Latest news with #U.S.HomelandSecurityInvestigations
UPI
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Prosecutors rest case in Sean 'Diddy' Combs criminal trial
Sean "Diddy" Combs (pictured in 2023 at MTV's VMA in Newark, N.J.) was arrested and jailed in September 2024. He has vehemently denied his five criminal charges. File Photo by Jason Szenes/UPI | License Photo June 24 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against disgraced hip-hop titan Sean "Diddy" Combs after 29 days of testimony by dozens of witnesses from escorts to alleged victims and scores of others. The federal government wrapped up weeks of testimony with the defense ending its cross-examination of a special agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations as prosectors rested their case against Combs at about 1:30 p.m. EDT at a Manhattan courthouse. Combs, arrested and jailed in September 2024, has vehemently denied his five criminal charges, which include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. The New York jurors saw a string of 34 witnesses ranging from names in entertainment, former assistants, law enforcement, paid escorts and alleged victims of Combs. Among the more prominent witness sittings against Combs were rapper Scott Mescudi, known as Kid Cudi, along with Diddy's ex-girlfriends singer Cassie Ventura and "Jane," who detailed accusations of being coerced against her will into sex with escorts during Combs' so-called "freak offs." The pseudonymed "Jane" stated in witness testimony the first week in June that Combs would dictate what he wanted her to do during the "freak offs," which included sexual activity. Jane, who began her relationship with Combs in 2021, went on to say Combs would not permit condoms on the men she was forced into sex with, that she and Combs would immediately have sex afterward but that he wouldn't let her clean up afterward. Meanwhile, Diddy's defense team was poised to offer a brief rebuttal on Tuesday with no witnesses. The trial's closing arguments are set for Thursday with the possibility of a continuance into Friday.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man arrested in Mass. in connection with person stabbed 30 times, death in Brazil
A Brazilian man suspected of fatally stabbing a person 30 times in his home country was arrested in Milford last week, the police department said. Following the attack, Fernando Vieira Martins came to the United States in 2023 and was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by Brazilian authorities, Milford police said in a statement on Thursday. With the help of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, Milford police arrested Martins that same day. Extradition proceedings are pending while Martins is held on immigration-related charges, police said. 'Thanks to the collaborative work between our department and HSI, another dangerous individual has been apprehended and will now face justice,' Milford Chief of Police Robert Tusino said in the statement. 'The arrest underscores the harsh reality of the current state of our community. This is the second known killer hiding amongst the people of Milford to be captured in the last 45 days.' Mass. man charged after fleeing crash in stolen car and hitting pedestrian Jordan Cabrera headed for trial in 2023 murder case Pregnant woman attacked on Route 116 in Mass. Teen killed in New Bedford shooting identified Teacher no longer at West Springfield school after ex-students bring allegations of sexually charged exchanges
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man wanted for grisly homicide in Brazil captured in Milford, police say
Authorities captured an allegedly violent international fugitive on Thursday. Fernando Vieira Martins is wanted for homicide in Brazil where he brutally stabbed a victim more than 30 times, according to Milford Police. Martins reportedly fled to the United States in 2023 and was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by Brazilian law enforcement. Milford Police officers in coordination with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) took Vieira Martins into custody. He is being held on immigration-related charges while extradition proceedings are pending, according to police. 'Thanks to the collaborative work between our department and HSI, another dangerous individual has been apprehended and will now face justice,' said Robert Tusino, Milford Chief of Police. 'The arrest underscores the harsh reality of the current state of our community. This is the second known killer hiding amongst the people of Milford to be captured in the last 45 days.' Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
Rally to be held over Sackets students being detained by immigration agents
Mar. 31—SACKETS HARBOR — An investigation into the alleged distribution of child pornography Thursday apparently triggered a separate investigation that led to eight undocumented immigrants being taken into custody and the removal of three Sackets Harbor Central School District students from their home. Events began to unfold Thursday when agents from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations executed a warrant at North Harbor Farms on County Route 145 as part of an investigation into the alleged distribution of child pornography. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday that Marcel M. Meyer, 43, a South African citizen living in Sackets Harbor, was charged with distributing child pornography. Unrelated to that investigation, eight undocumented people at the farm were taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It appears those arrests played a role in the three schoolchildren, in grades 3, 8 and 11, also being removed from their home by immigration officers. A "peaceful" rally is planned for Saturday outside the home of border czar Tom Homan, the Trump administration's director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as no one in the school community seems to know where the children were taken, Corey D. Decillis, chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Committee, which is promoting Saturday's rally, said the children's whereabouts are unknown to the community. He said he has heard the oldest child is with his mother, who he has been told has a work visa allowing her to be in the U.S. legally, in a detention center in Texas. He does not know where the other two children are, he said. "Obviously we're worried about the situation, but more about the children," he said. Sackets Harbor Central School Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney said Monday that counselors are being made available for students and staff concerned about the missing students and the district is working with ICE to find out where they are and when they can return to school. She described the three youths as "friends and good students" and as being "part of the fabric of our school district." "It's a difficult time for the school district," Gaffney said. "It's a close-knit, small school district." Organizers of the proposed rally want supporters to gather at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Sackets Harbor Visitors' Center on West Main Street and "march" the few blocks past the home of Homan, a West Carthage native. They are asking participants to be "peaceful and respectful." As of Monday morning, federal court documents account for just one immigration-related arrest made Thursday in Sackets Harbor, that of a Guatemalan citizen who had previously been deported from the U.S. Imer Hernandez Pelico, age not available, is charged in U.S. District Court, Binghamton, with reentry of a removed alien. According to a criminal complaint filed with the court, agents with Homeland Security Investigations encountered Hernandez Pelico in Sackets Harbor while executing a warrant. The complaint states that Hernandez Pelico was apprehended after jumping out the back window of a dwelling and fleeing on foot to avoid apprehension, but was caught after a brief chase. Record checks showed that Hernandez Pelico has no legal status in the U.S. and had been arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in Rio Grande Valley, Texas, in February 2022. He was ordered deported and was flown by plane back to Guatemala. According to the criminal complaint, Henrnadez Pelico admitted to a Border Patrol agent that he again walked into the U.S. illegally through Texas in 2024 and that he knew he was in the country illegally because he had been deported previously. A detention hearing for Hernandez Pelico is scheduled for Wednesday in Binghamton. Officials from the New York Farm Bureau said they were "unable to comment" citing "legal ramifications" of the situation.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mardi Gras starts today. Here's how New Orleans has stepped up security after Bourbon Street attack
Mardi Gras is here And security surrounding this year's Fat Tuesday celebrations, marking the end of Carnival season in New Orleans, will be heightened following the deadly New Year's Day terror attack on Bourbon Street. As was the case during last month's Super Bowl, there has been a visible security presence in the Big Easy this week, including rooftop snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs and armored vehicles deployed throughout the city. 'We started this with Super Gras, focusing on the Super Bowl and transitioning into Mardi Gras,' New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a news conference about security preparations. 'I think it was absolutely a test run for us. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'We know that we're battle-tested,' Cantrell added. 'We're just looking for a safe and fun Mardi Gras.' According to the mayor's office, there will be nearly 1,000 federal, state and local law enforcement personnel deployed during Mardi Gras, including more than 600 police officers and 100 plainclothes officers stationed in the French Quarter. A total of 11 federal agencies will provide tactical, air, maritime and canine support, along with specialized teams for explosives, intelligence and field operations. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated Mardi Gras a "Special Event Assessment Rating" (SEAR) Level 1 event, which it defines as one that requires "extensive federal interagency support." "This is one of the first moments in our history where Mardi Gras is a SEAR 1-rated event," Cantrell said. 'All of the same resources that were brought out for [the] Super Bowl, they'll see in an elongated fashion along Mardi Gras parade routes,' Eric DeLaune, special agent in charge of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans, told the Times-Picayune last week. The Super Bowl, DeLaune said, served as a 'pressure test' for Mardi Gras. President Trump became the first sitting president to attend the game, which required additional layers of security. The game was played a little more than a month after the Jan. 1 attack, which left 14 people dead and dozens of others injured. Officials say Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Houston who had proclaimed his support for the Islamic State militant group, rammed a truck into a crowd of people in the French Quarter. He was shot and killed by police at the scene. The security zone in place during the Super Bowl will be enforced again during Mardi Gras, with National Guard troops stationed in the French Quarter, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at the mayor's press conference. Police will also implement a 'vehicle mitigation system' that includes what Kirkpatrick called a 'serpentine course' for vehicles, with strategically placed barricades to slow traffic. 'We're going to weave it like a snake,' Kirkpatrick said. 'That will slow anybody down who thinks they're going to use a vehicle as a weapon.' The French Quarter will again be designated a 'no drone zone' during Mardi Gras like it was during the Super Bowl, when law enforcement personnel seized 33 such unmanned aerial vehicles. 'If you put your drones up, we're going to come get them,' Kirkpatrick said. The city council released a list of other banned items, including confetti and confetti launchers, charcoal and gas barbecue grills, mylar balloons, portable generators, upholstered furniture, scaffolding and ladders over six feet high. The traditional throwing of beads, however, will not be affected by the enhanced security measures, officials said.
