Appeals court upholds sex crimes conviction of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell
(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday upheld the sex crimes conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associated of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ghislaine, in March, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for recruiting and grooming the underage girls who Epstein sexually abused, arguing she was immunized by an agreement federal prosecutors in Florida arranged with Epstein in 2007.
On Tuesday, the appeals court ruled that Maxwell was not covered by Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement and said the alleged crimes fell within the statute of limitations.
Maxwell’s attorneys had argued that she was made a “proxy” for Epstein, who died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial, to “satisfy public outrage” about his conduct.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 after prosecutors said that, from 1994 to 2004, she worked together with Epstein to identify girls, groom them, and then transport them to Epstein’s properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico, and elsewhere. The girls — some of whom were as young as 14 years old — were then sexually abused, often under the guise of a “massage,” prosecutors said.
Maxwell is currently incarcerated in a low-security prison in Tallahassee and eligible for release in 2037.
(MILWAUKEE) — Four hotel workers were charged with felony murder in connection with the death of D’Vontaye Mitchell, a Black man who was seen on video being pinned down outside of a Milwaukee hotel during what his family said was a mental health episode.
The Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday it has filed a felony murder charge against four individuals related to Mitchell’s death on June 30 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee.
“These charges are based on an extensive review of the evidence collected by the Milwaukee Police Department, the autopsy conducted and the report produced by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office, and information received from members of the community,” the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Arrest warrants have been issued for the four individuals charged in the case, the district attorney’s office said. They were identified in the criminal complaint as Todd Alan Erickson, a security guard; Devin W. Johnson-Carson, a front desk agent; Brandon Ladaniel Turner a security guard who was off-duty at the time; and Herbert T. Williamson, a bellman. ABC News has reached out to them for comment.
The Milwaukee County medical examiner ruled Mitchell’s death was a homicide, the result of restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine. People gathered outside the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office on Monday to demand charges be filed in his death.
The criminal complaint references security footage from the hotel that it stated “captured much of the incident leading up to” Mitchell’s death.
Mitchell, 43, “appears to be [in] a frantic manner” while running across the hotel lobby and is then seen running out of a gift shop toward the women’s bathroom, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that after dragging Mitchell through the hotel lobby doors to the driveway, Turner struck Mitchell repeatedly with his fist. Johnson-Carson is also accused of striking Mitchell with a fist and Erickson of kicking him in the torso.
“Complainant notes that throughout the video, [Mitchell’s] behavior is erratic and confusing, and he engages in continuous physical resistance against the men described above. But [Mitchell] does not instigate any violence or display any obviously aggressive or threatening behavior while on the hotel premises,” the complaint stated.
The complaint then alleges that the four men restrained Mitchell while he was lying face down for approximately eight to nine minutes until police and emergency responders arrived. At one point Erickson “appears to strike” Mitchell with a collapsible baton, the complaint stated.
“Towards the end of that time period, [Mitchell] has stopped showing movement or resistance or other signs of life,” the complaint stated.
The complaint also referenced a Facebook video of the incident that it stated “shows loud breathing and gasps while [Mitchell] is saying he is sorry.”
Erickson, who was the on-duty security manager that day, told police that Mitchell “was very strong and kept resisting them” and at one point attempted to bite him, according to the complaint.
“Erickson stated that he did not do anything to intentionally harm or kill” Mitchell, the complaint stated.
Williamson, who had been employed as a bellman for a month and a half at the time of the incident, told police that he saw Mitchell “being very forceful with the security guards” and was “very aggressive,” according to the complaint.
He told police that Mitchell “kept struggling and asking what did he do wrong” while being pinned down, according to the complaint.
“Williamson stated that he got off [Mitchell], and Williamson stated that he thought [Mitchell] was still responsive. However, ‘the next thing you know, I realized he was unconscious,'” the complaint stated.
Turner told police that he saw Mitchell “begging and harassing a guest” and admitted to punching Mitchell “several times,” according to the complaint.
Johnson-Carson, who had been working at the front desk for about two months at the time of the incident, told police that he “remembers [Mitchell ] stating something about breathing” and saw Erickson check Mitchell’s pulse a few times, according to the complaint.
Johnson-Carson told police that he “never saw anyone strangle [Mitchell] and that neither he nor the other four staff members ever state that they believed that [Mitchell] was not breathing during the time he was face first on the ground,” the complaint stated.
The four workers were terminated based on their actions, according to Aimbridge Hospitality, the hotel management firm that employed them.
“We are continuing to do everything we can to support law enforcement with their ongoing investigation of this tragedy, and will continue our own investigation,” Aimbridge Hospitality said in the statement to ABC News.
After news of the charges broke, a spokesperson for Aimbridge Hospitality said they will continue to cooperate.
“Our hearts are with Mr. Mitchell’s family and loved ones as this case moves forward. We have cooperated fully with law enforcement in their investigation into this tragic incident and will continue to cooperate with the district attorney,” the statement read.
Ben Crump, an attorney for the family, called the charges a “significant step towards justice.”
“The evidence, including security footage and witness statements, paints a disturbing picture of a man in distress who was met with excessive and lethal force,” Crump said in a statement. “The fact that D’Vontaye was held face down on the pavement for eight to nine minutes — just like George Floyd — is a sobering reminder of the urgent need for accountability and justice.”
Mitchell’s widow, Deasia Harmon, told reporters Tuesday that she is “grateful” for the charges, though she expressed frustration at the length of the investigation.
“I just want everyone to be held accountable,” she said. “I’m trying to get his story out there, to let his voice be heard through me, for my family, and for his family. We all want justice for him. It’s something they should have done from the beginning.”
Local family attorney William Sulton said in a statement to ABC News, the incident shouldn’t have happened.
“While we agree that the employees should be charged with murder, we are mindful of the fact that this would not have happened without Mr. Mitchell’s family’s hiring lawyers to investigate the murder,” Sulton said in the statement.
“The family should not have had to wait 37 days for charges when the murder was captured on video. We ask that the public continue to support the family through this difficult time,” his statement concluded.
(NEW YORK) — Longtime Defense Department researcher Luis “Lue” Elizondo has become well-known for reporting the existence of UFOs (unidentified flying objects), now known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
In his new book, “Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs,” which is available now, former Pentagon insider Elizondo invites the reader into this hidden world.
He joined ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos to discuss why he decided to write the book, government secrecy around UAPs, official comments on these phenomena and some of his own unusual experiences.
ABC NEWS: Unidentified flying objects have fueled decades of speculation and conspiracy theories. In his new book, “Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs,” longtime Defense Department researcher Lue Elizondo, the former head of the Pentagon program responsible for the investigation of UFOs, now known as unidentified anomalous phenomena, reveals long hidden truths with profound implications for not only national security, but our understanding of the universe.
Joining us now is Lue Elizondo. Thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. So “Imminent” tells the story of your courageous fight to make public what the government knows and doesn’t know about UAPs. What made you want to write about this?
ELIZONDO: Yeah, well, I wanted to be able to tell the American public my experiences and what the government has been doing for a very long time, not just when I was in the program, but for decades about the government’s interest in UFOs or now what we call UAP. You’re absolutely right, unidentified anomalous phenomenon. The fact is, they’re real and they are a national security issue for this country.
ABC NEWS: And it’s so interesting because many, many years ago I worked at the Pentagon for ABC, and I remember getting a tour of some of the hallways and, and somebody said “Oh, that’s where they study UFOs, UAPs. But it’s top secret.” Like that’s all they would say. So there’s this secrecy approach to all of this, right?
You write in your book, “While there are valid reasons for secrecy around some aspects of UAPs. I do not think humanity should be kept in the dark about the fundamental fact that we are not the only intelligent life in the universe.” So why do you think the United States government and other major governments have taken a secrecy approach to UAPs?
ELIZONDO: Sure. I think if we look at this, temporally speaking, the U.S. government, when we started really looking at this, was at the height of the Cold War. And you had this contentious relationship at best with then-Soviet Union.
And what we didn’t want to do was necessarily tip our hand to any information, perhaps, that we’ve gleaned from UAP or UFOs and, certainly, perhaps any information gaps or maybe information that we don’t know about the UFOs. So that’s one reason. And then I think the other reason is that governments inherently are responsible for ensuring the protection of their people, their citizens.
ABC NEWS: So Lue, for those who may be skeptical and are thinking “Nope, there’s no such thing as UFOs, it’s non-existent.” And you’re here to tell us that there is fact and research that they do exist.
ELIZONDO: Let’s not forget, Stephanie, that we’ve had already a former director of national intelligence, a former director of the CIA, and even a former president of the United States all come out on the record and say “Yeah, looks like these things are real.”
Our very best, most sophisticated technology is picking these things up. We also have eyewitness testimony from our trained observers, our combat pilots. And then you’ve also got the radar data all basically substantiating the same event at the same time, at the same place, under the same circumstances.
ABC NEWS: And so much technology that’s been analyzed and researched. Now, let’s talk about your own personal experience. You mentioned in this book that UAPs have appeared both in and around your home. How did these personal experiences influence your views on UAP and what exactly did you see?
ELIZONDO: Yeah, sure. So first of all, let me preface. We’re not sure if they are actually UAP-related. What we do know is that a lot of people that were in the program that I was in also had very similar encounters while they were in the program.
So not before or not after, but during the time that we were researching these UAP and from our experience, when I say ours, I mean my families and even our neighbors, witnessed some of these – are these luminous green balls of light. Very diffuse in nature. No hard edges. That would just seem to kind of peruse the house and go down the hall and go through a wall.
I know it sounds rather bizarre. And look, there are absolutely possible natural explanations, right? You could say ball lightning or Saint Elmo’s fire or some sort of plasma static charge in the air. But the bottom line is, it was very bizarre. It was witnessed by not only my family, but again, neighbors and other individuals who were part of our effort, and the government, also experienced, very, very similar encounters at their residences.
ABC NEWS: Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much Lue, for sharing your experience and for documenting what you know and what you think we should all know in your book, “Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs,” which is available now to purchase. Thanks Lue.
(UVALDE, Texas) — A former Uvalde, Texas, school district police officer pleaded not guilty to the 29 counts against him on Thursday as families of the Robb Elementary School victims looked on.
Two teachers and 19 students were killed in the May 24, 2022, mass shooting. Law enforcement waited some 77 minutes at the scene before breaching a classroom and killing the gunman.
Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales faces 29 charges of abandoning and failing to protect children: 19 for the 19 children killed and 10 for the children who survived in classroom 112.
The indictment alleges that despite having time to respond to the shooting, Gonzales failed to act to impede the gunman and failed to follow active shooter training by not advancing toward the gunfire.
Over 30 survivors and victims’ families watched in the courtroom on Thursday as Gonzales pleaded not guilty.
The families included the parents of 10-year-old victim Tess Mata, the parents of 9-year-old victim Jackie Cazares and the parents of survivor Khloie Torres.
“It’s not that we want to be here — we just feel like we have to,” Tess’ mom, Veronica Mata, told ABC News after the hearing. “We’re here ’cause we have to be here for Tess.”
Tess’ dad, Jerry Mata, said while he feels more than two officers should have been indicted, he hopes this is the start of accountability.
“The emotions right now are so high,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Gonzales’ defense attorney, Nico LaHood, told reporters, “We have not seen any evidence that would lead us to believe that Mr. Gonzales is guilty of these allegations. … All he did was show up to try to help those children.”
“There was over 370 officers there. We have not seen or even heard of a theory of why Mr. Gonzales is being singled out,” LaHood said.
Gonzales is due to return to court on Sept. 16.
The former school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, who was the on-site commander the day of the shooting, was arrested last month on the same charges as Gonzales. He has also pleaded not guilty.
The indictment alleges that, after hearing shots fired, Arredondo failed to identify the situation as an active shooter, failed to respond as trained, and instead, called SWAT, thereby delaying the response by law enforcement.
The indictment also alleges he chose to negotiate with the gunman instead of engaging; failed to timely provide keys and breaching tools; failed to determine if the classroom door was locked; failed to follow the school district’s active shooter policy; and failed to develop an immediate action plan.
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In a recorded interview with investigators one day after the shooting, Arredondo said he did not view himself as the incident commander, contrary to the active shooter plan he devised.