NEW JERSEY
Man fined in Saddam Hussein family gun plot
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey restaurant owner has been fined $3,000 for his role in a plot to sell firearms believed to have been owned by Saddam Hussein's family.
Fifty-eight-year-old Carlos Quirola-Ordonez had faced up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport stolen firearms.
The investigation into the plot began in April 2012, when federal law enforcement officers learned of plans to sell the weapons.
Seven guns with an estimated value of $250,000 to $350,000 were seized in December 2012. Among the firearms was a .357 semi-automatic pistol featuring a gold medallion "QS." That's presumed to refer to the late Iraqi president's son Qusay.
Quirola-Ordonez and three other defendants pleaded guilty in the case.
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LOUISIANA
Sentencing in federal sexual
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The sentencing of former New Orleans Saints player Darren Sharper on federal charges that he drugged and assaulted women in four states has been rescheduled.
U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo reset Sharper's sentencing for Oct. 1 at the request of probation officer Marilyn Brasset. It was scheduled for Aug. 20. Bassett told the judge she needed more time to gather records for a pre-sentence report on Sharper.
Basset says she is waiting on reports on rape cases from California, Arizona and Nevada, where Sharper has entered pleas to sexual assaults.
Sharper was first arrested in January 2014 in Los Angeles on rape charges. Allegations of drug-related rapes in other states - Arizona, Nevada and Louisiana - followed.
A plea deal was announced in March to resolve the charges in all jurisdictions.
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CALIFORNIA
Man arrested for robbing $30 from lemonade stand
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (AP) - San Bernardino County authorities have arrested a man they say robbed a lemonade stand.
The Sheriff's Department says two 13-year-old girls had set up the stand last week in Rancho Cucamonga when a man came up and said he had no cash, but wanted some lemonade.
The girls gave him some and the man began to walk away but then he came back, pushed over the stand and fled with the money box.
It took only minutes for a sheriff's deputy to find and arrest 18-year-old Santini Tate of Riverside on suspicion of strong-arm robbery.
Authorities say he was carrying $30 from the lemonade stand.
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WEST VIRGINIA
Judge awards attorney fees in gay marriage case
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that West Virginia must pay about $92,000 to lawyers who fought the state's same-sex marriage ban.
The Charleston Gazette reports that fees approved Thursday by U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers were less than one-third the amount the lawyers requested. He said the number of hours billed and the hourly rates were excessive for West Virginia.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office had opposed awarding the attorney fees, saying the county clerks who were named as defendants acted in good faith when they enforced the ban. Chambers said the 11 attorneys from three firms brought a proper lawsuit and deserved to be paid.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex applicants.
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ALASKA
Man gets 52 years in prison for crime spree
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A 27-year-old Anchorage man has been sentenced to 52 years in prison for a 2013 crime spree that left three people injured.
The Alaska Dispatch News reports that Alejandro Aulman was sentenced Thursday to 50 years for nine counts of assault, seven counts of robbery, three counts of burglary and one count of theft. He was handed an additional two years for breaking his probation conditions from separate cases.
Prosecutors say Aulman committed a spree of robberies at homes and businesses in January 2013 before attacking a woman who accepted a ride from him, shooting her in the hand.
Superior Court Judge Philip Volland said that Aulman's reaction to supervised release in the past had been to commit more crimes. Few cases without a homicide warrant such long sentences.
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IDAHO
Judge: Sufficient evidence to try man for murder
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) - An Idaho judge ruled last week there is sufficient evidence to bring a 29-year-old man to trial on three counts of first-degree murder in the Jan. 10 shooting deaths of his adoptive mother, his landlord and a fast-food restaurant manager in the north Idaho community of Moscow.
Killed were Terri Grzebielski, 61; David Trail, 76, and an Arby's manager, 47-year-old Belinda Niebuhr.
John Lee of Moscow is also charged with aggravated battery in the wounding of a Seattle man, Michael Chin, who is still recovering from his bullet wounds.
The prosecution offered some of its evidence against Lee at a Latah County District Court preliminary hearing, the Lewiston Tribune reported. Lee's lawyer, Charles Kovis, questioned witnesses as well.
Survivor Chin told the court he had been visiting his insurance agent, Trail, when a man entered the office, pulled out a gun and shot Trail four to six times.
Chin said the gunman briefly disappeared, then came back before he could phone for help, shot Chin twice, then fired more shots at Trail.
The survivor has said he believes he was deliberately spared by the shooter.
"Chin said he thinks it was Lee's intent to slow him down so he could not make a call to the police," Moscow police Sgt. Tyson Berrett wrote in an affidavit earlier filed in court.
Chin believed Lee had a plan and he only shot him in the leg and the arm so he could continue in his plan," Berrett wrote.
Prosecutors say Lee then headed to Arby's, where employees recalled seeing him enter the restaurant wearing a black trench coat.
Katelyn Kapps was working at the restaurant that day. She testified that a frantic man came in and asked her to summon the manager. Kapps said she went to get Niebuhr.
Terri Grzebielski was killed in her home.
Lee fled after the shootings, leading police on a high-speed chase before he was eventually arrested in Washington state.
His next court appearance will be Aug. 4.
Published: Mon, Jul 20, 2015
