Crime
Crime
Feds investigate former Republican House Speaker Rick Johnson for alleged bribery in marijuana licensing
February 4th, 20230 LANSING – The FBI and a federal grand jury have been investigating former Republican Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson for more than two years for suspicion of taking bribes in return for awarding medical marijuana licenses, reports The Detroit News. According to three sources familiar with the matter, who chose to remain...
New York woman charged with financing terrorist groups in Syria through cryptocurrency
February 4th, 20230 A New York City woman has been charged with using cryptocurrency to provide financial support to terrorist groups in Syria, a rare prosecution involving virtual currency to fund terrorism. The 11-count indictment charged Victoria Jacobs, 43, who was known as Bakhrom Talipov, with providing support for an act of terrorism, money...
Dearborn man convicted of aiding ISIS in Syria
February 3rd, 20230 DETROIT — A Dearborn man who was captured on a Syrian battlefield in 2018 has been convicted on charges of providing support to ISIS and attending one of the group's training camps, prosecutors said. A federal jury convicted Ibraheem Izzy Musaibli, 32, on Monday of charges of providing and attempting to provide material support to...
Michigan doctor sentenced to 16.5 years in prison for his part in a fraudulent health care scheme
February 3rd, 20230 A Michigan doctor, Francisco Patino, M.D., was sentenced to 16.5 years in prison for his role in a fraudulent health care scheme. This scheme generated more than $250 million in false and counterfeit claims that were submitted to Medicare, Medicaid and other health insurance programs, as well exploited patients suffering from addiction...California is a killing field: 19 dead in 3 mass shootings within 44 hours
Forty-four hours in America. Three mass shootings. Nineteen lives wiped out. All in California. The victims in suburban Monterey Park included people between the ages of 57 and 76, ringing in the Lunar New Year Saturday night, Jan. 21, at a dance studio in the heart of the city’s Asian American community. Then it happened...
Chokr faces up to 10 years in prison for lying on forms to buy three guns, remains in custody
January 27th, 20230 On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted Hassan Yehia Chokr on federal charges in connection with an anti-Semitic attack last month at a synagogue in Oakland County as new details emerged in court about his activity at a gun shop the day of the incident. Chokr, 35, who is accused of intimidating children and parents at Temple Beth El in...
Dearborn Heights lawyer allegedly scams 81-year-old woman out of her Canton home
January 27th, 20230 Juliette Long, an 81-year-old widow, was looking to sell her home of 28 years as it was facing foreclosure. A pair of real estate agents listed her home in Canton for sale and got an offer for it after two months on the market. This offer would leave Long with a large amount of money from her home's equity and would allow her to move...
Dearborn woman convicted in fraudulent $65 million pharmaceutical coupon scheme
January 20th, 20230 DEARBORN — On Friday, January 13, a Dearborn woman was convicted by a federal jury on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to her participation in a multi-year scheme to obtain more than $65 million from numerous pharmaceutical co-pay assistance programs, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison. Joining...
Detroit man charged with shooting at undercover Dearborn police officer
January 6th, 20230 DETROIT – Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged Eshaun Phillip Blanding, 23, of Detroit, in connection with the carjacking of a Dearborn man’s car. On January 2, Dearborn undercover police officers were investigating a car that was stolen out of Dearborn. When the officers located the stolen car, it is alleged that...
Family, lawyer of mentally ill man who was shot dead by Dearborn police are looking for answers
December 23rd, 20220 DEARBORN – An Arab American man with a history of mental health problems was shot dead by Dearborn Police last Sunday after he stormed the department's headquarters with a stolen handgun. While investigations are still underway to determine the circumstances of the deadly shooting incident, the victim's family hired a legal counsel...
Chokr’s lawyer asks court for mental evaluation of his client: Not fit for trial
December 23rd, 20220 BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — Hassan Yehia Chokr appeared before the 48th District Court in Bloomfield Hills on Monday, facing charges of ethnic intimidation and anti-Semitism after he had an argument on December 2 with the residents and security guards at Temple Beth El, a synagogue that includes a kindergarten. After listening to the...
Pan Am Flight 103 bombing suspect taken into U.S. custody, formally charged in connection with the December 1988 terrorist attack
December 16th, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Libyan man accused of making the bomb that killed 270 people after it blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 is in custody in the United States, Scottish and U.S. law enforcement officials said on Sunday. Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi was taken into custody about two years after...
Dearborn man charged with recent synagogue threats, assault on a Detroit police officer in 2020, moons and gives middle finger to judges
December 9th, 20220 A Dearborn man charged with threatening families, kids and staff at a Bloomfield Hills synagogue and school went on a rant during his arraignment, where he insulted the judge by calling her a "Jewish bitch" and flipped off the court. Hassan Yehia Chokr, 35, was charged with making anti-Semitic and racist threats to parents,...
Seattle man, 22, sentenced to four years in prison for attempting to join ISIS
December 6th, 20220 SEATTLE — A 22-year-old Seattle man was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison after being arrested while trying to board a flight to join the Islamic State group last year. Elvin Hunter Bgorn Williams was arrested at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as he checked in for a flight to Cairo and later pleaded guilty to...
More than 200 guns confiscated from state crackdown on illegal possession by parolees, probationers
December 6th, 20220 Governor Whitmer’s office said this week that a new initiative to tackle the number of illegal guns off the streets has seen hundreds of guns being confiscated before they are used in crimes. The updated numbers say that the Operation Safe Neighborhoods program has led to operation law enforcement officials conducting 1,767 check-ins......
Police chase in Dearborn ends in crash with driver dead, missing Tennessee woman found dead in trunk
December 6th, 20220 DEARBORN — A traffic stop in Dearborn has resulted in the death of the driver and the discovery of a dead body in the trunk of the vehicle after a pursuit ended in a crash. Police say they initiated a traffic stop on a Dodge Charger involved in an endangered missing investigation on Sunday afternoon when the suspect fled until...
Police chase ends in crash with driver dead, body found in trunk
November 27th, 20220 DEARBORN — A traffic stop in Dearborn has resulted in the death of a driver and the discovery of a dead body in the trunk of the vehicle after a pursuit ended in a crash. Police say they initiated a traffic stop on a Dodge Charger involved in an endangered missing investigation on Sunday afternoon when the suspect fled until he...
Pharmacist Zaman Alshafey is charged with illegally distributing drugs and earning millions in profits
November 18th, 20220 LIVONIA – A Dearborn man who owned and operated a pharmacy is facing federal charges in connection with the illegal distribution of misbranded drugs. Zaman Alshafey, 35, was charged with 20 felonies, including wire fraud, money laundering and illegally dispensing prescription cough syrup worth millions of dollars in an indictment...
Michigan man charged with providing support to ISIS
November 18th, 20220 DETROIT - Federal officials charged a former Metro Detroit man with attempting to provide material support to ISIS of Iraq and al-Sham, a terrorist organization, and for being a felon in possession of a destructive device. The indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday in the Eastern District of Michigan, accused Aws Mohammed Naser, 34,......
Man arrested in connection with stabbing attack on Dearborn west side
November 8th, 20220 DEARBORN - Dearborn Police say they arrested Dearborn resident Malcolm Merritt Washington in connection with a knife attack of a 62-year-old man on the city's west side. Police said in a press release this week that on Nov. 3, the officers responded to reports of a victim who had been stabbed around the 22000 block of Michigan...
Three men found guilty on charges of plotting to kidnap Whitmer, attack Capitol, more
October 26th, 20220 JACKSON COUNTY — Three men who were arrested on charges of plotting to kidnap the governor of Michigan and planning an attack on the state Capitol building were found guilty this week. The Michigan Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday that a Jackson County jury found Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar and Pete Musico guilty on all......
Southfield Clerk resigns after plea agreement in election case
October 20th, 20220 SOUTHFIELD – Southfield City Clerk Sherikia Hawkins has resigned from her position following a plea agreement in an election misconduct case, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced this week. During the 2018 General Election, election inspectors made a mistake and put 193 absentee ballots in the ballot container without...
Arraignment for Hampton Inn shooter reveals senseless violence
October 14th, 20220 DEARBORN — An arraignment took place Sunday for a 37-year-old Detroit resident who engaged in a nearly eight-hour standoff with police after killing a hotel staff member in downtown west Dearborn. Reichard Lee Williams-Lewis was charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Sunday with a 10-count felony complaint, including......
