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A Portland man who had previously had a prison sentence commuted by former president Barack Obama is going back to prison. The man received an extra 25-year prison sentence this week for various drug and gun crimes. Dontae Lamont Hunt, 42, received a 300-month federal prison sentence and five years of supervised release for “dealing counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl analog, money laundering, and unlawfully possessing firearms, all while on supervised release from his last federal conviction,” according to a press release from the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. Hunt must also pay $60,000 to satisfy a...

Kennedy: No 'safe way' to smoke crack (video)

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Someone shot a video on Wednesday afternoon that showed two brothers getting arrested during a struggle with police officers at a Rock Hill gas station. About 100 people took to the streets in protest blocking the intersection of Dave Lyle Blvd and Black Street for several hours. They walked to the police department and at about 11 p.m. lit a fire surrounding a tree in front of the station. A police officer and the fire department arrived after the fire was lit. Our crews could see objects being thrown at the police officer. Police in riot...

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) will no longer search for or release records stemming from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests surrounding Hunter Biden and his firearms. According to the Bureau, there are “substantial privacy interests” surrounding the requests. Reports broke in October about “… the widow of Beau Biden, Hallie Biden, allegedly took Hunter Biden’s firearm and threw it in a dumpster behind a Delaware grocery store. Police investigated out of concern the gun could be used in a crime, particularly because the grocery store was in close proximity to a school,” The Daily Wire...

A drug treatment center in Vancouver, Canada has installed a crack pipe vending machine at its facility — going retail in an effort to reach hardcore addicts and keep them off the streets. The bright, polka-dotted machine dispenses crack pipes like candy or snacks: Each glass pipe costs a quarter, and rolls off a spindle into a tray. A sign on the machine says simply, “Pipes 25¢” About all that’s missing is a picture of Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor, Rob Ford.

An unlikely alliance between tea party Republicans and Democrats in the Senate could result in relief for thousands of federal inmates imprisoned under outdated drug sentences that treated crack cocaine dealing as a far greater offense than selling powder cocaine.But the long-awaited movement on the issue isn’t sweeping enough — or fast enough — for the Obama administration, which announced its plans to relieve crack offenders through the executive power of clemency the same day the Senate passed its bill out of committee.

One of the eight federal prisoners granted sentence commutations by President Barack Obama Thursday is a first cousin of Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Mass), one of the president's most devoted supporters on the national political scene. Reynolds Allen Wintersmith Jr. was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in Illinois federal court in 1994 of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute cocaine and cocaine base and possession with intent to distribute crack. He was 19 at the time of his arrest and 17 at the time he got involved running drugs for the Gangster Disciples gang. He...

President Obama on Thursday commuted the prison sentences for eight people convicted of crack cocaine offenses and pardoned 13 others, surpassing in the fifth year of his presidency all the acts of clemency from his entire first term. “I am commuting the prison terms of eight men and women who were sentenced under an unfair system,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “Commuting the sentences of these eight Americans is an important step toward restoring fundamental ideals of justice and fairness.” [Snip] “We are excited for the families of those who were granted commutations today, and we are glad that...

President Barack Obama on Thursday commuted the sentences of eight people he said were serving unduly harsh sentences for drug crimes in the most expansive use yet of his presidential power to free inmates. Obama made the commutations because the prisoners were sentenced under a system that treated convictions for crack cocaine offenses harsher than powder cocaine. Obama also pardoned 13 others for various crimes.

Toronto's embattled mayor, Rob Ford, professed a zero-tolerance policy for drugs and gangs on Wednesday, but he also admitted he has bought illegal drugs in the past two years. Speaking after Toronto City Council almost unanimously urged Ford to take a break from his duties, Ford said he could not change the past and would continue his efforts as mayor to save Toronto money.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is doubling down against calls for his resignation amid reports that police have a video showing him smoking crack. In a whirlwind radio show on Sunday, the embattled mayor apologized for getting drunk in public and said he would try and make sure it didn't happen again. "I shouldn't have got hammered down at the Danforth [festival]," Ford said on his weekly radio show Sunday, according to Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper. "If you are going to have a couple drinks, you stay at home. You don't make a public spectacle of yourself." But Ford did...

From Chicago to Rio, from Jamaica to Nigeria, gang violence is leaving an indelible mark on communities across the globe, leaving authorities at a loss for what to do about the epidemic of lawlessness among young men who see little hope in their futures. Certainly the global economic crisis has much to do with the rise in gang violence and influence, as young men of color in most of the affected countries see few options for gainful employment. In Chicago, among 400 murders that have occurred in 2012, an estimated 80 percent of them have been gang-related. The killing in...

In remarks to Black journalists this past weekend virtually unreported in the mainstream media, senior White House advisor Valerie Jarrett said reducing the prison sentences for crack cocaine is one of the three reasons African-Americans have to support President Obama's reelection.The Root, a Black-oriented website owned by the Washington Post, reprinted a blog report by the Maynard Institute's Richard Prince on Jarrett's appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in New Orleans.Prince reported on Jarrett's side meeting with a group of Black reporters and columnists:On Saturday afternoon, Jarrett spoke with members of the Trotter Group of African American...

Congress has finally reduced the... unjust sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses... ...The Fair Sentencing Act will reduce the 100-to-1 federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, substances that are chemically indistinguishable, to 18-to-1. The bill also eliminates the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession... Under current law, possession of five grams or more of crack cocaine possession triggers a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison; simple possession of any quantity of most other controlled substances by a first time offender, including powder cocaine, is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a maximum of one year...

Note: The following text is a quote: Superseding Indictment Returned Charging Members of the Krazy Locos Criminal Street Gang with Two Homicides, Robbery, Firearms, and Narcotics Charges Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael F. McAuliffe, Palm Beach County State Attorney, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, and Ric L. Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office,...

FORT PIERCE — A 40-year-old man who is suspected of trying to sell bread as crack cocaine to pay bills is facing charges, according to an arrest affidavit released Monday. A deputy about 12:50 a.m. Sunday saw a man identified as Timothy Allen Riggin, of the 600 block of Avenue E, peeking around the rear building of the Nowalk Motel. Riggin ran from the deputy, but was apprehended near U.S. 1. Investigators turned up several pieces of faux crack cocaine in his pocket, according to the affidavit. “When I located the counterfeit crack, the male immediately said it was bread,”...

Note: The following text is a quote: DEA Task Force Targets Lancaster Street Gang APR 09 -- (LOS ANGELES) – On April 8, 2009, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Landrum, U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca announced the culmination of a 12-month investigation targeting the drug trafficking activities of the Lancas 13 street gang. The Lancas 13 street gang is responsible for distributing methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana throughout the Lancaster and Palmdale areas, and as far away as Ohio. This joint investigation has resulted in 97 arrests,...

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 10, 2009 GANG MEMBER PLEADS GUILTY TO BEING A FELON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM Defendant Appears in Internet Video Holding Gun and Making Threats Against Rival Gang Members ERIC CHARLES SANFORD, 21, of Seattle, Washington, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to being a felon in possession of a firearm. SANFORD was arrested on November 15, 2008, following a traffic stop in central Seattle. SANFORD was a passenger in a car that was stopped for traffic violations. SANFORD was ordered out of the car for...

LAKELAND - Adrian Apgar can be thankful that Carlos Mayid heard his cries for help Wednesday morning. Mayid was at his home on United Drive about 3:45 a.m. when he heard the faint sound of screaming from nearby Lake Parker. Grabbing his cell phone and flashlight, Mayid walked toward the sound. He called 911 as he neared the shore and could hear a man in the dark lake. "I asked him what was wrong, and he said, 'A gator got me,'" Mayid said.

Former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry was sentenced to three years probation Thursday in connection with charges that he failed to file federal or local tax returns for 2000. Barry pleaded guilty last October under an agreement reached with federal prosecutors which required him to acknowledge his failure to file returns for the years 1999 through 2004. Barry, 70, completed his fourth term as mayor in early 1999. While Barry has said he's unsure how much money he earned during the time period in question, he did not challenge claims by federal prosecutors that his income topped $534,000 during...