State Glance
Man gets 180-year prison sentence for youth center shooting
FLORENCE — A man was sentenced to more than 180 years in prison after he was convicted of shooting at a group of children outside a youth center in southern Arizona.
The Casa Grande Dispatch reports 21-year-old Rollin Johnson was sentenced Monday after a jury found him guilty last month of charges that included firing at a structure, assisting a criminal street gang and two dozen counts of aggravated assault.
Johnson and four others were arrested in May. Authorities say he fired at least 12 rounds from a handgun at a group of children and teenagers outside the Coolidge Youth Center. Two people were injured.
Some of the charges held increased penalties because they were classified as crimes against children.
Johnson declined to make a statement to the court before sentencing.
Marana man gets a 16-year prison term for killing his mother
TUCSON — A Marana man who pleaded guilty to killing his mother in February has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Pima County prosecutors say 36-year-old Nathan Ray Fouts was sentenced Monday on a second-degree murder charge.
He was arrested Feb. 9 after telling a county sheriff’s deputy that he’d killed his mother, 62-year-old Debra Elaine Fouts.
Marana police went to the home and saw the woman on her back on the living room floor.
They say Debra Fouts had been dead for some time and she had been shot twice in the back.
Officers found three rifles and a handgun in the home, where Nathan Fouts also lived.
Nathan Fouts originally was facing a first-degree murder charge. He pleaded guilty in the case last month.
High-altitude balloon explodes at Tucson launch site
TUCSON — A high-altitude balloon has exploded at a launch site in Tucson, but authorities say nobody has been injured.
Officials with World View Enterprises say that following the completion of a successful fill test on the launch pad Tuesday afternoon, the large tethered balloon ruptured.
They say there was only superficial facility damage at the launch site south of Tucson International Airport and the flight system wasn’t affected.
A loud boom was heard when the balloon exploded.
World View officials say they have been using hydrogen gas to fill its balloons.
The startup aerospace and space tourism company operates Spaceport Tucson under a contract with Pima County.
Former ‘Property Wars’ star gets prison in Arizona for fraud
PHOENIX — A former star on the “Property Wars” reality TV show has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison in Arizona for bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
Scott Menaged also was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $33 million in restitution to banks and more than 200 investors.
The 40-year-old Menaged pleaded guilty in the case in October.
Menaged owned and operated furniture stores in the Phoenix metro area and a real estate investment business.