More Bad News From the VA

Apr 4, 11:43 PM (ET)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An Air Force veteran has filed a federal claim after an operation at a Veterans Administration hospital in which a healthy testicle was removed instead of a potentially cancerous one.

Benjamin Houghton, 47, was to have had his left testicle removed June 14 at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center because there was a chance it could harbor cancer cells. It also was atrophied and painful.

But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle, according to medical records and the claim, which seeks $200,000 for future care and unspecified damages. He still hasn't had the other testicle removed.

"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the Los Angeles Times. "Then I was shocked. I told them, 'What do I do now?'"

Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, Dr. Susan Friery, said they hoped to get the VA's attention by going public with the situation.

Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system, has formally apologized to Houghton and his wife.

"We are making every attempt that we can to care for Mr. Houghton, but it's in litigation, and that's all we can tell you," he said. The hospital changed practices as a result of the case, he added.

Law to Go Easy on Granny Bank Robber

Apr 5, 5:31 PM (ET)

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An elderly grandmother who robbed a bank with an unloaded pistol to help her financially strapped son pleaded guilty Thursday after prosecutors agreed not to pursue a mandatory five- to 10-year prison sentence.

Marilyn Devine, 76, of Baldwin, could still get a prison term when she is sentenced June 27, but her relatives and attorney hope she receives probation.

"I don't think she's a threat to society," relative Susan McDade said. "She doesn't belong in prison. She's a good soul. This was just a tremendous act of desperation to try to help someone in need. Misguided, but she didn't hurt anybody."

Unopposed Polititian gets ZERO Votes

Apr 5, 10:26 AM (ET)

MISSOURI CITY, Mo. (AP) - Joe Selle didn't exactly get voted out office this week, but he wasn't re-elected, either.

Selle, who was running unopposed for City Council, didn't get any votes at all. Not even one from himself.

Selle, 42, said he simply forgot that Tuesday was election day, and apparently so did Ward 3's other 34 registered voters.

The result was zero votes cast in Selle's race, but the city charter lets him keep the seat unless someone else is "successfully elected and qualified," the city attorney said.

Selle, a professional musician, was recently appointed to fill a council vacancy and had been seeking a full term.

He said he saw other residents at the school where the voting was held, "but it never occurred to me that's what they were there for."

"It's pretty small-town stuff down here, man," Selle said of the Missouri River town of about 300 people, 16 miles northeast of Kansas City.

Turnout was better in Ward 2, where two people voted.

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/480/drug_police_corruption

A Georgia fire captain gets caught peddling coke, a pair of New Haven narcs lose their jobs, a former Mississippi police chief cops a plea, and a former Ohio cop goes back to prison. Let's get to it:

In Fayette, Georgia, a Fulton County Fire Department captain was arrested March 29 for selling powder cocaine to undercover drug agents. Captain Bruce Bostwick, 56, faces one count of cocaine distribution. He got caught peddling the drug at a north Fulton County gas station.

In New Haven, Connecticut, city police commissioners voted Wednesday to fire narcotics officers arrested last month. Lt. William White, who was head of the narcotics unit, and Detective Justen Kasperzyk were fired on the recommendation of Police Chief Francisco Ortiz. White is charged with stealing $30,000 he thought was drug money, but was actually bait planted by the FBI. Kasperzyk is charged with stealing less than $1,000 in FBI bait money. Since the pair's arrests, New Haven officials disbanded the drug squad and handed over some of its cases to state police.

In Greenville, Mississippi, a former small town police chief pled guilty Monday to two federal drug counts. Former Ripley Police Chief Bert Contely copped a plea to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and distribution of hydrocodone. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Conely resigned as chief after his indictment and arrest in March.

In Youngstown, Ohio, a former Mahoning County Sheriff's Office lieutenant has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of drug possession and three counts of drug trafficking. Michael "Beef" Terlecky, 51, who left the sheriff's office in 1988, has been in trouble before. He served eight months in federal prison for taking bribes from organized crime figures. This time, Terlecky went down for selling more than 200 Oxycontin tablets in a series of buys with undercover officers. The possession charges stemmed from what police found in his home when they raided it as he was being arrested.