Free Republic

  WILFRED J. ALBANESE, 49, formerly of Waterbury, Connecticut and Blue Springs, Missouri, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to fraud and identity theft offenses stemming from the sale of numerous used vehicles with altered odometers.According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately August 2014 and October 2015, Albanese, while residing in Missouri, sold approximately 48 vehicles with altered odometers to unsuspecting purchasers.  As part of the scheme, Albanese purchased high-mileage used vehicles and then used a variety of means to alter or reduce the mileage shown on the vehicles’...

The University of Connecticut expelled a male student for an allegedly nonconsensual sexual encounter with a female student. But now a judge has issued a temporary restraining order to halt the student's removal, on the grounds that the university's investigation was wildly unfair. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has obtained a transcript of the court proceeding, which took place on January 23. As it shows, U.S. District Judge Michael Shea was especially perturbed that UConn did not interview key witnesses who would have undermined the accuser's credibility. "I am troubled by aspects of this procedure," said Shea,...

CAREFREE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Firefighters say flames swept through an abandoned studio for fashion shoots early Sunday morning in the town of Carefree. A passerby called sheriff's deputies at about 3:30 a.m., Sunday after spotting the flames shooting out of the empty building near Pima and Cave Creek Road in Carefree. We're told the building was known as Woburn Studios, an old retail fashion studio where shoots were held. When deputies arrived, the building was engulfed in flames. Rural-Metro firefighters also responded to the scene and they have been working to put out the flames.   Crews from Scottsdale...