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A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 18 January 2024

U.S. woman gets 26 years in prison for helping kill her mother in

Bali and stuffing body in a suitcase

By CLAIRE SAVAGE began Wednesday morn-
Associated Press ing with testimony from
CHICAGO (AP) — An Amer- Bill Wiese, Wiese-Mack’s
ican woman who pleaded brother and Mack’s uncle.
guilty to helping kill her own He asked Judge Matthew
mother and stuffing the Kennelly to impose the
body in a suitcase during a maximum sentence possi-
luxury vacation in Bali was ble, saying Mack has never
sentenced Wednesday in shown remorse.
Chicago to 26 years in pris- “If it were up to me, Heath-
on. er would spend the rest of
Federal prosecutors had her life behind bars,” Wiese
recommended a 28-year said.
prison sentence for Heath- Mack, who wore an or-
er Mack for conspiring with ange jumpsuit, orange
her boyfriend to kill Sheila slip-on shoes and glasses,
von Wiese-Mack in 2014. remained mostly impassive
Mack’s attorney Michael as her uncle spoke, occa-
Leonard said he expects sionally looking at attend-
Mack, 28, will be locked up ees and giving small smiles
for roughly 20 years includ- to some.
ing good behavior cred- Mack pleaded guilty last
its available to all federal June to one count of con-
prisoners. His estimate also Heather Mack from Chicago, Ill., stands inside a cell before a trial in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, spiring to kill von Wiese-
accounts for the judge March 11, 2015. Associated Press Mack with her then-boy-
giving Mack credit for the friend to gain access to a
two-plus years she spent in sister through tears. “There’s no excuse for try- last week, prosecutors said $1.5 million trust fund. Pros-
custody in Chicago after “It breaks my heart hear- ing to harm her,” Mack the recommended sen- ecutors have said Mack,
completing a jail term in In- ing you cry,” she told Deb- said. “I miss and love my tence was “warranted and then 18 and pregnant, cov-
donesia. She was deported bi Curran, her aunt and mother.” sufficient, but not greater ered her mother’s mouth
to the U.S. in 2021. Wiese-Mack’s sister, who The government also want- than necessary to serve a while Tommy Schaefer
Before her sentence was had audibly sobbed as ed Mack to get five years just and appropriate pun- bludgeoned Wiese-Mack
read, Mack apologized to her daughter read a victim of supervised release, a ishment for Mack’s heinous with a fruit bowl in a hotel
her mother’s brother and impact statement on Cur- $250,000 fine and restitu- crime.” room.q
ran’s behalf. tion of $262,708. In a filing The sentencing hearing

Billionaire backers of new California city reveal map and details of

proposed development

By JANIE HAR land from being turned into backers, like philanthropist County voters, the mea- Sramek made his pitch in
Associated Press urban space. Laurene Powell Jobs, Linke- sure will go before voters a series of December town
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The He’ll reveal ballot lan- dIn co-founder Reid Hoff- this November. halls around the county,
company backed by Sili- guage that will provide the man, and venture capital- They picture 20,000 homes but the new wave of trans-
con Valley billionaires that most detailed look yet of ist Marc Andreessen. If the for 50,000 residents be- parency has not quieted
for years stealthily snapped the community envisioned group can secure 13,000 tween Travis Air Force Base critics who have been
up more than $800 million by he and his billionaire signatures from Solano and the tiny city of Rio skeptical of the project
worth of rural land for a Vista, with rowhouses and since the mysterious land-
new walkable, affordable apartment buildings within buying spree began years
and green city between walking distance to jobs, ago.
San Francisco and Sacra- schools, bars, restaurants “This is a pipe dream,” said
mento now needs voters to and grocery stores. Eventu- Democratic U.S. Rep. John
embrace the idea. ally the city could grow to Garamendi, who was furi-
Jan Sramek, the former 400,000 people, the group ous with backers for their
Goldman Sachs trader says, but only if it can cre- secrecy about property
spearheading the effort, ate at least 15,000 jobs that close to a U.S. Air Force
will speak Wednesday pay above average wag- base.
about his plans to create es. He said the proposed de-
a walkable California city Created in 2017, Califor- velopment, which he also
flush with affordable hous- nia Forever has purchased was briefed on, makes no
ing and jobs on what’s now more than 78 square miles sense “in the middle of ar-
mostly farmland. His Cali- (202 square kilometers) of eas surrounded by wind
fornia Forever company farmland in Solano County. farms, gas fields, endan-
needs approval from Sola- The plan calls for $400 mil- gered species, no water,
no County voters to bypass A map of a new proposed community in Solano County, lion to help Solano County no sanitation system and
protections put in place in California is displayed during news conference in Rio Vista, residents buy homes in the no road system let alone a
1984 to keep agricultural Calif. on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. proposed community. highway system.”q
Associated Press