Judge rejects Harvey Weinstein’s bid for new trial
Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on August 13, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A judge in New York has rejected Harvey Weinstein’s bid for a new trial, ruling juror complaints about decorum in the deliberation room were adequately addressed.
Weinstein was convicted of the 2006 sexual assault of Mimi Haley, a one-time production assistant on the Weinstein-produced reality show “Project Runway.”
The defense said two jurors subsequently claimed they were pressured to convict.
Judge Curtis Farber decided on Thursday, “The Court’s response to the jurors’ complaints appropriately balanced the competing interests of investigating the allegations while avoiding any unnecessary taint of the deliberating jury.”
Weinstein is now consulting with his attorneys about when he will be re-tried for the rape count he faces in connection with an alleged 2013 assault of Jessica Mann. The judge declared a mistrial on that one count after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it would retry Weinstein on that count.
Weinstein, 73, remains in custody at Rikers Island in New York City after nearly six years of confinement. A representative for the disgraced Hollywood producer said he is “medically fragile and in legal limbo.”
Protesters gather at First Ward Park for the ‘No Border Patrol In Charlotte’ rally to raise their voices for the immigrant community and against ICE raids and Border Patrol activity in Charlotte, North Carolina, US on November 15, 2025. (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Federal agents fanned out across North Carolina’s largest city over the weekend, detaining more than 130 people in the first 48 hours of its immigration crackdown that has prompted protests and resistance from local leaders.
Greg Bovino, commander-at-large spearheading the crackdown for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), vowed in a social media post on Sunday that his agents would “hit Charlotte like a storm.”
On Monday, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told ABC News that those arrested in Charlotte over the weekend by CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) allegedly “have all broken the immigration laws of our country.”
“Criminal records of those arrested include known gang membership, aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon, felony larceny, simple assault, hit and run, possession of stolen goods, shoplifting, DUI, DWI, and illegal re-entry after prior deportation, a felony,” a DHS spokesperson said. “We will not stop enforcing the laws of our nation until every criminal illegal alien is arrested and removed from our country.”
Of the more than 130 people taken into custody in Charlotte over the weekend, 81 people were arrested in the first five hours of operation “Charlotte’s Web” on Saturday, according to Bovino.
Charlotte is the latest city targeted in a nationwide Trump administration immigration enforcement blitz that has included Los Angeles and Chicago — which, like Charlotte, are Sanctuary Cities that are run by a Democratic mayors.
Federal agents are expected to stay in Charlotte until Friday, according to preliminary information from federal authorities. By the end of the week, about 200 agents are expected to be re-deployed to New Orleans to begin “Operation Catahoula Crunch” in the Big Easy, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
In a joint statement released on Saturday, Charlotte and Mecklenburg County elected officials, including Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, slammed the CBP operations, saying they are “causing unnecessary fear and uncertainty in our community.”
“It is critical for all residents to feel secure in our community and know they can live their lives without being fearful while walking down the street, going to school, work or the grocery store.”
In advance of the CBP arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, released a statement, asking residents to report any “inappropriate behavior” they witness from federal agents.
“If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe after these federal agents leave,” Stein said.
In advance of the CBP arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, released a statement, asking residents to report any “inappropriate behavior” they witness from federal agents.
“If you see any inappropriate behavior, use your phones to record and notify local law enforcement, who will continue to keep our communities safe after these federal agents leave,” Stein said.
Over the weekend, eyewitnesses filmed and photographed several incidents in which masked agents arrested residents in Charlotte. The footage captured CPB agents stopping and pulling people from vehicles, and rounding up others at stores and parking lots.
Even naturalized U.S. citizens like 46-year-old Willy Aceituno were not spared from getting snared in “Charlotte’s Web.”
Aceituno told ABC affiliate station WSOC in Charlotte that he was stopped twice within five minutes by federal agents on Saturday. He said the second time he was stopped, agents broke his window and forced him out of his vehicle. He said he told them he was a U.S. citizen.
“They asked me, ‘Hey, give me your papers.’ I say, ‘I’m scared because I give [them to] you five minutes ago’,” said Aceituno, adding that he was released after he showed agents documents proving his citizenship.
The Department of Homeland Security told ABC News that Aceituno was stopped because he was interfering with their operations, an allegation Aceituno denied.
A DHS spokesperson made no apologies for the federal crackdown in Charlotte.
“We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed,” the DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “There have been too many victims of criminal illegal aliens and President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.”
NYC Mayor Eric Adams listens as names of the victims of the 9/11 terror attack are read during the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York on Tuesday sentenced Mohamed Bahi, the only member of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration convicted in an illegal donations scheme, to three years’ probation, including the first year under home confinement, after the Trump Justice Department forced the same judge to dismiss a criminal case against the mayor himself that involved the same scheme.
The sentence is less than prosecutors sought but the judge concluded Bahi was less culpable than his boss.
“It is hard to escape the impression that Mr. Bahi is left here holding the bag,” U.S. District Judge Dale Ho said, calling the dismissal of the charges against the mayor the “elephant in the room.”
Someone in the courtroom gallery briefly clapped when Judge Ho questioned a prosecutor about the decision to toss the case against Adams, which the Trump administration said was necessary to free him to cooperate with the president’s immigration agenda.
“What am I to make of a person above him, the mayor, had his indictment against him dismissed?” Ho asked.
The prosecutor, Rob Sobelman, urged the judge to “focus on Bahi,” who he said “committed a series of serious criminal acts” that warranted prison time beyond the zero-to-six month sentence called for by federal sentencing guidelines.
“We are not seeking a lengthy period of incarceration but a modest one is appropriate here,” Sobelman said.
Bahi, 40, served as a Muslim liaison at New York City Hall until his 2024 arrest. He pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count for his role in the illegal donations scheme, telling donors to lie to the FBI and to deleting Signal from his phone as agents arrived to search him.
“Straw donor schemes like this are a serious offense,” Judge Ho said. “This is not the kind of conduct that merits a slap on the wrist.”
“Standing here today is painful but necessary,” Bahi told the judge. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
Bahi was the second person charged in the fundraising scheme to plead guilty after a businessman, Erden Arkan, admitted he laundered straw donations. Arkan was sentenced to probation.
The defense sought a year’s probation for Bahi, downplaying his role in the scheme.
“It’s a far cry from careful planning and execution,” defense attorney Derek Adams said. “This wasn’t some grand scheme of Bahi’s to get Adams elected.”
The scheme was outlined in the now-defunct indictment against Mayor Adams that alleged bribery and fraud offenses. Adams denied seeking and accepting straw donations that would help him reach the threshold for public matching funds for the 2021 campaign.
The directive to drop the case against the mayor prompted the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, to resign her position in protest. She has since joined a law firm started by former Solicitor General Paul Clement.
Mayor Adams celebrated the dismissal of the indictment but his political career did not recover. He dropped his bid for reelection and will leave office on Jan. 1 when mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is sworn in.
A photo of Theresa Fusco is shown during a press briefing with the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, Oct. 15, 2025. ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Authorities in suburban New York believe they have closed a murder case that had been open for more than 40 years.
In November 1984, 16-year-old Theresa Fusco disappeared after she was fired from her job working the snack bar at a roller rink in Lynbrook. Three men who had been convicted of her death were exonerated in 2003 based on DNA evidence.
On Wednesday, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office announced 63-year-old man Richard Bilodeau has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Fusco’s death. The indictment further charges him with second-degree murder during the commission or attempted commission of first-degree rape.
A discarded smoothie cup was the critical piece of evidence in the nearly 41-year-old murder case that Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said “sent shockwaves through the tight-knit Lynbrook community” and a fear that young women were at risk.
Investigators had been surveilling the suspect for months when a break came in February. Bilodeau went to get a smoothie not far from his home in Center Moriches and investigators recovered the discarded cup and straw from the trash and brought it for testing, officials said.
“The DNA from that straw, Richard Bilodeau’s DNA, was a match,” Donnelly said during a press briefing Wednesday. “The DNA in this case led us straight to Richard Bilodeau.”
Donnelly said Bilodeau, who lived by himself in Center Moriches, had been under investigation since early 2024.
He was arrested Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder charge. Donnelly said he denied knowing Fusco, “but science proves otherwise.”
“Through his denials that he had ever known her name, who she was, he made kind of a flippant comment about the 1980s. He said, ‘People got away with murder.’ Well, I’ll tell you something, Mr. Bilodeau, I’ve got you now,” Donnelly said.
Fusco’s father said he “never gave up hope” and the indictment “brings closure” to him and his family.
“It’s heartbreaking to go through this over and over again, but this seems like a finalization and I’m very grateful, very grateful, for me and my family to come to an end like this, than to constantly be a cold case situation,” Tom Fusco said during Wednesday’s press briefing.
In 1984, Bilodeau was a 23-year-old living with his grandparents in Lynbrook, a mile from Hot Skates, the roller rink where Fusco had worked, officials said.
Fusco’s body was found buried under leaves and shipping pallets. Police said she had been strangled, sexually assaulted and beaten.
The murder stunned her Nassau County community, especially when two other teens went missing in the same area, which became known as the Lynbrook Triangle, a local take on the Bermuda Triangle, known for its disappearances.
Three men were charged in Fusco’s death, convicted and sentenced to more than 30 years in prison.
The men insisted they were innocent, and, in 2003, DNA technology caught up to the case and confirmed semen found on the girl’s body was from another man and their convictions were vacated.
One of the wrongly convicted, John Restivo, told “Good Morning America” in 2003, “For years … someone would ask me how I’m doing today. I’d say, ‘Not good, I woke up on the wrong side of the wall this morning.’ Yesterday I was able to say, ‘I woke up on the right side of the wall this morning.'”
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
