Florida
2 men sentenced for armed robbery of postal worker
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Two Florida men have been sentenced to federal prison for the armed robbery of a postal worker.
Omar Rochester Miller Jr., 23, and Christopher Diaz, 27, were sentenced Thursday in Tampa federal court, according to court records. Miller received nine years and two months, and Diaz received eight years. Both pleaded guilty in January to armed robbery of a postal mail carrier and theft of postal keys. Miller also pleaded guilty to brandishing a firearm during the commission of the robbery.
“Employee safety is a top priority for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,” said Miami Division Inspector in Charge Juan Vargas said in as statement. “These convictions and sentences demonstrate the commitment of the Inspection Service, as well as our partners at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, to bring justice to anyone who would endanger the public servants of the Postal Service.”
Miller robbed a letter carrier at gunpoint while she was delivering mail at a Tampa apartment complex and stole her postal keys, according to court records. The keys can be used to steal checks and other valuables sent through the mail.
After pushing the mail carrier to the ground, Miller ran to a waiting getaway car, driven by Edwin Betancourt Vega, prosecutors said. The robbery was organized through phone calls and text messages between Betancourt Vega and Diaz, to coordinate the robbery and sale of the postal keys in exchange for cash, investigator said.
Law enforcement recovered the postal keys, as well as proceeds from the sale of the key from both Miller and Betancourt Vega, officials said. They also recovered the firearm used in the robbery, which contained Miller’s DNA, prosecutors said.
Betancourt Vega was previously sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison for his role in the robbery.
California
Ex-college student pleads not guilty to murder charges
DAVIS, Calif. (AP) — A 21-year-old former university student on Friday pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one of attempted murder in connection with a series of stabbings in the college community of Davis.
Yolo County Superior Court Judge Daniel Wolk also denied bail to Carlos Dominguez, citing the risk to public safety and the defendant’s own flight risk given the seriousness of the alleged crimes.
Dominguez remained expressionless as the judge read out the complaint filed by prosecutors Friday. He responded in the affirmative several times to questions from the judge but did not speak otherwise.
Yolo County prosecutors said Dominguez is eligible for a life prison term without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, given the multiple murders. He is accused of fatally stabbing two people, including a fellow student, and stabbing a third victim who is now recovering.
Dominguez was represented by Dan Hutchinson, a deputy public defender. Hutchinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He was picked up for questioning Wednesday near the city park where he was alleged to have killed his second victim and has been in jail since early Thursday.
News of his arrest Thursday was a relief to students and residents shocked by the vicious stabbings, which Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel described as particularly brutal and brazen.
Dominguez was a student at UC Davis until April 25 — two days before the first victim was found — when he was let go for academic reasons, the university said. He was a third-year student majoring in biological sciences.
On Friday, students headed to class, in contrast to earlier in the week when the campus was practically deserted, some said.
Talia Mickelsen, a third-year student studying animal sciences, said she lives across the street from the house in which Dominguez lived. She noticed him a few times, but never interacted with him, she said.
Mickelsen said the last week has been scary, and she feels more secure now that he is arrested.
“It is very eye-opening, but I guess these things can happen anywhere,” she said. “Now, I just make sure I’m vigilant and cautious wherever I go.”
Coco Yan, a student also majoring in animal sciences, said she and a friend did not leave the house unless they went out together.
“I have no sympathy for the stabber,” said Yan. “A lot of people were stressed and scared because of it.”
Davis police and multiple law enforcement agencies fanned out to investigate after the body of David Breaux, 50, was discovered at a downtown park near the University of California, Davis campus April 27. The second victim, UC Davis senior Karim Abou Najm, 20, was found Saturday night at another city park.
On Monday, Kimberlee Guillory was attacked while inside her tent but survived. Both Breaux and Guillory were homeless.
Davis police have not provided a motive and it is unclear if he knew the victims.
Pytel, the police chief, said 15 people called into the department Wednesday afternoon when they spotted someone matching the stabbing suspect’s description at Sycamore Park, where Najm was found.
Dominguez went voluntarily with police for more questioning, Pytel said. They found a large knife in his backpack.
Davis is a city of 67,000, with an additional 13,000 students living on campus.
His next court date is May 22.
Massachusetts
Man charged in Harvard bomb threats freed; suspects sought
BOSTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a New Hampshire man accused of phoning in bomb threats to Harvard University and demanding a large amount of Bitcoin was not acting alone.
The comments came Friday during the first court appearance for William Giordani, who was released on conditions, court records say. He’s due in court again later this month.
Giordani was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting extortionate threats.
“We don’t believe that Mr. Giordani acted alone,” WCVB.com reported federal prosecutor John McNeil said in court on Friday. “We will be looking for other individuals.”
On April 13 the Harvard University police department received six calls regarding bombs and demand for payment. The caller gave a location and a description of a device, which police found and destroyed. The area was evacuated, but no other devices were found.
Police allege Giordani was seen on camera picking up some of the items at a home goods store and on surveillance video near where the device was found. Giordani later told police that “all he did” was respond to a Craigslist ad and “just put some fireworks in a safe and put them at Harvard,” a court affidavit said.
But police say Giordani placed a Craigslist ad posing as a parent of a Harvard student saying they needed someone to drop off supplies for their son.
Giordani’s defense attorney Jane Peachy said Friday that Giordani did not write the Craigslist ad.
Massachusetts
Former dean who shot student gets 18 years in prison for racketeering
BOSTON (AP) — A former Boston high school dean serving a 26-year sentence in state prison for shooting a student he had recruited to deal drugs has received an additional 18 years or more on a federal gang-related charge.
Prosecutors said that Shaun Harrison, 63, lived a double life, portraying himself as an anti-violence activist and mentor for troubled teens while hiding his own gang ties and luring students into drugs and violence.
In 2022, Harrison pleaded guilty to a count of racketeering conspiracy, also referred to as a RICO conspiracy.
Harrison is serving time after his 2018 conviction for attempting to kill a student who was selling marijuana in the high school at Harrison’s direction, authorities said. The 17-year-old was shot in the back of the head after a dispute over declining drug sales, prosecutors said. The student survived but suffered partial face paralysis, permanent hearing loss and other injuries.
Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said Harrison exhibited what she described as an astonishing level of betrayal and dishonesty.
“As the academic dean at a Boston public high school he lured and manipulated teenagers into a criminal enterprise that specialized in street terrorism,” Rollins said in a written statement after Harrison was sentenced Thursday in federal court. “Harrison was the architect of ruin for an entire generation of promising young lives.”
She said Harrison continued to associate with the Latin Kings gang while in state prison.
Federal prosecutors said last year that Harrison was one of dozens of defendants to plead guilty in a sprawling Latin Kings case stemming from an investigation dubbed “Operation Throne Down.”
Last year, a federal judge ordered Harrison to pay more than $10 million in damages to the former student he was convicted of trying to kill, but it’s unclear whether the victim will ever get any money from Harrison.
Harrison was hired by the Boston Public Schools in 2015 to serve as an academic dean at English High School, a public, magnet school. In that role, Harrison was to act as a mediator between teachers and students, contact families when students struggled and work with at-risk students, officials said.
Arizona
5 inmates at metro Phoenix jail treated for drug overdoses
PHOENIX (AP) — Five inmates at a Maricopa County jail have been treated and released from hospitals after overdosing, according to authorities.
County Sheriff’s officials said the overdoses occurred Saturday at the Towers Jail in Phoenix.
The 720-bed facility houses medium security general population inmates, and most are un-sentenced, pre-trial detainees.
A sheriff’s spokesman said all five inmates received doses of Narcan and were conscious before being evaluated at a hospital.
Last month, seven women incarcerated at the Estrella Jail in Phoenix were hospitalized after overdosing.
Sheriff Paul Penzone, responding to an increase in fentanyl overdoses in county jails, has announced a plan to install seven additional security scanners to screen employees and volunteers who go in and out of the jails for drugs and contraband.
Penzone, who took office in 2017, said drug smuggling needs to be cleaned up at the county’s five jails, and the new security process is expected to begin sometime this summer.
He said there were 282 incident reports of narcotics in the jails last year, and 158 incoming inmate postcards seized by the mailroom that tested positive for being soaked in fentanyl and/or methamphetamine.
