Couple charged in fraud scheme

Couple charged in fraud scheme

BOSTON

A couple from Georgia is facing charges in connection with a scheme to defraud Framingham, Mass.-based Staples, Inc. of more than $1.4 million.

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz says 46-year-old John Douglas is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. His wife, 41-year-old Analyn Douglass, is charged with conspiracy to ship stolen goods in interstate commerce. It’s unclear whether they have lawyers.

Investigators say Douglas and a co-conspirator created more than 1,100 Staples rewards accounts, often using fictitious information. Douglas used a computer script to query a Staples website and seek unclaimed customer loyalty rewards for purchases he didn’t make.

Investigators say they used the rewards to buy merchandise at Staples retail locations throughout United States and that Analyn Douglass sold much of the merchandise on eBay.

2 officers on leave after girl’s death

LONG BEACH, Miss.

A coastal Mississippi police chief says he put two officers on paid administrative leave after the death of a 3-year-old girl who was left alone in a parked car.

Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell tells WLOX-TV that the officers are the child’s mother and a male officer.

He says he talked with the man, but the mother was too distraught to talk with him Saturday.

Hancock County Coroner Jim Faulk told the station Sunday that Chyenn Hyer’s body will be sent Monday to Pearl for an autopsy, and he hopes to get results early next week.

Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam tells The Sun Herald that the car’s engine was running when the girl was found between noon and 1 p.m. Friday.

Feds investigate repeated use of stun gun on man

ROBBINSVILLE, N.C.

Federal investigators are looking into a deputy’s repeated use of a stun gun on a handcuffed North Carolina man who a judge already said had his constitutional rights violated.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports the Department of Justice and the FBI are investigating the case of Jack Slaughter, a Graham County man who the judge said suffers from permanent memory loss from the repeated and unnecessary shocks from a Taser in 2012.

In August, Superior Court Judge Bradley Letts ordered that a pending first-degree murder charge against Slaughter be dropped because he’s unable to assist with his own defense.

Chief Deputy Jerry Crisp says two FBI agents told him that they’re examining possible civil-rights violations. A Department of Justice representative confirmed that investigation.

Slaughter says he’s glad an outside agency is examining his case.

Man convicted in grandson’s death over a steak

MEMPHIS, Tenn.

A Memphis man has been convicted of killing his grandson in April 2014 in an argument over a steak.

The Commercial Appeal reports 65-year-old Harold Gray of Frayser was convicted last week of reckless homicide in Shelby County Criminal Court.

According to court records, Gray got into an argument with 31-year-old Anthony Morris about Morris looking at a steak in his refrigerator. Gray then stabbed Morris with a kitchen knife.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Associated Press