guilty plea: Last News

charged earlier this week with one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law. In a plea agreement filed on December 17, Benza agreed to plead guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Benza is expected to appear in court in the coming days.According to the Los Angeles Times, Benza was having a heated conversation with a woman on the side of the road.

assault of a gay man whom they reportedly lured to a house using the gay dating app Grindr.According to the Cecil Whig newspaper, one of the students, Zachary Leinemann, posed as a 16-year-old boy on the app, seeking to lure a 40-year-old man to an off-campus apartment for a sexual encounter on October 15, 2024. The age of consent in Maryland, in most cases, is 16 years old.Leinemann and the man allegedly corresponded through first Grindr and then Snapchat to set up an in-person meeting.When the man — whose name has not been revealed — arrived at the apartment, a group of 15 students affiliated with the university’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity ambushed and assaulted him.According to court records, the victim suffered a broken rib and multiple bruises.

found Ritter guilty on hate crime charges, a firearms charge, and obstruction of justice in relation to Doe’s murder, marking the first-ever conviction under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act for violence directed at a transgender person.At Ritter’s trial, prosecutors argued that he had been involved in a sexual relationship with Doe, and became upset after rumors of their affair began to circulate around their hometown of Allendale, South Carolina.While Doe’s transgender identity was publicly known to many, Ritter sought to keep their relationship covert, demanding that she delete text messages they had exchanged from her phone.After Ritter’s main girlfriend learned of the ongoing relationship between him and Doe, Ritter allegedly became more anxious and desperate to conceal the affair from others.

drug-induced robbery scheme that is alleged to have led to the deaths of two gay men in New York City last year has pleaded guilty to robbery, grand larceny, and identity theft charges, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.Eddie Ashley, 30, is alleged to have been part of a scheme that targeted at least 16 nightclub patrons from September 2021 to August 2022, resulting in the overdose-related deaths of 25-year-old social worker Julio Ramirez and 34-year-old John Umberger, a political consultant from Washington, D.C. Both Ramirez and Umberger were seen leaving gay bars with a group of other men, only to be found dead hours later.Part of the scheme involved the suspects drugging their victims with a substance that made them compliant and then using their incapacitated bodies and facial recognition technology to unlock their cell phones and access bank accounts to rob them.Ashley, who faced charges related to four separate incidents, including the drugging scheme, had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.On Monday, he changed his plea to guilty.Terrence Grifferty, Ashley’s attorney, confirmed his client’s guilty plea, telling NBC News that Ashley is expected to be sentenced to nine years in state prison on November 20.He is currently being held at Rikers Island jail, but declined to comment further on the case or answer whether his client had accepted a plea deal.Umberger’s mother, Linda Clary — who has been critical of how the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has handled the case — said she was grateful that Ashley was willing to admit his guilt in the robbery scheme, adding that he should face consequences for his actions.