High court limits asset seizures from drug cases

High court limits asset seizures from drug cases

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court is placing new limits on the government’s ability to seize assets from people who are convicted of drug crimes but receive little of the illegal proceeds.

The unanimous ruling on Monday comes as the Justice Department has moved to impose harsher punishments for drug trafficking and related crimes, reversing Obama-era policies.

The case involved a Tennessee man convicted for his role selling iodine water purification filters to methamphetamine makers. Terry Honeycutt helped sell more than 20,000 filters at his brother’s hardware store and prosecutors said both brothers knew the iodine was used by local meth cooks.

Honeycutt’s brother pleaded guilty and forfeited $200,000 of the $270,000 in profits. The government tried to get the remaining $70,000 from Honeycutt, but he argued that he wasn’t responsible for it since he didn’t personally see any profits from the scheme.

US-backed Syrian rebel force launches battle for IS capital

BEIRUT

An official for the non-aligned, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said its fighters have launched a battle to capture Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group.

SDF political official Rezan Hiddo said the official announcement of the battle will come “within hours.”

He said SDF fighters have attacked IS positions on the edges of Raqqa at three points. He spoke to The Associated Press by phone late Monday from northern Syria.

Separately, the activist collective Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently reported that artillery fire had fallen on the city for more than two hours.

Arab nations cut ties with Qatar in new Mideast crisis

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia and other Arab powers severed diplomatic ties Monday with Qatar and moved to isolate the energy-rich nation that is home to a major U.S. military base, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups and backing Iran.

The decision plunged Qatar into chaos and ignited the biggest diplomatic crisis in the Gulf since the 1991 war against Iraq.

Qatar, home to about 10,000 U.S. troops and the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, criticized the move as a “violation of its sovereignty.” It long has denied supporting militant groups and described the crisis as being fueled by “absolute fabrications” stemming from a recent hack of its state-run news agency.

2 charged in deadly Oakland warehouse blaze that killed 36

OAKLAND, Calif.

A man who authorities say illegally rented out space in an Oakland warehouse that caught fire, killing 36 partygoers, and another man who organized the event were each charged Monday with three dozen counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Derick Almena and Max Harris “knowingly created a fire trap with inadequate means of escape” when they hosted the dance party Dec. 2 in the Ghost Ship warehouse, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said.

Authorities say the site contained flammable materials, faulty wiring and a blocked exit.

“Their actions amount to disregard for human life,” O’Malley said.

Both men were arrested earlier in the day.

Associated Press