National Roundup

Massachusetts
Two brothers convicted for fake airplane loans
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Two brothers have been convicted in federal court of using stolen identities to obtain about $2 million in fraudulent airplane loans from several banks across the nation.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that Ryan Miller and Dusten James Miller were convicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Worcester of bank fraud, money laundering and identity theft-related charges.

Prosecutors say the brothers, from Chicago, used the identities of other people and doctored documents to obtain loans, including a nearly $400,000 loan from Worcester-based Commerce Bank.

Authorities say they then laundered the money through shell companies, and used it to buy luxury cars and other high-end items.

The brothers represented themselves in court. They questioned some of the evidence and argued technicalities.

They are scheduled to be sentenced May 9.

Pennsylvania
Chemist charged with taking cyanide, dumping in storm drain
WARRINGTON, Pa. (AP) — A chemist stole potassium cyanide from his workplace to use as pest control at home and poured it down a suburban Philadelphia storm drain when he learned there was an investigation, prosecutors said.

Richard O’Rourke, 60, has been charged with risking a catastrophe, theft, receiving stolen property and recklessly endangering others. He’s accused of taking about a cup of potassium cyanide from the Merck & Co. facility in Montgomery County in December.

Reached at his home on Wednesday morning, O’Rourke said didn’t want to comment.

A co-worker witnessed him pouring potassium cyanide into a beaker and then into a Nalgene water bottle on Dec. 14, then leaving the building, according to a release from District Attorney Kevin Steele.
That worker informed authorities, and O’Rourke later dumped the chemical near his home after learning there was an investigation.

The state Department of Environmental Protection began monitoring the water supply after determining there was a possible threat to drinking water.

It was determined that there was no evidence of water contamination, or any environmental or human health impacts related to the dumping, department spokesman Neil Shader said.

Steele said a heavy rainfall at the time likely helped diffuse the chemical.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 6.


Utah
Man charged in drive-by shooting to stand trial
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah man charged in a fatal drive-by shooting has been ordered to stand trial.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports a district court judge on Tuesday determined prosecutors had presented enough evidence to move forward in the case against 18-year-old Woods Cross resident Javier Saldana-Ibarra.

Saldana-Ibarra has been charged with first-degree felony murder and other counts. The charges stem from the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy in August.

Police have said two teens were standing outside a Magna home when a white sedan driving by fired multiple shots at them. One of the teens died from his wounds.

Defense attorney Bel-Ami de Montreux says prosecutors are basing their case mostly on circumstantial evidence.

The newspaper reports authorities believe four people participated in the shooting. Only Saldana-Ibarra has been arrested.

Iowa
Woman denies allegations that she misused clients’ funds
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former support manager has pleaded not guilty to allegations that she stole from clients of a Sioux City organization that helps people with intellectual disabilities.

Court records say 29-year-old Jessica Rivera is charged with two counts of dependent adult abuse-exploitation. The records say she submitted the written pleas Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court. The records don’t list a trial starting date.

Court records say that between January and July 2017, while she worked for Mosaic, Rivera made unauthorized purchases using gift cards or other funds from the clients and kept the items.

Florida
Suspect texted detective, not wife, about death
DUNNELLON, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man who thought he was texting his wife but instead nervously messaged a detective “I think they are going to arrest me” was charged with murder in the death of his live-in girlfriend, authorities said.

Marion County Sheriff’s officials arrested David W. Romig, 52, on Monday on charges including homicide, making a false report and tampering with evidence.

Investigators said he staged the crime scene to make it look like an intruder entered a home on Jan. 30 and killed Sally Kaufmann-Ruff, 64, in the master bedroom of the home in Dunnellon, which is in north Florida.

Detectives quickly found that the evidence that didn’t match Romig’s story about the home invasion, The Ocala Star-Banner reported. A short time later, he sent two text messages saying he thought he was going to be arrested.

“I think they are going to arrest me,” Romig wrote in the first text, which he said he thought he was sending to his wife. The second text simply said: “Think they are going to arrest.”

The arrest report said Romig also messaged his wife and told her that he had a very bad night, adding that someone had broken in and Kaufmann-Ruff was fatally shot.

He texted his wife that “things don’t add up,” and “I am afraid I did something I don’t remember.” He ended with, “If I did this I will kill myself.”

Investigators said the two errant text messages added to their suspicions.

After his arrest, Romig told detectives he had been suffering from blackouts and that he was “hearing voices.” He added that he had “an out-of-body experience” and “felt like he was wrestling with himself and the gun went off, shooting Sally.”

Romig told detectives he “staged the scene due to having blacked out during the shooting, setting the scene as a home invasion,” the arrest report said, adding that he admitted there was no intruder.

Romig told investigators he is the sole beneficiary listed in Kaufmann-Ruff’s will, the report said. The pair had lived together for two and a half years.

Judge Robert Landt ordered Romig held without bond and he is on a suicide watch at the Marion County Jail in Ocala. His next hearing is set for March 20.