Letitia James has gone after everybody she can on her 'political hit list,' says attorney
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Yahoo
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Disconnected smoke alarm discovered in home basement where fire killed 6
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Yahoo
26 minutes ago
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Failed New Mexico candidate gets 80 years for convictions in shootings at officials' homes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A failed political candidate was sentenced to 80 years in federal prison Wednesday for his convictions in a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in Albuquerque in the aftermath of the 2020 election. A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Peña earlier this year of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the homes of four Democratic officials, including the current state House speaker. Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, said Peña has shown no remorse and had hoped to cause political change by terrorizing people who held contrary views to him into being too afraid to take part in political life. Peña's lawyers had sought a five-year sentence, saying their client maintains that he is innocent of the charges. They have said Peña was not involved in the shootings and that prosecutors were relying on the testimony of two men who bear responsibility and accepted plea agreements in exchange for leniency. 'Today was a necessary step toward Mr. Peña's continued fight to prove his innocence," said Nicholas Hart, one of Peña's attorneys. "He looks forward to the opportunity to appeal, where serious issues about the propriety of this prosecution will be addressed.' The attacks took place as threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials surged across the country after President Donald Trump and his allies called into question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors said Peña resorted to violence in the belief that a 'rigged' election had robbed him of victory in his bid to serve in the state Legislature. The shootings targeted the homes of officials including two county commissioners after their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost by nearly 50 percentage points. No one was injured, but in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator's 10-year-old daughter. Two other men who had acknowledged helping Peña with the attacks had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges and received yearslong prison sentences.
Associated Press
28 minutes ago
- Associated Press
9 people plead not guilty in a Texas elections probe involving 'vote harvesting'
HOUSTON (AP) — Nine people, including a former mayor and city council member and the chief of staff to a state representative, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to felony charges brought forth in a rural Texas county by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton as part of a widening elections investigation that is being criticized by Latino rights activists as being politically driven. The nine people appeared either in person or by Zoom during a court hearing in Pearsall, Texas, before state District Judge Sid Harle. All of the nine people, who were indicted in late June, have been charged with what is known in Texas as vote harvesting, a felony that often involves payment for collecting and dropping off other people's absentee ballots. In May, six other people, including Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho, the top elected official in the county, were indicted as part of Paxton's investigation. One of the individuals who pleaded not guilty on Wednesday was Juan Manuel Medina, who is the chief of staff for state Rep. Elizabeth Campos. Medina is also former chairman of the Democratic Party of Bexar County, where San Antonio is located. Medina's lawyer, Gerry Goldstein, declined to comment on Wednesday. 'I'm going to do my talking in the courtroom,' Goldstein said. On Wednesday, Goldstein filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against Medina, who is accused of providing compensation as a third party to two people for vote harvesting in February 2024. In the motion to dismiss, Goldstein said the vote-harvesting statute is overbroad, vague and 'restricts Constitutionally protected rights to speech and to participate in the election and voting process in violation of the First Amendment.' Goldstein said in the motion that the vote-harvesting statute 'would appear to punish a broad range of protected speech, including noncoercive voter assistance and core political expression, without requiring any actual voter fraud, coercion, or intimidation.' 'This indictment charges Medina in a capacity that is not a crime and the indictment should be dismissed,' Goldstein said in his 20-page motion. The vote-harvesting charges are third-degree felonies and carry up to 10 years in prison. The other people who were indicted in June are: Cecilia Castellano, a former candidate for state representative; Frio County Commissioner Raul Carrizales; former Dilley Mayor Mary Ann Obregon; former Dilley City Council member Inelda Rodriguez; Petra Davina Trevino, a former candidate for Pearsall city council; Pearsall school district trustee Mari Benavides; Susanna Carrizales; and Rachel Leal. Attorneys for Raul Carrizales, Susanna Carrizales, Castellano, Obregon and Rodriguez did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Attorneys for Benavides, Leal and Trevino could not immediately be reached for comment. Paxton's office and 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Gossett Louis, who office presented the case to a grand jury with the Texas Attorney General's Office, did not return a call or email seeking comment. Last month, Paxton said that any elected official 'trying to cheat the system will have to answer for it.' 'Under my watch, attempts to rig elections and silence the will of the voters will be met with the full force of the law. I will continue to fight to ensure Texas has free and fair elections,' Paxton said in a statement. The indictments were the latest development in an investigation that Paxton started after the 2020 election to root out voter fraud, which is rare and typically occurs in isolated instances. Texas has tightened its voter laws in recent years and increased penalties that Democrats and opponents say are attempts to suppress turnout among Black and Latino voters. A federal appeals court last year upheld the state's law that tightened voter restrictions and increased penalties for vote harvesting. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano:
