In the news
■ Erin Christensen of Maddock, N.D., faces charges of providing false information to law enforcement, tampering with evidence and unlawful possession of fur-bearers after bringing a wild raccoon she named Rocky to a barroom happy hour.
■ Darren Albanese, assistant district attorney of Richmond County, N.Y., said the man charged with slapping the back of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in a supermarket “violated a basic social contract … keep your hands to yourself,” but a deal will get the charges dropped if the man stays out of trouble for six months.
■ Fu Zhenghua, a former Chinese justice minister, was sentenced to death for taking $16.5 million in bribes and helping criminals including his brother hide illegal activity, but he can hope for life without parole if he’s deemed reformed within two years.
■ Ronson Chan, head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was granted bail and allowed to go to Britain for an Oxford fellowship after pleading innocent to obstructing police while reporting, though he could still face up to two years in jail.
■ Don V. Cisternino of Chuluota, Fla., who fled but eventually was arrested in Croatia, pleaded guilty to stealing $7.2 million in covid-19 relief funds, forfeiting the money as he awaits sentencing of up to 32 years in prison.
■ Oluwatobi Alabi Yero-kun, a doctor in Washington, D.C., faces up to five years in prison after admitting he certified unnecessary products and genetic tests for 2,000 Medicare and Medicaid patients in Missouri whom he never met.
■ William Evans, police chief of Joliet, Ill., said 15 of 25 suspects have been arrested in a scheme to get pandemic-relief checks while not operating businesses, with authorities claiming some of them were actually jail inmates who used the money to post bond.
■ Audrey Trujillo, New Mexico’s Republican nominee for secretary of state, whose duties include overseeing campaign finance and ethics regulations, removed an online campaign flier that offered the chance to win a firearm in return for a $100 donation.
■ Linda Earley Chastang, former chief of staff for the late Congressman John Lewis now leading a foundation carrying on his civil-rights work, hailed Senate passage of a bill to name Atlanta’s main post office after him, with the president’s signature the final step.