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GoLocalProv | News | RI Man Charged With 16 Counts of Possession of a Protected Reptile Without a Permit

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GoLocalProv | News | RI Man Charged With 16 Counts of Possession of a Protected Reptile Without a Permit


Thursday, September 29, 2022

 

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PHOTO: RI DEM

The Rhode Island Division of Environmental Administration’s Division of Regulation Enforcement has charged a person for illegally possessing — and making an attempt to promote — protected turtles. 

DEM introduced the next. 

“This week, Rhode Island Environmental Police Officers from DEM’s Division of Regulation Enforcement discovered 16 Jap Musk Turtle hatchlings, a species native to RI and the Jap US, within the residence of a West Warwick man suspected of illegally promoting them on the market on Craigslist and Fb. 

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The case resulted from a week-long investigation the place the suspect supplied two hatchlings to undercover Environmental Police Officers for buy. He additionally indicated he was in possession of 16 musk turtle hatchlings in each direct communications and on-line advert postings. The suspect has been charged with 16 counts of ‘Possession of a Protected Reptile or Amphibian with no Allow.’

The turtles had been seized and transferred to Roger Williams Park Zoo & Carousel Village the place they’ve a room devoted to the care of turtles seized from the unlawful turtle commerce. The turtles will probably be launched again into the wild after clearing well being screenings and illness testing. The gear and area for his or her rehabilitation are made attainable by a grant from The Affiliation of Zoos and Aquariums, North American Turtle Protected Program. 

Eradicating wildlife from its pure habitat to maintain as a pet is not simply unlawful – it could possibly have main impacts on Rhode Island’s native ecosystems. Biologically, turtles are particularly weak to over-collection. Some species should reproduce for his or her complete lives to make sure only one hatchling survives to maturity. And it takes years, typically many years, for turtles to succeed in reproductive age, in the event that they make it in any respect. Most fall sufferer to predators earlier than they mature. RI’s turtles are additionally threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and automotive strikes when crossing roads. Study RI Reptile and Amphibian Guidelines and Rules right here.

Assist us defend our state’s valuable pure assets for future generations. Shield our native species by reporting suspected unlawful assortment and different fish or wildlife violations to Rhode Island Environmental Police at 401-222-3070 (24/7). Bear in mind by no means to share turtle places on-line! It may be thrilling to see turtles within the wild, and to share your discovery. 

However earlier than you are taking a photograph of a turtle within the wild, flip off the geolocation in your cellphone. In the event you publish a turtle photograph on social media, do not embrace details about the place you discovered it. Poachers use location info to focus on websites.  As an alternative, you possibly can assist by changing into a neighborhood scientist and submitting your observations of amphibians and reptiles to DEM scientists utilizing the Herp Observer app.”

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To study extra about Rhode Island’s turtles go right here. 

 

 

 

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Rhode Island

RI Senate to vote on gun ‘safe-storage’ law. What to know.

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RI Senate to vote on gun ‘safe-storage’ law. What to know.


PROVIDENCE – When the state Senate votes Tuesday on proposed new “safe-storage” requirements for guns, it will, by chance, be doing so within days of this USA Today headline from Detroit: “School Gunman’s Dad Guilty of Manslaughter.”

There, James Crumbley, the father of a school shooter who killed four students and injured seven other people at Oxford High School in November 2021, was found guilty of failing to secure a gun at home and doing nothing to address acute signs of his son’s mental turmoil. Crumbley – and months earlier, his wife – were convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Safe storage bill draws opposition from Republicans

Closer to home, the proposed new Rhode Island safe-storage law that emerged from a Senate committee on a straight 9-to-3 party-line vote last week followed years of heart-wrenching testimony of family members left behind by a suicide in Warwick, as well as the accidental shooting death of a Johnston teenager at the hands of a friend playing with his uncle’s unlocked gun.

The three Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room cast the three nay votes.

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They included Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz who, in her weekly newsletter, reiterated her belief that the legislation [H2202] co-sponsored by 28 of the 37 current senators is “an infringement on our right to self-defense with a firearm in our homes.”

And she was not alone. As both a Rhode Island National Guardsman and “Firearms Policy Coalition Member,” Christopher Morin of Coventry told the lawmakers in written testimony that the requirement that firearms “be secured in locked containers or equipped with tamper-resistant locks at all times when not in use” is impractical, “could delay or prevent individuals from defending their homes and loved ones in emergencies” and “infringes on the rights of law-abiding gun owners.”

He said the penalties could also add to the trauma of “individuals and families already suffering fromaccidents involving firearms” – presumably their own.

Arguments in support of the bill

But Rhonda Brewster, the mother of the 16-year-old shot to death by his best friend in Johnston in 2022, told legislators during one of the gun hearings last week that she has a chihuahua and a Rottweiler who would alert her of an intruder in plenty of time.

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Working in child protective services for the state, she said, she also sees cases that don’t make the headlines where children get into guns and shoot themselves.

“Just within the last four months, we’ve had about six cases of children having access to guns – with their parents’ home – and shooting themselves,” she said.

More: RI faith leaders implore state ‘leaders to lead’ with assault-weapons ban and safe storage law

For South Kingstown Councilwoman Patricia Alley, last week’s hearings marked the latest in a year-after-year series of visits to the State House to recount the events that led to the suicide of her sister Allyson Dosreis at age 37.

“This bill would prevent other Rhode Island families from enduring the same devastation that my family and I have gone through after the suicide of my sister, Ally, she told the House Judiciary Committee.

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Alley told lawmakers how she and her sister got close later in life when she reunited with her birth family. But COVID and the pandemic took a toll on her sister’s hairdressing business, and then her sister’s partner “abruptly” ended their 10-year relationship and listed their house for sale. He was active duty military, Alley said, and when his firearm wasn’t with him, it was in an “easily accessible location known to the family.”

“And when she was at her lowest, she used that gun to end her life,” Alley said.

“Suicide is often an impulsive act,” she told the legislators. “If you can prevent access to a gun, you can short-circuit that impulse and save a life.”

What would the penalties be for violating the safe storage law?

The potential penalties for violating the proposed new Rhode Island safe-storage law start with a fine of up to $250 a first offense, which would be treated as a civil infraction, to a fine of up to $1,000 for a second offense and up to six months in prison, and a fine of up to $500 for three of more violations.

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The penalty gets steeper – a potential year in prison and $1,000 fine – for someone “who knows or reasonably should know that a child” or someone prohibited from purchasing a firearm “is likely to gain access to the firearm.”

The penalty increases exponentially for the gun owner if the unsecured gun is obtained by a child or a person prohibited by state or federal law from having a firearm and is then used to commit a crime or cause injury. Any of those scenarios would be punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.



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Rhode Island

Massachusetts and Rhode Island Fought in Court Over This City

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Massachusetts and Rhode Island Fought in Court Over This City


The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Rhode Island are nestled closely in what appears to be a perfect state of harmony in the southeast corner of New England.

However, it hasn’t always been such a cozy relationship for the two Revolution-era neighbors.

In 1861, not long after the start of the American Civil War, the Bay State and the Ocean State were embroiled in a bit of an imbroglio over border rights to, of all places, Fall River.

The dispute was not the only border battle to develop between the two states, or the other northeast states for that matter.

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New Hampshire and New York fought over rights to Vermont, which ultimately declared its independence from both with the help of Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys.

The border battle over what would become the South End of Fall River is near and dear to our hearts.

Massachusetts And Rhode Island Fought In Court Over This City

Courtesy Aerial New England

Some border disputes in the “New World” lasted more than 200 years, dating back to colonial times and the first settlements along Massachusetts Bay when the British throne began to hand out land grants.

Locally, a lengthy debate erupted over whether Massachusetts or Rhode Island and Providence Plantations controlled a portion of land later to become a part of Fall River.

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The land dispute ended in 1861 when the U.S. Supreme Court awarded an 11 square mile area of disputed land to Massachusetts, creating the South End of Fall River and establishing the current border with Rhode Island.

The Fall River Herald News wrote a piece on the land dispute in 2019. There is also a more detailed account online from the book History of Fall River, the source of which could not be immediately traced.

KEEP READING: Scroll to see what the big headlines were the year you were born

Here’s a look at the headlines that captured the moment, spread the word, and helped shape public opinion over the last 100 years.

Gallery Credit: Andrew Lisa

KEEP READING: What were the most popular baby names from the past 100 years?





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Rhode Island

Chinese billionaire pleads guilty to straw donor scheme in New York and Rhode Island – The Boston Globe

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Chinese billionaire pleads guilty to straw donor scheme in New York and Rhode Island – The Boston Globe


When asked, an attorney for Adams, Vito Pitta, said: “As the federal government made clear today, the campaign had no knowledge of a straw donor scheme — and no member of the campaign has been charged with or accused of any wrongdoing.”

Qin was previously included on the Forbes list of billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion from his stake in film and entertainment companies, including the Honk Kong-based SMI Culture. He has been in U.S. custody since his arrest last October on charges of using a fake identification.

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A phone call to his attorney was not immediately returned.

Campaign finance records show Qin, who is a Chinese citizen with a U.S. green card, donated $2,000 to Adams in March of 2021. Under the city’s campaign finance rules, green card-holders can contribute to races and participate in the city’s generous matching funds program, which caps donations at $2,100.

Nine months after he donated to Adams, federal prosecutors say Qin began working “to find individuals to make more than $10,000 in straw donor contributions” to an unnamed New York City candidate.

At least one person donated $1,000 on Qin’s behalf on Dec. 9, according to prosecutors. The following day, Qin spoke with an unnamed co-conspirator, who told him they expected to be able to obtain up to $20,000 in straw donor contributions for the candidate.

Adams, a Democrat, is currently facing a federal investigation for his fundraising practices that prompted the FBI to seize his cell phones last year. Earlier this month, agents raided the homes of one of his top aides, Winnie Greco, as part of an investigation led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn.

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An investigation by Manhattan prosecutors into an alleged straw donor scheme over the summer resulted in the arrest of six people, who were accused of seeking to divert public money into Adams’ campaign to gain political favors.

Prosecutors say Qin engaged in similar straw donor schemes to funnel donations to a U.S. representative in New York and a congressional candidate in Rhode Island.

Federal Elections Commission records show Qin donated $2,900 in 2022 to the campaign of Allan Fung, a Republican former mayor who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Rhode Island. Fung didn’t respond to messages seeking comment Monday.

Records also show that a man named Jonathan Chau, who provided Adams’ transition committee with $1,000 on December 9, 2021, gave $5,800 to a committee supporting Fung, and $2,900 to a committee backing Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a Long Island Republican.

Prosecutors said Qin hid his illicit funding efforts from the officials they were intended to benefit, causing them to unknowingly file false campaign reports.

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Chau could not be reached for comment. Garbarino did not respond to an emailed request.

As part of the plea deal, Qin also admitted that he filed a false application for lawful permanent residency status in the U.S. 2019 when he claimed to have never used an alias. In fact, prosecutors said, he was provided the alias “Muk Lam Li,” along with accompanying identification documents, by an official in the Chinese government in 2008.

He used that identity to transfer more than $5 million to a U.S. bank account, spending some of it on a luxury apartment in Manhattan, according to prosecutors.

Qin will give up his right to live in the U.S. and be deported as part of his plea deal, prosecutors said.





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