Friday, August 17, 2007
CITY GOVERNMENT
Antiwar Group to Sue Over Sign Fines
An antiwar coalition says it will sue the D.C. government next week in response to fines of nearly $10,000 that the city levied against the group for illegally posted signs.
The Answer Coalition has posted hundreds of signs to promote a march Sept. 15 against the war in Iraq and is accusing the Department of Public Works of political harassment.
The group has 14 days to appeal the fines, said Sarah Sloan, the coalition's national staff coordinator.
The Department of Public Works says the coalition illegally affixed the signs to utility boxes using glue that was too sticky, exceeded the number of signs allowed per block and did not register copies of the signs.
The fines have nothing to do with politics, city officials said.
The National Park Service has also asked the group to remove signs from utility boxes on the Mall and near the White House or pay for the federal government to remove them.
-- Jenna Johnson
ESCORT SERVICE CASE
Judge Rejects Bid to Dismiss Indictment
A federal judge refused to dismiss a racketeering indictment yesterday against former escort service owner Deborah Jeane Palfrey, rejecting defense claims that she is a victim of selective prosecution.
Palfrey was indicted in March on charges that she ran a prostitution service in the Washington area. In court papers, her attorneys challenged the indictment, saying that Palfrey was the only one of many escort service owners to face prosecution.
Palfrey has said that she ran a legitimate business and did not break the law.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said Palfrey failed to show that she was unfairly singled out. The judge also rejected other challenges to the indictment.
SOUTHEAST1 Woman Killed, 1 Injured in Shooting
One woman was killed and another was wounded in a shooting yesterday in Southeast Washington, police said. LaDonna Carter, 31, of Alexandria, was fatally shot about 2 a.m. in the 3700 block of Bangor Street SE, police said. The second victim, 34, was hospitalized yesterday in critical condition. Police said they had no suspects or motive.
-- Jenna Johnson
Woman Charged in Fatal Stabbing
A 27-year-old man was fatally stabbed yesterday in Southeast Washington, and a woman was charged in his death, police said.
Officers said they were called to the 2700 block of Langston Place at 2:20 a.m. They found Michael Whitfield, who lived in the 2900 block of Knox Place SE, with multiple stab wounds. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
Police said they believe Whitfield got into a fight with Norma Vaughn, 27, of the 2600 block of Langston Place SE. Vaughn was charged with second-degree murder.
-- Jenna Johnson
MAIL FRAUD
School Founder Gets Jail Time in Scam
The founder of a school for learning-disabled and emotionally disabled boys was sentenced to a year and a day in jail yesterday for taking part in a scheme involving stolen computers.
Charles I. Emor, 46, used some of the stolen computers at his school, the SunRise Academy, in the 1100 block of Sixth Street NW. He also sold some for personal profit, prosecutors said.
Emor, of Hyattsville, was convicted in U.S. District Court of conspiring to commit mail fraud. Prosecutors said he repeatedly bought Gateway computers that were stolen from a manufacturing plant in Hampton, Va.
He knew they were stolen, prosecutors said, but he still made the purchases between 1998 and 2002.
Prosecutors said that they were unable to determine how many computers were involved but that Emor bought nearly 70 of the stolen items during a one-year period ending in May 2002. Four co-conspirators pleaded guilty earlier.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson also ordered Emor to pay $69,000 in restitution.
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