Guantanamo court hearing for accused 9/11 plotters becomes a 12-hour marathon

“Why is this so hard?” the judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, declared in exasperation afters hours in which the alleged co-conspirators refused to answer his questions and read while the proceeding took place. The hearing for the five defendants was prolonged by the insistence of one that the charges against him be read aloud and by interruptions for prayer. | 05/05/12 22:30:32 By - By Carol Rosenberg

9/11 case finally gets heaaring at Guantanamo; accused plotters take defiant stand before judge

Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators put on a defiant show at their war court arraignment Saturday, refusing to listen to the proceedings through a headset, causing at least an hour-long stalemate. | 05/05/12 10:44:14 By - By Carol Rosenberg

Feds in Florida bust 11 people in pharma theft ring

Two years ago, thieves pulled off a brazen heist of about $80 million worth of prescription drugs from an Eli Lilly warehouse in Connecticut — the largest theft in that state’s history. Turns out, there was a Miami connection — a big one. | 05/04/12 13:02:26 By - Jay Weaver

Jerry Sandusky's attorney Amendola offers glimpse of defense's strategy

Jerry Sandusky’s defense strategy is becoming clearer. His attorney, Joe Amendola, argues that the young men who’ve accused the former Penn State defensive coach of abuse conspired together for financial gain. | 05/04/12 07:29:29 By - Mike Dawson

13 charged in hazing death of FAMU drum major

The shocking and tragic death of a Florida A&M University band member last November, which provoked an outcry in Florida and nationwide over the longstanding practice of campus hazing, culminated Wednesday when prosecutors filed charges — although none for murder — against 13 suspects. | 05/03/12 06:54:42 By - Toluse Olorunnipa

S.C. teacher accused of assaulting student, making Jews and Nazis comments

A Bluffton Middle School teacher is accused of grabbing a seventh-grader by his shirt collar, forcing him under a desk and telling him, "This is what the Nazis do to Jews," according to the Bluffton Police Department. | 05/01/12 07:27:49 By - Allison Stice

Trayvon Martin case sparks investigations into other shootings around U.S.

Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.’s foray into activism started with a Facebook post. Someone placed a petition demanding the arrest of Trayvon Martin’s killer on Chamberlain’s Facebook wall, and that got the New York behavior counselor thinking: What about his own dad’s unprosecuted killing? | 05/01/12 06:48:22 By - Frances Robles

Judge for Guantanamo 9/11 trials also handled Abu Ghraib abuse case

When President George W. Bush proposed razing Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison in 2004, this American Army judge declared it a crime scene and forbade its demolition. When five years later President Barack Obama asked the Guantánamo war court to freeze all proceedings, the same judge refused the brand-new commander-in-chief’s request. | 04/30/12 07:14:52 By - Carol Rosenberg

George Zimmerman's donation website has raised $200,000, attorney says

The defense lawyer for George Zimmerman said Thursday night that his client had received about $200,000 through donations to his website. | 04/27/12 06:59:44 By - Diana Moskovitz

Police: Man arrested in 2010 slaying of teen Phylicia Barnes

A 16-month investigation into the murder of Monroe teen Phylicia Barnes ended Wednesday night when Baltimore police arrested the ex-boyfriend of Barnes' older sister. | 04/26/12 18:04:05 By - Steve Lyttle

Is International Criminal Court the best way to stop war crimes?

The International Criminal Court has completed only one trial since it was created 10 years ago to prosecute the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. That’s raised questions about whether the court, born in the wake of atrocities in Bosnia and Rwanda, is the best way to stop genocide. | 04/25/12 19:28:19 By - By Roy Gutman

Mom: TSA agents at Wichita airport treated daughter, 4, like a terrorist

Michelle Brademeyer says Transportation Security Administration officers at Wichita’s airport treated her 4-year-old daughter like a terrorist. The TSA says its officers followed proper procedures, and the agency denies part of Brademeyer’s version of what happened around noon April 15 at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. | 04/25/12 18:31:45 By - Tim Potter

Texas couple smeared online win lawsuit

First, a woman accused Mark and Rhonda Lesher and one of their employees of raping her. Then, the same woman and her husband, along with two of their employees, instigated an online smear campaign. On Friday, three years after a Collin County jury acquitted the Leshers and their employee of aggravated sexual assault, a Tarrant County jury awarded the couple $13.78 million in a libel judgment. | 04/25/12 17:27:33 By -

Armed Georgia grandmother thwarts robbery attempt

Looking at Lulu Campbell’s bullet-riddled silver Toyota Tundra, common sense says the 57-year-old grandmother should be dead. | 04/24/12 13:04:04 By - Phillip Ramati

Bail denied for Flashdancer owner in Texas accused in murder-for-hire plot

A federal magistrate Friday morning ordered Flashdancer owner Ryan Walker Grant detained until further court proceedings on charges that he tried to arrange the killing of Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck and a Dallas attorney this month. | 04/20/12 13:18:16 By - Patrick M. Walker

Paterno estate: Penn State pays $5.76 million to family

The Joe Paterno estate is receiving $5.76 million in retirement benefits and payments from Penn State, according to information the university released to the CDT Thursday. | 04/20/12 13:14:43 By - Anne Danahy

On stand, George Zimmerman apologizes to Trayvon Martin's parents

George Zimmernman will be eligible for release from jail on $150,000 bail and a host of conditions including electronic monitoring, Seminole County Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester announced Friday. | 04/20/12 11:14:28 By - Audra D.S. Burch

Alaska hunting guide faces federal charges over moose shootings

An Anchorage-based hunting guide accused of illegally shooting moose, leaving them to rot and then using their carcasses as bait for his clients' brown bear hunts is facing new charges in federal court. | 04/20/12 06:46:17 By - Casey Grove

Elizabeth Smart's message to kids: Not all grown-ups are good

On June 5, 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped at knifepoint from her bedroom in Salt Lake City. Over the next nine months she was repeatedly raped by her captor before being rescued. | 04/19/12 12:46:57 By - Amy Coyne Bredeson

Man charged in Alaska abduction, murder of Samantha Koenig

A self-employed Anchorage carpenter police linked to the abduction of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig is now charged in her disappearance and slaying, according to a grand jury indictment. | 04/19/12 12:43:34 By - Casey Grove

Kentucky women convicted under federal hate crime law

Two Eastern Kentucky women have become the first people in the nation convicted under the federal hate-crimes law of helping assault someone because of the victim's sexual orientation. | 04/17/12 07:09:13 By - Bill Estep

Identity theft tax fraud on the rise with no easy fix

Last-minute filers have more to worry about than meeting today’s deadline to file taxes. Many are likely to learn that someone else has beat them to the punch: identity thieves. | 04/17/12 06:55:10 By - Daniel Chang

Feds seized 22 guns from Arlington, Texas, strip club owner

Federal agents seized 22 guns, bulletproof vests and nearly $150,000 in cash from the home of the Arlington strip club owner arrested this week in an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting Mayor Robert Cluck and an attorney who represents the city, according to court documents. | 04/13/12 14:03:27 By - Susan Schrock and Mitch Mitchell

Feds shut down Texas mail order marijuana operation

Federal authorities have shut down a major drug-trafficking operation that mailed large quantities of marijuana from several Arlington post offices to St. Croix, Justice Department officials announced Thursday. | 04/13/12 07:18:58 By - Domingo Ramirez Jr.

Zimmerman arraignment set for May 29

The neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin will remain in jail while awaiting formal arraignment on a charge of second-degree murder, a Seminole County judge ordered during a brief, first-appearance hearing Thursday afternoon. George Zimmerman, 28, appeared at the hearing, handcuffed and dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit, and said little except to indicate he understood his right to remain silent and the proceeding, which was presided over by Judge Mark E. Herr. | 04/12/12 14:09:36 By - Toluse Olorunnipa, Frances Robles and Daniel Chang

Zimmerman could face life in prison for the killing of Trayvon Martin

After 45 days, one lawsuit, dozens of rallies, cries from thousands of protesters, more than 2 million petition signatures and countless media reports, George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin, was criminally charged Wednesday, capping a public outcry unmatched in recent memory. | 04/11/12 14:41:20 By - Toluse Olorunnipa, Erika Bolstad and Frances Robles

Video: Trayvon Martin's parents talk about Zimmerman case in D.C.

Rev. Al Sharpton and Trayvon Martin's parents spoke about the pending case against George Zimmerman at the 14th Annual National Action Network conference in D.C. (Video by Elise Brown, Medill News Service) | 04/11/12 18:16:32 By -

Judge puts gag order on Sandusky case

No more TV interviews for Jerry Sandusky’s attorney, Joe Amendola. No more of the prosecution blasting the defense in front of reporters on the steps of the Centre County Courthouse. The attorneys for the alleged victims are limited in what they can say, too. | 04/11/12 07:27:16 By - Mike Dawson

FBI's Florida investigation of Alaska Rep. Young outlined in document list

The Justice Department revealed descriptions of hundreds of documents Monday night that it had prepared in its investigation of Rep. Don Young and the infamous Coconut Road interchange, including what it said was a "potential witness list and indictment." | 04/11/12 06:46:47 By - Richard Mauer

Zimmerman’s lawyers withdraw from case, lose contact with Trayvon-case shooter

| 04/10/12 17:35:09 By - Frances Robles

China fires Bo Xilai from posts, says wife suspected in Briton's murder

In a stunning twist to one of China's biggest scandals in decades, state media confirmed Tuesday that Bo Xilai, once seen as a rising political star, has been suspended from his seat on the nation's politburo and his wife is a suspect in the killing of a British businessman. | 04/10/12 12:21:15 By - By Tom Lasseter

Macon woman accused of stabbing husband in genitals with screwdriver

A Macon woman was arrested early Easter morning on allegations she stabbed her husband in the genitals with a screwdriver and struck him in the face and head with a wrench, according to Macon police. | 04/09/12 15:22:45 By - Amy Leigh Womack

Prosecutor: No grand jury for Trayvon case

The special prosecutor assigned to investigate the Trayvon Martin case will not be using a grand jury to determine whether to arrest George Zimmerman, her office confirmed Monday morning. | 04/09/12 13:51:02 By - Toluse Olorunnipa

What Trayvon Martin's tweets say about him

Trayvon Martin liked girls, hated high school and was planning for college. He loved rap music and enjoyed cracking jokes on Twitter about street culture. | 04/09/12 06:52:01 By - Deborah Acosta

Alaa Ali case questions whether civilians should be court-martialed

Iraqi-born translator Alaa "Alex" Ali never served in the U.S. military, but the Army still tried him and put him in jail. Now the amendment that made Ali's military prosecution possible, authored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., could be one step closer to Supreme Court review. Whatever happens next will affect myriad U.S. contractors still working in Iraq and Afghanistan. | 04/06/12 18:41:00 By - Michael Doyle

Three Big Oil companies agree to settle ‘hot fuel’ lawsuits

Three of the biggest oil companies in the country have agreed to settle lawsuits accusing them of profiting from “hot fuel” — gasoline and diesel sold without adjusting the volume for temperature. | 04/06/12 13:26:36 By - Steve Everly

Sandusky hearing reveals that grand jury is still investigating

The hearing in the Jerry Sandusky case Thursday that was expected go on for an hour or more, addressing a series of pre-trial motions, was brief and ended without either side presenting arguments. | 04/06/12 07:12:05 By - Mike Dawson

Penn State board, governor dispute ESPN report on Paterno's firing

Penn State trustees and Gov. Tom Corbett are disputing an ESPN report that paints a picture of the governor orchestrating the decision to dismiss Joe Paterno as coach, insisting Corbett did not tell the board what to do. | 04/05/12 07:22:45 By - Anne Danahy and Mike Dawson

George Zimmerman adds another attorney to his team

While protests and rallies continued in Miami and Tallahassee demanding murder charges in the Trayvon Martin case, the teen’s shooter bolstered his legal defense by hiring another veteran attorney to represent him. | 04/05/12 06:59:22 By - Frances Robles and Toluse Olorunnipa

Sandusky case judge to weigh merits of charges Thursday

The judge presiding over the Jerry Sandusky case will hear oral arguments, including the defense’s motion to dismiss all the charges, as part of a hearing scheduled for Thursday morning. | 04/04/12 07:20:34 By - Mike Dawson

Six months later, no new clues in Baby Lisa Irwin case

Lisa Irwin’s bedroom looks about the same as it did six months ago, when the Northland toddler disappeared. Stuffed animals line her empty crib. Photos and other items adorn the walls. | 04/04/12 07:13:22 By - Glenn E. Rice

Mississippi traveling evangelist accused of videotaping women

A Mississippi traveling evangelist who often spoke to Texas youth groups -- including several times at a Southlake church -- is accused of secretly filming women and girls as young as 17 as they undressed in bathrooms, police agencies said. | 04/03/12 07:20:34 By - Darren Barbee

Details, denials continue to surface in Trayvon Martin case

The former prosecutor assigned to the Trayvon Martin case participated in a “suspicious” meeting with police on the night of the disputed shooting, Martin’s family alleged on Monday. | 04/03/12 06:49:37 By - Michael Vasquez

Suspect in Afghanistan killings had history of alcohol incidents

Staff Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, accused in the shooting deaths of 17 Afghan civilians, showed risk factors for alcohol abuse, including acting out violently while drunk, but it's unclear whether the Army knew about this behavior or whether he ever was referred to treatment. | 04/01/12 03:01:00 By - Adam Lynn

Jerry Sandusky trial judge postpones proceedings

Jerry Sandusky’s trial on child abuse charges has been delayed until early June, and it’s looking as though the jury may be sequestered for the duration of the trial. | 03/30/12 07:21:01 By - Mike Dawson

George Zimmerman's brother: 'He prevented his firearm from being taken away from him'

George Zimmerman’s brother spoke out for the first time Thursday night, calling his brother “a neighbor everyone would want to have” and insisting he defended himself after being attacked by Miami-Dade teen Trayvon Martin. | 03/30/12 07:07:06 By - Diana Moskovitz

Affidavit: Kentucky man said he dug grave while co-defendant executed victims

An Eastern Kentucky University student facing kidnapping and murder charges told police he dug a grave while his associate shot one of their victims in the head with a pistol, stabbed him several times and cut his throat. | 03/29/12 13:37:33 By - Greg Kocher

Robert Zimmerman says Trayvon Martin threatened his son George

Trayvon Martin threatened to kill George Zimmerman the moments before the neighborhood watch captain took out a handgun and shot him, Zimmerman’s father told a local television station. | 03/29/12 11:18:17 By - Frances Robles

Man who evaluated alleged Sandusky victim in 1998 was not psychologist

After State College psychologist Alycia Chambers talked to an 11-year-old boy about Jerry Sandusky showering with him in May 1998, she concluded Sandusky was exhibiting signs of grooming the boy for sexual abuse. A couple days later, a counselor, John Seasock, met with the boy and had a different conclusion. The showering episode, Seasock determined, was rather the result of a routine that coaches like Sandusky do after a workout. | 03/29/12 07:21:39 By - Mike Dawson

George Zimmerman shown in police video on night of Trayvon Martin shooting

ABC News has obtained exclusive police surveillance video of George Zimmerman taken the night he shot and killed Miami-Dade teen Trayvon Martin. | 03/29/12 06:55:34 By - Frances Robles

Trayvon Martin case isn't only one to raise questions about 'stand your ground' law

Two young men get into a violent struggle in a case that draws widespread headlines. In the chaos of the confrontation, one pulls a weapon and kills the other. The dead youth was unarmed. The victim was not Trayvon Martin, but Kendall Berry, a Florida International University football player stabbed to death by a fellow student in March 2010 during a physical confrontation. | 03/29/12 06:49:21 By - David Ovalle

TSA officers charged with trashing South Beach hotel room, shooting gun

Miami Beach police say two Transportation Security Administration officers partied a little too hard Tuesday night, trashed their South Beach hotel room and then picked up a semi-automatic handgun and shot six rounds out the window. | 03/28/12 14:59:22 By - David Smiley

Lawsuit accuses South Carolina's Camden Military Academy of brutal hazing

Hazing of a 13-year-old cadet at Camden Military Academy in South Carolina began with verbal assaults and elevated in severity until the boy was raped by a fellow student, according to a federal lawsuit. | 03/28/12 12:52:26 By - Noelle Phillips

Trayvon Martin slaying sparks racial profiling discussions on Capitol Hill

As Trayvon Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, entered a crowded congressional hearing room Tuesday, time stood nearly still. | 03/27/12 19:21:42 By - Erika Bolstad

Drifter pleads guilty to killing elderly N.C. hikers in Carolina forest

A 65-year-old drifter already facing the death penalty and a life sentence for murdering women in Florida and Georgia, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to charges that he robbed, kidnapped and killed an elderly couple in national forests in western North Carolina | 03/27/12 18:37:20 By - Steve Lyttle

Trayvon suspended over marijuana; thousands expected at rally

Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin was suspended from school because he was caught with an empty plastic bag with traces of marijuana in it, the boy’s family attorney has confirmed. Trayvon was killed while serving out the suspension in Sanford Florida, where his father’s girlfriend lives. | 03/26/12 15:29:09 By - Frances Robles

After Trayvon Martin, hoodie goes from fashion statement to socio-political one

The Trayvon Martin case forces a reckoning of what it means to be young and black and male — and to wear a certain garment. | 03/25/12 12:27:15 By - Audra D.S. Burch

Psychologist sounded alarm on Sandusky in 1998

A State College psychologist warned police in 1998 that Jerry Sandusky’s behavior fit the profile of a likely pedophile. | 03/25/12 12:14:25 By - Matt Carroll

Pill mills' effects showing up in neonatal units, doctors say

On any given day, more than one-third of the babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Manatee Memorial Hospital have been exposed to drugs. Their mothers have passed the curse of substance abuse to their newborns. In their cribs, the infants suffer from withdrawal. | 03/25/12 12:00:07 By - Sara Kennedy

Bail lowered for Lewis-McChord soldier accused in hitman plot against ex-wife

An Army officer charged with making serious threats hoped to convince a Pierce County judge Tuesday to reduce his bail enough so he could get out of jail. About all Lt. Col. Robert Underwood accomplished was getting his side of the story out. | 03/22/12 07:27:31 By - Adam Lynn

Robert Bales' 2002 assault charge stemed from casino incident

A police report released today shows that the 2002 assault charge against a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier suspected in the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians occurred at a Tacoma casino while he was intoxicated. | 03/21/12 07:30:25 By - Stacia Glenn

Photo of slain UNC student Eve Carson is on billboard in India

Along the roads of southern India, the billboards are plenty – promoting movies, mobile phones, fine silks, Chinese restaurants and Communist Party politicians seeking re-election. There, along National Highway 49, not far from the mountain town of Munnar, are at least two billboards with an image that would be chilling to most North Carolinians: the smiling visage of Eve Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president who was killed in 2008. | 03/21/12 07:14:10 By - Jane Stancill and Bruce Siceloff

Feds work to check tax fraud, help identity-theft victims

The IRS and federal investigators say they've redoubled their efforts to combat tax fraud from identity theft, a crime they call "epidemic" in Florida that's spreading nationwide. | 03/20/12 17:46:13 By - Erika Bolstad

Florida grand jury to probe Trayvon Martin killing

A grand jury will look into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Florida Seminole County State Attorney Norm Wolfinger said Tuesday. “I share in the desire of the family and the community to accurately collect and evaluate all the facts surrounding the tragic death of Trayvon Martin,” said Wolfinger in a statement released Tuesday morning | 03/20/12 12:23:47 By - Frances Robles

Interpol issues arrest warrant for former Turks and Caicos Premier Misick

Former Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick says he is seeking political asylum from persecution by British investigators who are looking into corruption allegations under his tenure. | 03/20/12 06:59:50 By - Jacqueline Charles

Shooter of Trayvon Martin a habitual caller to cops

When the homeowners association at the Retreat at Twin Lakes wanted to start a neighborhood watch, only one man stepped up: George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old who admitted to shooting an unarmed Miami Gardens teenager and who is now the focal point of a race-related scandal of national proportions. | 03/19/12 13:47:26 By - Frances Robles

Digital billboards are new crime-fighting tool for police in one Georgia area

Wanted posters are going digital in Bibb County, Georgia. Pictures of a woman wanted for questioning in a January burglary will be posted high above motorists’ heads for several days beginning this week. | 03/19/12 13:38:34 By - AMY LEIGH WOMACK

Sandusky's lawyer wants arrest records of accusers

Jerry Sandusky's lawyer wants to see juvenile arrest records and psychological evaluations of his client's accusers. It's the latest attempt by defense attorney Joe Amendola to obtain additional information he said he needs to prepare for trial in the child sexual abuse case. | 03/19/12 07:21:49 By - Matt Carroll

Former Lewis-McChord soldiers weigh in on Bales

Two former Stryker soldiers who've gone on multiple combat deployments and dealt with the trauma that can follow them offer divergent perspectives about whether such experiences could have played a role in Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' alleged massacre of Afghan civilians. | 03/19/12 06:39:54 By - Lewis Kamb

Judge rejects UC Davis pepper-spray report secrecy

The report on the November pepper-spraying of students and protesters at UC Davis likely will be ordered released today, although a potential court appeal may delay public release until at least April 2. | 03/16/12 12:27:01 By - Sam Stanton

Five arrested in Washington state for alleged theft of more than 100 bronze vases from cemetery

Five people have been arrested in connection with the theft of more than 100 bronze graveside vases from Greenacres Memorial Park in Washington, after turning in the vases for money at local metal recyclers. | 03/16/12 12:00:58 By - Zoe Fraley

Afghan massacre suspect had been at Lewis-McChord for 10 years

A Seattle attorney defending the Joint Base Lewis-McChord staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan described his client Thursday as a devoted husband and decorated soldier. | 03/16/12 07:06:08 By - Debbie Cafazzo and Adam Lynn

Lewis-McChord lt. colonel charged with hiring hitman to kill wife, boss

After violence found Army Lt. Col. Robert Underwood as a child, he seemed to gravitate toward it.

A series of warnings in recent weeks might have helped prevent the slayings of his estranged wife, girlfriend and commanding officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and possibly even a terrorist attack on the State Capitol. | 03/14/12 07:04:40 By - Stacia Glenn

Judge denies Sandusky's request for exact dates of alleged sexual assaults

The judge presiding over the Jerry Sandusky case said Tuesday prosecutors can’t pinpoint when the alleged abuses occurred, so there’s no point in making them hand over information they don’t have to the defense. | 03/14/12 06:53:05 By - Mike Dawson

Coast Guard seizes $43 million worth of cocaine off speedboat in Caribbean

The Coast Guard has revealed that it captured a speedboat laden with $43 million worth of cocaine in the Caribbean Sea, to seize 3,532 pounds of the drug along with four suspected drug smugglers. | 03/14/12 06:32:17 By - Carol Rosenberg

Death penalty sought in abuse, killing of California 14-year-old

The Stanislaus County district attorney's office will seek the death penalty for a former Ceres resident charged with the rape, sexual assault and murder of his 14-year-old daughter. | 03/13/12 13:59:55 By - Kevin Valine

Sandusky's lawyer seeks more details from prosecutors

Jerry Sandusky's attorney thinks someone is likely to remember going to a Penn State football game as a child or attending a Second Mile picnic with the former defensive coordinator. | 03/13/12 06:48:26 By - Mike Dawson

Synthetic marijuana still causing heartache in Bradenton, Fla.

When Jan Froelich noticed her 16-year-old son's anxiety and mood swings were getting worse around Christmas, she knew she couldn't attribute them just to adolescence. And when he complained of a rapid heart beat, she got to bottom of the problem: He was smoking synthetic marijuana. | 03/12/12 11:55:23 By - By Carl Mario Nudi

Bigamy charges filed against Washington state man

Here’s a recipe for trouble: A woman you left three years ago but remain married to gets a recommendation from Facebook to “friend” a woman she doesn’t know. Unbeknownst to her, you married the mystery woman after changing your name. Wife No. 1 clicks on the link. The mystery woman’s profile photo shows you and her in nice clothes standing next to a wedding cake. | 03/09/12 15:56:18 By - Adam Lynn

College student pleads not guilty in Facebook threats to Obama

A Miami Dade College student accused of threatening to kill President Barack Obama on Facebook pleaded not guilty Friday morning in federal court. | 03/09/12 15:25:42 By - Monique O. Madan

Florida Grand jury rips jailers for ignoring teen as he died

A West Palm Beach grand jury declared “fundamentally and woefully inadequate” the medical care given to an 18-year-old who died after two head injuries he received at the county juvenile lockup were ignored for hours by guards, supervisors and the facility’s superintendent. | 03/09/12 15:21:40 By - By Carol Marbin Miller

Justice Dept. faults North Carolina courts over interpreters

A federal investigation has found the North Carolina court system is violating the rights of people who speak little or no English by failing to provide sufficient interpreters. | 03/09/12 10:28:31 By - Franco Ordoñez

Bond set for Carolina woman accused in beheading plot

A federal judge set bond today for a woman accused of working with a Triangle man convicted of conspiring to commit terror to arrange murder of three witnesses in his case. | 03/08/12 13:44:45 By - Annie Blythe

All sex abuse charges against Mohler family are dropped

In the end, maybe the story of the Mohler family was just too much. To much to believe or too much to prove. | 03/08/12 13:05:07 By - Donald Bradley and Judy Thomas

Police investigate burning of 13-year-old boy in Kansas City

Kansas City police on Monday said they are continuing to investigate the reported assault of a teenager who suffered gasoline burns last week. | 03/06/12 13:04:08 By - Tony Rizzo

Agency: Psychiatric prescriptions under Texas state investigation

A Texas health agency has begun investigating more than three dozen healthcare providers who prescribed large quantities of powerful psychiatric drugs -- some to children -- after a U.S. senator raised questions about the medications. | 03/06/12 12:48:56 By - Darren Barbee

Sandusky trial prosecutors decline defense's request for evidence

Prosecutors are holding their ground and refusing to turn over evidence that Jerry Sandusky's defense attorney wants to see before heading to trial. | 03/06/12 07:26:49 By - Mike Dawson

John Edwards adds to legal team

John Edwards, the former Democratic U.S. presidential candidate accused of flouting campaign finance laws to hide his mistress and her pregnancy from the public, added new attorneys to the team representing him in his federal criminal case. | 03/06/12 07:22:53 By - Anne Blythe

Woman hid in closet during Modesto triple murder

The sole survivor of Saturday's triple homicide in an east Modesto home had been held hostage and beaten by her boyfriend about a month before the shootings, family members said Sunday. | 03/05/12 13:55:57 By - Erin Tracy

5 U.S. soldiers responsible in Afghan Quran burnings

A Pentagon investigation has found five soldiers responsible for burning copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, which set off a spate of anti-American protests and violence across Afghanistan, two U.S. military officials said Friday. | 03/02/12 18:44:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef

Prosecutors in Sandusky case offer details of alleged sex abuse

Six of Jerry Sandusky's 10 accusers alleged they were abused in the former defensive coordinator's College Township home. | 03/02/12 07:17:57 By - Mike Dawson

Florida child welfare officials pushes to return boy to home he fears

Florida child welfare administrators have described Edward Bailey and Marsee Strong as loving parents who deserve to get their children back after a brief stint in foster care that began when their 9-year-old son was found wandering the streets of North Miami Beach — naked and emaciated. | 03/01/12 16:25:21 By - Carol Marbin Miller

Judge denies Sandusky's request for trial delay

Barring any "extraordinary circumstances," it appears the national media circus will descend upon Bellefonte in May after all. That's because a judge Wednesday denied Jerry Sandusky's request to push back his trial until the summer. Senior Judge John Cleland said there’s still two-and-a-half months for the defense to prepare before being in court. | 03/01/12 07:24:30 By - Mike Dawson

California teacher resigns after leaving wife, kids for student, 18

A 41-year-old Enochs High School teacher in Modesto has resigned and moved in with an 18-year-old student. The reaction has been largely shock, disapproval and betrayal. | 02/29/12 13:34:07 By - Nan Austin

2-year-old falls out of moving car; mother notices after getting home

Samantha Garcia was at a friend’s house to watch the Daytona 500 Sunday afternoon when she stepped outside to find out what was causing a commotion in the front yard of his house in southwest Wichita. That’s when she first saw the 2-year-old boy, crying, frightened and bleeding heavily from his nose and lip. | 02/28/12 13:11:37 By - Stan Finger

Sandusky's lawyer seeks trial delay

Jerry Sandusky's attorney says he needs time to interview witnesses and is asking that the former defense coordinator's trial be pushed back into the summer. | 02/28/12 07:36:20 By - Mike Dawson

From meth addict to Del Norte County DA, Jon Alexander has courted trouble

On his redemptive journey from meth addict to district attorney, Del Norte County, Calif., District Attorney Jon Alexander carried one constant companion: a magnet for trouble. | 02/26/12 09:29:03 By - Charles Piller

Relatives of Texas torturer's missing ex-wife have unanswered questions

Jeffrey Maxwell will head to prison in a few days, and with him could go the story of what happened to his ex-wife, who has been missing since 1992. | 02/24/12 13:14:03 By - Domingo Ramirez Jr.

Texas rodeo cowboy accused of trafficking in rhino horns

A professional rodeo cowboy from Hico who also breaks and trains camels is sitting in a Waco jail awaiting transfer to California, where he faces federal charges of trafficking in rhinoceros horns for the illicit Asian folk-medicine market. | 02/24/12 13:08:00 By - Barry Schlacter

Sen. Pat Roberts' office is latest to get powder-filled letter

The Wichita, Kan., office of Sen. Pat Roberts received one of the threatening letters Thursday containing a "suspicious powdery substance" that showed up in other congressional offices earlier this week. | 02/23/12 18:03:00 By - David Goldstein

Former Columbus police officer says he robbed bank to 'manipulate' the system

Former Columbus police officer Edward Pascucci had been jobless for more than a year and was facing homelessness last summer when he decided to rob a local bank. Making off with stacks of cash, however, was never his intention. | 02/23/12 12:37:18 By - Jim Mustian

Former Frank Zappa bassist imprisoned, again, for child molestation

A founding member of the band Little Feat who also played bass for Frank Zappa will serve 25 years for molesting a child younger than 14 over an extended period, the Tarrant County district attorney's office said. | 02/23/12 12:20:26 By - Mitch Mitchell

8-year-old Washington girl shot at elementary school

An 8-year-old girl was in critical condition Wednesday evening after she was shot in the abdomen at a Bremerton elementary school, and police are calling the shooting an accident. | 02/23/12 07:33:50 By - Stacia Glenn

Florida boys returned to parents are stabbed by dad

William DeJesus’ youngest son called him the “Monster.” He had good reason to fear: DeJesus had been accused of beating, stabbing and raping the boy’s mother, who, in turn once told authorities the couple had repeatedly molested the boy and his older brother. | 02/22/12 12:43:46 By - Carol Marbin Miller

Mexican prison melee said to be cover for gangsters' escape

Prison guards apparently let inmates who belonged to the brutal Los Zetas gang bludgeon to death scores of rivals from the Gulf Cartel during a weekend riot, while other Zetas gangsters fled the prison, Gov. Rodrigo Medina of Nuevo Leon state said Monday. | 02/20/12 18:06:56 By - Tim Johnson

10 years later, DC sniper victim's family keeps memory of her alive

Keenya Cook has been dead for 10 years, but she lives in the minds, hearts and memories of her family. The Tacoma woman was the first victim of the D.C. snipers, a test of mettle for the younger of two men who then headed east to begin a terrifying string of shootings that resulted in 17 deaths. | 02/20/12 07:43:37 By - Stacia Glenn

S.C. bill seeks to keep some crime details from public

A bill introduced in the S.C. House would give police, prosecutors and sheriffs broad freedom to keep secret any and all crimes and arrests from the public, critics say. | 02/16/12 13:16:36 By - John Monk

Truck with explosives found near Kansas Capitol; Gov. Brownback threatened

An early-morning parking complaint led authorities to a pickup truck with homemade explosives across the street from the Kansas Capitol on Wednesday. | 02/16/12 07:09:37 By - Brad Cooper

Grieving mom urges strict pill mill laws in Florida county

A grieving mother in Bradenton, Florida, Tuesday told county commissioners how important it was to shut down bogus pain management clinics that peddle prescription drugs for profit. | 02/15/12 12:18:59 By - Sara Kennedy

Facebook dad - yes, THAT one - is ready to 'move on'

Tommy Jordan, the North Carolinay father who responded to his teen-age daughter's Facebook rant with an eight-minute YouTube rant of his own, says he is preparing to "move on" with his life. | 02/14/12 12:21:15 By - Steve Lyttle

Sandusky's bail terms modified by judge

Jerry Sandusky will be allowed supervised visits with his grandchildren while out on bail, a judge ruled this morning. | 02/14/12 07:23:05 By - Mike Dawson

Drug-fighting effort along northern border a national model

In the northwest corner of Washington state, local and federal law enforcement officials have been working together for several years to crack down on the cross-border narcotics trade, and the Obama administration has modeled a broader drug enforcement strategy on their efforts. | 02/13/12 15:25:00 By - Curtis Tate

Stryker 'kill team' trials left some soldiers' families deeply in debt

At least the waiting is over. That's small consolation for friends and family of 12 Joint Base Lewis-McChord Stryker soldiers who spent much of the past two years ensnared in a sprawling war crimes investigation. | 02/13/12 08:41:42 By - Adam Ashton

Hundreds of human bone fragments found in California well

In a macabre series of discoveries, authorities unearthed 300 human bone fragments Sunday in an abandoned well near Linden, marking the fourth consecutive day they have found possible victims of two serial killers. | 02/13/12 07:03:21 By - Sam Stanton

Westboro Church Tweets cancel of Tacoma trip for Powell service

Westboro Baptist Church may not be coming for the Powell boys' service after all. A Tweet sent from leader Fred Phelps Jr's Twitter account says "Washington trip now cancelled." | 02/10/12 13:55:18 By -

Gold heist leaves California gold town, Yreka, reeling

The last time so much gold was pulled out of this town, the place was known as "the richest square mile on earth," a Gold Rush jewel north of California's Mother Lode. | 02/10/12 13:43:42 By - Peter Hecht

Two Alaska children were left in room open to 30-below-zero cold

When police entered a Barrow, Alaska, apartment last week on a report of a child not breathing, they found a caregiver smelling of alcohol, two "extremely" hypothermic and naked children, and a child's bedroom with the window open to the arctic winter, according to documents filed by prosecutors | 02/09/12 12:02:24 By - Richard Mauer

Sandusky to fight for local jury for sex abuse trial

Jerry Sandusky thinks he can get a fair trial with jurors from Centre County. His attorney, Joe Amendola, even suggests delaying the child sex abuse cases to let the publicity taper off. | 02/09/12 07:31:34 By - Mike Dawson

Sandusky prosecutors seek tougher bail terms

Prosecutors think the only reason Jerry Sandusky should be allowed to step outside his Grandview Road home is to go to the doctor or the hospital. The suggestion to keep him inside his home except to seek medical care was among the strongly worded arguments filed Tuesday by Senior Deputy Attorney General Jonelle Eshbach, who opposes Sandusky's request to change his bail. | 02/08/12 07:27:57 By - Mike Dawson

Josh Powell put some thought into killing his sons

Josh Powell put some thought into killing his sons. In the days leading up to Sunday, he gave away the toys and books he kept for the two boys at his Graham-area house and stopped somewhere to fill two 5-gallon cans with gasoline, authorities said Monday. | 02/07/12 13:35:54 By - Adam Lynn

Narcotics stolen, unaccounted for at Florida Medical Examiner’s Office

Thousands of narcotic pills, including oxycodone and hydrocodone were stolen and unaccounted for at the Broward County Office of the Medical Examiner and Trauma Services, according to a report issued Monday by the Inspector General’s office. | 02/07/12 13:27:07 By - Daniel Chang

Audio statement details torture of 10-year-old Victor Barahona

When he and his twin sister were bound by the wrists and ankles in the bathtub of their West Miami-Dade house, Victor Barahona’s adopted father doused them with ice water or bleach. These are the memories of torture that Victor Barahona relayed to his caretaker in the months following the February 2011 arrest of his adopted parents, Jorge and Carmen Barahona. | 02/07/12 13:22:56 By - David Ovalle

Alleged munition scrappers split check for $3,000

The Coast men accused of stealing anti-tank rounds from a Camp Shelby firing range drove through cut barbed-wire to enter the “extremely dangerous” area, and later split a $3,000 check for the sale of scrap metal to an Alabama recycling company, a federal agent said Monday. | 02/07/12 12:09:33 By - Robin Fitzgerald

Washington father locks sons inside home minutes before flames erupt

The man who gave life to 7-year-old Charlie Powell and his 5-year-old brother, Braden, apparently took it away Sunday in a fiery blast that left behind only charred walls at a Graham-area home in Washington State. | 02/06/12 19:34:55 By - Debbie Cafazzo, Stacia Glenn and Kate McEntee

A classic Florida swindle, with a Russian twist

A Russian couple with expensive tastes hooked hundreds of investors in a classic Florida-swampland-style scheme, then vanished in the night, the feds say. | 02/05/12 10:50:34 By - Michael Sallah and Daniela Sanjurjo

1982 blast in Modesto takes one life, consumes another

Nearly 30 years ago, a small, red toolbox found in a field west of Modesto by kids looking for lizards turned out to be a booby-trapped killing machine when a curious young mother took a hacksaw to its small padlock. | 02/05/12 10:46:21 By -

Prescription for disaster: Methadone, misery and one man’s mission

Methadone killed at least 151 people in Georgia outside of metro Atlanta in 2010. David Currie’s son was one of them. | 02/05/12 10:34:16 By - Liz Fabian

Army probes crime lab workers after critical news reports

Stung by critical stories about their crime laboratory, officials at Army Criminal Investigation Command recently questioned lab employees for hours and scrutinized personal phone records looking for contacts with reporters. | 02/03/12 17:22:00 By - Marisa Taylor

Parents of missing baby Lisa Irwin, police hold meeting

Detectives investigating the disappearance of Lisa Irwin met with the baby’s parents Thursday for the first time since Oct. 8 but said they did not learn anything significant. | 02/03/12 07:04:45 By - Matt Campbell

Republicans rip into Attorney General Holder at Fast and Furious hearing

House Republicans accused Attorney General Eric Holder of hiding information at a hearing Thursday over the botched Operation Fast and Furious gun-trafficking investigation, while Holder dismissed calls for him to resign and said he's not to blame for the scandal. | 02/02/12 18:19:35 By - Sean Cockerham

Illinois woman goes to prison for embezzlement

A 57-year-old Jerseyville woman will spend 63 months in federal prison for stealing more than $4.5 million from the bank where she had been employed since 1976. | 02/01/12 13:29:50 By - Carolyn P. Smith

Prosecutors want out-of-county jury for Sandusky trial

Prosecutors think Centre Countians have heard and read too much about the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case and are too connected to Penn State to be unbiased jurors at the trial of the former Nittany Lion defensive coordinator. | 02/01/12 07:15:15 By - Mike Dawson

Florida judge: Abused boy looks like concentration camp victim

Joseph Lee studied a color snapshot of his 9-year-old nephew Monday as a Miami child-welfare judge glanced at Lee. The judge was looking for signs that Lee was as disturbed by the photo as she was. But Lee simply stared at the picture. | 01/31/12 12:58:35 By - Carol Marbin Miller and David Ovalle

Bradenton kidnapping suspect said he would rape girls

A 20-year-old man arrested for trying to kidnap a 7-year-old girl from Pride Park in Bradenton told her and her friends he was going to sexually assault them, an arrest warrant shows. | 01/31/12 12:14:12 By - Laura C. Morel

Man who tied dumbbell to dog in Manatee River gets jail time

A man who placed a dog in the Manatee River with a 30-pound dumbbell tied around its neck has been sentenced to 40 days in jail. | 01/27/12 13:17:11 By - Richard Dymond

Alaska man directed pit bull to attack girlfriend, police say

Police say an Anchorage man has been charged with assault after commanding his pit bull to attack a woman Wednesday in Midtown. | 01/27/12 06:56:31 By - Casey Grove

Teen once accused of cat killings sues Miami-Dade County for false arrest

Tyler Weinman, the youth once accused of mutilating 19 cats across South Miami-Dade, is suing the county and a prominent animal rights organization for botching the high-profile investigation that led to his arrest. | 01/26/12 12:25:38 By - Davie Ovalle

Feds: Illinois man accused in bizarre murder-for-hire plot planned to use ex-stripper wife as bait

A convict with a conscience helped the feds unravel a murder-for-hire plot that involved a carjacking and electrocution by cat, according to federal court records. It also included the suspect's ex-stripper wife being used as bait. | 01/26/12 11:39:13 By - Carolyn P. Smith

Missouri tops national list for rate of black homicide victims

For the second year in a row, Missouri leads the nation in the rate of black homicide victims, according to a national study. And it is the third time in the last five years that Missouri has topped the annual study by the Violence Policy Center based in Washington, D.C. | 01/26/12 07:10:04 By - Tony Rizzo

Prison time asked in Paso Robles ‘slave labor’ case

A Paso Robles couple who ran a senior care business faces 21 months in federal prison and might be ordered to repay more than $700,000 to former employees the couple were convicted of harboring illegally. | 01/24/12 13:13:52 By - Nick Wilson

Alaska militia defendants facing more federal charges

The three Fairbanks militia defendants were in a federal courtroom in Anchorage on Monday, using attorneys to assert their constitutional rights before a presidentially appointed judge, a far cry from the Denny's restaurant that their leader once declared to be his sovereign citizen courtroom. | 01/24/12 06:41:04 By - Richard Mauer

Feds: Charges in Florida tax-fraud case that will be first of many to come

A Broward County couple was charged Monday with cashing millions of dollars of income-tax refund checks issued by the U.S. government to people under investigation for stealing others’ identities to file alleged fake tax returns. | 01/23/12 18:44:55 By - Jay Weaver

Gun used by Bonnie and Clyde auctioned for $130,000

At $130,000, it was a bit more than what Michael Brown was willing to spend, even if it wasn't his own money. Brown had traveled to Kansas City from Las Vegas on Saturday to bid on the famed .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun that was believed to have been used by the bank robbing duo of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. | 01/23/12 07:11:49 By - Glenn E. Rice

Court: Juror questionnaires in Chandra Levy trial must be released

The year-old trial of Chandra Levy's killer is still revealing secrets, with an appellate court ruling Thursday that reporters can see juror questionnaires kept locked up by the judge. | 01/20/12 15:17:00 By - Michael Doyle

Chandra Levy murder trial releasing jurors' questionnaires

The year-old trial of Chandra Levy's killer is still revealing secrets, with an appellate court ruling that reporters can see juror questionnaires kept locked up by the judge. | 01/20/12 12:12:55 By - Michael Doyle

Police thought Novack murder was sex game gone wrong

From the time he was a teenager, Ben Novack Jr. was obsessed with cops, Batman, sex with amputees, child pornography and sadomasochism, his wife, Narcy Novack, told investigators following Novack’s July 2009 violent slaying. | 01/20/12 07:04:13 By - Julie K. Brown

Washington state mom had inkling kin were out to kill her

Judy Hebert had an idea that her daughter and son-in-law allegedly were trying to kill her. When an 18-gallon bin of books fell on her inside her Pasco garage, she took her own crime scene photographs and measurements and noted the incident on her calendar. The 58-year-old grandmother also started sharing her suspicions with others.

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/19/1792536/pasco-mom-had-inkling-kin-were.html#storylink=cpy | 01/19/12 14:06:57 By - Kristin M. Kraemer

7 accused of Dell insider trading that netted $62 million

Federal authorities announced criminal and civil charges Wednesday against seven investment fund managers and analysts whom they accuse of gaining more than $62 million in illicit earnings through insider information passed to them about Texas-based computer giant Dell Inc. | 01/18/12 18:23:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Electronic Arts claims First Amendment rights to use weapons, aircraft images in video games

A leading producer of high-tech and action video and computer games is asking a federal court to rule that it can use images of modern weapons and aircraft, such as Bell Helicopter's V-22 Osprey, without paying licensing fees to their makers. | 01/17/12 07:36:08 By - Bob Cox

Wages of sin: Priest sex abuse cost K.C. diocese $1 million in just 4 months

The report shows a diocese insurance program incurred $631,553 in costs relating to clergy sexual abuse from July through October. It also paid $427,707 in connection with an independent investigation led by former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves at the request of the diocese. | 01/14/12 10:24:43 By - Judy L. Thomas

What was Haley Barbour thinking when he issued those pardons?

"Marsha and I are evangelical Christians, Presbyterians. Christianity teaches us forgiveness and second chances. I believe in second chances. And I try hard to be forgiving," former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told a news conference Friday in addressing the furor he created with his grant of clemency to 215 convicts, including 17 murders. | 01/13/12 20:58:02 By - Anite Lee

Feds to probe why Ted Stevens witness Bill Allen wasn't tried in teen sex case

The Justice Department has agreed to investigate whether there was misconduct involved in federal prosecutors' decision to stonewall the teen sex crime case against disgraced former Veco Corp. chairman Bill Allen. | 01/13/12 20:51:58 By - Sean Cockerham

Federal judge delays John Edwards trial over heart problem

A federal judge agreed on Friday to delay the trial of John Edwards for at least two months. Edwards has a serious heart condition that affects his ability to travel, his doctor told the judge, but the condition is treatable and the former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate has a good chance of recovery. | 01/13/12 19:49:22 By - Anne Blythe

Where's the legal line drawn in animal-rights activism?

A federal courthouse in Boston and a ranch in California's San Joaquin Valley present competing faces of the animal rights movement. One side is peaceful. The other, decidedly, is not. Both can feel the weight of the law and the sting of being called a terrorist. | 01/13/12 16:50:00 By - Michael Doyle

Alaska wildlife chief charged with hunting violations for 2008 bear hunt

A top official in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game quit his job Thursday after being charged with 12 criminal hunting violations, state officials said. | 01/13/12 06:54:40 By - Kyle Hopkins and Richard Mauer

Among Miss. Gov. Barbour pardons was teacher who had sex with boy

A former East Central High School teacher, Jennifer Joel Wilder, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to sexual battery of a student, is among those former Gov. Haley Barbour pardoned this week. | 01/12/12 22:24:38 By - Margaret Baker

Manning should face court martial over WikiLeaks secrets, officer rules

Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of providing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the WikiLeaks website, should stand trial on all the charges that have been brought against him, the investigating officer who conducted a hearing into the charges has last month concluded. | 01/12/12 14:53:38 By -

Mississippi judge halts release of 21 prisoners Gov. Barbour pardoned

Attorney General Jim Hood says former Gov. Haley Barbour appears to have violated the state Constitution with many of the dozens of pardons he granted convicted criminals in his last days in office. A Hinds County judge on Wednesday night halted the release of 21 prisoners Barbour ordered freed who had not yet been released. | 01/12/12 07:27:46 By - Geoff Pender

Illegal immigrants across U.S. obtained Missouri driver’s licenses

Thousands of illegal immigrants living across the United States used fraudulent paperwork to obtain Missouri driver’s licenses in St. Joseph, federal authorities said Wednesday. | 01/12/12 07:11:10 By - Tony Rizzo

Mississippi's Barbour pardons more than 200 as he leaves office

In his final hours as governor Tuesday, Haley Barbour granted clemency to more than 200 convicted criminals -- murderers, rapists, robbers and even a cattle rustler -- even as victims’ families, lawmakers and the public have expressed outrage over other pardons in recent days. | 01/11/12 15:30:47 By - Geoff Pender

Miami con man: I fleeced family, others of $800,000

Michael Scott Segal —the Miami-based con artist who did prison time for stuffing his still-breathing mistress into the trunk of a car, which he planned to dump in a lake — appears destined for another extended stay behind bars. | 01/11/12 13:52:39 By - Adam H. Beasley and Elinor J. Brecher

Animal rights activists take credit for Fresno farm fires

Animal rights activists are behind the burning of cattle trucks at Harris Farms in western Fresno County early Sunday, according to a statement released by a clearinghouse for activists. | 01/11/12 13:26:49 By - Jim Guy

Former Marine gets 10 years for handgun trafficking in England

A former Marine was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for illegally trafficking dozens of handguns to the United Kingdom. | 01/11/12 07:15:12 By - Kyle Jahner

Detecting metal thefts not always easy

California's Sacramento region is under assault by metal thieves, with copper wiring being stripped from utility poles and air conditioning units, brass plaques being pried from monument walls, and manhole covers and wastewater drains being plucked from city streets. So where is it all going? | 01/10/12 17:52:03 By - Sam Stanton

Lawsuit: Former CompUSA executives stole millions

The Fiorentino brothers were aggressive entrepreneurs who grew a small direct-mail catalog company into what is today CompUSA, a national electronics chain owned by a Fortune 1000 company. Then greed got in the way. | 01/09/12 17:42:57 By - Elaine Walker

Sheriff: Would-be abductor tried to snatch other SC girls

A man being sought in the near abduction of a 9-year-old girl in Lexington County also tried to abduct two other young girls just before trying to grab the 9-year-old, Sheriff James Metts said Sunday. | 01/09/12 17:11:02 By - John Monk

Judge scales back restrictions on news media at Fort Worth capital murder trial

Visiting Judge Elizabeth Berry, who issued a sweeping gag order on news coverage of a capital murder trial on Friday, scaled back restrictions imposed in her courtroom early Monday. | 01/09/12 16:58:01 By - Anna M.Tinsley

Penn State alums fault trustees for missteps in Sandusky scandal

You don’t have to look far to find Penn State alumni calling for change.

Tune into a radio talk show or read the comments on Facebook and message boards. Alumni and other Nittany Lions fans have been dissecting trustees’ decision to terminate legendary football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier since the move was announced Nov. 9. | 01/09/12 07:31:01 By - Anne Danahy

Gun violence unlikely to prompt any changes in federal law

At an early learning center in Eatonville, Wash., on Sunday, mourners will light candles to honor Margaret Anderson, the 34-year-old ranger and mother of two toddlers who was shot and killed on New Year's Day while she tried to set up a roadblock in Mount Rainier National Park. | 01/06/12 15:47:00 By - Rob Hotakainen

Sandusky's lawyer questions McQueary's timeline, credibility

Jerry Sandusky’s attorney is insisting that the shower incident that Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary testified he witnessed in 2002 actually happened in 2001, a discrepancy he said undermines McQueary’s credibility. | 01/06/12 07:29:29 By - Mike Dawson

Settlement reached in Fresno in Steven Vargas wrongful-death case

A settlement has been reached between the city of Fresno and the family of Steven Vargas, the man whose shooting death led to a high-profile federal trial last month. | 01/05/12 16:08:11 By - John Ellis

Elisa Baker, stepmother of Zahra, pleads guilty to drug trafficking charges

Elisa Baker, who pleaded guilty last fall to murdering her stepdaughter, Zahra Baker, pleaded guilty in federal court today of conspiring to distribute painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs. | 01/05/12 12:39:01 By - Gary L. Wright

Border helicopter dropped coffee cups to alert Mount Rainier hikers of shooter

Coffee cups dropped from a Bellingham-based border helicopter helped alert hikers on Mount Rainier that a killer was at large in the national park earlier this week. | 01/05/12 12:29:06 By - Caleb Hutton

Slain Park ranger remembered for her positive outlook

Margaret Anderson wrote in her 1995 high school yearbook that “each season allows for growth and wonderful experiences. Memories remain, each new one being dear.” | 01/04/12 13:33:08 By - C.R. Roberts and Debbie Cafazzo

Pa. county fears Sandusky trial could strain courts

If and when Jerry Sandusky stands trial on charges of sexual abuse against boys, local and county officials need to come up with a plan for managing the case that’s attracting international attention. | 01/04/12 07:27:33 By - Anne Danahy

Soldier killed in Washington state accident used 'bath salts'

An Tacoma Washington Army medic who killed himself and his wife on Interstate 5 in April enjoyed “the manic feeling” of his bipolar disorder and occasionally skipped his medication, according to Army and police investigations obtained by McClatchy Newspapers. | 01/03/12 13:58:28 By - Adam Ashton

KC man allegedly had handgun in carry-on luggage

Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a man with carrying a loaded handgun in his carry-on luggage as he attempted to board a Wednesday morning flight at Kansas City International Airport. | 12/30/11 15:06:01 By - Tony Rizzo

Were Army crime lab problems withheld from some defendants?

Did the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory properly notify hundreds of defendants about potential problems that involved a different lab analyst? Some attorneys fear that the answer is no; what happened with Army Staff Sgt. Kirk Holcombe, they worry, may be a recurring problem. | 12/29/11 17:59:00 By - Michael Doyle and Marisa Taylor

Florida mother accused of selling baby will get to see her children

A Miami-area mother who faces charges of trying to sell her baby was told Tuesday she could visit him and her two other children. Kenia Quiala Bosque will be permitted two-hour visits three times a week, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman ruled. | 12/28/11 07:22:42 By - Melissa Sanchez

Alaska river guide Karen Jettmar indicted in mammoth tusk smuggling case

A longtime Alaska river guide faces charges that she helped a client smuggle a 10,000-year-old, federally protected mammoth tusk out of the state in 2007, according to a Dec. 16 indictment. | 12/23/11 06:52:06 By - Casey Grove

California courts redefining meaning of parent

Even as the definition of family in America expands and shifts, California courts are trying to keep pace by redefining whom the law regards as parents. Judges have moved beyond traditional notions of biology and adoption and have assigned parental rights to adults with no genetic or legal ties to kids. | 12/21/11 07:00:12 By - Hudson Sangree

Four say Philadelphia columnist Conlin sexually abused them as children

Three women and a man say they were molested as children by Bill Conlin, a Hall of Fame baseball writer and Philadelphia Daily News columnist. | 12/20/11 20:39:28 By - Nancy Phillips

'Toxic tush' suspects plead not guilty in Florida court

Two people accused of injecting a toxic mixture of “Fix-a-Flat” and Superglue to enhance women’s tushes were arraigned Monday on charges of practicing medicine without a license. | 12/20/11 07:03:34 By - Julie K. Brown

Penn State's McQueary: I told PSU officials about sexual activity between Sandusky, boy

An assistant Penn State football coach testified this morning that he told former Coach Joe Paterno and two university administrators that he saw Jerry Sandusky engage in a sexual act with a young boy on the Penn State campus in 2002. | 12/16/11 11:07:29 By -

Sandusky attorney says shower comment taken out of context

An attorney who recently joined Jerry Sandusky’s legal defense team speculated in an interview with a Harrisburg-area television station that Sandusky might have showered with boys to teach them personal hygiene, and several hours later issued a news release clarifying his statement. | 12/16/11 07:32:53 By -

Did Penn State violate civil rights laws? Groups urge inquiry

As the U.S. Department of Education investigates whether Penn State University might have broken federal law in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, legal experts say the university also might have violated civil rights laws designed to protect students and others from sex discrimination. | 12/15/11 17:43:00 By - Curtis Tate

Penn State administrators Curley, Schultz set for preliminary hearing

A national audience eager to hear in Mike McQueary’s own words what he saw in a Penn State locker room shower in 2002 didn’t get that opportunity when Jerry Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday. But that testimony may come Friday during a preliminary hearing for Penn State administrators Tim Curley and Gary Schultz in Harrisburg. | 12/15/11 07:36:12 By - Mike Dawson

Drugs, alcohol fuel child abuse in Kentucky

When a little boy reportedly fell off the deck of a house in Lincoln County in July 2009 and hit his head, his mother and her boyfriend were drunk, according to a report by a state child-protection worker. | 12/14/11 13:12:34 By - Bill Estep, Beth Musgrave and Valerie Honeycutt Spears

Sandusky's lawyer Amendola defends his strategy

Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer said he plans to chip away at the motives and character of the alleged victims and prosecution witnesses including Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant in 2002 who told a grand jury he saw Sandusky sexually assault a child. | 12/14/11 07:28:47 By - Anne Danahy

Congress weighs in on child sexual abuse, promises tougher laws

He never thought anyone would believe him, said Sheldon Kennedy, a former NHL player and child sexual abuse victim. | 12/13/11 16:45:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Congress tries again to get military sexual assault laws right

Congress is quietly giving itself a do-over on the military sexual assault law it botched the last time around. The changes included in a massive defense bill attempt to correct Congress' own mistakes, which baffled military judges called "arguably absurd," "almost incomprehensible" and ultimately "unconstitutional." | 12/13/11 15:38:00 By - Michael Doyle and Marisa Taylor

Cartel bust detailed in Merced, Calif.

Details about a major Central Valley law enforcement operation targeting La Familia Michoacana were unveiled Monday during a news conference at the Merced County district attorney's office. Meanwhile, Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II said potential state cuts could affect the ability of local agents to conduct similar operations in the future. | 12/13/11 12:33:54 By - Yesenia Amaro

Emaciated baby found by Texas teens who call for help

Caleb Fuller, 15, and his cousin Magon Rutledge, 17, knew they could get in trouble Friday evening for attending a party at a Hood County residence near Granbury. That was because there were older people, and alcohol, at the gathering. But the teens didn't hesitate to call Fuller's father, a paramedic for 20 years, for help when they saw an emaciated baby wearing socks that were so dirty they appeared to be petrified. | 12/13/11 12:10:55 By - Domingo Ramirez Jr.

Sandusky waives hearing, attorney vows 'fight to death'

Two hours after Jerry Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Centre County Court, his attorney vowed there would be no plea bargain, saying "This is a fight to the death." | 12/13/11 09:05:59 By - Chris Rosenblum and Ed Mahon

S.C. lawyer representing Sandusky case's Victim No. 6

When court opens this morning in one of America’s most closely watched criminal proceedings — the preliminary hearing on sex-abuse charges for former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky — Columbia attorney Ken Suggs will be there representing Victim No. 6. | 12/13/11 07:26:08 By - John Monk

Sandusky hearing draws media throng to tiny Bellefonte

A dozen satellite vans lined Allegheny and High streets Monday evening outside the Centre County Courthouse, and police officers were guiding more to spots. Residents walked downtown to see the spectacle, snapping pictures with their phones. And nearby business owners hung up signs, promoting one-day specials. | 12/13/11 06:52:22 By - Ed Mahon

Belleville man faces prison after investors lose millions

Edward Moskop, 63, owner of Moskop & Associates in Belleville, pleaded guilty to federal charges of mail fraud and money laundering connected to the theft of Cookson's money and 17 other investors, who lost a collective $2.4 million | 12/12/11 14:12:38 By - Beth Hundsdorfer

Sandusky case: What's at stake in Tuesday's hearing

A preliminary hearing in Centre County, Pa., Tuesday will be the first chance for the prosecution and defense in the Penn State child sex abuse case to present evidence and question witnesses. Here's a rundown of who the major players are and what's at stake. | 12/12/11 11:43:01 By -

Sandusky, Penn State police chief who closed '98 sex abuse inquiry were once neighbors

The head of Penn State University's police department who oversaw a 1998 investigation of possible sexual abuse by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky once lived three houses down from the defensive coordinator, property records show. | 12/12/11 06:29:42 By - Franco Ordonez and Mike Dawson

Jerry Sandusky's wife releases statement supporting husband

Dorothy Sandusky, wife of Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State football assistant coach who is accused of sexually abusing 10 boys, issued the following statement today: "I want to thank our children, our family, our extended family of former Second Mile participants, and all our friends for standing by us through these difficult times. Jerry and I want to express our sorrow for all the hurt that has come to those who have supported us and our beloved Penn State and State College Communities. | 12/09/11 07:31:11 By -

Jerry Sandusky is under house arrest after posting bail

Former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was released Thursday after 20 hours in Centre County’s jail and escorted home where he was to be equipped with an electronic monitoring device. | 12/09/11 07:28:32 By - Mike Dawson

Baptist priest in California convicted of molesting five girls

The trial came down to the word of a Baptist preacher who castigated as liars the troubled little girls who called him a child molester. | 12/09/11 07:11:35 By - Andy Furillo

Sacramento area officials fight copper wire theft

If your house has been broken into or your car stolen, good luck getting an immediate response from the cash-strapped Sacramento police. But soon, a report of copper wire theft could bring a cop out right away. | 12/08/11 13:35:51 By - Ryan Lillis

The Second Mile charity lays off employees

The charity at the center of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal informed some of its employees Wednesday that they will be laid off. | 12/08/11 07:32:31 By - Ed Mahon

Former altar boy shares abuse stories with dead youth's family

Don and Rosemary Teeman were waiting in the parking lot when Jon David Couzens drove up. Couzens sat in his van, trying to summon the strength to open the door. The Teemans’ son had committed suicide 28 years earlier. The night before last, Couzens had told them that their son was sexually abused by a priest before taking his life. | 12/08/11 07:23:34 By - Judy L. Thomas

Miami police arrest caretakers for false credentials

From a simple gated apartment in Little Havana, Maria Del Consuelo Fernandez advertised an elaborate school for health workers across the county to get trained in the intricacies of CPR, infection control and even consoling the mentally ill. But all along, the 56-year-old woman was running a diploma mill — with no training — taking wads of cash over the fence and giving her customers fake certificate, prosecutors say. | 12/08/11 07:00:13 By - Michael Sallah

BP's 2009 Alaska oil spill case goes to judge

The question of whether the circumstances surrounding a 2009 BP oil spill on Alaska's North Slope amount to another environmental crime by the corporation -- justifying new penalties -- now is before U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline. | 12/08/11 06:42:14 By - Lisa Demer

Testimony of Sandusky's alleged victim's from the latest grand jury report

What started with outings to football games and gifts turned into overnight visits, touching and finally sexual assaults, according to the testimony of a young man that’s recounted in the latest report from the Grand Jury investigating Jerry Sandusky. | 12/07/11 19:41:51 By - Anne Danahy

Sandusky arrested, jailed; bail set at $250,000

Jerry Sandusky, charged last month with sexual abuse of eight boys over 15 years, was arrested at his College Township home Wednesday and jailed on new charges he sexually abused two other boys. | 12/07/11 13:46:52 By - Mike Dawson

Ill. mom throws out their beer, so kids beat her up, police say

A brother and sister are in the St. Clair County Jail in Illinois charged with beating up their mother over beer. | 12/07/11 12:05:34 By - Jennifer A. Bowen

Two alleged Sandusky victims say they'll testify

Attorneys for two of the alleged victims in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case have said their clients will testify at Tuesday’s preliminary hearing in Bellefonte, and an attorney has told the Associated Press that all six victims identified by a grand jury will take the stand. | 12/07/11 07:29:24 By - Mike Dawson

Alaska child therapist gets 22 years for child porn

An Anchorage therapist who worked with children of Alaska military personnel was sentenced Monday to 22 years in prison for producing and receiving child pornography, according to Anchorage police and the U.S. Attorney's Office. | 12/07/11 06:50:57 By - Casey Grove

Another man alleges Sandusky sexually abused him in 2004

A Harrisburg attorney said Tuesday he’s representing a man who’s alleging Jerry Sandusky sexually abused him in 2004 during a Second Mile program on Penn State’s campus. | 12/06/11 13:52:49 By -

BP worker found 'cold' pipe weeks before North Slope spill

The BP lead operator who found signs of a frozen pipeline on Alaska's North Slope back in November 2009 testified in federal court Monday that he stumbled on the problem accidentally when he was checking other equipment with a hand-held laser device no bigger than a calculator. | 12/06/11 06:56:11 By - Lisa Demer

Sex abuse memory haunts Kansas City man for decades

The four boys left first-hour class early and headed over to church. For the next hour they would be serving morning Mass at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Independence — an honorable assignment that filled their parents with pride. The boys wanted everything to be just right. | 12/05/11 16:40:16 By - Judy L. Thomas

When a thief steals your ID, and IRS refund

Without a hitch, Miami natives Ed and Kelley Brill had filed their joint income-tax returns from the same home address for 14 years. But this year, after obtaining an extension, the Miami Shores couple were shocked to learn that the Internal Revenue Service had rejected their electronically filed return. It turned out that a thief had stolen Kelley’s identity, Social Security number and employer’s name, then filed a falsified refund claim — beating the Brills to the punch | 12/05/11 14:14:10 By - Jay Weaver

Jerry Sandusky's attorney says interview was chance to meet client

Jerry Sandusky’s attorney said Saturday his client’s interview with The New York Times was a way to offer Sandusky’s side to “as many people as possible” and familiarize the public with his client’s inarticulate manner of speaking. | 12/05/11 07:43:52 By - Mike Dawson

Penn State trustees committee re-affirms firing of Paterno, Spanier

Penn State trustees’ executive committee, reaffirming decisions the board made three weeks ago, voted this morning to terminate Joe Paterno as head football coach and Graham Spanier as university president. | 12/02/11 13:14:21 By - Anne Danahy

BP employee's critical email over plant maintenance debated at oil spill trial

Two months after one of the biggest oil spills ever on Alaska's North Slope, a BP operator sent an email to managers with a long list of mechanical, management and staffing issues at the production center for the Lisburne oil field, home to the pipeline that ruptured. | 12/02/11 06:52:36 By - Lisa Demer

Penn State students grill administration on Sandusky case

Top Penn State administrators fielded students’ questions on the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal Wednesday night, saying the outlook for the university is strong even as it struggles with how to handle the charges and their aftermath. | 12/01/11 07:38:24 By - Anne Danahy

Lisa Irwin's parents ask for vigils outside home to end

The family of a missing Northland infant has asked that vigils discontinue in front of their home on North Lister Avenue. People praying there for Lisa Irwin were told Tuesday that they no longer were welcome to gather in front the residence. John Picerno, an attorney for Lisa’s parents, Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, said the family will continue private vigils. | 12/01/11 07:19:32 By - Glenn E. Rice

Aerojet, GenCorp pay $3.3M to government to settle fraud case

Rancho Cordova-based rocket-maker Aerojet and parent GenCorp Inc. have paid $3.3 million to the federal government to settle an investigation into corporate costs. Benjamin Wagner, the U.S. attorney based in Sacramento, said the payment settled allegations that Aerojet fraudulently included unallowable costs in calculating overhead rates, resulting in overpayments under government contracts. | 12/01/11 06:50:39 By - Mark Glover

Feds want two experts dropped from John Edwards trial

Federal prosecutors in the John Edwards case are trying to prevent two former Federal Elections Commission chairmen from testifying as expert witnesses in the criminal case against the former presidential candidate. | 11/30/11 07:16:31 By - Anne Blythe

Feds to pay $2.5 million in '01 anthrax attacks, admit no blame

While denying negligence by one of its premier bio-weapons labs, the government has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a wrongful death suit filed by survivors of the first fatality victim of the 2001 anthrax mail attacks, court papers revealed Tuesday. | 11/29/11 18:54:00 By - Greg Gordon, Stephen Engelberg and Mike Wiser

Alaska Sen. Murkowski calls for probe of why feds won't prosecute Bill Allen

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is asking for an investigation into why the federal Justice Department abandoned the teen sex crimes case against former Veco Corp. Chairman Bill Allen and blocked the state's effort to prosecute Allen. | 11/29/11 06:40:20 By - Sean Cockerham

Alaska militia leader says group's rights were trampled

A judge Monday rejected an attempt to derail a federal weapons case against three leaders of a right-wing Fairbanks militia over claims that the government trampled on their rights. The men are accused of trying to secure weapons to overthrow the government in a case that remains set for what's expected to be a month-long trial in February. | 11/29/11 06:37:14 By - Lisa Demer

Bureaucracy has blossomed in military's war on rape

Under the political gun, the Pentagon has bulked up its anti-rape campaign far more than many people realize. It's expensive, aggressive and imperfect. Contrary to public and political impression, an extensive McClatchy review of military sexual assault finds plenty of Pentagon and congressional action. Some works. Some falls short. Some goes too far, in a legal arena that's notorious for its complications. | 11/28/11 15:04:00 By - Michael Doyle and Marisa Taylor

Military's newly aggressive rape prosecution has pitfalls

By the time Marine Staff Sgt. Jamie Walton went to trial on rape charges, his accuser had changed her story several times. A military lawyer who evaluated the case told Walton's commander they didn't have enough evidence to go to trial on sexual assault charges. The prosecutor even agreed. But the Marines ignored the advice. | 11/28/11 14:58:00 By - Marisa Taylor and Chris Adams

Mix of booze and sex can spell trouble for military

It's often the toxic ingredient of a military rape allegation: binge drinking. Many times, the woman knows the man and was drinking alcohol with him. Lots of it. As a result, she says she doesn't remember the entire encounter because she was drunk. Determining what happened can be a challenge for the most experienced lawyer, let alone a jury. | 11/28/11 15:08:00 By - Marisa Taylor

Three associates of N.C Gov. Perdue indicted

A Wake County North Carolina grand jury today handed down indictments alleging that a top aide to Gov. Bev Perdue's 2008 campaign schemed to pay a staffer $32,000 for work that was kept off the books in violation of state election laws. | 11/28/11 14:11:55 By - Dan Kane

Dozens march in support of 'Victim 1' in Sandusky case

To Carolyn Toner, the Clinton County, Pa., boy whose mother reported to authorities in 2009 that her son was molested by Jerry Sandusky shouldn’t be called "Victim One." Instead, to her, the boy is "Hero One." | 11/28/11 07:30:04 By - Mike Dawson

Activist wants Justice Dept. to handle Jerry Sandusky case

Citizen activist Gene Stilp has joined a growing chorus urging the U.S. Justice Department to take over the state’s investigation into child sex abuse allegations against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and charges of a cover-up by university officials. | 11/25/11 14:08:36 By -

Mexico political parties duel over drug cartel influence

A scandal deepened Wednesday over drug traffickers' political influence as a losing party in a recent state election accused the party it lost to of ties to gangsters. | 11/23/11 17:42:00 By - Tim Johnson

Names of alleged Sandusky victims won't be released to public

The identity of one alleged victim in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case cannot be made public by the courts, Sandusky or his lawyer, an out-of-county judge ordered Tuesday after the victim’s attorneys said their client fears being publicly named. | 11/23/11 07:26:16 By - Mike Dawson

For lucky Louisianans, Mexico casino was a jackpot

Leandrus J. Young says he has no regrets about partnering with the "casino czar" of Mexico. He made money, a lot of money. While others say they were swindled by Juan Jose "Pepe" Rojas-Cardona, Young only sings praises. He is one of a group of Louisiana investors who did well taking bets on the nascent Mexico casino industry. | 11/22/11 16:54:00 By - Tim Johnson

U.S. officials no help, says Indian tribe that lost in Mexico swindle

In hindsight, the investment in a Mexico casino scam by the disadvantaged Lac Vieux Desert Band was unwise. But what's more surprising, tribal members say, is the lack of interest among elected officials into what they say amounts to a racketeering scam in which U.S. Indian tribes were specifically targeted by foreigners using a Louisiana lawyer and intermediaries. | 11/22/11 16:54:00 By - Tim Johnson

For U.S. investors, reclaiming money is tough

It seemed like a chance of a lifetime. William Andrew Graven had in his hands an offer to stake a claim on Mexico's future in gambling just as casinos were opening their doors. Only thing was, it was a scam. The Mexican operator offering the venture emptied Graven's wallet of some $3 million, then said goodbye. When Graven traveled to Monterrey to press his case, a posse of armed men surrounded his vehicle and ordered him to leave. | 11/22/11 16:54:00 By - Tim Johnson

Corruption in Mexico casinos takes a toll in the U.S., too

When a Mexico casino czar named Juan Jose Rojas-Cardona sent an offer to the Chippewa Indian tribe known as the Lac Vieux Desert Band to invest in Mexico's booming gambling industry, it seemed like a godsend. But the disadvantaged tribe's multimillion-dollar "investment" disappeared, adding to a list of victims that includes a mammoth hedge fund in London, an Australian manufacturer of gaming machines, an Arizona investor and two Mexican textile tycoons. | 11/22/11 16:54:00 By - Tim Johnson

Report backs claims of bad behavior by Merced County tax collector

Graphic sex talk, nepotism and retaliation against employees are all detailed in an investigative report on one of Merced County's leaders -- who's been at the helm of a seemingly dysfunctional department for several years. | 11/22/11 13:39:25 By - Mike North

Prosecutors in Ted Stevens case won't face criminal charges

A 2 1/2 year investigation into the bungled prosecution of then-U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens found widespread and sometimes intentional misconduct by Justice Department attorneys in that and other Alaska corruption cases. But the special prosecutor who led the review isn't recommending they face any criminal charges. | 11/22/11 06:39:33 By - Lisa Demer

Ex-FBI director Louis Freeh named special counsel for Penn State investigation

The Penn State Board of Trustees is hiring former FBI director and federal judge Louis Freeh to lead the investigation of how the university handled allegations that former football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulted at least eight boys over a period of 15 years. | 11/21/11 13:48:08 By - Anne Danahy

Inquiry finds 'significant' misconduct in Ted Stevens case

Federal prosecutors pursuing the late Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens engaged in "significant, widespread and, at times, intentional" misconduct but should not face criminal contempt charges, a special court investigator has concluded. | 11/21/11 13:07:01 By - Michael Doyle

Ties between Penn State, The Second Mile run deep

The Second Mile and Penn State have been embroiled in a national scandal the past two weeks, since former Penn State coach and The Second Mile founder Jerry Sandusky was accused of sexually abusing eight children over 15 years. From the moment that Sandusky founded the charity in 1977, it was inextricably intertwined with Penn State football, a connection that fueled its growth into a nonprofit with about $9.5 million in assets and that served thousands of children across the state. | 11/21/11 07:30:50 By - Ed Mahon

Sandusky scandal's pain extends deep into 'Penn State country'

While most of the media attention in the Penn State child sex abuse scandal has focused on the state's flagship public university, the impact can be felt in the rural communities 40 miles north of State College, where some of the alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky still live. | 11/21/11 00:01:10 By - Curtis Tate

Penn State's Sandusky took out mortgage just as sex-abuse inquiry began

Jerry Sandusky took out a $25,000 mortgage on his home last fall as investigators continued their far-reaching child sex abuse inquiry against the former Penn State University assistant football coach. | 11/18/11 18:47:00 By - Franco Ordonez

Penn State ignored abuse allegations, Ariz. man claims

A Phoenix, Ariz., man is alleging that he tried, without success, in 2001 and 2002 to reach someone at Penn State who would act on his claims he had been sexually abused as a child by a Penn State professor. | 11/18/11 07:18:52 By - Cliff White

Judge who arraigned Sandusky got donation from Second Mile chairman in 2007

Robert Poole, chairman of the state board of directors for The Second Mile, contributed about $2,400 to the campaign of Magisterial District Judge Leslie Dutchcot in 2007, according to Dutchcot’s campaign finance reports. | 11/18/11 07:09:28 By -

Sandusky told Bob Costas he feels 'unfairly judged by the public'

Joe Paterno never spoke to Jerry Sandusky directly about his behavior, according to a full transcript of Bob Costas' interview with Jerry Sandusky acquired by the Centre Daily Times. | 11/17/11 07:29:37 By - Cliff White

Justice Dept. investigating Miami police in deaths of seven black men

The U.S. Justice Department will investigate whether Miami police violated the constitutional rights of seven black men who were shot to death by officers over an eight-month span, raising tensions in the inner city and sparking demands for an independent review. | 11/17/11 07:03:27 By - Charles Rabin and Jay Weaver

New senior judge in Sandusky hearing from out of Pa. county

A senior district judge from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, will hold the scheduled Dec. 7 preliminary hearing for Jerry Sandusky, who faces sex abuse charges involving children. | 11/17/11 06:10:15 By -

Holocaust survivors argue for quest to sue European companies

Few survived to tell the heart-rending survival story that Leo Bretholz chronicled in his book, "Leap Into Darkness," an account of his daring escape in 1942 from a French train bound for the Auschwitz concentration camp. Bretholz and two fellow Holocaust survivors on Wednesday appealed to Congress for the ability to sue European companies such as Allianz AG, a German insurance giant, in state courts for unpaid life insurance policies sold before World War II. | 11/16/11 18:52:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Penn State sex crime cases are familiar territory for Sandusky's lawyer

State College attorney Joseph Amendola has a reputation as a skilled attorney who has handled a number of high-profile cases, including several that drew national attention because of the defendants’ ties to Penn State and its football program. | 11/16/11 07:33:06 By - Cliff White

Sandusky's NBC interview possible confession to sex crime under Pa. law

Under Pennsylvania's child protection laws, what Sandusky admitted to in an interview with NBC's Bob Costas could fit the definition of indecent exposure. If children under 16 were involved, it could be a first-degree misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. | 11/15/11 17:36:00 By - Curtis Tate

Anti-coal protesters arrested outside Bank of America in Charlotte

Amid chants of "Bank of America, bank of coal," eight protesters were arrested Tuesday morning outside the Charlotte bank's corporate headquarters. The protesters were affiliated with the local chapter of the Rainforest Action Network and demanded an end to the bank's | 11/15/11 15:01:16 By - Andrew Dunn

Sandusky's bail, Second Mile link raise conflict of interest questions about judge

Criticism over Jerry Sandusky’s release on $100,000 unsecured bail and an online resume for the judge who set that bail has raised questions of whether she had a conflict of interest. | 11/15/11 07:07:59 By - Jessica VanderKolk