Ex-N.C. GOP boss admits to lying to FBI
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The former chairman of North Carolina's Republican Party admitted Wednesday that he broke the law by lying to federal agents about his role in an alleged effort to bribe the state's top insurance regulator to help a major GOP donor.
Robin Hayes, 74, pleaded guilty to making a false statement in August 2018 to FBI agents conducting the bribery investigation. His plea deal included the promise that he would help prosecutors build a case against co-defendants and potentially testify against them.
Prosecutors agreed that Hayes could avoid any time behind bars, but a judge could sentence him to no more than six months in prison. The government agreed to recommend a sentence "at the low end" of that range, along with monetary penalties, prosecutors said.
In an indictment unsealed in April, prosecutors said Hayes agreed to use the state Republican Party as a conduit for filtering $250,000 to state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey's re-election campaign. Prosecutors said Hayes agreed to funnel the money to Causey at the request of insurance magnate Greg Lindberg and an associate. Lindberg proposed moving $250,000 through the party's coffers to Causey each quarter as part of his plan to provide the insurance regulator with $2 million in contributions for his expected 2020 re-election campaign, prosecutors said.
Doctor sentenced to 40 years for opioids
ABINGDON, Va. -- A doctor who prosecutors said ran a medical practice in Virginia like an interstate drug distribution ring was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison for illegally prescribing opioids.
Dr. Joel Smithers was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Abingdon.
Judge James Jones sentenced Smithers to 40 years. He faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum of life.
Smithers was convicted in May of more than 800 counts of illegally distributing opioids, including oxycodone and oxymorphone that caused the death of a West Virginia woman.
Authorities say Smithers prescribed more than 500,000 doses of opioids to patients from Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee while based in Martinsville, Va., from 2015 to 2017.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen said the sentence, while severe, "serves as just punishment" for Smithers' actions.
Domingo quits amid harassment claims
SAN FRANCISCO -- Opera star Placido Domingo resigned Wednesday as general director of the Los Angeles Opera and withdrew from all future performances, after multiple allegations from women who say the legendary tenor sexually harassed them there and at opera companies around the country over a period of decades.
Domingo's departure from LA Opera raises questions about his future career in the United States, where he has been removed or has stepped down from all scheduled appearances since the allegations were first published by The Associated Press.
In two reports published Aug. 13 and Sept. 5, the AP spoke to more than 20 women who accused Domingo of sexual harassment or other inappropriate, sexually-charged conduct. All said they feared reporting him because of his power to make or break their careers.
In a statement Wednesday, Domingo said that his ability to continue at LA Opera was "compromised" by the accusations against him.
Domingo added that he would continue to work to clear his name but decided "it is in the best interests of LA Opera for me to resign as general director and withdraw from my future scheduled performances at this time."
Board tightens safety belt rules for limos
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Federal inspectors recommended stricter regulations Wednesday for safety belts and passenger seats in new vehicles stretched into limousines, saying tighter standards might have made a difference in an upstate New York limousine crash that killed 20 people.
The National Transportation Safety Board released the recommendations almost a year after a Ford Excursion SUV that had been modified into a stretch limo blew through a T-intersection in rural Schoharie and slammed into an earthen embankment. The crash near a popular country store on Oct. 6, 2018, killed the driver, 17 passengers on a birthday outing and two pedestrians.
The agency recommended lap-shoulder belts in all seating positions and that limousine seating systems meet minimum crash safety performance standards. The recommendations would apply only to new vehicles stretched into limousines, the board said.
In the New York crash, the safety board found some seats separated from their anchorage points in the significantly modified vehicle, which included side-facing seats. None of the 17 passengers appeared to be wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, the board said, but the poorly designed belts "would not have provided adequate protection" anyway.
A Section on 10/03/2019