‘Kingpin Granny’ was the ‘go to’ drug dealer for decades, police say
DECATURVILLE, Tenn. — “If you wanted strong painkillers and things like that, she was the go to person,” Decatur County Sheriff Keith Byrd told WREG.
Sheriff Byrd wasn’t talking about the head of some drug cartel. He was talking about 75-year-old Betty Jordan, who local law enforcement refer to as the “Kingpin Granny,” according to WZTV.
The Parsons, Tennessee woman was charged with three counts of drug manufacturing/delivery/sale/possession and three counts of drug possession for “opioids, heroin, morphine and different things,” Sheriff Byrd said.
Undercover officers also seized Oxycodone, Xanex and $12,000 in cash after making a purchase from Jordan and raiding her home.
Sheriff Byrd said he’s upset Jordan has been able to operate without detection for so long.
“If it’s been going on for 20 years. That would put her in her fifties when she started doing this,” he said.
He expects more arrests in the case but wouldn’t elaborate.
“Much like an octopus, this thing has tentacles that go in all different directions,” Sheriff Byrd said.
Sheriff Byrd said Jordan, who uses a walker and a wheelchair, is out on a $50,000 bond and undergoing treatment for an unknown condition at an area hospital.
via: http://pix11.com/2018/02/15/kingpin-granny-was-the-go-to-drug-dealer-for-decades-police-say/
Tutor allegedly tries to meet with 13-year-old for sex, gets busted by feds
LOWER MANHATTAN — A Long Island home-school tutor was arrested after federal officers foiled his plans to meet with a 13-year-old girl at a Manhattan diner, the U.S. Attorney’s office said Friday.
Jeffrey Weber, 59, placed an ad on Craigslist looking for a younger woman who would want to be with a man, police sources said.
Weber received a response and made arrangements through text and email to meet with the person, who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, to engage in sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
What Weber didn’t know was that he was actually interacting with an undercover officer posing as a teen.
According to the court complaint, Weber engaged in sexually explicit communications with the undercover officer between Jan. 30 and Feb. 14. During the interactions, Weber discussed various sexual acts he wished to perform on the girl and acknowledged her young age. They made plans to meet at a Manhattan diner and go back to the girl’s apartment to engage in sexual activity, officials said.
Weber was detained Wednesday at the diner where he planned to meet with the girl. According to authorities, he had towels, tissues, condoms and candles in his possession.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill thanked the officials who helped with Weber’s arrest.
“The suspect in this case — a 59-year-old Long Island man — is accused of sending sexually-explicit texts and emails to an investigator posing as a 13-year-old girl. But this crime wasn’t confined to cyberspace. The man was arrested yesterday at a diner in Manhattan, where his plan was to meet the underage girl and take her elsewhere for sex. I want to thank the members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, whose expertise identified and put an end to this predator’s activities,” O’Neill said.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Weber is charged with attempted enticement. If convicted, he can face a life sentence in prison.
The NYPD lists charges against Weber as attempted rape, attempted criminal sex act and attempted acting n a manner injurious to a child.
Authorities are asking other victims that may have come in contact with Weber to come forward.
Kris Jenner Tells Her Kids She Cheated on Her High School Boyfriend with Robert Kardashian
Even after all of these years, Kris Jenner still manages to surprise her daughters.
In a sneak peek at Sunday’s episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kim Kardashian West, 37, and Khloé Kardashian, 33, sit down to watch a tribute video Scott Disick, 34, made for Jenner, 62.
“I’m really excited for my kids to see my legacy video,” says Jenner. “Because they’ll have that forever — and who knows, maybe they learned a thing or two about their mom that they didn’t know before.”
The footage shows Kourtney Kardashian‘s ex interviewing Jenner, who reveals that her relationship with their late father — her first husband Robert Kardashian — started as a fling when she was dating somebody else.
“Back in the spring of 1973, I was 17 years old,” she says. “I actually had a boyfriend who was always out of town. His name was Cesar. So while he was living on the road, I met Robert Kardashian.”
Khloé wasted no time teasing her mom, calling her a “hussy” and quipping, “Oh my God, you’re such a whore! Now we know where we get it from.”
But Jenner’s story gets even juicier: One day when Robert was over, Cesar unexpectedly returned home.
“Well, it wasn’t pretty,” she admits. “Not proud of it. Actually, Cesar tried to grab his sweater. I think he ripped a hole in Robert’s sweater! I didn’t want to ever hurt anybody’s feelings.”
Jenner also reveals that she once had a bone tumor that would have caused her left leg to be amputated had it been cancerous.
“You did?” Khloé exclaims while watching the video. “I did not know that.”
“I cannot believe Scott made this legacy video,” Kim says.
“I think it’s so sweet,” says Khloé. “So much I think we think we know about mom — but we really don’t.”
Article via: http://people.com/tv/kris-jenner-cheated-on-high-school-boyfriend-with-robert-kardashian/
Teacher who made sex tape with student gets hired again
A former Staten Island teacher who resigned in disgrace after making a sex tape with a student has found greener pastures in the Garden State, according to a report.
Nadine Sudlow, 30, who taught English at Liberation Diploma Plus HS, had sex with her “pet pupil” during a hotel tryst that was caught in footage that the youth shared with his pals, according to a probe.
She regularly treated the student to free lunches and Starbucks coffee, which he said made him feel “weird” but that he thought she was just “fooling around.”
The untenured teacher — who told the student in e-mails that she was “mad horny” – resigned in July 2014, two months after a complaint was lodged with the office of a special schools investigator.
But shortly after a 2015 report in The Post, New Jersey granted Sudlow a teaching certificate and she was hired by the Newark school district, the Asbury Park Press reported Wednesday.
She claimed a principal who knew about her history encouraged her to apply for the position, the news outlet reported.
“It happens so often because they can get away with it,” said Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation, or SESAME, the paper reported.
“They have the support of the teachers union. School administrators and districts would rather stay safe and save money than save children.”
New Jersey is considering legislation that would ban confidentiality agreements that protect teachers with substantiated cases of abuse or misconduct.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/02/15/teacher-who-made-sex-tape-with-student-gets-hired-again/
Cop found not guilty in fatal shooting of mentally ill woman
The NYPD sergeant on trial for the fatal shooting of a bat-wielding Bronx woman has been found not guilty in the woman’s death, a judge ruled Thursday morning.
Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Neary said he found Sgt. Hugh Barry not guilty of all charges — including murder — in the Oct. 2016 shooting of 66-year-old Deborah Danner.
“Clearly this case involved a terrible tragedy and emotions on both sites are elevated,” Neary said, before declaring that Barry was found not guilty of second-degree murder, first and second degree manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide.
“In this case the prosecution has an additional burden beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is not justified,” she continued. “In both regards the prosecution’s evidence has failed to meet the burden of proof.”
Barry looked stoic and emotionless as the verdict was read. Jennifer Danner, Deborah’s sister, raised her eyebrows slightly. At one point, she appeared tearful as she rested her head on another woman’s shoulder.
Defense lawyer Andrew Quinn said that Barry is “overwhelmed.”
“He has been through a difficult time,” Quinn said. “We have always felt confident we would win, but you never know until you see the evidence.”
“I thought he was very honest,” he added. “I thought he explained in specific detail exactly what happened inside that room and described it as it was. It could’ve ended very, very differently. And I think that’s why he was able to convey this to the judge.”
Barry, who was escorted by police the whole time, was nowhere to be found after the verdict was read.
He was on his way to church “to catch a Mass,” Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins said.
The Sergeants Benevolent Association received the news with “much joy and relief,” according to a statement posted on Twitter.
“Sgt. Barry committed no crime and was justified in his actions,” the statement said. “I commend Judge Neary for recognizing that and acquitting Sgt. Barry of these horrendous charges.”
But Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark had a more somber reaction.
“The judge has issued his verdict in this case,” she said in a statement. “We are disappointed but we accept his decision. However, I believe the death of Deborah Danner illustrates the larger issue of how we need changes in the way we address people with mental health issues.”
“There must be serious reforms to improve access to treatment so the situation does not rise to a crisis,” she added. “Mental health professionals should be part of the response to emotionally disturbed persons. I hope that measures will be taken to prevent another tragedy such as this.”
Barry, who opted for a non-jury trial, testified during the two-week proceeding that he fired two bullets into the schizophrenic woman–using his service weapon, not a taser–because he feared for his life.
“I just see the bat swinging, and that’s when I fired,’’ the 32-year-old said from the stand Tuesday. “I’m looking at this bat that can crack me in the head and kill me.”
Quinn argued Wednesday that Barry was imminently threatened when Danner took a step in his direction holding the bat.
“If she hadn’t taken that step, we wouldn’t be having a trial. We wouldn’t be having a funeral,” the defense attorney said.
But prosecutors insisted during the proceedings that Barry ignored his training when he walked into the mentally ill woman’s bedroom — causing the already angry and agitated Danner to have become even more aggravated.
“[Barry] failed to fulfilled his duties as a patrol supervisor,” Assistant DA Wanda Perez-Maldonado argued during her closings. “He failed to make use of the resources available to him.”
“He created to the situation….that led to her death,” Maldonado added.
The deadly incident began when the 31-year-old sergeant and others arrived at Danner’s apartment after a neighbor reported a screaming resident.
Barry peered into the woman’s bedroom, where he spotted her sitting “on her bed furiously snapping a pair of green-handled metal scissors,” according to court papers.
He claims he asked her to put the scissors down, but she brandished them in his direction, and spat, “I’m not f–king coming out!”
She eventually dropped the scissors, but then pulled a baseball bat from between her bed sheets and lunged at Barry–who was also armed with a taser, the papers say.
He fired two shots from his service weapon, hitting her in the torso, and she later died at a nearby hospital.
The shooting prompted street protests and was immediately criticized by police commissioner James O’Neill, who told reporters, “We failed,” and Mayor de Blasio, who called Danner’s death “tragic and unacceptable.”
Mullins sharply criticized both officials — and the ADA — on Thursday, saying that they “play politics.”
“Sgt. Barry should be immediately reinstated,” he declared. “He was wronged all along and it’s up now to the commissioner to make it right. He owes him an apology, the mayor owes him an apology and so does the district attorney.”
Barry’s case marks the first time an on-duty officer has faced murder charges since the notorious police shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999.
Danner’s family has filed a federal lawsuit against the city.
A nine-year veteran of the 43rd Precinct, Barry could have faced up to life in prison if he was convicted on the murder charge.
“There is no victory here today,” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement, “only relief that justice has been served and a good man who was doing a difficult and dangerous job has been exonerated.”
via: https://nypost.com/2018/02/15/cop-found-not-guilty-in-fatal-shooting-of-mentally-ill-woman/
Fantasia Barrino’s nephew shot and killed in North Carolina
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Police have identified the teen who was shot and killed Tuesday morning in Greensboro, North Carolina as the nephew of “American Idol” and Grammy-winning singer Fantasia Barrino, according to a news release.
Tyquan Vonricco Washington, 18, was found suffering from a gunshot wound in the 700 block of Hyde Drive at 10:54 a.m. Washington’s father recording artist Ricco Barrino, whose real name is Kassim Vonricco Washington.
Emergency crews performed life-saving measures but Washington was pronounced dead at Moses Cone Hospital.
David Lee White Jr., 21, of Greensboro, has been arrested in connection with the shooting. White is charged with first-degree murder and is being held in the Guilford County Jail without bond.
Ricco Barrino posted a heartfelt love letter to his son on Instagram upon learning of his death.
Ricco Barrino’s manager said he and Washington’s mother are heartbroken.
Ricco Barrino said he knew his son had gotten into some trouble but was turning his life around, his manager said. Washington aspired to be a musician like his dad. He was even recently working on a mixtape.
Fantasia Barrino, a High Point native, rose to fame as the winner of the third season of “American Idol” in 2004 and won a Grammy for her single “Bittersweet.”
Man, 34, who impregnated 14-year-old twins and their 12-year-old sister while living in their family home is sentenced to 27 years in prison
A man who impregnated 14-year-old twins and their 12-year-old sister while living in their Ohio home has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Arnold Perry, 34, was sentenced Thursday in Youngstown after pleading guilty to two counts of rape and one count of sexual battery in November, The Vindicator reports.
Perry was a friend of the family.
The girls’ mother allowed him to live at their Youngstown home when he needed somewhere to stay, Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Jennifer McLaughlin said in court.
‘These girls will suffer the rest of their lives because of this,’ McLaughlin told the court.
She added that Perry had abused the family’s trust.
The girls were impregnated in 2015 and 2016.
One of the twins had an abortion while her sisters had babies because their pregnancies were discovered too late to end them, McLaughlin said.
Perry’s attorney declined to comment Friday.
The 27-year sentence, handed down by Judge Maureen Sweeney, is two years more than the recommended 25-year sentence, The Vindicator reports.
Prosecutors said Perry had been convicted of similar crimes in the past.
Defense attorney Mark Lavelle said in court that Perry’s was the most heinous case he’d ever handled, yet argued his client should be sentenced to between 15 and 16 years in prison.
Lavelle said Perry suffered a brain injury as a child that prevents him from having feelings about his actions.
Perry apologized before sentencing.
‘I know now what I did was wrong,’ he said. ‘I wish I could take it back.’
The girls’ mother said she is raising two babies, and that Perry’s family isn’t helping her.
Upon his release from prison, Perry will need to register as a Tier 3 sex offender, WFMJ reports.
Tier 3 sex offenders are considered high risk individuals and are considered as such for the remainder of their lives
Black History Day 5: Todd Duncan
As we reach day five of Black History Month I’d like to introduce Todd Duncan. The first African American to sing on New York Broadway. Here’s one of the songs he sang, entitled Lost in the Stars
Black History Month Day 6: Bob Marley
As we continue to celebrate Black History Month is like to talk about a person whom I didn’t get a chance to talk about last year. The great musician and activist Bob Marley.
This man was not only a great musician, but was a well known activist as well, receiving the Peace Medal of the Third World, regarded as an ambassador and was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
Sit back and have a listen to One of his songs, Get Up Stand Up
Mom outraged over 12-year-old’s school assignment to draw herself as a slave
LEANDER, Texas — A Texas parent has objected to a Civil War-related history assignment in which her 12-year-old daughter was told to draw a picture of herself as a slave.
Tonya Jennings of Austin contacted the Leander Independent School District Friday about seventh-graders studying slave life in Texas in the 1850s.
Students were told to draw a picture of themselves as slaves, color the picture, then write a sentence that describes the surroundings using each of the five senses — smell, hearing, sight, taste and touch.
Jennings, who is black, says there’s nothing about slavery that she’d want any child to have to relive.
District spokesman Corey Ryan says administrators are reviewing the issue. A district statement says the tragic impact of slavery is well documented and relevant to Texas and U.S. history.