Crime


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Sweetheart Scammers Stole $14.4 Million from Pennsylvanians Last Year. Here’s How They Did It.

More than 600 Pennsylvanians lost an average of $24,000 to online romance scammers in 2022.

E. Jean Carroll, second from right, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in New York.  A jury in New York City is set to begin deliberations in a civil trial over Carroll’s claims that Donald Trump raped her in a luxury Manhattan department store. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Trump Found Liable of Sexual Abuse and Defamation in Civil Rape Trial

A jury awarded magazine writer E. Jean Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Since this was a civil case, however, the former president will not face jail time.

In this image from a Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer's body-worn video camera, released and annotated by the Justice Department in the Government's Sentencing Memorandum, Peter Schwartz circled in red is shown using a canister of pepper spray against officers on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Schwartz on Friday, May 5, 2023, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for attacking police officers with pepper spray as he stormed the U.S. Capitol with his wife. (Justice Department via AP)
Former Uniontown Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Attacking Officers on Jan. 6

Peter Schwartz, who was working as a welder in Uniontown before his arrest in February 2021, received the longest prison sentence so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

FILE - Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Nathan Donald Pelham, 40, a Texas man who agreed to surrender on charges from taking part in the U.S. Capitol riot, but later that day fired a gun toward sheriff's deputies who went to his house in response to a welfare call, was arrested Tuesday, April 18, federal prosecutors said Thursday, April 20, 2023.  Pelham, 40, allegedly fired the shots from his rural home on April 12, the same day he was told he was charged with four misdemeanors for allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 attack. In addition, he was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, prosecutors said.
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Here’s Where the Jan. 6 Criminal Proceedings Stand

As of March, about half of the more than 1,000 people charged have pleaded guilty and 445 defendants have been sentenced, according to the Justice department.

Paranoia and Guns Mix Together in New Wave of Shootings

Knocking on a door, turning your car around in a driveway, or chasing a ball into your neighbor’s yard can get you shot now, apparently. 

Graphic by Francesca Daly
Trump Makes Himself 2 Inches Taller In Fake Mugshot That Fundraises Off Arrest

In the days following former president Donald Trump’s indictment, solicitations from his 2024 joint fundraising committee began. The committee has reportedly raised $7 million so far.

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 29: A student from Oakland Catholic High School receives comfort following the evacuation of her school after a call of an active shooter on March 29, 2023 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.   Many schools, including Oakland Catholic and Pittsburgh Central Catholic, were targeted as part of what authorities are calling "computer-generated swatting calls." Many agencies, including state and municipal police, are conducting investigations. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Active Shooter Hoax Calls Target Dozens of Pennsylvania Schools

Local and state police responded to numerous threats of an active shooter Wednesday at dozens of schools throughout the state, prompting evacuations, lockdowns, and panic among students and parents alike. Â