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Ohio couple pleads guilty in terror funding case
Headline News |
2011/05/23 18:38
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An Ohio husband and wife pleaded guilty Monday to charges that they plotted to help finance a Mideast terrorist group under a deal that spares them from potential life sentences.
Hor and Amera Akl were arrested in June 2010 after authorities said an FBI informant provided them with cash that they were planning to hide in a vehicle to be shipped to Lebanon. They intended to conceal up to $1 million for Hezbollah, the Lebanese group the U.S. government lists as a terrorist organization and blames for numerous attacks on Israel, federal prosecutors said.
The Akls, dual citizens of the United States and Lebanon, had previously pleaded not guilty to several counts carrying the possibility of life prison terms, prosecutors said. They pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James Carr in Toledo to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Hor Akl now faces a sentence of a little more than seven years in prison, while his wife could receive up to four years. They remained free on bail after their pleas, and it was not immediately clear when they would be sentenced.
Prosecutors said Hor Akl traveled to Lebanon in March 2010 to arrange the delivery of money. He returned to the United States claiming that he had met with Hezbollah officials, the government's said. |
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Ala. chief justice warns more court layoffs coming
Headline News |
2011/05/18 16:44
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Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb warned the state's judges and circuit clerks Monday to expect substantial layoffs because of the budget crisis in the state judicial system.
Cobb met with judges and clerks mostly by conference call Monday. The meeting was not open to news reporters or the public. She said 270 court employees have already lost jobs in the past two years because of budget cuts, and she expects another 265 court workers to be laid off during the coming fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Cobb told The Associated Press that she had hoped to receive a $10 million supplemental appropriation from the Legislature to help the courts get through the remainder of the current year. She said that is unlikely now because the money is needed to help with recovery from last month's violent tornadoes that killed more than 200 in Alabama.
She said she doesn't expect to receive the supplemental appropriation and she also believes a bill to raise the state's cigarette tax by $1 a carton is dead for this session. Some proceeds from the cigarette tax were to go to the courts. |
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Ind. Supreme Court get harassing calls, emails
Headline News |
2011/05/17 10:11
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The police force that guards Indiana's capitol buildings is investigating harassing phone calls and email messages directed against the Indiana Supreme Court following a ruling last week by the high court on police authority.
The Times of Munster reports that State Capitol Police say the communications are being reviewed as part of a criminal harassment investigation. Police would not say how many calls and messages have been received or whether they were addressed to a specific justice.
Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathryn Dolan says the threats contained in the calls and emails were "primarily" directed at police officers. She declined to give specific details.
The threats come after the high court ruled Thursday that Indiana residents have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes. |
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Sacramento tax attorney to close law practice
Headline News |
2011/05/14 18:26
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A tax attorney who called herself the "tax lady" will no longer be practicing law.
Roni Deutch says she will be closing her law firm of 20 years and will surrender her law license.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Deutch made the announcement Thursday, saying her firm has a debt of about $10 million, while she has personal debt of $5 million.
Deutch, a nationally known lawyer who gained a measure of fame on late-night television commercials, ran into legal problems when then-Attorney General Jerry Brown filed suit, accusing her of cheating clients out of $34 million.
Deutch was accused of destroying millions of pages of documents and failing to pay about $435,000 in refunds to clients.
She now faces hundreds of counts of contempt and possible jail time. A hearing on the contempt of court allegations is scheduled for July 22. |
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Disabled lawyer cranks out lawsuits
Headline News |
2011/05/09 10:50
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Scott Johnson calls himself a crusader for the disabled. The hundreds of small businesses he routinely sues call him a legal extortionist.
Welcome to the rough and tumble world of providing access to the disabled. At the heart of the matter is the American with Disabilities Act, the controversial federal law requiring a minimum level of access in all public places.
Disabled advocates say since no government agency enforces the law, that task has fallen to private attorneys who file lawsuits to compel the noncompliant to provide equal access to all. Because of a quirk in California law, the state stands out as a magnet for disabled-access lawsuits and several lawyers have made a name for themselves as frequent filers.
Few, though, are as prolific as Johnson.
Since 2004, Johnson has filed more than 1,000 boiler plate lawsuits in Sacramento federal court, slightly tweaking the documents to fit the target: a restaurant's service counter is too high or an apartment complex doesn't have enough disabled parking. Just last week, the Carmichael lawyer filed more than two dozen lawsuits, mostly aimed at apartment complexes. |
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Discrimination suit against Pa. law firm settled
Headline News |
2011/05/06 15:25
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A lawsuit that accused Pittsburgh's second-largest law firm of discriminating against women has been settled.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports a dismissal notice was filed in federal court Thursday, ending the case brought by attorney JoEllen Lyons Dillon.
Dillon alleged in a December lawsuit that women at Reed Smith are paid less than men and that females are pressured to have sex with male superiors to get work.
She also said her pay was nearly halved during maternity leave, and that she was asked if she was "done having babies" when she inquired about a promotion.
Dillon's lawyer, Sam Cordes, would say only that "the matter is resolved to our mutual satisfaction."
Reed Smith declined comment. Dillon no longer works there. |
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