DISTRICT BRIEFING

Thursday, November 20, 2008

NORTHWEST

Mother's Boyfriend Charged in Death of Infant

A District man was arrested yesterday in the fatal beating of his girlfriend's 8-month-old son, D.C. police said last night.

Jonathan Austin, 33, who lived with his girlfriend and the boy in the 1200 block of North Capitol Street NW, was charged with second-degree murder. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in D.C. Superior Court today.

The boy, Ronjai Butler, was taken to Howard University Hospital on Sunday by his mother, who reported that the boy was experiencing labored breathing, police said. The boy, who had bruises and other trauma to his torso, was pronounced dead late Sunday afternoon, and the D.C. medical examiner's office ruled the case a homicide.

A social worker had been at the home in December, investigating a complaint about a 9-year-old sibling of Ronjai's, Attorney General Peter Nickles said.

The social worker noted that Ronjai had a heart murmur but was being well taken care of, Nickles said. After an investigation, the social worker determined there were no obvious signs of violence or danger to the children in the household.

The District's Child and Family Services Agency is investigating whether all the proper procedures were followed in the investigation, Nickles said.

-- Paul Duggan and Petula Dvorak

FEDERAL COURT

City Auditor Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribe

A 36-year-old former auditor at the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to receiving a $6,000 bribe to lower a business's taxes.

El-Hadj Drame, who resigned from the tax office as part of the plea, faces up to 18 months in prison under federal guidelines at his sentencing Feb. 18. Drame acknowledged that he collected the cash from a business owner as FBI agents were swarming the tax office while investigating an unconnected scam that siphoned $48.1 million from the District government.

Authorities said Drame approached the owner of an unidentified business he was auditing last November. The men met twice that month at a Silver Spring fast-food restaurant, where Drame solicited the bribe, prosecutors said. The business owner gave Drame an envelope filled with the cash Nov. 14, 2007, prosecutors said.

-- Del Quentin Wilber

Man Admits to Extorting Surgeon Over Affair

A Nigerian man acknowledged in federal court that he extorted a married neurosurgeon to keep quiet the doctor's affair with a nurse, who was in on the scheme.

Adriane Osuagwu, who most recently lived in California, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit extortion and is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 30. The doctor, who lives in the Washington area, is married to a prominent World Bank official. He had an affair with a nurse, Queen Nowye, who was a former lover of Osuagwu's, prosecutors said. Osuagwu and Nowye extorted the doctor in 2006, collecting $185,000 to keep them from telling his wife about the liaisons. Osuagwu pocketed $174,000, prosecutors said. Nowye was convicted last year of conspiring to commit extortion by a federal jury and was sentenced in June to 20 months in prison. Under sentencing guidelines, Osuagwu faces 21 to 27 months behind bars.

-- Del Quentin Wilber

SOUTHEAST

Police Identify the Victim of a Fatal Shooting

A man found shot to death Sunday in Southeast Washington was identified by police yesterday as Jose W. Escobar, 25, of the unit block of L Street NW. Escobar was found dead in the 500 block of Foxhall Place SE by a resident who went outside to check on his motorcycle. Police said they think Escobar had been shot several hours earlier in the 700 block of Atlantic Street SE, then staggered several blocks before collapsing.

-- Paul Duggan

Youth Charged as Juvenile in Assault on Uncle

A 16-year-old Southeast youth was arrested yesterday after he shot his uncle in the head after the two argued in the Woodland Terrace neighborhood, D.C. police said.

Police called to the 2700 block of Langston Place SE about 10 a.m. found the 27-year-old uncle suffering from a gunshot wound to the forehead, officials said. He was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition last night.

The teenager turned himself in at the 7th Police District about 5 p.m. Authorities declined to identify the youth, who was charged as a juvenile with assault with intent to kill.

Officials were investigating whether the uncle and nephew were arguing about the teen skipping school yesterday, said a law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk about the case.

-- Clarence Williams