Crime
Ozy The media went from screaming to outrage. Its founder, Carlos Watson, appeared in court

NEW YORK (AP) – For nearly a decade, Ozy Media has projected a picture of recent media success.
The company boasted big-name interviews, an Emmy-winning television show, a vibrant festival of music and concepts, and impressive numbers to exhibit to potential investors – until it collapsed in 2021 amid doubts about its audience size, profitability and fundamental integrity .
These doubts at the moment are at the middle of the federal criminal trial. Founder Carlos Watson and Ozy are fighting charges of conspiracy to commit fraud.
Even after many other public and court hearings for Silicon Valley corporations that went from screaming to damage, it’s hard to forget the moment of Ozy’s downfall, when co-founder Samir Rao impersonated a YouTube executive to talk concerning the company to potential investors.
Lawyers for Watson and Ozy blame any false statements solely on Rao, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and identity theft. The defense also argued that prosecutors would criminalize common entrepreneurial bloat and single out Watson, a black founder in a tech world where there are disproportionately few African-American executives.
“I am not now and never have been a ‘fraudster,’” he said last 12 months when the costs were brought against him.
Prosecutors and Rao, their star witness, say Ozy straddled the road between hopeful hype and brazen fraud.
“We told so many lies to so many different people,” Rao testified after the struggling company produced rosy financial results in a desperate attempt to lure investors and stay afloat.
The hope was to enable “a diverse audience to consume hopefully a different, more meaningful type of content,” he said. But “survival within the bounds of decency, honesty and truth has evolved into survival at all costs and by any means necessary.”
“New and Next”
Ozy was founded in 2012 on the Millennial-friendly premise of providing a fresh, sophisticated but not cookie-cutter approach to politics, culture and more – what it calls “new and next” – while amplifying minority and marginalized voices.
The son of two South Florida teachers, Watson graduated from Harvard and Stanford, worked on Wall Street, founded and sold a test preparation company and anchored MSNBC. According to Rao, he fathered Ozy after which recruited Rao, a former colleague from the world of finance, after a probability meeting at a Chipotle restaurant in Silicon Valley.
Ozy debuted a web site, newsletters, and with a bang: former President Bill Clinton was one in all the primary interviewees. The company has expanded into podcasts, events and tv programming, winning a 2020 Emmy for Watson’s “Black Women OWN the Conversation” on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The annual Ozy Fest in New York’s Central Park has attracted big names, from John Legend to pre-presidential Joe Biden.
Testimony shows that the corporate acquired many major advertisers, clients and grants. But behind the scenes, prosecutors say, Ozy began to bleed in 2018 and resorted to lies.
“I don’t know where his numbers came from.”
The company told a possible investor that it “ended 2017 with approximately $12 million in revenue,” but gave its accountants a figure of lower than $7 million. The disparities widened through the years, reaching as much as $53 million compared to $11 million in 2020, according to testimony and documents presented throughout the trial.
Meanwhile, Ozy steadily delayed paying suppliers and rent, borrowed against future receipts to obtain expensive advances, and had difficulty paying salaries, former vp of finance Janeen Poutre testified.
The defense portrayed the scramble for money as a growing problem for a successful startup.
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“Ozy Media did not defraud its investors or anyone else,” said company attorney Shannon Frison.
Watson lawyer and Harvard Law School professor Ronald Sullivan Jr. he said his client “believed every number he gave to every investor.” Sullivan suggested that revenue figures may vary depending on whether or not they represent “in-kind” income, equivalent to promoting trading at one other outlet.
Poutre testified that auditors rarely agree to count such revenues and she or he didn’t think Watson was all the time honest.
“I don’t know where his numbers came from. I know where my numbers came from,” she said.
Fake emails and voice masking
The alleged programs went beyond questionable numbers.
In an attempt to get Ozy a bank loan in 2020, Rao falsified the deal by saying that Winfrey’s OWN network had renewed “Black Women OWN The Conversation” for a second season. When the bank needed information directly from the net, Rao arrange a fake email account for the actual OWN executive and used it to provide the bank with “transaction background.”
Rao told jurors that Watson verbally approved the charade. Jurors saw a text message from Watson urging Rao to “be brave and do this,” but “that” was not specified. Ultimately, witnesses said, there was no loan or extension of this system.
Rao’s infamous phone rang the next 12 months when Ozy was searching for an investment from Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs. He falsely claimed that YouTube was paying for Watson’s eponymous talk show. When Goldman’s bankers wanted confirmation, he downloaded a voice-modifying app and talked to them while posing as a YouTube executive.
But the bankers were wary, as the actual YouTube executive soon discovered, and Watson told the board of Goldman Sachs and Ozy that his co-founder had suffered a mental breakdown.
The investment fell through, but Goldman Sachs continued to advertise with Ozy after the episode, Rao said.
Rao told jurors he was taking antidepressants but was not having a mental health crisis when he called. Rao said Watson was present and gave him instructions via text messages.
“I’m a huge fan of Carlos, Samir and the show,” reads one in all the texts, which Rao explained when Watson prompted him with a line for his fake persona to say. Watson then urged, “use the right pronouns. You are NOT OZY” – amongst other messages.
– You’re a liar, aren’t you?
Watson’s lawyer said the Ozy founder stumbled upon Rao’s scam, was outraged and signaled him to hang up.
The defense emphasized that Rao drafted a 2021 letter – ultimately unsent – in which he stated that the phone ruse was entirely his doing. Rao told jurors he wrote it to protect the corporate.
Defense attorneys labeled him an incompetent executive, a confessed fabricator and a confessed criminal who falsely implicated Watson in hopes of avoiding prison for his own crimes.
“So, Mr. Rao, you are a liar, aren’t you?” Sullivan asked during last Friday’s hearing.
“Unfortunately,” Rao replied, “I told many lies during my time at Ozy.”
Crime
17-year-old accused in Texas

Caramelo Anthony, a 17-year-old who was accused of a deadly stab on the Torah in Texas, was released on Bond.
On Monday afternoon, Anthony was released from $ 250,000 bonds after his lawyer successfully ran a campaign to cut back it from the unique $ 1 million throughout the interrogation in the bond, ABC News Partner Plate Reported.
Talking to reporters after the hearing, his defender, Mike Howard, said that the brand new bond was “honest”, despite his desire to lower it to $ 150,000.
“Bond, as the judge said, should not be an instrument of oppression, should not keep people in prison, he should not punish,” Howard said, adding this “large and significant” amount, “I think that the judge rightly imposed reasonable conditions that will ensure both Karmelo and Anthony, but also the security of the community.”
As a part of his release, per Fox 4Anthony will probably be limited to home custody on the Parents’ House by Kostki. The teenager may even need to search for a permit before leaving the home, namely for trips related to the case, and he is not going to have the opportunity to depart without an adult accompanying him. He was excluded from using social media and can’t contact the victim’s family. If he violates any of his conditions, he risk returning to prison.
His release from the Collin Function prison appears 13 days after arrest for the murder of Austin Metcalf on April 2 during a gathering on the track, which was combined by the competing boys’ teams. It is claimed that in rainy delay Anthony stabbed Metcalf, also 17, during a tense meeting between them. Anthony, who confessed to stab, still argued that he was lively in self -defense. He was accused of first -degree murder in reference to the incident.

The judge considered several aspects, including Anthony’s age, lack of criminal history and his connections with the community, which were visible in the courtroom throughout the trial. The Dallas Morning News He informed that Anthony’s father testified in court on behalf of the character of his son, noting that he was the captain of the team of each football and track teams in highschool, and that he has two jobs. Several people appeared to support Anthony, including a football coach and a manager from one in all his two works.
The side of the Court Metcalf, which Dallas Morning News noticed, was also full, embraced his mother, father and a number of other relations. When the judge issued her rule, Metcalf’s mother hung her head and cried. Anthony, who participated in the hearing in a yellow overalls and handcuffs, didn’t react in a dignified way.
The judge also considered the quantity. Although the fundraiser for Anthony collected almost $ 500,000, Anthony’s father said that his family had not received these funds yet. Failing in the case meant that the family tried to maneuver, which also charges their funds.
After interrogation, the District Prosecutor of Collin, Greg Willis, told journalists the priority of his office, including subsequent steps, including the review of the Police Investigation in Frisco and presenting the case of the Great Jury in order to find out whether Anthony will probably be accused and the trial.
“We are afraid that as prosecutors it is justice, truth and responsibility, so we will go where the facts lead us,” said Willis.

(Tagstransate) crime
Crime
Family of Texas Teen, accused of a deadly stab of another teenager on the track, collected over $ 150,000 via the online fundraiser

The collection of money for a teenager accused of a deadly stabbing of another teenager during a meeting at the Texas track last week has almost USD 200,000.
Launched by the family of Carmelo Anthony, a 17-year-old from Texas, who’s accused of stabbing Austin Metcalf, also 17, during an intensive meeting between them, Dajndo Fundraiser reached USD 160,000 from Monday morning.
According to Anthony’s lawyer, Deric Walpole, his client demands self -defense on this matter. Talking with NBC Dallas-Fort Worth On Friday, other than the prison, wherein Anthony was detained, Walpole said: “I know that my client said it was a self -defense. I have no reason not to believe it, but I have to develop facts, talk to people and find out what is happening before I made some statements about what I think.”
He added: “I have no reason to think that it was not a self -defense at the moment.”
On Wednesday, April 2, around 10 am local time, it’s claimed that Anthony stabbed Metcalf after Metcalf asked to depart a specific area during the rain delay at a sports event at the Kuykeyndall stadium in Frisco, in accordance with the NBC Dalls-Fort value. Anthony, a competitor in a competitive team, apparently sat under the tent of the Metcalf team to avoid rainfall when Metcalf asked him to depart. When Anthony didn’t follow Metcalf in order that he wouldn’t touch him, allegedly Metcalf caught Anthony’s arm, leaning Anthony, using a knife from a backpack to stab Metcalf in his chest from escaping.
Metcalf suffered a stinging wound in his heart and was recognized as deceased at the scene of the incident, despite the attempts to save lots of his twin brother.
“I put my hand on (his chest), tried to stop (bleeding), grabbed his head and looked into his eyes. I just saw his soul. And this also took my soul,” said Twin Hunter Metcalfa Fox News.

Anthony was arrested and accused of killing the first degree, and is currently being detained in the Collin County prison for a bond of USD 1,000,000, which his lawyer is trying to cut back. He hopes to interrogate bonds this week.
Teenager Apparently he said the police“It is not alleged, I did it” that he was lively in self -defense and asked if Metcalf can be tremendous. Anthony’s father said The New York Post That his son was “provoked”.
“He was not an aggressor. He was not the one who started him,” said Andrew Anthony, adding: “Everyone has already adopted their assumptions about my son, but he is not what they make him.”
He explained that his son was a “good child” who works two works and maintains 3.7 GPs.
“I feel sorry for other parents and family, and words cannot explain how both (families) affected this tragedy,” he noted.
The online collection of money causes “false” narratives circulating after the consequence.
“The widespread narrative is false, unfair and harmful. As a family of faith, we are deeply grateful for all your support in this difficult period. Your prayers and help mean more for us than ever,” we read a fundraiser.
Collecting money on Gofundme In the case of family costs and Metcalf’s funeral, they brought 95% of their goal.

(Tagstransate) news
Crime
New research: Demlitization police departments do not increase crime

Richmond, Virginia – June 12: photo of George Floyd expected to the statue of confederate general Robert Lee on June 12, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Last week, the governor of Virginia Ralph Northam ordered the removal of Lee’s general statue as soon as possible, but court proceedings temporarily stopped these plans. Protests proceed in cities across the country after the death of George Floyd, who died in police detention in Minneapolis on May 25. (Photo eze amos/getty images)
Giving police departments equipment to military class does not reduce crime or increase safety based on two independent research. Studies appear in the course of the ongoing conversation concerning the importance of “rejecting the police” as a method.
IN “Police demilitarization and brutal crime“, Kenneth Lwande, a professor on the University of Michigan, questioned the claim that the military weapon exchange program reduced the crime rate, assaulting police officers and the variety of complaints towards police officers.
Finding problems in previously published data Lwande focused on the information available after ordering the Obama administration from 2015, required to demlate local police agencies. Answering public indignation after exposing the militarized police in Ferguson, Obama’s administration Forbade some Sales of military equipment to the police as a part of the controversial program 1033. Trump’s administration reversed this policy in 2017.
IN interview In the case of ABC, Lwande explained that earlier research found that the transfer of military equipment to police plots served as deterrent. But from his evaluation, evidence does not confirm such conclusions. “It’s just not an accurate record,” said Lwande. “[Prior studies] They clearly suggested that by transferring military police equipment, he would stop criminals from committing crimes. “
Published in the character of human behavior, London magazine, research emphasizes the reaper of Trump’s administration on potentially “unbelievable” data when making decisions about withdrawing restrictions from Obama’s time. After assessing previous research, Lipowde found that publicly published data utilized in previous studies were filled with inaccuracies. Earlier evaluation did not control the equipment that was transferred between agencies, unused or otherwise inoperable. In addition, Lwande did not find any evidence that the demilitarizing law enforcement authorities led to an increase in crime.
Program 1033, managed by the Defense Logistics Agency, is one in every of several ways through which law enforcement authorities acquire military assessment equipment. Established in 1997 as a part of the Act on authorization for national defense, is estimated Program 1033 has transferred over $ 7 billion in military equipment into $ 8,000 across the country. The program was originally created for the forces of “counteracting terrorism”, but later prolonged to cover all of the activities of law enforcement agencies.
Covering with the national uprisings this summer, several members of the Chamber introduced laws to eliminate the 1033 program in June. The Black Lives movement also published Act Breathe Act, a comprehensive legislative proposal, including financing specific politicians and the abolition of the police. Section I of the proposed respiratory act requires the opening of the 1033 program in its entirety.
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