Louisiana
Jury: Regulator is not liable for retirees’ $400 million in Stanford Ponzi losses
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A jury decided that Louisiana’s Office of Financial Institutions was not at fault for $400 million in losses that retirees suffered because of Texas fraudster R. Allen Stanford’s massive Ponzi scheme.
The verdict came last week in state court in Baton Rouge after a three-week trial, The Advocate reported.
Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison after being convicted of bilking investors in a $7.2 billion scheme that involved the sale of fraudulent certificates of deposits from the Stanford International Bank.
Nearly 1,000 investors sued the Louisiana OFI after purchasing certificates of deposit from the Stanford Trust Company between 2007 and 2009. But attorneys for the state agency argued successfully that OFI had limited authority to regulate the assets and had no reason to suspect any fraudulent activity within the company before June 2008.
“Obviously, the class members are devastated by the recent ruling,” the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, Phil Preis, said in a statement after Friday’s verdict. “This was the first Stanford Ponzi Scheme case to be tried by a jury of the victims’ peers. The class members had waited 15 years, and the system has once again failed them.”
California
Prosecutors charge 26 pro-Palestinian demonstrators
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco prosecutors have charged 26 protesters who blocked the Golden Gate Bridge for hours in April to demand a cease-fire in Gaza.
The protest on April 15 was one of many held by pro-Palestinian demonstrators who blocked roadways around the country, causing traffic jams and temporarily shutting down travel into some of the nation’s most heavily used airports.
The protesters were charged with felony conspiracy, false imprisonment, trespassing to interfere with a business, obstruction of a thoroughfare, unlawful assembly, refusal to disperse at a riot, and failure to obey the lawful order of a uniformed officer, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced Saturday.
Traffic snarled for hours after demonstrators blocked lanes with vehicles, shutting down all vehicle, pedestrian and bike traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The demonstration was part of coordinated protests across the country to demand an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and an end to military aid to Israel.
Prosecutors said the protest trapped hundreds of motorists on the bridge “who had no choice but to remain imprisoned on the freeway for several hours.”
“While we must protect avenues for free speech, the exercise of free speech cannot compromise public safety,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. “The demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge caused a level of safety risk, including extreme threats to the health and welfare of those trapped, that we as a society cannot ignore or allow.”
The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office said it anticipates it will represent some of those charged and asked that the charges be dropped. The office said Jenkins “went fishing on Twitter for complaints about the protest even though no one was injured and the California Highway Patrol cleared the roadway with no resistance from protesters.”
“The protestors are opposing American tax dollars being used to fund ongoing attacks on the people in Gaza, which the International Criminal Court has deemed crimes against humanity,” San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said. “Our attorneys intend to vehemently defend any individuals we are appointed to represent.”
In March, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office dropped criminal charges against 78 protesters who blocked traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for hours in November to demand a cease-fire in Gaza, prosecutors said. The demonstrators were instead ordered to do five hours of community service and pay restitution.
The Nov. 16 protest came as San Francisco was hosting President Joe Biden and other world leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Protesters calling for a cease-fire have also blocked major roadways in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
Florida
Manufacturer of ‘lab-grown’ meat files lawsuit against state ban
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A manufacturer of “lab-grown” meat has filed a lawsuit challenging a newly enacted Florida law that bans the sale of the product, arguing the restrictions give an unconstitutional advantage to Florida farmers over out-of-state competitors.
“If some Floridians don’t like the idea of eating cultivated chicken, there’s a simple solution: Don’t eat it,” said Paul Sherman, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. regulators first signed off on the sale of what’s known as “cell-cultured” or “cell-cultivated” meat in June of 2023. Sellers say the product is a more ethical and sustainable alternative to conventionally raised chicken, beef and pork.
But lawmakers in Florida and Alabama have called cultivated meat a threat to their states’ agriculture industries and banned the sale of the product, which is made of animal cells that are fed a mix of proteins, vitamins and water and then formed into nuggets, sausages and steaks.
Asked for comment on the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis pointed to statements he made in May when he signed the state’s cultivated meat ban into law, flanked by cattle farmers.
“We stand with agriculture, we stand with the cattle ranchers, we stand with our farmers because we understand it’s important for the backbone of the state,” DeSantis said. “Take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere.”
Upside Foods, the manufacturer behind the lawsuit, held a tasting party in Miami before the ban went into effect, plying guests with cultivated chicken tostadas garnished with avocado, chipotle crema and beet sprouts.
“This is delicious meat,” Upside Foods CEO and founder Uma Valeti said. “And we just fundamentally believe that people should have a choice to choose what they want to put on their plate.”
Valeti also noted that the meat his company produces is not coming from a lab but from a facility more closely resembling a brewery or a dairy processing plant.
West Virginia
Police: Dentist charged with invasion of privacy after camera found in bathroom
WEIRTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia dentist faces charges after police said a concealed camera allegedly was found in his office’s employee bathroom.
Dr. Jeremy Michael Crow turned himself in at the Weirton Police Department on Monday. Crow, 45, of Washington, Pennsylvania, was charged with 39 counts of misdemeanor criminal invasion of privacy, Police Chief Charlie Kush said in a news release.
A call to Crow’s office went to voicemail Tuesday and a message left for him wasn’t immediately returned.
Crow’s attorney, Robert McCoid of Wheeling, said in a statement that after reviewing the allegations, “we have concluded that the government’s case is thin soup at best. We are eager to test the prosecution’s evidence in the courtroom and look forward to his acquittal before a jury of his peers.”
The statement added that Crow would continue his dental practice.
Kush said an employee in May reported finding the camera inside a water bottle in the bathroom used by staff at Crow’s office. During the investigation, at least 10 female employees reported seeing the same device. Kush said there was no evidence that any cameras were placed in the office’s public bathroom.
Crow was released on $20,000 bond following arraignment, the police statement said.
Weirton is about 35 miles (60 kilometers) west of Pittsburgh.
New York
Suit challenging NCAA’s ban of CHL players could upend college hockey
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The NCAA was accused of boycotting Canadian Hockey League players from Division I competition in a class-action lawsuit filed on Tuesday that, if successful, could end college hockey’s longstanding ban on players deemed to be professionals.
The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players. And it has the potential of creating a talent drain among the CHL’s three associations — the Ontario, Quebec Major Junior and Western hockey leagues — which could lose players at the junior prime age of 18 to the college ranks.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, on behalf of Rylan Masterson by the New York City firm of Freedman Normand Friedland. Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires.
The CHL’s three associations are categorized as professional leagues under NCAA bylaws, barring their players from competition.
CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).
The suit lists 10 Division 1 schools, including the three closest to Fort Erie: Canisius, Niagara and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Other schools named range from Denver to Boston College. They were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.
The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Atlantic Hockey commissioner Michelle Morgan, whose league represents the three western New York schools, declined to comment, telling The Associated Press she was seeking more information.
CHL spokesman Christopher Seguin declined comment.
The lawsuit cites news articles in alleging that the NCAA has maintained its boycott by forcing players as young as 16 to make decisions about their future, deterring them from joining the CHL. Another concern is that the NCAA bylaws suppress compensation for players by preventing competition between the CHL and NCAA for top-end talent.
The lawsuit suggests that lifting the ban would likely result in CHL teams increasing compensation to players in a bid to retain them.
The suit notes that NCAA bylaws allow the participation of professionals with the exception of men’s ice hockey and skiing. It also points out that players who competed professionally in Europe don’t face the same restrictions, citing Boston University’s Tom Willander, who appeared in two Swedish Elite League games last year.
The lawsuit argues Masterson and the class have “suffered injury the type the antitrust laws were intended to prevent” and calls the NCAA’s conduct “unlawful.”
The attorneys are asking a judge to certify the members of the class, which would include anyone who played in the CHL or for a Division I school since Aug. 12, 2020.
Such legal action was considered inevitable by many in college hockey circles, especially after the NCAA determined in a 2023 review of its bylaws that its rule barring CHL players was vulnerable to a legal challenge.
According to the lawsuit, NCAA hockey coaches chose in May not to vote on whether to retain the bylaws, but instead decided to form a committee to monitor potential legal challenges.
Jury: Regulator is not liable for retirees’ $400 million in Stanford Ponzi losses
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A jury decided that Louisiana’s Office of Financial Institutions was not at fault for $400 million in losses that retirees suffered because of Texas fraudster R. Allen Stanford’s massive Ponzi scheme.
The verdict came last week in state court in Baton Rouge after a three-week trial, The Advocate reported.
Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison after being convicted of bilking investors in a $7.2 billion scheme that involved the sale of fraudulent certificates of deposits from the Stanford International Bank.
Nearly 1,000 investors sued the Louisiana OFI after purchasing certificates of deposit from the Stanford Trust Company between 2007 and 2009. But attorneys for the state agency argued successfully that OFI had limited authority to regulate the assets and had no reason to suspect any fraudulent activity within the company before June 2008.
“Obviously, the class members are devastated by the recent ruling,” the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, Phil Preis, said in a statement after Friday’s verdict. “This was the first Stanford Ponzi Scheme case to be tried by a jury of the victims’ peers. The class members had waited 15 years, and the system has once again failed them.”
California
Prosecutors charge 26 pro-Palestinian demonstrators
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco prosecutors have charged 26 protesters who blocked the Golden Gate Bridge for hours in April to demand a cease-fire in Gaza.
The protest on April 15 was one of many held by pro-Palestinian demonstrators who blocked roadways around the country, causing traffic jams and temporarily shutting down travel into some of the nation’s most heavily used airports.
The protesters were charged with felony conspiracy, false imprisonment, trespassing to interfere with a business, obstruction of a thoroughfare, unlawful assembly, refusal to disperse at a riot, and failure to obey the lawful order of a uniformed officer, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced Saturday.
Traffic snarled for hours after demonstrators blocked lanes with vehicles, shutting down all vehicle, pedestrian and bike traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The demonstration was part of coordinated protests across the country to demand an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and an end to military aid to Israel.
Prosecutors said the protest trapped hundreds of motorists on the bridge “who had no choice but to remain imprisoned on the freeway for several hours.”
“While we must protect avenues for free speech, the exercise of free speech cannot compromise public safety,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. “The demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge caused a level of safety risk, including extreme threats to the health and welfare of those trapped, that we as a society cannot ignore or allow.”
The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office said it anticipates it will represent some of those charged and asked that the charges be dropped. The office said Jenkins “went fishing on Twitter for complaints about the protest even though no one was injured and the California Highway Patrol cleared the roadway with no resistance from protesters.”
“The protestors are opposing American tax dollars being used to fund ongoing attacks on the people in Gaza, which the International Criminal Court has deemed crimes against humanity,” San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said. “Our attorneys intend to vehemently defend any individuals we are appointed to represent.”
In March, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office dropped criminal charges against 78 protesters who blocked traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for hours in November to demand a cease-fire in Gaza, prosecutors said. The demonstrators were instead ordered to do five hours of community service and pay restitution.
The Nov. 16 protest came as San Francisco was hosting President Joe Biden and other world leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Protesters calling for a cease-fire have also blocked major roadways in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
Florida
Manufacturer of ‘lab-grown’ meat files lawsuit against state ban
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A manufacturer of “lab-grown” meat has filed a lawsuit challenging a newly enacted Florida law that bans the sale of the product, arguing the restrictions give an unconstitutional advantage to Florida farmers over out-of-state competitors.
“If some Floridians don’t like the idea of eating cultivated chicken, there’s a simple solution: Don’t eat it,” said Paul Sherman, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. regulators first signed off on the sale of what’s known as “cell-cultured” or “cell-cultivated” meat in June of 2023. Sellers say the product is a more ethical and sustainable alternative to conventionally raised chicken, beef and pork.
But lawmakers in Florida and Alabama have called cultivated meat a threat to their states’ agriculture industries and banned the sale of the product, which is made of animal cells that are fed a mix of proteins, vitamins and water and then formed into nuggets, sausages and steaks.
Asked for comment on the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis pointed to statements he made in May when he signed the state’s cultivated meat ban into law, flanked by cattle farmers.
“We stand with agriculture, we stand with the cattle ranchers, we stand with our farmers because we understand it’s important for the backbone of the state,” DeSantis said. “Take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere.”
Upside Foods, the manufacturer behind the lawsuit, held a tasting party in Miami before the ban went into effect, plying guests with cultivated chicken tostadas garnished with avocado, chipotle crema and beet sprouts.
“This is delicious meat,” Upside Foods CEO and founder Uma Valeti said. “And we just fundamentally believe that people should have a choice to choose what they want to put on their plate.”
Valeti also noted that the meat his company produces is not coming from a lab but from a facility more closely resembling a brewery or a dairy processing plant.
West Virginia
Police: Dentist charged with invasion of privacy after camera found in bathroom
WEIRTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia dentist faces charges after police said a concealed camera allegedly was found in his office’s employee bathroom.
Dr. Jeremy Michael Crow turned himself in at the Weirton Police Department on Monday. Crow, 45, of Washington, Pennsylvania, was charged with 39 counts of misdemeanor criminal invasion of privacy, Police Chief Charlie Kush said in a news release.
A call to Crow’s office went to voicemail Tuesday and a message left for him wasn’t immediately returned.
Crow’s attorney, Robert McCoid of Wheeling, said in a statement that after reviewing the allegations, “we have concluded that the government’s case is thin soup at best. We are eager to test the prosecution’s evidence in the courtroom and look forward to his acquittal before a jury of his peers.”
The statement added that Crow would continue his dental practice.
Kush said an employee in May reported finding the camera inside a water bottle in the bathroom used by staff at Crow’s office. During the investigation, at least 10 female employees reported seeing the same device. Kush said there was no evidence that any cameras were placed in the office’s public bathroom.
Crow was released on $20,000 bond following arraignment, the police statement said.
Weirton is about 35 miles (60 kilometers) west of Pittsburgh.
New York
Suit challenging NCAA’s ban of CHL players could upend college hockey
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The NCAA was accused of boycotting Canadian Hockey League players from Division I competition in a class-action lawsuit filed on Tuesday that, if successful, could end college hockey’s longstanding ban on players deemed to be professionals.
The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players. And it has the potential of creating a talent drain among the CHL’s three associations — the Ontario, Quebec Major Junior and Western hockey leagues — which could lose players at the junior prime age of 18 to the college ranks.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, on behalf of Rylan Masterson by the New York City firm of Freedman Normand Friedland. Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires.
The CHL’s three associations are categorized as professional leagues under NCAA bylaws, barring their players from competition.
CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).
The suit lists 10 Division 1 schools, including the three closest to Fort Erie: Canisius, Niagara and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Other schools named range from Denver to Boston College. They were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.
The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Atlantic Hockey commissioner Michelle Morgan, whose league represents the three western New York schools, declined to comment, telling The Associated Press she was seeking more information.
CHL spokesman Christopher Seguin declined comment.
The lawsuit cites news articles in alleging that the NCAA has maintained its boycott by forcing players as young as 16 to make decisions about their future, deterring them from joining the CHL. Another concern is that the NCAA bylaws suppress compensation for players by preventing competition between the CHL and NCAA for top-end talent.
The lawsuit suggests that lifting the ban would likely result in CHL teams increasing compensation to players in a bid to retain them.
The suit notes that NCAA bylaws allow the participation of professionals with the exception of men’s ice hockey and skiing. It also points out that players who competed professionally in Europe don’t face the same restrictions, citing Boston University’s Tom Willander, who appeared in two Swedish Elite League games last year.
The lawsuit argues Masterson and the class have “suffered injury the type the antitrust laws were intended to prevent” and calls the NCAA’s conduct “unlawful.”
The attorneys are asking a judge to certify the members of the class, which would include anyone who played in the CHL or for a Division I school since Aug. 12, 2020.
Such legal action was considered inevitable by many in college hockey circles, especially after the NCAA determined in a 2023 review of its bylaws that its rule barring CHL players was vulnerable to a legal challenge.
According to the lawsuit, NCAA hockey coaches chose in May not to vote on whether to retain the bylaws, but instead decided to form a committee to monitor potential legal challenges.
