National Roundup

North Carolina
New sheriff named after predecessor accused of plot to kill deputy
OXFORD, N.C. (AP) —  A new  sheriff has been appointed in a North Carolina county where its suspended sheriff is accused of trying to urge someone to kill a deputy.

Charles R. Noblin Jr. will take the oath of office Wednesday in Granville County, news outlets reported. Sheriff Brindell Wilkins has been suspended  with pay since September.

Wilkins was indicted  on felony justice obstruction charges over allegations that he discussed killing a former deputy. Prosecutors said that in 2014, deputy Joshua Freeman planned to publicly release a recording of Wilkins making “racially offensive” comments.

The appointment of Noblin as sheriff was announced in a joint statement from the Granville County Board of Commissioners and the Granville County Sheriff’s Office, news outlets reported. Officials say it should not be read as a statement of Wilkins’ guilt or innocence.

“We wish to remind the public that Brindell B. Wilkins, Jr. remains innocent until proven guilty,” a statement said according to WRAL-TV. “The actions taken are to insure the continued, effective operation of the Granville County Sheriff’s Office until the ongoing investigations are finished and the legal proceedings against him are concluded.”

Noblin is an 18-year veteran of the sheriff’s office and is currently over its Civil Division, officials said. Chief Deputy Sherwood Boyd filled in after Wilkins suspension. He’s expected to be sworn in as Noblin’s chief deputy.

Texas
Contempt charge dropped against prosecutor over TV interview
DALLAS (AP) — A contempt of court charge has been dropped against the Dallas County district attorney over a television interview he gave on the eve of a high-profile murder trial involving a police officer.

Both sides filed a motion to drop the contempt charge against Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, who did a TV interview before the start of former officer Amber Guyger’s murder trial despite a gag order by Judge Tammy Kemp.

The white officer was convicted of murder for the shooting death of her unarmed black neighbor, Botham Jean, inside his own apartment.

Kemp said in an order that the interview, in which Creuzot explained why he thought Guyger was correctly charged with murder rather than manslaughter, was a “direct violation” of the gag order she’d issued in the case.

The Dallas Morning News reported that presiding Judge John L. McCraw Jr. signed an order dismissing the charge several days after the Dec. 27 motion to dismiss. Creuzot’s attorney, Brian Wice, said Monday that he and his client were “gratified, but not surprised” by the decision.

Maryland
Nigerian used fake passports to launder romance fraud money
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) —  Federal  officials say a Maryland man used fake passports to facilitate a money laundering conspiracy involving nearly $1 million.

Arinze Michael Ozor, 36, pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges of forgery or false use of a passport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said in a release Monday. He’s a dual citizen of the U.S. and Nigeria.

Ozor used at least two passports to open eight so-called “drop accounts”, prosecutors said. He took more than $976,000 from business email compromise schemes and romance fraud schemes and put it in those accounts.

Officials say Ozor used a Ghanaian passport to open five bank accounts and a Beninese passport to open three additional accounts. The money was then largely sent to other entities involved in the schemes.

Ozor is expected to be sentenced in May. He could spend up to 10 years in prison.

Texas
Woman planned to pretend dead mother’s baby was her own
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A woman accused of kidnapping a Texas mother who was later found dead hatched an elaborate scheme to present the victim’s baby girl as her own, according to court records.

Last month, investigators found the infant, Margot Carey, along with the body of her mother, Heidi Broussard, at a home in the Houston area. They had been reported missing a week earlier in their hometown of Austin.

An arrest affidavit unsealed Monday says Magen Fieramusca, 33, abducted Broussard on Dec. 12 and packed her into a black duffel. Broussard’s body was later found in the trunk of  Fieramusca’s car, according to the affidavit.

No one has been charged in Broussard’s killing. Police say they are still investigating.

Fieramusca is being held in the Travis County Jail on kidnapping and tampering with evidence charges. She denied being in Austin at the time of Broussard’s disappearance, the affidavit states.

One of her lawyers called the nine-page affidavit “cursory” and asked the public not to rush to judgement. Attorney Brian Erskine said in a statement that Fieramusca’s legal team hasn’t yet received all the information requested from prosecutors, but that they “are exploring all options at our disposal to vigorously represent” her.

According to the affidavit, which was first reported by the  Austin American-Statesman,  Fieramusca and Broussard were friends and met about a decade ago at church camp. At one point, Fieramusca had a key to Broussard’s apartment and the women discussed being pregnant together, even considering that they might give birth on the same day, the court record states.

Broussard’s fiance, Shane Carey, told police that both women were expecting in late 2019, according to the affidavit. Fieramusca was “visibly pregnant” and would hold her hands under her belly to support the weight, he said. Fieramusca’s ex-boyfriend, Christopher Green, told police he believed she was carrying his child.

Carey said Broussard told him on Dec. 8 or 9 that Fieramusca had given birth to a baby girl, but he never saw any photos of the child, the affidavit states.

The record does not make clear whether Fieramusca was ever pregnant, but investigators found discrepancies in her account of giving birth. 

Green and Fieramusca continued to share a home even after they broke up. On Dec. 13, Fieramusca told Green that she had given birth without his knowledge and that the baby was in their home, the affidavit states.

An investigator later showed Green a missing persons flyer showing Broussard and her daughter. “That’s the baby at my house,” he allegedly responded.

Fieramusca is being held on a $600,000 bond and is set to appear in court on Feb. 3. Margot  has been returned to her father.