National Roundup

NEW JERSEY
Police: Woman arrested after skipping more than 500 tolls

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey woman has been arrested for allegedly skipping tolls, something authorities say she's done more than 500 times.

The Jersey Journal reports police attempted to stop 55-year-old Denise Simien near the Holland Tunnel after learning she owed more than $16,000 in unpaid tolls and fees. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Joe Pentangelo says the Verona woman didn't stop and passed through the toll plaza again without paying before she was stopped on the other side of the plaza.

Simien was charged Wednesday with theft of services and obstruction of justice.

She's one of several people who've recently been charged with evading the Holland Tunnel's $15 toll.

It's unclear if she has an attorney who can comment on the charges.


CALIFORNIA
Businessman gets nearly 4 years in U.S. hacking case

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Chinese businessman was sentenced to nearly four years in prison Wednesday for conspiring to export sensitive military information to China after accessing the computer systems of U.S. defense contractors, including Boeing.

Su Bin was sentenced to 46 months in prison in federal court in Los Angeles. He had faced 30 years in prison before reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors in March. His attorneys were requesting two and a half years.

The 51-year-old Bin admitted to conspiring with two unnamed hackers in China to export U.S. military information to the communist nation between 2008 and 2014, according to Bin's plea agreement.

The men targeted fighter jets such as the F-22 and the F-35, as well as Boeing's C-17 military cargo aircraft program, according to court records.

Su, described by prosecutors as a China-based businessman in the aviation and aerospace fields, was arrested in British Columbia, Canada, in July 2014 and brought to the U.S. in February.

As part of the conspiracy, prosecutors say Su would email the hackers in China explaining what people, companies and technology to target. Once data was stolen, prosecutors say Su would translate it from English to Chinese, and email the value of the information to those who benefited from its theft.

A report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission last year found that China's increasing use of cyber espionage has already cost U.S. companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and expenses in repairing the damage from hacking. In many cases, the report by the federal commission says stolen trade secrets have been turned over to Chinese government-owned companies.


NEW HAMPSHIRE
TV meteorologist faces possessing child porn charge

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A local TV meteorologist in Connecticut has been arrested on charges of possessing child pornography.

State police say 33-year-old Justin Goldstein of WTNH-TV in New Haven was arrested Wednesday. He's also charged with promoting a minor in an obscene performance.

The 33-year-old Goldstein is free on $200,000 bond pending a July 26 court date. It's unclear whether he has a lawyer.

WTNH general manager Mark Higgins says the station is "deeply concerned by the allegations" and that Goldstein was suspended. His biography no longer appears on the station's website.

Police say an investigation began last month after video files of suspected child porn were downloaded from Goldstein's internet account. Federal, state and local authorities say they found child porn on computers and other devices seized at Goldstein's home in Hamden.


PENNSYLVANIA
Man to stand trial in fatal shooting of daughter, 4

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia father has been ordered to stand trial on charges he waved a gun around a bedroom with seven children present when it went off, killing his 4-year-old daughter.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports 30-year-old Maurice Phillips appeared in court Wednesday for his preliminary hearing on charges including third-degree murder in the death of his daughter, Tahira.

Phillips' stepdaughter testified that he called the gun his toy and never pointed it at anyone but it went off, shooting Tahira in the head April 16.

He's also accused of striking his 5-year-old daughter and wiping blood onto her shirt in an apparent effort to shift blame. Police previously believed the girl's 5-year-old sibling was the shooter. Phillips fled but later turned himself in.


WASHINGTON
Hotel owner gets 90 days for intimidating judge

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) - A historic hotel owner has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for intimidating the Cowlitz County judge who was presided over his DUI case.

The Daily News of Longview reports that a jury convicted 51-year-old Phil Lovingfoss earlier this month for threatening District Court Judge Ed Putka a year ago. The judge heard his March 2015 DUI and hit-and-run case.

Prosecutors had argued for a 13-month sentence at Tuesday's sentencing hearing. They say Lovingfoss was drunk but coherent when he told police dispatchers that he would take his 35-carat diamond ring and backhand Putka, among other threats.

Defense attorney Jim Morgan argued for a shorter sentence, saying Lovingfoss planned to continue alcohol treatment and mental health counseling.

Lovingfoss owns the Monticello Hotel in Longview.


WISCONSIN
Attorney who had sex with clientis reprimanded

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A Milwaukee attorney has been publicly reprimanded by the Wisconsin Supreme Court for having sex with a client.

The Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision on Thursday reprimanded attorney Othman Atta and ordered him to pay nearly $9,200 in court costs associated with the disciplinary proceedings.

According to court records, Atta admitted to having a sexual relationship with a woman he was representing during her divorce in 2010. Atta initially denied having a relationship with the woman, then later admitted it.

He pleaded no contest to eight counts of misconduct related to the case. Atta has been licensed as an attorney in Wisconsin since 1994 and had no prior disciplinary record.

Published: Fri, Jul 15, 2016