The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents today. The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. It touched off a string of investigations that ultimately led the State Department to cancel the company’s lucrative contract to guard diplomats in Iraq.
Iraqis have said they’re watching closely to see how the U.S. judicial system handles the five men accused of unleashing an unprovoked attack on civilians with machine guns and grenades. Prosecutors filed the request in a way that allows them to file new charges against Slatten later.
Two Rochester restaurants have received calls in recent days from people who say that employees of theirs are in jail, and that they need to wire money to post bail. Rochester police Lt. Dan Muyres said one of the businesses contacted police. The other business wired $800 as requested. Police say that this is a scam, and to report such incidents to police.
A 24-year-old St. Anthony man faces terrorism-related charges in the federal investigation into the departures of young Somali men who left Minnesota to fight with a terror group in Somalia, according to an indictment unsealed today.
Omer Abdi Mohamed is the seventh person to face charges in the ongoing investigation. He was indicted Tuesday on counts of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure. The indictment suggests that as part of the conspiracy, Mohamed — also known as Brother Omer or Galeyr — helped some of the men travel to Somalia.
Mohamed was arrested at his house Thursday morning without incident and made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis that afternoon.
Minneapolis man charged with terrorism in missing Somalis case
Rochester police responded a short time ago to a report of an armed robbery at the Payday America at 808 South Broadway. Employees told police that two men wearing ski masks and gloves quickly entered the building, then ordered employees into a bathroom and locked it. No shots, and no injuries were reported.
6:40 — The store video shows that one man carried a sawed-off shotgun, the other a silver revolver. Police call for a tracking dog.
Austin police are investigating a possible attempted abduction of a fourth-grade girl this afternoon outside of Neveln Elementary School.
A report went out to officers about 3:45 p.m. of a girl inside the school with staff at Neveln, 1918 Oakland Ave. E., reporting that a young man in a red, four-door vehicle just had tried to abduct her.
Police are trying to locate the suspected vehicle in the incident.
The parents accused of pulling a spectacular hoax by reporting that their 6-year-old son had floated away aboard a helium balloon have agreed to plead guilty in a deal that could send them both to jail but protect the wife from deportation. Richard Heene was expected to plead guilty Friday to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, said his attorney, David Lane. Heene’s wife, Mayumi, a Japanese citizen who could be deported if convicted of more serious charges, will plead guilty to a lesser charge of false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor.
Lane said the threat of deportation “fueled” negotiations with prosecutors. An attorney for Mayumi Heene said her immigration status was a factor in reaching the deal but would not comment further.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A former manager of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse that was the site of a massive immigration raid was convicted today on 86 financial fraud charges that could send him to prison for hundreds of years. Sholom Rubashkin still faces a second federal trial on 72 immigration charges.
Jurors returned the verdict against Rubashkin, 50, on their second day of deliberations after a nearly monthlong trial. Rubashkin had faced 91 charges, including bank, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering. A sentencing date was not immediately set.
Military officials say Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 and wounding 29 in last week’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas will face 13 charges of premeditated murder under the military’s legal system.
He could face the the death penalty if convicted.
A former teacher at Sleepy Eye Public High School has been sentenced to six months in jail and 15 years probation after admitting to having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female student. Brown County District Court Judge John Rodenberg sentenced 47-year-old Calvin Collum of New Ulm on Tuesday. Collum pleaded guilty in September to a single felony count of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree. Court documents say the relationship began in early 2009, with Collum seducing the girl through classroom flattery and Facebook charm. The girl told investigators they had sex in Collum’s house.
British police have charged a United Airlines pilot with being over the alcohol limit while on the job at London’s Heathrow Airport. Scotland Yard say they have charged 51-year-old Erwin Vermont Washington with having too much alcohol in his system while working as a member of aviation staff.
Police and airline officials say that Washington was pulled from United Airlines Flight 949, due to fly from London’s Heathrow Airport to Chicago around noon on Monday, after a co-worker suspected him of being drunk. The flight was canceled, and the plane’s 124 passengers were put on other flights. Police said today that Washington was due in court on Nov. 20.
