Crime

Pastor Gets 18 Months In $3.5 Million COVID Scam

From the Justice Department: The Honorable Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Rudolph Brooks, age 48, of Cheltenham, Maryland, to 18 months in federal prison followed by 2 years of supervised release for fraudulently obtaining over $3.5 million in COVID-19 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans. The Court also ordered Brooks to forfeit all property …

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Dem Ex-NV Official Found Guilty Of Killing Reporter

ABC News reports: A former Nevada politician was found guilty Wednesday of killing journalist Jeff German in September 2022. As the jury’s foreperson read out the verdict, Robert Telles stared downward and shook his head. Prosecutors said former Clark County public administrator Telles, 47, stabbed the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter to death after German exposed corruption in his office, destroying …

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Foreign Nationals Charged With Swatting US Officials

From the Justice Department: Two foreign nationals are charged by indictment, unsealed today, with being part of a years-long conspiracy to perpetrate “swatting” attacks and bomb threats against U.S. victims that included senior government officials. Thomasz Szabo, 26, of Romania, and Nemanja Radovanovic, 21, of Serbia, are each charged with one count of conspiracy, 29 counts of threats and false …

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Telegram Ignored Requests To Remove Child Porn

NBC News reports: Before Telegram’s CEO was arrested in France, the app had gained a reputation for ignoring advocacy groups fighting child exploitation. Three of those groups, the U.S.-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and the U.K.-based Internet Watch Foundation, all told NBC News that their outreach to Telegram about child …

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First Rioter To Breach Capitol Sentenced To 4.5 Years

From the Justice Department: A Kentucky man was sentenced to prison today after he was previously convicted of multiple felony and misdemeanor offenses related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes …

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DOJ: QAnon Man Made Death Threats Against Officials

From the Justice Department: A Colorado man will make his initial appearance at the federal courthouse in Durango, Colorado, today on federal charges in connection with a series of online threats he made toward election officials in Colorado and Arizona, a Colorado state judge, and federal law enforcement agents. Teak Brockbank, 45, of Cortez, was arrested on Friday in Cortez. …

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Parents Of Trump Shooter Hire Defense Attorneys

The Daily Mail reports: The parents of Trump shooter Thomas Crooks have hired a team of powerhouse attorneys as the FBI continues to investigate just how much they knew ahead of their son’s assassination attempt on the former president, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. The development comes as one family member shared with DailyMail.com that the FBI, ‘still very much has …

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Florida Youth Pastor Arrested On Child Sex Charges

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: A U.S. Army veteran and church youth group leader was arrested in Hillsborough County over a decade after sexually assaulting a teenager, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. A person came forward earlier this month and accused Derek Zitko, 52, of lewd or lascivious battery and molestation in 2013, according to HCSO. Detectives said …

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Local Fox Reporter Arrested On Child Porn Charges

Columbia’s NBC affiliate reports: According to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, Matt Vereen, 28, was arrested on Wednesday and taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. Vereen was charged with three charges connected to the sexual exploitation of a minor: two counts in the second degree and another count in the third degree. Arrest warrants state that child …

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France Arrests Russian Billionaire CEO Of Telegram App

Reuters reports: Pavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unidentified sources. Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of …

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DOJ: Catholic Friar Posed As Doctor, Scammed $650K For Trips To Hamptons, High-End Dining, Liposuction

The Daily Mail reports: Pawel ‘Paul’ Bielecki, 48, of New York City, was charged with wire and mail fraud by the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York for allegedly ‘defrauding victims by falsely representing that he was a medical doctor who runs medical clinics in Beirut, Lebanon,’ the complaint read. He allegedly transferred more than $600,000 …

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Bannon’s Next Trial To Begin Weeks After Prison Release

Reuters reports: Former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon must face trial in New York on criminal-fraud charges over a push to fund the former U.S. president’s signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a judge ruled on Friday. Justice April Newbauer’s decision to deny Bannon’s motion to dismiss the charges paves the way for a trial set to start on Dec. …

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Feds: Border Patrol Agent Made Women Expose Breasts

USA Today reports: A U.S. Border Patrol agent has been charged after being accused of ordering women to show him their breasts during the admissions process to enter the country. Shane Millan, 53, willfully deprived four different women of their constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches, the prosecutors said. During virtual processing concerning their admission into the U.S., …

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Man Arrested On J6 Charges Due To His Book About J6

Washington DC’s CBS affiliate reports: A Marine Corps veteran who self-published a book about the Capitol riot was arrested Thursday for allegedly joining the mob effort to knock down police barricades on Jan. 6. Nathan A. Thornsberry, of North Branch, Michigan, is charged with two felony counts of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding police and the four standard …

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DOJ: Cultist Threatened To Kill Biden, Harris, Obama

From the Justice Department: United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz today announced that a Memphis-area man has been charged with making threats against President Joseph R. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Barack Obama. On July 27, 2024, Kyl Alton Hall, 37, made numerous posts on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Specifically, in the …

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Cultist Live-Streamer Arrested On Felony J6 Charge

NBC News reports: A live-streamer who was a frequent presence at the “Freedom Corner” protests in support of Jan. 6 defendants has been arrested on Capitol attack charges, nearly two years after he was publicly identified by online “sedition hunters” who have aided in hundreds of Jan. 6 arrests. David Valentine, known to online sleuths as #YellowSizzler, was arrested in …

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Accused Capitol Rioter May Invoke Insanity Defense

Law & Crime reports: Just weeks after he agreed to a bench trial before a federal judge in Washington, D.C., accused Jan. 6 rioter Trevor Brown of Novi, Michigan, has said he might invoke an insanity defense. Prosecutors say that on Jan. 6, 2021, Brown was at the front of a crowd of rioters trying to force their way inside …

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Pastor Gets Two Years In Christian Theme Park Scam

From the Justice Department: Michael Mandel Baldwin, 55, of Alexandria, Virginia, was sentenced today to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on charges of wire fraud and securities fraud, for orchestrating an $800,000 investment scheme, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to trial evidence, witness testimony, and …

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Extremist Andrew Tate Faces New Criminal Allegations

The Associated Press reports: Masked police officers in Romania have carried out fresh raids at the home of divisive internet influencer Andrew Tate, who is awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT said it was searching four homes in the counties of Bucharest and nearby …

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CNN: Trump Attorney Was Targeted By Iranian Hackers

CNN reports: One of Donald Trump’s attorneys was targeted in a hacking attempt, three sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, marking a potentially serious new development as American intelligence agencies confirmed Monday that they have concluded Iran is behind a recent hack into the former president’s 2024 campaign. One source told CNN that Lindsey Halligan was targeted as part …

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