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Suspected PayPal Hackers Seek Deal To Stay Out Of Prison

2013-05-18T22:26:21Z

Before he was charged in July 2011 with aiding the hacker group Anonymous, Josh Covelli lived what he considered the life of an ordinary 26-year-old. He spent countless hours on the Internet. He had a girlfriend. He was a student and employee at Devry University in Dayton, Ohio.

But after federal authorities accused him and 13 other people of helping launch a cyberattack against the online payment service PayPal, Covelli faced potentially 15 years in prison, and his life began to unravel.

His girlfriend broke up with him. He struggled to find an employer willing to hire an accused computer hacker. His friends "wanted nothing to do with me," he said, and he suffered from bouts of paranoia -- "looking out windows, not sure who to trust" -- before checking into a behavioral health center for three days.

"It was as if I got kicked off a cliff," Covelli, now 28, told The Huffington Post in an interview.

Nearly two years after the charges made headlines, the case remains an anxiety-provoking daily reality for Covelli and his 13 co-defendants. Though they come from disparate worlds -- drawn from different points on the map and stages in their lives -- the defendants collectively share a sense of unsettling uncertainty, their plans and aspirations stuck in a limbo of indeterminate duration as they await a resolution of their case.

Their wait may be nearing a conclusion. This week, the defendants -- known collectively as the "PayPal 14" -- attended a closed-door hearing in federal court in San Francisco in hopes of negotiating a settlement that could keep them out of prison. Lawyers for both sides declined to discuss the negotiations, but a joint court filing called the meeting "productive."

"We're at a delicate point," one defense attorney said in an interview.

Such a deal would mark the final chapter in a case that has been seen as one of the first major salvos in the federal government's war on Anonymous, a loose collective of hackers who say they are motivated by ideological beliefs, not financial gain. It would also bring to a close months of legal uncertainty that the defendants say has caused them both financial and emotional strain. One defendant in the case told The Huffington Post that she would "jump off the Hoover Dam" if convicted.

While the PayPal case has largely faded from public view, the law under which the 14 defendants were charged -- the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act -- has come under increased scrutiny. The government used the same anti-hacking law to prosecute Internet activist Aaron Swartz, charging him with illegally downloading millions of articles from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer archive. Facing the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence, Swartz committed suicide, provoking claims of prosecutorial overreach and calls to reform the law. Critics say it is overly broad and excessively punitive, meting out stiff prison terms for some computer-related crimes they deem relatively innocuous.

The PayPal arrests appeared to have done little to deter Anonymous. Six months after the indictment was unsealed, in January 2012, Anonymous launched one of its largest attacks, knocking offline the Justice Department's website in protest of the U.S. government's arrest of leaders of Megaupload.com, a file-sharing site that allegedly facilitates Internet piracy. Since then, the group has taken credit for numerous other attacks on corporate and government websites.

But the charges in the PayPal case had one noticeable impact on the hacker group -- its members became more careful. They began circulating manuals online on how to use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to shield their IP addresses from the watchful eye of law enforcement, said Gabriella Coleman, a professor at McGill University who has studied Anonymous. "The arrests led to a kind of moment of education," she said.

The case against Covelli and the 13 other defendants stems from a series of cyberattacks in December 2010. In response to PayPal's decision to cut off donations to the whistleblower site Wikileaks, Anonymous encouraged supporters to download software that bombards websites with traffic, causing them to crash. The resulting "denial of service attack," which brought down PayPal's site intermittently over four days, was nicknamed "Operation Avenge Assange" in reference to the Wikileaks founder.

On Jan. 27, 2011, the FBI executed 27 search warrants and seized more than 100 computers in 12 states in connection with the PayPal attack. That day, Covelli said he was awoken at 6 a.m. by FBI agents knocking at his door. "The FBI is here," he recalled telling his girlfriend at the time. He opened the door and "got a pistol put to my face," he said.

Six months later, authorities filed charges against 14 people, some of whom belie the stereotype of the teenage male hacker. The defendants are men and women ranging from 22 to 44 years old and living in small towns and big cities stretching from California to Florida. They include a real estate broker, a military veteran, a massage therapist and a single mother with two children.

Some knew each other before the indictment, but only by online nicknames such as "Anthrophobic" and "Reaper." They had never met in person until Sept. 1, 2011, when they made their initial court appearance together.

One defendant, Tracy Ann Valenzuela, a single mother and massage therapist, told a local ABC station in 2011 that she got involved in the PayPal attack while reading the news online.

"I saw something about PayPal shutting down payments to Wikileaks, and I clicked on some other site and joined a protest," she said. "And next thing I knew, my house was surrounded by guns."

Although 14 people were charged, PayPal collected about 1,000 IP addresses of computers involved in the attack, according to an FBI affidavit. Some observers have questioned whether those arrested in the case were high-level members of Anonymous or merely unsophisticated activists who wanted to be associated with the group and were unaware of the consequences of their actions.

"There were a handful who were core participants and a handful who were there because they were outraged that day and didn't know the consequences," said Coleman, the McGill professor.

She said the nature of the PayPal attack made it seem innocent to the untrained eye. "They were just sitting there firing requests with a piece of software from their computers," she said. "It doesn't feel all that criminal. It doesn't feel like you're causing harm."

But Mark Rasch, a former federal cybercrime prosecutor, said the Anonymous attack on PayPal should be considered a serious crime. He compared it to chaining a lock to the entrance of a store to prevent customers from entering. "If you do something illegal, the essence of civil disobedience is you run the risk of arrest and prosecution," he said.

Still, Rasch said the 14 PayPal defendants should be considered individually. "You need to look at the nature of their participation. Were they leaders or not?" he said. "It may be appropriate for some of these people to not be prosecuted or be given probation."

In interviews with The Huffington Post, defendants in the PayPal case said they have spent the past two years burdened by pre-trial conditions that restricted their Internet usage. Many also struggled to secure employment.

"When you're applying for a job and someone Googles you, you have a lot of explaining to do when you want to point out that you were standing up for free speech and a worthy cause and the government says you're a cyber terrorist," said Graham E. Archer, an attorney who represents Ethan Miles, one of the defendants.

Archer said being on pre-trial release has been "extraordinarily stressful" for Miles. Court records note that he spent time at a mental health facility.

"You have a pre-trial services officer who is in your life constantly," Archer said. "It's a form of out-of-custody incarceration for a lot of people."

Covelli, who went by the online aliases "Absolem" and "Toxic," said a brief stretch in which he was barred from using the Internet was "like a muzzle." A court-appointed officer routinely inspects his computer to ensure he is complying with pre-trial conditions that bar him from Internet chat rooms and knowingly communicating with other members of Anonymous.

Covelli said he has gone through various periods over the past two years during which "everything seemed dark and dim." He has been diagnosed with depression that is "exacerbated by the threat of prison that hangs over him," his attorney said in court filings.

"At first it was soul-crushing," Covelli told The Huffington Post. "I was like, 'Holy crap, everything is going to end. What am I going to do?'"

Today, Covelli is unemployed, living with his parents and volunteering 35 hours a week at a food pantry in Sidney, Ohio. He attended a drug treatment facility after violating pre-trial conditions by smoking marijuana, according to court records.

He now faces potentially 30 years in prison -- much longer than his co-defendants -- because he also has been charged in connection with a separate hacking case. Authorities say Covelli helped bring down Santa Cruz County's website in December 2010 in protest of a local ordinance that barred people from sleeping outdoors.

Covelli said his only possessions are a laptop and an Xbox that he received as a gift. The U.S. Marshall's Service pays for his flights to court hearings because his attorney has told the court that Covelli is indigent. "I ran out of money fast and have been living on almost nothing or from the generosity of my family," he said in an interview.

He found some work painting in Ohio but said he missed out on other job opportunities because of the charges against him. He briefly worked at a McDonald's restaurant, a gig he called "the best job I've had in two years." He lost one job because he was forced to request time off to attend a court hearing, his attorney said in court filings.

On Monday, Covelli tweeted from court that he was "bored" and suggested that supporters organize a game of whiffle ball outside the courthouse.

Another defendant in the PayPal case, Mercedes Renee Haefer, a 22-year-old sociology major at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, told The Huffington Post that after the indictment was made public, one of her professors barred her from using her laptop in class, citing security concerns.

She said she didn't speak to her sister or father for several months and was fired from her job at a Sony retail store because of the charges. She said she has been unable to find jobs beyond part-time paralegal work for her lawyer and IT work for nonprofits. "No one will hire me," she said.

Haefer, a brunette who wears glasses and used the online aliases "No" and "MMMM," said she still believes in Anonymous, especially when the hacker group organizes attacks in defense of freedom of speech or freedom of information. "Some things they do I agree with and some things they do I don't agree with," she said.

She spoke to The Huffington Post by phone while riding her bike in Las Vegas. When a reporter suggested that activity might not be safe, she replied, "Safety is for losers."

Haefer said the case has brought her a small measure of fame, including an appearance in a recent documentary about Anonymous. "The day my indictment went public my name trended on Twitter," she recalled.

Before Monday's court hearing, she used the social media service to write: "Really excited that people are coming out to support us for court on the 13th. Makes the whole thing a little less dehumanizing. #paypal14"

In an interview, Haefer declined to discuss the PayPal attack beyond saying, "I was speaking out about an issue I feel passionate about."

She said she tries not to think about the possibility of going to prison.

"If I wake up every day thinking about 15 years in prison, I'm not really going to live my life," she said. "You can't sit and wait on your hands for three years."

Up To 60 Injured After Car Drives Into Virginia Parade

2013-05-18T21:39:43Z

DAMASCUS, Va. — An elderly driver plowed into dozens of hikers marching in a Saturday parade in a small Virginia mountain town and investigators were looking into whether he suffered a medical emergency before the accident.

About 50 to 60 people suffered injuries ranging from critical to superficial, but no fatalities were reported. Three of the worst injured were flown by helicopter to area hospitals. Their conditions weren't immediately available.

Another 12 to 15 victims were taken to hospitals by ambulance and the rest were treated at the scene, where some paramedics and other first-responders were participating in the parade.

It happened around 2:10 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.

Damascus Police Chief Bill Nunley didn't release the driver's name or age but said he was participating in the parade and he had traversed the Appalachian Trail in the past. Multiple witnesses described him as an elderly man.

Nunley said the man's 1997 Cadillac was one of the last vehicles in the parade and the driver might have suffered an unspecified medical problem when his car accelerated to about 25 mph and struck the crowd on a two-lane bridge along the town's main road. The driver was among those taken to hospitals.

"It is under investigation and charges may be placed," Nunley said.

Witnesses said the car had a handicapped parking sticker and it went more than 100 feet before coming to a stop.

"He was hitting hikers," said Vickie Harmon, a witness from Damascus. "I saw hikers just go everywhere."

Amanda Puckett, who was watching the parade with her children, ran to the car, where she and others lifted the car off those pinned underneath.

"Everybody just threw our hands up on the car and we just lifted the car up," she said.

Keith Neumann, a hiker from South Carolina, said he was part of the group that scrambled around the car. They pushed the car backward to free a woman trapped underneath and lifted it off the ground to make sure no one else was trapped.

"There's no single heroes. We're talking about a group effort of everybody jumping in," he said.

Nunley cited quick action by police, firefighters, paramedics and hikers to tend to the victims, including a volunteer firefighter who dove into the car to turn off the ignition. The firefighter, whose name wasn't released, suffered minor injuries.

Mayor Jack McCrady encouraged people to attend the festival on Sunday, its final day.

"In 27 years of this, we've never had anything of this magnitude, and is it our job to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said.

McCrady said a donation fund was being set up to assist the injured, some of whom don't have medical insurance.

"We want to make sure they don't suffer any greater loss than they already have," he said.

LA Doctor Gets 14 Years For This Horrible Promise

2013-05-18T20:10:02Z

LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles doctor was sentenced Friday to 14 years in federal prison for bilking patients out of more than $1 million by promising them that an herbal supplement she hawked could cure late-stage cancer and other diseases.

U.S. District Judge Robert Timilin also ordered Dr. Christine Daniel to forfeit $1,277,083.

Daniel, 58, was found guilty of 11 counts, including wire fraud, tax evasion and witness tampering in September 2011.

She enticed patients to take her herbal product and charged them as much as $100,000 for a six-month treatment program that she claimed could cure cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis, authorities said.

Some of her patients, however, died from complications of cancer within three to six months after taking the supplement. In one case, prosecutors contend a 22-year-old woman who had a highly curable form of neck lymphoma died because she relied on Daniel's recommendation to avoid radiation or chemotherapy treatments.

"The scope of Daniel's fraud was breathtaking," U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in a statement after Daniel was sentenced. "Daniel robbed victims of more than money – she also stole their hopes and dreams for a cure. Daniel is responsible for a shockingly cold-hearted fraud that has brought her a richly deserved federal prison sentence."

Prosecutors sought a 27-year prison term, while Daniel's attorney argued that nearly six years behind bars was more appropriate.

In all, authorities believe Daniel siphoned about $1.1 million from dozens of families between 2001 and 2004.

Some patients also endured additional pain and suffering because they took the herbal tonic provided by Daniel.

At trial, experts called by federal prosecutors said chemical tests of the product showed it contained beef extract flavoring and a sunscreen preservative, among other ingredients.

"I live with the guilt that I should have seen that none of what she was going through was helping her, but instead was hurting her," Debra Harris wrote in a letter submitted to the court about her sister Barbara Davis, who was one of Daniel's patients and who later died. Harris said Daniel's patients were not only convinced they could be cured, but so were family members who "wanted to believe it just as bad."

Paula Middlebrooks also put her faith in Daniel, who billed her nearly $60,000 over a five-month period to help treat her terminal breast cancer. Eventually, Daniel pronounced Middlebrooks free of cancer and threw her a party. But in reality, the cancer was spreading and Middlebrooks died shortly after she returned to her home in Georgia.

Federal prosecutors said Daniel preyed upon people in their most vulnerable state.

Daniel "repeatedly demonstrated a merciless and callous indifference to the suffering of her patients and their family members," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns wrote in court documents. "It is unlikely that our federal criminal justice system will see the like of defendant Christine Daniel again."

Jindal Makes Bold Claim Over Tea Party Targeting Scandal

2013-05-18T19:41:14Z

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) is pushing for punishment for Internal Revenue Service officials that targeted conservative groups in the lead-up to the 2012 election.

Politico and CNN report that in Jindal's prepared remarks for a Saturday speech to Virginia Republicans, he says IRS officials involved in the targeting should "go to jail."

“It is the IRS, people in a position of public trust, who have violated the Constitution of the United States of America. You cannot take the freedom of law-abiding Americans, whether you disagree with them or not, and keep your own freedom. When you do that, you go to jail,” Jindal’s remarks say according to CNN.

Jindal's not the only Republican expressing anger over the IRS scandal, which President Barack Obama called "outrageous." Former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said "a special counsel should be appointed" to investigate the incident, putting some of the blame on Obama.

"The IRS reports to the Treasury Department, that reports to the president. The buck stops at the president's desk," Romney said.

Other Republicans are hoping anger over the scandal will hurt Obama's health care law, according to the AP.

China Arrests Man For Bomb Threat Prank

2013-05-18T19:36:32Z

BEIJING — A man has been arrested for allegedly making fake bomb threats against several domestic flights bound for Shanghai, Chinese officials said Saturday.

It was the second time in a week that Chinese flights were grounded because of fake bomb threats. Another man was arrested Thursday for allegedly making such calls the previous day.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China, or CAAC, said a 43-year-old man surnamed Ji and from the eastern city of Yancheng was arrested on suspicion of making prank calls Friday afternoon and spreading fake terror information relating to several Shanghai-bound flights departing from the cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Shenzhen. It did not say what might have motivated the man to act.

The official Xinhua News Agency said a bomb threat delayed all outbound flights at the Chongqing airport and forced inbound flights to return Friday evening.

Yancheng police confirmed the arrest but declined to provide further details.

CAAC said the crime of spreading fake terror information is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Last year, a man in the southern city of Dongguan who made a fake bomb threat to delay the arrival of his creditor received a four-year jail sentence.

New York Man Killed In Alleged Anti-Gay Hate Crime

2013-05-18T18:45:29Z

In what may be the latest in a disturbing series of crimes allegedly targeting New York's gay community, a man was fatally shot in the head May 18 while walking through the West Village.

As NBC is reporting, local law enforcement officials are investigating the case as a hate crime after learning the suspect, who was arrested just blocks from the scene, allegedly hurled a series of anti-gay insults at the 32-year-old victim before shooting him.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the Associated Press that the suspect referred to the victim, who has been identified in the media only as a Brooklyn resident, and his companion as "gay wrestlers" after encountering them on the street shortly after midnight.

The suspect then shot the victim, who was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, in the face.

“This fully looks to be a hate crime; a bias crime,” Kelly is quoted by CBS as saying. “There were no words that would aggravate the situation that were spoken by the victims. They did not know the confronter."

Meanwhile, the New York Post points to another bizarre detail. Roughly 20 minutes before the shooting, a bartender confronted the suspect, who had been caught urinating on the wall of a nearby bar. The suspect is said to have then threatened to shoot the bartender, noting, “Do you know about the shooting in Sandy Hook?”

Among those to decry the shooting was New York mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, who told CBS she was "horrified" to learn of the case. "I stand with all New Yorkers in condemning this attack,” she noted.

The case follows an alleged attack on another gay man just outside of another popular New York hotspot. ABC 7 reports that the victim, who was not identified, was coming out of the West Village gay bar Pieces when he was attacked by two men who were yelling gay slurs. He was not seriously hurt.

On May 5, another gay Brooklyn couple was allegedly knocked to the ground by four men emerging from a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. The alleged culprits shouted anti-gay slurs at the pair in broad daylight, according to the report.

Two 21-year-old suspects, Asllan Berisha and Brian Ramirez, have since been arrested and charged with gang assault and assault as a hate crime in connection with yet another alleged anti-gay attack this month, according to the Post.

New Step Taken In Ricin Letters Case

2013-05-18T18:07:49Z

SPOKANE, Wash. — Authorities in hazardous materials suits searched a downtown Spokane apartment Saturday, investigating the recent discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin.

Few details have been released in the case, and no arrests have been made. Federal investigators have been searching for the person who sent the letters, which were postmarked Tuesday in Spokane.

The letters were addressed to the downtown post office and the adjacent federal building, but authorities have not released a potential motive. They also have not said whether the letters targeted anyone in particular.

Ricin is a highly toxic substance made from castor beans. As little as 500 micrograms, the size of the head of a pin, can kill an adult if inhaled or ingested.

There have been no reports of illness connected to the letters.

FBI agents, Spokane police and U.S. Postal Service inspectors descended on the three-story apartment building Saturday morning and the investigation continued into the afternoon.

FBI spokeswoman Ayn Sandalo Dietrich would not say whether agents were questioning anyone in connection with the case.

"We are not actively looking for a subject," Sandalo Dietrich said. "We are not asking the public's help in bringing someone in."

Despite the hazmat suits, officials said apartment residents were not at risk, and people were seen coming in and out of the brick building in the city's historic Browne's Addition neighborhood.

"There's no public risk," Sandalo Dietrich said.

Scott Ward has lived in the building for three years, and lives on the second floor near the apartment that was being searched. He said he does not know the neighbor who lives in that apartment.

"He's a guy with a big beard," Ward said. "He sticks to himself."

"He doesn't talk," said Ward, who added he was awakened about 7 a.m. by the sounds of "banging and what sounded like a big vacuum."

Building resident Jim Lehman said he was asleep when he was called by a friend. "He said, `hey Jim, you're surrounded,'" Lehman said. Lehman said he saw workers in hazardous material suits working in a second floor apartment.

"It was all gas masks and the door was open and there were hoses in there," Lehman said.

Sandalo Dietrich would not say specifically why the FBI was searching the apartment.

"Information we developed led us to believe this was a productive spot to search," she said.

Two letters containing the substance were intercepted at the downtown Spokane post office Tuesday.

The Postal Service has received no other reports of similar letters, said Jeremy Leder of the Postal Inspection Service on Saturday.

In a statement following the discovery, the Postal Service said the "crude form of the ricin suggests that it does not present a health risk to U.S. Postal Service personnel or to others who may have come in contact with the letter."

The Spokane investigation comes a month after letters containing ricin were addressed to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a Mississippi judge. A Mississippi man has been arrested in that case.

Teens Among 3 Killed, 8 Hurt In Overnight Gun Violence Citywide

2013-05-18T18:00:01Z

At least 11 people were wounded in overnight gun violence in Chicago -- and three of the victims died.

The first fatal shooting happened around 7:25 p.m. Friday in the 7700 block of South Langley Avenue in the city's Grand Crossing neighborhood.

According to DNAinfo Chicago, 17-year-old Clifton Barney was shot multiple times in the chest when a shooter exited a vehicle and opened fire on him as he was walking. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

About an hour later, 40-year-old Ramar Bonner was found shot to death in the 200 block of North Mayfield Avenue in the city's Austin neighborhood. Bonner had been shot in the back of the head, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

In the evening's third reported homicide in Chicago, police found a 27-year-old man shot to death in the 4800 block of West Iowa Street around 4 a.m. Saturday and was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim has yet to be identified, according to the Chicago Tribune.

At least eight other people were wounded citywide in non-fatal shootings including a 16-year-old male who was walking with a group of people in the 5400 block of West Wrightwood Avenue when a gunman who approached them on foot and opened fire.

(Read the Tribune for a rundown on additional overnight non-fatal shootings.)

The overnight violence came on the heels of gun violence prevention group CeaseFire Illinois predicting in a Friday press conference that Chicago will continue the trend for March and April and see a historic-low number of homicides and shootings this year. CeaseFire Illinois director Tio Hardiman urged both local and especially national media to take note:

"When we had all the homicides in Chicago in January of this year, CNN came to town. MSNBC came," Hardiman said, according to DNAinfo. "CNN should be here today. MSNBC should be here today. But no violence, no news."

Jury Gets First Glimpse In Michael Jackson Wrongful Death Trial

2013-05-18T17:13:48Z

LOS ANGELES — A look at key moments this past week in the wrongful death trial in Los Angeles between Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, and concert giant AEG Live LLC, and what is expected at court in the week ahead:

THE CASE

Jackson's mother wants a jury to determine that the promoter of Jackson's planned comeback concerts didn't properly investigate Dr. Conrad Murray, who a criminal jury convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Jackson's June 2009 death. AEG's attorney says the case is about personal choice, namely Jackson's decision to have Murray serve as his doctor and give him doses of a powerful anesthetic as a sleep aid. Millions, possibly billions, of dollars are at stake.

WHAT HAPPENED

_ Jurors heard from AEG Live's first two witnesses, a pair of choreographers who worked on Jackson's ill-fated "This Is It" shows. Stacy Walker told the panel she never saw any signs Jackson was impaired or ill during rehearsals. Her colleague Travis Payne, who rehearsed one-on-one with Jackson, acknowledged he couldn't say how many times the pair actually rehearsed and said he was concerned the singer was under the influence of prescription medications in the weeks before his death.

_ An AEG accounting executive testified about the budget for "This Is It," which was planning on paying Murray up to $1.5 million for the first few months of the shows. The former cardiologist was never paid because Jackson died before signing his contract.

WHAT THE JURY SAW

_ Payne shift from a composed, sometimes-smiling witness to one who fought back tears toward the end of his day-and-a-half of testimony. His devotion to Jackson was evident from his wardrobe, which included a black blazer with an emblem stitched onto each sleeve containing the letters "MJ" and golden wings.

_ Lots of courthouse hallways and downtown Los Angeles. Friday's session featured a four-hour lunch break due to witness availability issues. The trial's third week featured only three days of live testimony and the jury was kept waiting or sent out of the room numerous times while attorneys argued legal issues.

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

_ "Sometimes in rehearsal, Michael would appear just a little loopy," Payne said of Jackson's demeanor after visiting his longtime dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, who is not a party to the case.

_ "I just never in a million years thought he would leave us, or pass away," choreographer Stacy Walker said of Jackson. Walker testified for AEG and said she never saw signs Jackson was under the influence of medications or was ill.

OUTSIDE THE COURTROOM

_ A state attorney urged a court to reject an appeal by Jackson's former doctor, Conrad Murray, stating there were no legal errors by a trial judge and the physician's own attorneys failed to raise issues at the appropriate time. Murray has shown no remorse for playing "Russian roulette" with Jackson's life.

WHAT'S NEXT

_ A corporate attorney for AEG Live will testify, reflecting a shift in the trial focus away from Jackson and toward a central issue in the case – whether Murray was hired by the concert promoter.

Shooting Scare Halts Cannes

2013-05-18T16:34:28Z

CANNES, France -- A live outdoor television broadcast from the Cannes Film Festival was briefly interrupted Friday when what sounded like gunshots sent crew and spectators scurrying for cover.

Actors Christoph Waltz and Daniel Auteuil were among guests being interviewed on the Canal Plus program "Le Grand Journal" when what sounded like gunfire rang out.

Television footage showed Auteuil and Academy Award winner Waltz – a member of the Cannes festival jury – scrambling from the seaside stage with dozens of others as a voice said "there's someone shooting."

When transmission resumed minutes later, host Michel Denisot said the noise had been caused by blanks. There were no reports of injuries.

Photographs showed a man being wrestled to the ground by police near the stage beside Cannes' seafront promenade, the Croisette.

Local newspaper Nice-Matin reported that a man was detained by police with a starter's pistol, a pocket knife and a plastic grenade.

Police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Camp Lejeune Coming Clean After Nearly 30 Years

2013-05-18T16:22:35Z

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Purple wildflowers sprout in abundance around the bright-yellow pipe, one of several jutting from the sandy soil in this unassuming patch of grass and mud. A dirty hose runs from the pipe to an idling truck and into a large tank labeled, "NON-POTABLE WATER."

This is the former Hadnot Point fuel farm, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune's main fuel depot until it was ordered closed in the 1980s. At one point, a layer of gasoline 15 feet thick floated atop the groundwater here, and this "fluid vapor recovery" truck is part of the continuing effort to remove it.

"He's skimming that contaminate out of that well, into this tank," civilian Bob Lowder, head of environmental quality for the base, said during a recent tour. "We'll take that off for recondition or disposal, as appropriate."

The coastal base is the site of what's considered the worst case of drinking-water contamination in the nation's history. But the Marines stress that that's just what it is — history.

Of the more than 600 polluted sites scattered about the 170-square-mile base, about five dozen remain to be addressed. ABC Cleaners — the offsite business that dumped cancer-causing solvents into the Lejeune water table — stands vacant, the paint flaking from its rotting clapboards.

Wells tainted with gasoline, pesticides and toxic degreasers have been isolated, and technicians test the water from the base's treatment plants monthly. Marine families stationed at Lejeune enjoy what Lowder proudly describes as "the safest and most tested drinking water that they can find."

"We probably have the most aggressive sampling regime for our drinking water than anybody else in the nation," he says. "Maybe in the world."

The worst of the contamination occurred during the height of the Cold War. But records suggest that toxic substances began leaking — or were being intentionally dumped — into the ground almost immediately after the Department of War carved a spot for the 1st Marine Division out of the coastal pine forest at the mouth of the New River in late 1941.

Workers say there were no guidelines for disposing of chemicals on the base until the mid-1980s. A building once used as storage the toxic insecticide DDT later housed a day care and nursery; PCB-laden transformer oil was routinely spread on roads to keep down the dust.

Researchers believe two of the most serious pollutants — trichlorethylene and percholoroethylene — first exceeded today's maximum allowable levels in the groundwater in the early 1950s, about the time the U.S. was winding down the Korean War.

At least one measurement taken in 1982 found levels of TCE — even then widely banned as toxic to humans — of 1,400 parts per billion in the base's drinking water supply. That is five times the levels discovered around the same time in Woburn, Mass., scene of a childhood leukemia cluster recounted in the book and movie "A Civil Action."

ABC Cleaners turned out to be the primary source of the TCE and PCE contamination in the well water provided to Tarawa Terrace, a military housing development. But subsequent testing revealed even more extensive pollution from an outdated, poorly maintained fuel farm in the Hadnot Point area, where the Naval hospital and housing for most of the enlisted men and their families were located.

A June 1980 facilities survey found a general state of decay at the aging Hadnot Point fuel farm — the result of decades of poor maintenance and "insufficient funding."

"Because of their age," the study concluded, "it is expected all the tank valves leak." As late as spring 1988, the underground tanks at Hadnot Point were leaking about 1,500 gallons of fuel a month — a total of more than 1.1 million gallons, by some estimates.

In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added the base to its National Priorities List.

Since then, contractors have dug up dozens of steel drums and underground storage tanks, removed spent ordnance and hauled off tons of contaminated soil. Elaborate rigs scattered about Lejeune are sucking up and filtering tainted water.

At the former site of Lot 203 — a 46-acre storage area and dump from which TCE, PCE, PCBs and the pesticide DDT are believed to have leaked into Hadnot Point water wells — a large, white tower looms over a corrugated building. Groundwater pumped to the top is allowed to trickle down, volatilizing contaminates, before passing through massive tanks of activated carbon, being tested for acidity and finally discharged into nearby Wallace Creek.

In the shadow of a gleaming, aboveground fuel depot at Hadnot Point, a "sparging well" pumps air into the ground to force volatile gases to the surface, where they can be safely burned off. Another technique known as "biopulsing" involves pumping oxygen underground to help microorganisms naturally break down the contaminates.

Meanwhile, the EPA maintains a smaller pump-and-treat at the entrance to Tarawa Terrace, across busy Highway 24 from the former dry cleaner.

Today, a row of chin-up bars stands beside a grassy mound topped with a manhole cover bearing the words, "WARNING DO NOT FILL." This is the only visible reminder of Hadnot Point Well No. 602, in which one 1984 test found levels of the carcinogenic gasoline additive benzene at 76 times the allowable federal limit.

Lowder says the base has about 60 active wells drawing groundwater from the Castle Hayne aquifer, and that each is tested twice annually. A wellhead management plan guarantees a 1,000-foot buffer around all affected sites, he says.

Nearly three decades after the first drinking wells were ordered shut, Lowder says the end is in sight.

"The Navy anticipates we'll have remedy in place by the year 2014," he says. "So, for the most part, we're on the downswing."

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Online:

Camp Lejeune Community Involvement Program https://portal.navfac.navy.mil/portal/page/portal/navfac/navfac_ww_pp/navfac_hq_pp/navfac_env_pp/env_restoration_installations/lant/midlant/lejeune/outreach

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AP Writer Martha Waggoner in Raleigh also contributed to this report. Breed, a national writer, reported from Camp Lejeune.

Follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/(hash)!/AllenGBreed and http://twitter.com/(hash)!/mjwaggonernc

Ex-Marine Kidnapped In Mexico

2013-05-18T15:57:30Z

The family of a south Texas US Marine Corps veteran that has gone missing in Mexico says he was kidnapped by armed men.

Armando Torres, who served as a Marine for seven years, was visiting his father in a small city in Mexico across the Los Indios bridge Tuesday night, but failed to return as planned. Family members told NBC affiliate KVEO that Torres, along with two other family members from Mexico had been "picked up" by men with weapons.

"A cousin of ours from Mexico contacted his sister, and then his sister called us that he was picked up there in Mexico," Eduardo Torres, the former Marine's uncle, told the station. "He never goes to Mexico... [but] he just decided to go over there and visit his dad."

The family has filed a missing persons report with the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department, and has brought the matter to the attention of the Mexican Consulate in Brownsville, Texas.

Friends and supporters of Torres are attempting to spread awareness of this disappearance via the Internet. An open Facebook group, "Get Our Brother Back," has been started May 17. A Reddit discussion thread posted by a user claiming to be a friend of Torres' received more than 3,200 "upvotes" after it was created May 18.

"I know this... has been happening all the time down there, but you'd never expect a guy you've deployed with, lived with, and spent hours upon hours... with to be the one," wrote user zachpoo, who started the thread.

Kidnapping is a recurrent problem in Mexico, and has been linked to drug cartel activity.

Citing numbers from Mexico's Federal Police, Mexican newspaper El Universal wrote that 1,093 kidnappings were reported in Mexico from January to September of 2012. That figure equated to approximately 4.5 cases per day, but some organizations think the rate is much higher.

According InSight Crime, a site specializing in analysis of organized crime in the Americas, the police numbers ignore "express kidnappings," where victims are detained for a matter of hours, in exchange for a ransom payment.

Suspect Acted Normal After Brutal Beating Deaths, Ex Says

2013-05-18T15:51:07Z

PEORIA, Ill. -- A former girlfriend of a man accused in the beating deaths of five people in central Illinois says he had a blister on one hand but otherwise acted normally the day after the killings.

Kristy Moore testified Friday that Christopher Harris said the blister came from trimming trees.

Harris is charged with beating his former in-laws to death with a tire iron in September 2009. Rick and Ruth Gee and three of their children were found dead in their home in Beason, 160 miles southwest of Chicago.

Harris' brother, Jason Harris, has said Moore is among several women Harris tried unsuccessfully to have sex with the night the brothers wound up at the Gees' property.

Jason Harris testified that he watched his brother beat one of the children.

Man Charged In Killing Spree

2013-05-18T15:20:32Z

The killings of an elderly couple shot dead in their northern Nevada home ahead of Mother's Day apparently went unnoticed until days later, after the 25-year-old suspect had also killed a newspaper deliveryman and another couple nearby, charging documents allege.

Jeremiah Bean was arraigned Thursday on 19 counts, including first-degree murder, arson and burglary. He was assigned a public defender and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Tuesday.

The victims were discovered Monday in and around the rural town of Fernley. The timeline laid out in court documents depicts a killer whose first two attacks came May 10 and went undetected, giving him the opportunity to kill three others.

"I'm pretty much in shock. It hasn't really hit me," said Gary Dolling, 60, who realized something was wrong when he saw flames leaping 20 to 30 feet in the air from his neighbors' house Monday morning. "It's just terrible. It's just a horrible thing."

Prosecutors say Bean entered the home of Robert and Dorothy Pape on the Friday before Mother's Day and shot them. He also took hundreds of dollars in jewelry from the 84-year-olds, the charges state.

Three days later, authorities say, Bean took the Papes' pickup truck to an exit along Interstate 80, toward the Mustang Ranch brothel.

After the pickup became disabled or stuck, Bean shot and killed a passer-by, stole his truck and left his body in a ditch, according to the Lyon County sheriff.

The 52-year-old victim, Eliazar Graham, worked as a backup deliveryman for the Reno Gazette-Journal. He had been delivering the newspaper at the time of his death, according the paper's circulation department.

Bean also broke into the home of Angie Duff, 67, where he fatally attacked her and her boyfriend Lester Leiber, 69, with a gun and a knife, charging documents say.

Duff had recently started dating Leiber about four years after her husband died of cancer, according to Gina Gaglione, a fellow volunteer at the Fernley senior center.

Gaglione became concerned when Duff didn't show up to volunteer Monday, so she sent another woman to check up on her. The woman noticed a smashed back door at Duff's house and called police, Gaglione told the Gazette-Journal.

Duff's home is around the corner from the Papes and two houses down from where Bean had been staying from time to time.

The string of killings first came to light early as smoked billowed from the Papes' home, which is set away from other homes on a large, grassy lot that Robert Pape was often seen tending.

Bean had poured gasoline in the garage, according to court documents, and had somehow used Graham's stolen truck in the arson.

Bean was found and arrested in the neighborhood where the two couples were killed.

Officials from the Lyon County sheriff's office were not available to comment on the crimes Friday. No motive has been offered, and neighbors said they didn't hear gunshots or notice suspicious activity over the weekend.

Dolling said he spoke briefly to the Papes' son after the grisly discoveries, and the son recalled that he was unable to reach the couple on Mother's Day.

Dolling also said he saw a white truck and a person standing outside the Papes' home Monday morning. Without his glasses, Dolling said he assumed it was Robert Pape; he now believes it was the killer.

Sheriff Allen Veil has said that the attacks were on a scale he hasn't seen in his three decades in Lyon County, historically a small farming community that has grown significantly in the last decade as a bedroom community for people who work in Reno.

"I think there probably should be a sense of relief that we believe we have the person responsible for this in custody," Veil said at a news conference Wednesday. But he added that residents needed to be vigilant and aware that crime happens even "in little Lyon County."

Bean has a previous felony conviction related to burglary and attempted grand larceny. He finished his parole in December. Authorities say he has also acknowledged gang ties.

Ex-Police Chief Accused Of Extorting Suspects

2013-05-18T14:13:12Z

JACKSON, Miss. — A former Mississippi police chief already charged with demanding money or property in exchange for dropping criminal charges against people has been indicted on nine new federal counts.

The new indictment against ex-Mendenhall Police Chief Donald "Bruce" Barlow says he sometimes made people sign over their vehicles in exchange for him dropping charges and also demanded cash payments, in one case $4,500.

Barlow was first indicted Feb. 5 on eight counts including conspiracy, extortion, soliciting bribes and witness tampering. He pleaded not guilty March 8. The new indictment on Tuesday added nine additional counts.

Barlow was arrested in March. He has been free on $10,000 bond.

Barlow's attorney, federal public defender Mike Scott, said in an email Friday that he and his client "look forward to our day in court."

The indictments say Barlow instructed "his officers to seize cash at every arrest, including money from people arrested for misdemeanors."

Sometimes people were lured into the city so they could be arrested, the indictment said.

Mendenhall is a small town of about 2,500 residents, 25 miles south of Jackson.

In one case in January 2010, Barlow made someone sign over his car and pay between $1,500 and $2,000 for the charges to be dropped "like none of this ever happened," the indictment said.

Barlow gave the car to one of his officers to use as a personal vehicle and told the officer to use a department fuel card for gas purchases for the car, the indictment said.

Barlow demanded money "purporting to be contributions to the police department's `drug fund.'" If the payment was in cash, the money rarely made it to the drug fund, court records said.

Court records said the scheme went on from March to July 2010.

After learning of the investigation that July, Barlow tried to create and back-date an inventory list of the property he had taken and took money purported to be for the drug fund to Mendenhall City Hall for deposit, the indictment said.

In addition to the criminal case, Barlow is facing a federal civil lawsuit filed in 2012 by a man who says he was falsely detained for a week and forced to sign over nearly $7,000 in cash and property in exchange for his release. The lawsuit alleges that the man was held in jail for seven days without being formally charged and without a phone call.

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