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Ex-Tennessee Sheriff Pleads Not Guilty
Criminal Law Updates | 2008/03/06 11:37
A former county sheriff pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal extortion, drug and weapons charges that stem from an FBI undercover investigation.

Court records show that between April and mid-December, Billy Long, 55, accepted $17,400 in what he was told were payments from convenience store owners "to protect their video poker business and other illegal activity," such as products used to make methamphetamine.

Long was arrested Feb. 2. He has since resigned as Hamilton County sheriff and remains in custody at the Bradley County Detention Center.

He appeared at a hearing at which U.S. Magistrate Bill Carter set a May 13 trial.

In addition to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, Long is charged with extortion, money laundering, providing a gun to a felon and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

A conviction on all charges would carry a minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life.

Long's attorney, Jerry Summers of Chattanooga, told the judge he intends to seek bond. Summers earlier opted to not seek a detention hearing but said Wednesday it is not practical to prepare for trial with Long in custody 30 miles away.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble at a previous hearing described the sheriff as a danger to the community.

The affidavit said Long also accepted $6,550 in cash as "his payoff to the undercover to a cooperating witness supposedly laundering $625,000 in drug trafficking proceeds." Long was told the drug money was being sent to a funeral home in Mexico hidden in cremation urns.

The affidavit said the sheriff in December gave the undercover informant a loaded revolver, knowing the recipient of the gun was a convicted felon and telling him never to say where he got it and to get rid of it if he shot anyone.

An FBI agent's affidavit shows Long first told agents he was doing his own investigation, although no one else at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department knew about it.

Chief Deputy Allen Branum is running the department until voters in August elect a successor to finish Long's term.

Summers said Wednesday there is no evidence that anyone else in the department was involved in the case.



Man Pleads Not Guilty to 1983 Robbery
Criminal Law Updates | 2008/02/28 14:07
An alleged Puerto Rican militant has pleaded not guilty to robbing a Connecticut armored car depot in 1983.

Avelino Gonzalez Claudio had fought extradition to the U.S. from Puerto Rico, but a federal judge there rejected his bail request. He appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court in Hartford.

Gonzalez was arrested by the FBI earlier this month in Puerto Rico. The 65-year-old had been working there as a teacher and living under an assumed name.

Gonzalez is one of more than a dozen people indicted in the Sept. 12, 1983, robbery of about $7 million from a Wells Fargo armored car depot in West Hartford.

He is being held without bond and is due back in court Tuesday for a bond hearing.



Lawyer: Japan Should Avoid Slay Case
Criminal Law Updates | 2008/02/25 14:34
The lawyer for a Japanese businessman arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting his wife here in 1981 said Monday he would formally urge the Japanese government not to cooperate with American investigators.

The businessman, Kazuyoshi Miura, was arrested Friday in the U.S. territory of Saipan as he tried to pass through immigration control at the airport to take a flight home. Miura, 60, was convicted in Japan in 1994 of killing his wife, Kazumi Miura, but the verdict was overturned 10 years ago.

"Given that this case has been closed in Japan, the Justice Ministry and Japanese police should no longer have to respond to requests from the police for evidence or to cooperate with the investigation," said Miuri's lawyer, Shinichiro Hironaka.

Miura and his wife were visiting Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 1981, when they were shot in a parking lot. Miura was hit in the right leg, while his 28-year-old wife was shot in the head. The shooting caused an international uproar, in part because he blamed the attack on robbers, reinforcing Japanese perceptions of America as violent.

The arrest came after cold-case detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department worked with authorities in Saipan and in Guam, police said in a statement. Police did not make details on the arrest available.

At a bail hearing Monday in Saipan, Miura told the court the killing "took place several decades ago, and it is unlikely that I will destroy evidence or run away," according to the Kyodo News Agency.

The court, however, denied him bail. A preliminary hearing was set for March 5, said Rosie Ada, deputy clerk at Superior Court. An arraignment was also slated for March 10, she said.



Enzyte Maker Found Guilty of Fraud
Criminal Law Updates | 2008/02/23 21:21
A federal court jury on Friday found the owner of a company that sells "male enhancement" tablets and other herbal supplements guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

Steve Warshak, whose conviction was reported Friday by The Cincinnati Enquirer, is founder and president of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, which distributes Enzyte and a number of products alleged to boost energy, manage weight, reduce memory loss and aid restful sleep.

Television ads for Enzyte feature "Smiling Bob," a goofy, grinning man whose life gets much better after he uses the product, which allegedly boosted his sexual performance.

Warshak, 40, could face more than 20 years in prison and his company could have to forfeit tens of millions of dollars.

Messages seeking comment from Warshak's Boston attorney Martin Weinberg and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Porter were left at their offices Friday night.

Prosecutors claimed customers were bilked out of $100 million through a series of deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and the company's refusal to accept returns or cancel orders. They said unauthorized credit card charges generated thousands of complaints over unordered products.

Warshak's mother, Harriett Warshak, also was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering.

The government also alleged the defendants obstructed investigations by two federal agencies.

Some former employees, including relatives of Warshak, pleaded guilty to other charges and cooperated with prosecutors. They testified that the company created fictitious doctors to endorse the pills, fabricated a customer-satisfaction survey and made up numbers to back claims about Enzyte's effectiveness.

Defense lawyers characterized that testimony as tainted because it was forced by the threat of prosecution.

The defense contended in the trial that Berkeley suffered from customer service that didn't keep pace with the company's rapid growth from a one-person startup in 2001 to 1,500 employees in 2004.

Weinberg also had told jurors that Berkeley had been targeted by the government in "a relentless criminal investigation."



Suspect Named in N. Illinois Slayings
Criminal Law Updates | 2008/02/15 11:47
The gunman who killed six people in a Northern Illinois University lecture hall before committing suicide was identified Friday as 27-year-old former student Steven Kazmierczak, according to Florida authorities and a university official familiar with the investigation.

Polk County, Fla., sheriff's officials said they were asked to speak with "the father of the shooting suspect" — Robert Kazmierczak of Lakeland, Fla.

The gunman is the younger Kazmierczak, a university official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the identity has not been released by police.

The motive of the killer, who graduated from NIU in 2006, was still not known as the investigation unfolded Friday, officials said. The gunman also wounded 15 people in Thursday's attack, which sent panicked students fleeing for the exits.

"There is no note or threat that I know of," NIU President John Peters said on Friday ABC's "Good Morning America." "By all accounts that we can tell right now (he) was a very good student that the professors thought well of."

DeKalb County Coroner Dennis J. Miller released the identities of the four victims who died in his county: Daniel Parmenter, 20, of Westchester; Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero; Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville; and Julianna Gehant, 32, of Meridan.

Two other victims died after being transferred to hospitals in other counties, Miller said. Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said a female victim died in her jurisdiction but has not been identified pending notification of family.

Witnesses said the gunman, dressed in black and wearing a stocking cap, emerged from behind a screen on the stage of 200-seat Cole Hall and opened fire just as the class was about to end around 3 p.m. Officials said 162 students were registered for the class but it was unknown how many were there Thursday.

Allyse Jerome, 19, a sophomore from Schaumburg, said the gunman burst through a stage door and pulled out a gun.

"Honestly, at first everyone thought it was a joke," Jerome said. Everyone hit the floor, she said. Then she got up and ran, but tripped. She said she felt like "an open target."

"He could've decided to get me," Jerome said. "I thought for sure he was gonna get me."

The shooter had been a graduate student in sociology at Northern Illinois as recently as spring 2007, but was not currently enrolled at the 25,000-student campus, Peters said. He also said the suspect had no record of police contact or an arrest record while attending Northern Illinois, about 65 miles west of Chicago.



Dumping of disabled man draws suspensions
Criminal Law Updates | 2008/02/13 17:32
A Florida sheriff's deputy caught on videotape dumping a suspect out of a wheelchair has been suspended without pay along with three of her supervisors.

Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said he was at a loss for words after viewing a video of the incident that took place at the county detention center, The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune reported Wednesday.

The video shows Deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones dumping Brian Sterner out of a wheelchair and then checking his pockets before she and another deputy returned him to the chair.

Sterner, 32, who was taken in for a traffic violation Jan. 29, is unable to walk although he can drive a car.

His attorney wants Marshall-Jones charged with felony battery and wants her supervisors to be disciplined and undergo retraining.

"I can't imagine any explanation she might have," Gee said in the Tribune article. "This was not a training issue; it's a human decency issue."

An internal affairs investigation into the incident is underway.


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