Tag: prison

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"Slick Nick" ... Man Who Targeted Gay Men Online, Sent To Prison

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HIV+ Doctor Convicted in Atlanta for Teen Boy Sex

A federal jury in Atlanta, Georgia has convicted former emergency room physician Dr. Adam Lebowitz of producing child pornography and of attempting to coerce and entice a minor to engage in unlawful sex acts. He was acquitted on Thursday of a second child pornography count. Evidence at the trial showed Lebowitz had planned to take the 15-year-old to his home in Decatur, Georgia. Prosecutors say officers searched Lebowitz's home and seized three computers, two of which contained video recordings of Lebowitz engaged in sex acts with two young boys. Lebowitz faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on each conviction. A sentencing date has not been set. The 50-year-old Lebowitz was arrested in 2006 after a Coweta County, Georgia woman reported that the doctor had sent messages with sexual content to her 15-year-old son. Adam Lebowitz (photo top), who did not testify in his own defense, was charged with two federal counts of producing child pornography and one of enticing a minor for purposes of committing unlawful sexual acts. Prosecutors alleged Lebowitz used the Internet to find teen boys for sex, videotaped the encounters and posted them online. Lebowitz was arrested in 2006 when he arranged to meet a 15-year-old boy in Coweta County, Georgia and had a sleeping bag, condoms, lube, hospital scrubs and a camera with him. He pleaded guilty to soliciting underage sex in 2007, but that plea and its 20-year prison sentence were thrown out after Lebowitz was caught trying to board a flight to Hawaii. Atlanta attorney Steve Scarborough opened the defense for Lebowitz on Monday by questioning investigators over the age of the teens and whether they were of legal age. One teen who had sex with Lebowitz in Boston later signed an affidavit saying he was 18 when the two had sex, according to the Times-Herald, which has been covering the federal trial. Another teen stated he was 18 on the MySpace page Lebowitz used to contact him.

U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie presented the prosecution’s case in proceedings in Atlanta and began by having Lebowitz’s accuser, now 18 years old, read the transcripts of instant messages sent between him and Lebowitz on the MySpace social networking Web site. The messages were sent in late October 2006, a few days before Lebowitz was arrested on Nov. 2, 2006. Although he has been identified and interviewed by name since Lebowitz’s arrest, the teen was underage at the time of the incident and Judge Story ruled that during the trial his name would not be used by courtroom officials and that he would be referred to by his initials, K.S. The first instant message read by K.S. in court was one of the earliest contacts between the teen and Lebowitz on MySpace. Lebowitz describes his work in the Grady emergency room and describes the last woman he dated. He then says he has mostly dated males since. Lebowitz and K.S. engage in messages about sexual self-gratification and Lebowitz says he admires the MySpace photo that shows K.S. in the baseball uniform he wore while playing on the East Coweta ninth grade team. Lebowitz says he would like to “hang out.” Lebowitz also proposes swapping photographs and says that if K.S. will let [Lebowitz] take a picture of K.S., Lebowitz will let K.S. take a picture of him. Lebowitz says the photos would be “for our eyes only” and would not be shared.

On Monday, Scarborough pursued discrepancies in the age of the Coweta County teen.

The defense attempted to show that when first contacted by Southerland, A.G.—who lived in the Boston area when the alleged crimes took place—stated that he made the tape in spring 2003 when he was still 17 and not of legal age. Under questioning by Scarborough, Southerland agreed that when questioned at a later date by U.S. attorneys A.G. had stated the taping may have been done when he was 18 and of legal age. Southerland said the latest questioning of A.G. and his recollection that he had driven to Lebowitz’ house to make the tape not long after he received his driver’s license at age 17 was evidence A.G. was under the legal age of 18 when the tape was made. The defense then called Ed Johnson, a Boston-area private investigator who had contacted and interviewed A.G. in 2008 upon the request of Florida attorneys who were then representing Lebowitz. Johnson testified that he first contacted A.G. at the dorm where he attended college and that after lengthy discussions, A.G. agreed to accompany Johnson to his office. At that time an affidavit requested by Lebowitz’ attorneys was prepared in which A.G. stated he was 18 and of legal age at the time the tape of the sexual encounter was made

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Gay Prison Inmate Disgruntled After Prison Confiscated His "Top Shelf" Porn Collection

A gay convicted criminal has accused prison guards of breaching his human rights because they confiscated homosexual porn he bought. John O’Reilly claims guards at HMP Dovegate in Staffordshire, England nabbed the mags when he was transferred there another prison. And he has complained that they won’t let him buy any more to replace them. In a letter to Lags’ magazine Inside Time, the inmate accuses the prison of homophobia, because he claims that other convicts have access to hardcore heterosexual pornography. “I was told ‘no hard porn magazines’ at reception,” he said. “My stash of American porn was seized." “I had purchased these mags whilst at HMP Birmingham and obviously they had no problem with porn."  “Since then I have tried to purchase many mags via the library, but I’ve never got one.” O’Reilly claims that devout Christian bosses at the jail have banned gay magazines, and claims that his human rights are being breached. “Mostly they ignore my requests, maintaining that the magazines are American and ‘can’t be purchased’. “I proved that they can by getting a friend to buy one, Playguy, from his local newsagent and send it into me. “Other guys can order girly mags, yet as a gay man I am denied the chance to buy gay mags. Discrimination? “I call this discrimination and have filled in complaint forms. How can I overturn this homophobic stance? “There are a lot of gays in here who are furious and feel victimized.” A spokeswoman for the Prison Service told the Sunday Mercury that gay porn was allowed in lock-ups, but only when approved by local managers. “In regards to “top shelf” material, governors will normally allow the kind of men’s magazines that can be purchased from high street newsagent chains. But if the content is inappropriate, prisoners will not be allowed such material in their cells. Prisons risk-assess the material appropriate for a paedophile or on a sex offenders’ wing, which would be far more restrictive than would be allowed to other prisoners if such material would harm rehabilitation. “We take allegations of discrimination very seriously and have a zero tolerance policy.” HMP Dovegate houses 860 inmates including lifers serving jail terms for murders, serious violent crimes and sex attacks. O’Reilly also lifted the lid on some prisoner-friendly moves introduced by the Staffordshire jail’s director Wyn Jones. “I find Dovegate to be a fairly good prison, the director seems genuinely interested in prisoners’ welfare,” he said. “At Christmas he appealed to us to look out for other prisoners who might be struggling during the festive season. “He also gave each prisoner £10 telephone credit – a nice gesture from what would appear to be a decent man and a devoted Christian.” Story From Brimingham Mail

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Spain Gives Official Apology To Gay Man for His Imprisonment

A gay man who was imprisoned for homosexuality in 1979 has received an official apology from the Spanish Government. Antoni Ruiz was 17 years old when he was sent to prison for 94 days after he told his family he was gay. His parents confided the news to a Catholic monk, who denounced Ruiz to the authorities. He was sentenced to three months and banished from his home town for a further year. Harsh penalties for homosexuality were brought in under the fascist dictator General Franco (pictured). Although Franco had passed away in 1975, the laws were still in effect when Ruiz was imprisoned. The apology was made under Spain’s new Law of Historical Memory which aims to redress wrongs committed under Franco’s dictatorship and during the prior Spanish Civil War. According to the UK’s Daily Telegraph, around 5,000 men went to jail for being gay under the fascist regime. Ruiz is the first to receive an apology letter from the Spanish justice minister, along with the offer of 4,000 Euros in compensation (approximately $6,500 in Australian dollars). Ruiz, who currently heads an association for former prisoners, said he was happy with the “symbolic gesture” and said it was “a long time coming”. The Spanish government legalised same-sex marriage in 2005 and allows gay and lesbian couples to adopt children.

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Pennsylvania Prison Guard Sues Over Gay Perception Harrassment 'had too feminine a voice while using the staff radio'

A state prison guard in Fayette County, Pennsylvania has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming he was discriminated against after coworkers accused him of being homosexual. John J. Yanik Jr. of South Union filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh. A corrections officer at the State Correctional Institution at Fayette in Luzerne, Yanik is claiming gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Yanik's attorney, Herbert A. Terrell of McMurray, on Monday said Yanik is alleging his coworkers sexually harassed him based on their perception of his sexual preference. "He's alleging injury because he was harassed, and disrespected, because of a perception that he's of a different persuasion," Terrell said. In the lawsuit, Yanik alleges coworkers openly referred to him as a homosexual. They allegedly slammed security doors on him and locked him out of his computer. A male corrections officer, who is not identified in the suit, reportedly started a rumor indicating he had obtained a protection-from-abuse order against Yanik. That rumor fueled speculation that Yanik was in a same-sex relationship, according to the lawsuit. Yanik alleges coworkers and superiors felt he lacked "masculinity or masculine traits," according to the lawsuit. At one point, coworkers allegedly "began to insinuate (Yanik) had too feminine a voice while using the staff radio." The harassment began shortly after details of Yanik's personnel file were leaked to management and other staffers. According to the lawsuit, the file includes information about a 1986 arrest involving Yanik, but a search of criminal records for Fayette and nearby counties turned up no record of an arrest. Terrell yesterday declined to comment on the 1986 arrest. According to the lawsuit, Yanik disclosed the arrest to an interviewer when he was hired in March 2003, but he was let go in May 2003 for allegedly falsifying his application by not annotating the arrest. He fought the termination and was reinstated in October 2003, according to the lawsuit. Yanik alleges his superiors did nothing to stop the harassment. Two supervisors were disciplined after an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the lawsuit, but the harassment continued. The harassment was so severe Yanik took disability leave in 2006, but he was denied benefits "upon the false basis he had not provided adequate medical documentation," the lawsuit states. Yanik is seeking an unspecified sum in damages.

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Man Gets 18 months Prison Sentence In Gay Immigration Scam

A Kent, Washinton man accused of advising straight immigrants to claim homosexuality — and potential persecution in their home countries — when they applied for asylum has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Steven Mahoney touted himself as an expert in immigration affairs and ran Mahoney and Associates in Kent, which advised immigrants on how to stay in the U.S. He pleaded guilty in April, acknowledging that between 1998 and 2007 he filed as many as 99 false immigration documents and was paid between $1,000 and $4,000 for each. In addition to false claims of homosexuality, he advised some clients to claim they could be tortured due to their religious practices or political views. His ex-wife, Helen Mahoney, was sentenced to six months. Both are naturalized U.S. citizens from Russia. Listen and Read More About This Story Here

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Florida Police Works Gay.com Yielding 16 yr Prison Term For Public Figure Who Drove For Sex With Minor Boy

A former public works director for Robertsdale, Alabama. was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison Friday after being found guilty of traveling to Pensacola, Florida to have sex with a minor. In March, David Allen Girard, 53, was arrested when he drove to Pensacola to meet and engage in sexual activity with who he thought was a 14-year-old boy. The boy was actually a member of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, who was posing as a child on the Web site GAY.COM.

Gay.com "Bait" Photo

According to a U.S. Attorney's Office news release, Girard contacted the "14-year-old boy," actually an undercover officer, through the site, discussed engaging in sexual activity with him, and arranged a meeting in Pensacola. When Girard arrived at the meeting place, he was taken in to custody by law enforcement.   Girard had condoms and personal lubrication in his possession when he was arrested, the release said. Girard was already a registered sex offender, due to a 2001 conviction in Alabama for possessing child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Casey Rodgers sentenced Girard on Friday to 195 months in prison followed by a lifetime term of supervised release for the latest conviction.

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Different Ends for Twins in Burglaries

Keyontyli Goffney was known for performing  a gay porn star his twin brother Taleon Goffney in movies such as Marc and the Twins, but sometime in 2008, the two decided to try a change of career. They became rooftop burglars in Philadelphia. However, their career in crime came to an end today, as Teloen was sentenced to three years in prison, after using a handsaw and an ax to break into stores through their rooftops. He pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and criminal conspiracy.Other charges, including criminal trespass, receiving stolen property and possession of an instrument of crime, were dropped in exchange for his pleas. Meanwhile, Keyontyli Goffney pleaded guilty as well. However, he got off with time served. According to authorities, Keyontyli had served as a lookout for his brother, who had much more criminal experience. The two were busted when police saw them breaking into a beauty shop in February of 2008.

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In this undated file photo released by the Philadelphia Police Department, Keyontyli Goffney, 25 is seen. Keyontyli Goffney, of Arlington, N.J., pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal conspiracy Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009. He was sentenced to time served. Goffney's twin brother, Taleon, pleaded guilty to the same crimes in July, but he was sentenced to at least three years in prison because of previous arrests. The brothers appeared in such gay porn flicks as Marc and the Twins. Keyontyli Goffney says he still works as a model. (Photo: AP /Philadelphia Police Department)

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75 yr. Prison Term: Hate Crime

A Dallas, Texas County jury just sentenced Bobby Singleton to 75 years in prison for brutally beating and robbing another man in what prosecutors say was an anti-gay attack. The same jury earlier this week convicted Singleton of aggravated robbery in the July 2008 attack on Jimmy Dean in Oak Lawn. Singleton, 30, could have been sentenced to life behind bars. Prosecutor Amy Derrick, noting that Singleton cried yesterday when his father testified, said that Singleton was crying for himself. "Look at your handiwork," Derrick said in closing arguments. "See if you can squeeze out a tear for someone other than yourself." Singleton's defense attorney Ed "Bubba" King told jurors that Singleton didn't deserve more than a 20- year sentence.

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Jonathan Gunter, left and Bobby Singleton.

He also said this case was handled differently than if just anyone had been beaten and robbed.   "This case would have been treated a lot differently if Mr. Dean wasn't gay," King said. Earlier today, Singleton testified and apologized to Dean from the stand. Dean suffered a broken back, nose and chin in the attack. He lost his sense of smell and his face will never look the same. Prosecutor Marshall McCallum called his words a "fabricated little apology." He asked the jury to give Singleton a 60-year s sentence. That's twice what another jury gave the codefendant, Jonathan Gunter. But the jury doesn't know that. McCallum also suggested that jurors should add on years because of Singleton's testimony today. Since they've begun deliberations, jurors have sent out a note asking to see evidence. WFAA-TV Dallas Reporting

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"I Was Sent to Jail Because I'm Gay"

Former Survivor winner Richard Hatch says he thinks he was sentenced to jail because he's gay. Speaking out for the first time since serving nearly four years in prison for tax evasion, Hatch told Matt Lauer on Tuesday's Today that he thinks the judge in his case had a bias against him. The judge refused to let potential jurors be questioned about their feelings toward homosexuals. "My personal opinion — he was trying to discriminate against me," Hatch said. "I don't think you or anyone else can deny that we, as homosexuals, face discrimination." Hatch, who is under house arrest in Newport, R.I., until Oct. 7, also said he doesn't believe he would've gone to jail if he were a heterosexual and accused a prosecutor of what he called "egregious" misconduct. "I know without question that there are personal issues involved for the prosecutor," he said.

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The prosecutor who oversaw the case, former U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, called Hatch's claims "delusional," the Associated Press reported. Hatch, who said prison "reduced my arrogance," was convicted in 2006 of failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on the first season of Survivor. His case is currently being reviewed by a judge in Providence, and Hatch hopes to be exonerated.

 

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NY Gay-Bar Mafioso Released from Prison

An underworld figure with ties to New York gay night spots has been released from prison after serving two years on racketeering charges. Matty "Horse" Ianniello--the nickname comes either from his having once been charged for possession of over twenty pounds of heroin, or due to his imposing physical build; accounts vary--finished a jail term last spring, reported the Web site Bitter Queen. Of Ianniello, 89, the story noted, "one queries whether the... reputed Genovese capo ever intends on retiring." The article noted that Ianniello had been said to have some stake in "dozens of gay bars and discos" in New York over three decades, "including the hustler bar Haymarket, the tranny bar Gilded Grape, and the circus-like disco GG Barnum’s Room. "Indeed, no man had more of an instrumental role in gay nightlife in New York City than Ianniello, and although straight he probably should receive an honorary plaque recognizing his achievements from the city’s Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce," the article quipped. Wikipedia article, the Stonewall Inn, the site of the watershed Stonewall Riots forty years ago. The Wikipedia article noted that the Stonewall Inn "catered to an assortment of patrons, but it was known to be popular with the poorest and most marginalized people in the gay community: drag queens, and representatives of a newly self-aware transgender community, effeminate young men, hustlers, and homeless youth." The article excerpted content referencing Ianniello and a bar called the Ha Market from R. Thomas Collins Jr.’s book NewsWalker. The excerpt read, in part, "In 1960 [Ianniello] formed a partnership with one of the [so-called] Sultans [of New York’s mid-town], Edward L. DeCurtis, a k a ’Eddie Dee,’ financier of afterhours gay joints in the Village. "Such after-hours spots were a specialty of the rackets because their patrons were homosexuals who drank like fish," the excerpt continued. "You could serve liquor in private clubs without a license, and nobody watched the cash. Besides, such customers sometimes were involved in legitimate business one might wish to ’invest’ in." A separate Bitter Queen article on the history of New York’s gay clubs posted Dec. 23, 2007, excerpted another publication, an Aug. 1, 1977 story titled, "Crime Group Leader Said to Rule Many Bar Businesses in Midtown," written by Selwyn Raab and Nathaniel Sheppard Jr. That excerpt also mentioned Ianniello. Read the article excerpt, in part, "A confidential 1975 report prepared by intelligence officers in the Police Department’s Organized Crime Control Bureau found that Mr. Ianniello’s primary source of income at the time appeared to have been derived from a string of more than 80 New York bars and restaurants, many of which, the report said, were ’connected with prostitution, narcotics and homosexuals.’" The article quoted an unnamed police detective who specialized in organized crime. Said the detective, "If you want to open a bar and grill or sex establishment in midtown Manhattan but don’t have the cash or have some other problem, you go see Matty Ianniello." Added the detective, "You don’t run a bar and grill or sex establishment between 34th and 59th Streets from Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River without Matty having a piece of the action." Indeed, the Mafia had a stake in many gay establishments, including, it is reported at a Story Via Edge News Wire