Virginia
Auto dealer sentenced for taking drug-tainted money
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — The owner of a Virginia auto dealership has been placed on home detention for taking $30,000 in drug-tainted cash for a car, officials said.
Abdul Ahad Nahibkhil, 36, accepted the money from Internal Revenue Service agents who led him to believe it was drug proceeds in connection with an undercover investigation of Blue Ridge Auto Sales, The Roanoke Times reported.
U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski said during a sentencing hearing on Friday that the law Nahibkhil broke aims to prevent drug dealers from hiding their money.
Nahibkhil, an Afghanistan immigrant, said he was “very, very deeply sorry for what I’ve done.”
Last year, Nahibkhil pleaded guilty to failing to report a 2018 transaction to the IRS after being told that two payments of $15,000 each came from drug trafficking. The undercover exchange was captured on video.
Federal law requires the reporting of cash payments of $10,000 or more within 15 days.
Mississippi
Coast woman accused of animal cruelty; 30 dead dogs found
SAUCIER, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi woman is facing over two dozen charges after more than 30 dead dogs were found on her property.
The woman was arrested Wednesday. She faces one felony count of animal cruelty and 30 misdemeanor counts of simple animal cruelty, WLOX-TV reported. She bonded out of Harrison County Adult Detention Center the same day and is set to appear in Harrison County Justice Court on April 20.
Animal advocate Connie Call told the television station she was contacted Feb. 23 about multiple dead dogs on the property in Saucier. Several of the animals had been burned; others were in trash bags, Call said.
Call said she also found an emaciated lab in a shed with no ventilation, food or water. Near the dog was a dead buzzard, she said.
The dead animals were disposed of and more than a dozen dogs that are still alive were turned over to the Humane Society of South Mississippi, Call said.
“It was heartbreaking to see these animals that had been trusted over to somebody, that a lot of people trusted with their animals,” Call said.
According to Call, the woman claimed to be running an operation called Deep South Animal Rescue. A Facebook page of that same name showed posts earlier this week seeking donations and supplies. That page has since been taken down. Multiple searches through state and federal agencies were not able to confirm whether Deep South Animal Rescue was a 501(c)(3) organization, the television station reported.
She urged people to be cautious when surrendering their pets.
“If you’re looking to surrender your animal for whatever reason, just do background checks on the person,” she said. “Don’t just give your animal to the first person that says they’ll take them because a lot of times, it’s not going to end well.”
Court documents show the arrested woman also surrendered 14 dogs she was holding on a property in Pass Christian.
North Carolina
2 men sentenced to prison for crime outbreak
NEW BERN, N.C. (AP) — Two men described as gang members have been sentenced to federal prison for their parts in a North Carolina crime outbreak which developed from a drug-related robbery attempt almost four years ago, a federal prosecutor said.
Greer Old, 26, was given 20 years in prison by a federal judge in New Bern on Friday, U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said in a news release. Daniel Reaves, 22, received a 12-year sentence. Both men, from New Hanover County, pleaded guilty to multiple crimes.
Court documents and other information show Old, Reaves and a third person planned to rob a man of heroin in a parking lot in Wilmington on Aug. 9, 2018. The man was pistol whipped and shot in the arm before he was pushed out of the car and abandoned, prosecutors said.
Two days later, Wilmington police received a tip that Old and Reaves were driving the same car used in the robbery. When officers tried to stop it, Old sped away and lost control of the car. The men ran off, and Old shot at a police officer chasing him before he was captured, the news release said. Reaves was captured in Kentucky nearly three weeks later by U.S. Marshals.
Mississippi
Doctor guilty of tax evasion; sentencing in June
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A federal jury has convicted a Mississippi doctor of tax evasion, prosecutors said Friday.
In a trial before U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock, jurors on Wednesday found Dr. Kevin L. Crandell, of Golden, guilty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi said in a news release.
Crandell was an emergency room physician making between $30,000 and $40,000 a month who stopped paying personal income taxes in 2007. But from 2006 through 2012, he accrued about $972,493 in tax debt, including penalties and interest, authorities said.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that in 2014 Crandell submitted a false form to the IRS in an attempt to negotiate a payment plan for his outstanding tax liabilities. The form misrepresented that Crandell couldn’t make tax payments because his personal income was lower than his expenses. It also failed to list assets and business bank accounts which Crandell was using for personal expenses.
Though Crandell attempted to blame a tax resolution service he hired in 2010, evidence showed that Crandell intentionally manipulated his pay stubs to show a decrease in his 2014 annual income before submitting them to the tax service.
Sentencing is set for June 7. He faces up to five years in prison, supervised release, restitution and a fine.
“Millions of Americans pay their income taxes every year,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “Those who intentionally attempt to mislead the IRS and fail to pay income taxes that they legitimately owe will face the consequences.”
Missouri
Man sentenced to life in prison for fentanyl conspiracy
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Los Angeles man has been sentenced to life in prison for leading a large-scale fentanyl distribution conspiracy in St. Louis.
A federal judge in St. Louis on Friday handed down the sentence for 56-year-old Gerald Hunter. He was convicted in October of several drug charges as well as two money laundering counts.
Federal prosecutors say a lengthy Drug Enforcement Administration investigation determined that Hunter was the out-of-state source supplying fentanyl for a drug organization in St. Louis. In April 2017, DEA agents seized 27 kilograms of fentanyl in suburban St. Louis, but Hunter ran from investigators.
He evaded arrest for three years until U.S. Marshals arrested him in Los Angeles in 2020.
Missouri
Performer gets probation in foster kid charity scam
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — A performer in the Missouri tourist town of Branson who convinced his audiences to donate thousands of dollars to a fake charity for foster children has been sentenced to five years of probation.
James Patrick Garrett, a 65-year-old best known for his John Denver tribute, also was ordered to pay $82,000 in restitution when he was sentenced Friday for wire fraud, the Springfield News-Leader reported. He entered a guilty plea last year.
Authorities have said Garrett devised the scheme in 2012 by creating a company named Diamond Jym Ranch, making himself the president and a member of its board of directors.
The enterprise purported to provide housing, education, food and other needs to displaced or homeless children. But prosecutors said Garrett used the donated money to eat out, pay off credit cards and pay rent and taxes.
Garrett was initially supposed to be sentenced in January, but Judge Roseann Ketchmark asked for a continuance to allow the government to explore whether or not some of the money Garrett owed could be donated to a charity.
After some research, it was determined that roughly $52,000 of the restitution money would be paid to FosterAdopt Connect, an organization that works in Missouri and Kansas to help kids and families navigate the foster care system.
The rest of the restitution money will be paid directly to Garrett’s victims who dropped cash or checks in a donation box after Garret’s shows.
“I take full responsibility,” said Garrett, who sold his house to pay the restitution. “I and I alone dismantled my life, my career, my relationships.”
Florida
Sergeant pleads guilty to violating rights by sex abuse
MIAMI (AP) — A former South Florida police sergeant has pleaded guilty to three counts of depriving women of their civil rights under color of the law by sexually abusing them.
At a plea hearing on Friday, Jesus Manuel Menocal Jr. admitted that he had kissed a woman and caused her to touch him sexually, had a second woman who was in psychiatric crisis perform oral sex on him and coerced a third woman who was walking alone at night into sex, according to federal prosecutors.
The 34-year-old former Hialeah Police Department sergeant faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison when he is sentenced in May.
Menocal admitted that he was on duty and in uniform when the acts took place, abusing his official authority, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami said in a news release.
“We hope that this conviction sends a strong message to survivors of law enforcement sexual misconduct, that their allegations will be investigated and taken seriously,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who leads the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division in Washington.
Nevada
Man gets prison for fatally shooting woman who stole wallet
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to six to 15 years in prison for fatally shooting a woman who had stolen his wallet while working as an escort.
A defense lawyer for Kevin Osborne, 31, asked that he be placed on probation, but District Judge Tierra Jones on Friday denied the request, citing curfew violations as one reason.
Under an agreement with prosecutors, Osborne pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Candice Cooks, 27, of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Cooks’ family told the judge that the life of Cooks, the mother of two children, was worth much more than a wallet.
“She was a good mom, and she loved her kids,” said Mariah Mason, a sister of Cooks. “Growing up, we weren’t that fortunate, so she made a goal to make for a better life for her little ones. Never leaving them hungry. Taking them on trips.”
Defense attorney Ashley Sisolak appealed for leniency.
“We are all better than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” Sisolak said. “This is obviously a life-changing event for him.”
