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Hairdressers arrested for stealing gold and jewelry from clients while they attended church

Charges against hairdressers mount

Wayne Ford

Saturday, March 12, 2011

 

The number of charges against two Elberton hairdressers accused of stealing gold and jewelry from their clients has continued to rise in the month since their arrest - and the prosecutor says he expects it will keep growing.

Nikki M. Coker is accused of stealing gold and jewelry from her hairdressing clients.
Special

A judge denied bond Friday on the two dozen charges the women already face.

Nikki M. Coker, 35, faces 29 counts of burglary, and Whitney Hope Mooney, 26, faces 28 counts, plus two drug violations, Northern Circuit District Attorney Bob Lavender said.

More charges are on the way, according to Lavender and Investigator David Cleveland of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators are uncovering more victims, sometimes by tracing recovered jewelry with initials or children's names engraved on the pieces, Cleveland said.

Lavender is considering a special session of the Elbert County grand jury to hear the women's case.

"We'll probably have to call the grand jury back early because the grand jury just met not long ago and it wouldn't meet again for about six months," he said.

Theft victims range from salon customers to relatives and friends, according to the Elbert County Sheriff's Office.

Most of the burglaries happened on Sunday mornings when the victims were in church or on Mondays, a day most hairdressers in Elbert County take a day off.

Investigators found three pawn shops where the women sold the jewelry and coins in Athens, Crawford and Anderson, S.C.

Deputies recovered some of the jewelry after people saw news reports about the thefts, Cleveland said.

"A lot of people became aware of the fact they had been given some of this jewelry by the defendants or had purchased some of the jewelry from these two," he said. "They have done the right thing and come forward and brought it back to us."

"We've received a lot of cooperation from the public," he said.

Both women and their attorneys attended a bond hearing Friday in Elbert County Superior Court, where Judge John Bailey denied bond. In his ruling, the judge cited the number of charges against the women and the possibility they could flee if released, Lavender said.

 

LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY: 

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/021711/new_786811159.shtml

Entry #4,122

Mom Kills Son for Potty Training Accident Then Eats Pizza

Mom Kills Son for Potty Training Accident, Then Eats Pizza

Ryan Evans
on March 7, 2011 at 1:24 PM

Potty trainingis one of the most frustrating parenting experiences I've faced, but I still can't muster even a fraction of an ounce of empathy for Robin Greinke, 26, an Illinois woman, who along with her boyfriend beat her 3-year-old son to death because he wet his pants. Once they were finished, and he lay nearby dying, they ate a pizza and watched a movie.

Greinke and Steven Neil, 33, admitted that they took turns beating the boy for more than an hour after he had an accident February 8 while they were visiting Florida. "They were upset with him and they tossed him and spanked him and punched him," a homicide investigator told Central Florida News 13.

After enjoying themselves with the pizza and movie, Greinke finally called 911 around 5 a.m. to say her son, Noah Fake, was wheezing, and she couldn't sleep. She couldn't sleep. No one with even a hint of a conscience possibly could, but apparently she has none.

If it was a rash incident, it wouldn't make it any better, but at least there would be a tiny hint of understanding of how someone can snap. Potty training can be brutal, but this? This is truly one of the most horrific, unconscionable acts against a child by his own mother I've come across. It makes me physically ache to think about what this child endured.

I just can't imagine what cold, callous people these individuals must be, and what an awful life this boy must have led during the years he was alive. With a mother like that, I can't imagine they were anything but awful. I don't want to believe he's better off dead, but he would likely be better off anywhere than in the care of a woman who could not only kill, but sit by and chow down on dinner afterwards. Monster is the only word for someone like that, and no alcohol or drugs or anything else can provide even a hint of an excuse for these actions.

The couple has been charged with aggravated child abuse, child neglect, and first-degree murder. Greinke was denied bail on Saturday and remains in jail and on suicide watch. I hope they watch her closely, because she doesn't deserve such an easy escape from her actions.

While I don't support the death penalty, it's cases like this that make me question that stance. I hope whatever punishment they face is as severe as the law allows and that they never get to enjoy a piece of pizza or view a movie ever again.

LINK TO PHOTO OF MOTHER:

http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/117162/mom_kills_son_for_potty

Entry #4,121

Monday's Pi Day -- the celebration of a number

Monday's Pi Day -- the celebration of a number

Liam Ford

Tribune reporter

10:10 AM CDT, March 13, 2011

 

Monday's Pi Day -- the celebration of a number

 

Monday is Pi Day — a day to celebrate a number with desserts, numerical recitations and hot-dog throwing.

Pi, the number that expresses the ratio of a circle's circumference over its diameter, was first calculated in ancient times, and sometimes is called Archimedes' Constant, for an ancient Greek mathematician who calculated an approximate value for the number. It's believed to be a number with no endpoint, although its digits start with 3.14159. Thus, March 14, or 3/14, for Pi Day.

The first Pi Day was celebrated in 1989 at the San Francisco Exploratorium, whose staff celebrates most years by walking in a circle around a "Pi shrine" a little more than 3 times.

And these days, the celebration has spread around the world, and math teachers, students and other self-proclaimed math fans amused or intrigued by Pi celebrate the number.

At Morgan Park Academy, a pre-K through 12th grade school on the Southwest Side, every one of the six math teachers, along with teachers in the lower grades, will focus on Pi in class, said the math team leader, James Kowalsky. In his geometry class, Kowalsky in the past has had students cut cardboard circles multiple times to fit them into squares, which allows students to calculate the area of the circles without using Pi.

 

In an after-school Pi event at Walter Payton High School, students will throw hot dogs on a floor marked with evenly spaced parallel lines. Why? Because the proportion of hot dogs that cross the lines when they fall works out to be approximately 1 over Pi, said Payton mathematics chair Paul J. Karafiol.One highlight of many Pi Day events is a competitive recitation of the numerous digits of Pi, which modern computers have calculated to a trillion deciminal places. At Morgan Park Academy, the record is 312 digits. The DuPage Science Fiction Society has had someone recite more than 100 digits, and a Payton student who's now at Yale University remembered a mind-blowing 500 digits.But those unacquainted with Pi might be more drawn to what's usually a big feature of the number's celebration: pie.The DuPage group was holding its Pi Day at a Bakers Square pie house on Sunday. Morgan Park Academy students bring in pies to share at lunchtime. And at Payton, with each digit of Pi that a student's able to recite beyond the first few, their piece of pie gets a little bigger — by one degree, measured with a protractor, Karafiol said.

Entry #4,120

Democratic senators return to Madison to tell crowd fight isn't over

 

Democratic senators return to Madison to tell crowd fight isn't over

Michael Sears

Protesters flood the streets of Madison around the Capitol to welcome the 14 Democratic senators and protest the passage of the budget-repair bill.

Bill Glauber and Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel
March 12, 2011
 
Madison — Unbowed and unrepentant, 14 Democratic state senators returned to the Capitol on Saturday and received a tumultuous welcome from tens of thousands of pro-labor demonstrators.

Despite last week's passage of Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill, the senators said they did the right thing by fleeing to Illinois last month in an unsuccessful bid to block the legislation.

And they vowed to fight the law in the courts and at the ballot box in a longer struggle to restore the collective bargaining that was eliminated for most public employees.

As they made their way up the steps of the Capitol, they heard the roars of a crowd that clogged Capitol Square, and listened as chants of "thank you, thank you" rained down.

But not everyone was happy to see the 14 Democratic senators back in Madison.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) issued a withering statement ahead of their return.

He called the senators "the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin" and said it was "an absolute insult" to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites that the senators ran away to Illinois to block Walker's budget-repair bill.

Fitzgerald wrote: "To the Senate Democrats: when you smile for the cameras today and pretend you're heroes, I hope you look at that beautiful Capitol building you insulted. And I hope you're embarrassed to call yourselves senators."

The senators showed no such shame as they took the stage, one by one, and addressed the audience that fanned out on muddy ground and spilled out into State St. Other demonstrators kept up a continuous march in the square, the scene all playing out beneath cloudy skies and a brisk late-winter wind.

State Sen. Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee) told the demonstrators, "Thank you for being our voice while we were gone. Thank you for being Wisconsin's voice while we were gone. Thank you for being America's voice."

Coggs said it was time for the "fabulous 14" to "come back and unite with you."

"We want to unite, we want to fight, we want to get back workers' rights," he said. "The people united will never be defeated."

"This is not the end. This is the beginning of phase two," said Sen. Fred Risser (D-Madison).

In a news conference earlier Saturday, the Democrats talked about their future plans. They have returned to a Capitol that has been transformed by a bitter political battle. They had been held in contempt by their Republican colleagues in the Senate while they were away.

"They won the battle; we're going to win the war," said Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay).

Some in organized labor are seething over the actions taken by Walker and the Republicans to curtail collective bargaining for public employee unions. Several signs carried by protesters suggested the launching of a general strike.

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) said consumer actions may be a better option in continuing the fight against the Republican budget proposals.

"People we're up against care about money and are very greedy," Vinehout said. "Look at the companies and products these people manufacture. When I buy something, I make my vote known."

Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said the thousands rallying in Madison have another alternative to continue their opposition: recalls.

"A lot of the people shut out of the process in the last two weeks will be heard," Larson said. "They'll be trading in those rally signs for clipboards as the recall efforts heat up."

Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) said she would use the Republicans' action to gain support back in her district, focusing on the coming fight over the budget.

Sen. Tim Cullen (D-Janesville), who spearheaded negotiations to try to come to a deal over the bill, admitted that damage was done to the institution of the Senate. He said both sides were responsible.

He also lamented the likelihood that recall elections will soon be held.

"We've gone from a 24/7 news cycle to 24/7 elections," Cullen said.

The crowd that gathered in Madison was the biggest yet during four weeks of protests. It was filled with teachers, police, firefighters, nurses, students and farmers. Those moving for a look at the likes of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and actor Tony Shalhoub pressed shoulder-to-shoulder, from curbside to the storefronts.

Labor groups and supporters gathered signatures to start recall petitions against eight Republican senators, and others collected names and e-mail addresses for a database in the event a recall is started next year against Walker. Eight Democrats also face recall efforts.

Farmers join protest

A "tractorcade" rolled around the Capitol Square; the parade of vehicles included farmers and labor supporters and, in some cases, the people at the wheel had a hand in both.

Dairy farmer Tod Pulvermacher of Bear Valley pulled a manure spreader with a John Deere tractor. Over the manure spreader was a sign: "Walker's Bill Belongs Here."

"I support all of Wisconsin workers," the 33-year-old said, while the diesel idled. "There are many horrible things in this bill: worker rights, health care, selling the rights of middle-class Americans."

Sam Anderson grew up on a dairy farm, but spent most of his working life as a Teamster.

"If the unions lose out, everybody will lose out," Anderson said from the seat of a tractor. "Gov. Walker is out to destroy municipal unions."

Charley Weeth of La Crosse led the "tractorcade" in the 1953 Ford firetruck he drove to Madison.

Weeth said farmers had reason to join with labor in protesting the budget-repair bill, even though the most inflammatory item was the elimination of most collective bargaining.

Many farmers have benefited from the expansion of BadgerCare and would lose out on health insurance in the changes pursued by Walker, he said.

"A lot of them are on the edge, especially with fuel prices being up," Weeth said. "And a lot of them are just disgusted with the process. This is not the Wisconsin they knew and grew up with."

Weeth collected money to help pay for the fuel used by the 60 tractors, and found the protesters to be generous.

There were a few counterdemonstrators, such as Mike Foht.

The small-business owner from Monroe carried a sign that read: "No More Free Rides. Thank you Republicans. Please Strike. I Could Use Your Job."

Foht said he had been defending Walker and the Republican legislators throughout the rallies in recent weeks.

"Obviously, the majority here are opposed to what Walker did," Foht said. "I support what Walker did."

He was outnumbered, but not alone. Another sign in the crowd read: "Democrats are sore losers."

Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for Walker, said those protesting Walker's budget moves "certainly have a right to have their voices heard, but we are not going to let them drown out the voices of millions of taxpayers all across Wisconsin."

John Fauber of the Journal Sentinel staff in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

 
Entry #4,118

Daylight Saving: Don't Forget To Set Your Clocks Ahead

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour -- Daylight Saving time begins Sunday.

Technically the switchover doesn't happen until 2 a.m. Sunday. Time will fall back when DST ends  at 2 a.m. Nov. 6.

Daylight saving time for many years began in April, but since 2007, it has started on the second Sunday in March and ended on the first Sunday of November, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.

If you want to read more about Daylight Saving Time:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/11/110311-daylight-savings-2011-time-savings-when-does-spring-forward-nation/

Entry #4,117

School Bus Driver Facing DUI Charge Kept Driving Kids

WREG

School Bus Driver Facing DUI Charge Kept Driving Kids

Scott Noll

4:42 PM CST, March 11, 2011

FAST FACTS:

  • DeSoto County school bus driver busted for DUI off-the-clock
  • District admits he was allowed to keep driving students for nearly two weeks after his arrest
  • William Bentley is also a teacher and coach at DeSoto Central High School

 
(Southaven, MS 3/11/2011) A DeSoto County school bus driver won't be allowed to drive students, until administrators sort out allegations he was driving under the influence.

The charges did not come while the driver was on duty.

Tonight, the district's director of transportation admits, he didn't know about the arrest until we started asking questions.

William Bentley is a teacher, coach and bus driver for DeSoto County Schools. He was arrested nearly two weeks ago.

A concerned parent contacted WREG On Your Side Investigators, and we called the school district.

At first, the transportation director said he had been out of the country, and wasn't aware of any drivers facing charges.

But this afternoon, the district confirmed, the bus Bentley won't be behind the wheel as the investigation into what happened takes place.

According to the DeSoto County School District's website, Bentley is a social studies teacher and basketball coach at DeSoto Central High School.

Court records show the 29-year-old is facing DUI charges after he was arrested driving a pick-up truck on February 27.

Other details of the case are contained in a police report.

Today, the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office told us it couldn't release that paperwork without a court order.

Bentley is free on a $1,000 bond.

In a statement this afternoon, a spokeswoman for DeSoto County Schools told us, the arrest occurred during non-school hours.

The district says Bentley reported the arrest the day after he was picked-up.

The spokeswoman called Bentley an "excellent employee with no previous driving violations."

He will be allowed to teach and coach.

The district confirms Bentley did drive students this morning, but as of this afternoon, the statement says Bentley "has been relieved of driving a school bus."

According to the district, Bentley still has a valid driver's license.

He didn't respond to a phone message we left for him at the school today.

A court date on the DUI charge is scheduled next month.

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.wreg.com/videobeta/5a68a998-0d5c-4e8d-b33d-f582a6392c80/News/School-Bus-Driver-Facing-DUI-Charge-Kept-Driving-Kids

Entry #4,115

Attorney with D.A.'s office worked with a warrant out for his arrest

Merced Sun-Star

Friday, Mar. 11, 2011

Merced County prosecutor in legal trouble quits

 

Attorney with D.A.'s office worked with a warrant out for his arrest.

 

VICTOR A. PATTON

 

A prosecutor with the Merced County district attorney's office resigned from his position this month after his supervisors learned he had been working at the office with a nearly year-old warrant for his arrest.

In addition, a Sun-Star investigation into former Deputy District Attorney Matthew Poage Shelton's activities revealed he may have broken state law by making court appearances as a prosecutor while suspended by the State Bar of California in 2008.

Shelton, 43, was cited March 2 for an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court for speeding and driving on a suspended license, according to court documents. A district attorney's office investigator presented Shelton with the citation.

Court records reveal Shelton had several traffic citations dating to 2006, including speeding and driving without a valid license. As a result of Shelton's poor driving record, his license was suspended.

Shelton failed to make court appearances to address the citations. As a result, on April 15, a Merced County judge issued a bench warrant for Shelton's arrest.

For nearly a year, Shelton showed up at work without addressing the warrant. Although his caseload mainly was misdemeanors, during that time he also handled felony cases, including a homicide.

Shelton was contacted by the Sun-Star on Thursday, and made a 3:30 p.m. appointment to give his side of the story. Fifteen minutes before that appointment, however, he called and said he couldn't attend, based on advice from an attorney.

"For reasons that will become clear shortly, I cannot come to the Merced Star-Star," Shelton said.

Shelton said he couldn't elaborate on his resignation or his pending legal issues.

"Because of the charges ongoing, I really can't say a lot more about that," he said.

Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II and Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold said they learned of Shelton's arrest warrant a few days after his car was towed from in front of the district attorney's 20th Street office on Feb. 25. A Merced police officer on March 2 arrived at the district attorney's office and told Morse about the outstanding warrant.

Goold said he confronted Shelton, who confirmed the existance of the arrest warrant. Shortly thereafter, Shelton resigned from his position.

But there are issues other than Shelton's driving record that may land him in hot water. The State Bar of California suspended him from practicing law from July 1, 2008, until Aug. 3, 2008, because of noncompliance with the state's Minimum Continuing Legal Education requirements. Every three years in California, active attorneys are required to complete a certain amount of Minimum Continuing Legal Education hours to stay abreast of legal issues.

Apparently, Shelton didn't report completion of the hours by the deadline or fulfill the requirement, resulting in his suspension.

Although Shelton's suspension was brief, he continued to practice law during that period with the district attorney's office. Goold confirmed that Shelton was assigned cases, and that his office is reviewing whether any of those cases reached a disposition during that time.

Under California's Business and Professions Code, practicing law without being an active member of the state bar is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in a county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

The code states that practicing law during a state bar suspension is a crime, punishable by possible jail time or prison.

Goold and Morse both said they weren't aware of Shelton's suspension from the state bar until after they had been notified of his outstanding arrest warrant.

Morse said his office is reserving judgment on whether Shelton committed a crime until its review of his cases during his five-week suspension is complete. If evidence of a crime is found, Morse said, the state's office of the attorney general would be asked to step in.

The Sun-Star searched for cases Shelton handled during his suspension and found documentation that he acted as a prosecutor while suspended.

According to court records, Shelton appeared in court July 2 and July 23, 2008, well before the end of his suspension.

On those dates he appeared as prosecutor in court hearings for Hector David Chavez, who had been accused of committing a shooting at a March 22, 2008, quinceañera party.

On Aug. 20, 2008, Shelton negotiated a plea agreement with Chavez's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Mishya Rimpel Singh.

Chavez pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge. He was released from jail after serving four months.

Singh said she recalls seeing Shelton in court for the Chavez case.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I do remember that," Singh told the Sun-Star.

Singh said she's concerned about whether cases Shelton handled during the time he was suspended will have to be brought back to court.

"Of course I am a bit concerned. He was handling serious cases," Singh said.

The Sun-Star showed a court minute order to Goold, dated July 2, 2008, that shows Shelton's name. If Shelton did appear in court, as the minute order indicates, Goold said, it could be a violation of state law.

"We're going to pull the minute orders of everything that he touched during that period," Goold said.

Shelton was asked by the Sun-Star whether he appeared in court as an attorney during his suspension period. "I might have," he said.

Shelton said the only reason he was suspended was because he didn't file Minimum Continuing Legal Education paperwork by a certain deadline.

"I forgot to fill out that form. That is the only reason my license was suspended," Shelton said.

Morse said his office does background checks on its attorneys before they're hired. Afterward, the attorneys are expected to report any issues or arrests involving law enforcement to their supervisors, he said.

Morse said Shelton never brought up his outstanding arrest warrant or his state bar suspension.

"It's a little embarrassing, but I don't know of any way we could have avoided it," said Morse, when asked why his office wasn't aware of Shelton's issues.

"In all candor, we are probably going to do more background work in the future," Morse added.

As for whether he's disappointed in Shelton, Morse replied he's "honestly concerned" for his former employee. "This is such inexplicable behavior, it really makes me worry," Morse said. "It caught all of us by surprise."

Morse insisted that "no one in the office, outside of Mr. Shelton, did anything wrong."

Shelton was hired by the Merced County district attorney's office April 30, 2007. According to the state bar's website, Shelton received his law degree from Golden Gate University and his undergraduate degree from Penn State.

Before resigning from his position, Shelton had been assigned to the case of Jericho Wright, a 29-year-old Dos Palos man accused of killing his 3-year-old daughter. That case is ongoing.

Shelton is scheduled to appear in court March 23.

His annual compensation as a deputy district attorney was $102,336 plus benefits.

Entry #4,113

High Energy Prices Are Obama's Explicit Policy Goal

High Energy Prices Are Obama’s ‘Explicit Policy Goal,’ Inhofe Says

Thursday, March 10, 2011 

Christopher Neefus

 

(CNSNews.com) – A prominent GOP senator on energy issues accused President Barack Obama Thursday morning of having set an “explicit policy goal” of making energy prices more costly for Americans.

“My message today is simply this: higher gas prices - indeed, higher prices for the energy we use - are an explicit policy goal of the Obama administration,” said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Let me put it another way: the Obama administration is attacking affordable energy.”

Inhofe’s comments come as crude oil futures traded up on anxiety over unrest in the Middle East and broke the triple-digit mark in recent weeks. As of Thursday, light crude was trading at over $101 per barrel.

“We have, in fact, 163 billion barrels of recoverable oil - nearly six times higher than what President Obama and the Democrats like to claim,” Inhofe continued. “Let's think about 163 billion barrels for a moment: that is enough to maintain our current levels of production and replace our imports from the Persian Gulf for more than 50 years.”

The senator, who regularly rails against the Obama administration’s support of so-called “cap-and-trade” legislation, said such policies are about starving the country of energy supply.

“You see, the cap-and-trade agenda is also about energy austerity,” Inhofe said on the Senate floor. “The hope is that if we restrict enough supply, the price will increase, and we can then simply shift to less costly alternatives. Yet this is wishful thinking.”

“If you think $4.00 is too much for a gallon of regular, fasten your seat belts.”

Inhofe made the speech in support of the Energy Tax Prevention Act, legislation designed to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from moving to regulate carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act, which Republicans claim is outside the agency’s purview. After he introduced the bill last week, it quickly picked up 42 more co-sponsors, including Democrat Joe Manchin (W.Va.).

Entry #4,112

Police: Man upset over slow food at Denny's fires gun

Police: Man upset over waiting for slow food at Denny's fires gun

Frederick Louis Sims

Frederick Louis Sims (Orange County Jail / March 11, 2011)

Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel 7:52 a.m. EST, March 11, 2011 

Upset about waiting for his food, a Denny's customer expressed his displeasure early Tuesday by walking outside and firing at least three pistol shots, Orlando police said.

Immediately after the 3:27 a.m. gunfire, Frederick Louis Sims is accused of speeding away from the eatery at 3957 S. Kirkman Road in a Cadillac Escalade with several friends, a report states.

When police stopped the vehicle, they found a .22-cal. Ruger pistol under Sims' seat, along with a marijuana cigarette, the report said. The pistol was ready to fire with one cartridge in the chamber and four more in the magazine, according to police.

Officers confiscated the pistol, the joint and charged Sims, 31, wiith discharging a firearm in public and possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis. Sims, whose address is on Ivey Lane in Orlando, was being held in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $2,600 bail.
Entry #4,111

Judge Sentenced To Prison for Paying a Stripper and Drugs

QuantcastAtlanta News

 3:10 p.m. Friday, March 11, 2011

 

Ex-judge Camp sentenced to 30 days in prison

 

 

Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said he could not give a sentence of only probation because Camp had breached his oath of office.

"He has disgraced his office," Hogan said. "He has denigrated the federal judiciary. He has encouraged disrespect for the rule of law."

Before being sentenced, Camp apologized for what he had done and thanked his family and friends, many of whom filled the courtroom.

"I have embarrassed and humiliated my family as well as myself," Camp said. "I have embarrassed the court I have served on and I am deeply sorry for that. When I look back at the circumstances which brought me here and look at what I did, it makes me sick."

Camp said that at the end of the day, "the only thing I can say is that I'm so very sorry."

Camp pleaded for leniency from Hogan, asking to be allowed to remain in his home and community to repair his marriage, receive psychiatric treatment and rebuild his name.

But Hogan, a Washington judge with 29 years on the bench, said he could not hand out a sentence of probation for crimes committed by a high-ranking government official. He then read aloud the oath of office Camp took 22 years ago in the ceremonial courtroom across the hallway and noted Camp had sworn to uphold the law.

"Instead, for whatever reasons, the demons he had made him go another way," Hogan said as Camp, stone-faced, looked on.

Hogan acknowledged Camp had disgraced himself and humiliated his family. Because of his conduct, Camp had essentially "chiseled a scarlet letter into his forehead for the rest of his life."

As a judge, Camp often meted out harsh sentences and rarely gave breaks to defendants who presented mitigating circumstances to explain their conduct. On Friday, Hogan was asked by Camp's lawyers to grant leniency because of the ex-judge's decades-long battle with a bipolar disorder and brain damage caused by a 2000 biking accident.

In court motion filed Thursday, Elizabeth Camp, the ex-judge's wife, asked Hogan for mercy and a sentence of probation, saying her husband is a changed man. Thanks to proper medical treatment, the couple has begun to repair the damage to their marriage, she said.

The mania associated with bipolar disorder "has often been described as depression's evil twin, the insidious instigator that spurs one on to do all manner of lewd and immoral acts," Elizabeth Camp wrote. "Mania handcuffs and gags the conscience."

In late 2009, her husband was prescribed the wrong medication, she wrote. "I never knew which Jack Camp would walk through the door at the end of the day -- the humble, sincere, modest, frugal and unassuming man I married, or the over-confident, brash, forgetful, self-absorbed spendthrift who now saddened me with frequent visits to our nightly dinner table."

But now, she added, the man she married 35 years ago has returned. "What a delight to see the evil twin of mania defeated through a combination of modern medicine and Jack's solemn commitment to treatment," she wrote, telling Hogan a term of imprisonment would disrupt her husband's progress and his quest to rebuild his family and reputation.

Atlanta criminal defense attorney Paul Kish said Thursday that Camp rarely granted breaks to defendants when they presented mitigation arguments to explain their behavior.

"One school of thought is that he should be punished the same way he punished everyone else," Kish said. "The other is that he probably would not be punished for this in federal court, but for his position. It's all very sad."

Camp, 67, resigned from the U.S. District Court bench shortly before he pleaded guilty in November to federal charges -- giving the stripper, who he knew was a convicted felon, $160 to buy drugs.

Camp was a senior judge at the time of his arrest. He will continue to receive a $174,000-a-year salary, as do all federal judges who retire and have the requisite years of service.

Camp began paying the exotic dancer for sex and drugs after he met her last May at the Goldrush Showbar in Atlanta. By Oct. 1, the dancer had turned informant and Camp, who was armed, was arrested by FBI agents in an undercover drug sting.

After the drug deal was consummated, Camp told the undercover agent who was posing as the dealer, "We'll be calling you again," federal prosecutors said.

According to recent court filings, the U.S. probation office has determined that Camp faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 days in prison and up to 6 months imprisonment.

Camp's lawyers recently filed motions asking Hogan, a judge from Washington, D.C., to impose a sentence of probation, a fine and community service.

In response, federal prosecutors said Camp should serve at least 15 days in custody, but they did not recommend a specific term of confinement.

"Beginning in May 2010 this defendant, by his conduct, dishonored his community, his family and our system of justice and violated the very laws he swore to uphold," the Justice Department filing said. Camp's actions "cast dark aspersions on the criminal justice system and put the very integrity of the federal courts at issue."

LINK TO PHOTO OF JUDGE:

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/ex-judge-camp-sentenced-867817.html

Entry #4,109

Teen charged with trying to burn out classmate's eyes out with acid

Brooklyn high school acid attack: Zhanna Smsaria charged with trying to burn classmate's 'eyes out'

Oren Yaniv, Kerry Burke AND Larry Mcshane
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Originally Published:Thursday, March 10th 2011, 2:38 PM
Updated: Friday, March 11th 2011, 2:29 AM

Zhanna Smsarian, 16, leaves Brooklyn Criminal Court after her arraignment for allegedly throwing acid on her classmate during chemistry class.

Ward for NewsZhanna Smsarian, 16, leaves Brooklyn Criminal Court after her arraignment for allegedly throwing acid on her classmate during chemistry class.

 Victim Eshimbaeva Albina told the News, 'I knew something bad was coming.'

Victim Eshimbaeva Albina told the News, 'I knew something bad was coming.'

A simmering feud between two Brooklyn high schoolers exploded when one of the girls tried to blind her helpless frenemy with acid, authorities said Thursday.

Zhanna Smsarian, 16, admitted she wanted "to burn the eyes out" of honor student Albina Eshimbaeva when she slipped up from behind with a bottle of acid in their Wednesday morning chemistry class, cops said.

Albina, 15, told the Daily News Thursday night that she had a feeling Smsarian was gunning for her the day of the attack in Fort Hamilton High School.

Smsarian "was standing against a wall staring at me in an evil way," Albina said. "She was smiling, but it was evil.

"I knew something bad was coming, but didn't know what it was. Two seconds later, I felt the liquid falling down my bangs."

Smsarian was in her ROTC uniform and wearing a pair of goggles as she swore in Russian and splashed the acid.

"My whole face was burning," recalled Albina, an immigrant from Kyrgyzstan. "I thought I was blind. I couldn't see anything."

Doctors who treated Albina said the teen only avoided losing her sight because the diluted solution was just 10% acid, sources said.

The two girls were once close, with the victim even attending Smsarian's Sweet 16 party.

Albina, who also participates in the school's ROTC program, said she broke off their friendship after tiring of Smsarian's lies and rumor-mongering.

The victim's mother, Syrga Eshimbaeva, said the older girl resented her daughter's success in the school's gifted and talented students program.

"It's all over nothing," said the 42-year-old mom of three girls. "Just for being jealous of my daughter."

A sobbing Smsarian - still in the military outfit she wore to school Wednesday - was freed yesterday on $7,500 bail and left the Brooklyn courthouse in her father's waiting SUV. A judge issued an order of protection blocking Smsarian from contacting Albina.

"She's never been in any problems before," defense lawyer Igor Vaysberg told the judge. "She's an honor roll student with excellent grades."

Classmates said the teens also had a feud over a 22-year-old graduate of their high school, but police sources said there was much more to it than that.

"They have had a beef with each other for awhile," one source indicated. "It boiled over [Wednesday]. This dispute has nothing to do with a guy. It's a lot more complicated than that."

The Eshimbaevas also denied there was any man involved.

Still, a young man who said he came between the girls told The News that he had complained to Smsarian that Albina had become too clingy.

"Zhanna said she was going to take care of it," said the man, who gave his name only as Mohammed. "I told her to do what she had to do, but I didn't expect her to throw acid."

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