In the news
■ David Marriott, 58, who created an online alter ego known as the Quarantine Cowboy with a nearly lifesize stallion named Russell made of brown paper and tape while in a pandemic quarantine, said the creation, which garnered many fans, is being added to the permanent collection of the National Museum of Australia.
■ John Ahrens, 58, of Tulsa faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to sending emails to a Tulsa television station threatening to kill President Joe Biden, members of Congress and their families.
■ Harvey Sutton, 5, of Lynchburg, Va., known as “Little Man” on the Appalachian Trail, said it was hard work but fun after he and his parents completed the 2,190-mile hike from Georgia to the top of Maine’s Mount Katahdin in 209 days, noting that he checked out wildlife along the way and ate Skittles-sprinkled peanut butter tortillas.
■ Mike Blakely, 70, the former sheriff of Limestone County, Ala., convicted of taking no-interest loans from a jail fund that held prisoners’ money and of stealing $4,000 from his campaign account, was sentenced to three years in prison, prosecutors said.
■ Jamanie Dotch, 17, faces an attempted-murder charge after being accused of shooting and wounding a grandmother while she was waiting to pick up her grandchildren from school in Houma, La., police said.
■ Kendell Cooks, 38, convicted of assault and other charges for attacking and injuring the manager of a fastfood restaurant in Chesterfield, Mo., after his daughter was fired, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
■ Darren Sikes, 60, the former president of a union representing Arizona corrections officers, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to repay $134,000 for embezzling money from the union treasury to cover personal expenses that included home improvements and a new vehicle.
■ Regina Thomas of Bolton, Miss., the owner of a now-defunct health care business who was convicted of defrauding the federal Medicaid program out of more than $4 million through excessive billing, was sentenced to five years in prison, prosecutors said.
■ William “Ben” Darby, 28, a former Huntsville, Ala., police officer convicted of murder for shooting a suicidal man in 2018 who had called 911 and who was holding a gun to his own head, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.