Latest news with #McClatchyNews'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Violent' man tried to ‘set up' registered sex offenders with kids in WA, feds say
A 'repeat violent sex offender' convicted of rape in 1988 ran a Telegram group to arrange 'pedophilic relationships' while also hosting teenage boys he befriended online at his Washington home, federal prosecutors said. After 17 years of civil detainment at a facility for accused sexual predators on McNeil Island in the South Puget Sound, southwest of Tacoma, prosecutors said Alan Lewis Meirhofer, now 72, 'returned to sexually exploiting children via online platforms.' Meirhofer, of Skagit County, was caught sharing child sexual abuse content online and trying to 'set up' his adult friends, other registered sex offenders, with minors, according to prosecutors. The mother of a teenage boy he's accused of grooming reported Meirhofer to the police, leading to his arrest in March 2021, prosecutors said. Now, Meirhofer has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on charges of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington said in a June 2 news release. 'Following his release from civil commitment, Mr. Meirhofer adapted his predatory behavior to modern technology,' Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller said in a statement. His court-appointed federal public defender, Dennis Carroll, declined McClatchy News' request for comment June 3. Ahead of sentencing, Meirhofer asked for the 15-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors, a sentencing memo filed by Carroll on Meirhofer's behalf shows. In a letter to the court, Meirhofer wrote that he felt 'guilt' over his 'grievous actions' and that he takes 'full and sole responsibility' for child pornography shared over Telegram. 'I understand now what I didn't see before, is my complicity in this crime,' he wrote. Telegram, with its 'end-to-end encryption' feature, offers a level of privacy for text messages and video calls. In the government's sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecelia Gregson labeled Meirhofer as 'a prolific child predator who terrorized numerous historical victims.' Gregson said Meirhofer raped three 13-year-olds in separate attacks in the late 1980s, when he's accused of also breaking into four homes in Washington. On July 18, 1987, Meirhofer stalked one 13-year-old boy in Bellingham and discovered where he lived, Gregson wrote in court documents. Later that night, he cut the home's phone line, then entered the house, held a knife to the boy's neck and kidnapped him, according to the filing. Meirhofer 'drove him to a location where he was drugged and repeatedly anally raped,' Gregson wrote. In 1988, Meirhofer was convicted on charges of burglary, kidnapping and rape, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Two years later, Meirhofer was convicted of first-degree burglary while armed with a deadly weapon and second-degree assault, prosecutors said. Meirhofer was 'civilly committed' in 2000 to McNeil Island's detention center before his release in 2017, according to prosecutors. Upon his release, he was registered as a level 3 sex offender in Washington, 'the level with the highest risk of reoffending,' prosecutors said. Afterward, Meirhofer continued to prey on children using platforms like Google and Instagram, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 14 sexual exploitation-related tips linked to him, Miller said. While the administrator of the Telegram group, Meirhofer groomed teenage boys in Skagit County and invited them to his house, according to prosecutors. Skagit County is about a 100-mile drive northeast from Seattle. In trying to befriend them, he gave them 'gifts,' including alcohol, clothes, food, marijuana and money, prosecutors said. One boy who visited Meirhofer's house and 'borrowed' his phone discovered Meirhofer shared photos of the teen's friends in a group chat with other people, as well as child sexual abuse material, according to prosecutors. Meirhofer was taken into custody after the tip from the teen's mother, prosecutors said. His electronics were also 'seized.' Investigators learned that his Telegram group chat had two purposes: exchanging child pornography and coordinating relationships 'between adults and minors,' according to prosecutors. While arguing for a 15-year prison sentence, Gregson wrote in the government's sentencing memo that 'Alan Meirhofer represents every parents' worst nightmare and every child's boogeyman.' 'Decades of incarceration did not deter him from sexually exploiting children at the first opportunity provided,' Gregson said. Concerns or suspicions about child sexual exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline online or by calling 1-800-843-5678. If you suspect a child has experienced, is currently experiencing, or is at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect, your first step should be to contact the appropriate agency. The Child Welfare Information Gateway has a list of state agencies you can contact. Find help specific to your area here. For additional help, the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline has professional crisis counselors available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in over 170 languages. All calls are confidential. The hotline offers crisis intervention, information, and referrals to thousands of emergency, social service, and support resources. You can call or text 1-800-422-4453. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, please call 911 for help. Man planned Halloween 'sex party' to abuse child, feds say. He's convicted in FL Inmate makes thousands of calls to girl he's convicted of abusing in CA, feds say Kidnapped 10-year-old found 250 miles away with man met on Roblox, CA cops say Man exploits 16-year-old over Instagram, then flees his trial in CA, feds say
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Miami Herald
Man accused of robbery in AZ kidnaps 10-year-old, flees to California, cops say
A man accused of a Circle K robbery in Arizona kidnapped a 10-year-old girl and fled to California, police said. Martin Ochoa-Espinoza, 39, went to the convenience store at about 12:50 a.m. May 27, the Yuma Police Department said in a Facebook post. He is accused of pressing a hard object into the store clerk's back, then demanding money, police said. Police said they began looking for the 'suspect vehicle,' a white Ford Expedition. Authorities found the SUV the next day at about 7:30 p.m. parked at the gas pumps at another Circle K, police said. Ochoa-Espinoza was in the passenger seat when police approached, so he 'slid into the driver's seat' and drove off with a 10-year-old girl in the backseat, leaving the child's mother at the store, police said. Police said he drove from Yuma to Winterhaven, California, which is about a 4-mile drive. The SUV 'became inoperable' at railroad tracks in California where he was arrested on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping, police said. It's not known if he previously knew the mother and child. The Yuma Police Department did not immediately respond to McClatchy News' request for more information on May 30. Yuma is in southwestern Arizona, near the California border.
Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Man tries to set fire to US Army tank, feds say. Now, he's indicted in Florida
A Minnesota man convicted of making violent threats tried to set a U.S. Army tank on fire on Valentine's Day with a 'Molotov cocktail,' federal prosecutors in Central Florida said. Now Trang Johnny Nha Phan, 25, has been indicted, according to a May 27 news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. He faces one count of attempted arson of federal property, one count of possessing a Molotov cocktail as a convicted felon and one count of 'using a firearm' in furtherance of a crime of violence, his indictment shows. Phan pleaded not guilty to the charges in Tampa federal court on May 16, according to court records. Ashley G. Allen, a federal defender representing him, didn't immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment May 27. When Phan tried to ignite what prosecutors said was a memorial M-60 A-3 Army tank on Feb. 14, he had been convicted of prior offenses: 'threats of violence and possessing three grams or more of heroin.' Prosecutors didn't mention where the arson attempt occurred. In 1960, the first M-60 battle tanks were rolled out by the U.S. Army, according to Army Technology. In 1991, the M60 tank series were used during Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. In Phan's indictment, prosecutors wrote the tank he's accused of trying to burn is owned by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, which is headquartered in Michigan. Phan's jury trial is set for July 7 in Tampa, court records show. On May 16, he was ordered to be detained ahead of trial.
Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Man died after car plunged off road on Christmas, CA officials say. Driver sentenced
An accused drunk driver plunged down an embankment after leaving a family Christmas celebration in 2022, killing his 23-year-old passenger, California prosecutors said. Now, more than two years later, Michael Gordon Butler, 40, has been sentenced to four years in state prison in the death of Coldren James Lee Udell Kiblinger, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said in a May 23 news release. An attorney for Butler did not immediately respond to McClatchy News' request for comment on May 27. 'This was a preventable tragedy,' Deputy District Attorney Jillian Ewan said in the release. 'Coldren Kiblinger's life was tragically cut down by Butler's grossly negligent decisions on December 25, 2022.' Christmas crash California Highway Patrol officers got a 911 call the evening of Dec. 25, 2022, about a Corvette that had plunged '200 feet down an embankment' after leaving the Simi Valley roadway, prosecutors said. Butler left a family Christmas celebration at about 6 p.m. in his recently purchased car with Kiblinger seated in the passenger seat, prosecutors said. When the two didn't return, the family became worried and 'used location-tracking apps' to look for them, prosecutors said. Family members found the crash site and called 911, prosecutors said. CHP investigators determined that at the time of the crash 'Butler had been driving at a high rate of speed while impaired, lost control of the vehicle, and struck trees and the hillside,' killing Kiblinger, prosecutor said. 'An angel on this earth' Loved ones remembered Kiblinger as 'a genius' who 'enjoyed working on cars, dancing, rapping, building random things around the house, hanging with friends, going to the beach with your dog star, you loved art, watching the sunset and the sunrise,' his obituary says. Kiblinger turned 23 just four days before he died, according to his obituary. He had planned to propose to his girlfriend in the coming year, the Ventura Police Department said in a May 2024 news release announcing a DUI checkpoint dedicated to Kiblinger. 'You left in the most gut wrenching way and will forever live in our hearts and our minds always and forever,' his obituary says. 'You were an angel on this earth long before you became one in heaven.' Guilty plea In April 2024, Kiblinger's mother, Loren Kiblinger, spoke in court about a potential four-year prison sentence for Butler, a close family friend at the time of the crash, saying it 'does not, and will never equate, to the lifetime Cole will be missed and the lifetime that Cole will now be missing,' the Simi Valley Acorn reported. Kiblinger's younger brother also spoke in court, according to the newspaper. 'We are taught from a very young age the dangers of getting into the car while impaired,' Kaden Kiblinger reportedly said. 'This is no accident.' A year later, Butler pleaded guilty 'to one felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated,' prosecutors said. He also admitted to special allegations of a serious felony and that 'the crime involved great violence,' according to prosecutors. 'While no amount of time will bring Coldren back, I hope the guilty plea will give some sense of justice and closure for the hardship Coldren's family and friends have endured,' Ewan said. Simi Valley is about a 40-mile drive northwest from Los Angeles.
Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Sisters spend over $844K on FL company credit cards in yearslong scheme, feds say
A federal judge sentenced two sisters from Northwest Florida to prison over a yearslong embezzlement scheme in which they stole more than $844,000 from their employer using company credit cards, prosecutors said. As an office manager for a locally owned Pensacola business, Kimberly Lovitt and her sister, Amy Williams, the company's receptionist, were allowed to use the company's credit cards to buy office supplies, according to court documents. But from early 2016 through 2021, the sisters charged hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses to the cards, court documents say. Now Lovitt, 52, of Pace, has been sentenced to three years in prison, and Williams, 46, of Milton, has been sentenced to one year and six months in prison on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida said in a May 23 news release. Pace and Milton are located in Santa Rosa County, about a 40-mile drive northeast from Pensacola. Lovitt and Williams previously pleaded guilty in the case, court records show. Williams' defense attorney, Jack Wilkins, referred McClatchy News on May 27 to the sentencing memorandum he filed on her behalf when contacted for comment. 'Williams has acknowledged her culpability and taken responsibility for her crime and harm she has caused,' Wilkins wrote in the filing, in which he emphasized her 'heartfelt remorse.' Lovitt's federal public defender, Lauren Cobb, didn't immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment May 27. While working for the Pensacola business, Lovitt had access to 'accounting records, bank accounts' and the company's credit cards, prosecutors wrote in court filings. To hide how she and her sister were using the credit cards for personal spending, Lovitt faked business documents, accounting records and lied on her federal income tax returns, prosecutors said. She never reported the money she's accused of stealing from her employer as income, according to prosecutors. Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle Spaven said in the news release the sisters' 'years-long theft from their employer and the extreme efforts to conceal their criminal proceeds are both illegal and offensive to all hardworking Americans, especially those who own and operate local businesses.' 'It is fitting and proper that they are not only incarcerated, but that they pay restitution and unpaid taxes for their criminal conduct.' How much Lovitt and Williams owe in restitution has yet to be determined, as their restitution has been deferred for 90 days, court records show.
