National Roundup

Idaho
Court rejects appeal by man who killed pregnant wife
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — A northern Idaho man who pleaded guilty to killing his pregnant wife and setting the home on fire will not be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas.

The Idaho Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling rejecting 34-year-old Silas Parks’ request for post-conviction relief.

The Lewiston Tribune reports that the court determined that his attorney’s failure to hire a forensic pathologist before Parks took a plea deal did not negate the guilty pleas.

His wife, Sarah, and unborn daughter were found dead in the charred Moscow home that was set on fire in June 2009.

Parks was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder and arson, but pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter and arson.

In 2010 he received a minimum 35-year sentence.

Maine
Trial moved back for man charged with scaring woman to death
ALFRED, Maine (AP) — The trial of a man charged with causing a Maine woman’s fatal heart attack by frightening her during a burglary attempt has been pushed back.

Court officials say Carlton Young’s trial has been moved to March 19. It had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

Young pleaded not guilty to felony murder in the death of 62-year-old Connie Loucks, of Wells. Authorities say Loucks suffered a heart attack after Young allegedly knocked on her door and windows.

Young, of Sanford, has also been accused of being part of a burglary ring in southern Maine.

Authorities say he and at least one other person broke into Loucks’ home when she wasn’t there on March 2015. They returned the following day to break in again.

Florida
Inmate gets more time for threatening to kill president
OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A federal prison inmate in Florida who previously received five years for threatening to kill then-President Barack Obama and others has been sentenced to another four years and three months for threatening to kill President Donald Trump.

Court records show Richard Jeremy Ware was sentenced Monday. He pleaded guilty in October to making threats against the president.

Guards at a federal prison in central Florida say they intercepted the threatening letter Ware had tried to send out last March. Ware was nearing the end of his sentence and confirmed the letter was his.

In November 2011, court records show Ware mailed a letter threatening to kill Obama, then-first lady Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and George Bush. Ware also threatened to sexually assault the Obamas’ two daughters.

West Virginia
Rite Aid reaches $4M settlement over sales of pseudoephedrine
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Rite Aid Corp. has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a federal investigation in West Virginia of the drug store chain’s sales of pseudoephedrine, a cold medication ingredient used illegally in homemade methamphetamine labs, prosecutors said Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said in a news release that Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid accepts responsibility for the improper sales, which occurred between January 2009 and October 2012 in the state’s southern district.

The statement said the company’s policies led employees in the district to believe they could only deny a pseudoephedrine sale if it would cause a customer to exceed a purchase limit amount, and not if the customer was suspected of wanting the drug for an illegitimate reason, such as the manufacture of meth.

The statement said Rite Aid has instituted changes in its training, policies and procedures for selling pseudoephedrine, including placing such products out of customer view and requires pharmacists to provide counseling to customers seeking to buy them.

“This settlement sends a strong message to businesses that we will not tolerate putting sales over safety,” Stuart said.

Under the settlement, Rite Aid will pay $2.6 million to the West Virginia Crime Victims Compensation Fund and $1.4 million to the state Department of Health and Human Resources for substance abuse treatment.

According to the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, the state saw a record number of fatal overdoses from methamphetamine last year, increasing by 500 percent since 2014. About half of the overdoses involved meth laced with the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Health Department Cabinet Secretary Bill J. Crouch said the regulation of drugs such as pseudoephedrine is critical to improving West Virginia’s substance abuse epidemic.

Iowa
Vandal damages Field of Dreams site with vehicle
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A vandal has caused thousands of dollars in damage to the Field of Dreams by driving a vehicle onto the site made famous by the 1989 movie.

Owner Denise Stillman says a vehicle made deep gashes in the outfield and damaged a sprinkler system. The damage was especially severe because the ground was soft following warm weather and rain.

Stillman says repairs will continue through the summer but that the field will remain open.

It was created for the movie “Field of Dreams” starring Kevin Costner.

Maryland
Man convicted in fatal crash ordered to carry victim’s photo
GLEN BURNIE, Md. (AP) — A Baltimore man sentenced to prison in a fatal crash has also been ordered to carry a picture of the victim for the next six years.

The Capital reports Circuit Court Judge Ronald Silkworth included the caveat in sentencing 33-year-old Johnathan Derek Simms to 18 months in prison, five years’ probation and 500 hours of community service Tuesday.

Wherever he goes, Simms must carry a wallet-sized photo of 66-year-old Louise Donner, who was killed in an April 2016 head-on crash in Glen Burnie as Simms fled an attempted traffic stop.

Silkworth says the picture will remind Simms of the damage his actions caused.

Prosecutor Michael McGraw had questioned Simms’ contrition, citing his not guilty plea to manslaughter charges.

Simms, convicted in November, said before his sentencing he knows he’s guilty.