WATERTOWN — Immaculate Heart Central’s newly-adopted five-year strategic plan was broken down for the public on Wednesday night in the junior-senior high school’s auditorium.

The district’s Education Council voted for the plan last month during its monthly meeting, with limited input from the public.

The largest part of the plan includes the consolidation of all pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade students for financial reasons. With only 417 students among the three schools, the council decided current intermediate school students will be relocated to the current primary school building at 122 Winthrop St., effective for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Not only will it be cost-effective, the plan states teachers will be able to collaborate more efficiently, while the proximity to Holy Family Church will highlight the school’s religious mission.

The current intermediate school, located at 733 S. Massey St., will be owned once again by the diocese, with its plan for the building unknown.

Other immediate changes for the upcoming academic year include curriculum being viewed through the lens of STREAM ­— science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and math — to enhance and modernize the institution’s current offerings. There will also be a 15 to 20 percent increase in teacher salaries, as well as an unknown increased compensation for athletic coaches and club monitors.

During the presentation, Monsignor Robert Aucoin admitted the institution was “getting by” financially, but said teacher retention is important. The funds for raises will come from closing one building, as well as from their reserves.

Additionally, Monsignor Aucoin said the operational entities governing Immaculate Heart Central will be reorganized.

Many Catholic schools have created a president position, responsible for the school’s fiscal advancement, enrollment and capital improvement. These tasks are the current responsibility of Immaculate Heart Central’s principal, Lynise S. Lassiter.

Mrs. Lassiter said having a president would be helpful for her.

“The idea of a president being a part of this would be taking some of the responsibility away from me, and then I can focus more on the day-to-day operations of the school and the instructional programs, which would be great,” Mrs. Lassiter said.

To test if the role of president would fit well at Immaculate Heart Central, Monsignor Aucoin will take on the role for the 2019-2020 academic year. If deemed appropriate, the role will be fully implemented in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Looking forward in the strategic plan, long-term goals include improving the institution’s financial health, analyzing the current athletic offerings to best align with the institution’s size, improving the public’s perception of the institution and rebranding the institution back to its original name, Immaculate Heart Academy.

Those who attended Wednesday night’s presentation weren’t very vocal about the plan, with only four people stepping up to the microphone with their opinions.

Jack W. Palumbo, Immaculate Heart Central alumnus, Watertown, said he agreed with the initiatives presented.

“Their whole thought process is right,” Mr. Palumbo said. “I feel a lot for this school and the entire system, so I am so glad that they have sat back now and thought of a new strategic plan. Now it’s a question of the implementation.”

Other comments included a recommendation for the institution to hire another principal, so that both buildings are under supervision each day. Currently, there are only assistant principals at the primary and intermediate schools, focusing on the schools’ day-to-day operations.

Others wondered about the class sizes and the budget difficulties the institution is facing.

Monsignor Aucoin took these comments into consideration, as well as written questions submitted into suggestion boxes after the presentation, and all answers will be posted on the school’s website in a few weeks.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pack away the sidewalk tables and flip-flops; break out the boots and shovels.

Nature was showing its fickle side Wednesday, with blizzard conditions, heavy snow and frigid air pounding parts of the Rockies and the Plains, just a day after the weather was sunny and idyllic. Schools and highways were shut down, hundreds of flights were canceled, and some communities braced for floods.

The storm, caused by a low-pressure system moving east from the Pacific Ocean, dropped temperatures by up to 50 degrees in places like Denver, where it was sunny and in the mid-70s Tuesday but reached the mid-20s by Wednesday night.

The low-pressure system was affecting areas from Colorado to Michigan, with heavy snow and thunderstorms, and even down into Texas, where dry conditions and high winds have led to wildfire warnings.

While the whipsawing forecasts drew groans, they did not come as much of a surprise to those familiar with springtime in the Plains and the Rockies.

“In Colorado, that’s not uncommon at all,” said Natalie Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado, noting that April is historically the state’s second-snowiest month of the year, behind March. “We have warm conditions, and then a weather system will come through and bring cold air from a different region, and then — boom — you have snow coming down.”

Ahead of the storm Wednesday, Gov. Jared Polis activated the Colorado National Guard, and about 50 soldiers were prepared to respond to stranded drivers. State officials also shut down a highway in the eastern part of the state and part of a highway that cuts through the mountains, citing numerous accidents.

“Reopening is up to Mother Nature,” the Colorado State Patrol said on Twitter.

Even before the low-pressure system reached the Rockies, it wreaked havoc on the West Coast, knocking out power in Los Angeles and kicking up dust storms in Nevada, according to AccuWeather.

Officials in states across the Midwest watched anxiously for weather dangers.

Much of the region is still reeling from severe flooding brought on by storms and rising rivers last month. The floods inundated small towns and created a humanitarian crisis on the Pine Ridge Native American reservation, where tribe members found themselves trapped in their homes with little access to food.

Officials in Hamburg, Iowa, worked quickly to add a temporary 5-feet-tall levee to the town’s current levee system before the Missouri River crests by Sunday or Monday, as they expect. Floodwaters inundated much of the town of 1,100 people last month after heavy rain accumulated on frozen ground in the region.

“We’ll build that levee and vigilantly watch throughout the night in case flood does come,” said Cathy Crain, the Hamburg mayor.

More pressing than Hamburg’s weather, Crain said, was the snow and rain in cities to the north, such as Yankton, South Dakota. When precipitation hits those areas hard, it swells the Missouri River and flows down into Hamburg.

“We are so busy we don’t have emotions,” she said. “We are just moving to recover and to protect our town.”

Meteorologists predicted as much as 2 1/2 feet of snow in parts of eastern South Dakota.

Forecasters were hoping that the long-term effects of this storm would not be as severe as those that set off the flooding last month. A heavy snowfall takes time to melt and run off into rivers and streams, reducing the chance of flooding, meteorologists say, while heavy rain brings faster runoff and greater danger. Warmer temperatures in recent days have also thawed the ground, meaning it should better absorb moisture.

Still, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota ordered state offices closed Wednesday. Schools also closed in Rapid City, South Dakota, where several inches of snow fell and the streets became icy. State officials closed a roughly 125-mile stretch of Interstate 29 on Wednesday, from Brookings to the North Dakota border.

It was not all that unusual to have a heavy snowfall in Rapid City in April, said Domico Rodriguez, the general manager of Hotel Alex Johnson. But this was different, he said, because the 2-degree wind chills sweeping through the city came just three days after he was out playing softball in 70-degree weather.

“It’s disheartening,” he said, adding that it was difficult to believe the forecast.

In downtown Minneapolis, where snow was falling at a brisk pace, Chameera Ekanayake spent his lunch break huddled beneath a small ledge, trying without much success to keep the flakes out of his hair.

The snow was an unwelcome development in a weather-weary city. After a harsh winter, he said Minnesotans had “been sick of it for a while” and hopeful that the snow was done for the season.

“We had some pretty good days in the last couple weeks and so were like, ‘Yeah, this is the end of it,’” said Ekanayake, 32, who works in local government.

He said he planned to work from home Thursday, when conditions were expected to worsen.

In Denver, the storm canceled more than 700 flights into and out of the city, postponed baseball games and sent businesses into shelter mode.

The turn in the weather had Mitchell Carroll, the general manager at a Denver restaurant called Illegal Pete’s, longing for the sunny skies last week that had helped put the restaurant far ahead of its sales totals from a year ago.

Prospects were not looking good for Illegal Pete’s 130-seat patio this week. “You’re not really sure because Coloradans aren’t really fazed by weather,” Carroll said.

“But if it’s a blizzard warning,” he added, they might stay in.

Before it went bad, Jon Sander and Sandy Mazzella were buddies.

They had been business partners in a lawn and landscaping company. The bond between the two North Carolinians was so tightly knit they lived with their families next door to one another on Clearsprings Drive, a residential street with long driveways and spacious lawns in Wake Forest, North Carolina, just northeast of Raleigh. Sander and Mazzella smoked weed together every day after work, the News & Observer would later report. They shared family vacations and Christmas dinners. Sander reportedly affectionately referred to Mazzella as “my little brother.”

But that friendship had soured into something ugly by March 2016. Money trouble reportedly started it off, then suggestions of infidelity. The families accused one another of hurting their respective pets.

When a young member of Mazzella’s family accused Sander of molesting her, it exploded into a family feud heavy with potential violence. Per the News & Observer, the Mazzella family started calling Sander “Chester the Molester” and blared loud music into his yard. Threatening text messages were swapped. The police and courts got involved.

“So he’s threatened you?” an anxious friend texted Mazzella in early 2016.

“No worries,” the 47-year-old wrote back. “I’ve got plenty of firepower.”

In another message to a friend, Mazzella said he was waiting for Sander “to make a move on my property so I can legally take him out,” according to later court testimony. “[H]e comes near me, he leaves in a body bag,” he texted to another friend.

But when violence broke out on Clearsprings Drive on March 25, 2016, it was Mazzella, his wife Stephanie, 43, and his mother, Elaine, 76, who were killed.

Clutching a Mossberg shotgun, Sander entered the Mazzella house and opened fire. “When I shot him, I felt like I got my revenge,” Sander told investigators, according to an interview tape obtained by WRAL.

On Monday, Sander was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder. According to WNCN, the case has now entered the sentencing phase, where a jury will decide if the 55-year-old will spend the rest of his life in jail or face the death penalty.

But the proceedings this week have already complicated the picture of the killings. At the heart of the case, surprisingly, was an argument about health care.

On Wednesday, a psychiatrist hired by the defense revealed that two days before murdering his neighbors, a distraught Sander and his wife had gone to a mental health clinic. There, he was told he would have to pay $250 for an assessment. The couple did not have the money, so they left - and Sander went on to murder.

Had Sander had the money, or had the fee been waived, mental health professionals may have realized they were dealing with a man on the verge of violence, Dr. George Corvin testified. “I don’t want to be Monday morning quarterback, [but] two days before this he sought treatment and it was not allowed because of financial constraints,” Corvin said.

It was at least one of two missed opportunities that could have helped to avoid the suburban carnage.

During the murder trial, the jury heard testimony that the initial cracks in the close relationship between the two men developed when their business ran into money problems and the Mazzella family suspected Sander of embezzling, the News & Observer reported.

Sander also apparently taunted Mazzella that he and his wife had a sexual encounter with Mazzella’s wife.” PS me and Lori fooled around with your wife,” Sander texted his neighbor on Feb. 24, 2016.

The allegation that Sander had molested one of Mazzella’s children (he has not been charged in relation to those claims) only put the tension into hyper-drive. Weeks before the shooting, Mazzella showed up in tears on a friend’s doorstep, the News & Observer reported.

“He was afraid for his life,” the friend told the jury at the trial. “He was just afraid there was going to be a battle.”

On Feb. 25, 2016, Mazzella was granted a civil order temporarily banning Sander from contacting the family. The next day, Mazzella’s father, Salvatore, filed and was granted a similar restraining order. The News & Observer reported that in an affidavit filed with the court, Mazzella said Sander had made “threatening texts” and “in-person threats.”

At the time, the molestation accusation was also beginning to wear away at Sander’s psyche, his attorneys claimed in court. Sander himself would later tell investigators the charge could ruin all he had worked toward in his life. The stress may have been compounded by existing medical conditions.

On Wednesday, Corvin, the psychiatrist, told jurors Sander had been committed to mental hospital on two previous occasions after physicians described him as “psychiatrically dangerous,” WNCN reported.

Corvin stated Sander “meets diagnostic criteria for bipolar 1 disorder with a history of mood congruent and psychotic features,” as well as “elements of paranoid and obsessive compulsive personality disorders.”

On March 23, 2016, Sander and his wife went to the local mental health clinic, but could not pay the assessment fee.

“You look at this and say my goodness, this is a very dangerous situation emerging,” Corvin testified. “And if . . . I was a psychiatrist there, and he was willing to talk about what he was thinking, he would have been committed again.”

The day after Sander failed to get medical help, another decision would similarly set the course for a violent showdown.

On March 24, 2016, Mazzella and his father both appeared before a Wake County district court judge to petition for a one-year restraining order against Sander.

“I want the court to know that I fear for my life, and I fear for my family’s life, because of this monster I see in front of my eye,” Mazzella’s father told the judge, according to the News & Observer.

The petition, however, was rejected. The judge ruled the Mazzellas “failed to prove grounds for issuance of a no-contact order.”

The next day, stewing over the molestation allegation and with the alcohol and marijuana he had consumed pushing him toward a blackout, Sander “reached his breaking point,” he would later tell investigators.

“I started to scream and bang on the bed,” he said. “This isn’t fair. I worked my whole life - my family - and then I just went blank . . . I don’t know all the details. All I said is my life is over and now I’m going to get even.”

Mazzella’s father, Salvatore, was inside his son’s house when Sander burst in with the Mossberg and opened fire. He escaped and flagged down a driver, who called police.

Sander was taken into custody at his home while his “hysterical” wife and “agitated” three children watched from outside, a first responder testified at the trial, the News & Observer reported. The family feud was apparently still alive in the moments after the killing.

“My father did it,” one of Sander’s daughters told the first responder. “They deserved it. They tried to kill us and my cat and my dog.”

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Sudan’s defense minister said that President Omar al-Bashir was taken into military custody on Thursday, effectively announcing a coup to end Bashir’s 30-year rule.

A two-year transition government administered by the military would take over, the constitution would be suspended, and a three-year state of emergency would be put in place, he said.

Sudan’s state media also reported that all political prisoners, including leaders of the protests that precipitated Bashir’s fall, were in the process of being released from jails around the country.

The announcement by Awad Ibn Auf, who is also Sudan’s vice president, came after four months of nationwide street protests sparked by price hikes on basic goods but also reflecting a deep-rooted desire for the replacement of his decades-old regime. Bashir is accused of crimes against humanity and genocide against his own people by the International Criminal Court.

The details of the apparent coup were unclear as was the future of a massive sit-in protest in the capital Khartoum as of Thursday morning. In anticipation of the army’s announcement, crowds assembled outside their headquarters in Khartoum chanted, “it has fallen, we have won.”

Last month, Bashir, 75, announced a state of emergency in response to the protests, giving the country’s powerful security apparatus nearly unlimited powers to disperse the hundreds of thousands of people who had gathered in the streets of Khartoum and other cities.

But after the sit-in began on April 6, divisions within the armed forces became increasingly visible as low-ranking officers began to join the protests. High-ranking officers followed by declaring their intention not to disperse the protesters.

Fighting between different factions of the security forces led to street battles, resulting in at least 11 deaths, including six members of the armed forces, the information minister said citing a police report. Dozens more were killed since protests began in mid-December, according to human rights groups.

Over the past few days, Bashir became increasingly isolated, as coalition partners of his ruling National Congress Party declined to join counter-protests in his support.

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese reveled in Khartoum’s streets this week, singing, dancing, and waving banners imprinted with hopeful slogans calling for the rebuilding of their country. The protests were initially organized by the Sudanese Professionals Association, a group that drew many doctors, lawyers and students. By this week, a significant chunk of Khartoum’s population of around 2 million had joined.

The protesters demands included the creation of a civilian government and justice for protesters who had been killed.

“Revolutionaries: The sit-ins for all our groups of people continues until the objectives of the revolution are achieved,” was the message posted to Twitter from the Sudanese Professionals Association account Thursday morning.

Through the waning years of his rule, Bashir diverted large quantities of the national budget to military spending, while inflation drove prices of flour and other basics up. The average Sudanese citizen is only 19 years old, and has lived their life entirely under Bashir.

Sudan has experienced numerous coups in the past, including the one in 1989 that brought Bashir to power. The military’s use of state television and radio to announce their takeover reminded many older Sudanese of past transitions.

“This is potentially new dawn for Sudan,” said Rashid Abdi, a regional analyst for the International Crisis Group. “It shows that even most entrenched dictatorships are vulnerable. The future is uncertain, but there is now a better chance to engineer a viable, inclusive transition.”

Bashir’s departure capped a season of protest and political churn in North Africa that recalled the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings that removed autocratic leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. In Algeria, protests that started in February aimed at preventing its ailing president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, from seeking another term in office ended up removing North Africa’s longest serving leader.

But amid the euphoria in Algeria and Sudan, demonstrators have appeared more keenly aware of the looming dangers than their counterparts eight years earlier, vowing to remain in the streets until their broad array of demands were met. The example of Egypt had provided a particularly dire warning. After the fall of Hosni Mubarak, a rocky, two-year transition resulted in a military coup led by the country’s current president, Abdelfattah el-Sissi, and a government more repressive than any in the country’s recent history.

Bashir was indicted in 2009 by the International Criminal Court for five counts of crimes against humanity, two counts of war crimes and three counts of genocide for directing the fighting in the western Sudanese region of Darfur more than a decade ago. He will likely remain in Sudan under house arrest or seek refuge in one of the countries, such as Saudi Arabia or Egypt, that has allowed him to enter in the past without extraditing him.

PARIS - Ecuador handed Julian Assange over to British authorities Thursday, ending a standoff that left the controversial WikiLeaks founder holed up in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London for nearly seven years and paving the way for his possible extradition to the United States.

Jennifer Robinson, Assange’s lawyer, confirmed on Twitter that her client was “arrested not just for breach of bail conditions but also in relation to a US extradition request.” Robinson did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.

U.S. authorities have prepared an arrest warrant and extradition papers, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Video of the arrest showed a gray-bearded Assange being pulled by British police officers down the steps of the embassy and shoved into a waiting police van. Assange appeared to be physically resisting. His hands were bound in front of him.

Ecuador, which took Assange in when he was facing a Swedish rape investigation in 2012, said it was rescinding asylum because he of his “discourteous and aggressive behavior” and for violating the terms of his asylum.

The British government heralded the development. “Julian Assange is no hero and no one is above the law,” Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s foreign secretary, wrote on Twitter. “He has hidden from the truth for years.”

Sweden dropped its sex crimes inquiry in May 2017 - Assange had always denied the allegations. But he still faces up to a year in prison in Britain for jumping bail in 2012.

And, more than anything, he fears extradition to the United States, which has been investigating him for espionage, the publication of sensitive government documents and coordination with Russia.

London’s Metropolitan Police carried out the Thursday morning arrest and said in a statement that they were “invited into the embassy by the ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government’s withdrawal of asylum.” In response, the Russian government accused Britain of “strangling freedom” by taking custody of Assange.

“Ecuador has sovereignly decided to terminate the diplomatic asylum granted to Mr. Assange in 2012,” President Lenín Moreno said in a video statement tweeted by the country’s communications department. “The asylum of Mr. Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable.”

Moreno specifically cited Assange’s involvement in what he described as WikiLeaks’ meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, referring to the leaking of documents from the Vatican in January.

“Mr. Assange violated, repeatedly, clear-cut provisions of the conventions on diplomatic asylum of Havana and Caracas, despite the fact that he was requested on several occasions to respect and abide by these rules,” Moreno said Thursday. “He particularly violated the norm of not intervening in the internal affairs of other states. The most recent incident occurred in January 2019 when WikiLeaks leaked Vatican documents.”

“Key members of that organization visited Mr. Assange before and after such illegal acts,” Moreno said. “This and other publications have confirmed the world’s suspicion that Mr. Assange is still linked to WikiLeaks and therefore involved in interfering in internal affairs of other states.”

WikiLeaks confirmed Assange’s arrested and used the occasion as a fundraising opportunity on Twitter.

“This man is a son, a father, a brother,” the group said in a tweet, above a headshot of Assange. “He has won dozens of journalism awards. He’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 2010. Powerful actors, including CIA, are engaged in a sophisticated effort to dehumanise, delegitimize and imprison him.”

The group had earlier threatened long-term consequences if Ecuador turned Assange over to the British. “If President Moreno wants to illegally terminate a refugee publisher’s asylum to cover up an offshore corruption scandal, history will not be kind,” WikiLeaks said in a statement.

From Moscow, fugitive American former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden described the scene of Assange’s arrest as a violation of press freedom. “Images of Ecuador’s ambassador inviting the UK’s secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of - like it or not - award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books,” Snowden wrote on Twitter. “Assange’s critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.”

Ahead of the U.S. election in 2016, WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of emails that had been stolen from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, in cyber-hacks that U.S. intelligence officials concluded were orchestrated by the Russian government.

When special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers, he charged that they “discussed the release of the stolen documents and the timing of those releases” with WikiLeaks - referred to as “Organization 1” in the indictment - “to heighten their impact on the 2016 presidential election.”

But Assange has been on U.S. prosecutors’ radar since 2010, when WikiLeaks’ publication of 250,000 diplomatic cables and hundreds of thousands of military documents from the Iraq War prompted denunciations by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior Pentagon officials.

The Army private who had passed the material to WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning, was tried, convicted and served seven years of a 35-year prison term before having her sentence commuted by President Barack Obama as he left office. She was jailed again last month for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating Assange.

In the last administration, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. decided against pursuing prosecution of Assange out of concern that WikiLeaks’ argument that it is a journalistic organization would raise thorny First Amendment issues and set an unwelcome precedent.

The Trump administration, however, revisited the question of prosecuting members of WikiLeaks, and last November a court filing error revealed that Assange had been charged under seal.

Conspiracy, theft of government property and violating the Espionage Act are among the possible charges.

Some federal prosecutors say a case can be made that WikiLeaks is not a journalistic organization. As if to lay the groundwork for such an argument, in April 2017, then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo, now secretary of state, characterized WikiLeaks as a “nonstate hostile intelligence service” and a threat to U.S. national security.

Pompeo also noted then that the intelligence community’s report concluding Russia interfered in the 2016 election also found that Russia’s primary propaganda outlet, RT, “has actively collaborated with WikiLeaks.”

Assange’s expulsion from Ecuador’s embassy reflects a shift in the country’s politics since it first extended refuge to him.

Leftist former president Rafael Correa, now living in Belgium, is wanted for arrest in his homeland over alleged links to a 2012 political kidnapping. Correa was viewed as a member of an anti-Washington gaggle of South American leaders, including Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and Bolivia’s Evo Morales. He kicked out the U.S. ambassador in 2011.

The more moderate Moreno, in sharp contrast, has sought to mend frayed ties with the United States, Ecuador’s largest trading partner, and has dismissed Assange as “a stone in my shoe.”

In June 2018, Vice President Mike Pence visited Quito, the capital, as part of the most senior U.S. delegation sent to Ecuador in years.

“Our nations had experienced 10 difficult years where our people always felt close but our governments drifted apart,” Pence said. “But over the past year, Mr. President, thanks to your leadership and the actions that you’ve taken have brought us closer together once again. And you have the appreciation of President Trump and the American people.”

Sebastián Hurtado is president of Prófitas, a political consulting firm in Quito.

“I think the president has never been comfortable with Assange in the embassy,” he said. “And it’s not like this is an important issue for most Ecuadorans. To be honest, we really don’t care about Assange.”

The Moreno administration had made no secret of its desire to unload the issue. In December 2017, it granted Ecuadoran citizenship to Australian-born Assange and then petitioned Britain to allow him diplomatic immunity. The British government refused, saying the way to resolve the stalemate was for Assange to “face justice.”

Another hint that Assange was wearing out his welcome came in March 2018, when Ecuador cut off his internet access, saying he had breached an agreement not to interfere in the affairs of other states. The embassy did not specify what Assange had done, but the move came after he tweeted criticism of Britain’s assessment that Russia was responsible for the poisoning of a Russian former double agent and his daughter in the city of Salisbury.

Ecuador imposed tighter house rules last fall. Among the demands were that Assange pay for his medical and phone bills and clean up after his cat.

CAPE VINCENT — A prisoner at the Cape Vincent Correctional Facility has been disciplined after a package addressed to him contained synthetic marijuana, according to the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association.

According to a news release, an officer assigned to the package room at the prison found the synthetic marijuana, known as K2, on Friday.

The facility received the package addressed to the inmate, whose name was not disclosed, and the officer inspecting the package found 12 granola bars wrapped in plastic that had been resealed in original packaging. When the officer opened the bars he found a green leafy substance, which was later tested and was determined to be synthetic marijuana. According to the news release 54 grams of synthetic marijuana was seized.

The inmate is serving a three-year sentence. He was convicted in Schenectady County in 2016 for third-degree attempted sale of a criminal substance.

An investigation is underway to determine who mailed the package.

“Our members are working diligently to stop the flow of contraband that is flooding our facilities,” said Scott Carpenter, the union’s central region vice president in a statement. “Contraband seized inside prisons are at historic levels but unfortunately not all contraband can be discovered. Once again, I am calling on DOCCS to implement a Secure Vendor Program in each facility. This type of seizure is a common occurrence in facilities across the state and it needs to be addressed by the administration.”

The deadline to file petitions to run for a school board position is April 22, less than two weeks away.

For those interested in school board service or wanting to learn more about the function of school boards in their communities, the New York State School Boards Association is providing a free online resource.

The website, “The School Board Member Experience” provides answers to common questions, help for newly-elected board members and general information about the elections.

The website can be viewed at www.nyssba.org/clientuploads/nsbmx/index.html.

CANTON — A long-running dispute between an Eddy-Pyrites Road resident and Highway Superintendent Terry L. Billings erupted into a heated exchange at Wednesday’s town board meeting.

Michael McCormick accused Mr. Billings of ignoring his requests for help clearing a faulty culvert that caused flooding at his 437 Eddy-Pyrites Road home and in the roadway.

He said Mr. Billings has been retaliating against him because he supported Jim Gibson, who ran against Mr. Billings in the 2017 race for town highway superintendent.

“Everybody knows how I voted, so I guess that plays a role in how I am now treated,” Mr. McCormick told board members. “There’s a list of taxpayers that we will do work for and there’s a list of taxpayers that we won’t do work for.”

He also alleged that town materials, labor and equipment were used to install a driveway at a private Eddy-Pyrites Road residence, a claim that Mr. Billings denied.

“That’s a total fallacy,” Mr. Billings said when contacted after the meeting. “Why would I risk my career doing something silly like that?”

Mr. McCormick also argued that it’s the town’s responsibility and not his to replace the culvert pipe at the end of his driveway, based on information he received from the St. Lawrence County Real Property Office.

“There’s been an ongoing issue at my residence, as you know. There’s been a disagreement with what properties I own, which properties the town owns and who’s responsible for what,” he said.

Mr. McCormick, a civil engineer who is employed as facilities manager at SUNY Canton, told board members that Mr. Billings telephoned his office at SUNY Canton earlier this week and asked another employee whether Mr. McCormick was competent to install a culvert on his own.

“I guess my biggest concern now is the phone call made to my place of employment yesterday morning questioning my capabilities, my capabilities in my ability to replace a culvert in front of my driveway,” he said. “So, apparently yesterday morning my office received a phone call from Mr. Billings asking if he could speak to someone. “

Turning to Mr. Billings who was sitting in the back of the room, Mr. McCormick said, “This has nothing to do with my employment or my employer. So, I’m questioning why you called my place of employment questioning my capabilities to put a culvert pipe at the end of my driveway.”

Mr. Billings responded, “The question was asked to determine if you were able to do that.”

Mr. Billings said Deputy Town Supervisor Robert Washo told him that Mr. McCormick would likely hire a contractor to do the work.

“The question was asked to determine if that was your intent,” Mr. Billings said.

“That’s not what was asked. It was a joke in my office. Everybody in the office reports to me and when I came in they were embarrassed to even tell me that they had received this phone call. I brought a copy of my resume in case you’re concerned about my abilities,” Mr. McCormick said.

Regarding who is responsible for the culvert, Mr. McCormick said county real property officials informed him that the town of Canton owns the right-of-way in front of his home. Town officials have told him his ownership extends to the road’s center line.

He said the state DOT also has an inventory manual that lists local roads on its website that includes Eddy-Pyrites Road.

The DOT specifies that the governing jurisdiction is responsible for culvert replacement and other maintenance for any roads on the list.

Mr. McCormick said a few weeks ago during a freeze-thaw cycle, his front lawn was flooded with water running down and freezing on the road.

“I called the town requesting help to clear the culvert. It was frozen and there was no help,” he told board members.

He presented photographs showing the conditions at his property last month.

Eventually, he said town highway workers cleared the culvert with help from Mr. Washo and town board member James Smith.

Mr. McCormick alleged that the highway department reconstructed the entire lengthy of Eddy-Pyrites Road, with the exception of 30 feet in front of his driveway.

“When you got to my driveway you stopped and when you got past by driveway you picked it up again,” Mr. McCormick said.

Mr. Billings said that was untrue and that the work was done in front of the McCormick’s home.

Mr. McCormick said he was “fully open” to purchasing a new culvert pipe and getting the matter resolved until he discovered that town material was being used to pave the driveway at another Eddy-Pyrites residence.

“The same material that was being used to reconstruct Eddy-Pyrites Road was being trucked down the road from me to a neighbor. The town of Canton was building a driveway on residential property, using materials that were bought and paid for by the town — they used town equipment and a town operator to do this work,” Mr. McCormick said.

Mr. Billings said one load of materials was used to elevate the road in front of one residence to improve the sight distance on a hillcrest.

“Mr. McCormick did not give the whole story. He only told a short version,” Mr. Billings said. “We have never turned our back on this guy.”

Mr. Washo said a written policy is needed to spell out what homeowners are responsible for in terms of road maintenance.

Mr. McCormick said he plans to buy the culvert pipe, but he’s not sure if he will install it himself or allow the highway crew to do it.

“I just want to put an end to this,” he said. “I’m concerned about whether it’s going to be installed correctly.”

Mr. Smith said, “I would be awfully disappointed if the highway department went up there and it was not installed correctly.”

CANTON — Christopher A. Hebert has been sentenced to 25 years to life for the 2014 murder of Lacey L. Yekel.

“I respectfully ask the court to show no mercy,” Robert E. Yekel, the father of the victim, said in St. Lawrence County Court Thursday morning before a full courtroom. “As he had no mercy, no compassion or no respect for my beautiful little girl, who he not only murdered violently and disrespected he violated her after death by stripping her naked and leaving her in the woods to rot in a tarp.”

Mr. Yekel gave his statement in shackles, as he was transported to court by state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision officers from Wyoming Correctional Facility where he is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a second-degree robbery conviction.

“My daughter did not deserve what he did to her. She was a bright and beautiful young lady with a great sense of humor and a positive personality,” Mr. Yekel said, telling County Judge Jerome J. Richards that Hebert was an unpredictable and a very serious threat to society. As long as I am alive I will be at every parole board hearing he has to protest against his release.”

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua said he wanted to be sure Mr. Yekel had the opportunity to speak for his daughter.

“I think, at the end of the day, this particular defendant is a person who doesn’t really deserve to have that 25 year number at the beginning of that sentence,” Mr. Pasqua said. “Unfortunately, the judge couldn’t give him a sentence of just straight life in prison, but the law is what the law is. Certainly the St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office, whether it’s me or a different district attorney, will make sure that the office’s feelings are known when his time for parole comes up.”

On March 21, Hebert, 46, formerly of 14759 Route 37, Massena, now an inmate at the St. Lawrence County jail, was found guilty of the A-I felony of second-degree murder in the June 7, 2014, death of the 24-year-old Ms. Yekel, who was last seen by her mother, Bonnie Sue Lamay, on June 4, 2014.

Ms. Yekel had not been reported missing prior to the Aug. 29, 2014, discovery of her remains, two days after what would have been her 25th birthday. Her body was found partially wrapped in a wooded area across the road from the NYSARC bottle redemption center in the Massena Industrial Park, just off Route 420.

Choking back tears Thursday morning, Ms. Lamay sniffled and held her fist to her lips as she looked down at her statement. She expressed gratitude and thanks to Mr. Pasqua and the law enforcement officials who investigated the case and brought it to a close.

“Your Honor, I am delivering this impact statement to you today on behalf of my daughter, Lacey Lee Yekel who no longer has a voice of her own,” Ms. Lamay read, standing aside District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua. “She had so much left to do. She was going to be someone’s wife, someone’s mom, she was my only child. I was supposed to be a grandmother some day, now none of that can ever be. Christopher Hebert took all of that from us. He is a heartless, spineless, cold-hearted brutal killer.

“I have incurred great pain from this loss a pain greater than I will ever know, a pain that will last for the day I die,” Ms. Lamay continued. “My heart, my life, my world will never be the same again.”

Hebert, in addressing the court, showed no remorse and continued to deny his guilt.

“This isn’t about the truth and it never was,” said Hebert. “All I asked for was a fair shake and I got anything but.”

But the guilty verdict followed a trial where Hebert took the stand in his own defense, claiming the woman had overdosed and he hid the body, opposing the testimony of his girlfriend, friends and drug dealers who told the court that Hebert came to each of them describing how he “crushed her skull” and, in a few instances, said he choked her to death.

Recorded jail calls and a recorded prison interview led jurors to find Hebert guilty of the murder after 6½ hours of deliberations.

During sentencing, Hebert stuck with his story, apologizing to Ms. Lamay over what he said was Ms. Yekel’s cocaine overdose and “for using that horrific situation to my advantage to further my addiction. For the unspeakable lies I told, I am sorry.

Hebert used the window to speak to construct a conspiracy against him, saying the sentence was about “justifying job titles, re-elections and politics.”

“The truth is Lacey overdosed on cocaine and that is a tragedy, but not the only tragedy. As you, Mr. Richards, get ready to retire off to obscurity . . . let this be your legacy,” he said, staring the judge. “Today you are sending a man away to prison for life for a crime you know he didn’t commit.

“And at the end of the day, when all is said and done, you, Jerome Richards, are no better than me,” he said as he dropped the statement from his cuffed wrists to the table in front of him.

District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua told the court Since 1988 Hebert “has been a menace to the people of St. Lawrence County,”citing Hebert’s 20 arrests, seven for felonies, four felony convictions, two of those for violent felonies, resulting in him spending a majority of his adult life in prison.

He then asked Judge Richards to sentence to Hebert to the maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

“I can’t speak better for Ms.. Yekel then her parents did. They’re the only ones who truly know that loss,” Mr. Pasqua said. “But your honor, I think what is clear is that he deserves the sentence that you will hand down today.

“When Lacey Yekel, in the woods that night, asked for mercy, asked for it to stop, the defendant made the conscious and deliberate choice to end her life by strangling her,” Mr. Pasqua said. “I join Lacey’s parents this morning, asking you to show this defendant as much mercy as he showed Lacey Yekel on that night.”

In addition to his sentence, Hebert had three no-contact orders of protections issued against him in favor of Ms. Lamay, Mr. Yekel and his ex-girlfriend, Brandy Bressard, who worked as an agent of police in the investigation and testified against him at trial. He also had He also had $4,266.66 in restitution and $375 in court fines fees and surcharges reduced to judgment.

The son of a Louisiana sheriff’s deputy has been arrested in connection to fires at three black churches, say sources.

Two of the Baptist houses of worship — Greater Union Baptist Church, which was destroyed on April 2, and Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, which burned on April 4 — were located in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish. St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre was destroyed on March 26.

The suspect has been identified as Holden Matthews, according to TV station KATC.

“A suspect has been identified in connection with the three church burnings in Opelousas, La., and is in state custody,” said U.S. Attorney David Joseph on Wednesday. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office, ATF and FBI are working with state and local law enforcement and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the victims and those St. Landry Parish residents affected by these despicable acts.”

All three churches had been in existence for over a century, said pastors. The churches, which were situated on rural highways, were set ablaze in the early morning hours.

Fire Marshal Butch Browning called the fires suspicious in an April 4 press conference. He told Mount Pleasant worshipers on April 7 that about 200 officials were working on the investigation.

The FBI also is probing.

Investigators, as well as Browning wouldn’t confirm if race was the primary motive for the burnings.

“I want whoever did it to know we love them,” said the Rev. Harry Richard of Greater Union Baptist Church on Wednesday. “Sometimes I understand people who are hurting hurt people, but we love them.”

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump continues accusing congressional Democrats of treason — a crime punishable by death — over their border security policies even as his acting chief of staff was on Capitol Hill Wednesday seeking a deal.

And a senior Democratic aide expressed doubt that a deal is likely over what promises to be among 2020’s most contentious campaign trail issues.

Twice on Wednesday, the president had critical words for Democrats over their ongoing dispute about his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall and a list of other policy differences related to immigration. In a tweet as he returned from Texas on Air Force One, the president again accused unnamed Democrats of betraying their country — apparently for opposing his hardline immigration policies.

“I think what the Democrats are doing with the Border is TREASONOUS. Their Open Border mindset is putting our Country at risk. Will not let this happen!” Trump tweeted at 10:33 p.m. He hit send on the post five minutes before a reporter traveling with him said Air Force One landed at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

Trump’s use of the T-word is curious for many reasons, especially because policy differences with a sitting president are not criminal — much less a capital — charge. Another reason: His top spokeswoman recently panned Democrats over their contention that the Robert S. Mueller-led Russia probe would clearly show her boss colluded with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“They literally accused the President of the United States of being an agent for a foreign government. That’s equivalent to treason. That’s punishable by death in this country,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News on March 25.

Trump is eager to make immigration a major part of his 2020 reelection campaign after the issue helped him win the presidency in upset fashion four years earlier. His late-night treason tweet came hours after he called on Democrats to help him and Republicans improve what he dubbed “bad laws” related to the southern border and immigration.

“It’s very important that the Democrats in Congress change these loopholes,” the president said Wednesday morning as he left the White House for the Lone Star State before issuing a warning: “If they don’t change them, we’re just going to be fighting.”

As often is the case, Trump recently has signaled he is pivoting toward, in his words, a “tougher” immigration and border security stance. He has removed several senior Department of Homeland Security officials, including former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Last Friday, the White House withdrew the nomination of Ron Vitiello to lead the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Ron is a good man, but we’re going in a tougher direction,” Trump said.

On Friday at the border in California, Trump said this to would-be migrants: “The system is full. We can’t take you anymore. ... Our country is full.” This has left Democrats outraged.

But as Trump moves to the right yet again in his public remarks about the border and immigration — including signaling Tuesday that he views his since-scrapped child separation policy as an effective deterrent to illegal immigration even though he is not restarting it — his top aides are looking for a path toward a bipartisan deal.

Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, a former conservative GOP congressman from South Carolina, was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday meeting with senators of both parties.

Those talks were border-related, a source with knowledge of the meetings said, acknowledging the White House is trying anew to strike a deal amid a dramatic upswing in illegal border crossings and apprehensions that has left the president admittedly frustrated.

One senior House aide told Roll Call Thursday morning that among that chamber’s Democratic caucus, “no one views the White House as credible on this issue” because the president and his top aides are “constantly talking out of both sides of their mouths.”

The same Democratic source said there were no signs Mulvaney met with House Democrats on Wednesday.

Neither Trump, congressional Republicans or congressional Democrats have explained any proposal that the other involved parties might support.

The Senate passed a bipartisan immigration overhaul bill in 2013. But it immediately stalled in the then-GOP controlled House. And when a group of Democratic and Republican senators in 2017 pushed a bipartisan measure, Trump himself helped sink it as his more-hardline version received even fewer votes.

The two parties have been in a standoff ever since, both playing a role in a partial government shutdown that bridged 2018 and the start of this year.

That longest shutdown in U.S. history culminated in Trump getting less for his proposed border barrier than he could have gotten in the weeks before those handful of agencies, including DHS, were shuttered.

There has been no movement since. Instead, there have been just words like “treason” being bandied about by the president while Democrats continue to label his border barrier as a waste of taxpayer money and his immigration stances un-American.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California told reporters at a Democratic retreat at a Leesburg, Va., resort said she remains “optimistic” about a deal.

“It’s complicated but it isn’t hard to do if you have good intentions,” Pelosi said of a comprehensive immigration overhaul agreement. “And I’m not giving up on the president on this.”

ROME - Breaking years of silence on major church affairs, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has written a lengthy letter devoted to clerical sex abuse in which he attributes the crisis to a breakdown of church and societal moral teaching and says he felt compelled to assist “in this difficult hour.”

The 6,000-word letter, written for a small German Catholic publication and published in translation by other outlets on Thursday, laments the secularization of the West, decries the 1960s sexual revolution, and describes seminaries that became filled during that period with “homosexual cliques.”

The pope emeritus, in emphasizing the retreat of religious belief and firm church teaching, provides a markedly different explanation for the abuse crisis than that offered by Pope Francis, who has often said that abuse results from the corrupted power of clergy.

“Why did pedophilia reach such proportions?” Benedict wrote, according to the Catholic News Agency, which published the full text in English. “Ultimately, the reason is the absence of God.”

Since abdicating the papacy six years ago, Benedict - living in a monastery inside the Vatican City walls - had remained nearly silent on issues facing the church, in part to yield full authority to his successor. But Benedict’s decision to speak out shows the unprecedented and awkward position facing the ideologically divided Roman Catholic Church, which has - for the first time in six centuries - two potential authority figures who hold sometimes-differing views.

In his intervention, Benedict did not assess his own role in the crisis, during which he held power for decades, first behind the scenes and then for eight years as pontiff. But the letter bears his hallmark: in particular, a conviction that Catholic teaching can show the way out of a crisis.

“He speaks only a little about victims,” said Vito Mancuso, an author who has written books about Catholic theology and philosophy. “It’s almost an excuse for the one thing that he is truly interested in: the traditionalist restoration inside the church.”

Benedict’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, confirmed the authenticity of the letter in an email. The Vatican, which was not involved in the publication of Benedict’s letter but later reported on it, did not respond for a request for comment.

In the letter, Benedict wrote that he contacted both Francis and the Vatican’s secretary of state before proceeding. And the pope emeritus finished his essay by thanking Francis for his work to show “the light of God.”

“Since I myself had served in a position of responsibility as shepherd of the Church at the time of the public outbreak of the crisis, and during the run-up to it, I had to ask myself - even though, as emeritus, I am no longer directly responsible - what I could contribute to a new beginning,” Benedict said.

But theologians and church analysts noted that there was little overlap between Benedict and Francis’s diagnosis of the church’s central problem.

Francis has been uneven in his handling of abuse, and has failed to draw up significant concrete measures to help the church’s response. But he has described the issue with consistent language, calling abuse a “crime” and acknowledging that the church’s practice of protecting its own has contributed to the coverup of cases. Those themes also prevailed during a February sexual abuse summit at the Vatican that involved leading bishops from around the world.

Benedict, instead, took a far more theological and societal approach. He devoted the first third of his letter to cultural changes inside and outside the church beginning in the 1960s that gave rise to an “all-out sexual freedom.” He wrote that Catholic moral theology “suffered a collapse” of its own during a period of major reforms.

One outcome of the sexual revolution, Benedict wrote, is that “pedophilia was then also diagnosed as allowed and appropriate.”

Benedict did not expand on that idea. In the United States and many other countries, pedophilia is considered a psychiatric disorder, and sexual abuse of minors is considered a crime. Some analysts noted that clerical abuse cases existed well before the 1960s.

Since stepping down as pope, Benedict has remained largely in seclusion, quietly hosting visitors, reading, spending time in the Vatican gardens with the help of a walker. Still, some traditionalist Catholics have used him as a counterpoint to the more reformist papacy of Francis, and at times encouraged him to speak out about church affairs.

“The way I explain [this letter] to myself is that the pope emeritus has at last responded to so many requests from a vast part of the public opinion, both lay people and believers from all over the world who have addressed him throughout these years because they felt like orphans,” said Marcello Pera, a friend of Benedict and former president of the Italian Senate. “He, after many years, has finally responded: I am here.”

As pope, Benedict defrocked hundreds of priests, and the Vatican was more forthcoming than it is now about releasing data on abuse.

But analysts say Benedict, like so many church leaders, also had significant shortcomings and was slow to acknowledge the institutional problems that have enabled abuse to persist - including the role of bishops and cardinals in protecting accused priests.

“There is not one moment of recognition that the abuse crisis was also the result of a collective lapse of judgment by the entire church, including by the Vatican, for a long time,” said Massimo Faggioli, a Villanova University professor of theology.

Faggioli said that Benedict “tells a tiny part and a very idiosyncratic version of the story without mentioning his role in the Vatican for almost four decades.”

In the letter, Benedict also took aim at some of the shortcomings of church law for handling abuse cases. He said church law traditionally favored the accused and its justice system was “overwhelmed” by cases in which a “genuine criminal process” was required to impose a maximum penalty.

“All of this actually went beyond the capacities of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” the Vatican doctrinal office that handles abuse cases, Benedict wrote. He noted that Francis has since enacted some unspecified “reforms.” Before becoming pope, Benedict served as head of that powerful doctrinal office.

Benedict, who turns 92 next week, has remained in good mental health, according to those who have visited him, although he is physically frail. Several times in the last half-year, he has been photographed with Pope Francis. But he has not spoken in detail until now about sexual abuse since stepping down from the papacy.

In 2013, he became the first pope since Gregory XII in 1415 to step down. Church historians say that decision - and his handling of the pope emeritus position - could define the role for future popes who might follow his lead in abdicating. Benedict made the decision after stepping down to remain in the Vatican and continue dressing in papal white. The German pontiff also chose not to revert to his given name, Joseph Ratzinger.

Last year, in a landmark act of defiance, an ex-Vatican ambassador alleged that church higher-ups, including Francis and Benedict, had known about some of the sexual misconduct allegations against Theodore McCarrick, a one-time cardinal who was defrocked in February.

The accusations levied by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò were aimed chiefly at Francis. But Viganò said that Benedict had tried to privately sanction McCarrick at one point during his papacy. Benedict, in his letter, did not mention the case.

Instead, Benedict concluded his letter by describing a way forward, calling on God to play a more central role in daily life.

“A paramount task, which must result from the moral upheavals of our time, is that we ourselves once again begin to live by God and unto Him,” Benedict wrote. “Above all, we ourselves must learn again to recognize God as the foundation of our life instead of leaving Him aside as a somehow ineffective phrase.”

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, who made his name as a fierce critic of President Donald Trump, was indicted by a federal grand jury in California on three dozen charges, including a new claim that he stole millions of dollars from a paraplegic client’s settlement.

The indictment moves Avenatti, 48, a step closer to a trial. He was charged in a criminal complaint in Santa Ana, California, on March 25 for stealing a different client’s $1.6 million settlement to cover his own expenses, as well as cheating a Mississippi bank. On the same day, prosecutors in New York accused him of trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike Inc.

Avenatti now faces additional charges including wire fraud, tax violations and lying under oath in a bankruptcy case, as well as claims involving several clients whose settlements he allegedly embezzled after deploying a web of lies. The indictment was released by U.S. Attorney Nicola Hanna in Los Angeles Thursday.

Avenatti, who gained notoriety by representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against Trump, denied the allegations and said the case comes after two decades of representing “Davids vs. Goliaths.”

“Along the way, I have made many powerful enemies,” he said in an emailed statement. “I am entitled to a FULL presumption of innocence and am confident that justice will be done once ALL of the facts are known.” He’s also defending himself on Twitter.

The allegations involving Avenatti’s disabled former client add an element of depravity to the criminal case. Avenatti sued the County of Los Angeles on behalf of a client who suffered “severe emotional distress and several physical injuries, including paraplegia” from an unspecified incident, according to the indictment.

The county paid $4 million to resolve the case in January 2015, the U.S. said, but Avenatti hid the money and, over a period of several months, drained the settlement for his own benefit. Avenatti continued to lie to his client through last month, according to the indictment. He allegedly sent the client occasional payments of no more than $1,900 and paid the rent for his assisted-living facility, while falsely telling the man that the money was an advance on the settlement, the U.S. said.

Avenatti allegedly tried to hide the scheme by derailing the client’s attempt to buy a house and lying to the Social Security Administration about the settlement, resulting in the client losing his Social Security benefits in February, according to the indictment.

Avenatti also allegedly raided another client’s settlement in 2017 in order to pay $2.5 million for his portion of a jet, prosecutors said.

Avenatti capitalized on how the Stormy Daniels case raised his profile, repeatedly assailing Trump and his former attorney, Michael Cohen. He even floated a possible presidential run.

Avenatti also allegedly defrauded a bank in Mississippi, submitting false tax returns to get three loans for over $4 million in 2014 for his law firm and a company he owns, Global Baristas US LLC.

In New York, Avenatti said last month that the case was pushed by Nike in an attempt to distract attention from what he called its crimes. Avenatti also disputed Nike’s claim that it’s been cooperating with a probe into corruption in college basketball, as Nike said after Avenatti was arrested outside the company’s law firm.

Just before his arrest in New York, the embattled lawyer had posted plans to hold a press conference to unveil a case he claimed would show how “criminal conduct reached the highest levels of Nike.” According to prosecutors, he told lawyers at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP that he’d cancel the event if Nike paid more than $20 million for him and another lawyer to conduct an internal investigation.

Avenatti hasn’t been indicted in New York.

CANTON — Tears, pleading and accusations filled a St. Lawrence County courtroom Thursday morning as two parents begged Judge Jerome J. Richards to show Christopher A. Hebert the lack of mercy he showed their daughter, Lacey L. Yekel, in 2014 when he choked the life out of her and abandoned her naked remains in a wooded area in Massena.

Judge Richards listened and obliged, sentencing Hebert to 25 years to life in prison for Ms. Yekel’s murder.

Sequestered from the packed courtroom, Ms. Yekel’s father, Robert E. Yekel, gave his statement in shackles in the jury box guarded by two state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision officers. He was transported to court from Wyoming Correctional Facility where he is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a second-degree robbery conviction.

“I respectfully ask the court to show no mercy,” Mr. Yekel read. “As he had no mercy, no compassion or no respect for my beautiful little girl, who he not only murdered violently and disrespected, he violated her after death by stripping her naked and leaving her in the woods to rot in a tarp.”

He trembled as he spoke, shuffling the papers in his hands.

“My daughter did not deserve what he did to her. She was a bright and beautiful young lady with a great sense of humor and a positive personality,” Mr. Yekel said, telling Judge Richards that Hebert was unpredictable and a very serious threat to society. “As long as I am alive I will be at every parole board hearing he has to protest against his release.”

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua said he wanted to be sure Mr. Yekel had the opportunity to speak for his daughter.

“I think, at the end of the day, this particular defendant is a person who doesn’t really deserve to have that 25-year number at the beginning of that sentence,” Mr. Pasqua said. “Unfortunately, the judge couldn’t give him a sentence of just straight life in prison, but the law is what the law is. Certainly the St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office, whether it’s me or a different district attorney, will make sure that the office’s feelings are known when his time for parole comes up.”

On March 21, Hebert, 46, formerly of 14759 Route 37, Massena, now an inmate at the St. Lawrence County jail, was found guilty of the A-I felony of second-degree murder in the June 7, 2014, death of the 24-year-old Ms. Yekel, who was last seen by her mother, Bonnie Sue LaMay, on June 4, 2014.

Ms. Yekel had not been reported missing prior to the Aug. 29, 2014, discovery of her remains, two days after what would have been her 25th birthday. Her body was found partially wrapped in a wooded area across the road from the NYSARC bottle redemption center in the Massena Industrial Park, just off Route 420.

Choking back tears Thursday morning, Ms. LaMay sniffled and held her fist to her lips as she looked down at her statement. She expressed gratitude and thanks to Mr. Pasqua and the law enforcement officials who investigated the case and brought it to a close.

“Your Honor, I am delivering this impact statement to you today on behalf of my daughter, Lacey Lee Yekel, who no longer has a voice of her own,” Ms. LaMay read, standing beside District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua. “She had so much left to do. She was going to be someone’s wife, someone’s mom; she was my only child. I was supposed to be a grandmother someday; now none of that can ever be. Christopher Hebert took all of that from us. He is a heartless, spineless, cold-hearted brutal killer.

“I have incurred great pain from this loss, a pain greater than I will ever know, a pain that will last until the day I die,” Ms. LaMay continued. “My heart, my life, my world will never be the same again.”

Hebert, in addressing the court, showed no remorse and continued to deny his guilt.

“This isn’t about the truth and it never was,” said Hebert. “All I asked for was a fair shake and I got anything but.”

But the guilty verdict followed a trial where Hebert took the stand in his own defense, claiming Ms. Yekel overdosed and he hid the body, opposing the testimony of his girlfriend, friends and drug dealers who told the court that Hebert came to each of them describing how he “crushed her skull” and, in a few instances, said he choked her to death.

Recorded jail calls and a recorded prison interview led jurors to find Hebert guilty of the murder after 6½ hours of deliberations.

During sentencing, Hebert stuck with his story, apologizing to Ms. LaMay over what he said was Ms. Yekel’s cocaine overdose and “for using that horrific situation to my advantage to further my addiction. For the unspeakable lies I told, I am sorry.

Hebert used his time to construct a conspiracy against him, saying the sentence was about “justifying job titles, re-elections and politics.”

“The truth is Lacey overdosed on cocaine and that is a tragedy, but not the only tragedy. As you, Mr. Richards, get ready to retire off to obscurity ... let this be your legacy,” he said, staring the judge. “Today you are sending a man away to prison for life for a crime you know he didn’t commit.

“And at the end of the day, when all is said and done, you, Jerome Richards, are no better than me,” he said as he dropped his statement to the table in front of him.

District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua told the court that, since 1988, Hebert “has been a menace to the people of St. Lawrence County,” citing Hebert’s 20 arrests: seven for felonies, four felony convictions, two of those for violent felonies, resulting in him spending a majority of his adult life in prison.

He then asked Judge Richards to sentence Hebert to the maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

“I can’t speak better for Ms. Yekel then her parents did. They’re the only ones who truly know that loss,” Mr. Pasqua said. “But your honor, I think what is clear is that he deserves the sentence that you will hand down today.

“When Lacey Yekel, in the woods that night, asked for mercy, asked for it to stop, the defendant made the conscious and deliberate choice to end her life by strangling her,” Mr. Pasqua said. “I join Lacey’s parents this morning asking you to show this defendant as much mercy as he showed Lacey Yekel on that night.”

In addition to his sentence, Hebert had three no-contact orders of protection issued against him in favor of Ms. LaMay, Mr. Yekel and his ex-girlfriend Brandy Bressard, who worked as an agent of police in the investigation and testified against him at trial. He also had $4,266.66 in restitution and $375 in court fines, fees and surcharges reduced to judgment.

CHATHAM, GA. — A former Fort Drum commanding general and his wife died earlier this month in an apparent murder-suicide.

Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas N. Burnette Jr., 74, and his wife, Susan Burnette, 78, were found dead in their Southbridge, Ga., home on April 1, Chatham County police said.

The retired general was Fort Drum’s senior commander from 1995 to 1997.

Police were initially called to the couple’s home after their daughter received an alert that the house alarm had gone off, Chatham County Police spokeswoman Betsy Nolen said Thursday.

She described the incident as an apparent murder-suicide.

Police found their bodies after entering the home, she said. A black pistol was found in Gen. Burnette’s hand, according to Savannah Ga., news accounts.

Both bodies were subsequently taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for autopsies, Ms. Nolen said, declining to comment further because no other information was released by police.

After leaving Fort Drum, Gen. Burnette served as the deputy chief of staff of the Army for operations and plans.

Before his retirement, he was given the Defense Distinguished Service Medal for exceptionally distinguished performance of duty contributing to national security and the nation’s defense.

WATERTOWN — A Clayton woman has filed suit against Samaritan Medical Center and one of its former doctors claiming the doctor initiated a sexual relationship with her while she was a patient.

The woman, who is identified in court documents only by initials H.V., filed state Supreme Court action Wednesday at the Jefferson County Clerk’s office against the hospital and Dr. John W. Jepma, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who now lives and practices in New Smyrna Beach, Fla.

According to the suit, the woman was a patient of Dr. Jepma’s from April 2012 through May 2016 at the Samaritan Family Health Center on Strawberry Lane in Clayton. The complaint alleges that in 2013 Dr. Jepma began a sexual relationship with the woman, which included sexual intercourse during “unchaperoned” office visits at the center. The relationship continued until 2016.

The suit, citing the state Department of Health, claims that a patient “cannot give meaningful consent to sexual contact due to the position of trust and disparity of power in the physician-patient relationship.” The suit further alleges that Dr. Jepma maintained a sexual relationships with additional female patients.

It is alleged that Samaritan “knew or should have known” about the doctor’s alleged sexual relationships with patients and that it was negligent in its duty of care for the plaintiff. It is also claimed Samaritan was negligent in its hiring, credentialing, supervision and retention of Dr. Jepma. The suit brings a medical malpractice action against Dr. Jepma individually.

It is claimed that Samaritan’s and Dr. Jepma’s actions caused the woman to experience pain and suffering, mental anguish and diminished quality of life, causing her to incur medical expenses. The suit does not specify an amount sought in damages.

Dr. Jepma did not respond to a message left Thursday at his current employer, Volusia Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach. In a prepared statement, Samaritan said that it became aware of an allegation against him in February 2018. At that time, he was suspended pending an internal investigation. During the investigation, he tendered his resignation and Samaritan states that it “reported the situation to the appropriate regulatory agencies as required by law.”

“Samaritan Health staff and providers are caring and dedicated professionals that remain committed to quality, compassionate, safe, and exceptional care for all patients,” Samaritan’s statement said. Samaritan declined further comment, citing the matter as “an employment-related and legal issue.”

The hospital has retained legal counsel from Mackenzie Hughes LLP, Syracuse. The woman is represented in the action by attorneys Michael A. Bottar, Syracuse, and Edward A. Betz, Ogdensburg.

THERESA — Two women were issued misdemeanor charges relating to a Dec. 9 incident last year.

Amanda L. Hazelton, 27, Theresa, and Saige M. Ashland, 27, Lafargeville, were each charged with petit larceny by the state police on March 17, according to the police public information report.

The women were issued tickets to appear in court at a later date.

No further information was provided.

CANTON — A Colton man pleaded not guilty Monday in St. Lawrence County Court to a dozen counts each of possessing and promoting child pornography.

Roy J. Johnson, 38, of 139 County Route 58, is charged with 12 counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and 12 counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child.

The indictment charges on Sept. 14, in St. Lawrence County, Johnson possessed, produced, directed or promoted 12 separate digital images which depicted sexual conduct by children less than 17 years of age.

He was continued released on $5,000 cash bail, $10,000 bond.

In other court action Monday:

James Matteson, 22, of 578 Route 11B, Potsdam, pleaded not guilty to felony first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.

The indictment charges that in early July 2018, in the village of Potsdam, Matteson subjected an 11-year-old to sexual contact.

Donald D. Burnham, 51, of 79 Hallahan Road, North Lawrence, pleaded not guilty to second-degree aggravated sex abuse, two counts of first-degree criminal sex act, all felonies, and misdemeanor forcible touching.

The indictment charges on Sept. 23, in the town of Lawrence, Burnham twice engaged in oral sexual contact with another person by forcible compulsion, engaged in sexual contact with another person and while doing so caused physical injury, and intentionally and forcibly touched intimate parts of another person.

He was returned to St. Lawrence County jail on $15,000 cash bail or $30,000 bond.

Corey J. Kellison, 34, of 81 Martin St., Massena, failed to appear for his arraignment on a charge of felony first-degree criminal contempt.

The indictment charges on Nov. 7 in the village of Massena, Mr. Kellison intentionally disobeyed an Oct. 3 stay-away order of protection issued out of St. Lawrence County Family Court by Judge John F. Richey which he was personally served on Oct. 4.

A warrant for his arrest was issued.

Joseph J. Fleming, 53, of 412 Lincoln Ave., Apt. B, Ogdensburg, was sentenced to five years of probation for his Feb. 6 guilty plea to third-degree unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office. On Aug. 8 in the city of Ogdensburg, Mr. Fleming was in possession of two or more items of laboratory equipment and two or more precursors, chemical reagents or solvents with the intent to make methamphetamine. In addition to his probation sentence, he was ordered to pay $375 in court fines, fees and surcharges. Lawrence Leashomb, 36, of 744 Hatch Road, Potsdam, was placed on one year of interim probation for his Feb. 4 guilty plea to second-degree attempted assault in a plea deal with the district attorney’s office. On Feb. 3, 2018, in the town of Stockholm, Mr. Leashomb caused physical injury to his wife when he threw a knife that hit her in the head, requiring her to need stitches. As part of the plea deal, if Mr. Leashomb successfully completes interim probation, he will earn the chance to vacate his felony plea and plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and be placed on three years of probation. If he is unsuccessful, the felony charge will remain on his record. Final sentencing is scheduled for March 23.

BLACK RIVER — At its May 6 meeting, the village Board of Trustees plans to take action on its tentative budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year, which begins June 1.

No one from the public attended Monday’s public hearing concerning the $1,964,128 tentative budget, which is reduced $37,885 from last year’s $2,002,013 spending plan.

The tentative tax levy for the 2019-20 fiscal year is $397,574, up slightly — 1 percent — from last year’s $395,414 amount raised by taxes. The tax rates for village residents in both the townships remain unchanged at $4.67 per $1,000 of assessed property value in the town of LeRay and $7.77 for the town of Rutland. Property in Rutland is assessed at 100 percent, while it is 65.5 percent valuation in LeRay. As a precaution, the board did pass a tax cap override resolution.

According to village treasurer Kristin Williams, the tax rate has remained steady due to an “increase in total taxable values” and the lack of major purchases.

“We had held the same rate for three years in both Rutland and LeRay,” said village Mayor Leland Carpenter. “We are under the 2 percent tax cap. We have no big projects planned, but will continue our sidewalk replacement and blacktopping projects.”

He also said the police force will continue to serve and be jointly supported by the village of Evans Mills.

The mayor noted the budget included a 2 percent increase to the contracts for service with the Black River Fire Department, Sally Ploof Hunter Memorial Library and Black River Ambulance Squad as well as increases in pay for village employees including the village board. Annual salaries will be $3,500 for the mayor and $2,425 for each of the four trustees.

The mayor pointed out that the village board’s salaries are “still way under that of other municipalities.”

The May meeting is slated for 6 p.m. in the Karl J. Vebber Municipal Building, 107 Jefferson Place.

CAPE VINCENT — A prisoner at the Cape Vincent Correctional Facility has been disciplined after a package addressed to him was found to contain synthetic marijuana, according to the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association.

According to a news release, an officer assigned to the package room at the prison found the synthetic marijuana, known as K2, on Friday.

The facility received the package addressed to the inmate, whose name was not disclosed, and the officer inspecting the package found 12 granola bars wrapped in plastic that had been resealed in original packaging. When the officer opened the bars he found a green leafy substance, which was later tested and was determined to be synthetic marijuana. According to the news release, 54 grams of synthetic marijuana was seized.

The inmate is serving a three-year sentence. He was convicted in Schenectady County in 2016 for third-degree attempted sale of a criminal substance.

An investigation is underway to determine who mailed the package.

“Our members are working diligently to stop the flow of contraband that is flooding our facilities,” said Scott Carpenter, the union’s central region vice president, in a statement. “Contraband seized inside prisons are at historic levels but unfortunately not all contraband can be discovered. Once again, I am calling on DOCCS to implement a Secure Vendor Program in each facility. This type of seizure is a common occurrence in facilities across the state and it needs to be addressed by the administration.”