Court Digest

Alabama
Lawmaker resigns and agrees to plead guilty to voter fraud
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama legislator will plea guilty to a felony voter fraud charge that he used a fraudulent address to run for office in a district where he did not live, according to an agreement filed Thursday.

Republican Rep. David Cole, of Huntsville, resigned from the Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday. He will plead guilty to a charge of voting in an unauthorized location, according to a plea agreement filed in state court.

Cole, a doctor and Army veteran, was elected to the House of Representatives last year. According to a plea agreement, Cole signed a lease in 2021 to pay $5 per month for a5-by-5 space in a home in order to run for office in House District 10. Cole had some mail sent there, but never “stepped past the entry foyer” on the two times he visited the location he claimed as his residence, according to the plea agreement.

Alabama law requires candidates to live in a legislative district for one year before they run for office. Cole signed the lease for the space two days after a redistricting plan was enacted that placed the home, where Cole had lived since 2014, in another House district. Cole provided an altered version of the lease — which specified he was renting a house and not a 5-by-5 space — when media questions arose about his residency, prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement.

Cole in 2022 signed another lease for an apartment in District 10, but he continued to claim a property tax break from the county by saying he resided at his house, according to the plea agreement.

“Dr. Cole admits and takes full responsibility for the mistakes he made in the political process. He entered the process to serve his community. (He) has lived a life of service including serving for 22 years in the Army with tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt,” Bill Espy, a lawyer representing Cole, said in a statement on Cole’s behalf.

According to the plea agreement, Cole will serve 60 days in the Madison County Jail and the remainder of a three-year sentence on unsupervised probation.

Cole’s arrest on Tuesday comes after accusations surfaced that he did not live in the district in which he was elected.

Elijah Boyd, the Libertarian candidate in the district, had filed an election challenge in civil court, arguing that Cole did not live in District 10 and was not eligible to represent the district.

Cole is the second lawmaker to resign this year after facing criminal charges. Rep. Fred Plump Jr., a Democrat from Fairfield, resigned in May. Plump pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Indiana
Prosecutor asks State Police to investigate dog deaths in back of uncooled truck
CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) — Prosecutors have asked Indiana State Police to investigate the recent deaths of at least eight dogs from heat-related injuries while being transported in the back of an uncooled box truck.

The dead dogs were discovered July 27 in Lake Station while the truck traveled from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to a training facility in Michigan.

The animal rights group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals had called for a state police investigation, and the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office formally requested one Wednesday.

The dogs that died were among 18 shepherds in the truck.

The driver, whom police have not named, said he was unaware that the air conditioning in the cargo area of the truck had failed until he heard dogs barking. He pulled off Interstate 94 at a convenience store and gas station in Lake Station. When he opened the back, he found several dogs dead and others suffering. Several store employees and passersby stepped in to aid the dogs.

Jennifer Webber, executive director of the Humane Society of Hobart, responded to the scene and said the dogs displayed signs of heatstroke: salivating heavily, wobbling, vomiting and convulsing.

“There were already several dogs dead on the scene, and multiple failing fast,” Webber said at the time. “Their crates inside the truck were completely trashed on the inside, and the little water bowls were the size you’d give a parrot. And they were empty and torn up as if the dogs were exasperated.”

Webber said she encountered resistance when attempting to gather facts for her investigation. The police officer in charge of the scene told her she could leave because the deaths were an accident that “the owner will take care of.”

The owner, who was driving the vehicle, used abusive language, cursed at her and refused to produce health certificates, Webber said. Such paperwork is typically signed by veterinarians in each state involved and required to move dogs across borders for commerce.

Webber said she doubted a veterinarian would have approved travel that day when heat indices exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius).

Ohio
Lawmaker stripped of leadership after second arrest on domestic violence
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Ohio state Rep. Bob Young was stripped of his leadership position in the Ohio House on Thursday after his second arrest in less than two months in an ongoing domestic violence case.

Fellow Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens removed the Summit County representative from his position as a committee chair, following him being charged with violating a protective order. A grand jury in July indicted Young on domestic violence and assault charges. Young’s lawyer did not respond to messages seeking comment left Wednesday and Thursday.

The removal, confirmed by Stephens’ spokesperson Aaron Mulvey, weakens Young’s authority in the House and cuts his pay by $9,000. Stephens previously asked Young to resign, but Young refused. Because the charges are misdemeanors and not felonies, Young is allowed to maintain his seat. Some Democratic lawmakers formally called for him to lose any special authority in the House and echoed Stephens’ calls for him to resign earlier this week. “Rep. Young’s alleged pattern of continued behavior directly conflicts with the values we uphold as elected officials and Ohioans,” Reps. Tavia Galonski and Casey Weinstein, both Summit County Democrats, said in a joint statement. Last week, Young was arrested on allegations he violated a protective order by leaving multiple voicemails for his wife. He was released on his own recognizance but must wear an ankle monitor 24/7. In July, Young struck his wife in the face and threw her phone in their pool to prevent her from calling 911, police alleged. When she sought safe haven at Young’s brother’s home, Young followed her and charged his brother when he refused to let him inside, resulting in a shattered glass door and injuries to both men, authorities claim. In a previous statement, Young said he didn’t believe his actions were criminal and said he loves his family.

Massachusetts
Ex-deputy indicted for threatening to blow up county courthouse
BOSTON (AP) — A former sheriff’s deputy in Massachusetts was indicted Wednesday for allegedly threatening to blow up a courthouse and kill law enforcement officers.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said a federal grand jury indicted Joshua Ford, 42, of Kingston, Massachusetts, on three counts of interstate transmission of a threatening communication. If convicted, Ford could be sentenced up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 on each charge.

Ford, who is currently being held in state custody, is accused of sending a dozen emails to around 140 people, most of them Massachusetts law enforcement officers, in which he calls for their help in burning down the Plymouth County Courthouse, breaking the arms and legs of every court officer and killing court security officers.

Ford also allegedly calls on law enforcement officers to come to the courthouse with gasoline, explosives, weapons and SWAT teams on March 14. Ford was arrested on March 13 after the emails were sent.

It is unclear what prompted Ford to send the emails. But the indictment references his belief that the justice system is corrupt. A phone number could not be found for Ford, and it is unclear if he has a lawyer.

New Hampshire
Former basketball coach gets 25-year sentence for making child sex abuse material
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former New Hampshire college volunteer basketball coach was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison on charges of producing and possessing child sexual abuse material.

Joshua Pincoske appeared in federal court in Concord. He called his actions despicable and said he takes full responsibility or them, WMUR-TV reported.

Pincoske had pleaded guilty to the charges in May as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Five other related charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante also ordered that Pincoske serve a 10-year term of supervised release after his release. Pincoske also will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Pincoske, 48, has been in custody since he was arrested in February 2022 in Concord on related state charges. He was a general manager at a printing and marketing firm, and a volunteer assistant basketball coach for the men’s program at Colby-Sawyer College in New London.

Prosecutors said that Pincoske sexually exploited and abused seven girls over nearly five years. They ranged in age from 14 to 17 and were from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. He met one of the girls through a youth basketball program, the others online.

Pincoske’s volunteer status at Colby-Sawyer College was rescinded once after he was charged. The college said no complaints were filed against him during his time there.

“Pincoske sexually degraded these children for his own gratification, filmed and photographed the abuse of these children, distributed many of those images and videos to others, and even offered one victim to another man if he agreed to pay her money,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. They had asked for a 30-year sentence.

Pincoske’s lawyers asked for a 20-year sentence, saying it is “comparable to the sentence imposed in some homicide cases” and said he had a difficult upbringing as a child.

It added, “Joshua Pincoske has already lost essentially everything in his life – his wife, his children, his job, and his friends.”

Pincoske also has agreed to plead guilty to state charges next month in Strafford and Merrimack counties.