CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (BNO NEWS) — Former media tycoon Conrad Black on Friday was sent back to prison over pending fraud and obstruction of justice counts, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Black, 66, was sentenced to 42 months in prison on his remaining guilty verdicts of defrauding Hollinger International Inc. and obstructing justice by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

Black is likely to spend only 13 months in prison of his sentence as he had previously spent 29 months imprisoned. The defendant was once the owner of a media empire that included the British Daily Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers in U.S. and Canada.

In 2007, he was sentenced to six and a half years of imprisonment after being convicted of three counts of fraud in relation to the theft of $6.1million from Hollinger, the parent company of the Sun-Times.

He was charged along three other Hollinger executives. Black appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court which last year directed the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago to take another look at his case.

The former tycoon was released on bail in July 2010 the Supreme Court found ruled an anti-corruption law as unconstitutional. The remaining guilty verdicts were upheld by the Appeals Court last October.

On Friday, Black claimed that his 29 months in prison should be enough for the remaining counts. However, prosecutors demanded that the Canadian-born businessman should be sent back to prison to fulfill the original 78-month sentence.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

MIAMI (BNO NEWS) — A Michigan man who operated a residential youth facility in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince for more than a decade has been arrested and charged with the sexual abuse of at least eight children at the facility, U.S. prosecutors announced on Friday.

66-year-old Matthew Andrew Carter, who is also known as William Charles Harcourt and Bill Carter, was charged on Thursday with four counts of traveling in foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors. He was arrested in Miami on May 8 and remains in custody.

Since the mid-1990s, Carter operated and lived at the Morning Star Center which provides shelter, food, toys, money, and schooling to Haitian children who are orphans or from impoverished families who cannot not support them.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection travel records, between December 1994 and April 2011, Carter traveled between Haiti and the United States at least 36 times. During these trips to the United States, Carter raised funds for the continued operation of the center.

But as alleged in court documents released on Friday, Carter required at least eight children to engage in illicit sexual conduct in exchange for gifts or money or in order to remain at the center and continue receiving food, shelter and schooling. “Few crimes are as despicable as the ones committed against these children in Haiti. For years, he sexually abused poor and orphaned children who depended upon him for food and shelter – all under the guise of doing noble work,” said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton.

One victim who was identified in court documents as ‘John Doe #1′ told investigators that he moved into the center after Carter had asked his mother if John Doe #1 could stay at the Morning Star Center. The victim explained to investigators that his mother was very poor and could not take care of him, so she agreed to let her son live with Carter at the center.

John Doe #1, who was approximately 10 years of age at the time, told investigators that, after about a month, Carter called him to Carter’s room and instructed him to lie down on Carter’s bed. Carter then took off John Doe #1′s pants and performed oral sex on him, after which John Doe #1 was forced to masturbate Carter.

After the first instance of alleged sexual abuse on John Doe #1, Carter bought pizza and ice cream for the boy. The sexual abuse would then continue for approximately six years and take place about three to four times a week.

“According to John Doe #1, the only way for him to continue living at the Center was to do what Carter wanted,” the criminal complaint details. “John Doe #1 endured these sexual encounters with Carter because Carter provided toys, food, shelter, and schooling, and the alternative was to live in severe poverty.”

But in 2000, when John Doe #1 was approximately 16 years old, the victim told Carter that he did not want to do sexual acts anymore. In response, Carter stopped buying clothing, shoes, and books for John Doe #1.

The accounts of seven other victims are also detailed in the court records. And a ninth boy explained that Carter had on several occasions attempted to force him to do sexual acts, but that he continued to refuse. In response, Carter allegedly struck him with a black stick.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the shocking child abuse case shows that U.S. prosecutors will not allow sexual predators to commit their crimes in foreign countries. “The acts that the defendant is charged with committing, quite simply, defy belief. As charged in the indictment, he preyed upon and terrorized impoverished Haitian children who were in dire need of the services offered by the Morning Star Center – the very children he was purporting to help,” Breuer said.

According to one of the victims, 14 children are currently living at the Center, and that an additional three boys live at the Center on the weekends. The victim told investigators that Carter has also engaged in sexual conduct with the minors who are currently living at the Center, and said that the conduct occurred as recently as a few days before Carter left Port-au-Prince on April 7.

In addition to the sexual abuse, Carter owns a .22 caliber gun and has allegedly on multiple occasions beat the boys with his hands or with a stick when he was in a ‘bad mood.’

If convicted on all four counts, Carter faces a total of 115 years in prison. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for one count of child sex tourism and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for each of the other three child sex tourism counts.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

COLUMBUS, OHIO (BNO NEWS) — Two people were killed on early Sunday morning when a small plane crashed at Rickenbacker International Airport in central Ohio, state police said.

The accident happened at around 8.52 a.m. local time when a Cirrus CR22 airplane was attempting to take off on a flight to New Jersey and crashed east of the runway. The plane caught fire upon impact, killing both the pilot and his passenger.

After the accident, the bomb squad of the Columbus Division of Fire was called to the scene to deactivate a parachute deployment charge that the plane was equipped with. The parachute charge was deactivated without incident.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol identified the pilot as 54-year-old Viswanathan Rajaraman of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. His passenger was identified as 50-year-old Mary J. Sundaram, who is also of Franklin Lakes.

According to federal records, the 2008-built aircraft was registered to Buds Aviation LLC out of Bergen, New Jersey.

It was not immediately known what caused the accident, which will be investigated by both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA (BNO NEWS) — A man from the U.S. state of Georgia has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for stealing tens of thousands of dollars which was intended to pay for the meals of poor children, prosecutors said on Friday.

Bernard Walker, 44, of Waynesboro, was found to have fraudulently obtained checks worth tens of thousands of dollars from a federally-funded, not-for-profit organization in Augusta. He then laundered that money through businesses located in Waynesboro and bought two vehicles.

Evidence presented at hearings in this case showed that Walker committed these crimes over a span of 2.5 years while he was a nutrition specialist for the Central Savannah River Area Economic Opportunity Authority and was responsible for providing meals for the low-income children who were enrolled in Head Start programs in approximately eleven counties in the Augusta, Georgia area.

In addition to sentencing Walker, who pled guilty in January, U.S. District Court Judge Dudley Bowen also signed an order forfeiting Walker’s ownership of a BMW 528I and an Audi A6 Quattro which he bought with the stolen money.

“Stealing taxpayers’ money that was allocated to buy meals for our children is reprehensible,” said U.S. Attorney Edward Tarver. “The lengthy prison sentence in this case sends a message that the egregious theft of public funds will not be tolerated.”

Under the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s guidelines, Walker faced a range of imprisonment between 27 and 33 months. In addition to a prison sentence which was at the top end of the sentencing guidelines range, Walker was ordered to pay restitution and also serve three years of supervised release after he is released from prison.

Regarding the length of Walker’s prison sentence, Tarver noted that there is no parole in the federal system.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) — Russia on Thursday demanded that the United States launches a thorough investigation into the alleged rape of a Russian orphan by his foster father in the United States, RIA Novosti reported.

Alexander Lukashevich, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that an investigation was requested in regards to Ksenia, a Russian orphan adopted by a U.S. family in the southern Georgia State.

“We demand that the U.S. authorities hold an all-embracing and thorough investigation into the assault of Ksenia and hand down a just verdict to the guilty party,” said Lukashevich.

The foster father, Michael Gismore, was arrested by U.S. authorities in 2010 and charged with regularly sexually abusing the 16-year-old. The defendant, however, claimed that the sexual intercourse with Ksenia was consensual and that the girl was 16 years old at the time.

According to Georgia’s state law, 16 is the legal age of consent but according to documents of Russia’s Federal Migration Service, Ksenia was born in October 1994 and thus was 15 years old at the time of the alleged abuses.

Ksenia, who was born in Russia’s Kemerovo region, is currently at a children’s orphanage in Georgia, where she is receiving physical and psychological treatment. The U.S. Department of State notified the Russian Consulate General of the case last June.

Lukashenko remarked that the Foreign Ministry and the Russian Embassy in the U.S. are keeping a close eye on the situation. He also criticized the late notification by the U.S. government. “Such a blasphemous and outrageous case calls again for the immediate conclusion of an agreement with the United States on cooperation in international adoptions,” added the spokesman.

The U.S. and Russia have failed in reaching an agreement on the safety of Russian children adopted by U.S. families. Negotiations began in 2010 but have so far been without success. Furthermore, Russia suspended adoptions after a Tennessee woman sent her 7-year-old adoptive son back to Moscow.

The mother claimed that he was psychotic and decided to put him on a plane along with a handwritten note. An estimated 60,000 Russian children have been legally adopted by American families in recent years.

According to Russia’s ombudsman for children’s rights Pavel Astakhov, seventeen Russian children have died in the United States due to child abuse since the process was launched about 15 years ago.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA (BNO NEWS) — Alabama Governor Robert Bentley will soon sign a bill that bans abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, his press secretary said on Tuesday. It follows similar restrictions introduced in a number of other states.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, and Alabama state laws currently allow abortion up to the stage of fetal viability, which is usually between 24 and 26 weeks gestation. The new bill will restrict abortions beginning on the first day of the 20th week of pregnancy.

“Governor Bentley is reviewing that bill along with all of the bills that passed the Legislature on the last day of the session,” said Jennifer Ardis when asked if Bentley would sign the bill. “He will sign this bill but has not as of today,” she added.

The abortion bill, which makes no exceptions for cases of rape and incest, was passed by lawmakers on Thursday during the final day of the session. It makes it a felony to perform an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, unless the woman is at risk of death or serious physical harm as a result of the pregnancy.

The ‘Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act’, which passed the Alabama legislature less than 30 minutes before the midnight deadline, will also require abortion providers to keep more extensive records on the number and type of abortions they have performed.

“Modern medical science furnishes us with compelling evidence that unborn children recoil from painful stimuli, that their stress hormones increase when they are subjected to any painful stimuli, and that they require anesthesia for fetal surgery,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, director of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). “Therefore, the states have a compelling interest in protecting unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion.”

Idaho, Indiana, Kansas and Oklahoma have passed similar restrictions earlier this year. Nebraska also passed a new law last year that put more restrictions on abortions.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

CHICAGO (BNO NEWS) — A World War II-era Boeing B-17 aircraft crashed close to an airport near Chicago on late Monday morning, federal officials said, but there were no reports of casualties.

The plane, which is also known as the ‘Flying Fortress’, is a four-engine aircraft which was used as a strategic bomber during World War II. They were quickly phased out of use after the war, although dozens which were captured during the war were later used by the Soviet Air Force.

The accident on Monday morning happened shortly after the B-17 aircraft took off from Aurora Municipal Airport, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Chicago. A total of seven people were on board.

Elizabeth Isham Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said the accident happened just before 10 a.m. local time, about 3 to 4 miles (4.8 to 6.4 kilometers) southeast of Aurora airport. “No injuries [have been] reported to [the] FAA,” Cory said.

Footage from the scene showed the aircraft was on fire and had broken into at least three parts. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, which will be investigated by the FAA.

According to federal records, the B-17 aircraft was built in 1944 and was registered to Liberty Foundation, Inc., which allows people to experience flying in B-17 and Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft. A schedule on its website said it provided 30-minute flights in the area around Aurora airport during the weekend.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (BNO NEWS) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Friday announced that a Chicago businessman was convicted for participating in a terrorism plot against a Danish newspaper.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani native, was also found guilty on Thursday of providing material support to a terrorist organization based in Pakistan. He was acquitted of conspiracy to provide material support to the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans.

“The message should be clear to all those who help terrorists – we will bring to justice all those who seek to facilitate violence,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Rana, 50, a Canadian citizen, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorism plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, Lashkar e Tayyiba (Lashkar).

The defendant operated an immigration business based in Chicago. He is the second of eight defendants who were indicted in this case since late 2009.Six of them are believed to be at large in Pakistan.

In March 2010, co-defendant David Coleman Headley, 50, pleaded guilty to all 12 counts against him, including aiding and abetting the murders of the six American victims.

Headley testified as a government witness at Rana’s trial. He has been cooperating with authorities since his October 2009 arrest. Between 2002 and 2005, Headley attended training camps in Pakistan operated by Lashkar in five separate occasions.

In late 2005, Headley received instructions from members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance for a future terrorist attack in Mumbai which was perpetrated three years later against the targets scouted by him.

In the summer of 2006, the co-defendant and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley then traveled to Chicago to visit Rana, his long-time friend since the time they attended high school together in Pakistan.

The two defendants discussed Headley’s assignment and Rana agreed to open a First World office in Mumbai as cover for his activities as part of his First World Immigration Services in Chicago.

Afterwards, Rana advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India, as well as emails and other documents. He also directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley’s cover story.

In early November 2008, Headley met with a Lashkar member in Karachi, Pakistan, and was instructed to conduct surveillance of the Copenhagen and Aarhus offices of a Danish newspaper.

The terror plot targeted the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in retaliation fro the publishing of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed which angered the Muslim community. Headley obtained Rana’s approval and assistance to identify himself as a representative of First World and gain access to the newspaper’s offices under false advertisement interests.

Before departing Chicago, Headley and Rana ordered business cards to be made that identified Headley as a representative of the Immigration Law Center, the business name of First World, according to the evidence shown at trial.

Evidence also included recorded conversations between Headley and Rana discussing the terror plots and setbacks, including the killing of co-defendant Ilyas Kashmiri, an alleged Pakistani terrorist leader, during a U.S. drone strike.

Rana faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on the two counts combined and remains in federal custody without bond. Headley is also facing a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. No sentencing date was set on both cases.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN (BNO NEWS) — The pilot of a U.S. Air Force fighter jet that crashed in the state of Wisconsin on Tuesday was able to eject safely, officials said.

The pilot was conducting a routine training flight with an F-16 Fighter Falcon jet aircraft from the Wisconsin Air National Guard 115th Fighter Wing over Adams County, Wisconsin, when the accident occurred at around 1:20 p.m. local time.

The unnamed pilot was able to eject safely and was recovered south of Chester, Wisconsin, around 70 miles northwest of Milwaukee. The pilot was being medically evaluated, the U.S. Air Force said.

The aircraft was also found in Chester, as emergency teams were deployed to recover the aircraft. An Air Force team will be investigating the incident to determine the cause of the accident.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN (BNO NEWS) — Dr. Jack Kevorkian, also known as “Dr. Death,” on Friday died at age 83 due to pneumonia and kidney problems, CNN reported.

Kevorkian was hospitalized at the at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan on May and his health deteriorated quickly. His attorney Mayer Morganroth said he died peacefully and in no pain.

The 83-year-old physician was known for being an advocate of the assisted-suicide. An estimated 130 people were assisted by Kevorkian to end their lives. The first one occurred in June 1990 when a Jane Adkins, a 53-year-old Oregon woman, ended her life on the back of a van using Kevorkian’s death machine the “Thanatron.”

The suicide device released a lethal mix of drugs into the patient’s blood stream by just pushing one button. Kevorkian never regretted his actions as he claimed that it was his duty to help ending suffering of patients.

He was acquitted in several times during the 1990s and had his doctor’s license removed. Between 1990 and 1998, he assisted in the death of around 130 patients suffering terminal diseases. In 1998, he authorized the broadcast of a video recording showing him injecting lethal drugs on 52-year-old Thomas Youk.

He was convicted of Second Degree Murder after a long trial which included Kevorkian’s self-defense and was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison. He only spent eight years and two months in jail and released on parole in 2007.

After his prison term, he was prohibited from engaged in assisted-suicides. In his last years, Kevorkian unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Michigan and focused on promoting a better understanding of the assisted suicide. He also criticized the states where assisted suicide was legalized, it is not being done right. Kevorkian said that the law allowed patients to take a pill to end their lives but he claimed that a doctor has to be present and do it.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)