Virginia

Teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo sentenced to life in prison

Lee Boyd Malvo, the young man who teamed up with John Allen Muhammad to terrorize the Washington area in a sniper spree that left 10 people dead, was formally sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole.

Malvo, 19, was sentenced a day after Muhammad was given the death penalty by a judge in Prince William County in northern Virginia. The judge in Muhammad’s case could have reduced the sentence to life in prison, but Malvo’s judge had no other option than life without parole, which the jury recommended.

Malvo did not speak during the 10-minute hearing, following the advice of his lawyers who did not want his words used against him in future prosecutions.

Prosecutor Paul Ebert, who led the case against Muhammad and is next in line to try Malvo, said he would wait until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on whether juveniles may be executed. A decision is expected next year.

Malvo was 17 when he killed FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Falls Church Home Depot store.

Washington, D.C.

Report: Scores of journalists jailed; China biggest offender

More than 130 journalists were behind bars at the end of last year because of their work, and China was the world’s leading jailer, according to a watchdog group.

With 39 journalists imprisoned, it was the fifth year in a row that China topped the list, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report being released today in Washington.

Worldwide, it said, there were 136 journalists in prison — the same number as the previous year. “The number of imprisoned journalists remained stable in 2003 because there were significant drops in Nepal and Turkey, coupled with an enormous roundup in Cuba,” said the report.

Cuba ranked second, with 29 journalists jailed since last March.

Also high on the list was the African nation of Eritrea, with 17 journalists imprisoned.

New York

Police corruption case widens to include more money, drugs

Investigators found more than $700,000 in the storage locker of a former police detective at the heart of a widening corruption scandal, according to court papers made public Wednesday.

The detective and his former partner were charged with selling cocaine that law enforcement officials said they stole from drug dealers and resold through confidential informants.

The cash and drug allegations are detailed in a federal indictment charging former Detectives Thomas Rachko and Julio Vasquez with money laundering, narcotics conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, lying to federal agents and using firearms in the drug conspiracy.

Vasquez and Rachko were drug investigators in the late 1990s in Manhattan before Rachko retired and Vasquez was assigned to the Police Department’s firearms investigation unit.