North Carolina
UNC settles open-meetings complaint tied to trustee discussions of athletics finances
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill must pay $25,000 and its trustees must affirm a commitment to follow the state’s open-meeting laws as part of a settlement that dismissed a lawsuit over the board’s handling of athletics discussions.
David McKenzie, a lawyer in Wake County, had filed a complaint in May in Orange County Superior Court accusing trustees of violating open-meetings laws in previous private-session discussions tied to athletics budgets. It came as UNC trustees weighed in on athletics to highlight growing national tensions with schools jumping from league to league seeking more money tied to TV deals in a football-driven market.
McKenzie told WRAL of Raleigh that he was “satisfied” by the settlement, which had him agree to dismiss the lawsuit and the university would pay $25,000 to cover McKenzie’s expenses and legal costs.
“If they’re gonna take the public’s money, they’ve got to do things in public,” McKenzie told The News & Observer of Raleigh. “And then those times that they don’t, they may be on the hook for attorneys’ fees.”
McKenzie’s original complaint came as trustees indicated they would discuss the UNC athletics budget in closed session at a coming meeting, as well as referencing private-session discussions on athletics matters in November. That came amid comments questioning the financial picture under the leadership of athletics director Bubba Cunningham, although UNC’s interim chancellor Lee Roberts publicly backed Cunningham in a public pushback against the trustees.
A judge granted multiple temporary restraining issues against UNC’s trustees going into closed session for athletics financial discussions that could include future conference alignment.
Florida
Jaguars sue imprisoned ex-employee over multimillion-dollar theft from team
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars have filed a lawsuit against a former employee who is serving prison time after pleading guilty to stealing $22 million from the NFL team’s virtual credit card program.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Duval County Circuit Court, seeks more than $66 million in damages, or three times the amount Amit Patel admitted stealing to feed a gambling addiction and a lavish lifestyle.
Patel, 31, was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison in March after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of making an illegal monetary transaction. He was also ordered to pay the Jaguars restitution for the thefts.
Patel oversaw the company’s monthly financial statements and department budgets and served as the club’s administrator of its virtual credit card program, which allowed authorized employees to use if for business-related expenses.
Patel used his control to make fraudulent transactions, according to a filing in his criminal case. He duplicated and inflated transactions for items such as catering, airfare and hotel charges and filed fake transactions that seemed legitimate. The lawsuit says the thefts occurred between September 2019 and February 2023, when one of his bets was noticed for violating NFL gambling policy.
In addition to gambling, authorities say Patel used the stolen money to buy a Tesla car and a Nissan pickup truck, a country club membership, a $265,000 condominium in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, concert and sports tickets and a $95,000 watch. The lawsuit says the Jaguars did sell the condominium as part of forfeiture proceedings.
Patel’s attorney in the criminal case did not immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment about the lawsuit. Court records did not list another attorney for him.
New York
Hunter Biden drops lawsuit against Fox News
NEW YORK (AP) — Hunter Biden has dropped a lawsuit accusing Fox News of illegally publishing explicit images of him as part of a streaming series.
An attorney for the president’s son filed a voluntary dismissal notice on Sunday in federal court in New York City, three weeks after the lawsuit was filed. It wasn’t clear why the lawsuit was dropped, and Biden’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a Monday email seeking comment.
The lawsuit involved images shown in “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which debuted on the streaming service Fox Nation in 2022. The series features a “mock trial” of Hunter Biden on charges that he hasn’t faced and includes images of him in the nude and engaged in sex acts, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint claimed that the dissemination of intimate images without his consent violated New York’s so-called revenge porn law.
Fox News described the lawsuit as “entirely politically motivated” and “devoid of merit” when it was filed. A Fox News spokesperson referred to that statement when asked for additional comment Monday.
The dismissal notice was filed the same day that President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House, upending the contest less than four months before the election.
Maryland
State announces civil lawsuit in case involving demands of sex for rent
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s attorney general filed a civil lawsuit on Friday against an Eastern Shore landlord and his company, alleging a pattern of gender-based housing discrimination involving sexual harassment and demands to exchange sex for rent.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Wicomico County Circuit Court, is the first case to be brought by the attorney general’s Civil Rights Division, which was formed in January.
“For too long predatory landlords have taken advantage of people in financial and housing crisis by abusing their power as housing providers to make sexual demands of tenants or prospective tenants – often low-income women and single mothers,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said. “In Maryland, that ends today.”
Jonathan Smith, who is chief of the attorney general’s Civil Rights Division, said the allegations began as early as 2018 in units that were “in deplorable conditions” that “targeted low-income and working people.”
Speaking at a news conference with Brown and other officials, Smith said five women came forward to assist the attorney general’s investigation.
The lawsuit has been filed against Eric Sessoms and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC for engaging in a pattern or practice of gender-based discrimination in housing, the attorney general’s office said.
“Our investigation uncovered evidence that Sessoms targeted women who were unhoused and at risk of homelessness,” Smith said.
An attorney for Sessoms in other legal matters said he was not representing him in this case. It was not immediately clear if Sessoms had legal representation in the civil lawsuit announced Friday.
The complaint alleges that Sessoms specifically preyed on vulnerable women who were either experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. For example, the complaint says he offered housing benefits, like reduced rent, in exchange for sexual favors.
“I want to echo Attorney General Brown’s commitment to women who are sexually harassed by their landlords. We have heard you, and we are taking action,” said Candace McLaren Lanham, chief deputy attorney general. “The women at the center of this case who bravely entrusted us with their harrowing stories are the reason we are able to seek justice today against defendant Eric Sessoms and his company Mt. Vernon Group, LLC.”
The complaint also alleges that he subjected women tenants and prospective tenants to unwanted sexual advances, unwelcome sexual contact, unsolicited sexual comments, and other egregious conduct in a discriminatory fashion on the basis of his tenants’ and prospective tenants’ gender.
Maryland Legal Aid, the state’s largest provider of free civil legal services, partnered with the attorney general’s office on the case.
“Maryland is already suffering from a tragic housing crisis, impacting so many families — primarily women with children — who are left with too few options. Landlords, like Sessoms, who take full advantage of women in desperate situations and broker in insidious, gender-based discrimination, cannot be tolerated,” said Vicki Schultz, the group’s executive director.
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, restitution for tenants and prospective tenants, civil penalties, and the costs of the investigation and litigation.
Pennsylvania
Man sentenced in prison break and fatal brawl among soccer fans
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man convicted of helping two other men escape prison while he was in custody over a fatal brawl among soccer fans outside a famed Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant has been sentenced in both cases.
Court documents indicate that Jose Flores-Huerta, 36, was sentenced in the escape case Thursday to 11½ months to 23 months plus probation.
Flores-Huerta was convicted of helping Ameen Hurst, 18, and Nasir Grant, 24, who cut a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard at the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center in May 2023.
Hurst and Grant were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials knew they were missing. Both were recaptured days later; Hurst was being held in four homicides and other crimes, authorities said.
Flores-Huerta and Omar Arce, 35, also pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in a fatal beating outside Pat’s King of Steaks in September 2021, as soccer fans brawled following a match. A 28-year-old New York accountant, Isidro Cortes, was killed and his father and another man were hospitalized.
Authorities said neither defendant was considered among the main aggressors. Assistant District Attorney Ed Jaramillo said two other men seen on surveillance videos using trash can lids and beating victims struggling to stand up have never been caught, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Both defendants were sentenced to 11½ months to 23 months plus five years’ probation for their roles in the brawl and eligible for immediate release on parole. Arce’s attorney, James Funt, said in court that his client will likely be deported to Mexico, the Inquirer reported.
Both defendants expressed remorse as they spoke briefly through an interpreter. Common Pleas Court Judge J. Scott O’Keefe told relatives of the victim that he’s “terribly sorry” for their loss, which he said was over something “incredibly stupid,” the newspaper reported.
UNC settles open-meetings complaint tied to trustee discussions of athletics finances
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill must pay $25,000 and its trustees must affirm a commitment to follow the state’s open-meeting laws as part of a settlement that dismissed a lawsuit over the board’s handling of athletics discussions.
David McKenzie, a lawyer in Wake County, had filed a complaint in May in Orange County Superior Court accusing trustees of violating open-meetings laws in previous private-session discussions tied to athletics budgets. It came as UNC trustees weighed in on athletics to highlight growing national tensions with schools jumping from league to league seeking more money tied to TV deals in a football-driven market.
McKenzie told WRAL of Raleigh that he was “satisfied” by the settlement, which had him agree to dismiss the lawsuit and the university would pay $25,000 to cover McKenzie’s expenses and legal costs.
“If they’re gonna take the public’s money, they’ve got to do things in public,” McKenzie told The News & Observer of Raleigh. “And then those times that they don’t, they may be on the hook for attorneys’ fees.”
McKenzie’s original complaint came as trustees indicated they would discuss the UNC athletics budget in closed session at a coming meeting, as well as referencing private-session discussions on athletics matters in November. That came amid comments questioning the financial picture under the leadership of athletics director Bubba Cunningham, although UNC’s interim chancellor Lee Roberts publicly backed Cunningham in a public pushback against the trustees.
A judge granted multiple temporary restraining issues against UNC’s trustees going into closed session for athletics financial discussions that could include future conference alignment.
Florida
Jaguars sue imprisoned ex-employee over multimillion-dollar theft from team
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars have filed a lawsuit against a former employee who is serving prison time after pleading guilty to stealing $22 million from the NFL team’s virtual credit card program.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Duval County Circuit Court, seeks more than $66 million in damages, or three times the amount Amit Patel admitted stealing to feed a gambling addiction and a lavish lifestyle.
Patel, 31, was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison in March after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of making an illegal monetary transaction. He was also ordered to pay the Jaguars restitution for the thefts.
Patel oversaw the company’s monthly financial statements and department budgets and served as the club’s administrator of its virtual credit card program, which allowed authorized employees to use if for business-related expenses.
Patel used his control to make fraudulent transactions, according to a filing in his criminal case. He duplicated and inflated transactions for items such as catering, airfare and hotel charges and filed fake transactions that seemed legitimate. The lawsuit says the thefts occurred between September 2019 and February 2023, when one of his bets was noticed for violating NFL gambling policy.
In addition to gambling, authorities say Patel used the stolen money to buy a Tesla car and a Nissan pickup truck, a country club membership, a $265,000 condominium in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, concert and sports tickets and a $95,000 watch. The lawsuit says the Jaguars did sell the condominium as part of forfeiture proceedings.
Patel’s attorney in the criminal case did not immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment about the lawsuit. Court records did not list another attorney for him.
New York
Hunter Biden drops lawsuit against Fox News
NEW YORK (AP) — Hunter Biden has dropped a lawsuit accusing Fox News of illegally publishing explicit images of him as part of a streaming series.
An attorney for the president’s son filed a voluntary dismissal notice on Sunday in federal court in New York City, three weeks after the lawsuit was filed. It wasn’t clear why the lawsuit was dropped, and Biden’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a Monday email seeking comment.
The lawsuit involved images shown in “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which debuted on the streaming service Fox Nation in 2022. The series features a “mock trial” of Hunter Biden on charges that he hasn’t faced and includes images of him in the nude and engaged in sex acts, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint claimed that the dissemination of intimate images without his consent violated New York’s so-called revenge porn law.
Fox News described the lawsuit as “entirely politically motivated” and “devoid of merit” when it was filed. A Fox News spokesperson referred to that statement when asked for additional comment Monday.
The dismissal notice was filed the same day that President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House, upending the contest less than four months before the election.
Maryland
State announces civil lawsuit in case involving demands of sex for rent
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s attorney general filed a civil lawsuit on Friday against an Eastern Shore landlord and his company, alleging a pattern of gender-based housing discrimination involving sexual harassment and demands to exchange sex for rent.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Wicomico County Circuit Court, is the first case to be brought by the attorney general’s Civil Rights Division, which was formed in January.
“For too long predatory landlords have taken advantage of people in financial and housing crisis by abusing their power as housing providers to make sexual demands of tenants or prospective tenants – often low-income women and single mothers,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said. “In Maryland, that ends today.”
Jonathan Smith, who is chief of the attorney general’s Civil Rights Division, said the allegations began as early as 2018 in units that were “in deplorable conditions” that “targeted low-income and working people.”
Speaking at a news conference with Brown and other officials, Smith said five women came forward to assist the attorney general’s investigation.
The lawsuit has been filed against Eric Sessoms and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC for engaging in a pattern or practice of gender-based discrimination in housing, the attorney general’s office said.
“Our investigation uncovered evidence that Sessoms targeted women who were unhoused and at risk of homelessness,” Smith said.
An attorney for Sessoms in other legal matters said he was not representing him in this case. It was not immediately clear if Sessoms had legal representation in the civil lawsuit announced Friday.
The complaint alleges that Sessoms specifically preyed on vulnerable women who were either experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. For example, the complaint says he offered housing benefits, like reduced rent, in exchange for sexual favors.
“I want to echo Attorney General Brown’s commitment to women who are sexually harassed by their landlords. We have heard you, and we are taking action,” said Candace McLaren Lanham, chief deputy attorney general. “The women at the center of this case who bravely entrusted us with their harrowing stories are the reason we are able to seek justice today against defendant Eric Sessoms and his company Mt. Vernon Group, LLC.”
The complaint also alleges that he subjected women tenants and prospective tenants to unwanted sexual advances, unwelcome sexual contact, unsolicited sexual comments, and other egregious conduct in a discriminatory fashion on the basis of his tenants’ and prospective tenants’ gender.
Maryland Legal Aid, the state’s largest provider of free civil legal services, partnered with the attorney general’s office on the case.
“Maryland is already suffering from a tragic housing crisis, impacting so many families — primarily women with children — who are left with too few options. Landlords, like Sessoms, who take full advantage of women in desperate situations and broker in insidious, gender-based discrimination, cannot be tolerated,” said Vicki Schultz, the group’s executive director.
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, restitution for tenants and prospective tenants, civil penalties, and the costs of the investigation and litigation.
Pennsylvania
Man sentenced in prison break and fatal brawl among soccer fans
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man convicted of helping two other men escape prison while he was in custody over a fatal brawl among soccer fans outside a famed Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant has been sentenced in both cases.
Court documents indicate that Jose Flores-Huerta, 36, was sentenced in the escape case Thursday to 11½ months to 23 months plus probation.
Flores-Huerta was convicted of helping Ameen Hurst, 18, and Nasir Grant, 24, who cut a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard at the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center in May 2023.
Hurst and Grant were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials knew they were missing. Both were recaptured days later; Hurst was being held in four homicides and other crimes, authorities said.
Flores-Huerta and Omar Arce, 35, also pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in a fatal beating outside Pat’s King of Steaks in September 2021, as soccer fans brawled following a match. A 28-year-old New York accountant, Isidro Cortes, was killed and his father and another man were hospitalized.
Authorities said neither defendant was considered among the main aggressors. Assistant District Attorney Ed Jaramillo said two other men seen on surveillance videos using trash can lids and beating victims struggling to stand up have never been caught, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Both defendants were sentenced to 11½ months to 23 months plus five years’ probation for their roles in the brawl and eligible for immediate release on parole. Arce’s attorney, James Funt, said in court that his client will likely be deported to Mexico, the Inquirer reported.
Both defendants expressed remorse as they spoke briefly through an interpreter. Common Pleas Court Judge J. Scott O’Keefe told relatives of the victim that he’s “terribly sorry” for their loss, which he said was over something “incredibly stupid,” the newspaper reported.
