Sentencing/Post Conviction

Man gets 46 months for email scam that told lawyer to send client’s $250K to 3rd party

An Ohio man was sentenced this month to 46 months in federal prison for sending a spoofed email that tricked an upstate New York real estate attorney into sending $250,000 from a client’s real estate transaction to a third party. Paul Lacey, 56, was also ordered to pay $337,002.64 in…

Feb 24, 2016 2:10 PM CST

Once-prominent lawyer is disbarred following no-contest plea in assault of paralegal

A prominent lawyer has been disbarred by consent, after pleading no contest in 2014 to a misdemeanor indecent assault charge concerning a paralegal who worked at a law firm he operated. The disbarment of Robert Kerns, 68, retroactive to last February, when he was temporarily suspended, was announced Tuesday by…

Feb 24, 2016 1:00 PM CST

California inmate paroled after court required state to pay for sex-change surgery settles her suit

A former California inmate who won a federal court order requiring the state to pay for gender-reassignment surgery—but was released on parole last year before the surgery was performed—has settled her civil rights suit. Under the pact, the state will pay about $500,000 in legal fees for Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, 52,…

Feb 24, 2016 12:55 PM CST

Man is convicted of 2 crimes, charged in homicide while awaiting trial in 2003 murder-attempt case

There are a number of reasons why 32-year-old John Brock still hasn’t been tried in a 2003 attempted murder that took place in Philadelphia. Among them: Brock was convicted in two other unrelated cases; went on the lam; was involved for years in a landmark speedy-trial appeal; lost one defense…

Feb 24, 2016 11:35 AM CST

Man convicted of first-degree murder in shooting of defendant outside Mississippi courthouse

A former firefighter accused of fatally shooting a drug case defendant outside a Mississippi courthouse last year, in the presence of the victim’s lawyer, has been convicted of first-degree murder. In closing arguments, lawyers for William Wells admitted that he killed Kendrick Armond Brown outside the Madison County Courthouse but…

Feb 23, 2016 5:00 PM CST

Last ‘Angola Three’ inmate is released; his time in solitary may be the longest in US history

The last member of the “Angola Three” was released on Friday after pleading no contest to manslaughter in the 1972 death of a prison guard. Albert Woodfox, who turned 69 on Friday, had spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement, which may be the longest served in solitary in…

Feb 22, 2016 11:11 AM CST

Twice sentenced to death in son’s slaying, mother wins 3rd trial due to prosecutors’ comments

Twice sentenced to death, a Florida mother was granted a new trial Thursday by the state supreme court in the 1990 slaying of her toddler son because of inflammatory remarks made by prosecutors. Ana Maria Cardona, now 54, was also accused of torturing the boy, who weighed just 18 pounds…

Feb 19, 2016 2:00 PM CST

Widow, son and daughter of courthouse shooter get life terms in cyberstalking case

The widow, son and daughter of a man who fatally shot two women at a Delaware courthouse in 2013 have been sentenced to life terms in a first-of-its-kind federal cyberstalking case. Lenore Matusiewicz, David Matusiewicz and Amy Gonzalez were convicted by a Wilmington jury last year of cyberstalking causing death.…

Feb 19, 2016 10:15 AM CST

Gun comment backfires on court attendee, who is both held in contempt and criminally charged

Unhappy over the denial of his motion in a North Carolina child-support court, 51-year-old James Michael Robinette allegedly made a comment that made the situation considerably worse. “I guess I’ll just have to go get my gun,” he said, according to a news release by the Lincoln County sheriff’s department.…

Feb 18, 2016 5:00 PM CST

Prison time for counseling service owner may not bode well for attorney in related case

The former owner of a Las Vegas counseling service that provided phony certificates of completion to individuals required to take court-ordered programs was sentenced Wednesday to two to five years behind bars. The prison term for Steven Brox, 50—who made a tearful apology to no avail and was taken immediately…

Feb 17, 2016 2:55 PM CST

Found delinquent in fatal school shootings, both perps sought or got guns after release at age 21

Two men found delinquent as juveniles in what was then one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history were confined for less than 10 years before being released on their 21st birthdays. Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden are the only two perpetrators of mass school shootings in this country…

Feb 17, 2016 12:05 PM CST

Drunken driver gets enhanced sentence over her live-stream selfie video

A self-admitted drunken driver who made headlines by live-streaming video of herself behind the wheel after bar-hopping in Lakeland, Florida, last year has avoided jail time. But because of her video stream on Periscope Whitney Beall, 24, got an enhanced sentence last week after pleading no contest to driving under…

Feb 17, 2016 10:10 AM CST

Saga of law firm chief’s $1.2B fraud to end with auction of home, yacht, $550K watch and other bling

Not quite six years after Scott Rothstein began serving a 50-year federal prison term under the witness protection program, the saga of the massive Ponzi scheme he operated while at the helm of a prominent South Florida law firm is nearing a conclusion. In April, some $10 million in jewelry…

Feb 16, 2016 3:05 PM CST

Volunteers pose as inmates in new documentary series

Seven people who wanted to get first-hand experience of life in jail agreed to spend 60 days as undercover inmates in a new documentary series for the A&E Network. The show, 60 Days In, was filmed at the Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville, Indiana, report the Associated Press, the Courier-Journal,…

Feb 16, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Sirhan denied parole in 1968 slaying of Robert Kennedy, for 15th time

For the 15th time, the convicted slayer of Robert F. Kennedy was denied parole on Wednesday by California’s Board of Parole Hearings. Pressed to express remorse, Sirhan Sirhan, 71, told the board he didn’t remember shooting Kennedy in 1968, just after the Democratic presidential candidate had delivered a victory speech…

Feb 11, 2016 2:05 PM CST