Latest news with #federalcustody
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
Torrance postal worker stole mail to buy a Rolex, vacation in Aruba and Turks and Caicos, feds say
A former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in Torrance has pleaded guilty to stealing credit and debit cards and checks from the mail and flaunting her spending on luxury goods and vacations on Instagram, federal officials announced. Mary Ann Magdamit, 31, of Carson, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to a U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California news release. Magdamit has been in federal custody since July 1 and previously worked as a letter carrier at the Torrance Main Post Office. Between 2022 and July 2025, Magdamit allegedly stole mail containing checks, personal identifying information and debit and credit cards before activating the cards online and using them to make purchases, according to her plea agreement and court documents. She also allegedly sold some of the stolen cards to her co-conspirators. Magdamit allegedly had her co-conspirators cash the stolen checks, usually by using fake identity documents, according to the release. She also posted photos of her vacations and luxury goods, including a Rolex watch and stacks of hundred dollar bills, on Instagram. In December 2024, law enforcement searched Magdamit's apartment and found more than 130 stolen credit and debit cards, 16 U.S. Depatment of Treasury checks and an unserialized Glock-clone handgun, also known as a "ghost gun," which was loaded with a 27-round extended magazine, according to the release. Prosecutors say she used the stolen goods to buy luxury goods and fund vacations to Turks and Caicos and Aruba. Despite the visit from law enforcement in December, prosecutors say Magdamit continued to make purchases with victims' credit cards which led to her arrest last month, according to the release. A second search of her apartment resulted in the discovery of more stolen credit cards. Magdamit has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Oct. 27 and faces up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge weighs Trump administration's request to end protections for immigrant children
McALLEN, Texas — A judge on Friday was considering a Trump administration request to end a decades-old policy on protections for immigrant children in federal custody that the government says is inhibiting its immigration crackdown. The administration asked U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles during a hearing to dissolve the policy, which limits how long Customs and Border Protection can hold immigrant children and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. Gee, who oversees what is known as the Flores agreement, expressed skepticism at the government's request but did not immediately issue a ruling. It was not clear how soon she will rule. The judge pressed government attorney Joshua McCroskey on why President Donald Trump's administration was holding children at the border for longer than the 72 hours laid out in the agreement when border arrests have reached record lows. She said it seems like conditions should be improving but they 'are deteriorating.' 'It seems counterintuitive that should happen unless it's willful,' said Gee, who was nominated to the court by President Barack Obama. McCroskey said some children are being held for longer because Trump as part of his crackdown ended the Biden administration's policy that allowed expedited releases of immigrants. McCroskey also pointed to logistical challenges that resulted from the closure of temporary facilities that were set up under President Joe Biden to handle an influx of immigrants. In May, CBP held 46 children over a week, including six children held for over two weeks and four children held 19 days, according to data revealed in a court filing. In March and April, CPB reported that it had 213 children in custody for more than 72 hours. That included 14 children, including toddlers, who were held for more than 20 days in April. Advocates for immigrant children asked the judge to keep protections and oversight in place and submitted accounts from immigrants in Texas family detention centers who described adults fighting children for clean water, despondent toddlers and a child with swollen feet who was denied a medical exam. The advocates also want the judge to expand independent monitoring. 'I have met children who have spent days in jail cells with barely more than ramen noodles to eat, lights on day and night, no sunlight or access to the outside world and the indignity of using the restroom in front of guards. On top of that trauma — then to be flown to family detention and locked up with no end in sight? It is truly shameful,' Leecia Welch, the deputy legal director at Children's Rights, said in an interview after the hearing. The Flores agreement, named for a teenage plaintiff, was the result of over a decade of litigation between attorneys representing the rights of immigrant children and the U.S. government over widespread allegations of mistreatment in the 1980s. It governs the conditions for all immigrant children in U.S. custody, including those traveling alone or with their parents. In its written motion, the Trump administration said the government has made substantial changes since the agreement was formalized in 1997, creating standards and policies governing the custody of immigrant children that conform to legislation and the agreement. The administration is looking to expand immigration detention space, including by building more centers like one in Florida dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' where a lawsuit alleges detainees' constitutional rights are being violated. In court, an attorney for the government, Tiberius Davis, acknowledged that the agreement hampers the administration's efforts, even though Trump's tax and spending bill provided billions to build new immigration facilities. Davis said the bill gives the government authority to hold families in detention indefinitely. 'But currently under the Flores settlement agreement, that's essentially void,' he said. The Biden administration successfully pushed to partially end the agreement last year. Gee ruled that special court supervision may end when the children are transferred from CPB custody to the Department of Health and Human Services. But she carved out exceptions for certain types of facilities for children with more acute needs.
Associated Press
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Judge to consider the fate of an agreement on protecting immigrant children in US custody
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Friday will hear a Trump administration request to end a nearly three-decade-old policy on ensuring safe conditions for immigrant children held in federal custody. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles will hold a hearing to consider dissolving a policy that limits how long Customs and Border Protection can hold immigrant children and that requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The policy also allows third-party inspections of CBP facilities that hold immigrant children to ensure compliance. Advocates for immigrant children have asked the judge to keep the protections and oversight in place and have submitted firsthand accounts from immigrants in family detention who described adults fighting children for clean water, despondent toddlers and a child with swollen feet who was denied a medical exam. In its motion, President Donald Trump's administration said the government has made substantial changes since the Flores agreement was formalized in 1997. The government said it has created standards and policies governing the custody of immigrant children that conform to legislation and the agreement. Conditions for immigrant children who enter the U.S. without a parent 'have substantially improved from those that precipitated this suit four decades ago,' the government wrote in its motion. The agreement, named for a teenage plaintiff, governs the conditions for all immigrant children in U.S. custody, including those traveling alone or with their parents. It also limits how long CBP can detain child immigrants to 72 hours. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services then takes custody of the children. The Biden administration successfully pushed to partially end the agreement last year. Gee ruled that special court supervision may end when HHS takes custody, but she carved out exceptions for certain types of facilities for children with more acute needs. Advocates for the children say the government is holding children beyond the time limits set out in the agreement. In March and April, CPB reported that it had 213 children in custody for more than 72 hours and that 14 children, including toddlers, were held for over 20 days in April. As part of their court filings, they included testimony from several families who were held in family detention centers in Texas. If the judge terminates the settlement, the detention centers would be closed to third-party inspections. The federal government is looking to expand its immigration detention space, including by building more centers like one in Florida dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' where a lawsuit alleges detainees' constitutional rights are being violated.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kilmar Abrego Garcia hearing in Nashville ends without a ruling. What happens next?
For the third time in a little more than a month, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was in a Nashville courthouse July 16, for a hearing meant to determine whether he remains in federal custody. Judge Waverly Crenshaw said at the conclusion of the two-hour hearing that he will likely rule next week. A federal judge in Maryland may also issue a ruling soon concerning what immigration authorities do with Abrego Garcia if he is released from jail and taken into their custody. Abrego Garcia's attorneys in Maryland have asked Judge Paula Xinis to order Immigration and Customs Enforcement to give at least 72 hours' notice before they try to deport him, CBS News reported. For Abrego Garcia, whose name is synonymous with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement, being released from jail could mean being deported again — possibly to a country other than his home country El Salvador. A sudden pause in proceedings U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire brought Special Agent Peter Joseph to the witness stand as things got underway on July 16. Prior to his questions, McGuire stated he would be aiming to present Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who took over the case from Judge Barbara Holmes, information that had not been previously disclosed. Questions asked by McGuire to this point were similar to those asked in Abrego Garcia's first hearing in June. Those included questions about bodycam footage of the 2022 traffic stop in Cookeville, to questions about interviews reviewed by Joseph with 'Cooperator 1' and 'NV.' The defense was about to bring up something the government's key witness 'spontaneously uttered' during an interrogation when the courtroom video feed paused on July 16. McGuire objected to attorney Sean Hecker's question referencing the utterance before he could finish it. Hecker, Abrego Garcia's attorney, had been spending the last 20 minutes questioning Joseph. Joseph is the lead agent in the case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the only person called to testify July 16. The government's evidence against Abrego Garcia depends heavily on the testimony of people who have something to gain from testifying against Abrego Garcia. Chief among them is Jose Hernandez Reyes, whom prosecutors allege was the boss of the immigrant smuggling operation it accuses Abrego Garcia of participating in. Hecker on July 16 noted that Reyes received special treatment for his testimony. Reyes was in a detention facility for an illegal reentry conviction at the time of his interviews with the authorities, but he has since been moved to a halfway house. Hecker pointed out that Joseph has never reviewed transcripts from three interviews Reyes did with other Homeland Security agents weeks before he interviewed Reyes. Joseph previously testified that Reyes — although attorneys have referred to him solely as 'cooperating witness 1' — told him 'it would be a very dangerous thing to ask' if Abrego Garcia was in a gang. However, transcripts of their interviews do not show that Reyes ever said that, Hecker said. Reyes did tell Joseph he did not think Abrego Garcia was in MS-13, Joseph testified. Hecker's questions probed the extent of Joseph's diligence when conducting interviews of the coconspirators. Among them, Hecker asked about Snapchat records presented by prosecutors to an account they allege is connected to Abrego Garcia. Hecker noted that the birthday listed on the account is in November, while Abrego Garcia's birthday is in July. Protesters: 'We are going to continue to fight' Faith leaders and immigrant rights advocates joined Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, at a news conference before the hearing. 'We are going to continue to fight, for Kilmar and for all of the Kilmars out there,' CASA Chief of Organizing and Leadership Lydia Walther-Rodriguez said in both English and Spanish. Leading a prayer as the sun beat down, Walther-Rodriguez asked God to "speak to the hearts of decision makers." What happens next? If Crenshaw rules the same way Holmes did, Abrego Garcia would transfer from jail to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Gabriel "Jack" Chin, an immigration scholar and professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, said the government "has a lot of cards" in this case. "They could deport him ... subject to the normal deportation process," Chin said. But ICE does not have to deport someone "just because they are deportable," Chin said. Chin said ICE could keep Abrego Garcia in the country until he goes to trial. Abrego Garcia's attorneys have noted that the government has contradicted itself about its intentions. It has at times said it would try to deport Abrego Garcia once he is in ICE custody, and at other times it has said it would make him face the criminal charges in Tennessee. Chin thinks the latter is more likely. "The fact that they brought this criminal case makes me speculate that they're going to pursue it," he said. Meanwhile, Abrego Garcia's attorneys in Maryland are hoping to persuade a judge in that state to bring him there. There, Abrego Garcia, who has only lived in Maryland since he entered the U.S. in 2011, would be closer to family while in ICE custody. What are the charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia? Abrego Garcia is charged with conspiracy to transport aliens and unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens. The charges center around a 2022 traffic stop in Cookeville. State troopers pulled Abrego Garcia over, suspected he was transporting undocumented immigrants, but let him go without charging him. The government alleges that Abrego Garcia worked with others in and outside the country to transport people from Central and South America into the U.S. for cash. According to prosecutors, he would pick up immigrants in Texas and transport them throughout the country, most often driving them to Maryland. Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kilmar Abrego Garcia: Deportation, jail decided next week Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Epstein fallout latest: Trump threatens to sue WSJ and orders release of grand jury testimony
The president denied a report that he sent Epstein a racy birthday letter, and directed his attorney general to release additional documents related to the convicted sex offender. Amid the fallout over his handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, President Trump is now saying that he has directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to unseal grand jury testimony in the late accused sex trafficker's criminal case. 'Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Thursday. 'This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!' It's unclear whether a judge would approve such a request or if the release of that material would appease Trump supporters demanding to see all of the files the government has on Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in federal custody awaiting trial. The post came less than an hour after Trump vowed to sue the Wall Street Journal over a report that he sent Epstein a racy birthday letter in 2003. In a separate Truth Social post, the president said that he personally warned the newspaper's owner, Rupert Murdoch, and its editor, Emma Tucker, that the letter was 'FAKE' before the report was published and called the story 'false, malicious, and defamatory.' What did the WSJ report say? According to the Journal, Trump's letter, along with dozens of others, was part of a leather-bound book put together by Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell for the disgraced financier's 50th birthday. 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,' Trump's letter concluded in a typewritten message to Epstein, per the Journal. The text was 'framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with heavy marker,' the report stated. 'A pair of small arcs denotes the woman's breasts, and the future president's signature is a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.' The president responded in another Truth Social post after the Journal's story was published. "These are not my words, not the way I talk,' Trump wrote. 'Also, I don't draw pictures." How did we get here? Epstein has long been the focus of unfounded conspiracy theories, pushed by some of Trump's prominent supporters, which claim the late financier was murdered to conceal the names of powerful people on a secret 'client list.' During the 2024 campaign, Trump said he would consider releasing additional government files on Epstein. And when Trump took office earlier this year, he directed the Justice Department to conduct an exhaustive review of the evidence collected on Epstein. Appearing on Fox News in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Epstein client list was 'sitting on my desk right now to review.' 'That's been a directive by President Trump,' she added. But last week, the DOJ and FBI released a two-page joint memo, concluding Epstein 'committed suicide in his cell' and had no 'client list.' What was the reaction to the memo? The memo angered some high-profile MAGA loyalists — including Tucker Carlson, former senior White House adviser Steve Bannon, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and far-right provocateur Laura Loomer — and led to a reported rift between Bondi and high-ranking FBI officials. Last weekend, Trump released a lengthy statement expressing his frustration over the Epstein saga. 'We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it's Epstein, over and over again. 'One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it's the 'HOTTEST' Country anywhere in the World,' he added. 'Let's keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.' Then on Wednesday, Trump lashed out at his supporters while repeatedly referring to the case as 'the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.' 'My PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker,' the president fumed in a Truth Social post. 'All these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.' What has Trump said about his relationship with Epstein? The Journal report also put a spotlight on the president's past relationship with Epstein. 'I've known Jeff for 15 years,' Trump told New York Magazine for a 2002 profile of Epstein. 'Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' In 2019, after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges, the president distanced himself, saying he was 'not a fan.' 'Well, I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,' Trump told reporters following Epstein's arrest. 'I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan."
