Court Digest

Florida
Proud Boy organizer arrested over riot at Capitol Associated Press undefined
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Two Florida men, including a self-described organizer for the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, were arrested Wednesday on charges of taking part in the siege of the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, authorities said.

Joseph Biggs, 37, was arrested in central Florida and faces charges of obstructing an official proceeding before Congress, entering a restricted area on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and disorderly conduct.

According to an arrest affidavit, Biggs was part of a crowd on Jan. 6 that overwhelmed Capitol Police officers who were manning a metal barrier on the steps of the Capitol. The mob entered the building as lawmakers were certifying President Joe Biden’s election win.

Biggs appeared to be wearing a walkie-talkie during the storming of the Capitol, but he told FBI agents that he had no knowledge about the planning of the destructive riot and didn’t know who organized it, the affidavit said.

Ahead of the riot, Biggs told followers of his on the social media app Parler to dress in black to resemble the far-left antifa movement, according to the affidavit.

Biggs had organized a 2019 rally in Portland, Oregon, in which more than 1,000 far-right protesters and anti-fascist counter-demonstrators faced off.

The Proud Boys are a neofascist group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies. During a September presidential debate, Trump had urged them to “stand back and stand by” when asked to condemn them by a moderator.

An online court docket did not indicate whether Biggs has an attorney who could comment.

Jesus Rivera, 37, also was arrested Wednesday in Pensacola. He faces charges of knowingly entering a restricted building, intent to impede government business, disorderly conduct and demonstrating in the Capitol buildings.

Rivera uploaded a video to Facebook showing himself in the U.S. Capitol crypt, authorities said. The five-minute video ends with Rivera starting to climb out a window at the Capitol, according to an arrest affidavit.

An online court docket also did not list an attorney for Rivera.

The cases are being handled by federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia. More than a half-dozen other Floridians have been charged in relation to the Capitol assault.

Alabama
Slain couple’s son sentenced to prison for killing
ONEONTA, Ala. (AP) — The son of an Alabama couple has been sentenced to prison for killing his parents and burying their bodies in a shallow grave.

Leo Santiago Chavez, 20, was sentenced Wednesday to two consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years, for the murder of his mother, Adalberta Chavez Ruiz, and his father, Ricardo Santiago Gonzales, AL.com reported.

Ruiz and Gonzales were reported missing on Dec. 16, 2017, by family members who had not heard from the couple. The relatives went to the couples’ home in Cleveland and found blood, authorities said.

The investigation led authorities to Chavez - who was 17 at the time - and three other men, who were arrested over the next few weeks. Jose Gamaliel Villanueva, 20, and Jose Guevara-Valadez, 23, and a juvenile are also charged in connection with the case.

Prosecutors said Chavez and his accomplices fatally shot Ruiz and Gonzales, wrapped their bodies in black plastic and dumped them in the shallow grave in Oneonta. Authorities recovered the couples’ remains on Jan. 3, 2018.

Chavez, of Blount County, was convicted in March  of three counts of capital murder and two counts of abusing a corpse. District Attorney Pamela L. Casey had asked the court for life without the possibility of parole during the sentencing hearing in the summer, but it didn’t happen. She said that disappointed some family members.

Some of them were in the courtroom as the sentencing was imposed Wednesday, and Assistant District Attorney Scott Gilliland indicated Chavez apologized to them and asked for forgiveness.
Chavez would be required to serve 60 years before parole consideration.

Nevada
Trump commutes sentence of   Vegas gambler for insider trading
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas professional gambler, real estate mogul and philanthropist who was convicted in an insider trading case said Wednesday he’s grateful his prison sentence was commuted by former President Donald Trump.

William “Billy” Walters said in a statement issued through publicists that he’ll continue to pursue a lawsuit against federal law enforcement officials in New York who won his conviction in 2017 in a case that drew headlines for its ties to professional golfer Phil Mickelson.

“I am thankful to the president and extremely grateful for the longstanding support of friends and family, especially my wife, Susan,” Walters said.

Walters was convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud after prosecutors told a jury that Walters helped Michelson earn $1 million in 2012 with stock trades in a Dallas-based company so the golfer cold cover gambling debts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission cited Mickelson for the trades in a lawsuit, and Mickelson agreed to repay the money. Mickelson was not charged.

Walters, whose business empire included golf courses and car dealerships, was sentenced in July 2017 to five years in prison and fined $10 million by a federal judge who noted “large and splashy displays of philanthropy” and Walters’ ownership of a private plane, $17 million West Coast home and $175 million in earnings from 2011 to 2015.

Walters, now 74, was released last summer to home confinement in the San Diego area after serving more than half his sentence.

Trump issued pardons and commutations for 143 people, including former political strategist Steve Bannon, during the final hours of his presidency.

Walters’ attorney, Pierce O’Donnell in Los Angeles, said he intends to prove in the lawsuit that Walters was entrapped by federal officials, including four prosecutors and an FBI agent who O’Donnell alleges covered up information about leaks to the news media of secret grand jury information.

Minnesota
Elderly murder defendant released from jail
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — An elderly Sioux Falls man charged in a 1974 stabbing death has been released from jail because of his declining health, according to authorities working on the case.

Algene Vossen, 80, was charged last summer with killing 74-year-old Mable Herman, at her home in Willmar, Minnesota after investigators found new DNA evidence they say ties him to the crime. Prosecutors say Herman had been stabbed 38 times.

Willmar Police Chief Jim Felt says Vossen has been released from the Kandiyohi County Jail after suffering some medical complications. Felt says the Minnesota Department of Corrections was unable to find an appropriate care facility within the system, so, in an unusual move, he was released to a relative in Iowa.

Vossen was arrested last summer at his home in Sioux Falls after the case was revived. Felt says authorities will continue to pursue the case, KELO-TV reported.

 “Mr. Vossen has not appeared in court and been found guilty or plead guilty to this yet, we are really working toward that conviction for murder in this case, we think it’ll bring some justice to Mae Herman, you know who was killed back in 1974 and there have been questions amongst her family ever since that time, so if we could get some resolution to this that would be terrific,” Felt said.

Vossen is charged with second-degree murder.

Maine
Federal court upholds out-of-state quarantine rule
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s quarantine requirement for out-of-state visitors during the pandemic was upheld by a federal appeals court.

The owners of two campgrounds and several individuals sued after Gov. Janet Mills signed an executive order in April requiring most travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival in Maine.

A federal judge denied a request to block the quarantine order in May, and the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision on Tuesday.

Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement that the requirement was sensible and that he’s gratified it was affirmed.

“This measure was necessary not only to prevent the spread of the virus, but also to protect Maine’s health care system, which is designed for a population of 1.3 million residents but which easily could have been overwhelmed in the face of a seasonal influx of many times that number,” the attorney general said.

Maine’s pandemic restrictions and rules have evolved over time. The current requirement is that most out-of-state visitors must test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of arrival or quarantine for 10 days upon arrival.

Arizona
Former border officer sentenced to prison in bribery case
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A federal judge in Tucson has sentenced a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer from Nogales to 2.5 years in prison on a bribery conviction.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez sentenced 58-year-old Jose Rosalio Fuentes on Jan. 13 and ordered him to surrender by March 26 to begin serving his prison sentence.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona says Fuentes in 2018 agreed while working as a CBP officer at the Nogales port of entry to allow a person not authorized to enter the United States to cross the border in exchange for a $6,000 bribe.

According to the office, Fuentes knew the person was a convicted felon, and the office says surveillance video showed Fuentes pretending to swipe the person’s identification and waving the person through a pedestrian gate and into the United States.

Nebraska
Chief justice says technology helped courts face crisis
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s courts have faced a big challenge due to the coronavirus pandemic but continue to serve the public with the use of technology, the state’s chief justice said Thursday.

Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican said the pandemic forced the courts to turn to livestreaming and video chatting services to ensure that proceedings were accessible to the public and people involved in the system.

“We would not have had the ability to rapidly respond to the pandemic if the courts had not built a strong technological foundation over the past decade,” Heavican said in his annual State of the Judiciary address to lawmakers. “As we entered 2020, we were well positioned to transition to distance operations because we had already begun to implement new courtroom technology and programming.”

Heavican said the court’s online payment systems allowed residents to pay traffic tickets and court fines without leaving their homes, and the judiciary also offered an online education system to help judges, lawyers, guardians and others meet continuous education requirements.

New attorneys were sworn into office via online ceremonies across the state, Heavican said. In Dawson County, one judge is broadcasting court proceedings on YouTube.

Heavican said schools and private organizations have hosted trials in counties whose courthouses are too small for adequate social distancing to prevent transmission of the coronavirus. He said jury trials were held at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Grand Island Central Community College and local K-12 schools and the Lincoln Masonic Lodge.

Heavican also touted the benefits of probation services and problem-solving courts. He said probation costs nearly $2,000 per person, per year, and problem-solving courts costs about $4,000, compared to $41,000 for a person in prison.

“Do the math,” he said. “Probation is the taxpayers’ friend.”

Florida
Plans scrapped for federal courthouse in Panama City
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Officials have shut down a renovation project that set out to transform a Florida Panhandle building into a federal courthouse.

The General Services Administration told officials in Bay County last week that the government has decided not to relocate any federal agencies to Panama City, the News Herald reported.

In the letter, GSA officials said they had reached out to other federal agencies across the state’s Panhandle region about occupying the space in the renovated juvenile courthouse. But no agencies accepted the offer, the newspaper reported.

The agency then terminated the lease on the building following two years of planning to turn the building into a courthouse for the U.S. Federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida.