BALI, Indonesia (AP) An Indonesian court sentenced a British grandmother to death on Tuesday for smuggling cocaine worth $2.5 million in her suitcase onto the resort island of Bali even though prosecutors had sought only a 15-year sentence. Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, wept when judges handed down the sentence and declined to speak to reporters on her way back to prison, covering her face with a floral scarf. She had claimed in court that she was forced into taking the drugs into the country by a gang that was threatening to hurt her children. Indonesia, like many Asian countries, is very strict on drug crimes, and most of the more than 40 foreigners on its death row were convicted of drug charges. Sandiford's lawyer said she would appeal. Appeals take several years. Condemned criminals face a firing squad in Indonesia, which has not carried out an execution since 2008, when 10 people were put to death. A verdict is expected in the trial of Sandiford's alleged accomplice, British man Julian Anthony Pounder, on Wednesday. He is accused of receiving the drugs in Bali, which has a busy bar and nightclub scene where party drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy are … Continue reading →

Michael Douglas son Cameron, cant stay clean. He got busted this month for having drugs in his system at the federal prison in Loretto, Pa., where hes serving a 10-year stint for dealing, The Post reports. Douglas failed a urinalysis and was immediately sent to solitary confinement the first week of January, according to a prison source. No word on whether hell face additional jail time for the infraction or how long hell stew in the hole. Recently, Douglas suffered a broken leg and finger behind bars after a crime-family captain put a $100 bounty on him for being a rat, a prison insider says. The source says that Douglas mysteriously suffered the injuries after a New York City mobster offered payment to anyone who hurt the drug-dealing scion during flag-football season this fall at Loretto, Pa. He broke his femur, which is hard to snap, and had to have a rod inserted, says the source. He told health services staff that he hurt them playing handball. You dont break a femur playing handball. Douglas, who is doing a nearly 10-year stretch for dealing crystal meth and smuggling in drugs for himself while in the pokey, was inadvertently exposed as … Continue reading →

A plague of drugs is fuelling deadly violence across northern Manitoba, Manitoba Keewatinook Ininew Okimowin Grand Chief David Harper said Monday. "There's been a major wave of violence," Harper said in the wake of six homicides in the first three weeks of the year. "These drugs now, they're unforgiving. "That's one of the biggest things -- people under the influence. Normal everyday people who are sober don't try to harm people." The latest victim was 19-year-old Austin Monias of Cross Lake, who died early Sunday morning from injuries he sustained at a house party in the northern community. Monias was the nephew of elder Raymond Robinson, who is fasting in support of Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Theresa Spence. "He's (Robinson) been affected big time. Luckily, we had some of our leadership there," Harper said. "One thing we've been fighting for a long time is the lack of inspections of the highways for drugs reaching our communities. We need to mobilize law enforcement," the grand chief said. Harper said First Nations need more help with security to stop drugs before they arrive on reserves. Some bands have a ban on alcohol, and drugs are illegal everywhere, he noted. "My staff met … Continue reading →