Alabama
Jurors convict former principal in fake enrollment scheme
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Jurors found a former north Alabama high school principal guilty on Friday of participating in an effort to defraud the state of education funds by falsely enrolling hundreds of private school students as full-time public school students in Athens and Limestone County between 2016 and 2018.
Former Athens High School Principal Rick Carter was one of the six people indicted in 2021. Federal officials allege former Athens Superintendent Trey Holloway and others enrolled students from a series of south Alabama private schools in Athens’ virtual school even after state officials told them to stop in 2016. Prosecutors said they were planning to use up to $10 million in extra state aid, which is based on enrollment, to help fund construction projects including a new Athens High School.
Federal officials also alleged Carter and the other five conspired to steal some of the money for themselves.
Local news outlets report federal jurors found Carter guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft after nearly four weeks of testimony.
He faces up to 20 years in prison, a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence on each case of aggravated identity theft and monetary penalties and restitution.
In April, three defendants – former Limestone County Superintendent Tom Sisk, Gregory Corkren and David Tutt — pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. Corkren also pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft.
In December, former Athens Superintendent Trey Holladay pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. Charges against his wife, Deborah, were dismissed.
Sisk and Tutt will be sentenced on May 11. Holladay and Corkren will be sentenced on June 2.
Holladay, Sisk, Corkren and Tutt each face a sentence of up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. Corkren faces an additional two-year sentence and up to $250,000 fine for the aggravated identity theft charge.
Evidence shows the defendants offered the private schools computers, direct payments, and access to online curriculum to persuade them to share their students’ academic records and personal identifying information with the public school districts.
Multiple private school parents and former students testified during Carter’s trial that during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years, they had little to no connection with the public school districts in which they were supposedly enrolled. Parents continued to pay private school tuition and the students continued to attend the private schools, receiving instruction from teachers there.
Testimony showed the scheme continued after the state Department of Education warned Athens that private school students were being wrongly listed as full-time public school students in a March 2016 meeting. After that, evidence showed Carter and the others created fake report cards, manufactured false addresses for some students and falsified course completion reports to the state. When shown the fake report cards and completion reports during the trial, the parents and former students testified that they had never seen them before and did not know any of the teachers listed on them.
Washington
Man arrested in cold case rapes of women after DNA link
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — An eastern Washington man has been arrested in the rapes of women in Pullman two decades ago after authorities say DNA linked him to the crimes.
Kenneth Downing, 47, is accused of breaking into two homes and raping women in the early 2000’s, KREM-TV reported. He has been charged with four counts of rape, three counts of assault and three counts of unlawful imprisonment with sexual motivation, among other charges.
Downing told the judge in Whitman County Superior Court Friday he’s married, has children and has lived in Elk, Washington, for the past decade.
Downing’s bail was set at $5 million with prosecutors arguing he’s still a threat to the public. It wasn’t immediately known if he has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.
He was arrested Thursday at a construction site in Spokane after Pullman police say his DNA matched evidence collected at multiple crime scenes.
For 18 years, police kept DNA evidence they collected, but they didn’t know whose it was until they entered in into a genealogy database. According to court documents, he was linked to the case after one of Downing’s relatives sent in a sample to learn more about their family tree.
Three women whose homes he allegedly broke into have been notified of Downing’s arrest, according to Pullman Police Sgt. Aaron Breshears.
West Virginia
Man who shot brother convicted of voluntary manslaughter
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — Jurors have convicted a West Virginia man of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his brother on Mother’s Day in 2020.
The jury deliberated for about two hours Friday before returning the verdict for William Allen Nutter, who was charged with killing Charles Ryan Cottle, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel reported. Jurors opted for convicting on a lesser charge than murder, the newspaper reported.
Nutter claimed self-defense in the shooting, but prosecutors said his story didn’t make sense.
“(Nutter) and I believe that the trial was conducted fairly, that the jury took their role very seriously, and we believe it’s a just verdict,” defense attorney Joe Munoz said.
Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure declined to comment, saying the case was ongoing until Nutter’s sentencing, which was set for June 15.
Minnesota
Woman charged with trashing suburban Target store
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors have accused a West St. Paul woman of trashing a Target store during an angry outburst.
Gaylynn Atlene Bailey, 23, was charged Thursday in Dakota County with felony first-degree criminal damage to property, the Pioneer Press reported.
According to the criminal complaint, Bailey started entered the West St. Paul Target store on Tuesday morning and smashed display cases with a golf club, knocked over display stands and threw merchandise on the floor, forcing an evacuation. When police arrived they found her in the electronics section throwing televisions to the ground. She was ordered to stop but kept throwing items to the floor.
She allegedly caused at least $7,000 in damage. The complaint doesn’t offer any explanation for Bailey’s alleged actions. Police Chief Brian Sturgeon said investigators believe she was upset over a purchase at the store several days earlier.
Washington
High court rejects case of Christian group, bisexual lawyer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it won’t review the case of a Seattle-based Christian organization that was sued after declining to hire a bisexual lawyer who applied for a job. A lower court let the case go forward, and the high court said Monday it wouldn’t intervene.
Two justices, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, agreed with the decision not to hear the case at this stage but said that “the day may soon come” when the court needs to confront the issue the case presents.
The case the high court declined to hear involves Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. In addition to providing food and shelter to the homeless the organization offers addiction recovery, job placement and legal services. In 2016 it was looking for an attorney to help staff its legal-aid clinic.
One of the applicants was Matthew Woods, who had volunteered at the clinic for more than three years. Woods identifies as bisexual and was in a same-sex relationship. He was told before he applied that his application would be rejected because the organization’s “code of conduct excludes homosexual activity.” Woods sued, arguing that the organization violated state law by discriminating against him on the basis of his sexual orientation.
A state trial court judge ruled for Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission and dismissed Woods’ lawsuit. The judge ruled that the organization is exempt from the state’s anti-discrimination law. But the Washington Supreme Court reversed the decision and let the lawsuit go forward.
The Supreme Court does already have a different high-profile dispute involving a clash between religion and the rights of LGBTQ people on its docket. That dispute involves a Colorado web designer who says her religious beliefs prevent her from offering wedding website designs to gay couples. That case is expected to be argued in the fall.
California
Former Apple employee charged with defrauding $10 million
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A former Apple employee has been charged with defrauding the tech giant out of more than $10 million by taking kickbacks, stealing equipment and laundering money, federal prosecutors said.
Dhirendra Prasad, 52, worked for 10 years as a buyer in Apple’s Global Service Supply Chain department. A federal criminal case unsealed Friday alleges that he exploited his position to defraud the company in several schemes, including stealing parts and causing the company to pay for items and services it never received.
A court has allowed the federal government to seize five real estate properties and financial accounts worth about $5 million from Prasad, and the government is seeking to keep those assets as proceeds of crime, the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Jose said in a news release.
Prasad is scheduled to appear in court next Thursday to answer to charges of engaging in a conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. It’s unclear whether he has retained a lawyer. A phone number listed for him was disconnected.
Two owners of vendor companies that did business with Apple have admitted to conspiring with Prasad to commit fraud and launder money, prosecutors said.
Prasad is scheduled to make a first appearance in U.S. District Court in San Jose next week on Thursday. Fraud, money laundering and tax evasion each carry maximum sentences of five to 20 years, but sentencing guidelines and judges’ discretion mean most people convicted of fraud in federal court receive less than the maximum sentence.
Kansas
2 suspects convicted in drug ring run from Oklahoma prison
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The last two of 23 defendants charged in a drug trafficking ring in Kansas that was run from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary have been convicted, federal prosecutors said.
A federal jury convicted two Wichita men, Kevin Lewis, 58, and Travis Vontress, 45, on several conspiracy and drug-related charges the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
Both men will be sentenced June 22.
Travis Knighten, 49, an inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, used a cell phone at the prison to coordinate the drug distribution in Kansas, federal prosecutors said. He is serving a 90-year sentence for killing a prison guard in 1993.
One other Oklahoma State Penitentiary inmate was involved. The other defendants were all from Wichita, prosecutors said.
