Man sentenced to 15 years in prison after police mistook powdered milk for cocaine
A homeless man in Oklahoma was sentenced to 15 years in prison last week after police caught him with what they believed to be a bag of cocaine.
Cody Gregg, 26, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges following his arrest for a “traffic violation” in August. Gregg, who was riding a bike at the time, tried to flee from officers but they caught up to him and searched his belongings.
That’s when police found a “large amount of white powder substance” hidden in a coffee can inside his backpack. A report from the incident said the arresting officer “believed [the powder] to be cocaine based on my training and experience.”
Gregg, who had faced drug charges in the past, was booked and held in jail on a $50,000 bond. Police ran tests on the substance, which they said tested positive for cocaine.
But lab tests conducted nearly two months later said the exact opposite. By then, Gregg had already pled guilty to drug charges.
The 26-year-old then tried to withdraw his guilty plea, telling the judge the white substance was actually powdered milk he’d gotten from a local food pantry, The Oklahoman reported.
A judge ultimately approved Gregg’s plea withdrawal, and the charges against him were dropped last Friday. He was released from prison on Monday.
Jason Lollman, a public defender in Tulsa, Okla., told NBC News that it’s a common occurrence for suspects to plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit, as it saves them from having to “sit in and wait” in prison before their trial.
“The cash bail system, posting cash bail, is a problem,” Lollman said. “If they can’t afford an attorney, they’re not going to be able to post bond to get out.”
Lollman said he’s regularly had to talk clients out of falsely pleading guilty, but added that he ultimately can’t blame Gregg for his decision.
“Sometimes it’s like we, the attorneys, have more stamina than the clients do,” he told NBC News. “But that’s because we’re on the outside and they’re in jail.”
The attorney added that Oklahoma City Jail, where Gregg was being held, is a “generally awful jail.” As of September, at least six inmates had died in the prison this year, The Oklahoman reported.
Photo Credit: yahoo.com
A 14-year-old student was tackled by classmates after bringing a gun to school
A California high school was put on lockdown Tuesday after a student brought a gun to school, police said.
The La Habra High School student was tackled to the ground by other students after he brought an unloaded handgun into the building, CNN affiliate KCAL reported. Students said the boy was showing off the gun in class.
The incident took place during a metal shop class around 9:35 a.m., according to the news station.
The 14-year-old boy pointed it at a few students and they wrestled him to the ground and took the gun away, the affiliate said, citing students’ reports.
“As far as we know at this point the gun was unloaded,” Lt. Brian Miller told KCAL. “Also, there was some type of a struggle between a couple students to get the gun away from this particular student.”
In a statement, the high school said it went on lockdown as a precaution.
“All students and faculty are safe at this time,” the school tweeted in an update, which announced the lockdown was lifted less than an hour later.
The teen with the gun was either showing it off or trying to sell it, police said, according to the affiliate.
Officers located the handgun and detained the student, La Habra police said. No one was injured and there aren’t any other threats to the school, police said.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Second grade, 7-year-old boy caught vaping CBD at elementary school, police say
(Meredith) — A teacher at a Wisconsin elementary school caught a 7-year-old boy vaping CBD inside a classroom, police said.
The second-grader took the vaping device from his mother’s purse and brought it Country Dale Elementary in Franklin on Oct. 8, WISN-TV reported.
A social worker from child protective services took the child to the hospital to get him checked out.
His mother told police the “Smok Novo” vaping device, which resembles a USB flash drive, contained CBD oil.
CPS later returned the boy to his mom. She was not cited or charged, but police and CPS will keep a report of the incident on file, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Franklin School District emailed a letter to parents on Tuesday warning them about the dangers of vaping.
“The safety of our students is our top priority,” said Superintendent Judy Mueller in the letter. “As a school community, we have concerns about the national vaping epidemic, especially when we see the impact on our Franklin students and families. We will continue to do everything we can to help counteract the harm associated with vaping.”
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UK teacher fired for telling Jewish pupils they would be sent to ‘gas chambers’
A British teacher has been fired for telling a class with young Jewish pupils that she would “ship them off to the gas chambers” if they didn’t finish their work, according to reports.
The unidentified teacher was punished for making the disgusting comment to a class of 28 — including 11 who are Jewish — at Newberries Primary School in Hertfordshire, according to The Sun.
She quickly insisted she was “joking” and begged her 10-year-old students not to report her, the paper said.
But enough youngsters told their parents about the anti-Semitic outburst that an emergency meeting was called for the board of governors that ended with her firing last Friday, the reports say.
“We can confirm that last week we were made aware that an alleged racist comment had been made by an agency teacher working within the school,” the school told The Sun in a statement.
“We acted on this immediately and our governors and leadership team are undertaking a full investigation. The agency teacher will not be returning.”
The school has issued a newsletter reassuring parents that they were doing all they could to “embrace diversity,” with religious leaders from different faith groups being invited to address pupils, the report said.
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Florida police aide probed for saying black sergeant looked ‘like a monkey’
A police aide in Florida has been reassigned after allegedly saying a black sergeant looked “like a monkey,” according to a report.
Pablo Espinoza, a public service aide for the Miami-Dade Police Department, has been placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of an investigation for purportedly making the racial slur during a state Department of Motor Vehicles hearing in September, the Miami Herald reports.
An attorney for Miami-Dade Schools Police Sgt. Tracy Moore said Espinoza made the comment in reference to his client as she sat in a waiting area during a hearing to determine whether she would keep her driver’s license after being arrested for drunk driving in July.
“Your client looks like a monkey sitting there,” Espinoza said, attorney Michael Catalano recalled, adding that he was stunned by the unprovoked remark.
“I was shocked,” Catalano told the newspaper. “Nobody talks like that in 2019.”
Catalano later told Moore about the slur, but the officer, who is black, did not confront Espinoza during the administrative hearing, the attorney said.
Instead, Catalano ordered Espinoza to apologize within two hours, saying he would “drop” the entire ordeal if the public service aide admitted to making the comment.
“I was disgusted by that and they have video in the hallway,” Catalano wrote in a text message. “Apologize and we drop it.”
Espinoza, who has been employed by the department since 1987 and makes more than $55,000 a year, replied with an apology and indicated that he considered the matter “done,” but Catalano later circled back to the allegation during an Oct. 7 deposition in the criminal case against Moore, the newspaper reports.
“My client and I are very upset about this,” Catalano wrote in a complaint a day later to Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez. “My client wants PSA Espinoza fired immediately.”
Espinoza, who handles maintenance for Breathalyzer devices, regularly testifies at administrative and criminal hearings, but is not a sworn officer, the Herald reports.
“I can’t talk to you, bro,” Espinoza told the newspaper when reached by cellphone. “You know that.”
Department officials confirmed to The Post on Tuesday that Espinoza had been reassigned pending an internal investigation, adding that he has never been disciplined previously.
“The Miami-Dade Police Department takes all complaints seriously and are committed to the highest performance standards and ethical conduct,” the statement said. “We hold ourselves accountable for our actions and take pride in a professional level of service and fairness to all.”
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Texas inmates caught escaping prison for a whiskey run
Four inmates have been caught busting out of a federal prison in Texas to go on a whiskey run — and then returning, according to officials.
A special surveillance op was conducted by sheriff’s deputies and US Marshalls after “repeated reports of prisoners continuing to escape” from Beaumont federal prison, officials said on Facebook.
The team spotted four inmates leaving the prison grounds last Friday, fleeing when they saw officers springing from their hiding spots in the brush, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
All four were quickly arrested — and found carrying contraband, with some cellphones along with bottles of whiskey, the crime report said.
Julian Lemus, 34, Robert Young, 45, Leo Martinez, 25, and Silvstre Rico, 35, were all charged with escaping custody.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/10/15/texas-inmates-caught-escaping-prison-for-a-whiskey-run-officials/
Photo Credit: Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
Florida officer shoves teen from roof as partner shouts, ‘Push him off!’
Shocking bodycam footage shows a Florida cop pushing an 18-year-old off a roof as his colleague shouts, “Push him off!”
The unidentified teen, accused of taking his girlfriend’s car without permission, was cornered by cops in Florida as he sat calmly on the edge of a first-story roof in Kissimmee, according to WFTV.
“Now you have no choice to jump down, right?” an officer who climbed up to approach him said in what was initially a calm exchange.
Sgt. Anthony Amada, one of two cops on the ground, aimed a Taser at him and repeatedly commanded his officer, “Just push him off! Push him off!”
The teen sounded confused and appeared eager to tell the officers he was not resisting and wanted to get down by climbing through a window, the footage released to WFTV shows.
Instead, he was shoved off — immediately getting tased as he hit the ground after a fall of more than 9 feet, the station said.
“Hey, I’m down! I’m not resisting!” he can be heard pleading. “I’m not resisting, bro,” he added as they cuffed him on the ground.
The suspect was not injured, but Police Chief Jeff O’Dell admitted that the “decision to push the suspect off the roof could have resulted in significant injury,” the station reported.
The dramatic bodycam footage was released following an internal investigation by Kissimmee police. WFTV did not give a date for the incident
Amada — already facing disciplinary action in a separate case — resigned from the force in June.
The internal affairs report into the case says he would’ve been fired anyway because his order to push the man off the roof “is not indicative of a supervisor with 14 years of experience.”
Officer Plenio Massiah, who pushed him, lost eight hours’ vacation “for failing to follow KPD general order,” the station said.
“Members shall use only the degree of force necessary to affect lawful objectives,” the ruling against him stated, according to the report.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/10/16/florida-officer-shoves-teen-from-roof-as-partner-shouts-push-him-off/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Houston teen dies by suicide after she was rescued from sex trafficking ring
A 15-year-old Houston girl killed herself after she was rescued from a sex trafficking ring, according to a report.
Leticia “Letty” Serrano took her own life Saturday two years after her horrific ordeal, news station KTRK reported.
“I feel like I let her down,” her grandmother Cynthia Rivera told the news outlet.
Serrano was only 13 years old when she was drugged and sold to sex traffickers, KTRK reported. She was later found at Moody Park, but her family said she was never the same.
“We got her back damaged,” Rivera said.
Her family is speaking out to raise awareness about the prevalence of sex trafficking.
“We as a community and the system failed this young lady and her family once. Let’s not do it again,” her grandmother wrote on a Facebook page to spread the word.
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NJ men sentenced for bribing postal workers to steal credit cards
NEWARK, N.J. — Two New Jersey men who bribed postal workers to steal credit cards from the mail are now headed to prison.
Olagoke Araromi received a 61-month sentence on Tuesday, while Moussa Dagno got a 57-month term. Olagoke also must pay $87,503 in restitution, while Araromi must pay $84,573.
Both men had pleaded guilty to bribery, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Federal prosecutors say Araromi, a Union Township resident, and Dagno, of Harrison, recruited at least six letter carriers and postal service employees to steal credit cards from the mail in exchange for cash bribes, usually $100 per stolen card.
Once Araromi had the stolen cards and activated them, prosecutors say he and Dagno used them to buy high-end electronics and clothing at retail stores throughout the state.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/10/16/nj-men-sentenced-for-bribing-postal-workers-to-steal-credit-cards/
Photo Credit: pix11.com