Indictments

Retiring Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) created the appearance of impropriety when he called a federal prosecutor in New Mexico to inquire about the timing of corruption indictments, the Senate Ethics Committee said. The committee criticized Domenici in a letter, but it recommended no punishment. The prosecutor, David C. Iglesias, later was fired and said he felt pressured by Domenici. He was among eight U.S. attorneys who were dismissed by the Bush administration, sparking Democratic accusations that they were fired for political reasons.

An Irish Republican Army veteran was charged in connection with the execution of an undercover British soldier 31 years ago. Kevin Crilly, 57, had been living under an alias. Northern Ireland's police said Crilly was charged with the abduction and false imprisonment of Capt. Robert Nairac, a British intelligence officer who posed as a Belfast IRA member. Six other IRA members have served prison sentences for their part in the 1977 crime.

An unruly airline passenger who had to be duct-taped to his seat during a trip from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was indicted Thursday on federal charges of assault and interfering with flight crew members. The FBI said James Allen Cameron, 49, of Anaheim is accused of hitting at least one cabin attendant and interfering with other crew members during a United Airlines flight that landed at Los Angeles International Airport on April 23. Authorities alleged he was so belligerent and verbally abusive that crew members strapped him to his seat for a portion of the flight.

A former Bell police officer was arrested by FBI agents Thursday morning after being indicted on civil rights charges for allegedly forcing a woman to have sex with him while he was on duty. Feliciano Sanchez, 33, of Pico Rivera is accused of sexually assaulting the woman following a traffic stop last year, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. After pulling the woman over, Sanchez allegedly drove her to a remote area where he forced her to engage in a sex act, according to the court documents.

Somewhere in the skies between Orange County and Las Vegas, federal prosecutors say, Broadcom Corp. co-founder and hard-partying billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III gave new meaning to the term "highflying." Winging their way to Sin City in 2001, Nicholas and his entourage generated so much marijuana smoke that it billowed into the cockpit, "requiring the pilot flying the plane to put on an oxygen mask," according to a federal grand jury indictment made public Thursday.

Three teenage members of a San Clemente gang have been charged as adults in the death of a rival killed by a large piece of concrete, authorities said. Jesus Borja, Alejandro Hurtado and Juan Sanchez, all 14, are scheduled to be arraigned July 22 on charges of murder and street terrorism with a sentencing enhancement for criminal street gang activity, said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney's office. If convicted, they could face 25 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors indicted four Inland Empire businessmen Monday on money laundering charges after accusing them of illegally funneling $50,000 in campaign donations to seven state political races over four years. Mark Leggio, part-owner of three car dealerships, allegedly directed three employees to give $3,000 to $3,300 to specific candidates running for the Assembly and state Senate between 2002 and 2006.

Russian prosecutors charged three men with a role in the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was critical of the Kremlin's rights record in Chechnya. Politkovskaya was shot in her central Moscow apartment block in October 2006. Prosecutors named the men as Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Ibragim Makhmudov. Last month Russian prosecutors named Rustam Makhmudov as the man who shot Politkovskaya. They said their investigation of him was continuing.

An Italian businessman known for dating actress Anne Hathaway and clashing with billionaire Ron Burkle was charged Tuesday with bilking investors out of millions of dollars on promises to buy Catholic Church properties on the cheap. In a 12-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York, Raffaello Follieri, 29, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors said in court that investors lost as much as $6 million.

An attorney and an accountant have been charged in an alleged medical insurance scam in which thousands of patients across the U.S. were allegedly recruited to undergo unnecessary procedures at a Buena Park surgical center in exchange for cash or gifts.