(Omaha, Neb.)- A six-month long investigation by the Nebraska State Patrol has led to the arrest of two Omaha woman on charges of Felony Theft of Lost, Mislaid Items.

Wednesday, May 9, Cassandra Wright, 28, Omaha and Chudney Knave, 29, Omaha were arrested for spending $49,000 mistakenly deposited into the account of their business “Bright Futures Learning & Care,” by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE).

In March 2011, NDE discovered the money had been deposited into the wrong account. The funds were intended for a corporate entity with a similar name to “Bright Futures Learning & Care,” the business co-owned by Wright and Knave. NDE then began eight months of efforts to facilitate a re-payment agreement for the two women to return the funds. Neither woman responded to the efforts to rectify the error.

In November 2011, NDE requested the assistance of the Nebraska State Patrol. An investigation followed in which it was determined that after receiving the $49,000 the two women began transferring funds from their business account into their personal accounts until the entire amount was gone.

Wright and Knave were lodged in the Douglas County Corrections each on a charge of Felony Theft of Lost, Mislaid Items.

GENOA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Nebraska pilot suffered only minor injuries when his newly purchased plane ended up in trees after a botched landing.

The Columbus Telegram says (http://bit.ly/JoT1I9) the accident occurred Wednesday morning near Genoa (jeh-NOH’-uh) Municipal Airport in east-central Nebraska.

Airport authority chairman John Hall says Donald Kilday had been flying with his instructor and then tried his first solo landing.

Hall says Kilday applied too much power as he attempted to land. The plane bounced and crossed nearby Nebraska Highway 39. It ended up sitting nose down on an angle in some low trees and thick bushes.

Kilday was treated at Genoa Community Hospital for minor cuts.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney who lost his law license in Washington D.C. in 1983 because of fraudulent conduct.

The high court said Friday that Joseph Dorsey voluntarily surrendered his Nebraska license after being confronted about the Washington D.C. offense.

The court said Dorsey was disbarred in Washington D.C. for obtaining money fraudulently and dishonestly.

Dorsey did not dispute the allegations against him.

The supreme court did not say whether Dorsey had been practicing since 1983, but online court records do not list him as an attorney on any active cases in Nebraska.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former Nebraska football player serving life in prison for a drug-related murder has been denied a new trial.

The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday upheld the sentences of Thunder Collins, who was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes for the September 2008 shooting death of a Los Angeles man.

Collins received the life sentence for killing Timothy Thomas during a botched drug deal in Omaha. He also was sentenced to 90 to 110 years for attempted murder for shooting and injuring another California man, Marshall Turner, as well as other charges.

Collins’ attorneys argued he should get a new trial based on his claim that his trial jury should have been sequestered during deliberations. The high court ordered a hearing, but a Douglas County judge rejected his argument.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court says an alleged sexual assault victim can be sent to jail if she refuses to testify about the details of the assault.

The woman, referenced only as “H.M.” in court documents, appealed after being found in contempt in April 2011 by Lancaster County District Judge Paul Merritt. The judge ordered her to testify in the trial of a man charged with sexually assaulting her when she was 7.

The woman refused, saying that testifying would cause her deep humiliation. But the judge ordered her to testify or face 90 days in jail.

The high court upheld Merritt’s ruling on Friday, saying that a state law allowing witnesses to decline to testify if it would subject them to public disgrace does not apply in criminal cases.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Bob Kerrey is voicing support for same-sex marriage in the wake of a similar endorsement by President Barack Obama. The Nebraska Democrat said in a statement Thursday that he believes strongly in marriage equality, but added that states should retain the authority to establish family and marriage laws. Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2000 that banned same-sex marriage. Kerrey pointed to his opposition to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which he views as a restriction on states. Kerrey is seeking to return to the U.S. Senate after an 11-year hiatus. His statement came on the heels of an announcement by Obama, who said in an interview Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A southeast Nebraska man has been given probation and fined $2,000 for killing dozens of snow geese after hours without a permit. 19-year-old Nyle Bartling, of Syracuse, pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He was sentenced on Wednesday in federal court in Lincoln. Bartling won’t be allowed to hunt for the next two years, while on probation. The U.S. attorney’s office says Bartling shot 86 snow geese after legal hunting hours in March 2011 at a private pond in Otoe County. Another man, Connor Marcoe, is also charged. Bartling says they were trespassing and left the birds when the property owner heard the shots and authorities arrived. Marcoe is to enter a plea in June.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A Scottsbluff man plans to appeal his murder conviction and life sentence. A lawyer for Daniel Morgan filed the notice on Wednesday in Scotts Bluff County District Court. Grounds for the appeal have not been specified. Morgan was convicted in March of killing Dominic Marquez in May 2011. He was sentenced last month. Morgan claims he just wanted to confront Marquez because Morgan’s girlfriend, the mother of Marquez’s child, had been harassed and threatened by Marquez’s friends. Prosecutors say Morgan was armed when he drove to Marquez’s home and sent text messages that said he was “going after” Marquez. Police recovered 34 shell casings at the scene.

 

(Lincoln, Neb.)- A 41-year-old Lincoln man has been arrested on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child in connection with a child prostitution case out of Buffalo County.

Shad Chandler, 41, Lincoln was taken into custody at his home in Lincoln on April 30 and lodged in the Lancaster County Jail. Chandler’s records were sealed by the Court as the investigation into the prostitution case continued. The seal was lifted by the Court late Wednesday, May 10.

Chandler is the third male arrested in connection with the case. Alex Rahe, 28, Omaha and Donald Grafe, 37, Columbus have also been arrested in connection with the investigation. Rahe was lodged in the Buffalo County Jail on May 2, on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child. Grafe was lodged in the Lancaster County Jail on May 5, on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

A 35-year old Upland Woman, Michelle Randall was arrested on April 26, and is currently being held in the Buffalo County Jail on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault and possession of child pornography.

The investigation into this case continues.