On February 21, a jury found the 66-year-old near Mangi due to two cases of intentional damage to a protected computer and numerous access to a protected computer without permission, said the US law firm on Monday in a press release.

From September 2012 to August 2013, Mangi worked as a coordinator for clinical research coordinator within the office for clinical studies in cancer on the Stanfords National Cancer Institute.

According to the authorities, Mangi was assigned to a study for breast cancer patients sponsored by Genentech. In the study, attempts were made to find out the safety and effectiveness of a brand new, experimental pharmaceutical treatment for patients with metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer. Her tasks included entering patients medical data to the study database.

On August 19, 2013, Mangi was released and her manager tried to revoke her computer access and privileges. The supervisor sent Genentech by e -mail to finish Mangi's access to the database, but their login information was only deactivated the subsequent day.

The jury found that on August 19, after Stanford had revoked their access, the study database had registered and replaced the patient's medical data through faulty information and insults about their former supervisor, the US law firm said.

In response to this, Stanford entered an internal examination, returned all data in regards to the study participants and reported the incident of the US Food and Drug Administration.

According to the authorities, Mangi's actions of Mangi led 1000’s of dollars at Stanford University and Stanford School of Medicine.

“Nahed Mangi has deliberately transformed into a breast cancer research database by entering incorrect information and personal insults,” said the incumbent US lawyer Patrick Robbins in an announcement. “The jury's judgment blames the accused for their crimes.”

When she was convicted on July 21, Mangi can be faced with the intentional damage of a protected computer and a maximum punishment of 1 yr in prison for access to a protected computer without the approval of a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.

Originally published: February 24, 2025 at 9:09 p.m. PST

Devin Williams faces 50 years to life in state prison when he’s convicted next month of the first-degree murders of 42-year-old Maria and 57-year-old Benison Tran, prosecutors said in a press release.

The killings occurred on Sept. 7, 2022. Williams, a deputy on the time, went to the couple's home within the 3100 block of Colebrook Lane and shot them along with his department-issued gun, in response to prosecutors.

Four other people, including a baby, were in the home on the time of the murders.

“We recognize that this terrible tragedy leaves a son without his parents and a community forever traumatized by this unacceptable and cruel home invasion attack on an unarmed and unsuspecting couple,” said District Attorney Pamela Price.

The 26-year-old former deputy had a romantic relationship with Maria Tran though she was legally married to and living with Benison Tran, in response to prosecutors.

The district attorney thanked the jury for his or her “diligent work in returning this guilty verdict.”

“I’d also prefer to thank our entire prosecution team, including our inspectors and victim-witness advocates, who worked diligently to secure the conviction and supply services to the victims' families, despite the extreme public scrutiny and questioning of our commitment to this case “” Price said, referring to her controversial decision to drop the special surcharges against Williams.

The amendments filed by the previous district attorney included a possible life sentence without parole.

Relatives of the murdered couple criticized the choice and accused Price of a soft approach to crime.

“We still consider that you just are making a sweetheart deal to guard a police officer and the Alameda County Sheriff's Department and to win the favor of the police associations who reiterate your competence as a district attorney, your failure to guard people from crime “, have questioned the politicization of your office,” the relatives wrote in a letter to the general public prosecutor's office following their decision.

Williams is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 12 on the East Bay County Hall of Justice in Dublin.

Check back for updates.

Originally published: October 3, 2024 at 8:19 p.m

Today is Wednesday, September twenty fifth, the 269th day of the 12 months 2024. There are 97 days left within the 12 months.

Today in history:

On September 25, 2018, Bill Cosby was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a girl in his suburban Philadelphia home. (After serving nearly three years, Cosby was released in June 2021 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction.)

Also on this date:

In 1513, the Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and saw the Pacific Ocean.

In 1956, the primary transatlantic telephone cable was officially inaugurated with a ceremonial three-way call between New York, Ottawa and London.

In 1957, nine black students who were forced to depart Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, due to unruly white crowds were escorted to class by members of the U.S. Army's one hundred and first Airborne Division and the National Guard.

In 1978, 144 people were killed when a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 and a non-public plane collided over San Diego.

In 2005, within the presence of disarmament observers, the Irish Republican Army decommissioned its arsenal, officially ending its 36-year armed struggle for a united Irish state.

In 2012, President Barack Obama, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, promised American support to Syrians searching for to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, calling him “a dictator who is massacring his own people.”

In 2013, skipper Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA won the America's Cup with one among the best comebacks in sporting history, overtaking Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand within the all-important Race 19 on San Francisco Bay.

Today's birthdays:

• Hubie Brown, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is 91.
• Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is 81.
• Actor and producer Michael Douglas is 80.
• Model Cheryl Tiegs is 77.
• Actress Mimi Kennedy is 76.
• Film director Pedro Almodovar is 75.
• Actor and director Anson Williams is 75.
• Actor Mark Hamill is 73.
• Bob McAdoo, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is 73.
• Actor Michael Madsen is 66.
• Actress Heather Locklear is 63.
• The actress Aida Turturro is 62.
• Actor Tate Donovan is 61.
• Actress Maria Doyle Kennedy is 60.
• Scottie Pippen, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is 59.
• Actor Will Smith is 56.
• Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is 55.
• John Lynch, a member of the Football Hall of Fame, is 53.
• Chauncey Billups, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is 48.
• Actress Clea DuVall is 47.
• Rapper TI is 44.
• The actor and rapper Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) is 41.
• Actor Zach Woods is 40.
• Actor Jordan Gavaris is 35.
• Actress Leah Jeffries is 15.

crime

Former Massachusetts State Senator Dean Tran was found guilty on Wednesday on 23 counts related to fraudulently applying for unemployment advantages resulting from the pandemic and lying on tax returns, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Tran, a Republican from Fitchburg, served as a state senator from late 2017 to early 2021. He was arrested in November after being charged with 25 counts of wire fraud and three counts of filing false tax returns.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Tran's conviction Wednesday evening and said an official press release with further details would follow. As of Thursday morning, that press release had not been issued.

#BREAK Former Massachusetts State Senator Dean Tran has been found guilty by a federal jury on 23 counts stemming from his fraudulent application for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and false statements on various federal tax returns. Official press release follows.

— U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts (@DMAnews1) 11 September 2024

Prosecutors alleged that Tran fraudulently filed for unemployment advantages after his term expired in 2021, regardless that he had already been hired as a paid consultant for a New Hampshire-based auto parts company. They said he fraudulently collected $30,120 in unemployment advantages while working as a paid consultant.

Officials also alleged that Tran concealed greater than $50,000 in consulting income he received from the auto parts maker on his 2021 tax return. In addition, they alleged that Tran collected hundreds of dollars in rent from tenants of a Fitchburg property from 2020 to 2022, which he also concealed from the IRS.

“Dean Tran was once elected to serve taxpayers, but today we arrested him for allegedly defrauding them of tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent unemployment benefits intended as a lifeline for those struggling to survive due to the pandemic,” Jodi Cohen, special agent in control of the FBI's Boston Division, said last 12 months when Tran was arrested. “This former state senator allegedly made a conscious decision to repeatedly lie about his employment status and underreport his income from rental properties so he could get a tax break.”

His trial began on September 3 in Boston. Tran told the newspaper that he denies all allegations and accused the U.S. Attorney's Office and federal investigators of being politically biased against him because he’s a Republican.

Last June, Tran was charged in a separate case The case involved an alleged try and cover up a “bogus job offer” from the sister's company. As a part of their unemployment insurance investigation, authorities were looking into an alleged job offer from trans sister Tuyet Martin of Pelham, New Hampshire.

Prosecutors alleged that Tran and Martin drafted a letter offering Tran a job at Martin's Asian food company, Alecon Enterprises, Inc. Tran allegedly signed Martin's name and backdated the letter several months before submitting it as a part of his appeal after being denied advantages. They say Martin withheld and attempted to delete emails between her and Tran regarding the letter, and that Martin made false statements to a federal grand jury in July 2023.

By FRANKLIN BRICEÑO

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Alberto Fujimori, whose 10-year presidency began with triumphs that restored Peru's economy and crushed a brutal insurgency only to finish in a disgrace of autocratic excesses that later landed him in prison, has died. He was 86.

His death on Wednesday within the capital Lima was announced by his daughter Keiko Fujimori in a post on X.

He was pardoned in December of his convictions for corruption and responsibility for the murder of 25 people. His daughter said in July that he planned to run for the office of Peruvian president for the fourth time in 2026.

Fujimori, who ruled with an increasingly authoritarian hand from 1990 to 2000, was pardoned in December of his convictions for corruption and responsibility for the murder of 25 people. His daughter said in July that he planned to run for the office of Peruvian president for the fourth time in 2026.

The former university president and arithmetic professor was an entire political outsider when he emerged from obscurity and won the 1990 elections in Peru. Writer Mario Vargas LlosaThroughout his turbulent political profession, he repeatedly made dangerous, high-stakes decisions that earned him each admiration and criticism.

He took power in a rustic suffering from rampant inflation and guerrilla violence and overhauled the economy through daring measures that included the mass privatization of state-owned industries. Defeat fanatical Shining Path rebels took a bit of longer, but in addition brought him broad support.

However, his presidency failed just as dramatically.

After briefly paralyzing Congress and winning a controversial third term, he fled the country in disgrace in 2000 when leaked video footage showed his spy chief Vladimiro Montesinosby bribing MPs. The president travelled to Japan, the country of his parents, and faxed his resignation.

Five years later, he shocked supporters and opponents alike when he ended up in neighboring Chile, where he was arrested and subsequently extradited to Peru. He had hoped to run for Peruvian president in 2006, but as a substitute ended up in court, charged with abuse of power.

The political gambler who took a giant risk lost miserably. He was the primary former president on the planet to be tried and convicted in his own country for human rights abuses. Although he was not found to have personally ordered the 25 death squad killings for which he was convicted, he was held responsible since the crimes were committed within the name of his government.

His 25-year sentence didn’t stop Fujimori from in search of his political revenge, which he planned from a jail arrange in a police academy on the outskirts of Lima.

His daughter, a congresswoman Keiko attempted to revive the family dynasty by running for president in 2011, but was narrowly defeated in a runoff election. She ran again in 2016 and 2021, but lost by just 44,000 votes after promising throughout the campaign to release her father.

Fujimori told the Associated Press in 2000, seven months before his ouster, that he viewed his political rivals as chess pieces that might be outmaneuvered with cool detachment.

“I am a special case in Latin America,” he said. “I enjoyed a special education in an oriental environment, characterized by discipline and perseverance.”

Indeed, in a region slowly moving away from dictatorship toward democracy, Fujimori’s presidency was a brazen display of outright authoritarianism, known locally as “caudillismo.”

He leaves behind 4 children. The eldest, Keiko, became First Lady in 1996 when his father divorced his mother, Susana Higuchi, in a bitter dispute through which she accused Fujimori of torturing her. The youngest child, Kenji, was elected as a congressman.

Born on July 28, 1938, Peru's Independence Day, Fujimori's immigrant parents picked cotton until they may open a tailor shop in downtown Lima.

He graduated in agricultural engineering in 1956 after which studied in France and the USA, where he received a level in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1972.

In 1984 he became rector of the Agricultural University of Lima and 6 years later he ran for president without ever having held political office, describing himself as a clean alternative to Peru's corrupt and discredited political class.

He capitalized on the Peruvian stereotype of the honest, hard-working Asian and raised hopes in an economically struggling country by arguing that he would attract Japanese aid and technology.

One month before the 1990 election, his poll rating rose from 6 percent to 2 out of 9. In the runoff election, he defeated Vargas Llosa.

The victory, he later said, was born out of the identical frustration that drove the Shining Path.

“My government is the product of rejection, of dissatisfaction with Peru due to the frivolity, corruption and dysfunction of the traditional political class and bureaucracy,” he said.

Once in office, Fujimori initially received only applause for his tough words and practical style, while automobile bombings were still going down within the capital and inflation was at nearly 8,000 percent.

He applied the identical economic shock therapy that Vargas Llosa had advocated but rejected throughout the election campaign.

By privatizing state-owned industries, Fujimori drastically cut public spending and attracted record levels of foreign investment.

Affectionately often known as “El Chino” due to his Asian heritage, Fujimori often wore peasant garb when visiting indigenous jungle communities and highland farmers, bringing electricity and drinking water to desperately poor villages. This set him aside from patrician white politicians who often lacked his middle-class touch.

Fujimori also gave Peruvian security forces free rein to take motion against the Shining Path.

In September 1992, the police arrested the rebel leader Abimael GuzmanWhether deserved or not, Fujimori deserves the credit for this.

Perhaps his most famous calculation got here in April 1997, when he sent US-trained commandos to the Japanese ambassador's residence, where 14 left-wing Tupac Amaru rebels had held 72 hostages for months.

Only one hostage was killed. However, all hostage takers were allegedly killed on Montesinos' orders.

When the previous university professor left the dictatorships behind him in large parts of the region just a number of years after seizing power, he ultimately represented a step backwards. He developed a growing taste for power and resorted to increasingly undemocratic means to build up much more power.

In April 1992, he paralyzed Congress and the courts, accusing them of obstructing his efforts to defeat the Shining Path and advance economic reforms.

International pressure forced him to call elections for a brand new assembly to exchange Congress. The latest legislative body, dominated by his supporters, amended the Peruvian structure to permit the president to serve two consecutive five-year terms. Fujimori was overwhelmingly re-elected in 1995 after a transient border war with Ecuador.

Human rights activists at home and abroad sharply criticized him for his efforts to push through a general amnesty law forgiving human rights abuses committed by security forces during Peru's “anti-subversive” campaign between 1980 and 1995.

The conflict cost nearly 70,000 lives, a truth commission found. More than a 3rd of the deaths were by the hands of the military. Journalists and businessmen were kidnapped, students disappeared and not less than 2,000 peasant women from the highlands were forcibly sterilized.

In 1996, Fujimori's majority bloc in Congress enabled him to run for a 3rd term by passing a law that didn’t count his first five years as president because the brand new structure was not yet in force on the time of his election.

A yr later, Fujimori's congress dismissed three constitutional judges who had tried to overturn the law. His opponents accused him of trying to ascertain a democratically elected dictatorship.

By this time, almost day by day revelations were revealing the large extent of corruption surrounding Fujimori. About 1,500 people from his government were indicted on corruption and other charges, including eight former cabinet ministers, three former military commanders, a prosecutor general and a former Supreme Court chief justice.

The allegations against Fujimori led to years of legal battles. In December, Peru's Constitutional Court ruled in favor of a humanitarian pardon granted to Fujimori by then-President Pablo Kuczynski on Christmas Eve 2017. Fujimori left prison wearing a face mask and receiving supplemental oxygen and got into an SUV driven by his daughter-in-law.

He was last seen in public on September 4, leaving a personal hospital in a wheelchair. He told the press that he had undergone a CT scan, and when asked if his presidential candidacy was still going ahead, he smiled and said: “We'll see, we'll see.”

___

Frank Bajak, the lead creator of this obituary, retired from the Associated Press in 2024. Associated Press author Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed to the article.

Originally published: September 11, 2024 at 16:36

OAKLAND – A 63-year-old Newark man was found guilty by a jury this week of committing an anger-fueled hate crime on Interstate 880 in May 2023. The attack targeted a Black woman and her three children, prosecutors and court records show. Portions of the attack were captured on cellphone video.

Tracy Robert Blackwell was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime, prosecutors said. He is being held in Santa Rita Prison without bail. He faces seven years in prison, prosecutors said, but a sentencing date had not been set Friday.

According to prosecutors and the California Highway Patrol, a black woman and her three children were driving south on Hegenberger Road in East Oakland toward the I-880 on-ramp at around 4 p.m. on May 16, 2023. Blackwell, driving a Jeep Wrangler, cut off all lanes and pulled in front of her, nearly striking her vehicle.

The woman honked at Blackwell before each vehicles entered the highway.

Prosecutors said Blackwell began yelling the N-word and other obscenities at the girl and her children as they were within the driveway and continued doing in order he drove parallel to them on the highway. He also threw unknown objects at their vehicle.

At one point, the mother had her 14-year-old daughter film the encounter on her cellphone, after which Blackwell attempted to ram her vehicle, authorities said. No one was injured.

According to the CHP, Blackwell lost control of the Jeep and crashed within the shoulder of the road but was in a position to proceed driving. He followed the girl and her children to a gas station in East Oakland, where she got help, court documents say.

The CHP eventually identified Blackwell as a suspect and he was arrested on May 19.

In the press release, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price said, “Not only was this incident dangerous, it was traumatic because part of the crime involved racial slurs. My office will not tolerate acts of racist hatred in our community, especially when children are involved.”

According to court records, Blackwell has been convicted of a felony six times since 1984. This features a 2002 conviction for lewd acts on a toddler under 14, for which he served a jail sentence and was required to register as a sex offender.

Originally published: September 6, 2024 at 11:55 am

State lawmakers have rejected a bill introduced by a Santa Clara County senator that may have given some inmates serving life sentences without the potential for parole for murder a likelihood at release.

Senator Dave Cortese, a Democrat from San Jose, authored SB 94 in 2022 in hopes of allowing inmates convicted of murder committed before June 5, 1990, and who’ve already served no less than 25 years of their sentence, to be eligible for parole.

“After two years of negotiations and over a dozen amendments considered, I am incredibly disappointed that SB 94 was not given the opportunity to be heard and the amendments were not brought to a vote by the full House,” Cortese said in an announcement. “The bill was not brought to court like those it would have helped.”

The bill faced opposition from victims' rights and law enforcement groups in addition to Republican lawmakers.

“Far too often here in Sacramento we hear about the rights of criminals while the rights of victims are trampled upon,” said Rep. Juan Alanis, a Modesto Republican and former sheriff's sergeant, in an announcement. “I am proud that we were able to help prevent the wounds of victims and their families from being reopened for such gruesome crimes as murder and rape by releasing criminals who were rightly sentenced to life in prison.”

The bill was supported by the Oakland-based Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which called it “a modest reform that allows judges to reconsider rulings that are at least 25 years old.”

Had the law been passed and enacted, the convicted murderers would have been in a position to ask a judge to scale back their sentence to 25 years or life, with consideration for parole. The law wouldn’t have applied to people convicted of premeditated murder of a police officer on duty or certain sex offenses at the side of manslaughter.

This quickly caused a stir amongst victims' rights activists like Vanetta Perdue. The woman from North Carolina almost lost her life in 1982 when her violent husband, who was separated from her mother, broke into their house near Monterey, doused Perdue's mother with gasoline and set her on fire. She died and left her children to die together with her within the flames. A 12 months ago, she spoke out against the law on the State Capitol in Sacramento, saying: “Life without parole is exactly what it should be.”

During the legislative session that ended on Saturday, the bill didn’t receive the vital variety of votes and was placed on the “inactive” file.

Cortese was unavailable for comment Monday. But in his statement late last week, he said he remained concerned about inconsistencies in the prevailing law, which supplies some notorious inmates the chance to use for parole while others who were minorly involved in a deadly crime don't get the possibility. SB 94 followed a series of criminal justice reform measures pushed by the state's Democrats in recent times.

“We must continue the conversation and re-engage with the racist, inconsistent and harmful sentencing that has disproportionately impacted Californians for over twenty years and will continue to wreak havoc until it is fixed,” Cortese said in an announcement.

But Sen. Kelly Seyarto, a Republican from Murrieta and vice chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, said the bill “would have been devastating to public safety and victims' rights,” and lots of of Cortese's fellow Democrats, who’ve overwhelming majorities within the House, agreed. “We know that when voters come together and demand to be heard, even the overwhelming majority must take it seriously and listen to the will of the people.”

Originally published: September 2, 2024 at 3:40 p.m.

SAN JOSE – A jury has convicted a person of attempted murder after he shot and seriously wounded a San Jose police officer during a domestic violence response at his downtown apartment complex last yr, authorities said.

Gabriel Mario Carreras was found guilty of attempted murder, shooting into an inhabited dwelling (each felonies), and assault in reference to the August 16, 2023 encounter near Auzerais Avenue and Race Street.

The wounded officer, Erin Allen, testified on the eight-day trial that began last week and ended Thursday morning with the reading of the jury's verdict. The verdict also included acquittals on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and witness intimidation.

The attempted murder and shooting convictions are related to the attack on Allen, while the assault conviction is said to the family dispute wherein Carreras attacked his wife after reportedly checking out she was pregnant.

Due to the convictions, Carreras faces a jail sentence of between 30 and 55 years to life imprisonment.

On the morning of Aug. 18, Allen and one other officer went to the apartment complex to take a report from Carreras' wife saying he was drunk, tried to hit her and broke down a toilet door, all of the while telling her to terminate the pregnancy, police reports say.

As officers attempted to enter through a locked gate, they saw an open second-story balcony door and ordered those involved within the altercation to come back outside. Carreras reportedly got here out and fired a single shot from a .38-caliber pistol at Allen, hitting her slightly below her bulletproof vest.

Allen's partner pulled them to safety, and a four-hour standoff ensued, during which Carreras fired two more shots contained in the apartment complex. About an hour later, the lady who called police left the apartment with the gun in her back pocket. She told police Carreras passed out and dropped the gun next to him, giving her the chance to disarm him and get to safety.

The woman later told police that Carreras pulled a gun from a bag he was packing, and he or she locked herself in a bedroom. After hearing the primary gunshot, she claimed Carreras blamed her for his actions, including his admission that he “shot and possibly killed a police officer.”

Allen spent nine weeks within the hospital, where she underwent multiple surgeries to treat injuries to her intestines, colon, liver and gallbladder, in addition to a fractured vertebra.

The gun utilized by Carreras was unregistered, and he was prohibited from possessing firearms because he had been convicted in 2005 of assault with a deadly weapon and membership in a criminal street gang.

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.

OAKLAND – An area resident has been found guilty of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in reference to the 2020 shooting death of his former neighbor, a killing that exposed institutional failings and earned the victim's widow a multimillion-dollar settlement.

Jamal Thomas, 47, was convicted Tuesday of murdering 44-year-old Miles Armstead. The jury deliberated for a day before reaching the decision.

Armstead, an Oakland resident who left behind a pregnant wife, was shot and killed on May 1, 2020, while renovating his home in anticipation of his move. It was Thomas' harassment that prompted the couple to maneuver. Thomas has been arrested on nearly two dozen counts of harassing and threatening the couple or vandalizing their home. Among other things, he threw a brick through a window, nearly hitting Armstead's wife, court records show.

After being arrested for threatening the Armsteads, Thomas openly stated his intention to murder Armstead during an interrogation by police.

“Guess what, guys? I'll be right back,” Thomas told Oakland cops, in keeping with court documents. “And next time I'm going to kill him.”

Thomas was identified because the shooter by several neighbors. He had previously lived round the corner to Armstead but had moved out months earlier and continued to occupy the home. Others on the block were aware of his appearance, but Thomas's attorney wrote in court papers that a few of the witnesses identified the shooter as a person with long dreadlocks and that Thomas' hair was short when he was arrested.

The well-documented lead-up to the murder resulted in a lawsuit by Armstead's widow and a $2.4 million settlement paid by Alameda County and town of Oakland. The lawsuit alleged that the county's probation department and Oakland police missed warning signs and failed to answer a situation that was escalating toward violence.

Thomas is attributable to be sentenced in mid-August. He faces 25 years to life imprisonment for murder alone.