Tag Archives: featured

Blog, Civil Rights, Criminal, Legal News, Supreme Court

Federal civil rights lawsuit filed in Florida inmate’s death

MIAMI –  A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the 12-year-old daughter of a Florida inmate, alleging he was gassed while in a confinement cell and that officials tried to cover up his death.

Randall Jordan-Aparo’s 2010 death at Franklin Correctional Institution was publicized amid scrutiny of the Florida Department of Corrections for suspicious deaths.

The lawsuit filed Monday in Tallahassee federal court by the mother of Jordan-Aparo’s daughter alleges corrections officers killed him and the prison’s nurses, doctors and warden conspired to cover up his death.

The 27-year-old’s death remains under investigation by state and federal law enforcement.

Spokeswomen for the Department of Corrections and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida each declined comment to The Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/2cZ0EL8 ) on the lawsuit.

Corrections investigators also have alleged cover-ups by the corrections department in separate lawsuits over Jordan-Aparo’s death.

Blog, Criminal, International, Legal News, Organized Crime

Italy investigates after grandson of mafia boss closed traffic and landed a helicopter in wedding day spectacle

Prosecutors in Italy are investigating how the alleged grandson of a mafia boss managed to close down traffic and land a helicopter in the crowded main square of a small Calabrian town to celebrate his wedding day.

Antonio Gallone, 31, tied the knot with his bride Aurora before celebrating with a lavish seaside spectacle complete with red carpet, Ferraris, Maseratis, and a helicopter drop-off in the main city square to a throng of cheering onlookers.

After their religious ceremony, the bride and groom took off from a nearby airfield in a Robinson 44 Ipema helicopter for an hour-long scenic flight over the Aeolian islands at sunset.

When the couple returned, their helicopter flew right over the main castle square, hovered for a moment, then touched down right in the heart of town, where traffic had been closed off for three hours.

The ancient hilltop town of Nicotera in the Calabrian province of Vibo Valentia is a known stronghold for the ‘Ndrangheta, one of the world’s richest, most powerful crime syndicates.

Nicotera’s city administration was disbanded twice in the last decade for mafia association.

Full Read – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/19/italy-investigates-after-grandson-of-mafia-boss-closed-traffic-a/

Blog, Divorce, Family, Legal News

Angelina dumped Brad after private eye uncovered Marion Cotillard affair

September 20, 2016 | 11:13am

Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pittafter learning he was cheating on her with his sexy co-star, a well-placed source told The Post on Tuesday.

“She hired a private eye because she felt that he was fooling around with her on the set, and it turns out, he was. And that was the final straw,’’ the source said.

Pitt, 52, had been rumored to have been cozying up to his “Allied’’ co-star Marion Cotillard, 40, for months during the pair’s filming of the World War II drama in London.

The PI discovered that Pitt was cheating on his wife of two years with Cotillard — while also partying like a single guy on a mission, the source said.

“The atmosphere [off-set] was full of hard drugs and Russian hookers, and Angie was told Brad got caught up in it,’’ the source said.

“He’s in the throes of some insane midlife crisis, and Angie is fed up.”

But a source close to Cotillard denied the Pitt affair rumors and insisted she is still with her long-term partner, French actor and director Guillaume Canet.

“They are still very much together. They have been a couple since 2007 and have one child but have never married,’’ the source said of Cotillard and Canet.

The source could not confirm French reports that Cotillard is pregnant with her second child with Canet.

Read Full – http://pagesix.com/2016/09/20/angelina-dumped-brad-after-private-eye-uncovered-marion-cotillard-affair/

Blog, Civil Rights, Legal News, Personal Injury

Bobbi Kristina Brown’s Boyfriend Found ‘Legally Responsible’ for Her Death

From Marie Claire

More than a year after the untimely death of Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston, a judge has found her boyfriend, Nick Young, “legally responsible” for her death. WXIA-TV reports that her estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Gordon, accusing him of assault, battery, and intentionally causing her emotional harm.

Gordon failed to appear in court twice in the case, so the judge said anything the Brown estate claimed is admitted through omission. The Browns wanted $50 million in damages, but a jury will ultimately decide how much Gordon will have to pay. Gordon has not been charged with any crime.

“In court today, we finally finished a long journey for justice for Bobbi Kristina Brown,” R. David Ware, a lawyer for Brown’s conservator, told reporters. “The court agrees with us, by striking Mr. Gordon’s answer that he is legally responsible for her death. The only thing left to prove is the value of her life. We intend to do that.”

“I am pleased with the outcome of today’s court proceedings. All I ever wanted was answers relating to who and what caused my daughter’s death,” Bobby Brown said in a statement. “Today’s judgment tells me it was Nick Gordon. Now I need to process all the emotions I have and lean on God to get me and my family through this.”

Brown had been found unconscious in her bathtub in January of 2015, and was placed in a medically induced coma for months before her death. Her cause of death was revealed to be a mix of drugs, alcohol, and drowning, all of which caused the pneumonia that killed her at 22 years old.

Gordon insisted he did nothing wrong in an interview on Dr. Phil in April. He denied any claims against him in the lawsuit. “That is not true,” Gordon said. “I got so tired of that lawsuit, I just stopped paying attention to it. It’s designed to make me look bad.” He said that the two of them did drugs “socially,” but that Brown’s problem got “really bad” after her mother died. Finding her unconscious was “literally a nightmare all over again,” Gordon said. His attorneys have said in the past that he tried to save her life.

Blog, Criminal, International, Legal News, Organized Crime

Man admits to role in $103M illegal gambling ring allegedly linked to Mafia, Hells Angels

Adrian Humphreys | September 12, 2016 10:36 PM ET

TORONTO — The man accused of running Internet services for a $103-million illegal sports betting ring that police say was linked to the Mafia and the Hells Angels pleaded guilty Monday.

Gordon Baird, 59, admitted he was the administrator of the Platinum Sports Book, a sophisticated betting operation in Ontario that set up its computer servers in Costa Rica.

The police probe of Platinum was first revealed in spectacular fashion when officers raided a lavish Super Bowl party north of Toronto in 2013, a catered event with an open bar for 2,700 guests who vied for expensive door prizes including a motorcycle and Sea-Doo.

It was a party thrown annually by Platinum as a customer appreciation event. Court heard it cost more than $100,000 to run.

The cost, however, was a drop in the bucket of what money organizers were bringing in, court heard.

With computer servers in Costa Rica, toll-free phone lines, a smart-phone app for gamblers to bet on all major sporting events, the operation was technologically savvy, sophisticated and lucrative.

Based on police wiretaps, it is estimated that Platinum employed hundreds of bookies servicing thousands of clients within the Toronto area. The bookies signed up their own clients, collected their debts and paid out their winnings on a weekly basis. The money flowed up the pyramid, court heard, with the top acting as “the bank.”

A financial audit of seized betting records show that between 2009 and 2013 Platinum grossed more than $103 million. Police seized $4.6 million in cash during its probe.

In 2012, $1.3 million in cash was found in the backpack of Erwin Speckert as he boarded a bus from Winnipeg to Vancouver. The source of the money was never revealed, but Monday’s court proceedings confirmed it was Platinum money being couriered west. Speckert was sentenced last year to three years for money laundering.

“The operation is best viewed as a highly sophisticated and organized pyramid-type structure. The pyramid structure involved a number of ‘cells’ consisting of bookies and their sub-agents signing up bettors/clients,” says an agreed statement of facts in Baird’s case.

“These cells in turn are all connected to the top of the pyramid structure by those managing the organization.”

The top — which Baird was not a part of — was not discussed in his proceeding. At the time of arrests, the RCMP said Platinum Sports Book was linked to members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and the Mafia.

Full Article – http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/man-admits-to-role-in-103m-illegal-gambling-ring-allegedly-linked-to-mafia-hells-angels