Today’s Legal Roundup: Memphis Police Charged in Murder of Tyre Nichols, El Chapo's Wife Released, and More
As security professionals convened in Dallas, Texas, this week for the 2023 GSX Conference, and Security Management staff worked to bring you the GSX Daily, we shifted the focus of Today in Security away from a deeper analysis of a single news story to a quick round-up of several of the news stories affecting the world of security.
Courts, legislators, and regulators often intersect with issues and people tied to the security industry. Whether you were with the Security Management team at GSX 2023 or busy with other matters, here’s a roundup of some of the legal stories we’ve been following.
Five Former Memphis Police Officers Are Indicted on Federal Charges for Death of Tyre Nichols
From NPR: Five former Memphis police officers involved in the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols have been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
The five officers—Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith—were charged with one count each of excessive force and deliberate indifference, and two counts of witness tampering.
The five men are also facing criminal court charges in Shelby County, Tennessee, for second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct and official oppression. Each of the former officers has pleaded not guilty to the state charges against them.
You can watch U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcement on the charges here.
El Chapo’s Wife Released From U.S. Custody After Completing 3-Year Prison Sentence
From the Associated Press (AP): The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was released from federal custody on Wednesday after completing a three-year sentence for helping him run his multibillion-dollar criminal empire, the federal Bureau of Prisons said.
Emma Coronel Aispuro, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to three federal offenses as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors, had been moved from a Texas prison to a California halfway house prior to her release. She will now serve four years of supervised release.
NYC Pension Funds and State of Oregon Sue Fox Over 2020 Election Coverage
From the AP: New York City’s pension funds and the state of Oregon sued Fox Corporation on Tuesday, alleging the company harmed investors by allowing Fox News to broadcast falsehoods about the 2020 election that exposed the network to defamation lawsuits.
The lawsuit, filed in Delaware, accuses the news company of inviting defamation claims by amplifying conspiracy theories about the election, including a suit Fox News agreed to settle for nearly $800 million with the voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems.
Co-Founder of Multibillion-Dollar Cryptocurrency Scheme “OneCoin” Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
Paraphrased a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ): Karl Sebastian Greenwood, who co-founded OneCoin with Ruja Ignatova (also known as “the Cryptoqueen”), was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his orchestration of the massive OneCoin fraud scheme.
OneCoin, which began in 2014 and was based in Bulgaria, marketed and sold a fraudulent cryptocurrency through a global multi-level marketing network. Millions of victims invested more than $4 billion worldwide in the fraudulent digital asset.
Cryptocurrency use isn't anonymous, but it is largely unregulated, making these digital currencies popular financial workarounds for criminal actors seeking to hide ill-gotten gains or confuse investigators. https://t.co/ZUaMxlZCyZ
— Security Management (@SecMgmtMag) August 21, 2023
The Twisted Eye in the Sky Over Buenos Aires
From Wired: A scandal unfolding in Argentina shows the dangers of implementing facial recognition—even with laws and limits in place.
Judge Blocks Suspension of Open and Concealed Carry in New Mexico
From The Washington Post: A federal judge on Wednesday halted New Mexico’s ban on carrying firearms in public in the state’s most populous city after the policy was met with fierce backlash and lawsuits from gun rights advocates.
The temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge David Urias pressed pause on the policy, which had suspended open and concealed carry laws in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County. After announcing the ban Friday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) told The Washington Post that the unusual action was necessary because of a surge in gun violence, including the killings of a 13-year-old girl, a 5-year-old girl, and an 11-year-old boy this summer.
The governor said after the ruling that she will continue to press for solutions to gun violence.
SEC Fines Stoner Cats NFTs Creator $1 Million for Securities Violation
From cryptonews: The company behind Stoner Cats non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has to pay a $1 million fine and destroy all its NFTs per a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to the Wednesday press release, the SEC charged Stoner Cats 2 LLC with conducting an unregistered offering of crypto asset securities in the form of NFTs that raised approximately $8 million from investors to finance an animated Web series called "Stoner Cats."
