Latest news with #U.S.FederalCourt
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
South Carolina death row inmate fires attorney and asks court to expedite his execution
A man on South Carolina's death row has surrendered his appeals and fired his attorney. James D. Robertson, convicted of killing his parents in the late 1990s, wrote a letter to Chief U.S. Federal Court Judge Timothy M. Cain stating he intends to withdraw his federal appeal, relieve his lawyers, and represent himself. A court-requested attorney has until July to determine if Robertson is capable of representing himself. The request could lead to Robertson being executed before exhausting his appeals. Robertson was represented by Emily Paavola of Justice 360, a Columbia firm. According to court documents, Robertson killed Earl and Terry Robertson, both 49, with a hammer and a baseball bat in their Rock Hill home in November 1997. In the letter to the judge, Robertson said he relieved Paavola as his attorney because no attorney would withdraw his execution appeal. Robertson previously tried to withdraw his appeals in 2002. According to documents Paavola sent to the U.S. District Court, Robertson's request was due to mental illness, medical issues, and the loss of fellow death row inmates. Marion Bowman, executed by lethal injection on Jan. 31, was a close friend. More: Memorial Day weekend safety: Experts urge caution on the roads, at the grill, on the water Paavloa asked that the court delay a decision on Robertson's request so he could be evaluated. U.S. District Judge Mary Gordon Baker appointed Columbia-based attorney John L. Warren III to make sure Robertson is competent enough to represent himself. There have been five men executed in South Carolina since September. Mikel Mahdi was the last man executed on April 11. He died via firing squad. This article originally appeared on Greenville News: SC death row inmate fires attorney, seeks accelerated execution date
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge: No immediate settlement talks in former council member's lawsuit against Rochester
May 1—ROCHESTER — A court case involving a former Rochester City Council member, the city government and its mayor seemingly will not be brought to a swift resolution, as a judge declared Thursday that he will not order the parties into immediate settlement talks. "I expect the parties know better than I do when they want to try to settle their case, so I'm not going to order you to come to a settlement conference only to tell me you are not ready to settle the case," U.S. Federal Court Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko told the attorneys Thursday during a 20-minute pretrial hearing related to former city council member Molly Dennis' discrimination lawsuit against the city and Mayor Kim Norton. In an order following the hearing, Micko states he reserves the right to call for a settlement conference at a future date, and established July 23, 2026, as the the date attorneys should be ready for what's expected to be a four-day trial, if no settlement is reached. Dennis initiated the lawsuit in early 2024, less than a year after her March 6, 2023, censure by City Council peers. In her lawsuit, Dennis alleges the city denied her access to public services required under federal and state laws pertaining to people with disabilities. Additionally, Dennis alleges the city and Norton retaliated against her after she lodged complaints and sought accommodations related to her attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder disability. Attorneys representing the city say that accommodations for Dennis' disability were made, and the censure and other actions taken by the City Council were in response to complaints about Dennis' actions against elected officials and staff, not her disability. While Micko said he doesn't plan to order a settlement conference at this point, he will call the attorneys together on July 1 for an informal, off-the-record update. "I use those as an opportunity to check in on how our litigation is progressing and also to talk to the parties a little bit more frankly and openly about whether there have been steps to resolve the case," he said of the planned closed conference. Paul Ostrow, whom Dennis hired in April after she represented herself for more than a year, said he's still getting get up to speed in the case, but Dennis "is interested in bringing this matter either to trial or settlement on an expeditious basis." Farah Famouri of the Minneapolis-based Greene Espel law firm, which is representing the city, voiced agreement with the judge's plan. In addition to setting a schedule for the trial and related deadlines, the hearing and following order set anticipated limits on how many dispositions and documents the attorneys are expected to request as the case moves forward.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Yahoo
Feds sentence 'White-Collar Socipath' to four years for financial crimes
TULSA, Okla. – A former Grand Lake man who used his family members' stolen identities to swindle over $3 million from banks and other financial institutions saw his probation suspended and was sentenced to four years in federal prison Michael Chase Morris, also known as Michael Jeffrey Morris, 63, appeared in U.S. Federal Court in Tulsa on Wednesday for a sentencing hearing to revoke his supervised release from prison for a 2016 conviction. It's his second revocation for financial crimes since 2023. Morris has five fraud-related convictions and seven prior revocations for fraudulent behavior since 1988. Federal prosecutors asked Eagan to sentence Morris to 56 months. Mr. Morris's criminal history and characteristics warrant the stiffest permissible sentence under the law to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct and protect the public from further crimes. Michael Morris, Sentencing Memorandum Earlier this month, Morris stipulated to concealing a checking account and a PayPal account. Federal prosecutors dropped the three other violations. According to court documents, Morris violated his probation 'by lying, providing false information, and concealing truthful information from his probation officer in his efforts to thwart her efforts to provide meaningful supervision.' Morris 'wasted no time engaging in additional transactions prohibited by his terms of release, and then willfully tried to hide his tracks when confronted by his supervising probation officer,' the documents state. In June 2016, Morris was sentenced to six and a half years for financial wrongdoing and five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,641,915.71 in restitution. It was during this sentencing hearing that Morris was called a 'white collar sociopath' by a federal prosecutor. Testimony during his 2016 federal sentencing suggested Morris was not upfront about a charity he set up in his deceased 16-year-old son's name to raise money for sudden cardiac arrest. Click here to read a timeline of Morris' financial convictions. On Wednesday, Judge Claire V. Eagan followed up with a four-year prison sentence with five years of supervised release. Eagan also ordered Morris to adhere to computer restrictions and obtain a mental health evaluation, according to court records filed on Wednesday. Court records filed by Morris show he has previously been diagnosed with several mental health issues, including Impulse Control Disorder, Atypical Anxiety Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. 'The Court would be hard-pressed to find a similarly situated defendant who has demonstrated a more recidivistic pattern and lifestyle of fraudulent behavior coupled with a clear unwillingness to comply with the Court's orders,' court documents show. Sources close to the investigation said Morris may face new indictments. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBC
07-03-2025
- CBC
U.S. guilty plea for woman caught on video with Romanian-Canadian family who died on smuggling run
A woman captured on the parking lot camera of the Super 8 motel in Cornwall, Ont., picking up a Romanian-Canadian family days before their deaths on a human smuggling run pleaded guilty Thursday before a U.S. Federal Court to five counts of alien smuggling. Janet Terrance admitted to picking up the four members of the Iordache family on March 27, 2023, at the Super 8 and then driving them to a house on Cornwall Island, which sits across the St. Lawrence River from Cornwall. The family waited for a boat that never showed up, according to the plea agreement filed with the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of New York. Terrance is one of four people named in a nine count indictment filed as a result of a U.S. Homeland Security Investigations probe into the deaths of nine people — including the Iordache family — who drowned after their boat capsized on the St. Lawrence River during a U.S.-bound human smuggling run on March 29, 2023. One of her co-accused, Dakota Montour, has already pleaded guilty. The other two, Stephanie Square and Rahsontanohstha Delormier, are now facing extradition to the U.S. following a ruling Thursday morning in Quebec Superior Court. They were part of a small group of people in Akwesasne — an Indigenous community severed by the Canada-U.S. border about 120 kilometres west of Montreal — working for a human smuggling network run out of Montreal. Romanian citizens Florian Iordache, Cristina Iordache and their two Canadian-born children, Evelin, 2, and Elyen, 16 months, were facing deportation. They paid about $15,000 to a human smuggling network to get smuggled into the U.S., according to court records filed in Canadian court. They shared the boat on the fatal voyage with a family of four from India, father Pravindbhai Chaudhari, mother Dakshaben, and their two adult children, son Mitkumar and daughter Vidhiben. The Chaudhari family paid $100,000 to the same network to be smuggled into the U.S., according to police and court records in Canada and India. A months-long investigation led by the RCMP found that the human smuggling network was headed by a Montreal man named Thesingarasan Rasiah, who is now in custody and facing multiple human smuggling charges. Many of the details in Terrance's plea agreement dovetail with evidence gathered by the RCMP, according to court records filed in Ontario. Terrance's plea agreement is also linked to a separate guilty plea filed in U.S. Federal Court last October by Kawisiiostha Sharrow, also known as 'Kawi' or Cecilia. Sharrow said the Iordache family was "among the aliens [she] agreed to smuggle" for $2,500 in March 2023. She twice tried and failed to move the family across the river, according to Sharrow's plea agreement. Sharrow paid Terrance $500 to pick up the Iordache family on March 27. Sharrow sent them back to Cornwall later that night by taxi after the boat failed to show, according to the document. The next night, March 28, 2023, the Iordache family "refused to cross the St. Lawrence River because of inclement weather." Sharrow agreed it was too rough, with "high winds, waves and darkness," said the plea agreement.
CBC
06-03-2025
- CBC
Quebec judge rules 2 should face U.S. extradition in human smuggling river deaths
A Quebec Superior Court judge ruled two people from Akwesasne should face extradition to the U.S., where they face charges related to a human smuggling run across the St. Lawrence River that ended in the drowning deaths of nine people on March 29, 2023. Justice Gregory Moore said the federal Crown presented enough evidence to meet the low evidentiary standard for this stage of the extradition process. "This is a very limited role and intended only to decide as to whether there is a prima facie case, whether a … crime has been committed," said Moore. "The extradition judge did not hear a trial, and the process before the judge is intended to be expeditious, [deciding] only whether a trial should be held." The federal justice minister will make the final determination on the extradition. Stephanie Square and Rahsontanohstha Delormier are both wanted into the U.S. to face an indictment filed with the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of New York in connection with the drowning deaths of a family of four from India and a Romanian-Canadian family of four with two young children. While the alleged roles of Square and Delormier in the tragedy are very different, their cases were heard together during this phase of the extradition process. Romanian citizens Florian Iordache, Cristina Iordache and their two Canadian-born children, Evelin, 2, and Elyen, 16 months, drowned on March 29, 2023, when the boat they travelled in capsized in stormy weather on the St. Lawrence River. They shared the boat with a family of four from India, father Pravindbhai Chaudhari, mother Dakshaben Chaudhari, and their two adult children, son Mitkumar and daughter Vidhiben. The boat launched from Cornwall Island headed for the southern banks of the St. Lawrence, but never made it. The bodies of the two families were pulled from the river between March 30 and 31. The body of Casey Oakes, the Akwesasne resident who was at the boat's tiller, was found in July. Akwesanse is a Haudenensaunee community that is severed by the Canada-U.S. border. It sits about 120 kilometres west of Montreal and its territory is split between Ontario, Quebec and New York State. The Chaudhari family, in Canada on visitors visas, paid $100,000, and the Iordaches, facing deportation, paid about $15,000 to a human smuggling network allegedly led by a Montreal man named Thesingarasan Rasiah. Both families wanted to enter the U.S. The RCMP charged Rasiah, who is in custody, with numerous human smuggling related charges in June 2024. Case goes to minister This case now goes before the federal justice minister to determine whether they should be surrendered to the U.S. Square and Delormier have 30 days to file for an interim release and an appeal. They can also make submissions to the minister. The minister's extradition decision can also be challenged at the appeal court and Supreme Court of Canada level. Square's Montreal lawyer Joel Girard said they would be appealing to the federal justice minister directly, via a letter, that he should reject the extradition request. Girard questions whether the U.S. has any jurisdiction to pursue criminal charges over the fatalities on the river because they occurred within Canadian territory. "An alleged crime committed in Canada should be prosecuted in Canada," said Girard. Delormier's Montreal lawyer Antonio Cabral said he planned to apply for an interim release for Delormier. Cabral said he also plans to appeal Moore's decision and seek a Gladue report for Delormier. Girard said he would also be seeking to send a Gladue report for Square to the minister. Gladue reports are basically like pre-sentence reports that include the historical impact of dispossession and colonialism on the life of Indigenous offenders. However, there is case law on the use of Gladue reports in the extradition process. Cabral said he planned to fight Delormier's extradition "with all of my power and energy." Square faces eight counts in the indictment, including alien smuggling, conspiracy to commit alien smuggling,alien smuggling for profit and four counts of alien smuggling causing death for each of the Romanian-Canadian families who died. Delormier faces five counts, including conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, alien smuggling and alien smuggling for profit. Much of the U.S. case against Delormier and Square is based on evidence gathered by Canadian authorities, according to the publicly available record. Square was the alleged organizer of the run who allegedly hired Casey Oakes to take the two families across the river. Delormier was found on an island during the day of March 30 on the verge of hypothermia. The extradition file alleges he was piloting a boat bought by Square that broke down on the way to Cornwall Island where the families waited to be smuggled.
