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Funeral home owners, found with nearly 200 decomposing bodies, now charged with COVID fraud
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Approved, Fox News, Local

Funeral home owners, found with nearly 200 decomposing bodies, now charged with COVID fraud

By Greg Wehner |  FOX News A Colorado Springs, Colorado couple who authorities claim abandoned nearly 200 bodies in a building infested with maggots and flies, faces additional charges after allegedly spending more than $880,000 in COVID relief funds on vacations, cosmetic surgery and other personal expenses. Jon Hallford and his wife, Carie Hallford, owned the Back to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs and had been facing 190 counts of abuse of a corpse, five counts of theft, four counts of money laundering and over 50 counts of forgery. An indictment unsealed on Monday alleged the Hallfords used $882,300 in COVID pandemic relief funds to buy items for themselves, including cars, dinners, cryptocurrency and tuition for their child. READ THE FULL STORY AT FO...
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Man given maximum sentence for killing of K-9 Graffit, other crimes
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Approved, denvergazette.com, First Judicial District, Local

Man given maximum sentence for killing of K-9 Graffit, other crimes

By First Judicial District Eduardo Armando Romero was given the maximum sentence of 12 years in prison for killing Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) K-9 Graffit and other related crimes from the February 2023 incident. Romero pleaded guilty earlier this year and, as a result, faced 8-12 years in prison. Romero received a total of 12 years to be served consecutively to the sentence Romero is already serving for similar crimes he committed in Denver. At today’s sentencing, the resounding message was that K9 Graffit, who was the most experienced and trained dog on JCSO’s team, was not just a dog. Deputies from JCSO spoke and submitted letters describing the profound impact that Graffit’s death has had on them, detailing what he meant to each of them and to the JCSO family. ...
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Read the questions prospective Trump jurors have to answer before they’re selected in hush money trial
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National, Washington Examiner

Read the questions prospective Trump jurors have to answer before they’re selected in hush money trial

Annabella Rosciglione | Washington Examiner The jury selection process is tricky in high-profile cases, especially when involving former President Donald Trump.  The jury is being selected for Trump’s New York hush money case. Judge Juan Merchan indicated that the trial would move forth by outlining his jury selection process in a letter sent to the defense and prosecution. In a typical manner for a trial, possible jurors may excuse themselves before the trial for an “honest, legitimate and good faith reason” they may not be able to serve on the trial.  After that process, the remaining possible jurors will be asked various questions to determine if they can serve in People v. Donald Trump.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
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FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Fraud
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Approved, National, The Epoch Times

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Fraud

By Michael Washburn | The Epoch Times NEW YORK—A federal judge on March 28 sentenced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison for defrauding investors of $8 billion in the fallen cryptocurrency exchange. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan handed down the sentence at a Manhattan court hearing after rejecting Mr. Bankman-Fried’s claim that FTX customers did not actually lose money and accusing him of lying during his trial testimony. In November, jurors convicted Mr. Bankman-Fried of all seven counts of conspiracy and fraud with which government lawyers charged him. “He knew it was wrong,” Judge Kaplan said of Mr. Bankman-Fried before handing down the sentence. “He knew it was criminal. He regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught. But he is...
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Pharmaceutical company Amgen sues Colorado over price-setting prescription drug board
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Pharmaceutical company Amgen sues Colorado over price-setting prescription drug board

By John Ingold | The Colorado Sun Amgen, the multinational pharmaceutical company that makes the blockbuster arthritis drug Enbrel, has sued Colorado over a state board’s efforts to possibly cap the price of the drug. In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Denver, Amgen argues that the actions of Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board are unconstitutional because they conflict with federal laws and because they violate rights to due process. The company is seeking not just to overturn the board’s recent decisions about Enbrel but also to strike down major parts of the law creating the board. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Trump says he’ll post $175M in fraud case after new court order
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Approved, National, The Epoch Times

Trump says he’ll post $175M in fraud case after new court order

By Catherine Yang | The Epoch Times The Appellate Division, First Judicial Department of the New York State Supreme Court has granted a stay of enforcement on the $464 million judgment on former President Donald Trump with conditions, allowing the Trump Organization to avert having assets imminently seized by the New York attorney general. The order came after defense attorneys argued a $464 million bond was impossible after having contracted four brokers to negotiate with more than 30 companies. Sureties don’t issue bonds that big for private individuals, and even if the Trump Organization was a public conglomerate they could issue such a bond to, it would require some $570 million in cash to cover additional premiums. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE EPOCH TIMES
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State Rep. Leslie Herod granted protective order after judge finds ‘sexual assault’ claims are not credible
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

State Rep. Leslie Herod granted protective order after judge finds ‘sexual assault’ claims are not credible

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics After a year of social media accusations that she was a "sexual predator," Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, has been granted a restraining order against the spokesperson for state Treasurer Dave Young with a judge ruling the evidence does not support the claims. The restraining order is against Sheena Kadi, the public information officer and communications director for Young. Kadi is a longtime Democratic political operative and the the vice chair of public relations and marketing for the Colorado Democratic Party. Kadi did not respond to a request for comment. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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Federal Court Rules Firearm Restrictions on Defendants Awaiting Trial Are Constitutional
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Approved, National, The Epoch Times

Federal Court Rules Firearm Restrictions on Defendants Awaiting Trial Are Constitutional

By By Patricia Tolson | Epoch Times A federal court has ruled it is constitutional to block a defendant’s 2nd Amendment rights while they are awaiting trial. On March 18, the three-judge panel in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the restriction on the rights of Jesus Perez-Garcia and John Thomas Fencl to bear firearms is constitutional because it is consistent with historic legal precedent. While these are two separate cases, with Judge Gonzalo Paul Curiel ruling on Mr. Perez-Garcia’s case on Dec. 2, 2022, and Judge Janis Lynn Sammartino ruling on Mr. Fencl’s case on Dec. 7, 2022, both men brought their legal challenge before the federal appeals court on Jan. 26, 2023. READ THE FULL STORY AT EPOCH TIMES
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Plea deal gives former producer at Sounds True lenient sentence for possession of 6,000 images of sexual child abuse
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice

Plea deal gives former producer at Sounds True lenient sentence for possession of 6,000 images of sexual child abuse

By Heidi Ganahl | Rocky Mountain Voice Mitchell Clute, 57, a former senior producer and editor at Sounds True, has agreed to a plea deal, according to various media reports, on charges of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. He was arrested in July, following an investigation by the Boulder County Digital Forensics Lab, which discovered child sexual abuse material downloaded from an IP address associated with Clute's residence on Dewey Avenue. Initially facing 11 felony charges, including sexual exploitation of a child, Clute accepted a very lenient plea deal last week, pleading guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, both class 4 felonies. The remaining charges were dismissed as part of the agreement. The sentencing, on March 8, saw Clute re...
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Supreme Court extends freeze on Texas illegal immigration law
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Approved, National, The Epoch Times

Supreme Court extends freeze on Texas illegal immigration law

By Tom Ozimek | The Epoch Times The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on March 12 that extends for at least another week its temporary pause on enforcement of Texas’ immigration law, which would have allowed state police to arrest people suspected of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Justice Samuel Alito, who oversees the federal circuit handling the case, issued an administrative stay on Tuesday, postponing the implementation of Texas Senate Bill 4 until March 18. The move follows a similar March 4 decision that imposed a temporary freeze on SB4, which was signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in December 2023 and was set to go into effect on March 5. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE EPOCH TIMES
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