Ex-teacher accused of paying students for sex, loading them up with booze and drugs finds out her fate



A Missouri woman who was accused of paying students for sex and giving them alcohol and drugs while she was a substitute teacher just learned where she'll be spending the next decade.

Carissa Smith, 31, was arrested last November and indicted on a host of charges including two counts of sexual trafficking of a child under the age of 18, nine counts of statutory rape, two counts of statutory sodomy, three counts of sexual contact with a student, and one count of patronizing prostitution from a victim 14 years and younger.

'Very disturbing and distressing information.'

Investigators indicated the incidents occurred from August 2023 to September 2024.

According to the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office, victims alleged that Smith — who began regularly working as a substitute teacher at Dixon Middle School in August 2022 then worked at Dixon High School from 2023 until her resignation in August 2024 — "would offer money, marijuana and/or alcohol to students in return for sex or to allow her to perform oral sex."

The probable cause statement indicated that Smith paid one victim at least $100 to engage in sexual activities with her. Authorities noted further that Smith urged one minor victim not to discuss their encounters with anyone else.

Court documents reviewed by USA Today indicated that Smith also involved her husband, informing him that one victim had a compromising video and was blackmailing her. The husband allegedly threatened more than one minor with a baseball bat.

The affidavit reviewed by People magazine indicated that after hearing a rumor about a video circulating in the community that allegedly showed the substitute teacher performing a sexual act with one of her students, Smith's brother-in-law caught her in bed with an underage student.

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Photo by Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff

Victims claimed that Smith would have sex with them at her house as well as other locations, including on roadsides.

The day after Smith's Nov. 12, 2024, arrest, Dixon R-I School District Superintendent Travis Bohrer revealed to parents that the district had received a report of possible misconduct by Smith earlier in the year from at least one student and had notified the relevant authorities.

Bohrer noted, "This is very disturbing and distressing information for everyone in our school community."

While out on bond, Smith was arrested again in September and charged with tampering with a witness after court documents say she was caught at the home of one of her victims, the sheriff's office confirmed to USA Today.

The former teacher's $250,000 bond was revoked on Sept. 10.

"The defendant was ordered to have no contact with any victim in this case," noted prosecuting attorney Jeffrey Thomas. "The defendant has failed to follow a course of good conduct."

Smith pleaded guilty to lesser charges of two counts of sexual contact with a student and one count of first degree endangering the welfare of a child/sexual conduct on Sept. 17, reported KRCG-TV, and faced as many as 12 years in prison.

Smith instead received a sentence Wednesday of 10 years behind bars, the station said in a separate story.

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Thug who jumped over courtroom bench, physically attacked judge in viral video is sentenced



A Las Vegas trial defendant who earlier this year jumped over a courtroom bench and physically attacked a judge was sentenced this week to at least 26 years in prison for his actions, KLAS-TV reported. You can view video here of attack.

What's the background?

On Jan. 3, Deobra Redden — who already was a convicted felon with a long history of violent crime — stood before Las Vegas District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus for sentencing over a charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm, KSNV-TV reported.

'I’m not a bad person, I’m not an evil guy. I’m not making excuses for my actions, but I’m saying I’m not a bad person, and I know that I did not intend to kill Mary Kay Holthus. I know I cared about her wellbeing.'

Holthus indicated she disagreed with a request from Redden's attorney to keep him out of prison, and that's when Redden cursed at Holthus, rushed the bench, jumped over it, and physically attacked the judge. A man next to the judge and a court officer both tried to hold Redden back and subdue him, KSNV said, adding that multiple punches were thrown at Redden. An alarm was activated, Holthus stood up after a few minutes, and officers escorted her out of the courtroom, the station said.

A week later, Redden again stood in front of Holthus, and she sentenced him to up to four years in prison, completing the hearing that was cut short due to Redden's attack.

What happened next?

Redden pleaded guilty but mentally ill in September during his trial for attempted murder in relation to his attack against the judge, KLAS reported.

At Redden's sentencing hearing Tuesday, the station said prosecutors read the following statement from Judge Holthus: “He made a conscious decision to kill me and made every effort to succeed. If he had his way, he’d be facing a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for murder.”

Redden tried to convince District Court Judge Susan Johnson that he wasn't trying to kill Holthus.

"I’m not a bad person, I’m not an evil guy," Redden told the judge, according to KLAS. "I’m not making excuses for my actions, but I’m saying I’m not a bad person, and I know that I did not intend to kill Mary Kay Holthus. I know I cared about her wellbeing.”

Redden's entreaties were not enough. Johnson sentenced Redden to a prison term of 26 to 65 years, the station said.

“It was not just retaliation or an attack on Judge Holthus,” Johnson said, according to KLAS. “It was also an attack on the judiciary.”

Johnson added that doctors who evaluated Redden determined that he knew the difference between “right and wrong," the station said.

With credit for time served, KLAS said Redden would be eligible for parole in the 2050s.

You can view video here of the sentencing hearing.

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Reversal of FATE: Steve Baker’s update on January 6 prisoners is ‘a good sign’



January 6 started as a chance for Trump supporters to innocently protest and quickly turned into a day that would change their lives forever.

Now, however, things might be taking a turn for the better.

“One J-sixer is seeing a reversal of fate,” Jill Savage of “Blaze New Tonight” explains.

“John Strand is actually one of the more, let’s call it, infamous stories, certainly one of the more high-profile cases of all the January 6 defendants,” Steve Baker tells Savage.

Strand was friend and bodyguard of Simone Gold — a doctor and attorney who was the deplatformed founder of the Frontline American Doctors. Gold had been accused of “disinformation” for recommending alternative therapies that were not part of what Baker calls the “approved narrative” regarding COVID-19.

Gold was scheduled to speak on January 6 at one of the six legally permitted events scheduled on the Capitol property that day.

“By the time they got to the Capitol, everything had gone to hell in a handbasket, and so there was nothing but chaos by the time they arrived. The breaches had already taken place. John Strand and Simone Gold did not participate in violence, they did not participate in breaching the Capitol building whatsoever,” Baker explains.

However, their fatal flaw was going inside the Capitol peacefully.

“She actually decided to deliver her prepared remarks there in the Rotunda. She climbed up on the Eisenhower statue, with John standing guard beside her, she delivered her remarks there in the great Rotunda of the Capitol, and then they peacefully left, just as so many other hundreds and thousands of people did,” Baker says.

Both Strand and Gold were “handed that infamous 1512 obstruction of an official proceeding felony.”

The felony carried up to 20 years of imprisonment.

Gold ended up taking a plea deal and pled down to a single misdemeanor. Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced her to 60 days in prison.

“John Strand decided he was not going to take this lying down, that he was going to be a warrior, and he, despite the odds being horribly stacked against him, he was going to go to trial and he did that,” Baker explains.

He was convicted on all counts, and he was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

“Now what’s happening is that because of the Supreme Court’s overturning the 1512 obstruction of an official proceeding charge against 355 defendants, him being one of those,” Baker says, “they’re shortening their sentences or letting them go.”

If they haven’t gone to trial yet, they’re not charging them with it.

“It’s especially a good sign because the Department of Justice has already announced that they want to figure out how to continue with that charge,” Baker explains. “But the point being, is it appears that the judges are pushing back against the DOJ.”

“We’ll take this as a good sign,” he adds.


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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis decreases man's massive 110-year prison sentence down to 10 years



Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has dramatically decreased the sentence of a man convicted in connection with a 2019 crash that left four people dead and others injured, reducing the man's whopping 110-year prison sentence down to just 10 years.

Jefferson County District Judge Bruce Jones had previously noted that state law obligated him to give the mandatory minimum sentences for every count on which Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos was convicted, according to Reuters. But the judge noted that the lengthy sentence would not have been his choice if he had discretion in the matter.

The trucker testified that the brakes of his semitrailer failed as he was heading downhill, according to the Associated Press. The outlet said that prosecutors contended that the man could have utilized a runaway truck ramp. Reuters reported that prosecutors said he went past at least one such ramp, while an AP story said that prosecutors said he could have utilized any of several ramps.

"I am writing to inform you that I am granting your application for a commutation," Polis noted in letter to Aguilera-Mederos. "After learning about the highly atypical and unjust sentence in your case, I am commuting your sentence to 10 years and granting you parole eligibility on December 30, 2026."

"You were sentenced to 110 years in prison, effectively more than a life sentence, for a tragic but unintentional act. While you are not blameless, your sentence is disproportionate compared with many other inmates in our criminal justice system who committed intentional, premeditated, or violent crimes," the governor said.

"Your highly unusual sentence highlights the lack of uniformity between sentences for similarly situated crimes, which is particularly true when individuals are charged with offenses that require mandatory minimum sentences. This case will hopefully spur an important conversation about sentencing laws, but any subsequent changes to the law would not retroactively impact your sentence, which is why I am granting you this limited commutation," Polis said.

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