Rhode Island
Students injured in shooting sue school, alleging security failures
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Three students who were injured in the December campus shooting at Brown University are each suing the Ivy League school, alleging it ignored prior warnings about the shooter and did not provide adequate security that could have prevented the tragedy.
The lawsuits, which were filed last week in Rhode Island Superior Court, allege that the unnamed plaintiffs have suffered because Brown failed to maintain “reasonable and appropriate security measures.”
“As direct and proximate result of Brown’s aforementioned acts of negligence, Plaintiff suffered and became afflicted with grave and severe personal injuries, causing Plaintiff to suffer great pain of body, mind, nerves and nervous system,” one of the lawsuits states.
The plaintiffs behind the lawsuits are unnamed.
A spokesperson for Brown University said they were reviewing the complaints “carefully and promptly.”
According to law enforcement, gunman Claudio Neves Valente, 48, entered a study session in a Brown academic building on Dec. 13 and opened fire on students, killing 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook and 18-year-old freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and wounding nine others.
Two days later, authorities say, Neves Valente, who had been a graduate student at Brown studying physics about 20 years ago, also fatally shot Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at Loureiro’s Boston-area home.
Neves Valente, who had attended school with Loureiro in Portugal in the 1990s, was found dead days later at a New Hampshire storage facility. Authorities say he killed himself. An autopsy determined that Neves Valente died Dec. 16, the same day Loureiro died in a hospital.
The lawsuits claim that Brown’s campus security was alerted by a custodian that Neves Valente had been “casing” the building but the school did not investigate the reports.
Shortly after the shooting, Brown’s president placed the campus police on leave amid a review of the school’s security policies.
Much of the focus has centered on whether the Ivy League school had security cameras installed in the building where the attack took place in and the overall ease of accessing campus buildings.
New York
Judge doesn’t see the ‘ho, ho, ho’ in alleged SantaCon fraud
NEW YORK (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the fraud case against the organizer of New York City’s SantaCon bar crawl made it clear at the defendant’s first appearance before her that she’s not a fan of the annual celebration.
Judge Colleen McMahon said each year she feels “assaulted by SantaCon” and must stay home on the day when “drunken kids who are wearing Santa costumes” crowd the city’s sidewalks.
McMahon made her observations as the event’s organizer, Stefan Pildes, appeared before her for the first time.
The 50-year-old Hewitt, New Jersey, resident was arrested a week ago and freed on bail.
His lawyer, Noam Biale, said in a statement that Pildes “did not defraud anyone.”
He added: “Every participant in SantaCon got exactly what they bargained for: mirth, merriment, and drunken debauchery. We look forward to advocating on Stefan’s behalf.”
Pildes did not comment as he left McMahon’s Manhattan courtroom.
A prosecutor said the government would build its case on financial institution records, information from a ticketing company, and evidence collected from dozens of bars and restaurants that pledged to donate 10% to 25% of their sales during SantaCon to charity.
Prosecutors allege in the indictment that Pildes gave only a small portion of the $2.7 million raised from 2019 to 2024 to charity. They say he diverted more than half of the money he raised to finance various personal ventures and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars more on himself.
Pildes used money earmarked for charities on extensive renovations to a lakefront property in New Jersey, concert tickets, luxury vacations, extravagant meals and a luxury vehicle, prosecutors contend.
The event traces its origins to a 1994 flash mob-style event in San Francisco dubbed “Santarchy,” intended to mock Christmas consumerism. As the idea spread to cities nationwide, it moved away from its countercultural origins and became more of a mass bar crawl.
While some New York residents decry SantaCon for the chaos it brings to city streets and subways, others are amused by thousands of costumed merrymakers crowding Manhattan’s streets with numerous Saint Nicks, along with a few Mrs. Clauses, elves and the occasional Grinch.
New?York
Man pleads guilty to stealing more than $50M in Ponzi scheme
A businessman accused of stealing more than $50 million from hundreds of people in upstate New York as part of a massive Ponzi scheme pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from the fraud, according to the state attorney general.
Miles “Burt” Marshall faces four to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree grand larceny, securities fraud and first-degree scheme to defraud, according to the attorney general’s office, which secured an indictment against him last summer.
Marshall, 74, prepared taxes and sold insurance in the quaint village of Hamilton, near Colgate University. For decades, he also took money for what was sometimes called the “8% Fund,” which guaranteed that much in annual interest. He took money from neighbors, churches and area organizations, with referrals often coming through word-of-mouth.
A bankruptcy trustee later determined that Marshall had been using new investment money to pay off previous investors by 2011. He eventually owed almost 1,000 people and organizations about $95 million in principal and interest, according to the trustee.
Attorney General Letitia James said Marshall also spent his investors’ funds on shopping, vacations and restaurants.
Marshall is scheduled to be sentenced in Madison County Court on June 11.
“I am shocked and a little upset that he didn’t get more time. I don’t feel justice was served,” Dennis Sullivan, who was owed about $40,000, wrote in a text after the plea. “He has ruined so many of our lives.”
Marshall had made good on his promises to pay interest and process withdrawals for many years. But he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023 after a hospitalization for a heart condition and a subsequent run on note holders asking for their money back. He declared more than $90 million in liabilities and $21.5 million in assets.
Students injured in shooting sue school, alleging security failures
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Three students who were injured in the December campus shooting at Brown University are each suing the Ivy League school, alleging it ignored prior warnings about the shooter and did not provide adequate security that could have prevented the tragedy.
The lawsuits, which were filed last week in Rhode Island Superior Court, allege that the unnamed plaintiffs have suffered because Brown failed to maintain “reasonable and appropriate security measures.”
“As direct and proximate result of Brown’s aforementioned acts of negligence, Plaintiff suffered and became afflicted with grave and severe personal injuries, causing Plaintiff to suffer great pain of body, mind, nerves and nervous system,” one of the lawsuits states.
The plaintiffs behind the lawsuits are unnamed.
A spokesperson for Brown University said they were reviewing the complaints “carefully and promptly.”
According to law enforcement, gunman Claudio Neves Valente, 48, entered a study session in a Brown academic building on Dec. 13 and opened fire on students, killing 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook and 18-year-old freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and wounding nine others.
Two days later, authorities say, Neves Valente, who had been a graduate student at Brown studying physics about 20 years ago, also fatally shot Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at Loureiro’s Boston-area home.
Neves Valente, who had attended school with Loureiro in Portugal in the 1990s, was found dead days later at a New Hampshire storage facility. Authorities say he killed himself. An autopsy determined that Neves Valente died Dec. 16, the same day Loureiro died in a hospital.
The lawsuits claim that Brown’s campus security was alerted by a custodian that Neves Valente had been “casing” the building but the school did not investigate the reports.
Shortly after the shooting, Brown’s president placed the campus police on leave amid a review of the school’s security policies.
Much of the focus has centered on whether the Ivy League school had security cameras installed in the building where the attack took place in and the overall ease of accessing campus buildings.
New York
Judge doesn’t see the ‘ho, ho, ho’ in alleged SantaCon fraud
NEW YORK (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the fraud case against the organizer of New York City’s SantaCon bar crawl made it clear at the defendant’s first appearance before her that she’s not a fan of the annual celebration.
Judge Colleen McMahon said each year she feels “assaulted by SantaCon” and must stay home on the day when “drunken kids who are wearing Santa costumes” crowd the city’s sidewalks.
McMahon made her observations as the event’s organizer, Stefan Pildes, appeared before her for the first time.
The 50-year-old Hewitt, New Jersey, resident was arrested a week ago and freed on bail.
His lawyer, Noam Biale, said in a statement that Pildes “did not defraud anyone.”
He added: “Every participant in SantaCon got exactly what they bargained for: mirth, merriment, and drunken debauchery. We look forward to advocating on Stefan’s behalf.”
Pildes did not comment as he left McMahon’s Manhattan courtroom.
A prosecutor said the government would build its case on financial institution records, information from a ticketing company, and evidence collected from dozens of bars and restaurants that pledged to donate 10% to 25% of their sales during SantaCon to charity.
Prosecutors allege in the indictment that Pildes gave only a small portion of the $2.7 million raised from 2019 to 2024 to charity. They say he diverted more than half of the money he raised to finance various personal ventures and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars more on himself.
Pildes used money earmarked for charities on extensive renovations to a lakefront property in New Jersey, concert tickets, luxury vacations, extravagant meals and a luxury vehicle, prosecutors contend.
The event traces its origins to a 1994 flash mob-style event in San Francisco dubbed “Santarchy,” intended to mock Christmas consumerism. As the idea spread to cities nationwide, it moved away from its countercultural origins and became more of a mass bar crawl.
While some New York residents decry SantaCon for the chaos it brings to city streets and subways, others are amused by thousands of costumed merrymakers crowding Manhattan’s streets with numerous Saint Nicks, along with a few Mrs. Clauses, elves and the occasional Grinch.
New?York
Man pleads guilty to stealing more than $50M in Ponzi scheme
A businessman accused of stealing more than $50 million from hundreds of people in upstate New York as part of a massive Ponzi scheme pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from the fraud, according to the state attorney general.
Miles “Burt” Marshall faces four to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree grand larceny, securities fraud and first-degree scheme to defraud, according to the attorney general’s office, which secured an indictment against him last summer.
Marshall, 74, prepared taxes and sold insurance in the quaint village of Hamilton, near Colgate University. For decades, he also took money for what was sometimes called the “8% Fund,” which guaranteed that much in annual interest. He took money from neighbors, churches and area organizations, with referrals often coming through word-of-mouth.
A bankruptcy trustee later determined that Marshall had been using new investment money to pay off previous investors by 2011. He eventually owed almost 1,000 people and organizations about $95 million in principal and interest, according to the trustee.
Attorney General Letitia James said Marshall also spent his investors’ funds on shopping, vacations and restaurants.
Marshall is scheduled to be sentenced in Madison County Court on June 11.
“I am shocked and a little upset that he didn’t get more time. I don’t feel justice was served,” Dennis Sullivan, who was owed about $40,000, wrote in a text after the plea. “He has ruined so many of our lives.”
Marshall had made good on his promises to pay interest and process withdrawals for many years. But he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023 after a hospitalization for a heart condition and a subsequent run on note holders asking for their money back. He declared more than $90 million in liabilities and $21.5 million in assets.
