John Xydias, was prescribed the drug Rohypnol between 1992 and 1994 and there were suggestions he had access to it beyond this

08:42 Rohypnol 0 Comments

John Xydias, 44, was prescribed the drug Rohypnol between 1992 and 1994 and there were suggestions he had access to it beyond this, though Xydias denied it. Xydias, of Glen Iris, has pleaded guilty to 25 counts of rape and 61 of indecent assault involving 11 women, four of whom are unidentified.
The offences occurred between 1991 and 2006 at the Glen Iris home Xydias shared with his parents and a family holiday house at Dromana. Prosecutor Michele Williams SC said Xydias' crimes were in the worst category of offending and they were so serious they may warrant being considered as a new category. Ms Williams said his sentence should be used to make his case an example of general deterrence. Dr Sullivan said Xydias had a strong interest in pornography but could not diagnose him with a sexual deviant disorder. "There are features that suggest he has a particular fantasy in his mind which he's living through with his actions," he said. Xydias also did not have a psychiatric history. Dr Sullivan said Xydias was naive, of below to borderline intelligence and tended to avoid direct responsibility for his actions.
He said Xydias denied drugging his victims, but said he gave them alcohol and tended to blame them. "(He'd say) he got mixed up with the wrong girls - they're rotten eggs," he said. Xydias' lawyer Remy van de Wiel QC said his client's sentence should not be crushing. He said his guilty plea was significant and saved the community a lot of money. Mr van de Wiel said while his offending was serious, it was not in the worst category and there was a good chance he could be rehabilitated given of his lack of prior convictions. Xydias will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.

staff member involved in the upcoming reality TV show Sober Living may have been behind the arrest of former Guns 'N'Roses drummer Steven Adler

00:18 Celebrity Rehab 0 Comments

new TMZ.com report claims that a staff member involved in the upcoming reality TV show Sober Living may have been behind the arrest of former Guns 'N'Roses drummer Steven Adler. He was arrested earlier this month in Hollywood and charged with possession of narcotics and being under the influence. But now, according to TMZ.com, it was a member of the Sober staff who called the cops after finding out that Adler was doing drugs in the house. Adler signed on to appear in Sober Living, a reality show tracking the lives of celebrities after they leave rehab. os Angeles police told the Associated Press that the 43-year-old drummer was arrested after officers were called to a home where a man was reportedly creating a disturbance and refusing to leave. Meanwhile, Adler's manager, David Weintraub, told TMZ.com, "Steven Adler's arrest was an unfortunate situation that didn't have to occur in the context of him starring in a television show." Adler recently took part in the second season of the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab, in which various stars struggle to beat their addictions. The new season will premiere this fall.

CNN reporter Richard Quest has returned to the cable news channel after a hiatus stemming from his drug arrest and court-ordered counseling

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CNN reporter Richard Quest has returned to the cable news channel after a hiatus stemming from his drug arrest and court-ordered counseling, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based network said on Friday. Quest, known for his boisterous and quirky reporting, returned to CNN International in late June and has been producing general news segments and working on the August edition of "CNN Business Traveler," the show he hosted before his arrest, said Nigel Pritchard, a spokesman for CNN."We're very pleased to have him back," Pritchard said.Police stopped Quest, 46, in April for being in New York's Central Park past curfew, and they discovered a bag of methamphetamines on the British reporter.A judge ordered him to undergo six months of counseling in exchange for having the case dismissed.

Shia LaBeouf "Indiana Jones" star was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving Sunday after an early morning car accident in which he was injured

22:20 Hollywood 0 Comments

Shia LaBeouf was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving Sunday after an early morning car accident in which he was injured, authorities said.
The "Indiana Jones" star was the driver of a pickup truck that was involved in a 3 a.m. collision in Hollywood, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Scott Wolf said.
"It was immediately apparent to officers responding on the scene that LaBeouf was intoxicated and he was subsequently placed under arrest," Wolf said. LaBeouf was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he was being treated for a minor head injury and injuries to his left hand and a knee, Wolf said. A woman passenger in LaBeouf's truck and the driver of the other vehicle were not seriously injured.
Wolf said LaBeouf, 22, was booked then released for misdemeanor DUI.
Wolf did not know the identities of the woman or the other driver.
The accident occurred when LaBeouf, who was headed northbound on La Brea Avenue, tried to make a left turn onto Fountain Avenue, Wolf said. A collision occurred and LaBeouf's pickup rolled over. The cause of the crash remained under investigation and Wolf did not have additional details. Two of LaBeouf's publicists did not immediately return calls seeking comment Sunday. Neither did two attorneys listed as having represented LaBeouf. LaBeouf has been working as an actor for 10 years. He starred on the Disney Channel series "Even Stevens," starred in last year's
"Transformers," and this year appears opposite Harrison Ford in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
LaBeouf has had previous brushes with the law, but each was relatively harmless—to the point that they reinforced his image as a Hollywood good-guy with an edge. In November, he was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing after a drunken a confrontation with security guards in a Chicago Walgreens.

He later told David Letterman on the "Late Show": "Drinking and driving is one thing, but drinking and shopping ... it's just as bad."

Prosecutors dropped charges because Walgreens Co. and a security company indicated they didn't want to continue the case.

LaBeouf was separately cited in February for smoking where he shouldn't in Burbank, but a judge later dismissed the charge.

“extremely intoxicated”Andy Dick, 42, was arrested

01:45 Murrieta Police Department 0 Comments

According to a press release from the Murrieta Police Department, an “extremely intoxicated” Dick, 42, was arrested after police were called to the restaurant on a call of a disturbance by an intoxicated man urinating outside the building. When they arrived, they saw a truck leaving the scene and stopped it.
An LAPD spokesperson said a 17-year-old woman told them that Dick had left the restaurant, walked up to her and pulled down her tank top and bra, exposing her breasts. Dick’s friends then escorted the comedian to the truck, which was stopped a short distance away. Police lined up the men in the truck along the curb, and the alleged victim and a witness picked Dick out as the assailant.
After searching his pockets, police said they found marijuana and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his pockets. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Dick was released on $5,000 bond and ordered to return to court on August 12. The latest legal problem for Dick is a kind of greatest-hits rehash of his past run-ins with the law, which include: a citation for urinating in public in Columbus, Ohio, last year (during a stint at a comedy club where he was reportedly intoxicated and groped some of the patrons); a 2004 arrest for indecent exposure outside a McDonald’s; an incident last year when he was booted from “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for repeatedly touching the breasts of guest Ivanka Trump without her permission; and a 1999 arrest for possession of cocaine and marijuana after his arrest for driving his car into a telephone pole in Hollywood.A spokesperson for the Murrieta Police Department could not be reached for comment at press time.

Maurice Johnson former Sweetwater High School basketball star was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison

10:47 Chattanooga 0 Comments

Maurice Johnson was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and will remain on supervised probation 10 more years after that following a sentencing hearing Monday in Chattanooga on a federal cocaine distribution guilty plea.The 38-year-old former Sweetwater High School basketball star pleaded guilty in April to one count of a multi-count indictment that charged him with running a major crack cocaine ring out of a Madisonville game room.Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Neff said Johnson tried to withdraw his guilty plea at the last minute, however Judge R. Allan Edgar ruled the defendant did not meet the criteria to be granted a plea withdrawal.Johnson’s criminal past bumped up the minimum sentence requirement on his latest conviction.
“He had a federal felony drug conviction (in 2001) and that bumped it up from 10 to 20 years,” Neff said of the minimum sentence Johnson could serve.
The court waived any major fines against Johnson because of his inability to pay but Johnson is to pay a $100 special assessment.
Johnson had gotten previous charges for the same alleged crimes dismissed last year because a judge ruled his right to a speedy trial had been violated.
However, the judge’s ruling left the door open for prosecutors to revisit the Madisonville game room case.A federal grand jury indicted Johnson on the same charges again late last year.Authorities said Johnson began running a crack cocaine ring out of the M & M Game Room and Deli on Tellico Street in Madisonville not long after his release from prison in 2005 on a drug conviction.Officers from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the Madisonville and Sweetwater police departments arrested Johnson near I-75 on March 31, 2006.Police said Johnson tried to swallow drugs when the officer closed in.Authorities contend Johnson’s drug operation was substantial.“The cost of drugs can vary,” then Sheriff Doug Watson said at the time. “But he was probably making about $36,000 a week selling crack cocaine.”
Neff said there is no parole for federal sentences and Johnson would have to serve at least 85 percent, 17 years, of his sentence.Neff said prisoners serving federal sentences have a chance to meet good behavior and other criteria to reduce their term from 100 percent to 85 percent. Johnson has a July 31 motions hearing pending on murder charges in Cleveland.Johnson stands charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the 1999 shooting deaths of three people in a Cleveland apartment.
Two other suspects are charged in connection with the fatal shootings.

Barenaked Ladies star Steven Page has been arrested on suspicion of cocaine possession.

02:29 Manlius Town Court 0 Comments

On Friday New York cops in Manilus observed the Canadian singer and his companion, Stephanie Ford, sitting at a cafe table with what appeared to be cocaine in front of them, as they answered a police report about a suspicious vehicle nearby.
The substance tested positive for cocaine, according to police reports obtained by TMZ.com.Page and Ford have since been charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. They were both released on $10,000 bail.A representative for Barenaked Ladies tells TMZ.com, "We cannot comment because the matter is before the court. We are confident that out client Steven will be completely exonerated."The controversy could not have come at a worse time for Barenaked Ladies, who have just released a children's album.

Manlius Police say they arrested Steven Page, a lead singer for the band Barenaked Ladies, and two women on drug charges after cocaine and marijuana were found in a Fayetteville apartment.On Friday, July 11, around 2 a.m., police saw a vehicle with an open door in the driveway of a home on East Genesee Street.While investigating the car, officers saw a man and woman inside an apartment, at a kitchen table with a white capsule. Further investigation found the two were in possession of a substance that tested positive for cocaine.Police arrested Page, 38, of Toronto, Canada, and Stephanie Ford, of East Genesee Street, and charged them with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 4th degree, a felony. Ford was also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.Ford identified Page as a member of the band, according to police, and Page confirmed to officers that he was.
Both were arraigned in Manlius Town Court and released after posting bail; $10,000 for Page, $5,000 for Ford.Shortly after 8 a.m. on Friday, police arrested Christine Benedicto, of the same apartment, in connection with the drugs that were found.
Benedicto, who was not home at the time of the first two arrests, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana. She was arraigned in Manlius Town Court and released on her own recognizance.All three are scheduled to be back in court on July 17.

Steve-O has been transferred from a rehabilitation center into a psychiatric hospital.

22:30 L.A. 0 Comments

The troubled stuntman - real name Stephen Glover - had enrolled in a narcotics program to treat his drug addictions, but after allegedly getting clean, he has been moved to the secure mental ward at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Hospital.In an entry posted on his official website on Thursday, he writes: “I’m back in the loony bin trying to get my s**t right. I’ve now been clean for 115 days and I’m back in a mental institution.”He adds: “I did so much cocaine, Ketamine, PCP, nitrous oxide and all sorts of other drugs that, quite simply, my brain is f**ked up.”
Glover was ordered to enter the rehab facility after being charged with cocaine possession following his March 3rd arrest on suspicion of vandalizing his neighbours’ L.A. property.Earlier this week, it was announced the star is set for further legal troubles, after a security guard filed charges against him in relation to an alleged assault at the launch of Paris Hilton’s clothing line in August 2007.

Oscar-winning actress Tatum O'Neal has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with her arrest for cocaine possession last month.

09:53 America 0 Comments

Oscar-winning actress Tatum O'Neal has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with her arrest for cocaine possession last month.
The former child star appeared in court yesterday and was ordered to spend two half-day sessions in a drug treatment program and pay the court $95.
The actress - daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal - was arrested by police last month after being spotted by a narcotics team exchanging money with a man near her New York home. O'Neal has previously battled heroin addiction and wrote of her struggle in her 2004 book, A Paper Life.

Rap star DMX was arrested for failing to appear in court and other complaints at a Phoenix airport, adding to his legal woes

09:42 Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix 0 Comments

Rap star DMX was arrested for failing to appear in court and other complaints at a Phoenix airport on Wednesday, adding to his legal woes that include drug possession and animal cruelty charges.A Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman said DMX, 37, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was taken into custody after getting off an airplane from Florida. Last week, he was arrested twice in that state, once for driving without a license and again in a drug bust.In Phoenix, sheriffs arrested DMX for failure to appear in court, failure to pay fines and driving without a license, said Capt. Aaron Douglas, spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. The warrants are from past cases stemming from his arrests for marijuana possession and unauthorized driving of an all terrain vehicle (ATV), Douglas said.DMX's management company could not be reached for comment, and his attorney was not immediately available.The rapper, who has a home outside Phoenix, was arrested in Arizona in May on suspicion of drug possession and animal cruelty after searches of his home allegedly turned up weapons, drugs, dog carcasses and abused pit bulls.
DMX barricaded himself in his bedroom at his home during that arrest, before eventually surrendering.But he gave himself up without incident on Wednesday at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, as he stepped off a plane after arriving from Florida, Douglas said.DMX pleaded guilty in New Jersey to animal cruelty charges in 2002 for neglecting a dozen pit bulls, according to news reports. As part of his sentence he was required to make a public service announcement against animal abuse.While he is best known as a rapper, DMX also has acted in several movies including "Romeo Must Die" and "Exit Wounds

Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery indicted for allegedly dealing more than 100 grams of heroin in Virginia to enter plea

09:19 Norfolk 0 Comments

Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery’s plea agreement hearing is set for 2 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, according to the court docket. Montgomery previously had pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial on the charge, which carries a minimum 5-year prison term.Details of the plea deal were not available. The federal prosecutor’s office and defense attorney James O. Broccoletti did not immediately return phone messages.Montgomery, the former 100-meter world-record holder, was indicted for allegedly dealing more than 100 grams of heroin in Virginia. In May, a judge in New York sentenced Montgomery to 46 months in prison for his part in a multimillion-dollar fake-check scheme.The judge in the check fraud case told Montgomery that the evidence against him in the Virginia case “does not appear flimsy.”According to prosecutors, Montgomery met four times with a confidential informant from August to April, dealing a total of 111 grams of heroin for $8,450. Authorities recorded the meetings on audiotape and, in two cases, also on videotape. Drug Enforcement Administration agents also observed the transactions, a prosecutor said.In the New York case, Montgomery admitted he helped his former coach, Olympic champion Steve Riddick, and others cash $1.7 million in stolen and counterfeit checks. Riddick is serving a five-year prison term. Montgomery’s former companion, Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones, was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to investigators about the check-fraud scam and using steroids.Montgomery won a gold medal in the 400 relay at the 2000 Olympics and a silver medal in the 400 relay at the 1996 Olympics. He retired in 2005 after he was banned from track and field for doping. All of his performances after March 31, 2001, were wiped from the record books—including his world record of 9.78 seconds in the 100 meters in September 2002.