Hard Boiled News

True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Ex-NFL Player Convicted in $10 Million Ponzi Scheme

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Merrill Robertson had been a standout player at UVA

RICHMOND, Virginia — A former standout linebacker at the University of Virginia who had a brief stint in the NFL has been convicted of running a Ponzi scheme through which he bilked dozens of people he met through his playing days out of $10 million.

Federal prosecutors had alleged that Merrill Robertson Jr., 36, and his co-conspirator, Sherman Carl Vaughn, ran a bogus investment company called Cavalier Union Investments, but instead of investing the cash they raised , they used it to line their pockets or pay out earlier investors.

The pair operated the scam from 2009 until 2016, during which Robertson utilized relationships he had made in college and the NFL as well as his high school days at Fork Union Military Academy to find targets.

Robertson was a starting linebacker for the UVM Cavaliers, and spent time in training camp for the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings in 2003 and 2004.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said that among Robertson’s victims included coaches, alumni, donors and employees of the schools he had attended.

In all, the men bilked around 50 people out of $10 million which they partly used to cover their own living expenses, including mortgage and car payments, school tuitions, spa visits, restaurant and department store bills, and vacations.

While Robertson and Vaughn represented themselves as skilled investors, Vaughn had, in fact, filed for personal bankruptcy four times, including twice during the scam.

Vaughn pleaded guilty last year and is awaiting sentencing in September. Robertson was convicted of mail fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering and faces a maximum prison term of 330 years when sentenced on Dec. 6.

Robertson’s lawyer argued at trial that Vaughn was the mastermind behind the scam and had duped Robertson as well, saying he was a victim as well.

Man Admits Shooting Bald Eagle Because It Ate Fish From His Pond

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NORFOLK, Virginia — That’s just anti-American.

A Virginia man pleaded guilty to shooting a bald eagle and running it over repeatedly with an ATV because he was angry the bird had been taking fish from a pond on his property.

Allen H. Thacker, 62, of Smithfield, Virginia, had been spotted by an eyewitness in March running over the eagle three or four times with his red all-terrain vehicle, federal prosecutors said.

The witness immediately contacted Virginia wildlife authorities. They eventually tracked Thacker down and he admitted shooting the bird because it had been hunting small prey and fish from his property.

Despite the bird being a symbol of America, Thacker said he was angry because of all the time and effort he had put into stocking his property for use by his friends. Thacker also told officials that he thought too much emphasis was placed on protecting eagles and that they are menace, prosecutors said. He said most of his friends agreed with him.

Thacker said he initially fired a warning shot at the bird from a .22 caliber rifle, but when that failed to scare the bird away, he shot it out of the sky. He then said he used a pistol to finish the bird off before running over it repeatedly.

A necropsy showed that the eagle — a young male in good health — likely would have been able to survive the initial gunshot wound and that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head caused by the ATV. There was no evidence that Thacker had shot the bird a second time with a pistol as he said, prosecutors said.

He faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine when he is sentenced in October, officials said.

 

Too Easy: Burglar Breaks Leg in Getaway, Is Busted Calling 911 for Help

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Leoul Yosef didn’t really think his getaway through

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — The great escape it wasn’t.

A bumbling burglar who broke his leg after jumping out a window when he got caught in the act, made it easy for cops by then calling 911 for help.

Fairfax County police say Leoul Yosef, 21, got caught red-handed by a homeowner when she returned from a quick errand while moving into her new home in Alexandria, Virginia on Wednesday.

“She opens the door to her apartment and sees the guy standing on her balcony,” Fairfax County Police Officer Don Gotthardt told WTTG-TV. “I think she startled him and he jumped off the balcony and broke his leg.”

The woman immediately called police. The injured Yosef had landed in snow and as he fled, left clear tracks as he clambered through it.

“Officers arrive in the area and abruptly find the tracks. They start tracking him,” Gotthardt said.

Soon after, dispatchers received a second 911 call — this time from a man claiming he had slipped on the ice and had broken his leg in the same area.

When cops fine Yosef, they know they have their man.

 

“They recognize the description,” Gotthardt said.

Customs Officials Seize 13 Lbs of Mongolian Horse Balls at DC Airport

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Customs officials seized dozens of pounds of Mongolian horse meat stashed in juice boxes

STERLING, Virginia — What do they call prairie oysters in Mongolia?

Customs officials at Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport were shocked to find 13 pounds of horse genitals in the luggage of two women traveling to the U.S. from Mongolia.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said the women were also carrying 42 pounds of horse meat stashed inside juice boxes as well as three liters of yak milk when they tried to enter the country on Jan. 29.

The women told the agents the horse genitals were intended to be used for medicinal purposes.

The agency said it is used to seeing people try to bring plenty of odd things through Dulles Airport , “from charred full monkeys, to voodoo ceremony tools, to cocaine concealed inside the cavity of fully cooked chickens, to live sea horses and giant African land snails.”

But the horse meat definitely caught their attention.

In general, horse meat is not allowed to be brought into the United States without proper certifications due to the risk of it carrying foot and mouth disease, officials say. Horsemeat from Mongolia is banned outright, however, “due to concerns of introducing animal diseases to U.S. livestock industries.”

The horse meat and yak’s milk were incinerated. The women who were carrying it were not charged and were allowed into the country, officials said.

“Customs and Border Protection takes no pleasure in seizing and destroying travelers’ food products,” said Wayne Biondi,  port director for Washington Dulles.  “We’re in the business of protecting America’s agriculture industries, like the livestock industry, from the potential introduction of animal diseases posed by these unpermitted food products.”

The agency says that on an average day, customs officials inspect over 1 million passengers as well as air and sea cargo coming into the United States, seizing and quarantining over 5000 agriculture items including plant, meat, animal byproduct, and soil.

‘Black Hawk Down’ Hero Who Innovated Urban Combat and Won Silver Star Has Died

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ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Virginia — Jeffrey Bray,  a hero soldier who was awarded the Silver Star for saving dozens of lives in the famed “Black Hawk Down” battle in Somalia in 1993, has died at age 49.

Bray, an Air Force sergeant, was credited with coming up with a novel defense of the men pinned down by militiamen in Mogadishu, coordinating airstrikes amid close-quarter urban combat and creating methods that would later become a blueprint for U.S. forces in Iraq.

“At the time, there wasn’t a lot of urban warfare and it gave us a really good look at how we conduct operations in an urban environment,” said Tech. Sgt. Tim Wilkinson, who was awarded the Air Force Cross for his role in the battle.

 

Bray was among the soldiers sent to help rescue the crews of two Black Hawk helicopters that had been shot down over the Somali capital. But the rescue teams quickly found themselves surrounded and the a pitched battle ensued that left 18 U.S. servicemen dead and 73 wounded over the course of two days.

The fierce fighting later would become the subject of a book, “Black Hawk Down,” which was adapted into a 2001 film of the same name that starred Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore.

While Bray had not had experience with urban warfare, he quickly came up with a system of distinguishing his men’s positions from those of the enemy, enabling helicopter gunships to provide the trapped men cover without accidentally hitting them.

In some of the the fiercest combat, Bray’s system allowed successful air strikes to be delivered to enemy positions just 35 feet from where his men were holed up, driving the militiamen back.

According to an account he gave in a 1994 Airman magazine,  Bray said he sent runners to mark locations with infrared strobe lights only visible to U.S. aircraft. When the runners spotted target positions, they would relay it to Bray, who plotted the locations and called in airstrikes.

In some cases, when airstrikes would miss their target, Bray braved heavy enemy fire to help pinpoint exact enemy locations.

Officials credited Bray’s actions with saving numerous lives and he was awarded a Silver Star by President Clinton.

“Sergeant Bray’s efforts were paramount in the limitation of casualties and safe evacuation of all U.S. soldiers in an intense 18-hour long firefight. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Sergeant Bray reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force,” the citation read.

Afterwards, Bray became an instructor in conducting airstrikes in such close-quarter urban combat situations.

“In Mogadishu, Jeff saved dozen of lives: men who were able to come home and either return to their families or someday start a family of their own,” said retired Col. Kurt Buller, a former special tactics officer. “As an instructor, he was exceedingly demanding of our technical skills … his training kept us alive in combat, I’m sure of it.

“The majority of the guys Jeff taught went on to fight post 9/11 and were tested the way Jeff was tested,” Buller said. “Besides being a great person and a great operator — his legacy was the training he provided to the scores of guys at the squadron, who would ultimately go on to be successful in combat as well.”

Bray died on Oct. 24 in Asheboro, North Carolina where he lived with his wife. He was buried in Arlington Cemetery on Dec. 30.

Contractor Sues Virginia Family for $90K in Vicious Pet Squirrel Attack

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It takes one angry squirrel to inflict $90K worth of damage

CHESAPEAKE, Virginia — On the surface, squirrels may look bushy-tailed and cuddly, but underneath lurks a vicious monster, one Virginia contractor alleges.

Contractor Daniel Felice claims in a lawsuit that he was viciously attacked by a family’s pet squirrel last summer and left “profusely bleeding” while working a job nearby. Now he is seeking $90,000 in damages from the family, Deborah and Paul Desjardin, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

The couple, however, insist they have never kept a squirrel as a pet and that the animal in question is just an overly friendly neighborhood creature.

But Felice’s suit says he saw the beady-eyed killer run back to the Desjardin’s home after the bloody assault. The suit says the squirrel ended up as the Desjardin’s pet after the family dog brought it home wounded in the spring and they nursed it back to health.

Felice’s lawsuit claims the squirrel got so comfortable with the family that it began to peck Deborah Desjardin on the lips as if “giving her a kiss.” It further accuses the couple of  encouraging the fluffy woodland creature to approach humans.

Paul Desjardin admitted to the newspaper that his family fed the squirrel a little food and that it was friendly, but insisted it “was never controlled by us.”

It also says the squirrel attacked a little girl in the neighborhood three days before Felice suffered his injuries and that the girl’s parents had alerted Deborah Desjardin that they had a killer among their midst.

City codes bar residents from keeping wild animals without a permit. Deborah Desjardin was hit with a misdemeanor unlawful possession of wildlife charge by an officer with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries after the alleged attack on Felice, but the case was later dismissed.

Paul Desjardin said he was unaware of the incident involving the girl and that he and his wife were already proven innocence in court when the charge against them was dismissed.

“We’ve already proven the fact that this wasn’t our squirrel,” Desjardin said. “It’s not a pet.”

 

 

Va. School Guard who Enlisted Teen Gang Recruits Convicted of Murder

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Michael Hopson recruited gang members from the high school were he worked

Michael Hopson recruited Black P-Stone gang members from the high school were he worked

 

NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia — A Virginia gang leader who used his job as a high school security guard to recruit teenagers to sell drugs to classmates was convicted of racketeering and murder.

Michael Hopson, 39, who was also known as “Hop” and “Big Homie,” was the founder and leader of the Black P-Stones Gang in Newport News.

According to federal prosecutors, Hopson helped plan and direct the nefarious activities of the gang, which was also known as the P-Stone Bloods or Cobra Stones. The gang is alleged to have engaged in widespread drug trafficking, robberies and the murder of its enemies.

Hopson also worked as a guard at Denbigh High School where he recruited minors to sell drugs to other students.

Hopson faces a mandatory term of life in prison when he is sentenced in March.

Hopson was convicted of murder and racketeering

Hopson was convicted of murder and racketeering

Evidence at trial showed that Hopson personally ordered multiple shootings and murders between October 2007 and June 2009.

Among the killings included the November 2007, slaying a 17-year-old member of the gang who had been friendly with a rival gang called Thug Relations. The trigger man in that killing was given a promotion, the evidence showed.

In December of the following year, Hopson authorized the murder of a member of the Crips gang who had been disrespectful to members of the Black P-Stones.  As a result, two Black P-Stones members went to the man’s home and and fired multiple rounds into the dwelling wounding his father.

In March 2009, Hopson ordered the murder of two members of the rival 10-1 Mafia Crips, in response to the beating of a Black P-Stones member.  Two gang members fired multiple shops  into their intended victims’ homes.

The next month Hopson ordered two Black P-Stones members to fire into a home occupied by people he felt had been disrespectful to him. And in June, he ordered the murder of a Thug Relations member responsible for the murder of a Black P-Stones member.  The intended target was shot and wounded.