An 18-year-old former Leto High School student (Tampa, Florida) has pled guilty to charges stemming for an August 2010 plot to kill faculty and students at the high school. Austin James Cook was sentenced to two years of community control (intensive supervised house arrest) and eight years of probation. A solicitation to commit murder charge was dropped. The general consensus was that Cook committed conspiracy to commit murder, but he didn't tale a charge for that.

According to reports, between March and July 2010, Cook solicited "someone" to murder "any and all employees or student body of Leto High School." He also bragged to several unnamed witnesses that he planned to blow up Leto High School and told one witness that he wanted to 'break the record' of the Columbine and Virginia Tech killings.

On March 17 we chronicled a father and son who were wanted for robbing several retail locations in North Carolina and South Carolina. The son, 18-year-old Shawn Douglas Hefner was nabbed by police, but his father, Douglas Hefner remained at large. A third person, 29-year-old Thomas Douglas Barr, was apprehended at the same time as Shawn Douglas.

It looks like police have caught up with the father. Douglas Scott Hefner was arrested Wednesday on outstanding warrants from the York County Sheriff's Office and other jurisdictions. The senior Hefner was caught by police after trying to sell video games to a GameStop in Greenville, S.C. Apparently he'd forgotten that he stole some of those games from a GameStop in the first place. Oops.

Consider this next story a cautionary tale for anyone seeking the help of a 9-year-old to score some prescription drugs: it never works out the way you want it to. A 34-year-old Maine woman named Shannon Leathers asked a 9-year-old neighborhood boy to steal his mom's prescription painkillers in exchange for a video game of his choice. The unnamed boy did as he was asked. Leathers told the boy that if he was ever asked about the theft or the missing drugs that he should play dumb. But as Bill Cosby can tell you kids say the darndest things - even to the police. He would later tell police all about the entire transaction, even detailing that Leathers scratched his mo's name off the pill bottle. Shortly thereafter the woman was arrested.

The man accused of stealing $12 million worth of chips from Zynga Poker users has been sentenced to two years in a UK prison, according to eWeek Europe, and faces additional charges related to a 2008 hacking charge. 29-year-old Ashley Mitchell was sentenced for hacking into Zynga Poker servers and stealing billions in chips valued at around $12 million. He then took the virtual currency and tried to sell it on eBay at deep discounts. He managed to unload about a third of the chips for $85,700 before authorities caught up with him.

For two months, 22-year-old Giles Lee Palmer evaded police in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Palmer was wanted for his part in the January 19 murders of 19-year-old Dominique Cintrell Morgan and 22-year-old William O'Brian Smith. Police in Gaffney (where the shootings took place) were finally able to locate Palmer by tracking a PlayStation 3 he stole from one of the victims. More than likely Palmer must have either logged on to the PlayStation Network or police asked Sony to track it. Either way, it lead police right to where Palmer was staying.

Two other suspects are believed to be involved in the shootings. It will be hard for Palmer to say he wasn't at least at the location where the two men were shot because he held on to that stolen PS3.

We will follow up on this story as it develops further.

Source: Kotaku

The family that steals together.. goes to jail together. At least that is what has happened to two York County, South Carolina men were finally nabbed for robbing businesses in both North and South Carolina. According to a joint press release issued by the York County Sheriff’s Office and Shelby Police Department, two men have been arrested for "commercial" robberies: 18-year-old Shawn Douglas Hefner and 29-year-old Thomas Douglas Barr. Shawn's father, 37-year-old Douglas Scott Hefner, is still at large and wanted on several warrants.

It is bad enough that 54-year old John W. Phillips from Fitchburg, Massachusetts married a 13-year-old Detroit girl in the virtual world of RuneScape. That is creepy enough and should be the end of the story. But sick people like Phillips never know when to quit. The man decided it was a good idea to meet up with the girl who was his "wife" in the virtual world and have "real-world" sex with her on three different occasions. The problem for Phillips is that the real-world does not approve of his faux-marriage or his sick obsession with under-age girls.

The result of Phillips' disgusting behavior is simple enough: he now faces 11 felonies including sexual assault, using a computer to communicate with another person to commit a crime, accosting a child for immoral purposes and child sexually abusive activity. The maximum sentences for the charges range from four to 20 years in prison.

A 29-year-old man from England accused of stealing virtual chips in Zynga's Facebook poker game has found himself in some real world trouble this week. Ashley Mitchell faces five charges for his actions, which were substantial according to published reports: he allegedly stole and tried to resell 400 billion chips worth about $12 million.

Prosecutor Gareth Evans said, "The defendant sold around one third of the 400 billion poker chips and looking at the auction history where one can purchase such items he was selling them for around 430 GBP [$696 USD] per billion. By my reckoning the total value if sold on the black market of the 400 billion was in the region of 184,000 GBP [$297,840]."

Mitchell may face jail time due to a previous suspended sentence from 2008 that he will have to serve if found guilty. Given that he has plead guilty to four out of the five charges, it looks like serving jail time is a foregone conclusion.

Suspects in a 2010 robbery that lead to the murder of a GameStop customer will not face the death penalty, according to the Rockdale Citizen. Three Atlanta men were robbing a GameStop in November of last year when the victim, 40-year-old Adrian Snow of Stone Mountain, entered the store. He was immediately shot by one of the defendants and was killed instantly. The men were later apprehended and face a litany of charges.

The men arrested were 27-year-old Giovannte Maddox, 25-year-old Tron Lamar Hill, and 17-year-old Markus Isiah Seymore. The men were charged with "malice murder," felony murder, three counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of obstruction of a law enforcement officer and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Hill faces an additional charge - possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Sometimes it’s hard for people to separate their politics (or in this care their hate) from other aspects of their life. For example, a series of levels created for LittleBigPlanet 2, show an unhealthy dislike for the president of the United States.

The descriptions speak for themselves (from Destructoid):

obama kill read description
defeat obamas
hêârt if ù häte ôbámå ( seriously ) h4h
m odes to kill obama
stupid obama
KILL OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
arrest obama for life

Making a level with the word "kill" and "Obama" in the description is a great way to get a free ride in the party van. Given the recent violence in Arizona, it is also very inappropriate.

Kotaku gets the scoop on what could be the future of dealing with obnoxious people in online games. A new report from Kotaku looks into Riot Games' new justice system for League of Legends, which is going to be run by the player community. They are calling it citizen justice, and if it works, we could see a new standard in dealing with problematic players who go out of their way to ruin the online gaming experience for others.

Starting sometime in the next few months, the creators of League of Legends plan to implement the Tribunal System, which will be staffed by players.

"This is innovation that was bred from necessity," Steve 'Pendragon' Mescon of Riot Games told Kotaku in a phone interview.

Jared Loughner is obviously mentally ill, but the media will not let that fact get in the way of a juicy story. In the hours after the tragedy in Tucson, Arizona when he gunned down twenty people at a Safeway supermarket on Saturday, seriously injuring Arizona congressional representative Gabrielle Giffords, and killing several people including a sitting federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, the media jumped to conclusions about Loughner's motivations and inspirations.

Orange County. California sheriffs say that a 36-year-old-woman pretending to be a 23-year-old woman, seduced a 13-year old boy over Xbox Live. The woman subsequently took a trip from California to Maryland, where police allege that she had sex with the teenager. The online relationship began on Xbox Live in September and quickly escalated over the Thanksgiving holiday. The woman apparently met the boy in Maryland and had sex with him while his parents were sleeping.

The boy's parents became suspicious after finding romantic text messages on his phone. The woman also allegedly sent the boy x-rated pictures and movies of herself online.

The woman, Rachel Ann Hicks, is held without bail on charges of rape and child molestation. Hicks may face additional charges related to another young man she had inappropriate contact with, though police did not disclose details on that case. Hicks, the mother of three children, resides in Lake Forest.

The Pennsylvania man accused of stealing a Game Boy from a deceased teen's coffin this week has been arrested by police.

Police alleged that 37 year-old Jody Lynn Bennett, stole a "Game Boy" from the coffin of family friend 17 year-old Bradley McCombs, during a wake in Montgomery Township. According to the Tribune-Democrat, the boy's uncle, Robert McCombs Jr., confronted the "family friend" outside the funeral home, and Bennett handed back the Game Boy. When the uncle returned to the wake, he realized that Bennett did not return all of the items he stole: three game cartridges and a "Game Boy Light" were still missing.

Pennsylvania State Police are on a manhunt for a suspect that had the audacity to steal a hand-held video game system and other items from a teenager's coffin. According to an Associated Press report, police say 38-year-old Jody Lynn Bennett (of Mentcle, Pennsylvania) grabbed items from the casket of 17-year-old Bradley McCombs during a viewing Monday night at a Montgomery Township funeral home. The teenager was killed in a traffic accident on Christmas Day.

While the parents and funeral director had no comment on Bennett's actions, the suspect’s aunt and McCombs family friend Dianna Bennett said that her family is mortified by the theft and hope that police catch her nephew. Bennett is still at large.

Source: Washington Post

Testimony in a Wichita, Kansas murder case that revolves around Madden NFL 2010 began this week in Wichita Kansas. A judge began hearing the events that lead to the death of one man at the hands of two brothers after an argument over cheating in the video game.

While playing Madden NFL 2010, 22-year-old Luke German was accused of cheating by two brothers - 26-year-old Christopher Redgate and 22-year-old Benjamin Redgate. The argument escalated, prosecutors say, into an assault with a metal pipe that lead to German's death. The brothers face second-degree murder charges for the crime. A medical examiner determined that German died of multiple blunt-force trauma injuries and strangulation.

A judge began hearing testimony about the October fight in a preliminary hearing for Christopher Redgate. His brother waived his right to a preliminary hearing in the Sedgwick County District Court.

A man who robbed a GameStop in Weslaco, Texas at knifepoint is now behind bars after Action 4 News viewers spotted him and turned him in. The men fled the scene after the robbery but security cameras captured his image making it easier for police to eventually track him down - with the help of tips from the public. Police said that Treviño is accused of robbing the GameStop off Expressway 83 at around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Weslaco police arrested 22-year-old Rogelio Treviño III of Mercedes on an aggravated robbery charge on Wednesday morning. GameStop employees told police that Treviño walked into the store, picked out two games, and went to the counter. At this point, he threatened the clerk with a knife and demanded money.

Treviño appeared before a Weslaco municipal judge early Wednesday afternoon where he was held on a $250,000 bond.

Source: valleycentral.com

A crime spree involving San Antonio, Texas GameStops continues, according to police. In less than a week three GameStop stores have been robbed in the city. The latest robbery took place at the GameStop store on Bandera Road and Mainland on the city's northwest side 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Two suspects tied up the store's employees with duct tape and put them in the restroom. Police say the thieves escaped with an undetermined amount of cash.

On Tuesday morning, burglars broke into a GameStop in the 600 block of Northwest Loop 410. Thieves pried open the doors, then broke into several drawers, taking an unknown number of games. On Monday afternoon, police say a man walked into the Game Stop in the 6000 block of Northwest Loop 410 claiming he was armed with a gun and knife. He got away with several games.

Police who are investigating all three cases say that they do not believe the robberies are connected.

In Live Oak, California (near Fresno) a 12-year-old was at home alone playing video games when two men broke into the house, tied him up with extension cords, and robbed the place. The 12 year-old boy was home alone because his parents were out Christmas shopping. It sounds like the film "Home Alone," but this true story was anything but fun or light-hearted. It was terrifying.

According to police and press accounts, the two men gained entry through an unlocked door at the rear of the home and began searching it for things to steal. The victim heard the suspects walking around the kitchen and investigated, surprising them. At this point they grabbed the boy, tied him up and tossed him into "one of the rooms" in the house. Police say that, after the suspects drove away in a red car, the boy managed to break free and go to a nearby neighbor’s house to call police.

Stories like this one make me lose faith in the human race. Police in Charlotte, North Carolina are looking for a man that stole video game systems from the Carolinas Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon. The game systems are intended for patients - young children mostly - being treated for, or recovering from, cancer.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said that none of the children were in contact with the man. Police have one promising lead: the man was caught on film in the hospital hallway. Police hope to locate the man and return the stolen gaming systems to the children so that they can continue to play video games while they are in the hospital for treatment.

Anyone with information about the crime should call CrimeStoppers at (704-) 334-1600.

Source: WBTV

Video games are the focus of a murder involving two teen boys from British Columbia. In March 2010 two teenage boys from British Columbia (18 and 16 years old) raped and killed an 18-year-old girl named Kimberly Proctor. The description of the crime is horrific: after the crime, the two boys mutilated and burned the body under a bridge.

Later the younger of the two alleged murderers bragged about the murder in World of Warcraft to a friend. He bragged about the crime to his friend and sent him newspaper clips detailing the crime. Naturally, the media wants a reason, and World of Warcraft has become a target.

The headline from CTV News gives you an idea where this is all heading: "Teens moved from online violence to real-life murder."

El Paso County, Colorado Fourth Judicial District Judge Deborah Grohs sentenced 23-year-old Derek Lee Hernandez to two mandatory life sentences in prison (without parole) Friday for the January 2009 murder of 22-year-old Jason Holley. The judge issued the sentence -- including 32-years for the robbery -- along with a strong rebuke to the convicted murderer of the mentally disabled man.

A jury (six men, six women) spent nine hours over a two day period to find Hernandez guilty on all counts including first-degree murder, conspiracy, aggravated robbery and robbery from an at-risk adult in the January 5, 2009, slaying of Jason Holley.

Detectives found Holley’s partially nude remains four months after the murder when Kyle Stott led them to a ravine on May 8, 2009. According to prosecutors, Holley was nearly beheaded with a double-edged blade in January 2009, to cover up the theft of his Xbox 360 by the defendants.

During sentencing, Judge Grohs described the murder as a senseless crime and that the victim would have given Hernandez the Xbox 360 if he had asked for it.

In what, unfortunately, seems to be an increasingly common occurrence, a 22-year old Florida man stands accused of using Xbox Live to manipulate a 10-year old boy into sending naked pictures of himself through the online videogame service.

Timothy Hammerstone of Polk City, Florida allegedly requested and received nude pictures from the boy and, in return, offered Xbox Live credits to his young victim, according to a story on CBS13.com. Hammerstone even went so far as to set up a new profile for his prey so that the boy’s parents wouldn’t notice anything when monitoring his activities.

Folsom Police Officer Jason Browning added, “Many parents try to protect their kids when they're online so it may be a shock just how much access gaming systems provide.”

Police warned parents to set up computers or game consoles in non-private areas of the home. Parental controls could also freeze online access from consoles. Ten years old is probably a little young to be online unmonitored, no?

Only the Daily Star could make the New York Post look like the New York Times.

We’re a little late to this one, but last week that bastion of accurate reporting, the UK’s Daily Star, ran an article insinuating that Rockstar was making a Grand Theft Auto game based on the criminal actions committed earlier this month by ex-con Raoul Moat, who killed one and injured three across a six-day spree throughout the NorthEast UK. 

GTA Rothbury, as the game was called by Star writer Jerry Lawton, contained a series of animated quotes from relatives of the victims, outraged by the thought of a game, book or movie based on the criminal’s exploits, as reported up by CVG.

The story was eventually taken off the Star’s website entirely (since it was made up) and the newspaper issued an apology (thanks again CVG) stating:

A wanted fugitive in Lee County, Florida, was having problems supporting his drug habit. So he hit his local Wal-Mart and tried to leave the store with a bunch of Nintendo DS games that he hoped to sell for some heroin, according to a news report.

A News-Press story said  Daniel Larson, 32, tried to leave the Cape Coral store with about $120 in games stuffed in his pants and shoes. He pushed a loss prevention officer who confronted him, but was subdued. The little shopping jaunt brought charges of violating pretrial supervision, larceny, resisting a property recovery retail merchant, using a false identification that adversely affects others, forgery of a public record certificate and violating parole.

Apparently the theft was one of his milder crimes, as his rap sheet included armed robbery and kidnapping. He had gotten out of an arrest on Sept. 5 using a fake ID.

The story goes into a few details on Lee County's booking procedures and Wilma Flintstone is mentioned. Gotta love some of today's legal procedures.

It's unclear from reports whether or not Deng Senshan (left) was a gamer. It seems likely, however, given his age and the fact that many of those confined to Chinese Internet addiction camps are there for alleged obsessive play of online games.

Tragically, the Global Times reports that the 16-year-old was beaten to death by three camp teachers on Sunday for failing to run fast enough. His bereaved father, Deng Fei, spoke of his son's death:

My son was very healthy and was not a criminal. He just had an Internet addiction when I left him at the camp. The police informed us that our child had died on Monday morning. We can’t believe our only son was beaten to death.

The teachers promised me that they would not use any physical punishment on my son when I dropped him off... We’re planning to sit before the local government for a protest tomorrow. If they don’t give us justice, we will go to the camp to confront them.

Deng Fei paid 7,000 yuan - US$1,024 - for his son to spend one month at the camp.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that Chinese netizens are outraged by Deng Senshan's murder:

Many [Netizens] questioned the fairly new diagnosis of “Internet addiction” as a mental disorder.

“Internet addiction? It’s a term made up by some so-called ‘experts’, how come these parents believe what they’ve said?” said one commente... “[It] should be the parents’ problem. Why do they always exaggerate their kids’ hobbies, turning them into addictions or problems?” said another...

One netizen called for greater tolerance of Web habits: “I am sure only China has such a term: Internet addiction…. Why can’t its people accept new ideas and new things with an open mind?”

GamePolitics readers may recall that China recently outlawed electric shock therapy as a means of treating teenage video game addicts.

Via: Gizmodo

An 18-year-old Maryland man is heading to jail for seven years for a crime which prosecutors allege was inspired by Grand Theft Auto.

Hometown Annapolis reports that Nathan Wade Hartley, Jr. "door checked" two young brothers last August. Hartley, who had three friends in his car at the time, drove at the boys (ages 11 and 15), striking one by opening the driver's door of his Honda Civic and hitting the other with the front end of his car. The boys were critically injured in the assault.

Deputy State's Attorney John Mark McDonald commented on the case:

This was particularly disturbing... It just makes me worry about what he will do in the future... The only reason these kids are alive is luck or grace or whatever you want to call it.

Maryland radio station WTOP-FM has more:

A teenager is headed to prison for what prosecutors say was a senseless crime inspired by a video game.

 

In the popular game "Grand Theft Auto," players drive virtual cars and intentionally hit pedestrians by smacking them with open car doors. It's called "door checking," and prosecutors say 18-year-old Nathan Hartley decided to try it with a real car last summer.

GP: Is "door checking" possible in GTA? I'm having trouble locating any videos depicting it...

UPDATE: PS3 Attitude spoke to prosecutor McDonald, who denied linking the crime to GTA:

The suggestion came through the Defendant. I have never seen Grand Theft Auto, and had never heard of ‘door-checking’ until this case. It was a defense he set forth in attempting to waive his case back to the juvenile court. The State did not introduce the game into the prosecution of this case. It added nothing. My comments on the game were to rebut his reasoning for doing what he did.

I did not suggest that the game was to blame for his conduct, and would not. The blame lies entirely with Nathan Hartley. I stated as much in court. As I indicated, I have never even seen the game and I was not passing any judgment on the game. I was simply arguing why I felt his justification was not valid.

GamePolitics was in touch with Hometown Annapolis reporter Scott Daugherty, whose original article seemed to suggest that prosecutor McDonald make the GTA link to the crime. Here's what Daugherty told us:

It's been awhile since I've played GTA and the prosecutor has never seen the game. According to the prosecutor, Hartley's defense attorney referenced GTA in court as a defense... I guess the old, "it's not my fault, the video games made me do it," defense.

 

While I don't recall being able to specifically door check someone in GTA Vice City (the last one played), I do remember clipping pedestrians as I drove down the sidewalk. If you hit one they would fly off to the side.
 
That is the best I can offer.

Michael Cherry, a 38-year-old Ontario man in court to plead guilty to possessing child pornography, offered a unique explanation for his crime.

The London Free Press reports:

Admitting he possessed child pornography, a London man said yesterday he lived "in a closed box" of friendless fantasy fuelled by video games, his computer and comic books.

 

"I'd work, come home . . . lock myself in my apartment..."

 

After a difficult childhood in foster care, separated from his siblings, his client became a truck driver who lived by himself in squalor and clinical depression, Squire said. "He was in a black hole . . . a strange sort of world his computer created."

Via: Graphic Policy

A social game for web-capable mobile phones parodies rogue financier Bernie Madoff's long-running Ponzi scheme, reports CNNmoney.

Made Off, available from publisher Cellufun, allows players to create virtual scams of their owns, promising other players investment returns of up to 20%. Player need to continually attract new "investors" in order to pay back the older ones, lest their Ponzi scheme collapse. No real money is involved. Instead, players trade "cellupoints."

Cellufun CEO Neil Edwards, who says his game pokes fun at the jailed Madoff, not his victims, told CNN/money that Made Off has an educational component:

When your fund goes broke, you go, 'Holy crap, I didn't invite enough people... There is a lot of misconception and confusion on what happened. People don't really understand a Ponzi scheme."

A blurb on the game's website describes the action:

Play as a slimy Fund Manager, a savvy Investor, or both. The game will end without warning when the Feds finally crack down on the Cellufun community, and people managing Funds will get to keep all the Cellupoints invested in them. Investors will keep all the Cellupoints they've acquired through interest payments as well. And we'll give trophies to those who have "made off" with the most profits...

The flight sim community suffered a terrible blow recently as malicious hackers essentially destroyed a longtime website which catered to aircraft game devotees.

The BBC reports that Avsim, launched in 1996, was devastated when hackers trashed both of its servers. Founder Tom Allensworth said in a statement:

The method of the hack makes recovery difficult, if not impossible. AVSIM is totally offline at this time and we expect to be so for some time to come. We are not able to predict when we will be back online, if we can come back at all.

Derek Davis, editor of PC Pilot magazine, told the BBC:

It looks like 13 years of hard work on Tom's part could have been wiped out. Avsim is an important site, because it services the whole community as a source of community developed terrains, skins, and mods - its contribution has been immeasurable....

Via: Ars Technica