Nevada
Ex-school counselor gets up to life for child porn
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A former Reno school counselor has been sentenced to up to life in prison on a child pornography charge after prosecutors say he paid nearly $20,000 to teenagers he persuaded via social media to send him photos.
Tyler Ball-Imsdahl, 28, pleaded guilty earlier to one count of production of child pornography. He was sentenced Monday and will be eligible for parole in five years, the Washoe County District Attorney’s office said Thursday.
Ball-Imsdahl pretended on social media to be a female teenager in order to obtain photos from multiple teenage boys, prosecutors said.
After developing on-line relationships with them, he admitted he paid a total of nearly $20,000 to some minors to provide additional photos, they said.
Ball-Imsdahl served as a counselor at Desert Skies Middle School in Sun Valley before he was placed on administrative leave following his arrest in July 2021, authorities said.
The investigation began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from Yahoo! Inc. that email addresses associated with Ball-Imsdahl had been sharing child pornography, the district attorney’s office said.
If he’s released from prison, he’ll be required to register as a sex offender and will be on lifetime supervision.
Florida
Police department worker gets 60 days for COVID relief fraud
MIAMI (AP) — A former civilian employee for a South Florida police department has been sentenced to 60 days in federal prison for stealing over $117,000 in COVID relief funds.
Elisa Rivera, 51, was sentenced Wednesday in Miami federal court, according to court records. She pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Rivera had been working as an administrative officer for the Miami-Dade Police Department when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in 2020. Despite suffering no loss of salary, Rivera authorized a co-conspirator to electronically submit an Economic Injury Disaster Loan application to the Small Business Administration, according to a criminal complaint. The application falsely stated that Rivera owned a business that had gross revenues of $325,446 and 12 employees in the 12 months prior to Jan. 31, 2020, prosecutors said. Rivera received $71,300 from the SBA in loans and grants.
After submitting her own application, Rivera submitted fraudulent EIDL applications to the SBA on behalf of others who also didn’t own small businesses or qualify for relief, officials said.
Rivera has already paid back the money she fraudulently obtained from the government. She must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by Nov. 4.
New York
Man charged for Twitter threat to Black shoppers
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A Black resident of Buffalo, New York, told investigators he anonymously tweeted out a fake threat to commit mass killings against Black people in his community, days after a real mass shooting, because he wanted to see if racists would cheer him on, according to federal prosecutors.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said Thursday that the suspect, 24, said in a May 16 post that he and “associates” would target Black people at area grocery stores — two days after a white gunman from Conklin, New York, opened fire at a Tops Friendly Market and killed 10 people.
He “stated that the purpose of the post was to see what everyone would say and if anyone would agree with him,” according to an FBI agent’s affidavit supporting the charge.
The suspect was charged with making an interstate threat. His assigned attorney declined to comment.
The affidavit said the suspect told law enforcement that he also created a second account “in an effort to rectify the earlier post.” He replaced “only looking to kill blacks” with “ants, spiders and things of that nature.”
A search of his cellphone revealed a screenshot of a post from the second account claiming not to have meant any harm, the affidavit said.
The suspect made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court and was released. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Last month, authorities announced the arrest of a Washington state man after police said he made multiple calls to a Tops supermarket in Buffalo in which he referenced shooting and killing Black people. A different Buffalo resident was arrested in May for making similar threatening phone calls to two local business and also referencing the Tops supermarket shooting.
Indiana
Affidavit: Prosecutor threatened to kill neighbor over dog
COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana prosecutor charged with harassment, intimidation and other counts threatened to kill a neighbor in a dispute over a dog, an affidavit unsealed Thursday said.
Bartholomew County Prosecutor William Nash also is charged with obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and interfering with the reporting of a crime in the May 8 confrontation. He faces four counts of harassment and two counts of intimidation.
At one point, Nash yelled at the neighbor, “I can kill you! I will kill you and Indiana State Law says I can kill you!” the affidavit filed July 15 by an Indiana State Police detective said.
The neighbor told Nash to get off his property, and Nash turned away and said, “Damn dogs better be on a leash. Those are dangerous dogs,” the affidavit said.
The neighbor said Nash had previously fired a pellet gun toward his house, it said.
The man and his wife said they were concerned for their safety due to Nash’s erratic behavior, position and power, the affidavit said.
A phone message was left for Nash’s attorney seeking comment on the case. Nash told The (Columbus) Republic he had no comment.
Ripley County Prosecuting Attorney Franklin Arkenberg has been appointed as special prosecutor to the case.
Connecticut
Court: Police justified in entering home after seeing flies
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a murder case that police were justified in entering the defendant’s home without a warrant after observing an infestation of flies at a window.
The ruling comes in the case of Andrew Samuolis, who is serving a 45-year sentence for murdering his father with a modified flare gun in February 2013 and shooting an officer in the arm months later when police entered his Willimantic home.
The court agreed with Samuolis’ lawyers, who argued that a warrant was needed for police to go into the home to check on the well-being of the son, who was known to have mental issues, or if officers believed there was a dead body in the house.
But the justices found that police could have believed the father needed emergency attention, allowing for an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“Although the responding officers thought, based on their experience, that the most likely explanation for this fly infestation was the presence of a dead body, they also left open the possibility that an occupant might be injured rather than dead,” Justice Christine Keller wrote for the court. “We cannot say that this supposition was unreasonable.”
Police were doing a second well-being check at the home in June 2013 after being called by neighbors, who had not seen the father, 67-year-old John Samuolis, in months.
After calling out and knocking at the door, police entered the home without a warrant, noting changes from a prior visit, including chicken wire around some of the windows and a fly infestation.
The younger Samuolis appeared in camouflage and shot one officer in the arm before fleeing the home. He was captured after a short manhunt.
A search of the house led to the discovery of John Samuolis’ decomposing body in a sealed bedroom.
Prosecutors said the younger Samuolis had shot his father in the head during an argument over plans to sell the home. He later sealed the body in the bedroom after it began to smell, prosecutors said.
Arkansas
Attorney admits to defrauding U.S. farm programs
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas attorney has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to defraud two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs of about $11.5 million, according to court documents.
Everett Martindale, 75, of Little Rock, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit fraud by acting as attorney for 192 people who filed false claims of discrimination when seeking USDA funds for farming operations, said U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross.
He faces up to five years in prison, but prosecutors will recommend a two year sentence and dismiss two similar counts as part of a plea agreement.
The claims were filed by people recruited by sisters Lynda Charles of Hot Springs; Delois Bryant of North Little Rock; Rosie Bryant of Colleyville, Texas; Brenda Sherpell of Gainesville, Texas; tax preparer Jerry Green of Grand Prairie, Texas; and notary public Niki Charles, Lynda Charles’ daughter, of Sherwood.
Martindale is the last of the seven to reach a plea agreement in the case. None has been sentenced.
None of the claimants was discriminated against when they sought funds from the Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation settlement and the Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers claim program, according to Ross.
Martindale failed to investigate the claims, despite signing certifications that he had done so, Ross said.
None of the claimants has been named in the indictment and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Little Rock did not immediately return phone calls Friday for additional comment.
The two programs were created as the results of settlements of a lawsuit by Black farmers and a separate lawsuit by Hispanic and women farmers in which both groups said they were discriminated against when applying for farm credit from the USDA.
Minnesota
Prosecutor wants to intervene in Doe v. MN case
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota prosecutor wants the state Court of Appeals to reconsider a judge’s ruling that many state abortion restrictions are unconstitutional.
Traverse County Attorney Matthew Franzese on Thursday filed a motion to intervene in the Doe v. Minnesota case. The filing comes a week after state Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would not appeal Ramsey County Judge Thomas Gilligan’s decision in the Doe case.
Last month, Gilligan struck down many abortion restrictions, including the 24-hour waiting period, parental notification requirements and informed consent. Franzese said Ellison should have sought a ruling from a higher court that would carry broader, statewide jurisdiction.
Franzese argues that he needs clarity on whether he can enforce abortion restrictions. And at least one other legal expert says Franzese has a point — that Gilligan’s ruling isn’t binding on other Ramsey County judges, let alone other jurisdictions, the Star Tribune reported.
“This is despite the fact that the judgment is not binding in Traverse County, because doubt and confusion still exists about the enforceability of these statutes,” said attorney Erick Kaarda, who filed Franzese’s motion.
Ellison spokesman John Stiles said any appeal is not likely to change the outcome and is not in the broad public interest.
Kaardal already tried unsuccessfully to intervene in the case on behalf of Pro-Life Action Ministries. The Court of Appeals ruled Pro-Life Action Ministries didn’t have legal standing to step in.
Kaardal said this time, he is working on behalf of a prosecutor who does have legal standing.
