Tourist charged with child abuse after manhandling teen to get better parade spot at Disney World
Martha Lucia Zapata-Echeverri, 51, allegedly grabbed a 17-year-old girl and left nail marks on her during Monday's brawl at Disney's Magic Kingdom, according to an Orange County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.
The accuser told deputies she was 'standing on the sidewalk of 'Main Street' in front of the castle preparing to watch the parade.'
Zapata-Echeverri — a Colombian who now lives in Spain — then allegedly 'put her hand on [the teen] 'trying to make space,'' just for the girl to ask her in Spanish 'not to touch her,' the affidavit continues.
Tourist Martha Lucia Zapata-Echeverri was arrested after allegedly fighting a teen at Walt Disney World.
Orange County Sheriff's Office
Instead, Zapata-Echeverri 'grabbed [the teen] by the arm and pulled her to the side, causing a bruise and abrasion on her right arm,' according to the affidavit.
The tourist — who was with her daughter — blamed the teen for starting the fight by pushing into her and saying it was 'her spot' as they all tried to get good spots for the parade.
She was unable to explain how the teen had 'nail marks,' the affidavit said, saying the suspect instead 'just pantomimed her 'pushing.''
The fight reportedly broke out over getting a better spot at the Disney parade.
satur73 – stock.adobe.com
Zapata Echeverri was uninjured in the incident at around 9:40 p.m., which ended with deputies separating the pair.
So far, no video of the fight has been found, the affidavit said.
Zapata-Echeverri arrived in the US on a tourist visa on July 2 and was scheduled to fly back to Spain on Wednesday, her attorney told a judge during her court appearance on Tuesday, WESH reported.
Her bond was reduced to $2,500 and she was banned from Disney properties, WESH reported.
Walt Disney World did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Epoch Times
an hour ago
- Epoch Times
US Lawmakers Reject Conviction Against Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe
U.S. Congress members used social media to express their rejection of a judge's ruling on July 28 against former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, 73, following litigation related to an investigation into alleged witness tampering. Judge Sandra Heredia, of the 44th Criminal Circuit of Bogotá, found Uribe guilty of bribery in a criminal proceeding and procedural fraud. Each charge carries a prison sentence of between six and 12 years in prison, and his sentencing is expected on Aug. 1.
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
Man Who Marketed Pablo Escobar-Branded Crypto And Flamethrower Pleads Guilty To Fraud
Pablo Escobar died in 1993, but in this 2017 picture, a woman in Medellin, Colombia, still keeps a picture of him in her wallet. Photo byOlof Kyros Gustafsson, also known as (aka) 'Sir Olaf Gustafsson,' aka 'El Silencio,' has pleaded guilty to six federal criminal charges related to marketing and selling products, including flamethrowers and cell phones, that he never delivered. The products were based on licensing rights tied to the late Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. According to his plea agreement, Gustafsson was the CEO of Escobar Inc., a corporation registered in Puerto Rico that held successor-in-interest rights to the intellectual property—largely, name and likeness—of Pablo Escobar. Escobar is a former Colombian narco-terrorist, most commonly recognized as the head of the Medellín Cartel. At the height of the drug trade in the 1980s, Escobar, called "The King of Cocaine," was responsible for an estimated 80% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States—at one point, he was thought to be bringing in an estimated $420 million a week. Escobar was eventually shot and killed by Colombian police in 1993. Escobar remained popular, and Escobar's brother and former accountant for the Medellín Cartel, Roberto De Jesus Escobar Gaviria, registered the successor-in-interest rights as part of Escobar, Inc. According to the company's website, 'The only true rights-holder to any naming rights involving Pablo Escobar is Escobar Inc, and we defend such rights.' True to their word, in 2017, the company threatened to sue Netflix for $1 billion for alleged intellectual property violations the company tied to the popular show, 'Narcos.' Escobar Inc. eventually abandoned its trademark claims. Still, the company continued to market Escobar's name. According to court documents, from July 2019 to November 2023, Gustafsson used the Escobar persona to market and advertise products similar to those already in the market at a substantially lower price. The products included the Escobar Flamethrower, a product modeled after the 'Not a Flamethrower' marketed and sold by Elon Musk's The Boring Company for $500. Escobar's brother accused Musk of stealing the idea and demanded $100 million—the demand didn't go anywhere, with Musk alluding to the allegations on X (formerly Twitter). Despite the controversy, Gustafsson and his co-conspirators continued to market the product. They advertised the Escobar Flamethrower for less than half of the amount Musk was seeking: just $249. Despite receiving payment from customers, Escobar Flamethrowers were not delivered. The purported products also included several phones, including the Escobar Fold Phone (available for sale for $349) and an 'upgraded' Escobar Fold 2 Phone, marketed as a competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Fold phone (available for sale for $400). The company promoted the phones on a website it owned called RIPSamsung. The video for the phone—which remains available on YouTube—showed a bikini-clad woman smashing up Galaxy Fold phones with a sledgehammer and has been viewed over 800,000 times. A similar video promoting the 'Escobar Fold Phone' has been viewed more than two million times on YouTube. no longer exists (it redirects to the Escobar Inc. website)—according to the company, Samsung filed a complaint over the use of the domain—and won—in 2020. The Escobar Gold 11 Pro Phone was similarly marketed as a refurbished Apple iPhone 11 Pro, plated in 24 karat gold, and available for sale for $500. In 2020, Escobar Gaviria claimed to have filed suit against Apple, seeking $2.6 billion in damages. The suit, which was allegedly filed by Escobar Gaviria individually, was posted on the company's website. Despite the drama, phones were not delivered to paying customers. Gustafsson also advertised Escobar Cash, marketed as the world's first 'physical cryptocurrency.' Escobar Cash was available for sale in several denominations at a U.S. dollar conversion rate of 1/1000th of U.S. dollar face value. The cash has been described as a combination of 'two worlds, the physical world and the virtual world' by using 'hybrid cash notes, notes that are backed by cryptocurrency and tied to the blockchain.' (A book penned by Escobar Gaviria about the currency remains for sale on Amazon, and Gustaffson is listed as an additional author.) To keep the scheme going, Gustafsson and his co-conspirators would send crudely-made samples of the products to reviewers and social media influencers to increase demand. For example, he sent Samsung Galaxy Fold Phones wrapped in gold foil and disguised as Escobar, Inc. phones to online tech reviewers to induce victims who watch online reviews into paying for and purchasing the non-existent Escobar, Inc. products. Rather than sending the products, Gustafsson would send a 'Certificate of Ownership,' book, or other promotional materials to customers so that there was record of a mailing. When a paying customer would attempt to obtain a refund when the product was never delivered, Gustafsson fraudulently referred the payment processor to the record of mailing as 'proof' that the product was shipped and received by the customer. That would mean the refund requests would be denied. Eventually, several payment processors, including PayPal, cut ties with the company due to the complaints. The items are also no longer available on the company's website, though the website remains online. Before the items were removed from the site, Gustafsson and his co-conspirators received hundreds of orders. The take, according to court documents? At least $1,300,193. Gustafsson also arranged to open bank accounts in the United States, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates. The accounts were opened under his name and entities he controlled to be used as funnel accounts—bank accounts into which he deposited the proceeds from his criminal activities. The goal was to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds. He would then transfer and launder the funds through various bank accounts, including accounts in the Central District of California and elsewhere in the United States and abroad. Ultimately, the funds landed in accounts owned by Gustafsson, his family members, and others, who would then use the funds for their own personal use. Arrest Gustafsson was arrested in Marbella, Spain, in December 2023. He was taken into federal custody in the United States on March 28, after he was extradited. When he was taken into custody, he was arraigned on a 115-count federal indictment, including one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, nine counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, 41 counts of money laundering, 35 counts of international money laundering, and 25 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. According to court documents, Gustafsson is represented by Meghan A. Blanco of the Law Offices of Meghan Blanco. Blanco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Criminal Charges Gustafsson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of concealment money laundering, and one count of international concealment money laundering. Wire fraud involves wire communication—in this case, the internet—sent across state lines to promote or commit fraud, while mail fraud involves the use of the U.S. Mail (or other mail carriers) to execute a scheme. Money laundering is the process of converting 'dirty money" meaning that it was from illegal sources into "clean' money, or legitimate cash so that it can't be traced. The easiest way, of course, is to run the cash through a bank or other financial institution and replace those bad dollars with shiny new ones—that's why federal laws require that large transactions be reported. When illicit funds are transmitted money from a place inside the United States to or through a place outside the United States, that's international money laundering. Conspiracy charges mean that two or more persons agreed to commit a crime (in this case, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering) and the defendant joined, knowing the purpose of the scheme and intending to help accomplish that purpose. Court documents did not name the co-conspirators in the case. Sentencing Following his guilty plea, Gustafsson is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha for sentencing. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each fraud-related count and up to 10 years in federal prison for each money laundering-related count. That means the total maximum sentence for all offenses is 120 years imprisonment. In addition, he faces up to a 3-year period of supervised release, a fine of $2,250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offenses (whichever is greatest), and a mandatory special assessment of $600. As part of his plea agreement, Gustafsson has agreed to pay up to $1.3 million in restitution to victims, as well as to forfeiture to funds that were proceeds of the fraud schemes, including money currently held in a bank account in Sweden. IRS Criminal Investigation IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the FBI, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General investigated the matter, with assistance from the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs, the United States Marshals Service, Eurojust, Spanish authorities, and French judicial authorities. CI is the sixth-largest law enforcement agency in the U.S. and is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations like tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, and identity theft. While other federal agencies also have investigative jurisdiction for money laundering and some bank secrecy act violations, the IRS is the only federal agency that can investigate potential criminal violations of the tax code. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad. Forbes IRS Special Agent Was Shocked A Woman Would Fake Having Cancer—But She Did By Kelly Phillips Erb Forbes The Infiltrator: Drugs, Dirty Money And Deep Cover By Kelly Phillips Erb
Los Angeles Times
6 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
French ministers condemn ‘excessive use of force' after Jewish youths were removed from a flight
PARIS — A summer camp counselor has accused Spanish law enforcement officers of using brute force against her during the removal of a group of French Jewish teenagers from a plane bound for Paris from Spain, French government ministers and her lawyer said Wednesday. Ministers Aurore Bergé and Benjamin Haddad met with the counselor on Tuesday after French authorities last week contacted the CEO of the Spanish low-cost airline Vueling and the Spanish ambassador to France to determine whether the youngsters had been discriminated against on the basis of their religion. Forty-four minors and eight adult French passengers were kicked off flight V8166 from Valencia to Paris on July 23, for what Spanish police and the airline described as unruly behavior. But the ministers said the counselor, who asked to remain anonymous and is described as 'shocked,' disputed that account. They say she described the crew as hostile from the outset, saying a child briefly sang but stopped when asked, and claimed no behavior warranted the group's removal or the Civil Guard's response. 'No action justified the disembarkation or the excessive and brutal use of force by the Civil Guard against the young woman, who has just been notified of 15 days of total incapacity to work,' the ministers said in a statement, adding that her testimony had been corroborated by other passengers on board. The counselor's lawyer, Muriel Ouaknine Melki, told the Associated Press that she was left with bruises on her legs, arms and body after she was brutally handcuffed and held in an arm lock. Ouaknine Melki said her team is collecting evidence before lodging a complaint. The Club Kineret association, which organized the summer camp, did not immediately answer requests from The Associated Press for direct testimonies from people who were removed from the plane. A Vueling spokesperson said the passengers were removed after the minors repeatedly tampered with the plane's emergency equipment and interrupted the crew's safety demonstration. A Civil Guard spokesperson said the plane captain ordered the group's removal at Valencia's Manises Airport after they repeatedly ignored crew instructions. Bergé and Haddad also lashed out at a statement from the Spanish Minister of Transport 'equating French children of Jewish faith with Israeli citizens, as if that somehow justified the treatment they received.' Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente has deleted a tweet from July 26 in which he called the minors 'Israeli brats.' 'At a time when antisemitic acts have been on the rise across Europe since the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel, the ministers call on Vueling and the Spanish authorities to fully investigate and clarify the events,' Bergé and Haddad said. 'We will never accept the normalization of antisemitism. We will always stand with our fellow citizens who suffer from antisemitic hatred, and we will never compromise.' Vueling has denied that the incident was related to the passengers' religion. Some Israeli news outlets reported that the students were Jewish and that their removal was religiously motivated, a claim that was repeated by an Israeli minister online. The Civil Guard spokesperson said the agents involved were not aware of the group's religious affiliation. Petrequin writes for the Associated Press.
