Maryland
Woman admits she tried to protect, hide fraudster’s cash
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Maryland woman has admitted to trying to hide her fraudster husband’s cash during a federal investigation into his Ponzi scheme that stole hundreds of millions of dollars.
News outlets report 30-year-old Amanda Merrill made the admission Wednesday when pleading to conspiring to remove property and obstruct justice.
Fifty-three-year-old Kevin Merrill, of Towson, was convicted this spring of fraud and conspiracy in a wide-reaching investment scheme that stole from people as far as Singapore. Prosecutors have said the Ponzi scheme is one of the largest Maryland has seen.
Prosecutors said she was about to visit her jailed husband last year when guards found a note on him instructing her to drink the “good wine,” stash cash and hide and sell his valuables.
Amanda Merrill’s sentencing is set for January.
Ohio
Man admits selling deadly drugs to billionaire’s son
CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland man has pleaded guilty to selling a deadly mixture of drugs to the son of a Greek billionaire who died of an overdose while visiting the city.
Terry Lee Christian pleaded guilty Wednesday to a drug distribution charge.
Authorities say he sold 34-year-old Sokratis S. Kokkalis a mix of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl outside a Cleveland Casino in 2018.
Kokkalis’ body was later found in a downtown hotel room from a fatal overdose.
He was in Cleveland for a gambling conference.
Kokkalis’ father, Socrates P. Kokkalis, is the founder of a Greek telecommunications company and chairman of the Greek soccer team, Olympiacos F.C. His son was the team’s vice president.
Hawaii
Prosecutor ordered to stay away from lawyer
HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii prosecutor must spend the next three years avoiding an attorney he shoved in the hallway of a courthouse, according to a judge’s order.
The injunction prohibits Deputy Prosecutor Emlyn Higa from approaching or interacting with defense lawyer Myles Breiner, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Wednesday.
Higa must avoid contacting, threatening or harassing Breiner for the three-year term of the injunction because of an altercation between the men.
Higa did not deny shoving Breiner in Honolulu’s First Circuit Court building following a contentious hearing Sept. 18.
The order prohibits Higa from visiting Breiner’s home or office, but it does not prevent Higa from handling criminal cases involving Breiner’s clients.
Breiner also requested a ban on Higa appearing in the same courtroom, but Honolulu District Judge Hilary Benson Gangnes said she could not fulfill the request because the courtroom is the judicial branch’s workplace, not Breiner’s place of business.
Higa was previously assigned to prosecute three cases involving Breiner’s clients, but after pushing Breiner he transferred two cases to another deputy. The judge was puzzled why Higa remained on the case that led to him shoving Breiner.
“Honestly, I don’t know why your boss isn’t automatically yanking you off the case,” she said.
Honolulu Prosecutor Dwight Nadamoto is not willing to bar Higa from the attempted murder case due to his experience in the area, Higa said.
Alaska
Doctor, nurse charged with vast opioid distribution
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska doctor and nurse practitioner face federal charges of illegally distributing millions of opioid doses to patients that resulted in addiction, overdoses and deaths, officials said.
The Alaska U.S. attorney announced Wednesday that 48-year-old Jessica Joyce Spayd and 74-year-old Lavern Davidhizar were arrested and charged separately with providing opioids to patients who did not medically require them.
Spayd, an advanced nurse practitioner and owner of Eagle River Wellness in Eagle River, has been charged with distribution of narcotic substances resulting in death.
Davidhizar, a physician at Family Medical Clinic in Soldotna, was charged with distribution of a scheduled controlled substance. He prescribed so many narcotic pills he became known by drug users as “the Candy Man,” authorities said.
The medical professionals helped fuel the state’s opioid epidemic, prosecutors said.
Spayd distributed more than 4 million doses of opioid narcotics to 450 patients between 2014 and 2019, authorities said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration took notice of Spayd because of signals including patients traveling long distances, prescriptions written before previous prescriptions expired, and patients using multiple names and pharmacies, according to a criminal affidavit.
At least 19 of Spayd’s patients “died within one month of filling an opioid prescription” issued by her. Twelve died within two weeks and five died the same day or the next day, the affidavit said.
Davidhizar prescribed more than 700,000 narcotic pills between 2017 and 2019, and “was well known in the drug abuser community on the Kenai Peninsula,” a criminal affidavit said.
Undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agents posed as patients with signs of opioid addiction but “little pain justifying the opioids they sought,” according to the affidavit, which said Davidhizar still prescribed opioids to them.
Spayd faces a minimum of 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges, while Davidhizar faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Massachusetts
Ex-head charged with stealing from Susan B. Anthony museum
ADAMS, Mass. (AP) — The former director of the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum in Massachusetts has been charged with stealing $31,000 from the nonprofit and using the money on travel, amusement park tickets, jewelry and other personal expenses.
The Berkshire Eagle reports that 45-year-old Colleen Janz pleaded not guilty this month to larceny.
Janz served as executive director of the Adams museum from July 2012 until she was fired on July 23, 2018. The suffragist was born in Adams in 1820.
Prosecutors say Janz used several tactics to divert museum money, including forging documents and falsifying records. They say she also spent money on meals, Uber rides, car insurance and groceries.
Carol Crossed, president of the museum’s board, said they were “devastated.”
