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The offense of forgery is defined as the following: A person commits forgery when, with intent to defraud, he or she knowingly makes a false document or alters any document to make it false and that document is apparently capable of defrauding another.

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YORK - Bradlee Pratt, 20, formerly of York, has been sentenced to a term of 15-45 months in prison after being convicted of second degree forgery and felony failure to appear.

According to York County Attorney Candace Dick, a man in another county reported to the York Police Department that his bank had informed him someone else wrote a check on his account at the Walmart in York.

Dick said the man also told the police that earlier in the year, he was asked if a pregnant friend of his daughter could stay at his home because he was often not home as a long-distance truck driver.

"This pregnant young woman needed a place to stay and he agreed to let her stay there while he was gone," Dick said. "When he returned home, he kicked her out when he said other people had been living there, too. Later, he found out that the pregnant woman was a man."

Apparently, the man posing as a pregnant teen was identified as being Pratt.

Dick said Pratt stole checks from the man and used one to purchase $859 worth of stereo equipment at the Walmart in York. He was also recorded later, returning equipment and getting cash back.

"He had no authorization to take or pass that check," Dick told the court. "He also signed the owner's name to the check, but then he provided his own driver's license as identification."

Regarding the felony failure to appear, Pratt was ordered to appear for his jury trial in August but was a no-show. He was later found in Kansas, arrested and brought back to York County.

"He's spent 120 days in jail," Pratt's attorney, York County Public Defender Nancy Waldron told Judge Patrick Mullen.

"He's never been on probation as an adult and has never been convicted of a violent crime. He was taking classes to be a drug and alcohol counselor - and upon release from jail he plans to look for a job. He admits he has a drug problem and needs help. The only area (in the pre-sentence investigation) that indicates he is of high risk is with drugs. He wants to pay the victim back in full. He feels bad for what he did. He wants to be placed on probation and he understands he has a serious drug problem."

"He has had several terms of probation revoked," Dick told Judge Mullen.

"I oversaw a case in juvenile court, regarding him, where we had to close the case because he wasn't willing to participate and make progress. I also propose there are several inconsistencies in his statements to the probation officer (in the pre-sentence investigation) - he admitted to using lots of methamphetamine while he was in Kansas, but he also says he was working for an elderly man here in York during that same time.

Both statements can't be true. He also lied in court about going to treatment in Kansas - he didn't. He has trouble with the truth and he would be difficult to follow on probation. I also note that he left for Kansas, was arrested and brought back here involuntarily. And he's made no attempt to pay the victim back."

"I would like to see what you have to say, about your life and what's gone on here," Judge Mullen said to Pratt.

Pratt responded that he had nothing to say.

"It looks a little like you've given up," Judge Mullen responded.

"That's why I wondered what you had to say. It appears you are very addicted to drugs - methamphetamine in particular. The state's statements are compelling - I don't know what additional time will do for you but there's not much choice due to your lack of effort to change."

Pratt's sentence on each count was 15-45 months, but they will be served concurrently with each other. He was given credit for 120 days already served.

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YORK - Bradlee Pratt, 20, formerly of York, has been sentenced to a term of 15-45 months in prison after being convicted of second degree forgery and felony failure to appear. According to York County Attorney Candace Dick, a man in another county reported to the York Police Department that his bank had informed him someone else wrote a check on his account at the Walmart in York.

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Intent to commit a crime. ... The crime of burglary occurs as soon as the defendant enters into the building or vehicle with the illicit intent, even if the intended felony or theft never occurs. Home Invasion. Under Illinois law, home invasion is a very serious offense.

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ALBANY - A convicted felon who invaded the home of a 96-year-old woman in Albany faces up to 15 years in prison after being convicted of burglary Friday.

Israel Bishop, 26, was found guilty at his retrial by a jury, which began deciding his fate Thursday afternoon in Albany County Court. It was the first trial before newly elected Judge Peter Lynch.

Bishop was thwarted by his DNA, which was found on the fingertip of a green latex glove found outside the woman's home on Forest Avenue. The rest of the glove was found down the street.

The victim was sleeping during the break-in - and awoke during it. She was not injured in the break-in. She called her son who, in turn, contacted police.

In addition to the DNA match, a gold watch and pin, which had belonged to the victim's late husband, were later discovered in Bishop's home on Orange Street.

Bishop's first trial ended in a mistrial. His attorney, Gregory Teresi, had argued that his client was not at the scene and that it was committed by two of Bishop's associates. The jury, unmoved, convicted Bishop of second-degree burglary.

Bishop, who has a 2005 attempted robbery conviction, will be sentenced March 8.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Mastaitis.

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ALBANY - A convicted felon who invaded the home of a 96-year-old woman in Albany faces up to 15 years in prison after being convicted of burglary Friday. Bishop was thwarted by his DNA, which was found on the fingertip of a green latex glove found outside the woman's home on Forest Avenue.

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The crime of intimidation, often referred to as "extortion" in certain other states, is identified in the Illinois Criminal Code of 1961 as one of several offenses directed against the person involving bodily harm.

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Badfellas! East Coast mob bust sees 46 people, including 'Nicky the Wig', 'Mustache Pat' and 'Big Vinny' from infamous crime families indicted for extortion and gun-running rackets

FBI and local police departments swooped Thursday, arresting 46 suspects on organized crime counts

They include alleged members of the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese and Bonanno crime families

Joseph Merlino, alleged boss of the Philadelphia mob, was also arrested at his home in Florida

He allegedly ran the operation with Pasquale 'Patsy' Parrello and Eugene 'Rooster' Onofrio

Gun-running, extortion, illegal gambling and arson are some counts against the suspects

The crimes allegedly occurred in New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts

Also Thursday the grandson of ex-mob boss John Gotti was arrested in unrelated 'Operation Beach Party'

A massive mob bust has seen 46 people - including alleged members of some of New York's biggest Mafia families - indicted on charges including extortion, gun-running and assault, feds say.

The FBI and local police swooped on suspected organized crime members Thursday in a states-spanning bust that sees each suspect facing at least one racketeering charge with a maximum 20-year sentence.

Alleged members of the Genoveses, Gambinos, Lucheses and Bonannos - four of NY mob's 'five families' - as well as alleged members of a Philadelphia family, were arrested.

Among those arrested are the colorfully named Anthony 'Tony the Wig' Vazzano, who is also known as 'Muscles'; Pasquale Capolongo, whose nicknames include 'Mustache Pat' and 'Fish'; and Vincent 'Big Vinny' Terracciano.

The massive syndicate - known as the 'East Coast La Cosa Nostra Enterprise' - was formed from a rare pact between the powerful families.

Suspects were arrested on charges throughout the East Coast, including New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Florida, during which agents recovered three handguns, a shotgun, gambling paraphernalia and more than $30,000 in cash.

However, an indictment in Manhattan federal court said the crime activities were mostly based in New York.

Most of those arrested were from the Genoveses and Lucheses.

They include Pasquale 'Patsy' Parrello, 72, of the Genovese family and Eugene 'Rooster' Onofrio, the NY Daily News said.

They and alleged Philadelphia mob boss Joseph 'Skinny Joey' Merlino, 54, 'supervised and controlled members of the enterprise engaged in illegal schemes,' according to the indictment.

Those alleged schemes included selling untaxed cigarettes - worth up to $3million - and handguns, as well as healthcare fraud, arson, extortion and assault.

The assault occurred outside 'Pasquale's Rigoletto Restaurant' in the Bronx, owned by Parrello, when he told his goons to beat up a panhandler, court papers claim.

They said that his men - who allegedly included another indicted man, Israel Torres - first threatened the wrong man, then set about beating the panhandler 'with glass jars, sharp objects and steel-tipped boots, causing bodily harm.'

He's also accused of ordering a retaliatory attack on a man who stabbed one of his associates outside a Bronx bar.

Parrello cautioned Anthony 'Anthony Boy' Zinzi, who was also indicted, to 'keep the pipes handy and pipe him, pipe him, over here (gesturing to the knees), not on his head,' according to court papers.

Authorities say the East Coast Enterprise was also involved in loansharking, casino-style gambling, sports gambling and credit card fraud.

One gambling hub, known as 'the Yonkers Club', allegedly held poker and dice tournaments, and took bets on horse racing.

One of the men supposedly associated with that club, Mark 'Stymie' Maiuzzo, set fire to a car owned by a member of a rival gambling operation on the orders of Zinzi, authorities say.

The syndicate members would allegedly hold meetings at highway rest stops and restaurants, using codes to communicate their plans in secret from 2010 to at least June 2016.

The FBI say they uncovered the plans using informants who infiltrated the groups, some wearing video and audio wires.

One source from Florida law enforcement told the Philly Voice that Merlino met 'frequently' with one of the informants.

Parrello spent four years in prison for loansharking and embezzlement and was released in April 2008.

Merlino, meanwhile, lives in Baton Rouge, Florida and claims to have given up crime - but authorities claim he continues to run the Pennsylvania city's mob family.

He is the only member of his family to be arrested, the Philly Voice said, although more indictments may follow.

With two prior federal convictions - one for racketeering, one for meeting with former associates in violation of parole - Merlino could face a long prison sentence if he is found guilty.

Feds say they also plan to use forfeiture laws to seize money and property from the suspects.

THE INDICTMENT NAMES IN FULL

Joseph Merlino, aka 'Skinny Joey', 54, of Boca Raton, Florida

Faces maximum 20 years on a racketeering charge

Eugene O'Nofrio, aka 'Rooster', 74, of East Haven, Connecticut

Faces maximum 20 years on a racketeering charge

Pasquale Parrello, aka 'Patsy,' aka 'Pat' , 72, of Tuckahoe, NY

Faces maximum 20 years on a racketeering charge and maximum 20 years on a charge of conspiracy to commit assault

Mitchell Fusco, aka 'Mitch', 52, of Yonkers, NY

Faces maximum 20 years on a racketeering charge and maximum five years on a gun-running charge

Mark Maiuzzo, aka 'Stymie', 37, Scarsdale, NY

Faces maximum 20 years on a racketeering charge and maximum ten years on an arson charge

Israel Torres, aka 'Buddy', 66, of Queens, NY

Faces maximum 20 years on a racketeering charge and maximum 20 years on a charge of conspiracy to commit assault

Anthony Zinzi, aka 'Anthony Boy', 73, of Bronx, NY

Faces maximum 20 years on a racketeering charge and maximum ten years on an arson charge

The following all have at least one racketeering charge to their name and each face a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted

Laurence Keith Allen, aka 'Keith Allen', 46, of Costa Rica

Reynold Alberti, aka 'Randy', 47, of Bronx, NY

Craig Bagon, 56, of Boca Raton, Florida

Ralph Balsamo, 46, of Bronx, NY

Frank Barbone, 44, of Queens, NY

Agostino Camacho, aka 'Augie', 40, of Yonkers, NY

Anthony Camisa, aka 'Anthony the Kid', 24, city of residence unknown

Pasquale Capolongo, aka 'Patsy,' aka 'Pat C.,' aka 'Mustache Pat,' aka 'Fish', 67, of West Palm Beach, Florida

Vincent Casablanca, aka 'Vinny', 49, of Bronx, NY

Paul Cassano, aka 'Paul Cassone', 37, of Nanuet, NY

Anthony Cassetta, 'Tony the Cripple', 48, of Belmar, New Jersey

Anthony Cirillo, 51, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Alex Conigliaro, 56, of Staten Island, NY

Anthony Depalma, aka 'Harpo,' aka 'Harp', 70, of Stony Point, NY

Francesco Depergola, aka 'Frank', aka 'Sammy Shark', 60, of Springfield, Massachusetts

Nicholas Devito, aka 'Nicky', 64, of Monticello, NY

Joseph Dimarco, 46, of Bronx, NY

Joseph Falco, aka 'Joe Cub', 72, of Bronx, NY

Carmine Gallo, 38, of Delray Beach, Florida

Conrad Ianniello, 72, city of residence not stated

Wayne Kreisberg, 39, of Parkland, Florida

Richard Lacava, aka 'Richie', 67, of Pelham, NY

John Lembo, aka 'Johnny', 50, city of residence not stated

Pasquale Maiorino, aka 'Patty Boy', 56, city of residence not stated

Daniel Marino, Jr., aka 'Danny', 49, Short Hills, New Jersey

Marco Minuto, 80, of Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Michael Poli, aka 'Mike Polio', 31, of Bronx, NY

Ralph 'Ralphie Sant' Santaniello, 49, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Bradley Sirkin, aka 'Brad', 54, of Boca Raton, Florida

John Spirito, aka 'Johnny Joe', 34, of Bronx, NY

Vincent Terracciano, aka 'Big Vinny', 69, of Bronx, NY

Harold Thomas, aka 'Harry', 71, of Bronx, NY

Vincent Thomas, aka 'Vinny', 69, of Bronx, NY

John Tognino, aka 'Tugboat', 74, of Bronx, NY

Joseph Tomanelli, aka 'Joe', of Yonkers, NY

Frank Trapani, aka 'Harpo', 63, of Boca Raton, Florida

Anthony Vazzano, aka 'Tony the Wig,' aka 'Muscles', 51, of Brewster, NY

Nicholas Vuolo, 'Nicky the Wig', 71, of Bronx, NY

Bradford Wedra, 61, of Mt Vernon, NY

In a statement Diego Rodriguez, head of the FBI's New York office, said the indictment 'reads like an old-school Mafia novel where extortion, illegal gambling, arson and threats to "whack" someone are carried out along with some modern-day crimes of credit card skimming.'

Five arrests were made in Massachusetts Thursday morning, with Ralph A Santaniello, Francesco 'Sammy Shark' Depergola, Giovanni 'Johnny Cal' Calabrese, Richard Valentini and Gerald Daniele all being taken in.

Only Santaniello and Depergola were named in the New York indictment - but both they, Valentini and Calabrese are accused of extorting $17,000 from a tow truck driver between September and November 2013.

They allegedly threatened to cut off the man's head and bury it in his back yard if he didn't pay up, the Boston Globe reported.

The men are also accused of joining up with Daniele to lend $3,700 to a man to cover gambling losses, then 'punishing' him for not paying up.

The men, who are allegedly members of the so-called 'Springfield Crew,' have been charged with various extortion counts.

Also on Thursday, the grandson of John Gotti - former boss of the Gambino crime family - was arrested on drug-dealing charges after $250,000 in cash and 1,000 oxycodone pills were found on his properties.

The Gotti arrest - part of 'Operation Beach Party' - was unrelated to the East Coast indictments.

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Massive East Coast mob bust sees 46 indicted, inc 'NY Mafia families'

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FBI and local police departments swooped Thursday, arresting 46 suspects on organized crime counts They include alleged members of the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese and Bonanno crime families Joseph Merlino, alleged boss of the Philadelphia mob, was also arrested at his home in Florida He allegedly ran the operation with Pasquale

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If, during the commission of the robbery, the defendant stated he was carrying a firearm, or if he administered a controlled substance to the victim, he can be found guilty of the crime of aggravated robbery. ... Similarly, the Illinois criminal code also defines the crime of armed robbery, which is a Class X felony.

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Lenny Singleton and his wife, Vandy, with cards he has sent to her from prison. Mr. Singleton is one of nearly 160,000 inmates in the United States serving life sentences. Credit... Cayce Clifford for The New York Times

BURKEVILLE, Va. - Lenny Singleton is the first to admit that he deserved an extended stay behind bars. To fuel his crack habit back in 1995, he walked into 13 stores over eight days and either distracted a clerk or pretended to have a concealed gun before stealing from the cash register. One time, he was armed with a knife with a six-inch blade that he had brought from his kitchen.

Mr. Singleton, 28 at the time, was charged with robbery and accepted a plea deal, fully expecting to receive a long jail sentence. But a confluence of factors worked against him, including the particularly hard-nosed judge who sentenced him and the zero-tolerance ethos of the time against users of crack cocaine. His sentence was very long: two life sentences. And another 100 years. And no possibility for parole.

There is a growing consensus that the criminal justice system has incarcerated too many Americans for too many years, with liberals and conservatives alike denouncing the economic and social costs of holding 2.2 million people in the nation's prisons and jails. And Congress is currently debating a criminal justicebill that, among other provisions, would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders.

But a divide has opened within the reform movement over how to address prisoners who have been convicted of violent crimes, including people like Mr. Singleton, who threatened shop owners but did not harm anyone. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union favor a swift 50 percent reduction in prison populations, while conservative prison reform organizations like Right on Crime prioritize the release of nonviolent offenders and worry that releasing others could backfire and reduce public support.

Nonviolent drug offenders make up only about 17 percent of all state prison inmates around the nation, while violent offenders make up more than 50 percent, according to federal data.

As the prison population has increased sharply over the past 30 years, so too has the number of those sentenced to life. Mr. Singleton is among nearly 160,000 prisoners serving life sentences - roughly the population of Eugene, Ore. The number of such inmates has more than quadrupled since 1984, and now about one in nine prison inmates is serving a life term, federal data shows.

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In an image provided by his wife, Mr. Singleton, center, visited with his family at the Nottoway Correctional Center in September 2012.

"People are celebrating the stabilization of the prison population in recent years, but the scale of mass incarceration is so substantial that meaningful reduction is not going to happen by tinkering around the edges," said Marc Mauer, the executive director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that advocates changes in sentencing policy.

The United States, which has about 4.4 percent of the world's population, holds 22 percent of its prisoners, according to the International Centre for Prison Studies, a research organization based in England.

Mr. Singleton's prison term, which makes it likely that he will die behind bars, attracted little attention in 1996. It was common then for judges in Virginia and the rest of the country to impose long prison terms for crack-related crimes. Still, even hard-line prosecutors who were active during that period say Mr. Singleton's sentence seemed unduly harsh for crimes in which no one was hurt.

"Crack cocaine scared the hell out of a lot of people," said William G. Broaddus, a former Virginia attorney general who is now in private practice and had no role in the case. "It's disappointing there wasn't more consideration as to why this man did this. Do we really want to keep him in jail for the rest of his life? Having said that, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that this judge meted out the sentence that he did."

William F. Rutherford, the judge who sentenced Mr. Singleton, has been retired for years. During a recent series of interviews, he said he had no recollection of the case, but after he reviewed Mr. Singleton's court files, he said he had no regrets about how he handled it.

"Under the circumstances," he said, "it would not be unusual for me to give out that kind of sentence."

Mr. Singleton in high school, left, and in the Navy, right, in images provided by his wife.

Mr. Rutherford, who turned 89 in June, was known in Norfolk, Va., legal circles for his tough sentences, and he acknowledged that he was an intimidating presence on the bench.

"I'm a no-nonsense guy and I wouldn't take any crap off of defense lawyers or anybody," he said. "The people in jail did not like coming into Courtroom No. 7."

D. J. Hansen, the prosecutor in Mr. Singleton's case, said Mr. Rutherford "had a reputation for being one of the tougher judges" in the courthouse. Mr. Hansen, who is now a deputy commonwealth's attorney in Chesapeake, Va., added that "Virginia is a hard state" when it comes to doling out punishments, and pointed out that he sought a life sentence for Mr. Singleton because of the serious nature of the robberies.

When compared with recent cases, Mr. Singleton's sentence appears to be disproportionately harsh. The maximum penalty for second-degree murder in Virginia is 40 years, and people convicted in recent months of attempted murder and similar crimes have received sentences far shorter than Mr. Singleton's. For example, Tamar Harris, 21, who shot and wounded a police officer, was sentenced in April to 23 years in prison, and Jermaine Rogers, 30, of Norfolk, who pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder, was sentenced in March to 10 years.

Mr. Singleton, 49, who is called "Pops" by other inmates here at the Nottoway Correctional Center in central Virginia, has largely forgotten the details of his weeklong crime spree. Unlike many of his fellow inmates, he does not claim he is innocent.

He recalled in an interview that before each robbery, he would smoke crack and drink a 12-pack of beer. In all, he got about $500.

Vandy Singleton near her home in Sevier, Utah. Her wedding dress is displayed in her house. The couple have compiled a book from the letters they have exchanged. Credit... Cayce Clifford for The New York Times

"After I sobered up, I couldn't believe what I had done," he said. "I was like, 'Damn, Lenny, what the hell?'"

Mr. Singleton played football at Langston University, the historically black college in Oklahoma from which he graduated, and later joined the Navy, but was kicked out for using drugs. In prison, he has attended substance abuse classes and become a devoted reader of self-help books from the prison library.

He works in a furniture plant at the prison and earns 80 cents an hour building furniture used in Virginia's universities. But a percentage of his pay is subtracted for court costs and fines, and he still owes the state $1,800.

Last year, he married a high school classmate, Vandy, with whom he had lost touch. They recently compiled a book of their letters detailing his incarceration and her battles with cancer.

Mr. Singleton, who prison officials acknowledge has never committed an infraction behind bars, has filed for a conditional pardon with Gov. Terry McAuliffe, saying in part that his court-appointed lawyer failed to adequately represent him. Mr. Singleton said he had been unaware that he could be sentenced to life in prison until he had already pleaded guilty.

His lawyer at that time, Jon M. Babineau, said he was legally prohibited from discussing Mr. Singleton's case because of Virginia's attorney-client privilege laws, but said he had done his best to represent his client.

In a prison administrative office on a recent morning, Mr. Singleton said he had seen inmates convicted of murder and rape come and go, and was hopeful that he would not die in prison.

"I was out of my mind on drugs, but I wasn't going to hurt anybody," he said. "I was just after the money."

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One Robber's 3 Life Sentences: '90s Legacy Fills Prisons Today

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BURKEVILLE, Va. - Lenny Singleton is the first to admit that he deserved an extended stay behind bars. To fuel his crack habit back in 1995, he walked into 13 stores over eight days and either distracted a clerk or pretended to have a concealed gun before stealing from the cash register.

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theft or misappropriation of funds placed in one's trust or belonging to one's employer.

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"The money was raised by the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund and it was supposed to be used for investments that would return profits that would be used to support the Malaysian people," Leslie R. Caldwell, the assistant attorney general who heads the department's criminal division, said in an interview. "What happened instead was corrupt officials within 1MDB and others siphoned off a very large percentage of the money that was raised to the tune of $3 billion and used it in ways that provided absolutely no benefit to people in Malaysia other than themselves."

The forfeiture complaint, issued by a unit known as the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, represents the largest such case brought by the Justice Department. It comes at a time of heightened concern about secrecy, shell companies and illicit money flow around the world.

In the spring, the leak of the so-called Panama Papers cast light on secret offshore accounts held by politicians and other wealthy people from around the world. The Treasury Department announced recently that it would begin requiring banks to identify customers who use shell companies. And the department began a test program this spring requiring people who buy expensive properties in New York and Miami using cash and shell companies to report their actual identities.

The United States is among several governments, including Malaysia, Singapore and Switzerland, that have investigated 1MDB. The inquiries began last year after an investigative report in The New York Times. As part of a broader examination of the use of shell companies in high-end real estate in the United States, The Times traced the purchases of about $150 million in residential properties i n New York and in the Los Angeles area, as well as several works of art, to relatives or associates of Mr. Najib.

The Justice Department named three of those people in its filings. One, Riza Aziz, is the stepson of Mr. Najib and a Hollywood film producer. Another, a financier named Jho Low, is a longtime friend of Mr. Aziz and his family. The third is Mohamed Badawy al-Husseiny, a former official at a government fund in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that participated in deals with Malaysia's fund. Prosecutors also cited Khadem al-Qubaisi, who was an official at a related fund in the United Arab Emirates, as well as another individual who was an associate of Mr. Low.

The people named in the complaint have not been charged with crimes. The defendants in an asset forfeiture case are the properties that the government wants to seize. But an asset complaint does not preclude criminal charges.

Mr. Aziz's movie company, Red Granite Pictures, said in a statement that it was confident that "when the facts come out, it will be clear that Riza Aziz and Red Granite did nothing wrong."

Mr. Low, Mr. Husseiny and Mr. Qubaisi did not respond to requests for comment. In the past, representatives for Mr. Aziz and Mr. Low have acknowledged that their clients own United States properties but have said that they did nothing improper.

The complaint does not name Mr. Najib, but it does cite "Malaysian Official 1," described as a high-ranking government official who oversaw the fund and is a close relative of Mr. Aziz.

Tengku Sariffuddin, Mr. Najib's press secretary, said in a statement issued early Thursday that Malaysia would cooperate with "any lawful investigation." If any wrongdoing is proved, he said, "the law will be enforced without exception." He said the investment fund had been the subject of several investigations in Malaysia and that authorities found no crime was committed.

The immediate effect of the Justice Department's action is effectively to freeze the assets. The forfeiture process is lengthy. First, a court must make sure that no other interested party has a valid claim to the properties. Once true ownership is determined, the court must decide whether the money used to buy those assets was, in fact, earned illicitly. Only then can the government permanently seize the assets.

In the nearer term, the government's action may increase the political pressure on Mr. Najib, who has held on to power by halting investigations into the investment fund and by removing officials in his governing party who criticized him.

The 1MDB fund was created in 2009 as a "strategic development company" to invest the Malaysian public's money, primarily its oil wealth, in projects to benefit the country. Mr. Low helped set up an earlier version of the fund.

The Times reported last year that Mr. Low was secretly involved in major transactions with a small oil company called PetroSaudi International and Malaysia's public fund, which was led by Mr. Najib in his position as prime minister. Mr. Low then helped the prime minister's stepson buy property in the United States using shell companies and finance his movie company.

The Times investigation documented property transfers between Mr. Low and Mr. Aziz, including one on Hillcrest Road in Beverly Hills that was done behind the veil of a shell company, with no property transfer filed in public records, as well as the role that Mr. Low played in helping to finance Mr. Aziz' movie business.

That transaction was one of several using shell companies that were detailed in the Justice Department complaint.

The complaint minutely chronicled an odyssey of embezzlement, global money flow and lavish spending in the United States.

Prosecutors described several crucial transactions involving 1MDB, including the one with PetroSaudi. In that transaction, the complaint said, 1MDB officials and their associates stole about $1 billion that was supposed to be used for oil exploration. In addition, more than $2.5 billion was stolen through bond offerings for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013 that were managed by Goldman Sachs, the complaint said.

Then, according to prosecutors, Mr. Low and the others involved in the embezzlement wired hundreds of millions of dollars into the escrow account of the Shearman & Sterling law firm. Banks generally do not do due diligence on the clients of law firms, leaving that step to the law firms themselves.

PetroSaudi, Goldman and Shearman were not accused of wrongdoing. Those firms did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. 1MDB, the sovereign fund, was also not accused of wrongdoing and said in a statement that it was cooperating with investigators.

According to the complaint, from October 2009 to June 2010, more than $85 million of the stolen money was spent on gambling in Las Vegas, jet rentals, yachts and payments to other individuals.

It said that the $150 million used for luxury properties in New York and California came from the PetroSaudi deal, as did $44.8 million to buy a hotel in Beverly Hills and $35.4 million for a jet.

Money from the Goldman Sachs bond deals, prosecutors said, was used to purchase $130 million worth of artwork at auction, as well as an interest in the music rights of EMI. It also helped finance the production of "The Wolf of Wall Street," they said.

According to the complaint, money from the bond offerings was put into a shell company in the British Virgin Islands and then transferred in part to Red Granite Pictures. Mr. Aziz and Mr. Husseiny previously told The Times the financing for the movie had come from personal funds of Mr. Husseiny, the complaint notes, even though the money came from 1MDB.

In New York, the funds for the purchase of the Time Warner penthouse originated with 1MDB and were siphoned off from the PetroSaudi deal, the complaint said. The money was transferred through accounts in numerous countries but eventually landed in an account that Shearman & Sterling held for "client 37103 (TJL/RT MISCELLANEOUS INVESTMENT MATTERS)."

The Justice Department has brought other kleptocracy cases against the children of heads of state, including one involving the daughter of the president of Uzbekistan. In many cases, Justice Department officials have found that shell companies have facilitated illicit money flow and made stopping it more difficult. The Malaysian case, Ms. Caldwell of the Justice Department said, was no exception.

"This case is a perfect example of how shell companies can be used by criminals and kleptocrats and other people to steal money, hide money, launder money and make it very difficult for law enforcement to find out who controls that money," she said. "It's a big problem globally but it's also a problem in the United States."

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U.S. Targets $1 Billion in Assets in Malaysian Embezzlement Case

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"The money was raised by the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund and it was supposed to be used for investments that would return profits that would be used to support the Malaysian people," Leslie R. Caldwell, the assistant attorney general who heads the department's criminal division, said in an interview.

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Overview of Illinois Theft and Larceny Laws. Illinois criminal law classifies theft as an offense directed against property, which is defined as "anything of value." ... Obtains or exerts unauthorized control over property of the owner

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GREENVILLE, Pitt County - ECU's head coach, Scottie Montgomery, announced Nhyre Quinerly was dismissed from the team after he was arrested Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Greenville Police Departments Public Information Officer Kristen Hunter, Quinerly was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle and larceny of motor vehicle parts.

Hunter said that on Wednesday, a stolen vehicle was located at Anderson and Sons Towing Company. Hunter said the car's tags were switched out with different plates that were also stolen. Hunter said Quinerly called the towing company saying the car belonged to him. An investigation revealed Quinerly did not own the car. He was arrested Wednesday afternoon and booked in the Pitt County Detention Center.

Quinerly was a redshirt freshman of the Pirate football program. Montgomery said the team dismissed him for disciplinary reasons.

"One of our top priorities is to promote responsible citizenship in our community and I emphasize those directives on a continual basis," Montgomery said. "While this behavior is contrary to the progress we've made, I think how we respond to issues such as this will say more about our program than the actions of an individual who chose not to act in a responsible manner."

Quinerly did not play in 2015 as a redshirt, but had participated in all five games this season as a member of the Pirates' special teams squad.

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GREENVILLE, Pitt County - ECU's head coach, Scottie Montgomery, announced Nhyre Quinerly was dismissed from the team after he was arrested Wednesday afternoon. According to the Greenville Police Departments Public Information Officer Kristen Hunter, Quinerly was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle and larceny of motor vehicle parts.

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Institutional vandalism is a Class 3 felony when. ... (c) Independent of any criminal prosecution or the result of that prosecution, a person suffering damage to property or injury to his or her person as a result of institutional vandalism may bring a civil action for damages, injunction or other appropriate relief.

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The word "Jesus" was spray-painted in white on an outer wall of th Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Baitus-Salaam Mosque in Hawthorne. Credit... Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, via Associated Press

The police in California and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Sunday opened a hate crimes investigation after two mosques were vandalized overnight, the latest in a series of episodes of vandalism and arson at Muslim and Sikh houses of worship in Southern California since the terrorist attack in San Bernardino.

Worshipers arriving on Sunday morning at the Islamic Center of Hawthorne found the words "Jesus is the way" spray-painted on the building, said Sgt. Christopher Port, a spokesman for the Hawthorne Police Department.

The word "Jesus" was also spray-painted in white on an outer wall of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Baitus-Salaam Mosque in Hawthorne, he said, and an object resembling a hand grenade was found in its driveway. The object was found to be "a plastic replica," said Sara Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The Los Angeles field office of the F.B.I. joined the investigation on Sunday, the Hawthorne police said.

The vandalism in Hawthorne came two days after Carl James Dial Jr., 23, was arrested in nearby Riverside County and charged with arson, hate crime and burglary after the police said he set fire to a mosque, the Islamic Society of Coachella Valley, in Coachella.

The fire began 15 minutes before the start of a midday prayer service, and several worshipers were inside the building when emergency crews arrived.

"We were just here trying to be free and practice our religion just like everybody else," Salahaldeen Alwishah, 27, who was inside the mosque when the fire started, told The Los Angeles Times.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department said that the fire was quickly brought under control and that no one was injured.

Two days before the fire in Coachella, the police in Buena Park, Calif., opened a hate crimes investigation after a Sikh temple was vandalized.

Expletive-laced graffiti was sprayed on walls in the parking lot of the temple, Gurdwara Singh Sabha, as well as on a tractor-trailer parked there, said Jaspreet Singh, a board member of the temple.

"The graffiti had gang codes and a racial slur and profanity in reference to ISIS and Islam, which was misspelled," he said in an interview last week, using an acronym to refer to the Islamic State.

The Sikh religion is entirely separate from Islam, but Sikh men, who wear turbans and long beards, have often been the target of anti-Muslim crimes.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group, said the country had experienced "an unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim incidents" since the Paris and San Bernardino terrorist attacks.

"Normally we would issue statements on each and every one of these attacks, but now we don't even have time to do that because there have just been so many," Mr. Hooper said, referring to the work of his organization.

He said that anti-Muslim rhetoric from presidential candidates like Donald J. Trump and Ben Carson had contributed to an increasingly hostile environment for Muslim Americans.

"Right after 9/11, anti-Muslim hate was on the fringes of society, and now it has been brought right into the mainstream," he said. "It's almost acceptable now to hate Islam and Muslims, and now we see the results."

On Sunday, the Hawthorne police evacuated the area around the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community mosque, including two nearby residences, while a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bomb squad responded to the scene, Sergeant Port said.

Sergeant Port said the police believed the vandalism at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community mosque "happened in the early morning hours at some point overnight." Officers responded to a call from the scene shortly after 6:30 a.m.

Dr. Ahsan Khan, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community mosque, said that in addition to the word "Jesus," there were three crucifixes spray-painted on the wall of the mosque. "This was a hate crime, by all indications," he said.

"Like everyone else in Los Angeles, members of our community were shocked by what happened" in San Bernardino, Dr. Khan said. "We were saddened that these terrorists did this in what they professed to be the name of Islam."

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California Police and F.B.I. Open Hate Crimes Inquiry Into Vandalism of Mosques

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The police in California and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Sunday opened a hate crimes investigation after two mosques were vandalized overnight, the latest in a series of episodes of vandalism and arson at Muslim and Sikh houses of worship in Southern California since the terrorist attack in San Bernardino.

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Arson: Knowingly using fire or explosives to damage any property worth $150 or more without the owner's permission. ... Residential or House of Worship Arson is a Class 1 Felony. Aggravated Arson is a Class X Felony.

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Marcell Dockery, 18, and his lawyer, Jesse A. Young, on Tuesday. Mr. Dockery was convicted in May of murder, arson and assault. Credit... Pool Photo by Stefan Jeremiah

A Brooklyn teenager was sentenced on Tuesday to 19 years to life in prison for having set fire to a mattress in a hallway of his apartment building, resulting in the death of a police officer who responded to the blaze.

The young man, Marcell Dockery, sat still and silent in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn as Justice Danny K. Chun issued the sentence after scolding him for having killed the officer, Dennis Guerra, and having gravely injured his partner, Officer Rosa Rodriguez. "The saddest thing about this case," Justice Chun said, was that the two officers had responded to the fire "because of their love for the job and their love for helping people in trouble, and because of that, Officer Guerra is dead."

After a two-week trial in April and May, Mr. Dockery, now 18, was convicted of murder, assault and arson. The officers went to the apartment building, at 2007 Surf Avenue in Coney Island, after receiving a report about the fire on April 6, 2014. When the two entered the lobby, they saw no sign of flames and took an elevator to the 13th floor. Prosecutors introduced surveillance video at the trial of the thick black smoke that awaited them, and Officer Rodriguez testified that she had been unable to breathe in the hot, chaotic scene.

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Cathy Guerra, the widow of Officer Dennis Guerra, after the sentencing. She told the court she often went to sleep crying. Credit... Dave Sanders for The New York Times

Even though the prosecution acknowledged from the start that Mr. Dockery had not intended to kill or injure anyone, he was charged with what is known as felony murder, a provision of the law that permits a death to be considered a homicide if the killing occurs during the commission of another felony - in this case, both arson and assault.

Before Justice Chun issued the sentence, Cathy Guerra, Officer Guerra's widow, addressed the court, saying that she often went to sleep crying and woke in the morning forced to put on a strong face for her children. Of Mr. Dockery, she said, "We know he did not mean to hurt anyone on that day," but, she added, "there are others suffering the consequences."

Then Howard Jackson, who prosecuted the case, told Justice Chun that he was "bothered and disturbed" that Mr. Dockery still refused to take responsibility for his crimes or even to show remorse. Instead of blaming himself, Mr. Jackson said, Mr. Dockery had placed blame on a shifting cast of others: the police, the district attorney and his own lawyer. "I find it quite alarming, Judge," he said.

Officer Rosa Rodriguez, who was gravely injured in the fire, leaving the courtroom. She testified that she had been unable to breathe in the hot, chaotic scene. Credit... Dave Sanders for The New York Times

The district attorney's office had recommended a sentence of 18 years to life in prison in part because Mr. Dockery had a history of arson, reaching back to junior high school, when, Mr. Jackson said, he created a makeshift blowtorch in his school cafeteria. "He has a problem that has lasted years, setting fires," Mr. Jackson said, and yet refused to admit it.

Jesse A. Young, Mr. Dockery's lawyer, in turn told Justice Chun that it was his client's right to profess his innocence, even to show no remorse. "He is innocent," Mr. Young said, "and will appeal."

In a sentencing memo filed before the hearing, the prosecution noted one bright spot in Mr. Dockery's behavior: After he had set the fire, he valiantly ran through the 13th-floor hallway warning his neighbors.

But Justice Chun, his voice unusually firm, took issue with that finding.

"I find nothing valiant about the defendant's actions that day," he said.

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Brooklyn Teenager Gets 19 Years to Life for Fire That Killed Officer

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A Brooklyn teenager was sentenced on Tuesday to 19 years to life in prison for having set fire to a mattress in a hallway of his apartment building, resulting in the death of a police officer who responded to the blaze.