New Jersey
Prosecutor: Man faces 20-year term after casino slaying plea
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty in the stabbing death of his girlfriend in a New Jersey casino almost two years ago, prosecutors said.
Atlantic County prosecutors said 61-year-old Frankie Lane pleaded guilty last week to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the June 2021 slaying of 57-year-old Sharon Whaley at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City.
The prosecutor’s office said Laine entered the plea as part of an agreement that includes a recommendation to the judge for a 20-year term when he is sentenced June 23. Prosecutors said he will be required to serve 85% of the sentence before being eligible for parole.
Authorities said police were called to the casino and found the victim dead in a hotel room with a sheet covering her body and a knife on top of the sheet. Lane, her boyfriend, was seen leaving the hotel with a bag later recovered from a trash can that contained a bloodstained shirt, authorities said. He was seen boarding a bus back to Philadelphia at the Atlantic City bus terminal and turned himself in to authorities days later, prosecutors said.
Minnesota
Woman who left newborn to die sentenced to prison
RED WING, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota woman who admitted to leaving her newborn son to die near the Mississippi River two decades ago has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Jennifer Matter, of Belvidere Township outside Red Wing, was sentenced Friday for second-degree murder, KARE-TV reported. She pleaded guilty in January to leaving the baby on the banks of the river in 2003.
She was not arrested until May 10, 2022, after DNA evidence tied her to the boy, authorities said.
Prosecutors have said the DNA evidence also links Matter to a baby girl found dead by the Mississippi in 1999 but she has not been charged in that case.
According to the criminal complaint, Matter said she hoped someone would find the baby boy alive after she left him.
Teenagers found the child’s body on Dec. 7, 2003, in Frontenac on the shore of Lake Pepin, a body of water on the Mississippi River.
California
Man gets 4 1/2 years for role in U.S. Capitol riot
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Southern California man who assaulted police with pepper spray during the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison, federal authorities announced.
Jeffrey Scott Brown, 56, of Santa Ana received a sentence of 54 months in federal prison for felony and misdemeanor charges related to the mob attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a Friday press statement.
More than 1,000 individuals have been arrested, including more than 320 people who have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, the DOJ said. Trump supporters that day tried to stop Congress from certifying presidential election results for Joe Biden, a Democrat, over Trump, a Republican.
Brown and two co-defendants were found guilty at trial in December.
Peter J. Schwartz of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, is scheduled to be sentenced in May. It was not clear why Markus Maly of Fincastle, Virginia, was not sentenced Friday as scheduled.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 70 months for Brown, who they say dove toward the front of a makeshift police line and used on officers a stolen can of pepper spray handed to him by Schwartz.
Brown’s attorney, Samuel C. Moore, sought 40 months in prison, according to court documents.
Moore said that the conduct involved “less than 10 minutes of Mr. Brown’s life” and the alleged pepper spray “did not make contact with any specific victim.” Still, Moore wrote, Brown admits he should never have been in the Capitol tunnel that day and that he takes responsibility for doing so.
Massachusetts
Violent gang enforcer gets more than 12 years in prison
BOSTON (AP) — A former enforcer for the Latin Kings gang, who authorities say was involved in violent attacks and shootings targeting rivals, has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.
Orlando Santiago-Torres, 27, an enforcer for the New Bedford chapter of the Massachusetts Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, was responsible for planning violence, instilling discipline and organizing security at apartments from which the gang distributed drugs, prosecutors said in a statement Friday.
“As a leader of the New Bedford Chapter of the Latin Kings, Santiago-Torres engaged in at least three shootings, two brutal gang beatings, and dealt drugs, destroying any sense of safety on this city’s streets,” Joseph Bonavolonta, head of the FBI’s Boston office said in a statement.
The Latin Kings are a violent nationwide gang that distributes drugs to generate revenue and engages in violence to further its influence and to protect its turf, prosecutors said.
In one incident in July 2019, Santiago-Torres fired several shots at rival gang members as they fled and in another case in September 2019, he participated in a shooting in which a victim was struck by gunfire and shell casings were linked to a gun recovered from his apartment. Santiago-Torres was also accused of dragging a victim out of a vehicle and beating him in November 2019.
“He actively led and promoted violence in order to instill fear among his adversaries and further the illicit influence of the New Bedford Chapter of the Latin Kings,” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement. He then boasted about his actions online and made additional threats, she said.
Santiago-Torres was among 62 reputed gang leaders, members and associates indicted in December 2019 and he is the 59th to be sentenced, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty in June to federal racketeering and drug charges.
Florida
DeSantis board approves suing Disney in response to lawsuit
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Days after Disney sued Florida’s governor in federal court for what it described as retaliation for opposing the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, members of Disney World’s governing board — made up of Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees — authorized a lawsuit Monday against the entertainment giant.
Members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District voted unanimously to sue Disney in state court in the Orlando area, as well as defend itself in federal court in Tallahassee where the entertainment company filed its lawsuit last Wednesday.
The Disney lawsuit against the governor, the board and its five members asks a judge to void the governor’s takeover of the theme park district previously controlled by Disney for 55 years.
“We will seek justice in our own backyard,” said Martin Garcia, chair of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
An email seeking comment was sent Monday morning to Disney officials.
Disney filed its lawsuit last week after the oversight board appointed by DeSantis voted to void a deal that gave the company authority over design and construction decisions in its sprawling properties near Orlando.
Disney’s lawsuit was the latest salvo in a more than year-old feud between Disney and DeSantis that has engulfed the governor in criticism as he prepares to launch an expected presidential bid in the coming months.
DeSantis, who has framed himself as a Republican firebrand able to deftly implement his conservative agenda without drama, has dived headlong into the fray with the beloved company and major tourism driver, as business leaders and White House rivals bash his stance as a rejection of the small-government tenets of conservatism.
The fight began last year after Disney, in the face of significant pressure, publicly opposed a state law that bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, a policy critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”
As punishment, DeSantis took over Disney World’s self-governing district and appointed a new board of supervisors that would oversee municipal services in the sprawling theme parks. But before the new board came in, the company pushed though an 11th-hour agreement that stripped the new supervisors of much of their authority.
Kansas
Wrongfully convicted man to get $7.5 million payment
OSKALOOSA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man who spent 16 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn’t commit will receive $7.5 million from the county where he was arrested and convicted of the crime.
Jefferson County commissioners approved the settlement last week with Floyd Bledsoe, who was released from prison in 2015 after DNA evidence showed he could not have been the killer of 14-year-old Camille Arfmann in Oskaloosa.
Bledsoe will receive $1.5 million initially, with the rest to be paid over the next 10 years, The Kansas City Star reported.
Bledsoe, who is now 46, was 23 when he was convicted in 2000 of killing the girl. He was arrested even though his brother, Tom, confessed to the killing in 1999, turned himself in and led authorities to the girl’s body.
According to a lawsuit Floyd Bledsoe filed in 2016, Jefferson County authorities persuaded Tom Bledsoe to recant his confession and “framed” his brother by hiding evidence of his innocence.
In 2015, DNA testing revealed Tom Bledsoe was the likely source of sperm found in the victim. Tom Bledsoe died by suicide that year after writing a note again confessing to killing Arfmann.
The charges against Floyd Bledsoe were dismissed and he was freed from prison that year.
One of Bledsoe’s attorneys, Russell Ainsworth of Loevy & Loevy in Chicago, said Jefferson County was facing up to $40 million in liability if the case went to trial.
Jefferson County Commissioner Richard Malm said the county’s annual budget is about $20 million and the commission would have had to propose a bond if Bledsoe had not agreed to have the payment spread over 10 years.
In 2019, the state agreed to pay Bledsoe $1.03 million under a mistaken conviction law.
Missouri
Man sentenced in death of caged, dismembered woman
BUFFALO, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the death of a woman who authorities said was kept in a cage and dismembered.
James Phelps, 60, entered an Alford plea Friday to first-degree murder, kidnapping and abandonment of a corpse in the death of 33-year-old Cassie Rainwater, The Springfield News-Leader reported. Under an Alford plea, Phelps does not admit guilt but acknowledges enough evidence exists to convict him.
Phelps and Timothy Norton were charged in September 2021 after DNA tests identified the remains found at Phelps’ home near Lebanon as Rainwater, Dallas County officials said at the time.
Authorities said the men were initially arrested on a kidnapping charge after the FBI received a tip that photos of Rainwater partially nude and in a cage were found on Phelps’ phone.
Dallas County Sheriff Scott Rice has said other photos showed Rainwater’s body had been disemboweled and dismembered.
Some of her remains were later found in a freezer, while others were located on a nearby property.
Rainwater was reported missing in August 2021 by a woman who said she was last seen with Phelps.
Phelps twice told investigators that Rainwater was staying with him but she had left for Colorado, according to court records.
Phelps’ house later burned to the ground in what investigators determined was arson.
Norton, who faces the same charges as Phelps, is scheduled for a court hearing on Tuesday.
