California
Judge dismisses assault lawsuit against Knicks owner and Harvey Weinstein
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A U.S. district judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit by a woman who alleged that New York Knicks owner James Dolan sexually assaulted her a decade ago and then set her up to be molested by jailed movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit filed by Kellye Croft in Los Angeles in January. Anderson said that Croft had failed to plausibly allege a commercial sex act in which she was paid for sex under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
The judge also declined to hear her claims based on state — and not federal — law against Dolan of sexual battery and aiding and abetting sexual assault and against Weinstein of sexual assault and attempted rape.
Croft’s lawyers posted on X that they disagreed with the decision, saying it “incorrectly interprets the federal sex trafficking law and undermines critically important protections for sex trafficking survivors,” according to attorneys Meredith Firetog and Kevin Mintzer of Wigdor LLP.
Dolan’s spokesperson, Mikyl Cordova, said in an email Wednesday that the lawsuit was “a malicious attempt to assert horrific allegations” by what it called an unscrupulous law firm.
Weinstein’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment but at the time of the January filing also dismissed Croft’s assertions.
According to the lawsuit, Croft was a licensed massage therapist in 2013 working on a tour for The Eagles in which Dolan’s band, JD & The Straight Shot, opened for the rock band. Dolan allegedly used his influence on the tour to repeatedly manipulate and pressure Croft “to submit to sex with him,” the lawsuit stated. It claimed Dolan orchestrated a meeting between Croft and Weinstein, a friend of his, in a hotel elevator in early 2014. She alleged in her lawsuit that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel room.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly or consent to being identified, as Croft has done.
Washington
Man charged with sending graphic threats to kill six high court justices
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alaska man accused of sending graphic threats to injure and kill six Supreme Court justices and some of their family members has been indicted on federal charges, authorities said Thursday.
Panos Anastasiou, 76, is accused of sending more than 465 messages through a public court website, including graphic threats of assassination and torture coupled with racist and homophobic rhetoric.
The indictment does not specify which justices Anastasiou targeted, but Attorney General Merrick Garland said he made the graphic threats as retaliation for decisions he disagreed with.
“Our democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fearing for their lives or the safety of their families,” he said.
Prosecutors said in an indictment filed Wednesday that the messages were sent between March and mid-July in 2023. Anastasiou has been charged with 22 counts, including nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce.
Anastasiou was arrested Wednesday in Anchorage. An attorney listed for him in court records did not immediately return a message seeking comment, and publicly listed phone numbers for Anastasiou were disconnected.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count of making threats against a federal judge and up to five years for each count of making threats in interstate commerce if convicted.
Threats targeting federal judges overall have more than doubled in recent years amid a surge of similar violent messages directed at public officials around the country, the U.S. Marshals Service previously said.
In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a man was stopped near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties.
New Hampshire
Class action approved for foster teens with mental health disabilities
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge has approved class-action status for a lawsuit challenging the placement of teens with mental health disabilities in New Hampshire’s foster care system.
The lawsuit was filed against the state in 2021 and it has been amended since then. It says New Hampshire has “unnecessarily warehoused” foster care teens in institutional and group home care settings instead of with families, against their best interests. The state requested a dismissal, saying the plaintiffs did not prove their case.
Efforts at mediation failed earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadaro’s ruling Wednesday applies to children ages 14 through 17 who are or will be under supervision of the state Division for Children, Youth and Families, have a mental impairment and are at serious risk of being unnecessarily placed in a group care setting. The ruling says fewer than 200 teens could be affected.
The original plaintiffs have since aged out of custody, and Barbadaro, in Concord, dismissed their claims.
He allowed one to proceed involving a 15-year-old in a group home who alleges disability discrimination and case planning neglect. Lawyers for the state argued that neither claim is appropriate for a class-action resolution.
Barbadro noted since the lawsuit was first filed, the defendants “have undertaken laudable efforts to address many of the concerns raised in the complaint. But there is no evidence that the defendants have abated or modified the common practices identified in this order.”
The lawsuit was filed against Gov. Chris Sununu and heads of the Health Department, Division for Children, Youth, and Families; Medicaid services; and the administrative office of the courts.
Virginia
Ex-jail deputy gets 6-1/2 years for drug operation, sex trafficking
A former sheriff’s deputy at a northern Virginia jail was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison for smuggling drugs into the jail and for running a sex trafficking operation out of a Baltimore apartment.
Robert T. Sanford Jr., 37, worked night shifts at the Fairfax County jail as a corrections officer between 2021 and 2023, according to court records.
He admitted that he smuggled drugs and a phone into a jail inmate, including fentanyl and cocaine, for distribution among other inmates. He gave inside information to the inmate about internal investigations, and tipped him off to inmates who were cooperating with law enforcement, subjecting those inmates to intimidation.
Outside his role as a guard, prosecutors say Sanford was a pimp who trafficked women and plied them with drugs.
“There is a significant distinction between one who merely solicits escorts or uses drugs to relieve stress and escape, and one who provides housing and drugs to opioid-dependent and homeless women in exchange for sexual acts and financial gain,” prosecutors wrote.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said Sanford “preyed on the vulnerabilities of people in his care. His corruption didn’t stop with profiting from feeding the addictions of inmates in his charge. Rather than assisting homeless and addicted members of his community, Sanford used drugs to entrap them in a life of prostitution for his own gain.”
The sentence issued Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria was roughly in line with that requested by prosecutors, and longer than the 4-year sentence sought by Sanford’s public defender.
Sanford apologized for his actions in a letter to the judge.
“I will continue attending therapy to ensure I remain on the right path,” he wrote. “I deeply regret my actions and the harm they caused.”
Sanford’s lawyer said mental health issues contributed to his misdeeds.
North Dakota
Senator’s son to change plea in 2023 crash that killed deputy
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The adult son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer is expected to change his plea on Friday in connection with a pursuit and crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy last year.
Ian Cramer, 43, was scheduled to go to trial next week beginning Tuesday for charges of homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer and drug- and driving-related offenses tied to the Dec. 6, 2023, pursuit and crash death of Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin, 53.
Cramer pleaded not guilty to the charges in April. He was initially charged with manslaughter, which was later raised to the homicide offense, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine. A notice filed Wednesday indicates his change of plea is scheduled for Friday by videoconference.
The details of Cramer’s change of plea weren’t immediately clear. The Associated Press left phone messages with Cramer’s attorney and Mercer County State’s Attorney Todd Schwarz.
Bismarck police said Ian Cramer’s mother had taken him to a hospital because of mental health concerns. Court documents say he crawled into the driver seat of his parents’ vehicle after his mother got out and smashed in reverse through the closed garage door of the hospital’s ambulance bay. Court documents say he later fled from deputies when one confronted him in Hazen, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Bismarck.
Cramer hit speeds over 100 mph (160 kph) and kept going even after a spiked device flattened two tires, according to court documents. More spikes were set up, and Cramer swerved and then crashed head-on into Martin’s patrol vehicle and launched him about 100 feet (30 meters), authorities said. Martin was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
In March, Ian Cramer pleaded not guilty to separate felony charges of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment in connection with the events at the hospital. A jury trial is scheduled for November.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, has said his son “suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations.” Ian Cramer is being held at the McLean County Jail in Washburn on $500,000 cash bail.
Delaware
Hunter Biden’s sentencing on federal firearms charges delayed until December
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden will be sentenced on felony firearms charges in December after the judge agreed Thursday to a delay requested by the defense.
In June, President Joe Biden ‘s son was convicted in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
He was initially scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13, but the judge agreed to delay the hearing until Dec. 4 after Hunter Biden’s lawyers said they needed more time to adequately prepare.
The gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though he will likely face far less time behind bars or possibly avoid imprisonment entirely.
He also faces sentencing in California on Dec. 16 on federal tax charges he pleaded guilty to earlier this month. Those charges carry up to 17 years behind bars. He also faces up to $1.35 million in fines.
President Biden has said he will not use his presidential powers to pardon his son or lessen his sentence.
Judge dismisses assault lawsuit against Knicks owner and Harvey Weinstein
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A U.S. district judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit by a woman who alleged that New York Knicks owner James Dolan sexually assaulted her a decade ago and then set her up to be molested by jailed movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit filed by Kellye Croft in Los Angeles in January. Anderson said that Croft had failed to plausibly allege a commercial sex act in which she was paid for sex under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
The judge also declined to hear her claims based on state — and not federal — law against Dolan of sexual battery and aiding and abetting sexual assault and against Weinstein of sexual assault and attempted rape.
Croft’s lawyers posted on X that they disagreed with the decision, saying it “incorrectly interprets the federal sex trafficking law and undermines critically important protections for sex trafficking survivors,” according to attorneys Meredith Firetog and Kevin Mintzer of Wigdor LLP.
Dolan’s spokesperson, Mikyl Cordova, said in an email Wednesday that the lawsuit was “a malicious attempt to assert horrific allegations” by what it called an unscrupulous law firm.
Weinstein’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment but at the time of the January filing also dismissed Croft’s assertions.
According to the lawsuit, Croft was a licensed massage therapist in 2013 working on a tour for The Eagles in which Dolan’s band, JD & The Straight Shot, opened for the rock band. Dolan allegedly used his influence on the tour to repeatedly manipulate and pressure Croft “to submit to sex with him,” the lawsuit stated. It claimed Dolan orchestrated a meeting between Croft and Weinstein, a friend of his, in a hotel elevator in early 2014. She alleged in her lawsuit that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel room.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly or consent to being identified, as Croft has done.
Washington
Man charged with sending graphic threats to kill six high court justices
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alaska man accused of sending graphic threats to injure and kill six Supreme Court justices and some of their family members has been indicted on federal charges, authorities said Thursday.
Panos Anastasiou, 76, is accused of sending more than 465 messages through a public court website, including graphic threats of assassination and torture coupled with racist and homophobic rhetoric.
The indictment does not specify which justices Anastasiou targeted, but Attorney General Merrick Garland said he made the graphic threats as retaliation for decisions he disagreed with.
“Our democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fearing for their lives or the safety of their families,” he said.
Prosecutors said in an indictment filed Wednesday that the messages were sent between March and mid-July in 2023. Anastasiou has been charged with 22 counts, including nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce.
Anastasiou was arrested Wednesday in Anchorage. An attorney listed for him in court records did not immediately return a message seeking comment, and publicly listed phone numbers for Anastasiou were disconnected.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count of making threats against a federal judge and up to five years for each count of making threats in interstate commerce if convicted.
Threats targeting federal judges overall have more than doubled in recent years amid a surge of similar violent messages directed at public officials around the country, the U.S. Marshals Service previously said.
In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a man was stopped near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties.
New Hampshire
Class action approved for foster teens with mental health disabilities
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge has approved class-action status for a lawsuit challenging the placement of teens with mental health disabilities in New Hampshire’s foster care system.
The lawsuit was filed against the state in 2021 and it has been amended since then. It says New Hampshire has “unnecessarily warehoused” foster care teens in institutional and group home care settings instead of with families, against their best interests. The state requested a dismissal, saying the plaintiffs did not prove their case.
Efforts at mediation failed earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadaro’s ruling Wednesday applies to children ages 14 through 17 who are or will be under supervision of the state Division for Children, Youth and Families, have a mental impairment and are at serious risk of being unnecessarily placed in a group care setting. The ruling says fewer than 200 teens could be affected.
The original plaintiffs have since aged out of custody, and Barbadaro, in Concord, dismissed their claims.
He allowed one to proceed involving a 15-year-old in a group home who alleges disability discrimination and case planning neglect. Lawyers for the state argued that neither claim is appropriate for a class-action resolution.
Barbadro noted since the lawsuit was first filed, the defendants “have undertaken laudable efforts to address many of the concerns raised in the complaint. But there is no evidence that the defendants have abated or modified the common practices identified in this order.”
The lawsuit was filed against Gov. Chris Sununu and heads of the Health Department, Division for Children, Youth, and Families; Medicaid services; and the administrative office of the courts.
Virginia
Ex-jail deputy gets 6-1/2 years for drug operation, sex trafficking
A former sheriff’s deputy at a northern Virginia jail was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison for smuggling drugs into the jail and for running a sex trafficking operation out of a Baltimore apartment.
Robert T. Sanford Jr., 37, worked night shifts at the Fairfax County jail as a corrections officer between 2021 and 2023, according to court records.
He admitted that he smuggled drugs and a phone into a jail inmate, including fentanyl and cocaine, for distribution among other inmates. He gave inside information to the inmate about internal investigations, and tipped him off to inmates who were cooperating with law enforcement, subjecting those inmates to intimidation.
Outside his role as a guard, prosecutors say Sanford was a pimp who trafficked women and plied them with drugs.
“There is a significant distinction between one who merely solicits escorts or uses drugs to relieve stress and escape, and one who provides housing and drugs to opioid-dependent and homeless women in exchange for sexual acts and financial gain,” prosecutors wrote.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said Sanford “preyed on the vulnerabilities of people in his care. His corruption didn’t stop with profiting from feeding the addictions of inmates in his charge. Rather than assisting homeless and addicted members of his community, Sanford used drugs to entrap them in a life of prostitution for his own gain.”
The sentence issued Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria was roughly in line with that requested by prosecutors, and longer than the 4-year sentence sought by Sanford’s public defender.
Sanford apologized for his actions in a letter to the judge.
“I will continue attending therapy to ensure I remain on the right path,” he wrote. “I deeply regret my actions and the harm they caused.”
Sanford’s lawyer said mental health issues contributed to his misdeeds.
North Dakota
Senator’s son to change plea in 2023 crash that killed deputy
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The adult son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer is expected to change his plea on Friday in connection with a pursuit and crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy last year.
Ian Cramer, 43, was scheduled to go to trial next week beginning Tuesday for charges of homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer and drug- and driving-related offenses tied to the Dec. 6, 2023, pursuit and crash death of Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin, 53.
Cramer pleaded not guilty to the charges in April. He was initially charged with manslaughter, which was later raised to the homicide offense, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine. A notice filed Wednesday indicates his change of plea is scheduled for Friday by videoconference.
The details of Cramer’s change of plea weren’t immediately clear. The Associated Press left phone messages with Cramer’s attorney and Mercer County State’s Attorney Todd Schwarz.
Bismarck police said Ian Cramer’s mother had taken him to a hospital because of mental health concerns. Court documents say he crawled into the driver seat of his parents’ vehicle after his mother got out and smashed in reverse through the closed garage door of the hospital’s ambulance bay. Court documents say he later fled from deputies when one confronted him in Hazen, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Bismarck.
Cramer hit speeds over 100 mph (160 kph) and kept going even after a spiked device flattened two tires, according to court documents. More spikes were set up, and Cramer swerved and then crashed head-on into Martin’s patrol vehicle and launched him about 100 feet (30 meters), authorities said. Martin was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
In March, Ian Cramer pleaded not guilty to separate felony charges of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment in connection with the events at the hospital. A jury trial is scheduled for November.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, has said his son “suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations.” Ian Cramer is being held at the McLean County Jail in Washburn on $500,000 cash bail.
Delaware
Hunter Biden’s sentencing on federal firearms charges delayed until December
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden will be sentenced on felony firearms charges in December after the judge agreed Thursday to a delay requested by the defense.
In June, President Joe Biden ‘s son was convicted in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
He was initially scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13, but the judge agreed to delay the hearing until Dec. 4 after Hunter Biden’s lawyers said they needed more time to adequately prepare.
The gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though he will likely face far less time behind bars or possibly avoid imprisonment entirely.
He also faces sentencing in California on Dec. 16 on federal tax charges he pleaded guilty to earlier this month. Those charges carry up to 17 years behind bars. He also faces up to $1.35 million in fines.
President Biden has said he will not use his presidential powers to pardon his son or lessen his sentence.
