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7 most dramatic moments from US v Hunter trial: Wild testimony from exes, Jill Biden takes front-row seat

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7 most dramatic moments from US v Hunter trial: Wild testimony from exes, Jill Biden takes front-row seat

WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden’s whirlwind, and at times emotional, criminal trial came to a close Tuesday when the jury found the first son guilty on all counts related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018. 

“I am more grateful today for the love and support I experienced this last week from Melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than I am disappointed by the outcome. Recovery is possible by the grace of God, and I am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time,” Hunter Biden said in a statement after the verdict. 

After roughly six and a half days in court, the jury agreed with the prosecution team that Hunter Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled “No” when asked if he was an unlawful user of drugs or addicted to controlled substances. 

Fox News Digital was present in the courtroom throughout the majority of the trial and has compiled the seven most dramatic moments and testimony that unfolded between June 3 and June 11. 

HUNTER BIDEN FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN GUN TRIAL

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Hunter Biden leaves federal court, June 11, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

HUNTER’S EXES TAKE THE STAND 

Three of Hunter Biden’s exes took the stand and testified during the trial, including his ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, who was married to the first son for more than 20 years and with whom she shares three adult daughters. 

Buhle and Biden divorced in 2017 after Buhle found a crack pipe on the side porch of their home in Washington, D.C., in 2015, she told the court. 

Buhle was soft-spoken and appeared emotional during her testimony as she detailed her suspicions of his rampant drug use after he was discharged from the Navy Reserves for testing positive for cocaine.

“I was definitely worried, scared,” she said, describing how she would scour his car for drugs and drug paraphernalia to ensure their daughters would not drive the vehicle around with the substances. 

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HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY FROM SISTER-IN-LAW-TURNED-GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANICKED’

Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, leaves the courthouse after taking the stand during Biden’s criminal trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 5, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Biden’s ex-girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, also took the stand last week, walking the jury through Biden’s rampant drug abuse throughout their relationship, including him smoking crack in hotel rooms, stealing away to public bathrooms to smoke crack and how she helped pick up drugs for him. She said the crack cocaine he purchased often was the size of a “ping pong ball,” which he broke into pieces and lit up in glass pipes. Kestan testified under immunity. 

READ THE VERDICT

Kestan met Hunter Biden when she was 24 and he was 48 at a New York City gentleman’s club where she worked as a dancer. Kestan said their whirlwind relationship was a “distraction” for Biden as he allegedly smoked less when they were hidden away, sometimes for days at a time, in ritzy hotel rooms such as New York City’s Four Seasons or in a bungalow at Los Angeles’ Chateau Marmont. 

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Kestan’s testimony was accompanied by photos depicting crack pipes in hotel rooms, a photo of a bare-chested Biden in a bubble bath with Kestan, and a screenshot of a FaceTime video showing Biden’s back tattoo that resembled claw marks. The jurors were told amid Kestan’s remarks that Biden learned how to cook crack cocaine, and they were shown a photo of baking soda in one hotel room that was used to cook cocaine into crack.

Ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan leaves federal court after testifying in Hunter Biden’s trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 5, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Hallie Biden, Hunter Biden’s sister-in-law turned girlfriend, also took the stand. Hallie Biden was a key figure in the trial: She was the one to toss Hunter Biden’s gun in a trash can outside a Wilmington supermarket, which led to police involvement ahead of the indictment last year. She also provided further insight into his addiction to crack cocaine during the year he purchased the gun.

‘LIKE A SON’: FORMER TOP BIDEN ADVISER WITH DEEP BUSINESS TIES TO CHINA SPOTTED INSIDE HUNTER BIDEN GUN TRIAL 

Hallie Biden is Beau Biden’s widow and began a relationship with Beau’s brother, Hunter Biden, in 2015, after her husband’s death from brain cancer. The pair had an on-and-off romantic relationship until about 2019, when they called it quits. Hallie Biden testified about her discovery that Hunter Biden used crack, that he introduced her to crack cocaine, and how she became sober before discovering the handgun at the heart of the case in Hunter Biden’s truck on Oct. 23, 2018.

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​​”It was a terrible experience I went through, and I was embarrassed and ashamed. … I regret that period of my life,” Hallie Biden told the court on Thursday about her use of crack cocaine. Hallie Biden was joined in court by her husband, who she married the weekend before her testimony. Similar to Kestan, Hallie Biden also testified under immunity.

A court sketch depicts Hallie Biden testifying during Hunter Biden’s trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 6, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)

JILL BIDEN AND ALLIES FRONT AND CENTER 

First lady Jill Biden became a fixture of the Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom throughout the trial. She took a front-row seat in the courtroom, sitting behind her stepson as he faced testimony regarding his repeated use of crack cocaine before and after his illegal purchase of a firearm. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 4 AFTER WILD TESTIMONY FROM EXES ON RAMPANT DRUG USE, TRASHED HOTEL ROOMS

Jill Biden only missed one full day of court last week, when she traveled to Normandy, France, with President Biden to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. She also notably missed former daughter-in-law Kathleen Buhle’s testimony, but she returned to the court after Buhle left the stand.

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First lady Jill Biden leaves federal court, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The first lady was frequently joined by family members such as President Biden’s siblings Valerie Biden and James Biden, daughter Ashley Biden, daughter-in-law Melissa Cohen Biden, and allies, such as former Biden adviser Francis “Fran” Person and lawyer and producer Kevin Morris.

Jill Biden seldom looked around the courtroom during her days in the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building, which is named after the Republican Delaware senator President Biden defeated in 1972, subsequently catapulting the 46th president’s political career. The first family and allies also walked past large portraits of President Biden and Vice President Harris when entering and leaving the court’s main lobby. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS 3RD DAY WITH CROSS-EXAMINATION OF FBI AGENT

Jill Biden directed her focus toward the defense team and presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika the majority of her time in court, only shifting in her seat to speak with family or allies.

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Jill Biden was not in the courtroom when Hunter Biden’s verdict was read, but she joined her stepson in court soon after and left with him and his wife early Tuesday afternoon.

First lady Jill Biden arrives at federal court, June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PROSECUTION TELLS JURY THAT BIDEN FAMILY IN AUDIENCE ‘NOT EVIDENCE’ 

Prosecutor Leo Wise in his closing arguments highlighted to the jury that the “people sitting in the gallery are not evidence,” seemingly referring to the first lady and others in the Biden family, whose roots run deep in Delaware. 

“Respectfully, none of that matters,” he added, even if the jurors recognized the audience “from the news.” 

A juror who spoke to Fox News after the verdict said he was “aware” of the first lady’s presence in the courtroom but that the jury “didn’t discuss any part of the case until” they were excused to deliberate Monday afternoon.

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HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP ADMIN AIDE 

Hunter Biden’s second wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, lashed out at a former Trump White House aide, Garrett Ziegler, on the second day of the trial.

Hunter Biden sued Ziegler last year for publishing contents of his infamous laptop that he left in a Delaware repair shop in 2019. Amid the Hunter Biden trial this month, the scandalous laptop was formally entered into evidence and confirmed as valid, despite many media outlets previously discounting the laptop as Russian disinformation.

HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘

“You have no right to be here, you Nazi piece of s—” Cohen Biden said while pointing her finger at the former Trump administration aide just outside the courtroom last Tuesday, according to reports. Fox News Digital did not witness the tense exchange.

Hunter Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, are shown outside federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 11, 2024. (Reuters/Hannah Beier)

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Ziegler, who founded a nonprofit group Marco Polo, did not initially respond to Melissa Cohen Biden’s remarks but later confirmed the confrontation. 

“It’s sad I’ve been sitting here the whole time and haven’t approached anyone,” Ziegler said later to NBC News, confirming the encounter. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S DRUG USE: WHAT PROSECUTION NEEDS TO PROVE, WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW

Hunter Biden and wife Melissa Cohen Biden leave federal court on June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

NAOMI BIDEN NERVOUSLY TAKES THE STAND 

Naomi Biden was called by the defense team to take the stand last Friday, and she told the court that she was aware of her father’s addiction to drugs but said she had never witnessed him use drugs, namely crack cocaine. 

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Naomi Biden took the stand early Friday afternoon in the federal courthouse, dressed in all black with her hair pulled back, and told the court amid her testimony that she was “nervous.” Hunter Biden appeared emotional when his daughter first entered court, taking out a tissue at one point and dabbing his eyes. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL: 9 KEY FIGURES WHO MAY TESTIFY

A court sketch depicts Naomi Biden’s testimony during Hunter Biden’s federal trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 7, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)

Wise presented Naomi Biden with a stack of printed-out text messages she shared with her father in October 2018 during cross-examination, including messages Hunter Biden sent his daughter after 2 a.m. asking if her boyfriend could drive his pickup truck to him and exchange the vehicle in Manhattan. 

Naomi Biden testified that she did not know what her father was doing at 2 a.m. or why he was asking for the car in the middle of the night. Wise asked Naomi Biden if she knew if her father was meeting with someone named Frankie that night. Kestan testified earlier in the week that Biden met with a drug dealer named Frankie in a hotel room when he was in New York City in October 2018. 

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“I can’t take this. I don’t know what to say. I just miss you so much,” she texted him later as they tried to hash out exchanging the truck. Biden texted back, apologizing.  

US V HUNTER BIDEN: OPENING STATEMENTS TO BEGIN IN FIRST SON’S FEDERAL GUN TRIAL AFTER JURY SEATED

VERDICT READ IN COURT 

Following about just three hours of jury deliberations between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, Hunter Biden was found guilty of all three counts, which included making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

A court sketch depicts the verdict being read during Hunter Biden’s trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 11, 2024. Biden was found guilty on all three counts in his federal gun trial. (William Hennessy Jr.)

Hunter Biden was very still and forward-facing as the guilty verdict was read. Ahead of the verdict, Hunter Biden appeared more upbeat than he did amid trial proceedings during the first week. He flashed a big smile at his defense team early Tuesday morning. 

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HUNTER BIDEN’S CRIMINAL TRIAL ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES BEGINS WITH JURY SELECTION

He kissed his wife, and they left the courtroom before grabbing lunch in Wilmington a short time later.

Hunter Biden and wife Melissa Cohen Biden arrive for the reading of the verdict in his trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 11, 2024. (Reuters/Hannah Beier)

Hunter Biden faces a total maximum prison time of 25 years for the three charges. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. Hunter Biden, however, is a first-time offender, making it unlikely he will face maximum penalties when he is sentenced at a later date.

JURY HEARS AN HOUR OF EXCERPTS FROM ‘BEAUTIFUL THINGS’ 

The prosecution team played roughly an hour of excerpts from Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which detailed his rampant drug use after his brother’s death in 2015. He authored the memoir after he became sober in 2019.

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The book was “key evidence that Hunter was using drugs,” prosecutor Wise said in his closing arguments to the jury on Monday. 

Hunter Biden holds a copy of his memoir, “Beautiful Things,” while leaving federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, June 5, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Last week, the prosecution team played excerpts from the book, which included anecdotes such as how he linked up with a female drug dealer he nicknamed “Bicycles” who sold him crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, D.C., how he could serve as a “crack daddy” to dealers due to his spiraling addiction, and how he took cocaine from a stranger in a hotel bathroom in Monte Carlo.

US V HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 7 WITH CONTINUED JURY DELIBERATIONS: ‘CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES’

“I possessed a new superpower: the ability to find crack in any town, at any time, no matter how unfamiliar the terrain. It was easy-risky, often frustrating, always stupid and stupendously dangerous, yet relatively simple if you didn’t give much of a s— about your own well-being and were desperate enough to have an almost limitless appetite for debasement,” one excerpt read. 

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Social media users weighed in on Hunter Biden being found guilty on charges related to his possession of a firearm. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The excerpts were taken from the audiobook version of the memoir, which was narrated by Hunter Biden himself. The first son sat in court as his narration echoed through the court’s speaker system, walking the jury through his free fall with crack cocaine. 

Another excerpt read in court stated, “I was smoking crack every 15 minutes.” And another, “I was so lost in my addiction that I watched the crowd rob me blind and didn’t care enough to stop them – not as long as the cycle of drugs, sex, exhaustion and exhilaration repeated itself over and over. It was nonstop depravity.” 

Hunter Biden will be sentenced sometime in October.

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New Hampshire

A Historic New Hampshire Estate Brimming With 1930s Elegance Lists for $20 Million

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A Historic New Hampshire Estate Brimming With 1930s Elegance Lists for  Million


Set above the Atlantic, Balmoral is not just a house but a fragment of another era. Built in 1930 as the summer residence of businessman and former New Hampshire governor Huntley N. Spaulding, the estate carries the quiet dignity of New England: elegant yet understated and designed to impart a sense of permanence.

The architecture reflects that stately sensibility, with a classic Colonial Revival facade that gives way to interiors scaled for both gracious entertaining and relaxed family living. And with more than 12,000 square feet over three floors (two above ground, one below), the house has six bedrooms and an equal number of bathrooms, plus four powder rooms.

The dining room is wrapped in naturalistic wallpaper.

Rob Karosis Photography for Sotheby’s International Realty

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Tour a New Hampshire Estate That Served as a Retreat for Mark Twain

A 36-foot-long entrance gallery opens to an ocean-view formal sitting room with a fireplace—one of half a dozen throughout the house—along with a spacious sunroom lined in lattice panels. Elsewhere is a fireside study painted tomato red, a walk-in wet bar, a dining room wrapped in delicate wallpaper depicting slender marsh reeds, and a wood-paneled library. Complemented by a large butler’s pantry and a built-in dining banquette, the kitchen flows into a casual dining area and family room. Off to one side is an oversized mudroom with hard-wearing brick floors and an integrated dog-washing station.

Three of the guest bedrooms have private bathrooms and two others share a compartmentalized Jack-and-Jill bath, while the primary suite occupies its own wing of the upper level, comprising a bedroom, a private sitting room, two fitted dressing rooms, and two bathrooms. Another of the home’s unique features is a walk-in closet custom-fitted as a gift-wrapping room.

Balmoral New Hampshire

Lattice wall panels add a sense of structure and refinement to the sunroom.

Rob Karosis Photography for Sotheby’s International Realty

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This Martha’s Vineyard Home Has 10 Bedrooms and 14 Bathrooms

A major reconstruction and later updates carefully reworked the home for modern living, layering in amenities like a wine cellar, a fitness space, and updated guest quarters, all without disturbing the symmetry and restraint that define its original character. The grounds offer vast carpets of emerald lawns, clipped hedging, and a four-car carriage house with a garden bath and a second-floor studio apartment for guests or staff with a full kitchen and bath.

Balmoral, priced at $20 million and available via Tony Jalbert of Tate & Foss Sotheby’s International Realty, presides over 3.1 acres within Little Boar’s Head, a small enclave in the seaside community of North Hampton that has, for over a century, attracted a particular kind of resident. This is not where celebrities or attention-seekers come to see and be seen, but rather an under-the-radar spot favored by financial power players, political figures, and low-profile multi-generational families. Homes here are often held for decades and frequently pass quietly, introduced to the market when timing, rather than necessity, dictates a change.

Click here for more photos of the historic coastal estate in New Hampshire.

Balmoral New Hampshire

Rob Karosis Photography for Sotheby’s International Realty





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New Jersey

New Jersey Devils named fit for a surprising… and expensive star forward

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New Jersey Devils named fit for a surprising… and expensive star forward


The New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks are going in very different directions. Well, we hope they are going in different directions. Both teams are currently in the same spot: home. Watching the playoffs on TV. Both also ended the tenure of their GMs, although Jim Rutherford is still in the seat.

The Canucks seem like they know what the path forward is, and it involves a rebuild. Quinn Hughes was traded for a haul. Elias Pettersson has been on the trade block for two years. Everything in Vancouver is available, as long as they hit the cap floor. 

One player who is really interesting is Brock Boeser. He’s a former 40-goal scorer who hasn’t been that guy for two years. He seems very similar to Timo Meier, who is also a 40-goal scorer who has struggled to get back to 30 goals. 

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One might think that the Devils should have no interest in another player who is paid like he’s a 40-goal scorer when he’s actually a 25-goal scorer. That’s Boeser. 

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The difference is that Meier is a hard-nosed player who adds more than scoring to the lineup. Boeser isn’t a one-trick pony, but he’s also not a “lot of tricks” pony. Boeser needs to score to be effective, and he’s not scoring enough.

That’s why, one year after signing him to a seven-year deal worth a little more than $7 million per season. 

Many believe the Canucks only re-signed Boeser in a last-ditch effort to keep Quinn Hughes, but it was never going to work. Now, they are stuck with a pretty bad contract. Boeser still has some value, so many are looking at who might trade for him. 

Brock Boeser still doesn’t make sense for the New Jersey Devils

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Michael DeRosa with the Sporting News says the Devils are one of three teams that could trade for Boeser. His reasoning includes the Devils’ disappointing finish and Boeser’s possible fit on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. 

Boeser does have a similar impact profile as Tyler Toffoli, who has been the best fit next to Hughes since he joined the league. 

However, the Devils can’t afford to pay Boeser his price, even if the Canucks retain $1 million for the life of the deal. The only way this works is if the Devils essentially sell on a lost asset. If the Devils can trade Jacob Markstrom for Boeser, maybe Sunny Mehta would consider it. 

Without a considerable trade going the other way, the Devils wouldn’t even consider trading for Boeser. This isn’t how to start the Mehta era in New Jersey.

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Pennsylvania

Target of Action News Investigation Agrees to settlement with Pennsylvania attorney general

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Target of Action News Investigation Agrees to settlement with Pennsylvania attorney general


The target of an Action News Investigation in 2022 has agreed to a settlement with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

Florida-based MV Realty was accused of offering homeowners, many of whom are low-income, a few hundred bucks.

In return, the company would get exclusive rights for the opportunity to sell the properties for a 3% commission.

But many homeowners claim they were unaware there was a 40-year life to the agreement, and mortgages were placed on their homes.

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They would also be forced to pay the fee in the event they transferred properties to loved ones.

“I could’ve jumped out of the chair and did a little dance,” said Latrelle Fuller to Action News Investigative Reporter Chad Pradelli upon learning of the settlement.

We first met her in 2022 after she entered into an agreement with MV Realty for $500.

She says she was unable to get a home equity loan on her paid-off house because of MV Realty’s mortgage.

Her neighbor, Carolyn Brown, had to pay $6,000 dollars to MV Realty to get a loan on her home. She, too, entered into an agreement with MV Realty several years ago.

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“They told me that I have to do this or they would not give me the loan,” Brown says.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday called MV Realty’s actions reprehensible.

“So as a result of the settlement, all 1,300 mortgages that were entered into in Pennsylvania are going to be cancelled, ” he said in an exclusive interview earlier this week.

Action News Investigation: Real estate company accused of deceptive practices

Rosetta Loper Grant, who is selling her Oxford Circle home, signed onto the agreement offered by MV Realty. But then in May, she started second-guessing her decision.

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He says the Action News Investigation led to his office taking action by his predecessor, now-Governor Josh Shapiro. The investigative team dug through city property records to uncover the MV Realty mortgages.

He says the company will pay $645,000 in restitution under the settlement so homeowners like Brown will get their money back.

The owner of MV Realty, former reality TV personality Amanda Zachman, has not responded to requests for comment.

“I know what it’s like to work unbelievably hard for what you have and to take it in such a misleading way from consumers, especially to Target low-income communities, is disgusting to me, ” Sunday said.

If you were a victim of MV Realty and paid the company fees to sell or transfer a property, reach out to the AG’s office online.

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You can also email the complaint or call 1-800-441-2555.

Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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