Court Digest

Ohio
Political operatives to plead guilty in bribery probe
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two Ohio political operatives plan to plead guilty to charges that they conspired as part of what another defendant called an “unholy alliance” aimed at bailing out two aging Ohio nuclear power plants, court documents show.

Former Republican House Speaker Larry Householder and four others are charged with racketeering for their roles in the alleged scheme, under a law federal prosecutors typically use to charge gang members.

The five are accused of shepherding $60 million in energy company money for personal and political use in exchange for passing a legislative bailout of two aging nuclear plants and then derailing an attempt to place a rejection of the bailout on the ballot.

A federal court docket showed that “plea agreements” were filed Thursday for defendants Jeffrey Longstreth, a longtime Householder political adviser, and Juan Cespedes, a lobbyist described by investigators as a “key middleman.”

Mark Collins, an attorney for Cespedes, said he couldn’t immediately comment ahead of a court hearing. A message was left for Longstreth’s attorney seeking comment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said information would be provided after a hearing.

Householder was removed from his leadership post in a unanimous vote following his arrest earlier this year. He pleaded not guilty last month and maintains his innocence. Charges are also still pending against Matt Borges, a former Ohio Republican Party chairman, and Neil Clark, a longtime Statehouse lobbyist.

An attorney for Borges has previously called the charges against him “wrong and unfortunate.” An attorney for Clark said he did not “see any culpability” in the case.

The government says the energy company money was funneled through Generation Now, a group created to promote “social welfare” under a provision of federal tax law that shields its funding source or spending. The government says part of the scheme involved bribing or otherwise discouraging signature gatherers from doing their job. Generation Now is charged as a corporation in the case.

An 82-page criminal complaint makes clear the energy company is FirstEnergy and its affiliates. FirstEnergy’s CEO has said he and the company did nothing wrong.

In a recorded conversation in September 2019, Borges described the relationship between Householder and the energy company as “this unholy alliance,” according to the July 21 complaint that lays out the details of the alleged scheme.

Lawmakers from both parties have pledged to repeal the bailout and to pass legislation requiring disclosure of money contributed to and spent by dark money groups. However, hearings to repeal the bailout ended this fall without resolution.

As recently as Wednesday, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine called on lawmakers to repeal the bailout during the Legislature’s lame duck session following next month’s election.

On Tuesday, two Ohio cities sued  to block the bailout law from taking effect in January.


North Carolina
State AG: Company fined $150K for price gouging PPE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein says a company that he had accused of price gouging on personal protective equipment has been fined $150,000.

The AG’s office said in a statement that Wake County Superior Court Judge Vince Rozier filed the judgement on Wednesday against the New Jersey-based Stephen Gould Corporation.

“Sellers cannot take advantage of a crisis to make a profit, especially at the expense of front line health care workers and first responders who were risking their lives to care for their fellow North Carolinians with the coronavirus,” Stein said. “I’m pleased with this judgment, and I hope it will serve as a reminder to everyone that my office will not hesitate to take swift action against price gouging.”

Stein’s lawsuit claimed the company pitched millions of masks to state agencies, some hospitals and nonprofits at a markup of more than 100 percent. It would have led to tens of millions of dollars in profits, he said.

North Carolina’s price gouging statute prohibits charging too much for critical goods or services in times of crisis. It remains in effect until Nov. 13.

Washington
Plea deal reached in case of cop pinning Black man
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A man who served a month in jail for running from Everett police will serve no more time behind bars in a case that prompted the police department to clarify its policy about a technique to pin suspects.

The arrest of Joseph Michael Hill, 39, a Black man, came the day before police killed George Floyd while detaining him in Minneapolis, The Herald reported.

Body-worn camera footage showed Hill repeating, “I can’t breathe,” as a police sergeant held him down by kneeling on his back in a yard.

Everett Police Chief Dan Templeman said the officer in Hill’s case applied pressure to the shoulders and not directly to the neck and only for 14 seconds.

Nonetheless, both incidents led Everett police to add a line to the policy manual explicitly telling officers to move a restrained person to a position where it’s easier to breathe “at the earliest safe opportunity.” Everett Police Chief Dan Templeman determined the sergeant acted within the updated policy.

Hill pleaded guilty to resisting arrest this week and charges of assault and criminal trespassing were dropped. Everett Municipal Court Judge Amy Kaestner sentenced Hill to 30 days in jail.

A neighbor reported a possible assault with a knife on May 24 and a woman identified Hill as the attacker. Officers found Hill on a nearby roof, saying he didn’t want to go to jail. Officers surrounded him, then chased him when he ran. Hill surrendered and dropped until the sergeant caught up to him and pinned him.

In custody, Hill told officers the woman attacked him and that he defended himself and ran. The woman had an injury to her face. She told police Hill did not use a knife, nor threaten her with a weapon. She declined to cooperate with police and the assault charge was dropped.

The crime “sounds so bad,” defense lawyer Maxwell Mensinger said, “but when the facts emerge, the truth is ... ultimately a lot sadder.”

Hill and his attorney took the plea deal to ensure he would serve no more jail time, though Hill maintained he had been wronged by the system even as he read over the paperwork in court Monday, Mensinger said.

The allegations that Hill had a weapon on him even though he did not were used to argue for an amount of bail that effectively kept Hill jailed, Mensinger said. Hill managed to post $10,000 bond in late June.

Kansas
Man gets life sentences for killing pregnant woman in 2018
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to two life sentences for the killing of a pregnant Kansas mother who was found dead on Christmas Day in 2018.

Dion Jamal Green, 35, was sentenced Wednesday to two consecutive life terms with no possibility of parole for the December 2018 deaths of 31-year-old Jenna Schafer, of Junction City, and her unborn child, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a news release.

Early in the case, prosecutors had said Green was hired to kill Schafer, who was found dead in a Junction City apartment on Christmas Day 2018. But a second man who was arrested in the case and accused of hiring Green had charges against him dropped in February. Prosecutors have not said why those charges were dropped.

Schafer was the mother of two other daughters who were living with their grandmother at the time of Schafer’s death. The family told officials they made several frantic calls trying to reach Schafer on Christmas Day before learning she had been found dead in a trailer in Junction City.

Virginia
Falwell sues Liberty, saying school damaged his reputation
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Jerry Falwell Jr. has sued Liberty University, alleging the evangelical school founded by his late pastor father damaged his reputation after he resigned as president and chancellor in August amid a series of scandals.

The lawsuit filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court on Wednesday includes claims of defamation and breach of contract. It alleges that Liberty officials accepted what Falwell says are false claims about whether he was involved in an extramarital affair and “moved quickly” to destroy his reputation.

“When Mr. Falwell and his family became the targets of a malicious smear campaign incited by anti-evangelical forces, Liberty University not only accepted the salacious and baseless accusations against the Falwells at face value, but directly participated in the defamation. This action seeks redress for the damage Liberty has caused to the reputation of Mr. Falwell and his family,” the lawsuit says.

K. Todd Swisher, Circuit Court clerk for the city of Lynchburg, provided The Associated Press with a copy of the complaint, which contains a limited number of redactions. He said there would be a hearing within a week for a judge to consider whether an unredacted version of the complaint should remain sealed.

Liberty spokesman Scott Lamb said the school would have a formal statement in response to the lawsuit later Thursday. The school’s board of trustees has been meeting this week.

An attorney for Falwell did not respond immediately to a telephone message left Thursday, and Falwell did not respond to a voicemail and text seeking comment.

Falwell left Liberty in August after a series of scandals roiled the evangelical school founded by his father.

His departure came after Giancarlo Granda, a younger business partner of the Falwell family, said he had a yearslong sexual relationship with Falwell’s wife, Becki Falwell, and that Jerry Falwell participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.

Although the Falwells have acknowledged that Granda and Becki Falwell had an affair, Jerry Falwell has denied any participation. The couple allege that Granda sought to extort them by threatening to reveal the relationship unless he was paid substantial amounts of money.

Before his resignation, Falwell had already been on an indefinite leave of absence after an uproar over a photo he posted on social media of him and his wife’s pregnant assistant, both with their pants unzipped.
Falwell said it was taken in good fun at a costume party during a vacation, but critics saw it as evidence of hypocrisy by the head of an institution that holds students to a strict moral code of conduct.

Shortly after Falwell’s departure, Liberty announced  it was opening an independent investigation into his tenure as president, a wide-ranging inquiry that would include financial, real estate and legal matters.

Earlier this month, the school identified Baker Tilly US as the firm handling the investigation and announced  the launch of a website to “facilitate the reporting of potential misconduct to the investigative team.”

Falwell’s acrimonious departure from Liberty came four years after his endorsement helped burnish the reputation of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump among conservative evangelical Protestants. That group has since become a critical part of the president’s political base. The public Falwell-Trump alliance that marked 2016 is not visible in this year’s election, as the president looks to other prominent evangelical surrogates.

North Carolina
Feds: Couple dodged taxes for almost 10 years
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina couple is accused of getting around paying employment and income taxes for almost a decade to help cover their own spending, federal prosecutors said.

James and Susan Rice were indicted Tuesday by a grand jury in Greensboro on conspiracy and tax evasion charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for North Carolina’s Middle District said in a news release.

Prosecutors said James Rice was an orthopedic surgeon in Southern Pines, and Susan Rice worked at the practice handling payroll and employment taxes. According to the news release, between 2007 and 2014, the Rices allegedly withheld employment taxes, but didn’t pay more than $580,000 in social security and other tax withholdings to the IRS. The indictment also alleges the Rices didn’t file individual income tax returns from 2014 through 2016 despite exceeding the filing threshold.

Prosecutors said the couple spent money on boarding their dog, a country club membership and visits to Susan Rice’s spiritual adviser, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.

The Rices face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each conspiracy, tax evasion, and employment tax count, and one year in prison for charges related to failing to file individual and corporate tax returns.