Page 19 - Florida Sentinel 11-8-16 Online Edition

National
Inmate Accused Of
San Antonio Officer Fired
Indianapolis Man Killed By Chicago Cop While Attending A Funeral
Joshua Beal, 25, was shot multiple times by police.
the Beal's mother. "They shot him twice in the back and three times in his front."
According to family, an off- duty officer in an unmarked ve- hicle when he cut off one of the vehicles in the funeral proces- sion. The family members and officer got out of their vehicles. After a verbal exchange, gunfire erupted but Beal's family said that he did not provoke the offi- cer, and merely disclosing that he had a concealed weapon per- mit.
"This is what CPD do. They tear our families apart over and over again. They have no con- sideration for life," Boxley said.
A woman who said she was driving by as the fight escalated recorded cellphone video that captured the sounds of multiple gunshots.
"The man didn't pull a gun," said the woman, who declined to be identified. "The man was on the passenger side of the car."
Ordering Hit On Child And
For Feeding
CHICAGO ---- A 25-year-old Indianapolis man, who was in Chicago for a funeral, was killed Saturday afternoon in a police- involved shooting in the city's Mount Greenwood neighbor- hood, family and authorities confirm.
Witnesses In Murder Plot
Last month, a Texas woman was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit in- ternational money laundering. The following day, she is al- leged to have approached an- other inmate seeking a hit man to “take care of” three adults and a child.
According to police, follow- ing a 3-week trial, Ms. Priscilla Ann Ellis, 51, Killeen, Texas, was convicted in federal court in Tampa of con- spiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit international money laundering. The conviction was the result of a 3-week trial involving her and several other people, including Attorney Perry Don Cortese, 53, of Little River, Texas, and Ms. Kenietta Rayshawn John- son, 35, of Leavenworth, Kansas.
Ms. Ellis, Attorney Cortese, and Ms. Johnson were all convicted. They are facing a maximum of 40 years in prison, but have not been sentenced yet.
Officials said the day after being convicted on October 22nd, Ms. Ellis approached another inmate about partici- pating in a counterfeit check scheme similar to the ones that had resulted in her arrest and conviction. She also asked the inmate if she knew anyone who “could get their hands dirty.” She is also alleged to have said she wanted some people “taken care of.”
The intended victims were a key witness who testified in the case and the other was the mother of another witness who had pleaded guilty and was co- operating against Ms. Ellis.
During recorded conversa- tions with the inmate and un- dercover agents posing as co-conspirators, Ms. Ellis told the agent posing as the hit man that the witness had a 9-year- old, but he should “do what we got to do” regarding the child, indicating the child should be killed along with the witness, if necessary.
She wanted the key witness killed immediately and the mother of the other witness in coming weeks.
Ms. Ellis is alleged to have told the undercover agent she wanted the other witness’ mother to receive a “Columbian necktie,” in order to “send a message.”
Officials said the third adult was an attorney in Houston, Texas. However, she did not provide any additional infor- mation about him.
Ms. Ellis reportedly agreed to pay $800 for each hit. When the “hit man” said it would be more for the child, she al- legedly agreed.
Ms. Ellis agreed to have her
Homeless
Person Fecal
PRISCILLA ANN ELLIS
daughter in Texas take money obtained from another fraudu- lent scheme and give it to the “hit man” as partial payment for the two murders. The agents gave the daughter $18,000 from the scam and she in turn gave the “hit man” $1,600, which included a par- tial payment and to cover the transportation for the cash.
After the hit man received payment to do “the job,” other FBI agents took Ms. Ellis’ daughter into custody and re- covered the money, officials said.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Cortese, Ms. Ellis, and Ms. Johnson were members of an interna- tional criminal organization that defrauded dozens of vic- tims across the United States and then laundered the funds, much of which were sent over- seas.
The fraud schemes took sev- eral forms. Many victims were law firms solicited online to perform legal work, provided counterfeit cashier’s checks for deposit into the firms’ trust ac- counts, and then directed to wire money to third-party shell businesses controlled by the conspirators.
Others were title companies defrauded in phony real estate transactions. Additional vic- tims were targeted and de- frauded by fake suitors on dating websites. The conspir- acy also employed hackers who compromised both individual and corporate e-mail accounts, ordering wire transfers to shell accounts controlled by conspir- ators.
Victims were instructed to wire money into funnel ac- counts and then quickly re- moved to other accounts in the United States and other coun- tries before the victims realized the scam.
Conspirators in Canada, Nige ria, South Korea, Senegal, and elsewhere helped coordinate the fraud and money launder- ing activity from abroad.
Ms. Ellis is facing an addi- tional maximum 40 years in prison if convicted.
OFFICER MATTHEW LUCKHURST
SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Of- ficer Mattthew Luckhurst has been suspended from his duty at the San Antonio Police Department indefinitely for al- legedly placing feces matter be- tween two slices of bread before handing it over to a homeless person.
“This was a vile and dis- gusting act that violates our guiding principles of ‘treating all with integrity, compassion, fairness and respect,’ Chief William McManus said in a statement. “The fact that his fellow officers were so dis- gusted with his actions that they reported him to Internal Affairs demonstrates that this type of behavior will never be tolerated. The action of this one former officer in no way re- flects the actions of all the other good men and women who respectfully serve this community.”
The supposed incident oc- curred back in May when Luckhurt–who has been with the force for five years– bragged to fellow officers that he “picked up some feces, placed it in a slice of bread, and put it in a Styrofoam container next to the unknown homeless male,” according to a state- ment from the chief’s office. The officer reported that he told Luckhurst to go back and throw it away. “The officer said he saw Luckhurst go back and he assumed that Luck- hurst discarded the con- tainer.”
Police were unable to find the homeless person, however, the mayor says firing Luck- hurst was the right thing to do.
Hampton University’s Emancipation
Matter
An off-duty officer was "fired upon and returned fire," police said. However, the victim's family disputes this.
The victim was identified by family as Joshua Beal, a fa- ther of two. He was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he died.
According to police, the shooting occurred after a vehi- cle leaving funeral services at a nearby cemetery stopped in traffic in front of a Chicago fire house. An off-duty firefighter told the driver that they were il- legally blocking the fire lane.
The occupants exited the ve- hicle and a verbal/physical al- tercation ensured, police said. An off-duty Chicago police offi- cer was inside a nearby busi- ness and assisted the firefighter.
A Chicago police sergeant driving to work stopped when he observed a man with a firearm in his hands. After the man "failed to drop his weapon, shots were fired striking the in- dividual multiple times," police said.
The shooter was the police sergeant.
"Chicago police gunned my baby down like a vicious ani- mal," said Tiffaney Boxley,
Oak Yet Another Piece Of
Black History Threatened By DOT
HAMPTON, VA --- Hamp- ton University leaders are con- cerned that their campus is being threatened by a Virginia Department of Transportation plan to widen Interstate 64 leading into the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.
ABC 13 News Now reports VDOT officials recently met with university leaders to let them know that they may need to acquire some of their land as part of the proposed I-64 widening near the HRBT— and part of that land includes Strawberry Banks, and the iconic Emancipation Oak.
The Emancipation Oak stands near the entrance of the Hampton University campus. According to Hampton’s web- site, the young oak served as the first classroom for newly freed men and women, also known as “contraband” of Union soldiers during the Civil War. In 1863, under limbs sprawling over a hundred feet in diameter, members of the Virginia Peninsula’s black community gathered to hear the first Southern reading of
The Emancipation Oak on the campus of HBCU, Hamp- ton University.
President Lincoln’s Eman- cipation Proclamation.
Attorney Joseph Waldo, who is representing the univer- sity, says that he will fight to make sure I-64 isn’t expanded any closer to the campus.
They’re willing to fight this all the way to the [state] Supreme Court if necessary,” Waldo says. “Not one inch of Hampton University’s prop- erty should be touched.”
Waldo says the University retained its own experts to show VDOT that the road can be moved away from the cam- pus.
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