National Roundup

Kentucky
Man who made Molotov cocktails gets 20 years
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Kentucky man who made five Molotov cocktails to blow-up a school has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, without the possibility of parole.

U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman says in statement 20-year-old Trey Alexander Gwathney-Law was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Greg N. Stivers for making and possessing illegal firearms. The statement says Gwathney-Law told an acquaintance he made the cocktails to blow up Franklin-Simpson County Middle School.

According to the plea agreement, Gwathney-Law made them in 2015 using glass bottles filled with flammable liquid. One Mountain Dew, one Sprite, and two Dr. Pepper bottles had a cloth wick stuffed inside. A root beer bottle had a carbon dioxide cartridge containing explosive powder and pieces of paper that appeared to have been soaked in the liquid.

Maryland
Ex-superintendent admits perjury, faces jail time
TOWSON, Md. (AP) — A former Baltimore County schools superintendent has pleaded guilty to perjury charges for failing to disclose nearly $147,000 he earned from consulting jobs while running the district.

The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday that prosecutors are recommending that 37-year-old Dallas Dance spend 18 months in jail.

Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt said during a Baltimore County Circuit Court hearing that Dance sought consulting work shortly after he became superintendent in 2012. Dance had told a Chicago firm’s executives that he wanted to make more money because of a divorce.

Dance resigned his $287,000-a-year job in April, citing family concerns. It later became known that he was under investigation.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 20.

Georgia
‘Darknet’ market spokesman pleads guilty to federal charge
ATLANTA (AP) — An Illinois man who worked as a spokesman for a “darknet” marketplace used for illegal online sales has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in Atlanta.

Ronald L. Wheeler III of Streamwood, Illinois, pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

Prosecutors say Wheeler, known online as Trappy and Trappy_Pandora, began working as AlphaBay’s public relations specialist in May 2015 and worked with others to traffic in personal information, using it without authorization to obtain money, goods and services.

Authorities say AlphaBay was the world’s leading darknet marketplace — where people traded in illegal drugs, firearms and counterfeit goods — before law enforcement took it down in July.

U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May accepted Wheeler’s guilty plea and set sentencing for May 24.


Maine
Police: Man, 70, robs bank armed with toy gun
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Police in Maine say a 70-year-old man robbed a bank while armed with a toy gun.

South Portland Police say the man, identified as Donald Sturton, entered a bank Wednesday afternoon, threatening employees with a gun he never displayed. Detective Sgt. Christopher Todd says the suspect took a small amount of cash and fled to a mall parking lot.

Police say they were given an accurate description of the suspect, and that led to a quick arrest. Police say they recovered all of the stolen cash along with the toy gun.

The man has been charged with robbery, and was held Wednesday night in a county jail.

Ohio
Teen arrested in shooting of high school student
CINCINNATI (AP) — Authorities say a 16-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with murder in Juvenile Court in Cincinnati for the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old high school student last week.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the 16-year-old was arrested Wednesday by Cincinnati police in Friday’s slaying of Gregory Thompson Jr., who was found dead inside his grandmother’s home.

The 16-year-old is being held in Hamilton County’s juvenile detention center.

Police haven’t released any details about the shooting.


Pennsylvania
Cops: Man got girl out of school 10 times; now both missing
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Police say a 45-year-old man managed to sign a 16-year-old girl out of her Pennsylvania school 10 times in the last few months and now the two are missing.

Allentown police issued a missing person alert Wednesday for Kevin Esterly and Amy Yu. They say the pair was last seen Monday.

The Morning Call reports police filed a warrant for Esterly’s arrest for interference with the custody of a child.

According to the warrant, Esterly signed Amy out of school 10 times between Nov. 13 and Feb. 9 without her parents’ permission.

Police said Amy’s mother called Feb. 9 to report Esterly had signed her child out of Lehigh Valley Academy earlier that day.

Records show police told Esterly on Feb. 15 to stay away from the teen’s home.

Texas
Man ordered shocked by judge gets new trial
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — An appeals court has ordered a new trial for a man whom a judge, impatient with the defendant’s disruptions, ordered to be jolted several times with 50,000 volts from a shock belt.

The 8th Texas Court of Appeals in El Paso ordered the new trial for Terry Lee Morris. He was convicted in 2014 of soliciting a sexual performance from an underage girl.

The court ruled that state District Judge George Gallagher of Tarrant County violated Morris’ civil rights when he ordered a bailiff, on three occasions, to shock Morris as punishment for not giving proper answers to Gallagher’s questions.

Shock belts are placed on defendants’ legs. The appeals court said they are to be used only if a defendant becomes violent, not to enforce decorum.