All posts tagged: indictments

Cuba Ex-President Raúl Castro Makes First Appearance Since US Charges to Celebrate Birthday

Cuba Ex-President Raúl Castro Makes First Appearance Since US Charges to Celebrate Birthday

Published by Sam Flores

HAVANA (AP) — Raúl Castro, Cuba’s low-profile former president and revolutionary guerrilla, appeared in public for the first time since being indicted by the United States for his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft, official video released Saturday showed. Castro’s celebration of his 95th birthday with top officials and military leaders at the Ministry of Interior in Havana on late Friday offered Cuba’s socialist government an opportunity to close ranks and project defiance as the Trump administration escalates its pressure campaign on the fuel-starved island. State TV broadcast footage of Castro, clad in his olive-green military uniform, entering a packed theater to a standing ovation, followed by his grandson and bodyguard, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez, and Cuban President Miguel Diáz-Canel. Diáz-Canel delivered an effusive tribute to the “heroism and dignity” displayed by Castro and his late brother, the central figure of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro. He praised Raúl Castro, who served as defense minister of Cuba for nearly 50 years, for his “courage and loyalty (that) made him a target from …

Karen Read Sues the Police Agencies That Investigated Her Boston Police Boyfriend’s Death

Karen Read Sues the Police Agencies That Investigated Her Boston Police Boyfriend’s Death

Published by Sam Flores

BOSTON (AP) — Karen Read has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police and the town of Canton, alleging misconduct and negligence in the investigation that led to her prosecution in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend. The lawsuit filed Thursday in Bristol County Superior Court argues that Read’s acquittal last June revealed “an embedded culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot at the very core of both organizations.” It alleges that the town and the police department were negligent in the hiring, training and supervision of officers and seeks damages for legal fees, lost income, emotional distress and reputational harm, among other claims. The complaint reproduces dozens of text messages, recordings and other communications attributed to former state trooper Michael Proctor and former Canton police Sgt. Sean Goode. Among them are messages in which Proctor referred to Read as a “whack job” and wrote that he hoped she would kill herself. The lawsuit also cites messages that it says included use of the n-word and, in one instance, a …

Congress Has Taken on Epstein. but Lawmakers and Survivors Are Still Searching for Accountability

Congress Has Taken on Epstein. but Lawmakers and Survivors Are Still Searching for Accountability

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly a year, public demand and increasingly outspoken calls from the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse have driven Congress to mostly set aside party politics and search for accountability. Yet even after interviews with some of the highest-ranked officials to ever appear before a congressional investigation, including a former president, lawmakers have little to show in terms of criminal culpability for Epstein’s crimes or a definitive acknowledgment of government failure. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who sponsored legislation to force the release of case files on Epstein, told The Associated Press he is still asking, “Why there has not been a single investigation of people who have allegedly abused or committed financial crimes?” Lawmakers hoped to get some answers to those questions during a transcribed interview Friday with Pam Bondi, President Donald Trump’s former attorney general who oversaw the release of the files. But the interview left Democrats fuming at Bondi’s decision to defend the Trump administration’s handling of that material, as well as her refusal to answer questions …

California Mother Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Missing Infant Son’s Death

California Mother Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Missing Infant Son’s Death

Published by Sam Flores

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A California mother has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to child endangerment and other charges related to the death of her 7-month-old son. The Press-Enterprise reports that on Friday, Rebecca Haro was sentenced in Riverside to 12 years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to child endangerment causing great bodily injury, involuntary manslaughter and accessory after the fact. Authorities said they believed Haro knew or suspected her son, Emmanuel, was being abused by his father and failed to act. Haro didn’t address the court during her sentencing hearing. The boy went missing last August and has not been found. The couple reported Emmanuel was kidnapped outside a store in Southern California, claiming Rebecca Haro was attacked and left unconscious while changing the boy’s diaper. They were arrested a little more than a week later at their home in Cabazon, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Palm Springs. The case drew widespread attention as authorities and members of the public fanned out …

NBA Player Terry Rozier Hit With New Bribery Charges in Sports Gambling Sting

NBA Player Terry Rozier Hit With New Bribery Charges in Sports Gambling Sting

Published by Sam Flores

Federal prosecutors have indicted ex-Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on additional charges in connection with a sports gambling sting, alleging he took a hefty bribe to exit a game early in March 2023. Rozier, 32, was charged Thursday in a superseding indictment in Brooklyn federal court with bribery in sporting contests and honest services wire fraud conspiracy. Superseding indictments are used when prosecutors want to change or add new charges to an existing criminal case. Rozier has denied participating in the gambling scheme, and has been fighting to have the case dismissed after pleading not guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges in December. His attorneys argue in part that the government’s theory of the case — that he prevented sportsbooks from making informed decisions about accepting certain bets — runs afoul of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the federal wire fraud statute. The new indictment “just confirms that our motion to dismiss was righteous — new charges, new theories, but all just an effort to make something stick,” …

Google Employee Charged With Using Confidential Search Data to Make .2 Million on Polymarket

Google Employee Charged With Using Confidential Search Data to Make $1.2 Million on Polymarket

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. prosecutors slapped insider trading charges against a Google employee this week, alleging the software engineer used confidential company information to pocket more than $1.2 million from prediction market platform Polymarket with bets on search trends. In a complaint unsealed in New York, authorities identified the employee as 36-year-old Michele Spagnuolo — an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland who has worked for Google since 2014. Under the online name “AlphaRaccoon,” they alleged, Spagnuolo used the company’s 2025 “Year in Search” data before it was published to enter Polymarket wagers about the most trending Googled people of last year. This week’s charges “reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets,” Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Wednesday. “Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.” Spagnuolo allegedly made new Polymarket trades as Google’s internal search data evolved, from October into December of last year. For …

Federal Judge Drops Charges Against Ex-Fox Executive in Soccer Corruption Case

Federal Judge Drops Charges Against Ex-Fox Executive in Soccer Corruption Case

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge dismissed charges against a convicted former Fox television executive Wednesday after a prosecutor said charges brought in a U.S.-led effort to battle corruption in international soccer “doesn’t fit within” the priorities of the Trump administration. Judge Pamela K. Chen accepted the explanation provided by U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. about why the government wanted to dismiss the indictment against Hernan Lopez. A smiling Lopez, the former CEO of Fox International Channels, later left the Brooklyn federal courthouse, telling reporters he was relieved that “a case that never should have started is finally over.” Nocella told Chen that the administration preferred to focus on domestic and foreign terrorist organizations, national security, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking and violent gangs. The judge said Nocella’s stated reason, along with an explanation in a written document submitted to the court, “does provide sufficient justification” to accept the request to dismiss the indictment. Lopez and Full Play Group SA, a South American sports media company, were convicted in 2023 of paying tens of millions …

California Mother Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Missing Infant Son’s Death

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,” …

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Ex-Administrator Accused After Student Shot Teacher

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Ex-Administrator Accused After Student Shot Teacher

Published by Sam Flores

A Virginia judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a former school administrator accused of ignoring repeated warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun hours before a teacher was shot. Acting on a defense motion, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson issued the ruling on the fourth day of the trial of Ebony Parker, who was charged with eight felony counts of child neglect. “The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,” Robinson said. The former assistant principal was charged in the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges issued in a grand jury indictment were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction. “We had hoped the community would have had the opportunity to weigh in through the full judicial process,” Hampton commonwealth’s attorney Anton A. Bell said in a statement. “Nevertheless, the Court has now concluded the …

Some See White Livestreamer’s Freedom of Speech Claims as Cover for Race-Baiting

Some See White Livestreamer’s Freedom of Speech Claims as Cover for Race-Baiting

Published by Sam Flores

A shooting involving a white livestreamer known for filming himself provoking people with racist words that left a Black man wounded has reignited debate over freedom of speech and content creators who monetize hate-filled interactions. As more users of livestreaming social media platforms find being performative with bigoted language can draw big bucks, the line is blurring between freedom of expression and freedom for people to feel safe. Even within livestreaming communities, some assert they have a right to say whatever and earn revenue while others support having boundaries. Racial justice advocates worry throwing money into the equation will only heighten and normalize racist antics. As for regulation, it can feel lawless out on the social media landscape. It is often left up to platforms to self-regulate and hold users accountable for obscene and abusive words. But, experts say, at some point laws for offline behavior can trump online freedoms. Eatherly, 28, and the victim got into a “physical altercation that escalated to gunfire,” the local sheriff’s office said. A witness described the man, who …