Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Man charged with taking former
Hermiston chief’s lottery winnings
By ANNETTE CARY
Tri-City Herald
A Spokane man has
pleaded not guilty to wire
fraud after being accused
of persuading the widow of
a former Hermiston police
chief to give him $1 million
in lottery winnings for a
short-term investment with a
big payoff.
The widow of former
Hermiston Police Chief Andy
Anderson has been trying for
¿ve years to get most of her
money back, according to
federal court documents.
Donna Anderson bought
the winning ticket for the
$18.2 million jackpot, then
the third-largest prize in
Oregon Megabucks history,
in 2003.
In 2011 she wanted to take
money she had invested with
Merrill Lynch in Kennewick
and invest it elsewhere to
increase earnings, according
to court documents. The
former chief, who retired in
2001, had died of cancer in
2008.
A friend of one of the
couple’s 10 children and
stepchildren recommended
that she work with Scott K.
Brett of Spokane to invest
what
court
documents
referred to as her “remaining
lottery winnings.”
The Spokesman Review
reports that Brett previously
was the chief executive of
a ¿rm called CoreTech that
sought government loans
for a “green” of¿ce park
that never materialized in a
suburb of Nashville, Tenn.
In a conference call during
the ¿rst week of )ebruary
2011, Brett told her and one
of her sons that she could put
money in an escrow account
that would be used to leverage
other investments, according
to court documents.
He sent an agreement that
said under the “system” a $1
million investment would
grow to $2 million within
two weeks. Then she could
remove $1 million would no
longer have money at risk.
The investment would
continue to double over two
week periods to reach $8
million, at which time the
system would close. The
agreement also said that
if the ¿rst implementation
of the system was not
completed within 30 days,
Brett would return her $1
million, according to court
documents.
Anderson withdrew $1
million from Merrill Lynch
in Kennewick and trans-
ferred it by wire to a Utah
bank account in )ebruary
2011. Money was withdrawn
from the account and given
to various people and to
bank accounts held by Brett,
rather than invested for
Donna Anderson’s bene¿t,
according to court docu-
ments.
At the end of the month,
Donna Anderson and her son
wanted to invest in another
deal and asked for $130,000
back, which Brett sent.
Shortly after that she
asked for all of her money
back. She received $10,000
on June 27 and $5,000 on
July 21, plus other payments
of less than $1,000.
Brett continued to give
her false hope that she would
get the remaining $855,000
returned, according to court
documents.
If found guilty of wire
fraud, Brett could be
sentenced to up to 20 years
in prison. His attorney, Roger
Peven of Spokane declined
to comment on the case.
According to a press
release earlier this year from
the Oregon Department of
Revenue, Donna Anderson
owes $335,385 to the state in
back taxes.
SHOOTING: Police found 27 .40
caliber shell casings near the scene
Continued from 1A
Umatilla tribal police
Sgt. Rowen Hayes heard
gunshots at 5:51 a.m.
Saturday near a housing
development on the reserva-
tion. Tribal dispatch directed
Hayes and others police to
43 Willow Drive, the home
of Welch.
Welch and Jimenez were
lying in the driveway.
Welch had a “severe
gunshot wound to his lower
left leg, right above the
ankle,” the document states.
Bone fragments the size of
marbles littered the ground.
Medical staff worried Welch
could lose the leg.
An air ambulance took
Jimenez to Kadlec Regional
Medical Center, Richland,
Washington, where he died
from his wounds, according
to the af¿davit, and an
ambulance took Welch to
St. Anthony Hospital, Pend-
leton, where he had surgery
Monday.
More tribal police arrived
and searched for witnesses.
One person said someone
ran behind a house and
splashed into a nearby pond.
Of¿cers checked and saw
Contreras, who ran, but the
cops caught him after a short
chase.
Thompson and tribal
detective Anthony Barnett
on Sunday questioned
Welch, who said he was
hosting a party at his home.
Two groups, probably rival
gang members, had an
altercation. Welch became
concerned, ended the party
and kicked everyone out.
But Contreras refused
to go and had words with
Welch.
Jimenez
stepped
in
and helped Welch escort
Contreras and his friends
from the house.
Contreras and his friend
argued with Welch and
Jimenez in the driveway.
Welch looked away for a
second and heard Jimenez
yell, “He’s got a heater.”
Welch
turned,
saw
Contreras with a gun pointed
at him, saw the muzzle Àash
and heard gunshots.
Police would ¿nd 27 .40
caliber shell casings in the
area of the shooting.
Welch dropped and
crawled under a pickup
for cover. He saw Jimenez
down, blood coming from
his head.
Welch
described
Contreras and pointed him
out in a photographic lineup
Thompson made.
)BI special agent Chad
Lapp and Umatilla County
sheriff’s detective Erik
Palmer that Sunday inter-
viewed a witness who was
at the party. He said the two
groups had several small
arguments, and that esca-
lated, so he and his girlfriend
left.
Outside, he said he heard
“gang related statements,”
looked through a carport
and saw Contreras holding
a small black handgun in his
right hand at his side.
Moments
later,
the
witness said, he heard
gun¿re.
)ederal agents took
Contreras
on
Monday
from the Umatilla County
Jail, Pendleton, for an
appearance in federal court
in Portland. Thompson
reported Contreras “perked
up” during the ride when he
heard a news story on the
radio about the shooting. He
claimed his friend shot ¿rst,
so he pulled his pistol but
only shot at the house.
He admitted he bought
the Glock Model 22, .40
caliber pistol about a month
ago, even though that was
against the law. Contreras
has a 2012 felony conviction
in Idaho for delivering drugs.
The
Oregon
U.S.
Attorneys Of¿ce charged
Contreras with the following:
assault with intent to commit
murder; assault with a
dangerous weapon with
intent to do bodily harm;
assault resulting in serious
bodily injury; possession of
a ¿rearm in furtherance of a
crime of violence; and felon
in possession of a ¿rearm.
Conviction on all counts
could send Contreras to
federal prison for more than
50 years.
Thompson states in the
af¿davit Contreras shot and
killed Jimenez, but all the
charges relate only to Welch,
a member of the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
Thompson also states
Welch still could lose his leg.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
TRAINING: Hopes to send of¿cers into local
business for on-site training this summer
Continued from 1A
CRASE teaches people
how to stay safe until law
enforcement arrives through
a mantra of “Avoid. Deny.
Defend,” which involves
avoiding a shooter and evac-
uating if possible, denying
the shooter access to victims
by barricades or locked
doors and, as a last resort,
defending against the shooter
if it comes to a face-to-face
confrontation.
“I think it’s valuable to
give them a little information
of what to do should an
event take place,” Edmiston
said. “Statistics show that
little things like impeding
someone’s thought process
can make a huge difference.”
This summer, Edmiston
hopes to send of¿cers into
local businesses for on-site
training so employees know
how to react to an aggressive
person — shooter or not — in
the time between when police
are called and of¿cers arrive.
“Our plan is really to open
it up to anyone who wants
that training, go out there
and offer it in their place of
business,” Edmiston said.
“It’s not a fun subject when
you think about it, but it is
necessary.”
Edmiston said before
shootings like the one at
Columbine High School in
1999 where 13 people were
killed, law enforcement
was trained to wait for
specialized responders. But
in many cases, including
Columbine, as law enforce-
ment waited for backup,
people died. That shooting
led to a change in thinking
for law enforcement, and
Hermiston police of¿cers are
trained in both CRASE and
ALICE — Alert, Lockdown,
Inform, Counter, Evacuate
— response programs. While
the department has worked
with ALICE for a longer
period of time, they started
“It’s not a fun
subject when you
think about it, but
it is necessary.”
— Jason Edmiston,
Hermiston police chief
with CRASE in 2015.
Last week, Hermiston
police trained Umatilla of¿-
cers in the CRASE program;
in June, of¿cers will train
Hermiston school staff.
“We’re not promoting
violence,
but
we’re
promoting people protecting
and defending themselves,”
Edmiston said.
If anyone is interested in
scheduling a training with
the Hermiston Police and
CRASE, contact Capt. Eynon
at 541-667-5103.
———
Contact Jennifer Colton
at jcolton@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4534.
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.com or drop off to the attention of Tammy
Malgesini at 333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendle-
ton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-966-0818 with questions.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
WORLD BRIEFLY
Clinton, Trump add to leads
with Arizona victories
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under a fresh
cloud of overseas violence, Donald Trump
and Hillary Clinton added to their delegate
troves on Tuesday with victories in Arizona
as the 2016 presidential contest turned into
a clash of would-be commanders in chief.
Long lines and high interest marked
primary elections across Arizona, Utah and
Idaho that were largely an afterthought for
much of the day as the world grappled with
a new wave of bloody attacks in Europe.
Yet there was a frenzy of activity in Utah
as voters lined up to caucus and the state
Democratic Party’s website crashed due to
high traf¿c. In Arizona, voters waited two
hours to cast primary ballots in some cases,
while police were called to help with traf¿c
control and at least one polling place ran
out of ballots.
Trump and Clinton both enjoyed
overwhelming delegate leads heading into
Tuesday’s contests.
Trump’s Arizona victory gives him the
all of the state’s 58 delegates, a setback
for his underdog challengers. On the
Democratic side, Arizona’s delegates are
awarded proportionally.
Results from Utah were not available by
press time.
FBI might hack into an
iPhone without Apple’s help
NEW YORK (AP) — )or more than a
month, federal investigators have insisted
they have no alternative but to force Apple
to help them open up a phone used by one
of the San Bernardino shooters.
That changed Monday when the Justice
Department said an “outside party” recently
showed the )BI a different way to access
the data on the phone used by Syed )arook,
who with his wife killed 14 people in the
Dec. 2 attack.
The magistrate judge in the case
postponed a hearing scheduled for Tuesday
and gave the government two weeks to test
its method. But federal of¿cials have been
mum about who came forward and what
method they’ve proposed. Here are some of
the leading options outside experts think the
)BI might be exploring.
Cruz and Trump: Boost
surveillance of Muslims
NEW YORK (AP) — Republican
presidential candidate Ted Cruz said
Tuesday that surveillance in Muslim
neighborhoods in the U.S. must be
intensi¿ed following the deadly bombings
at Brussels, while rival Donald Trump
suggested torturing a suspect in last year’s
Paris attacks would have prevented the
carnage.
Echoing Trump’s earlier statements,
Cruz said the U.S. should stop the Àow of
refugees from countries where the Islamic
State militant group has a signi¿cant
presence. The Islamic State took credit for
the attacks at the Brussels airport and a
subway station that killed dozens Tuesday
and wounded many more.
“We need to empower law enforcement
to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods
before they become radicalized,” the Texas
senator said in a statement.
Trump praised Cruz’s plan as a “good
idea” that he supports “100 percent” in an
interview with CNN. The GOP front-runner
also intensi¿ed his past calls for the U.S. to
engage in harsher interrogation techniques,
arguing that Belgium could have prevented
the bombings had it tortured a suspect in
last year’s Paris attacks who was arrested
last week.
“Well, you know, he may be talking,
but he’ll talk a lot faster with the torture.
... Because he probably knew about it. I
would be willing to bet that he knew about
this bombing that took place today,” Trump
said.
FDA adds boldest warning to
most widely used painkillers
WASHINGTON (AP) — )ederal health
regulators will add their strongest warning
labels to the most widely prescribed
painkillers, part of a multi-pronged
government campaign to stem an epidemic
of abuse and death tied to drugs like
Vicodin and Percocet.
The )ood and Drug Administration
announced Tuesday plans to add a boxed
warning — the most serious type — to
all immediate-release opioid painkillers,
including some 175 branded and generic
drugs.
Those medications, which often
combine oxycodone with lower-grade
medications, are among the most
commonly used drugs in the U.S. and
account for 90 percent of all opioid
painkillers prescribed. Roughly three years
ago the )DA added similar warnings to
long-acting opioid drugs like OxyContin,
which slowly release their doses over
12 hours or more. Now both immediate
and extended-release formulations will
highlight the risks of addiction, abuse,
overdose and death.
The long-awaited changes come as
federal and state of¿cials struggle to
curb a wave of overdoses fueled by the
overprescribing of medications and a steady
supply of cheap heroin.
“We’re at a time when the unfathomable
tragedies resulting from addiction, overdose
and death have become one of the most
urgent and devastating public health crises
facing our country,” )DA Commissioner
Dr. Robert Califf said on a call with
reporters. “I can’t stress enough how
critical it is for prescribers to have the most
current information.”
In Cuba, Obama calls for
burying ‘last remnant’ of
Cold War
HAVANA (AP) — Capping his
remarkable visit to Cuba, President Barack
Obama on Tuesday declared an end to
the “last remnant of the Cold War in the
Americas” and openly urged the Cuban
people to pursue a more democratic future
for this communist nation 90 miles from
the )lorida coast.
With Cuban President Raul Castro
watching from a balcony, Obama said
the government should not fear citizens
who speak freely and vote for their own
leaders. And with Cubans watching on
tightly controlled state television, Obama
said they would be the ones to determine
their country’s future, not the United
States.
“Many suggested that I come here and
ask the people of Cuba to tear something
down,” Obama said. “But I’m appealing
to the young people of Cuba who will lift
something up, build something new.”
On the streets of Havana, the
president’s address sparked extraordinarily
rare public discussions about democracy,
and some anger with Cuba’s leaders.
Cubans are used to complaining bitterly
about economic matters but rarely speak
publicly about any desire for political
change, particularly in conversations with
foreign journalists.
Juan )rancisco Ugarte, Oliva,
a 71-year-old retired refrigeration
technician, said the American president
“dared to say in the presence of the
leaders, of Raul Castro, that (Cubans)
had the right to protest peacefully without
being beaten or arrested.”
McKay Creek Estates
Celebrate Life
At Prestige Senior Living, we believe life should be a celebration! Studies have
shown that up to 70% of what you feel is aging, is optional. The key to active,
successful aging is your lifestyle. It is about wellness and nurturing body, mind
and spirit.
Join us for one of our complimentary educational seminars that promote
healthy, fulfilled living, at every age.
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.
Paint and Sip
Presented by Katie Woodford, The Cabernet Canvas
Get in touch with your inner Monet. No painting experience is necessary for
this session, and all of the paints, brushes, canvas and techniques will be
provided. We will provide the drinks for you to sip while you paint. No cost
to residents, $30/person for outside guests. RSVP required for this event,
seating is limited.
Space is limited for this FUN educational series. For more information and to
reserve your seat please call (541) 276-1987.
McKay Creek Estates
1601 Southgate Place
Pendleton, Oregon 97801