| UK's 'worst' spammer banged up
A man described as the UK's most prolific spammer was jailed for six years on Wednesday at Peterborough Crown Court. Peter Francis-Macrae of Cambridgeshire was found guilty of fraudulent trading, concealing criminal property, threatening to destroy or damage property, making threats to kill and blackmail, after a six week trial. Francis-Macrae was accused of defrauding thousands of people by tricking them into sending him money to register a dot-eu domain name on their behalf. He was also charged with sending fraudulent emails to companies claiming they had to pay a renewal fee to avoid losing their domain names. It has been estimated that Francis-Macrae received up to 1.6m through the scams. Businesses who complained said Francis-Macrae bombarded them with emails.
Part 2 of 3, Year in Review: Institute, Gerlach make headlines
Criminal sexual conduct charges against a long-time school bus driver from Brownsdale shocked the area in July.David Andrew Gerlach, 49, was charged July 25 in Dodge County with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct for allegedly performing a sexual act on a 16-year-old boy. By the end of the month, he had been charged with 17 more felonies in Mower County. According to the Mower County complaint, an unnamed Brownsdale man claims Gerlach sexual abused him for as long as nine years, at one point allegedly arriving unannounced at the teen's home to perform sexual acts on him. The complaint said the abuse also took place at the bus garage, in buses parked in the bus garage near Gerlach's home and another garage on his property. Gerlach was also charged with burglary for allegedly entering the boy's home without consent and with the intent to commit a crime.MayWorkers rally: About 70 people marched in Austin May 1 in recognition of International Workers' Day.
Man arrested for target shooting at U-District frat house
A man taking target practice at a University District fraternity house alarmed neighbors late Sunday, prompting calls to police. Within minutes, Seattle police had surrounded the four-story building in the 4500 block of 17th Avenue Northeast and arrested a 21-year-old man with a gun. The incident happened about 11:30 p.m., spokesman Jeff Kappel said. No one was hurt in the shooting. After the initial calls to 911 reporting the gunfire, officers arrived and soon determined that someone was firing a gun in the basement of the apartment building. They yelled at the gunman to drop his weapon and surrender. The man did so and police recovered a rifle. Officers said the man had lined up cans and bottles in the basement and was shooting at them.
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