National Roundup

Connecticut
Man sentenced to 120 days in jail after pet fish cut in half
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man has been sentenced to 120 days in jail after police say he cut a pet fish in half during a domestic dispute.

The Bristol Press reports 33-year-old Juan Vega pleaded guilty Tuesday to breach of peace. As part of the plea deal, a charge of cruelty to animals was dropped.

Authorities say police responded to a call of a domestic disturbance at a Bristol home April 27. Police say Vega argued with a woman and damaged property at the residence. The woman’s 9-year-old son told officers the family’s pet betta fish was killed.

The prosecutor says the fish killing “really did traumatize” the child.

California
Man accused of smuggling king cobras in cans
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man was arrested on federal smuggling charges Tuesday after customs officers intercepted a shipment with three live king cobras hidden inside potato chip canisters that were being mailed to his California home, U.S. prosecutors said.

Rodrigo Franco, 34, was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles on a charge of illegally importing merchandise. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.

The three king cobra snakes — each about two feet (just over half a meter) long — were found in March when Customs and Border Protection officers inspected a package that was mailed from Hong Kong, prosecutors said. There were also three albino Chinese soft-shelled turtles in the package, authorities said.

Federal agents removed the cobras but delivered the turtles to Franco’s home in Monterey Park.

The agents later served a search warrant there and found tanks with a live baby Morelet’s crocodile, alligator snapping turtles, a common snapping turtle, and five diamond back terrapins. Prosecutors say all of the reptiles are protected under U.S. law.

Franco admitted to an agent from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that he had previously received 20 king cobras in two other shipments, but he said they all died in transit, according to court documents.
Federal agents also searched Franco’s phone and found that he exchanged messages with an individual in Asia about shipping turtles and snakes between Hong Kong and the U.S., prosecutors said.
Franco said in those messages that he had previously received live cobras and planned to give five of the snakes to a relative of the contact in Virginia, court papers said.

If convicted, Franco faces up to 20 years in prison.


Ohio
State’s high court strikes down traffic camera restrictions
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has again upheld cities’ use of traffic camera enforcement, striking down as unconstitutional legislative restrictions that included requiring a police officer to be present.

The justices voted 5-2 in a ruling Wednesday.

The city of Dayton had challenged a state law that took effect in 2015, saying it improperly limited local control and undercut camera enforcement that has made cities safer. Dayton and other cities said the law’s restrictions that also required a three-year traffic study made traffic cameras cost-prohibitive.

The state countered that the law is within the legislature’s powers as a “statewide and comprehensive” way to regulate enforcement of traffic.

Critics say cities use them to boost revenues while violating motorists’ rights.

The state’s highest court has twice previously ruled for cities on cameras.

Indiana
Man faces prison for hurling chairs at judge, staff
COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — A man could be sentenced to six years in prison for hurling chairs at a judge and courtroom staff in central Indiana.

The Republic reports 21-year-old Jordan Rhoades of Columbus accepted a plea bargain Monday by admitting he’s guilty of battery resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer.

A judge will decide whether to accept the plea agreement during an Aug. 22 sentencing hearing.

Charges stemmed from a hearing Feb. 9, when a judge sentenced him to a year in jail for probation violations. The judge added time for contempt of court after Rhoades was heard repeatedly saying a vulgar word.

Rhoades hurled a chair that hit a prosecutor on the leg and threw other chairs in an outburst that was recorded on surveillance video .

Illinois
Woman in cancer fraud case gets 18 months in jail
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A western Illinois woman accused of falsely claiming she and her son had cancer has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Melissa D. Barton, 28, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in October to two counts of felony theft by deception. She was indicted in 2014 on charges of soliciting funds from numerous donors for fraudulent cancer claims.

Barton has also been ordered to pay nearly $1,300 in restitution.

Authorities say the case came to light after a man with a medical background created a fundraising page for Barton and her son, whom she claimed had an acute form of leukemia. The man became suspicious that some of the details and photos were inconsistent with the cancer treatment that was supposedly in progress.

Authorities say Barton asked and received money from religious organizations, individuals and online donation sites.

Barton said she thought she had cancer after finding a lump in her breast. She said the fundraising drives were set up by others without consulting her.

But police in Troy determined Barton had a biopsy that showed a benign tumor, according to Chris Coyne, a former detective with the Troy Police Department. Records also showed that her son was healthy and cancer-free. Coyne said the investigation also found Barton faked cancer in Mascoutah, a community about 20 miles south of Troy.

In court, the prosecution also showed a video that Barton posted online to thank her supporters as she reacted to biopsies, diagnosis and treatment.

“I just wanted to do this video so you guys can see that I am real,” she said in the video. “Just know I care about you all and I love you very much, and we hope for nothing but the best because I do have two little ones to take care of.”

Barton said during testimony that she had been treated for manic depression, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.