Court Digest

Pennsylvania
Justice’s name surfaces in brother’s trial for embezzlement
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A witness in federal court reportedly testified this week that he oversaw thousands of dollars in improvements at the Philadelphia home of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice, work he said was initially paid for by the labor union that the justice’s brother led at the time.

The testimony about Justice Kevin Dougherty came during the federal embezzlement trial of his brother John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, on trial for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Contractor Anthony Massa testified that he oversaw $7,500 worth of painting and drywall work at Kevin Dougherty’s northeast Philadelphia home in 2011 that he had been instructed to bill to Local 98, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

While questioning Massa, a defense lawyer contended that the justice’s wife had paid Massa at the time in cash. Massa said she had not.

Kevin Dougherty’s lawyer, Courtney Saleski, said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that Massa is “an admitted liar.”

“In contrast, anyone who knows Justice Dougherty understands his integrity,” Saleski said. “The only consistency in his testimony is the spewing of falsehoods attempting to tarnish others while covering for his own felonious behavior.”

Massa is the only codefendant to plead guilty in the wide-ranging case accusing top union officials of misusing union dues to pay for personal expenses.

Massa acknowledged that he had not told Kevin Dougherty that Local 98 was paying the bill.

He testified a day later that Dougherty did eventually write him a check for that job — five years later, the Inquirer reported. That was after the FBI revealed it was investigating his brother by searching John Dougherty’s home, a nearby union bar, the electricians’ union headquarters and a city councilman’s office.

Kevin Dougherty has not been accused of wrongdoing. He was a Philadelphia judge in 2011 and ran successfully for state Supreme Court in 2015. The electricians’ union was a major donor to his campaign.

John Dougherty, 63, has denied the embezzlement allegations. Dougherty was indicted in 2019 and convicted in 2021 of conspiracy and fraud in a separate corruption trial.

He resigned from Local 98 a day later.

Indiana
Man sentenced to probation for threats made to congressman
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana man accused of intimidating and harassing GOP U.S. Rep. Jim Banks and his family earlier this year was sentenced to probation Friday, according to court records.

Aaron L. Thompson, of Fort Wayne, was charged with felony intimidation with the threat to commit a forcible felony and misdemeanor harassment by means of a telephone call.
He was sentenced to nearly three years of probation by an Allen County judge after entering a plea deal, records show.

Thompson’s attorney, Bart Arnold, told The Associated Press, “He is very sorry for what happened and is grateful for the grace shown to him by the Banks family.”

According to a report by television station WPTA, Thompson was accused of calling Banks’s office in April and leaving threatening messages toward the congressman and his family. Thompson told police he was intoxicated and disagreed with Banks’ political views, according to the report.

“Here’s the choice. Your daughters grow up without their dad or you grow old without your daughters,” Thompson allegedly said, according to the report. “Boom, boom you pick”
Thompson also told Banks he hoped the congressman died in a car crash or got “his brains blown out,” WPTA reported.

Banks, who represents Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District, said in a statement that the threats “significantly impacted” his family.

He also thanked Allen County prosecutors, Indiana State Police, U.S. Capitol police and the Allen County Sheriff’s Department.

Banks is the frontrunner in the race to fill Indiana’s U.S. Senate seat left open by Sen. Mike Braun, who is not seeking reelection and is running for governor in 2024.


Mississippi
Authorities investigate claim trooper recorded, circulated video of sexual encounter
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s Department of Public Safety is investigating an allegation that a state trooper filmed a sexual encounter she had with an intoxicated woman and circulated it throughout the agency without the woman’s consent.

WLBT-TV reported that it had obtained a copy of the complaint the woman filed with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Mississippi Highway Patrol, confirmed Friday that the department is conducting an internal investigation.

The station did not name the woman who filed the complaint. The complaint did not name the trooper.

The complaint states that several months ago the two women had dinner and drinks before going to the trooper’s home.

“Much of that night is a blur,” the victim said in the complaint. “I became unusually and extremely intoxicated. The next morning I woke up in bed without my clothes on. ... I was aware a sexual encounter had taken place but had difficulty remembering any of what happened.”

The woman said she remembered a phone being used. She said the trooper assured the woman that her face wasn’t visible in the recording, according to the complaint. But the victim said she later discovered that her face was visible and that the video had been circulated in the law enforcement agency.

“The Mississippi Department of Public Safety has been made aware of these serious allegations involving a Mississippi Highway Patrol state trooper,” DPS spokesperson Bailey Martin told WLBT on Tuesday. “A formal complaint has not been filed with the Mississippi Highway Patrol regarding the alleged incident; however, an internal investigation is being conducted.”

Martin confirmed the statement in an email to The Associated Press.

“Our client has suffered immense harm, both physically and emotionally, and it is our utmost priority to ensure that they receive the justice they deserve,” Robert Parrish, an attorney for the woman, said in a statement. “We are fully dedicated to uncovering the truth, holding any responsible parties accountable.”

New York
Man accused of kidnapping a 9-year-old girl from park is charged with rape
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. (AP) — A man accused of kidnapping a 9-year-old girl from a state park in upstate New York raped the child during the two days she was held hostage before her rescue, prosecutors said Friday.

Craig N. Ross Jr. was initially charged only with first-degree kidnapping in the abduction of the girl on Sept. 30 from Moreau Lake State Park, located in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains about 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Albany.

A massive search in the rural area ended two days later when state police troopers and FBI SWAT team stormed a camper Ross was staying in. Rescuers found the girl in a cabinet.

The break in the case had come after officers stationed at the girl’s home saw someone drop a ransom note in the family’s mailbox before dawn. State police matched fingerprints on the note to Ross, who was in a database because of a 1999 drunken driving case.

An indictment made public Friday kept the kidnapping charge and added four counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, along with charges of sexual abuse, assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Ross pleaded not guilty in Saratoga County Court.

A phone message seeking comment was made to his lawyer.

District Attorney Karen Heggen told reporters afterward that the defendant committed a heinous offense against a young victim.

“We will hold him accountable and responsible,” she said to WNYT-TV.

The girl had been riding her bike around a campsite loop in the park with other children on a Saturday evening when she decided to ride around one more time by herself. Her parents became alarmed when she failed to return after about 15 minutes.

An Amber Alert was issued the next morning and more than 100 police, forest rangers and civilians took part in a search that employed drones, bloodhounds and an airboat.
Troopers set up checkpoints on the winding, rural roads around the park.

Ross has been in jail without bail since his arrest.

Florida
Convicted sex offender found guilty of hacking jumbotron
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A convicted child molester was found guilty Friday of hacking the jumbotron at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium after the team learned he was a registered sex offender and fired him.

A federal jury found 53-year-old Samuel Arthur Thompson, of St. Augustine, guilty of producing, receiving and possessing sexual images of children, producing such images while required to register as a sex offender, violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, sending unauthorized damaging commands to a protected computer and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, according to court records.

Thompson faces a mandatory minimum of 35 years in prison when he’s sentenced March 25.

Thompson was arrested in early 2020 after being deported by the Philippines back to the U.S., officials said. He had fled to the Southeast Asia country about six months earlier, after the FBI executed a search warrant at his home a seized several of his computers, according to a criminal complaint.

According to court records, Thompson was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Alabama in 1998. Among other things, the conviction required him to register as a sex offender and to report any international travel.

The Jaguars hired Thompson as a contractor in 2013 to consult on the design and installation of their new video board network and later to operate the jumbotron on gamedays, investigators said. The team chose not to renew his contract in 2018 after learning of his conviction and status as a sex offender.

According to prosecutors, before Thompson’s contract ended in March 2018, he installed remote access software on a spare server in the Jaguars’ server room. He then remotely accessed computers that control the jumbotron during three 2018 season games, causing the video boards to malfunction repeatedly.

The Jaguars eventually found the spare server and removed its access to the jumbotron, prosecutors said. The next time the server was accessed during a game, the team was able to collect network information about the intruder, which the FBI traced to Thompson’s home, prosecutors said.

The FBI executed a search warrant at Thompson’s residence in July 2019 and seized a phone, a tablet and two laptops, which had all be used to access the spare jumbotron server, according to log files. Agents also said they seized a firearm, which Thompson was prohibited from possessing as a convicted felon.

The FBI also found thousands of images and hundreds of videos of child sexual abuse on the devices. The files included videos and images that Thompson had produced a month before the raid on his home that depicted children that had been in his care and custody, investigators said.

The Jaguars released a statement thanking federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work on the case.

“We are proud of our current and former employees who provided evidence and testimony to assist in the conviction,” the statement said.