Tag: jefferson parish sheriff’s office

Convicted Marrero rapist guilty of failing to register as sex offender again

A former Marrero resident faces five years to 20 years in prison, for his conviction on Wednesday (June 22) of a second offense of failing to register as a sex offender.

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated just over 15 minutes in finding Gerald Dominick guilty as charged. The jury delivered the verdict about 5:40 p.m., Wednesday.

Judge June Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Dominick on July 25.

Dominick, 60, was required by law to register as a sex offender for life because of a conviction of forcible rape in Jefferson Parish in 1984. He had been charged with aggravated rape of a 13-year-old girl in February 1984. Subsequent to a negotiated plea agreement, he admitted to committing a forcible rape that same year and received a 17-year prison sentence.

Then, between 2005 and 2011, he failed to maintain his registration. He pleaded guilty to failure to register in 2011 and received a two-year prison sentence. He returned to Jefferson Parish in January 2013, but he never registered as a sex offender.

The Sheriff’s Office arrested him in 2015, leading to his being charged with the second offense of failing to register and to this week’s trial.

Dominick pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his attorney argued that because of his history of psychiatric disorders, Dominick did not know right from wrong when he failed to register.

Assistant District Attorneys Josh Vanderhooft and Douglas Rushton prosecuted the case.

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Fourth man pleads guilty to role in auto theft racketeering case

A New Orleans man pleaded guilty to his part in an auto theft racketeering case on Monday (June 20), bringing to four the number of people to have confessed to involvement in the ring authorities say accounted for almost one third of vehicle thefts in Jefferson Parish in recent years.

Ronnel A. Kyles, 29, pleaded guilty to racketeering, conspiracy to commit theft and one count of theft in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence. He was among the 13 men charged by a grand jury on May 5 in connection with the ring tied to approximately 32 percent of vehicle thefts in the parish in 2014 and 2015, amounting to at least $2.5 million in economic loss, according to the indictment.

Vehicles, primarily pickup trucks, allegedly were stolen for several reasons. In some cases, enterprise members allegedly transferred vehicle identification numbers to wrecked, inoperable or salvaged trucks with little or no value that were legally purchased to vehicles that were stolen.

In other instances, enterprise members allegedly stole vehicles for parts. The stolen vehicles were sold for scrap based on the weight or simply abandoned, according to the indictment.

Kyles’ role included designating vehicles to be stolen, transporting other enterprise members to steal them and stealing the vehicles. He specifically pleaded guilty to being one of three members who stolen a 2006 Ford F250 pickup between April 16, 2015 and April 17, 2015. The charge was theft involving a vehicle valued at between $5,000 and $25,000.

Judge Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Kyles to 10 years for each of the three counts and ran them concurrently, for a total of 10 years.

Kyles then pleaded guilty to being a second offender under the state’s habitual offender law, because of a previous auto theft conviction in Jefferson Parish. In the previous conviction, he pleaded guilty to theft of a motor vehicle and attempted theft in December 2014 and received three years of probation, court records show. Those crimes involved his stealing a pickup truck, and attempting to steal a vehicle’s rims in May 2014, records show.

On Monday, Judge Adams sentenced Kyles to 10 years as a second-offender, on the second count of his guilty plea, conspiracy to commit auto theft. The judge ran that sentence concurrently, for a total of 10 years.

The others who’ve pleaded guilty in connection with the alleged auto theft ring are Jason Mercadel, 38, of New Orleans, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison; Jimmie “Black” James, 28, of New Orleans, who is scheduled to be sentenced in September; and, Brandon Lane, 29, of Marrero, who received a 10-year sentence.

Lane was charged last year, separately from the 13 men named in the May 5 indictment.

The others named in the indictment are Parrish Norris, 41; Oliver D. Green, 46; Patrick N. Robinson III, 28; Patrick N. Robinson Jr. 49; Cardell E. Torrence, 39; Kevin A. Martin, 29; Brandon P. Evans, 30; Keith A. Nero, 29; Shon R. Claiborne, 27; and Ronald J. Johnson, 29.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Unit and the Louisiana State Police investigated the case.

Assistant District Attorneys Thomas Sanderson, Lindsay Truhe and Doug Freese are prosecuting the cases.

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Teenager pleads guilty, sentenced to 30 years for Harvey homicide

A Harvey teenager pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Friday (June 10), for his involvement in a homicide two years ago in which a 24-year old man was shot to death.

Raynell Whittaker, 19, will receive a 30-year prison sentence for the June 27, 2014 death of Demone Robinson, according to the plea agreement presented in court on Friday.

Robinson was shot multiple times and died in the 1000 block of Inca Drive, which is off Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey. According to court documents, Robinson was targeted as part of a plan to rob him. Whittaker and a co-defendant who is the accused shooter had been scheduled to stand trial next week on a charge of second-degree murder.

As part of the negotiated plea which requires Whittaker’s cooperation, prosecutors reduced the murder charge to manslaughter, which carries a maximum punishment of 40 years in prison. Whittaker also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess Xanax, for which he will receive a 2 ½-year sentence that will run concurrently with the manslaughter sentence.

Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court, who accepted Whittaker’s guilty pleas, scheduled the sentencing for July 18.

Everis Hilton, 18, of New Orleans, and Markeisha T. Lewis, 25, of Harvey, also are charged with second-degree murder in connection with Robinson’s death.

Second-degree murder carries a punishment of mandatory life in prison upon conviction. However, under a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Miller vs. Alabama, individuals who commit homicides before they reach age 18 cannot automatically be sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole.

At the time of Robinson’s death, Whittaker was 17 and Hilton was 16, but both were charged as adults.

At the time a Jefferson Parish grand jury handed up charges in Robinson’s homicide, Whittaker and Everis already were in state prison in connection with their guilty pleas to armed robbery in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

That crime happened sixteen days before Robinson was killed. Whittaker and Everis admitted they robbed a man of his cell phone in the 600 block of Third Street, in New Orleans’ Irish Channel. They currently are serving 10-year prison sentences for that crime.

In accepting the plea, Faulkner agreed to run Whittaker’s 30-year sentence currently with the 10-year sentence in the armed robbery case.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Michael Smith are prosecuting the cases.

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Child sexual predator sentenced to 20 years for twice failing to register as sex offender

An admitted child sexual predator was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday (June 10), for his second conviction of failing to register as a sex offender.

Tommy Mouton, 62, a former Bridge City resident, failed to register as a sex offender last year, after he was released from state prison for his first conviction of failing to register as a sex offender.

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court, who has presided over Mouton’s criminal cases and ruled in 2013 that he was likely to re-offend against children, handed down the maximum sentence after denying a defense request for a new trial. Failure to register second offense carries a sentencing range of five to 20 years in prison.

“It is the court’s opinion that if he was released and out on his own, someone else would be assaulted,” Judge Rowan said in explaining his handing down the maximum sentence.

Mouton received a 10-year prison sentence in 1990 in Jefferson Parish for his convictions of sexual battery, aggravated oral sexual battery and indecent behavior with a juvenile. That case involved a girl he molested over a 21-month period beginning in 1986, when the girl was 6 years old.

While serving that sentence, state corrections officers found in his cell his journal, in which he detailed child abuse and had drawings of young girls being sexually tortured. That led to his conviction in Claiborne Parish of possession of child pornography.

He was sent back to prison in 2010, after he was convicted the first time of failing to register as a sex offender. While in prison, he was evaluated by a Sex Offender Assessment Panel, or SOAP, which seeks to determine whether certain inmates pose a danger to society.

In that process, Mouton stipulated he was, in fact, a child sexual predator. Judge Rowan, who presided over the SOAP hearing, found that Mouton was a danger to society during a December 2013 hearing. Mouton was ordered to register as a sex offender and have his whereabouts tracked via GPS for the rest of his life when released from prison.

Before his release from prison on Feb. 12, 2015, Mouton told the state Department of Corrections that he intended to reside in the 200 block of 8th Street in Bridge City, according to trial testimony.

He failed to report to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office within three days of his release, leading deputies to obtain a warrant for his arrest.

Mouton was at large for 15 days following his release from prison, until a fugitive task force that included the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the New Orleans Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service, found him in the 1800 block of Gravier Street in downtown New Orleans. He had condoms and a bottle of lubricant in his pockets, authorities have said.

Judge Rowan noted on Friday that Mouton made no attempt to at least alert Jefferson Parish authorities that he had difficulties in trying to register last year. “They literally had to do a manhunt to find you,” the judge said. “That’s my problem with that. You sought no help.”

Following Mouton’s arrest last year, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office persuaded a 24th Judicial District Court magistrate to hold him in jail without bond until his trial for second-offense failure to register. That trial ended May 25, with his conviction by a unanimous Jefferson Parish jury.

His attorney asserted Mouton, a U.S. Army veteran, was moneyless and homeless, and that he was in downtown New Orleans to get treatment at the U.S. Veterans Administration hospital.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Andrew DeCoste prosecuted the case.

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Marrero man sentenced to 10 years for possession of child pornography

A Marrero man was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty on Monday (June 6), to one count of possession of pornography depicting juveniles under the age of 13.

Sean A. Byers, 26, who lived in Westwego at the time of his arrest, appeared before Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court to enter the plea reached pursuant to negotiations.

Byers must serve the sentence without the benefit of probation, parole or suspended sentence. He also must register as a sex offender for 25 years starting with the day he’s released from prison, Judge Faulkner said.

He was arrested Aug. 6, 2015, after the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents served a search warrant of his residence at the time in the 400 block of Celotex Parkway.

Sheriff’s Office Detective Nick Vega had opened the investigation a month earlier, as part of an ongoing undercover search of people engaged in the distribution and possession of child pornography on the internet. Byers shared with the detective three videos depicting prepubescent girls engaged in sexual activities with adult males, according to the arrest affidavit.

During the search of Byers’ home, police found a flash drive containing those three videos in addition to 16 other images and videos depicting child pornography, according to the arrest affidavit. Byers confessed he downloaded the videos and images.

Byers posted a $10,000 commercial bond two months after his arrest, records show. He surrendered to authorities on Monday to begin his sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Smith prosecuted the case.

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Metairie man sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexual battery of young girl

A former Metairie resident was sentenced on Monday (June 6) to 30 years in prison for the sexual battery of a girl.

Alejandro Bravo, 45, was convicted last month of inappropriately touching the child on at least three occasions, the last of which occurred on March 9, 2013, when she was 7 years old.

The child was visiting her step-grandmother’s home on Severn Avenue, when Bravo touched her as she sat on his lap. The child spoke out, leading her step-grandmother to call her own mother before alerting the victim’s parents, who in turn notified the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, according to testimony during last month’s trial.

The child testified during the trial that Bravo touched her three times, and that she did not understand that his behavior was wrong until police were notified.

“You made my daughter a victim, but my daughter refuses that label,” the girl’s mother said in an impact testimony letter that a prosecutor read aloud in court on Monday.

After the Sheriff’s Office initiated its investigation and obtained an arrest warrant, Bravo vanished. He was arrested two years later in Minnesota and was extradited to Jefferson Parish to face charges, according to testimony. He testified during the trial that the child “obviously” was lying.

Sexual battery involving a juvenile under age 13 carries a sentence of 25 years to 99 years in prison. Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court, who denied Bravo’s attorney’s request for a new trial last week, cited Bravo’s being a middle-age man in handing down the sentence without probation, parole or suspended sentence.

Judge Faulkner also ordered that Bravo register as a sex offender for the rest of his life from the day he’s released from prison. The registration must be updated every six months, the judge told Bravo.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Michael Smith prosecuted the case.

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Third defendant in auto theft racketeering case pleads guilty

A New Orleans man was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday (June 2), after he pleaded guilty to his role in an alleged auto theft ring that accounted for almost one-third of vehicle thefts in Jefferson Parish during a two-year period.

Jason Mercadel’s guilty plea brings to three the number of people who’ve admitted to being part the alleged ring. The thefts caused a net loss to the community valued at more than $2.5 million in 2014 and 2015, according to the bill of indictment a state grand jury handed up on May 5.

Mercadel, 38, pleaded guilty as charged to racketeering, conspiracy to commit theft and 11 counts of theft. As part of the negotiated plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a charge of altering or removing a vehicle identification number.

Mercadel, also known as Jason Mercadal, is one of 13 people who were charged by a grand jury on May 5. According to the indictment, Mercadel both facilitated auto thefts and directly participated in the thefts. He was charged with designating vehicles to be stolen, transported others to steal the vehicles and stealing them himself.

Vehicles, primarily pickup trucks, allegedly were stolen for several reasons. In some cases, enterprise members allegedly transferred vehicle identification numbers from wrecked inoperable or salvaged trucks with little or no value that were legally purchased to vehicles that were stolen.

In other instances, enterprise members allegedly stole vehicles for parts. The stolen vehicles were sold for scrap based on the weight or simply abandoned, according to the indictment.

Judge Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Mercadel to 15 years for racketeering, 15 years for conspiracy, five years for each of the nine counts of theft of vehicles valued at between $5,000 and $25,000, and five years for each of two counts of theft of vehicles valued at between $750 and $5,000. The sentences were run concurrently.

Mercadel also pleaded guilty to being a repeat offender under Louisiana’s habitual offender law for a previous conviction of conspiracy to commit theft over $25,000. He received a 15-year sentence for as a second felony offender, which was run concurrently with the other sentences he received on Thursday.

On May 20, another of the 13 indicted people, Jimmie “Black” James, 28, of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to racketeering, conspiracy to commit auto theft, seven counts of theft and one count of altering a vehicle identification number. His sentencing is set for September.

Another man, Brandon Lane, 29, of Marrero, was charged separately last year in connection with the same auto theft ring. He pleaded guilty on March 18 to racketeering, conspiracy to commit auto theft, 17 counts of theft and illegal possession of stolen things. Lane was sentenced to 10 years as a second felony offender.

Others named in the May 5 indictment are Parrish Norris, 41; Oliver D. Green, 46; Patrick N. Robinson III, 28; Patrick N. Robinson Jr., 49; Cardell E. Torrence, 39; Ronnel A. Kyles, 29; Kevin A. Martin, 29; Brandon P. Evans, 30; Keith A. Nero, 29; Shon R. Claiborne, 27; and Ronald J. Johnson, 29.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Unit and the Louisiana State Police handled the investigation.

Assistant District Attorneys Doug Freese, Lindsay Truhe and Thomas Sanderson are prosecuting the cases.

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River Ridge man who tried to carjack deputy pleads guilty

A River Ridge man who tried to carjack an undercover Jefferson Parish detective was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday (June 2), after he pleaded guilty to that crime and to possession with intent to distribute cocaine for the crack rocks that deputies found stashed between his buttocks.

Jonas Kelly, 33, also pleaded guilty to being a double offender under Louisiana’s habitual offender law, because of a 2006 burglary conviction. Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court, who accepted the guilty pleas, ran the sentences concurrently for a total of 15 years.

Kelly pleaded guilty to attempted carjacking and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The latter offense stems from the 11 rocks of crack cocaine deputies found hidden between his buttock cheeks after he was arrested for the carjacking attempt.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Detective Patrick Evans was dressed in plain clothing and in a black Ford Mustang parked near Wilker Neal and Newton streets in River Ridge, conducting patrol operations in the high-crime area, when Kelly approached him about 10 p.m., according to the arrest affidavit.

Kelly approached the passenger’s side and pulled on the door handle with his left hand while holding his right hand behind his back in implying that he had a weapon, according to the affidavit. Kelly told the detective to “open the door.”

Evans asked the suspect what he wanted, and Kelly responded by saying he wanted the car. Evans then pulled his pistol out, leading Kelly to back away. Kelly then walked into a crowd of people, and Evans called for assistance of other deputies, who arrested the suspect.

During the search on the scene, the deputies found the crack cocaine that later was weighed at 1.9 grams. The deputies also found $61 in cash in denominations consistent with narcotics sales.

Kelly was scheduled to stand trial on the two charges on Thursday. A panel of potential jurors was lined up outside Judge Grefer’s courtroom, waiting to being jury selection when deputies escorted the people away.

Kelly then pleaded guilty. He entered both pleas under North Carolina vs. Alford, named for a 1970 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Kelly refused to admit that he was in fact guilty but that he was pleading guilty because the prosecutors had sufficient evidence to prove the charges at trial.

In comments to the judge, Kelly denied trying to carjack the deputy. But he said the crack cocaine was his.

Prosecutors filed the double bill on the attempted carjacking charge, citing the 2006 burglary conviction for which he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

In that case, he burglarized a Newton Street apartment just three blocks from where he attempted to carjack the detective. He also pleaded guilty in that case to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and two counts of witness intimidation.

At the time of his arrest for the attempted carjacking, he was on probation for his 2012 conviction of possession of alprazolam. On March 21, he stipulated he violated his probation because of the latest case, and the original sentence of four years in prison was imposed. That sentence is run concurrently with the 15-year sentence he received on Thursday.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Thomas Sanderson prosecuted the case.

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Jury rejects Avondale man’s claim of being framed, convicts him of drug and gun charges

Westley Simmons told jurors that Jefferson Parish deputies framed him as payback for a 2007 crime in New Orleans, where he shot a rifle at a police officer. “They put crack on me, heroin on me and a gun they got out the back,” he testified of his Nov. 15, 2014 arrest in an apartment in Harvey’s Tallow Tree neighborhood.

The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated about 3 1/2 hours on Wednesday night (May 25), finding Simmons guilty as charged of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession of cocaine, possession of heroin, possession of tramadol without a prescription and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Simmons, 26, of Avondale, who declined a pretrial offer this week to plead guilty in exchange for a 10-year sentence as a double offender, will be sentenced on June 17 by 24th Judicial District Court Judge Ray Steib.

He faces 10 years to 20 years for the firearm charge, two to 30 years for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, four to 10 years for each of the cocaine and heroin possession counts and up to five years for the tramadol.

He was barred by law from possessing guns because of his 2007 conviction in New Orleans Criminal District Court of aggravated assault on a peace officer with a firearm. He additionally had convictions of resisting arrest in 2007 and attempted convicted felon in possession of a firearm in 2009.

Wednesday’s conviction stems from his arrest in an apartment in the 1100 Orange Blossom Lane. Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies had gotten an alert through a license plate recognition camera of a stolen Ford Explorer in the area and investigated.

The vehicle was parked in front of the apartment, where a man exited and told deputies that the man who drove the vehicle was inside. The deputies went to the front door, which was not completely closed, and knocked. They smelled marijuana smoke and entered, according to testimony.

They saw Simmons standing in the kitchen. Simmons saw the uniformed deputies and tried to run out of the back door, Deputy Chad Gagnon testified. “Once he saw that, he had the deer-in-the-headlights look,” Gagnon testified.

A locked security bar prevented Simmons from getting out of the back door. Deputy Blake Hollifield testified that Simmons resisted, and the deputy noted a hard object in the suspect’s pants waistband. It was a loaded semiautomatic pistol with a round in the chamber, meaning it was ready to be fired, Hollifield said.

The deputies found in Simmons’ pockets two grams of heroin and 5.5 grams of crack cocaine, wrapped in individual pieces, along with a half-gram of power cocaine and five tramadol pills. The deputies also found a digital scale and a cigar roller in his pockets, along with the key to the stolen vehicle.

A second man, Randy Owens, 32, of Algiers, also was arrested in the apartment. He pleaded guilty on April 27 to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and attempted possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Steib suspended a five-year prison sentence and ordered Owens to serve five years of probation.

Assistant District Attorneys Angad Ghai and Blair Constant prosecuted the case.

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Child sexual predator convicted of failing to register as sex offender

An admitted child sexual predator who molested a prepubescent girl in the 1980s and later wrote journal entries in prison detailing how to kidnap, rape and murder children has been convicted a second time of failing to register as a sex offender.

Tommy Mouton, 62, a former Bridge City resident, faces five years to 20 years in prison. The Jefferson Parish jury that was seated on Tuesday deliberated approximately 15 minutes in the evening before finding Mouton guilty as charged. Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to hand down the punishment on June 20.

Mouton failed to alert the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office or any other law enforcement agency of his residency after he was released from prison last year for his first conviction of failing to register as a sex offender.

Mouton finished that five-year sentence on Feb. 12, 2015, and informed the state Department of Corrections that he planned reside in the 200 block of 8th Street in Bridge City. A warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to register again.

Fifteen days after he was released from prison, police found Mouton in New Orleans, with unused condoms and a bottle of lubricant in his pockets, authorities have said. As a result of his absconding, prosecutors succeeded last year in persuading a 24th Judicial District Court commissioner to order that Mouton be held in jail without bond until his trial.

Mouton pleaded guilty in state court in Jefferson Parish in 1990 to sexual battery, aggravated oral sexual battery and indecent behavior with a juvenile. He admitted he molested a girl over a 21-month period beginning in 1986, when she was six years old.

While serving his 10-year sentence for that crime, corrections officers found in his cell his journal with entries detailing child abuse and drawings of young girls being sexually tortured. Those images led to his conviction in Claiborne Parish to possession of child pornography.

He was released from prison in 2008, but he later failed to register as a sex offender. A Jefferson Parish jury convicted him of that crime in 2010, and Judge Rowan, who presided over that case, too, sentenced him to five years in prison.

Before his release, he was evaluated by a state Sex Offender Assessment Panel, or SOAP, which seeks to determine whether certain inmates pose danger to society.

Mouton shortcut the process by admitting he is a child sexual predator. As such, he was ordered to wear a GPS monitor and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He was required by law to register as a sex offender within three business days after his release from prison.

He failed to do so, and 15 days after he walked out of prison, members of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force found him on a sidewalk near the 1800 block of Gravier Street in New Orleans, according to testimony.

Mouton, a U.S. Army veteran, was in downtown New Orleans because of an appointment with nearby the U.S. Veterans Administration hospital, according to testimony. He asserted that when released from Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson, La., he rode a bus to New Orleans, where he was homeless and had little money.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Andrew DeCoste prosecuted the case.

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