Ohio
Man charged with threatening to kill VP Vance and possessing child abuse files
An Ohio man has been charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance while he was visiting his home state last month. But the man's lawyer said his health makes it unlikely he would have been able to carry out the threat.
In addition to the charge for threatening Vance, prosecutors also charged Shannon Mathre with possessing digital files depicting child sexual abuse that were discovered during the investigation. That second charge carries a much stiffer potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The charge related to the threats could lead to a maximum five-year sentence.
Lawyer Neil McElroy said that Mathre's health challenges would have been apparent to anyone in the courtroom Friday when he pleaded not guilty to the charges, so he doesn't think the threat charge makes sense. McElroy said he couldn't comment on the charge related to the possession of child sexual abuse files because prosecutors haven't yet provided any details about that at this early stage of the case.
"Anyone that spends any time in a room with Mr. Mathre or has any knowledge of his condition -- physical condition, mental condition -- can see that it's a farce," McElroy said. He declined to go into detail about Mathre's health challenges, but the lawyer said that Mathre has "some mental disabilities and a variety of other conditions."
Still, the Justice Department and Secret Service took the threat very seriously after Mathre said "I am going to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him."
The indictment filed in court doesn't offer many details about the threat or the images he allegedly possessed, but the Secret Service said the investigation went beyond the online threat to also examine Mathre's actions and behavior. The 33-year-old Toledo man's Samsung phone was seized on Jan. 21 as part of the investigation.
"Our attorneys are vigorously prosecuting this disgusting threat against Vice President Vance," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. "You can hide behind a screen, but you cannot hide from this Department of Justice."
David M. Toepfer, who is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said "hostile and violent threats made against the Vice President, or any other public official, will not be tolerated in our district."
Another Ohio man was charged last month after officials say he broke windows at Vance's Ohio home not long after the Vice President returned to Washington following a weekend visit to Ohio. The Secret Service arrested William D. DeFoor, 26, as he ran from Vance's home on Jan. 5. Vance is currently in Milan, Italy, attending the start of the Winter Olympic Games.
The Secret Service agent in charge of the Toledo office, Matthew Schierloh, said there should be zero tolerance for any kind of political violence in this country.
"The safety and security of those we protect is paramount to everything we do," Schierloh said. "Thanks to vigilant members of the public and the tenacious work of our special agents, a comprehensive joint investigation was conducted, resulting in the arrest of a defendant for making threats against the Vice President."
Mathre is doing back in court on Wednesday for a hearing to determine whether he will remain in custody as the case moves forward.
California
Ex-MLB player found guilty of obstruction and lying to federal officials
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury has found former major league outfielder Yasiel Puig guilty of obstruction of justice and lying to federal officials investigating an illegal gambling operation, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday.
The verdict came after a multiweek trial that featured testimony from Major League Baseball officials and Donny Kadokawa, a Hawaii baseball coach that Puig placed bets through. Puig now faces up to 20 years in federal prison and is scheduled to be sentenced May 26.
Puig's attorney, Keri Curtis Axel, said the government failed to prove key elements of its case and that she plans to raise post-trial motions.
Puig, 35, initially pled guilty to a felony charge of lying to federal agents investigating an illegal gambling operation. He acknowledged in an August 2022 plea agreement that he wracked up more than $280,000 in losses over a few months in 2019 while wagering on tennis, football and basketball games through a third party who worked for an illegal gambling operation run by Wayne Nix, a former minor league baseball player.
Nix pled guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and subscribing to a false tax return. He is still awaiting sentencing.
Authorities said Puig placed at least 900 bets through Nix-controlled betting websites and through a man who worked for Nix.
Prosecutors said that during a January 2022 interview with federal investigators, Puig denied knowing about the nature of his bets, who he was betting with, and the circumstances of paying his gambling debts.
But he changed his tune months later, announcing that he was switching his plea to not guilty because of "significant new evidence," according to a statement from his attorneys in Los Angeles.
"I want to clear my name," Puig said in the statement. "I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit."
The government argued that he intentionally misled the federal investigators. They played in court audio clips of Puig speaking English and brought expert witnesses to testify on Puig's cognitive abilities, the New York Times reported.
His attorneys said that Puig, who has a third-grade education, had untreated mental-health issues and did not have his own interpreter or criminal legal counsel with him during the interview with federal investigators where he purportedly lied.
Puig's former attorney Steven Gebelin testified that during the January 2022 interview, Puig tried to be helpful in answering the investigators' questions and the interpreter struggled with Puig's Spanish language dialect, according to the New York Times.
Puig batted .277 with 132 home runs and 415 RBIs while appearing in seven major league seasons, the first six with the Dodgers, where he earned an All-Star selection in 2014.
Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully called Puig the "wild horse" for his on-field antics and talent at a young age, joining MLB at 22, a year after escaping his home country of Cuba.
He played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians in 2019 before becoming a free agent. He then played in the Mexican League and last year he signed a one-year, $1 million contract with South Korea's Kiwoom Heroes.
Man charged with threatening to kill VP Vance and possessing child abuse files
An Ohio man has been charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance while he was visiting his home state last month. But the man's lawyer said his health makes it unlikely he would have been able to carry out the threat.
In addition to the charge for threatening Vance, prosecutors also charged Shannon Mathre with possessing digital files depicting child sexual abuse that were discovered during the investigation. That second charge carries a much stiffer potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The charge related to the threats could lead to a maximum five-year sentence.
Lawyer Neil McElroy said that Mathre's health challenges would have been apparent to anyone in the courtroom Friday when he pleaded not guilty to the charges, so he doesn't think the threat charge makes sense. McElroy said he couldn't comment on the charge related to the possession of child sexual abuse files because prosecutors haven't yet provided any details about that at this early stage of the case.
"Anyone that spends any time in a room with Mr. Mathre or has any knowledge of his condition -- physical condition, mental condition -- can see that it's a farce," McElroy said. He declined to go into detail about Mathre's health challenges, but the lawyer said that Mathre has "some mental disabilities and a variety of other conditions."
Still, the Justice Department and Secret Service took the threat very seriously after Mathre said "I am going to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him."
The indictment filed in court doesn't offer many details about the threat or the images he allegedly possessed, but the Secret Service said the investigation went beyond the online threat to also examine Mathre's actions and behavior. The 33-year-old Toledo man's Samsung phone was seized on Jan. 21 as part of the investigation.
"Our attorneys are vigorously prosecuting this disgusting threat against Vice President Vance," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. "You can hide behind a screen, but you cannot hide from this Department of Justice."
David M. Toepfer, who is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said "hostile and violent threats made against the Vice President, or any other public official, will not be tolerated in our district."
Another Ohio man was charged last month after officials say he broke windows at Vance's Ohio home not long after the Vice President returned to Washington following a weekend visit to Ohio. The Secret Service arrested William D. DeFoor, 26, as he ran from Vance's home on Jan. 5. Vance is currently in Milan, Italy, attending the start of the Winter Olympic Games.
The Secret Service agent in charge of the Toledo office, Matthew Schierloh, said there should be zero tolerance for any kind of political violence in this country.
"The safety and security of those we protect is paramount to everything we do," Schierloh said. "Thanks to vigilant members of the public and the tenacious work of our special agents, a comprehensive joint investigation was conducted, resulting in the arrest of a defendant for making threats against the Vice President."
Mathre is doing back in court on Wednesday for a hearing to determine whether he will remain in custody as the case moves forward.
California
Ex-MLB player found guilty of obstruction and lying to federal officials
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury has found former major league outfielder Yasiel Puig guilty of obstruction of justice and lying to federal officials investigating an illegal gambling operation, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday.
The verdict came after a multiweek trial that featured testimony from Major League Baseball officials and Donny Kadokawa, a Hawaii baseball coach that Puig placed bets through. Puig now faces up to 20 years in federal prison and is scheduled to be sentenced May 26.
Puig's attorney, Keri Curtis Axel, said the government failed to prove key elements of its case and that she plans to raise post-trial motions.
Puig, 35, initially pled guilty to a felony charge of lying to federal agents investigating an illegal gambling operation. He acknowledged in an August 2022 plea agreement that he wracked up more than $280,000 in losses over a few months in 2019 while wagering on tennis, football and basketball games through a third party who worked for an illegal gambling operation run by Wayne Nix, a former minor league baseball player.
Nix pled guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and subscribing to a false tax return. He is still awaiting sentencing.
Authorities said Puig placed at least 900 bets through Nix-controlled betting websites and through a man who worked for Nix.
Prosecutors said that during a January 2022 interview with federal investigators, Puig denied knowing about the nature of his bets, who he was betting with, and the circumstances of paying his gambling debts.
But he changed his tune months later, announcing that he was switching his plea to not guilty because of "significant new evidence," according to a statement from his attorneys in Los Angeles.
"I want to clear my name," Puig said in the statement. "I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit."
The government argued that he intentionally misled the federal investigators. They played in court audio clips of Puig speaking English and brought expert witnesses to testify on Puig's cognitive abilities, the New York Times reported.
His attorneys said that Puig, who has a third-grade education, had untreated mental-health issues and did not have his own interpreter or criminal legal counsel with him during the interview with federal investigators where he purportedly lied.
Puig's former attorney Steven Gebelin testified that during the January 2022 interview, Puig tried to be helpful in answering the investigators' questions and the interpreter struggled with Puig's Spanish language dialect, according to the New York Times.
Puig batted .277 with 132 home runs and 415 RBIs while appearing in seven major league seasons, the first six with the Dodgers, where he earned an All-Star selection in 2014.
Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully called Puig the "wild horse" for his on-field antics and talent at a young age, joining MLB at 22, a year after escaping his home country of Cuba.
He played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians in 2019 before becoming a free agent. He then played in the Mexican League and last year he signed a one-year, $1 million contract with South Korea's Kiwoom Heroes.
