Latest news with #MunicipalCourt
CTV News
11-07-2025
- CTV News
Owner of Old Montreal buildings where nine died in fires facing new $3,300 fine over obstructed emergency exits
The owner of two Old Montreal buildings where nine people died in separate fires has been fined again after being found guilty of failing to maintain emergency exits at one of his properties. Records obtained by CTV News show that Emile Benamor was fined $3,317 after Justice Gaetan Plouffe of the Municipal Court found him guilty in two separate cases for the fire code violations at 4935-4939 Côte-des-Neiges Street, a four-storey apartment building in the city's Côte-Des-Neiges neighbourhood. On June 27, he was convicted of 'having evacuation routes that are obstructed,' which is a violation of the fire safety code, in two separate cases. In the first case, he was fined $1,800, while in the second he was fined $1,200 plus $317 in fees, according to the records. 4935-4939 Côte-des-Neiges Street, An apartment building at 4935-4939 Côte-des-Neiges Street in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. (Source: Google Street View) The court gave Benamor a Sept. 25 deadline to pay the fines. His office did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Owner fined for other fire code violations The ruling comes days after he was also convicted of failing to maintain a clear path to the emergency exit at another one of his apartment buildings at 2321 De Hampton Ave., in the city's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood. In that case, he was fined $650 for the violation, plus costs, after fire safety inspectors found that, in one unit, one door leading outside had no handle. A door in another apartment had been held together by a chain and adhesive tape. 'The risk of serious harm resulting from these breaches is high in the event of a fire, as they jeopardize the safety and lives of residents,' wrote Justice Johanne Duplessis in his judgement dated June 19. A lawyer for Benamor has previously told CTV News that he intended to appeal the June 19 decision. In the case of the latest fire code convictions for the Côte-des-Neiges Street building, the inspection was done on Aug. 9, 2023, which is less than five months after a deadly fire ripped through a heritage building at Place d'Youville in Old Montreal that was owned by Benamor. The March 16, 2023 fire killed seven people. On Oct. 4, 2024, another fire broke out at a building on Notre-Dame Street in Old Montreal, also owned by Benamor. That fire killed French tourist Léonor Geraudie and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud-Geraudie. Two others were injured. Police allege both fires were criminal. No charges have yet been laid in the 2023 fire after police handed the case over the Crown prosecutors. Following the second deadly fire in 2024, two men aged 18 and 20 have been charged with second-degree murder. A preliminary inquiry is scheduled to begin on Oct. 27. People who stayed at both of those buildings alleged there were safety issues, including a lack of smoke detectors and exposed electrical wiring , as well as rooms with no windows . 37 fire code inspections since 2023 The Montreal fire department (Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal) carried out an inspection blitz at Benamor's properties following the two deadly fires to ensure his buildings were up to code. As of June 28, 2025, 37 fire safety inspections have been done: 19 in 2023, 13 in 2024, and five in 2025. The fire department is currently following up on four inspections relating to his properties, a city spokesperson said. Benamor also has 14 active cases before the Municipal Court awaiting judgment.
Boston Globe
07-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Boston police officer charged with raping minor has bail reduced
Belezos said that 'any hint of that is going to be a problem. And we'll have the Commonwealth directly back in front of me making a very powerful argument that I made a mistake. ... Understand?' 'I understand, your honor, thank you sir,' said Downey, appearing remotely from the Norfolk County jail, wearing a dark green jumper and glasses. Advertisement On June 30, Downey pleaded not guilty to four counts of aggravated rape of a minor, two counts of paying for sex with a child under 18, and two counts of enticement during his arraignment in Dorchester Municipal Court. Bail Downey, a Boston police officer since 1991, allegedly met the juvenile on the dating app Grindr on March 26, prosecutors wrote in a court filing. Downey allegedly continued messaging the boy on Snapchat and offered to pay him $30 for oral sex. Advertisement Downey allegedly picked up the teenager in his car and drove to a parking lot near the South Bay mall in Dorchester. Downey then raped the boy and paid him $50, prosecutors allege. Downey allegedly continued to message the victim for about two months and paid him for sex again in May. In that instance, the youth memorized a portion of Downey's license plate number and gave it to investigators, prosecutors wrote. Detectives traced the Snapchat account back to Downey, according to prosecutors, and at one point saw a car allegedly matching the minor's description parked at Boston Police headquarters. Investigators ran the plate number and found it was registered to Downey, prosecutors wrote. At Monday's bail review hearing, Downey's lawyer, Kelli Porges, told Belezos that $250,000 bail amounted to 'grandstanding' because her client is a police officer. Other people facing similar charges have had lower bails imposed, she said. Porges said there's no accusation that Downey used 'his employment or any weapon or his position of authority' to commit the alleged offenses. She said it 'looks like there's allegations that [the] complainant was perhaps prostituting himself out to several people — and again, my heart bleeds for him, I'm not victim-shaming here. But this is not the case where you jump up and down and say $250,000 cash. ... Bail is not a punishment.' Porges said whether Downey knew the boy's age at the time of the encounters remains a 'triable issue.' She said Downey is not a flight risk and maintains the support of his family, noting his adult son's presence during the remote hearing. Advertisement Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Brandon DeAvilla urged Belezos to maintain the higher bail. 'He's facing significant mandatory minimum sentences,' DeAvilla said, noting that the four aggravated rape counts call for mandatory minimums of 10 years behind bars. DeAvilla said prosecutors have a strong case against Downey. 'Our evidence is not only the testimony of the juvenile,' DeAvilla said. 'We have pictures of the communications through Snapchat, where the individual is talking to the user name that the Commonwealth alleges is the defendant' based on electronic records. DeAvilla said surveillance video of Downey's vehicle arriving at the second encounter 'lines up perfectly with the juvenile's text messages to his friends saying he's being picked up' and a subsequent text essentially indicating 'he got paid the $80 for the second offense.' A search of Downey's vehicle was also conducted, DeAvilla said. 'The juvenile in this case described the interaction as his legs being lifted up and his feet touching' the vehicle's ceiling, DeAvilla said. 'And there were imprints that appear to be footprints that were found during the execution of the search warrant.' The next hearing in Downey's case is slated for July 29, records show. Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report. Travis Andersen can be reached at
The Print
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Does Nikhil Gupta have a son in Pakistan? Court papers add fresh twist to Pannun assassination plot
This, however, is contested by Gupta's family, who describe it as a 'deliberate error' introduced during translation by a Hindi-speaking interpreter from Pakistan, assisting the Czech authorities. They allege that Gupta was 'misquoted' and it is 'defamatory'. Gupta's statement—'I request the court inform my son in India and my son in Pakistan and the Indian Embassy in Prague about my remand in custody'—is part of Exhibit 19B from his detention hearings at the Municipal Court in Prague on 30 June and 1 July 2023, prior to his extradition. The document has now been unsealed and has been accessed by ThePrint. New Delhi: In a surprising revelation, Nikhil Gupta—the Indian citizen at the centre of the foiled plot to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US—had asked Czech authorities to inform his 'son in Pakistan' about his detention in Prague during his extradition proceedings to the US. 'This isn't just a mistake. It was intentional. He has been misquoted. The interpreter was a Hindi-speaking individual from Pakistan. While a typographical error is possible, in this case, it appears to have been deliberate. He was misquoted. Moreover, Gupta has never visited Pakistan in his entire life. We even submitted his full travel history to the Czech authorities, but no one listened to us,' a source close to the family told ThePrint over the phone. The said document 'minutes of the detention hearing', submitted in the United States Southern district New York court, by his government-appointed counsel Nolla B Heller, a partner at Milbank LLP, includes the Czech police's petition for remand for custody of Gupta after his detention in Prague and the subsequent hearing of the detention session in the Municipal Court. Exhibit 19B is the English translation of Exhibit 19A. Gupta is also quoted as mentioning that he had a stomach problem and didn't have medicines for it. This session on 1 July 2023 ended at 2:36 pm with a custody order and this was signed by the Presiding Judge of the Senate, Jana Miklova. The document with the reference to Pakistan, is part of the exhibit attachments filed by Heller, in support of Gupta's motion to suppress certain statements and evidence, and to dismiss Count Three of the second Superseding Indictment, which refers to the conspiracy of money laundering allegedly committed by Gupta. Gupta's family has in the past argued that his arrest was a case of 'mistaken identity'. In a habeas corpus petition filed in the Supreme Court in December 2023, Gupta's family said he is 'aggrieved by the blatant negligence and omission' by Indian Embassy officials as he had received a 'cold response' from Indian embassy officials in the Czech Republic. The family alleged that he was under duress to confess to the allegations and the defence attorney provided to him by the Czech authorities pressured him to give his consent to extradition. According to the petition, the allegation mentioned in the indictment, based on which he was detained, is against 'Nick', which was not Gupta's name and hence it was a 'case of mistaken identity'. But Nikhil Gupta is also referred to as 'Nick' in the US DOJ indictments. He was arrested in Prague on 30 June, 2023, and extradited to the US on June 14, 2024. He is currently awaiting trial in a Brooklyn prison. Both Gupta and former R&AW officer Vikash Yadav have been accused of being part of a conspiracy to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who enjoys dual citizenship of the US and Canada. Additionally, the US prosecutors have also accused Gupta of money laundering in the superseding indictment. ThePrint reached out to Gupta's counsels Heller and Matthew Laroche through email to ask about his statement mentioning a son in Pakistan, but no response was received. ThePrint has also reached out to his former Czech counsel Petr Slevicka via emails, calls and emails. Also read: Pannun murder plot: Govt panel recommends legal action against 'individual with criminal links' 'A Pakistani passport, an error' One of the newly unsealed documents also mentions a 'Pakistani passport' for Gupta. However, in subsequent documents, he is referred to as a citizen of the Republic of India, with his Delhi address mentioned in the details. In the now unsealed documents, Exhibit 1, which contains a copy of the provisional arrest warrant for Gupta issued by the United States and sent to the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, Gupta's place of birth and citizenship are listed as 'India'. However, under passport numbers, two entries appear: One for India and another, but it is illegible. In subsequent exhibits it is noted that the Prague court questioned the US about discrepancies in the passport number provided for Gupta and the US responded saying it was an 'unintentional error'. This too was described by the family source quoted above as having been 'done deliberately'. 'We cited this while fighting his extradition in the Czech Republic. The US had no details about him except for one photo from 2017, when he had visited the US. They didn't have any concrete information. All the details were gathered after his arrest. They mentioned two passports. In fact, they even got the Indian passport number wrong. His passport, newly issued at the time, was from March 2023. The US has been contradicting its own claims since the beginning,' the family source said. 'That was the first time he traveled using that passport. So initially, they submitted incorrect passport numbers, and even the date of issuance was wrong. But whenever we raised concerns, the US claimed everything was just a mistake, and the Czech authorities accepted it all, likely due to external pressure. How can he have a Pakistani passport when he is an Indian national? And this inconsistency has been there from the very beginning. There were numerous errors, all of which were overlooked. This is also why we have repeatedly stated that it is a case of mistaken identity,' the source added. The documents state that the letter 'B' at the end of the passport number was changed to an '8', and that the US had provided a different passport issue date than the one found on Gupta during his detention. The court document mentions that the United States had informed the Czech court that it was an 'unintentional error'. However, it doesn't specify which passport this 'error' pertains to. The Czech court noted that it was aware that the US had provided a 'wrong ending and date of issue corresponding to the different personal document' of Gupta, but the error was clarified with additional information and explanation. 'The US party unambiguously confirmed by which passport the requested (Gupta) provided his identity when crossing the border in the US in 2017,' the unsealed document mentions. The court further adds that the information about his alleged Pakistani passport was provided by the US only in the 'very beginning of the process' and was not mentioned during the further course of proceedings in the extradition materials and that the US has addressed him as a citizen of India. 'The court doesn't exclude that in the past the requested (Gupta) could be a holder of Pakistani passport. Nevertheless, with regard to the above facts and unambiguous identification of the requested, the court doesn't consider this information relevant for evaluation of the identity of the requested (Gupta) or even as the information implying doubts about his identity,' the court document mentions. (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: Pressured to plead guilty in Pannun case, says Nikhil Gupta from US prison, recalls '20 days in cage'
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio man charged for allegedly threatening US Congressman Max Miller
By Brad Brooks (Reuters) -Police in Ohio said on Friday they had arrested a man after he allegedly ran a U.S. Congressman off a road, threatened the politician and his family, and yelled antisemitic slurs and waved a Palestinian flag before fleeing. Police in Rocky River, Ohio, said in a statement that they had arrested Feras Hamdan, 36, of Ohio, in connection to the alleged targeting on Thursday of U.S. Representative Max Miller, a Republican representing Ohio, in the suburb about 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Cleveland. Hamdan, police said, voluntarily turned himself into police. Hamdan was arraigned on Friday and charged with aggravated menacing and ethnic intimidation, according to Deborah Comery, the Rocky River Municipal Court clerk. Hamdan, who could face up to five months in jail, pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $500,000 bond. Hamdan's attorney, Issa Elkhatib, said in a written statement that the allegations against Hamdan were "baseless and outrageous" and that they "amount to defamatory attacks on his character and reputation." Elkhatib said that Hamdan was a respected local doctor who had no prior criminal history, and that he was confident "the truth will win and that Dr. Hamdan's good name will be fully vindicated." Political violence in the U.S. has been on the increase. A man in Minnesota was arrested on suspicion of assassinating a state lawmaker and her husband last weekend, and shooting and injuring another lawmaker and his wife. The Rocky River police statement said that Miller called 911 on Thursday morning to report that he was run off the road while traveling with his family on Interstate 90 in Ohio. The police said Miller reported an assailant yelled antisemitic slurs and waved a Palestinian flag. "The deranged hatred in this country has gotten out of control," Miller wrote on social media. "As a Marine, a proud Jewish American and a staunch defender of Israel, I will not hide in the face of this blatant antisemitic violence," he wrote.
Arab Times
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
Czech court sentences Colombian to 8 years for arson attack which officials think tied to Russia
PRAGUE, June 10, (AP): A court in the Czech capital sentenced a Colombian national to eight years in prison on Monday for an arson attack and planning another one, in a case which authorities believe may be linked to Russia. Prague's Municipal Court also ordered Andrés Alfonso de la Hoz de la Cruz to pay damages worth 115,000 koruna ($5,300). The court approved a plea agreement between prosecutors and the defendant, who pleaded guilty. The 26-year-old Colombian was arrested a year ago after setting ablaze three Prague public buses at a depot at night. The court said that he recorded what he did and left. Local workers managed to extinguish the fire. The court said the man received orders on the Telegram messaging app and was promised $3,000. He was also planning one more attack, possibly at a movie theater in Prague. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala previously said the failed arson attack was likely part of Russia's hybrid war against his country. Czechia, which is more widely known in English as the Czech Republic, is a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russia's full scale-invasion. Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and other incidents across Europe since Moscow launched all-out war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, according to data collected by The Associated Press. They allege the disruption campaign is an extension of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war, intended to sow division in European societies and undermine support for Ukraine.
