Latest news with #ExecutiveGrantofClemency
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump pardons Las Vegas councilwoman Michele Fiore for fraud conviction
April 25 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump pardoned former Las Vegas City Council member Michele Fiore for her fraud conviction. "Today, I stand before you, not just as a free woman, but as a vindicated soul whose prayers were heard, whose faith held firm, and whose truth could not be buried by injustice," Fiore told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a statement. A motion to vacate her May 14 sentencing date was filed in the United States District Court District of Nevada Thursday by her lawyer "due to the Executive Grant of Clemency" signed Wednesday. Fiore was convicted in October on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud. She used $70,000 she raised to build a memorial for two police officers who had died in the line of duty on personal bills for cosmetic procedures, her rent and her daughter's wedding. She could have been sentenced to as many as 100 years in prison. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford condemned the decision to pardon Fiore in an X post Thursday. "Donald Trump's blatant disregard for law enforcement is sickening, and pardoning someone who stole from a police memorial fund is a disgrace," he said
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
Mass. state employee, inmate charged in scheme to smuggle drugs into federal prison
A Massachusetts state employee and a prison inmate are accused of smuggling drugs into the federal prison in Devens, the U.S. Attorney said Wednesday. Tasha Hammock, 43, of Bridgewater, an employee with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and Raymond Gaines, 45, an inmate at FMC Devens, are both charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance analogue, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement. Hammock was arrested Tuesday and appeared in federal court in Boston, Foley said. Gaines will make an initial appearance at a later date. The pair are accused of conspiring to distribute a synthetic cannabinoid, also known as 'K2,' into the Devens prison. Gaines had been granted clemency on Jan. 17, reducing his 2022 federal prison sentence for drug distribution. On Jan. 25, 2022, Gaines was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Boston to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. At the time he committed the offenses, he was on federal judicial supervised release after serving a prison sentence resulting from a 2017 conviction for distributing cocaine base within 1,000 feet of a school. According to court records, in both prior cases, Gaines was alleged to be an associate of the Orchard Park Trailblazers, a street gang in Boston. On Jan. 17, Gaines received an Executive Grant of Clemency, reducing his current federal sentence to five years in prison. According to the charging document, on Aug. 18, 2024, Hammock, while visiting Gaines in the prison, surreptitiously passed K2-laced papers to Gaines, which he pocketed. Foley's office on Wednesday released photographs of the alleged transaction between Hammock and Gaines. In addition, Hammock allegedly previously handled money connected with the distribution of K2 to Gaines in FMC Devens, and she allegedly received K2 at her home for distribution into the prison, prosecutors said. According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement became interested in Hammock's visits to Gaines after obtaining a cellphone that had allegedly been smuggled to an inmate in the prison. That inmate, in September 2023, allegedly sent messages on the cell phone to another person, discussing obtaining K2 in prison. The inmate allegedly told the other person that the drugs could be delivered to a particular address in Bridgewater – later determined to be Hammock's home, - and that the inmate's 'co' would arrange for the drugs to be brought into the prison from there. According to prosecutors, K2 presents a health problem at FMC Devens, where inmates have become sick from smoking paper believed to contain K2, as well as prison staff who have been exposed to the secondary smoke. If convicted on the charge of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance analogue, Hammock and Gaines face a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
