Court Digest

New York
Florida man sentenced in Giuliani-related fraud case
NEW YORK (AP) — A Florida businessman whose fraud-busting business was exposed as a fraud itself was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in prison in a case in which prosecutors said Rudy Giuliani was hired as a consultant to attract investors.

David Correia, 45, was sentenced remotely by U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken in Manhattan.

The judge cited Correia’s lesser role in the fraud scheme — he was charged alongside co-defendant Lev Parnas — and medical issues that might make his time in prison more challenging as he granted requests for leniency. He also ordered Correia to pay back the roughly $43,000 he received illegally, as well as over $2 million in restitution.

Oetken noted that two of seven victims had urged leniency, though he said it was “hard to ignore” the irony of a fraud surrounding a business titled “Fraud Guarantee.”

In October, Correia pleaded guilty to making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and conspiring to commit wire fraud. The plea came in connection with $2.3 million raised for the company that was supposed to protect investors in businesses from becoming fraud victims.

Before the sentence was announced, Correia told Oetken he’s tried to be a better father and husband since his arrest.

“I feel true remorse,” he said.

In court papers, Correia largely blamed his slide into criminal behavior on his association with Parnas.

Parnas has pleaded not guilty to charges related to Fraud Guarantee and other charges alleging he made illegal contributions to politicians he thought could aid his political and business interests.

The prosecution generated headlines after Parnas and another co-defendant worked with Giuliani to try to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the son of then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Giuliani has said he knew nothing about contributions by the men. He has not been charged.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos had urged a sentence  of about three years in prison for Correia, which was what federal sentencing guidelines suggested.

The prosecutor said Correia was essentially “the closer” in conversations with investors and “bragged about his lavish lifestyle” with at least one investor.

In court papers, prosecutors noted that Correia also bragged about the involvement of Giuliani as a consultant in the company, enticing one investor who seemed thrilled at Giuliani’s involvement to contribute $500,000.

Prosecutors said Correia told the investor that Giuliani had agreed that his likeness could be used as the “face of the company.”

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor who served as ex-President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, has confirmed he was promised $500,000 to consult with the company. Prosecutors have not alleged Giuliani did anything wrong and he was only referred to in court papers and at the sentencing as “Attorney-1.”

Defense attorney William J. Harrington said his client had good intentions and spent thousands of hours trying to develop the business.

“He’s really a good person who did wrong,” Harrington told the judge.


South Carolina
Black lawmakers disappointed by selection of white judges
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Black lawmakers in South Carolina say they are disappointed but not surprised that every one of the two dozen judges elected by the Legislature earlier this month are white.

The state court system is run by Chief Justice Don Beatty, who is Black. One of nine judges is Black on the next highest court, the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Of the 61 judges on the supreme, appeals or circuit courts in South Carolina, nine are Black, or 15% of them in a state where 27% of the population is Black, the Post and Courier of Charleston  reported.

“While I don’t say any members have ill intentions, I don’t think they’re cognizant that representation matters, and we have to do our due diligence to make sure we elected judges that look like South Carolina,” Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, an attorney and Black Democratic lawmaker from North Charleston.

The majority of races on Feb. 3 were uncontested, but in four of them, a Black woman lost or withdrew because of a lack of support among lawmakers.

“The time of the Black woman just seems to not have arrived in South Carolina,” said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg. “For me, it was just a sad day.”

South Carolina uses a 10-member committee appointed by lawmakers to screen potential judicial candidates and recommend up to three candidates to the General Assembly, which elects the state judges directly. Six of the 10 members of the Judicial Merit Selection Committee are legislators.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Luke Rankin is chairman of the selection commission. He said he was proud of this round of new judges and every candidate had a chance to campaign and show their qualifications to the entire General Assembly.

“So the criticism that this was not a diverse group doesn’t speak to the work of our committee, it speaks to each candidate’s own strengths,” the Republican from Myrtle Beach said.

Black lawmakers told the newspaper they would continue to try to recruit the best lawyers they can to be judges, but some wonder if the situation can ever change.

Two years ago, a number of Black lawmakers walked out of judicial elections after the Legislature elected a white attorney who has never been a judge to the state Court of Appeals over a Black woman who has been on the bench 20 years. In the only other contested judicial race out of the 44 decided in February 2019, a white woman defeated an Black woman for a Family Court seat.

“This is nothing really new,” said Rep. Leon Howard, D-Columbia. “In 1995, when I was elected to the House of Representatives we had little to no African American judges on the bench, and finally we were able to make some strides. Now we are stuck in reverse.”

Ohio
Attorney suspended after he’s charged with human trafficking
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court suspended the law license of a veteran attorney from southern Ohio, three months after he was charged with human trafficking involving six women — most, former clients.

The state attorney disciplinary board sought the move, saying attorney Michael Mearan, of Portsmouth, was a danger and that “immediate action is necessary to stop this predatory threat.”

The court said Friday it would suspend Mearan “from the practice of law for an interim period.”

Mearan, 75, has denied the accusations against him, saying in a court filing that the allegations were based on testimony from “numerous felons” who received favorable treatment for cooperating with investigators.

He was charged in October with promoting prostitution, compelling prostitution, human trafficking and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. If convicted on all counts, Mearan faces more than 70 years in prison.

Mearan pleaded not guilty to all charges in October and was freed after posting bail.

The alleged sex trafficking was based in Portsmouth, a city about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Cincinnati, along the Ohio River, where Mearan operated a law firm and served on city council.

Authorities said in court documents that he targeted women who were poor, addicted to drugs and facing criminal charges to take part in a prostitution ring during a 15-year-period beginning in 2003.

Mearan “used his position as an attorney to cultivate and exploit relationships with highly vulnerable females,” prosecutors said.

The victims said he arranged the meetings with men in southern Ohio and out of state, collected the money and kept a share of it, according to the court documents.

One woman said he paid her to recruit others while she was in prison, investigators said.

In response to the attempt to suspend his license, Mearan said there was not substantial credible evidence that showed he violated any rules of professional conduct or that he is a threat to the public.


Online payment of court costs, fines expands in Kentucky
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts has expanded its online payment options.

As of last week, people who owe court costs, fines, fees or restitution on eligible cases can make full or partial payments, the office said in a news release. Previously the ePay program only allowed payment in full in prepayable cases, which is one that doesn’t require a court appearance.

“The primary advantage is that anyone who owes court costs can now pay online,” Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. said. “We’re also easing the financial strain for those who have a prepayable case by allowing them to pay over time, if needed.”

Paying online also reduces in-person trips to judicial centers, which is important during the COVID-19 pandemic, Minton said.

Washington
Federal judge won’t toss lawsuit by family of man killed by police
SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge refused to dismiss a civil rights lawsuit filed against the Washington state city of Kent and a police officer involved in a 2017 fatal shooting of an unarmed Giovonn Joseph-McDade.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein said in her order Thursday that the evidence disputes claims that the 20-year-old Joseph-McDade had fled from police at high speed and was poised to run over Kent police officer William Davis when Davis shot and killed Joseph-McDade.

“There is no suggestion in this case that Joseph-McDade had committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm prior to the car chase,” Rothstein wrote.

The judge’s decision will send the lawsuit to trial. The lawsuit had been filed in 2020 by Joseph-McDade’s parents.

“The justification proffered by the defendants for Officer Davis’ use of deadly force is that at the time he fired at Joseph-McDade, he believed his life was in danger,” Rothstein wrote. “However, the evidence before the court demonstrates serious disputes on this issue.”

Requests for comments from the attorney representing Kent and the officers involved were not returned to the Seattle Times on Friday.


Nebraska
Woman sues over ‘clown-sized shoes’ she said caused injuries
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A woman is suing Douglas County over what her lawsuit calls the “clown-sized shoes” she was forced to wear by jail officials that caused her to fall, breaking her nose, dentures and hand.

Maureen Henderson, 59, was being held at the Douglas County Jail on a shoplifting charge in January 2020 when she was issued orange jail togs, socks, and plastic slippers that were at least four sizes too big, according to her lawsuit filed this month and reported  by the Omaha World-Herald.

When she asked for different shoes, she was told none were available, the lawsuit says. She was wearing the too-large shoes when she was forced to shuffle to a hearing while cuffed at the hands and ankles attached to a chain around her waist, she said in the lawsuit. The oversized shoes became tangled in the chain, causing her to fall, she said. Because she was shackled, she was unable to catch herself, hitting face-first on the marble tile floor and leaving her face bloodied, she said.

Her attorney, Tom White of Omaha, also said in the lawsuit that jail staff did not provide Henderson with medical care for nearly two weeks, when X-rays revealed her broken bones.
Douglas County has 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.

North Carolina
Trial set for lawsuit over shooting on Wake Forrest campus
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A lawsuit filed over the shooting death of a Winston-Salem State University student on Wake Forest University’s campus has been scheduled for trial.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported Monday that the court proceeding is set for Oct. 4 in federal court.

Najee Ali Baker was WSSU football player from New York. He was shot to death in 2018 when he was leaving a party that was held at The Barn on Wake Forest University’s campus. Two men were charged in his death.

Baker’s mother, Jemel Ali Dixon, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Wake Forest University and others. Other defendants include Rhino Sports & Entertainment Services LLC, which provided private security at the party.

The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching an attorney for Rhino Sports. William Davis, an attorney for Wake Forest University, issued this statement that the school’s policy is not to comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit alleges that Wake Forest University administrators were negligent and had lax security for the party at The Barn. But the school’s attorneys have denied the allegations in court papers. They said school administrators had no way of preventing the shooting or predicting that it could happen.