BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — A 30-year-old woman who believed she was in a "fantasy relationship" with her daughter's 8-year-old playmate admitted having repeated sexual contact with the boy and accepted a plea deal Monday that likely will send her to prison for six years.
Tammy Imre pleaded guilty to two counts of risk of injury to a minor, a reduced charge that the boy's family accepted to spare both children time on the witness stand.
Imre, a secretary, was arrested in November on sexual assault charges after the boy's mother found a letter that Imre wrote.
In the letter, police said, Imre told the boy that she didn't "want anyone but you. Now tomorrow it's supposed to rain, you can come over we can (you know what). Love ya! I want you!"
Imre admitted engaging in sexual acts with the boy but said the kissing and fondling stopped short of sexual intercourse. The two were in bed together naked at least once, she admitted Monday.
Imre quietly changed her plea to guilty and admitted the facts in the case. Her mother and brother were in court.
State social workers have custody of Imre's daughter, who told police she saw her mother and the boy doing "disgusting" things.
"This was a big step forward for the family," said George Ganim, the attorney for the boy's family.
Defense attorney Donald Papcsy said Imre suffers from a mental problem that made it hard for her to know that what she did was wrong.
"She really believed she was in a fantasy relationship," Papcsy said.
Imre will be required to register as a sex offender after she is sentenced Nov. 4. The plea deal calls for a 12-year sentence suspended after six years. With an early release and credit for time served, she could be out of prison in four years, Papcsy said.
Prosecutor Cornelius Kelly acknowledged Imre had mental problems but said he had not seen the psychiatrist's report and said the likelihood of an insanity defense was not a factor in his decision to accept a plea.
CHICAGO (AP) — A boy falsely accused of killing an 11-year-old girl seven years ago agreed Monday to settle his lawsuit against the city and two police detectives for $6.2 million, a judge announced.
The settlement, which still must be approved by the City Council, came less than a week after the council ordered city lawyers to settle the matter. A trial in the case began several weeks ago.
"The parents were satisfied with it and after seven years they wanted to get this behind them," said Andre Grant, an attorney representing the now 15-year-old boy.
Grant said at least some of the money would be spent on therapy and counseling for the boy.
Earlier this year, the city agreed to a $2 million settlement with the family of another boy also falsely accused in the 1998 murder of Ryan Harris.
The girl's slaying made national headlines after the two boys, then 7 and 8, became the youngest murder suspects in the United States at the time. It took almost a month before the boys were cleared after tests showed semen on the girl's clothing could not have come from them.
DNA tests later prompted police to charge Floyd Durr, a Chicago man who has been convicted of sexually assaulting other girls. Durr is awaiting trial in the girl's death.
In a statement about the tentative settlement, the city did not admit any wrongdoing. It also did not admit wrongdoing in its settlement with the other boy.
The settlement "compensates (the boy) and his family for any trauma suffered as a result of this incident," according to a written statement from Mara Georges, the city's corporation counsel.
During the civil trial, the boy's attorneys claimed police framed him and ignored evidence that showed he was innocent.
Attorneys for the city and the two detectives named in the suit countered that at the time there was reasonable cause to believe the two boys had been involved in the slaying. According to police at the time, they were arrested after they told detectives that they killed the girl for the shiny blue bicycle she was riding.
The girl disappeared July 27, 1998, and was found dead the next day in a weedy lot on the city's South Side. She had been sexually molested and beaten.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rapper Lil' Kim began serving a 366-day prison sentence Monday for her conviction on charges stemming from a 2001 shootout outside a New York City radio station.
The 30-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, was whisked into the federal detention center past a throng of media, fans and passers-by at about 4:45 p.m.
Earlier, she issued a statement saying she had "unfortunately" been assigned to the concrete, high-rise Philadelphia facility instead of to a prison camp "as discussed."
She added: "I am not certain that this constitutes fair and equal treatment."
Her lawyer, L. Londell McMillan, said a celebrity like Lil' Kim could be in danger in the detention center.
"Why should a female hip-hop artist have to spend time in an urban concrete jungle while other female prisoners are assigned to rural, suburban-type prison camps?" said McMillan, adding that he would seek to have his client reassigned.
Calls to the federal Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service were not returned Monday.
The 4-foot-11 rapper, who was convicted of lying about the gun battle to a federal grand jury and in the subsequent trial, brought about 20 to 25 people to Philadelphia with her in two RVs. Her mother, brother and lawyer were allowed to accompany her briefly into the detention center to say goodbye, McMillan said.
"She was upbeat, smiling," he said. "She told her mom not to cry and to stay strong."
Lil' Kim will be assigned to a female work cadre at the coed prison, McMillan said, noting that she could be out in nine months with good behavior.
"Today begins a new saga in my life which I expect to strengthen me and allow me time for reflection," Lil' Kim said in her statement. "I plan to write music while in prison, read and pray regularly and will come out a stronger, more confident woman."
The gunplay erupted outside WQHT-FM, known as Hot 97, in Manhattan when Lil' Kim's entourage crossed paths with a rival rap group, Capone-N-Noreaga.
Lil' Kim's group confronted the others about the Capone-N-Noreaga song "Bang, Bang," which contained an insult to Lil' Kim from rival Foxy Brown. One man was hurt in the shootout that followed.
Before the grand jury and at the trial, the rapper claimed she did not notice two of her close friends at the scene of the shootout — her manager, Damion Butler, and Suif Jackson. Both have pleaded guilty to gun charges.
Jurors at Lil' Kim's trial saw radio station security photos that depicted Butler opening a door for the rap star, and two witnesses who once made records with Lil' Kim said they saw her at the station with Butler and Jackson. She was convicted of perjury and conspiracy.
Though several high-profile male rappers — including Beanie Sigel and Tupac Shakur — have done time in jail, Lil' Kim is the first big-name female rapper to serve a prison sentence.
Lil' Kim's fourth album, "The Naked Truth," is due out next week. She won a Grammy in 2001 for her part in the hit remake of "Lady Marmalade."
At last month's MTV Video Music Awards, MTV personality Sway delicately asked if she had anything to say to fans who "might not see you for a while."
"You can write me letters," Lil' Kim said.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A prominent Muslim cleric on Monday was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on racketeering and other charges, the latest in a string of convictions stemming from the FBI's sweeping probe of municipal corruption.
Prosecutors said that Shamsud-din Ali, 67, used his political connections to obtain dubious loans, donations and city contracts. In addition to his 87-month sentence, Ali was ordered to pay restitution. He was released pending an appeal.
The investigation of the so-called "pay to play" culture in Philadelphia's city government has led to the convictions and guilty pleas for more than a dozen people, including a former city treasurer, two bank executives and several business owners seeking city contracts.
The probe became public when police discovered an FBI bug in Mayor John F. Street's office. The mayor has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged.
Ali, the leader of a west Philadelphia mosque, was charged with 34 counts. After six days of deliberations, jurors convicted him in June of 22 counts, including racketeering.
According to prosecutors, he and his wife, Faridah, used the Muslim school they ran as a private piggy bank, soliciting donations and public education funds for adult education classes that were never held. The Alis had at least five family members on the payroll, including two adult children who lived out of state.
Faridah Ali was convicted and sentenced to a year of house arrest on related charges.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Police found the car belonging to a missing Virginia Commonwealth University student and hope it will provide clues to help find the 17-year-old two weeks after she disappeared.
Taylor Behl was last seen the evening of Sept. 5 when she left her dormitory room, taking only her cell phone, a small amount of cash, a student ID and the keys to her 1997 white Ford Escort.
An off-duty Richmond police officer found the car parked about 1.5 miles from her dorm Saturday morning as he walked his dog on a residential street.
"This is a tremendous break," said Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe, who is leading the task force to find Behl.
Police impounded the car after a day of surveillance turned up nothing. Monroe said it did not appear it had been there for two weeks.
Its Virginia license plates had been replaced with Ohio plates stolen in Richmond before Behl disappeared, but the vehicle still bore its northern Virginia registration decals.
"I'm thrilled," said Behl's mother, Janet Pelasara. "I'm very hopeful that when the car is searched … that we'll find the evidence that will bring her back home alive and well."
Last week, police shifted their search from a missing-persons case to a criminal investigation.
Police said they have followed 150 leads and searched her room, her computer and the home of a 38-year-old amateur photographer with whom Behl allegedly had a relationship.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — A former Playgirl cover model was convicted of trying to strangle a Stanford University graduate student eight years ago after she refused to perform sex acts.
Trent Davis, 34, was convicted Friday in San Mateo County Superior Court of attempted murder and assault related to the 1997 attack in his San Mateo home. It was the second time he was convicted by a jury in the case.
Davis tried suffocating the 28-year-old woman with a plastic bag and tried choking her with an electrical cord after she rebuffed him. She escaped after Davis' two children, ages 7 and 9, and his roommate intervened.
Davis was originally convicted and sentenced to 27 years in prison, but a federal court granted him a new trial earlier this year based on a jury instruction error.
He faces more than 27 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 2 on seven felony counts, prosecutors said.
Davis' ex-wife, who reported to police in August that he raped her while they were separated in 1997, testified in the case. Other witnesses included a woman from New York whom Davis was acquitted of raping in a similar case.
Davis previously served a five-year prison sentence for bank robbery in Oregon.
Pictures of Davis have appeared several times in Playgirl magazine. He was on the cover of the magazine in the summer of 1998 when he was originally convicted.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A rare Gold Rush-era coin owned by a descendant of Chinese immigrants who worked in the California gold fields sold for $253,000 at a Beverly Hills auction.
The coin has been confirmed by numismatists as one of only 12 "Quarter Eagles" known to exist from the 246 that were made at the San Francisco Mint in 1854.
The Quarter Eagle is about the size of a dime and was made from Gold Rush ore at the San Francisco Mint just months after it opened. It contains one-eighth ounce of California gold.
The anonymous seller's great-grandfather acquired the coin between 1856 and 1858 while working the gold fields, according to the American Numismatic Rarities of Wolfeboro, N.H., which auctioned the coin Sunday.
"They took exceptional care of this important piece of American history for nearly 150 years," said John Pack of American Numismatic Rarities. "In fact, it is the second finest known surviving example."
The coin, which was expected to sell for at least $150,000, opened at $140,000 and quickly jumped in $5,000 and $10,000 increments before going to an anonymous collector for the final price.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Richard Hatch, who won $1 million on the first season of the reality show "Survivor," pleaded innocent Monday to charges that he failed to pay taxes on his winnings and other income.
Hatch has been charged with tax evasion, filing a false tax return, wire fraud, bank fraud and mail fraud. He entered the plea in U.S. District Court.
A grand jury indictment filed earlier this month said Hatch filed false tax returns for 2000 and 2001 that omitted his income from the CBS show, $327,000 he was paid to co-host a radio show and $28,000 in rent on a property he owns in Newport.
Hatch, 44, also was accused of misusing $36,500 from a nonprofit camp he set up, Horizon Bound.
The former corporate trainer said the 10-count indictment was retribution for his refusal earlier this year to follow through with a plea deal.
"It was absurd in the spring, and it's still absurd," he said. "They thought I was going to accept two years in jail for something I didn't do."
Hatch told reporters outside the court before the hearing began that he was innocent. "I've never taken a penny from a charity, and they know it. I've always paid my taxes, and they know it. I think it's personal at this point."
U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente said Hatch knew what he was getting into.
"After he decided not to go forward … we did exactly what we said we were going to do, which was submit the information to a grand jury," Corrente said.
Hatch faces a maximum of 75 years in prison if found guilty on all charges. He also could face millions of dollars in fines.
Judge Lincoln Almond released Hatch on $50,000 bond but restricted his travel to Rhode Island and Houston, where his lawyer's office is located, and ordered him to turn over his passport.
In March, Hatch told several news organizations that he thought CBS was responsible for paying the taxes on his "Survivor" prize. CBS has said Hatch knew it was his responsibility to pay taxes on the money.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The Sisters of Providence now have a couple of brothers.
Two men have become the first male students at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, the oldest Roman Catholic liberal arts college for women in the United States.
Robert Brown, 28, who is married and has three children, said that when he filled out an admissions form he had no idea he would help write history at the western Indiana college.
The union carpenter from Hoopeston, Ill., is now pursuing an undergraduate degree in accounting information systems through the Woods External Degree program.
His wife, who recently graduated through the same program, urged him to sign up for classes.
"I figured if I was ever going to get a degree, this would be the place," Brown said. "I'm excited to have the opportunity."
The other male student asked not to be identified.
The college was founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1840 and had remained a women's school until this fall. The decision was part of the college's growth plan, which includes a goal of 1,100 full-time students by 2010.
WABASH, Ind. (AP) — A driver stopped for speeding apparently tried to distract a drug-sniffing dog with something canines like a lot: dog biscuits.
Troopers stopped Jong H. Kim, 23, of Overland Park, Kan., along U.S. 24 on Wednesday, and then called for a Wabash County Sheriff's Department dog after he appeared to be very nervous and at one point vomited.
As the dog walked around the car, Kim threw dog biscuits and debris out the window toward the dog to distract it, police said. The dog nonetheless indicated the possible presence of illegal drugs in the car, authorities said.
Kim refused to leave the car and had to be pulled out by officers, police said.
Troopers reported finding about 75 grams of marijuana hidden in the car. Kim was being held on charges of marijuana possession, resisting law enforcement and drunken driving.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A Green Party lawmaker who pledged to run naked through the streets if a rival party leader was re-elected said he will honor his word.
Legislator Keith Locke, the Green Party's foreign affairs spokesman, said Monday he didn't want to break an election promise.
He had said he would do the nude dash if rightist Act Party leader Rodney Hide won a parliamentary seat in the Aukland suburb of Epsom. Regarded as an outside chance, Hide romped home in the contest Saturday with a 3,200-vote majority.
"We haven't set a date, we've got preparations to do in terms of choreography," Locke said. "It will be artistic and it will involve body paint."
A local business group, the Newmarket Business Association, is helping pave the way for the lawmaker's run down Broadway, which is "a straight and wide strip — ideal for such exposure," said Cameron Brewer, the group's general manager.
"When Mr. Locke is ready, the … association will warn the faint-hearted, clear the footpath on Broadway … ensure there are the necessary officials, and provide a much-needed loincloth," Brewer said.
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Losing your keys can be a pain. But after an assistant warden lost a set of keys, prisoners at the Jacksonville Correctional Center spent four days on lockdown.
The set of about ten keys, which was still missing last week, included a master key that opens doors to cell houses and two prison wings.
The institution of 1,400 male inmates was locked down from Sept. 9-12 after a search failed to turn up the keys.
"We don't believe this poses a serious threat to the safety of the facility," Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman Sergio Molina said.
The keys could have been lost between April 8 and Sept. 9, Molina said. They were not necessarily lost at the prison and could be taken home.
An assistant warden had given the keys to another employee on April 8 because he was being temporarily reassigned to the department's headquarters, Molina said.
Both employees remained on the job. The department was investigating and disciplinary action was possible, Molina said.
Posted in Backpage on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 12:00 am
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