National Roundup

Oklahoma
Retired judge to mediate opioid settlement funds
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — A former Oklahoma State Supreme Court justice will attempt to resolve a dispute over how to disburse an $85 million settlement of a state lawsuit with Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Cleveland Count District Judge Thad Balkman said Monday that retired Judge Steven Taylor will serve as special master to help find a way to handle the funds arising from a lawsuit that accused drug companies of contributing to the opioid epidemic.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, lawmakers and cities say the May 26 settlement conflicts with a law directing any settlement funds into the state treasury. The law was passed after lawmakers grumbled about how state Attorney General Mike Hunter structured a $270 million settlement with Purdue Pharma in the lawsuit.

Oklahoma’s lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over the opioid epidemic is continuing.

Florida
Parking lot shooter wants sheriff as defense witness
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for a Florida man accused of fatally shooting an unarmed black man during a dispute over a parking space want to call the local sheriff as an expert witness.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Michael Drejka’s attorneys have filed a motion to call Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri to help defend Drejka at his manslaughter trial.

Gualtieri originally refused to charge Drejka after the July 19 shooting that left Markeis McGlockton dead, citing the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law.

The 48-year-old Drejka is white. He had confronted McGlockton’s girlfriend after she parked in a convenience store’s handicapped spot.

McGlockton came out of the store and pushed Drejka to the ground. Drejka pulled a gun and shot McGlockton.

Prosecutors disagreed with Gualtieri’s decision and charged Drejka.

Florida
Judge: Church must return $2 million from Ponzi scheme
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A judge has ruled that a Florida church and its two pastors should return $2 million in donations they received from a parishioner who stole the money in a Ponzi scheme.

Federal Judge Robin Rosenberg ruled that the Winners Church and its father and son pastors, Frederick and Whitney Shipman, should be required to return the stolen money they received from member Jose Aman. He and two others took the money in a $30 million Ponzi scheme.

The Palm Beach Post reports that the Shipmans had argued that state law exempts donations made to religious organizations from seizure. Rosenberg ruled the exemption doesn’t apply because the money is being sought by federal regulators.

The 3,000-member Pentecostal church received $1.2 million while Frederick Shipman got $729,000. His son received $41,000.

Arizona
Police: Man beheads dog as roommate leaves
BUCKEYE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona police say a man mutilated and beheaded his roommate’s dog as she moved out of the home that the two shared in a Phoenix suburb.

Police in the city of Buckeye said Sunday that 21-year-old Jose Vega Meza was booked into jail on suspicion of two counts of animal cruelty and a count of misdemeanor assault for an alleged attack on another inmate.

The man’s roommate told police she lost track of her dog as she moved her belongings out of the home.

Her friends later saw Vega Meza as he loaded a small box onto a truck.

Police say the woman confronted him and found her headless dog inside the box.

It was unclear whether Vega Meza had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

South Carolina
Man sentenced for role in turtle smuggling plot
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A New Jersey wildlife trader has been sentenced to two years’ probation for his role in a reptile smuggling ring that stretched from South Carolina to Hong Kong.

The State reports 26-year-old William “Billy” Gangemi was sentenced Monday for conspiracy to smuggle wildlife in the scheme that involved hiding rare turtles in candy wrappers or socks and shipping them overseas.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Gangemi avoided prison time as his role in the scheme — collecting the turtles — wasn’t as extensive as his counterparts.

South Carolina ringleader Steven Verren Baker, Matt Kail and Joseph Logan Brooks previously were each sentenced to prison in the scheme. The newspaper says these are believed to the first prison sentences in the state for illegal turtle trading.

New York
‘Fatal Attraction’ killer released from prison
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York schoolteacher who was convicted of killing her lover’s wife in a case dubbed the Fatal Attraction murder has been released from prison.

Carolyn Warmus was released from Bedford Hills prison on Monday after her parole was granted last month. Her release was first reported in the Daily News .

The now 55-year-old Warmus was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 1992 for the murder of Betty Jeanne Solomon.

Prosecutors said Warmus was having an affair with the victim’s husband, Paul Solomon, when she shot Betty Jeanne Solomon to death in the victim’s home in Greenburgh, New York on Jan. 15, 1989. Warmus has always maintained her innocence.

The case drew comparisons to the movie “Fatal Attraction” starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas.

Kentucky
Group seeks hate crime probe of mural vandalism
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Muslim advocacy group wants Kentucky authorities to investigate vandalism on a mural of boxing champ Muhammad Ali as a possible hate crime.

The Kentucky chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations made the request in a news release Monday.

The words “racist,” ‘’antisemitic” and “homophobe” were painted in orange over Ali’s portion of the “Kentucky Rushmore” mural that features other icons from the state, including Abraham Lincoln. An employee at a nearby candy store first noticed the graffiti June 12.

The vandalism came days after Louisville celebrated Ali Week to honor the Kentucky native who died in 2016.

It’s unclear whether police have identified a suspect.