Maryland
Man pleads guilty to fatally strangling deaf cellmate in jail
BALTIMORE (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to strangling his cellmate to death in Baltimore’s jail two years ago, concluding the prosecution of a case that raised significant questions about operations in the detention center and the city’s backlogged court system.
Gordon Staron, 35, was charged with first-degree murder in the strangulation death of cellmate Javarick Gantt, a deaf man who relied on sign language to communicate. Jail officials have refused to answer questions about why Staron — already a murder suspect at the time — was placed in the same cell as Gantt, who was disabled and facing relatively minor charges.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who announced last year that he would personally help prosecute the case involving Gantt’s death, said Tuesday that Staron had entered a guilty plea.
Staron was being held on murder charges in another case when he killed Gantt. A jury recently convicted him in that earlier case, in which prosecutors said Staron armed himself with an ax and stabbed a 63-year-old man to death at a Baltimore bus stop. He will be sentenced Dec. 19 in both cases.
Bates previously said he would seek life without parole for Staron.
“When I campaigned for this office, I promised to be a champion and defender of our older adult and disabled community in Baltimore, and the outcomes of these cases will undoubtedly ensure that Mr. Staron is never back on our streets to commit more malicious acts against vulnerable individuals,” Bates said in a statement Tuesday.
A text message seeking comment was left with Staron’s lawyer Wednesday.
Gantt, 34, had been jailed for months while his cases crawled through a backlogged court system. His charges stemmed from a 2019 domestic dispute in which no one was seriously injured. But largely because he missed court dates and probation check-ins, he was ordered held without bail and remained behind bars awaiting trial.
Standing just over 5 feet tall and weighing about 105 pounds (48 kilograms), Gantt was frequently the target of bullies. Sign language was his first language; his reading and writing skills were limited. In the weeks leading up to his death, loved ones said, he expressed safety concerns about his cellmate, saying he would rather be housed alone.
Their cell door had been locked for nearly 12 hours when Gantt was found dead around 6 a.m., court records show.
“Witnesses … reported hearing deaf-mute detainee Gantt making noises and banging on his cell door” during the night, according to charging documents.
Prosecutors haven’t disclosed a motive in either of the murder cases.
Montana
Man who was mad about Chinese spy balloon convicted of threatening Kevin McCarthy
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man was convicted Wednesday of threatening to assault former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after becoming upset that the government had not shot down a Chinese spy balloon that floated over his home city.
Richard Rogers, 45, of Billings, delivered the threat to a McCarthy staffer during a series of more than 100 calls to the Republican speaker’s office in just 75 minutes on Feb. 3, 2023, prosecutors said. That was one day after the Pentagon acknowledged it was tracking the spy balloon, which was later shot down off the Atlantic Coast.
The 12-person federal jury also found Rogers guilty on two counts of making harassing telephone calls: the ones to McCarthy’s office plus 150 calls he made to an FBI tip line in 2021 and 2022.
Rogers routinely made vulgar and obscene comments in those calls.
Sentencing was set for January 31. He faces up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine for threatening to harm a member of Congress, and a maximum penalty of two years and a $250,000 fine on the harassment counts.
U.S. District Judge Susan Watters allowed Rogers to remain free of custody pending sentencing.
Threats against public officials in the U.S. have risen sharply in recent years, including against members of Congress and their spouses, election workers and local elected officials. Rogers’ case was among more than 8,000 threats to lawmakers investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police in 2023, and officials expect another surge with the 2024 election.
During a three day trial, Rogers testified that his outraged calls to the FBI and McCarthy’s office were a form of “civil disobedience.”
He and his attorneys argued that using obscenities with FBI operators and Congressional staff was protected as free speech under the First Amendment, which establishes the right “to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
But prosecutors said Rogers crossed the line with a threat on McCarthy’s life and by hurling abusive and sexual verbal tirades against the lawmaker’s staffers and FBI operators.
In the dozens of calls that were played for jurors, Rogers was heard asking for investigations of various alleged conspiracies involving the FBI and the administration of President Joe Biden. He was polite at times, but would quickly become angry and shout obscenities until the calls were disconnected.
“You can’t talk to people that way. It’s common sense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Godfrey said. “He’s calling not out of political protest; he’s calling because he gets enjoyment out of it.”
The prosecutor told the jury there was no exception in federal law that says government employees can be subjected to harassment.
“’Petitioning the government’ — baloney,” Godfrey said. “Kevin McCarthy was the Speaker of the House. It’s not his job to shoot down spy balloons.”
Rogers, a former telephone customer service representative, testified that he took to care to “edit” his comments on the phone to avoid any threats because he didn’t want to go to prison.
He added that he never tried hide his actions and frequently offered his name and phone number when calling the FBI.
“They were disrespectful to me, so I was disrespectful to them,” Rogers said.
Defense attorney Ed Werner said Rogers “just wanted to be heard.”
Following the guilty verdict, Rogers repeated his contention that he never threatened anyone. He also said he was dissatisfied with his defense attorneys for not adequately presenting his case.
Rogers wore shirts depicting Captain America and other superheroes throughout the trial, including one Wednesday with the letters “MAGA” on the front, a reference to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. A supporter of the former president, he said he was in Washington during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Godfrey said the case was not about politics but rather illegal harassment.
Earlier this year, a 30-year-old Billings man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison after leaving voicemail messages threatening to kill Montana Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and his family. Another Montana man, from Kalispell, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last year, also for making threats against Tester.
New York
Man pleads guilty in betting scheme that ensnared ex-NBA player
NEW YORK (AP) — A gambler pleaded guilty Wednesday in a sports betting scandal that got NBA player Jontay Porter kicked out of the league earlier this year.
Long Phi Pham, also known as Bruce Pham, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, admitting that he schemed to con sports betting companies, according to prosecutors and a court document. He could face anything from a no-jail punishment to 20 years in prison at his sentencing, set for April 25 in a Brooklyn, New York, federal court.
Messages seeking comment were sent to his attorneys.
Pham and three other men were charged in June with plotting to cash in on from a player’s secret plans to claim illness to pull out of two games early. The withdrawals ensured a payout for anyone who bet on him to underperform expectations.
The complaint didn’t name the player, but details made clear it was Porter, whom the NBA banned for life in April after conducting its own investigation.
One of Pham’s co-defendants induced the athlete to withdraw from games, according to a court complaint. The document said the conspirators were on track to collect over $1 million — and share some with the player — before a betting company smelled a rat and blocked collection of a lot of the money.
Pham, who is in his 30s, was arrested as he boarded a flight to Australia with roughly $12,000 in cash, days after learning about the investigation, prosecutors said at the time. They suggested the Brooklyn resident was trying to elude their reach, but his lawyer said Pham was a professional poker player and was traveling for a tournament.
Porter, who was last with the Toronto Raptors, pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud conspiracy. He told a court that his own gambling debts drove him to bench himself so conspirators could win bets.
Porter withdrew from two games last winter after playing only a few minutes and saying he was hurt or sick. On both occasions, his points, rebounds and assists fell below sportsbooks’ predictions.
He is now awaiting sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 18.
Pham’s three co-defendants have yet to enter pleas.
California
Parole rescinded for former LA police detective convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend’s wife
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A chance for parole was rescinded Wednesday for a former Los Angeles police detective serving a sentence of 27 years to life in the cold-case killing of her ex-boyfriend’s wife in 1986.
Stephanie Lazarus was convicted in 2012 of killing Sherri Rasmussen, a 29-year-old nurse who was bludgeoned and shot to death in the condo she shared with her husband of three months, John Ruetten. She wasn’t arrested until 2009.
The state Board of Parole Hearings heard arguments from lawyers on both sides during a hearing Wednesday that lasted about 90 minutes. The three commissioners then met privately and returned with a decision to rescind a previous grant of parole, according to attorney John Taylor, who represents the Rasmussen family.
Taylor said the family was relieved by the decision.
“Lazarus had her parole time up front, evading arrest for 23 years after the murder. She has expressed no remorse for the cold-blooded execution of Sherri Rasmussen committed while she was an LAPD officer. It’s unfair to the family that she should now go free and enjoy her life while receiving her LAPD pension,” Taylor said in a statement following the board’s decision.
A select committee of the parole board determined last November that Lazarus was eligible for parole. The full board took up her case in May but the final decision was delayed until this week. An attorney for Lazarus couldn’t be located Wednesday.
Rasmussen’s sisters and widower gave emotional testimony during May’s hearing about their pain and described Lazarus as a conniving criminal who used her police training to cover up the killing.
At her trial 12 years ago, prosecutors focused on the romantic relationship between Lazarus and Ruetten after they graduated from college. They claimed Lazarus was consumed with jealousy when Ruetten decided to marry Rasmussen.
The case hinged on DNA from a bite mark prosecutors say Lazarus left on Rasmussen’s arm.
Lazarus was not a suspect in 1986 because detectives then believed two robbers who had attacked another woman in the area were to blame for Rasmussen’s death.
No suspects were found and the case went cold until May 2009, when undercover officers followed Lazarus and obtained a sample of her saliva to compare with DNA left at the original crime scene, police said.
Prosecutors suggested Lazarus knew to avoid leaving other evidence, such as fingerprints.
Lazarus rose in the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department, becoming a detective in charge of art forgeries and thefts.
Man pleads guilty to fatally strangling deaf cellmate in jail
BALTIMORE (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to strangling his cellmate to death in Baltimore’s jail two years ago, concluding the prosecution of a case that raised significant questions about operations in the detention center and the city’s backlogged court system.
Gordon Staron, 35, was charged with first-degree murder in the strangulation death of cellmate Javarick Gantt, a deaf man who relied on sign language to communicate. Jail officials have refused to answer questions about why Staron — already a murder suspect at the time — was placed in the same cell as Gantt, who was disabled and facing relatively minor charges.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who announced last year that he would personally help prosecute the case involving Gantt’s death, said Tuesday that Staron had entered a guilty plea.
Staron was being held on murder charges in another case when he killed Gantt. A jury recently convicted him in that earlier case, in which prosecutors said Staron armed himself with an ax and stabbed a 63-year-old man to death at a Baltimore bus stop. He will be sentenced Dec. 19 in both cases.
Bates previously said he would seek life without parole for Staron.
“When I campaigned for this office, I promised to be a champion and defender of our older adult and disabled community in Baltimore, and the outcomes of these cases will undoubtedly ensure that Mr. Staron is never back on our streets to commit more malicious acts against vulnerable individuals,” Bates said in a statement Tuesday.
A text message seeking comment was left with Staron’s lawyer Wednesday.
Gantt, 34, had been jailed for months while his cases crawled through a backlogged court system. His charges stemmed from a 2019 domestic dispute in which no one was seriously injured. But largely because he missed court dates and probation check-ins, he was ordered held without bail and remained behind bars awaiting trial.
Standing just over 5 feet tall and weighing about 105 pounds (48 kilograms), Gantt was frequently the target of bullies. Sign language was his first language; his reading and writing skills were limited. In the weeks leading up to his death, loved ones said, he expressed safety concerns about his cellmate, saying he would rather be housed alone.
Their cell door had been locked for nearly 12 hours when Gantt was found dead around 6 a.m., court records show.
“Witnesses … reported hearing deaf-mute detainee Gantt making noises and banging on his cell door” during the night, according to charging documents.
Prosecutors haven’t disclosed a motive in either of the murder cases.
Montana
Man who was mad about Chinese spy balloon convicted of threatening Kevin McCarthy
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man was convicted Wednesday of threatening to assault former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after becoming upset that the government had not shot down a Chinese spy balloon that floated over his home city.
Richard Rogers, 45, of Billings, delivered the threat to a McCarthy staffer during a series of more than 100 calls to the Republican speaker’s office in just 75 minutes on Feb. 3, 2023, prosecutors said. That was one day after the Pentagon acknowledged it was tracking the spy balloon, which was later shot down off the Atlantic Coast.
The 12-person federal jury also found Rogers guilty on two counts of making harassing telephone calls: the ones to McCarthy’s office plus 150 calls he made to an FBI tip line in 2021 and 2022.
Rogers routinely made vulgar and obscene comments in those calls.
Sentencing was set for January 31. He faces up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine for threatening to harm a member of Congress, and a maximum penalty of two years and a $250,000 fine on the harassment counts.
U.S. District Judge Susan Watters allowed Rogers to remain free of custody pending sentencing.
Threats against public officials in the U.S. have risen sharply in recent years, including against members of Congress and their spouses, election workers and local elected officials. Rogers’ case was among more than 8,000 threats to lawmakers investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police in 2023, and officials expect another surge with the 2024 election.
During a three day trial, Rogers testified that his outraged calls to the FBI and McCarthy’s office were a form of “civil disobedience.”
He and his attorneys argued that using obscenities with FBI operators and Congressional staff was protected as free speech under the First Amendment, which establishes the right “to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
But prosecutors said Rogers crossed the line with a threat on McCarthy’s life and by hurling abusive and sexual verbal tirades against the lawmaker’s staffers and FBI operators.
In the dozens of calls that were played for jurors, Rogers was heard asking for investigations of various alleged conspiracies involving the FBI and the administration of President Joe Biden. He was polite at times, but would quickly become angry and shout obscenities until the calls were disconnected.
“You can’t talk to people that way. It’s common sense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Godfrey said. “He’s calling not out of political protest; he’s calling because he gets enjoyment out of it.”
The prosecutor told the jury there was no exception in federal law that says government employees can be subjected to harassment.
“’Petitioning the government’ — baloney,” Godfrey said. “Kevin McCarthy was the Speaker of the House. It’s not his job to shoot down spy balloons.”
Rogers, a former telephone customer service representative, testified that he took to care to “edit” his comments on the phone to avoid any threats because he didn’t want to go to prison.
He added that he never tried hide his actions and frequently offered his name and phone number when calling the FBI.
“They were disrespectful to me, so I was disrespectful to them,” Rogers said.
Defense attorney Ed Werner said Rogers “just wanted to be heard.”
Following the guilty verdict, Rogers repeated his contention that he never threatened anyone. He also said he was dissatisfied with his defense attorneys for not adequately presenting his case.
Rogers wore shirts depicting Captain America and other superheroes throughout the trial, including one Wednesday with the letters “MAGA” on the front, a reference to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. A supporter of the former president, he said he was in Washington during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Godfrey said the case was not about politics but rather illegal harassment.
Earlier this year, a 30-year-old Billings man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison after leaving voicemail messages threatening to kill Montana Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and his family. Another Montana man, from Kalispell, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last year, also for making threats against Tester.
New York
Man pleads guilty in betting scheme that ensnared ex-NBA player
NEW YORK (AP) — A gambler pleaded guilty Wednesday in a sports betting scandal that got NBA player Jontay Porter kicked out of the league earlier this year.
Long Phi Pham, also known as Bruce Pham, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, admitting that he schemed to con sports betting companies, according to prosecutors and a court document. He could face anything from a no-jail punishment to 20 years in prison at his sentencing, set for April 25 in a Brooklyn, New York, federal court.
Messages seeking comment were sent to his attorneys.
Pham and three other men were charged in June with plotting to cash in on from a player’s secret plans to claim illness to pull out of two games early. The withdrawals ensured a payout for anyone who bet on him to underperform expectations.
The complaint didn’t name the player, but details made clear it was Porter, whom the NBA banned for life in April after conducting its own investigation.
One of Pham’s co-defendants induced the athlete to withdraw from games, according to a court complaint. The document said the conspirators were on track to collect over $1 million — and share some with the player — before a betting company smelled a rat and blocked collection of a lot of the money.
Pham, who is in his 30s, was arrested as he boarded a flight to Australia with roughly $12,000 in cash, days after learning about the investigation, prosecutors said at the time. They suggested the Brooklyn resident was trying to elude their reach, but his lawyer said Pham was a professional poker player and was traveling for a tournament.
Porter, who was last with the Toronto Raptors, pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud conspiracy. He told a court that his own gambling debts drove him to bench himself so conspirators could win bets.
Porter withdrew from two games last winter after playing only a few minutes and saying he was hurt or sick. On both occasions, his points, rebounds and assists fell below sportsbooks’ predictions.
He is now awaiting sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 18.
Pham’s three co-defendants have yet to enter pleas.
California
Parole rescinded for former LA police detective convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend’s wife
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A chance for parole was rescinded Wednesday for a former Los Angeles police detective serving a sentence of 27 years to life in the cold-case killing of her ex-boyfriend’s wife in 1986.
Stephanie Lazarus was convicted in 2012 of killing Sherri Rasmussen, a 29-year-old nurse who was bludgeoned and shot to death in the condo she shared with her husband of three months, John Ruetten. She wasn’t arrested until 2009.
The state Board of Parole Hearings heard arguments from lawyers on both sides during a hearing Wednesday that lasted about 90 minutes. The three commissioners then met privately and returned with a decision to rescind a previous grant of parole, according to attorney John Taylor, who represents the Rasmussen family.
Taylor said the family was relieved by the decision.
“Lazarus had her parole time up front, evading arrest for 23 years after the murder. She has expressed no remorse for the cold-blooded execution of Sherri Rasmussen committed while she was an LAPD officer. It’s unfair to the family that she should now go free and enjoy her life while receiving her LAPD pension,” Taylor said in a statement following the board’s decision.
A select committee of the parole board determined last November that Lazarus was eligible for parole. The full board took up her case in May but the final decision was delayed until this week. An attorney for Lazarus couldn’t be located Wednesday.
Rasmussen’s sisters and widower gave emotional testimony during May’s hearing about their pain and described Lazarus as a conniving criminal who used her police training to cover up the killing.
At her trial 12 years ago, prosecutors focused on the romantic relationship between Lazarus and Ruetten after they graduated from college. They claimed Lazarus was consumed with jealousy when Ruetten decided to marry Rasmussen.
The case hinged on DNA from a bite mark prosecutors say Lazarus left on Rasmussen’s arm.
Lazarus was not a suspect in 1986 because detectives then believed two robbers who had attacked another woman in the area were to blame for Rasmussen’s death.
No suspects were found and the case went cold until May 2009, when undercover officers followed Lazarus and obtained a sample of her saliva to compare with DNA left at the original crime scene, police said.
Prosecutors suggested Lazarus knew to avoid leaving other evidence, such as fingerprints.
Lazarus rose in the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department, becoming a detective in charge of art forgeries and thefts.
