Oklahoma

Plane crash kills 5

A family of five was killed Wednesday when the private airplane they were in crashed in a wooded area after an aborted landing, officials said.

FAA spokesman John Clabes said the airplane was registered to Grayco Bank Products in Carrollton, Texas, and did not have a flight plan.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol identified the pilot as William Gray, 56, of Dallas, who is president of Grayco.

Gray’s wife, Kathy, 53; his sons Chad, 23, and Chase, 20, and daughter Brooke, 17, also were killed, the highway patrol said.

A partner in Grayco said Gray was an experienced pilot and was flying to visit his mother in Missouri for Thanksgiving.

California

Alleged supremacist takes plea agreement

The alleged leader of California’s Aryan Nations chapter pleaded guilty Wednesday to perjury and gun-possession charges following a law enforcement effort targeting white supremacist groups.

Jack Frederick Steele II pleaded guilty to one felony count of perjury and one count of possessing a firearm with a prior conviction. Three felony counts of falsifying documents were dropped in the plea deal.

Steele was sentenced to 120 days in jail and forbidden from associating with white supremacists, attending extremist events or possessing extremist paraphernalia.

Authorities described Steele, 29, as the leader of California’s chapter of the Aryan Nations, known as the Brandenburg Division.

During a search of Steele’s house, authorities said they found a letter addressed to a white supremacist group advocating that the Aryan Nations align itself with Islamic extremists to target Jews and the U.S. government.

Baltimore

West Nile death linked to transfusion

A woman’s death from the West Nile virus was probably related to a blood transfusion she received, health officials said Wednesday.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed the death as “probable transfusion associated,” said John Hammond, a spokesman for the state Health Department.

Of more than 3,300 known West Nile cases this year nationwide, about 15 are believed to have been from blood transfusions, according to the federal Food and Drug Administration.

The 55-year-old woman received a kidney transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital Sept. 6; she was discharged Sept. 14 and readmitted two days later. She died Oct. 1.

The patient had received blood from more than 30 donors, one of whom tested positive for the virus, the CDC and American Red Cross found.

Miami

Cuban teen allowed to stay in U.S.

A 13-year-old Cuban found in a boat will be allowed to remain in the United States because he could testify against the accused smugglers, federal officials said.

The boy and a suspected smuggler never made it to land after their 21-foot, Florida-registered boat ran out of fuel Monday off Key West, Coast Guard spokesman Luis Diaz said. After a Coast Guard rescue, his father and four others scampered onto a dock. The two suspected smugglers were arrested.

Under the federal government’s “wet foot, dry foot” policy, Cubans who make it to shore are generally allowed to stay, while those who don’t are sent back. The teen, however, was a potential material witness, said Jackie Becerra, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami.

The case was announced Tuesday, the third anniversary of the arrival of Elian Gonzalez, and evoked comparisons because of questions surrounding the 13-year-old’s custody.