Free Republic

Ex-IRS agent sentenced to prison in murder-for-hire plot A former IRS agent who opened a tax preparation business was sentenced Friday to nearly 24 years in prison for defrauding clients out of more than $11 million and then attempting to hire a hit man to kill four of them. Steven Martinez, 51, of Ramona was sentenced in San Diego federal court to 286 months in prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered by District Court Judge William Hayes to forfeit all the property, including a home in Mexico, and other possessions that he purchased with clients'...

TEMECULA: Driver claims zombies chasing him after big I-15 crash A Tennessee man, 19, is accused of taking a big-rig Saturday and causing a crash that injures 7 people A big-rig crash that blocked Interstate 15 in Temecula for hours Saturday evening, April 6, was caused by a 19-year-old driver who claimed he was on the run from the walking dead, authorities said. “He said zombies were chasing him and he had to get out of here,” said Officer Nathan Baer, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. The crash was no laughing matter. Not only did it cause a...

Suspected tagger found dead, hanging 9 stories up on office tower A man whose body was found hanging from a downtown Sacramento building Monday, nine stories up, appears to be a tagger who was attempting the vandalize the property, authorities say. The man had used rope to tie himself in a seated position like a rappeller, authorities said. The rope was tied off with a window washing anchor, and fire officials believe that that anchor could have held his weight. But they don't think he was a window washer.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith and city Councilman Dan Halloran were arrested this morning on charges they were plotting to rig this year’s mayoral election through fraud and bribes. The pols allegedly formed an alliance built on cash payments and fraud to get Smith — one of the state’s top Democrats — placed on the GOP mayoral ballot, sources said. FBI agents arrested them both at their Queens homes shortly after 6 a.m. [snip] Prosecutors are planning to lay out the whole sordid scheme during a news conference later today.

Lazy postal worker burns, buries undelivered mail BELFAIR, WA (KOMO/CNN) - A disgraced mailman is in trouble again after admitting to burying thousands of pieces of mail in his backyard. Postal investigators state mailman Richard Farrell is accused of using a backhoe and burying the undelivered mail in a deep trench. "Just because I was lazy, and I became a not very good employee," said Farrell. "I just wanted to get out of their as soon as possible." According to court documents, in 2010, fellow coworkers discovered Farrell dumping mail in a recycling bin. Those actions prompted investigators to follow...

Genghis Khan Found Guilty in Rockland Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe announced Tuesday, March 26 that Genghis Khan (DOB 06/01/89) of 1008 St. Marks Avenue, Brooklyn, New York was found guilty following a jury trial of: One count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, a class “A-II” Felony One count of Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, a Violation On April 30, 2012, at approximately 4:40 p.m., Khan was traveling on the New York State Thruway (I-87) in the Town of Clarkstown. During a traffic stop, state troopers found the defendant in possession of approximately...

Thieves plunder crashed SUV of tires, wheels and battery - while its dying driver lay trapped underneath A man who was crushed to death by his SUV after a fatal accident suffered the final indignity of being robbed as he lay trapped under the vehicle. Police in New Mexico say 26-year-old Steven Roy Reese of Carlsbad was killed either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning when he apparently lost control of his 1996 Ford Explorer on a little-used dirt road. However, when they got to the vehicle they discovered that somebody had stolen wheels, tires and the battery from the wrecked...

Police: Woman tried to buy iPads with food stamp card • Tracy Browning taken into custody LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Police say a Kentucky woman was arrested after she tried to buy iPads with her food stamp card. Tracy Browning, of Louisville, KY, attempted to buy two iPads at Walmart with her Electronic Benefit Transfer card. When the card was declined, police said Browning grabbed the items, ran from the store and assaulted a store clerk on her way out of the store.

"CNN Breaking News -- Mitt Romney Almost President," reads the subject line of an email phishing scam aimed at political junkies. Inside the email is a collection of headlines that appear to link to CNN.com. But clicking through won't inform readers - instead, the links take users to a site that hosts the Blackhole Exploit kit code. Right now, the Blackhole Exploit kit accounts for 28 percent of all Internet threats, Sophos said. The kit can load a Java Trojan and relay which exploits exist on a victim's computer back to the BlackHole server. Hackers use trickery through malicious Web...

Florida Republicans are outraged after a school district allowed a pro-Obama organization to conduct student voter registration drives and deliver speeches to classes – but denied the Romney campaign similar opportunities.

<p>Not long ago I posted a story about a Muslim who had been kicked in the face by a horse he was trying to rape. Now it seems the same Muslim returned to the same place to do the same thing. This time he killed a horse, although we don't know if it was the same one.</p>

"Zombie" attacks continue: Naked man arrested after biting Fla. man Despite assurances from the CDC that zombies do not, in fact, exist, strange things keep happening in Florida. The Center for Disease Control says we have no reason to fear a zombie virus. But that hasn't stopped a series of strange events, including one in which Rudy Eugene brutally attacked a homeless man, biting off chunks of his face. Perhaps 22-year-old Jeremiah Haughee found Eugene to be an inspirational figure. That's our best guess for why he was climbed naked onto the roof of a St. Augustine, Fla., home, bit...

Lesbian Couple FAKED Hate Crime By Painting Their OWN Home With 'Kill the Gays' To Frame Neighbors After Spat Over Dogs 18 May 2012 [Pic in URL] Caught: Aimee Whitchurch, 37, left, and Christel Conklin, 29, right, are accused of forgery, false reporting and criminal mischief A lesbian couple that claimed their neighbors spray painted 'Kill the Gay' on their condo are being accused by the police for doing the deed themselves. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Colorado has issued a warrant for Aimee Whitchurch, 37, and Christel Conklin, 29, for forgery, false reporting and criminal mischief. In October...

No more slow-walking Fast and Furious probeJustice has waited long enough. It’s time to pull the trigger on contempt charges against Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for withholding documents from Congress in the Operation Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal. Allowing further delay would only confirm what many Americans suspect: There is one set of laws for bureaucrats and another for the rest of us. Congress has been waiting since October 2011 for Mr. Holder to comply fully with a subpoena seeking records in 22 categories of information about the federal firearms-smuggling operation. The attorney general has provided some material...

Transient stabbed in fight over PBJ sandwich SAN DIEGO — One downtown transient stabbed another in the head in a fight over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich Friday, San Diego police said. The two men fought over the sandwich on Union Street near A Street about 6:30 p.m., police Officer David Stafford said. One of the men pulled out a pen and stabbed the other man in the head. Paramedics took the victim to a hospital, where he is expected to recover. The other man went to jail, Stafford said.

Male Suspect Wearing Muslim Garb Robs Philadelphia Bank PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia police are searching for a male suspect who robbed a bank while fully clothed in Muslim garb. The robbery happened at about 11 a.m. on April 13th at the Wells Fargo Bank branch located in the 700 block of Adams Avenue. According to investigators, the suspect, wearing Muslim garb, entered the bank and presented a threatening demand note to a teller. After getting an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect ran out of the bank and fled north on Tabor Road. The suspect is described as a black...

<p>EGYPT: A young Egyptian girl sought the help of police to save her from her parents.</p> <p>She alleged that her father had been raping her since she was 13 years of age and that her mother forces her to please her dad.</p>

While the city of Troy, New York, anxiously awaits the jury’s verdict in the upstate voter fraud case, we thought it would be a good time to take a look back at some of the more outrageous, if not flat-out criminal moments of the trial thus far. The trial involves two Democrats - former City Councilman Michael LoPorto, and Rensselaer County Board of Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough. The two have been accused of over 100 combined felonies in connection with the alleged defrauding of the 2009 Working Families Party primary. Is this simply a microcosm of what is happening in...

As the sheriff of Lincoln County, W.Va., Jerry Bowman is sworn to uphold the law. But the 58-year-old law enforcement veteran stood in a federal courtroom in Charleston on Wednesday and pleaded guilty in a shocking voter fraud case that has stripped him of his job and could send him to prison for a decade. Prosecutors say Bowman and former Lincoln County Clerk Donald Whitten, 62, were part of a scheme to steal the May 2010 Democratic primary by stuffing ballot boxes with illegal absentee ballots. Bowman admitted to falsifying more than 100 of the absentee ballot applications and even...

Three Occupy Oakland Protesters Charged with Hate Crimes (Reuters) - Three Occupy Oakland protesters accused of surrounding and taunting a woman before stealing her wallet were charged on Friday with robbery and hate crimes, authorities said. Michael Davis, 32, Nneka Crawford, 23, and Randolph Wilkins, 24, confronted the woman on the streets of Oakland in February after she told them not to riot in her neighborhood, the Oakland Police said in a written release. "She was surrounded by three protestors and battered as they yelled vulgar epithets regarding their perception of her sexual orientation," Oakland Police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said....

Berkeley victim's call for help went unheeded Thirteen critical minutes elapsed between the time a Berkeley hills homeowner called police about a trespasser and an attack by the intruder that left the man beaten to death, sources close to the investigation said Tuesday. Berkeley police have acknowledged they were keeping officers on standby for a lightly attended Occupy Oakland march, meaning no officer was dispatched when Peter Cukor, 67, first called at about 8:45 p.m. Saturday on a nonemergency line to report a suspicious person "hanging around" his property near Tilden Park. After phoning police, Cukor walked 160 feet from...

Father held for killing infant BEHRAMPORE: A man allegedly hurled his one-and-half- month-old daughter at Mangaljone Mathpara in Raghunathgunj on Sunday night. Manoyara Khatun's forehead was badly injured and she died of heavy bleeding. As the news spread, the villagers informed the police. Majibar Rahman was had been upset with his wife for having giving birth to a girl. Kohinoor Bibi, the baby's grandmother said, "When he came yesterday with some medicines and baby food, we forgave him. How could we suspect that he would kill his own child? Such cruelty is unacceptable to us and even to Allah! Allah...

Man arrested for 3rd suspected DUI in 1 week IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. -- An Imperial Beach man was arrested for suspected drunken driving three times in five days, deputies said Sunday. Sheriff's deputies were called to a report of a drunken driver on Seacoast Drive in Imperial Beach about 6:30 a.m. Sunday. When they arrived they found the driver, David Lakarnafeaux, 44, had walked inside a bar on Palm Avenue and Seacoast Drive, Sgt. Ted Greenwald said. When deputies arrested him, they discovered that Lakarnafeaux had already been arrested for the same charge twice last week: on Tuesday by San...

Afghan girl's 'horrifying abuse' exposed by video A video given to the BBC shows the extent of the injuries suffered by a 15 year-old Afghan child bride who was locked up and tortured by her husband. The girl was left starving after being detained by him and his family for several months. The case came to light this week when police rescued the teenager, Sahar Gul, who had been locked up in the basement of her in-laws' house. Police say that she had had her nails and clumps of hair pulled out. In addition they say she had chunks of...

Mother Arrested For Tattooing Baby So I’ve seen parents tattoo there child’s name on them that’s a common thing. I have also even seen portraits of their kids face, or even the baby’s footprint tatted on them. But this one definitely caught my attention to the point I had to ask myself ‘Is this chic serious’? A women from Albany, New York – A local New York State resident, Franny Trokerns was arrested early this morning after being turned in by her babysitter. After the babysitter noticed the child was constantly screaming as if the baby was pain she took...

QUITMAN, GA (WALB) - 12 former Brooks County officials were indicted for voter fraud. The suspects are accused of illegally helping people vote by absentee ballot. State officials launched an investigation after an unusually high number of absentee ballots were cast in the July 2010 primary election. "As a result of their grand jury findings 12 individuals were indicted in that particular matter and we will be trying that case in a court of judicial law instead of a court of public opinion so that will be pending this next year," said District Attorney Joe Mulholland

Man throws aluminum water bottle at UC Berkeley student’s face A man threw an aluminum water bottle at a UC Berkeley student Thursday evening on campus, causing minor injuries to the victim’s face. At about 5:09 p.m., the female student was approached by a man at “the northeast exterior of the Haas Pavilion,” according to a UCPD crime alert. The man asked the student if she was going to the protest on Sproul Plaza, and when the victim answered “no,” the suspect yelled at her. “People like you are the reason that California is in debt,” he said, according to...

The Planned Parenthood abortion clinic of Overland Park, KS, is currently on trial for 107 counts of falsifying abortion records and committing illegal late-term abortions, 23 of which are felonies. The charges were brought by former Attorney General Phill Kline in October 2007 following an investigation he launched in 2003.Today came the bombshell news that the administration of former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, now the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, destroyed critical evidence in 2005. The evidence was needed to compare records Kline acquired with records Planned Parenthood later submitted.From the Kansas City Star: Key evidence...

A state lawmaker who was a central figure this year in the drama over whether Maryland would approve same-sex marriage was charged Friday with stealing campaign funds to pay for her wedding. Charges brought by the Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor allege that Del. Tiffany T. Alston (D-Prince George’s) spent thousands of dollars of campaign contributions to pay for wedding expenses and for the salary of an employee in her law firm. In several instances, Alston wrote herself checks from the account of “Friends of Tiffany Alston” and then cashed the checks for personal use, according to the prosecutor’s...

Tombstone mystery in drug case San Bernardino County Sheriff's investigators are left with a mystery following the discovery of 24 cemetery headstones in the backyard of a Loma Linda home they were searching for evidence in a drug case Tuesday. One of the headstones was tentatively traced to Montecito Memorial Park in Colton, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said. But a spokeswoman for the cemetery's parent company said workmen found a headstone in place on the grave in question. Lisa Marshall, spokeswoman for Service Corporation International, said no markers were reported missing and that the company is cooperating with investigators. Deputies...

PITTSBURGH (AP) An Allegheny County Democratic Committeeman has been jailed on charges he stalked, harassed and threatened a Pittsburgh tavern owner with a two-by-four. The owner of Alchemy 'N Ale in Pittsburgh tells city police that 71-year-old Byron Tielsch threatened him at the bar on Saturday. A police spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for more information. --snip-- KDKA-TV reports (http://cbsloc.al/puh6ub ) that Tielsch is the father of Steven Tielsch who was convicted of murdering a rabbinical student because he was wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish garb while walking in a Pittsburgh neighborhood in 1986.

JOHNSTOWN, PA — A candidate for Adams Township supervisor, 24-year-old Dustin Siplivy of Dunlo, is facing a felony rape charge in Cambria County court. Contacted Thursday, Siplivy would not discuss the details of the charges, referring all inquiries to Altoona attorney Thomas M. Dickey. Court papers show that Johnstown police arrested Siplivy in February 2010 on charges of rape, indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated assault. All of the charges included the notation that the victim was unconscious. Siplivy spent more than three days in Cambria County Prison before posting $1,000 surety on his $10,000 bond, court documents...

In Tunica, Mississippi, ten guilty verdicts of voter fraud were returned yesterday against NAACP officer Lessadolla Sowers. She was sentenced to five years for each count without the possibility of parole and will serve the terms concurrently. Sowers manipulated the absentee ballot process in the 2007 election. Absentee ballots in Mississippi are notoriously subject to voter fraud. The District Court opinion in United States v. Ike Brown provides another outrageous example of systemic voter fraud in the casting of absentee ballots in Mississippi. Brown was also a NAACP and Democratic party official. The Tunica Times (subscription required) is the...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- The mayor of one of New York City's largest suburbs resigned Friday, two months after his conviction on domestic violence charges brought by his wife. White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, who is appealing, said he realized he needs more time to spend on personal matters than a mayor can afford.

After being brought into a Rensselaer County courtroom in handcuffs, Councilman Michael LoPorto and Democratic Election Commissioner Edward McDonough pleaded not guilty Friday to a combined 116 felony counts alleging they falsified dozens of absentee votes. The men were released on their own recognizance after being arraigned on an indictment handed up Friday morning. It charges McDonough, 47, with 38 counts of second-degree forgery and 36 counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument; LoPorto, 58, faces 13 second-degree forgery counts and 29 counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument. The Democrats had been the targets of a grand...

While attending an event billed as "open to the public", conservative blogger Adam Sharp was harassed, roughed up and forcibly removed. His "crime"? Someone at the Washington University at St. Louis thought Sharp worked for Fox News, and didn't like the questions he was asking Van Jones - the main speaker at the event. Gateway Pundit reported that "several university officials harassed the citizen journalists at the event. One university thug even roughed up Sharp and grabbed for his camera." Van Jones was recently ousted from his White House position as the so-called "green jobs czar" after his admitted communism...

(Reuters) - The United States has dropped out of the "top 20" in a global league table of least corrupt nations, tarnished by financial scandals and the influence of money in politics, Transparency International said on Tuesday. Somalia was judged the most corrupt country, followed by Myanmar and Afghanistan at joint second-worst and then by Iraq, in the Berlin-based watchdog TI's annual corruption perceptions index (CPI). The United States fell to 22nd from 19th last year, with its CPI score dropping to 7.1 from 7.5 in the 178-nation index, which is based on independent surveys on corruption. This was the...

SAN GABRIEL -- The mayor of San Gabriel was arrested early Friday morning on charges of felony robbery and assault charges after he allegedly grabbed a woman's purse and sped away with her clinging to the side of his SUV. Albert Y.M. Huang, 35, was taken into custody around 1:15 a.m. after police received a call about a heated argument between Huang and a 33 year old woman over money, according to Sgt. Jeff Whitney of the San Gabriel police department. Detectives say Huang and the woman were arguing over money outside a restaurant in the 300 block of West...

WASHINGTON — Democratic candidates across the country are opening a fierce offensive of negative advertisements against Republicans, using lawsuits, tax filings, reports from the Better Business Bureau and even divorce proceedings to try to discredit their opponents and save their Congressional majority. Opposition research and attack advertising are used in almost every election, but these biting ads are coming far earlier than ever before, according to party strategists. The campaign has intensified in the last two weeks as early voting begins in several states and as vulnerable incumbents try to fight off an onslaught of influences by outside groups. As...

Can an immigrant who resides legally in the U.S. on a work visa but who voted illegally in a presidential election year still become a naturalized U.S. citizen? Yes, actually. Especially if the Department of Homeland Security sends a letter instructing him to request removal from the voter rolls. That happened this summer in Putnam County, Tenn., where County Administrator of Elections Debbie Steidl says an immigrant who illegally registered to vote – and then voted – in 2004 is now seeking to become a U.S. citizen. Steidl says the man gave her a form letter from the DHS instructing...

Special investigation: How predatory gangs force middle-class girls into the sex trade By Sue Reid This week a girl who was abducted at the age of 14 and forced to work as a sex slave gave evidence in court that helped convict the nine men who sexually abused her. In this article, Sue Reid reveals how charities are helping those victims of this terrible abuse and importantly, why they are pushing the state to not hold back in their quest to find and convict the grotesque individuals. At 13, Emma still played with dolls and loved nothing more than walking...

Obama Justice Department outrages never cease. The politically charged gang led by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is more interested in helping felons vote than in helping the military to vote. Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, has put a legislative hold on the already troubled nomination of James M. Cole to be deputy attorney general until the attorney general ensures full protection for voting rights of our military (and associated civilian personnel) stationed abroad. The senator is right to raise a ruckus. Mr. Cornyn co-authored a 2009 law mandating that states mail absentee ballots to military voters at least...

Judge Napolitano just reported that he has had an interview with Julian A of W@ikileaks. JA told him that he gave the docs to the White House for response two (2) weeks ago. Never receive a response. White House approved of Security Breach? Who at the WH received the Docs and who else did they give access to the docs?

<p>Saiqa Akhter, 30, has been charged with a single count of capital murder in the deaths of her 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, police said. Dallas County Police spokeswoman Jamille Bradfield said the single count covered a child under 5 and would probably be changed either to include multiple victims or to add a count.</p>

For those who claim that vote fraud isn't a problem, Al Franken's election to the Senate demonstrates not only that vote fraud exists but also that it can alter elections and indeed the laws of the country. Murderers, rapists, and robbers may not be the people we want providing the crucial votes that determine what America's laws should be.

Cedra Crenshaw, Candidate for IL State Senate 43rd District, exposes the Chicago Machine ELECTION SCAMS being used to try to knock her off the ballot. The Chicago Machine would prefer to disenfranchise the voters of the 43rd State Senate District because they can not defend her opponent's record as a big spending, tax hiking, tool of the Democratic Machine.

Exactly one year ago, ACORN threatened to sue former insiders who formed a whistleblower group aimed at exposing the misappropriation and co-mingling of funds that have been the subject of congressional investigations. In a letter dated June 11, 2009, ACORN’s legal counsel demanded that activists operating under the banner of ACORN 8 “cease and desist” in their use of the ACORN name and set a deadline of June 30, 2009 for compliance. Legal action was not forthcoming after the whistleblower group resisted the ultimatum. “It is a violation of federal and state law for you to use the ACORN name...

You can’t make this kind of stuff up. The collapse of Detroit as an actually functioning government is picking up speed. Concerned by the number of Detroiters who have trouble dealing with the job application question “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” the Motor City’s Council is moving a bill through the adoption process which will remove the question from city job applications. The bill to be introduced within weeks by Council members Ken Cockrel and Kwame Kenyatta will provide felons with the opportunity to compete for job placement with Detroit on an equal footing with law abiding...

You probably would not believe this if you did not hear it for yourself. On June 4th, Democrat Florida Congressmen Alan Grayson suggested “tracking down every single person who has said “Drill Baby Drill” and putting them all in prison…with Michael Steele” on the Stephanie Miller radio show: AudioCongressman Grayson may not actually believe in carrying out his idiotic comments literally. However, you have got to look back at when our federal government actually imprisoned thousands of AMERICAN CITIZENS during WWI and WWII – because of their race or because they spoke out against the government. Where is the media...

Andrew Breitbart and James O'Keefe joined the program today to talk about their latest undercover investigation on the Census. How much money is being wasted per day through corruption, fraud and incompetence? Census Cost Fraud