Kansas
Man to face murder charge after toddler shoots teenager
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man accused of leaving out a loaded gun that a toddler later used to accidentally shoot a teenager will go on trial for murder, a judge ruled.
Shawnee County District Judge David Debenham on Monday found that prosecutors had enough evidence to try DeJuan Yelverton for first-degree murder and aggravated endangering of a child.
Yelverton pleaded not guilty to those two counts on Monday but pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon by a felon, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay alleged Yelverton left a gun hanging off of the top of a refrigerator in June. A toddler later got the loaded gun and accidentally shot DaMya Hudnall, 13, in the head.
Hudnall died a few days later.
Kansas law allows first-degree murder charges for deaths that occur during the commission, attempt or escape from any “inherently dangerous felony,” including aggravated child endangerment.
Yelverton is free on a $100,000 bond. A trial was scheduled for July 25.
Missouri
No charges against officers who fatally shot suicidal teen
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — No charges will be filed against police officers who shot and killed an apparently suicidal teenager in Grandview last year, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office said.
The officers shot 17-year-old Lantz Stephenson Jr. several times at a park on May 16 after he pointed a BB gun that looked like a weapon at them, investigators said.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a letter Jan. 7 that the officers’ actions “were within the scope of their legal authority” as Missouri law enforcement officers, The Kansas City Star reported.
Baker’s letter, based in part on an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, said Stephenson called police dispatchers to say he had a gun and wanted to get in a “shoot out” with police.
When officers arrived, Stephenson advanced toward them with what looked like a weapon and refused commands to put it down, prompting officers to fire, according to the letter.
Paramedics who arrived after the shooting asked Stephenson if he was attempting suicide and he nodded that he was, the letter said. He later died during surgery at a hospital.
California
Ex-AME Zion Church leaders charged with $14M fraud
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A former bishop and lay leader of an historically African American church have been charged with defrauding California congregations by mortgaging their properties in order to obtain $14 million in loans they used for personal expenses, authorities said Tuesday.
A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses Staccato Powell, 62, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Sheila Quintana, 67, of Vallejo, California, of conspiracy and wire fraud, with Powell also charged with mail fraud, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California said in a statement.
The two were arrested Tuesday and appeared in courts in North Carolina and Sacramento, California, prosecutors said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they had attorneys to speak on their behalf.
Powell was elected in 2016 as a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which traces its history to 1796 and has about 1.4 million members, authorities said. He headed western U.S. congregations but was disrobed in a church trial last year after officials concluded he had mishandled funds.
The indictment said Powell and Quintana set up Western Episcopal District, Inc., and used the entity to illegally obtain grant deeds to properties owned by congregations in Oakland, San Jose, Palo Alto and Los Angeles.
The congregations had little or no mortgage debt until the pair, without permission, used their real estate as collateral to obtain more than $14 million in high-interest loans, prosecutors said.
Some congregations that had paid off mortgages years earlier ended up saddled with debt, prosecutors said.
Powell and Quintana then diverted money for their personal benefit, including retiring a mortgage on Powell’s North Carolina home, buying real estate there, and making cash payments to Quintana’s spouse, prosecutors said.
Western Episcopal District, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 and listed among its assets 11 churches in California, Arizona and Colorado, authorities said.
Oregon
Man who raped child in 2 states gets 27 years
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon man who repeatedly raped and abused a child in Oregon and Washington state and placed a hidden camera to capture video of another child using a bathroom has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut sentenced Anthony Dewey Tuesday, calling his crimes “unbelievably unconscionable behavior” that caused “horror” for his victims and their families, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Dewey will be under supervision for the rest of his life following the prison term. The 60-year-old pleaded guilty in November to two counts of sexually exploiting a child to produce a visual depiction of the abuse.
“Our hearts break for the children tragically abused and exploited in this and every case of child exploitation. We offer each of them this message: this experience will not define you. You are bigger and stronger than your abuser. You will grow to lead an extraordinary life of meaning and purpose,” Scott E. Asphaug, Oregon’s U.S. attorney, said in a statement.
Law enforcement officers raided Dewey’s home northwest of Portland in Columbia County in 2017 after receiving information that he had sexually abused a child. Investigators seized videos showing Dewey abusing a child, from ages 4 to 11, in his homes in Oregon and Washington state, according to prosecutors.
The FBI investigated the case, with assistance from the Longview and St. Helens police departments.
Illinois
Ex-Northwestern prof gets 53 years for killing boyfriend
CHICAGO (AP) — A judge sentenced a former Northwestern University professor to 53 years in prison Tuesday for the 2017 stabbing death of his boyfriend.
Cook County Judge Charles Burns called the killing of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau “cold-blooded” and an “execution” as he sentenced Wyndham Lathem, 47, who was found guilty of first-degree murder in October.
Cornell-Duranleau was stabbed more than 70 times on July 27, 2017, by Lathem and Andrew Warren, a British man who Lathem had paid to come to Chicago to commit the murder together, prosecutors said.
Northwestern fired Lathem, a renowned microbiologist, after he fled the Chicago area following the killing.
Lathem testified during his trial that Warren alone stabbed Cornell-Duranleau during what started as a methamphetamine-fueled sexual encounter involving the three men.
Warren in 2019 pleaded guilty to murder under a plea agreement that called for him to testify against Lathem in exchange for receiving a 45-year prison sentence.
Warren, who was an Oxford University financial officer at the time of the slaying, testified that he flew from England to Chicago to meet Lathem and take part in a pact to kill each other before agreeing to kill Cornell-Duranleau at Lathem’s suggestion.
He testified that he did, in fact, stab Cornell-Duranleau, but only after Lathem had already begun stabbing him.
New Jersey
Political consultant pleads guilty in murder-for-hire plot
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A political consultant in New Jersey has admitted paying two men to kill a longtime associate in 2014 who worked with him on various campaigns.
Sean Caddle, 44, of Hamburg, appeared in federal court by videoconference Tuesday and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder for hire.
Caddle solicited a Connecticut resident in April 2014 to commit the killing for thousands of dollars, prosecutors said. That person recruited an accomplice from Philadelphia and they fatally stabbed the victim and set fire to the victim’s apartment the next month, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors did not release the names of the victim or the suspects, but NJ.com reported the circumstances of the case matched the death of Michael Galdieri, 52, who was the son of the late former state Sen. James Galdieri.
Authorities said Caddle learned the following day that the victim had been killed and he paid off the first conspirator in the parking lot of a diner in Elizabeth.
“This was a callous and violent crime, and this defendant is as responsible as the two men who wielded the knife,” U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a statement.
The judge allowed Caddle to remain free on $1 million unsecured bond, home detention with electronic monitoring and travel restrictions while he faces a sentence of up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
NJ.com said Michael Galdieri had worked on the campaign of former state Assemblyman Lou Manzo and on Bret Schundler’s run for Jersey City mayor in 1993.
NJ.com also reported Caddle worked as a consultant on former state Sen. Raymond Lesniak’s last reelection campaign and for other candidates. Lesniak said he spoke with Caddle earlier Tuesday and Caddle didn’t say anything about the charge.
“I am stunned. This is so bizarre. I can’t believe it,” the Union County Democrat said.
Oregon
Man pleads guilty to stealing COVID-19 relief money
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon man has pleaded guilty in a scheme to steal money intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to federal prosecutors.
Benjamin Tifekchian, 47, of Portland, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to bank fraud as part of a plea deal, U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon said in a news release.
In 2019, Tifekchian incorporated Bencho Jewelry Inc. in Oregon, was the sole owner and officer, and never generated over $500 in revenue per year, court documents say.
After Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans amid the pandemic, Tifekchian successfully obtained more than $884,000 in a Paycheck Protection Program loan. He falsely claimed Bencho employed 78 people and had an average monthly payroll of $353,698.
Tifekchian used some of the money to pay for gambling and vacations before Bank of America froze the loan funds, suspecting fraud.
His fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans were denied. A federal grand jury in Portland indicted Tifekchian last year on bank fraud and wire fraud charges.
Tifekchian faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. With his continued acceptance of responsibility, the government will recommend Tifekchian be sentenced to at least 21 months in prison. Tifekchian has agreed to pay over $900,000 in restitution.
