National Roundup

New Jersey
Comedian awaits court hearing on program ­violation

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say a court hearing has not yet been scheduled for comedian Artie Lange following his arrest on a charge of having failed to comply with his drug court program.

The Essex County sheriff says Lange was arrested Tuesday morning at a halfway house on an unspecified violation.

Sheriff Armando Fontoura told NJ.com that Lange would remain at the county jail until he is called before a judge for re-evaluation. He said Lange “sounded good” and “looked sober” when he was arrested.

Lange spent almost a week in the county jail earlier this year after a positive drug test. He was placed on probation last year after pleading guilty to heroin possession stemming from a 2017 traffic stop.

The 51-year-old was on the Fox sketch comedy series “Mad TV” and was a longtime co-host on “The Howard Stern Show.”

Attempts to reach a representative for Lange were unsuccessful on Thursday.

Georgia
17-year-old indicted for murder of mother

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A 17-year old from Savannah has been indicted for murder in the stabbing death of his mother.

The Savannah Morning News reports that a Chatham County grand jury returned the malice-murder count against Tasciyah Kenlay Brant for causing the March 15 death of Wynter Brant by stabbing her with a sword.

Tasciyah Brant was also charged with felony murder and aggravated assault.

Savannah police found Wynter Brant, 38, deceased from a stab wound when they responded to their home on Lynah Street in Savannah.

Officers then located Tasciyah Brant, the victim’s son, and arrested him on a murder charge.

North Dakota
Parents of drug informant who died appeal ­lawsuit dismissal

WAHPETON, N.D. (AP) — The attorney for the parents of a North Dakota college student found dead after becoming an informant to drug investigators says they will appeal a judge’s decision to dismiss their wrongful death lawsuit.

Tim O’Keeffe said Thursday Tammy and John Sadek are disappointed with the ruling and a bit surprised by it. The Sadeks sued the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, one of its deputies and the county, alleging that their son was killed because he was coerced into becoming a drug informant.

Andrew Sadek was a 20-year-old student at North Dakota State College of Science when he got caught selling marijuana and agreed to become an informant in exchange for leniency. His body, with a gunshot wound to the head and rocks in his backpack, was found in the Red River in June 2014.

New York
Banker charged with trying to trade loans for Trump post

NEW YORK (AP) — A banker who prosecutors say tried to buy himself a senior post in President Donald Trump’s administration by making risky loans to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was arrested Thursday on a financial institution bribery charge.

Stephen M. Calk, 54, was scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court in the afternoon. A message was left with his attorney for comment.

Authorities said Calk committed the crime while serving as CEO of The Federal Savings Bank based in Chicago.

Federal prosecutors described the charge in a release, saying Calk abused his bank position by approving $16 million in high risk loans that were ultimately downgraded.

William F. Sweeney Jr., head of New York’s FBI office, said Calk “went to great lengths to avoid banking violations in an attempt to secure a senior position in a presidential administration.”

“His attempt at petitioning for political favors was unsuccessful in more ways than one — he didn’t get the job he wanted, and he compromised the one he had,” Sweeney Jr. added.

Manafort lobbied Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to consider Calk for Secretary of the Army, according to emails from the weeks leading up to the 2016 election shown to jurors at Manafort’s tax evasion and bank fraud trial last year.

Prosecutors said that while Manafort’s loans were pending approval, Calk gave Manafort a ranked list of government positions he wanted, starting with Secretary of the Treasury, followed by Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Defense, as well as 19 ambassadorships similarly ranked and starting with the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy.

According to trial evidence, Manafort passed along Calk’s resume to Kushner in a Nov. 30, 2016, email, along with two other names of people he said “should be a part of the Trump administration.”

Manafort wrote that the individuals would be “totally reliable and responsive to the Trump White House.

He also said Calk was “strong in defense issues, management and finance.”

Kushner responded, “On it!”

Calk was formally interviewed for the position of under secretary of the Army in early January 2017 at the Presidential Transition Team’s Manhattan offices, prosecutors noted.

But Calk never got an administration post, though he did approve Manafort’s loans.

Manafort is serving a 7½ year sentence on charges he misled the government over his foreign lobbying work and encouraged witnesses to lie on his behalf. He also faces an indictment in New York charging him with state crimes , including a residential mortgage fraud scheme.

Texas
Bible, other items kept from ex-Texas nurse held in deaths

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas judge has sided with prosecutors in withholding a Bible, letters and other personal items from a former nurse suspected of killing dozens of children.

Bexar County prosecutors argued in court Wednesday that 68-year-old Genene Jones’ writings in her Bible and other documents amounted to evidence showing her ability to comprehend.

A court determined in February that Jones is competent to stand trial, but her attorney says she has diminished capacity because of strokes.

Jones has served decades in prison for her 1984 conviction in the death of a 15-month-old and for giving an overdose to another infant.

She was scheduled to be released last year when prosecutors, citing new evidence, filed the first of five separate murder charges for infant deaths in the 1980s. She’s pleaded not guilty.