Latest news with #KimberlyHall
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Afternoon Briefing: Woman accused of using ICE to avoid drug case is detained
Good afternoon, Chicago. A judge ordered a British woman to remain jailed today after she was accused of trying to get herself deported to evade trial, finding too much risk that her release would result in her fleeing home or being sent there by immigration authorities. Kimberly Hall, 29, is facing felony charges of drug trafficking and possession with intent to deliver after she was arrested Aug. 19 at O'Hare International Airport with nearly 100 pounds of cocaine. She was initially released on electronic monitoring while her case was pending. Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History This past Memorial Day weekend saw an overall decrease in gun violence compared to last year, according to Chicago police data. Read more here. More top news stories: Lawmakers consider fixes to energy policy that's been outpaced by power-hungry technology Indiana University closes DEI offices and ends programs on all campuses Photos: Memorial Day weekend in Chicagoland It's the last day to book a flight on Southwest Airlines without being hit with a fee to check bags after the airline abandoned a decades-long luggage policy that executives once described as key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals. Read more here. More top business stories: Skokie's LanzaTech to lay off 44 and downsize, despite honors for innovation Trump indicates support for Nippon Steel's bid for U.S. Steel Adrian Houser made 23 appearances last season with the New York Mets. Yesterday, he was on the mound for the White Sox facing his former team at Citi Field. Read more here. More top sports stories: Caitlin Clark out at least 2 weeks with quad strain — so Indiana Fever star will miss UC game vs. Chicago Sky Napoli or Roma: Which Italian soccer club does Pope Leo XIV support? My Pi, the pizzeria founded on deep dish in Chicago, which once had 17 restaurants across the country, will close its last shop after 54 years next month. Read more here. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: Tinley Park and the Park District pair up after spat on Fourth of July fireworks Photos: Sueños Music Festival 2025 A 53-year-old British man who injured 65 people when he plowed his vehicle into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans celebrating their team's Premier League championship has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said today. Read more here. More top stories from around the world: Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for Harvard Mary Lou Retton, US gymnastics icon who survived health scare, arrested on suspicion of DUI
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Afternoon Briefing: Woman accused of using ICE to avoid drug case is detained
Good afternoon, Chicago. A judge ordered a British woman to remain jailed today after she was accused of trying to get herself deported to evade trial, finding too much risk that her release would result in her fleeing home or being sent there by immigration authorities. Kimberly Hall, 29, is facing felony charges of drug trafficking and possession with intent to deliver after she was arrested Aug. 19 at O'Hare International Airport with nearly 100 pounds of cocaine. She was initially released on electronic monitoring while her case was pending. Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History This past Memorial Day weekend saw an overall decrease in gun violence compared to last year, according to Chicago police data. Read more here. More top news stories: Lawmakers consider fixes to energy policy that's been outpaced by power-hungry technology Indiana University closes DEI offices and ends programs on all campuses Photos: Memorial Day weekend in Chicagoland It's the last day to book a flight on Southwest Airlines without being hit with a fee to check bags after the airline abandoned a decades-long luggage policy that executives once described as key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals. Read more here. More top business stories: Skokie's LanzaTech to lay off 44 and downsize, despite honors for innovation Trump indicates support for Nippon Steel's bid for U.S. Steel Adrian Houser made 23 appearances last season with the New York Mets. Yesterday, he was on the mound for the White Sox facing his former team at Citi Field. Read more here. More top sports stories: Caitlin Clark out at least 2 weeks with quad strain — so Indiana Fever star will miss UC game vs. Chicago Sky Napoli or Roma: Which Italian soccer club does Pope Leo XIV support? My Pi, the pizzeria founded on deep dish in Chicago, which once had 17 restaurants across the country, will close its last shop after 54 years next month. Read more here. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: Tinley Park and the Park District pair up after spat on Fourth of July fireworks Photos: Sueños Music Festival 2025 A 53-year-old British man who injured 65 people when he plowed his vehicle into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans celebrating their team's Premier League championship has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said today. Read more here. More top stories from around the world: Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for Harvard Mary Lou Retton, US gymnastics icon who survived health scare, arrested on suspicion of DUI
Chicago Tribune
27-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Afternoon Briefing: Woman accused of using ICE to avoid drug case is detained
Good afternoon, Chicago. A judge ordered a British woman to remain jailed today after she was accused of trying to get herself deported to evade trial, finding too much risk that her release would result in her fleeing home or being sent there by immigration authorities. Kimberly Hall, 29, is facing felony charges of drug trafficking and possession with intent to deliver after she was arrested Aug. 19 at O'Hare International Airport with nearly 100 pounds of cocaine. She was initially released on electronic monitoring while her case was pending. Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History This past Memorial Day weekend saw an overall decrease in gun violence compared to last year, according to Chicago police data. Read more here. More top news stories: It's the last day to book a flight on Southwest Airlines without being hit with a fee to check bags after the airline abandoned a decades-long luggage policy that executives once described as key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals. Read more here. More top business stories: Adrian Houser made 23 appearances last season with the New York Mets. Yesterday, he was on the mound for the White Sox facing his former team at Citi Field. Read more here. More top sports stories: My Pi, the pizzeria founded on deep dish in Chicago, which once had 17 restaurants across the country, will close its last shop after 54 years next month. Read more here. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: A 53-year-old British man who injured 65 people when he plowed his vehicle into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans celebrating their team's Premier League championship has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said today. Read more here. More top stories from around the world:
Daily Mail
06-05-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Shocking reason British beautician in Chicago 'sought out ICE agents and begged them to deport her'
A British beautician accused of smuggling $6.2m of cocaine into Chicago O' Hare Airport tried to trick Immigration and Customs Enforcement into deporting her so she could evade justice, it is alleged. Kimberly Hall, 29, is said to have presented herself to ICE officers in February after being freed on an electronic monitoring tag. Hall was allowed to book a flight and was all set to jet out of Illinois for her native Middlesbrough in England when Cook County Prosecutors heard about the scheme, it is claimed. But the alleged plot then backfired horribly, with a judge revoking Hall's electronic monitoring and sending her to jail, the Chicago Tribune revealed. Judge Michael McHale wrote that Hall was 'almost successful in her attempt' to flee the United States and had a flight back to the UK booked before cops realized what was happening. Prosecutors haven't outlined whether ICE agents were aware of the charges Hall was facing while assisting her in her alleged scheme to flee back to Britain. Hall was caught carrying 100 pounds (43 kilograms) of cocaine through O'Hare Airport in August 2024 after getting off a flight from Cancun, prosecutors say. She was about to board a connecting flight home to the UK when she was apprehended. She is said to have admitted to investigators that she'd been given the bags during a trip to Mexico and asked to take them back to Manchester in England. Hall's attorney Brandon Hall sought to play down her involvement at the time, saying: 'Kimberly is obviously a very small fish in a grander scheme of things.' But Hall was charged with two class X felonies - controlled substance trafficking and possession with intent to deliver. She was indicted by a grand jury in September 2024, with prosecutors asking for Hall to remain behind bars over fears she was a flight risk. A judge refused, instead ordering her to hand over her passport and don an ankle monitor so authorities could keep tabs her whereabouts. Hall's attorney Carter claims the alleged drug mule had actually been detained by ICE while seeking information about finding a job in the United States. 'The kiosk official saw the electronic monitoring device on Ms. Hall and assumed it was from ICE and instructed her to go to their office in the same building,' Carter's motion said. 'When she spoke to an ICE official she was arrested and placed in custody.' Carter even suggested the 'wildly unpredictable' Trump administration was to blame for the drama amid an ongoing crackdown on migrants. He suggested ICE agents had overreacted to an honest enquiry about finding work, which prosecutors have now interpreted as a bid to flee. Carter wants Hall released from jail again and a hearing to determine whether she should remain behind bars has been scheduled for May 16. Hall said last year: 'I am not guilty of what they're saying I am.' She said she was enjoying a leisure trip to Portugal when she was offered a free trip to Mexico by two men who asked her to bring a case full of cash to the UK. Hall said she'd accepted the trip because she needed 'a bit of breathing space' and claimed the two men she met 'certainly didn't come across as being criminals.' Hall was initially freed on house arrest and was only allowed to leave the property where she was staying for two days a week. Its location has not been disclosed and it is unclear if Hall has to pay for her accommodation.
Chicago Tribune
06-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Did a British woman accused of drug trafficking try to use ICE to flee the country?
Last year, 29-year-old Kimberly Hall was arrested at O'Hare International Airport with 21 bundles of cocaine after traveling from Mexico, according to court records, in a case that was splashed across her hometown British tabloids. Now, as the United Kingdom citizen faces felony drug charges, she is entangled in an immigration-related fight with the state's attorney's office as she seeks release from the Cook County Jail while awaiting trial. Prosecutors say that, while initially released on electronic monitoring, she sought out federal immigration authorities in an attempt to get deported and evade trial. She was very nearly able to pull it off, according to prosecutors. Her attorney, though, in court documents countered that she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after simply asking questions about how to obtain authorization to find work. In a recently-filed request for her release, her attorney argued that a Cook County judge improperly detained her, reasoning that the Trump administration is 'wildly unpredictable.' 'It's abnormal. That's what caused this whole fiasco,' said Hall's attorney, Brandon Carter, of ICE's attempt to deport Hall. 'From my understanding, the prosecution was barely able to keep her here.' The unusual dispute will next week go before a judge, who will hear arguments about whether Hall should remain jailed. Hall's trouble started when she flew from Cancún, Mexico to the United Kingdom with a connection through O'Hare, court records say. She was arrested on Aug. 19 while trying to clear customs. Customs officers searched her bag and found the bundles, weighing around 43 kilograms, or nearly 100 pounds, according to court documents. It had an estimated street value of around $6.2 million. Hall, who gave an address in a town in Northern England, admitted she agreed to deliver the bags to someone in Manchester, the documents say. Carter said Hall was under duress when she was caught with the bags, having been threatened with violence after meeting some 'shady figures' in Mexico. 'Kimberly is obviously a very small fish in a grander scheme of things,' he said. Prosecutors sought to keep her jailed, arguing in a petition that she is a flight risk as a foreigner with no connection to Cook County. A Cook County judge, though, denied the petition and instead ordered her to electronic monitoring and to surrender her passport. In September, a grand jury returned an indictment that charged her with two serious class X felonies, controlled substance trafficking and possession with intent to deliver. Then, in February, the state's attorney's office filed an emergency motion to get the case on the judge's calendar. In the motion, prosecutors said Hall was taken into ICE custody and was scheduled for deportation. Asking a judge again to jail Hall, prosecutors said that while on electronic monitoring, Hall 'presented herself to Immigration and Customs intending to be removed to the United Kingdom to avoid prosecution.' This time, a judge ordered her detained. In the order granting the detention petition, Judge Michael McHale wrote that Hall was 'almost successful in her attempt' and had a departure flight scheduled before authorities alerted immigration. But last week, Hall's attorney filed a motion asking for her to be released, arguing that she did not seek out immigration authorities with the intent to be expelled from the country. Instead, the motion said, she was looking for information about obtaining employment. 'The kiosk official saw the electronic monitoring device on Ms. Hall and assumed it was from ICE and instructed her to go to their office in the same building,' the motion said. 'When she spoke to an ICE official she was arrested and placed in custody.' Usually, Carter said, defendants with pending cases that encounter immigration authorities will be put on an immigration hold so that the immigration issue can be handled after the case is resolved. Officials obtained a writ from the Department of Homeland Security that said the government will no longer try to deport Hall while she has a pending case, the motion said. The motion argues that the judge didn't detain Hall because she was dangerous or a flight risk, but rather because of the unpredictability of the current administration on immigration matters. 'In this city there are thousands of undocumented people, some of whom have pending criminal cases but they get pretrial release,' he said. 'So if you want to use that logic, anybody who has questionable immigration status with a pending criminal case can be denied pretrial release. I think that's definitely improper.' The parties will argue the motion on May 16.
