Leon News and Media

  NASHVILLE –  Four Houston, Texas men are facing federal charges after a lengthy investigation by the FBI into a series of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) thefts in middle Tennessee and elsewhere, announced U.S. Attorney Mary Jane Stewart for the Middle District of Tennessee.  Elijah Diaz, 19; Troy Alan Parker, 18; Willie Charles White, 21; and Abraham Woods, 32, were arrested on the morning of April 26, at a hotel in Holladay, Tennessee, and charged with conspiracy and bank larceny, following the theft from an ATM machine in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, hours earlier.  According to the criminal complaint, for more than a year, the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force in Nashville has been investigating ATM thefts.  Typically, the method of these thefts involve crews of individuals who steal a heavy duty capacity pickup truck, obtain large J-hooks and an industrial chain and then scout a free-standing ATM to target.  These crews then use the stolen truck and approach ...

  NASHVILLE –   Christopher Beckham, 35, of Nashville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Beckham was indicted in April 2018 after an investigation into an incident that occurred on October 24, 2017. “The cowardly and unprovoked attack and display of hate-filled aggression by this defendant toward two innocent young girls and their father is despicable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Mary Jane Stewart.  “I commend the work of the FBI and our prosecutors in bringing this individual to justice.” “The defendant confronted two young girls who were walking home from school and violently attacked their father because of how they worship,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “An attack upon the free exercise of any person’s religious beliefs is an attack on that person’s civil rights. The Departme...