Tag: prison

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Ambassador To Zambia Denounces 15-Year Prison Sentence For 2 Gay Men

(stock photo via Depositphotos)

(stock photo via Depositphotos)
(stock photo via Depositphotos)
Two gay men in Zambia were arrested for having gay sex in a private hotel room, and the High Court of Zambia has now sentenced the men to 15 years in prison for being intimate behind closed doors. The south-eastern African country, which retains its colonial-era laws, offers no legal protections for LGBTQ people. The men, Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba, booked the room in 2017. According to reports, a female worker peeked through a window and saw the men being intimate. Last week, a judge dismissed an appeal against their convictions for crimes against the order of nature (the legal term for gay sex in Zambia) sentencing them both to 15 years in prison. World map showing Zambia on continent of Africa The U.S. ambassador to Zambia, Daniel Foote, said in a statement: “I was personally horrified to read about the sentencing of two men, who had a consensual relationship, which hurt absolutely no one.” Foote implored the government of Zambia to review the case but received a fervent backlash for speaking out. In an official embassy statement, Foote announced he was forced to cancel attending World AIDS Day events due to threats against him. “I was shocked at the venom and hate directed at me and my country, largely in the name of “Christian” values, by a small minority of Zambians,” wrote the ambassador. “I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that Christianity meant trying to live like our Lord, Jesus Christ. I am not qualified to sermonize, but I cannot imagine Jesus would have used bestiality comparisons or referred to his fellow human beings as “dogs,” or “worse than animals;” allusions made repeatedly by your countrymen and women about homosexuals.” Foote’s official statement also made mention of the $500 million in annual assistance Zambia receives from the United States saying, “In these countries were we contribute resources, this includes partnering in areas of mutual interest, and holding the recipient government accountable for its responsibilities under this partnership.”

In an interview with Sky News, President Lungu defended his country’s homophobic laws saying, “Even animals don’t do it, so why should we be forced to do it?…because we want to be smart, civilized and advanced and so on.” “If there are such countries which will allow bestiality, let them do it but not here,” he added. Ah, yes – the old ‘compare being gay to having sex with animals’ argument. How fresh, how new… Zambia’s president told Sky News his government will officially complain to the Trump administration over Foote’s remarks. (source: Sky News)

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Police Officer Sentenced To 10 Years For Shooting Death Of Neighbor

Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who was found guilty of murder yesterday in the shooting death of her neighbor, Botham Jean, was sentenced to 10 years in prison today. She was facing between 5-99 years in prison. From NBC News:

Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted of murder for fatally shooting her unarmed neighbor in his apartment, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

Guyger, 31, learned her fate after a sentencing hearing that included emotional testimony from the family of the victim, Botham Jean, and revelations that she shared racist and offensive texts and social media posts.

Prosecutors had asked jurors to sentence Guyger to at least 28 years — symbolic because Jean would have turned 28 last Sunday.

Guyger did not testify during her sentencing, but she has the opportunity to appeal the conviction in the unique case, which has gripped the city of Dallas and shattered the idea that law-abiding residents can be safe in their own homes.

The jury was allowed to consider whether Jean’s death was the result of “sudden passion,” which meant Guyger acted in the heat of the moment. It carried a lesser sentence of two to 20 years behind bars.

Guyger shot Jean after walking into his apartment thinking it was hers at the end of a shift. Believing he was a burglar in her home, she shot him while he was armed with just a bowl of ice cream. This stunning moment, between Jean’s brother and Guyger, happened at the sentencing today.

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Podcast: Student Goes To Prison For Defending Himself; Genetic Mutation & HIV; Emojis Help Your Sex Life

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter'

In this week’s podcast: • A bisexual high school student in NYC is sentenced to 14 years in prison for stabbing one of his bullies to death. • A gay man was threatened by a homophobe for wearing a pink yarmulke. • Scientists have discovered a second genetic mutation that makes people immune to HIV. • A new study indicates that people who use more emojis in their text messages have busier sex lives. • Plus, new music from rising indie artist Parker Matthews “Live For Your Crazy” All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.

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Drug Lord El Chapo Sentenced To Life In Prison Without Possibility Of Parole

El Chapo, real name Joaquín Guzmán Loera, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a life spent sending tons of drugs into the United States and ordering the deaths of dozens of people.
Infamous drug lord El Chapo

El Chapo, real name Joaquín Guzmán Loera, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a life spent sending tons of drugs into the United States and ordering the deaths of dozens of people.

From the New York Times:

The life sentence, mandated by law as a result of the severity of Mr. Guzmán’s crimes, was handed down in the Federal District Court in Brooklyn, where the kingpin was convicted last winter of drug, murder and money laundering charges after a sprawling three-month trial.

As some of the federal agents who had chased him for years looked on from the gallery, Judge Brian M. Cogan issued the life term and Mr. Guzmán, 62, was hauled away to prepare himself — pending an appeal — for spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Judge Cogan said the “overwhelming evil” of Mr. Guzmán’s crimes were apparent. Besides giving him a life sentence plus 30 years, he ordered the drug lord to pay $12.6 billion in restitution.

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Manafort Sentenced To Additional 3.5 Years In Prison, Plus Indicted By New York State On 16 New Charges

Former Trump campaign chair, Paul Manafort

Donald Trump’s former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, will now serve seven and a half years in prison after Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Federal District Court in Washington added 3.5 more years to his sentence on Wednesday.

In issuing her ruling, Judge Jackson said Manafort “spent a significant portion of his career gaming the system.”

From the New York Times:

Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Federal District Court in Washington sentenced Mr. Manafort, 69, on two conspiracy counts that encompassed a host of crimes, including money-laundering, obstruction of justice and failing to disclose lobbying work that earned him tens of millions of dollars over more than a decade.

“It is hard to overstate the number of lies and the amount of fraud and the amount of money involved,” she said, reeling off Mr. Manafort’s various offenses, rapid-fire. “There is no question that this defendant knew better and he knew what he was doing.”

Each charge carried a maximum of five years. But Judge Jackson noted that one count was closely tied to the same bank and tax fraud scheme that a federal judge in Virginia had sentenced Mr. Manafort for last week. Under sentencing guidelines, she said, those punishments should largely overlap, not be piled on top of each other. Mr. Manafort was also expected to get credit for the nine months he has already spent in jail.

Per Judge Jackson’s sentence, Manafort received for Count One 60 months, of which 30 months will run concurrent with last week’s sentence.

For Count Two, he received a sentence of 13 months which will run consecutive to count 1 and the earlier sentence in Virginia.

He also forfeits $11 million in assets.

The Times reports that Manafort begged Judge Jackson not to add to his time in prison. “This case has taken everything from me, already,” he said as he listed the assets he’s forfeited. “Please let my wife and I be together.”

Donald Trump hasn’t said definitively if he will pardon the 69-year-old, but he’s repeatedly spoken well of Manafort calling him “a brave man.”

And then…

Immediately following the sentencing hearing, Manfort was indicted by New York state Attorney General Cyrus R. Vance Jr. on 16 state felony charges including mortgage fraud.

The new state charges against Mr. Manafort are contained in a 16-count indictment that alleges a yearlong scheme in which he falsified business records to obtain millions of dollars in loans, Mr. Vance said in a news release after the federal sentencing.

“No one is beyond the law in New York,” he said, adding that the investigation by the prosecutors in his office had “yielded serious criminal charges for which the defendant has not been held accountable.”

The indictment grew out of an investigation that began in 2017, when the Manhattan prosecutors began examining loans Mr. Manafort received from two banks.

This complicates Manafort’s life much more.

While Donald Trump may pardon Manafort for his federal crimes, and it’s appeared that Manafort is counting on that, Trump has no pardon power over state charges.

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Egypt: TV Host Sentenced To One Year Hard Labor For Interviewing Gay Man

Mohamed al-Ghiety

A television host in Egypt has been fined $167 and sentenced to a year of hard labor for the crime of interviewing a gay man.

According to the BBC, Mohamed al-Ghiety interviewed a gay man in 2018 about his life as a sex worker. In the interview, the man (who was not identified) says he has regrets about being gay and working as a prostitute.

A lawyer, Samir Sabry, sued the TV host for appearing to promote possible monetary gains from “practicing” homosexuality. Sabry apparently has a history of targeting celebrities via lawsuits.

Ghiety, who ironically has history of homophobic comments, will also be under police surveillance for a year after his prison sentence.

Homosexuality is not specifically illegal in Egypt, but police often arrest folks suspected of being LGBTQ by using a 1961 law banning prostitution which criminalizes ‘habitual debauchery.’

At the time of the interview, the top governing organization for media – the Supreme Council for Media Regulation – banned the channel from airing for two weeks due to ‘professional violations.’

The media council has prohibited LGBTQs from being shown on television in the conservative country since an incident at a Cairo rock concert in 2017, where a rainbow Pride flag was waved in a rare exhibition of gay pride.

(image via Facebook/Egypt Rainbow)

At the time, the BBC wrote, “The raising of rainbow flags at the concert by the Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila – whose lead singer is openly gay – on 22 September was a rare public show of support for the LGBT community in the conservative Muslim country.”

As a result of the images going viral, 32 men and a woman were detained by authorities. The BBC reported that five of those men had anal examination carried out on them.

For a bail bond of 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($58US), Ghiety could appeal his verdict and remain free while he awaits the outcome of the appeal.

(h/t BBC)

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News Round-Up: December 21, 2018

• Handsome InstaHunk Jim Newman (above) has been running a fabulous "Days of Christmas" campaign over on his Instagram taking pics au naturel with items in his home blocking just the barest of body parts. Well, worth clicking over to as this was the most tame I can post here ;)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Handsome InstaHunk Jim Newman (above) has been running a fabulous “Days of Christmas” campaign over on his Instagram taking daily pics au naturel with items in his home blocking just the barest of body parts. Well-worth clicking over to as this was the most tame I can post here 😉

• An amateur photographer from England received a 16-year jail sentence for drugging and raping male models. “I get a kick out of robbing a straight guy out of his masculinity,” he shared in a conversation.

• Donald Trump, who promised his infamous wall along the Mexican border would be paid for by Mexico, now says “The wall will pay for itself.”

• Even though the play opened to very good reviews, the Broadway revival of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song, starring out actor Michael Urie, has announced it will close January 6.

• The stock market moved into bear territory this week as the Dow fell another 417.11 points today, closing the week with a loss of 6.75% – its worst weekly decline since October 2008. #ThanksTrump

• In a year of ups and downs, the world searched for “good” more than ever before — according to Google Trends. From the epic headlines to the everyday moments, here’s to all the good that people discovered in 2018.

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Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s ‘Fixer,’ Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison

Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and so-called ‘fixer,’ was sentenced today to three years in prison for his role in secret hush money scandals regarding alleged affairs between Donald Trump and two women.

His crimes included campaign finance violations as well as lying to Congress.

From The New York Times:

The sentencing in federal court in Manhattan capped a startling fall for Mr. Cohen, 52, who had once hoped to work by Mr. Trump’s side in the White House but ended up a central figure in the inquiry into payments to a porn star and a former Playboy model before the 2016 election.

Judge William H. Pauley III said Mr. Cohen had committed a “smorgasbord” of crimes involving “deception” and motivated by “personal greed and ambition.”

“As a lawyer, Mr. Cohen should have known better,” the judge said.

Before he was sentenced, a solemn Mr. Cohen, standing at a lectern, sounded emotional but resolved as he told the judge he had been tormented by the anguish and embarrassment he had caused his family.

Referencing Trump recently calling him ‘weak,’ Cohen agreed with that assessment but for different reasons than Trump.

“It was because time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own inner voice and my moral compass,” Mr. Cohen said.

Cohen had also served as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee.

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White Supremacist Sentenced To Life In Prison For Driving Car Through Charlottesville Crowd

James A Fields Jr.

The Washington Post reports that neo-nazi James A. Fields Jr., convicted of first-degree murder (among other charges) has been sentenced to life in prison and more for his actions.

James A. Fields Jr., an avowed neo-Nazi who rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters at a white-supremacist rally, was sentenced to life in prison by a jury Tuesday after a trial that offered an unsparing view of the physical and emotional ruin he caused in this city with a burst of vehicular rage 16 month ago.

As he had throughout his two-week trial, Fields, 21, sat impassively at the defendant’s table, clad in a powder blue sweater, as the jury delivered its verdict at 12:20 p.m. after about four hours of deliberations that began Monday: life for first-degree murder; 70 years for each of five counts of aggravated malicious wounding; 20 years for each of three counts of malicious wounding; and nine years for leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

His overall sentence: life plus 419 years and $480,000 in fines.

Heather Heyer, 32, was killed in the attack as well as 35 others who were seriously injured.

In Virginia, a trial jury hands out sentences within certain guidelines.

The judge will officially sentence Fields on March 29.  At that time, the judge may reduce, but not increase, the prison time.

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News Round-Up: November 19, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• I’ve been meaning to feature the oh-so-handsome blond man above for some time, but I don’t know who he is. A reader sent his pic and I was quite smitten by the good looks. Anyone know who he is? #woof #BeardCameNice

• Folks have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a bronze plaque honoring Matthew Shepard at the Washington National Cathedral. The crypt where he lies isn’t open to the public, so folks would like to design and install a plaque in the chapel.

• This Chinese author was sentenced to 10 years in prison for including gay sex scenes in her latest novel.

• Woofy Prince Harry carries on the legacy of his mother, Princess Diana, by raising awareness for HIV. Check out the new PSA as he flips the script on HIV testing saying it’s something to be proud, not embarrassed, about.

• The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, says religious schools in Australia should be accepting of gay teachers IF they keep their relationships hidden. He also thinks its better if they and their partners live far away from the school in which they teach.

• A gay councilman in Texas was removed from office after a homophobic political foe leaked his Grindr pics to the public.

• A new study by psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania found that too much Facebook can contribute to depression and loneliness. The study found those who cut back on their social media consumption found their moods improved.

• UK rugby legend Gareth Thomas was the victim of a hate crime by a 16-year-old in his hometown of Cardiff.

“Last night I was a victim in my home city of a hate crime for my sexuality,” Thomas told his Twitter followers. “I want to say thank you to the police, who were involved and allowed me to do restorative justice to the people that did this because I thought they could learn more that way.”

Restorative justice is a system that “that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large.”

It comes as no surprise that a champion of Thomas’ caliber would opt for the teaching experience of restorative justice. The approach is also helpful to those who are assaulted to see their assailant be held accountable.

Watch Thomas’ video below.