Michael Wolfe of Titusville took a plea deal, pleading guilty to criminal mischief Tuesday in connection with the January 2016 incident and was sentenced to 15 years behind bars with an additional 15 years of probation following his release. Wolfe is also barred from entering the Islamic Society of Central Florida Masjid Al-Munin Mosque, located in Titusville. The Brevard and Seminole County state attorneys office noted that Wolfe’s offense has been classified as a hate crime. Prosecutors said they reached a plea deal after speaking with Titusville police and the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), according toFlorida Today. The Florida Muslim Community is suffering an unprecedented number of hate crimes, Wilfredo Ruiz, a spokesman for Florida CAIR, said in a statement. Multiple mosques and Islamic institutions have been broken into, vandalized and even set on fire. “The intent is to really deter similar kinds of hate crime. After what we’ve seen in Texas at the church, this is needed,” Imam Muhammad Musri, who is in charge of several area mosques, said. The Islamic faith forbids the consumption or handling of pork products, which is why prosecutors decided to charge Wolfe with a hate crime when he left bacon at the mosque.
Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) executive Oliver Schmidt, convicted in the United States this week for his role in the German carmaker’s emissions scandal, may ask to serve his prison sentence in Germany, German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported, citing sources close to Schmidt. Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt, charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States over the company's diesel emissions scandal is shown in this booking photo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., provided January 9, 2017. Courtesy of Broward County Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS The paper said such a request would have to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice as well as a German court. Schmidt was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in prison and fined $400,000, the maximum possible under a plea deal the German national made with prosecutors in August after admitting to charges of conspiring to mislead U.S regulators and violate clean-air laws. Schmidt read a written statement in court acknowledging his guilt. Welt am Sonntag quoted Schmidt’s lawyer Alexander Saettele as saying that he was looking into a possible appeal but that no decision had been made yet. The verdict “was not a surprise, but it was still disappointing to him that he was not able to get through to the judge,” Saettele told the paper. Saettele of Berlin-based lawfirm Danckert Huber Baerlein was not immediately available for comment outside his firm’s office hours. David DuMouchel, a Detroit-based lawyer for Schmidt of lawfirm Butzel Long, declined to provide any details on the case. “There are a number of matters that remain to be done and so the matter is still active and therefore I cannot comment,” he said in an e-mailed statement. Schmidt also still faces possible disciplinary action at Volkswagen, including damages claims and termination of his contract, according to a company spokesman. “That is an integral part of the compliance guidelines of any company,” the spokesman told Reuters on Friday. In March, Volkswagen pleaded guilty to three felony counts under a plea agreement to resolve U.S. charges that it installed secret software in vehicles in order to elude emissions tests. Schmidt was in charge of the company’s environmental and engineering office in Auburn Hills, Michigan, until February 2015, where he oversaw emissions issues. U.S. prosecutors have charged eight current and former Volkswagen executives. Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Additional reporting by Jan Schwartz; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle
by Anorak | 9th, December 2017 Why was Michael Wolfe, of Titusville, Florida, handed a 15-year prison sentence? The clickbait-led news media is clear: The most concise of the clickbaiters is theIndependent, which says: “Man sentenced for 15 years for leaving bacon in a mosque.” Not quite. And not all. Michael Wolfe, 37, broke into the Islamic Society of Central Florida Masjid Al-Munin Mosque in January 2016. He broke windows and lights with a machete. He left come bacon by the front door. Wolfe, who has numerous previous convictions for burglary, “entered a plea deal and plead guilty to vandalizing the mosque itself with hate crime enhancement, making it a felony, said Todd Brown, a spokesman for the State Attorneys Office. He waived his right to a pre-sentencing investigation. Wolfe was charged with armed burglary. “The agreement was to drop the armed burglary in exchange for his plea, Brown added. So Wolfe wasn’t jailed for leaving bacon, in the manner, say, of a worshipper leaving behind a scarf or a jacket. Florida Today adds: According to Brevard County records, Wolfe has had multiple run-ins with the law dating back to 1998, including convictions in burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft in 2004 for which he was sentenced to two years, seven months and two days in prison and burglary of a conveyance in 2011, for which he was sentenced to 64 days in the county jail. Wolfe was also fined and sentenced to probation after a 2001 burglary and grand theft arrest when he was just 20 years old, records show. In addition, Wolfe was found guilty in three DUI offenses, possession of hydrocodone and cannabis, and an array of traffic violations. He spent over a year and a half in total in the Brevard County Jail over the course of his sentencings. Nasty stuff. And turning crime into clickbait is pathetic. Anorak Posted: 9th, December 2017 | In: NewsComment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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