HUMAN SMUGGLING ARRESTS
Ariz. deputies make more human smuggling arrests
PHOENIX (AP) - Maricopa County sheriff's deputies have made another round of arrests as part of an effort to crackdown on human smuggling.
Deputies say 10 Mexican nationals were arrested after the van they were traveling in was stopped Thursday north of the Valley. About two hours later, five more people were arrested during a separate traffic stop.
On Friday, seven people from Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala and Honduras were arrested.
Deputies say the people paid between $2,500 and $13,000 to be smuggled into the country. They were headed to various states, including Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Delaware and Kansas.
Some were booked into Maricopa County's 4th Avenue jail. Others were turned over to federal authorities.
The sheriff's office says it has arrested 78 people on human smuggling charges in the last several weeks.
SCOTTSDALE-MISSING MAN
Body of missing Scottsdale man found in canal
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Scottsdale police say a body found in a canal has been identified as a 78-year-old man who was reported missing after he failed to return from a bicycle ride earlier this week.
A police officer discovered the body of Edward Allan Brawley Saturday near Hayden Road and Indian Bend.
Police believe Brawley was riding his bike along the canal and somehow fell into the water.
Brawley's wife told police her husband had left the house around 12:30 p.m. Thursday to go for a bike ride near Hayden Road and McCormick Parkway. She said he usually was gone for no more than an hour.
Police do not suspect foul play.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office is working to determine the cause of death.
ARIZONA NATIONAL GUARD-PROBE
Reforms unveiled for Arizona National Guard
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PHOENIX (AP) - The Arizona National Guard's top officer has unveiled more than a dozen initiatives aimed at solving problems within the organization that were documented in a recent investigation.
Gov. Jan Brewer asked for the investigation and a remediation plan after The Arizona Republic published a series of stories exposing years of misconduct by Arizona military personnel and raising questions about the Guard's leadership and culture.
Allegations of wrongdoing included sexual abuses, drunken driving, narcotics trafficking, embezzlement, retaliation against whistle-blowers and abuses of power.
The newspaper reports that Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar outlined the reforms and training protocols Friday in a letter to the governor. Salazar described the reforms as "catalysts for broad, systemic program change."
He says a key priority is addressing issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
SAGUARO PARK-EROSION
Saguaro National Park busy repairing rutted trails
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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - There are trenches up to 2 feet deep that cut across some trails at Saguaro National Park East. The causes include horses' hooves, storm runoff and years of natural erosion.
Park officials say they are working to repair and reroute the most severely rutted trails and some trail segments have been closed to horses to prevent more damage.
Trail crew supervisor Shelley Lane tells the Arizona Daily Star that the worst trails are those that have taken a straight line up a steep grade.
Lane says that as time and money permit, the trail crew has been rerouting badly eroded sections of trail so that it follows the contours of the land at a lesser grade and won't be as susceptible to erosion.
WILD TURKEY RELOCATION
Wild turkeys relocated from Davis-Monthan air base
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A group of wild turkeys is now roaming Mount Lemmon after being captured at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
Managers with the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the base's cultural and natural resources office had been monitoring the birds' movement through eastside neighborhoods until they were in a location where they could be captured without harm.
They were released Friday atop Mount Lemmon.
The turkeys were among 17 released by the department in February in the Happy Valley area.
Gould's turkeys were first reintroduced to the Rincon Mountains in 2012. They are the largest of 5 wild turkey species.
Game and Fish and the National Wild Turkey Federation have been reintroducing them since 1980 into the Sky Island mountain ranges across southeastern Arizona. They now number around 1,000.
WIRE FRAUD INDICTMENT
Man accused of embezzling $255K to change plea
CORTEZ, Colo. (AP) - Prosecutors say a 42-year-old Arizona man accused of embezzling $255,000 from an office supply company in Cortez is expected to change his plea.
Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, tells the Cortez Journal that Brian K. Shoults initially pleaded not guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion but has requested a change-of-plea hearing scheduled for May 29.
Shoults is accused of stealing the money from Office Outpost when he was the business' bookkeeper. An indictment alleges he wired money from Office Outpost accounts into his own and failed to pay income taxes on that money.
Shoults, who was arrested Feb. 8 outside his Phoenix home, had sole responsibility for reconciling the shop's bank accounts with its internal records.
WIRE FRAUD
AZ man indicted in Idaho on wire fraud charges
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Federal prosecutors say an Arizona man fraudulently wired $450,000 to his personal accounts through an Idaho-based Internet business, using the money to enrich himself, pay for his home and bolster his retirement and investment accounts.
Christopher Myers of Cave Creek was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury in Boise on 26 counts of wire fraud.
Prosecutors say the 37-year-old Myers was comptroller for a company called Click Sales, Inc. for five years through 2011.
The company facilitated payments for transactions over the Internet for retailers and consumers.
According to Friday's indictment, Myers began transferring money from the company's bank account starting in August 2008 to his control.
Each charge could carry 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
An Idaho number listed for Myers has been disconnected.
BULLHEAD CITY-COUNTERFEITING
Craigslist ad leads to suspected counterfeiter
BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. (AP) - Bullhead City police say a Craigslist ad for a cellphone is what led detectives to a suspected counterfeiter.
Dean Everett Boyer was arrested earlier this week on charges of forgery, fraudulent schemes and possession of a forging instrument. He was booked into the Mohave County jail in Kingman.
Police say a search of Boyer's home turned up a forged driver's license, license plates, a concealed weapons permit and several counterfeit $100 and $10 bills.
The investigation began when the 38-year-old Boyer answered an ad to buy a woman's cellphone. He's accused of giving the woman a $100 bill that turned out to be counterfeit.
Police say they tracked down Boyer after the woman provided them with the license plate number of the man who bought her phone.
It's not clear whether Boyer has an attorney.
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