The Daily Blog

Jun 28

Killer Mike-Affiliated Rapper Supa Sport Arrested by DEA.

Rapper Supa Sport has been indicted as the ringleader of a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing heroin, crack, cocaine and marijuana.

The Detroit-repping, New Jersey-based MC — born Carl Barnett — was arrested by the DEA on June 10, and is being charged, along with 14 fellow members of his crew, the Detroit Boyz, with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

As an MC, Supa Sport recently released a mixtape entitled ‘Life in da Fastlane,’ which featured 8Ball & MJG, Lex Luger, Meek Mill and Atlanta rappers Killer Mike and Alley Boy. As Carl Barnett, or his street aliases “Pizzo,” “Marcale Hill” or “Mark Hill,” he allegedly ran the Detroit Boyz drug ring, coordinating the drug acquisitions, processing, packaging and resale out of an auto body shop in Morrisville, N.J. Barnett and the Detroit Boyz also customized vehicles with secret drug transportation compartments, and frequently traveled to Georgia to purchase cocaine — and perhaps to record — which they then distributed throughout the Trenton, N.J. area.

The 77-page indictment states that the DEA employed an informant to infiltrate the Detroit Boyz, and includes a sampling of Supa Sport’s lyrics, which likely provided similar information. On his Killer Mike-featured ‘Days Like This,’ the alleged drug trafficker boasts about selling “powder to the rocks and E’s for the poppers,” before lamenting, “The Feds takin’ flicks … They tappin’ my phones, invadin’ all my privacies.”

If found guilty, Supa Sport faces a minimum penalty of five years in prison, and a maximum of 40 years, plus a $5 million fine.

Mar 1

Prosecutors Want van der Sloot Locked Away Until 2040.

Joran van der Sloot, seen here in June at Miguel Castro Castro prison in Peru, faces a charge of murder in the death of Stephany Flores.

Flores was killed exactly five years after Holloway, 18, vanished while on a trip to Aruba to celebrate her high school graduation. Her body has never been found, but authorities believe she is dead.Van der Sloot has not been charged in Holloway’s disappearance, but he has been indicted by U.S. authorities for allegedly trying to extort $250,000 from Holloway’s family for information on her death and the location of her body.

Prosecutors in Peru believe there is sufficient evidence in Flores’ slaying to keep van der Sloot behind bars until 2040, de Telegraaf reported.

Peruvian officials said that shortly after his arrest, van der Sloot told them he broke Flores’ neck in a fit of rage after she used his laptop to find out about his involvement in the Holloway case, officials said.”I did not want to do it,” van der Sloot allegedly said about the attack. “The girl intruded into my private life. … We argued, and she tried to escape. I grabbed her by the neck, and I hit her.”

The Dutchman later retracted that confession, saying he was arrested without a warrant and was not provided with an official translator, which he says caused confusion during questioning. Van der Sloot also said his laptop was improperly searched.

The maximum sentence in Peru for murder is 20 years. However, the law allows for the amount of time to be increased if the homicide is considered excessively cruel. A 30-year sentence, counting the time van der Sloot has already been held, would keep him behind bars until 2040.

Feb 22

Stepmother Charged With Murder in Death of Zahra Baker.

Elisa Baker was indicted today on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the death of her disabled 10-year-old stepdaughter, Zahra Clare Baker, whose remains were found in various locations around North Carolina.

The indictment handed up by a grand jury in Catawba County, N.C., asserted that Baker had “a history and pattern of physical, verbal and psychological abuse of the victim,” The Charlotte Observer reported, and that she had “desecrated the victim’s body to hinder detection, investigation and prosecution of the offense.”Zahra, who had battled cancer and needed an artificial leg, was reported missing on Oct. 9 by her father, Adam Baker. Authorities believe the girl had been killed more than two weeks earlier.

The grand jurors cited a number of aggravating circumstances in the case, alleging that Elisa Baker “secreted the victim from family and others prior to and after the offense, delaying detection of the offense,” the Hickory Daily Record reported.

The indictment also stated that Baker “took advantage of a position of trust or confidence, including a domestic relationship, to commit the offense.”

Baker claimed that her husband had dismembered Zahra’s body, a charge he has denied. According to The Associated Press, a search warrant released last month cited cell phone records indicating Elisa Baker was at locations where Zahra’s remains were found.

In October, authorities arrested Adam Baker on charges unrelated to his daughter’s disappearance. He posted $7,000 bond and was released.

Feb 16

Former Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson was indicted on Monday in federal court in Maryland on eight charges, including bribery, witness and evidence tampering and aiding and abetting.

Johnson, 61, a former prosecutor who was the county’s top elected official from 2002 to 2010, is accused of playing a key role in a conspiracy that reaches deep into the ranks of power players in the tight-knit government and business communities.

Johnson, along with an unnamed public official, accepted things of value — including money, trip expenses, airline tickets, rounds of golf, mortgage payments and in-kind campaign contributions — from business owners and developers in return for official favors, the 31-page indictment states. The indictment alleges that the conspiracy lasted from 2003 until last November, almost through the entirety of Johnson’s term.

The indictment doesn’t name the other public official, but it says that the official was Johnson’s housing director. James Johnson is the former director of the Prince George’s County Department of Housing and Community Development.

Johnson, who is not related to the former county executive, was appointed by Jack Johnson and formally sworn in by the county council in November 2009. He served as acting director of the housing department and executive director of the Housing Authority since 2008.

Before his appointment, Johnson, a resident of Camp Springs, worked as a special assistant to the county executive.

The quid-pro-quos provided by Johnson and other officials included helping developers and business owners obtain jobs, business permits and county funding, the indictment states.

The indictment outlines a pay-to-play atmosphere in Prince George’s during Johnson’s eight years as county executive and for the first time charges Johnson with actually soliciting and receiving a bribe.

“Pay-to-play government is not democratic government,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a written statement. “Anyone who seeks benefits or approvals from the government should be evaluated on the merits, without being extorted for payments or losing out to competitors who pay bribes. Government employees flagrantly abuse the public trust when they take money in return for official acts.”

The indictment in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt comes three months after Johnson and his wife, Leslie, 58, a member of the County Council, were arrested at their brick colonial in Mitchellville. The couple were overheard on a wiretap plotting to hide $79,600 in cash in Leslie Johnson’s bra and flush a $100,000 check from a developer down the toilet as FBI agents knocked at the door.

Jack Johnson could not immediately be reached for comment. But after his November arrest he proclaimed his innocence and said he was “absolutely convinced” he would be vindicated.

Leslie Johnson (D-Mitchellville), who was elected Nov. 2, has maintained her seat despite being stripped of some responsibility by the full council. She had been scheduled to appear in court this week, but was granted a delay until March 16 to have additional time to investigate the charges. She was not named as a defendant in the indictment.

Federal authorities have said in court papers that an investigation launched in 2006 revealed that Prince George’s County real estate developers were “regularly providing things of value” to public officials in exchange for official favors.

Over the next five years, authorities investigated allegations of a pay-to-play culture and cronyism, court papers show. FBI agents listened in on wiretaps, worked with informants and searched county offices, businesses and private homes. Authorities began tapping Jack Johnson’s cell phone in January 2010.

The case became public Nov. 12 when FBI agents—shocked by what they heard on the wiretap—moved forward with Johnson’s arrest sooner than they had expected to, sources said. At the time, Jack and Leslie Johnson each were charged with evidence tampering and destruction of evidence.

Court papers filed at the time said the investigation centered on alleged bribes Jack Johnson took in exchange for helping an unidentified developer obtain grant funding from a federal affordable-housing program administered through the county. That developer gave Johnson cash and checks as far back as 2007, the documents state.

The indictment alleges that Johnson took more than $200,000 from the developer in exchange for getting him money from the federal housing program called HOME Investment Partnerships.

The developer received more than $1 million from the federal program, the indictment says.

The indictment says that FBI agents recorded conversations among Johnson, the developer and the housing director, which included shakedowns for cash. In one October conversation between Johnson and his housing director, Johnson suggested: “Why don’t me and you go to his house together. .. so he [Developer A] can’t wiggle out of [expletive] … We’ll go ah … one night next week. Then we’ll do ah, 1.5, and ah, you and I should get five hundred together,” according to the indictment.

Later, Johnson told his housing director that he would keep $300,000 and that the housing director could have the remaining $200,000 they would get from the developer, the indictment said. “No, that’ll be good man,” Johnson said, according to the indictment. “If I can get myself about three hundred, urn, I’ll be in good shape.”

During a November meeting secretly recorded by law enforcement, the developer gave Johnson $15,000 in cash, court papers say. When confronted by FBI agents, Johnson told them the money was for a party to mark the end of his term as county executive.”

During two terms as county executive, Johnson was a popular figure who prided himself on transforming Prince George’s County into “Gorgeous Prince George’s.” During his tenure, the county’s Wall Street Bond rating was raised, and he took credit for improving emergency services and attracting businesses.

But he was also criticized for doling out government contracts to allies not qualified for the work, and for excessive charges on the county credit card.

A Washington Post investigation of Johnson’s first term as county executive found he had given 15 friends and allies 51 contracts totaling nearly $3.3 million. The Post also found that Johnson and several County Council members charged thousands of dollars in personal expenses to their county issued credit cards.

Federal officials have said the case against the Johnsons’ is part of a broader corruption investigation that also led to the Nov. 15 arrests of seven people, including two Prince George’s County police officers, in an alleged scheme to distribute black-market alcohol and cigarettes.

County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D), who succeeded Johnson, formed an integrity panel that has met in the wake of the shake-up.

Jan 7

Kids, Mom Charged After Headless Dad Found in Freezer.

Two teens were indicted today in North Carolina in the death of their father, whose decapitated body was found stuffed in a freezer late last year, months after he was killed. The teens’ mother has already been charged with murder in the case.

Alexis Morgan Green, 17, and David Reuben Green III, 15, were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of their father, 52-year-old David Reuben Green Jr.
The teens’ mother, Wendy Edmond Green, 41, is being held in the Wake County Jail on charges of first-degree murder in Green’s death. The Greens were not married, but police say Wendy Green had assumed her boyfriend’s last name.

Investigation into the case began in early September, when David Green’s family members contacted the Wake County Sheriff’s Office to report him missing. On Sept. 7, deputies conducted a search of the couple’s Raleigh home but were unable to locate him, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Phyllis Stephens told AOL News.

A second search was conducted in October. The home had since been abandoned, and the power inside had been shut off. During a walk-through of the residence, authorities detected an unusual smell coming from a freezer in the basement. When deputies opened the freezer, they discovered Green’s headless body, Stephens said.Wendy Green was found living in nearby Robeson County. She was arrested and taken into custody without incident.

Green died of blunt-force trauma, according to an autopsy performed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Chapel Hill. Investigators suspect he was killed in January 2009.

Authorities located Alexis Green at the Wake County Jail. She had reportedly been incarcerated there in September on multiple charges stemming from a July arrest on burglary charges.

The younger David Green was missing. Investigators were initially concerned about his safety, but he was later found safe.

According to police, the teenagers gave statements to investigators implicating them “as having played active roles in the planning and commission [of their father’s murder] as well as cleaning up the crime scene in an effort to conceal the crime.”

Authorities have yet to comment on a possible motive in the killing, but court documents obtained by WRAL-TV in Raleigh allege that Wendy Green had been using her boyfriend’s credit cards and had asked his family for money.

According to WRAL, prosecutors plan to try both teens as adults.

Dec 18

Former ‘Melrose Place’ Star Amy Locane Indicted for Aggravated Manslaughter.

Six months after striking two separate cars during a wine-fueled drive—and killing a passenger in one of the cars—former ‘Melrose Place’ star Amy Locane-Bovenizer has been indicted on charges of aggravated manslaughter and assault by auto, TMZ.com reports.

Locane-Bovenizer was involved in a hit-and-run collision in Montgomery, New Jersey this past June. Minutes after leaving the scene of that accident, she slammed her 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe into the passenger side of another vehicle, killing passenger, Helene Seeman. The manslaughter and assault charges stem from the second accident.

TMZ reports that Locane-Bovenizer was indicted Thursday by a grand jury in Somerset County. She faces 10-30 years in jail for the manslaughter charge and an additional 5-10 for the assault by car charge.

Locane-Bovenizer’s lawyer Blair Zwillman told TMZ he’s “surprised” at the aggravated manslaughter charge, adding, “I don’t believe it is supported by the law or the facts and I think it constitutes over-reaching by the prosecutor’s office.”
Locane-Bovenizer fled the scene of her first crash when the driver of that car attempted to call for help. The driver followed her, telling police that the actress was “swerving and knocking down several mailboxes.”

After driving 17 miles to another town, the actress struck the second car, killing the passenger. Officers on the scene said she had alcohol on her breath and her eyes were bloodshot. She was arrested and taken to a nearby medical center to have her blood-alcohol level tested.

While in custody, the actress admitted to having several glasses of wine that day.

Aug 19

Roger Clemens was indicted on multiple charges stemming from his testimony in front of a Congressional committee that he never used performance-enhancing drugs, federal authorities announced on Thursday.

The former All-Star hurler faces one count of obstruction, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury stemming from the statements made in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and its investigators.

Clemens faces a combined maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, although current sentencing guidelines would only put him in jail for 21 months if he is convicted.

Clemens repeatedly denied using performance-enhancing drugs in his sworn testimony in front of the Congressional committee in February 2008, statements that were contradicted by former friend and personal trainer Brian McNamee and former New York Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte, among others.”Our government cannot function if witnesses are not held accountable for false statements made before Congress,” United States Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. said in a statement. “Today the message is clear: if a witness makes a choice to ignore his or her obligation to testify honestly, there will be consequences.”

Messages left for Clemens’ attorney, Rusty Hardin, were not immediately returned.

“I’m not surprised because I know the government worked very hard on this case,” Earl Ward, one of McNamee’s lawyers, told FanHouse. “It’s been a long road. We were concerned that given the passage of time that this may have been treated with less significance. Quite frankly, lying to Congress is a serious offense.”

Clemens and McNamee testified in front of the committee two months after McNamee alleged that Clemens had taken performance-enhancing drugs through his cooperation with former Sen. George Mitchell’s report to Major League Baseball about PED usage.Clemens responded by claiming that McNamee made the allegations up, and the two men testified on the same day before the House panel. McNamee cooperated with federal officials in 2008 to avoid steroid distribution charges.

Aug 13

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Aug. 13) — Longshot U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene was indicted Friday on two charges, including a felony charge of showing pornography to a South Carolina college student.

A Richland County grand jury indicted Greene for disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity - a felony - as well as a misdemeanor charge of communicating obscene materials to a person without consent.

Greene, who surprised the Democratic party establishment with his primary victory, was arrested in November after authorities said he approached a student in a University of South Carolina computer lab, showed her obscene photos online, then talked about going to her dorm room.Greene declined comment at his home. He has also refused to talk about the charge in interviews.

Greene, 32, won a shocking victory in the June 8 Democratic primary. The unemployed military veteran handily defeated Vic Rawl, a former lawmaker and judge who had been considered an easy win by the party establishment.Up to that point, Greene had done no visible campaigning and had no website, fundraising or staff.

In the months since, Greene has given a series of awkward interviews to reporters clamoring for more information on the unemployed man who lives in Manning with his ailing father. In one interview, he suggested that the state’s economy could be improved by making and selling action figures depicting him in his uniform.

Last month, Greene gave his first public speech, a 6 1/2-minute recitation of his previous comments and commitment to jobs and education. He now has a website and says he has raised less than $1,000.

He faces Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint in the fall. The popular incumbent has raised more than $3 million.