National Roundup

Florida
Two men plead guilty to charges related to a drive-by-shooting
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Two men have pleaded guilty to charges related to a drive-by-shooting in central Florida that left 11 people wounded earlier this year, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Nicholas Hanson and Marcus Mobley have pleaded guilty to possessing ammunition and possessing a firearm and ammunition as convicted felons. They could be sentenced to 15 years in prison at a later sentencing hearing, federal prosecutors said in a news release.

Eleven men were wounded in January when a four-door sedan pulled up near an intersection in Lakeland, Florida, where people were milling about. People from inside the vehicle started shooting in all directions. Only a minute earlier, a school bus had dropped off children in the Lakeland neighborhood, authorities said.

According to prosecutors, Mobley owned the vehicle, and DNA samples from both men were recovered from spent shell casings found at the scene. Both men had prior felony convictions and were prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition, prosecutors said.

Lakeland is located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Tampa.

Nebraska
Small-town sheriff faces felony charge
ORD, Neb. (AP) — A small-town Nebraska sheriff is facing a felony charge, but few details about the allegations against him were immediately available.

The Nebraska State Patrol said Valley County Sheriff Casey Hurlburt was arrested Tuesday, and prosecutors with the state Attorney General’s office plan to charge him with fraudulent insurance acts after investigating him for months.

But Nebraska Attorney General’s office spokeswoman Suzanne Gage said she couldn’t disclose any details about the case, and the complaint against Hurlburt wasn’t available in court records Wednesday morning. The Nebraska State Patrol referred all questions to the AG’s office.

Hurlburt has been released from custody, but Hall County Jail officials don’t have any records showing whether he posted bail because he has been released.

Hurlburt isn’t scheduled to make his initial court appearance until Oct. 25.

The Associated Press left a message for Hurlburt Wednesday morning, but a woman who answered the phone there said he hadn’t been in the office in Ord since his arrest. The case isn’t listed in online court records yet, so it’s not clear if he has an attorney.

Ord is a small town in the middle of Nebraska about 185 miles (about 300 kilometers) west of Omaha. About 4,000 people live in Valley County.

Texas
Brawl in Houston courtroom as murdered girl’s family tries to attack her killer after guilty plea
HOUSTON (AP) — Family members of a murdered 16-year-old girl tried to attack her ex-boyfriend during a court hearing Tuesday after he had pleaded guilty to shooting her nearly two dozen times while she was walking her dog.

Frank DeLeon, 19, agreed to plead guilty to murder in the January 2022 death of Diamond Alvarez in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

Alvarez was shot 22 times as she walked her dog in southwest Houston. She had planned to meet DeLeon, who was 17 at the time, to talk with him after finding out he had been in another relationship while they were still dating, prosecutors said.
Alvarez’s family members had previously said DeLeon had texted her shortly before she was killed and had asked her to meet him in a field near her home.

During a court hearing Tuesday, Alvarez’s mother, Anna Machado, took the witness stand to give a victim impact statement.

Video of the court hearing shows Machado finishing her statement and walking toward DeLeon, who was sitting at a table with his attorney. A bailiff blocks her path before she reaches the teen.

Suddenly, Alvarez’s uncle rushes to the front of the courtroom toward DeLeon. The uncle is quickly restrained, but DeLeon’s mother then comes and starts shoving Alvarez’s mother.

A woman pulls DeLeon’s mother to the ground before bailiffs pull the two apart and secure the courtroom.

After the court hearing, Machado told reporters she had been very angry and “I pray to God that he’ll remove that anger from me one day.”

“It was wrong of us and I apologize for that. I apologize to the judge, apologize to them ... and I’m so sorry. This should never happen,” Machado said.

DeLeon’s trial had been set to begin this week, but he decided to accept the plea agreement, prosecutors said. He must serve at least half of his 45-year sentence before being eligible for parole.

“This is a heartbreaking domestic violence case of a young girl who was murdered by someone she dated,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. “Our office has devoted significant resources, including investigators, prosecutors and public service campaigns to raise awareness about the incredible danger of intimate partner violence to try to end horrible cases like this.”

Nebraska
Governor faces backlash for comments on reporter’s nationality
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is facing backlash after comments he made about the Chinese nationality of a reporter whose story cited environmental concerns at farms owned by the governor.

Flatwater Free Press reporter Yanqi Xu wrote a story in September revealing that 16 of Pillen’s farms recorded nitrate levels at least five times higher than what is considered safe to drink. Consuming high levels of nitrate has been linked to health
problems such as thyroid disease, birth defects and cancer, according to the report.

Pillen, a Republican, was asked on a radio show days later about the story.

“No. 1, I didn’t read it. And I won’t,” Pillen said. “No. 2, all you got to do is look at the author. The author is from communist China. What more do you need to know?”

In a column posted Tuesday, Flatwater Free Press Executive Director Matt Wynn wrote that the governor’s comments infuriated him as an employer and saddened him as a believer in democracy and a free press.

“As a Nebraskan, it embarrasses me,” Wynn wrote.

An email message left Wednesday with Pillen’s office wasn’t immediately returned.

Xu grew up in China but has lived in the U.S. since 2017. She has worked for the Flatwater Free Press, an independent, nonprofit news organization based in Omaha, for two years.