National Roundup

Kansas
Man sentenced in scheme to turn $1 bills into $100 bills
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A California man has been sentenced to three years in prison for washing the ink off $1 bills in a Kansas hotel room and reprinting them to look like $100 bills.

The U.S. attorney’s office says 51-year-old John Sebestyen, of Mission Viejo, California, also was ordered Monday to pay nearly $20,000 in restitution. Two other co-defendants previously were sentenced in the case.

They were caught after an Overland Park hotel employee reported seeing them throwing trash away in containers that weren’t near their rooms. Prosecutors say the suspects were trying to dispose of evidence that they were alerting money.

Charging documents say they used the fake $100 bills to purchase items from retailers in the Kansas City metro area, including Target. In some cases, they returned items for cash refunds.

Washington
Woman found guilty of killing friend found in bed with fiance
KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) — A jury returned a guilty verdict Monday against a Tri-Cities woman for shooting and killing her friend after finding her in bed with her fiance over two years ago.

KOMO-TV reports  the Benton County Superior Court jury found Amy Sue Brown of Prosser guilty of second-degree murder after deliberating for less than three hours.

According to court documents, Amy Brown, her fiancé Brandon, her friend Amanda Hill and Hill’s boyfriend Ben were celebrating Brown’s birthday in a camper next to her home.

The four were allegedly drinking when Brown’s fiancé headed inside to go to bed. Amanda Hill went inside after him to use the bathroom.

According to documents, Brown went into the house after and found Brandon in bed with Hill. Then the women got into a fight outside ending near Brown’s car.

Brown claimed that Hill attacked her, but she managed to grab a gun from her car and shoot Hill in the chest, according to court records.

Brown’s fiancé called 911 but when deputies arrived Hill was dead.

Hawaii
Hearing starts for whether heiress needs conservator
HONOLULU (AP) — A 93-year-old Native Hawaiian heiress doesn’t need anyone to handle her estate because she isn’t dead yet, she testified Monday during a hearing to determine whether she needs a conservator to oversee her $215 million trust.

Abigail Kawananakoa’s fortune has been tied up in a court case since her 2017 stroke. Her longtime lawyer, Jim Wright, argued the stroke left her impaired, and he stepped in to assume the role of trustee.

Kawananakoa said she’s fine and fired Wright. She then married her partner of 20 years, Veronica Gail Worth, who later took her last name.

Abigail Kawananakoa inherited her wealth as the great-granddaughter of James Campbell, an Irish businessman who made his fortune as a sugar plantation owner and one of Hawaii’s largest landowners.

In the ongoing battle over her wealth, a judge last year ordered a hearing to determine whether she needs a conservator. Her lawyer filed a motion saying that the hearing should be closed to the public. The Associated Press, Hawaii News Now and Honolulu Civil Beat argued against closing the hearing. A judge ruled that portions dealing with medical or financial information would be discussed behind closed doors.

The hearing got underway Monday with Dr. David Trader, a Los Angeles psychiatrist, whose testimony wasn’t open to the public.

Megan Kau, an attorney representing Kawananakoa’s former housekeeper, asked if Kawana­nakoa wanted to be addressed as “princess.” She said she preferred, “Ms. Abigail.”

Native Hawaiians consider her a princess because she’s a descendant of the family that ruled the islands before the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893.

They have been closely watching the legal wrangling over her trust because they are concerned about the fate of a foundation she set up to benefit Hawaiian causes.

When Kau asked if Kawanan­akoa understood who her trustee is, she said, “Well, I’m not dead yet, so what do you mean trustee. Who needs to handle my estate if I’m still alive.”

In 2018, a judge ruled Kawa­n­anakoa lacks the mental capacity to manage her trust, appointed First Hawaiian Bank to serve as trustee and removed Wright.

Wright had appointed three prominent Native Hawaiian leaders to serve as board members for the $100 million foundation Kawananakoa created in 2001. The foundation is participating in the court battle because it is a beneficiary of her trust.

Board members of her foundation and ex-employees say her wife is manipulating her. Law­yers for the couple dispute that.

On the witness stand, Kawa­n­anakoa said she disputes having suffered a stroke.


Maryland
Ex-Baltimore mayor’s request to delay prison start granted
BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge has granted an incarceration delay request for a former Baltimore mayor who pleaded guilty to fraud charges involving sales of her children’s books.

Disgraced Mayor Catherine Pugh’s request to delay her incarceration until April 27 was granted last week, news outlets reported Monday.

A motion filed March 2 requested the delay until her niece, who lives with her, completes the semester at the University of Maryland Law School.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Clarke didn’t object.

Pugh pleaded guilty in November to wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the government and two counts of tax evasion in relation to her making more than $850,000 from selling her self-published “Healthy Holly” children’s books to businesses and nonprofits to promote her political career and fund her run for mayor.

She was sentenced in February to three years in prison and was told to report to court on April 13. She was ordered to pay more than $411,000 in restitution and to forfeit more than $669,000 to the government.

The scandal shook Maryland’s largest city, which for years has struggled with grinding poverty, political mismanagement, record crime rates and police abuses that led to massive riots. And it made a mockery of Pugh’s inaugural promise to restore trust in Baltimore’s leaders.

Pugh was elected mayor in 2016 and resigned in May as authorities investigated bulk sales of her books.

Federal authorities accused her of double selling the books, keeping many for self-promotion purposes and failing to deliver them to institutions they were purchased for, including the Baltimore City Public Schools.