McDougal is sentenced today in Whitewater case
John Bacon; Jonathan T. Lovitt
FINAL
Page 03A
(Copyright 1997)
Sentencing is today for James McDougal, a partner of President Clinton and first
lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the failed Whitewater land development deal in
McDougal, convicted in May of 18 fraud and conspiracy counts, faced up to 84
years in prison and $4.5 million in fines before agreeing to aid independent
counsel Kenneth Starr's Whitewater probe. The probe centers on a fraudulent
$300,000 loan that former banker David Hale made to Susan McDougal in 1986,
when
she was McDougal's wife. Hale says
loan. Clinton and James McDougal have denied it. McDougal reportedly is now
supporting Hale's account of the deal.
TAX PROTEST: The New York State Thruway was closed for 45 minutes while
200 demonstrators at the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation protested state
collection of sales taxes on Indian businesses. Dozens of officers in riot gear
responded, but no arrests were made. The Seneca and St. Regis Mohawk nations
have no agreement with the state on collecting taxes on gas and cigarettes sold to
non-Indians. Earlier this month, state tax officials seized fuel trucks heading to
Seneca and Mohawk land.
COSBY CASE: A lawyer for the man charged in the killing of Ennis Cosby says
prosecution documents provided to him don't connect the .38-caliber revolver
used in the killing to his client. Darren Kavinoky, lawyer for Mikail Markashev,
also says he's puzzled that Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams announced
the arrest and displayed a photo about a half-hour after a key witness failed to
identify Markashev during a 22-minute lineup. Kavinoky is scheduled to appear
on NBC-TV's Today show this morning. Cosby, 27, son of entertainer Bill
Cosby and his wife, Camille, was slain along a highway Jan. 16 as he changed a
flat tire on his Mercedes convertible. -- Jonathan T. Lovitt
TEN COMMANDMENTS DEFENDED: Thousands rallied at the state Capitol
in
display
of the Ten Commandments over his bench. An
that Judge Roy Moore's display of the Christian tenets violates the Constitution
by
promoting one religion in a government setting.
Fob James has threatened to call out the National Guard and state troopers to
defend
court -- as long as they're not Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist.
GIVING THANKS: Survivors of the Southern Airways Flight 242 crash, which
killed
72 people 20 years ago, returned to
people who rescued them from the fiery wreckage. The DC-9, carrying 85 people
to
people listened to speeches by passengers and rescuers. ``I saw a lot of horrible
things but I don't want to talk about that,'' said passenger Jerry Causey, who has
scars from burns that covered more than half of his body. ``The last 20 years
have been great for me.''
DIPLOMAT CITED: A Ukrainian diplomat faces drunken-driving charges after
a
three-car accident in
Yarotskiy, 45, is exempt from prosecution, but the State Department is expected
to seek a waiver of immunity. It is the third time this year that a diplomat from a
former Soviet republic has been cited in an accident. Georgian diplomat
Gueorgui Makharadze faces charges in a collision that killed a teen-ager in
January. His government waived immunity in that case.
ALSO . . .
McVEIGH
TRIAL: Jury selection enters its third week today in
questioned. Arguments to remove jurors are not public, and many dismissals
have not been announced. Timothy McVeigh faces murder and conspiracy
charges
in the death of 168 people at the
years ago.
FIREFIGHTERS HURT:
More than 20 firefighters in
injured battling a petroleum-products plant fire as exploding barrels shot into the
air. Damage at the Oak International Inc. plant was estimated at $2 million.
`MOST WANTED' TIP: Frank Whitman, 64, wanted on charges of molesting his
granddaughter
in
The arrest came hours after police received a tip following the case's profile on
the
TV show
FAKE MONEY:
Authorities in
bills to a 15-year-old boy. Police say he admitted printing the bills on his home
computer.
Dispute arises over Farrakhan rally
The Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan will lead an interfaith anti-racism rally in
Mayor Edward Rendell invited Farrakhan, whose rally replaces a proposed
5,000-man march that local Nation of Islam leaders had planned. Rendell feared
the march, to protest the beating of a black family in the Grays Ferry
neighborhood two months ago, could have led to rioting.
Outraged Jewish leaders complained to Rendell, citing sometimes-brutal remarks
Farrakhan has made against Jews, Catholics, gays and others. The Catholic
archdiocese said it won't send a representative. Farrakhan said the boycott is a
mistake. ``If I might respectfully say, Mayor Rendell is Jewish,'' Farrakhan said.
``And I would hope that the Catholic Church would not fasten on words while
we could fasten on deeds.''
PHOTO, B/W, Kevin M. Polowy, Evening Observer; PHOTO, B/W,John
Bazemore, AP; PHOTO, B/W, AP