A Polk County man was under arrest for shooting three passing cars with an automatic rifle.
Haines City police caught the man standing along Bates Road and US-17/92 with the high-powered gun Saturday. Officers said one woman was shot in the leg and another victim was hit by shattered glass.
The suspect was booked in the Polk County jail as "John Doe" because he gave police three different names.
A by 14-year-old girl from Mexico was smuggled into the United States and forced into prostitutionthree illegal immigrants suspected of running a prostitution ring in North and South Carolina, according to court documents.
A federal detention hearing was held Tuesday for two men suspected of holding or transporting illegal immigrants for prostitution. The alleged ringleader, Guadalupe Reyes-Rivera, was being sought on similar charges, according to a sworn statement from Craig Hannah, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Bail was denied for Jesus Perez-Laguna, but the local US attorney's office refused to say where he was being held. A spokeswoman would not discuss any details about the case.
Ciro Bustos-Rosales, 35, was being held Wednesday at the Richland County Detention Center on charges of prostitution, pimping and soliciting, according to the jail's website.
Perez-Laguna arranged for the 14-year-old to be smuggled into the country under the guise of getting restaurant work, according to Hannah's statement. The girl was taken to Charlotte, NC, several locations in South Carolina, and later Columbia, where she was forced "to perform acts of prostitution and turn over the proceeds," according to the statement.
A 19-year-old girl and 31-year-old woman also were involved in the prostitution ring, according to Hannah.
The South Carolina U.S. Attorney's Office announced the indictment Tuesday of three Mexican nationals who they say were importing women from Mexico to South Carolina for prostitution.
According to the indictment, Jesus Perez-Laguna, Guadalupe "Mama Martina" Reyes-Rivera and Ciro Bustos-Rosales brought women into the state for use in a commercial sex operation, at least one as young as 14 years old.
Perez-Laguna, Reyes-Rivera and Bustos-Rosales also are accused of harboring illegal immigrants.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Wan J. Kim said, "Too often sex traffickers prey on young women who are brought into the United States illegally, thousands of miles from home, and unaware of the U.S. legal system or their rights to be free from this form of involuntary servitude."
If convicted of sex trafficking and related crimes, Perez-Laguna, Reyes-Rivera and Bustos-Rosales face a sentence of up to life in prison and a combined fine of more than $1 million.
Since 2001, the Justice Department has charged more than 430 with human trafficking and secured convictions for 316 defendants.
Two of the illegal aliens below
The prostitution mobile homes
The neighbor of the prostitution mobile homes (and probably the best customer) who claims he "ain't knew nuffins bout wut wuz goin on up der." But nows dat ah do know, aye probably haz ah lot moe monee frum now on. Ah Huh.
Video here, not about the problem Americans face with illegal aliens and the crimes they commit, but about the poor, poor Mexicans and how we need to protect them. Typical news media dumbing down and reflecting away from the real problem - Typical Propaganda - Video Link
On top of his license revocation, Rodriguez was sentenced to clean-up the memorial to his adult victim and her unborn child. What a travesty of justice here. The judge should be banished from the bench forever and the invader should be banished from this earth forever. Complete injustice, a very disgusting and sickening case.
Rodriguez Pleads Guilty to DWI Charge
A Leland man suspected of being under the influence of alcohol when he hit and killed a woman five years ago has been convicted of driving while impaired.
Efrain Rodriguez pleaded guilty to a DWI charge in a New Hanover County courtroom on Monday.
Rodriguez has a history of driving drunk.
He has been arrested twice before on DWI charges. In 2003, he hit and killed a pregnant woman then drove away.
Police suspect he was drunk but couldn't prove it since they didn't find him until the next day.
Rodriguez served less than a year for the hit and run.
The victim's father says he wants Rodriguez behind bars for life.
Rodriguez will lose his license for a year.
As part of his guilty plea, he will have to serve community service by cleaning up the memorial of the woman he killed.
Victim, her murderer was sentenced to a year of license revocation and to clean-up her memorial, she, was sentenced to death.
The passive father, he tried to the best of his ability to seek justice for his daughter's killer, but the cards were stacked against him. He was insulted, abused and intimidated at the court house and in the end, his worst fears were realized, justice escaped him, his daughter and his unborn grandchild.
The invader, comes in to a country in which he doesn't belong. Kills a citizen of that country and walks away as if nothing happened. Some claim there is a conspiracy against the White inhabitants of America, to those I say, this case strengthens your argument even further. They can kill a member of our race, even an innocent young woman with child and it's like "nothing happened." Yet, we kill a member of theirs and it's like the world stopped. Well, stops with the exception of the printing presses and the talking heads on TV, they never forget. Once again I'm left with few words but those few words need to be said . . . what a lowdown, dirty shame! Wake-up folks, before it's too l-a-t-e.
For anyone who may be bored and wants to read a complete BS story - here it is --- >
Tonight we're looking at the criminal career of one young man and asking why?
He is 19 and has his whole life ahead of him, but not at the rate he's going.
It's a closer look at Justice Failed. (And they don't mean the rope broke)
In the case of Cedric Gaston, it works two ways.
Maybe the system failed him, but he also failed the system. (Or, WTF is he doing in the "system" to begin with?)
He has had more charges and more second chances in his life than birthdays. He has 22 pending right now.
A couple of those are from a car break-in over the weekend. He was caught in the act and out on bond the same day.
In fact, his jail time is just a flash in the pan. In all of his arrests for breaking into cars, armed robbery, stealing, and lying to police, the most time he has done is six months.
Usually it is a day, maybe two weeks here or there.
"I'm always curious when I see the mugshot of a 19 year old on television. That's not what the plan for his life should have been," said Children's Advocate Brett Loftis.
Loftis tries to turn young offenders around. They have a saying in his job.
"Sad kids steal and angry kids rape. If you don't deal with the disfunctions early on, they'll manifest in some way."
We have no idea about Gaston's life.
Loftis said, "I know he's been arrested a lot, obviously there's a problem..."
His family wouldn't talk and whatever his issues are, they are not an excuse.
In the same way, Loftis says locking Gaston up isn't a solution. "Which there's a purpose in, but you really don't want him to come back, you have to do something different while he's there."
But he doesn't believe in giving a million second chances either. At some point, there's a real public safety issue. (Like after an armed robbery or two - or three?)
That is what ticks off police officers and a lot of people in this community.
Ultimately, Gaston makes his own choices and today he failed to show up in court.
Mexicans turn violent on group protesting Bush's NAU plan - Mex's say it's "racist" to protest against White genocide - many cops hurt yet no arrests were made
What were supposed to be two separate protests by two opposing groups turned violent when the one group grew confrontational and threw balloons and beer bottles at its opposition on Saturday.
Some 200 people gathered to protest against what they claim is President Bush's support of a North American union which, the protesters claim, would eliminate U.S. sovereignty.
"Not every illegal immigrant is a criminal - we understand that, but we are allowing people into this nation who are doing us harm," said Jonnie Crivello, a protester.
The protesters gathered at the Seattle Center and marched down Third Avenue to the Federal Building. While rallied there, they were bombed with beer cans and balloons by counter-protesters who were holding their own rally, prompting police to intervene.
About 50 counter-protesters were present, claiming shutting down the border is a racist act.
"We say no human being is illegal and everybody - just by working here - automatically has the right to live here," said Jorge Torres, a counter-protester.
Police said many of their officers were hurt during the protests. No arrests were made.
Gee, wonder why they would curtail reporting on the war they are losing? Just don't make sense heh? Unless, of course . . . . there was something to hide? Like, that they are losing? But gosh, I thought, ah, aren't they, president Bush . . . we're making headway in Iraq, we're doing good in Iraq, that democracy in Iraq is - close at hand, the Iraqi people, these people wanted us to invade their country, only 15 US soldiers lost today, three apache helicopters fell from the sky today, wasn't shot down though, wasn't shot out of the sky or anything, mechanical problems, wasn't a missile or something no, no-one's shooting at us, they love us here, it was a roadside bomb, terrorist, terrorism, you know, our best friends, the boogie man, those, yea, . . . . we're doing we're good we're Iraq yes love us regime change, Saddam bad, Israel good, your sons and daughters are hero's - send more & blah blah blah . . . .
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. media reporting of the war in Iraq fell sharply in the second quarter of 2007, largely due to a drop in coverage of the Washington-based policy debate, a study released Monday said.
Taken together, the war's three major story lines -- the U.S. policy debate, events in Iraq and their impact on the U.S. homefront -- slipped roughly a third, to 15 percent of an index of total news coverage, down from 22 percent in the first three months of the year.
The study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism examined 18,010 stories that appeared between April 1 and June 29. Its "News Coverage Index" encompasses 48 outlets, including newspapers, radio, online, cable and network television.
The project is a research group studying and evaluating press performance. It describes itself as nonpartisan, nonideological and nonpolitical. The index is designed as an audit of a broad cross-section of U.S. news media.
The 2008 presidential campaign -- with its crowded field for the Democratic and Republican party nominations -- emerged as the top story in U.S. media in the second quarter, overtaking the Iraq policy debate, the biggest thread of the three Iraq-related storylines, the survey found.
Attention to the war dropped in all five media sectors surveyed. Network evening news, the sector that gave the war the greatest share of attention in the first quarter, scaled back more than 40 percent, from 33 percent in the first quarter to 19 percent in the second, the study showed.
On cable television, another leader in first-quarter coverage, the slide was nearly as great, from 23 percent of news reported to 14 percent -- a drop of 39 percent, the project said.
The bulk of the fall took place after May 24, when Congress approved war funding without including troop withdrawal timetables. This was widely viewed by the media as a victory for President George W. Bush in a political battle with Congress sparked by his January 10 troop "surge" announcement.
"In the aftermath, the debate itself quieted, as did coverage," the report said. Continued...
Muqtada al-Sadr: The British are retreating from Basra
The British Army has been defeated in Iraq and left with no option but to retreat from the country, claims radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Violent resistance and a rising death toll among UK troops has forced a withdrawal, he said in an interview with The Independent.
"The British have given-up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon," Mr Sadr said. "They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt."
The young nationalist cleric heads Iraq's largest Arab grassroots political movement, and its powerful military wing, the Mehdi army. It has clashed frequently with British forces in southern Iraq, most recently in the battle for power over the oil-rich port city of Basra. Scores of British soldiers have been killed and wounded by Sadrist militants.
"The British have realised this is not a war they should be fighting or one they can win," Mr Sadr said. "The Mehdi army has played an important role in that." He also warned that Britain's involvement in the invasion of Iraq had made the UK a less safe place to live. "The British put their soldiers in a dangerous position by sending them here but they also put the people in their own country in danger," he said. "They have made enemies among all Muslims and they now face attacks at home because of their war. That was their mistake." His comments came during two separate meetings with The Independent at the Sadr movement's headquarters in Kufa, a holy Shia city, 100 miles south of Baghdad, and site of the Grand Mosque where Mr Sadr often preaches fiery Friday sermons. The streets were eerily devoid of cars, which are, in effect, banned in an effort to prevent bombings. Senior Shia leaders are high on the list of targets for Sunni extremists.
Only two guards with AK-47 assault rifles appeared to be protecting Mr Sadr in his office, a clear sign that Kufa and the surrounding area is firmly under the control of Sadr loyalists. It is not patrolled by US troops and access is policed by Iraqi security at heavily armed roadblocks.
Mr Sadr's remarks echo those of senior British military commanders who have come to view the mission of UK forces in Iraq as finished. They have reportedly told the Prime Minister Gordon Brown there is nothing more to be achieved in southern Iraq and that troops should be redeployed to Afghanistan.
The man charged with setting fire to a downtown Chattanooga hotel room did not go before a judge as scheduled today. The judge passed the case of Bairo Gomez until August 24th.
Gomez is charged with aggravated arson, malicious mischief and reckless endangerment. Investigators say Gomez trashed and then set fire to a fourth floor room at the Marriott Residence Inn last Saturday.
Fire officials say the started the fire by putting a toaster in the microwave and hitting the start button.
