WISCONSIN
2 more cases tied to Milwaukee ATF sting dismissed
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Two more cases tied to a flawed U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sting in Milwaukee have been dismissed — this time because the prosecutor says she can’t use the operation’s top agent as a witness.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday that Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Karen Loebel said in court last week that she can’t call ATF Special Agent Jacqueline Sutton as a witness, but didn’t explain why.
ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun also declined to comment.
Eight of the 18 cases Loebel charged from the sting have now been dropped.
The Milwaukee sting involved agents setting up a fake storefront to nab criminals selling guns and drugs. But agents lost weapons, left behind sensitive documents and saw their store burglarized.
NEW YORK
Courts initiative to aid exploited prostitutes
NEW YORK (AP) — New York is creating the nation’s first statewide system of courts to help prostitutes escape a life of exploitation and violence and move on to “productive lives,” Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said Wednesday.
“We have come to recognize that the vast majority of children and adults charged with prostitution offenses are commercially exploited or at risk of exploitation,” Lippman said in an announcement made with legal, law enforcement, service providers and advocacy groups.
“Human trafficking is a crime that inflicts terrible harm on the most vulnerable members of society: victims of abuse, the poor, children, runaways, immigrants,” he said. “It is in every sense a form of modern-day slavery. We cannot tolerate this practice in a civilized society, nor can we afford to let victims of trafficking slip between the cracks of our justice system.”
Lippman said that while human trafficking includes labor trafficking, nearly 80 percent of victims are trafficked for sex.
Specialized courts will have presiding judges trained in the dynamics of sex trafficking and the services available to victims.
“This new initiative will stop the pattern of shuffling trafficking victims through our criminal courtrooms without addressing the underlying reasons why they are there in the first place,” Lippman said.
Three pilot courts in Queens, midtown Manhattan and Nassau County are up and running.
The specialized courts will be operating throughout New York City by mid-October and around the state by the end of October, he said.
NEW MEXICO
Judge boosts bond for peeping Tom suspect
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — An Albuquerque man nearly beaten to death after a homeowner says he found him naked and peeping into a room with teen girls inside has made his first court appearance after nearly three weeks in a hospital.
Dylan Maho faces a felony voyeurism charge for the Sept, 5 incident. The 29-year-old was limping, had a bandage over his throat and still had a swollen eye when he appeared in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Tuesday.
KRQE-TV reports Maho said nothing but his partner asked the judge to consider his ties to the community when setting bond. Instead, Judge Sandra Engel increased his bond to $15,000 after hearing a report of previous criminal charges.
Albuquerque police are asking for an aggravated battery charge against homeowner who chased and beat Maho.
LOUISIANA
Lawsuit: Pollution from fire making residents sick
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — About a dozen Slaughter residents allege respiratory problems and diminished property values in a lawsuit filed in the wake of the Nov. 19 blaze that destroyed the Monolyte Laboratories Inc. chemical facility.
The Advocate reports the suit, filed Tuesday in state District Court in Baton Rouge, seeks an unspecified amount of damages from Monolyte and several other companies.
Monolyte made a product used by wastewater treatment facilities and oilfield sites to help clarify water that has been discharged.
The lawsuit describes the cleanup operation following the huge fire as “a slow, haphazard attempt to remediate the pollution caused by the Monolyte Laboratories facility.
“As this purported remediation dragged on, the chemicals that had been released into the ditches and soil continued to be released into the air and the surrounding community, creating odors that at times have been unbearable,” the suit alleges. “The remediation effort has continued until the present date.”
The 5-year-old daughter of a couple whose home was near the Monolyte facility required more than 20 trips to doctors and hospitals for treatment of respiratory problems since the fire and release of chemicals, the lawsuit says.
The newspaper reports the company, which could not be reached for comment Tuesday, hired an environmental contractor to handle the cleanup.
Slaughter Police Chief Walter Smith has said there were no hazardous chemicals on the site.
IOWA
Soldier to be held until sentencing on porn charge
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal appeals court has ordered a Sioux City man to be taken into custody after his conviction for possession of child pornography.
A judge had allowed Scott Krantz to remain free on bond until sentencing citing his military record including three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prosecutors say military service doesn’t meet the legal requirement for release which is granted only for exceptional reasons.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals says Krantz’s service earned him “our country’s gratitude” but it doesn’t excuse him from being held for the crime committed. A court order filed Tuesday requires him to report to the U.S. Marshal’s office in Sioux City on Wednesday.
Krantz pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography after federal agents found images on a flash drive and DVDs.
NEW YORK
Gang leader sentenced for 3 killings in upstate NY
NEWBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — A key figure in the gang-related violence gripping a Hudson Valley city has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for his involvement in three slayings.
The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports that 23-year-old Jose Gordo was sentenced in federal court in White Plains on Tuesday, eight months after pleading guilty to being involved in the mistaken killing of a 15-year-old Newburgh boy in 2008 and the killings of two men in 2010.
Prosecutors say Lagos was one of the three high-ranking leaders of the Latin Kings who controlled the drug trade on Newburgh’s east side and used violence to punish fellow gangsters.
The other two leaders were convicted in March of drug, murder and racketeering charges. They face sentencing later this year.
