Bobby Shmurda Pleads Not Guilty To Gun, Drug Charges

NEW YORK (AP) — An up-and-coming rapper pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges he moonlighted as a gun-toting member of a New York City street gang responsible for several shootings during turf wars over drug trafficking.

Ackquille Pollard, who performs under the name Bobby Shmurda, was ordered held on $2 million bail at a hearing in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. His attorney, Howard Greenberg, failed to convince a judge that his client should be released without bail because he was framed and had no reason to run.

“He is a legitimate entertainer,” Greenberg said. “He is rich. He is busy. He is always on tour.”

The Brooklyn-born Pollard is best known for the hit song “Hot Boy.” He also put out a music video that popularized a dance craze called the “Shmoney dance,” and reportedly signed a lucrative record deal with Epic Records.

Greenberg claimed Epic had agreed to help Pollard make bail. A spokesman for the label declined to comment.

Police arrested Pollard on conspiracy, reckless endangerment and gun possession on Wednesday after he left a recording studio near Radio City Music Hall. Police found two handguns and a small amount of crack cocaine in a car in which he was riding, authorities said.

An indictment naming Pollard charges more than 15 defendants with a variety of crimes including murder, attempted murder, assault and drug dealing. The gang’s gun play left one rival dead, injured an innocent bystander sitting on folding chair outside a Brooklyn home and caused pandemonium outside a nightclub in Miami Beach, Florida, authorities said.

Police seized 21 guns during the investigation, 10 of them while making arrests on Wednesday.

The case carries some “deeply disturbing themes: The gang members’ enthrallment with guns, and a cavalier disregard for human life,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said at a news conference.

The hip-hop artist’s songs and videos were “almost like a real-life document of what they were doing on the street,” added James Essig, head of a New York Police Department unit that made the arrests.

The court papers allege that Pollard fired a gun toward a crowd of people outside a barbershop in Brooklyn earlier this year. They also say he was present last year during a confrontation between rival drug gangs outside a Brooklyn courthouse where shots were fired.

The evidence includes several recorded phone conversations, including some between Pollard and gang members serving time on Rikers Island, the indictment says. The gang used code words, referring to firearms as “tone,” ”socks” or “CDs,” narcotics as “crills,” and shootings as “sun tans,” it says.

During a conversation on April 28, Pollard bragged, “I am two socks Bobby right now,” the indictment says. Another defendant commented, “Bobby out here with two CDs on him like in the wild wild west or something.”

A “Hot Boy” video posted on YouTube in August has been viewed tens of millions of times, and Pollard performed the song for a national television audience this month on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

“My music is straight facts,” Pollard recently told New York Magazine. “There are a lot of gangsters in my ‘hood.”

Pollard’s criminal history included two arrests for gun and drug possession, authorities said. If convicted of conspiracy, he faces a maximum sentence of 8 to 25 years in prison.

___

Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this report.

Posted in: Breaking News, Gossip, Hip Hop. Tags: Bobby Shmurda Pleads Not Guilty To Gun, Drug Charges.

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Bobby Shmurda Pleads Not Guilty To Gun, Drug Charges

#MARINEHELDINMEXICO: Mom pleads with lawmakers for "despondent" Marine"s freedom - Full Coverage: Marine jailed in Mexico

The mother of the U.S. Marine imprisoned in Mexico after mistakenly crossing the border with three legally-registered guns told lawmakers Wednesday her son is rapidly deteriorating and pleaded with them to press for his return.

Jill Tahmooressi, whose 26-year-old son, Andrew, served two tours in Afghanistan, appeared before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee to push her case for the U.S. to pressure Mexico to release him. The condition of Tahmooressi, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from his service, has deteriorated since he was locked up March 31 on gun charges.

“My son is despondent, without treatment, and he needs to be home,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

The longtime nurse, who lives in Weston, Fla., recounted several emotional calls from her son, including one from Afghanistan, where he told her about blacking out after an IED exploded near him. Upon returning home, Andrew Tahmooressi abandoned his dream of becoming a commercial pilot because, he told his mother, “I can’t concentrate on the academic work.”

Then, on March 31, he called her from a Mexican border checkpoint to say he was in trouble.

“Mom, I got lost; I made a wrong turn,” Jill Tahmooressi recounted her son saying. “I’m at the Mexican border. You need to know this because I’m surrounded by Mexican military.”

Hours later, in another call, he told her, “Mom, I’ve been arrested, please secure me an attorney.”

Appearing with the distraught mother before the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee were television personality and former Navy Lt. Commander Montel Williams, who is also a former Marine, and Pete Hegseth, the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America and a Fox News contributor.

“We know for a fact that A’s time in this prison has been worse than his time in both tours of combat,” Williams said. “How dare we, how dare we as a nation, hesitate to get that young man back?”

The hearing took place just hours after Tahmooressi’s attorney, Fernando Benitez, told Fox News he plans to rest his case today, possibly opening the door for Tahmooressi’s release within a matter of weeks.

“We have more than enough for an acquittal,” Benitez said. He said a crucial development in the case came within recent days, when the prosecution acknowledged that Tahmooressi’s PTSD may have played a role in the immediate aftermath of his detention. That stipulation could pave the way to Tahmooressi’s release on humanitarian grounds, he said.

Lawmakers said it is outrageous for a U.S. ally to hold an ailing American on gun charges that clearly stem from an honest mistake. Tahmooressi was in the San Diego area to get PTSD treatment, and living out of his pickup truck when he mistakenly crossed the border at a poorly marked checkpoint. He immediately declared that the guns were among all of his possessions in the truck, according to Benitez.

“As a direct result of his honorable service in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi now suffers from combat-related PTSD,” said Rep. Matt Salmon, R- Ariz. “Tragically, instead of receiving the treatment he needs, he is being held in a Mexican prison.

“Our war hero needs to come home,” he added.

Hegseth, a former infantry officer in the Army National Guard who served tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, said the administration needs to do more to bring Tahmooressi home.

“Shame on anyone, at home or abroad, who does not move heaven and Earth to ensure that those who given so much, receive the care they deserve,” Hegseth said.

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., noted that the Obama administration traded five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay for the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, accused of desertion by several men who served with him.

“Sgt. Tahmooressi is an American hero, whose wrong turn at the Mexican border has had the devastating effect of delaying his much-needed PTSD treatment for too long,” Royce said.

Royce said he and Salmon have been in contact with Mexico’s attorney general, who has the power to release Tahmooressi on humanitarian grounds. They said they impressed upon Jesus Karam that Tahmooressi had been diagnosed with PTSD by the VA San Diego Healthcare System just five days before his arrest.

“I am confident the humanitarian release of Andrew Tahmooressi will occur very soon,” Royce said.

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition asking the Obama administration to demand Tahmooressi’s release, prompting White House officials earlier this summer to ask Mexican authorities to quickly process the Marine’s case.

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#MARINEHELDINMEXICO: Mom pleads with lawmakers for "despondent" Marine"s freedom - Full Coverage: Marine jailed in Mexico

#MARINEHELDINMEXICO: Mom pleads with lawmakers for "despondent" Marine"s freedom - VIDEO: Montel: Marine case "ridiculously politicized" - Full Coverage: Marine jailed in Mexico

The mother of the U.S. Marine imprisoned in Mexico after mistakenly crossing the border with three legally-registered guns told lawmakers Wednesday her son is rapidly deteriorating and pleaded with them to press for his return.

Jill Tahmooressi, whose 26-year-old son, Andrew, served two tours in Afghanistan, appeared before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee to push her case for the U.S. to pressure Mexico to release him. The condition of Tahmooressi, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from his service, has deteriorated since he was locked up March 31 on gun charges.

“My son is despondent, without treatment, and he needs to be home,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

The longtime nurse, who lives in Weston, Fla., recounted several emotional calls from her son, including one from Afghanistan, where he told her about blacking out after an IED exploded near him. Upon returning home, Andrew Tahmooressi abandoned his dream of becoming a commercial pilot because, he told his mother, “I can’t concentrate on the academic work.”

Then, on March 31, he called her from a Mexican border checkpoint to say he was in trouble.

“Mom, I got lost; I made a wrong turn,” Jill Tahmooressi recounted her son saying. “I’m at the Mexican border. You need to know this because I’m surrounded by Mexican military.”

Hours later, in another call, he told her, “Mom, I’ve been arrested, please secure me an attorney.”

Appearing with the distraught mother before the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee were television personality and former Navy Lt. Commander Montel Williams, who is also a former Marine, and Pete Hegseth, the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America and a Fox News contributor.

“We know for a fact that A’s time in this prison has been worse than his time in both tours of combat,” Williams said. “How dare we, how dare we as a nation, hesitate to get that young man back?”

The hearing took place just hours after Tahmooressi’s attorney, Fernando Benitez, told Fox News he plans to rest his case today, possibly opening the door for Tahmooressi’s release within a matter of weeks.

“We have more than enough for an acquittal,” Benitez said. He said a crucial development in the case came within recent days, when the prosecution acknowledged that Tahmooressi’s PTSD may have played a role in the immediate aftermath of his detention. That stipulation could pave the way to Tahmooressi’s release on humanitarian grounds, he said.

Lawmakers said it is outrageous for a U.S. ally to hold an ailing American on gun charges that clearly stem from an honest mistake. Tahmooressi was in the San Diego area to get PTSD treatment, and living out of his pickup truck when he mistakenly crossed the border at a poorly marked checkpoint. He immediately declared that the guns were among all of his possessions in the truck, according to Benitez.

“As a direct result of his honorable service in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi now suffers from combat-related PTSD,” said Rep. Matt Salmon, R- Ariz. “Tragically, instead of receiving the treatment he needs, he is being held in a Mexican prison.

“Our war hero needs to come home,” he added.

Hegseth, a former infantry officer in the Army National Guard who served tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, said the administration needs to do more to bring Tahmooressi home.

“Shame on anyone, at home or abroad, who does not move heaven and Earth to ensure that those who given so much, receive the care they deserve,” Hegseth said.

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., noted that the Obama administration traded five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay for the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, accused of desertion by several men who served with him.

“Sgt. Tahmooressi is an American hero, whose wrong turn at the Mexican border has had the devastating effect of delaying his much-needed PTSD treatment for too long,” Royce said.

Royce said he and Salmon have been in contact with Mexico’s attorney general, who has the power to release Tahmooressi on humanitarian grounds. They said they impressed upon Jesus Karam that Tahmooressi had been diagnosed with PTSD by the VA San Diego Healthcare System just five days before his arrest.

“I am confident the humanitarian release of Andrew Tahmooressi will occur very soon,” Royce said.

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition asking the Obama administration to demand Tahmooressi’s release, prompting White House officials earlier this summer to ask Mexican authorities to quickly process the Marine’s case.

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#MARINEHELDINMEXICO: Mom pleads with lawmakers for "despondent" Marine"s freedom - VIDEO: Montel: Marine case "ridiculously politicized" - Full Coverage: Marine jailed in Mexico

Man pleads guilty to criminal charges

A man, who sells condoms for a living, was sentenced to three months in prison when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Pleading guilty to criminal trespassing and resisting arrest is 35-year-old Rohan Davy of a Kingston 20 address.

According to reports, on September 19 around 2 a.m., Davy was caught trespassing on the premises of a doctor’s office located on Ripon Road, Kingston 5. He was accosted by the police, but managed to wriggle his body away from an officer and ran.

The accused was held shortly after on Oxford Road in the area.

Davy told the court that he was in the Ripon Road area because he sells condoms to sex workers. He also admitted to Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey that he has appeared before the court for a similar offence earlier this year.

“I explained to the other judge that I was tired and I drop asleep over there and she tell me be careful and fined me five grand,” he said.

“Well, I’m going to send you to prison for it. I know what you were doing over there and you know that I know what you were doing over there,” RM Pusey stated.

After RM Pusey handed down the sentencing, Davy pleaded, “I can’t just pay a fine Your Honour?”

He was sentenced to three months in prison for the criminal trespassing and 10 days in prison for resisting arrest, the sentences are to run consecutively.

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Man pleads guilty to criminal charges

Speaker thief on probation pleads guilty

Deon P Green, Star Writer

A Yallahs man who was on a three-year probation for housebreaking and larceny, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a speaker when he appeared in the Yallahs Resident Magistrate’s Court recently.

He returns to court for sentencing on October 24.

The case was that of 32-year-old Charles Murray of a Yallahs address in St Thomas, an area rampant with housebreaking and the theft of electrical and musical equipment particularly from churches.

The court heard that after a series of break-ins in the community the police secured a warrant to search Murray’s home based on intelligence and his track record. During the search the police found a silver speaker box which Murray said was given to him by his father.

However, when the police contacted the father he denied any knowledge of the equipment.

The convict was subsequently taken into custody and slapped with the charge of illegal possession of the speaker box on September 5.

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Speaker thief on probation pleads guilty

Local queen pleads for funding for badminton

Sport

BY RUDDY ALLEN Friday, January 03, 2014

Local badminton queen Geordine Henry says a lack of funding is preventing the sport from progressing at the international level.Speaking to the Jamaica Observer earlier this week, Henry said that the Jamaica Badminton Association (JBA) needs funding for players to get the necessary training and exposure to compete at the highest level.“The only thing that is not allowing players to compete at the highest level is the lack of experience and the quality training, which we can only get abroad,” she said.“We can only achieve that with the funding… the majority of us seniors just play for fun because it is money that makes the world go round and we can’t be playing full-time without funds… the JBA needs sponsorships,” she reiterated.The 25-year-old Henry also said that the newlyformed executive board, led by president Robert Richards, has put together a marketing team to provide some assistance in seeking sponsorship for the association.“So far, what I see Mr Richards doing is good; he has a marketing team and that is a start. He also came up with a strategy that the badminton fraternity would enter as many 5K marathons as possible in order for us to be seen and maybe sponsors can come on board,” she said.Henry further said that there are well-dedicated and hard-working players and with training and the requisite sponsorship they can make it to the Olympics.“We have some exceptional juniors coming up and also some well-seasoned seniors who are hard-working and dedicated to the sport, so with the necessary equipment and sponsorship, every Olympics a Jamaican or Jamaicans should be in it,” Henry said.HENRY… the only one thing that is not allowing the JBA to compete at the highest level is the lack of experience and the quality training

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Local queen pleads for funding for badminton

Ex-NFL star pleads not guilty to murdering Antiguan semi-pro

News

Saturday, September 07, 2013 | 11:36 AM

MASSACHUSETTS (CMC) — Former United States National Football (NFL) star, Aaron Hernandez, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Antiguan-born semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd. The former New England Patriots tight end was arraigned on first-degree murder and five firearms charges in Superior Court.He pleaded not guilty to each allegation, and will continue to be held without bail Hernandez, 23, was arrested on June 26 as a Bristol County, Massachusetts prosecutor alleged that he orchestrated the execution-style killing of Lloyd, 27, less than a mile from Hernandez’s house. “We encourage everyone to keep an open mind,” said Charles Rankin, one of three defence attorneys representing Hernandez.“Not one shred of evidence has been presented yet. We feel confident that Aaron will be exonerated.”Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter said he would like to see the case tried within a year. He said Hernandez’s next pre-trial hearing is scheduled for October 9.The New England Patriots football team released Hernandez shortly after his arrest.

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Ex-NFL star pleads not guilty to murdering Antiguan semi-pro

Ex-NFL star pleads not guilty to murdering Antiguan semi-pro

Latest News

Saturday, September 07, 2013 | 11:36 AM

MASSACHUSETTS (CMC) — Former United States National Football (NFL) star, Aaron Hernandez, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Antiguan-born semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd. The former New England Patriots tight end was arraigned on first-degree murder and five firearms charges in Superior Court.He pleaded not guilty to each allegation, and will continue to be held without bail Hernandez, 23, was arrested on June 26 as a Bristol County, Massachusetts prosecutor alleged that he orchestrated the execution-style killing of Lloyd, 27, less than a mile from Hernandez’s house. “We encourage everyone to keep an open mind,” said Charles Rankin, one of three defence attorneys representing Hernandez.“Not one shred of evidence has been presented yet. We feel confident that Aaron will be exonerated.”Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter said he would like to see the case tried within a year. He said Hernandez’s next pre-trial hearing is scheduled for October 9.The New England Patriots football team released Hernandez shortly after his arrest. Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserverFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

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Ex-NFL star pleads not guilty to murdering Antiguan semi-pro

Ariel Castro pleads guilty in Ohio multiple kidnapping case

News

Friday, July 26, 2013 | 11:01 AM

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive in his home for about a decade has pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty.Ariel Castro entered the plea Friday. In exchange, prosecutors are recommending the 53-year-old Castro be sentenced to life without parole plus 1,000 years.Castro says a pornography addiction and “sexual problem” have taken a toll on his mind. He also says he was sexually abused as a child.He had been charged in a 977-count indictment. He is pleading guilty to 937 counts.He had been scheduled for trial August 5 on allegations that include repeatedly restraining the women and punching and starving one woman until she had a miscarriage.The women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004. They escaped from Castro’s house May 6.

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Ariel Castro pleads guilty in Ohio multiple kidnapping case

Ariel Castro pleads guilty in Ohio multiple kidnapping case

Latest News

Friday, July 26, 2013 | 11:01 AM

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive in his home for about a decade has pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty.Ariel Castro entered the plea Friday. In exchange, prosecutors are recommending the 53-year-old Castro be sentenced to life without parole plus 1,000 years.Castro says a pornography addiction and “sexual problem” have taken a toll on his mind. He also says he was sexually abused as a child.He had been charged in a 977-count indictment. He is pleading guilty to 937 counts.He had been scheduled for trial August 5 on allegations that include repeatedly restraining the women and punching and starving one woman until she had a miscarriage.The women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004. They escaped from Castro’s house May 6.Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserverFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

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2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.

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Ariel Castro pleads guilty in Ohio multiple kidnapping case

Former NY police officer pleads guilty to defrauding Caribbean immigrants

Latest News

Thursday, July 18, 2013 | 1:50 PM

NEW YORK (CMC) – The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says a former New York Police Department (NYPD) officer has pleaded guilty to defrauding Caribbean and other immigrants. On Wednesday, the ICE said Miguel A Rodriguez, 53, committed the fraud by “conning immigrants seeking driver’s licenses and immigration assistance out of thousands of dollars.”Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charge in Dutchess County Court in upstate New York.The guilty plea follows an investigation by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Wappingers Falls Police Department and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.According to the ICE, Rodriguez carried out the scheme while serving as a police officer and a liaison to the Latino community in the Village of Wappingers Falls in upstate New York.Under the terms of his plea agreement, Rodriguez is expected to be sentenced to one year imprisonment and to be subject to an order of restitution in the amount of US$13,862.Special agent in charge of HSI New York, James T Hayes Jr, said Rodriguez was “entrusted to serve the community but instead he robbed thousands of dollars from the very people he was sworn to protect.“He preyed upon the necessity and hope of individuals seeking immigration assistance and legitimate government documents,” he said.Rodriguez told the court that between October 2010 and August 2012, he charged Caribbean and other immigrants US$300 each to enter a state lottery which he claimed could garner them valid New York State driver’s licenses.He admitted to charging victims US$500 to US$1,000 for “asylum and withholding of removal” applications, falsely promising that the applications would be reviewed by an attorney and filed with the appropriate immigration authorities – “without even determining whether the victims could be eligible for the immigration benefits at all.”As part of his fraudulent scheme, the ICE said Rodriguez visited religious congregations and preyed upon unsuspecting churchgoers, portraying himself as a compassionate individual with official connections to help them get driver’s licenses and other services.Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserverFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

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Former NY police officer pleads guilty to defrauding Caribbean immigrants