2 people found dead at remote campground in Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park
Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(ISLE ROYALE, Mich.) — Two people were found dead at Isle Royale National Park in a “remote backcountry campground” within the park, according to the National Park Service.
The Isle Royal National Park is a remote island wilderness in the middle of Lake Superior in Michigan. It is only accessible by ferry, seaplane or private watercraft, according to the NPS.
Park rangers received reports of two people found dead at the campground on Sunday afternoon, the NPS said.
Rangers then hiked 11 miles overnight to reach the campground and assess the situation. They arrived early Monday morning and confirmed two unidentified people were found dead, the NPS said.
Their cause of death remains unknown, according to the NPS.
Additional ground and aviation resources responded on Monday, the NPS said.
(NEW YORK) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison — the maximum he faced — on Friday after pleading guilty to a series of fraudulent schemes.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert sentenced him to 87 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
A tearful Santos told the judge he regrets defrauding the voters who supported his 2022 run for Congress before she handed down the sentence.
“My conduct betrayed my supporters and the institutions I swore to uphold,” he said during his sentencing hearing in a New York federal court.
Santos, 36, was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faced a sentence of 75 to 87 months imprisonment, including a mandatory minimum two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft.
Santos did not take any questions from reporters as he arrived at federal court in Central Islip for the Friday morning sentencing hearing.
In a court filing ahead of Friday’s sentencing hearing on Long Island, federal prosecutors requested the maximum possible sentence — amounting to seven years and three months — calling his conduct a “brazen web of deceit” that defrauded donors and misled voters.
They also argued the former New York congressman’s recent “social media blitz” shows he “remains unrepentant for his crimes” in a subsequent filing. In one example, prosecutors pointed to an April 4 post on Santos’ X account that stated, “No matter how hard the DOJ comes for me, they are mad because they will NEVER break my spirit.” The post was made the same day the DOJ filed its initial sentencing recommendation.
Santos, meanwhile, insisted in a letter to Judge Joanna Seybert this week that he has “accepted full responsibility” for his crimes. He said he can be both “profoundly sorry” and upset by the Justice Department’s recommendation of a lengthy prison sentence.
“But saying I’m sorry doesn’t require me to sit quietly while these prosecutors try to drop an anvil on my head. True remorse isn’t mute; it is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd,” Santos’ letter said.
Santos included a selective chart to suggest the government’s sentencing recommendation is out of step with other political prosecutions, citing former Illinois Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. being sentenced to 30 months for misusing $750,000 in campaign funds or ex-New York Rep. Michael Grimm being sentenced to eight months for concealing $900,000 in wages and taxes.
Santos has asked for a two-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors alleged Santos, with the help of his former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, falsified Federal Election Commission filings, fabricating donor contributions and inflating fundraising totals to meet the $250,000 threshold required to join the National Republican Congressional Committee’s coveted “Young Guns” program.
Marks pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in 2023 and is awaiting sentencing in May.
Santos pleaded guilty in August 2024. The Republican was expelled from Congress in December 2023.
As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution and forfeiture.
The judge agreed to delay Santos’ sentencing, which had initially been scheduled for Feb. 7, after Santos asked for more time to make money off of his podcast to satisfy his restitution and forfeiture.
(NEW YORK) — Four individuals are at large after posing as police officers and robbing a deli in New York City, officials said.
On Sunday at approximately 8:14 a.m., police responded to a 911 call of a commercial burglary at a deli in Brooklyn, the NYPD said in a statement provided to ABC News.
When officers arrived on the scene, they were informed “four unidentified individuals had entered a commercial establishment, displayed a firearm and forced a 48-year-old male, a 68-year-old male and a 40-year-old male to the ground,” police said.
The robbery, which was captured on surveillance footage, shows the suspects wearing NYPD jackets and zip-tying the victims.
The individuals fled the scene with a bag of “unknown property” in a dark-colored van in an unknown direction, police said.
Police said there have been no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing. The individuals were described as males with dark complexions, last seen wearing dark-colored clothing, officials said.
There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident, police said.
The United Bodegas of America previously urged the NYPD to conduct live monitoring from every bodega, with a panic button in place at each establishment. Fernando Mateo, spokesperson for the organization, said earlier this month that panic buttons would “give the bodega owner a sense of security.”
“These bodegas are community centers. They are places where people come not only to buy food, they come to socialize, to talk. We need the panic button to become law,” Mateo said on April 18.
The United Bodegas of America is expected to plead once again on Tuesday for officials to instate panic buttons at bodegas.
(GRAPEVINE, TEXAS) — An 18-year-old who was kayaking on Grapevine Lake in Texas over Memorial Day weekend was killed after being struck by a jet ski, whose driver fled the scene, police said.
The incident happened on Sunday evening when the jet ski, with a driver and a passenger onboard, hit the victim, Ava Moore, according to the Grapevine Police Department.
Grapevine Lake is a reservoir in northern Texas, approximately 20 miles northwest of Dallas and northeast of Fort Worth.
The passenger on the jet ski remained at the scene to be interviewed by first responders, police said, while the driver fled with an adult male.
While leaving the area, the driver and the man then struck another vehicle, according to Grapevine Police.
Police are investigating the related automotive hit-and-run incident, while Texas Game Wardens are leading the investigation into Moore’s death on the lake.
Grapevine Police released an image of the alleged jet ski driver, asking anyone with information about the incident and the individual to contact Grapevine Police detectives at cidmail@grapevinetexas.gov.
“Our thoughts are with Ava’s family and friends during this difficult time. Texas Game Wardens remain committed to keeping our public waters safe,” Grapevine Police said in a statement.
