In brief: Drug cartel lieutenant sentenced to 22 years
CHICAGO – A U.S. judge sentenced a reputed lieutenant of captured Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to 22 years in prison Monday for his role in a $1 billion trafficking conspiracy, saying the stiff sentence should send a message to traffickers everywhere.
Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez, 59, stood unmoving in a Chicago courtroom, listening through a Spanish-speaking interpreter as Chief U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo’s tone became more stern. “I tell you on behalf of all citizens of Chicago … we are tired of this drug trafficking,” he said.
The case is regarded as one of the U.S. government’s most important against Mexican cartels. Guzman remains jailed in Mexico and Mexican authorities haven’t said if they might extradite him to Chicago.
Democrats pick three ’16 convention finalists
WASHINGTON – Democrats narrowed the list of contenders for their 2016 national convention to three cities Monday, announcing the party’s next presidential candidate will be formally nominated in New York City, Philadelphia or Columbus, Ohio.
The Democratic National Committee said convention bids made by Birmingham, Alabama, and Phoenix had been eliminated.
DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman, announced the finalists in an email to Democrats and said the event would be either the weeks of July 18, July 25 or August 22. She said the DNC expects to announce the host city in early 2015.
Tainted sprouts sicken 63 people in 10 states
WASHINGTON – Raw sprouts are linked to dozens of cases of food poisoning – again.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 63 people from 10 states concentrated on the East Coast fell ill with salmonella linked to bean sprouts from a supplier in New York City. The CDC said the supplier, Wonton Food Inc. of Brooklyn, has agreed to stop production, for now.
The outbreak is among three recently linked to raw sprouts. Two listeria deaths and three listeria illnesses were linked to consumption of mung bean sprouts in the Midwest over the summer, and 19 E. coli illnesses were linked to raw clover sprouts in mostly Western states in May.