Shelley Murphy

John Wilson says his children were accomplished students, smeared by false allegations.

A former Massachusetts state trooper who was among six people indicted last week in a bribery scandal involving commercial driver’s licenses pleaded not guilty to extortion and other charges Wednesday in federal court in Boston.

Richard “Rick” Abath, 57, steadfastly maintained that he played no role in what remains the largest art heist in history and one of Boston’s most notorious unsolved mysteries.

Prosecutors alleged Jenny Vicente-Desoto “provided a safe haven” for drug distribution from her day-care center in Boston and served as “a facilitator” who identified customers for a sprawling drug organization, according to court filings.

The judge in the case was asked to schedule a change-of-plea hearing for Monday in the case. Jack Teixeira initially pleaded not guilty in federal court to leaking classified material.

The plea agreement calls for a prison sentence between 11 and nearly 17 years. Prosecutors plan to seek the high end of the range, according to the agreement.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum received about 20 tips over the past year from people who thought they saw stolen paintings in real estate listings, according to Anthony Amore, the museum’s security director.

Ngan Dinh paid a portion of the bribes to an RMV examiner who was supposed to administer the driving tests, but scored the drivers as if they had passed even though they didn’t, prosecutors said.

The US First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston wrote that if the district court finds that the jurors were biased, then the Marathon bomber is entitled to a new trial on whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison. He currently sits on death row.

The settlement comes after a judge said he was “seriously considering” holding the city liable without a trial because its legal department failed to turn over evidence to lawyers representing Coleman’s mother.

The federal investigation into the state’s case is likely to have an impact on her upcoming trial, according to several prominent criminal defense attorneys and former federal prosecutors.

In January, a day before former Holyoke city councilor Wilmer Puello-Mota was expected to plead guilty to child pornography, his lawyer was startled to learn Puello-Mota was in Russia.

Federal prosecutors will not challenge an appeals court ruling in the case against Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, requiring a hearing into defense claims of juror bias at his death penalty trial.

Lori Jane Kearsey’s husband said he thought she left him; her family believed she joined the federal witness protection program; and others thought she moved to Florida, according to police and several people who were close to Kearsey.

Federal prosecutors said Monday that they reached an agreement with Fotios Geas, Paul DeCologero, and Sean McKinnon, and the three would plead guilty to murder charges.

Stavros “Steve” Papantoniadis was convicted following a two-week trial on three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor.

One of three inmates accused of plotting the murder of James “Whitey” Bulger in prison was released Monday after prosecutors dropped the most serious charge against him.

“He’s just a complete fraud,” a former Winter Hill Gang member said of Sean Scott Hicks.

A Boston attorney is spearheading a legal battle challenging a new federal regulation that will ban all dogs from entering the United States before they are 6 months old.

Shayne Stilphen was placed alone in a cell at the District 4 police station in the South End, where he pulled out a small bag of fentanyl he had hidden inside his shorts.