with Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington.

    He appeared on ABC and ESPN for two years before joining Fox Sports as a game analyst in 2021.

    A defense attorney for Sanchez didn’t immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

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

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  • Trump’s Indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James Stirs Concerns for Black Women Leaders

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The coalition of New York NAACP chapters had just begun its annual state convention when Letitia James, a longtime member and the state’s attorney general, canceled her appearance.

    For the New York convention’s organizers, the moment was alarming and underscored the gathering’s importance, which featured multiple sessions on building political power at the state level in response to what NAACP leaders called federal attacks on social welfare, civil rights and the rule of law.

    “It was through our collective action that a democracy was built,” said NAACP New York State Conference President L. Joy Williams. “What we have to do is not only defend against what is happening now, but we have to push further past where we were before, to build a system to build a better American democracy that we all deserve.”

    The indictment of James, who had previously prosecuted the Trump Organization for business fraud, immediately sparked debate over whether the justice system had been politicized for President Donald Trump’s personal grievances. It also drew many parallels with the recent effort by Trump to remove a Federal Reserve Board governor, Lisa Cook, from her post over similar allegations.


    Claims against James and Cook carry symbolic weight

    Advocates see some of Trump’s recent moves as exceptionally targeted at Black women leaders.

    “This is something that we’ve been grappling with since the start of this administration,” said Shavon Arline-Bradley, president and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women, the country’s oldest civil rights organization for Black women.

    The claims also have symbolic weight to Black families, Arline-Bradley said, where property ownership has historically been restricted by the legal system through outright and implicit discrimination.

    “When you attack someone’s home, you attack their ability to own, you attack their ability to have choice, you have attacked their ability to make a statement about their economic future,” Arline-Bradley said. “This is a consistent pattern that has highlighted what they think is an Achilles’ heel in the Black community.”

    Black women, Arline-Bradley added, “feel very targeted” because of the president’s words and actions, which she said was rooted in “a misunderstanding about the accomplishments and leadership of these women.”


    ‘One tier of justice for all Americans’

    The Trump administration contends its prosecution of James over alleged mortgage fraud is justified and impartial.

    “No one is above the law,” Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement. “The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust. The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”

    And Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote, “One tier of justice for all Americans” shortly after James’ indictment in a post on X.

    Critics of the administration have countered that the administration’s actions amount to political retribution and an attempt to unlawfully consolidate power. Black leaders have further argued that the administration’s actions have come at the expense of trailblazing Black leaders and Black communities.

    “President Trump has made clear through his own public comments against Attorney General James that the goal of this indictment is simply to exact retribution against his political opponents,” Yvette Clark, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in a statement.

    “The American people see this corrupt prosecution for what it is — a desperate attempt by President Trump to weaponize the justice system. It will not withstand public or legal scrutiny,” she added.


    Case against James ‘very uncommon,’ legal expert says

    In addition to James, the Trump Justice Department has indicted former FBI Director James Comey for making a false statement and obstruction of justice related to a 2020 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony.

    The Justice Department is also investigating Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, for mortgage fraud. Trump has called for Schiff, who was the lead manager of Trump’s first impeachment, to be jailed.

    Experts question the merits and motives of the mortgage fraud inquiries.

    “It is very uncommon for prosecutors to bring these sorts of claims absent a pattern of malicious activity or evidence that the individual has actually harmed the bank by not paying their mortgage or if it’s part of a much larger fraudulent scheme,” said Paul Schiff Berman, a professor of law at the George Washington University School of Law.

    For James, Berman said, “the claim is that she said that the house was going to be used as her second home but she also used it as a rental property sometimes,” which Berman said could be argued as a reasonable use for a second home and likely not in violation of a typical mortgage contract.

    Regardless of the ensuing legal debates, allies of James say they are ready to support her in whatever manner is needed. Organizers at the New York conference say she is welcome to return to the event when ready.

    “While we are responding in this moment, this is also happening to her, and so we want to give her space,” said Williams, the New York NAACP leader. “And the thing about home is you can always go there. So we know she’ll always come back.”

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

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  • Luigi Mangione’s lawyers seek dismissal of federal charges in assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for Luigi Mangione asked a New York federal judge Saturday to dismiss some criminal charges, including the only count for which he could face the death penalty, from a federal indictment brought against him in the December assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive.

    In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, the lawyers said prosecutors should also be prevented from using at trial his statements to law enforcement officers and his backpack where a gun and ammunition were found.

    They said Mangione was not read his rights before he was questioned by law enforcement officers, who arrested him after Brian Thompson was fatally shot as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference.

    They added that officers did not obtain a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.

    Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.

    The killing set off a multi-state search after the suspected shooter slipped away from the scene and rode a bike to Central Park, before taking a taxi to a bus depot that offers service to several nearby states.

    Five days later, a tip from a McDonald’s about 233 miles (375 kilometers) away in Altoona, Pennsylvania, led police to arrest Mangione. He has been held without bail since then.

    Last month, lawyers for Mangione asked that his federal charges be dismissed and the death penalty be taken off the table as a result of public comments by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. In April, Bondi directed prosecutors in New York to seek the death penalty, calling the killing of Thompson a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

    Murder cases are usually tried in state courts, but prosecutors have also charged Mangione under a federal law on murders committed with firearms as part of other “crimes of violence.” It’s the only charge for which Mangione could face the death penalty, since it’s not used in New York state.

    The papers filed early Saturday morning argued that this charge should be dismissed because prosecutors have failed to identify the other offenses that would be required to convict him, saying that the alleged other crime — stalking — is not a crime of violence.

    The assassination and its aftermath has captured the American imagination, setting off a cascade of resentment and online vitriol toward U.S. health insurers while rattling corporate executives concerned about security.

    After the killing, investigators found the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics.

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  • Luigi Mangione’s Lawyers Seek Dismissal of Federal Charges in Assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for Luigi Mangione asked a New York federal judge Saturday to dismiss some criminal charges, including the only count for which he could face the death penalty, from a federal indictment brought against him in the December assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive.

    In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, the lawyers said prosecutors should also be prevented from using at trial his statements to law enforcement officers and his backpack where a gun and ammunition were found.

    They said Mangione was not read his rights before he was questioned by law enforcement officers, who arrested him after Brian Thompson was fatally shot as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference.

    They added that officers did not obtain a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.

    Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.

    The killing set off a multi-state search after the suspected shooter slipped away from the scene and rode a bike to Central Park, before taking a taxi to a bus depot that offers service to several nearby states.

    Five days later, a tip from a McDonald’s about 233 miles (375 kilometers) away in Altoona, Pennsylvania, led police to arrest Mangione. He has been held without bail since then.

    Last month, lawyers for Mangione asked that his federal charges be dismissed and the death penalty be taken off the table as a result of public comments by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. In April, Bondi directed prosecutors in New York to seek the death penalty, calling the killing of Thompson a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

    Murder cases are usually tried in state courts, but prosecutors have also charged Mangione under a federal law on murders committed with firearms as part of other “crimes of violence.” It’s the only charge for which Mangione could face the death penalty, since it’s not used in New York state.

    The papers filed early Saturday morning argued that this charge should be dismissed because prosecutors have failed to identify the other offenses that would be required to convict him, saying that the alleged other crime — stalking — is not a crime of violence.

    The assassination and its aftermath has captured the American imagination, setting off a cascade of resentment and online vitriol toward U.S. health insurers while rattling corporate executives concerned about security.

    After the killing, investigators found the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics.

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

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  • Two Jurors Claim They Were Bullied Into Convicting Harvey Weinstein and Regret It, His Lawyers Say

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Two jurors who voted in June to convict Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault said they regret the decision and only did so because others on the panel bullied them, the former movie mogul’s lawyers said in a newly public court filing.

    Weinstein’s lawyers are seeking to overturn his conviction for first-degree criminal sex act, arguing in papers unsealed Thursday that the guilty verdict was marred by “threats, intimidation, and extraneous bias,” and that the judge failed to properly deal with it at the time.

    In sworn affidavits included with the filing, two jurors said they felt overwhelmed and intimidated by jurors who wanted to convict Weinstein on the charge, which accused him of forcing oral sex on TV and film production assistant and producer Miriam Haley in 2006.

    One juror said she was screamed at in the jury room and told, “we have to get rid of you.” The other juror said anyone who doubted Weinstein’s guilt was grilled by other jurors and that if he could have voted by secret ballot, “I would have returned a not guilty verdict on all three charges.”

    “I regret the verdict,” that juror said. “Without the intimidation from other jurors, I believe that the jury would have hung on the Miriam Haley charge.”

    Weinstein, 73, was acquitted on a second criminal sex act charge involving a different woman, Polish psychotherapist and former model Kaja Sokola. The judge declared a mistrial on the final charge, alleging Weinstein raped former actor Jessica Mann, after the jury foreperson declined to deliberate further.

    It was the second time the Oscar-winning producer was tried on some of the charges. His 2020 conviction, a watershed moment for the # MeToo movement, was overturned last year. Now his defense team, led by attorney Arthur Aidala, is fighting to eliminate his retrial conviction and head off another retrial on the undecided count.

    Judge Curtis Farber gave Manhattan prosecutors until Nov. 10 to conduct its own investigation and file a written response before he rules on Dec. 22. That means a decision and a possible retrial or sentencing won’t come until after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is up for reelection on Nov. 4.


    Jurors said they feared for their safety

    In the affidavits, which blacked out juror names and identifying numbers, the two jurors said they feared for their safety and the foreperson’s safety. They said that when the foreperson asked for civility, another juror got in his face, pointed a finger and told him: “You don’t know me. I’ll catch you outside.”

    One of the jurors said deliberations were poisoned by a belief among some jurors that a member of the panel had been paid off by Weinstein or his lawyers. That claim, which has not been supported by any evidence, shifted the jury of seven women and five men “from an even 6-6 spit to a sudden unanimous verdict,” the juror said.

    Some of what was said in the affidavits echoed acrimony that spilled into public view during deliberations. As jurors weighed charges for five days, one juror asked to be excused because he felt another was being treated unfairly.

    After the jury returned a verdict on two of the three charges, Farber asked the foreperson whether he was willing to deliberate further. The man said no, triggering a mistrial on the rape count.

    After the trial, two jurors disputed the foreperson’s account. One said no one mistreated him. The other said deliberations were contentious, but respectful.


    Jurors spoke with the judge

    When jurors came forward with concerns, Farber was strict about respecting the sanctity of deliberations and cautioned them not to discuss the content or tenor of jury room discussions, transcripts show. In their affidavits, the two jurors said they didn’t feel the judge was willing to listen to their concerns.

    When jurors were asked if they agreed with the guilty verdict, one of the jurors noted in her affidavit that she paused “to try and indicate my discomfort in the verdict.” Afterward, when Farber spoke with jurors, she said she told him “the deliberations were unprofessional.”

    Weinstein denies all the charges. The first-degree criminal sex act conviction carries the potential for up to 25 years in prison, while the unresolved third-degree rape charge is punishable by up to four years — less than he already has served.

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

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  • School chief indicted for alleged kickback scheme in Illinois school district

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    ATLANTA — ATLANTA (AP) — The superintendent of Georgia’s third-largest school district has been indicted on federal charges alleging he ran a kickback scheme and stole money from his previous employer, a smaller school district in suburban Chicago.

    A federal grand jury in Chicago on Wednesday indicted Devon Horton, currently superintendent of the 93,000-student DeKalb County school district, on 17 counts including wire fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. The indictment alleges the 48-year-old Horton issued more than $280,000 in contracts to three friends and received more than $80,000 in kickbacks from 2020 through 2023 while he was superintendent of the Evanston-Skokie school district. That district had 5,800 students in grades K-8 last year.

    Indicted along with Horton were three other men who prosecutors allege were part of the scheme: Antonio Ross, 48, of Chicago; Samuel Ross, 46 of Berwyn, Illinois; and Alfonzo Lewis, 48, of Chicago.

    A lawyer for Horton, Terry Campbell, said in a statement that Horton “is eager to address his case in court.” He added that the allegations “relate to conduct that is several years old and have nothing whatsoever to do with his very successful work on behalf of the students, families, and teachers in DeKalb County,” citing improved attendance rates, graduation rates and academic achievement in the Georgia district.

    Lawyers for Samuel Ross and Antonio Ross declined to comment. No lawyer was listed for Lewis in court records.

    The DeKalb County school board held an emergency meeting Thursday and suspended Horton with pay, naming Chief of Student Services Norman Sauce as acting superintendent. Board Chairperson Deirdre Pierce said in a statement that operations will “continue as normal” and that the district remains “focused on providing a safe, supportive, and high-quality educational experience for every student.”

    The DeKalb County board had extended Horton’s contract to 2028 in July and raised his salary to $360,000 a year.

    The indictment alleges that the four men created companies and billed for services they didn’t provide in order to bilk money from the Evanston-Skokie and Chicago school districts. In addition to $283,500 from Evanston-Skokie, the indictment alleges that Antonio Ross, then principal of Hyde Park Academy High School in Chicago, issued a fraudulent contract to a Horton-controlled company that netted Horton $10,000.

    Horton tried to hire Antonio Ross after Horton became superintendent in DeKalb County, but Ross declined the job amid questions about the business relationship between the two men. The DeKalb district hired at least four other people whom Horton previously worked with in Illinois or Louisville, Kentucky.

    Horton also faces charges that he stole more than $30,000 from the Evanston-Skokie district in 2022 and 2023 by using his district purchasing card to buy personal meals and gift cards and to pay for personal vehicle and travel expenses. Horton is also charged with tax evasion over allegations that he didn’t report the kickbacks and personal purchases on his income tax returns.

    Because of the large amount of money allegedly stolen and that fact that Horton was a public official, he could face more than 10 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines if convicted. Prosecutors are also seeking to have all four men forfeit the money in question.

    The leaders of the Evanston-Skokie school board, Sergio Hernandez and Nichole Pinkard, said in a statement that the district “has been aware of the ongoing investigation and has fully supported the process,” keeping it secret at the request of federal authorities.

    “We are deeply troubled and angered by these allegations,” they said.

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  • Prosecutors Say No Harm Was Done by Social Media Posts About Assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors told a judge Wednesday that no harm was done to prospects for a fair trial after two U.S. Justice Department officials reposted potentially inflammatory comments President Donald Trump made about Luigi Mangione after he was charged with assassinating UnitedHealthcare’s CEO.

    They said in a written submission in Manhattan federal court that the two employees aren’t working on the case and didn’t know that the judge had warned lawyers to be careful what they share publicly. They said they have since been warned.

    And they said the distance from a trial date that has not yet been set makes it even less likely that anything said publicly might impact potential jurors who would be chosen to hear the case.

    “These individuals are not members of the prosecution team, or trial counsel or staff supervised by the prosecution team, or otherwise employed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Nor are they law enforcement agents working on this prosecution,” prosecutors wrote.

    “They operate entirely outside the scope of the prosecution team, possess no operational role in the investigative or prosecutorial functions of the Mangione matter, and are not ‘associated’ with this litigation,” they said.

    Requests for comment were sent to Mangione’s defense lawyers.

    Judge Margaret M. Garnett last month said the officials likely broke court rules governing the conduct of prosecutors by reposting Trump’s comments. She asked the department to explain how the violations occurred and what steps were taken to prevent a recurrence.

    On Sept. 18, Trump was on Fox News when he called Mangione “a pure assassin.”

    “He shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me,” Trump said. “He shot him right in the middle of the back, instantly dead.”

    A video clip of Trump’s remarks was then posted on the social platform X by the White House.

    Chad Gilmartin, a Justice Department spokesperson, reposted the comment, adding that “@POTUS is absolutely right.” Gilmartin’s post, which was later deleted, was then reposted by Brian Nieves, an associate deputy attorney general.

    Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.

    Earlier in September, defense lawyers for Mangione had asked that his federal charges be dismissed and the death penalty be taken off the table as a result of public comments by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

    They later told the judge that the government was continuing to prejudice their client’s right to a fair trial with the re-postings on social media of Trump’s comments.

    Bondi declared prior to his April indictment that capital punishment is warranted for a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.” Bondi announced in April that she was directing Manhattan federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione.

    In the federal case, Mangione is charged with murder through use of a firearm, which carries a potential death penalty, as well as stalking and gun offenses.

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

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  • Defendant’s DNA found on gas can in failed arson of news van in Utah, prosecutors say

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    SALT LAKE CITY — SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man’s DNA was found on a gasoline can that was placed under a news vehicle in a failed arson attempt in Salt Lake City, federal prosecutors allege in court documents.

    Christopher Solomon Proctor, 45, lit a fuse attached to the 2.5 gallon (9.5 liter) plastic gas container that he had put under a news vehicle owned by the local Fox affiliate, KSTU-TV, that was parked outside of a building on Sept. 12, according to the filings. The fuse went out before the gas ignited.

    Proctor has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted arson and possession of an unregistered destructive device. His attorney, Richard Sorenson, didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

    During a hearing Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead ordered Proctor, who was arrested Sept. 29, to remain in jail until his trial. Pead said there was evidence that Proctor had planned to repeat the attempt, despite family and friends insisting that Proctor posed no danger to others, according to court documents.

    A license plate reader recorded Proctor’s vehicle near the scene within minutes of the crime, and investigators found items in Proctor’s home similar to those used to carry out the attempted arson, including black boots, a different gas can that also had a hole carved in the top, and a portion of fuse, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Thorpe wrote.

    According to prosecutors, Proctor bought more fuse days after the failed attempt and returned to the crime scene a week later. Proctor “had mentioned burning Fox News on previous occasions” to others, and told an acquaintance that he lit a fuse under a “fox news” vehicle but it did not blow up, Thorpe wrote.

    “That purchase, the presence of another gas-can at his residence and the deliberate resurveilling of the news station lead to an inference that the defendant may not have been satisfied with his failed attempt,” Thorpe wrote.

    The day after the alleged arson attempt, two men were arrested on suspicion of placing a makeshift bomb under the KSTU-TV news vehicle. Investigators searched their home and found two sticks of inactive dynamite that the men claimed were real, according to court documents. They were charged in state court with crimes including possessing hoax explosives. However, the men are not being prosecuted for crimes related to the gas can found under the vehicle.

    Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Tuesday that the charges were based on the information presented to the office and referred questions regarding the news vehicle to federal authorities.

    The federal court documents make no mention of the two men.

    The incident happened two days after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. Thorpe said at Monday’s hearing that there is no evidence linking the alleged arson attempt to Kirk’s death, KSTU-TV reported.

    ___

    The story was updated to correct that the vehicle belongs to the local Fox affiliate, not Fox News.

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