MIAMI — One year after flying to Miami in a chartered plane with a bag packed with a gold-plated handgun and drugs, rapper Lil Wayne pleaded guilty Friday to possessing a firearm as a formerly convicted felon.
Lil Wayne, who had a felony gun possession record from New York, was charged only with the new firearm offense despite being caught with marijuana, cocaine and other drugs during his holiday trip from Los Angeles to Miami, according to court records.
“Your honor, I plead guilty,” the 38-year-old rapper told U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams during a virtual hearing in Miami federal court.
Local and federal authorities discovered the weapon, which was loaded with six rounds of ammunition, during a search of the jet on Dec. 23, 2019, but they let the famous rapper go with the rest of his entourage. He celebrated the holidays at his waterfront home on upscale Allison Island in Miami Beach.
Lil Wayne, who was charged in mid-November, faces up to 10 years in prison at a Jan. 28 sentencing hearing before Judge Williams.
It’s uncertain whether the rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., will serve much hard time. Generally, sentencing guidelines range from one year to two years with his acceptance of responsibility on the gun charge, but his criminal history will be a potential factor in his punishment.
—Miami Herald
WASHINGTON — Prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. have interviewed employees of Deutsche Bank and insurance broker Aon as part of their investigation of the Trump Organization, according to people familiar with the matter.
The interviews, which were first reported by the New York Times, show that Vance’s probe, which had originally focused on possible books and records violations associated with a 2016 payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Donald Trump years before he became president, has extended to his family company’s interactions with other businesses.
“We can confirm that we received a subpoena from the office of the Manhattan District Attorney,” Aon spokeswoman Nadine Youssef said in a statement. “As is our policy, we intend to cooperate with all regulatory bodies. We do not comment on specific client matters.”
A case by a state prosecutor like Vance would be beyond the reach of the president’s pardon power, which only applies to federal crimes. Trump, who has pardoned a number of political allies, has raised the possibility that he will pardon himself before he leaves office on Jan. 20.
President-elect Joe Biden has already said that he does not plan to involve himself in any decisions by his Justice Department on whether to investigate Trump over an array of potential violations.
—Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON – Timely passage of stopgap funding to avert a partial government shutdown starting this weekend was up in the air Friday afternoon as some senators were trying to block lawmakers' salaries in a budgetary impasse and others sought to send checks out to most U.S. households.
One holdup was averted when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., relented on his push to strip troop withdrawal language from the unrelated defense authorization bill. But Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that GOP senators pushing for votes on their "no budget, no pay" plan, as well as an effort by Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to get $1,200 direct payments attached to a moving legislative vehicle, were holding up the process.
Complicating matters further, if the salary withholding measure gets a vote, Thune said Paul would insist on a vote on his own bill to prevent government shutdowns with an automatic continuing resolution at lower funding levels. "There is either going to be a bunch of stuff, or nothing," Thune said.
Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana and Rick Scott of Florida are the primary GOP backers of the "no budget, no pay" measure, which simply says that lawmakers can't receive their salaries until Congress adopts a budget resolution and passes all the appropriations bills by the start of the new fiscal year Oct. 1. They couldn't immediately be reached for comment on whether they'd hold up the stopgap bill unless they got a vote.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee added a version of their bill as an amendment to a broader "automatic CR" bill authored by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., during a 2019 markup. But among those expressing reservations on the "no budget, no pay" bill were Paul and Republican Mitt Romney of Utah.
—CQ-Roll Call
After postponing the decision for several years, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on Thursday night the expected monetary unification between the island's two currencies will begin in January.
The Cuban peso will be the only local currency circulating as of Jan. 1, with an official exchange rate of 24 pesos to the dollar, Díaz-Canel said in a short video broadcast on state television that showed him seated next to Raúl Castro, the Communist Party's first secretary. The appointed president did not offer more details on how the process will be carried out. Castro made no remarks.
Monetary unification was a pending task that had already been approved by the Communist Party for several years, said Díaz-Canel, who added that the measure "was not a magic solution" to the island's woes but would allow the country to move forward.
With the monetary reform, the Cuban convertible peso, the CUC, will disappear.
Currently, Cuba has two currencies: the Cuban peso, in which state wages are paid, and the CUC, the local hard currency. One CUC is equivalent to 25 Cuban pesos for the population, but the government also maintained a fictitious parity with the dollar for state companies. For the state budget, many sectors also used a fictitious parity between the Cuban peso and the dollar.
The dollar was recently reintroduced into the Cuban economy. For the moment, it circulates in billsonly in the black market, but it can already be used through bank cards to buy in exclusive dollar-only stores.
—Miami Herald
