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OxyContin maker to be replaced by new company aiming to combat opioid crisis as legal settlement takes effectOxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is set to be dissolved and replaced by a company focused on the public good by the week’s end, as a sweeping legal settlement resolving thousands of lawsuits takes effect.A federal judge on Tuesday delivered a criminal sentence to the company to resolve a US Department of Justice investigation – a last necessary step to clear the way for the settlement. Continue reading...

The Seoul High Court found Kim Keon Hee guilty of manipulating the share price of Deutsch Motors, a South Korean car dealer, which it ruled a "collusive ... trading act constituting market manipulation".

A Nevada judge sentenced Dances With Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse on Monday to life in prison for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls.

In January, Kim Keon Hee was sentenced to 20 months for accepting gifts from the Unification Church, which sought political favors. (Image credit: Ahn Young-joon)

Dances With Wolves actor assaulted Indigenous women and girls, exploiting his position as a spiritual leaderNathan Chasing Horse has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls.A Nevada judge gave the Dances With Wolves actor his sentence Monday. A jury had previously convicted him of 13 charges, mostly related to sexual assault. He was accused by three women, including one who was 14 when the assaults began. He was acquitted on some charges. Continue reading...

Carie Hallford, 48, whose ex-husband Jon was earlier sentenced, expressed remorse over corpse abuse schemeThe co-owner of a Colorado funeral home was sentenced in state court on Friday to 30 years in prison for her part in a corpse abuse scheme that involved hiding nearly 200 decomposing bodies.Carie Hallford, 48, was also sentenced to 18 years in prison earlier this month after pleading guilty to a federal fraud charge related to the scandal. Continue reading...

Under settlement, Sackler family will pay state, local and Native American tribal governments, individual victims and othersSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA judge is expected to sentence OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to forfeit $225m to the US justice department on Tuesday, clearing the way for the company to finalize a settlement of thousands of lawsuits it faces over its role in the opioid crisis.The penalty was agreed to in a 2020 pact to resolve federal civil and criminal investigations it was facing. If the judge signs off, other penalties will not be collected in return for Purdue settling the other lawsuits. Continue reading...

State investigated claims of bear attacks on cars, unconvincingly backed up by video of person in bear suitWhen it comes to the California department of insurance, don’t poke the bear.That is the lesson three individuals in Los Angeles learned recently when they were sentenced to jail time for an insurance fraud scheme in which they staged attacks on high-end vehicles by having a person dress up in a bear costume – then pretending that person was an actual bear. Continue reading...

More than 2,200 ants were found in Zhang Kequn’s luggage at Nairobi airport, with baggage destined for ChinaA Chinese national has been sentenced to a year in prison and fined by a Nairobi court for attempting to smuggle thousands of ants out of Kenya, a lucrative trade in east Africa that was exposed last year.The insects are mostly destined for China, the US and Europe, where they become pets and can be worth about $100 each. Continue reading...

James Heaps was first sentenced in 2023, but verdict was overturned after appeals court found he was denied a fair trialSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA former University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gynecologist pleaded guilty to 13 felony sexual abuse charges on Tuesday in connection with the sexual assault of several patients over his career, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.James Heaps was originally sentenced in 2023 to 11 years in prison after being convicted of five counts of sexual battery and penetration involving two patients. That sentence was overturned by an appeals court in February, which ruled that Heaps was denied a fair trial because the judge did not share with his attorneys a note from the court’s foreman sharing concerns about a juror’s English proficiency. Continue reading...

Clarence Curtis Jordan was convicted in 1978 but hadn’t had a lawyer for over 30 yearsThe Texas court of criminal appeals has overturned the death sentence of Clarence Curtis Jordan, a 70-year-old man with intellectual disabilities, who spent nearly 50 years on death row – much of that time without a lawyer.Jordan was convicted in 1978 for the murder of Joe L Williams, a 40-year-old grocer in Houston, and was sentenced to death. In the years that followed, courts determined that Jordan, who has intellectual disabilities, was “incompetent”, making him ineligible for execution under constitutional standards. Continue reading...

Woman tells court ‘I lost my teenage self’ from abuse by teacher William ‘Rob’ Gilfillan, already in prison for offences against daughter Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA woman who was repeatedly sexually assaulted in the 1980s by her high school PE teacher has told a court how the man’s actions resulted in her life being changed “negatively for decades”.In December, William “Rob” Gilfillan was found guilty of indecent assault of a person under 16 and sexual penetration of a child under 16. The five counts against two victims took place at Traralgon high school in Gippsland. Continue reading...

David Lammy says those affected by a heinous crime cannot be expected to engage with the justice system within the existing 28-day limitVictims and bereaved families will be given six months to challenge “unduly lenient” sentences handed to criminals, under changes announced by David Lammy.Relatives of murder victims campaigned for the government to scrap the 28-day time limit to submit a formal request after an offender is sentenced. Continue reading...

Rodney Ward returned debris instead of pets’ ashes and stored animals’ bodies in hearse or threw them out on roadSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA Baltimore county man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of defrauding pet owners through his fake crematorium business, returning rocks and sand to grieving victims instead of ashes.On Tuesday, 56-year-old Rodney Ward was also ordered to pay $12,510 in restitution to victims. He had pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft and five counts of malicious destruction of property over $1,000, according to the Baltimore county state’s attorney’s office. Continue reading...

Teenager expressed misogynistic views, had fascination with American Psycho and carefully planned the murderAn 18-year-old man who expressed misogynistic views and had a fascination with the horror film American Psycho has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years and six months for killing his mother with a hammer.Tristan Roberts carefully planned the crime, researching methods of killing and how to avoid being caught before purchasing potential weapons such as knives, hammers and an axe. Continue reading...

The former president was in prison for a coup attempt after losing the country’s last electionBrazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has been granted permission to serve his 27-year sentence for a coup attempt at home instead of in prison because of his failing health.The decision by supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes followed Bolsonaro’s hospitalization since 13 March for pneumonia, one of several health problems the former leader has faced since he was stabbed by a man in 2018 before he was elected president. Continue reading...

Lemi Limbu, who has severe intellectual disabilities, remains in prison and will now face retrial for the murder of her daughterA woman with severe intellectual disabilities in Tanzania has had her conviction and death sentence quashed after spending more than a decade in prison awaiting execution.Lemi Limbu, now in her early 30s, was convicted of the murder of her daughter in 2015. On 4 March, a court in Shinyanga, northern Tanzania, declared she can appeal. She will face a retrial, but a date has yet to be set. Continue reading...

Carie Hallford, 48, whose husband Jon received 40-year term, pleaded guilty to defrauding grieving familiesSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA former Colorado funeral home owner who helped her ex-husband hide nearly 200 decomposing bodies in a building was sentenced Monday to 18 years on a federal fraud charge, nearly the maximum allowed under the law.Carie Hallford, 48, faced up to 20 years in prison for taking over $130,000 from families for funeral services, including cremations, and often giving them urns full of concrete mix instead. In two cases, investigators found the wrong body was buried. In August, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and admitted that she and her ex-husband Jon Hallford cheated customers and also defrauded the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic small business aid. Continue reading...