National Roundup

Massachusetts
Man pleads guilty to running steroid ring
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Massachusetts man who authorities say imported large quantities of raw steroids that were then processed and packaged for redistribution throughout the U.S. pleaded guilty Tuesday to multiple charges that could send him to prison for 40 years, federal prosecutors said.

Under terms of a plea agreement, David Esser, 47, of North Attleborough, will forfeit more than $640,000 in assets derived from his criminal activity, the U.S. attorney’s office in Providence, Rhode Island, said in a statement. That includes more than $160,000 in cash and bank accounts; cryptocurrency valued at almost $270,000; and 13 properties purchased by Esser in Pennsylvania, four vehicles, and jewelry valued at about $214,000, prosecutors said.

He faces 40 years in prison at sentencing scheduled for June 7 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids while on release, and money laundering.

Esser arranged for the importation of raw steroids from suppliers primarily based in Hong Kong, prosecutors said. The raw steroids were shipped to various locations in the U.S. where people who worked for Esser converted the raw steroid into liquid form, packaged the product in vials, and shipped the vials back to North Attleborough.

From there, Esser and others shipped the product to customers across the nation, prosecutors said.

Esser was released on $50,000 bond following his initial arrest in February 2020, but was re-arrested in December when it was alleged he arranged to resume the sale, packaging, and distribution of steroids, authorities said. He was detained without bail after the second arrest.

Missouri
Man’s alleged motive for killings: ‘They wouldn’t leave’
STRAFFORD, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri prosecutor says a man killed his wife and her parents over the weekend because the in-laws arrived for a visit and “they wouldn’t leave.”

The shooting happened Saturday near the small town of Strafford in southwestern Missouri. The suspect, 50-year-old Jesse Huy, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 48-year-old Tonya Huy and her parents, 71-year-old Ronald Koehler and 78-year-old Linda Koehler of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

KYTV-TV reports that the Greene County prosecuting attorney’s office on Monday released the suspected motive.

Tonya Huy’s parents were visiting to help their daughter after her recent back surgery. Investigators say Jesse Huy shot all three victims in the head and then called authorities after the killings.

When a dispatcher asked why he did it, he allegedly replied, “Well, they wouldn’t leave. I’ve been waiting for a week for them to leave. I’ve had enough.”

Huy is jailed without bond and doesn’t yet have a listed attorney.

Idaho
Montana man to go to trial after bar shooting
COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A jury trial for a Montana man accused of shooting into a crowd outside a bar in Idaho last year has been scheduled for April 28 after being delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Austin L. Sherper, 24, of Whitefish, Montana, is charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder.

Police responded to reports of a shooting at the Iron Horse Bar & Grill in Coeur d’Alene on July 11 around 9 p.m. Police said Sherper had an altercation with security staff after he was removed from the building.

Authorities said witnesses outside the bar told police Sherper yelled at them, then threatened to come back and kill them, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported Monday.

Police said Sherper returned in a white truck and shot at three bar employees as he drove past, firing between six and nine shots. Court documents said two people were injured.

Police arrested Sherper later that night at a Coeur d’Alene residence.

He is currently being held on $500,000 bail in the Kootenai County Jail for each count of the two counts of first-degree attempted murder.

It’s not clear from online records if Sherper has an attorney. The Kootenai County public defender’s office didn’t return a call from The Associated Press.

Washington
Report: Extremist groups thrive on Facebook despite bans
A new outside report found that Facebook has allowed groups — many tied to QAnon, boogaloo and militia movements — to glorify violence during the 2020 election and in the weeks leading up to the deadly riots on the U.S. Capitol in January.

Avaaz, a nonprofit advocacy group that says it seeks to protect democracies from misinformation, identified 267 pages and groups on Facebook that it says spread violence-glorifying material in the heat of the 2020 election to a combined following of 32 million users.

More than two-thirds of the groups and pages had names that aligned with several domestic extremist movements, the report found. The first, boogaloo, promotes a second U.S. civil war and the breakdown of modern society. The second is the QAnon conspiracy, which claims that Donald Trump is waging a secret battle against the “deep state” and a sect of powerful Satan-worshipping pedophiles who dominate Hollywood, big business, the media and government. The rest are various anti-government militias. All have been largely banned from Facebook since 2020.

But despite what Avaaz called “clear violations” of Facebook’s policies, it found that 119 of these pages and groups were still active on the platform as of March 18 and had just under 27 million followers. Facebook said late Monday that of the 119 that Avaaz found, only 18 “actually violated” Facebook’s policies. Four had already been removed before Monday and Facebook has now taken down the remaining 14.

Facebook acknowledged that its policy enforcement “isn’t perfect,” but said the report distorts its work against violent extremism and misinformation.

The company said in a statement that it has done more than any other internet company to stanch the flow of harmful material, citing its bans of “nearly 900 militarized social movements” and the removal of tens of thousands of QAnon pages, groups, and accounts. It added that it is always improving its efforts against misinformation.

On Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai are slated to testify before Congress about extremism and misinformation on their platforms.

According to the report, Facebook provided a “fertile ground” for misinformation and toxicity that contributed to radicalizing millions of Americans, helping create the conditions in which the storming of the Capitol became a reality.