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Virginia Councilman Encouraged AI Child Sex Abuse Images, Traded Pics Of Himself: DOJ Virginia Councilman Encouraged AI Child Sex Abuse Images, Traded Pics Of Himself: DOJ
Virginia Councilman Encouraged AI Child Sex Abuse Images, Traded Pics Of Himself: DOJ A Virginia town councilman is accused of encouraging others online to create AI-generated images of children being sexually abused, federal authorities announced. Steven Wayne Erickson, 48, of Pulaski, was arrested on Thursday, July 23, on federal charges of receiving and distributing child sexual abuse material, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia. Pulaski has served on the Pulaski Town Council since 2024, WDBJ reports. His image remained on the town's website as of Monday, July 27. The FBI investigation began after agents received a cyber tip involvi…

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by Zak Failla
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Twice-Deported Illegal Immigrant Tried To Trade 900 Pounds Of Cocaine In Murder Plot: Feds Twice-Deported Illegal Immigrant Tried To Trade 900 Pounds Of Cocaine In Murder Plot: Feds
Twice-Deported Illegal Immigrant Tried To Trade 900 Pounds Of Cocaine In Murder Plot: Feds Revenge had a price. Nearly a kilogram of cocaine. Federal prosecutors say a twice-deported illegal immigrant tried to use discounted cocaine to hire someone to kill a suspected informant before the alleged murder-for-hire plot was cut short by authorities in Maryland. Now, Frelin Hernandez Guardado, 30, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for his role in the scheme, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced on Friday, July 24. According to court records, Hernandez Guardado had already come onto investigators' radar months earlier after illegally selling …

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by Zak Failla
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Maryland Officials Push Back After ICE River Chase, Clarify Police, Firefighters' Role Maryland Officials Push Back After ICE River Chase, Clarify Police, Firefighters' Role
Maryland Officials Push Back After ICE River Chase, Clarify Police, Firefighters' Role Montgomery County leaders are pushing back after a dramatic ICE operation along the Clara Barton Parkway ended with multiple people in the Potomac River, making one thing clear: County police and firefighters were there to save lives, not help make arrests. In a joint statement released on Thursday, July 23, County Executive Marc Elrich and County Council President Natali Fani-González said the chaos that unfolded near Lock 7 the day before has fueled fear in the community and stressed that Montgomery County agencies did not participate in federal immigration enforcement. "Yesterday's incid…

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by Zak Failla
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Maryland Landlord Slipped Cash In City Hall Bathroom To Wipe Out $145K In Bills, Feds Say Maryland Landlord Slipped Cash In City Hall Bathroom To Wipe Out $145K In Bills, Feds Say
Maryland Landlord Slipped Cash In City Hall Bathroom To Wipe Out $145K In Bills, Feds Say Sometimes, the strangest meetings play out in a City Hall bathroom. A Maryland property owner who admitted slipping cash-filled envelopes to a Baltimore City finance employee, including during meetings in a men's restroom inside a municipal building, has been sentenced to federal prison after prosecutors say the scheme erased more than $145,000 in city debts. Glen Arm resident James Carroll Erny Jr., 55, was sentenced on Thursday, July 23, by a federal judge in Baltimore to 13 months in prison, followed by eight months of home confinement, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Distr…

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by Zak Failla
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Illegal Immigrant Charged In Death, Sexual Assault Of 2-Year-Old Virginia Girl: ICE Illegal Immigrant Charged In Death, Sexual Assault Of 2-Year-Old Virginia Girl: ICE
Illegal Immigrant Charged In Death, Sexual Assault Of 2-Year-Old Virginia Girl: ICE A 2-year-old girl never made it out of the hospital. Now, weeks later, the investigators have charged a 29-year-old Mexican national with sexually assaulting her in a case that has drawn national attention. The investigation began on the Fourth of July, when the child's mother arrived at the Goochland County Sheriff's Office around 3:10 p.m. after driving from a home on Owens Creek Road in Louisa County with the unresponsive girl. Deputies began life-saving efforts until paramedics arrived to rush the child to St. Mary's Hospital, where she later was pronounced dead, according to the Louis…

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by Zak Failla
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'Not ICE': Montgomery Police Push Back After Maryland SWAT Raid Sparks Rumors 'Not ICE': Montgomery Police Push Back After Maryland SWAT Raid Sparks Rumors
'Not ICE': Montgomery Police Push Back After Maryland SWAT Raid Sparks Rumors An early morning SWAT operation in Maryland quickly fueled speculation online that federal immigration agents were carrying out an ICE raid. Montgomery County police say that's not what happened. Members of the Montgomery County Police Department's SWAT team executed a search warrant Thursday, July 23, at a home in the 15300 block of Graaf Place in Burtonsville as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. As photos and reports from the scene began circulating on social media, rumors spread claiming the operation was tied to immigration enforcement. By late Thursday morning, the departmen…

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by Zak Failla
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Police Reveal What Sent Blind Students' School Bus Crashing Into Maryland Storefront (UPDATED) Police Reveal What Sent Blind Students' School Bus Crashing Into Maryland Storefront (UPDATED)
Police Reveal What Sent Blind Students' School Bus Crashing Into Maryland Storefront (Updated) No one inside the school bus caused it to end up buried inside a Parkville storefront. Police now say it never had a chance. Baltimore County crash investigators announced Wednesday that a Ford Focus crossed the center line on Harford Road Tuesday afternoon and slammed head-on into a Baltimore County Public Schools bus carrying students from the Maryland School for the Blind. The Parkville crash. Baltimore County Fire Department The impact triggered the violent chain reaction that ended with the bus plowing through the front of a commercial building. The crash happened around 2:25…

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by Zak Failla
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Kids Among Four Hurt After School Bus Smashes Through Maryland Storefront (DEVELOPING) Kids Among Four Hurt After School Bus Smashes Through Maryland Storefront (DEVELOPING)
Kids Among Four Hurt After School Bus Smashes Through Maryland Storefront (Developing) A school bus barreled through the front of a Maryland storefront Tuesday afternoon, leaving the vehicle lodged inside the building and sending four people to the hospital. The crash happened shortly after 2:25 p.m. on July 21 in the 700 block of Harford Road in Parkville, where Baltimore County firefighters found the bus embedded inside a commercial building after smashing through its front entrance. Photos from the scene show the bus buried beneath the collapsed storefront with shattered glass, twisted metal, and debris scattered across the sidewalk as firefighters worked around the wrecka…

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by Zak Failla
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Maryland To Finally Have A State Park In Every County With New Eastern Shore Addition Maryland To Finally Have A State Park In Every County With New Eastern Shore Addition
Maryland To Finally Have A State Park In Every County With New Eastern Shore Addition A piece of Maryland history is about to become part of its future. State officials on Tuesday unveiled Wetipquin Creek State Park, a 445-acre preserve on the Eastern Shore that will become Wicomico County's first-ever state park, marking the first time every Maryland county will have at least one state park. The new park, now in the planning stages, sits along Wetipquin Creek near the Nanticoke River and features more than 400 acres of marsh, forest, and shoreline, along with the historic Long Hill plantation house, which dates to the mid-1700s. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources…

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by Zak Failla
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Maryland Named In White House Voter Roll Disclosure; AG Says Elections Remain Secure Maryland Named In White House Voter Roll Disclosure; AG Says Elections Remain Secure
Maryland Named In White House Voter Roll Disclosure; AG Says Elections Remain Secure Maryland found itself at the center of President Donald Trump's primetime address on election security. During a nationally televised speech on Thursday night, July 16, Trump announced the release of declassified intelligence records that he said showed voter registration rolls in at least 18 states had been "compromised" by the People's Republic of China.  Maryland was among the states identified by name in a White House document released ahead of the address. The document states that more than 200 million voter records were compromised by China and says Trump is alerting congression…

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by Zak Failla
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Trump DOJ Sues Maryland To Kill In-State Tuition, Scholarships For Undocumented Students Trump DOJ Sues Maryland To Kill In-State Tuition, Scholarships For Undocumented Students
Trump DOJ Sues Maryland To Kill In-State Tuition, Scholarships For Undocumented Students Maryland’s DREAM Act is headed for a federal courtroom. The Trump administration sued the state on Thursday, July 16, seeking to strip undocumented students of access to reduced tuition, scholarships, and other financial aid at public colleges and universities. The 23-page complaint targets Maryland, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, arguing that the state gives undocumented residents benefits denied to US citizens living elsewhere. At the center of the fight is a 2011 law that allows qualifying undocumented students to pay in…

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by Zak Failla
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She Walked Into The Villa From Virginia. She Walked Out $100K Richer She Walked Into The Villa From Virginia. She Walked Out $100K Richer
She Walked Into The Villa From Virginia. She Walked Out $100K Richer Virginia has a new reality TV champion. Newport News model Trinity Tatum and Bryce Dettloff were crowned the winners of Love Island USA Season 8 during the live finale after earning the most votes from viewers, taking home the show's $100,000 grand prize. Tatum, 25, is the latest Hampton Roads native to find herself in the national spotlight after spending the summer on one of the country's most-watched reality competition series, which pairs contestants in search of romance while America ultimately decides the winning couple. The victory capped a whirlwind run for Tatum, who entered the v…

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by Zak Failla