Minnesota
‘Boogaloo’ member sentenced to 3 years on weapons charges
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A self-described member of an anti-government extremist group accused of taking advantage of the unrest after George Floyd’s killing to raise money for the movement was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison.
Michael Robert Solomon, 31, of New Brighton, Minnesota, admitted to selling silencers and other firearm components to FBI informants he believed were members of the Hamas terror group. Solomon is one of several men charged in Minnesota to be identified as members of the “boogaloo” movement.
Federal prosecutors had originally recommended a 20-year sentence for Solomon but lowered that request to 10 years because of his cooperation with law enforcement. Information from Solomon led authorities to shut down a West Virginia operation that sold devices to convert semi-automatic firearms into unlawful fully automatic firearms.
U.S. District Judge Michael Davis compared Solomon’s case to those of other terrorism cases that have been sentenced, all at a lower level than prosecutors wanted, the Star Tribune reported.
“Even if you are a bad guy,” he said, speaking directly to Solomon, “there are other bad guys out there that are doing way less time.”
Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck. His death sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the world.
Ohio
Doctor sentenced for overprescribing painkillers, fraud
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A doctor in Ohio who denied doing any harm to his patients after being convicted of overprescribing painkillers has been sentenced to five years in prison.
A federal judge on Thursday also ordered Dr. William Bauer of Port Clinton to pay $460,000 in restitution.
Bauer, 85, was convicted last summer on charges of distributing controlled substances at his office in Bellevue and healthcare fraud.
Federal prosecutors said he prescribed dangerous drug combinations and high doses of addictive narcotics that weren’t medically necessary.
Bauer’s attorney has said he’ll appeal the verdict. Bauer had testified that the medication allowed patients to resume their normal activities. He also said he closely monitored his patients to watch for any signs of drug abuse.
Bauer, a neurologist who specialized in pain management, criticized the crackdown on opioid pills for chronic pain patients, saying they were being hurt by moves to stop them from receiving opioid pain pills.
Texas
Officials: Foster care center sex-trafficked minors
HOUSTON (AP) — State officials told a federal judge Thursday that employees at a foster care center under a state contract to shelter children who had been trafficked for sex had been trafficking those children themselves.
The matter arose at an emergency hearing before U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, who has been presiding over a 2011 class-action lawsuit against the state Department of Family and Protective Services that alleged that children were held in unsafe conditions, the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News reported.
The allegations involved a Bastrop facility called The Refuge, which housed 11 children ages 11 to 17. On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered an immediate investigation of the reports by the Texas Rangers.
State officials said a staffer reported in late January that a former employee had sold nude photos of two young girls and used the money to purchase illegal drugs and alcohol for them. Further investigation revealed several staffers still employed at The Refuge were involved in the criminal activity.
There are seven alleged victims and nine alleged perpetrators, state officials said. One staff member has been arrested, and additional criminal charges are expected, officials said. The children were finally removed from the facility by Wednesday, 1 1/2 months after the first report, state officials said.
“The most appalling thing about this is the disregard of these children,” Jack said. “You had to wait to get eight calls before you took 11 female already-trafficked children out of this trafficking situation. This is a system that remains broken.”
Department Commissioner Jaime Masters said she was only made aware of the situation Wednesday.
“There is no excuse for why I didn’t know, which is why several people are losing their jobs,” Masters said.
In a statement, The Refuge said it was “fully cooperating with authorities and we hope the alleged perpetrator will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and we will assist the Sheriff and the Bastrop County District Attorney’s office in their prosecution.”
“Our hearts are broken and we are outraged by the actions of former employees whose intent was to harm, not help,” said founder and CEO Brooke Crowder.
Missouri
Family of Black man shot by police sues for $10M
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The family of a Black man who was shot and killed by a white Kansas City police officer in 2020 is suing the officer and the Board of Police Commissioners for at least $10 million.
The federal lawsuit filed Thursday by Donnie Sanders’ family accuses the officer, Blayne Newton, of using excessive force when he shot Sanders on March 12, 2020. It also accuses the board, which oversees the Kansas City Police Department, of not properly training or disciplining officers in the use of deadly force, The Kansas City Star reported.
The Police Department did not immediately respond to a request Friday for comment on the lawsuit.
Sanders’ death is one of the prominent cases in Kansas City involving Black people cited by civil rights activists when pushing for changes to the Police Department.
Newton shot Sanders, 47, three times after he followed Sanders’ vehicle into an alley. Sanders parked the vehicle and ran, with Newton chasing him, police have said.
Police dashcam video records Newton yelling commands at Sanders to stop and show his hands but the video does not capture the shooting. Kansas City police were not wearing body cameras at the time but have since begun doing so.
Newton told investigators he believed he saw a gun in Sanders’ hand. No weapon was found; investigators said Sanders had only a cellphone in his jacket pocket.
Two witnesses reported they saw Newton walking backward while yelling commands as Sanders approached with his arm extended.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, citing an investigation by Kansas City police and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, determined last year that the witnesses’ statements collaborated Newton’s account that he shot Sanders because he was afraid for his life.
Newton was not charged and returned to work as a patrol officer.
He underwent another review after witnesses said he put his knee on the back of a Black woman who was on the ground during an arrest — another case that sparked protests.
Florida
5 children charged in school race attacks
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (AP) — Five Florida middle schoolers are facing battery and hate crime charges after police say they attacked white students using racial taunts and slurs.
Coconut Creek police said four white children between 11 and 12 years old were assaulted Wednesday by the group that yelled things like “it’s opposite day” and “brown power” while punching and kicking them.
The attacks happened at a community center where children gather before the first bell at Lyons Creek Middle School, according to police reports.
“This is an extremely rare occurrence in our community. But these are children, and as such, poor judgment can occur,” Coconut Creek Police Chief Butch Arenal said in a statement.
The five children arrested are between 11 and 15 years old. Police reports list them as both Black and white, most with Hispanic surnames.
Coconut Creek is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. The charges are misdemeanors although the hate crime allegation could trigger a felony count depending on decisions by prosecutors.
No one was seriously injured.
Massachusetts
Brothers convicted of abusing 5 girls get life sentences
SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Two brothers from Massachusetts convicted of child rape and other sexual assault charges involving five victims have been sentenced to life in prison.
Gilberto Candelario, 49, and Heroildo Candelario, 47, both of Lawrence, were sentenced Thursday in Salem Superior Court following their conviction on Feb. 23 on a combined 41 charges, according to the office of Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.
Four of the victims were sisters. Gilberto Candelario also faced charges involving a fifth victim, prosecutors said.
Gilberto Candelario will be eligible for parole after 91 years. Heroildo Candelario will be eligible for parole after 74 years, prosecutors said.
The brothers repeatedly raped the sisters from 2009 until 2016, starting when the girls were between 9 and 12 years old, Assistant District Attorney Jessica Strasnick said at trial. Gilberto Candelario raped a fifth victim when she was 11, the prosecutor said.
The brothers threatened the girls, and offered them money, alcohol and marijuana to buy their silence, the prosecutor said.
“The courage of these young women to report the abuse and testify at trial cannot be overstated,” Blodgett said in a statement. “They suffered unspeakable and long-lasting harm at the hands of despicable men. I hope that the guilty verdicts and these lengthy sentences help these young women heal and fully understand that none of this is their fault.”
Washington
Man sentenced for cutting cedar chunks out of bridge to sell
PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (AP) — A Forks man was sentenced to more than a year in prison for critically damaging a bridge on the Olympic Peninsula by cutting cedar from it to sell, prosecutors said.
Troy Crandall, 63, was sentenced last week in Jefferson County Superior Court to more than 17 months in prison and restitution of over $20,000 to the state Department of Natural Resources, The Peninsula Daily News reported.
He was convicted in February on malicious mischief, theft and trafficking in stolen property charges. He and Jose Carmen Salinas were discovered on Oct. 22 with freshly cut chunks of cedar from the bridge, according to DNR officer Allen Nelson.
Salinas earlier pleaded guilty to trafficking in stolen property and malicious mischief, according to Jefferson County prosecutors. He was sentenced to jail time served and the same restitution.
The two were discovered on Oct. 22 with freshly cut chunks of cedar from the bridge in West Jefferson County, according to DNR officer Allen Nelson.
Nelson said Crandall told him the bridge was just rotting away while Salinas said the two “were hungry and needed cash.”
Nelson said the outside span on one side of the bridge had been cut and removed, cables holding the bridge together were hanging underneath and a bottom girder was sawed apart.
DNR had said officials believed the two were going to sell the cedar on the black market for shake and shingles.
