National Roundup

New York
Kidnapper of rapper sentenced to 24 years
NEW YORK (AP) — A man convicted in the kidnapping of rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was sentenced to 24 years in prison Wednesday by a judge who cited his leadership role in a gang active nationwide.

U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer announced the sentence for Anthony Ellison, 33, who has been incarcerated at a federal lockup in Manhattan.

During a two-hour proceeding, the judge repeatedly cited the July 2018 kidnapping of Tekashi 6ix9ine and Ellison's slashing of another man's face that left him permanently disfigured.

Engelmayer called Ellison "cruel and vicious" for "slicing open a man's face" even though the man was not involved in a shooting Ellison was trying to avenge.

Prosecutors said in a written court submission that the attack left the man with a scar from his ear to his chin, an injury so gruesome that Ellison's lawyers succeeded in getting some of the images kept from jurors.

Prosecutors said Ellison was a leader of a violent faction of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.

"I'm not an angel but I'm not a monster," Ellison told the judge. "I do have faults. I am human."

After his own arrest, Tekashi 6ix9ine — whose legal name is Daniel Hernandez — pleaded guilty and became a cooperator.

At Ellison's trial last year, the rapper testified about his involvement with the gang. He described the kidnapping, saying Ellison and another man forced him into a stolen car at gunpoint. He said the men drove him around, stopping sometimes to beat and taunt him as he begged for his life.

The men ultimately took him to his Brooklyn home, where they stole a bag full of jewelry before driving him a few blocks away and releasing him, he said.

In 2018, Tekashi 6ix9ine had a multiplatinum hit song, "Fefe," with Nicki Minaj, which peaked at No. 3 on the pop charts, and "Stoopid," featuring imprisoned rapper Bobby Shmurda.

In April, Tekashi 6ix9ine began serving home confinement for the last four months of a two-year prison term he was given for his role in a drive-by shooting in New York that he committed when he was with the gang. Weeks later, he released a new video, "Gooba."

Arizona
State high court declines to review Jodi Arias' appeal
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has declined to review Jodi Arias' murder conviction in the 2008 killing of her former boyfriend.

The state's highest court on Tuesday denied Arias' request for review without providing an explanation for the decision.

Seven months ago, the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld her conviction and life prison sentence in the death of Travis Alexander, concluding the conviction was based on overwhelming evidence of her guilt, not on acts of misconduct by Juan Martinez, the prosecutor who won the conviction.

Prosecutors said Arias attacked Alexander in a jealous rage at his home in Mesa after he wanted to end their affair and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman. Arias has acknowledged killing Alexander but claimed it was self-defense after he attacked her.

The case turned into a media circus as salacious and violent details about Arias and Alexander were broadcast live around the world.

This summer, Martinez agreed to be disbarred in an ethics case in which he was accused of leaking the identity of an Arias juror and sexually harassing female law clerks in his office. Even though he gave up his law license, Martinez still disputed the allegations.

Indiana
Man gets 55 years for slaying girlfriend 'to stop sick god'
DECATUR, Ind. (AP) — A northeastern Indiana who stabbed his girlfriend more than two dozen times "to stop the sick god" was sentenced Wednesday to 55 years in prison.

Austin Griffith, 35, of Decatur, learned his punishment after pleading guilty but mentally ill to murder in the death of Kayla Bentley, 34, on Sept. 12, 2019, at her Berne home.

An Adams County judge ordered Griffith to serve 55 years of a 65-year sentence in prison.

Adams County Prosecutor Jeremy Brown said Griffith asked to take back his guilty plea, but a judge denied that.

Police who arrived at Bentley's apartment found her sitting on a chair that she dragged herself to after the attack, The Journal Gazette reported.

"I had to stop the sick god," Griffith told a Berne police officer, according to court documents. "I had to stop it or humanity was at risk. My God, Satan, blessed her with no pain."

The guilty but mentally ill plea means Griffith will be treated for mental illness in prison.

Washington
Man charged with sex trafficking minor
SEATTLE (AP) — A Washington state man was charged with the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl with developmental issues, the U.S. Attorney's Western Washington Office said in a statement.

Al-Penyo Brooks, 26, started messaging the minor in May on social media and told her he could help promote her in the music industry, prosecutors said Monday, adding that the girl gave Brooks her birth date and told him she was 17.

The charging documents said the girl has the developmental status of a 12-year-old.

Brooks suggested she run away with him after she told him she "felt abused at home," the charging documents said. He picked her up, evading her guardian to do so, had sex with her and attempted to make her a prostitute, the documents said.

The girl told police she had made it clear to Brooks that she did not want to go into prostitution, the Seattle Times reported.

Seattle police and Pierce County sheriff's deputies tracked her to an apartment where she had most recently signed into Facebook.

Brooks made his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday and is scheduled to appear Wednesday for a detention hearing. It was unclear if Brooks had obtained an attorney.