P'Nut the Squirrel was executed -- not euthanized, his owner claims in bombshell lawsuit
The beloved pet squirrel and his raccoon sidekick, Fred, were not euthanized – they were viciously executed by New York authorities, according to a blistering new lawsuit.
On Oct. 30, a swarm of cops and agents from the state Environmental Conservation and Health departments descended on Mark Longo's upstate Pine City animal sanctuary.
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The two animals were living peacefully inside Longo's home, but it is illegal to keep squirrels and raccoons as pets in New York, where they're classified as wild animals.
4 P'Nut was slaughtered 'not due to a fear of rabies' – but as a 'senseless act of violence' and 'obscene demonstration of government abuse,' the lawsuit charges.
PNut the Squirrel/ Instagram
During the raid, DEC officials claimed, P'Nut bit one of its agents through thick leather gloves, which required the state to euthanize and decapitate the animals in order to test their brain tissue for rabies.
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Later, the state admitted the rabies tests were both negative – but it has never apologized nor returned the bodies of either pet.
The episode, which occurred just before the presidential election, was decried by outraged animal lovers and conservatives alike as a vicious example of governmental overreach.
Longo and his wife, Daniela Bittner, doubled down in a 40-page lawsuit filed Friday in Chemung County Supreme Court.
4 Mark Longo and his wife, Daniela Bittner, doubled down in a 40-page lawsuit filed Friday in Chemung County Supreme Court.
LP Media
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P'Nut and Fred were slaughtered 'not due to a fear of rabies' – but as a 'senseless act of violence' and 'obscene demonstration of government abuse,' the documents charge.
The suit alleges the bite never happened – and if it did, the agent should have been vaccinated against the disease, and trained in the safe handling of animals.
'The fact that none of these factors came into play demonstrates one of two things – that there was in fact no bite, and this story was fabricated, or, if there was a bite, that it was due strictly to the defendants' own incompetence,' the court filing states.
4 'This is our opportunity to make change and seek justice for P'Nut and Fred,' Longo told The Post.
PNut the Squirrel/ Instagram
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Longo and Bittner said their demands for the animals' remains have been ignored, and that their killings exceeded the scope of the search warrant executed that day.
The couple has suffered emotional trauma and financial losses since losing their star squirrel, who had become an Internet celebrity, appearing in social media posts, OnlyFans content, Cameos and other monetized media, according to the lawsuit.
The suit names defendants spanning every level of local and state government, including state DEC agents Erick Dalecki, Richard McNamara, Matthew Baker, Steven Farrand, John Lifrieri and Joshua Crain — who executed the search warrant — along with 20 unidentified DEC investigators.
Also named are Chemung County, its sheriff's office and health department, plus 10 unnamed county officials. The City of Elmira, its police department and Elmira Animal Control are also listed, alongside 10 additional unidentified city agents.
4 The lawsuit names state DEC agent Joshua Crain, who executed the search warrant for Longo's Pine City home on Oct. 30.
NY State Dept of Environmental Conservation
The suit seeks unspecified damages to be determined by a jury trial.
'This is our opportunity to make change and seek justice for P'Nut and Fred,' Longo told The Post.
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'I hope justice is done, not just for my clients, but for our civil rights, P'Nut and Fred, and all animals,' said his lawyer, Nora Constance Marino.
The defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
The catfishing scam putting fans and female golfers in danger
Meet Rodney Raclette. Indiana native. 62 years old. Big golfer. A huge fan of the LPGA. On Aug. 4, Rodney opened an Instagram account with the handle @lpgafanatic6512, and he quickly followed some verified accounts for female golfers and a few other accounts that looked official. Within 20 minutes of creating his account and with zero posts to his name, Rodney received a message from what at first glance appeared to be the world's No. 2-ranked female golfer, Nelly Korda. 'Hi, handsomeface, i know this is like a dream to you. Thank you for being a fan,' read a direct message from @nellykordaofficialfanspage2. The real Nelly Korda was certainly not messaging Rodney — and Rodney doesn't actually exist. The Athletic created the Instagram account of the fictitious middle-aged man to test the veracity and speed of an ever-increasing social media scam pervading the LPGA. The gist of the con goes like this: Social media user is a fan of a specific golfer; scam account impersonating that athlete reaches out and quickly moves the conversation to another platform like Telegram or WhatsApp to evade social media moderation tools; scammer offers a desirable object or experience — a private dinner, VIP access to a tournament, an investment opportunity — for a fee; untraceable payments are made via cryptocurrency or gift cards. Then, once the spigot of cash is turned off, the scammer disappears. While this particular con is not limited to golf, player agents, security experts and golfers say it has taken off within the LPGA in the last five years. Charley Hull, Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie West, Morgan Pressel, Jennifer Kupcho, Hannah Gregg and Korda all have publicly posted warnings about the scams to their followers. Golf influencers Paige Spiranac and Hailey Ostrom also have spoken out. 'It's been taken out of my hands being able to communicate freely with fans,' Korda, who has a warning statement pinned to the top of her Instagram profile, told The Athletic. 'Because I don't really know their intentions.' On a handful of occasions, the victims of the scams have continued to blame the golfer for their financial losses even after being confronted with the truth, and some simply refuse to believe they have not been interacting with the real athlete, tipping into fixated behavior that concerns golfers and security officials. 'We've definitely had people show up at tournaments who thought they had sent money to have a private dinner with the person,' said Scott Stewart, who works for TorchStone Global, a security firm used by the LPGA. 'But then also, we've had people show up who were aggrieved because they had been ripped off, there's a tournament nearby, and they wanted to kind of confront the athlete over the theft.' Last May, a Pennsylvania man in his 60s drove four hours to Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J., for the Mizuho Americas Open. He was there to meet 22-year-old American golfer Rose Zhang. He told tournament staff that she had left a VIP package for him and even booked him a hotel room. He said they had been communicating on social media for over a year, during which he had sent her around $70,000. Zhang's agent confronted the man, breaking the news that he was not communicating with Zhang. Another man traveled from Asia to a tournament in the United States, believing he was married to one of the players. A 68-year-old man from California attended several tournaments to see South Korean golfer In Gee Chun after being duped out of $50,000. England's Charley Hull warned her followers on Instagram about the scam after 'an incident' at a tournament in 2024. And in January, a man showed up at the home of golf influencer Hailey Ostrom after losing $50,000 to an account impersonating her. Spiranac said the reaction from some of the scam victims has forced her to change the way she works and lives. She now has security at every event, has an active restraining order against one of the scammed individuals, and when fan behavior escalates because of a scam — 'flare-ups' as she calls them — she has chosen to skip some events for her safety. 'I've had people come up to me at events, at outings, and say that they're in a relationship with me, or they come up quite angry because 'fake me' has scammed them out of money or has ghosted them,' Spiranac said. 'Those experiences are quite scary, but it's also very invasive.' Added Stewart: 'There's really two victims. You have the person that's been scammed, but really, the athlete is a victim, too, since they get blamed for it.' Not too long after joining a Nelly Korda fan page on Facebook in June 2024, a 72-year-old man from South Carolina, whose name is being withheld at the request of his family, received an email from someone claiming to be the real Nelly Korda. Email quickly turned to texting, texting morphed into phone calls, and within days, he told his daughter that they were in love. 'He was convinced he was speaking to Nelly Korda, convinced she was going to live with him, and they were going to get married,' his daughter, Shannon, said. 'But it was a cycle of different ways to get money from him.' She estimates he sent over $15,000. Shannon and her brother tried to convince him it was a scam. They also reached out to law enforcement, explored intervention services, attempted to catfish the catfisher, and even sent a plea via a direct message on Instagram to the real Nelly Korda to set the record straight. When the father confronted 'Nelly,' she had an excuse for everything: She had no access to her money due to a controlling manager and family. Her flight got canceled. The scam warning on Korda's verified Instagram account was a note for everyone else, not him. In March, as her father began drafting plans to sell his house at Nelly's request, one of Nelly's made-up excuses finally exposed her. She told him she had broken a bone in a car accident, but there was no evidence of a broken bone on Korda's verified Instagram account. Finally, the man realized he was not in a relationship with Nelly Korda. But his retirement fund was gone. Rodney Raclette, if he really existed, might have been similarly duped. When he commented on a video posted by the verified Nelly Korda Instagram account, people responded to his comments, directing him to other fan pages that the poster claimed were created by Korda to interact with fans. Another person claiming to be Korda sent him an Instagram direct message. After Rodney and that fake Korda exchanged niceties, she insisted the conversation move off of Instagram to email. She urged Rodney not to share her email with anyone, and wrote — in broken English — that he not 'take this opportunity talking to me for granted because not all celebrities come online to talk to their fans like am doing presently.' Next, she said she needed to see Rodney's ID for her 'safety and career,' but when Rodney made excuses as to why he could not provide any identification, the fake Nelly impatiently moved to the next question: 'Do you have a Fan Membership Card?' She told Rodney, 'if you're my biggest fan,' for just $700, he would receive access to all of her 'games,' her autograph, and new, customized golf shirts. Anytime Rodney questioned the price or authenticity of the card, Nelly threatened to leave the conversation. She would only continue if he purchased the card. Rodney became more skeptical and urged Nelly to prove it was really her. Within minutes, he received an AI-altered video of the real Nelly Korda speaking directly to him by name. It's nearly impossible to trace the source of most of these scams, and they're even harder to prosecute. Old accounts disappear and new accounts reappear by the hour. Patrick Chase, a private investigator and former LPGA security consultant, says the majority of catfishers are typically based outside of the U.S. The FBI is overwhelmed with identity theft cases and, according to Chase, it oftentimes won't address incidents unless losses exceed a certain dollar amount. Golf influencer Hannah Gregg has been communicating with several scam victims to collect evidence she can bring to law enforcement but to no avail. 'They won't do anything for me basically until something bad happens to me,' she said. Korda said she once reported about 20 spam accounts per day, but they are now materializing so quickly she can't keep up. 'You're just put into a situation you really don't want to be in. You feel bad, you feel guilty for people going through this. It's the last thing you want,' she said. 'It's not only putting the players in danger, in a sense, but it's putting all the fans in danger.' The day after creating the Rodney account, the fan page that had reached out to him — @nellykordaofficialfanspage21 — had been deleted. Rodney emailed the fake Nelly Korda to ask what happened. She replied: 'I deactivated the account because of imposters, and the FBI are working on catching them.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Golf, Culture, A1: Must-Read Stories, Women's Golf, women's sports 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
The catfishing scam putting fans and female golfers in danger
Meet Rodney Raclette. Indiana native. 62 years old. Big golfer. A huge fan of the LPGA. On Aug. 4, Rodney opened an Instagram account with the handle @lpgafanatic6512, and he quickly followed some verified accounts for female golfers and a few other accounts that looked official. Within 20 minutes of creating his account and with zero posts to his name, Rodney received a message from what at first glance appeared to be the world's No. 2-ranked female golfer, Nelly Korda. Advertisement 'Hi, handsomeface, i know this is like a dream to you. Thank you for being a fan,' read a direct message from @nellykordaofficialfanspage2. The real Nelly Korda was certainly not messaging Rodney — and Rodney doesn't actually exist. The Athletic created the Instagram account of the fictitious middle-aged man to test the veracity and speed of an ever-increasing social media scam pervading the LPGA. The gist of the con goes like this: Social media user is a fan of a specific golfer; scam account impersonating that athlete reaches out and quickly moves the conversation to another platform like Telegram or WhatsApp to evade social media moderation tools; scammer offers a desirable object or experience — a private dinner, VIP access to a tournament, an investment opportunity — for a fee; untraceable payments are made via cryptocurrency or gift cards. Then, once the spigot of cash is turned off, the scammer disappears. While this particular con is not limited to golf, player agents, security experts and golfers say it has taken off within the LPGA in the last five years. Charley Hull, Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie West, Morgan Pressel, Jennifer Kupcho, Hannah Gregg and Korda all have publicly posted warnings about the scams to their followers. Golf influencers Paige Spiranac and Hailey Ostrom also have spoken out. 'It's been taken out of my hands being able to communicate freely with fans,' Korda, who has a warning statement pinned to the top of her Instagram profile, told The Athletic. 'Because I don't really know their intentions.' On a handful of occasions, the victims of the scams have continued to blame the golfer for their financial losses even after being confronted with the truth, and some simply refuse to believe they have not been interacting with the real athlete, tipping into fixated behavior that concerns golfers and security officials. Advertisement 'We've definitely had people show up at tournaments who thought they had sent money to have a private dinner with the person,' said Scott Stewart, who works for TorchStone Global, a security firm used by the LPGA. 'But then also, we've had people show up who were aggrieved because they had been ripped off, there's a tournament nearby, and they wanted to kind of confront the athlete over the theft.' Last May, a Pennsylvania man in his 60s drove four hours to Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J., for the Mizuho Americas Open. He was there to meet 22-year-old American golfer Rose Zhang. He told tournament staff that she had left a VIP package for him and even booked him a hotel room. He said they had been communicating on social media for over a year, during which he had sent her around $70,000. Zhang's agent confronted the man, breaking the news that he was not communicating with Zhang. Another man traveled from Asia to a tournament in the United States, believing he was married to one of the players. A 68-year-old man from California attended several tournaments to see South Korean golfer In Gee Chun after being duped out of $50,000. England's Charley Hull warned her followers on Instagram about the scam after 'an incident' at a tournament in 2024. And in January, a man showed up at the home of golf influencer Hailey Ostrom after losing $50,000 to an account impersonating her. Spiranac said the reaction from some of the scam victims has forced her to change the way she works and lives. She now has security at every event, has an active restraining order against one of the scammed individuals, and when fan behavior escalates because of a scam — 'flare-ups' as she calls them — she has chosen to skip some events for her safety. 'I've had people come up to me at events, at outings, and say that they're in a relationship with me, or they come up quite angry because 'fake me' has scammed them out of money or has ghosted them,' Spiranac said. 'Those experiences are quite scary, but it's also very invasive.' Added Stewart: 'There's really two victims. You have the person that's been scammed, but really, the athlete is a victim, too, since they get blamed for it.' Not too long after joining a Nelly Korda fan page on Facebook in June 2024, a 72-year-old man from South Carolina, whose name is being withheld at the request of his family, received an email from someone claiming to be the real Nelly Korda. Email quickly turned to texting, texting morphed into phone calls, and within days, he told his daughter that they were in love. Advertisement 'He was convinced he was speaking to Nelly Korda, convinced she was going to live with him, and they were going to get married,' his daughter, Shannon, said. 'But it was a cycle of different ways to get money from him.' She estimates he sent over $15,000. Shannon and her brother tried to convince him it was a scam. They also reached out to law enforcement, explored intervention services, attempted to catfish the catfisher, and even sent a plea via a direct message on Instagram to the real Nelly Korda to set the record straight. When the father confronted 'Nelly,' she had an excuse for everything: She had no access to her money due to a controlling manager and family. Her flight got canceled. The scam warning on Korda's verified Instagram account was a note for everyone else, not him. In March, as her father began drafting plans to sell his house at Nelly's request, one of Nelly's made-up excuses finally exposed her. She told him she had broken a bone in a car accident, but there was no evidence of a broken bone on Korda's verified Instagram account. Finally, the man realized he was not in a relationship with Nelly Korda. But his retirement fund was gone. Rodney Raclette, if he really existed, might have been similarly duped. When he commented on a video posted by the verified Nelly Korda Instagram account, people responded to his comments, directing him to other fan pages that the poster claimed were created by Korda to interact with fans. Another person claiming to be Korda sent him an Instagram direct message. After Rodney and that fake Korda exchanged niceties, she insisted the conversation move off of Instagram to email. She urged Rodney not to share her email with anyone, and wrote — in broken English — that he not 'take this opportunity talking to me for granted because not all celebrities come online to talk to their fans like am doing presently.' Advertisement Next, she said she needed to see Rodney's ID for her 'safety and career,' but when Rodney made excuses as to why he could not provide any identification, the fake Nelly impatiently moved to the next question: 'Do you have a Fan Membership Card?' She told Rodney, 'if you're my biggest fan,' for just $700, he would receive access to all of her 'games,' her autograph, and new, customized golf shirts. Anytime Rodney questioned the price or authenticity of the card, Nelly threatened to leave the conversation. She would only continue if he purchased the card. Rodney became more skeptical and urged Nelly to prove it was really her. Within minutes, he received an AI-altered video of the real Nelly Korda speaking directly to him by name. It's nearly impossible to trace the source of most of these scams, and they're even harder to prosecute. Old accounts disappear and new accounts reappear by the hour. Patrick Chase, a private investigator and former LPGA security consultant, says the majority of catfishers are typically based outside of the U.S. The FBI is overwhelmed with identity theft cases and, according to Chase, it oftentimes won't address incidents unless losses exceed a certain dollar amount. Golf influencer Hannah Gregg has been communicating with several scam victims to collect evidence she can bring to law enforcement but to no avail. 'They won't do anything for me basically until something bad happens to me,' she said. Korda said she once reported about 20 spam accounts per day, but they are now materializing so quickly she can't keep up. 'You're just put into a situation you really don't want to be in. You feel bad, you feel guilty for people going through this. It's the last thing you want,' she said. 'It's not only putting the players in danger, in a sense, but it's putting all the fans in danger.' Advertisement The day after creating the Rodney account, the fan page that had reached out to him — @nellykordaofficialfanspage21 — had been deleted. Rodney emailed the fake Nelly Korda to ask what happened. She replied: 'I deactivated the account because of imposters, and the FBI are working on catching them.' (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Kate McShane, Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)</p Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Guatemalan national freed without bail in THC gummies case that sent 12 middle-schoolers to the hospital
A Guatemalan national was released on his own recognizance Thursday after allegedly selling tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) gummies that caused the hospitalization of a dozen New York middle-schoolers in March. Wilmer Castillo Garcia, 22, is accused of endangering the welfare of a child after 12 students from William Floyd Middle School were brought to Peconic Bay Hospital on the same day, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. The children became ill after eating gummies laced with THC, a compound found in cannabis that is known for causing a high or euphoric effect. The candies were traced to an Instagram account, which led investigators to Castillo Garcia, Tierney said. Castillo Garcia was also indicted on two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and other related charges, after he allegedly sold cocaine and marijuana to an undercover officer on two separate occasions. He pleaded not guilty. 4 Wilmer Castillo-Garcia is escorted out of the Suffolk County 6th precinct in Selden, NY, before his arraignment on May 28, 2025. Dennis A. Clark 4 THC-laced gummies packaged in wrapping made to look similar to popular snacks. The North Carolina Secretary of State Defense attorney Matthew Tuohy, who is representing Castillo Garcia, told Fox News Digital they are working with the district attorney's office to come up with a resolution to the case. 'My client has had a very, very tough upbringing,' Tuohy said. 'He's basically been on his own. He has family here now that is helping him, and I'm trying to get him on the right path to resolve this the best way we can.' Though Castillo Garcia is charged with a total of four felonies and two misdemeanors, Judge Anthony Senft Jr. ordered him to be released on his own recognizance, as his charges are considered non-bail-eligible under current New York state law. 4 William Floyd Middle School in Moriches, New York, where the 12 students fell ill from the THC-laced candies. William Floyd School District 4 Marijuana-infused sour gummy bear candies lined up in a photo illustration. REUTERS 'This is yet another example of how New York's bail laws are broken,' Tierney wrote in a statement. 'We cannot even ask for reasonable security on a foreign national who allegedly provided THC gummies that sickened middle-schoolers to ensure he faces justice.' Prosecutors cannot ask for bail, and judges are unable to set an amount, despite the fact that Castillo Garcia is alleged to be a foreign national with connections and the ability to flee the jurisdiction to evade prosecution, according to Tierney. When asked about his client's release, Tuohy said Castillo Garcia is not a flight risk. 'He hired an attorney, he was present in court at his own volition, and he showed he's not a risk of flight,' Tuohy said. 'These are drug cases, not violent cases, so they're not bail-eligible. At the same time, I don't think there was an intent to harm anybody, on anybody's part. It's an unfortunate situation, and we're going to do the best we can to resolve it in the best possible way.' Castillo Garcia is due back in court Sept. 2 and faces up to nine years in prison if convicted of the top count.
