MELBOURNE, Australia — The most senior Catholic convicted of child sex abuse was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for molesting two choirboys in an Australian cathedral in a crime the judge said showed "staggering arrogance." Cardinal George Pell must serve a minimum of 3 years and 8 months...
Manafort Given 3.5 Years of Extra Prison Time, Faces New Charges
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to an additional three and one-half years of prison, questioning his remorse and rebuking him for his crimes and years of lies. That makes seven and one-half years for Manafort, coming on top of the roughly...
3 Get Prison in College Basketball Recruiting Scandal
NEW YORK — Three men have received prison sentences in the widespread college basketball recruiting scandal that has tainted two dozen schools. Former Adidas executive James Gatto, business manager Christian Dawkins, and amateur league director Merl Code were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October for funneling illegal payments...
Alcatraz a Fond Memory in Whitey Bulger's Letters
BOSTON — Locked up for life after 16 years on the run, murderous Boston gang boss James "Whitey" Bulger couldn't stand how much the world around him had changed. Prison was nothing like his days at Alcatraz, with its "great view" and clear-cut rules, Bulger said. And the former Irish...
Walters: So Far, Prison Inmate Rehab Isn't Working
The state prison system’s official title, “Department of Corrections,” was for decades nothing more than a euphemism, as was the official nomenclature for the system’s guards of “correctional officer.” The system expanded from about 20,000 inmates during Jerry Brown’s first stint as governor to more than 160,000 when he began...
Parole Recommended for Manson Follower Leslie Van Houten
LOS ANGELES — A California panel on Wednesday recommended that Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten be paroled after serving more than four decades in prison. After a hearing at the women's prison in Corona, California, commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings found for the third time that the...
DJ Art Laboe, 93, Spins Oldies to Link Inmates and Family
PALM SPRINGS — It's approaching 9 p.m. and Art Laboe adjusts the microphone as Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" ends. "And now it's time for you to call up for those goodnight dedications," Laboe announces. "Hello?" a young girl says. "I want to dedicate this to my dad that's in...
Kevin Spacey Is Charged With Groping a Young Man
BOSTON — Kevin Spacey has been charged with groping the 18-year-old son of a Boston TV anchor in 2016 — the first criminal case brought against the Oscar-winning actor since his career collapsed amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations over a year ago. Spacey, 59, is due in court...
Judge Gives Ex-Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen 3 Years in Prison
NEW YORK — Michael Cohen, who as President Donald Trump's personal lawyer and fixer once vowed he would "take a bullet" for his boss, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for an array of crimes that included arranging the payment of hush money to two women that he...
Court Urged to End Rule That Erased Hernandez’s Conviction
BOSTON — A legal principle that erased former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction after he killed himself in prison is outdated, unfair and should not stand, a Massachusetts prosecutor told the state's highest court Thursday. It doesn't make sense the former New England Patriots tight end is...