National Roundup

Ohio
Sitter who fed Xanax to toddler who later died gets prison
ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio baby sitter who gave the anti-anxiety drug Xanax to a toddler before leaving to go shop and meet a friend at the movies has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for the child’s death.

Thirty-two-year-old Summer Shalodi apologized Thursday in a Lorain County courtroom and admitted giving 17-month-old Nadia Gibbons the drug while baby-sitting in December 2015.

Shalodi pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter instead of murder in a plea deal.

A prosecutor said Shalodi found Nadia unresponsive when she finally returned home and, instead of immediately calling 911 for help, shook the toddler and immersed her in hot water in a failed attempt to revive her.

Emergency crews found Nadia cold to the touch. The Lorain County coroner ruled she died hours before help arrived.

New Hampshire
Mother, son charged with murder-for-hire face civil suit
NEWPORT, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire mother and son accused of a failed murder-for-hire plot involving the man’s ex-wife now face a civil lawsuit in addition to criminal charges.

Eighty-three-year-old Pauline Chase and 63-year-old Maurice Temple were charged in July with conspiracy, solicitation and attempt to commit murder. Prosecutors say the Plainfield residents arranged to have another man kill Jean Temple over money Maurice Temple owed her after their 2009 divorce. The man went to police, and the killing didn’t happen.

Jean Temple filed a civil lawsuit earlier this month seeking $2 million from her ex-husband and former mother-in-law. Her attorney says she has suffered great emotional distress and has had to take a leave of absence from her job.

Pennsylvania
Ex-Philadelphia district attorney  disbarred
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court disbarred Philadelphia’s former top prosecutor, the latest blow to the jailed ex-district attorney who pleaded guilty in a bribery scandal earlier this year.

The court’s order regarding Seth Williams on Thursday was retroactive to April 13, when the court first suspended his license. He was indicted in March, pleaded guilty in June and faces up to five years in prison when he is to be sentenced next week.

Williams, a two-term Democrat and the city’s first black district attorney, pleaded guilty to a single count of accepting a bribe from a businessman in exchange for legal favors. The plea came as a surprise development two weeks into a trial that included damaging testimony about a stream of money and gifts showered on him, from a lavish Caribbean vacation to cash bribes.

He was also accused of fraudulently using thousands of dollars from his campaign fund for personal expenses, misusing city vehicles and misappropriating money intended to fund his mother’s nursing home care.

He had been charged with multiple counts of bribery, extortion and fraud. Although all but one count was dismissed, prosecutors said that Williams admitted he committed all the conduct.

He was immediately sent to a federal detention center by a judge who said he “sold” his office and couldn’t trust his assurances about appearing for his sentencing hearing. He was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

Williams, a graduate of Georgetown Law School, spent years as an assistant prosecutor and became the city’s inspector general, tasked with rooting out corruption, before first winning office in 2009.


Massachusetts
Woman pleads guilty to neglect of brother, 65
SALEM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman has pleaded guilty to allowing her 65-year-old brother to live in what police described as “horrifying” conditions.

The Eagle-Tribune reports that 59-year-old Alexandra Cataldo was sentenced Wednesday to three years’ probation after pleading guilty to permitting abuse or neglect of an elderly person. She was also barred from acting as a caregiver.

Police say Cataldo’s brother, Leonard Cataldo, was found in their Haverhill apartment covered in human waste. They say he weighed less than 80 pounds, and nurses had to cut off his insect-infested hair.

Another brother, Mark Cataldo, was also charged and is due in court Nov. 9.

Alexandra and Mark Cataldo said through attorneys that they wanted to help their brother, but he repeatedly refused it.

Leonard Cataldo is now in a nursing home.

South Carolina
Man gets 20 years for killing mother in 2011
ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing his mother in South Carolina, more than six years after her death.

The Anderson Independent Mail reported 53-year-old John Wesley Coker on Thursday entered an Alford plea to an involuntary manslaughter charge. An Alford plea does not admit guilt, but concedes there is enough evidence for a conviction.

Investigators said 71-year-old Linda Clark was found dead in her apartment in Anderson in July 2011. Coker called 911 and told officers he returned home to find his mother dead and the home ransacked.

Prosecutors said there was not enough evidence in 2011 to charge Coker.

Anderson County Sheriff Sgt. Todd Owens said DNA testing later revealed his DNA was under his mother’s fingernail. Coker was charged with murder earlier this year.

Massachusetts
Ex-sheriff’s deputy gets year in prison for smuggling cash
BOSTON (AP) — A former Massachusetts sheriff’s deputy convicted of helping a fishing mogul known as the Codfather smuggle the profits of an illegal scheme to evade catch quotas has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Federal prosecutors say former Bristol County sheriff’s deputy Antonio Freitas was also sentenced Thursday to three years of probation. He was convicted by a jury in July of charges including cash smuggling.

Authorities say in February 2016 the 47-year-old Taunton man smuggled $17,500 through airport security and later deposited the money in a Portuguese bank account belonging to Carlos Rafael.

Rafael was sentenced last month to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including tax evasion and false labeling and fish identification. Rafael also forfeited some of his boats and fishing licenses.