.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Youth prison employee accused of rape, veteran defrauds airline: Latest legal stories
The summaries below were drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
Thousands of legal cases reach U.S. courts every year. From accusations of mistreatment in prisons to fraud to sexual abuse and beyond, here are some of the latest from across the country.
Marine veteran fakes deployment, defrauds airline by taking 130 free flights, feds say
In New York, Dior Jay-Jarrett, a Marine Corps veteran, faked deployments to take 130 free flights, defrauding an airline of nearly $70,000, according to federal prosecutors. Jay-Jarrett used falsified military documents to obtain travel benefits, taking flights to various destinations while continuing to work as a military guard and later as a federal air marshal, prosecutors say. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he acknowledged retiring from the Marine Corps without notifying the airline and faking military orders. | Published March 21 | Read More |
Man has kids harvest magic mushrooms, gives them 'microdoses' in California, feds say
In California, Randal Vanceused children to harvest psilocybin mushrooms and gave them 'microdoses,' according to federal prosecutors. Authorities discovered over 250 pounds of mushrooms and 40 pounds of psilocybin chocolate bars at two locations in San Diego County, prosecutors say. Vance, along with his wife and a friend, were arrested on federal drug trafficking charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California. | Published March 21 | Read More |
Man profits off patients' addictions, pays brokers to lure them to CA clinics, feds say
Casey Mahoney, who ran addiction treatment facilities in California, paid nearly $2.9 million in kickbacks to 'body brokers' to recruit patients, federal prosecutors say. Mahoney's clinics earned $24 million from the scheme, according to prosecutors. He was sentenced to over three years in prison after being convicted of federal charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. | Published March 26 | Read More |
Chinese woman wanting US citizenship is scammed out of $500,000 by fake agent, feds say
In New York, Tommy Aijie Da Silva Weng is accused of scamming a Chinese woman out of $500,000 by posing as a federal law enforcement agent. Weng promised to expedite her green card application under the EB-5 Program, but instead strung her along with lies for eight years federal prosecutors say. He faces charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, and impersonating a federal officer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. | Published March 24 | Read More |
Prison psychologist raped 17-year-old dozens of times as NY staff made jokes, suit says
A former psychologist at a youth detention center in New York raped a teen during counseling sessions while staff ignored the abuse, according to a federal lawsuit. The woman, Maya Hayes, who's charged with 65 sex offenses, manipulated and groomed the teen, with staff members joking about the abuse, the lawsuit says. The plaintiff, now an adult, is suing Hayes and other staff accused of enabling the abuse. | Published March 25 | Read More |
Cops dump amputee from wheelchair and shoot him 11 times, killing him, CA suit says
In California, a lawsuit says police officers fatally shot Anthony Lowe, an amputee, 11 times after dumping him from his wheelchair during a mental health crisis. The officers are accused of using unreasonable force instead of attempting nonlethal tactics. The case is set for trial in January 2026, with Lowe's family seeking justice for his death. | Published March 27 | Read More |
Police chief pooped on floor and spiked office coffee with Adderall, Viagra, NJ cops say
In New Jersey, Police Chief Robert Farley is accused of workplace misconduct, including defecating on the floor and spiking office coffee with drugs, according to legal documents. Several officers have filed claims against Farley over harassment and inappropriate behavior. | Published March 27 | Read More |
McClatchy News continues to follow lawsuits and legal cases from around the country. Check back for more legal stories.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Vance Threatens to Deport Menswear Fan Who Hates His Suits
Vice President JD Vance is threatening to deport the fashion guru who went viral for criticizing his suits as 'too small' and his ties for not matching the occasion. Derek Guy, known as the 'Menswear Guy,' said Sunday he is in the U.S. illegally—a revelation that right-wing accounts and Vance quickly seized on. 'The menswear guy just openly admitted on here that he's here illegally,' one X account posted. A second user quote-tweeted that initial post and added, 'JD Vance I know you're reading this and you have the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.' This caught the vice president's attention. Vance replied at 11:30 a.m. Monday with a GIF of Jack Nicholson slowly nodding his head, raising his eyebrows, and flashing his menacing, signature grin. Vance, 40, did not elaborate further on his veiled threat. His office did not respond to an email from the Daily Beast asking for clarification on whether he is serious or not. Guy responded to the threat with a joke about how tight Vance's clothes can be on occasion. 'I think I can outrun you in these clothes,' he tweeted at Vance. Guy said he was inspired to tell his story because of the growing unrest in Los Angeles, which has been the site of recent immigration raids and demonstrations against the crackdown that have not always been peaceful. The fashion writer said his family fled Vietnam after the Tet Offensive and eventually made it to Canada, where he was born. Not long after, he said his mother carried him across the northern border of the United States, and he has lived here ever since. Guy suggested in his lengthy post that he is not a DACA recipient, which would provide him with legal protections in the U.S. as a childhood arrival who had no say in his illegal entry. Still, Guy emphasized that the U.S. is the only country he has ever known. He has used his platform on X, where he has 1.3 million followers, to criticize the sartorial choices of right-wing figures, with Vance among the men he has targeted the most. Guy posted in July that Vance's jackets 'don't hug him very well.' He compared photos of Vance in a jacket with those of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whom he noted has jackets that are 'properly seated on his neck.' The critiques only got harsher from there. In October, Guy posted a thread criticizing Vance for wearing a fuchsia raw silk tie to his vice presidential debate against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. 'You should also know what you're communicating,' Guy wrote. 'A fuchsia raw silk tie is very casual because of its color and material. To me, this is something you wear with seersucker or cream linen suits to summertime garden parties. The tie says, 'I'm here to have fun.'' Guy, who has published fashion critiques in Politico and been quoted as an expert by The Guardian and The Washington Post, continued his grilling of Vance into MAGA 2.0. He wrote on the eve of the inauguration, 'Vance's sleeves are too slim, causing them to catch on his shirt and ride up. Common problem any time something is too slim—might look good when you're standing still at the fitting, but it will bunch and catch as soon as you move.' Then, a month in, he could not resist taking a jab at Vance for wearing way-too-short pants on stage at CPAC, occasionally exposing part of his shin and calf. 'The second lady should advise him to get wider pants and over the calf socks so that his bare leg doesn't show when he sits down,' he wrote.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Chinese PhD student from Wuhan arrested smuggling biological materials after deleting electronic evidence: DOJ
A national from the People's Republic of China (PRC) has been arrested after allegedly smuggling biological materials into the U.S. and making false statements to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers about the contents of her packages. The Department of Justice said Chengxuan Han is charged with smuggling goods into the U.S. and making false statements. According to the complaint, Han is a citizen of the PRC who is working on her Ph.D. at the College of Life Science and Technology in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. Han allegedly sent four packages to the U.S. from the PRC in 2024 and 2025, containing concealed biological material. The packages were sent to individuals at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. 'Coming For Us': Expert Sounds Alarm On Ccp's Mission To 'Kill Americans' After Fbi Makes Shocking Arrests Han arrived at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Sunday on a J1 visa, when CBP officers conducted an inspection. Read On The Fox News App During the inspection, Han allegedly made false statements about the packages and the materials she previously shipped to the U.S. CBP officers also discovered the content of Han's electronic device had been deleted three days before she arrived in the U.S. After the inspection, FBI agents and agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) interviewed Han. During the interview, Han allegedly admitted to sending the packages and revealed they contained material related to round worms. She also allegedly confessed to making false statements to CBP officers during the inspection. "The alleged smuggling of biological materials by this alien from a science and technology university in Wuhan, China—to be used at a University of Michigan laboratory—is part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security," U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. said. "The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions." Chinese Official Claims No Knowledge Of Fungus Situation, Says China Requires Citizens 'Abide By Local Laws' Han's arrest comes on the same day another Chinese national, 42-year-old Shenghua Wen, pleaded guilty to federal crimes after he exported firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea, at the direction of North Korean government officials. Wen, a citizen of the People's Republic of China, came to the U.S. in 2012 on a student visa, where he remained illegally despite his visa expiring in December 2013. Before coming to the U.S., the DOJ said, Wen met with North Korean government officials at a North Korean Embassy in China. At the meeting, the officials directed Wen to obtain goods on behalf of North Korea. Foreign Nationals Charged Amid Trump Visa Crackdown For Scheme To Smuggle Us Military Equipment Into China Nearly 10 years later, North Korean government officials contacted Wen using an online messaging platform in 2022, instructing him to purchase and smuggle firearms, sensitive technology and ammunition, from the U.S. to North Korea via China. The DOJ said the plea agreement shows Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms from Port of Long Beach in California to China, which then went to North Korea, in 2023. He also took steps to hide that he was shipping firearms to North Korea illegally by falsifying information regarding the contents of the containers. Chinese National Smuggled Illegal Immigrants To American Territory As Us Sees Influx From Adversary Many of the firearms Wen sent to North Korea were purchased in Texas. He then drove the firearms to California, where he arranged to have them shipped. According to the DOJ, Wen purchased a firearms business in Houston in May 2023 using money from one of his contacts in North Korea. By December 2023, one of the shipments left Port of Long Beach and arrived in Hong Kong in January 2024. It was then transported from Hong Kong to Nampo, North Korea. Wen intended to send another shipment to North Korea containing about 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition in September, as requested by North Korean officials, the DOJ said. Former Us Army Intelligence Analyst Sentenced For Selling Sensitive Documents To Chinese National He also obtained sensitive technology with the intention of sending it to North Korea. The technology, the DOJ said, included a chemical threat identification device and a handheld broadband receiver that detects known, unknown, illegal, disruptive or interfering transmissions. The DOJ added that he also acquired or offered to acquire a civilian airplane engine and thermal imaging system that could be mounted on a drone or some other aircraft for reconnaissance and target identification. North Korean officials wired Wen about $2 million during the operation, to be used for obtaining firearms and other goods. Ultimately, he admitted during the plea agreement that he knew it was illegal to ship the items to North Korea, while also admitting to never having the necessary licenses to ship the ammunition, firearms and sensitive technology to North Korea. Wen also confessed to working at the direction of North Korean officials and did not provide notification to the Attorney General of the U.S. As part of the agreement, Wen faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for violating the IEEPA and 10 years for acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. article source: Chinese PhD student from Wuhan arrested smuggling biological materials after deleting electronic evidence: DOJ
Epoch Times
4 hours ago
- Epoch Times
Wuhan Researcher Charged With Smuggling Biological Materials Into US Lab
U.S. prosecutors have charged another Chinese national for smuggling biological materials into the United States and lying about the scheme. Han Chengxuan, a PhD candidate from Wuhan in central China, was
