Category Archives: US crime

Special counsel reveals new details of Trump bid to overturn 2020 election

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Newly unsealed court filing argues former president is not entitled to immunity from prosecution

Donald Trump “resorted to crimes” in a failed bid to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, federal prosecutors said in a newly unsealed court filing that argues that the former US president is not entitled to immunity from prosecution.

The filing was unsealed on Wednesday. It was submitted by special counsel Jack Smith’s team following a supreme court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents and narrowed the scope of the prosecution.

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US man, 81, sentenced to six months for creating giant hybrid sheep for hunting

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Arthur Schubarth of Montana used tissue and testicles from Marco Polo sheep to clone animal and create hybrid

An 81-year-old Montana man was sentenced on Monday to six months in federal prison for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in central Asia and the US to create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota.

The US district court judge Brian Morris said he struggled to come up with a sentence for Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana. He said he weighed Schubarth’s age and lack of a criminal record with a sentence that would deter anyone else from trying to “change the genetic makeup of the creatures” on the Earth.

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Kyle Rittenhouse texts pledging to ‘murder’ shoplifters disillusion his ex-spokesperson

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‘I believed things he told me that I now understand to be … lies,’ Dave Hancock says in new Rittenhouse documentary

A former spokesperson for Kyle Rittenhouse says he became disillusioned with his ex-client after learning that he had sent text messages pledging to “fucking murder” shoplifters outside a pharmacy before later shooting two people to death during racial justice protests in Wisconsin in 2020.

Dave Hancock made that remark about Rittenhouse – for whom he also worked as a security guard – on a Law & Crime documentary that premiered on Friday. The show explored the unsuccessful criminal prosecution of Rittenhouse, who killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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Viral Hollywood Hills mansion covered with graffiti closed down after arrests

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Two arrested in connection with vandalism in abandoned home owned by the son of Philadelphia Phillies co-owner

Two people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with vandalism in an abandoned Hollywood Hills mansion owned by the son of a Philadelphia Phillies co-owner.

John Powers Middleton, a film producer, owns a property that has long been left vacant and become a popular target for graffiti artists and squatters.

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New York mayor Eric Adams pleads not guilty to federal corruption charges

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Beleaguered mayor in court as prosecutors allege Adams, 64, ‘sought and accepted improper valuable benefits’

Eric Adams, the embattled Democratic mayor of New York City, who was indicted on federal criminal charges in an unprecedented scene for a sitting mayor of the city, pleaded not guilty in court in Manhattan early on Friday afternoon.

The mayor arrived at court on Friday morning hours ahead of a scheduled arraignment, accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions and free overseas trips from foreign actors seeking influence.

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Alabama executes death-row prisoner with nitrogen gas

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Alan Miller, 59, second person in US to be executed via controversial technique, shook and trembled on gurney

Alabama has carried out the second execution in the US using the controversial method of nitrogen gas, an experimental technique for humans that veterinarians have deemed unacceptable in the US and Europe for the euthanasia of most animals.

Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead at 6.38pm local time at a south Alabama prison.

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US Senate votes unanimously to hold hospital CEO in criminal contempt

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Ralph de la Torre, paid at least $250m by Steward Health Care amid facility issues and closures, ignored subpoena

The US Senate has voted unanimously to hold the CEO of Steward Health Care in criminal contempt for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena – marking the first time in more than 50 years that the chamber has moved to hold someone in criminal contempt.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted to hold Ralph de la Torre in contempt of Congress after the 58-year-old head of the Massachusetts-based for-profit healthcare system – which declared bankruptcy earlier this year – ignored a congressional subpoena and failed to appear at a hearing over the hospital chain’s alleged abuse of finances on 12 September.

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Man charged with attempting to assassinate Trump at Florida golf club

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Ryan Routh, 58, accused of plotting to kill Republican presidential nominee in West Palm Beach last week

A man accused of lurking outside Donald Trump’s south Florida golf course on 15 September with a gun – and allegedly writing about his desire to kill him – was charged on Tuesday with attempting to kill the Republican presidential candidate.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was indicted on five counts in south Florida federal court: attempted assassination of a major political candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He was first charged with federal firearms crimes after his arrest.

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Caroline Ellison sentenced to two years after serving as star witness against FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried

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Ex-Alameda CEO and ex-girlfriend of fallen crypto mogul pleaded guilty, but prosecutors requested lenient sentence

Caroline Ellison, the former crypto executive and romantic partner of the disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to 24 months in prison in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. Ellison was a central figure in the FTX bankruptcy saga and key witness for the prosecution in the $8bn fraud trial that ended with Bankman-Fried’s conviction.

Ellison served as the chief executive of Alameda Research, which was the trading arm of the now defunct FTX crypto exchange. The collapse of FTX, once valued at $32bn, was directly linked to revelations that it was attempting to financially prop up Alameda with fraudulent accounting. Subsequent investigations and criminal charges found that FTX and the hedge fund had used billions in customer funds for risky trades and lavish personal spending.

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FBI confirms US murders declined in 2023, contrary to Republican claims

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Murder dropped by more than 11% in largest single-year decline in decades while rape and other crimes also fell

Murder dropped by more than 11% from 2022 to 2023, the largest single-year decline in two decades, according to FBI data released on Monday.

Meanwhile, the broader category of violent crime nationwide decreased about 3%, said the data, which is audited and confirms earlier reporting from unaudited statistics.

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Alabama police search for suspect in Birmingham shooting that killed four

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Seventeen people injured in shooting outside nightclub after being caught in crossfire, police say

A manhunt in Alabama for a suspect in the shooting outside a nightclub that killed four people and wounded 17 on Saturday night entered its second full day on Monday.

The shooting in Birmingham was at least the 24th mass murder in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The archive defines a mass murder as one in which four victims are killed or wounded.

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Trump golf club suspect left note saying he intended to kill ex-president – DoJ

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Suspect also maintained a list of dates and venues where Trump was to appear, justice department says

The man accused in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a golf course in Florida left behind a note saying that he intended to kill the former president and maintained in his car a handwritten list of dates and venues where the Republican White House nominee was to appear, the justice department said on Monday.

The new allegations were included in a detention memo filed ahead of a hearing on Monday at which the justice department was expected to argue that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh should remain locked up while the case is pending.

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Manhunt under way after four killed and 17 injured in Alabama shooting

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Police say multiple victims were caught in crossfire in nightlife area of Five Points South in Birmingham

A major manhunt is under way in Birmingham, Alabama, for those responsible for a shooting at a nightclub late on Saturday night in which four people have died and 17 were wounded.

The violence is just the latest shocking incident that highlights the epidemic of gun violence and killings that continues to plague the US and yet prompts little to no political action.

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Mother of Georgia teen from school shooting indicted in separate incident

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Marcee Gray, 43, charged with exploiting an elderly person in Ben Hill county, 200 miles from Apalachee high school

The mother of a Georgia teenager charged with fatally shooting four people at his high school has been indicted in connection with an alleged domestic incident last year.

The indictment handed down earlier this week charges Marcee Gray, 43, with exploiting an elderly person and other crimes in Ben Hill county, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. It appears unrelated to the school shooting at Apalachee high school earlier this month, which occurred in a different Georgia county nearly 200 miles away.

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Secret Service ‘complacency’ led to security breach in Trump shooting – acting director

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Ronald Rowe says ‘lack of diligence’ contributed to shooting at ex-president’s rally and vows to not repeat mistakes

The US Secret Service had a “complacency” problem and was responsible for multiple security failures that preceded Donald Trump being shot by an attempted assassin during an election rally in Pennsylvania, the acting director of the agency said on Friday.

Communication breakdowns with local law enforcement and a “lack of diligence” hampered the Secret Service’s performance ahead of the July assassination attempt on the former US president, according to a new report that lays out a litany of missed opportunities to stop a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured roof.

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Rapper Shyne says former mentor Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs ‘destroyed’ his life

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Belize’s House opposition leader Moses Barrow ‘takes no joy in anyone’s challenges’ after recent charges

The rapper and former Sean “Diddy” Combs protege Shyne has said his ex-mentor “destroyed” his life in the wake of a 1999 New York City nightclub shooting in which they were both implicated – yet he denied gaining any sense of schadenfreude from the Bad Boy Records founder’s recent arrest on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and other related crimes.

“One of the things that I would never wish on my worst enemy is to be incarcerated,” said the artist born Moses Barrow, a native of Belize who spent about eight years in prison while Combs was acquitted of charges in connection with the same shooting. “So I take no joy in anyone’s challenges whether with the criminal justice system or otherwise.

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‘Bounty hunter’ couple finds body believed to be Kentucky shooting suspect

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Fred and Sheila McCoy to receive $25,000 reward for locating remains near highway where gunman opened fire

A retired couple who decided to become bounty hunters for the week found the body that authorities believe to be the shooter who attacked people on an interstate highway and then disappeared, it emerged on Thursday.

After the shooter fled, leaving a Kentucky community scared and on guard, Fred and Sheila McCoy decided to plunge into rugged terrain in search of what was widely anticipated to be the gunman’s remains, as law enforcement were also searching.

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Former CIA officer sentenced to 30 years for sexually assaulting scores of women

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Brian Jeffrey Raymond of California was found guilty of drugging and raping women in his government apartments

A former CIA officer who drugged and sexually assaulted dozens of women was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced.

Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 48, of La Mesa, California, drugged more than two dozen women and performed nonconsensual sexual acts or made sexual contact with at least 10 women, the justice department said in a press release.

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to stay in jail until sex-trafficking trial begins as bail again denied

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Second judge refuses bail to music mogul, 54, citing possibility that he could tamper with witnesses

Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs will have to await trial on sex-trafficking and racketeering charges in a Brooklyn jail instead of his luxurious Miami Beach mansion after a second judge refused to grant a $50m bail package offered by his lawyers.

On Wednesday, US district judge Andrew L Carter Jr denied Combs’s request to be released to home detention with GPS monitoring, pointing to the possibility that Combs may tamper with witnesses.

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Body found near site of Kentucky highway mass shooting

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Investigators working to identify body located in vicinity of I-75 exit where suspect Joseph Couch opened fire

Authorities have found a body near the rural south-eastern Kentucky site where on Saturday a gunman opened fire on an interstate highway, hitting a dozen vehicles and wounding five people, police said Wednesday.

Investigators were working to identify the body, said Scottie Pennington, state police master trooper, in a social media post. It was located in the vicinity of the Interstate 75 exit where the 7 September shooting occurred near London, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles (120km) south of Lexington.

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