Travis King, Army soldier who ran into North Korea, to plead guilty Friday, lawyer says
(FORT BLISS, Texas) — Travis King, the U.S. Army private who ran across the border from South Korea to North Korea last year will plead guilty on Friday at a general court martial hearing being held at Fort Bliss, Texas.
“He faces 14 charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice but will plead guilty to five, including desertion, while the remaining charges will be withdrawn and dismissed by the Army,” his attorney Franklin Rosenblatt said in a statement issued Thursday.
“Travis will provide an account of his actions, respond to the military judge’s questions about his decision to plead guilty, and receive his sentence,” Rosenblatt added.
The plea deal was first disclosed by Rosenblatt on August 26 after initial discussions with prosecutors began in mid-July .
At the time a spokesperson for the Office of Special Trial Counsel confirmed to ABC News that if King’s guilty plea is accepted by the presiding judge he would be sentenced King pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement. It is unclear how much prison time King could face as part of the plea deal that will be presented to the judge on Friday.
If the judge does not accept the guilty plea, the judge can rule that the case be litigated in a contested court-martial.
In July 2023, King crossed into North Korea, triggering an international incident when he was held by North Korean authorities for more than two months after he dashed into North Korea at the Joint Security Area at the Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea.
Prior to joining the tour group that brought him to the DMZ King had escaped from his Army escort at the airport where he was to have boarded a flight to the United States after having just been released by South Korean authorities following his detention on assault charges.
Upon his release in September King returned to the United States where he was immediately placed in a military reintegration program at the Brooke Army Medical Center that is offered to American civilians and military personnel who have been detained overseas as hostages or involuntarily.
During his stay the Army declined to comment on whether King might face disciplinary action, saying their priority was his physical and mental well-being.
But in October military prosecutors filed eight criminal charges against King.
(NEW YORK) — The mother of Colt Gray, the 14-year-old suspected of opening fire at his Georgia high school, said she last heard from her son the morning of the shooting when he texted her, “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“His dad had actually gotten texts from him that basically said the same thing already that morning, about 15 minutes prior,” Marcee Gray told ABC News. “One said, ‘I’m sorry,’ and one said, ‘You’re not to blame for this.'”
Marcee Gray said she was “petrified” by the texts to her husband and called the school, and that’s when she received the “I’m sorry, Mom,” message.
“My concern for him had been building,” she said.
Marcee Gray said she’d called her son’s school six days earlier because “I wanted Colt to be admitted to an impatient treatment. … Colt was on board with it.”
Colt Gray is accused of killing two students and two teachers, and injuring nine others, at Apalachee High School on Wednesday.
Marcee Gray said when she first heard about the shooting, she “fell to the ground and just started screaming. … I knew what had happened, I just knew in my gut.”
Nearly one week later, she said her feelings range from “debilitating anxiety” to “guilt” to “disgust.”
“I still can’t believe it happened,” she said.
Marcee Gray said she wants the victims’ families to know “how horrible I feel.”
“What happened to them and their sweet, innocent babies is just unfathomable,” she said. “If I could take their place, I would. I would in a heartbeat.”
Marcee Gray said if she had the chance to talk to her son now, she’d tell him, “I love him,” and, “It’s not your fault.” She did not say who she places the blame on.
Colt Gray is charged with four counts of felony murder. More charges will be filed, prosecutors said.
The teen’s father, Colin Gray, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI said. He is accused of “knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said.
Investigators believe Colt Gray received the AR-style gun used in the shooting as a Christmas present from his father, according to sources.
“I knew that my husband had numerous guns, but I didn’t know that one was a specific Christmas present,” Marcee Gray said. “It wasn’t until after the shooting that I knew it was specifically Colt’s gun. … I was shocked.”
The father and son both made their first court appearances on Friday. Neither has entered a plea and both are set to return to court on Dec. 4.
(NEW YORK) — The sheriff for Illinois’ Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, which employed the former deputy who shot and killed Sonya Massey in her home earlier this month after she called 911 to report a possible intruder, said during public comments Monday night that they had “failed” her.
“Sonya Massey – I speak her name and I’ll never forget it,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said during a “Community Healing & Listening Session” Monday night at Union Baptist Church in Springfield. “She called for help and we failed. That’s all she did: call for help.”
“I’m going to say something right now I’ve never said in my career before: we failed,” Campbell continued. “We did not do our jobs. We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community. I stand here today before you with arms wide open to ask for forgiveness.”
Sean Grayson, the now-former deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her Illinois home on July 6 while responding to her 911 call, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct in Massey’s death, and remains in custody.
Many attending Monday’s gathering applauded Campbell’s comments, but some expressed fear and outrage concerning law enforcement and community relations in the area.
“I live alone, and even though I already preferred not to call the police, I’m definitely not calling the police now,” Sierra Helmer, a Springfield resident, said Monday. “If I do need help, I should be able to call the police. Police officers are meant to protect and serve, but here in Springfield, apparently, and shown on camera, they harassed and unfortunately kill. Sonya’s tragic death has sparked an outrage in me as a single Black woman who was raised by a Black woman and having many other Black women raise me.”
Helmer’s comments also were met with applause and some cheers from community members.
“I asked Ms. Massey and her family for forgiveness,” Campbell said. “I offer up no excuses. What I do is offer our attempt to do better, to be better.”
“We will probably never know why he did what he did,” Campbell continued, referring to Grayson, “but I’m committed to providing the best service we can to all of you.”
Campbell also said Monday night that he will not resign his position.
“I cannot step down,” he said. “I will not abandon the sheriff’s office at its most critical moment. That will solve nothing. The incident will remain.”
Grayson, 30, and a second, unnamed deputy responded to Massey’s 911 call on July 6 reporting a possible intruder at her Springfield home.
Body camera footage released last week and reviewed by ABC News shows Massey, who was unarmed, telling the two responding deputies, “Please, don’t hurt me” once she answered their knocks on her door.
Grayson responded, “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us.”
Later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searches for her ID, Grayson points to a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson then shouts at Massey and threatens to shoot her, the video shows, and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rises, at which time Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.
The footage is from the point of view of Grayson’s partner, because Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents.
A review by Illinois State Police found Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force. He was fired from his position with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office on July 17, the same day the charges were filed against him.
Massey family attorney Ben Crump has said the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting. However, Chicago ABC station WLS-TV reported last week that the Justice Department told them in a statement that it “is aware of and assessing the circumstances surrounding the tragic officer-involved death of Ms. Sonya Massey and extends condolences to her family and loved ones.”
Grayson himself has a history of problematic behavior. Prior to his time in public law enforcement, he was discharged from the U.S. Army for unspecified “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
ABC News also learned that Grayson was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.
James Wilburn, Massey’s father, criticized Sheriff Campbell for his role in Grayson’s employment and called for Campbell to resign at a press conference last week.
“The sheriff here is an embarrassment,” Wilburn said. “[Grayson] should have never had a badge. And he should have never had a gun. He should have never been given the opportunity to kill my child.”
(LOS ANGELES) — Two former Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies and two former foreign military members – one from the U.K. and one from Australia – have been accused of staging a “sham raid” on a man’s home as part of a business dispute, federal prosecutors said.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the four men were hired by a “wealthy Chinese national” — who is being identified as an unindicted co-conspirator — to pressure the victim into handing over his shares of a Chinese rubber chemical manufacturer and nearly $37 million.
The alleged co-conspirator and victim, neither of whom are identified, had been in a yearslong feud over ownership interests in the company, prosecutors said.
The four men charged were identified as Steven Arthur Lankford, 68, a since-retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy; Glen Louis Cozart, 63, a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy who runs a private investigation and security services company; Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, a former member of the British military who owns a private investigation and asset recovery business; and Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, a former member of the Australian military who owns a risk management services business.
They were arraigned Monday, each on one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy against rights and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each extortion-related count and up to 10 years in federal prison for each deprivation of rights-related count, prosecutors said.
It was not immediately clear if they had retained attorneys. ABC News reached out to all of the defendants except Hart, whose contact information could not be found, but did not immediately hear back.
The alleged co-conspirator contacted Turbett in December 2018 to ask for help in solving the two business partners’ feud, prosecutors said. The co-conspirator allegedly said prior litigation had not been “the smart way” to handle the dispute and asked Turbett to find another “solution to finish the problem,” promising that if he did, “we can both retire.”
Turbett and the alleged co-conspirator then allegedly “drafted purported settlement agreements” that called for the victim to transfer shares of the company and nearly $37 million cash to the co-conspirator.
Prosecutors said Turbett hired Cozart in order to locate the victim and assemble a team to get the victim to sign the settlement agreements.
Prosecutors said Turbett hired Lankford — who was still working for the sheriff’s office — who, in violation of department policy, allegedly used a law enforcement database to search the victim’s name and date of birth.
In June 2019, the four men allegedly drove an unmarked vehicle belonging to the sheriff’s office to the victim’s home in Irvine. There, prosecutors said they entered his home and “forced [him], his wife, and their two children into one room, took their phones, and prevented them from leaving for hours.” The victim was also allegedly “slammed against a wall and choked.”
“Defendants allegedly also threatened to deport Victim 1 and his wife and permanently separate them from their 4-year-old son unless Victim 1 complied with their demands,” the news release states.
The man, fearing for his family’s safety, signed the documents, handing over shares in the company that were worth millions, prosecutors said.
Despite Lankford allegedly threatening the victim against calling police, saying he would be deported if he did so, prosecutors said the victim contacted police immediately afterward.
“Lankford thereafter spoke with an [Irvine Police Department] officer and falsely claimed that he had been at Victim 1’s home for a legitimate law enforcement purpose, that Victim 1 consented to all parties being in his home, and that no force was used,” prosecutors said in the release.
Within several months, the alleged co-conspirator paid Turbett’s company $419,813 and emailed to thank him for a “very good job,” prosecutors said.
“It is critical that we hold public officials, including law enforcement officers, to the same standards as the rest of us,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “It is unacceptable and a serious civil rights violation for a sworn police officer to take the law into his own hands and abuse the authority of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”