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Illinois' Second District Appellate Court has affirmed the conviction of a Northlake man that led to a lifelong prison sentence in 2015. Luis Moreta, 46, was convicted of armed robbery with a firearm on Dec. 5, 2014, after a jury ruled he stole $3,700 from a man he met on Craigslist. Because that was his third violent conviction, DuPage County Judge John Kinsella sentenced Moreta as a habitual criminal to a term of natural life in prison. On Dec. 2, 2011, the victim drove to meet Moreta in the parking lot of an Addison apartment complex on the 600 block of Meadow Boulevard to purchase a black Suzuki GSXR motorcycle he had seen advertised by Moreta on Craigslist. After meeting one of Moreta's accomplices, the victim and two friends were escorted to the back of the parking lot where Moreta and another man, both with their faces covered and wearing hooded sweatshirts , jumped out of a van and held guns to their heads. Moreta and his acco...

GATESVILLE, Texas (KWTX) There are 12 state prison inmates in Texas serving life without parole sentences which the U.S. Supreme Court has said is unconstitutional, but not a single one of them has asked for a new sentence. One of those inmates is housed at a prison unit in Gatesville. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote a majority opinion by the court that said “under the Eighth Amendment's bar against cruel and unusual punishment, states may no longer sentence juveniles to life without parole.” “We have 12 in custody now serving life without parole sentences who were younger than 18 when they committed their crimes,” Jason Clark, public information director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a telephone interview Thursday . “As far as I know none of them has asked for a new sentence and it’s something they have to do,” Clark said. As long ago as 2012 the high court ruled that a life without parole sentence handed to a person convicted...

TOLLING THE TYCOONS — Albanese calls for 'politically popular' pied-à-terre tax, by POLITICO New York’s Conor Skelding : Foreign "oligarchs" who own real estate in New York but don't live in the city should have to pay two or three times what they pay now in property taxes, Democratic mayoral candidate Sal Albanese said Wednesday. The "politically popular" new tax's revenue, which Albanese said would amount to billions, could then be put toward the development of affordable housing . "Look, there's a lot of money across the world that people want to outsource," he said during a news conference outside the gates of City Hall. "There's a lot of money there, and we can use that to build real affordable housing ." Mayor Bill de Blasio promised years ago to "take a look" at a pied-à-terre tax, but the proposal is opposed by many of the city's real estate interests . "They own Bill de Blasio , big real estat...

Aug 16, 2017 The first time Captain Noorullah Aminyar traveled to the United States, in 2012, he felt calm and peaceful in a way he never had before. Back home in Afghanistan, he had slept fully clothed , boots on, hand on his rifle. The Taliban attacked every night, and he had to be ready. "But when I come to America," he told me, "I have no stress in America. I sleep good. I tell you, I have no stress. It was really easy. It was a good thing. You feel safe. I was born in the war. I grew up in the war. Always, your life is in danger. You find a little safe time, for sure you'll be happy." Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Advertisement - Continue Reading Below For Aminyar, then twenty-eight, coming to America was an honor and an achievement. He attended the prestigious Defense Language Institute in San Antonio, the culmination of more than a decade of studying English, followed by a basic infantry officer 's course at Fort Benning, Georgia, with Ame...