DETROIT

Former mayor gets 28 years, still denies stealing from city

A former Detroit mayor was sent to federal prison for nearly three decades Thursday after offering little remorse for the widespread corruption under his watch but acknowledging he let down the troubled city during a critical period before it landed in bankruptcy.

Prosecutors argued that Kwame Kilpatrick’s “corrupt administration exacerbated the crisis” that Detroit now finds itself in. A judge agreed with the government’s recommendation that 28 years in prison was appropriate for rigging contracts, taking bribes and putting his own price on public business.

Kilpatrick, 43, said he was sorry if he let down his hometown but denied ever stealing from the citizens of Detroit.

LOS ANGELES

Toyota off the hook for crash that killed California woman

A jury says Toyota Motor Corp. is not liable for the death of a California woman who was killed when her 2006 Camry apparently accelerated and crashed despite her efforts to stop.

Toyota spokeswoman Carly Schaffner said jurors reached their decision Thursday and concluded the vehicle’s design didn’t contribute to the death of Noriko Uno. She died in August 2009 when her car struck a telephone pole and tree.

The outcome of the bellwether case could help predict whether Toyota Motor Corp. will be held responsible for sudden unintended acceleration in other cases filed in state courts.

COLUMBUS, Ohio

Kidnapper’s ‘suicide’ may have been sex act gone awry

Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro’s death by hanging in his prison cell may not have been suicide after all but an ill-fated attempt to choke himself for a sexual thrill, authorities said in a report issued Thursday.

The Ohio prison system report also said two guards falsified logs documenting the number of times they checked on Castro before he died.

Castro, 53, was found hanging from a bedsheet Sept. 3 just weeks into a life sentence for kidnapping three women and imprisoning them for a decade.

– From news service reports

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