Washington
Appeals court allows Trump’s anti-union order to take effect
WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees while a lawsuit plays out.
The Friday ruling came after the Trump administration asked for an emergency pause on a judge’s order blocking enforcement at roughly three dozen agencies and departments.
A split three-judge panel in the nation’s capital sided with government lawyers in a lawsuit filed by unions representing federal employees. The majority ruled on technical grounds, finding that the unions don’t have the legal right to sue because the Trump administration has said it won’t end any collective bargaining agreements while the case is being litigated.
Judge Karen Henderson, appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush, and Justin Walker, appointed by Trump, sided with the government, while Judge Michelle Childs, appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, dissented.
The government says Trump needs the executive order so his administration can cut the federal workforce to ensure strong national security. The law requiring collective bargaining creates exemptions for work related to national security, as in agencies like the FBI.
Union leaders argue the order is designed to facilitate mass firings and exact “political vengeance” against federal unions opposed to Trump’s efforts to dramatically downsize the federal government.
His order seeks to expand that exemption to exclude more workers than any other president has before. That’s according to the National Treasury Employees Union, which is suing to block the order.
The administration has filed in a Kentucky court to terminate the collective bargaining agreement for the International Revenue Service, where many workers are represented by the National Treasury Employees Union. They say their IRS members aren’t doing national security work.
Other union employees affected by the order include the Health and Human Services Department, the Energy Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications Commission.
Puerto Rico
US jury convicts once powerful Haitian gang leader in kidnapping of US missionaries
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.S. jury has found a once powerful Haitian gang leader guilty of organizing the kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens in 2021 and holding them hostage for more than two months.
Germine Joly, whom authorities said led the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti, will be sentenced later this year following Friday’s conviction at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.
Joly, who has denied involvement with the gang, was sentenced to 35 years in prison last year after pleading guilty to weapons smuggling and the laundering of ransom related to the mass kidnapping.
Haitian police arrested Joly in 2014, and he was sentenced to life in prison in 2018. Authorities said he still directed gang operations from prison, including the October 2021 kidnapping of 16 Americans, including five children, and a Canadian who worked with the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries. The children were ages 6 and 3 and 8 months old.
The gang initially demanded $1 million each for the hostages or, alternatively, the release of Joly from prison. The first hostages were released in November 2021, with a $350,000 ransom eventually paid for the release of the remaining captives.
The Haitian government extradited Joly in 2022.
Joly, known as “Yonyon,” was co-leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, which translates roughly to “400 simpletons.” It controls part of Croix-des-Bouquets, a neighborhood in the eastern region of the Port-au-Prince capital and surrounding areas.
The gang also operates along a route that connects the capital with the border city of Jimaní in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
The gang is still led by Joseph Wilson, best known as “Lanmò San Jou,” which means “death has no date,” and it is an ally of G-Pep, a gang federation that is now part of a powerful gang coalition known as “Viv Ansanm.”
New Hampshire
Former sheriff sentenced to prison on perjury charges, accused of stealing $19K in county funds
DOVER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire sheriff who resigned after he was accused of stealing $19,000 in county funds was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 to seven years in prison on perjury charges.
Prosecutors had asked for a seven-to-14-year sentence for Mark Brave.
His lawyer, Leif Becker, had asked that the judge accept a proposed sentence of no prison time “in mercy,” noting that Brave didn’t have a prior criminal history and has accepted responsibility for his crimes.
Brave, 39, was elected as Strafford County sheriff in 2020. At the time, he was both the youngest sheriff and the first Black man to serve as a sheriff in the state.
He was arrested in 2023 and charged with eight felonies following an investigation into accusations that he misused county credit cards. Brave called the arrest a political attack, said he he did nothing wrong and would fight the charges.
Brave was accused of using a county credit card to pay for travel to fictitious business meetings with romantic partners and then lying about it to a grand jury. He went on administrative leave and resigned that December, saying he felt it was in the best interest of the county.
Brave pleaded guilty to four charges in February as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors: two counts of perjury, theft, and falsifying physical evidence.
The agreement called for suspended sentences on the theft and physical evdience charges provided he met conditions such as paying back the county and not seek employment as a law enforcement officer in any jurisdiction.
Brave said in court that he began making poor choices as his marriage was falling apart, The Boston Globe reported.
“I stand before you embarrassed and ashamed of my own conduct,” he said.
Attorney General John Formella said Brave’s sentence shows a “clear and necessary principle” that no one is above the law.
“His repeated lies, misuse of taxpayer funds, and abuse of office were not just criminal — they were a profound betrayal of the public trust and the oath he took to serve with integrity,” Formella said in a statement.
Tennessee
Jury convicts ex-House speaker and former chief of staff in scheme
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Tennessee House speaker and his onetime chief of staff in a scheme to win taxpayer-funded mail business from state lawmakers even after scandals drove the two out of political power.
Former Republican Rep. Glen Casada was found guilty of 17 of 19 charges, while his then-chief of staff, Cade Cothren, was found guilty of all 19 charges in a public corruption trial that began in late April. Each man faces up to 20 years in prison when they are sentenced in September. They remain free on bond in the meantime.
“Obviously, we felt very strongly about our defense, and we’re disappointed with the verdict,” Casada attorney Ed Yarbrough said after court was adjourned. Attorneys for both men said they plan to appeal.
The current House speaker, Cameron Sexton, had been held out as a star witness but ultimately did not testify. He has said he helped authorities in the case against his predecessor since taking the speaker job in 2019. Sexton was among the lawmakers and staffers who testified to the grand jury.
The defense sought to draw attention to a political rivalry between Casada and Sexton. Ultimately, the defense declined to call any witnesses. Neither Casada nor Cothren testified. And defense attempts to discuss in front of jurors whether Sexton wore a wire were shut down by the judge.
On Friday, the federal jury in Nashville found the pair guilty of numerous charges including theft, bribery, kickbacks, use of a fictitious name to carry out fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Casada was found not guilty on two of six counts of wire fraud.
Casada resigned as House speaker in 2019 after a no-confidence vote from fellow House Republicans due to swirling scandals, including revelations he exchanged sexually explicit text messages about women years ago with Cothren. Not long before that, Cothren also left his post over those texts and racist texts, coupled with an admission he used cocaine inside a legislative office building when he held a previous job.
The criminal charges center on a time after the pair’s political freefall, while Casada was still a sitting lawmaker. The charges claim Cothren launched Phoenix Solutions with the knowledge and support of Casada and then-Rep. Robin Smith.
The trio claimed the firm was run by a “Matthew Phoenix,” and companies controlled by Casada and Smith received roughly $52,000 in taxpayer money in 2020 from a mailer program for lawmakers. A “Matthew Phoenix” signature ended up on an IRS tax document. A supposed Matthew Phoenix associate named Candice was portrayed by Casada’s then-girlfriend, prosecutors said.
Casada and Cothren were indicted in 2022 after Smith resigned and pleaded guilty to one charge. Smith testified at the trial that the goal of the scheme was to hide who was behind Phoenix Solutions due to the “radioactive” scandal that pushed Casada and Cothren out of power. The taxpayer-funded mailings for House Republicans were a first step to expand later to campaign work, she said.
Defense attorneys noted the state got the mailings it paid for. They tried to paint Smith as untrustworthy and driven by hopes for a lenient sentence under her plea deal.
Casada remained a state representative until 2022, when he didn’t seek reelection.
Ohio
Truck driver found guilty on lesser charges in bus crash that killed 6 on school trip
NEWARK, Ohio (AP) — A truck driver who triggered a chain-reaction crash with a bus that killed three Ohio high school band students and three adults was convicted of vehicular homicide Friday but cleared on more serious charges.
The three students killed in the 2023 crash were on a charter bus, and a teacher and two chaperones in another vehicle hit by the tractor trailer also died.
Licking County Judge David Branstool found Jacob McDonald, of Zanesville, guilty on six misdemeanor counts of vehicular homicide, but ruled that he was not guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide, a felony.
The judge said McDonald’s actions in causing the crash were negligent but not reckless. McDonald could have faced three decades in prison if he had been convicted on all of the more serious charges, but instead he now faces a maximum sentence of 18 months, according to his attorney.
Some family members of the victims left the court before the judge finished announcing the verdict.
Prosecutors said McDonald was speeding and failed to brake for slowing traffic on Interstate 70 because he was looking at his phone.
His defense attorney, Chris Brigdon, disputed that, saying that the cellular data cited by investigators did not clearly show what was happening before the crash. Brigdon said after the verdict was announced that McDonald was still devastated by the crash because he knows he caused it.
According to investigators, McDonald’s truck hit an SUV and pushed it into the bus, which was carrying students from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District in eastern Ohio. Some of the vehicles caught fire.
Appeals court allows Trump’s anti-union order to take effect
WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees while a lawsuit plays out.
The Friday ruling came after the Trump administration asked for an emergency pause on a judge’s order blocking enforcement at roughly three dozen agencies and departments.
A split three-judge panel in the nation’s capital sided with government lawyers in a lawsuit filed by unions representing federal employees. The majority ruled on technical grounds, finding that the unions don’t have the legal right to sue because the Trump administration has said it won’t end any collective bargaining agreements while the case is being litigated.
Judge Karen Henderson, appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush, and Justin Walker, appointed by Trump, sided with the government, while Judge Michelle Childs, appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, dissented.
The government says Trump needs the executive order so his administration can cut the federal workforce to ensure strong national security. The law requiring collective bargaining creates exemptions for work related to national security, as in agencies like the FBI.
Union leaders argue the order is designed to facilitate mass firings and exact “political vengeance” against federal unions opposed to Trump’s efforts to dramatically downsize the federal government.
His order seeks to expand that exemption to exclude more workers than any other president has before. That’s according to the National Treasury Employees Union, which is suing to block the order.
The administration has filed in a Kentucky court to terminate the collective bargaining agreement for the International Revenue Service, where many workers are represented by the National Treasury Employees Union. They say their IRS members aren’t doing national security work.
Other union employees affected by the order include the Health and Human Services Department, the Energy Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Communications Commission.
Puerto Rico
US jury convicts once powerful Haitian gang leader in kidnapping of US missionaries
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.S. jury has found a once powerful Haitian gang leader guilty of organizing the kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens in 2021 and holding them hostage for more than two months.
Germine Joly, whom authorities said led the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti, will be sentenced later this year following Friday’s conviction at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.
Joly, who has denied involvement with the gang, was sentenced to 35 years in prison last year after pleading guilty to weapons smuggling and the laundering of ransom related to the mass kidnapping.
Haitian police arrested Joly in 2014, and he was sentenced to life in prison in 2018. Authorities said he still directed gang operations from prison, including the October 2021 kidnapping of 16 Americans, including five children, and a Canadian who worked with the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries. The children were ages 6 and 3 and 8 months old.
The gang initially demanded $1 million each for the hostages or, alternatively, the release of Joly from prison. The first hostages were released in November 2021, with a $350,000 ransom eventually paid for the release of the remaining captives.
The Haitian government extradited Joly in 2022.
Joly, known as “Yonyon,” was co-leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, which translates roughly to “400 simpletons.” It controls part of Croix-des-Bouquets, a neighborhood in the eastern region of the Port-au-Prince capital and surrounding areas.
The gang also operates along a route that connects the capital with the border city of Jimaní in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
The gang is still led by Joseph Wilson, best known as “Lanmò San Jou,” which means “death has no date,” and it is an ally of G-Pep, a gang federation that is now part of a powerful gang coalition known as “Viv Ansanm.”
New Hampshire
Former sheriff sentenced to prison on perjury charges, accused of stealing $19K in county funds
DOVER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire sheriff who resigned after he was accused of stealing $19,000 in county funds was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 to seven years in prison on perjury charges.
Prosecutors had asked for a seven-to-14-year sentence for Mark Brave.
His lawyer, Leif Becker, had asked that the judge accept a proposed sentence of no prison time “in mercy,” noting that Brave didn’t have a prior criminal history and has accepted responsibility for his crimes.
Brave, 39, was elected as Strafford County sheriff in 2020. At the time, he was both the youngest sheriff and the first Black man to serve as a sheriff in the state.
He was arrested in 2023 and charged with eight felonies following an investigation into accusations that he misused county credit cards. Brave called the arrest a political attack, said he he did nothing wrong and would fight the charges.
Brave was accused of using a county credit card to pay for travel to fictitious business meetings with romantic partners and then lying about it to a grand jury. He went on administrative leave and resigned that December, saying he felt it was in the best interest of the county.
Brave pleaded guilty to four charges in February as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors: two counts of perjury, theft, and falsifying physical evidence.
The agreement called for suspended sentences on the theft and physical evdience charges provided he met conditions such as paying back the county and not seek employment as a law enforcement officer in any jurisdiction.
Brave said in court that he began making poor choices as his marriage was falling apart, The Boston Globe reported.
“I stand before you embarrassed and ashamed of my own conduct,” he said.
Attorney General John Formella said Brave’s sentence shows a “clear and necessary principle” that no one is above the law.
“His repeated lies, misuse of taxpayer funds, and abuse of office were not just criminal — they were a profound betrayal of the public trust and the oath he took to serve with integrity,” Formella said in a statement.
Tennessee
Jury convicts ex-House speaker and former chief of staff in scheme
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Tennessee House speaker and his onetime chief of staff in a scheme to win taxpayer-funded mail business from state lawmakers even after scandals drove the two out of political power.
Former Republican Rep. Glen Casada was found guilty of 17 of 19 charges, while his then-chief of staff, Cade Cothren, was found guilty of all 19 charges in a public corruption trial that began in late April. Each man faces up to 20 years in prison when they are sentenced in September. They remain free on bond in the meantime.
“Obviously, we felt very strongly about our defense, and we’re disappointed with the verdict,” Casada attorney Ed Yarbrough said after court was adjourned. Attorneys for both men said they plan to appeal.
The current House speaker, Cameron Sexton, had been held out as a star witness but ultimately did not testify. He has said he helped authorities in the case against his predecessor since taking the speaker job in 2019. Sexton was among the lawmakers and staffers who testified to the grand jury.
The defense sought to draw attention to a political rivalry between Casada and Sexton. Ultimately, the defense declined to call any witnesses. Neither Casada nor Cothren testified. And defense attempts to discuss in front of jurors whether Sexton wore a wire were shut down by the judge.
On Friday, the federal jury in Nashville found the pair guilty of numerous charges including theft, bribery, kickbacks, use of a fictitious name to carry out fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Casada was found not guilty on two of six counts of wire fraud.
Casada resigned as House speaker in 2019 after a no-confidence vote from fellow House Republicans due to swirling scandals, including revelations he exchanged sexually explicit text messages about women years ago with Cothren. Not long before that, Cothren also left his post over those texts and racist texts, coupled with an admission he used cocaine inside a legislative office building when he held a previous job.
The criminal charges center on a time after the pair’s political freefall, while Casada was still a sitting lawmaker. The charges claim Cothren launched Phoenix Solutions with the knowledge and support of Casada and then-Rep. Robin Smith.
The trio claimed the firm was run by a “Matthew Phoenix,” and companies controlled by Casada and Smith received roughly $52,000 in taxpayer money in 2020 from a mailer program for lawmakers. A “Matthew Phoenix” signature ended up on an IRS tax document. A supposed Matthew Phoenix associate named Candice was portrayed by Casada’s then-girlfriend, prosecutors said.
Casada and Cothren were indicted in 2022 after Smith resigned and pleaded guilty to one charge. Smith testified at the trial that the goal of the scheme was to hide who was behind Phoenix Solutions due to the “radioactive” scandal that pushed Casada and Cothren out of power. The taxpayer-funded mailings for House Republicans were a first step to expand later to campaign work, she said.
Defense attorneys noted the state got the mailings it paid for. They tried to paint Smith as untrustworthy and driven by hopes for a lenient sentence under her plea deal.
Casada remained a state representative until 2022, when he didn’t seek reelection.
Ohio
Truck driver found guilty on lesser charges in bus crash that killed 6 on school trip
NEWARK, Ohio (AP) — A truck driver who triggered a chain-reaction crash with a bus that killed three Ohio high school band students and three adults was convicted of vehicular homicide Friday but cleared on more serious charges.
The three students killed in the 2023 crash were on a charter bus, and a teacher and two chaperones in another vehicle hit by the tractor trailer also died.
Licking County Judge David Branstool found Jacob McDonald, of Zanesville, guilty on six misdemeanor counts of vehicular homicide, but ruled that he was not guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide, a felony.
The judge said McDonald’s actions in causing the crash were negligent but not reckless. McDonald could have faced three decades in prison if he had been convicted on all of the more serious charges, but instead he now faces a maximum sentence of 18 months, according to his attorney.
Some family members of the victims left the court before the judge finished announcing the verdict.
Prosecutors said McDonald was speeding and failed to brake for slowing traffic on Interstate 70 because he was looking at his phone.
His defense attorney, Chris Brigdon, disputed that, saying that the cellular data cited by investigators did not clearly show what was happening before the crash. Brigdon said after the verdict was announced that McDonald was still devastated by the crash because he knows he caused it.
According to investigators, McDonald’s truck hit an SUV and pushed it into the bus, which was carrying students from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District in eastern Ohio. Some of the vehicles caught fire.
