Court Digest

Florida
Ex-teacher sentenced to prison for child pornography
MIAMI (AP) — A 27-year-old Florida teacher has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for possessing child pornography, prosecutors said.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke ordered Roberto Ortiz to serve eight years of probation after his release.

Ortiz worked as a math teacher at American Senior High School between 2019 and his arrest in July 2020, prosecutors said. Investigators found Ortiz had 1,700 images and 40 videos of child porn. He had also been a teacher at Jose Marti High School in Miami and at Youth Co-Op Preparatory Charter School in Hialeah.

Ortiz pleaded guilty to possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in April.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice.

Mississippi
Dispute over House race  goes to state high court
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Supreme Court acted quickly Monday to block a circuit judge’s order in a dispute over whether a special election is needed to fill a vacancy in the state House of Representatives.

Two people signed up to run in a Nov. 2 special election in District 29 in parts of Bolivar and Sunflower counties. The seat came open when Democratic Rep. Abe Hudson resigned in late August.

The Mississippi Board of Election Commissioners ruled Sept. 14 that one of the candidates failed to meet a residency requirement because he had switched his voter registration to Lafayette County. The commission — made up of Gov. Tate Reeves, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Secretary of State Michael Watson — said that because only one candidate remained, no election was needed for the District 29 race. Reeves issued an order saying Robert Sanders had been elected.

The candidate whose residency was rejected, Keveon L. Taylor, is a law student at the University of Mississippi. He filed a court challenge, saying he is a lifelong resident Marigold in Bolivar County and had switched his registration to Lafayette County so he could vote there while studying at the university.

Hinds County Circuit Judge Adrienne Wooten ruled Monday that election commissioners were wrong about Taylor’s residency.

The state attorney general’s office immediately appealed to the state Supreme Court, arguing that a Hinds County circuit judge lacks jurisdiction over such an election dispute. Within hours, a panel of three justices put the circuit court order on hold while the election dispute remains on appeal to all nine justices.

Candidates in Mississippi special elections run without party labels. Republicans hold a wide majority in the state House.

Washington
Driver pleads guilty to killing 17-year-old  field worker
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A man who ran over and killed a 17-year-old girl working in a Lower Valley field on the Yakama reservation pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in U.S. District Court.

Joshua Sampson’s guilty plea comes after more than two years and five trial postponements, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported. Sampson’s initial plea was innocent, but he changed that during a status hearing last week.

Sampson is accused of driving onto a field and running over and killing Petrona Mendez Ruiz on June 1, 2019. The SUV Sampson was driving had to be lifted off her body. Ruiz came here from Guatemala with her father to work.

Yakima County Sheriff’s deputies and Yakama Tribal Police responded and Sampson was arrested at the scene. Deputies said Sampson reeked of alcohol. Sampson was tried in federal court because he is Native American and the incident occurred on the Yakama reservation.

He initially was charged in Yakama Tribal Court, but the court lacks the authority to prosecute felony crimes. He was charged in federal court six months after Ruiz’s death.

In federal court, involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

California
Aspiring actor pleads guilty in $650 million Ponzi scheme
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An aspiring actor pleaded guilty Monday to running a massive Ponzi scheme that raised at least $650 million from investors in phony Hollywood film licensing deals.

Zachary Joseph Horwitz, 34, of Los Angeles, entered a plea to a federal charge of securities fraud and could face up to 20 years in prison when he’s sentenced in January, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Prosecutors alleged that from 2014 to 2019, Horwitz secured hundreds of millions of dollars in loans for his film company, 1inMM Capital LLC, by falsely claiming the money would be used to buy distribution rights to movies that would then be licensed for distribution to streaming platforms such as Netflix and HBO.

Instead, Horwitz used some of the money to repay earlier investors in a classic Ponzi scheme and to support a lifestyle that included buying a $6 million home, prosecutors said.

More than 200 investors, including three of Horwitz’s closest college friends and their family members, lost about $230 million, authorities said.

Horwitz had appeared in a number of movies, usually in small roles, under the name Zach Avery.

Minnesota
Man pleads guilty in fatal shooting at George Floyd Square
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 31-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded guilty Monday to a lesser charge for fatally shooting another man at the intersection where George Floyd  died in police custody.

Shantaello Christianson pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree manslaughter and to being a felon in possession of a firearm in the March 6 death of 30-year-old Imez Wright.

Prosecutors say as part of the guilty plea, Christianson will be sentenced to 10 years on the manslaughter count and five years on the weapons count. The sentences will be served at the same time.

Authorities said Wright was shot multiple times in the chest and hand outside Cup Foods, a convenience store that was thrust into the spotlight last year after Minneapolis police detained Floyd in front of it. The intersection became a makeshift memorial after Floyd’s death and is now known as George Floyd Square.

Christianson was initially charged with second-degree murder  and other counts.

Authorities said Wright was standing in front of Cup Foods on the evening of March 6 when Christianson drove up in a vehicle and they began arguing. Christianson stepped out of the vehicle and shot Wright multiple times before driving off, according to the complaint.

Investigators said Christianson and Wright are both members of the Rolling 30’s Bloods gang but were on opposite sides of an internal gang dispute. Several people who were at the scene allegedly fired at Christianson’s vehicle as he fled.

The shooting occurred the weekend before trial began for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was ultimately convicted of murder in Floyd’s death. Floyd, who was Black, died May 25, 2020, after Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck.

New York
Judge: Giuliani pal can’t pay travel tab, taxpayers on hook
NEW YORK (AP) — A Rudy Giuliani associate facing trial next week in New York City for allegedly making illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians is too poor to pay for his own lodging and transportation, a judge ruled Monday.

Judge J. Paul Oetken ordered taxpayers to pick up the tab for Lev Parnas’ hotel room and put the U.S. Marshals Service on the hook for getting him to New York in time for the Oct. 12 trial. A final pretrial conference is scheduled for Tuesday.

Parnas, a Soviet-born Florida businessman, and Ukraine-born investor Andrey Kukushkin are accused of a scheme to make illegal campaign donations to local and federal politicians in New York, Nevada and other states in an effort to win support for a new recreational marijuana business.

Parnas and another Soviet-born Florida businessman, Igor Fruman, worked with Giuliani in an attempt to convince Ukraine to open an investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, over his connection to a Ukrainian energy company.

Giuliani has said he had no knowledge of illegal campaign contributions but acknowledged working extensively with Fruman and Parnas as he sought damaging information on Biden.

A message seeking comment was left with Parnas’ lawyer.

Oetken said his ruling on Parnas’ indigence was in response to a letter from his lawyer stating he could no longer pay the costs of his defense. Parnas didn’t ask for new lawyers, but did request funding for his travel and lodging during the trial.

Oetken said he found that the “interests of justice would be served” by having taxpayers pick up the tab for those expenses.

The judge said Parnas’ hotel costs will be reimbursed at the government’s per diem rate, which is $286 per night through the end of the year, according to the U.S. General Services Administration.

Another Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, pleaded guilty last month to a charge that he solicited $1 million in contributions from a foreign national as part of the alleged campaign contribution scheme. Fruman’s plea agreement did not require him to cooperate in other cases, such as the case against Parnas.

While prosecutors have kept the identity of the foreign donor secret, a lawyer identified him during a court hearing as Russian businessman Andrei Muraviev.

West Virginia
Man caught in meth bust sentenced to 9 years in prison
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for possessing more than 400 grams of methamphetamine.

Michael Anthony Parkinson, of Ranson, was sentenced on Monday. He pleaded guilty in May to possession with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of methamphetamine.

Parkinson, 37, had more than 400 grams of crystal meth, the U.S. Attorney for West Virginia’s northern district said in a media release. Parkinson was also found with 350 grams of the drug in 2019, authorities said.

The case was investigated by the Eastern Panhandle Drug Task Force.

Missouri
Man sentenced to prison for setting Kansas City church fire
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for setting fire to a Kansas City church last year.

Christopher Durant, 39, of Kansas City, was sentenced Monday to 63 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in April to one count of arson, federal prosecutors for Missouri said in a news release. There is no parole in the federal system.

Durante also was ordered to pay more than $143,000 in restitution to go to the church, insurance company and owner of the building in which the church is housed.

Prosecutors said Durant set fire to Beyond Thee Four Walls Ministries on Aug. 26, 2020, days after he had approached church staff asking for water and was turned away. Surveillance video showed Durant breaking church windows with chunks of asphalt, then placing burning objects inside the church through a mail slot and the broken windows, investigators said.

Washington
Man sentenced for aiming laser pointer at helicopter
PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — A Port Angeles man has been sentenced to probation and home confinement after pleading guilty to a laser pointer strike on a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter in 2016, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Randall Muck, 36, plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge on a federal officer after aiming a laser pointer at a government aircraft and making false statements to officials, KIRO-TV reported.

Muck admitted that on Sept. 26, 2016, he pointed a highly powered laser at the helicopter.

According to reports of the incident, the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was descending when it was hit by the laser in Port Angeles. Muck was identified as a suspect after co-workers reported he had been bragging about the incident at work.

After Muck learned of the investigation, he made statements to co-workers that he would retaliate if they reported his involvement to law enforcement. Muck is no longer employed by that company.