New York
Tony Bennett’s daughters sue their brother over his handling of the late singer’s assets
NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Bennett’s two daughters are suing their brother, alleging he mishandled and failed to disclose some of their father’s assets in his role as trustee of the late singer ‘s estate.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York by Antonia and Johanna Bennett accuses D’Andrea “Danny” Bennett of not accounting for all of the proceeds from this year’s sale of Tony Bennett’s catalog and certain image rights to the brand development firm Iconoclast.
The court filing claims that “it remains unclear what music assets (and other property) were or were not sold as part of the deal” because the sisters “have not been provided with various details of the transaction despite repeated requests.”
Danny Bennett, who was the singer’s manager and runs the family trust, didn’t respond Thursday to an email and phone message seeking comment on the lawsuit. Another brother, Daegal “Dae” Bennett, and Tony’s widow, Susan Benedetto, were also named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit further alleges that Danny Bennett “obtained personal benefits for himself and his company” from transactions, including the sale of memorabilia, made on behalf of Tony Bennett, the family trust and Benedetto Arts LLC.
The sisters are seeking unspecified “equitable relief” as well as a full accounting and inventory of the trust. It demands Danny Bennett turn over receipts, disbursements, expenditures and tax returns.
“Although Danny and his counsel have provided piecemeal information and produced some documents to petitioners’ counsel, the information provided raises more questions than answers and fails to provide anything close to an accounting of Tony’s assets and financial affairs,” the court filing said.
Tony Bennett, a legendary interpreter of classic American songs who created new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” died last July at age 96. There was no specific cause, but Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
Bennett released more than 70 albums, bringing him 19 competitive Grammys.
New York
NYPD inspector tried to cover up his date’s drunken crash, prosecutors say
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York Police Department inspector has been indicted on charges that he lied to investigators and tried to get incriminating video footage erased after his girlfriend drunkenly crashed his police car into a cab, prosecutors said Thursday.
Deputy Inspector Paul Zangrilli, who led a police precinct in Manhattan, is accused of trying to cover up the 2022 wreck by acts including switching seats with his girlfriend after the wreck and then offering the cab driver money.
Zangrilli pleaded not guilty to all charges. His lawyer, Eric Franz, didn’t immediately respond to phone messages from The Associated Press but told some news outlets Zangrilli was a respected inspector who has been waiting two years to “ clear his good name.”
Manhattan prosecutors said Zangrilli was out drinking with his girlfriend on a summer night when he let her drive his unmarked police vehicle. She crashed into a cab, then, with Zangrilli in the passenger seat, sped away from the scene, Manhattan prosecutors said.
Instead of turning his girlfriend in, prosecutors said Zangrilli switched seats with her, then kept driving. When the cab driver caught up with them at a red light and flagged down another police officer, prosecutors said Zangrilli repeatedly offered $500 or $1,000 to the cab driver rather than exchange insurance information.
Then, prosecutors said, Zangrilli called an NYPD captain and told a series of lies: that he had been driving alone and was on his way to work when the crash happened.
Prosecutors allege that he soon signed into work at his own precinct and called the owner of the bar asking him to erase video footage that would capture the couple’s three-hour drinking session.
“This alleged behavior was incredibly dangerous, leading to injuries for one cab driver and putting the safety of many other drivers and pedestrians at risk. Furthermore, this NYPD Deputy Inspector, then a Commanding Officer, allegedly went to great lengths to cover up the incident to avoid responsibility,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “We will continue to hold public servants accountable when they violate the public trust.”
Zangrilli is charged with various felonies, including tampering with evidence, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records. He’s also charged with drinking while driving and misdemeanors related to misconduct and obstruction.
Zangrilli’s date was also charged with drunken driving and pleaded not guilty.
In 2023, Zangrilli earned around $200,000 in base pay and other compensation, according to New York City public salary records.
Zangrilli was suspended without pay, the NYPD said in a statement.
California
Ex-U.S. Customs officer convicted of letting drug-filled cars enter from Mexico
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former U.S. Customs officer has been convicted of accepting bribes to let drug-filled vehicles into the United States from Mexico, giving traffickers a one-hour window to reach his lane at a San Diego border crossing and pocketing at least $13,000 per vehicle, officials said Thursday.
Prosecutors say Leonard Darnell George, a Customs and Border Protection officer working for two separate criminal organizations, allowed at least 19 crossings between late 2021 to June 2022. The vehicles contained several hundred pounds of methamphetamine as well as smaller amounts of cocaine, fentanyl and heroin, and also people being brought into the country illegally, according to court documents.
Text messages obtained by investigators showed George agreed to let cars through for $17,000 per vehicle, and one message showed he received $68,000 after letting through four vehicles from drug traffickers in June 2022, the news release said.
George’s attorney, Antonio Yoon, did not immediately respond to emails and voicemail seeking comment.
George was convicted by a federal jury in U.S. District Court in San Diego on Monday of taking a bribe by a public official, conspiracy to import controlled substances, and two counts of allowing vehicles with unauthorized individuals to enter the country.
“Abandoning the integrity of the uniform for the conspiracy of drug trafficking is a path to a criminal conviction,” said U.S. Attorney Tara K. McGrath in a statement.
Witnesses testified that George used the money to buy vehicles, motorcycles and jewelry, and also spent lavishly at a strip club in Tijuana, the news release said.
His sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 13. The maximum penalty for his charges range from 10 years to life in prison.
Minnesota
Man who joined Islamic State group is sentenced to 10 years in prison
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who once fought for the Islamic State group in Syria after becoming radicalized expressed remorse and wept in open court Thursday as he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Abelhamid Al-Madioum, 27, cooperated with federal authorities ahead of Thursday’s hearing, which prosecutors factored into their recommendation for a lower sentence than the statutory maximum of 20 years.
U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said among the cases she has presided over in her 40 years on the bench, Al-Madioum’s was “extraordinary.” She cited his confounding path from a loving Minnesota home to one of the world’s most notorious terror organizations and his subsequent collaboration with the government he betrayed.
When Al-Madioum rose to speak before being sentenced, he thanked the U.S. government for giving him another chance. He then turned to address his parents and two young sons, who were rescued from a Syrian orphanage and brought to America with the help of federal authorities.
“I know I put you through so much, and I did with the belief that it was my religious duty,” Al-Madioum said while fighting back tears. “That’s no excuse. My first duty should have been to you.”
Al-Madioum, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was among several Minnesotans suspected of leaving the U.S. to join the Islamic State group, along with thousands of fighters from other countries worldwide. Roughly three dozen people are known to have left Minnesota to join militant groups in Somalia or Syria. In 2016, nine Minnesota men were sentenced on federal charges of conspiring to join IS.
But Al-Madioum is one of the relatively few Americans who have been brought back to the U.S. who actually fought for the group. According to a defense sentencing memo, he’s one of 11 adults as of 2023 to be formally repatriated to the U.S. from the conflict in Syria and Iraq to face charges for terrorist-related crimes and alleged affiliations with IS. Others received sentences ranging from four years to life plus 70 years.
Prosecutors had asked for a 12-year sentence, arguing that Al-Madioum’s suffering did not make his crimes any less serious. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Winter said Al-Madioum self-radicalized online and helped IS, also known as ISIS, carry out its goals.
“Young men just like him all over the world ... allowed ISIS to flourish,” Winter said.
Manvir Atwal, Al-Madioum’s attorney requested a seven-year sentence. She said Al-Madioum was taken in as an impressionable teenager by a well-oiled propaganda machine. He rejected extremist ideology years ago and had helped the government in other terrorism cases, which prosecutors confirmed.
Montgomery opted for a 10-year sentence, weighing sentencing guidelines with Al-Madioum’s cooperation and letters on his behalf, including one from an unnamed former U.S. ambassador. He has already served over five years and might get credit for that time, Atwal said.
Al-Madioum grew up in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park in a loving and nonreligious family, the defense memo said. He joined IS because he wanted to help Muslims he believed were being slaughtered by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in that country’s civil war. IS recruiters persuaded him “to test his faith and become a real Muslim.”
Al-Madioum was 18 in 2014 when IS recruited him. The college student slipped away from his family on a visit to their native Morocco in 2015. Making his way to Syria, he became a soldier for IS until he was maimed in an explosion in Iraq. His leg was shattered and his arm had to be amputated. Unable to fight, he used his computer skills to serve the group.
While still a member of IS, he married and had children with two women.
He had thought his second wife and their daughter had died. But in court Thursday, Al-Madioum said he had heard there is a chance she and their daughter might still be alive. That possibility remains under investigation, Atwal said.
Al-Madioum’s first wife died in his arms after she was shot in front of him by either rebel forces or an IS fighter in 2019, the defense said. Al-Madioum said in court that he dug a trench and buried her.
The day after that shooting, he walked with his sons and surrendered to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which held him under conditions the defense described as “heinous” for 18 months until the FBI returned him to the U.S.
He pleaded guilty in 2021 to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization. His sons were eventually found in a Syrian orphanage, the culmination of what he and Montgomery described as a unique effort from U.S. diplomats and other officials.
Al-Madioum’s parents were awarded custody of his sons after they arrived in America. Sitting in the court’s gallery Thursday, his sons, ages 7 and 9, sat on their grandparents’ laps and smiled at their father as he turned to face them.
Tony Bennett’s daughters sue their brother over his handling of the late singer’s assets
NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Bennett’s two daughters are suing their brother, alleging he mishandled and failed to disclose some of their father’s assets in his role as trustee of the late singer ‘s estate.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York by Antonia and Johanna Bennett accuses D’Andrea “Danny” Bennett of not accounting for all of the proceeds from this year’s sale of Tony Bennett’s catalog and certain image rights to the brand development firm Iconoclast.
The court filing claims that “it remains unclear what music assets (and other property) were or were not sold as part of the deal” because the sisters “have not been provided with various details of the transaction despite repeated requests.”
Danny Bennett, who was the singer’s manager and runs the family trust, didn’t respond Thursday to an email and phone message seeking comment on the lawsuit. Another brother, Daegal “Dae” Bennett, and Tony’s widow, Susan Benedetto, were also named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit further alleges that Danny Bennett “obtained personal benefits for himself and his company” from transactions, including the sale of memorabilia, made on behalf of Tony Bennett, the family trust and Benedetto Arts LLC.
The sisters are seeking unspecified “equitable relief” as well as a full accounting and inventory of the trust. It demands Danny Bennett turn over receipts, disbursements, expenditures and tax returns.
“Although Danny and his counsel have provided piecemeal information and produced some documents to petitioners’ counsel, the information provided raises more questions than answers and fails to provide anything close to an accounting of Tony’s assets and financial affairs,” the court filing said.
Tony Bennett, a legendary interpreter of classic American songs who created new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” died last July at age 96. There was no specific cause, but Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
Bennett released more than 70 albums, bringing him 19 competitive Grammys.
New York
NYPD inspector tried to cover up his date’s drunken crash, prosecutors say
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York Police Department inspector has been indicted on charges that he lied to investigators and tried to get incriminating video footage erased after his girlfriend drunkenly crashed his police car into a cab, prosecutors said Thursday.
Deputy Inspector Paul Zangrilli, who led a police precinct in Manhattan, is accused of trying to cover up the 2022 wreck by acts including switching seats with his girlfriend after the wreck and then offering the cab driver money.
Zangrilli pleaded not guilty to all charges. His lawyer, Eric Franz, didn’t immediately respond to phone messages from The Associated Press but told some news outlets Zangrilli was a respected inspector who has been waiting two years to “ clear his good name.”
Manhattan prosecutors said Zangrilli was out drinking with his girlfriend on a summer night when he let her drive his unmarked police vehicle. She crashed into a cab, then, with Zangrilli in the passenger seat, sped away from the scene, Manhattan prosecutors said.
Instead of turning his girlfriend in, prosecutors said Zangrilli switched seats with her, then kept driving. When the cab driver caught up with them at a red light and flagged down another police officer, prosecutors said Zangrilli repeatedly offered $500 or $1,000 to the cab driver rather than exchange insurance information.
Then, prosecutors said, Zangrilli called an NYPD captain and told a series of lies: that he had been driving alone and was on his way to work when the crash happened.
Prosecutors allege that he soon signed into work at his own precinct and called the owner of the bar asking him to erase video footage that would capture the couple’s three-hour drinking session.
“This alleged behavior was incredibly dangerous, leading to injuries for one cab driver and putting the safety of many other drivers and pedestrians at risk. Furthermore, this NYPD Deputy Inspector, then a Commanding Officer, allegedly went to great lengths to cover up the incident to avoid responsibility,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “We will continue to hold public servants accountable when they violate the public trust.”
Zangrilli is charged with various felonies, including tampering with evidence, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records. He’s also charged with drinking while driving and misdemeanors related to misconduct and obstruction.
Zangrilli’s date was also charged with drunken driving and pleaded not guilty.
In 2023, Zangrilli earned around $200,000 in base pay and other compensation, according to New York City public salary records.
Zangrilli was suspended without pay, the NYPD said in a statement.
California
Ex-U.S. Customs officer convicted of letting drug-filled cars enter from Mexico
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former U.S. Customs officer has been convicted of accepting bribes to let drug-filled vehicles into the United States from Mexico, giving traffickers a one-hour window to reach his lane at a San Diego border crossing and pocketing at least $13,000 per vehicle, officials said Thursday.
Prosecutors say Leonard Darnell George, a Customs and Border Protection officer working for two separate criminal organizations, allowed at least 19 crossings between late 2021 to June 2022. The vehicles contained several hundred pounds of methamphetamine as well as smaller amounts of cocaine, fentanyl and heroin, and also people being brought into the country illegally, according to court documents.
Text messages obtained by investigators showed George agreed to let cars through for $17,000 per vehicle, and one message showed he received $68,000 after letting through four vehicles from drug traffickers in June 2022, the news release said.
George’s attorney, Antonio Yoon, did not immediately respond to emails and voicemail seeking comment.
George was convicted by a federal jury in U.S. District Court in San Diego on Monday of taking a bribe by a public official, conspiracy to import controlled substances, and two counts of allowing vehicles with unauthorized individuals to enter the country.
“Abandoning the integrity of the uniform for the conspiracy of drug trafficking is a path to a criminal conviction,” said U.S. Attorney Tara K. McGrath in a statement.
Witnesses testified that George used the money to buy vehicles, motorcycles and jewelry, and also spent lavishly at a strip club in Tijuana, the news release said.
His sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 13. The maximum penalty for his charges range from 10 years to life in prison.
Minnesota
Man who joined Islamic State group is sentenced to 10 years in prison
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who once fought for the Islamic State group in Syria after becoming radicalized expressed remorse and wept in open court Thursday as he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Abelhamid Al-Madioum, 27, cooperated with federal authorities ahead of Thursday’s hearing, which prosecutors factored into their recommendation for a lower sentence than the statutory maximum of 20 years.
U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said among the cases she has presided over in her 40 years on the bench, Al-Madioum’s was “extraordinary.” She cited his confounding path from a loving Minnesota home to one of the world’s most notorious terror organizations and his subsequent collaboration with the government he betrayed.
When Al-Madioum rose to speak before being sentenced, he thanked the U.S. government for giving him another chance. He then turned to address his parents and two young sons, who were rescued from a Syrian orphanage and brought to America with the help of federal authorities.
“I know I put you through so much, and I did with the belief that it was my religious duty,” Al-Madioum said while fighting back tears. “That’s no excuse. My first duty should have been to you.”
Al-Madioum, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was among several Minnesotans suspected of leaving the U.S. to join the Islamic State group, along with thousands of fighters from other countries worldwide. Roughly three dozen people are known to have left Minnesota to join militant groups in Somalia or Syria. In 2016, nine Minnesota men were sentenced on federal charges of conspiring to join IS.
But Al-Madioum is one of the relatively few Americans who have been brought back to the U.S. who actually fought for the group. According to a defense sentencing memo, he’s one of 11 adults as of 2023 to be formally repatriated to the U.S. from the conflict in Syria and Iraq to face charges for terrorist-related crimes and alleged affiliations with IS. Others received sentences ranging from four years to life plus 70 years.
Prosecutors had asked for a 12-year sentence, arguing that Al-Madioum’s suffering did not make his crimes any less serious. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Winter said Al-Madioum self-radicalized online and helped IS, also known as ISIS, carry out its goals.
“Young men just like him all over the world ... allowed ISIS to flourish,” Winter said.
Manvir Atwal, Al-Madioum’s attorney requested a seven-year sentence. She said Al-Madioum was taken in as an impressionable teenager by a well-oiled propaganda machine. He rejected extremist ideology years ago and had helped the government in other terrorism cases, which prosecutors confirmed.
Montgomery opted for a 10-year sentence, weighing sentencing guidelines with Al-Madioum’s cooperation and letters on his behalf, including one from an unnamed former U.S. ambassador. He has already served over five years and might get credit for that time, Atwal said.
Al-Madioum grew up in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park in a loving and nonreligious family, the defense memo said. He joined IS because he wanted to help Muslims he believed were being slaughtered by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in that country’s civil war. IS recruiters persuaded him “to test his faith and become a real Muslim.”
Al-Madioum was 18 in 2014 when IS recruited him. The college student slipped away from his family on a visit to their native Morocco in 2015. Making his way to Syria, he became a soldier for IS until he was maimed in an explosion in Iraq. His leg was shattered and his arm had to be amputated. Unable to fight, he used his computer skills to serve the group.
While still a member of IS, he married and had children with two women.
He had thought his second wife and their daughter had died. But in court Thursday, Al-Madioum said he had heard there is a chance she and their daughter might still be alive. That possibility remains under investigation, Atwal said.
Al-Madioum’s first wife died in his arms after she was shot in front of him by either rebel forces or an IS fighter in 2019, the defense said. Al-Madioum said in court that he dug a trench and buried her.
The day after that shooting, he walked with his sons and surrendered to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which held him under conditions the defense described as “heinous” for 18 months until the FBI returned him to the U.S.
He pleaded guilty in 2021 to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization. His sons were eventually found in a Syrian orphanage, the culmination of what he and Montgomery described as a unique effort from U.S. diplomats and other officials.
Al-Madioum’s parents were awarded custody of his sons after they arrived in America. Sitting in the court’s gallery Thursday, his sons, ages 7 and 9, sat on their grandparents’ laps and smiled at their father as he turned to face them.
