National Roundup

Massachusetts
Retired U.S. Army colonel convicted in bribery scheme
BOSTON (AP) — A retired U.S. Army colonel has been convicted by a federal jury of conspiring to bribe Haitian government officials.

Federal prosecutors in Boston say 64-year-old Joseph Baptiste, of Fulton, Maryland was one of two men convicted Thursday. The other was 74-year-old Roger Richard Boncy, a dual U.S. and Haitian citizen who lives in Madrid, Spain.

Prosecutors say Baptiste and Boncy solicited bribes from undercover federal agents who posed as potential investors in a proposed $84 million port project in the Mole-Saint-Nicolas area of Haiti. Boncy and Baptiste told agents they would funnel the payments to Haitian officials through a nonprofit Baptiste controlled that purported to help impoverished residents of Haiti.

Baptiste is a dentist who served 23 years in the Army.

Sentencing for both men is scheduled for Sept. 12.

Kentucky
Lawyer may be suspended for giving inmate $11
BELLEVUE, Ky. (AP) — A north Kentucky lawyer may be suspended for giving her incarcerated boyfriend $11 to use a vending machine.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Virginia Riggs was convicted of promoting contraband in the 2017 meeting and given a suspended jail sentence. She reported herself to the Cincinnati, Ohio, and Kentucky bar associations.

The Cincinnati Bar Association, the Ohio Supreme Court’s board overseeing attorney conduct and Riggs agreed to a six-month suspension, to be served if Riggs engages in further misconduct. But Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor rejected the agreement and told the board to consider more severe sanctions.

The board says similar cases have gotten the same proposed punishment. Riggs says the board has recommended the same punishment to the high court for consideration.

Mississippi
Lawsuit: Abusive husband freed from jail to attack wife
EUPORA, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi woman says a sheriff repeatedly freed her abusive husband from jail on weekends, when he tried to run her over, beat her unconscious and then drenched her body with sulfuric acid.

Felicia Robinson’s medical care since last year’s acid attack has cost nearly $900,000. Her federal lawsuit filed Monday accuses Webster County, former Sheriff Tim Mitchell and a former dispatcher of negligence.

Robinson says Mitchell should not have allowed her husband, Daren Patterson, to be freed on weekends to terrorize her. She says Patterson ultimately poured “Liquid Fire” drain cleaner on her, burning her face, neck, chest, arms, and leg. Mitchell resigned after being charged with a dozen felonies involving guns, drugs and sex with inmates.

Kentucky
No charges in anti-abortion activist assault
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky grand jury has declined to indict a Louisville woman accused of attacking an 82-year-old anti-abortion protester while leaving a woman’s clinic.

Court records show a grand jury decided against an assault charge on Thursday for 32-year-old Janaya Alyce Gregory, who allegedly knocked Donna Durning down outside Kentucky’s only abortion clinic in April. The longtime anti-abortion activist was hospitalized with a broken femur and cut to her head.

The Courier Journal reports that Durning said she was offering Gregory a card for a crisis pregnancy center when Gregory “charged” at her, bumping her to the ground.


Pennsylvania
Couple convicted in death of boy killed over spilled cereal
WILLOW GROVE, Pa. (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia couple has been convicted of murder in the death of a 4-year-old who was beaten for spilling his breakfast cereal.

A jury returned the verdict Thursday night against the boy’s mother, Lisa Smith, and her boyfriend, Keiff King. The Abington couple also was convicted of child endangerment and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

Montgomery County prosecutors say an autopsy showed Tahjir Smith’s January 2018 death was the result of a violent, sustained beating. Investigators say Smith and King used their hands and a sandal to give Tahjir a “butt whooping” for spilling the cereal, then put him in the shower which was running scalding water.

Lawyers for Smith and King said there was no murderous intent in their actions.

North Carolina
Prosecutor: Theft ring took $4M in used cooking oil
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal agents say they’ve mopped up a theft ring involving 21 co-conspirators, responsible for stealing a precious commodity: $3.9 million worth of used cooking oil known as “yellow grease.”

A federal indictment unsealed Thursday says the thieves targeted eateries in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia for five years, pumping used oil from restaurant storage tanks into trucks for shipment around the country.

This oil is greasy gold for biodiesel companies. U.S. Agriculture Department data show a 100-pound load of “yellow grease” is worth $25.

A statement from U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon Jr. says the oil rendering industry loses between $45 million and $75 million to oil theft each year.

The suspects face conspiracy and money laundering charges that carry prison sentences of up to 25 years.

Oregon
Man gets more than 6 years prison for drug explosion
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon man who was burned in an explosion caused by combustible materials used to illegally make marijuana oil has been sentenced to more than six years in prison.

The Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office says Eric Scully of Cottage Grove was sentenced Thursday after previously pleading guilty to endangering human life and illegally possessing and manufacturing marijuana.

He was also ordered to forfeit personal property used in his crimes, which includes a truck, trailer, and over $25,000 in cash.

Scully was treated for serious burns after a butane honey oil explosion at a storage facility in Cottage Grove in November 2017.

Prosecutors say federal agents searched the facility, finding a sophisticated and unlicensed hash oil extraction lab.

At the time of the explosion, Scully was on federal supervision after a 2016 money laundering conviction.