National Roundup

Kansas
Trooper finds nearly $350K of suspected drug money in gas tank

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper found nearly $350,000 of suspected drug money hidden in the gas tank of a pickup truck after pulling over the driver on Interstate 70.

The Wichita Eagle reports  that federal prosecutors filed a civil asset forfeiture case Tuesday, asking a judge to give the money to the government.

The money was found in December after a trooper pulled over the driver for a traffic violation. The affidavit says the cash was “rubber-banded” and “wrapped in vacuum-sealed plastic bags” hidden in the fuel tank.

The driver told the trooper he was headed from Chicago to Pasco, Washington, but declined to answer questions about the money. He has a criminal history involving money laundering.

Virginia
Babysitter acquitted of killing child in her care

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — A woman living in Virginia has been found not guilty of fatally injuring a 7-month-old girl she was babysitting.

Lirio Jazmin Godinez-Gonzalez, of Mexico, was acquitted of felony homicide and child neglect charges in Chesterfield Circuit Court on Tuesday, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

The 34-year-old was accused of involvement in the death of Ashley Bonilla-Rodriquez, who died of blunt-force trauma to the head two days after being taken to a hospital in December 2018, according to the medical examiner. Godinez-Gonzalez was watching three children at the time, including her own, Chesterfield County investigators have said.

But prosecutors couldn’t prove during the two-day trial that Ashley’s fatal injuries happened while she was in Godinez-Gonzalez’s care, the newspaper said. Medical testimony showed that the injuries likely happened the morning the child was left with Godinez-Gonzalez, but couldn’t be placed exactly within the time frame the infant was away from her mother. Other records showed Ashley had sustained severe injuries, possibly up to two weeks before the day she died, according to the Times-Dispatch.

Godinez-Gonzalez was living in the U.S. illegally when she was arrested. She initially entered the country legally as a nonimmigrant visitor, but failed to leave as required by the terms of her visa, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told news outlets. Godinez-Gonzalez was being held in Atlanta in ICE custody while she awaited trial.

It’s unclear whether she will now return to Mexico.

Georgia
Rap impostors accused of scamming luxury hotels of thousands

ATLANTA (AP) — A crew of Rolls Royce-riding identity thieves who posed as rap industry figures scammed more than $100,000 from some of the South’s most exclusive hotels, prosecutors say.

The group told hotel workers they were with the entertainment firm Roc Nation, and listed the rap group Wu-Tang Clan with at least one of the hotels, according to a criminal complaint filed this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

The Georgian Terrace Hotel in Atlanta — where cast members from “Gone With The Wind” stayed during film’s Atlanta premiere — was left with a $45,000 unpaid bill. Representatives of the Hyatt Regency Atlanta told the FBI the group walked away without paying its $39,000 tab.

They had been driving a Roll Royce Phantom rented from A-National Limousine, which reported a loss of nearly $60,000.

The group also used two Atlanta recording studios, which lost a total of more than $17,000, the complaint states.

Walker Washington and Aaron Barnes-Burpo are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Credits cards used in the scam included one that was stolen, and another that was likely fake, the complaint states.

The scam unraveled at a Fairfield Inn and Suites in Augusta, Georgia, where 10 rooms were booked, supposedly for an artist and his entourage. The reservation listed Roc Nation and the Wu Tang Clan, prosecutors said. But the staff suspected a scam, and the hotel sales director called Roc Nation and was told the company was not associated with the men booking rooms.

After Barnes-Burpo tried to check in under the Roc Nation reservation, he and others with him were detained by Richmond County sheriff’s deputies. Two others with the group told deputies they were homeless men from Atlanta who had been recruited by the defendants to be bodyguards. Others who traveled with them were not charged.

Court records do not list attorneys for the defendants who could be reached for comment on their behalf.

Iowa
Woman accused of racist attacks  incompetent for trial, judge rules

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A woman accused of hate crimes in the Des Moines area, including intentionally running over a girl she thought was Mexican, has been ruled incompetent for trial.

Nicole Poole, 42, is charged with assault in violation of individual rights for an incident at a convenience store and with attempted murder. Police have said she intentionally ran over two children with her SUV. Both survived.

On Dec. 30, a judge ordered an evaluation for Poole after her attorney reported that he’d only just met Poole but that he thought she was incompetent to stand trial. The prosecutors didn’t fight the defense request for a psychiatric evaluation.

After hearing evidence and arguments, the judge ruled Tuesday “by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant is suffering from a mental disorder which prevents her from appreciating the charges, understanding the proceedings or assisting effectively in her own defense.”

The judge suspended case proceedings and ordered state treatment for Poole to restore her to competency. An April 21 hearing is scheduled to reconsider the matter. Court documents indicate Poole also goes by the name Nicole Franklin.

Authorities have said Poole drove her SUV onto a sidewalk in the Des Moines suburb of Clive on Dec. 9 to hit 14-year-old Natalia Miranda. The girl was hospitalized for two days. Clive Police Chief Michael Venema has said Poole told officers she targeted Miranda because the girl “is Mexican.”

After the hit-and-run, Poole went to a convenience store and threw items at a clerk while directing racial epithets at him and customers, West Des Moines police said in a court document.

Poole also is charged with attempted murder for driving over a Des Moines curb on the same day to hit a 12-year-old black boy, authorities said.