Free Republic

SAN DIEGO – Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, driven from office by sexual harassment allegations, was charged Tuesday with felony false imprisonment and two counts of misdemeanor battery involving three women.

The FBI has been conducting a long-running investigation of Chaka Fattah and his finances. That's what his lawyer told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Just days ago, the FBI subpoenaed for his property tax records asking "for copies of checks used over the last five years to pay taxes on property the Democratic congressman and his wife, NBC10 news

Illinoisans with a felony on their records will no longer be asked about their criminal past when they apply for state jobs. Promoting the decision to what he calls "Ban the Box," State Rep. LaShawn K. Ford (D-Chicago) says the governor's administrative order doesn't mean private employers will be required to hire ex-cons. It simply means applications for state government jobs will no longer include a box indicating whether an applicant has pled guilty, or been convicted of a criminal offense, other than a minor traffic violation. State agencies would still be allowed to conduct background checks, and request information...

The bride wore white; the groom wore shackles. The marriage of Danne Desbrow and his fiancee, Destiny, came just minutes after he was sentenced to 53 years-to-life in prison for first-degree murder, U-T San Diego reported Monday (bit.ly/19RjLwF). San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Cookson officiated at both events. She even baked a cake for the Sept. 17 ceremony, the newspaper said. Cookson declined to respond to a request for comment from the newspaper. Desbrow was sentenced for the 2003 killing of Kevin Santos after a witness with key information came forward recently. His defense attorney argued Desbrow was defending...

Dem Mayor PeeWee Richardson Charged With Multiple Sex Crimes BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff September 20, 2013 12:28 pm James “PeeWee” Richardson, mayor of Carbon Hill, Alabama, was arrested and taken to the Walker County Jail Thursday evening for allegations of sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, harassment, and soliciting prostitution. Accusations against Richardson include: sexual conduct against four victims, “that he engaged some victims in the custody of the Carbon City Jail,” and soliciting prostitution from one of the victims. Should “PeeWee” be convicted, his maximum penalty would be one to ten years in jail for one to ten years per...

Weapons charges have been filed against three men caught handling real guns while filming of a rap video on the South Side, according to police. The three were among eight people arrested by police around 3 p.m. Tuesday in the 7400 block of South Eggleston Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood. The other five do not face felony charges. Police said the group was filming a rap music video in the backyard of a home when officers made the arrests.

I discovered this website while looking to see what the bullies and haters are doing against me and my husband and I found this website and all the horrable things you all have been saying just because Gordon Ramsay lies about me. None of you have ever even been to my restarant before and never even tasted my food. YOU NEVER DID SO WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BULLY AND HATE? MY FOOD IS NOT FROZEN! GORDON NEVER EVEN TRIED MY CAKE! WHY AM I AN EVIL WITCH??? WHO ARE YOU TO THINK YOU CAN GO ON THE INTERNET AND...

Mina Gatas, 20, was arrested for peddling cocaine and oxycodone along with sundaes and other sweet treats, Brooklyn prosecutors announced Tuesday.Mina Gatas allegedly sold cocaine and other drugs out of this ice cream truck in a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn park. A Brooklyn man was allegedly selling a whole different type of snow cone from his ice cream truck. Mina Gatas, 20, was arrested for peddling cocaine and oxycodone along with sundaes and other sweet treats, Brooklyn prosecutors announced Tuesday. He was caught on a surveillance video inside his ice cream truck selling an undercover cop a plastic bag with about...

A man was shot in north Tulsa late Friday evening and died in surgery, according to police. They have arrested a man in the death but say it appears to have been a case of self-defense. Police said when they arrived at East 54th Street North and Frankfort Place, they found a wounded 34-year-old man in the front yard of a residence. The man had at least one gunshot to the lower torso and was transported by EMSA in critical condition, investigators said. He died after being rushed into surgery. "It appears that he may have been shot at different...

Scandal: Before he lied to Congress while under oath about what he knew about targeting reporters, he lied about Fast and Furious. As early as the New Black Panthers case, Eric Holder had a problem with the truth. That the House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Attorney General Eric Holder lied under oath during his May 15 testimony on Department of Justice (DOJ) surveillance of reporters comes as no surprise. People have forgotten about the New Black Panther case, perhaps the most clear-cut case of voter suppression and intimidation ever. On Election Day 2008, New Black Panther Party members in...

In November 2012, Louisiana voters strengthened the Louisiana Constitution’s right to bear arms provision, to read The right of each citizen to keep and bear arms is fundamental and shall not be infringed. Any restriction on this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny. Today, Louisiana Judge Darryl A. Derbigny, in State v. Draughter (La. Crim. Dist. Ct. Mar. 21, 2012), held that the Louisiana ban on felon possession of guns violates this provision. The analysis was brief: Under the strict scrutiny standard, government action is not presumed to be constitutional, and will not be upheld by [a] Court unelss...

Detroit native Brian Banks won a seat in Michigan's state assembly with a commanding lead of 68 percent, but the representative-elect may never be sworn in. Banks, 35, is a multiple convicted felon, which, according to some of his prospective colleagues, makes him unfit to serve. CBS Detroit has reported that some Michigan lawmakers may try to stop him from taking office. Banks' crimes involved writing bad checks and credit card fraud for which he was convicted eight times between 1998 and 2004. But that didn't stop him from using the campaign slogan "You Can Bank on Banks." It also...

**SNIP** One in the pack running for Jackson’s vacated house seat is one who’s been there before, former congressman Mel Reynolds. “At a time when we are living in the killing fields of Chicago, our federal government seems obsessed with the Jackson,” said Reynolds. Reynolds points to stories that include Jackson’s wife Sandi who’s also resigned her elective seat as alderman. “Do they really now want to put both parents of small children in jail or is their strategy to get Sandi Jackson to flip on her husband so they can put even more pressure on that family?” said Reynolds.

OAKLAND (CBS SF) — A paroled felon was sentenced Thursday to 35 years and eight months in state prison in connection with the fatal shooting death of a man near the former Occupy Oakland encampment in November 2011 and for a sexual assault that occurred five days later. Issac McDaniels, 32, of Oakland, had faced a potential life term for sexually assaulting a woman on 13th Avenue in Oakland on Nov. 15, 2011, but prosecutors dropped a kidnapping charge against him last November in exchange for him pleading no contest to four felonies. The charges are forced oral copulation and...

Christian Phillip Oberender, 32, is in jail in Carver County accused of possessing 13 firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon. Oberender was convicted of murdering his mother, Mary Oberender, in 1995. He was 14-years-old when he shot her several times with a shotgun. Now, 18 years later, he faces felony charges for possessing those 13 guns illegally, but it's what he didn't do that has his community on edge. "I need to know about these things. I am going to keep a very visual look at what is happening in this case and follow it and figure it out....

President Obama wants more gun-control laws, but perhaps he should care more about enforcing the ones already on the books. He granted an exclusive interview to NBC’s David Gregory on Saturday, even though the “Meet the Press” anchor is under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for possession of an unregistered “high capacity” magazine in the District. It is also unclear how Mr. Gregory passed the Secret Service background check to enter the White House while under criminal investigation. **SNIP** Chief Lanier is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If she does not charge Mr. Gregory with...

An Illinois state lawmaker who was a frontrunner to replace former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. says he's ending his candidacy because he doesn't want the felony gun charges he faces to detract from the district's important issues. Donne Trotter was arrested Dec. 5 when security screeners at O'Hare International Airport found an unloaded .25-caliber Beretta handgun in his bag. **SNIP** Trotter announced Saturday he will not seek the 2nd congressional district seat, explaining that solving the area's economic and other problems was too important to allow his legal "situation to detract from what needs to be front and center."

The Washington Metropolitan Police Department is investigating whether any city laws were violated when NBC’s David Gregory displayed what appeared to be a 30-round gun magazine on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, a spokesman confirmed to POLITICO. “The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating this matter,” said police officer and spokesman Araz Alali in an interview Tuesday. When pressed on what the police department was investigating, Alali added, “The ‘Meet the Press’, David Gregory incident.” “There are D.C. code violations, D.C. code restrictions on guns, ammunition. We are investigating this matter. Beyond the scope of that, I can’t comment any...

Congressional Research Service confirms Jefferson's pension should continueBy Bruce Alpert updated December 12, 2012 at 7:27 PM WASHINGTON - A new report by the Congressional Research Service reiterates previous legal findings -- that Congress can't deny pension benefits to former members for criminal conduct covered by a 2007 law if the illegal acts occurred before the law's enactment. That means former Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, now serving a record 13-year prison sentence, will continue to collect his pension -- estimated at $40,000-$50,000 a year. Until 2007, only crimes relating to espionage, treason or several other national security violations could...

Detroiters Elect Ex-Con Brian Banks As State RepNovember 7, 2012 10:31 AM **SNIP** Banks, a Democrat and lifelong Detroiter, won a seat in Lansing as a state representative for the 1st District, representing the east side of Detroit, Harper Woods, and the tony Grosse Pointes. He won 68 percent of the vote to Republican Dan Schulte’s 32 percent. Banks, 35, was convicted eight times between 1998 and 2004 of writing bad checks and credit card fraud. His slogan was “You can Bank on Banks.”