Two guilty in killing of ICE agent
WASHINGTON— A U.S. jury on Thursday convicted two accused Los Zetas drug cartel hit men of killing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Jaime Zapata and wounding another ICE agent in a February 2011 roadside shooting in Mexico.
A jury of seven men and five women, deliberated less than five hours before finding Jose Emanuel Garcia Sota, 35, known as “Safado,” and Jesus Ivan Quezada Piña, 29, known as “Loco,” guilty on four counts each including murder and attempted murder of a U.S. officer and firearms violations.
In a statement, U.S. attorney Channing Phillips said the verdicts brought to seven the number of Los Zetas cartel members convicted of the botched afternoon carjacking attempt on Feb. 15, 2011, that resulted in the death of Mr. Zapata, the first U.S. law enforcement agent killed in the line of duty in Mexico since 1985.
Bezos briefly richest man
NEWYORK — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos briefly became the world’s richest man Thursday in Forbes magazine’s tracking of wealth, as stock in his ecommerce company hit an all-time high.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates reclaimed the lead by afternoon, as Amazon’s stock fell nearly 1 percent for the day to $1,046.
Amazon shares have been trading at a record high, hitting $1,083.31 Thursday. According to filings, Mr. Bezos owns about 80 million shares. Those shares were valued at more than $87 billion at the peak.
Often referred to as the “Everything Store,” it has built on its online retail empire and pushed more heavily into groceries and apparel in recent quarters. Amazon Web Services, its cloud-computing unit with large government contracts, also accounts for a sizable portion of its profits.
Air bag death suspected
DETROIT— A Florida woman has died in a crash near Tampa from injuries that may have been caused by an exploding Takata air bag inflator.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the July 19 death in Holiday, which could be the 19th worldwide and 13th in the U.S. blamed on the Japanese company’s faulty parts. Authorities in Florida have not yet released the cause of death, Honda said in a statement issued Thursday.
Takata inflators can explode with too much force and blow apart a metal canister, spewing shrapnel. The defective inflators have touched off the largest automotive recall in U.S. history, involving 42 million vehicles. More than 100 million have been recalled worldwide.
DA says Shkreli lied
NEWYORK — Wealthy investors say former biotech CEO Martin Shkreli told them he was managing tens of millions of dollars’ worth of investments, that they were making double-digit returns and they could withdraw their money at any time.
Prosecutors in closing arguments Thursday at Mr. Shkreli’s securities fraud trial said it was all a brazen con. The defense countered that no one should feel sorry for the alleged victims because they ended up earning money.
Mr. Shkreli, 34, is best known for jacking up the price of a life-saving drug and trolling his critics on social media.
The trial is in its fifth week. Jury deliberations could begin on Friday.