Woman falsely accuses her landlord of saying he doesn't want black tenants — and makes it much worse by involving feds



A Cincinnati woman falsely accused her landlord of saying he doesn't want black tenants, and she pleaded guilty in federal court to making false statements to federal agents about the matter, the U.S. Department of Justice said last week.

What's the background?

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in February 2023 was forwarded several text messages purportedly sent by a Cincinnati-area landlord as part of a civil rights report, officials said, citing court documents.

The landlord owns more than 100 properties — including 56 properties rented through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s housing choice voucher program — and many of his tenants appear to be black, officials said.

In March 2023, Dermisha Pickett met with HUD agents and gave them numerous discriminatory messages purportedly from Pickett’s landlord, officials said, adding that Pickett also claimed her landlord called her as she arrived at the meeting and placed the call on speaker phone.

Pickett told agents she tried to pay her portion of the rent but that her landlord returned it, stating he did not want to rent to black people, officials said.

Fanon Rucker — Pickett's attorney at the time — shared multiple alleged screenshots of texts from her landlord stating he wanted "a white family in this unit" and "will not rent [to] African Americans again," WCPO-TV reported.

"If it doesn't make everybody who hears this angry, then folks need to check their pulse," Rucker said nearly a year ago, according to video from the station.

But the landlord during a later interview with agents told them he didn't want to continue to rent to Pickett because she was causing extensive damage to the property, officials said, adding that phone records and forensic analysis indicate that no text messages were exchanged during the time periods Pickett claimed and that it's alleged she used mobile applications to fabricate the text messages.

WCPO said it was discovered that an alleged voicemail from the landlord was linked to a phone number tied to Pickett.

Now what?

“Making false reports of racial discrimination is unacceptable and can have tangible effects on other tenants who rely on HUD-assisted housing,” Special Agent in Charge Shawn Rice with the HUD Office of Inspector General said. “In this case, if the landlord had violated the Fair Housing Act, his participation in HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher program may have been revoked, causing the displacement of approximately 50 families who rely on the Housing Choice Voucher program. These families would have been forced to uproot their families to find new homes, incurring non-reimbursable expenses.”

Pickett, 33, was charged in August 2023, officials said, adding that making a false statement to federal officers is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Here's a video report that aired when the tables started turning on Pickett about six months ago:

Cincinnati woman allegedly made up discriminatory messages from landlord youtu.be

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Thug accused of smashing car's rear window with kids in back seat, pointing gun at their mom, head-butting her pleads guilty



The biker accused of stomping and smashing a car's rear window on a Philadelphia street last fall when children, ages 2 and 5, were in the back seat and then pointing a gun at their mother and head-butting her after she confronted him pleaded guilty Wednesday, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said.

Cody Heron, 27, during a pre-trial status hearing pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of an instrument of crime, officials said, adding that the DA's office announced Heron's conviction Thursday.

What's the background?

Authorities said Heron and fellow bikers and drivers jammed traffic outside City Hall on Oct. 1 during an unauthorized "meet-up."

Nikki Bullock, the mother in question, told WCAU-TV shortly after the ordeal that she was delivering food with her girlfriend and their two children when the assailant hit her car.

"They’re not paying attention to lanes. They’re just doing whatever. So I’m turning in the lane, and he just hits the side of the car," Bullock told WCAU, adding that she argued with the biker afterward.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

She noted to the station the biker at that point took things to another level, hopping up on her car's back bumper and stomping on the rear window before jumping high and smashing through the window with both feet.

After Bullock exited the car to confront the biker, the biker pointed a gun at her. Bullock told the station, "It was just, like, it was a little gun, and at that point, my windshield was already broken — so, what was he really going to do to me, for real?"

She continued trying to get in the biker's face, and the biker — who was wearing a helmet — head-butted her and shoved her. The DA's office confirmed that Heron smashed the car's window, head-butted the victim, and brandished a firearm at her.

Bullock still didn't back down, and video shows her shoving the biker back — and he falls sideways along with his two-wheeled ride.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Anything else?

The DA's office said Heron tried to evade authorities by destroying evidence and "even using another person’s online profile to deflect attention from investigators." Heron's sentencing is scheduled for June 5, authorities said.

Here's a report about the incident that aired after Heron's arrest:

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

American basketball star Brittney Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in Russia, faces up to 10 years in prison



Brittney Griner — an American basketball star busted in February after Russian authorities said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage — on Thursday pleaded guilty to drug charges in Moscow, NBC News reported.

Griner faces up to 10 years in prison, the network added.

What are the details?

Her lawyer, Alexander Boikov, said following the hearing that Griner admitted the vape canisters found at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport were hers but that she brought them to Russia unintentionally, NBC News noted.

Griner's other lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, said they hoped for leniency, the network reported, adding that Griner’s next hearing is scheduled for next Thursday.

NBC News said it wasn't in the courtroom when Griner spoke.

Griner's arrest happened just days before Russia invaded Ukraine, the network said, adding that the Kremlin is accused of using Griner as a political pawn. The Biden administration insisted Griner has been “wrongfully detained," NBC News said, adding that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Griner was being held hostage.

'I'm terrified I might be here forever'

Earlier this week Griner, 31, wrote an emotional letter to President Joe Biden, pleading with him to bring her home, the network said.

Griner's handwritten letter was delivered Monday morning to the White House, the Griner family told CBS News, adding that she wrote, "I'm terrified I might be here forever. On the 4th of July, our family normally honors the service of those who fought for our freedom, including my father who is a Vietnam War Veteran. It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year."

The White House said Biden read Griner's letter, CBS News noted in a separate report. Biden reassured Griner’s wife that he was trying to secure her release as quickly as possible, NBC News added.

Anything else?

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in April that Griner was in an “unimaginable” situation amid her detention in Russia.

"She continues to have our full support," Engelbert said at the time. "Certainly, we’re trying everything we can, every angle, working with her legal representation, her agent, elected leaders, the administration. Just everybody in our ecosystem to try and find ways to get her home safely and as quickly as we can.”

Democratic operative pleads guilty to illegal ballot harvesting in 2020 Arizona primary election



A well-known Democratic operative pleaded guilty Thursday to ballot abuse — or ballot harvesting, which was made illegal under a 2016 Arizona state law — during the 2020 primary election, the Associated Press reported.

What are the details?

Guillermina Fuentes, 66, could get probation for running what investigators with the Arizona attorney general's office said was an operation in the border city of San Luis to persuade voters to let her gather — and in some cases fill out — their ballots, the AP said.

In a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped three felony counts alleging Fuentes filled out one voter's ballot and forged signatures on some of the four ballots she illegally returned for non-family members, the outlet reported.

More from the AP:

Fuentes, a former San Luis mayor who serves as an elected board member of the Gadsden Elementary School District in San Luis, could be sentenced to up to two years in prison, but that would require a judge to find aggravating circumstances. The plea agreement leaves the actual sentence up to a judge, who could give her probation, home confinement and a hefty fine for her admission to illegally collecting and returning four voted ballots.

Sentencing was set for June 30. She will lose her voting rights and must give up elected office.

Attorney Anne Chapman said in an email Thursday that she had no comment on the charges against her client.

But Chapman ripped the state's ballot collection law, the outlet said, saying it makes things more difficult for minorities who historically have relied on others to help them vote: "This prosecution shows that the law is part of ongoing anti-democratic, state-wide, and national voter suppression efforts.”

What's the background?

Fuentes and her co-defendant were seen with several mail-in envelopes outside a cultural center in San Luis on the day of the 2020 primary election, investigators' reports show, the AP said, adding that the ballots were dropped in an indoor ballot box.

A write-in candidate recorded video of Fuentes and then called the Yuma County sheriff, the outlet added. The investigators' reports said video shows Fuentes marking at least one ballot — but that charge was dropped, the AP said.

While the case involved only a handful of ballots, the outlet said investigators believe the scheme went much farther.

FORMER MAYOR OF SAN LUIS PLEADS GUILTY TO BALLOT ABUSEyoutu.be

Doughnut shop worker who fatally punched 77-year-old customer over being called N-word sentenced to two years of house arrest



A 27-year-old doughnut shop employee who fatally punched a 77-year-old customer last year over being called the N-word was sentenced Monday to two years of house arrest, WTVT-TV reported.

What are the details?

Investigators said Vonelle Cook went through a Dunkin' drive-through in Tampa, Florida, on May 5, 2021, and was angry about the lack of service, the station reported.

Employees said Cook was a frequent customer and "regularly troublesome and abusive," WTVT said, citing a state attorney's office release.

Cook then parked his car and walked into the restaurant, and prosecutors said he was aggressive and verbally abusive toward employees — including Corey Pujols, the station said.

When Pujols — who is black — asked Cook to leave, police told WTVT that Cook called him the N-word.

Pujols told Cook not to call him the racial slur again, the station said, but Cook did just that. WTVT's early reporting on the incident — citing investigators — indicated the victim repeated the slur after Pujols challenged him to do so.

After the second N-word utterance, Pujols punched Cook in the jaw, the station said. The blow knocked out Cook and caused him fall and hit his head on the floor, WTVT said.

Tampa Fire Rescue responded and took Cook to a hospital, where he died three days later, the station said, adding that an autopsy revealed he suffered a skull fracture and brain contusions from the fall.

What happened next?

Police arrested Pujols and charged him with aggravated manslaughter of an elderly adult, WTVT said. But prosecutors later made a deal with Pujols, who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of felony battery in exchange for a more lenient sentence, the station said.

In addition to two years of house arrest, a judge sentenced the former Dunkin' employee to complete 200 hours of community service and attend an anger management course, WTVT said.

"This outcome holds the defendant accountable while taking into account the totality of the circumstances — the aggressive approach and despicable racial slur used by the victim, along with the defendant’s age, lack of criminal record, and lack of intent to cause the victim’s death," Grayson Kamm, spokesperson for the Hillsborough state attorney's office, told the station in a statement.

Prosecutors also noted Cook's "very troublesome criminal history" and prison time — court records show he was a registered sex offender — which they said made him an "unsympathetic victim," WTVT reported.

Darrin Johnson, an attorney for Pujols, declined to comment after the hearing, the station said.

Here's a WTVT report that aired after Cook's death: