All posts tagged: convicted

Trump Pardons Former US Congressman Convicted of Securities Fraud

Trump Pardons Former US Congressman Convicted of Securities Fraud

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump has ⁠pardoned ⁠former U.S. Representative Stephen Buyer, ⁠an Indiana Republican, who was convicted of securities fraud ​for engaging in insider trading in 2018 as a T-Mobile US consultant ahead of ‌a $23 billion merger with Sprint. The ‌proclamation, issued on Thursday and announced by the White House on Friday, ⁠gave no ⁠specific rationale for the pardon other than to assert that Buyer’s ​service as a U.S. Army judge advocate general and member of Congress “was distinguished and highly productive.” It also said that Trump, in granting Buyer a “full, complete and unconditional pardon,” ​was acting on the “advice and recommendation” of 52 current and former members of ⁠the ⁠U.S. Senate and House of ⁠Representatives ​listed in the proclamation. Buyer served in the House as a Republican from Indiana between ​1993 and 2011 ⁠before working as a corporate consultant. He was found guilty in March of 2023 on four counts of securities fraud, and was sentenced in September of that year to 22 months in prison. Prosecutors said …

Decision to allow 3 boys convicted of rape to walk free sparks fury and debate in U.K.

Decision to allow 3 boys convicted of rape to walk free sparks fury and debate in U.K.

Published by Sam Flores

LONDON — A judge’s decision to spare three teenage boys found guilty of rape at knifepoint and other serious sexual offenses from a custodial sentence has sparked outrage across the U.K. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Judge Nicholas Rowland’s decision to issue youth rehabilitation orders, or child community sentences, to the trio was widely criticized in Britain’s press. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the outcome “distressing.” Several campaigns calling for the judge’s removal have also been launched on social media, including one petition that was signed by more than 200,000 people. The case stems from two separate attacks perpetrated two months apart by the convicted teens, who were 13 and 14 at the time. The victims were two girls, ages 15 and 14. Member of Parliament Jess Phillips, a longtime advocate for women’s and girls’ rights, told NBC News in a video interview last week that she was “horrified” by the lenient sentences. “Immediately I just thought that this is the wrong sentence,” said Phillips, …

Convicted nurse turns fatal drug error into cautionary tale : NPR

Convicted nurse turns fatal drug error into cautionary tale : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

People demonstrate outside the courthouse where the sentencing hearing for former nurse RaDonda Vaught was held on May 13, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. Mark Humphrey/AP hide caption toggle caption Mark Humphrey/AP When RaDonda Vaught got her first speaking request, it had been a year since that day in a Nashville courtroom, when she listened as a jury read her guilty verdict for negligent homicide and neglect of an impaired adult. That was in 2022. Vaught was sentenced to three years of probation for administering the wrong medication and accidentally killing a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2017. She also lost her nursing license. So Vaught became a full-time farmer. She and her husband live on a small sheep farm in Bethpage, Tennessee, tucked in the rolling hills north of Nashville. They sell eggs at farmers markets on Saturdays and supply meat to local butchers and restaurants. RaDonda Vaught tends to lambs on her farm north of Nashville, Tennessee. She started getting offers to speak to medical audiences after being on probation for about …

Estranged Husband Convicted of Murder-For-Hire in Killing of New York City Art Dealer in Brazil

Estranged Husband Convicted of Murder-For-Hire in Killing of New York City Art Dealer in Brazil

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (AP) — The estranged husband of a prominent New York City art dealer was convicted Friday of hiring a hitman to kill him in Brazil. Daniel Sikkema, 55, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Brent Sikkema, 75, was found stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro townhouse in January 2024. Daniel Sikkema, a U.S. and Cuban citizen who lived in New York, was arrested in April 2024. He was convicted in federal court in Manhattan of charges including murder-for-hire conspiracy resulting in death. The alleged hitman was arrested in Brazil, where he remains jailed. “Amid contentious divorce proceedings with his then-husband, Daniel Sikkema used a burner phone line to callously order the killing of his husband,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said. Clayton described Brent Sikkema’s killing as a “senseless, cold-blooded murder” and said the verdict brings a “meaningful measure of justice.” Daniel Sikkema’s lawyer, Florian Miedel, said they were disappointed in the verdict and plan to appeal. “Daniel is staying strong and hopes to be vindicated in the end,” …

In Los Angeles, a sister offers shelter and mercy to immigrants convicted of crimes

In Los Angeles, a sister offers shelter and mercy to immigrants convicted of crimes

Published by Sam Flores

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Sister Teresa Groth calls herself a “pardoned sinner” who seeks to be “an instrument of mercy in the hands of God” — words paraphrased from the constitution of the Daughters of Mary and Joseph, her congregation. As executive director of Francisco Homes, a Los Angeles housing program for formerly incarcerated men, she says that calling has guided her work. Since 2009, Groth has been welcoming men who served long sentences and easing their transition back into the world.  Groth came to religious life later than most. Widowed at 30 with a baby, she said she threw herself into her parish and, in her early 30s, had a religious experience she describes as God addressing her guilt directly: “Just rest in my love. Trust me.” After her son left for college, she entered the Daughters of Mary and Joseph and came to Francisco Homes in her second year of formation. “First, we recognize that we have received mercy. I have received mercy,” Groth, 70, said. Founded in 2007 as an extension of a project of the …

Mark Fuhrman, ex-detective convicted of lying during OJ Simpson trial, has died : NPR

Mark Fuhrman, ex-detective convicted of lying during OJ Simpson trial, has died : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

FILE – Los Angeles Police Department Det. Mark Fuhrman, foreground, and Superior Court Judge Lance Ito, rear, crane their heads to look at an overhead monitor during the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial, Friday, March 10, 1995, in Los Angeles. REED SAXON/Pool AP hide caption toggle caption REED SAXON/Pool AP BOISE, Idaho — Former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman, who was convicted of lying during testimony at the O.J. Simpson murder trial, has died. He was 74. Fuhrman was one of the first two police detectives sent to investigate the 1994 killings of Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in Los Angeles. He reported finding a bloody glove at Simpson’s home but his credibility came under attack during the trial as the defense raised the prospect of racial bias. Under cross-examination, Fuhrman testified that he had never made anti-Black racial slurs in the past decade, but a recording showed he had done so repeatedly. Lynn Acebedo, the chief deputy coroner in Kootenai County, Idaho, said that Fuhrman died May 12. The …

Betty Broderick, convicted of murdering her ex-husband and his new wife in 1989, has died aged 78 in prison

Betty Broderick, convicted of murdering her ex-husband and his new wife in 1989, has died aged 78 in prison

Published by Daniella Wilson

Betty Broderick, the woman whose explosive divorce and shocking double murder case became one of America’s most infamous true crime stories, has died aged 78 while serving a life sentence in California. Betty, born Elizabeth Anne Bisceglia, died on Friday, May 8 2026, at an outside medical facility after being transferred from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation prison system for a higher level of care. Authorities said her preliminary cause of death was determined to be natural causes, with an official ruling still pending. © Photo: RexBetty was behind bars for a double murder sentence Her death closes the chapter on a case that fascinated the public for decades and inspired books, documentaries and television dramas exploring the bitter collapse of her marriage to high-profile San Diego attorney Dan Broderick. Betty and Dan married in 1969 and raised four children together while Dan built a successful legal career. Friends once described them as the picture-perfect Catholic family, but cracks began to emerge in the early 1980s when Dan became involved with Linda Kolkena, …

Former Korean Prosecutor Convicted in Lee Ufan Painting Bribery Case

Former Korean Prosecutor Convicted in Lee Ufan Painting Bribery Case

Published by José Betancourt

A former South Korean prosecutor who allegedly tried to buy political influence with a painting by Lee Ufan has now been convicted on appeal, in a case that adds disputed authenticity claims surrounding a $95,000 artwork to a conventional bribery scandal involving the former first lady of Korea. The Seoul High Court this week overturned an earlier acquittal of former senior prosecutor Kim Sang-min, finding him guilty of violating South Korea’s anti-corruption law after prosecutors argued he gifted a Lee Ufan painting to former first lady Kim Keon Hee in exchange for political support ahead of the country’s 2024 parliamentary elections.  Related Articles According to The Chosun Daily, Kim Sang-min allegedly gifted the work From Dots (No. 800298), valued at 140 million won, or roughly $95,500, while seeking help securing a nomination from the conservative People Power Party. The appeals court sentenced him to two years in prison, suspended for three years, on the bribery charges, while also handing down a separate one-year suspended sentence tied to illegal political donations.  What pushed the case into strange territory was the question of …

Ex-Florida GOP lawmaker convicted of secretly lobbying for Venezuela 

Ex-Florida GOP lawmaker convicted of secretly lobbying for Venezuela 

Published by Sam Flores

A Miami federal jury on Friday convicted former Florida Rep. David Rivera (R) of conspiracy and other crimes tied to a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign on behalf of the Venezuelan government.  Rivera and his consultant, Esther Nuhfer, were found guilty of breaking the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) when they secretly lobbied U.S. lawmakers and members… Source link

They Made D4vd a Star. Now They Want Him Convicted of Murder

They Made D4vd a Star. Now They Want Him Convicted of Murder

Published by skeptic

“He was grinding. He was posting every day, playing every day, he was trying his hardest to get somewhere,” says a 21-year-old New York–based gamer who goes by the username Sacred WTF. “Bro, I would just wake up sometimes and it would just be multiple posts from him. He was just trying to pop off, just get one good video.” By 2021, D4vd was 16 and already building a brand as a socially awkward outcast who spent nearly all of his time online. (It helped that he was homeschooled.) Sometimes, it paid off: When he started catering to the YouTube algorithm by adding popular songs to his Fortnite videos, they racked up hundreds of thousands of views and generated “a lot of money” in ad revenue, he’d later tell musician Benny Blanco in an interview. But those massive views also brought copyright strikes—warnings from YouTube, prompted by record labels, to remove the songs or risk getting booted from the platform. That’s when, according to the now mythic origin story that D4vd has relayed in the …