Court Digest

North Carolina
Indictment: Deputies encouraged girl to use stun gun on self

MORGANTON, N.C. (AP) — Two former North Carolina sheriff’s deputies have been indicted after authorities accused them of encouraging a teenage girl to use a stun gun on herself last year.

Joshua Marshall, 38, of Morganton and Luis Alberto Sanchez, 27, of Vilas were indicted on Jan. 24 by an Avery County grand jury on misdemeanor charges of contributing to the abuse of a juvenile and willfully failing to discharge their duties, The News Herald of Morganton reported, citing the indictments.

According to the indictments, Marshall and Sanchez encouraged a 17-year-old girl to use a stun gun belonging to the sheriff’s office on herself. Anjanette Grube, public information director for the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, said the teenager was participating in the Explorer program in the sheriff’s office.

The Avery County Sheriff’s Office asked the SBI investigate the case in July, Grube said. On Jan. 24, investigators took their findings to the grand jury.

Marshall was sworn in as a deputy in 2020, less than a year after he was fired from the Morganton Department of Public Safety, records said. Sanchez was sworn in as a deputy in December 2018. Both were fired on July 28, according to the Avery County Clerk of Court’s office.

Rhode Island
Man pleads guilty to COVID unemployment fraud

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently filing applications in five states for COVID-19-related unemployment benefits, and collecting tens of thousands of dollars he was not eligible for, federal prosecutors said.

Keishon Brown, 33, of Providence, beginning in May 2020, submitted fraudulent online applications with unemployment agencies in Massachusetts, Arizona, Nevada, Virginia, and California for pandemic-related unemployment benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary Cunha said in a statement.

Brown claimed in his applications that he was unemployed, but that he had previously worked in each of those states, when he had not, according to court documents. He collected a total of more than $62,000 in benefits he was not entitled to receive, prosecutors said.

He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to wire fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for April 26.

Georgia
Teen pleads guilty to killing mother and brother

FORSYTH, Ga. (AP) — A middle Georgia teenager pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and arson in the 2020 fire death of her mother and brother.

Local news outlets report 18-year-old Candace Walton entered the pleas in Monroe County, admitting guilt in the death of 36-year-old Tasha Vandiver and 21-year-old Gerald Walton.

Walton was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, theft by taking and first-degree arson.

Monroe County District Attorney Jonathan Adams said Walton was sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole for the murder charges, as well as 10 years in prison for the arson charge.

Adams said Walton showed remorse and took responsibility for her actions. She will serve at least 30 years in prison before she’s eligible for parole.

Walton’s home near Forsyth burned on Feb. 27, 2020, with firefighters finding Vandiver and Candace Walton’s brother Gerald Walton inside.

U.S. marshals arrested Candace Walton, then 16, later the same day near Paducah, Kentucky, driving her mother’s 2007 Chevrolet Malibu.

Adams has said authorities believe Candace Walton was trying to drive to Oregon to live her with boyfriend, Kaleo Pangelinan. The two had met when Pangelinan attended school in with Walton in Monroe County.

“There was a tax rebate that was cashed by the mom that was stolen, we believe by Candace, and she stole mom’s car, the cash rebate, and was driving to Oregon to visit the boyfriend essentially to start over a new life,” Adams told WMAZ-TV.

Pangelinan was arrested in May 2020 in Roseburg, Oregon, and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths. He’s expected to be tried later this year. His attorney has previously argued that Pangelinan had “no hand” in the murders. Prosecutors, though, presented evidence in court Wednesday showing Walton and Pangelinan exchanged messages about how Walton could kill her mother and brother.

Pennsylvania
$950,000 settlement reached in suit over police shooting

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The family of a New Jersey man shot and killed by a police officer near an eastern Pennsylvania amusement park in 2018 will reportedly receive part of a $950,000 settlement of a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officer and township.

The (Allentown) Morning Call reports that a copy of the settlement obtained through a Right-To-Know request indicates that the administrator of the estate of Joseph Santos agreed to end the lawsuit Sept. 14.

Court documents indicate that the money will be split between Santos’s two adult sons and 11-year-old daughter, minus law firm fees and costs. Attorney Joshua Karoly said it would “provide some support” to the family although “no amount of money will bring back a loving father to his three children.”

Attorney Joseph Santarone, who represented the officer and South Whitehall Township, said the settlement avoided the uncertainty and risk of a trial, with the money to be paid by the police department’s insurance company. None of the parties acknowledged any wrongdoing.

Authorities said the officer, Jonathan Roselle, was directing traffic near Dorney Park in July 2018 when a “frantic” woman said someone had tried to enter her vehicle. They said 44-year-old Santos of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, later climbed on the hood of the officer’s vehicle and pounded on his windshield and windows.

Officials said he started to walk away but then turned quickly and started back toward Roselle, ignoring commands from the officer, who fired five times. The shooting, which was caught on police and bystander videos, divided the community in 2018, prompting demonstrations near the scene for and against law enforcement.

Prosecutors called the shooting unjustified despite Santos’s “somewhat bizarre” behavior, saying alternatives available to the officer included de-escalation or use of pepper spray, a baton or a stun gun. Roselle was charged in Lehigh County with voluntary manslaughter. He was acquitted in a trial in early 2020.

Washington
Judge’s son pleads guilty to Capitol riot charges

WASHINGTON (AP) — A New York City judge’s son who referred to himself as a “caveman” eager to protest Donald Trump’s presidential election loss pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges he stormed the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Aaron Mostofsky was seen inside the Capitol wearing a fur costume and a bulletproof police vest that he was accused of stealing during the mayhem. He also gave a video interview inside the building, telling the New York Post he was there “to express my opinion as a free American that this election was stolen.”

Mostofsky, 35, pleaded guilty to charges of civil disorder, theft of government property, and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds.

Mostofsky is scheduled to be sentenced May 6. He faces 12 to 18 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said. Mostofsky also agreed to
pay $2,000 restitution.

Mostofsky’s father is Steven Mostofsky, a state court judge in Brooklyn. A message seeking comment was left with a court spokes­person.

Aaron Mostofsky’s unusual garb made him stand out from the crowd of camouflage-wearing, flag-waving rioters. At one point, he was photographed sitting on a bench near the Senate chamber holding a stick and the riot shield, which he said he picked up off the floor.

According to prosecutors, Mostofsky took a bus from New York to Washington and joined protesters in overwhelming a police line and storming the Capitol. Along the way, he picked up and put on the bulletproof vest, valued at $1,905, and the riot shield, worth $265, prosecutors said.

Before the protest, Mostofsky messaged another demonstrator that he could be found at the protest by looking for “a caveman,” adding, “Even a caveman knows it was stolen,” prosecutors said. Afterward, as his photo circulated, he said the image was unfortunate because “now people actually know me.”

More than 730 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 200 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of six months imprisonment. Mostofsky is one of about two dozen rioters to plead guilty to a felony. More than 90 riot defendants have been sentenced.

New Jersey
Man pleads guilty in Brady Super Bowl ring scam

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A New Jersey man pleaded guilty to fraud for posing as a former New England Patriots player in order to buy and sell Super Bowl rings that he claimed were gifts to Tom Brady’s family.

Scott V. Spina Jr., 24, of Roseland entered pleas in federal court to wire fraud, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.

In 2017, Spina bought a 2016 Super Bowl ring from a Patriots player who then left the team. Spina sold the ring for $63,000 to a Southern California broker and used the player’s information to contact the ring company and order three slightly smaller rings designed for friends and family, prosecutors said.

Those rings had “Brady” engraved on them and Spina claimed they were gifts for Brady’s baby although the quarterback never authorized their purchase, authorities said.

Spina tried to sell the rings to the Southern California broker for $81,500, claiming Brady had bought them for three nephews, but the deal fell through when the broker wasn’t able to confirm that Brady had any nephews, prosecutors said.

Spina then sold the rings to a New Jersey auction house for $100,000. At a 2018 auction, one ring sold for more than $337,000.

Brady, the most successful quarterback in NFL history, announced Tuesday that he was retiring after 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl titles. He led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title last season.

Illinois
Murder charges filed against mother, brother of dumped boy

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — Prosecutors filed murder charges Wednesday against the mother and brother of a 6-year-old boy who died after being placed in a cold shower as punishment for misbehavior.

Jannie Perry, 38, of North Chicago and Jeremiah Perry, 20, were jointly indicted by a Lake County grand jury on multiple charges that also included aggravated battery of a child, dismembering a human body and concealment of a homicidal death, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a news release.

Prosecutors can seek natural-life sentences against the two, he said.

They are due to be arraigned Monday.

The body of Damari Perry was found last month in an alley in Gary. His funeral was held Tuesday, Rinehart said.