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Nov 12 (Reuters) - Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes should spend 15 years in prison and pay $800 million in restitution to investors defrauded in the blood testing start-up, U.S. prosecutors recommended late on Friday. The Department of Justice recommendation, made in a court filing, came as Holmes prepares to be sentenced next week. "Considering the extensiveness of Holmes' fraud... the sentencing of 180 months' imprisonment would reflect the seriousness of the offenses, provide for just punishment for the offenses, and deter Holmes and others," the prosecutors said. Holmes earlier urged U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California not to send her to prison. Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 at the age of 19.

☆ Three ex-Pennsylvania police officers plead guilty in shooting of 8-year-old girl who was killed by stray bullet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

They were fired from the Sharon Hill Borough Police Department a few days after charges were recommended. The shooting happened after two teenagers fired shots at each other outside the football game and fled. The officers heard the shots and told other officers they believed the gunfire had come from a car that was driving toward them. From left: Sharon Hill Police Officers Brian Devaney, Sean Dolan and Devon Smith. The Bility family has filed a federal lawsuit against Dolan, Devaney, Smith, and the Sharon Hill Borough Police Department.

☆ New Jersey Man Arrested Over Synagogue Threat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Jennifer Calfas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An 18-year-old New Jersey man was arrested and charged Thursday in connection to threats he allegedly made to attack a synagogue and Jewish people, an incident that prompted an FBI warning last week. Omar Alkattoul , of Sayreville, N.J., was charged with one count of transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce. Prosecutors said Mr. Alkattoul allegedly sent a document titled “When Swords Collide” to several people over social media and told one person he wrote the manifesto “in the context of an attack on Jews.”

☆ Couple sentenced in plot to sell U.S. submarine secrets by hiding intel in peanut butter sandwich
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

In one of them, Diana Toebbe told her husband to flush the letter down a toilet after reading it. Prior to sentencing, Jonathan Toebbe described his battles with stress in taking on additional duties and his own battle with alcohol. The couple was arrested in October 2021 after Jonathan Toebbe placed a card in Jefferson County, West Virginia. Prosecutors had sought three years for Diana Toebbe. An FBI agent posing as a foreign government’s representative made contact with Toebbe, ultimately paying in cryptocurrency for the information Toebbe was offering.

☆ Shakira, Pique reach agreement on child custody after break-up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Horaci Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BARCELONA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Colombian pop star Shakira has reached an agreement with former partner Gerard Pique over the custody of their two children following the break-up of their 11-year relationship earlier this year, Shakira's representative in Spain said on Tuesday. Shakira Mebarak, 45, and FC Barcelona defender Pique, 35, were together since 2011 but never married. They met shortly before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when he featured in the music video for Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the tournament's official song. The custody agreement was reached one week after Pique announced his imminent retirement from professional football and departure from FC Barcelona. Prosecutors claim she failed to pay up to 14.5 million euros ($14.48 million) in tax on income earned between 2012 and 2014.

☆ Oath Oath Keepers founder used money donated to the far-right group for holiday travel and personal expenses: January 6 trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rakoczy then pressed him, asking if he'd tapped into Oath Keepers funds "quite a bit" to cover personal expenses. Rhodes, who remained outside the Capitol, testified that he thought it was "stupid" for Oath Keepers members to enter the building. From the Oath Keepers' founding, the group was focused on "forceful opposition to the government, isn't that right?" In her questioning, she also noted that the Oath Keepers provided ammunition for AR-15 rifles during the 2014 standoff at the Bundy Ranch. For Rakoczy, Rhodes' preferred image of the Oath Keepers was belied by his own messages with fellow members.

☆ Live updates: Election Day approaches as voters cast early ballots in races that could determine House and Senate control
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Dawn Kopecki | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Voters are casting early ballots in the midterm elections that will determine control of the House and Senate, as candidates try to muster last-minute support. Kathy Hochul, who is facing an unexpectedly tight race against Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin. Another former president, Bill Clinton, campaigned with Hochul in Brooklyn on Saturday, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Voters have already cast more than 42 million ballots in the midterm elections as of Monday morning. Election officials and U.S. prosecutors will be keeping a close watch on the polls for any signs of voter intimidation on Tuesday.

☆ Ex-NYPD officer guilty of murder in freezing death of 8-year-old son
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Michael Valva was found guilty of four counts of child endangerment and faces a maximum potential sentence of 25 years to life. Thomas Valva died in January 2020, the day after sleeping in the garage in the family’s Long Island home in temperatures that dropped under 20 degrees. A medical examiner ruled the boy’s death a homicide and found that hypothermia was a major contributing factor. According to prosecutors, the boys spent 16 consecutive hours in the freezing garage leading up to the 8-year-old’s death, Newsday reported. The child endangerment counts stemmed from the beating and starving of both boys.

BAMBERG, S.C. — Pamela Pinckney was in the hospital, bruised and in pain from several broken bones, when a lawyer named Alex Murdaugh offered his help. Pinckney estimates Murdaugh and his alleged co-conspirators pocketed $1 million owed to her family. Pamela Pinckney remained hospitalized as she endured several operations. Alex Murdaugh told me and my entire Pinckney family that he has our best interests, we don’t have anything to worry about and we’re like family to him,” Pinckney said. Alex Murdaugh is escorted out of the Collation County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on July 20, 2022.

☆ DOJ rests in Oath Keepers trial without calling witnesses who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors rested their case against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the far-right organization on Wednesday without calling three cooperating defendants who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. But the government did not call for three members of the group who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy — Joshua James, Brian Ulrich and William Todd Wilson — before resting their case. Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington on Jun. Susan Walsh / AP fileProsecutors may have decided that presenting any of the three defendants who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy would be too much of a risk on cross examination. Prosecutors also can't explicitly argue that because a witness pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy that the defendants are guilty of the same charge, which limits the value of their testimony.

The man convicted of gunning down beloved Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle three years ago will be sentenced Thursday in a Los Angeles courtroom. Holder was convicted of first-degree murder in July for the March 31, 2019, killing of Hussle in a parking lot outside the rapper’s South Los Angeles apparel shop. Rapper Nipsey Hussle at an NBA basketball game between the Golden State Warriors and the Milwaukee Bucks in Oakland, Calif., on March 29, 2018. After his conversation with Hussle, Holder hadn't had time to cool off when he returned to the shop with a gun, he argued. Jansen described the charges as excessive.

☆ An Oath Keeper thought the Electoral College was a place where politicians 'went to get educated,' defense lawyer says at trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Defense lawyers argued at trial the Oath Keepers were a community-minded service group. In their month-long case, federal prosecutors presented text messages and other evidence detailing the Oath Keepers' planning ahead of January 6. Rhodes is standing trial alongside Harrelson and three other Oath Keepers members — Jessica Watkins, Kelly Meggs, and Thomas Caldwell — on charges related to January 6. In another opening statement Thursday, a defense lawyer for Oath Keepers member Kelly Meggs argued that the group was providing security on January 6. "The testimony in this case will show the Oath Keepers chose community involvement, disaster recovery, security, personal security," Woodward said.

☆ Nationwide catalytic converter theft ring made hundreds of millions of dollars, feds say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan_Dienst_Byline.Jpg | Jonathan Dienst | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

“Amidst a rise in catalytic converter thefts across the country, the Justice Department has today carried out an operation arresting 21 defendants and executing 32 search warrants in a nation-wide takedown of a multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft network,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. Thieves made off with 12 times as many catalytic converters in 2021 as they did in 2019, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. On his Instagram account, he posted a photo of a necklace with a pendant made to look like a catalytic converter. Prosecutors say that was among the businesses allegedly purchasing stolen catalytic converters and reselling them. Technician Adelmo Rodriguez etches a catalytic converter with a license plate number in Huntington Beach, Calif, in 2021.

☆ Accused fraudster Justin Costello has history of posing as billionaire and threatening cops, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Justin Costello yearbook photo"It's easy to be someone you're not, but hard to be yourself," Wisconsin teenager Justin Costello wrote under his senior photo in the Oconomowoc High School yearbook in 1999. Cash and gold bars as detailed in court filing in US District court in San Diego in case of former fugitive Justin Costello. Another San Diego judge then ordered Costello back to Washington state to face trial in DOJ's criminal case in U.S. District Court, court documents show. Costello's recent arrest is not the first time he has run into trouble with the law — or posed as a billionaire, court and police records show. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards FBI Poster for Justin Costello FBI

☆ Paul Pelosi was unconscious in a pool of his own blood for 3 minutes following hammer attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Tom Dotan | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"What's clear is this case is vulnerable to misinformation," Jenkins said outside the San Francisco Superior Court. "But Mr. Pelosi could not maintain his grip on the hammer. A second later, Defendant wrenched the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi, immediately stepped back, and lunged at Mr. Pelosi, striking Mr. Pelosi in the head at full force with the hammer, which knocked Mr. Pelosi unconscious." "Mr. Pelosi remained unresponsive for about three minutes, waking up in a pool of his own blood." "This is not representative of the state or safety of San Francisco, it's more representative of the state of politics in the United States."

☆ GOP strategist says the party deserves blame for wave of hatred that led to attack on Pelosi's husband
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

GOP strategist Doug Heye was interviewed on MSNBC about the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband. Leading Republicans have pushed conspiracy theories and joked about the attack. Police say David DePape broke into the Pelosi's home in San Francisco on Friday, and attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer. Prosecutors say they believe the attack was politically motivated, and reports say DePape had posted support for far-right conspiracy theories on a blog. Some Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have pushed conspiracy theories about the attack, while others, including his son, Donald Trump Jr, have joked about it.

Barrack, 75, is charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI. Prosecutors allege he used his decades-long friendship with Trump to “illegally provide” government officials from the UAE with access to — and information about — the president and top officials. Jackson told jurors that the government’s claim of overwhelming evidence against Barrack was “a joke,” and that there was “nothing nefarious” about his client’s dealings with Emirati officials. Jackson further argued the government had no direct evidence that Barrack had struck a deal with the UAE. Grimes' attorney, Abbe Lowell, disputed that his client was an unregistered foreign agent, saying he did what his boss Barrack told him to do, not what UAE officials requested.

☆ Oregon man accused of abducting, sexually abusing Canadian child he met online
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

PORTLAND, Ore. — U.S. prosecutors have accused an Oregon man of abducting a Canadian child he met online, taking her across the border and into the U.S. his vehicle’s trunk and sexually abusing her. Madrano, 41, allegedly traveled to Canada to meet the girl in person twice before taking her into the United States. He took her to a hotel room in Canada, sexually abused her and made videos of the abuse, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint. On July 2, FBI agents and Oregon City police found Madrano and the girl in the Oregon City hotel. Madrano was arrested and the girl was returned to her parents in Edmonton, Canada, according to prosecutors and court records.

☆ Former U.N. employee sentenced to 15 years for multiple rapes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The first charge to which Elkorany pleaded guilty pertained to his denial to the FBI that he raped Victim 1 after she reported it to the United Nations. When Victim 2 spoke, she said Elkorany posed as a feminist who cared about issues facing women as he preyed upon friends and acquaintances. Prosecutors said Victim 2 met Elkorany when she worked for a U.N. organization, and she was drugged and sexually assaulted on multiple occasions between 2014 and 2019 in the United States and Iraq. From October 2013 to April 2016, he worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund in Iraq, and from July 2016 to April 2018 as a U.N. communications specialist in Iraq. “The United Nations welcomes the efforts of the United States authorities in ensuring that Mr. Karim Elkorany is held to account for his criminal conduct,” he said.

☆ Federal appeals court denies Trump effort to keep tax records away from House committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A federal appeals court on Thursday denied former President Donald Trump's latest attempt to prevent a congressional committee from accessing his tax records. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., comes after a three-judge panel on the court unanimously ruled in August that the House Ways and Means Committee is allowed to obtain Trump’s tax records after a yearslong effort to secure them. Neal first filed a formal request with the Treasury Department for the tax records in April 2019. Thursday's court ruling adds to Trump's legal woes. A day earlier, his lawyers accepted service of the subpoena issued to him by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot.

☆ NFT Prosecution Sparks Debate Over Insider-Trading Label for Digital-Token Cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Insider trading typically evokes the idea of a well-connected investor using secret information to profit from stock trades. Now, a federal judge has allowed the Justice Department to use the same kind of narrative in a first-ever case about the trading of digital tokens—even though prosecutors didn’t bring traditional insider-trading charges. The use of insider-trading language emerged as a flashpoint in the New York case, which the Justice Department says is its maiden prosecution for insider trading of NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, which are digital proofs of purchase for goods such as art. Prosecutors allege a former employee of NFT marketplace OpenSea profited from nonpublic information by purchasing tokens that he knew would soon be featured on OpenSea’s home page. The defendant, Nathaniel Chastain, knew the tokens would rise in value after being showcased, prosecutors say.

After he received the request, Barrack said, he turned to employees at his private equity fund, Colony Capital, to draft Trump's remarks. Prosecutors allege that in doing so, Barrack was trying to cash in on his ties to Trump while acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE. Barrack testified that one of the points of the energy comments was to reassure foreign governments after a blistering speech Trump had given about foreign policy, in which he bashed China and Middle Eastern countries. Barrack testified that he, indeed, ran the draft speech by his UAE contacts and wound up incorporating some of their suggestions. But Trump and his campaign essentially threw out that version of the speech, Barrack said, in favor of one he considered "imbecilic."

☆ A judge sentenced a Capitol rioter to more than 7 years in prison, saying he'd assaulted Officer Michael Fanone like 'he was your prey'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Calling him one of the "most serious offenders," a federal judge on Thursday sentenced Capitol rioter Albuquerque Head to more than 7 years in prison for pulling then-police Officer Michael Fanone into the pro-Trump mob during the January 6, 2021 attack. Prosecutors alleged that Head grabbed hold of a riot shield during the January 6 attack and used it against police officers protecting the Capitol. In the aftermath of the January 6 attack, Fanone has emerged as one of the highest-profile police officers who protected the Capitol that day. Ahead of Head's sentencing, prosecutors recommended that he receive an 8-year prison term. Prosecutors showed scarring on Michael Fannone's neck in a court filing recommending an 8-year prison term for Albuquerque Head.

☆ Barrack testifies he told Trump to use Khashoggi murder to end Qatar blockade
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Barrack, 75, is not charged with acting as a Saudi agent, but the country is close with the UAE. U.S. intelligence says the murder of Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, was approved by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler. The blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and others began in 2017. Prosecutors say that during the blockade, Barrack told Rashid Al Malik - an associate also accused of being an Emirati agent - that the United States was considering hosting a summit to resolve the conflict. Al Malik, who is at large, then told UAE officials about the possible meeting, prosecutors say.

☆ Trump's company: We don't need a monitor
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File PhotoNEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's namesake company urged a New York judge to reject a demand by the state's attorney general to appoint a monitor to oversee its financial practices, after she accused it of "staggering" fraud. "What the (attorney general) really seeks is a vague order justifying her assertion of control via a 'monitor' of the business affairs of her political adversary," wrote Alina Habba, a lawyer for the company and Trump. The attorney general has said a monitor would help serve "the substantial public interest in curbing fraudulent and lawful conduct." While the case does not involve criminal charges, James said Trump repeatedly violated several state criminal laws and may have violated federal criminal law. The case is New York v Trump et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No.

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