New Hampshire
Judge declares mistrial in youth detention center sex abuse case
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in the case of a former youth detention center worker charged with repeatedly raping a teenage boy after his accuser briefly testified about allegations involving other staff.
Jeffrey Buskey, 60, of Litchfield, is charged with 21 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault against David Meehan, who was 14 when he arrived at the Youth Development Center in Manchester in 1995.
Testifying for a second day Tuesday, Meehan said Buskey wasn’t the only staffer who sexually assaulted him. That prompted Buskey’s defense to ask for a mistrial, which Judge Will Delker denied. He instead instructed jurors to disregard that testimony, but when it happened again a few minutes later, Delker said he had no choice but to declare a mistrial.
“Jury trials are very particular in regards to the type of evidence that is admissible. In this instance, the judge found that some of the evidence that came in should not be heard by the jury,” said the prosecutor, Associate Attorney General Thomas Velardi. “When the judge believes such evidence does come in, and there is not an adequate way to instruct the jury to disregard it, the judge believes he must declare a mistrial.”
Velardi said the state will consider its options, including retrying the case. Meehan, Buskey and the defense attorneys left the court without comment. A phone message was left for the attorneys.
In addition to the allegations involving Meehan, Buskey also faces separate charges involving three other former residents of the state-run facility now known as the Sununu Youth Services Center. His arrest along with another former staffer in 2019 thrust one of the nation’s largest youth detention scandals into public view.
Since then, the state has conducted an unprecedented criminal investigation and made nine additional arrests. It also established a settlement fund to compensate victims and began defending itself against more than 1,100 lawsuits alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse spanning six decades.
Meehan’s suit was the first to be filed and the only one to go to trial so far. A jury awarded him $38 million in May 2024, though that verdict remains in dispute as the state seeks to reduce the amount to $475,000. The Associated Press generally does not identify those who say they were victims of sexual assault unless they have come forward publicly, as Meehan has done.
As testimony got underway Monday, prosecutor Audriana Mekula asked Meehan, “What is YDC to you?”
“Hell,” he answered.
Florida
Maduro ally Alex Saab pleads guilty in federal money laundering case
MIAMI (AP) — A close ally of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of money laundering tied to an alleged bribery conspiracy to win lucrative government contracts in the South American country.
As part of the plea deal, Alex Saab agreed to cooperate in continuing federal investigations and forfeit $195 million in criminal proceeds from the corruption scheme.
Saab, 54, was deported in May by Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez to the U.S., which has been targeting the Colombian-born businessman for more than a decade.
The money laundering offense carries a maximum 20-year penalty but prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the recommended range and seek additional reductions should his cooperation, including against four unnamed co-defendants, prove valuable.
Saab was previously charged during the first Trump administration in 2019 and then arrested during a refueling stop in Cape Verde on what the Venezuelan government described as a high-level humanitarian mission to Iran.
Saab, in court Tuesday, told Judge Kathleen Williams that he takes the antidepressant Zoloft and other medicines daily for what he described as “post-traumatic stress disorder” following his 2020 arrest.
President Joe Biden pardoned Saab in 2023 in exchange for the release of several imprisoned Americans in Venezuela. The deal, part of a failed effort by the Biden White House to lure Maduro into holding a free presidential election, was harshly criticized by Republicans and federal law enforcement officials, who immediately began investigating Saab for other alleged crimes not covered by the narrowly tailored pardon.
U.S. officials have long described Saab as Maduro’s “bag man” and could ask him to serve as a character witness against the former president, who is awaiting trial on drug charges in Manhattan after being captured in a raid by the U.S. military in January.
The new U.S. prosecution of Saab and Maduro is taking place as the Trump administration overhauls relations with Venezuela, focusing its attention on tapping into Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. This month, Trump announced a partnership with Venezuelan oil entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt in which the U.S. government will gain a stake and access to at-cost crude shipments from oil fields with a potential to produce 65 billion barrels.
Saab was little known even in Venezuela until after his first arrest, in 2020, when Maduro’s government invested huge resources rallying public support for his release.
Rodríguez, then serving as Maduro’s vice president, helped mount an international campaign in which she referred to Saab as an “innocent Venezuelan diplomat” who had been illegally “kidnapped” by the U.S.
But following Maduro’s capture, Rodríguez distanced herself from Saab, firing him from her Cabinet and stripping him of his role as the main conduit for foreign companies looking to invest in Venezuela.
Saab amassed a fortune through Venezuelan government contracts but became even more valuable to Maduro as U.S. sanctions forced Venezuela to conduct much of its oil sales and foreign trade outside of Western financial institutions.
The new indictment accuses Saab and others of setting up a web of companies to bribe top Venezuelan officials controlling contracts for the so-called CLAP program set up by Maduro to provide staples — rice, corn flour, cooking oil — to poor Venezuelans at a time of rampant hyperinflation and a crumbling currency.
As part of the alleged conspiracy, Saab helped create fake companies, falsify shipping records and skim from government contracts to import food from Colombia and Mexico. The conspirators also accessed billions of dollars in oil sales from state-run oil company PDVSA, according to the criminal complaint.
Mississippi
Man pleads not guilty in the hanging death of Black woman
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man charged with murder in the hanging of a Black woman in Mississippi pleaded not guilty Monday during his first court appearance.
The body of Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in the capital, Jackson, on Aug. 3.
On Friday, police arrested 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff, who is also Black, on a murder charge after the state medical examiner deemed her death a homicide.
During the brief hearing Monday in Municipal Court, the judge denied bond for Ratliff, who told the court he’s not guilty. Ratliff’s attorney at the hearing left the courthouse afterward without speaking to reporters.
The case has attracted widespread attention because the nature of Fortune’s death recalled lynchings in the Southern state, which has a tumultuous civil rights history stained by episodes of racial violence.
Police and prosecutors haven’t given a suspected motive for the killing or said whether they think race played any role.
Police Chief RaShall Brackney said Friday that Ratliff, 51, had an “association” with Fortune, but she didn’t elaborate. She also said that additional arrests are expected in the case.
A Kentucky native, Fortune had been living in Jackson for about a decade, according to relatives. Her mother, Christy Spivey, said Fortune had four children but rarely saw two of them.
Spivey wasn’t sure where Fortune was living when she died, but she said her daughter had struggled with homelessness in recent years. She said Fortune had talked recently about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order.
Two other Mississippi hanging deaths over the past year — those of a Black student at Delta State University and a homeless white man in Vicksburg — also drew widespread attention, but both were deemed to be suicides.
France
Paris court awards Kim Kardashian 1 euro after 2016 robbery
SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) — A Paris court on Tuesday awarded 1 euro ($1.15) to Kim Kardashian for having been the victim of an armed robbery in the French capital in 2016, the amount of compensation she had asked for, according to a lawyer involved in the case.
Kardashian has sought to move on since the court last year found eight people guilty for their roles in what the U.S. celebrity described as “the most terrifying experience of my life.”
The court awarded a former receptionist at the Hôtel de Pourtalès 109,516 euros ($126,472), according to his lawyer. Kardashian had been staying at the hotel when the robbery gang targeted her.
The receptionist said he had been traumatized by the Oct. 2, 2016, jewel heist during Fashion Week. He had sought 550,000 euros ($634,868) in damages and interest. His lawyer, Mohand Ouidja, welcomed the decision as a victory.
The lawyer also read the court’s written decisions that related to Kardashian and others to The Associated Press.
The court awarded the hotel 50,000 euros ($57,741). It awarded 1 euro — the amount she had requested — to Simone Bretter, Kardashian’s stylist who was present during the robbery.
French lawyers who acted for Kardashian during the trial didn’t respond to text messages and phone calls this week from the AP.
Two of the robbers, dressed as police, forced their way into her suite, bound Kardashian with zip ties and tape and made off with more than $6 million in jewelry, including a diamond ring she’d worn that night to a Givenchy show.
Because of their ages, the robbers became known in France as “les papys braqueurs,” or the grandpa robbers. Six of them were in their 60s and 70s when they were tried for armed robbery, kidnapping, gang association and other charges.
With time already served in pretrial detention, none of those found guilty went back to prison. None of them appealed the verdict.
Kardashian said in a statement issued afterward that she was “deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case.”
“The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family,” the celebrity said. “While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all. I remain committed to advocating for justice and promoting a fair legal system.”
Judge declares mistrial in youth detention center sex abuse case
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in the case of a former youth detention center worker charged with repeatedly raping a teenage boy after his accuser briefly testified about allegations involving other staff.
Jeffrey Buskey, 60, of Litchfield, is charged with 21 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault against David Meehan, who was 14 when he arrived at the Youth Development Center in Manchester in 1995.
Testifying for a second day Tuesday, Meehan said Buskey wasn’t the only staffer who sexually assaulted him. That prompted Buskey’s defense to ask for a mistrial, which Judge Will Delker denied. He instead instructed jurors to disregard that testimony, but when it happened again a few minutes later, Delker said he had no choice but to declare a mistrial.
“Jury trials are very particular in regards to the type of evidence that is admissible. In this instance, the judge found that some of the evidence that came in should not be heard by the jury,” said the prosecutor, Associate Attorney General Thomas Velardi. “When the judge believes such evidence does come in, and there is not an adequate way to instruct the jury to disregard it, the judge believes he must declare a mistrial.”
Velardi said the state will consider its options, including retrying the case. Meehan, Buskey and the defense attorneys left the court without comment. A phone message was left for the attorneys.
In addition to the allegations involving Meehan, Buskey also faces separate charges involving three other former residents of the state-run facility now known as the Sununu Youth Services Center. His arrest along with another former staffer in 2019 thrust one of the nation’s largest youth detention scandals into public view.
Since then, the state has conducted an unprecedented criminal investigation and made nine additional arrests. It also established a settlement fund to compensate victims and began defending itself against more than 1,100 lawsuits alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse spanning six decades.
Meehan’s suit was the first to be filed and the only one to go to trial so far. A jury awarded him $38 million in May 2024, though that verdict remains in dispute as the state seeks to reduce the amount to $475,000. The Associated Press generally does not identify those who say they were victims of sexual assault unless they have come forward publicly, as Meehan has done.
As testimony got underway Monday, prosecutor Audriana Mekula asked Meehan, “What is YDC to you?”
“Hell,” he answered.
Florida
Maduro ally Alex Saab pleads guilty in federal money laundering case
MIAMI (AP) — A close ally of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of money laundering tied to an alleged bribery conspiracy to win lucrative government contracts in the South American country.
As part of the plea deal, Alex Saab agreed to cooperate in continuing federal investigations and forfeit $195 million in criminal proceeds from the corruption scheme.
Saab, 54, was deported in May by Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez to the U.S., which has been targeting the Colombian-born businessman for more than a decade.
The money laundering offense carries a maximum 20-year penalty but prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the recommended range and seek additional reductions should his cooperation, including against four unnamed co-defendants, prove valuable.
Saab was previously charged during the first Trump administration in 2019 and then arrested during a refueling stop in Cape Verde on what the Venezuelan government described as a high-level humanitarian mission to Iran.
Saab, in court Tuesday, told Judge Kathleen Williams that he takes the antidepressant Zoloft and other medicines daily for what he described as “post-traumatic stress disorder” following his 2020 arrest.
President Joe Biden pardoned Saab in 2023 in exchange for the release of several imprisoned Americans in Venezuela. The deal, part of a failed effort by the Biden White House to lure Maduro into holding a free presidential election, was harshly criticized by Republicans and federal law enforcement officials, who immediately began investigating Saab for other alleged crimes not covered by the narrowly tailored pardon.
U.S. officials have long described Saab as Maduro’s “bag man” and could ask him to serve as a character witness against the former president, who is awaiting trial on drug charges in Manhattan after being captured in a raid by the U.S. military in January.
The new U.S. prosecution of Saab and Maduro is taking place as the Trump administration overhauls relations with Venezuela, focusing its attention on tapping into Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. This month, Trump announced a partnership with Venezuelan oil entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt in which the U.S. government will gain a stake and access to at-cost crude shipments from oil fields with a potential to produce 65 billion barrels.
Saab was little known even in Venezuela until after his first arrest, in 2020, when Maduro’s government invested huge resources rallying public support for his release.
Rodríguez, then serving as Maduro’s vice president, helped mount an international campaign in which she referred to Saab as an “innocent Venezuelan diplomat” who had been illegally “kidnapped” by the U.S.
But following Maduro’s capture, Rodríguez distanced herself from Saab, firing him from her Cabinet and stripping him of his role as the main conduit for foreign companies looking to invest in Venezuela.
Saab amassed a fortune through Venezuelan government contracts but became even more valuable to Maduro as U.S. sanctions forced Venezuela to conduct much of its oil sales and foreign trade outside of Western financial institutions.
The new indictment accuses Saab and others of setting up a web of companies to bribe top Venezuelan officials controlling contracts for the so-called CLAP program set up by Maduro to provide staples — rice, corn flour, cooking oil — to poor Venezuelans at a time of rampant hyperinflation and a crumbling currency.
As part of the alleged conspiracy, Saab helped create fake companies, falsify shipping records and skim from government contracts to import food from Colombia and Mexico. The conspirators also accessed billions of dollars in oil sales from state-run oil company PDVSA, according to the criminal complaint.
Mississippi
Man pleads not guilty in the hanging death of Black woman
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man charged with murder in the hanging of a Black woman in Mississippi pleaded not guilty Monday during his first court appearance.
The body of Tasia Fortune, 29, was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned home in the capital, Jackson, on Aug. 3.
On Friday, police arrested 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff, who is also Black, on a murder charge after the state medical examiner deemed her death a homicide.
During the brief hearing Monday in Municipal Court, the judge denied bond for Ratliff, who told the court he’s not guilty. Ratliff’s attorney at the hearing left the courthouse afterward without speaking to reporters.
The case has attracted widespread attention because the nature of Fortune’s death recalled lynchings in the Southern state, which has a tumultuous civil rights history stained by episodes of racial violence.
Police and prosecutors haven’t given a suspected motive for the killing or said whether they think race played any role.
Police Chief RaShall Brackney said Friday that Ratliff, 51, had an “association” with Fortune, but she didn’t elaborate. She also said that additional arrests are expected in the case.
A Kentucky native, Fortune had been living in Jackson for about a decade, according to relatives. Her mother, Christy Spivey, said Fortune had four children but rarely saw two of them.
Spivey wasn’t sure where Fortune was living when she died, but she said her daughter had struggled with homelessness in recent years. She said Fortune had talked recently about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order.
Two other Mississippi hanging deaths over the past year — those of a Black student at Delta State University and a homeless white man in Vicksburg — also drew widespread attention, but both were deemed to be suicides.
France
Paris court awards Kim Kardashian 1 euro after 2016 robbery
SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) — A Paris court on Tuesday awarded 1 euro ($1.15) to Kim Kardashian for having been the victim of an armed robbery in the French capital in 2016, the amount of compensation she had asked for, according to a lawyer involved in the case.
Kardashian has sought to move on since the court last year found eight people guilty for their roles in what the U.S. celebrity described as “the most terrifying experience of my life.”
The court awarded a former receptionist at the Hôtel de Pourtalès 109,516 euros ($126,472), according to his lawyer. Kardashian had been staying at the hotel when the robbery gang targeted her.
The receptionist said he had been traumatized by the Oct. 2, 2016, jewel heist during Fashion Week. He had sought 550,000 euros ($634,868) in damages and interest. His lawyer, Mohand Ouidja, welcomed the decision as a victory.
The lawyer also read the court’s written decisions that related to Kardashian and others to The Associated Press.
The court awarded the hotel 50,000 euros ($57,741). It awarded 1 euro — the amount she had requested — to Simone Bretter, Kardashian’s stylist who was present during the robbery.
French lawyers who acted for Kardashian during the trial didn’t respond to text messages and phone calls this week from the AP.
Two of the robbers, dressed as police, forced their way into her suite, bound Kardashian with zip ties and tape and made off with more than $6 million in jewelry, including a diamond ring she’d worn that night to a Givenchy show.
Because of their ages, the robbers became known in France as “les papys braqueurs,” or the grandpa robbers. Six of them were in their 60s and 70s when they were tried for armed robbery, kidnapping, gang association and other charges.
With time already served in pretrial detention, none of those found guilty went back to prison. None of them appealed the verdict.
Kardashian said in a statement issued afterward that she was “deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case.”
“The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family,” the celebrity said. “While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all. I remain committed to advocating for justice and promoting a fair legal system.”
