GEORGIA
Kickback schemer gets probation
A Georgia man who pleaded guilty for his role in an $18 million kickback scheme that targeted the U.S. Navy was sentenced Friday to serve three years of probation by a federal judge in Rhode Island. Patrick Barry Nagle, of Marietta, Ga., had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and the sentencing guidelines had called for him to receive a five-year prison term, but prosecutors recommended a far lighter sentence because Nagle cooperated extensively with the investigation, which ultimately resulted in guilty pleas from five others. U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi agreed and also ordered him to help pay $18 million restitution to the Navy, a $25,000 fine and 300 hours’ community service.
ALABAMA
Wife’s body removed from yard
The body of a woman was removed Friday from a front yard grave after a lengthy court fight. One of Patsy Davis’ daughters burst into tears as the vault containing her body came out of the ground. James Davis said that before she died he promised to bury his wife at their log cabin home in Stevenson in northeast Alabama. However, the city sued and he eventually lost his legal battle to keep her remains there. A judge this week approved a plan to remove the body. Davis’ wife died in 2009. He plans to have her remains cremated and keep her ashes in their home.
CANADA
Council strips mayor of powers
In a motion, approved in a 39-3 vote, the Toronto City Council suspended Mayor Rob Ford’s authority to appoint and dismiss the deputy mayor and his executive committee. The council also voted to give the deputy mayor authority to handle any civic emergency. Ford vowed to take City Council to court but later said, “If I would have had a mayor conducting themselves the way I have, I would have done exactly the same thing.” Ford has admitted to excessive drinking and using and buying illegal drugs. The council on Monday is expected to move toward stripping the mayor of most of his remaining powers.
JAPAN
Kennedy assumes U.S. ambassador role
Caroline Kennedy arrived in Japan on Friday to take up her position as U.S. ambassador with one important strength: She has the ear of the American president. “I bring greetings from President Obama,” she said in a short statement after getting off the plane with her husband Edwin Schlossberg at Narita airport. Japan hopes the 55-year-old daughter of late President John F. Kennedy will work closely with Barack Obama to tackle some urgent U.S.-Japan matters, analysts said.
CALIFORNIA
Bodies believed to be family
Four skeletons found in shallow graves in the Southern California desert are believed those of a San Diego County family that vanished three years ago, police said Friday, resolving one mystery and raising a host of new questions about what happened to them. The McStay family — Joseph, 40, and his wife, Summer, 43, and their sons Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3 — were apparent homicide victims, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said. Police now will try to piece together what led the McStays to disappear and end up 100 miles from their home. The family’s skeletal remains were found Monday by an off-road motorcyclist.
MEXICO
18 bodies found in mass graves
Investigators have dug up 18 bodies in western Mexico after questioning nearly two dozen police officers who confessed to working with a drug cartel and then led police to a series of mass graves, an official said Friday. Officials said more bodies could be found as excavation of eight graves continues. Some of the bodies were gagged and showed signs of torture, and one of them was a woman, a federal prosecutor official said.
MEXICO
Jaguar’s killing under investigation
Mexico’s environmental agency says it will ask federal prosecutors to investigate the killing of a jaguar by a man who posted photos of the dead animal on Facebook. The agency said Friday that the man also posted photographs of the jaguar being cooked. Jaguars are an endangered species protected by law in Mexico. The agency said the man who hunted and cooked the big cat in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, across the border from Texas, faces between one and nine years in prison. Photos show two men, one in hunting clothes, holding up with one arm the partially skinned corpse of a bloodied jaguar while holding a beer in the other hand.
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