Georgia
Sheriff testifies to dispute civil rights charges
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia sheriff standing trial on federal charges that he abusing detainees’ rights by strapping them into restraint chairs as a form of punishment denied wrongdoing Thursday, insisting the chairs are safe as long as jailers follow provided rules.
Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill took the witness stand a day after prosecutors rested their case in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. They say Hill violated the rights of seven detainees at the Clayton County Jail whose placement in restraint chairs was unnecessary, was improperly used as punishment, and caused pain and bodily injury.
Hill testified that the chairs are used to protect jail staff and detainees, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He said some are strapped into the devices as a precaution because they exhibit “pre-attack indicators,” or behavior that suggests they might become violent.
“The best proactive use of force is restraint,” Hill said.
Hill is widely known as one of metro Atlanta’s most flamboyant lawmen. He calls himself “The Crime Fighter” and uses Batman imagery to promote himself on social media and in campaign ads.
Hill has pleaded not guilty to the civil rights charges.
The sheriff testified he was convinced the restraint chairs were safe when he first purchased them for the jail in 2018. He also said jail staff have been provided with clear rules for using the chairs, including requirements that jailers check detainees every 15 minutes they spend strapped into the chairs.
Hill also denied responsibility for two former detainees who testified in the case Tuesday. They said they had spent hours in the chairs with their hands cuffed behind their backs and arms bound. Both men said they were restrained for so long that they urinated on themselves.
This is Hill’s second trial on criminal charges. Clayton County voters reelected Hill in 2012 while he was under indictment the first time, accused of using his office for personal gain. He beat those charges.
New York
7 charged, accused of harassing Chinese national in U.S.
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal authorities in New York charged seven people Thursday, including five in the People’s Republic of China, with a campaign of harassment against a Chinese national and his family living in the U.S., trying to force him to return home.
They face charges including acting as agents of a foreign government, violations of the Travel Act and money laundering conspiracy.
The U.S. attorney’s office alleged the threats and harassment continued for years and were part of “Operation Fox Hunt,” characterized by the FBI as an illegal global effort by China to locate and repatriate alleged fugitives who flee to foreign countries.
In a statement Thursday, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace called it an “outrageous violation of national sovereignty.”
According to an indictment, the defendants forced a relative of the unidentified man to travel from China to the U.S. to try to convince him to return. They also allegedly sent letters threatening “severe legal punishments” and sued the man and his son in New York, alleging the man had stolen money from his employer in China.
Quanzhong An, of Roslyn, New York, described by prosecutors as the primary U.S. liaison in the conspiracy, met repeatedly with the man in 2020, 2021 and 2022 seeking to persuade him to return to China, including telling him the lawsuit would be dropped if he did so, according to the indictment.
The indictment also charged An and his daughter, Guangyang An, also of Roslyn, with conspiracy to commit money laundering for allegedly enlisting dozens of third parties to transfer millions of dollars from China to the U.S. in smaller increments to avoid running afoul of U.S. money laundering laws. Guangyang An also was charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in interstate harassment.
Quanzhong An, 55, and Guangyang An, 34, were arrested Thursday and pleaded not guilty at an initial court appearance later in the day.
Michael Horn, an attorney representing Quanzhong An, said his client “was never working for the Chinese government,” and added, “we will spend the next few weeks attempting to understand why the U.S. attorney’s office has jumped to such an unjustified conclusion.”
A message was left with an attorney representing Guangyang An.
The remaining five defendants in China — Tian Peng, Chenghua Chen, Chunde Ming, Xuexin Hou and Weidong Yuan — were at large.
Massachusetts
Inmate charged in brutal attack on guard appears in court
WOBURN, Mass. (AP) — A convicted murderer charged with using a heavy piece of weightlifting equipment to savagely beat a guard at a Massachusetts prison thought the attack would get him returned to his home state of Virginia, a prosecutor said in court on Thursday.
Roy Booth, 40, pleaded not guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to charges including armed assault with intent to murder in connection with the Aug. 31 attack on Corrections Officer Matthew Tidman at Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Shirley.
Tidman spent more than a month in the hospital in a coma with severe head injuries and continues to recover at a rehabilitation facility, according to a representative of his union.
“Matt, over the last couple of weeks, has made some pretty good headway in the recovery process,” Kevin Flanagan of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union said outside of court. “He’s rehabilitating now, he is moving a little bit up and around, walking, and eating. So we’re very happy with the progress that he has made, but it’s a very long road with many surgeries ahead of him.”
Tidman, 36, was monitoring the recreation area at the medium security facility when he was struck multiple times with a metal pole the suspect had unscrewed from the weightlifting apparatus, authorities said. Other guards came to his aid.
The pole was about 2 feet (61 centimeters) long and weighed 5 to 6 pounds (2.3 to 2.7 kilograms), Assistant District Attorney Thomas Brant said at the arraignment. Authorities had previously said it was heavier.
“Mr. Booth had made statements previous to this incident that he was looking for a way to get back to Virginia, that one of the ways he could get back to Virginia is if he hurts someone,” Brant said.
Booth was held without bail, even though he is already serving a life sentence. His public defender declined comment outside of court.
Booth was transferred to Massachusetts in March 2021 under the Interstate Corrections Compact, prosecutors have said.
Pennsylvania
Prison escapee accused of sending threatening letter, powder
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have accused a Pennsylvania prison escapee of sending a letter with threats to kill President Biden and the chairman of the Jan. 6 committee, among others, and containing a white powder with an allusion to anthrax.
Robert Maverick Vargo, 25, of Berwick is charged with making threats against the president and a federal official and with interstate communications with a threat.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Scranton said the Washington office of U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., received a letter Oct. 11 threatening him, the president and a federal judge, and referencing Thompson’s role as chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Prosecutors said the letter “alluding to ‘anthrax’” contained a white powder that U.S. Capitol Police determined did not pose “an immediate public safety hazard.” Prosecutors allege that both letter and substance were sent from the Luzerne County Correctional Center in Wilkes-Barre.
Vargo made headlines over the summer when he ran away from a clean-up detail operated out of the Luzerne County jail’s minimal offenders unit on July 17. Federal marshals recaptured him days later near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Court documents indicate that Vargo pleaded guilty to an escape charge Friday in Luzerne County and awaits sentencing Dec. 27. A message was left Wednesday for the attorney representing him. He was also awaiting trial on burglary, weapons and other counts in Columbia County; his attorney in that case declined comment. Federal court documents don’t list an attorney for him and the federal public defender’s office said it had not yet been contacted about representing him; listed numbers in his name were no longer in service Wednesday.
Rhode Island
Final defendant in fake military gear scheme gets 2 years
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The third and final defendant in an illegal scheme to supply $20 million worth of substandard counterfeit clothing and gear made in China to the U.S. military has been sentenced to two years in prison, federal prosecutors said.
Terry Roe, 49, of Burlington, North Dakota, was the manager of a supplier that purchased the counterfeit apparel from the other members of the conspiracy and acted as the point of contact with supply personnel at military bases, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island.
Many of the counterfeit items, which were passed off as American-made and did not meet safety specifications, were ultimately worn or carried by Air Force personnel, prosecutors said.
They included more than 13,000 counterfeit jackets that were supposed to be made of a fabric difficult to detect with night vision goggles, but were not. Some gear that was supposed to be flame resistant was not.
For his efforts, Roe was paid about $60,000 by the leader of the scheme, prosecutors said.
U.S. law requires that uniforms and gear sold to the Defense Department be produced in the United States or certain other designated countries. China is not among them.
No evidence was presented to indicate any harm came to U.S. military personnel because of the counterfeit apparel.
Roe, who was also sentenced Thursday to three years of probation, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods. Restitution will be determined at a later date.
The leader of the conspiracy, Ramin Kohanbash, 52, of New York City, was sentenced this month to more than three years in prison. Another man, Bernard Klein, 41, of New York City, was sentenced in April 2021 to 18 months behind bars.
Maine
Corrections officer convicted of manslaughter for death
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A corrections officer who caused a fatal crash after working consecutive 16-hour shifts was convicted of manslaughter on Thursday.
Kenneth Morang told police he fell asleep before his truck collided with a family that was returning home in their SUV after seeing “The Lion King” movie in July 2019. A 9-year-old, Raelynn Bell, died several days later.
Prosecutors said Morang knew he was too tired to be driving, and admitted he’d been nodding off before the collision.
But the 64-year-old testified he wasn’t sure about whether he fell asleep because he had no memory of the moments before the collision.
Morang resigned from his job at the Cumberland County Jail because of the injuries he suffered in the crash prevented him from returning to work.
