National Roundup

Texas
Failed escape from jail led to sprinklers set off
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Investigators in San Antonio say a man originally arrested on a trespassing count tried to escape through the ceiling of his cell but was caught after setting off some sprinklers.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says Matthew Fields of New Waverly was being held Wednesday on the initial count pending other charges. Authorities say Fields is expected to face escape and criminal mischief charges, plus assault on a public servant.

Two deputies suffered minor injuries pursuing the 24-year-old Fields, who was booked Tuesday.

Fields never left the secure jail area. He was located in the infirmary after allegedly climbing into the ceiling of his cell, getting into a stairwell and opening a sprinkler valve. Parts of the basement flooded.

Online records Wednesday did not list an attorney representing Fields.

Ohio
Medical board: Info on doctor investigation must stay secret
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The State Medical Board says a judge shouldn’t let Ohio State University publicly share information from an old board investigation involving a team doctor accused of decades-old sexual misconduct.

In a court filing Tuesday, the board says its records on the investigation involving Richard Strauss are confidential under state law. It says Ohio State’s lawyers received the information under a legal exemption and are required to keep it secret.

A law firm is investigating allegations about Strauss for Ohio State. The school plans to make the findings public and is seeking permission to include information about the old investigation.

The medical board argues such disclosure would undermine witnesses’ trust and its future investigations.

Over 150 alumni allege misconduct by Strauss. He killed himself in 2005.

The board never disciplined him.

North Carolina
‘Pay to play’: ­Officer accused of trading cash for freedom
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina probation officer has been fired over allegations that he had offenders on house arrest pay for additional time outside, saying they had to “pay to play.”

The Charlotte Observer reports a state Department of Public Safety dismissal letter says Thomas Darnell Aker was fired in January.

The letter says one offender told authorities Aker had him pay for extra time out of the house to work and see his family last summer. It says an investigation found that the offender initially thought the money was going toward court fines and fees.

Aker’s one of 30 state probation officers terminated over inappropriate activities since 2016, including one who sold a gun to a man under a domestic violence protective order. Authorities say that man later killed his wife.

Wisconsin
4th man ­convicted in tribal member’s homicide
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Another man has been convicted in connection with a Lac du Flambeau tribal member’s death.

The state Justice Department announced Evan Oungst of Woodruff pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree reckless homicide, aiding a felon and delivery of gabapentin.

Prosecutors say Oungst and four others drove Wayne Valliere Jr. to a secluded spot in Mercer on Dec. 21, 2017. They beat Valliere and shot him because they thought he was a police informant.

Joseph Lussier and Richard Allen were convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in August. Both were sentenced to life. James Lussier pleaded guilty that same month to reduced counts of felony murder and aiding a felon and was sentenced to 23 years. Curtis Wolfe is set to stand trial next week on charges including homicide and hiding a corpse.

Connecticut
Man gets 25 years in prison for killing wife
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man who used a wet towel to suffocate his wife, fled with his 6-year-old daughter, and abandoned the girl in a New York City bus depot, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The Stamford Advocate reports that 35-year-old Elmer Gomez Ruano apologized to the judge at his sentencing hearing Tuesday. He pleaded guilty in January to murder in the November 2016 killing of Donicia Bautista-Cano in their Stamford apartment.

The couple had been having marital problems, but had reconciled and had just started living together again two days before the killing.

Gomez Ruano had faced 60 years in prison if convicted at trial.

Prosecutors say their daughter was asleep at the time of the killing and he took her with him as he fled authorities.

New Jersey
Ex-chiropractor gets 5-years prison for tax evasion
LAKEWOOD, N.J. (AP) — A former chiropractor who evaded paying more than $500,000 in income taxes and didn’t report a Russian bank account where he deposited more than $1.5 million is now headed to prison.

Federal prosecutors say Carlo Amato received a five-year sentence Tuesday,

The 57-year-old Beachwood man owned and operated a Lakewood chiropractor and physical therapy business from 2012-2015. Prosecutors say he deposited checks for chiropractic services into bank accounts held in the names of his young children and didn’t disclose the payments to his accountants or report them on his tax returns.

Amato pleaded last September to tax evasion and failure to file a report of foreign financial account.

West Virginia
Federal grand jury charges 2 county ­magistrates
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — Two county magistrates in West Virginia have been indicted on federal fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from use of a bonding company operated by the family of one of the magistrates.

Prosecutors said in a news release that 47-year-old Lewis County Magistrate Roger D. Clem Jr., of Weston, and 57-year-old Gilmer County Magistrate Alton L. Skinner II, of Sand Fork, were indicted Tuesday. The men are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and obstruction of justice. Skinner is charged with making a false statement to a federal agent.

Clem is accused of taking favorable court action for E-Z Out bonding company, including setting unnecessary surety bonds, and arranging bond with Skinner without giving the detainee a list of companies.

It’s unclear whether Clem and Skinner have lawyers.