An Iowa man who illegally made and sold fireworks and explosive devices has been sentenced to 46 months in prison.

U.S. District Judge John Jarvey approved the sentence Wednesday for 31-year-old Rodney Crosby of Pisgah, in western Iowa.

The sentence had been recommended under a plea agreement in which Crosby admitted guilt to being a felon in possession of firearms and explosive devices.

Investigators were called to Crosby’s home in 2011 during a domestic disturbance, and they found a cache of guns, ammunition, home-made explosive devices and commercial fireworks. Crosby told agents that he made good money manufacturing and selling fireworks, including some so powerful they could take down wooden utility poles.

Crosby had earlier been convicted of felonies for theft and insurance fraud in Nebraska, where he grew up.

 

(AP) — A 28-year-old York man has been given three years of probation for using a stolen gas credit card.

At his sentencing earlier this week, Joseph Stoll also was ordered to pay restitution of nearly $900 to United Farmers Cooperative.

Court records say Stoll had pleaded no contest to unauthorized use of a financial transaction device. Prosecutors dropped a conspiracy charge in exchange for Stoll’s plea.

Prosecutors say the card was stolen from United Farmers Cooperative in May or before and used by Stoll and others.

Authorities say a plastic surgeon in Miami attacked his girlfriend for several hours over a Facebook posting, forcing her head into a toilet and stuffing a rag in the woman’s mouth at one point.

Police say 41-year-old Orlando Llorente was charged Wednesday with kidnapping and attempted murder.

According to police, Llorente grabbed the 36-year-old woman by the hair on April 21, took her into the bathroom and stuck her head in the toilet. Authorities say he also forced her into the bathtub, stuffed a rag in her mouth and poured water over her face.

Police didn’t say what was in the Facebook posting.

Llorente’s attorney, Marcos Beaton, told several Miami TV stations that his client surrendered voluntarily to police and wants to clear his name. He says the allegations against Llorente are false.

(AP)-Sheriff’s officials in rural Northern California say the man suspected of killing his wife and two young daughters at their home shot them to death.

The Shasta County sheriff’s disclosed how the three victims were killed at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The suspect, 45-year-old Shane Franklin Miller, remains on the loose.

Lt. Dave Kent says authorities found Miller’s wife, 34-year-old Sandy, and his daughters, 8-year-old Shelby and 4-year-old Shasta, suffering from fatal gunshot wounds when they arrived at the home in Shingletown on Tuesday night.

Shane Miller wasn’t there.

Investigators have released a photo of Miller and said he may be driving a gold-colored 2010 Dodge Mega Cab pickup with a camper shell. He’s considered armed and extremely dangerous.

The defense attorney for a man arrested in what the FBI has called a thwarted terror plot in western Minnesota says authorities have given the public misinformation about his client.

A detention hearing was postponed Wednesday for 24-year-old Buford Rogers of Montevideo, who appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Paul. Assistant Federal Defender Andrew Mohring requested additional time to investigate the accusations against his client.

Rogers is charged with one count of illegally possessing a firearm. He was arrested Friday after authorities found a cache of explosives and weapons in his parent’s mobile home in Montevideo.

The FBI says the attack was still being planned. They have not released details of their investigation.

Rogers has a prior felony burglary conviction and isn’t allowed to have a gun.

(AP) — A company has announced plans for a $12 million project in downtown Grand Island that would turn several historic buildings into a full-service luxury hotel.

Grand Island resident Zachary Zoul announced his plans Wednesday at a news conference. His company, Hospitality Advisors Group, will take on the project.

The focus of the project is the Nebraskan Hotel, which will consist of the Masonic Temple Building, Bartenbach Opera House and Rexall Drug building.

Plans call for the hotel to cover a block of Locust Street and include 50 guest rooms and suites, a restaurant, coffee shop, spa, retail shops and meeting space.

(AP) — Jodi Arias said in a post-conviction interview with a TV station that she prefers the death penalty over life in prison.

Arias talked to members of the media in the courthouse minutes after she was convicted of first-degree murder. With tears in her eyes, she said she feels overwhelmed and that she was surprised because she didn’t believe she committed first-degree murder.

She said she would “prefer to die sooner than later” and that “death is the ultimate freedom.”

Arias has previously said that she considered suicide after killing her lover Travis Alexander. The county said that Arias was placed under suicide watch.

(AP) — A Cleveland man faces a string of charges for allegedly kidnapping two teens and a young woman and holding them for nearly a decade at his home. They were rescued Monday after one of them broke a screen door and screamed for help.

Ariel Castro was charged today with four counts of kidnapping — covering all three captives and the daughter born to one of them while she was held. He was also charged with three counts of rape against the three women. Prosecutors brought no charges against Castro’s two brothers, saying there was no evidence they had any part in the crime.

Police say the women were apparently bound with ropes and chains. City Councilman Brian Cummins, who was briefed on the case, says that they were subjected to prolonged sexual and psychological abuse and suffered miscarriages. The victims were kept in the basement of the dilapidated house.

Two of the young women, meanwhile, have been welcomed home by jubilant crowds of loved ones and neighbors. The third captive is reported in good condition at a hospital.

A fire in a meat processing plant known for its “Wahoo Wiener” kept firefighters busy for hours and sent a huge plume of smoke over Wahoo.

The fire was reported Wednesday afternoon at the Wahoo Locker Plant, and it took firefighters more than two hours to put out the blaze.

Saunders County Sheriff Kevin Stukenholtz says an explosion caused the fire, which quickly moved into an adjacent storage building.

At least 80 firefighters from several area fire departments responded to the blaze.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Wahoo is about 30 miles west of Omaha.