Massachusetts
2 men behind explosion inside a Harvard Medical School building avoid jail time
BOSTON (AP) — Two Massachusetts men avoided jail time on Thursday after they earlier had pleaded guilty to setting off fireworks at an empty Harvard Medical School building, an incident that sparked a huge law enforcement response and increased anxiety on the college campus.
Federal officials say 19-year-old Logan David Patterson and 21-year-old Dominick Frank Cardoza were in the Boston area for college Halloween parties last year when they broke into Goldenson Building, set off a firework before dawn and then fled. No one was injured.
The two pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to damage a building using a large commercial firework. On Thursday, they were each sentenced separately to three years of probation, 300 hours of community service and a fine of $28,517 to be paid by the pair.
“I believe the harsh consequences that flowed from this conviction are a sufficient deterrent,” U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley said in denying a government request for six months of home confinement for the pair.
A spokesperson for Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Along with the probation and fines, the pair will have to write a letter apologizing to Harvard. At his sentencing, Patterson also apologized in court. “This was a very serious act. At the time, I thought my actions were harmless and they turned out to be much bigger.”
Outside court, the lawyer for Cardoza, Stefan Rozembersky, said the sentence was fair given the circumstances behind the explosion. Neither of the defendants had a criminal record and both are working, one for a general contractor and the other doing landscaping.
“This was not a terrorist attack. This was not a coordinated attack against the government or aimed at Harvard; this was a couple of kids with firecrackers, not even bombs,” Rozembersky said, adding this was “mischief that went way out of control.”
Despite avoiding jail time, Rozembersky said the sentence still carries significant consequences. “It’s not without severity,” he said. “Having this felony record is going keep them from having some things in life and harm them for a long time.”
Witnesses said the defendants were visiting the Wentworth Institute of Technology for Halloween activities, including parties at area schools. On the morning of the blast, surveillance footage captured the two walking toward the medical school building wearing face coverings. Witnesses said the pair chose the building because it looked abandoned and got into it via the roof by climbing up scaffolding, the charging document states.
The pair lit a Roman candle outside of the building and placed a cherry bomb inside of a locker in the building, where the device exploded, according to the charging document. Harvard police said an officer responding to the fire alarm saw two people running from the building.
“The defendant committed a serious offense, even if that offense was motivated by immaturity and revelry rather than more serious intentions to cause damage or fear,” prosecutors wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
“The defendants trespassed on a university building in the middle of the night wearing face coverings, exploded a firework that caused significant property damage and public alarm, and fled the scene.”
The two could have faced a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Massachusetts
Judge denies defense motion asking Lindsay Clancy be found not guilty due to a lack of evidence
BOSTON (AP) — The judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder case on Thursday refused to declare her not guilty, turning down a defense motion that had argued there wasn’t enough evidence to prove she was responsible for killing her three children.
During Clancy’s first trial, which ended Sept. 4 with a deadlocked jury, her defense argued that she was not criminally responsible because of a mental disease, specifically a rare condition called postpartum psychosis. As such, the defense didn’t dispute that the 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse carried out the killings at her family’s Massachusetts home in 2023.
However, in a hearing earlier this week, Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington tried to persuade the judge that prosecutors had not offered any proof that Clancy did it. Prosecutors argued there was plenty of evidence, calling Reddington’s claim “laughable.”
Prosecutors have yet to decide whether they will put the case in front of a jury for a second time. They could choose to retry her on first-degree murder charges or seek to try her only on lesser charges, including second-degree murder or manslaughter, or drop the case entirely.
In his ruling Thursday, Judge William Sullivan noted that for the purposes of his decision, he was required to analyze the evidence in the light most favorable to prosecutors — and that it was up to the jury, not the judge, to decide whether to believe expert witnesses for the defense who testified that Clancy was not responsible for her actions because of mental illness.
“There was evidence introduced, both physical and circumstantial, that would permit a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the charge of murder,” Sullivan wrote.
At the first trial, prosecutors acknowledged that Clancy had mental health problems that included months of treatment and a stay in a psychiatric hospital, but argued that she knew what she was doing when she strangled the children — the youngest just 8 months old — then tried to kill herself.
Sullivan had declared a mistrial with the jury split 11 to 1 in favor of acquitting Clancy of murder charges.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Reddington suggested the entire case “was based on speculation” and listed shortcomings in the prosecution’s case. There was almost no police investigation, he claimed, and significant questions revolving around Clancy’s condition outside the night of the killings and her lack of memory of what happened.
At the trial, jurors heard testimony that Clancy said she heard voices instructing her to kill 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan Clancy. Her DNA was found on exercise bands used to strangle them. Before the trial, Reddington himself filed a motion in which he said Clancy was willing to stipulate, in writing, to her involvement in the children’s deaths.
“For the first time, the defendant is arguing that there is no evidence she did this,” Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham told the judge. “I’d suggest to you the entire record is voluminous as to information supporting the fact that she did this.”
Clancy remains charged with murder and is expected to stay at a psychiatric hospital until her case is resolved.
Clancy could have been sentenced to life in prison if convicted of murder. If acquitted, the judge could have ordered her confined to a mental health facility.
Her former husband, Patrick Clancy, who discovered the children’s bodies, has said in interviews that he forgives her. The livestreamed trial generated intense public interest and drew attention to maternal mental health after childbirth.
California
Donor revives fraud claims against Christian worship leader Sean Feucht over a $250,000 donation
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean Feucht, a Christian worship leader who attained rock star status after his large rallies in defiance of pandemic-era regulations, is facing allegations of fraud from a Southern California donor.
In an amended federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Steve Bray, an Orange County businessperson and Christian philanthropist, accused Feucht of soliciting a $250,000 donation for a 2023 concert tour that had already been fully financed by the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. A federal judge on Sept. 9 had dismissed the original lawsuit Bray brought, citing a lack of specific details and lack of evidence to support the fraud allegations. But he left a door open by giving the plaintiff 20 days to file an amended complaint with more specifics and proof.
According to court documents, Feucht met with Bray in his Anaheim office on March 6, 2023, seeking a donation for his Kingdom to the Capitol Tour, which he planned to take to all 50 states. Bray said in the complaint that he agreed to fund five tour stops for a total of $250,000, but later discovered that Feucht’s entire concert tour had been fully funded.
In a statement issued via his spokesperson, Feucht said he “looks forward to this case being dismissed, just as the last one was.”
“Every dollar given to the Kingdom to the Capitol Tour was used for exactly that purpose – as we completed the historic effort of bringing LET US WORSHIP to all 50 U.S. state capitols throughout 2023-2024. We stand by the work, the mission, and the stewardship behind it. We’re grateful to all the donors who made this historic tour possible.”
On social media, he had celebrated the judge’s Sept. 9 dismissal as “a day of vindication.”
“Case Dismissed! Praise God!” Feucht wrote. “The TRUTH always prevails!”
Bray told The Associated Press on Thursday that he gave Feucht an opportunity to explain how he had used the $250,000 before serving him with the lawsuit. He said Feucht didn’t respond.
“I hate being in legal battles, but this was the last resort,” he said.
Bray said Feucht was persuasive during their meeting in 2023.
“Sean was leading worship and bringing people to the Lord and taking the church to the public square,” he said. “We thought if he’s out there, doing this, let’s help him. That’s how he represented his work and that’s what I believed the money was going for.”
Warren Cole Smith, president of MinistryWatch, a nonprofit accountability watchdog of the nation’s 1,000 largest Christian ministries, said Sean Feucht Ministries triggered red flags when it stopped filing Form 990s after 2020, at a time when its earnings skyrocketed — from $243,000 to $5 million over one year.
The tax forms, which are public record, describe how a nonprofit allocates its money. But religious organizations are not legally required to file Form 990s, and it is legal for pastors to take housing allowances to buy a home or pay rent.
Over the last year, Christian watchdog groups and several former associates have questioned the ministry amassing more than $7 million in real estate and whether ministry funds were mismanaged. These acquisitions ranged from upscale homes in Southern California and hunting properties in Montana to hundreds of acres in a scenic region known as the “Swiss Alps of Texas.”
Some former associates have also alleged that Feucht abused them emotionally and spiritually. Feucht has dismissed those accusations as being made by “disgruntled former volunteers.” He has also said recently that his ministry will continue acquiring real estate across the country.
Smith said he doesn’t believe that the lawsuit’s dismissal vindicates Feucht in any way.
“All our concerns about his ministry and the lack of accountability still stand,” he said.
2 men behind explosion inside a Harvard Medical School building avoid jail time
BOSTON (AP) — Two Massachusetts men avoided jail time on Thursday after they earlier had pleaded guilty to setting off fireworks at an empty Harvard Medical School building, an incident that sparked a huge law enforcement response and increased anxiety on the college campus.
Federal officials say 19-year-old Logan David Patterson and 21-year-old Dominick Frank Cardoza were in the Boston area for college Halloween parties last year when they broke into Goldenson Building, set off a firework before dawn and then fled. No one was injured.
The two pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to damage a building using a large commercial firework. On Thursday, they were each sentenced separately to three years of probation, 300 hours of community service and a fine of $28,517 to be paid by the pair.
“I believe the harsh consequences that flowed from this conviction are a sufficient deterrent,” U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley said in denying a government request for six months of home confinement for the pair.
A spokesperson for Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Along with the probation and fines, the pair will have to write a letter apologizing to Harvard. At his sentencing, Patterson also apologized in court. “This was a very serious act. At the time, I thought my actions were harmless and they turned out to be much bigger.”
Outside court, the lawyer for Cardoza, Stefan Rozembersky, said the sentence was fair given the circumstances behind the explosion. Neither of the defendants had a criminal record and both are working, one for a general contractor and the other doing landscaping.
“This was not a terrorist attack. This was not a coordinated attack against the government or aimed at Harvard; this was a couple of kids with firecrackers, not even bombs,” Rozembersky said, adding this was “mischief that went way out of control.”
Despite avoiding jail time, Rozembersky said the sentence still carries significant consequences. “It’s not without severity,” he said. “Having this felony record is going keep them from having some things in life and harm them for a long time.”
Witnesses said the defendants were visiting the Wentworth Institute of Technology for Halloween activities, including parties at area schools. On the morning of the blast, surveillance footage captured the two walking toward the medical school building wearing face coverings. Witnesses said the pair chose the building because it looked abandoned and got into it via the roof by climbing up scaffolding, the charging document states.
The pair lit a Roman candle outside of the building and placed a cherry bomb inside of a locker in the building, where the device exploded, according to the charging document. Harvard police said an officer responding to the fire alarm saw two people running from the building.
“The defendant committed a serious offense, even if that offense was motivated by immaturity and revelry rather than more serious intentions to cause damage or fear,” prosecutors wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
“The defendants trespassed on a university building in the middle of the night wearing face coverings, exploded a firework that caused significant property damage and public alarm, and fled the scene.”
The two could have faced a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Massachusetts
Judge denies defense motion asking Lindsay Clancy be found not guilty due to a lack of evidence
BOSTON (AP) — The judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder case on Thursday refused to declare her not guilty, turning down a defense motion that had argued there wasn’t enough evidence to prove she was responsible for killing her three children.
During Clancy’s first trial, which ended Sept. 4 with a deadlocked jury, her defense argued that she was not criminally responsible because of a mental disease, specifically a rare condition called postpartum psychosis. As such, the defense didn’t dispute that the 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse carried out the killings at her family’s Massachusetts home in 2023.
However, in a hearing earlier this week, Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington tried to persuade the judge that prosecutors had not offered any proof that Clancy did it. Prosecutors argued there was plenty of evidence, calling Reddington’s claim “laughable.”
Prosecutors have yet to decide whether they will put the case in front of a jury for a second time. They could choose to retry her on first-degree murder charges or seek to try her only on lesser charges, including second-degree murder or manslaughter, or drop the case entirely.
In his ruling Thursday, Judge William Sullivan noted that for the purposes of his decision, he was required to analyze the evidence in the light most favorable to prosecutors — and that it was up to the jury, not the judge, to decide whether to believe expert witnesses for the defense who testified that Clancy was not responsible for her actions because of mental illness.
“There was evidence introduced, both physical and circumstantial, that would permit a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the charge of murder,” Sullivan wrote.
At the first trial, prosecutors acknowledged that Clancy had mental health problems that included months of treatment and a stay in a psychiatric hospital, but argued that she knew what she was doing when she strangled the children — the youngest just 8 months old — then tried to kill herself.
Sullivan had declared a mistrial with the jury split 11 to 1 in favor of acquitting Clancy of murder charges.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Reddington suggested the entire case “was based on speculation” and listed shortcomings in the prosecution’s case. There was almost no police investigation, he claimed, and significant questions revolving around Clancy’s condition outside the night of the killings and her lack of memory of what happened.
At the trial, jurors heard testimony that Clancy said she heard voices instructing her to kill 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan Clancy. Her DNA was found on exercise bands used to strangle them. Before the trial, Reddington himself filed a motion in which he said Clancy was willing to stipulate, in writing, to her involvement in the children’s deaths.
“For the first time, the defendant is arguing that there is no evidence she did this,” Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham told the judge. “I’d suggest to you the entire record is voluminous as to information supporting the fact that she did this.”
Clancy remains charged with murder and is expected to stay at a psychiatric hospital until her case is resolved.
Clancy could have been sentenced to life in prison if convicted of murder. If acquitted, the judge could have ordered her confined to a mental health facility.
Her former husband, Patrick Clancy, who discovered the children’s bodies, has said in interviews that he forgives her. The livestreamed trial generated intense public interest and drew attention to maternal mental health after childbirth.
California
Donor revives fraud claims against Christian worship leader Sean Feucht over a $250,000 donation
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean Feucht, a Christian worship leader who attained rock star status after his large rallies in defiance of pandemic-era regulations, is facing allegations of fraud from a Southern California donor.
In an amended federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Steve Bray, an Orange County businessperson and Christian philanthropist, accused Feucht of soliciting a $250,000 donation for a 2023 concert tour that had already been fully financed by the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. A federal judge on Sept. 9 had dismissed the original lawsuit Bray brought, citing a lack of specific details and lack of evidence to support the fraud allegations. But he left a door open by giving the plaintiff 20 days to file an amended complaint with more specifics and proof.
According to court documents, Feucht met with Bray in his Anaheim office on March 6, 2023, seeking a donation for his Kingdom to the Capitol Tour, which he planned to take to all 50 states. Bray said in the complaint that he agreed to fund five tour stops for a total of $250,000, but later discovered that Feucht’s entire concert tour had been fully funded.
In a statement issued via his spokesperson, Feucht said he “looks forward to this case being dismissed, just as the last one was.”
“Every dollar given to the Kingdom to the Capitol Tour was used for exactly that purpose – as we completed the historic effort of bringing LET US WORSHIP to all 50 U.S. state capitols throughout 2023-2024. We stand by the work, the mission, and the stewardship behind it. We’re grateful to all the donors who made this historic tour possible.”
On social media, he had celebrated the judge’s Sept. 9 dismissal as “a day of vindication.”
“Case Dismissed! Praise God!” Feucht wrote. “The TRUTH always prevails!”
Bray told The Associated Press on Thursday that he gave Feucht an opportunity to explain how he had used the $250,000 before serving him with the lawsuit. He said Feucht didn’t respond.
“I hate being in legal battles, but this was the last resort,” he said.
Bray said Feucht was persuasive during their meeting in 2023.
“Sean was leading worship and bringing people to the Lord and taking the church to the public square,” he said. “We thought if he’s out there, doing this, let’s help him. That’s how he represented his work and that’s what I believed the money was going for.”
Warren Cole Smith, president of MinistryWatch, a nonprofit accountability watchdog of the nation’s 1,000 largest Christian ministries, said Sean Feucht Ministries triggered red flags when it stopped filing Form 990s after 2020, at a time when its earnings skyrocketed — from $243,000 to $5 million over one year.
The tax forms, which are public record, describe how a nonprofit allocates its money. But religious organizations are not legally required to file Form 990s, and it is legal for pastors to take housing allowances to buy a home or pay rent.
Over the last year, Christian watchdog groups and several former associates have questioned the ministry amassing more than $7 million in real estate and whether ministry funds were mismanaged. These acquisitions ranged from upscale homes in Southern California and hunting properties in Montana to hundreds of acres in a scenic region known as the “Swiss Alps of Texas.”
Some former associates have also alleged that Feucht abused them emotionally and spiritually. Feucht has dismissed those accusations as being made by “disgruntled former volunteers.” He has also said recently that his ministry will continue acquiring real estate across the country.
Smith said he doesn’t believe that the lawsuit’s dismissal vindicates Feucht in any way.
“All our concerns about his ministry and the lack of accountability still stand,” he said.
