blaze media

Texas crook with 37 prior arrests gets released from jail, cuts off ankle monitor, then steals over $200K in jewelry: Cops

A Texas male with 37 prior arrests was released from jail, cut off his ankle monitor, then went on a crime spree, stealing over $200,000 in jewelry, KSAT-TV reported, citing the San Antonio Police Department and new documents.

Michael Allen Loving, 38, was arrested again Tuesday after being accused in connection with a string of recent robberies and thefts, namely from pawn shops and mall jewelry stores, the station said.

“I would say that it’s brazen that he just walks in, in the middle of the day,” said Camelia Juarez, a SAPD public information officer, according to KSAT. “He will just smash the glass, break it and take off with [the jewelry].”

More from the station:

Arrest affidavits related to Loving’s most recent arrests detail how he used that “smash and grab” technique at JCPenney at North Star Mall in October and at an EZ Pawn shop on West Woodlawn Avenue earlier this month.

The affidavits said that he stole more than $37,000 worth of gold chains from JCPenney and another $45,000-plus in jewelry from the EZ Pawn shop.

In both cases, Loving walked in and specifically asked employees to show him what he referred to as “cubans,” some of the most expensive jewelry in the display cases, the affidavit said.

Loving smashed the glass cases in both businesses, grabbed the jewelry, and ran off, KSAT said, citing the arrest affidavits.

Loving also threatened EZ Pawn shop workers with a gun, police told the station.

“After he threatened those two employees at the EZ Pawn, he went to dozens of other jewelry stores,” Juarez added to KSAT.

Juarez said Loving went on to steal more than $150,000 in jewelry from another business, the station said.

RELATED: Male reportedly shatters glass front door of jewelry store in middle of night. His problem? Armed store owner is inside.

Prior to his crime spree, Loving was arrested in connection with a smash-and-grab theft at an H-E-B on South Zarzamora Street, KSAT said, adding that police said he hit someone with his car as he fled. Officers later found the vehicle abandoned and found Loving — who had removed all of his clothing, the station said.

He was soon released from the Bexar County jail with an ankle monitor — then just days later, he cut off the ankle monitor and went on his crime spree, police told KSAT.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office told Blaze News on Wednesday morning that Loving is behind bars.

Juarez said investigators believe Loving has targeted other business owners who have not yet reported crimes, the station said, adding that other potential victims should call SAPD’s Property Crimes Division at 210-207-8326.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Repeat offender, Texas, San antonio, Crime spree, Jewelry stolen, Arrest, Ankle monitor, Crime 

blaze media

Haitian pair busted for allegedly using their mini-stores as fronts for $7M SNAP fraud scheme

Two Haitian men have been accused of using their small Boston-based retail stores as a front for a $7 million food stamp fraud scheme.

The United States Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts announced charges against 74-year-old Antonio Bonheur and 21-year-old Saul Alisme. Authorities arrested both men on Wednesday and charged them with one count of food stamp fraud, which carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

‘The fraud was shocking and glaring.’

Court documents revealed Bonheur is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Alisme is a Haitian citizen with lawful permanent residence in the U.S.

Bonheur owned Jesula Variety Store, a 150 square-foot retail space, and Alisme owned Saul Mache Mixe Store, a 500 square-foot location. Both establishments were located in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood.

Despite the stores’ small footprints, they redeemed millions of dollars’ worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 per month. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the redeemed funds outpaced those of a nearby full-service supermarket, which redeems approximately $82,000 per month.

Bonheur was allegedly receiving his own SNAP benefits, which he used to transfer for cash at his store.

RELATED: $500 million in SNAP funds is reportedly spent on fast food because of state program

Jesula Variety Store. Image source: United States Attorney’s Office criminal complaint

Despite 70% of the stores’ SNAP transactions exceeding $95, they stocked “little legitimate food inventory,” the attorney’s office found.

“During undercover operations conducted at both businesses over the course of the investigation, SNAP benefits were allegedly trafficked for cash on four occasions from Jesula Variety Store and on two occasions from Saul Mache Mixe Store,” the attorney’s office wrote. “In each instance, the defendants themselves allegedly worked the cash registers and personally exchanged SNAP benefits for cash. Both stores were also allegedly observed selling liquor in exchange for SNAP benefits.”

Additionally, the stores allegedly sold a donated food product intended for food-insecure children overseas and not authorized for retail sale.

RELATED: Trump admin drops hammer on SNAP scammers after finding 186K dead people collecting benefits

Saul Mache Mixe Store. Image source: United States Attorney’s Office criminal complaint

“To be certain, these were not supermarkets. They were not full-service grocers. It would be a huge stretch to even call them convenience stores,” said U.S. Attorney Leah Foley during a Wednesday press conference. “There is no plausible way SNAP-eligible food could have been purchased from these stores for this long. Yet these two stores are alleged to have illicitly trafficked nearly $7 million in SNAP benefits.”

“The fraud was shocking and glaring,” she added.

Foley explained that the investigation also uncovered alleged “financial manipulations.”

“Because the stores had little legitimate inventory, and almost no lawful income, the defendants relied almost entirely on [U.S. Department of Agriculture]-funded SNAP redemptions,” Foley continued. “To conceal their fraud, they used numerous bank accounts to transfer the SNAP benefits around between the accounts they controlled to create the illusion of legitimate business activity.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, Snap, Food stamp, Fraud, Food stamp faud, Supplemental nutrition assistance program, Snap fraud, Haitian, Haiti, Boston, Massachusetts, Politics 

blaze media

Putting God back in ‘degraded’ US Chaplain Corps: Hegseth axes pagan codes and New Age guides

Earlier this week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that he would be overhauling yet another aspect of the military: the Chaplain Corps.

On Tuesday, Hegseth explained a directive that will effectively overhaul the United States Chaplain Corps, “the spiritual and moral backbone of our nation’s forces” that, for hundreds of years, “ministered” to the “souls” of American servicemen and women, as he explained in the video.

‘In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers.’

Hegseth recounted the long history of the Chaplain Corps, which dates back to 1775, when George Washington himself established it. The “weakening” of this important institution has become “a real problem for our nation’s military,” Hegseth said.

“Sadly, as part of the ongoing war on warriors, in recent decades its role has been degraded,” Hegseth said in the video. “In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers. Faith and virtue were traded for self-help and self-care.”

RELATED: Troops who refused COVID shot to receive retroactive honor to ‘right the wrongs of the past’: Hegseth

Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

As evidence of the New Age influence in the military, Hegseth referred to the United States Army’s Spiritual Fitness Guide, which mentions “God” only once and “virtue” not at all, even as 82% of the military identify as “religious.”

Hegseth ordered the elimination of this “unacceptable and unserious” Spiritual Fitness Guide and the simplification of the Faith and Belief Coding System, an “overly complex” classification system of over 200 different beliefs.

The Faith and Belief Code was apparently expanded in March 2017. The expansion went into more detailed distinctions among Protestant denominations, and it included alternate belief systems like “Magick and Spiritualist,” “Wicca,” “Pagan,” “New Age Churches,” “Humanist,” and “Heathen.”

Hegseth promised more changes in the near future, saying that there will be a “top-down cultural shift” in the military that puts “spiritual well-being on the same footing as mental and physical health.”

“We are going to make the Chaplain Corps great again,” he posted on X.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Hegseth, Secretary of war, Us military, Pete hegseth, Department of war, Chaplain corps, George washington, Faith and belief code, New age, Secular humanism 

blaze media

Bombshell report claims Republicans secretly pushed Jasmine Crockett into Texas Senate race

Jasmine Crockett’s decision to run for U.S. Senate has confused much of Texas — but a new bombshell report alleges that Republicans manufactured the Crockett support for their own advantage.

“When you realize the entire state of Texas can actually vote for her, you start wondering … what in the world she’s thinking, like Jasmine, what are you smoking thinking that you should run for a seat in which all of Texas can vote for?” Gonzales asks.

“It turns out the Republicans duped Jasmine Crockett into thinking she had this organic grassroots appeal,” she adds.

According to a new report from the nonprofit organization Notice, Crockett was duped by an “astroturf recruitment process” led by Republicans who wanted to push her into a Senate run.

“The NRSC started including Crockett’s name in polling and conducted ‘a sustained effort’ to get Crockett, the party’s preferred candidate to run against, into the race,” the report reads.

“Republican’s Senate campaign arm has actively worked behind the scenes to encourage Rep. Jasmine Crockett to jump into the Senate Democratic primary in Texas, believing she will be the easiest opponent to beat,” the report continues.

“So the Republicans got together, and they were like, ‘Who do we want to run against in the state of Texas? I know, Jasmine Crockett. Obviously, obviously.’ So this tracks, right?” Gonzales says.

“She was tricked. She was astroturfed. That has to be exactly what happened,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Video, Video phone, Upload, Camera phone, Sharing, Free, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Jasmine crockett, Senate, Jasmine crockett senate run, Astroturf jasmine crockett, Texas politic, Texas politics, Texas senate 

blaze media

US Virgin Islands’ gun restrictions violate the Second Amendment, DOJ claims

A Second Amendment standoff has ignited between the federal government and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

On Tuesday, the federal government sued the U.S. territory, its police department, and Police Commissioner Mario Brooks over what it argues are violations of the Second Amendment.

‘This lawsuit seeks to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms in the US Virgin Islands.’

For example, applicants for a firearm license must demonstrate to the commissioner of the Virgin Islands Police Department that they have “good reason to fear death or great injury to his person or property” and must be vouched for by “two credible persons.”

The law also requires that applicants have “good moral character” but does not define those requirements clearly or at all.

RELATED: Gun-rights ‘grifter’? Activist accused of exploiting 2A supporters for profit

Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. government also alleges that Virgin Islands law requires warrantless searches and “unconstitutionally conditioning the grant of a license to possess or carry a firearm on expenditures of money to purchase and install safes,” which are purportedly required to be bolted to the floor of the applicant’s home.

“This Civil Rights Division will protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The newly established Second Amendment Section filed this lawsuit to bring the Virgin Islands Police Department back into legal compliance by ensuring that applicants receive timely decisions without unconstitutional obstruction.”

“The territory’s firearms licensing laws and practices are inconsistent with the Second Amendment,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Sleeper for the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands. “This lawsuit seeks to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms in the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

The complaint comes after numerous applicants complained that Virgin Islands authorities were “unreasonably delaying their gun permit application decisions and added unreasonable conditions,” according to the Justice Department’s press release.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Harmeet dhillon, U.s. virgin islands, Vipd, Virgin islands, Civil rights division, Doj, Department of justice, Second amendment, 2a 

blaze media

Caroline Ellison, Sam Bankman-Fried’s partner in FTX crime, sprung early from prison

Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison last September after facing a possible 110 years.

Ellison was the CEO of Alameda Research, a crypto investment firm that was co-founded by her ex-boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried, the centerpiece of the FTX scandal that rocked the nation.

‘We do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual.’

Bankman-Fried was found to have been improperly funneling money to the hedge fund, and in Dec. 2022, Ellison pleaded guilty to related charges, including conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

Now as reported by Business Insider, Ellison has been moved out of federal prison after serving just 11 months at the Danbury Federal Correctional Institute, a low-security prison in Danbury, Connecticut.

Ellison was reportedly transferred out of the facility on October 16 and into community confinement, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told BI.

Spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said that Ellison remains in federal custody by way of either home confinement or through a halfway house.

“For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual, including reasons for transfers or release plans, nor do we specify an individual’s specific location while in community confinement,” Giamusso told the outlet.

RELATED: Ellison says FTX used $100M of customer deposits to bribe Chinese officials, set up accounts in names of Thai prostitutes

Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Online records purportedly showed Ellison was set to be released in February, nine months earlier than the duration of her sentence.

Despite facing 110 years in prison for seven charges, a New York judge said he gave the 31-year-old a shorter sentence due to her “very, very substantial” cooperation with the federal case against Bankman-Fried and other executives.

“She cooperated, and he denied the whole thing,” Judge Lewis Kaplan said at the time. “I’ve seen a lot of cooperators in 30 years here. I’ve never seen one quite like Ms. Ellison.”

FTX allegedly took $10 billion from customer deposits, while at the same time granting Alameda Research a $65 billion credit line. This eventually resulted in an $8 billion debt taken out of customer deposits.

Ellison testified with other shocking allegations; “CBS Mornings” reported at the time that Alameda allegedly used $100 million of FTX customer deposits to bribe Chinese officials.

The bribes were an alleged attempt to gain access to crypto accounts that were frozen by the Chinese, worth upwards of $1 billion. In their attempts, FTX allegedly tried to regain the money by setting up accounts in the names of Thai prostitutes.

RELATED: Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison over massive FTX crypto-scandal

Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Ellison also claimed that in order to recoup some money, Bankman-Fried considered selling shares in FTX to investors like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Ellison reportedly told jurors that Alameda Research would lend money to Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives so they could make political donations. Bankman-Fried donated a reported $70 million to Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterms, making him the second-highest donor behind George Soros.

FTX’s deep pockets allowed for big-name sponsorship deals with people like NFL legend Tom Brady and iconic television writer Larry David and even allowed for naming rights to FTX Arena in Miami.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Return, Ftx, Crypto, Sbf, Sam bankman-fried, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Fraud, Tech 

blaze media

Public will soon be able to invest in ‘advanced or reverse-engineered alien technology’

An investment firm is banking on the theory that some companies have access to alien technology.

Firm Tuttle Capital calls itself “the antidote to Wall Street” and boasts a proprietary formula that strengthens its portfolio. Using the acronym HEAT — hedges, edges, asymmetry, themes — Tuttle might be leaning on its alleged proficiency in “big-picture trends” with its new exchange-traded fund, the UFO Disclosure AI Powered ETF.

Funds will also target materials and energy firms that could possibly benefit from ‘new energy sources or metamaterials inspired by alien technology.’

Tuttle’s new ETF — recently filed with the SEC — will invest at least 80% of its net assets in a “basket of companies” it believes have “exposure to advanced or ‘reverse-engineered’ alien technology, spurred by government disclosures about UFOs (unidentified flying objects) and alleged advanced technologies.”

While the companies are yet to be named, they are to include aerospace and defense contractors that “might have R&D programs rumored to work with classified technology, potentially leading to groundbreaking advancements.”

RELATED: Are aliens demons in disguise? This theory will shatter your reality

Photo by Satellite image (c) 2023 Maxar Technologies via Getty Images

At the same time, funds will also target materials and energy firms that could possibly benefit from “new energy sources or metamaterials inspired by alien technology.”

For example, investments are set to be made in companies that work with semiconductors and electronics because they may “incorporate or license advanced alien-inspired components, driving innovation in the tech industry.”

The ETF will attempt to invest in companies that could take down more UFOs in the future as well. This is described in the SEC filing as companies that specialize in detecting unidentified anomalous phenomena, in addition to countering them.

The fund also plans on strategically shorting other companies that may become obsolete due to “alien-level” engineering emerging from their competitors. This includes, but is not limited to, “conventional propulsion firms and old-guard energy providers” that may fall behind due to advanced technologies.

RELATED: Joe Rogan gets the aliens wrong — and the danger right

Photo by: Bernard Friel/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

“I’m a trader. I look at [UFOs], and I say that they’re using a power source that is light-years beyond anything that we have,” CEO Matthew Tuttle said, according to the Financial Times. “If our government has this technology and it’s released, that will be a game-changer.”

As described in the official documents, the entire “theme” the fund is banking on is regarded as “highly speculative and subject to rumor cycles.”

This comes with the stated risk that “government confirmation or denial of advanced alien tech is uncertain, and rumored breakthroughs might never materialize.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Return, Aliens, Alien technology, Ufo, Uap, Propulsion, Tech 

blaze media

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan resigns; pope appoints his replacement

Per the resignation norms revised by the late Pope Francis in 2014, Cardinal Timothy Dolan was obligated to present his letter of resignation from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of New York upon reaching the age of 75.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., confirmed on Thursday that Pope Leo XIV has accepted Dolan’s resignation and appointed fellow Illinoisan Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet to take over the 4,683 square-mile archdiocese that serves over 1.5 million Catholics.

Cardinal Dolan — who has served as archbishop of New York since his appointment by the late Pope Benedict XVI in February 2009 — will continue to serve as the apostolic administrator until the installation of his 58-year-old replacement at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on Feb. 6, 2026.

‘Running the New York archdiocese is a daunting task.’

Archbishop-designate Hicks, a native of Harvey, Illinois, will be the 14th bishop and 11th archbishop of the See of New York.

In addition to his time as bishop of Joliet, Hicks previously served in El Salvador as the regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a home dedicated to caring for thousands of orphaned and abandoned children in various Latin American and Caribbean countries; dean of formation at Mundelein Seminary; vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago; and auxiliary bishop of Chicago.

Hicks is no stranger to the pope, having spoken with him at length just last year.

After Pope Leo’s election, Hicks sung the Chicago native’s praises and told WGN-TV, “I recognize a lot of similarities between him and me. So we grew up literally in the same radius, in the same neighborhood together.”

RELATED: Packed churches, skyrocketing conversions: Is New York undergoing a Catholic renaissance?

Photo by Masrio Tomassetti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images

Rev. David Boettner, one of Hicks’ former classmates at Mundelein Seminary, told Faith magazine in 2020, “As a seminarian and as a priest, he has always had a deep love of people and a generosity of his time to serve the needs of others.”

“He has always lived his promise of obedience to the Church, and his first answer when asked to serve is almost always yes,” added Boettner.

Rev. James Presta, a priest who worked with Hicks at Mundelein and at St. Joseph College Seminary, said, “He has been a mentor to young priests. He offers them fraternal support and sound, practical wisdom as a brother priest.”

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, stressed that Cardinal Dolan will be missed.

“He is a very special man. He always fought for justice, and his amiable character won the applause of Catholics and non-Catholics alike. He was certainly very kind to me,” Donohue said in a statement. “His fairness never stood in the way of being outspoken about contemporary issues. He was not tied to the politics of the left or the right.”

While tethered neither to the left nor the right, Dolan called on Catholics to “be very active, very informed, and very involved in politics”; criticized the perverse secular culture that “seems to discover new rights every day”; championed religious liberty; and defended Christian morality, especially as it pertains to marriage and the rights of the unborn.

“Running the New York archdiocese is a daunting task, but it is one that suits the new archbishop,” noted Donohue. “Archbishop Ronald Hicks is young and vibrant and will be able to put his considerable administrative experience to good use. We look forward to working with him.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Faith, Abide, Pope, Pope leo, Cardinal timothy dolan, Dolan, Timothy dolan, Catholic, Vatica, Catholic church, New york, Archdiocese, Ronald hicks, Politics