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Australia

UWA law graduate Luigi Rayapen pleads guilty to sexually assaulting woman on Rottnest Island

UWA law graduate Luigi Rayapen pleads guilty to sexually assaulting woman on Rottnest Island

A former law student at the University of Western Australia has been told he is facing a possible jail term after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a woman during post exam celebrations at Rottnest Island.

Luigi Ignace Rayapen, 26, admitted abusing the woman, who was in her 20s, as she tried to sleep in a bed in a bungalow on the holiday island in the early hours of July 1, 2020.

The District Court was told the woman, who cannot be identified, did not know Rayapen, but said he could stay the night at the accommodation she was sharing with others after they had been out drinking.

Three other people were in the room when the abuse happened, including a friend of the woman who was in the same bed.

A close up of Luigi wearing graduation robes
The court heard Rayapen assaulted the woman as she tried to sleep.(Facebook)

State Prosecutor Rebekah Sleeth said the woman woke up to Rayapen rolling her over and groping her but she pretended to remain asleep in the hope he would stop what he was doing.

However, Rayapen did not and so she repeatedly told him to stop and kept pushing his hand away from her body.

She also tried to kick her friend who was sleeping nearby.

The court heard Rayapen also squeezed her breast so hard it left a bruise and he also bit her on the face while trying to kiss her.

A headshot of Luigi who has olive skin and dark hair
Raya pen only backed off when the woman grabbed him around the throat, the court heard.(Facebook)

It was not until the woman grabbed Rayapen around the throat that he eventually backed away.

Ms Sleeth said the woman then woke up her friend and told them what happened.

Rayapen was told to leave but he would not and ended up staying the night at the bungalow.

Guilty pleas entered for two charges

The court heard Rayapen later said to the woman he was “sorry” and that he hoped she could forgive him.

However, when she saw a police car driving past the bungalow, she flagged it down and reported what happened.

Aerial of Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island lies 18km off the coast of Perth. (Supplied: Rottnest Island Authority)

Rayapen was originally facing four charges, but he pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault causing bodily harm and one count of [digital] sexual penetration without consent.

The remaining two charges were discontinued on what Ms Sleeth said were “public interest” grounds.

Luigi pictured with two other men wearing old-school suits pictured in a ballroom
Luigi Rayapen was a law student at the University of Western Australia. (Facebook)

Rayapen’s barrister, Julie Condon QC, requested the matter be adjourned, telling the court the defense needed more time to prepare its submissions.

Rayapen had ‘mental health issues’

She said they may include a psychiatric report on Rayapen whom she said had “some mental health issues.”

Ms Condon also said her client had recently completed his degree.

Luigi pictured in front of canals while overseas
Rayapen was on the committee of the Blackstone Society at UWA.(Facebook)

Judge Laurie Levy agreed to release Rayapen on bail until the sentencing hearing, but he told him not to take that as an indication of the penalty he may receive.

“I don’t want you to think because you’ve been granted bail you are not going to jail,” Judge Levy said.

Judge Levy said people “commonly” go to jail for these types of offenses.

Rayapen is due back in court next month.

While studying law at UWA, Rayapen was on the committee of the Blackstone Society which describes itself as the peak representative body for students in the law faculty.

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Categories
Australia

Meth user who fell asleep at the wheel killing pregnant partner in Coolup crash jailed in Perth

A close up of a man and a woman posing for the camera

A driver whose pregnant partner was killed when he fell asleep at the wheel, a year before he caused another crash in Darwin that seriously injured his new partner, has been jailed in Western Australia.

Michael Dixon, 37, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of 31-year-old Mel Duffey in Coolup, about 100 kilometers south of Perth, on December 13, 2019.

The District Court was told Dixon had not slept for more than 72 hours.

Traces of methamphetamine were also found in his blood and he admitted injecting the drug two days before the crash.

Ms Duffey, who had wanted to return home from their camping trip because she was worried about her three children, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene.

She was six months pregnant.

A close up of a woman wearing glasses with a nose piercing and two lip piercings
Mel Duffey was killed when his partner Michael Dixon fell asleep at the wheel while driving.(Facebook: Mel Duffey)

After the crash, Dixon moved to Darwin, where a year later, in December 2020, he crashed an all terrain vehicle into a street sign, seriously injuring his new partner, former police officer Kristi Wenck.

Dixon had been drinking with friends at a party beforehand and he pleaded guilty in the Northern Territory to driving under the influence as well as dangerous driving causing harm.

Emergency vehicles are by the edge of the road where an ATV is on its side.
The aftermath of the crash in Darwin, in which Michael Dixon’s new partner received serious injuries. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

He was given a suspended jail term, but he was later extradited to Perth to face the charge over the crash that claimed the life of Ms Duffey.

‘disastrous decision’

Judge Mara Barone accepted Dixon had made the decision to drive because Ms Duffey was concerned and anxious about her children and not because of a selfish desire to return home.

“You drove because you believed it was the right thing … it proved to be a disastrous decision,” Judge Barone told a tearful Dixon.

A dark photo of a badly damaged vehicle on a tow truck ramp.
The wreckage after Michael Dixon fell asleep at the wheel while driving in Coolup in December 2019, killing his partner Mel Duffey.(ABCNews)

She said Dixon must have been aware of the extent of his fatigue and of the risk he would fall asleep.

Judge Barone highlighted Dixon’s subsequent offenses in the Northern Territory and told him he needed to understand that he could not drive in a manner that put the safety and lives of others in danger.

She sentenced him to three years’ jail — he will have to serve 18 months before he can be released on parole.

Dixon was also disqualified from driving for five years.

Three people in face masks walk along a city street.
Mel Duffey’s mother Cindy Rogers (right), pictured with her family outside court, criticized the sentence. (ABC News: Greg Pollock)

Outside the court Ms Duffey’s mother, Cindy Rogers, fought back tears as she described the sentence as “wrong”.

“I’ve still got her children, they’re with me and they want their mum and I can’t give them their mum and it’s his fault,” she said.

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Categories
Australia

Perth woman Moe Moe Myint Kelly jailed over ‘ruthless’ theft of $2 million from employer

Perth woman Moe Moe Myint Kelly jailed over 'ruthless' theft of $2 million from employer

A 65-year-old Perth woman who over seven years “ruthlessly” stole $2 million from trusting family friends she worked for, has been sentenced to more than four-and-a-half years in jail.

Moe Moe Myint Kelly was employed as a bookkeeper and accountant for a Northbridge business, which operated both a pharmacy and a newsagent.

She was a family friend of the owners, and the District Court was told when the business started struggling, Kelly agreed to work for free until things improved.

However, unknown to the owners, she began funneling sums of cash from the daily takings into her own accounts.

The thieving began in 2011 and only stopped when Kelly made what was described as “a minor error” in 2018 which led to an audit that uncovered her crime.

The court heard when the owners confronted her, she claimed she had sent most of the money to charities in Burma.

State Prosecutor Justin Whalley SC said bank statements showed the sums Kelly deposited into her accounts ranged from just under $1,000 to $15,000, with most of them being around the $5,000 mark.

A woman in sunglasses, a black top and apricot pants outside a Perth courthouse.
Moe Moe Myint Kelly’s earliest possible release date is April 2025. (ABC News: Glyn Jones)

In total there were more than four hundred separate instances of stealing, with records showing that between 2011 and 2015 she lost large amounts of money at the casino.

The owners provided victim impact statements to the court which detailed the struggles they went through including working around 100 hours a week and using their savings to pay their staff.

Woman was ‘riding a gravy train’

Mr Whalley said Kelly was a trusted family friend of the owners and he described her offenses as “a massive breach of trust”.

“We say she continued to work for nothing because she was riding a gravy train, that was providing her with hundreds of thousands of dollars a year,” he said.

Kelly was initially charged with stealing $3.5 million and had been due to stand trial earlier this year.

However, after negotiations, she pleaded guilty to stealing the lesser sum of $2 million, although Mr Whalley said it was not accepted the figure was that low.

“But it was not in the public interest to litigate the difference,” he told the court.

Kelly’s lawyer said her client, who was born in Burma, had an extremely deprived childhood that effectively included being “abandoned” by her parents when she was seven.

She said Kelly was now married to a man who had been diagnosed with cancer.

Aggravated, ‘ruthless’ offending

Judge David MacLean told Kelly her crimes were aggravated because she was a trusted family friend of the business owners.

“You had a ringside seat to their suffering… you cynically abused that position of trust,” he said.

He also described her actions as “ruthless”.

“You stole directly, repeatedly without guilt, remorse or shame from someone who you appeared to consider as a family,” he said.

Judge MacLean said greed appeared to be the motivation for the offenses.

“It was undertaken by reason for a desire to either enrich yourself or to spend more time at the casino.”

He also described the sum stolen as “enormous”.

“It was an amount of money which was squandered on a parasitic enterprise, something in the order of $1.2 million at the Crown Casino,” he said.

Judge MacLean said Kelly continued to try to justify her actions by claiming she had not been properly paid, and because of that he did not accept she was entirely remorseful.

After taking into account her deprived upbringing and her pleas of guilty, Judge MacLean sentenced Kelly to four years and eight months in jail.

She will have to serve two years and eight months before she is eligible for parole — her earliest possible release date will be in April 2025.

The court heard none of the money had been paid back.

Victim says Kelly ‘cost year years of her life’

Judge MacLean did make a compensation order and the court heard any of Kelly’s assets will be forfeited.

The business owner, Diana Quan, was in court for the sentencing.

She said the jail term was not enough.

“She took 10 years of my life,” she said.

“It’s been an emotional toll. It’s brought up a lot of emotions.

“It was a hard time for us and it continues to be a hard time, we’ll never recover from this, we’re just a small family business and we work really, really hard.”

Ms Quan also said she did not believe the business would get any of the money back but she was grateful the Judge did not accept Kelly was truly remorseful.

“The picture that she presents to the world is very different from who she actually is.”

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Categories
US

Soldier’s assault suit against officers can proceed to trial

Soldier's assault suit against officers can proceed to trial

NORFOLK, Va. — A US Army lieutenant who was pepper-sprayed, struck and handcuffed during a traffic stop in Virginia can present his claims of false imprisonment and assault and battery to a jury, a federal judge has ruled.

But the summary judgment Tuesday said federal immunity shield laws the two officers involved from facing Caron Nazario’s claims that they violated the Black and Hispanic soldier’s constitutional protections against excessive force and unreasonable seizure, as well as his right to free speech by allegedly threatening him with arrest if I have complained about their behavior.

US District Judge Roderick C. Young also ruled that the officer who initially pulled Nazario over is liable for illegally searching for a gun in the soldier’s SUV in violation of the US Constitution and Virginia law, leaving the question of damages on that point up to a jury. Nazario had a concealed carry permit.

The December 2020 traffic stop of the uniformed military officer in the small town of Windsor drew national attention and outrage after Nazario sued in April 2021, citing police body camera images and his cellphone video of the encounter. He was never charged with a crime.

Nazario had been driving home in the dark from his duty station when Officer Daniel Crocker radioed that he was attempting to stop a vehicle with no rear license plate and tinted windows, the lawsuit says. Body camera video later showed that a temporary tag was taped to the inside of the rear window.

“It appeared to Lt. Nazario that there was no good location in the immediate vicinity to stop safely. So, for the benefit of the officer’s safety and his own, Lt. Nazario continued slowly down US 460,” the lawsuit says. Nazario drove below the posted speed limit for less than a mile until he reached the well-lit parking lot of a BP gas station, it says.

Crocker said the driver was “eluding police” and he considered it a “high-risk traffic stop,” according to a report cited in the lawsuit. Another officer, Joe Gutierrez, was driving by and joined him.

The lawsuit says both officers escalated the situation by immediately pointing their guns at Nazario and trying to pull him out of the vehicle while he kept his hands in the air. Gutierrez pepper-sprayed Nazario multiple times as the officers yelled for him to get out.

At one point, Nazario said he was afraid to get out, to which Gutierrez replied: “You should be.”

When Nazario did get out and ask for a supervisor, Gutierrez responded with “knee-strikes” to his legs, knocking him to the ground, where the two officers struck him multiple times and then handcuffed and interrogated him, the lawsuit says.

Officer Gutierrez was later fired for failing to follow department policy during the stop. A special prosecutor concluded late last month that Gutierrez should not be criminally charged under Virginia law, but should be investigated by the US Justice Department for potential civil rights violations.

The federal judge ruled Tuesday that the officers had likely caused Nazario to pull over for an improperly displayed license plate, and to charge him with eluding police as well as obstruction of justice and failure to obey when he refused to exit the vehicle.

The judge also wrote that Nazario’s claims under the US Constitution of unlawful seizure and excessive force present questions about the officers’ conduct that could be put before a jury. But Young threw out the allegations under the federal doctrine of qualified immunity, which balances accountability with the need to shield officials who reasonably perform their jobs.

For example, the judge wrote that there is not a “clearly established right prohibiting the aiming of firearms, the use of threats or the use of OC spray against a suspect who has repeatedly refused to comply with lawful commands to exit a vehicle.”

The allegation that Nazario’s free speech was violated was also tossed under the federal immunity doctrine.

However, Young said Nazario’s claims under state law, false imprisonment and assault and battery, can move forward. The judge wrote that Virginia law “only provides local officials immunity from suits alleging negligence.”

Explaining his summary judgment on Crocker’s search for the gun, Young wrote that “the firearm was not relevant evidence for the crimes of eluding or obstruction of justice.” However, he said Nazario’s claims that Gutierrez knew about the search and failed to intervene could proceed Gutierrez has argued that he knew nothing about the search.

Jessica Ann Swauger, an attorney listed for Gutierrez, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Jonathan Arthur, one of the attorneys representing Nazario, said the judge’s ruling is a victory even though three of the federal claims were tossed.

“Whether it’s under federal law or whether it’s under state law, the jury is going to speak,” Arthur said. “And we hope that the jury is going to stand up and say that this behavior will not be tolerated.”

Anne C. Lahren, an attorney for Crocker, said the remaining questions are “classic” issues for a jury, rarely decided at this stage in a civil suit. She also noted that the judge found the stop itself and the officers’ ensuing commands to be lawful.

“Lt. Nazario’s own actions gave rise to the unfortunate, but lawful, escalation of force …,” Lahren wrote. “Had Lt. Nazario simply followed the lawful commands of the officers from the outset of the traffic stop, none of this would have been necessary.”

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Categories
Australia

South Australian MP Fraser Ellis fails bid to throw out fraudulent allowance claims case against him

Two men in suits walk down stairs outside a sandstone building

South Australian MP Fraser Ellis has lost a bid to have deception charges against him dismissed.

The Yorke Peninsula MP is due to stand trial later this month.

The Liberal-turned-independent is seeking to contest allegations he made 78 fraudulent claims for an accommodation allowance totaling more than $18,000.

He was one of two MPs charged and several investigated for their use of the allowance by the state’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption after a series of exclusive ABC News stories.

Mr Ellis had argued the case against him should be dismissed, because the allowance claim forms which are the subject of his alleged deception have been tabled in parliament, making them subject to the “absolute protection of parliamentary privilege”.

This morning, Magistrate Simon Smart dismissed Mr Ellis’s application to stay the charges.

The state’s ICAC Act was significantly amended in November last year, after Mr Ellis was charged.

Amongst the wholesale changes, the protections of parliamentary privilege were strengthened, so that ICAC cannot exercise any powers “in relation to any matter to which parliamentary privilege applies”.

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Categories
Australia

WA Supreme Court hears man allegedly attempted to kill partner of 35 years

Supreme Court WA 27/09/2013

A 58-year-old Perth man armed himself with a large knife and tried to kill his wife after becoming angry at her for ending their 35-year relationship and taking out a restraining order against him, the WA Supreme Court has been told.

The man, who the ABC has chosen not to name, is on trial accused of attempting to murder his wife as she lay sleeping the room of her Beeliar home, with her four-year-old granddaughter beside her, just after midnight on September 25 , 2020.

The court was told the couple’s adult son, who was staying with his mother to protect her, heard his mother’s cries for help and rushed into the bedroom.

He managed to grab his father in a bear hug and eventually forced him to drop the knife, while the woman called the police.

She had suffered injuries to her hands, including a ruptured tendon, because she grabbed the knife when her husband jumped on top of her, after entering the bedroom and turning on the light.

State Prosecutor Brett Tooker said the man had been holding the weapon at his wife’s chest while yelling things like “you’re dead, I’m going to kill you.”

A silhouette of a woman as she looks out of a window
The woman ended the relationship with her husband after he started drinking and psychologically verbally abusing her.(ABC Far North: Holly Richardson)

Mr Tooker said the problems in the relationship started in about 2017, when the accused man started drinking alcohol heavily and mixing it with prescription medication.

The court heard the man first physically assaulted his wife in early 2018, when he put his hands around her neck, but she decided not to call the police because he promised not to do it again.

‘You better sleep with one eye open’, wife told

However, Mr Tooker said the man continued to verbally and psychologically abuse his wife who, by mid-September 2020, decided to end their relationship.

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Categories
US

Yaser Said’s ex-wife slams ‘devil’ father for ‘honor killings’ of daughters

Yaser Said's ex-wife slams 'devil' father for 'honor killings' of daughters

A Texas man on trial for murdering his two daughters in “honor killings” because they were dating American boys was called the “devil” in court Thursday by the girls’ mother, who detailed 15 years of abuse during their marriage.

Patricia Owens, Yaser Said’s former wife, had not seen him since New Year’s Day of 2008 — when he took their daughters Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17, to dinner and insisted on going alone so they could talk.

Instead, prosecutors say, Said shot the girls multiple times in the cab he drove and left them for dead outside a hotel in suburban Irving.

Owens testified that she and the girls had just returned to their home in Lewisville, Texas, from Oklahoma, where they had gone to get away from Said. She testified she knew the girls were dating — and that Said would have become enraged if he knew about it.

“I just thought he would, like, punish them, like take their phone away and stuff like that,” she said.

But long before 2008, Owens testified, she and her daughters were abused by Said. She told the jury how she married Said in 1987, when she was just 15 and he was 29. She gave birth to Amina, Sarah, and their brother Islam in the first three years of their marriage.

Patricia Owens called her ex-husband Yaser Said the "evil" for allegedly murdering their two daughters at his trial in Dallas, Texas on August 4, 2022.
Patricia Owens called her ex-husband Yaser Said the “devil” for allegedly murdering their two daughters at his trial in Dallas on Aug. 4, 2022.
Liesbeth Powers/The Dallas Morning News via AP
Said allegedly killed his two daughters Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17, in 2008 because they were dating American boys.
Said allegedly killed his two daughters Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17, in 2008 because they were dating American boys.
Liesbeth Powers/The Dallas Morning News via AP

Owens claimed she left Said multiple times during the marriage and described him as controlling.

In 1998, while living near Waco, Texas, Owens filed a report with the Hill County Sheriff’s Office accusing Said of sexually abusing the two girls. She took all three children and left him for months, before returning and telling the girls to recant their story.

“I felt scared not to go back,” Owens explained. “Yaser was abusive.”

Said allegedly shot the two girls and left them dead outside of a hotel in Irving, Texas.
Said allegedly shot the two girls and left them dead outside of a hotel in Irving, Texas.
Owens claimed Said abused her and their daughters.
Owens claimed Said abused her and their daughters.
Liesbeth Powers/The Dallas Morning News via AP

In late 2007, Owens and her daughters fled again to Tulsa, Okla., after the girls feared their father would kill them if he learned they had both become engaged to their boyfriends. Owens said Said had previously threatened Amina with a gun.

The mother and daughters returned to Texas to finish their schooling on the promise that Said would leave the family home. Even then, Amina refused to go back to the house, fearful of the repercussions.

When prosecutors asked Owens if she knew what would happen when they returned, she replied, “Part of me did. Part of me didn’t.”

Photos of Sarah and Amina Said shown at the "honor killing" trial.
Photos of Sarah and Amina Said shown at the “honor killing” trial.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News via AP

Earlier this week, prosecutors played a recording of a 911 call placed by Sarah after she had been shot, but was still alive.

“My father shot me. I’m dying,” Sarah said in the recording.

Said, who was arrested in August 2020 after more than a decade on the lam, has maintained his innocence and his lawyer has argued that he is being targeted by law enforcement for being Muslim in a post-Sept. 11 world.

He will serve an automatic life sentence if he’s found guilty.

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Categories
Australia

Ex-WA police officer Michael Richard Tyler used social media to discuss sexually abusing children

Ex-WA police officer Michael Richard Tyler used social media to discuss sexually abusing children

A former West Australian police officer is behind bars after pleading guilty to accessing and possessing child sex abuse material, which he then discussed and forwarded to users in online chat rooms.

WARNING: This story contains content that some readers may find upsetting.

Michael Richard Tyler, 38, was a senior constable stationed in the Mid West city of Geraldton last year, when he used social media apps such as Discord and WhatsApp to discuss sexually abusing children.

The District Court was told a search of his electronic devices discovered thousands of messages that included discussions about drugging and raping children.

During some of those discussions, Tyler also forwarded images and videos of children as young as two months being abused.

In one exchange, Tyler and a woman talked about abusing an eight-year-old girl while they were babysitting her.

In a different conversation with another woman, the discussion centered around about being abusive parents.

Crimes followed ‘tumultuous few years’

Tyler’s lawyer Clint Hampson told the court the offenses took place after his relationship broke down and his former partner took their children overseas.

Dr Hampson said that he had a “profound effect” on Tyler’s mental health and triggered what he called “a tumultuous few years” that included drug addiction.

The court heard Tyler then met a woman on Tinder, who talked about abusing a child.

“He accepts that once he was introduced to this, he’s gone and offended,” Dr Hampson submitted.

It was revealed during the hearing that a female co-offender had been sentenced earlier this year over her “online chats” with Tyler.

She claimed she had been coerced by him into taking part, despite having no interest in child abuse material.

Judge dismisses ‘fantasy’ claims

Tyler’s sentencing was adjourned until November after Judge Charlotte Dawson said a psychological report was needed to determine the extent of his sexual interest in children.

Judge Dawson said in some of the material before her, Tyler had referred to his crimes being “fantasy”, which she highlighted was not the case.

“This isn’t fantasy, these are real children, real victims,” ​​she said.

“To see the word fantasy, that is offensive… it is clearly erroneous.”

Tyler did not seek bail and was remanded in custody.

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Categories
US

Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez charged with bribery

Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez charged with bribery

San Juan Puerto Rico — Form Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez was arrested Thursday on bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 campaign, the latest hit to an island with a long history of corruption that brought fresh political upheaval to the US territory.

Vázquez is accused of engaging in a bribery scheme from December 2019 through June 2020 — while she was governor — with several people, including a Venezuelan-Italian bank owner, a former FBI agent, a bank president and a political consultant.

“I am innocent. I have not committed any crime,” she told reporters. “I assure you that they have committed a great injustice against me.”

The arrest embarrassed and angered many in Puerto Rico who believe the island’s already shaky image has been further tarnished, leaving a growing number of people who have lost faith in their local officials to wonder whether federal authorities are their only hope to root out entrenched government corruption . Concern over previous corruption cases led to a delay in federal aid for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria as the US government implemented more safeguards.

Thursday’s arrest also was a blow to Vázquez’s pro-statehood New Progressive Party, which is pushing to hold a referendum next year in a bid to become the 51st US state.

Vázquez was the second woman to serve as Puerto Rico’s governor and the first former governor to face federal charges. Former Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the opposing Popular Democratic Party was charged with campaign finance violations while in office and was found not guilty in 2009. He had been the first Puerto Rico governor to be charged with a crime in recent history.

“For the second time in our history, political power and public office are used to finance an electoral campaign,” said José Luis Dalmau, president of Acevedo’s party. “Using the power of the government to advance political agendas is unacceptable and an affront to democracy in Puerto Rico.”

Vázquez’s consultant, identified as John Blakeman, and the bank president, identified as Frances Díaz, have pleaded guilty to participating in the bribery scheme, according to the US Department of Justice.

In early 2019, the international bank owned by Julio Martín Herrera Velutini was being scrutinized by Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions because of transactions authorities believed were suspicious and had not been reported by the bank.

Authorities said Herrera and Mark Rossini, the former FBI agent who provided consulting services to Herrera, allegedly promised to financially support Vázquez’s 2020 campaign for governor in exchange for Vázquez dismissing the commissioner and appointing a new one of Herrera’s choosing.

Authorities said Vázquez accepted the bribery offer and in February 2020 demanded the commissioner’s resignation. She then was accused of appointing a former consultant for Herrera’s bank as the new commissioner in May 2020. After the move, officials said Herrera and Rossini paid more than $300,000 to political consultants to support Vázquez’s campaign.

A flurry of messages exchanged during that time between people involved in the case included a heart emoji attached to the commissioner’s resignation letter and three sealed lips emojis when someone provided Rossi’s name to Vázquez, who requested the name of “the guy from the FBI.” In addition, Herrera texted Rossini about the need for a campaign manager and said he didn’t want “a monkey from Puerto Rico.”

After Vázquez lost the primary to current Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, authorities said Herrera then allegedly sought to bribe Pierluisi to end an audit into his bank with favorable terms. Herrera is accused of using intermediaries from April 2021 to August 2021 to offer a bribe to Pierluisi’s representative, who was actually acting under FBI orders, according to the indictment.

Officials said Herrera then ordered a $25,000 payment to a political action committee in hopes of trying to bribe Pierluisi.

Stephen Muldrow, US Attorney for Puerto Rico, said Pierluisi is not involved in the case.

Vázquez, Herrera and Rossini are each charged with conspiracy, federal bribery programs and honest services wire fraud. If they are found guilty on all counts, they could face up to 20 years in prison, officials said.

Meanwhile, Díaz and Blakeman could face up to five years in prison, officials said.

Muldrow said officials believe Herrera is in the United Kingdom and Rossini in Spain. It wasn’t clear if the US would seek to extradite them.

Juan Rosado-Reynés, a spokesman for Vázquez, told the AP he did not have an immediate comment.

Attorneys for the other suspects charged in the case could not be immediately reached for comment.

In mid-May, Vázquez’s attorney told reporters that he and his client were preparing for possible charges as the former governor at the time denied any wrongdoing: “I can tell the people of Puerto Rico that I have not committed any crime, that I have not engaged in any illegal or incorrect conduct, as I have always said.”

Vázquez was sworn in as governor in August 2019 after former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló stepped down following massive protests. She served until 2021, after losing the primaries of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party to Pierluisi.

In a statement Thursday, Pierluisi said his administration will work with federal authorities to help fight corruption.

“No one is above the law in Puerto Rico,” he said. “Faced with this news that certainly affects and lacerates the confidence of our people, I reiterate that in my administration, we will continue to have a common front with federal authorities against anyone who commits an improper act, no matter where it comes from or who it may implicate.”

Vázquez previously served as the island’s justice secretary and a district attorney for more than 30 years.

She became governor after Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court ruled that the swearing in of Pierluisi — who was secretary of state in 2019 — as governor was unconstitutional. Vázquez at the time said she was not interested in running for office and would only finish the nearly two years left in Rosselló’s term.

Rosselló had resigned after tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the street, angry over corruption, mismanagement of public funds and an obscenity-laced chat in which he and 11 other men including public officials made fun of women, gay people and victims of Hurricane Maria, among others.

Shortly after she was sworn in, Vázquez told the AP that her priorities were to fight corruption, secure federal hurricane recovery funds and help lift Puerto Rico out of a deep economic crisis as the government struggled to emerge from bankruptcy.

During the interview, she told the AP that she had long wanted to be in public service: as a girl, she would stand on her balcony and hold imaginary trials, always finding the supposed defendants guilty.

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Categories
US

NYC McDonald’s worker shot over fries is brain dead, accused gunman held without bail

NYC McDonald's worker shot over fries is brain dead, accused gunman held without bail

The McDonald’s worker who was shot in the neck over cold french fries is brain-dead and on life support, prosecutors said Thursday, as a Brooklyn judge ordered his alleged assailant held without bail.

Michael Morgan, 20, is expected to face upgraded homicide charges for Monday’s Bedford-Stuyvesant shooting, in which he allegedly blasted victim Matthew Webb, 23, shortly after an argument about the French fries served to the suspect’s mother, prosecutors said.

“Your Honor, the people anticipate a homicide charge on this case given the victim is currently on life support. The victim has been transported to Brookdale Hospital and has been brain-dead,” Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Luis Paternina told Judge Inga O’Neale during Morgan’s arraignment on attempted murder charges.

“The family now has to make the difficult decision [to take him off life support].”

Morgan, who was cuffed behind his back, looked down during the brief proceeding and didn’t speak.

Webb was serving at the Fulton Street eatery on Monday evening when Morgan’s mom, Lisa Fulmore, complained to workers that her fries were cold and asked to speak to a manager.

When the workers began laughing at her, Fulmore was FaceTiming with Morgan, who came to the restaurant and got into a fight with Webb that spilled out onto the sidewalk.

Matthew Webb, the Brooklyn McDonald's employee who was shot while working, is currently brain dead and on life support.
Matthew Webb, the Brooklyn McDonald’s employee who was shot while working, is brain-dead and on life support.
Webb was allegedly shot by Michael Morgan over a dispute involving his mother being served cold french fries.
Webb was allegedly shot by Michael Morgan over a dispute involving his mother being served cold french fries.

Morgan punched Webb in the face and when he got back up, he pulled out a gun and blasted him in the neck, prosecutors alleged.

The suspect’s girlfriend, Camellia Dunlap, has also been charged in connection with the case after she allegedly handed Morgan the gun prior to the shooting, prosecutors said.

Morgan was taken into custody at his home Monday night and following hours of questioning, he confessed to the shooting and an unrelated 2020 homicide a few blocks from the McDonald’s that left Kevin Holloman, 28, dead, prosecutors alleged.

Holloman was outside a Herkimer Street building with his cousin that October when Morgan allegedly fatally shot him, prosecutors said.

Morgan was arrested for the shooting and is being held without bail.
Morgan was arrested for the shooting and is being held without bail.
Paul Martinka
NYPD at the scene of the shooting at the Brooklyn McDonald's on August 2, 2022.
NYPD at the scene of the shooting at the Brooklyn McDonald’s on August 2, 2022.
Paul Martinka

A few days prior, Morgan and Holloman’s cousin got into an altercation and when the relative took out a knife to cut up some marijuana, the suspect ran out of the apartment and began shooting, prosecutors alleged.

The cousin wasn’t hit but Holloman was struck three times and later died at Interfaith Hospital, prosecutors said.

“He was the sweetest kid. He was not like these little thugs we have running around here. He was so polite. He was always chasing girls. That was it. Chasing girls, making jokes,” Domingo Rivera, a longtime former neighbor of Holloman, told The Post Thursday.

“[He] was a good kid. I have never got into trouble. He was always dancing and joking around.”

Morgan was charged with a 2020 murder that took place near the Brooklyn McDonald's restaurant.
Morgan was charged with a 2020 murder that took place near the Brooklyn McDonald’s restaurant.
Gregory P Mango

Rivera, 57, referred to Holloman by his nickname “Keybo” and said after he was murdered, his mother soon got sick and died.

“I’m glad they got him,” Rivera said of Morgan.

Holloman’s sister also celebrated the news in a Wednesday Facebook post.

“The first person I wanted to call with this news was my mother and I couldn’t I’m still heartbroken but I’m happy me and my family get some kind of peace,” she wrote with a series of green and white heart emoji.

Morgan is charged with murder in the 2020 slay and was held without bail in both cases. He’s due back in court on August 8. Relatives of Morgan and Webb couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

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