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☆ He’s Accused of Smuggling, but Not Drugs or Guns: It’s Greenhouse Gases
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Hiroko Tabuchi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Monday, a California man became the first in the nation to be arrested and charged with smuggling the powerful gases into the United States, a felony offense, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. Mr. Hart then posted the refrigerants for sale on OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and other sites, and sold them for a profit, federal agents say. Mr. Hart pleaded not guilty. He faces charges of conspiracy, importation contrary to law and sale of merchandise imported contrary to law. Attempts to reach lawyers for Mr. Hart were unsuccessful.

Persons: Michael Hart, Hart Organizations: Craigslist, United States Attorney’s Office, Southern, Southern District of, Facebook Locations: California, United States, United, Southern District, Southern District of California, San Diego, coolants, Mexico

☆ Robert Menendez and Wife Are Charged With Obstruction of Justice
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Benjamin Weiser | More About Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The new charges against the Menendezes appear related to information that was provided to the government by Mr. Uribe, who in court on Friday described meeting with Ms. Menendez at a Marriott Hotel after receiving a subpoena in the case. Mr. Uribe said in court that Ms. Menendez had wanted to get their stories straight about a Mercedes-Benz convertible he had given her as a bribe. “She asked what was I going to say if somebody asked me about the car payments,” Mr. Uribe said. In the new charges, prosecutors say that Mr. and Ms. Menendez paid Mr. Uribe back for the payments he had made on the Mercedes and falsely referred to that money as a “loan” in conversations with their lawyers, deliberately mischaracterizing the transaction. As a result, the indictment charges, Mr. Menendez in June “caused his then counsel to make false and misleading statements to the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.” Two months later, Ms. Menendez did the same.

Persons: Uribe, Menendez, “, Mr Organizations: Marriott, Benz, Mercedes, Southern, of Locations: United States, of New York

☆ South Carolina lawmaker Brandon Guffey is suing Instagram after his son died by suicide
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —About two weeks after his oldest son’s funeral, South Carolina state house Rep. Brandon Guffey says he received a private Instagram message with a laughing emoji. Then Guffey and his younger son began to get messages demanding money in exchange for nude photos of his late son. South Carolina State Rep. Brandon Guffey in an undated photo with his wife, Melissa, and their sons, Gavin, 17, Coen, 16, and Callahan, 4. Minutes before he died by suicide in July 2022, Gavin Guffey sent his brother and friends this text message. South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Guffey, right, has lobbied hard for tougher penalties for sextortion scammers.

Persons: Brandon Guffey, Gavin Guffey, Guffey, Gavin, Melissa, Coen, Callahan, they’ve, Gavin Guffey texted, Gavin texted, Henry McMaster, scammers, Brandon Guffey “, ” Guffey, “, ”, ‘, “ Meta, It’s, ” Douglas DePodesta, ” Gavin Guffey, Jordan DeMay, Ryan Last, sextortion scammers, I’m, they’re, “ They’re, he’s, He’s Organizations: CNN, Meta, South Carolina State Rep, Gov, FBI, United States Attorney’s Office, Western, Western District of Michigan, Facebook, Rep, sextortion, Communications Locations: South Carolina, “, Rock Hill , South Carolina, Venmo, Memphis, United, Western District, Nigeria, Marquette , Michigan, San Jose , California

☆ California Boat Captain Convicted of Manslaughter in Fire That Killed 34
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Mike Ives | More About Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The captain of a dive boat that caught fire off the coast of Southern California in 2019, killing all 33 passengers and one of its six crew members, was found guilty by a federal jury on Monday on one count of an offense known as “seaman’s manslaughter.”When the commercial scuba diving vessel, the Conception, caught fire in a harbor near Santa Cruz Island early on the morning of Sept. 2, 2019, all the passengers were sleeping below deck. Prosecutors say the captain, Jerry Nehl Boylan, successfully escaped, along with four members of the crew, without trying to help them. Mr. Boylan failed to carry out his duties as a ship officer in part by “failing to perform any lifesaving or firefighting activities whatsoever at the time of the fire, even though he was uninjured,” the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a news release on Monday that announced the conviction. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February, the release said. Mr. Boylan could face up to 10 years in prison.

Persons: ”, Jerry Nehl Boylan, Boylan Organizations: Prosecutors, United States Attorney’s Office, Central, Central District of Locations: Southern California, Santa Cruz, United, Central District, Central District of California

☆ He Raised Millions for Bibles but Spent It on Gambling and Gold, U.S. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Chang Che | More About Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To Amish and Mennonite communities in Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Jason Gerald Shenk was a devout missionary spreading the word of God overseas. With their financial help, he would send Bibles and other Christian literature to China, where Christianity has long been curtailed by the Chinese Communist Party. A federal investigation into Mr. Shenk’s whereabouts is underway in conjunction with authorities in other countries, said Barry L. Paschal, a spokesman for the Southern District of Georgia. Prosecutors said Mr. Shenk renounced his citizenship in 2016 to avoid reporting his finances, and he is believed to be residing outside of the United States. It is not clear if Mr. Shenk has a lawyer.

Persons: Jason Gerald Shenk, Shenk, Barry L, Paschal, Prosecutors Organizations: Chinese Communist Party, Federal, United States Attorney’s Office, Southern, Southern District of, Southern District of Georgia Locations: Ohio , North Carolina, Pennsylvania, China, Santiago , Chile, United, Southern District, Southern District of Georgia, Georgia, United States

☆ British billionaire Joe Lewis indicted on insider trading charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —British billionaire and owner of the Tottenham Hotspur football club Joe Lewis was indicted on insider trading charges by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the office announced Tuesday. In a video posted to social media, US Attorney Damian Williams accused Lewis of orchestrating a “brazen insider trading scheme” between 2013 and 2021, passing confidential trading tips to his “romantic partners, his personal assistants, his private pilots, and his friends,” helping them make millions of dollars. On other occasions, Lewis allegedly pressed his personal assistants and romantic partners to trade on the information he provided as soon as possible. Lewis is the majority owner of the Premier League football team, Tottenham Hotspur, and the founder of private equity company Tavistock Group, which invests in more than 200 companies across 13 countries, according to its website. Mr. Lewis has come to the US voluntarily to answer these ill-conceived charges, and we will defend him vigorously in court.”Neither Tottenham Hotspur nor Tavistock Group immediately responded to a request for comment.

Persons: Joe Lewis, Damian Williams, Lewis, ”, David M, Zornow, Tottenham Organizations: CNN, Tottenham Hotspur, United States Attorney’s Office, Southern, of, Bloomberg, Premier League football, Tavistock Group, Tavistock Locations: British, of New York

☆ Football Superfan Caught in California and Charged in $70,000 Bank Theft
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Chang Che | More About Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Given the hefty price of football tickets, it was a high-flying lifestyle, which Mr. Babudar attributed to successful warehouses he managed across the Midwest. Mr. Babudar is accused of committing a string of bank robberies across at least six states over the last year, including in Iowa, where he is accused of stealing $70,000. That robbery is one of seven Mr. Babudar was accused of committing or attempting between April 2022 and December 2022, according to court documents unsealed on Monday. Prosectors said Mr. Babudar had purchased and redeemed more than $1 million worth of chips from casinos across the Midwest that appeared to be connected to the stolen money. A grand jury will determine whether Mr. Babudar will be indicted on the additional charges, the statement added.

Persons: Xavier Babudar, Babudar, Babudar’s, Prosectors Organizations: Kansas City Chiefs, United States Attorney’s Office, of Locations: Iowa, Sacramento, Calif, United, Western, of Missouri, Oklahoma, Midwest

☆ US attorney investigating Hunter Biden defends probe in letter to House Judiciary panel
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Sara Murray | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

If not, I may request Special Attorney status from the Attorney General,” Weiss wrote to the House Judiciary Committee on Friday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently suggested the House chamber could open an impeachment inquiry into Garland over the IRS agents’ allegations. Weiss added that he would not provide the committee with additional information about the Hunter Biden case while it is being prosecuted. Hunter Biden is set to formally plead guilty in federal court in Delaware on July 26. “Thus, I will not provide specific information related to the Hunter Biden investigation at this time.”

Persons: CNN — David Weiss, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s, Gary Shapley, Merrick Garland, Weiss, ” Weiss, ” Hunter, Kevin McCarthy, Garland, Tristan Leavitt, Shapley, Weiss “, ” Organizations: CNN, IRS, Central, Central District of, U.S, Attorney, District of, States Attorney’s Office, Republicans, Justice Department, Twitter Locations: Delaware, – Washington, Central District, Central District of California, District of Delaware, “, Weiss ’

☆ Man Is Sentenced in $9 Million Cow Manure Ponzi Scheme
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( John Yoon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A California man was sentenced on Monday to more than six years in prison for running an $8.75 million Ponzi scheme that hinged on a nonexistent factory that was supposed to create green energy out of cow manure, federal prosecutors said. For five years, Raymond Holcomb Brewer falsely claimed to be an engineer who ran a company that built anaerobic digestion plants, which convert manure into biogas, the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California said in a statement on Monday. Brewer, 66, of Porterville, Calif., told his investors that he was building the plants and would generate millions of dollars in revenue by selling the biogas, the statement said. He told the investors that they would receive two-thirds of the profits, as well as tax incentives.

Persons: Raymond Holcomb Brewer, . Brewer Organizations: Eastern Locations: California, United States, Eastern District, Porterville, Calif

The deal would be contingent on Mr. Biden remaining drug free for 24 months and agreeing never to own a firearm again. Mr. Biden is expected to appear in federal court in Delaware in the coming days to be arraigned on the misdemeanor tax charges and plead guilty. As president, Mr. Trump had long sought to tie Hunter Biden’s business deals and personal troubles to his father. Image The Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden continued after his father became president. Allegations promoted by Republicans that the elder Mr. Biden’s Justice Department went easy on his son are unlikely to fade away.

Persons: Hunter Biden, Biden’s, Hunter Biden’s, Biden, Mr, Hunter, Christopher Clark, Ian Sams, Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, David C, Weiss, General Merrick B, Garland, Clark, “ Hunter, ” Mr, Burisma, Haiyun Jiang, Obama, Beau, I.R.S, Seamus Hughes Organizations: Department, The, United States Attorney’s Office, District of, Republicans, Justice Department, House Republicans, Trump, Credit, New York Times, Prosecutors, United, Mr, Yale, Obama, Biden’s Justice Department, Congressional Republicans Locations: Delaware, District of Delaware, Ukrainian, China, United States, Ukraine

The deal would be contingent on Mr. Biden remaining drug free for 24 months and agreeing never to own a firearm again. Mr. Biden is expected to appear in federal court in Delaware in the coming days to be arraigned on the misdemeanor tax charges and plead guilty. Image The Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden continued after his father became president. Allegations promoted by Republicans that the elder Mr. Biden’s Justice Department went easy on his son are unlikely to fade away. supervisor who had been overseeing the investigation into Hunter Biden hired a lawyer and went to Congress, alleging political favoritism in how the investigation had been handled.

Representative George Santos, the New York Republican who fell under numerous investigations over his personal and campaign finances after his biography was found to be a web of lies and exaggerations, has been charged by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, two people familiar with the investigation said. Mr. Santos, his lawyer and a spokeswoman in his Washington office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn could not be reached for comment; an F.B.I. The specific charges against Mr. Santos, who last month announced he would run for re-election in his district in Long Island and part of Queens, are not yet clear. CNN reported that Mr. Santos could appear as soon as Wednesday in federal court.

☆ Abuses Proliferate in Police Squads Like Memphis's Scorpion Unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

Street Crime Unit. Jon Naso/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesMemphis police chief Davis also has prior experience with special street crime units. Street crime squads are popular among politicians who say only aggressive policing will reduce violent crime. In the late 1990s, the Street Crime Unit tripled in size, amid a panic over a rising number of homicides. In a city grappling with violent crime, authorities touted the Street Crime Unit as a bright spot.

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