California
Ex-U.S. Air Force sergeant pleads guilty in deputy killing
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A former Air Force sergeant linked to an extremist movement and convicted last month in the 2020 killing of a federal security officer in the San Francisco Bay Area pleaded guilty to killing a sheriff’s sergeant a week after he attacked a federal building.
Steven Carrillo, 33, pleaded guilty Monday to all nine counts, including murder and special circumstances, for the killing of Santa Cruz County Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller on June 6, 2020, the Santa Cruz District Attorney’s Office confirmed Tuesday. Carrillo is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 26 and faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said Carrillo ambushed sheriff’s deputies in Santa Cruz County who were responding to a report of a van containing firearms and bomb-making materials. Gutzwiller, 38, was killed and several other law enforcement officials were wounded.
Carrillo was arrested after he ambushed the officials in the community of Ben Lomond.
Earlier this month, Carrillo was sentenced to 41 years in prison for killing David Patrick Underwood while he and a colleague guarded a federal building in Oakland amid large protests against police brutality following the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
In February, Carrillo admitted to posting messages on Facebook a day before the Oakland shooting asking anyone if they were “down to boog” and saying he was ready to act and not just talk. He also admitted firing 19 rounds from a homemade AR-15 rifle from the back of a white van being driven by a man he connected with online.
“I aligned myself with the anti-government movement and wanted to carry out violent acts against federal law enforcement officers in particular,” Carrillo said then.
Prosecutors said Carrillo, of Santa Cruz, had ties to the “boogaloo” movement — a concept embraced by a loose network of gun enthusiasts and militia-style extremists. Experts say the group started in alt-right culture on the internet with the belief that there is an impending U.S. civil war.
California
Parents plead guilty in death of their 2-year-old son
MADERA, Calif. (AP) — The parents of a 2-year-old boy who was found dead in an orchard days after they reported him missing in 2020 pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter charges in his death, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Briseida Sran and Sukhjinder Sran pleaded guilty Monday to the death of their son Thaddeus, who they reported missing on July 15, 2020. They told police they had last seen him when they put him to bed the previous night.
The Srans were arrested on July 24, 2020, a day after police found the remains of their son, which appeared to have been burned, in an agriculture fire pit in a remote area outside the city of Madera.
Brieseida Sran admitted to the killing of Thaddeus and to the 2015 killing of their 4-month-old daughter, Divina Sran, Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno said.
Briseida Sran faces 28 years in prison. Her husband, Skhjinder Sran, pleaded guilty to the killing of Thaddeus but there is no evidence he was involved in the killing of Divina, Moreno said. Sukhjinder Sran faces 11 years in prison.
The coroner’s office was not able to determine a cause of death for either child and a motive in their killings remains unknown, Moreno said.
“They are not saying and cannot be required to say,” Moreno said.
Thaddeus was born prematurely and had a feeding tube. He was non-verbal and required special care.
Their daughter, too, had serious medical issues, according to the couple’s attorney, Roger Nuttall.
The couple is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29.
Vermont
Sheriff arrested on sex assault, other charges
A Vermont sheriff arrested Tuesday by the state police on multiple charges related to sexual and domestic assault pleaded not guilty and was then expected to be released on unsecured $100,000 bail.
Peter Newton, 50, of Middlebury entered the pleas during an afternoon court appearance in Burlington, outside Addison County where the sheriff was arrested Tuesday while he was conducting contractor work at a construction job site in his hometown.
During the arraignment Newton was served with what in Vermont is called an extreme risk protection order — known more generically in other states as a red flag law — that prevents him from possessing firearms.
During the 35-minute hearing the defense attorney, prosecutor and judge focused on the appropriate conditions of release for Newton, a lifelong Vermonter with no criminal history.
Defense attorney Jason Sawyer said Newton has not been convicted of a crime and he should be able to continue his work as sheriff “without engaging in law enforcement activities.”
Vermont Superior Court Judge John Pacht said Newton could not buy, use or have any firearms or dangerous weapons “with the exception that he can be at his place of employment as long as he does not possess or have immediate access to any firearms.”
The state police investigation began March 3 when detectives were assigned to follow up on a report of a domestic disturbance involving Newton and a person with whom he was in a relationship that allegedly took place in Newton’s Middlebury home on Feb. 26.
To avoid conflicts of interest, the case was investigated by troopers from the St. Albans barracks and it is being prosecuted by the office of the Washington County State’s Attorney.
Prior to his arrest Newton, a nearly 20-year law enforcement veteran who was first elected sheriff in 2018, had already announced that he would not seek re-election this fall.
Oregon
Ex-lawyer who stole over $3.4M from clients pleads guilty
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A former Oregon personal injury lawyer who stole more than $3.4 million from her clients has pleaded guilty to seven federal charges in what the state bar has called the worst fraud by a lawyer in the state’s history.
Lori E. Deveny, who relinquished her law license in Oregon in May 2018, pleaded guilty Monday to mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, money laundering and filing a false income tax return from 2012, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Deveny stole money she held in trust for her clients and used it to pay off credit card debt and loans and to support a lavish lifestyle, federal prosecutors said.
The expenses included big game hunting trips to Africa, taxidermy costs for big game hunting trophies, other vacations, her husband’s photography business, home remodeling and expensive cigars, according to investigators from the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI.
Prosecutors will seek a sentence of about 10 years for Deveny, Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire M. Fay told the court.
The money came from insurance proceeds that were supposed to be paid to her clients. The fraud occurred from April 2011 through May 2018, according to the plea agreement.
The Oregon State Bar has approved $1.3 million in payouts from its Client Security Fund resulting from claims submitted by clients who said they lost money as a result of Deveny’s dishonesty as their lawyer.
She will remain out of custody until her sentencing in November. She’ll pay at least $3.4 million in restitution and forfeit $52,620, according to Fay. Deveny told the court she is being treated for a mental illness but said she wasn’t taking any medication that interfered with her ability to understand the court proceeding.
Deveny had faced a 24-count indictment in federal court. She also is being prosecuted in Multnomah County Circuit Court on 92 counts of theft, forgery and other charges.
Washington
Man pleads guilty to role in 2021 U.S. Capitol riot
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man has pleaded guilty to three felony charges related to the insurrection and storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
Mitchell Todd Gardner II, 34, of Seffner, Florida, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in the District of Columbia to civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, according to court records. He faces up to 45 years in prison at his Oct. 21 sentencing.
Gardner was arrested in Tampa in June 2021.
According to court documents, Gardner joined with others in objecting to Democratic President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over former Republican President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying election results, authorities said. Five people died in the violence.
According to the criminal complaint, Gardner was part of a mob just outside the lower west terrace tunnel of Congress and used a pepper spray device against officers within the tunnel area. The contents hit one officer directly in the face shield and splattered onto two other officers, officials said.
Gardner also urged other rioters to use a ladder to break into a window, prosecutors said. When the ladder was not used, Gardner stood on a window ledge outside of a Senate terrace room and damaged the window with the pepper spray device.
While inside the Capitol, Gardner waved to other rioters to come closer or into the building, officials said. He also handed another rioter what looked to be a table or desk leg, and that object was used to assault police officers, prosecutors said.
Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 840 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for alleged crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, officials said. More than 250 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
Missouri
Lawmaker convicted in medical clinics fraud scheme
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Rep. Tricia Derges was convicted Tuesday of conducting fraud at medical clinics in southwest Missouri in part by falsely claiming that she was giving patients stem cell treatments.
After a two-week federal trial, Derges was convicted of 22 counts including wire fraud, illegal distribution of controlled substances and making false statements to investigators, The Springfield News-Leader reported.
Derges, a Republican from Nixa, was an assistant physician at several clinics. Federal prosecutors argued during the trial that Derges claimed nearly $900,000 in federal funding for COVID-19 treatments that were not performed or had already been performed. They also alleged she promoted amniotic fluid as a treatment for COVID-19 and other diseases by falsely claiming it contained stem cells.
Derges’ attorney, Al Watkins, argued that she was innocent and was targeted because she provided care for underserved patients through her nonprofit clinic. He said she was naive but did not intend to deceive patients.
Derges’ narcotics license was put on probation for three years in January.
She refused to resign her Missouri House seat but was stripped of her committee assignments and barred from party caucus meetings. The state GOP blocked her from running as a Republican for reelection this fall.
