Free Republic

A violent criminal who tried to murder a Florida cop has been sentenced to life in prison after shooting the officer four times. Now, video footage from inside the courtroom has gone viral after the cop showed up to deliver a special "going away gift" for the smug thug.The officer’s car Kevin Rojas was just 19 years old when he tried to kill an undercover Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officer who was in his car with his teenage son. When the off-duty officer, who was taking his son to school, saw Rojas driving erratically, the cop decided to make a traffic...

NEW YORK -- A jury has found that Richard Rojas is not responsible for plowing his car through a Times Square crowd in 2017, killing an 18-year-old tourist and injuring several others, due to mental illness. Deliberations began on Tuesday. Rojas, 31, faced numerous charges in the case, including murder. Alyssa Elsman, 18, was killed and 22 others were hurt in the 2017 crash. The defense said Rojas has a history of mental illness. He pleaded not guilty. The decision means Rojas qualifies for being committed instead of being sentenced to prison. Rojas was ordered to held while he is...

California priest: Pope Francis ‘spreads … confusion like a virus’He also lashed out at the President: ‘A good example of hypocrisy would be Joe Biden. He says he is a good Catholic, but he’s the opposite.’GUASTI, California, June 4, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A Norbertine priest from Orange County, California, pulled no punches in his Pentecost homily, blasting the reign of falsehoods in Church and society, including by leaders such as Pope Francis and President Joe Biden.Fr. Francis Gloudeman explained that a falsehood can be identified by causing confusion. “A prime example of that would be Pope Francis,” the priest said....

Two Venezuelans charged with smuggling about $5 million worth of gold bars in a private plane to South Florida have cut plea deals with federal prosecutors to gain light prison sentences along with immediate deportation to Venezuela. Pilot Victor Fossi Grieco, 51, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to transport 230 pounds of gold hidden in the nose of the plane to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. He was sentenced to the time he has served while in custody since his arrest in September. His passenger, Jean Carlos Sanchez Rojas, 42, plans to plead guilty to the same charge later this week...

A flight attendant angry about his work route set a fire in an airplane bathroom, forcing an emergency landing, authorities said. The Compass Airlines flight carrying 72 passengers and four crew members landed safely in Fargo on May 7 after smoke filled the back. No injuries were reported. The plane was flying from Minneapolis to Regina, Saskatchewan, authorities said. Eder Rojas, 19, appeared in court Thursday, following his arrest a day earlier in Minneapolis, and ordered held without bail, prosecutors said. The charge of setting fire aboard a civil aircraft carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Colombia will pay a reward to a FARC guerrilla who shot dead his commander and cut off the man's hand to prove his identity in a case that sparked debate over a program to compensate informants, authorities said on Friday. Pablo Montoya, alias Rojas, killed Ivan Rios, one of the FARC's top seven secretariat commanders, and turned himself in to soldiers in what the government described as a serious blow to Latin America's oldest rebel insurgency. ... Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said the government would pay up to $2.5 million in bounty to Montoya and three others because of...

Working for the Release of ES Employees Held in Colombia Though one of the most beautiful places on earth, modern-day Colombia is also one of the most dangerous. On February 13th, four California Microwave Systems employees flying a mission for the U.S. Southern Command crashed in the Colombian jungle, not far from a stronghold of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), a local armed insurgent group. The pilot, Tom Janis and Colombian Army sergeant, Luis Alcides Cruz, were murdered by the FARC, and Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes were taken prisoner.The three remain in captivity, held by...

Guarded by hundreds of armed rebels deep in a malaria-infested jungle, three American captives pass the time playing with a homemade deck of cards and dreaming of their families. The threat of death always hangs nearby. The three U.S. military contractors have been cut off from the outside world since their capture by rebels seven months ago. That isolation was broken when a Colombian journalist traveled for days over rough roads and jungle rivers with a rebel escort to interview them July 25 in remote southern Colombia. "They were nervous, and there were traces of fear on their faces," freelance...