In brief: Camp Easton sale clears first hurdle
The Spokane-area Boy Scouts of America executive board has approved the proposed sale of Camp Easton in exchange for a new camp on the west shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene.
That vote is one of two votes needed before the full board begins final negotiations with Arizona-based Discovery Land Co.
Next week, the Inland Northwest Council’s foundation board also votes on the sale of Camp Easton, said Scout Executive Tim McCandless. If the foundation board approves, a committee will discuss in detail the exchange.
Discovery Land Co., which built and manages golf course and housing development Gozzer Ranch near Coeur d’Alene, is offering to build a modern Boy Scout camp on the west shore of the lake, in return for acquiring Camp Easton. Discovery is also willing to provide a $2.5 million capital endowment, McCandless said.
Opponents of the sale say historic Camp Easton, on 383 acres of the lake’s east side, is historic and irreplaceable. They also say the deal will leave neighbors of Camp Easton next to a gated community that will raise taxes and diminish the quality of life on that section of the lake.
Fugitive arrested in Florida
Federal agents have arrested an unlicensed bounty hunter whose alleged apprehension techniques led to felony charges and a criminal investigation against a Spokane police officer.
Dennis Kariores, 42, was taken into custody Thursday in Pensacola, Fla., on a $150,000 warrant, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The federal Gulf Coast Regional Task Force arrested Kariores after agents in Spokane learned he’d fled to Navarre, a small city just outside Pensacola.
Spokane police Officer Alan Edwards was suspended for two weeks for arranging a ruse with Kariores that involved using a fugitive to help them gain access to a home they were otherwise not legally authorized to enter.
Kariores has been a fugitive since Aug. 30, when he was charged with first-degree burglary, unlawful imprisonment and second-degree kidnapping for allegedly unlawfully detaining suspects.
Felon sentenced for fraud, tax evasion
A federal judge Thursday sentenced a convicted felon to another 27 months in prison after he defrauded a brother and sister out of $167,000 and then failed to pay taxes on his ill-gotten gains.
John E. Peterson, 60, of Spokane, got the sentence after he previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion.
As part of the scheme, Peterson convinced the brother and sister, who live in Alabama, that he had access to foreign accounts that contained money they had lost as part of a previous investment.
Peterson, according to court records, claimed the account had grown to $100 million and that he simply needed funds from the brother and sister to access the account in a foreign bank. The siblings sent a total of $167,794 for the fictitious fees.
Peterson then took the siblings’ money and put it in bank accounts in another person’s name to avoid paying taxes, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Rice said in a news release.