National Roundup

California Man says Border Patrol agent killed for device SAN DIEGO (AP) -- One of five people charged in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent admitted Tuesday that the motivation behind the ambush killing was to rob the agent's night vision equipment. Emilio Gonzales pleaded guilty to murder of a federal officer in court and faces life in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 17. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Gonzales admitted in his plea agreement that he and two others crossed from Mexico to a remote mountainous area in Campo, east of San Diego, in July 2009 and left footprints in the dirt to lure an agent into a trap. When Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas followed the trio -- Gonzales, Marcos Rodriguez and Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez -- into the brush, they held him at gunpoint. Rosas resisted and was shot during a struggle. The plea agreement said that the group stole Rosas' night vision device, bag, firearm, handcuffs and other items. The same month of the killing, Rodriguez lost a night vision device that he and others used to smuggle illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States. Two others charged in the case -- Jose Juan Chacon and Jose Luis Ramirez -- are accused of staying in Mexico as armed lookouts. Alvarez, who was 16 at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty to murder in San Diego for his role in the killing and was sentenced last year to 40 years in prison. Ramirez has pleaded not guilty. Rodriguez was arrested in Mexico in April and is expected to be extradited. The fifth man, Chacon, remains at large although suspects have told Mexican authorities that he is dead. Virginia Blackwater whis tleblower lawsuit heads to trial ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A whistleblower lawsuit against the security firm once known as Blackwater is heading to trial in Virginia. Jury selection started Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria in a lawsuit brought by former Blackwater employees Brad and Melan Davis. They accuse the company of cheating the government in bills it submitted for protecting government employees in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III has already dismissed several of the lawsuit's claims, including an allegation that Blackwater billed the government for prostitutes. The Davises' lawsuit is one of several legal skirmishes Blackwater has fought following its contract work. Blackwater now operates under the name Xe Services. Rhode Island Customer finds card reader hooked to ATM EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Police in Rhode Island are trying to find out who attached a card reader and a video camera to a bank's automated teller machine. Customer Michael Troy tells WJAR-TV he called police after putting his card into the reader at the Sovereign Bank branch in East Providence Sunday and realizing something was amiss. Police say the illegal card reader had been taped to the machine. Detectives say they also found a camera that was apparently being used to record customers' PIN numbers as they were entered. No arrests have been made. Police say the bank is cooperating in the investigation. Pennsylvania Man gets prison in online teen photo plot EASTON, Pa. (AP) -- A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to at least nine months in prison for what prosecutors say was an elaborate online scheme to obtain risque photos of middle- and high-school girls. Twenty-one-year-old Ian Shulman cried as he was sentenced Monday for charges including criminal solicitation and possession of child pornography stemming from his arrest last year. Prosecutors say Shulman targeted students at Freedom High School and East Hills Middle School in Bethlehem. The victims ranged from 13 to 16 years old. Victims told the court that Shulman assumed their identities online and approached other girls for photos so they could gain admission to a so-called secret sorority. One victim said she had to repeatedly deny that she'd solicited the photos, including to a school counselor. Shulman apologized during his hearing. New Jersey Man sentenced for Internet dom ain name theft ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey man who admitted stealing a valuable Internet address and selling it to a former NBA player has been sentenced to five years in prison. Daniel Goncalves pleaded guilty in December to stealing the P2P.com domain name and selling it on the eBay auction website for $111,000. He was sentenced Friday and was ordered to pay restitution. Goncalves was arrested in 2009 after an investigation by the State Police Cyber Crimes Unit. He admitted illegally accessing an account belonging to the owners of P2P.com and transferring it to his account. He sold the name to former Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Mark Madsen, known for his uncoordinated dancing at Lakers championship celebrations. Madsen wasn't aware the domain name was stolen. Prosecutors say the name was worth up to $200,000. Louisiana Ex-New Orleans politician guilty of racketeering NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A former New Orleans councilwoman connected to a corruption-tainted ex-Louisiana congressman has been convicted of conspiring to loot more than $1 million from charities run with taxpayer money. Federal jurors on Monday convicted 56-year-old Renee Gill Pratt of one count of racketeering and she faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced Oct. 26. It closes a chapter on the years-long prosecutions of allies of William Jefferson, the former longtime congressman from New Orleans and the first black from Louisiana since Reconstruction to sit in Congress. Jefferson was convicted in 2009 on corruption charges over his African business ties. He's free pending appeals. Gill Pratt insisted Monday that she is innocent. She is free until sentencing. Prosecutors say she and Jefferson family members used charity money for themselves. William Jefferson was not charged in the case. Published: Wed, Jul 27, 2011