Crime

The Ohio Times-Reporter reports: A 60-year-old man who formerly volunteered with a church youth ministry has received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years for raping and committing other sex offenses against two girls. Tuscarawas County Judge Michael J. Ernest sentenced Jeffrey A. Pringle Thursday on three counts of child rape and four counts of gross …

From the Justice Department: A Texas man has been arrested on felony charges, including assaulting a law enforcement officer, for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential …

The Associated Press reports: A Texas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing him of killing nearly two dozen people in a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart, changing his plea weeks after the U.S. government said it wouldn’t seek the death penalty for the hate crimes and firearms violations. Patrick Crusius still faces a potential death sentence …

From the Justice Department: Daniela Rendon, 31, of Miami made her appearance in federal magistrate court today and was charged with fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief loans and grants under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Relief Program. According to the indictment, Rendon submitted fraudulent applications seeking COVID-19 relief funds from the Small Business Administration and PPP. …

The New York Times reports: As Tyre Nichols sat propped against a police car, bloodied, dazed and handcuffed after being beaten by a group of Memphis police officers, one of those officers took a picture of him and sent it to at least five people, the Memphis Police Department said in a document released by the state on Tuesday. The …

Law & Crime reports: The Jan. 6th rioter photographed kicking his foot up on a desk in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office wants to overturn his convictions on charges that could put him away for 46 years. Richard “Bigo” Barnett claims that the 950,000-volt stun gun seen at his hip was “non-dangerous.” The packaging for that weapon, a Zap Hike N’ …

Law & Crime reports: An Iowa father who recently pleaded guilty to interfering with police during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has found himself once again embroiled in scandal for allegedly using his cell phone to surreptitiously record a woman as she was changing clothes at a tanning salon. Daryl Eugene Johnson, 52, was taken into custody …

Denver’s CBS affiliate reports: Denver police and prosecutors are pursuing a rape case against a man who served as the music director at St. John’s School and church in southeast Denver, according to a CBS News Colorado investigation. Diego Marroquin, 36, is facing one charge of sexual assault on a child under the age of 15 by a person in …

The Fairbanks Daily News reports: A local youth pastor indicted Wednesday on one count of felony second-degree sexual abuse of a minor was arrested Friday after turning himself in to Alaska State Troopers. David Duffett, 45, is listed on the Bible Baptist Church of Fairbanks’ website as the youth director, bus ministries director and teacher of the Teen Church and …

Politico reports: A Jan. 6 defendant’s boast in an interview this week that he had no regrets about his role in the Capitol riot — just days after he acknowledged his guilt in a federal courtroom — may upend the man’s efforts to resolve the criminal case against him. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta issued an order Friday instructing …

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: The work of Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona, dubbed Operation Swipe Left, led agents to Norris “Nick” Stauffer, 27, who is charged here with disseminating child pornography, records show. It also resulted in criminal charges against more than a dozen people elsewhere — including at least two with political ties — amid allegations of livestreamed abuse, …

Asheville’s ABC affiliate reports: Macon County authorities say a former youth pastor and current school employee was arrested and charged with felony indecent liberties with a child. Authorities say on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, officials with the Special Victims Unit of the Macon County Sheriff’s Office were investigating an allegation of sexual misconduct. Authorities arrested and charged Evan Jordan Jensen, …

ABC News reports: Americans’ confidence in how police are trained and their treatment of Black people both have fallen to new lows in an ABC News/Washington Post poll. Following the death of Tyre Nichols after he was beaten by Memphis police on Jan. 7, just 39 percent of adults in the national survey are confident that the police in this …

Fargo’s KFGO reports: A man who has been under investigation for inappropriate behavior at a Catholic church in Jamestown has been arrested for suspicion of committing sexual exploitation by therapist. According to Jamestown Police, 48-year-old Father Neil Pfeifer was arrested in Rugby, North Dakota on Wednesday. Pfeifer has been under investigation since Jan. 13 when Jamestown Police were contacted by …

From the Justice Department: Joseph F. Morelli, 51, of Endicott, New York pled guilty today to making threatening phone calls from his home in Endicott, New York to the voicemail in the office of a member of Congress in Washington, D.C. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of …

PBS NewsHour reports: A federal judge in Wisconsin on Wednesday ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a man shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest in 2020 can proceed against Rittenhouse, police officers and others. The father of Anthony Huber, one of two men shot and killed by Rittenhouse, filed the lawsuit in …

ABC News reports: A federal judge sentenced a U.S. Marine Corps veteran to more than five years in prison Wednesday for assaulting a line of police officers with chemical spray on Jan. 6, 2021. Daniel Ray Caldwell, 51, of The Colony, Texas, appeared before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for sentencing on one count of assaulting police with a dangerous …

The Orlando Weekly reports: A federal judge has sentenced the CEO of Airsign Airship Group to more than five years in prison for defrauding the government over $7.8 million meant to help average Americans during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the brother-in-law of a former Florida lawmaker who resigned after he was accused of federal fraud, too. …

The Christian Post reports: A Utah-based Christian K-12 academy fired four top administrators for their alleged involvement in what is potentially a multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme involving tuition funds. The Layton Christian Academy has filed a lawsuit in an effort to recoup some of the losses and prevent the accused individuals from accessing the financial records. On Tuesday, the academy …

The Hudson Star-Observer reports: On Wednesday, Washington County District Judge Siv Mjanger in Minnesota sentenced Jason James Taylor, formerly a pastor at Calvary Chapel Solid Rock in New Richmond, to serve 45 days in Washington County Jail for his conviction on a single felony count of prostitution involving a teen 16 to 17 years old. Undercover agents posing as minors …