Crime

Washington DC’s NBC News affiliate reports: A Charles County, Maryland, man who threw a party at his house has unintentionally social-distanced himself from everyone after authorities say he was arrested for refusing to comply with the governor’s order against large gatherings. Shawn Marshall Myers, 41, was arrested Friday night after officers found about 60 people hanging out around a bonfire …

The New York Post reports: A Pennsylvania woman ruined an estimated $35,000 worth of goods by intentionally coughing all over them while the coronavirus plagues nations worldwide, a grocery store alleged on Facebook. The woman visited a Hanover Township location of the small grocery chain Gerrity’s Supermarket before 2:20 p.m. Wednesday and coughed on fresh produce, a small section of …

The Guardian reports: A teenager who lured a “gentle, kind-hearted” sales assistant to a remote beauty spot on a date and stabbed him to death has been locked up for a minimum of 24 years. Alex Davies, 18, was murdered in Parbold, Lancashire, by Brian Healless, also 18, after they agreed a rendezvous through the dating app Grindr. Healless, from …

The Daily Beast reports: A federal judge eviscerated Michael Cohen in an order denying his request for a shorter sentence, accusing him of chasing headlines and suggesting he “accept the consequences” of his crimes. Judge William Pauley was having none of it. In an order filed Tuesday, he said Cohen’s “extravagant allegations” of prosecutorial wrongdoing “lack any substance,” and his …

The Niagara Gazette reports: Oscar-winning movie producer Harvey Weinstein, now one of New York’s most notorious prison inmates after being sentenced for sexual assault, has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to officials connected to the state prison system. Weinstein, who turned 68 last Thursday is being isolated at Wende Correctional Facility in Western New York, officials told CNHI …

The Associated Press reports: Coronavirus has become a “get out of jail” card for hundreds of low-level inmates across the country, and even hard-timers are seeking their freedom with the argument that it’s not a matter of if but when the deadly illness sweeps through tightly packed populations behind bars. Among those pleading for compassionate release or home detention are …

From Tyler County’s District Attorney’s Office: Over the weekend, an individual in Tyler County falsely reported on social media that the individual tested positive for COVID-19 at Tyler County Hospital. The case was promptly investigated by the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office and delivered to the District Attorney’s Office. The DA’s Office has charged the individual with Class A Misdemeanor, False …

CNBC reports: After years of denying any wrongdoing, former Rep. Duncan Hunter has been sentenced to 11 months in prison and three years of supervised probation, according to NBC’s San Diego TV station KNSD. A California Republican who represented the state’s 50th Congressional district, Hunter and his wife were charged with 60 criminal counts of campaign finance violations in August …

CNN reports: A Connecticut man was arrested and charged with threatening to murder Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff. Robert Michael Phelps, 62, was arrested Friday. He was later released on a $25,000 bond. A federal criminal complaint by the US Attorney’s office for Connecticut alleges that the man filled out a form on Schiff’s website for a meeting request on November, …

The Daily Beast reports: Harvey Weinstein reportedly suffered a “mild heart attack” after he was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, according to Fox News. Citing an NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospital source, the news outlet said Weinstein was rushed to the New York hospital Wednesday for an “emergency angioplasty” and stayed overnight. Hours …

The Daily Beast reports: Two years after dozens of women bravely stepped forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, the disgraced movie mogul has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault. Weinstein, 67, was convicted last month of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haleyi and raping former actress Jessica Mann. He …

Hartford’s NBC News affiliate reports: The woman accused of starting the fatal fire that ripped through a Hartford apartment building early Sunday morning lit a bottle of hand sanitizer on fire and threw it at her girlfriend during a domestic altercation, according to Hartford police. The fire spread from there throughout the upper floors of the building. Police arrested Destiny …

Law & Crime reports: A New York state man was sentenced Friday after admittedly threatening to shoot Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota, 5th district). Patrick W. Carlineo, Jr., 56, is to spend 12 months and one day in a federal prison on a count each of threatening to assault and murder a United States official, and being a felon in possession …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: A retired federal administrative law judge from Mercer County pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of buying an assault rifle for his boyfriend, a North Side felon described by the FBI as obsessed with Nazis and mass shootings. Karl Alexander, 78, who splits his time between Pittsburgh and Grove City, admitted to lying on a federal …

The Chicago Tribune reports: The state’s highest court has rejected actor Jussie Smollett’s attempt to throw out the new charges against him and remove the special prosecutor who brought them. In an emergency motion to the Illinois Supreme Court, Smollett’s attorneys argued that Cook County Judge Michael Toomin overstepped his authority and misinterpreted the law when he ordered the appointment …

The Guardian reports: A woman has been jailed for posing as a man on a gay dating app and sharing sexual photos and videos of a man she met online during a “disturbing campaign of harassment”. Yannick Glaudin, 31, stalked the man and his then boyfriend, sending their families, friends and colleagues the intimate pictures and films using a number …

ABC News reports: A 19-year-old was taking a video of herself with a gun when she allegedly shot her 10-year-old nephew by accident, according to Texas authorities. Caitlyn Smith, 19, has been arrested as her nephew recovers, Deputy Thomas Gilliland, spokesman with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, told ABC News on Thursday. She recorded herself holding the gun, and then …

The Buffalo News reports: The Buffalo Diocese, awash with lawsuits alleging child sex abuse by priests, nuns and others, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, marking another chapter in a scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in Western New York since early 2018. The Buffalo Diocese already is named as a defendant in 260 cases, more than …

ABC News reports: A measure prohibiting homicide defendants from claiming a defense that panic brought on by a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity has been passed by lawmakers in Washington state. Nine states — California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey New York and Rhode Island — have legislatively banned the use of gay or transgender panic as …

Reuters reports: Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty in a Chicago court on Monday to renewed felony charges that he made false reports to police about being attacked in a hate crime that he is accused of staging in a bid to advance his career. The new charges emerged after a five-month investigation by a court-appointed special prosecutor …