Florida
Guard Denzel Aberdeen sues the NCAA in hopes of gaining a fifth year of eligibility
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen has joined a growing list of players suing the NCAA in hopes of gaining a fifth year of eligibility.
Aberdeen’s attorney, Jesse Panuccio, filed the lawsuit Friday in Gainesville. His motion notes that more than 30 courts across the country have ruled that the NCAA’s “arbitrary decision” against student-athletes who began college careers during the 2022-23 season and completed four seasons of eligibility is “unlawful.”
“The NCAA’s refusal to honor its current eligibility framework breaches its contract with UF, which is intended to benefit student-athletes like Aberdeen,” the suit said.
The NCAA’s move to a five-year, age-based eligibility model has led to a series of court fights across the country.
Aberdeen played three seasons at Florida before transferring to Kentucky last year. He reenrolled at Florida earlier this year in hopes of finishing his undergraduate degree. He has worked out and practiced with the Gators all summer.
He initially planned to convince the NCAA that his freshman year in Gainesville should be considered a redshirt season. The 6-foot-5 Orlando native played just 12 games in 2022-23, scoring 19 points in 41 total minutes. He had hoped to get a waiver from the NCAA to secure another year of eligibility.
But the NCAA has since adopted the five-year eligibility model, which is scheduled to be fully implemented next fall, that will allow players to have five years of eligibility with the clock starting when athletes turn 19 or graduate from high school, whichever is earlier.
That change quickly led to lawsuits from four-year players in the high school class of 2022, like Aberdeen.
As of last week, the NCAA said there have been 79 lawsuits with a total of 450 plaintiffs across all sports involved in litigation tied to the five-year rule, with 234 of those coming in men’s basketball and 33 in women’s basketball. Of that group, 154 men’s players and 26 women’s players have received some type of relief from the courts allowing them to play while the rest are currently ineligible.
If granted a temporary restraining order, Aberdeen would slide into a starting spot to replace Xaivian Lee.
The Gators already are the betting favorite — and likely to be ranked No. 1 in preseason polls — to win it all in 2027. Coach Todd Golden retained most of last year’s roster, most notably big men Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu.
Aberdeen started 35 games for Kentucky last season, averaging 13.5 points, 3.4 assists and 2.5 rebounds. He came off the bench the previous two years at Florida and averaged 7.7 points as a junior in 2024-25.
Virginia
Appeals court cites detention of Japanese Americans in ruling blasting immigration policy
The Trump administration’s policy of holding immigrants without a chance for release on bond is illegal and “harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country’s history,” including the mass detention of Japanese Americans during World War II, a divided federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the ninth federal appeals court to reject the administration’s mandatory detention policy — a key part of its mass deportation campaign. Two other appeals courts have upheld it, creating a split that greatly increases the odds that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue.
The split also means immigrants in some parts of the country are getting bond hearings while those in other places, including Texas and Louisiana, face additional hurdles to seek release.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement it was “confident in its legal position regarding mandatory detention,” noting it had recently asked the Supreme Court to take up the issue.
Under previous administrations, most noncitizens without a criminal record who were arrested inside the U.S. were allowed to seek a bond hearing while their immigration cases were pending. Mandatory detention was generally reserved for people arrested at the border.
Last July, immigration officials issued guidance expanding mandatory detention to immigrants in the U.S. interior. President Donald Trump’s administration has argued that Congress changed immigration law in 1996 to allow mandatory detention beyond the border, but previous administrations didn’t enforce that provision.
“President Trump and Secretary Mullin are now enforcing the law as it was actually written to keep America safe,” Homeland Security said, referring to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The 4th Circuit and most other federal appeals courts have rejected that interpretation.
“The government’s track record speaks for itself at this point,” said Michael K.T. Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead attorney on the lawsuit before the 4th Circuit.
In a 2-1 decision, 4th Circuit Judges Barbara Keenan and Nicole Berner said Congress in 1996 would have provided greater clarity if it intended to allow the mandatory detention of millions of people. Keenan was nominated by President Barack Obama; Berner by President Joe Biden. Judge Allison Rushing, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, dissented.
Writing for the majority, Berner said the administration’s policy would “implicate the constitutional due process rights of millions of noncitizens in our country, many of whom have lived, worked, and become integral parts of their communities, for years.”
“Mass detention of marginalized individuals without due process harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country’s history,” she wrote.
She cited Japanese internment and the mass detention of Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s and said the Trump administration’s policy was even more expansive than “those shameful and abhorrent past detentions.”
Virginia
Former CIA official found with gold bars reaches tentative plea deal after charge of salary theft
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former CIA official found with $40 million of gold bars in his home has reached a tentative plea agreement after being charged with theft for fraudulently inflating his salary, according to court records.
A federal judge on Friday extended a deadline to formally indict defendant David J. Rush until Oct. 8, giving time for federal prosecutors and his attorney to finalize the plea deal and avoid a public trial that the parties said could involve significant litigation over classified material.
A joint court filing Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia and Rush’s lawyer did not outline the details of the tentative plea deal. The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment Saturday, and Rush’s attorney did not not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rush was charged with theft of public money in May. He was accused of fraudulently claiming 744 hours of military leave on his timecards after he was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2015 and of inflating his salary by falsely claiming degrees from Clemson University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit filed in court.
That same document also revealed that investigators searched Rush’s home and seized about 300 gold bars worth more than $40 million, plus about $2 million in U.S. currency and about 35 luxury watches.
The FBI affidavit said Rush had obtained the gold bars from the U.S. government for “work-related expenses.” Rush’s attorney has said the charge against him isn’t related to the gold bars, which she described as “a sensational tidbit.”
A Justice Department attorney said during a June court proceeding that Rush wasn’t supposed to have the gold bars at his home.
California
Rapper Lil Durk acquitted of murder-for-hire at Los Angeles trial
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal jury on Friday found rapper Lil Durk not guilty of the attempted killing for hire of rival rapper Quando Rondo at a Los Angeles gas station, a shooting that resulted in the death of Rondo’s cousin.
The jury deliberated for three days before acquitting Lil Durk, the 33-year-old Grammy-winning Chicago hip-hop artist best known for the 2023 hit “All My Life,” of conspiracy, stalking resulting in death and murder for hire.
Durk supporters including music stars Machine Gun Kelly and Ye — the artist formerly known as Kanye West — appeared in the audience during the two-week trial in downtown Los Angeles. Big groups of fans, livestreamers and other content creators gathered outside the courthouse.
Durk’s co-defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey were convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking using a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting in death. But both were also acquitted of murder for hire.
“We thank the jury for seeing there was no murder for hire,” Wilson’s attorney Craig Harbaugh said in an email. “We are confident the remaining counts will not survive our pending motion for acquittal.”
Tillet Mills, Lindsey’s lawyer, issued a similar statement Saturday, saying the jury saw that this “was never a murder for hire” and “the fight is not over.”
Attorneys for Durk did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, remained in custody, pending a forthcoming trial on a racketeering count that was severed from this trial. He has been jailed since his 2024 arrest.
Prosecutors had alleged that Durk paid to have Rondo killed after someone from Rondo’s entourage fatally shot rapper King Von, a close friend of Durk’s and a member of his Only The Family hip-hop collective, at an Atlanta nightclub in 2020.
The prosecution alleged that in August 2022, a group of men flew to Los Angeles with funds provided by Durk, followed Rondo and his crew around, and three gunmen fired on his Escalade near the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles. Rondo survived, but his 24-year-old cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, known as Lul Pab, was killed.
“Today, the jury delivered justice to the family of Saviay’a Robinson, finding defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey guilty of stalking resulting in Mr. Robinson’s death,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.
“While we are disappointed with the jury’s decision regarding Durk Banks, a.k.a. ‘Lil Durk,’ we look forward to presenting our evidence at his second trial.”
Durk won a Grammy earlier that year for Best Melodic Rap Performance for “All My Life,” which features J. Cole. He has been nominated for three other Grammys and was a featured performer on Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later.”
Guard Denzel Aberdeen sues the NCAA in hopes of gaining a fifth year of eligibility
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen has joined a growing list of players suing the NCAA in hopes of gaining a fifth year of eligibility.
Aberdeen’s attorney, Jesse Panuccio, filed the lawsuit Friday in Gainesville. His motion notes that more than 30 courts across the country have ruled that the NCAA’s “arbitrary decision” against student-athletes who began college careers during the 2022-23 season and completed four seasons of eligibility is “unlawful.”
“The NCAA’s refusal to honor its current eligibility framework breaches its contract with UF, which is intended to benefit student-athletes like Aberdeen,” the suit said.
The NCAA’s move to a five-year, age-based eligibility model has led to a series of court fights across the country.
Aberdeen played three seasons at Florida before transferring to Kentucky last year. He reenrolled at Florida earlier this year in hopes of finishing his undergraduate degree. He has worked out and practiced with the Gators all summer.
He initially planned to convince the NCAA that his freshman year in Gainesville should be considered a redshirt season. The 6-foot-5 Orlando native played just 12 games in 2022-23, scoring 19 points in 41 total minutes. He had hoped to get a waiver from the NCAA to secure another year of eligibility.
But the NCAA has since adopted the five-year eligibility model, which is scheduled to be fully implemented next fall, that will allow players to have five years of eligibility with the clock starting when athletes turn 19 or graduate from high school, whichever is earlier.
That change quickly led to lawsuits from four-year players in the high school class of 2022, like Aberdeen.
As of last week, the NCAA said there have been 79 lawsuits with a total of 450 plaintiffs across all sports involved in litigation tied to the five-year rule, with 234 of those coming in men’s basketball and 33 in women’s basketball. Of that group, 154 men’s players and 26 women’s players have received some type of relief from the courts allowing them to play while the rest are currently ineligible.
If granted a temporary restraining order, Aberdeen would slide into a starting spot to replace Xaivian Lee.
The Gators already are the betting favorite — and likely to be ranked No. 1 in preseason polls — to win it all in 2027. Coach Todd Golden retained most of last year’s roster, most notably big men Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu.
Aberdeen started 35 games for Kentucky last season, averaging 13.5 points, 3.4 assists and 2.5 rebounds. He came off the bench the previous two years at Florida and averaged 7.7 points as a junior in 2024-25.
Virginia
Appeals court cites detention of Japanese Americans in ruling blasting immigration policy
The Trump administration’s policy of holding immigrants without a chance for release on bond is illegal and “harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country’s history,” including the mass detention of Japanese Americans during World War II, a divided federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the ninth federal appeals court to reject the administration’s mandatory detention policy — a key part of its mass deportation campaign. Two other appeals courts have upheld it, creating a split that greatly increases the odds that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue.
The split also means immigrants in some parts of the country are getting bond hearings while those in other places, including Texas and Louisiana, face additional hurdles to seek release.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement it was “confident in its legal position regarding mandatory detention,” noting it had recently asked the Supreme Court to take up the issue.
Under previous administrations, most noncitizens without a criminal record who were arrested inside the U.S. were allowed to seek a bond hearing while their immigration cases were pending. Mandatory detention was generally reserved for people arrested at the border.
Last July, immigration officials issued guidance expanding mandatory detention to immigrants in the U.S. interior. President Donald Trump’s administration has argued that Congress changed immigration law in 1996 to allow mandatory detention beyond the border, but previous administrations didn’t enforce that provision.
“President Trump and Secretary Mullin are now enforcing the law as it was actually written to keep America safe,” Homeland Security said, referring to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The 4th Circuit and most other federal appeals courts have rejected that interpretation.
“The government’s track record speaks for itself at this point,” said Michael K.T. Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead attorney on the lawsuit before the 4th Circuit.
In a 2-1 decision, 4th Circuit Judges Barbara Keenan and Nicole Berner said Congress in 1996 would have provided greater clarity if it intended to allow the mandatory detention of millions of people. Keenan was nominated by President Barack Obama; Berner by President Joe Biden. Judge Allison Rushing, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, dissented.
Writing for the majority, Berner said the administration’s policy would “implicate the constitutional due process rights of millions of noncitizens in our country, many of whom have lived, worked, and become integral parts of their communities, for years.”
“Mass detention of marginalized individuals without due process harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country’s history,” she wrote.
She cited Japanese internment and the mass detention of Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s and said the Trump administration’s policy was even more expansive than “those shameful and abhorrent past detentions.”
Virginia
Former CIA official found with gold bars reaches tentative plea deal after charge of salary theft
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former CIA official found with $40 million of gold bars in his home has reached a tentative plea agreement after being charged with theft for fraudulently inflating his salary, according to court records.
A federal judge on Friday extended a deadline to formally indict defendant David J. Rush until Oct. 8, giving time for federal prosecutors and his attorney to finalize the plea deal and avoid a public trial that the parties said could involve significant litigation over classified material.
A joint court filing Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia and Rush’s lawyer did not outline the details of the tentative plea deal. The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment Saturday, and Rush’s attorney did not not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rush was charged with theft of public money in May. He was accused of fraudulently claiming 744 hours of military leave on his timecards after he was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2015 and of inflating his salary by falsely claiming degrees from Clemson University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit filed in court.
That same document also revealed that investigators searched Rush’s home and seized about 300 gold bars worth more than $40 million, plus about $2 million in U.S. currency and about 35 luxury watches.
The FBI affidavit said Rush had obtained the gold bars from the U.S. government for “work-related expenses.” Rush’s attorney has said the charge against him isn’t related to the gold bars, which she described as “a sensational tidbit.”
A Justice Department attorney said during a June court proceeding that Rush wasn’t supposed to have the gold bars at his home.
California
Rapper Lil Durk acquitted of murder-for-hire at Los Angeles trial
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal jury on Friday found rapper Lil Durk not guilty of the attempted killing for hire of rival rapper Quando Rondo at a Los Angeles gas station, a shooting that resulted in the death of Rondo’s cousin.
The jury deliberated for three days before acquitting Lil Durk, the 33-year-old Grammy-winning Chicago hip-hop artist best known for the 2023 hit “All My Life,” of conspiracy, stalking resulting in death and murder for hire.
Durk supporters including music stars Machine Gun Kelly and Ye — the artist formerly known as Kanye West — appeared in the audience during the two-week trial in downtown Los Angeles. Big groups of fans, livestreamers and other content creators gathered outside the courthouse.
Durk’s co-defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey were convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking using a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting in death. But both were also acquitted of murder for hire.
“We thank the jury for seeing there was no murder for hire,” Wilson’s attorney Craig Harbaugh said in an email. “We are confident the remaining counts will not survive our pending motion for acquittal.”
Tillet Mills, Lindsey’s lawyer, issued a similar statement Saturday, saying the jury saw that this “was never a murder for hire” and “the fight is not over.”
Attorneys for Durk did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, remained in custody, pending a forthcoming trial on a racketeering count that was severed from this trial. He has been jailed since his 2024 arrest.
Prosecutors had alleged that Durk paid to have Rondo killed after someone from Rondo’s entourage fatally shot rapper King Von, a close friend of Durk’s and a member of his Only The Family hip-hop collective, at an Atlanta nightclub in 2020.
The prosecution alleged that in August 2022, a group of men flew to Los Angeles with funds provided by Durk, followed Rondo and his crew around, and three gunmen fired on his Escalade near the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles. Rondo survived, but his 24-year-old cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, known as Lul Pab, was killed.
“Today, the jury delivered justice to the family of Saviay’a Robinson, finding defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey guilty of stalking resulting in Mr. Robinson’s death,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.
“While we are disappointed with the jury’s decision regarding Durk Banks, a.k.a. ‘Lil Durk,’ we look forward to presenting our evidence at his second trial.”
Durk won a Grammy earlier that year for Best Melodic Rap Performance for “All My Life,” which features J. Cole. He has been nominated for three other Grammys and was a featured performer on Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later.”
