Free Republic

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A Shakopee couple has been sentenced to a combined 97 months in prison for their roles in a $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mekfira Hussein, 42, and Abduljabar Hussein, 45, submitted fraudulent claims for meals and obtained approximately $8.8 million in federal child nutrition program funds. The Husseins were sentenced before U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel. Mekfira Hussein was sentenced to 57 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She pleaded guilty on Jan. 31, 2025. Abduljabar Hussein was sentenced...

The Cook County judge who released repeat violent felon Alphanso Talley on electronic monitoring before he was charged with killing a Chicago police officer is accused of holding two courtroom deputies in contempt this week for not immediately removing handcuffs from a different inmate charged with murder. It’s an upside-down world in Judge John Lyke’s courtroom, where deputies are locked up and repeat violent offenders are sent home. On Wednesday, two deputies were escorting the inmate into Lyke’s courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building when he ordered them to remove the man’s handcuffs, according to Teamsters Local 700, which...

In 2023 Lindsay Clancy sent her husband on an errand. While he was away she strangled their three children--5 year-old Cora, 3 year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan to death. Her efforts to kill herself were not as successful. She cut her wrists and neck and jumped from the home's second-story window. She survived, but was paralyzed from the waist down due to the fall. Her defense counsel argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder and could not be held responsibility for her actions. The prosecution argued that the careful planning that preceded the killings demonstrated premeditation....

A San Diego sheriff’s K-9 was brutally stabbed in the face by a suspected burglar in Escondido Saturday. The Sheriff’s K-9 Unit team was assisting the Escondido Police Department with an ongoing burglary at a business just before 12:30 a.m. The suspect, 35-year-old Eric Rodriguez, held a large stick and threw objects at responding Escondido police officers. Cops tried to de-escalate the situation, but Rodriguez ignored all warnings and refused to comply, authorities said. Officers then deployed the sheriff’s K-9 — a six-year-old Belgian Malinois named Nike — to apprehend the suspect, but Rodriguez responded by mercilessly stabbing Nike several...

Rome authorities have tightened security around the Colosseum and other popular tourist attractions in the Italian capital due to a rise in crime. In late August, the area around the ancient amphitheater was officially declared a "red zone" - an increase in the presence of law enforcement officers and their powers were expanded. The special regime will be in effect until at least December 24, 2026, write CNN. The reason for the increased security was, in particular, a series of incidents in the Colosseum area. In July, about 50 young people attacked police officers using fireworks, as a result of...

Residents of an upscale Queens neighborhood are enraged over a brazen serial squatter who moved into a local $1.1 million home — and it’s not the first time he’s pulled off the scam, according to a report. Accused con man Vernon Glass parked himself in the million-dollar home in the quiet, tree-lined community of Bayside more than two years ago, after the 2018 death of elderly homeowner and longtime resident Richard Klibschon, ABC Eyewitness News reported. *** The home at 2340 205th St. had remained vacant after Klibschon, who lived alone and had no family, passed away, according to the...

FRANKFORT, Illinois (WBBM) -- A mother has been charged with murder after her 2-year-old child was killed inside a home in Frankfort, Ill. Police said Corie Walsh, 38, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Police said Walsh is in custody and was in the hospital for medical treatment. Friday afternoon she was transferred to the Will County Adult Detention Facility ahead of her detention hearing. Court documents have revealed unsettling and disturbing details about the toddler's death. Frankfort police said officers were called to the home in the 22700 block of Brook Stone Court around 4 p.m. Tuesday...

Excitement around the creation of a new drug, especially one showing early promise in clinical trials, is often celebrated by those developing it. But new weight-loss drug retatrutide has become a headache not only for Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company behind it, but for regulators in the UK and around the world. The jab has not yet been approved for human use by any regulatory body. But illicit, counterfeit dupes of retatrutide are currently flooding the black market. Experts have told the BBC this is one of the first times they have seen copycat versions of an experimental drug, still...

A few days ago I shared some cursory thoughts about Lindsay Clancy and her murder trial. What immediately shocked me was the sheer number of medications that she was on. As a former mental health professional, as someone with a mental health condition myself who has experienced issues with meds, I was absolutely floored by all the drugs that Clancy was taking. What I was thinking most was about the very significant probability of drug interactions that would have possibly clouded her senses, including her moral judgement. Intrigued, I looked into the case further. One friend alluded that he couldn't...

A suspected cop killer is on the run in Georgia after he gunned down a small-town officer who arrested him days earlier in what officials believe was a targeted shooting. Warm Springs City Councilman Michael Bishop told 11 Alive he believes the alleged gunman Jimmie Lee Steverson, 23, may have killed Warm Springs Police Stg. Chris Fisher – a father of two – in retaliation for arresting him last week on weapon and drugs charges.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has issued a Blue Alert for Steverson after Fisher was shot outside the Meriwether Country Inn, about 70 miles south of...

James McMaster, 94 years old, lost about $1.3 million in the collapse of First Liberty Building & Loan, the Georgia investment firm built by a family of Republican power brokers. He recently got a call to contribute to a GOP campaign. “I said, ‘OK, let me tell you. Here’s where I’m at,’” McMaster said. “‘When you get all the politicians that have received funds from them and get them to return them, then maybe we can talk.’” The saga of First Liberty and the Frost family that ran it—and were long among the Georgia GOP’s most influential names—haunts the midterms....

President Trump warned Tuesday that Chicago “will die” if Illinois governor JB Pritzker continues to refuse federal government help to get crime under control – as the lefty pol joined revelers in downing shots for a world record attempt despite a weekend of bloodshed that saw 41 people shot. Fifteen people were struck in what was Chicago’s largest mass shooting of the year on Saturday, bringing the city’s 2026 gun violence tally to 1,255 victims, which is up by almost one percent on last year.“Chicago violence is unchecked and at record levels. It has never been worse,” Trump blasted in...

On Dec. 13 last year, a stranger in a Brown University bathroom noticed a man dressed head to toe in black, wrong for the weather, mere hours before that same man opened fire on Brown University’s campus, killing two and wounding eight before vanishing. Investigators had almost nothing: no name, no plate, just a tip describing a gray Nissan with Florida plates. But that was enough: Providence police ran it through a network of more than 70 Flock Safety cameras, which reached back through 30 days of history, and found the car had passed 14 times since Dec. 1. “We...

The agency referred a former United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees school teacher and Hamas operative for debarment for allegedly receiving and holding civilian hostages beginning on October 7, 2023. ================================================================== The United States' Agency for International Development's Inspector General's office announced Wednesday that it has referred more than 100 current or former employees of a United Nations relief agency to the State Department over their participation in the October 7 terror attacks in Israel. The referrals include three people they suggested be debarred by the department, including a former United Nations Relief and Works Agency for...

Tom Brady came home. California thanked him the only way it knows how. A little more than a week after the seven-time Super Bowl champion cut the ribbon at CardVault by Tom Brady in Palo Alto, somebody put a rock through the glass. Then they put a rock through the cases. Then they walked out with about 60 trading cards worth more than $12,000 and vanished into a state that has spent a decade teaching thieves they can vanish. Palo Alto police say the break-in hit the shop at Town & Country Village, 855 El Camino Real, around 12:30 a.m....

Penn State fraternity pledges were made to cut and package cocaine for a drug ring that was run out of two off-campus frat houses, authorities said. The illicit initiation was revealed Monday as Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday charged 14 people — including 13 current or former Penn State students — in connection with the alleged drug ring. The man accused of leading the operation, 24-year-old Agostino Abbatiello, surrendered on Tuesday after failing to appear for a scheduled arraignment on Monday on charges including possession with intent to deliver and conspiracy. He was ordered jailed without bail.A message seeking comment...

The FBI's new crime report is out, and it's safe to say that those who listened to the predictions of anti-Second Amendment groups are wondering where the crime is. Since the Supreme Court struck down New York's discretionary system for issuing concealed carry permits in June 2022, groups like Everytown, Giffords and Brady United predicted public safety would be diminished by the decision. However, the FBI's data noted that in 2025, the murder rate went down 18.1%, while violent crime fell by over 9%. One survey of crime that is widely cited is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) carried...

FIRST ON FOX: ActBlue co-founder Matt DeBergalis pleaded the Fifth Amendment during his closed-door deposition before three key House committees, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. The Committee on House Administration, House Oversight Committee, and House Judiciary Committee are conducting a joint investigation into ActBlue, a massive fundraising platform for Democrats, over allegations that lax fraud prevention standards may have allowed foreign donations to seep into U.S. campaigns. DeBergalis' deposition, which was scheduled for Thursday morning, lasted less than half an hour. Fox News saw DeBergalis entering and exiting the committee room within roughly 25 minutes.

Harvard University has agreed to pay a $53 million settlement after its former morgue manager stole and sold body parts donated for scientific research, with a court reportedly approving the plan on Tuesday. Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue at the prestigious Harvard Medical School before being fired in 2023, was sentenced to eight years in prison in December after pleading guilty to trafficking stolen remains. Investigators said Lodge and his wife took body parts from the school "without the knowledge or permission of his employer, the donor, or the donor's family" and shipped them to buyers in other states...

Under the leadership of the Trump administration, the FBI has announced that violent crime has had the largest drop in recorded history in 2025. ⏬Largest year-to-year decline in murder on record⏬In 2025, our country saw the largest year-to-year decrease in murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, thanks to this FBI and its commitment to crush violent crime. Each day, this FBI works tirelessly to continue to save lives and the results are showing. pic.twitter.com/kLynxJB9ea— FBI (@FBI) August 18, 2026According to data released by the FBI, the violent crime rate in the United States dropped by nearly 10 percent last year. That marks...