Authorities said Friday, that a scond man, identified as Charles Gamble, 24, was arrested and charged with assisting in the murder and cover-up of three people, discovered in a drainage pipe near a downtown apartment complex.

According to Columbia Police Chief Dean Crisp, all three victims had been attacked at a nearby apartment and then moved to the drainage pipe. A woman had been stabbed to death and two men fatally shot. Charles Gamble, was the woman's ex-boyfriend and father of her young child.

Jeremal Doreal Robinson, 21, of Columbia was also arrested and has been charged as an accessory and with obstructing justice.

Crisp said, "We're confident that we have the man that committed the murders. We're confident also that we have the individual who assisted him after the act in moving the bodies."

The victims, now identified as Charlene Octavia Yarbrough, 19, Marcus Antonio Wilson, 26, and Marquis Mitchell, 25. Investigators were reviewing several potential motives including a possible domestic dispute, police said.

A resident of the apartment complex, Rodrena Patrick, 20, said Gamble had been living there until he and Yarbrough got into a fight about a month ago. The couple's child had been taken into protective custody.

Gamble, who was on probation for a stalking conviction, has a criminal record dating back to a 2000 grand larceny charge, Crisp said.

The 2006 Health Confidence Survey, released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute under the headline, "Dissatisfaction with Health Care System Doubles Since 1998," helps explain why health care is consistently ranked as one of this country's key issues.

A record percentage in the survey, 52% of Americans, are unhappy with the cost of health care. That breaks down to 6 out of ten Americans rank the U.S. health system as poor or fair. That represents a sharp increase in the number of dissatisfied health care consumers, shich includes the insured as well as the uninsured.

Survey results indicate that of the average family surveyed, 36% are facing higher medical costs, 53% contribute less to their retirement plans and save less in general, and 28% have trouble paying for basic necessities. In addition, 20% of those surveyed increased their credit card debt or borrowed money to pay the ever increasing health care bills, while others have chosen to delay getting medical care altogether (44%) or filling necessary prescriptions (22%).

The EBRI survey points out both that the problems with U.S. health care are rapidly geting worse and that solutions are needed to address the issues of excessive cost and the consequential burden of tolerating ill health that is facing the insured as well as the uninsured.

Breaking Legal News.com
Sheryl M. Jones
Staff Writer

WASHINGTON – (USDOJ) A former Ft. Campbell soldier has been charged with various crimes for conduct including premeditated murder based on the alleged rape of an Iraqi girl and the deaths of the girl and members of her family, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David L. Huber of the Western District of Kentucky announced today.

Steven D. Green, 21, was charged in the indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Louisville, Ky., with conduct that would constitute conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated sexual abuse, premeditated murder, murder in perpetration of aggravated sexual abuse, aggravated sexual abuse on a person less than 16 years of age, use of firearms during the commission of violent crimes and obstruction of justice. The potential statutory penalties for conviction of these offenses ranges from a term of years to life in prison to death.

The indictment charges Green with crimes arising from an incident that occurred on March 12, 2006, in and around Mahmoudiyah, Iraq. The indictment alleges that during the incident Green and others committed aggravated sexual abuse against a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, whose body was burned after the attack. The indictment also alleges that Green and others killed the girl, her father, mother, and six-year-old sister during the same incident.

Green was discharged from the U.S. Army in May 2006 and is being prosecuted in U.S. District Court under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, a statute that gives U.S. courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the United States by persons who served with the Armed Forces but are no longer subject to military prosecution. Other soldiers who have not been discharged by the Army are currently charged by the Army with taking part in the incident out of which the charges against Green arise.

Green, formerly stationed at Ft. Campbell, Ky., and deployed to Iraq while serving with the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army, was arrested by the FBI on June 30, 2006, on federal charges of murder and rape pursuant to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. Green is scheduled to be arraigned on the indicted charges on Nov. 8, 2006, at 10 a.m. in Louisville.

An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Army. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Kentucky and the Domestic Security Section of the Criminal Division.

On Thursday, the former CEO of Computer Associates International Inc., Sanjay Kumar, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and was fined $8 million for his participation in a massive accounting fraud scandal.

Kumar, 44, after pleading guilty in April to obstruction of justice and securities fraud charges, had faced up to 20 years behind bars. The company has been renamed CA Inc.

Kumar could have faced life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but the judge called that punishment unreasonable. Noting that Kumar was not a violent individual, U.S. District Judge Leo Glasser said Kumar "did violence to the legitimate expectations of shareholders."

Prosecutor Eric Komitee said Kumar was "the most brazen in the modern era of corporate crime" and he deserved severe punishment as the architect of an elaborate coverup.

Kumar, who is also a co-owner of the New York Islanders hockey team, told the judge at his sentencing," I know that I was wrong and there was no excuse for my conduct." The defense had urged the judge to give Kumar a short prison term followed by lengthy community service.

Said attorney John Cooney, "I hope the court will not lose sight of the good he did for that company," Decribed as one of the "great minds" of the software industry by his attorneys, Kumar is credited for turning Computer Associates into a thriving enterprise.

According to a 2004 indictment, Kumar flew on a corporate jet to Paris in July 1999 to finalize a $19 million deal and signed a backdated contract. The indictment also charged that Kumar along with other executives, instructed salespeople to complete deals after the quarter closing, an industry practice known as the "35-day month" - and "cleaned up" contracts by removing time stamps from faxes.

In 2002, after the FBI began investigating the company, Kumar orchestrated a cover-up that involved lying under oath and trying to buy the silence of a potential witness, authorities said.

CA Inc. is now the world's fifth-largest software provider with 15,000 employees worldwide.

Kumar was ordered to surrender on Feb. 27.

Five record companies, represented by the Recording Industry Association of America, filed a lawsuit in federal court in White Plains on Wednesday against Patricia Santangelo's son and daughter, accusing them of pirating songs over the Internet.

The lawsuit accuses Michelle Santangelo, 20, and brother Robert, 16 of downloading and distributing over 1,000 songs, including "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by the Offspring, "MMMBop" by Hanson and "Beat It" by Michael Jackson, and that Michelle acknowledged downloading songs on the family computer.

The complaint read, "In short, each of the defendants participated in the substantial violations of plaintiffs' copyrights at issue and then concealed their involvement, standing idly by as Patricia Santangelo repeatedly protested their innocence and chastised plaintiffs for filing allegedly frivolous litigation."

Jordan Glass, attorney for the Santangelos, disputed the recording industry's allegations and said he was at Michelle Santangelo's deposition and does not recall her "admitting or acknowledging downloading."

Called "an Internet illiterate parent," by a federal judge last year, Paricia Santangelo came to the forefront of attention by her denial of downloading songs and her adamant refusal to settle with the recording industry, for $7,500 to keep her name out of the lawsuit.

Defenders of Internet freedom helped pay for Santangelo's attorney. Patricia Santangelo stated her personal innocence but of her children she said she had no knowledge of them downloading and, if they did, to blame the computer programs.

The industry is requesting unspecified damages for each download, an injunction, and court costs.

The record companies have forced most file-sharing computer networks , and has sued thousands of individuals, including minors, for allegedly music pirating.

A lawsuit was filed in federal court by the Southern Poverty law Center on Wednesday against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). The lawsuit alleges that over the Labor Day weekend, ICE harassed five US citizens of Mexican descent during an illegal immigration shakedown in Georgia. The civil rights group, the Southern Poverty Law Center claims ICE, illegally detained, harassed and searched the Mexican-Americans' persons based only on their appearance in a raid on a chicken processing plant, violating the US citizens' Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. An ICE spokesman declined to comment on specific claims in the suit, but said of the accusations, they were "patently false."

The goal of the Southern Poverty Law Center is to certify the lawsuit as a class action. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, names ICE, its officials and the 30 agents who conducted the raid as defendants. The illegal immigrant population in Georgia has more doubled since 2000.

Sheryl Jones
Breakng Legal News.com
Staff Writer

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a workshop on January 9, 2007, to provide information, clarification and guidance to sponsors seeking approval to legally market prescription and over-the-counter drugs through the New Drug Application (NDA), abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) and monograph processes.

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act generally requires that drugs marketed in the United States be shown to be safe and effective prior to marketing and widespread use in the general population. However, for a variety of historical reasons, some drugs, mostly older products, continue to be marketed illegally -- without required FDA approval. While some unapproved drugs may have benefits, there may also be risks. Drugs marketed without FDA approval may not meet modern standards for safety, effectiveness, quality, and labeling.

In June 2006, FDA issued a revised Compliance Policy Guide (CPG), which makes clear that firms unlawfully marketing drugs need to submit applications showing that their products are safe and effective before continuing to market those products. Following the publication of the CPG (Section 440.100, "Marketed Unapproved Drugs"), many drug companies contacted FDA seeking clarification. The companies wanted information regarding how to obtain approval to legally market their currently unapproved drug products, and whether applications for marketing are subject to user fees, among other things.

The agency is committed to working with companies to facilitate the process of ensuring that products are safe and effective and meet appropriate standards for manufacturing and labeling.

The workshop will be held on January 9, 2007, from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM in the Advisors and Consultants Staff conference room located at 5630 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland. A notice announcing the meeting and giving registration details is expected to be published in the Federal Register on November 1, 2006. The agenda, when finalized, will be posted on FDA's web site at http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/unapproved_drugs.