NFL Patriots' Aaron Hernandez Sued for Allegedly Shooting Friend

Posted yesterday at 11:48pm

Michael DeHoog/Sports Imagery / Getty Images(BOSTON) -- New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who is caught in the middle of a homicide investigation of an "associate," is also being sued by a former friend who claims Hernandez shot his eye out after the two left a Miami strip club.

The suit states that Hernandez "possessed a gun which he was not legally licensed to have."

In a lawsuit filed in federal court on June 13, attorneys representing Alexander Bradley, 32, state that their client, Hernandez and several others were at Tootsie's strip club in Miami on Feb. 13 when Bradley and Hernandez got into an argument. The group then left the club, and while driving towards Palm Beach, Hernandez's gun discharged inside the vehicle.

"It fired, and a bullet went through my client's arm and blew out his right eye," attorney David Jaroslawicz told ABC News. "It has been enucleated -- replaced with a prosthetic eye. He has also lost use of his right arm."

The lawyer said that "to my knowledge" no charges were filed as a result of the shooting.

Jaroslawicz said that the suit was voluntarily discontinued because language describing the injuries was incorrect. It is being refiled Wednesday, he said.

Bradley has done personal assistant work for Hernandez, according to Jaroslawicz. He did not disclose the amount of damages sought in the suit, but said that Bradley has had four surgeries so far and anticipates two or three more.

Massachusetts state police, who searched Hernandez's home Tuesday night, executed a search warrant Wednesday for an Enterprise rental car that was leased by Hernandez. The car was left near where the body of Odin Lloyd, 27, was found Monday evening with a gunshot wound to the head.

The body was discovered in a clearing near John Dietsch Boulevard, less than a mile from Hernandez's $1.3 million, 5,600-square-foot home in North Attleborough.

Police spent hours at Hernandez's home Tuesday night, taking evidence photos and removing boxes. Another search was conducted of a car parked in Hernandez's driveway, a 2012 Chrysler 200 LX. The license plate connected that car to an Enterprise rental in Hernandez's name, several law enforcement sources told ABC News.

A third enterprise rental car registered to Hernandez was recovered at a Boston Enterprise rental location. Tuesday night, police were looking for this car, one of several that was registered to the football player, and intend to search it as well, sources said.

"Someone dropped it off yesterday," a law enforcement source told ABC News. "Last night a BOLO [be on the lookout] was issued to all police for that vehicle, a silver Chevy. It has been recovered," the source said.

Police could be seen Wednesday searching the woods and front yards of homes stretching from the scene of the crime to Hernandez's house. A gun was found in the search, but ballistic tests discounted it as the weapon that killed Lloyd, sources said.

Lloyd was a linebacker for a semi-pro team called the Boston Bandits. Suffolk County District Attorney Jake Wark told ABC News that Lloyd had one arrest in 2008, a misdemeanor charge stemming from a fight.

Stacey James, a New England Patriots official, said on behalf of the team, "I am aware of the reports, but I do not anticipate that we will be commenting publicly during an ongoing police investigation."

Hernandez's sports agency, Athletes First, declined to comment.

His lawyer did not respond to repeated calls from ABC News Wednesday.

Hernandez is spending the off-season recovering from a shoulder surgery, though he was spotted at practice recently welcoming new Patriots quarterback Tim Tebow.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Defense Official Calls F-35 Plans Compromised by Cyber-Theft a 'Major Problem'

Posted yesterday at 9:51pm

Cpl. Ken Kalemkarian, U. S. Marine Corps/Released(WASHINGTON) -- Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition Frank Kendall told the Senate Appropriations Committee at a hearing Wednesday that he was "reasonably confident" the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter plane's classified information was "well protected."

Several weeks ago reports claimed information about the Pentagon’s top-shelf military weapons had been compromised by cyber-espionage of the computer systems of top Defense contractors. Among those top weapons systems was the F-35, which is the military’s plane of the future.

At the hearing Wednesday, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., asked Kendall whether the aircraft's technology had been compromised by cyber-theft. Though Kendall assured the committee that the plane's classified information was protected, he added that he could not say the same for unclassified information.

“I'm not at all confident that our unclassified is as well protected.” He explained some of the plane’s information was unclassified “because it's not as sensitive or important.”

However, he said he was concerned with the "loss of design information that's at the unclassified level.”

Kendall told the committee he was going to institute stronger consequences “for our contractors who don't protect that information well enough. Part of that is being stolen right now, and it's a major problem for us.”

Kendall said that access to information about U.S. weapons designs could give adversaries "a substantial advantage" in developing their own designs. He said it’s less about a specific vulnerability than for a shorter timeline for a potential adversary to develop a similar plane.

“So it's not as much as specific vulnerability that we would see, it's that the amount of time and effort they're going to have to put into getting their next design, and staying with us -- and as you're probably well aware, at least two nations are well into developing fifth-generation aircraft right now. So that's a concern," he said.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

FBI 'Most Wanted' Walter Lee Williams Being Deported from Mexico

Posted yesterday at 8:56pm

FBI(LOS ANGELES) -- Walter Lee Williams, the former professor who was nabbed in Mexico after spending one day on the FBI's Most Wanted list, is expected to make his first court appearance in Los Angeles on Thursday, authorities said.

Williams, 64, who is accused of engaging in sex acts via webcam and in person with underage boys in the Philippines, was arrested in the Mexican resort town of Playa del Carmen on Tuesday after a local resident saw his picture in the media and alerted authorities, said Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office.

The person who tipped off authorities is believed to be a Mexican citizen, Lewis said, and will be eligible for the $100,000 reward the FBI was offering for information leading to Williams' arrest.

"Having him as a top 10 fugitive is what really led to his capture," Lewis said.

Williams, who used to be a professor at the University of Southern California, where he specialized in anthropology, history and gender studies, is believed to have more victims, said Michel Moore, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.

"We believe there are other victims who have suffered by this man's actions and we need to talk with them," he said.

Williams is charged with one count of producing child pornography, one count of traveling for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

According to officials, Williams met the underage boys online and engaged in sex acts with each of them over a webcam. In January 2011, he traveled to the country where he had allegedly had sex with the boys and even "produced sexually explicit photos" of one of them, according to the DOJ.

On Monday, Williams became the 500th person to be placed on the FBI's Most Wanted list.

"I analyzed the computers and the camera that belong to Williams and found child pornography," Jeff Yesensky, FBI special agent, said in a video posted online Monday to bring awareness to the case.

"Because of his status, he has the means and access to children, and that's what makes him dangerous," Yesensky said. "He preys on the most vulnerable children."

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FBI Foils Plot to Build 'X-Ray Weapon,' Possibly Targeting President Obama

Posted yesterday at 5:09pm

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(GALWAY, N.Y.) -- A New York man who allegedly wanted to kill President Obama and apparently blamed him for the recent Boston bombings has been arrested for trying to build and detonate a weapon of mass destruction.

Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, of Galway, N.Y., spent months designing and constructing an X-ray system that would emit deadly amounts of radiation and could be detonated remotely, according to the FBI. Crawford recruited Eric J. Feight, 54, of Hudson, N.Y, to join in the plot, and both were arrested Tuesday, the FBI said.

Crawford and Feight allegedly planned to hide their weapon in a truck and FBI experts said it would have been "functional" and "lethal."

According to the FBI, Crawford cited "a political figure" and a Muslim organization as "potential targets." Sources familiar with the investigation identified the "political figure" as Obama.

"Obama's policies caused this," Crawford allegedly wrote in a text message on April 15, the day a series of bombings killed three and injured scores more at the Boston marathon.

"He directed the [government] to start bringing [Muslims] here without background checks," Crawford wrote, according to the FBI. "They don't have to follow any laws, and this administration has done more to enable a government sponsored invasion than the press can cover up."

The FBI launched an investigation into Crawford last spring after he allegedly walked into a synagogue in Albany, N.Y., and inquired about technology that could kill, "Israel's enemies while they slept." The synagogue notified police, and within six weeks the FBI had a source secretly recording meetings with Crawford, according an FBI affidavit filed in the case.

In a June 2012 conversation, Crawford -- described by the FBI as a member of the Ku Klux Klan -- called his design "Hiroshima on a light switch," the affidavit said. And in August 2012, Crawford allegedly asked a high-ranking official in the KKK for money to fund his plot. The KKK official informed the FBI, and within weeks two undercover agents posing as KKK members were introduced to Crawford.

Over the next several months, Crawford conducted extensive research for the design, at times expressing frustration over the slow pace of the team's progress, the FBI affidavit indicated. Ultimately, with help from the undercover agents, Crawford and Feight acquired the necessary parts and even tested the device that would remotely detonate the weapon, according to the FBI. It would all be powered through a truck's cigarette lighter, the FBI said.

Crawford and Feight planned to meet Tuesday to connect the final components of their weapon, but they were arrested by the FBI.

The pair had met at GE, where Crawford was an industrial mechanic and Feight sometimes worked as an outside contractor due to his engineering skills. But GE has "no reason to believe" any crimes, "took place on GE property," and Crawford has since been suspended, the company said in a statement.

"We are cooperating fully with authorities on their investigation," said Jim Healy, communications director for GE Power & Water.

Both defendants have been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, namely through use of a weapon of mass destruction. The charges came via a criminal complaint, which means a grand jury will decide whether to indict the men if a plea deal is not reached beforehand.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said the public must, "remain vigilant to detect and stop potential terrorists," and the head of the FBI's field office in Albany, Andrew Vale, said such anti-terrorism efforts "are only successful" with the public's help.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Report: Mexican Roots for Majority of Latino Americans

Posted yesterday at 4:59pm

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Mexican Latinos make up more than two-thirds of all Latinos in the United States, according to a new Pew Hispanic report.

Of the 51.9 million Latinos living in the U.S. in 2011, more than 33.5 million trace their family back to Mexico. The report looked at demographic data collected from the 2011 American Community Survey. The report also examined U.S. citizenship, education levels and median income among U.S. Hispanics.

Puerto Ricans make up the second-largest group, accounting for 9.5 percent, or about 5 million people.

Salvadoran, Cuban, and Dominican come in next with 1.9, 1.8, and 1.5 million, respectively -- although, Salvadoran and Cuban numbers have been statistically equal and alternating yearly.

Mexican Latinos have always represented the largest segment of the U.S. Latino population and the report found that 74 percent of people who trace their roots to Mexico hold U.S. citizenship.

“One of the things we've done for the first time is shown the long view of the share of Mexican Americans,” Mark Lopez, associate director for the Pew Hispanic Center, told ABC News. “Since 1860 the community has diversified. In 1860 they were 81 percent, but today’s numbers reflects the diversification of immigration in the U.S...there are Hispanics from every part of Latin America and Spain in the U.S.”

The report also found Mexican Americans to be of the lowest average age (25), while Cuban Americans were the oldest, at 40.

When looking solely at foreign-born, as of the 2011 data, Venezuelans and Peruvians accounted for the majority at 69 percent and 68 percent, respectively. Those two groups ranked 13 and 11 when looking at the total Latino population.

“South Americans are some of the more recent arrivals to the U.S. and the people who are coming from South Americas are more likely to have college degrees, more likely to be in high-paying occupations, and their family income numbers are higher,” Lopez said. "The folks who come from South America, many of them are actually foreign -born and many of them have a college degree.”

Argentineans had the highest average household income in 2011 at $55,000, and Hondurans the lowest at $31,000, also giving Hondurans the highest poverty rate among U.S. Hispanics with 33 percent. Mexican’s averaged $38,000, with a poverty rate of 28 percent.

The poverty rate for Hispanics is higher than it is for the general U.S. population. According to the 2011 census, the nation’s median income was $50,054 and poverty rate was 15 percent.

“Part of that is the level of education,” Lopez said. “On the whole the Hispanic community is less likely to hold a college degree than the general U.S. population...there is still a substantial difference in educational attainment.”

But Lopez says that many Mexican Americans have not “quite entered adulthood” yet and recent years have seen a surge in the number going to college.

“Hispanics are now the largest minority group on college campuses,” Lopez said. “Looking forward it's likely we are going to see the number with a college degree rise, but that is still going to be a decade or more down the road because we are just starting to see this increase among Hispanics in college enrollments.”

Just over 50 percent of Venezuelans, the report found, have a college degree, while Guatemalans and Salvadorans were the least likely (seven percent).

All together, United States Latinos trace their heritage to more than 20 Spanish-speaking nations worldwide, but 14 countries represented the majority of U.S. Latinos.

As of the 2013 census, Hispanic population is the nation’s largest and fastest-growing immigrant group -- 53 million in 2012, making up 17 percent of the U.S. population. The census report found non-Hispanic blacks represent 12 percent of the U.S. population.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Documentary Alleges TWA Flight 800 Cover Up

Posted yesterday at 2:31pm

JON LEVY/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- In a new documentary, former government investigators who looked into the mysterious crash of TWA Flight 800, which killed 230 people, are breaking their silence to claim that the explosion that brought down the plane in 1996 was likely no accident, and that the final report on the cause of the blast was falsified.

TWA Flight 800 exploded in mid-air on July 17, 1996, about 11 minutes after taking off from New York's JFK airport on its way to Paris. Though theories abounded as to what happened to the plane -- from a bomb on the aircraft to it being struck by a missile or even a meteorite -- the National Transportation Safety Board concluded after a four-year investigation that the probable cause of the crash was an accidental fuel tank explosion.

The NTSB said it could not be sure what exactly ignited the blast, but "of the sources evaluated by the investigation, the most likely was a short circuit outside of the [fuel tank] that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring..."

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But according to the new documentary, which premieres on Epix next month named TWA Flight 800, six former members of the official crash investigation have stepped forward to refute the NTSB's findings, saying the crash report was purposefully falsified, and to claim the investigation was "systematically undermined" by federal authorities.

"We didn't find any part of the airplane that indicated a mechanical failure," one of the whistleblowers says in a trailer for the film.

The former officials allege the explosion came from outside the plane, though they don't speculate any further on the original source.

Another of the whistleblowers, former senior accident investigator with the NTSB, Hank Hughes, said in a preview of the documentary that FBI agents were spotted on surveillance cameras going through the hanger where the crash evidence was kept "in the wee hours of the morning...for purposes unknown."

Some of the previous theories about the crash have been disproven in the years since and Tom Haueter, former director of Aviation Safety at the NTSB, told ABC News on Wednesday that the former officials in the documentary are wrong. He said that the evidence that the explosion was an internal accident was "irrefutable."

There was "no sign" of penetration from the outside, Haueter said.

The whistleblowers are calling for the NTSB to reopen its investigation, and the NTSB said in a statement Wednesday that it will reexamine the case if new evidence is presented or "on a showing that the Board's findings are erroneous."

"While the NTSB rarely re-investigates issues that have already been examined, our investigations are never closed and we can review any new information not previously considered by the Board," the NTSB said. "The TWA Flight 800 investigation lasted four years and remains one of the NTSB's most detailed investigations. Investigators took great care reviewing, documenting and analyzing facts and data and held a five-day hearing to gather additional facts before determining the probable cause of the accident during a two-day Board meeting."

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Prosecutors Plan More Charges Against Ariel Castro

Posted yesterday at 2:30pm

Cuyahoga County Jail(CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio) -- More charges could be added to the 329-count indictment against alleged Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, who appeared in court Wednesday for a brief pre-trial hearing.

"We are presenting additional evidence to the grand jury next week and week after. We expect that we are going to request further indictments," Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said Wednesday.

A tentative Aug. 4 trial date was set Wednesday for Castro, who was indicted earlier this month for allegedly kidnapping Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight and imprisoning them, sometimes restrained by chains, in his Cleveland home.

The former school bus driver is also accused of the aggravated murder of a fetus for allegedly forcibly causing an abortion in Knight, who he is accused of impregnating, a charge that could potentially carry the death penalty. Knight told investigators she became pregnant five times by Castro, but he punched her in the belly until she miscarried. Berry later delivered Castro's baby while in captivity. That girl is now 6.

The 52-year-old walked into Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday in shackles, with his head hung low, and answered "yes" and "no" to the judge's questions before another pre-trial hearing was set for June 26.

Castro's defense attorney, Craig Weintraub, said at a news conference last week that he hoped the two sides could work "towards a resolution to avoid a trial" and to avoid the death penalty for Castro. He called on prosecutors to drop the aggravated murder charge.

Castro has pleaded not guilty.

The women were freed on May 6 when neighbors heard Berry screaming for help behind a closed door.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Nice Catch! Joe Torres Daughter Snags Falling Baby

Posted yesterday at 2:26pm

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The daughter of baseball legend Joe Torre made the perfect catch on Wednesday when she caught a 1-year-old boy who fell out of a New York City building, according to reports.

Cristina Torre, 44, who was biking past the building, was able to catch the child before he fell to the pavement, WABC reported.

Police told WABC the child who was left unsupervised by his parents, had crawled onto the fire escape and tumbled down the awning moments before Torre came to the rescue, showing off her inherited fielding skills.

After her flawless catch, a witness told the New York Daily News that Torre, "just smiled and said she was in shock."

The baby was taken to Lutheran Medical Center where he was being treated for lacerations to the face, according to WABC; he was said to be in stable condition.

Three siblings taken from the apartment are being cared for by the Administration for Children’s Services, according to WABC, while the baby’s parents were taken into police custody.

During his tenure as the New York Yankees’ manager from 1996 to 2007, Joe Torre, a former all-star catcher, led the team to four World Series championship titles.

Joe Torre is the executive vice president of Major League Baseball operations.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

"Whitey" Bulger Implicated in 13 Murders by Confessed Hitman

Posted yesterday at 12:31pm

State of Massachusetts(BOSTON) -- Hitman John Martorano admitted on the stand Wednesday that he lied to his best friend before he shot him in the back of the head.

"I couldn't tell him I was going to shoot him," Martorano told the court of the murder of John Callahan, a close friend for decades who was murdered, the hitman testified, because Bulger "insisted on it."

It was one of several lies that lawyers from accused Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger elicited from Martorano, a key prosecution witness in Bulger's trial for 19 murders and other crimes.

Under cross examination by defense lawyer Hank Brennan, Martorano conceded he had previously lied about his partnership with Bulger.

And he lied to Massachusetts State Trooper Tom Foley about details regarding the murder of Edward Connors, who was gunned down in a phone booth in 1975, Brennan pointed out.

"I recanted that," Martorano retorted. Brennan asked Martorano what the government told him about his plea deal.

"I was told that if I ever told a lie I would go to jail for the rest of my life," Martorano told the court.

Bulger's defense attorneys spent the start of Martorano's third and final day on the stand in trying to portray the confessed hitman as a liar who would say anything about his former friend Bulger to save himself from life in prison or the death penalty.

Still, Martorano would testify about his feelings on informants.

"An informant is a Judas, a rat, a no-good guy," Martorano told the court. "I was always brought up that's the worst person in the world. As far as being a rat, that's the opposite of how I want to live."

Martorano has explained that he never testified against anyone who didn't hurt him and chose to help the government put Bulger and Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi behind bars because they "broke my heart" by moonlighting as paid FBI informants while allegedly running the Boston rackets.

He was once so close to Bulger and Flemmi he named his youngest son, James Stephen, after the gangsters. He did not learn that Bulger and Flemmi were working for the FBI until 1995.

Before that, Bulger cradled James Stephen Martorano and was christened as the baby's godfather, a photograph of which was entered into evidence by the U.S. Attorney this week.

Brennan appealed to Martorano's ego in his questioning, asking him if he "answered to Bulger" and whether the Winter Hill gang leader "was his boss."

"Were you partners?" Brennan asked.

"I thought so," Martorano answered. He stammered a bit and then added: "He knew what buttons to push."

It was clear that Brennan's line of questioning also pushed Martorano's buttons.

For three straight days the man who has confessed to 20 murders told the court he "tried to be" a nice guy and that he preferred to think of himself as a vigilante rather than a serial killer, has been calm and collected.

Martorano appeared somewhat rattled as Brennan questioned his recollection of details about Bulger's alleged involvement in some of Martorano's activities. Brennan also hammered Martorano on his cooperation agreement with federal officials and the benefits he received from the government after he admitted to murdering 20 people.

"Any time you wanted money you could call," Brennan asked of Martorano's relationship with federal agents while he was incarcerated, "and they would put $400 in your canteen account."

Martorano admitted to collecting roughly $8,000 while he was incarcerated in a federal pen. Then he got another $20,000 from the federal government when he was released from prison in 2007.

"I asked for startup money. When I got out I had nothing," Martorano admitted. Brennan pointed out that Martorano was able to keep a house he owned in Florida and waive the restitution he was ordered to pay as part of his plea agreement. He also asked Martorano about his $250,000 movie deal and the more than $70,000 he received for collaborating with Boston newspaperman Howie Carr for the book Hitman, for which he still receives royalties.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone with it," Martorano said. "I was trying to make a living. I didn't try to hurt anyone with the book."

Brennan tried to implicate Martorano in continuing criminal activity upon his release from prison in 2007. He asked Martorano whether he tried to shake down a man who the hitman claimed owed him $100,000. Martorano explained that he wanted to ask that man if there was any money he owed to Mafia figures in New York City.

"I didn't want anyone chasing me for money that I might have owed," Martorano testified. "I didn't chase him. I just went to see him in the North End."

Martorano said he continues to gamble with another man and "takes a piece of it" of the winnings "because he's a better gambler than me."

With that, the defense attorneys ended their cross-examination of the government's star witness. The dapperly-dressed Martorano regained his composure during assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Wyshak redirect questioning, which focused on the murders Bulger is accused of involvement in.

"Were you and Mr. Bulger involved in the murder of Michael Milano?" Wyshak asked.

"Correct," Martorano stated. "Were you and Mr. Bulger involved in the murder of Al Plumber?"

"Correct," Martorano answered. "Were you and Mr. Bulger involved in the murder of William O'Brien?"

"Correct."

The question was asked 13 times more with names of Al Norangelli, Eddie Connors, Thomas King, James O'Toole, James Souza, Richard Castucci, Roger Wheeler, John Callahan, Brian Halloran and Buddy Leonard.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Federal Agents Call Off Search for Jimmy Hoffas Body

Posted yesterday at 12:30pm

MPI/Getty Images(DETROIT) -- The FBI announced Wednesday that the search for the body of Jimmy Hoffa, who vanished nearly 38 years ago, has now been called off, as investigators found no remains of the former Teamsters boss in a field in eastern Michigan.

Investigators acting on a tip from a reputed underboss of the Detroit Mafia started digging in a field in Oakland Township, 25 miles north of Detroit, on Monday, after a search warrant was issued in the case. The search area, according to ABC’s Detroit affiliate WXYZ, was near land that was once owned by suspected mobsters.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said that although animal bones had been found at the scene, no human remains had been found, WXYZ reported. No physical evidence has been gathered for lab testing, he said.

Tony Zerilli, who the FBI considers a key figure in the Detroit Mafia, told reporter Marc Santia of WNBC in New York that Hoffa was going to be put “in a shallow grave” there and later taken upstate for “final burial” before the plan “fell through.”

“The Hoffa body is in that field -- no doubt about it,” Zerilli’s attorney, David Chasnick, said at a news conference Monday afternoon. “There used to be a barn in that field. Buried under the barn, under the cement slab -- that’s where our understanding is that the body should be.”

Hoffa was president of the Teamsters union until 1971. He disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant on July 30, 1975. He was declared legally dead July 30, 1982.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Body of Missing Chicago Student Found in Lake Michigan

Posted yesterday at 12:29pm

Hudson-LaPore Family Photo(CHICAGO) -- A body found in Lake Michigan has been identified as missing Chicago student Austin LaPore, investigators said.

"The family of Austin Hudson LaPore positively identified his body earlier today," an official with the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office told ABC News.

Authorities pulled the body of LaPore, 20, out of Lake Michigan Wednesday morning after he went missing one week ago, ABC News Chicago station WLS-TV reported.

Police will conduct an autopsy Thursday to determine the cause of death, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

Eddie Hudson, a fisherman, found LaPore's body and called the police.

The discovery came a day after a K-9 team determined that LaPore had spent a significant amount of time on the coast of Lake Michigan last Wednesday night, when severe storms created powerful winds and wave action that could have pulled him in, according to an update to a LaPore family website, www.findaustinhudson.com.

LaPore was last seen Wednesday night when he left his Hyde Park apartment to watch unusually strong weather over Lake Michigan.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

NSA Claim of Thwarted NYSE Plot Contradicted by Court Documents

Posted yesterday at 11:30am

Keith Levit Photography/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Court documents and FBI field reports reviewed by ABC News undercut and contradict the dramatic testimony from senior counter-terrorism officials that the National Security Agency's surveillance programs thwarted an attack by al Qaeda on the New York Stock Exchange.

According to an FBI interview with an imprisoned al Qaeda figure involved in the plot, "there was no further operational planning of that target" after surveillance found the four streets around the exchange building "were blocked off from vehicular traffic."

The FBI document was filed last month in federal court in New York as part of the government sentencing memorandum for one of the alleged plotters, Sabirhan Hasanoff, who is to be sentenced next week.

But the FBI deputy director, Sean Joyce, provided Congress with a different version of events Tuesday as he cited the stock exchange plot as one of more than 50 "terror events" that had been disrupted with the help of the NSA's secret surveillance programs.

"We went up on the electronic surveillance and identified his co-conspirators and this was the plot that was in the very initial stages of plotting to bomb the New York Stock Exchange," Joyce testified.

Asked whether it was a "serious plot" by one member of Congress, Joyce said, "I think the jury considered it serious since they were all convicted."

In fact, ABC News found there was no jury trial of any of the three alleged plotters. None of them were charged with planning an attack on Wall Street. Rather, all three pleaded guilty to charges including providing financial and material support to al Qaeda.

A U.S. official familiar with the case acknowledged that Joyce had "misspoke" about a jury finding.

The official insisted that a terror plot may not seem like a serious threat if it's stopped in the planning stages, as the Stock Exchange targeting was.

"It was, as Deputy Director Joyce state, in its nascent stages and could have progressed well beyond that if it wasn't for our ability to obtain the FISA material," the official told ABC News.

Describing the charges against one of the plotters, Khalid Ouazzani of Kansas City, the then-United States attorney Beth Phillips, now a federal judge, said, "We have no evidence that Ouazzani engaged in any specific plot against the United States government."

A spokesman, Don Ledford, added Wednesday, "We would still stand by that, that he posed no imminent threat to the public."

One current and one former counter-terrorism official told ABC News there may be more to the Hasanoff case than the public record contains, including sensitive intelligence prosecutors chose not to enter into evidence.

Officials said whatever the role of the NSA programs, there is no doubt that Hasanoff and the others were potential threats to the U.S. through their repeated contacts with al Qaeda figures in Yemen.

Authorities said the NSA surveillance programs did first identify Ouazzani as being in contact with al Qaeda leaders in Yemen, and that information helped lead to two other Americans, Hasanoff and Wesam El-Hanafi, who all swore an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda, according to the court documents. FBI agents were then able to investigate Ouazzani, track his travels to the Middle East and later he became a cooperating witness for the government.

According to the government documents, the New York Stock Exchange plot began in 2008 with a request to Hasanoff to "perform surveillance" for "purposes of planning an attack in the United States."

On August 7, Hasanoff wrote in an email to his al Qaeda coordinator in Yemen, intercepted by the government, "I have visited the tourist locations you asked me about and will report to you after two weeks in detail."

The FBI report says the al Qaeda leader "was not satisfied with the report, and he accordingly disposed of it. (The report apparently lacked sufficient detail about New York Stock Exchange security matters to be as helpful as the Doctor had hoped.)"

The attorney for Hasanoff, David Rhunke, said the idea that the FBI and the NSA would use the alleged plot to justify the surveillance programs is "almost silly."

In his plea to the court ahead of sentencing, Hasanoff said "he deliberately provided nothing beyond what anyone could have learned from Google Earth, a tourist map or brochure." He said there was "no further discussion of surveillance of the NYSE or any other tourist sites after August 2008."

Yet, FBI deputy director Joyce repeatedly cited the case in defending the controversial electronic surveillance. "I sit before you today, humbly, to say these tools have helped us," he said.

Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA, testified, "The information gathered from these programs provided the US government with critical leads to help prevent over fifty potential terrorist events in more than 20 countries around the world."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Prisoner Files $1 Trillion Lawsuit Over Bellyache

Posted yesterday at 11:18am

Kevin Horan/Stone(TUCSON, Ariz.) -- A convict in an Arizona prison won’t quit his bellyaching unless he’s paid $1 trillion – literally.

Dale Frank Maisano, 61, an inmate at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson, is suing the company that runs the prison’s commissary for $1 trillion, claiming the food gave him cramps and caused him to lose sleep.

In a handwritten one-page complaint, Maisano claims he was fed a “non-medical diet” that resulted in “cramps which caused the plaintiff to lose sleep.”

This is far from the first outrageous lawsuit filed by Maisano, who is six years into a 15-year sentence for aggravated assault.

In a related suit, he is suing for $10 trillion in damages for developing an eating disorder as a result of getting meals late two days in a row.

Since 1991 he has filed 380 suits, many of which were civil-rights violations or prison-conditions complaints. All of the earlier cases have been dismissed.

In June alone, he's filed 47 lawsuits, many of which have already been dismissed.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Serena Williams Apologizes for Steubenville Rape Remarks

Posted yesterday at 10:39am

John Parra/WireImage(NEW YORK) -- Serena Williams is apologizing for off-the-cuff remarks she made during an interview with Rolling Stone about the 16-year-old victim of the Steubenville sexual assault case, in which two high school football players were sent to jail.

“I am currently reaching out to the girl’s family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article. What was written — what I supposedly said — is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame,” Williams said in a statement to ABC’s Good Morning America.

“What happened in Steubenville was a real shock for me. I was deeply saddened. For someone to be raped, and at only sixteen, is such a horrible tragedy! For both families involved — that of the rape victim and of the accused,” Williams wrote.

“I have fought all of my career for women’s equality, women’s equal rights, respect in their fields — anything I could do to support women I have done,” she added. “My prayers and support always goes out to the rape victim. In this case, most especially, to an innocent 16 year old child.”

Williams’ remarks, published in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine fresh off her win at the French Open, drew widespread criticism after they were picked up by sports news website Deadspin.com.

Williams and the magazine interviewer were watching television when a news segment on the Ohio case aired. She said the 16-year-old victim “put herself in that position.”

“Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don’t know. I’m not blaming the girl…but if you’re a 16-year-old and you’re drunk like that, your parents should teach you: Don’t take drinks from other people,” Williams said during the interview with Rolling Stone contributor Stephen Rodrick.

“She’s lucky…she shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different,” she added.

Two Steubenville, Ohio, high school football players, Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond were convicted of sexually assaulting the 16-year-old in March.

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Death Rays: Men Caught Plotting Radiation Attack

Posted yesterday at 10:10am

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Two New York men have been charged with plotting to develop an X-ray weapon.

Opponents of Israel were the alleged targets of two upstate New York men, Glendon Crawford and Eric Feight, who prosecutors say wanted to create a portable device that could deliver lethal doses of radiation.

Authorities say there were tipped off when Crawford approached Jewish groups seeking help with technology that could be used against "people he perceived as enemies of Israel."

The FBI says the two men have been working on the device for nearly a year but the public was in no danger because undercover investigators were there the whole time.

Crawford and Feight face 15 years in prison.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio