National Roundup

Virginia
Juvenile charged after baby found in plastic tub
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Police say a juvenile has been charged with trying to kill her baby after the child was found in a plastic container in Roanoke.

Roanoke police say in a news release that officers went to the home Jan. 5 after being called to investigate suspicious circumstances involving a newborn.

Authorities say the mother first denied having the baby, but an officer heard the child cry in her bedroom.

Roanoke police spokesman Scott Leamon said in a telephone interview Thursday that the infant was found inside a medium-size plastic tub with the lid closed. Both the child and the mother were taken to a hospital for treatment.

The mother was charged with attempted murder, aggravated malicious wounding, and child neglect. She was taken to a detention center. Her age wasn’t released.

WSET-TV reports that officials say the baby remains hospitalized.

Florida
Alabama fans catch man who sold fake tickets 
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Three brothers from Louisiana pulled a fast one on a man they say sold them fake tickets to root for Alabama during the national championship game against Clemson in Tampa.

The Tampa Bay Times reports Joseph Steven Escalera agreed to meet a fan seeking a ticket to Monday night’s game hours before kickoff. As they began the transaction, the customer’s two brothers came up from behind, pinning Escalera to a chair and taking his shoes, socks and six game tickets tucked inside his waistband.

The brothers say they used a different email to arrange a second purchase from Escalera after realizing he’d sold them counterfeit $1,000 tickets.

Police spokesman Steven Hegarty says police arrested seven people, including Escalera, for selling fake tickets. Escalera was arrested on grand theft and fraudulent possession of admission tickets. No attorney was listed on jail records.

New York
Man who forged baseball exec’s signature gets jail
NEW YORK (AP) — A New Jersey man who admitted to forging the signature of a Major League Baseball executive as part of an office equipment leasing scam will serve four years in federal prison for the crime.

A federal court judge in Brooklyn sentenced 41-year-old Michael Conway on Wednesday after the Verona man pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud last February.

Conway forged the signature of New York Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon on phony lease agreements and bilked more than $4.5 million from an individual investor and a financial company.

Officials say Conway pocketed most of the money, which he used to party in luxury suites at Citi Field.

Conway blamed his behavior on drug and alcohol abuse. He now must pay $4.7 million in restitution to his victims.

Ohio
Pounds of meth found hidden in statue of a snail 
CINCINNATI (AP) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say officers in Cincinnati intercepted more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine concealed inside a statue of a snail.

Authorities say the package, which came from Mexico and was labeled “Mexican stone crafts,” contained a decorative snail statue that exhibited “interior anomalies” during an X-ray inspection on Dec. 30.

Customs officers drilled a hole into the statue and found 53 pounds of a white crystalline powder that tested positive for meth.

Richard Gillespie, CBP’s Cincinnati Port Director, says the agency’s officers excel at preventing dangerous packages from reaching innocent citizens.

The snail’s intended destination was Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Virginia
Accused teen ‘doctor’ indicted on fraud charges 
STAFFORD, Va. (AP) — A Florida teenager accused of pretending to be a doctor has been indicted on charges in Virginia after authorities say tried to illegally buy a car.

News outlets report a grand jury last week indicted 19-year-old Malachi Love-Robinson on charges of making false statements to obtain credit, attempting to obtain money under false pretenses, identity theft and forgery.

Love-Robinson was arrested in September in Stafford, Virginia, where authorities say he tried to buy a Lexus using a fake earnings statement. He remains jailed there.

Love-Robinson was arrested in Florida in February after officials said he was practicing medicine without a license. Palm Beach County authorities said Love-Robinson was illegally operating a medical practice, complete with an office, a lab coat and stethoscope. He allegedly stole $35,000 from a patient. He has denied the charges.

New York
Note in recycler’s trash helps cops identify suspect in bank robbery
WOODSTOCK, Vt. (AP) — A woman’s penchant for recycling and a crumpled note in her trash helped police identify a suspect in a Vermont bank robbery.

Gail Dougherty, of Woodstock, found the note inside a paper coffee cup Jan. 4 and planned to put the cup in her recycling bin. The note said, “THIS IS A ROBBERY GIVE ME THE MONEY QUIETLY AND NO ONE WILL GET HURT.” A robbery happened at the local bank earlier that day.

The Valley News reports DNA samples from Dougherty’s home matched that of 28-year-old Adam Kniffin, who was dating the family’s housekeeper.

An arrest warrant was issued on charges of assault, robbery and larceny. Kniffin is now in a New Hampshire jail on a parole violation. A phone number couldn’t be found for him.

Florida
Police: Man posts on ­Facebook to cover up killing
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Investigators say a Florida man killed his wife and tried to cover up the crime by making posts on her Facebook page.

An Orlando police report says 42-year-old George Joseph McShane was arrested Tuesday after officers found him inside his running SUV in his garage, attempting to kill himself.

The Orlando Sentinel reports police removed McShane from the SUV and found the body of Kristen McShane dead in the couple’s bed, covered with a comforter.

The report says McShane told detectives he logged into his wife’s Facebook account and posted that she’d dropped her phone in the toilet so family and friends wouldn’t worry if she didn’t respond.

He’s charged with second-degree murder and domestic battery by strangulation.

He remains in jail. Records don’t list an attorney for him.