racketeering

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Dozens Indicted on RICO Charges Over 'Cop City'

Protesters don't want a police and firefighter training facility in the Atlanta area

(Newser) - Sixty-one people have been indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges following a state investigation into protests against a planned police and firefighter training facility in the Atlanta area that critics call "Cop City." In the sweeping indictment released Tuesday, Republican Attorney General Chris Carr alleged the defendants are...

Former Colleagues' Move Could Be Bad News for Kim Dotcom

Megaupload pair pleaded guilty, may now testify against him

(Newser) - It's been several years since we reported on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and his battle against extradition to the US, but now, an update. Two of Dotcom's former colleagues have struck a deal to avoid extradition themselves, pleading guilty Wednesday in New Zealand to their involvement in running...

Feds Announce Huge Case Against Mexican Mafia

21 of 31 suspects were already in prison

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors announced a sweeping racketeering case Wednesday aimed at dismantling the leadership of the Mexican Mafia that controlled street gangs in part of southern California. The indictment unsealed in US District Court against three members of the group and 28 associates includes allegations of two murders, six attempted killings,...

'Dorm Dad From Hell' Found Guilty on All Counts

Lawrence Ray held a group of Sarah Lawrence students under his sway for years

(Newser) - Update: He may have enjoyed almost total control over the much younger Sarah Lawrence College students he pulled into his web after moving into their dorm, but Lawrence Ray can't say the same of the jury who heard his case. The 62-year-old was on Wednesday found guilty of all...

In This Trial, R. Kelly Isn't a Singer. He's 'the Godfather'
Prosecutors Begin Unusual
Strategy Against R. Kelly
the rundown
Aug 9, 2021 10:35 AM CDT

Prosecutors Begin Unusual Strategy Against R. Kelly

Singer is charged under RICO Act, more typically used for Mafia leaders

(Newser) - Robert Sylvester Kelly goes on trial Monday in Brooklyn, accused of running a criminal enterprise. The 54-year-old is better known, of course, as R&B singer R. Kelly , and he's accused among other things of systematically recruiting underage girls for sex over the course of his long career. What'...

Weeks Before Trial, R. Kelly's Lawyers Want Out

Remaining attorneys say singer actually fired them

(Newser) - R. Kelly is to face trial in federal court in New York this August for allegedly abusing various women and girls over 25 years. But whether the trial will go ahead is now unclear, with a report suggesting the singer has fired his two lead attorneys. In a statement to...

Billionaire's Daughter Gets 81 Months in Sex-Cult Case
Heiress Sentenced
in Sex-Cult Case
Sep 30, 2020 5:05 PM CDT

Heiress Sentenced in Sex-Cult Case

Clare Bronfman gets 81 months for her involvement in Nxivm

(Newser) - An heiress is heading to prison for her role in an abusive cult that turned women into sex slaves, the New York Daily News reports. A judge sentenced Clare Bronfman, the daughter of late Seagram's billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr., to 81 months in prison and fined her $500,000...

She Investigated Admissions Fraud While Allegedly Taking Part

Prosecutors share emails between Mossimo Giannulli and scheme mastermind

(Newser) - An athletic department administrator asked to investigate puzzling recruitment decisions at the University of Southern California a year before the admissions scandal broke was herself taking part in the fraud, according to new court documents. In March 2018, a USC official asked Donna Heinel to look into three students—Lori...

Exam Proctor Flips, Admits Accepting Bribes

Igor Dvorskiy will testify if called: 'LAT'

(Newser) - A former college exam proctor has agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with investigators in the sweeping college admissions scheme, the AP reports. Court documents filed Tuesday say Igor Dvorskiy, director of the private West Hollywood College Preparatory School, agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to...

Lawyer Complains Only One Girlfriend Can Visit R. Kelly

He says singer is being held in 'stifling' conditions

(Newser) - R. Kelly's lawyers offered several reasons Monday why he should be released on bond, but the one grabbing the most attention involves his girlfriends. In a motion filed in federal court in New York, attorney Steven Greenberg complained that Kelly was being held in conditions so strict that only...

Ex-Police Officer Arrested for 'Disheartening' Crimes

Zachary Wester, former Fla. sheriff's deputy, accused of planting drugs in drivers' cars

(Newser) - For nearly a year, an ex-Florida sheriff's deputy suspected of planting meth and other drugs on drivers has been under the eye of investigators. On Wednesday he was arrested based on their findings. The Tallahassee Democrat reports 26-year-old Zachary Wester, formerly of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, faces...

They Set Out the Krispy Kremes. Then, 'the Worst of the Worst'

9 accused of luring bears with doughnuts, then letting hunting dogs attack them

(Newser) - A nearly yearlong inquiry into a case that's been called "the worst of the worst" has led to the arrest of nine people in three states. Those are the words of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who says the case in her state is "one of the...

Behind California Drug Lord's Downfall: a Beheading Video

Owen Hanson sentenced to 21 years in prison for drug operation

(Newser) - Owen "O-Dog" Hanson played on the same championship-winning USC football team as future NFL stars Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, but he would ultimately take a very different career path. The 35-year-old California man was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to racketeering...

Pharma Billionaire Allegedly Paid Doctors to Push Fentanyl

Insys founder faces charges including bribery, racketeering

(Newser) - Sarah Fuller died a little more than a year after she was prescribed a fentanyl spray for her chronic neck and back pain, but her mom doesn't just blame the opioid. She points the finger at "a drug company who couldn't care less about a human life....

7 Examples of Baltimore Cops' Alleged Corruption

They're all charged with racketeering

(Newser) - They weren't cops—they were "1930s-style gangsters," according to their police chief. Seven Baltimore officers who were part of an elite task force created to take illegal guns off the street have been charged in a corruption scandal after a yearlong investigation, reports the Baltimore Sun . Some...

Rogaine Thief Couldn't Beat the Rap—or Male Pattern Baldness

Florida's 'Balding Bandit' wasn't stealing it for his own use ... obviously

(Newser) - A 36-year-old Florida man pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing Rogaine from drug stores all over Ohio, but he apparently wasn't taking it for his own use, the Palm Beach Post reports. Dubbed the "Balding Bandit,"* authorities say Andres Arias would fly from Florida to Ohio, rent...

Panama Papers Name Americans Accused of Fraud

Seems Mossack Fonseca failed to vet its clients

(Newser) - The Panama Papers database went online Monday and revealed the names of over 360,000 people and companies involved in offshore companies—including 36 Americans accused of financial wrongdoing, USA Today reports. Among them is Leonard Gotshalk, a former Atlanta Falcons offensive tackle who was accused in 2010 by federal...

'Dungeon Woman' Learns Her Fate

Linda Weston is sentenced in Philadelphia courtroom

(Newser) - A woman who kept mentally disabled adults captive in the basement of a Philadelphia home and in other states for their disability checks was sentenced Thursday to life in prison. Linda Weston, 55, apologized during the hearing, saying, "I believe in God and God knows what happened." US...

Veteran Congressman Charged With Racketeering

Pennsylvania Democrat Chaka Fattah vows to stay in office

(Newser) - Rep. Chaka Fattah paid off a campaign loan with charitable donations and federal grants, funneled campaign money to pay down his son's student loan debt, and disguised a lobbyist's bribe as payment for a car he never sold, prosecutors said today in announcing a racketeering indictment against the...

Why LA Gangs Are Fading Away

Pacific Standard looks at surprising decline in gang activity

(Newser) - Seven years ago, Simon Tejada tried selling his house in a gang-ravaged part of Los Angeles. But the three-bedroom appraised at $350,000 only drew a $150,000 offer: "Your house is fine," said the guy making an offer. "The neighborhood's awful." Last year, however,...

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