Amish farmer seeks pardon by Trump for mislabeling products

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — An Amish farmer in Kentucky is asking President Donald Trump for a pardon after he was sentenced to six years in federal prison for mislabeling homemade herbal products.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Wednesday that 58-year-old Samuel Girod filed his petition with the U.S. Department of Justice pardon attorney. Girod is currently serving the time at a minimum security facility in Ashland.

He’s a member of the Old Order Amish faith and manufactured salves and herbal products. One claimed to cure skin cancer; another was corrosive to skin.

The petition says Girod is innocent and didn’t fully understand the consequences when he represented himself in the case.

His friends, the county sheriff and an online petition fought against his conviction and sentencing, saying his prosecution went overboard.

Man charged in Ky. bank robbery found in Ala.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Police say a man arrested in Alabama has been charged with robbing a Kentucky bank this week.

Officers with Huntsville, Alabama, police found 26-year-old Maxwell W. Hayslip Wednesday morning in a car in a shopping center. A shopper had reported someone possibly passed out in a vehicle.

Lexington police say evidence found in the car connects Hayslip to the Tuesday robbery of a Chase Bank in that Kentucky city. A suspect had entered the bank dressed in a gray sports coat, khaki pants, and a black beanie hat and presented the teller with a threatening note demanding money.

Police say Hayslip may also be connected to bank robberies in elsewhere in Kentucky and Tennessee.

He was charged with second-degree robbery and drug offenses.

Estranged husband indicted in Fort Campbell soldier’s death

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — The estranged husband of a Fort Campbell soldier was indicted Wednesday on charges of killing the woman in an off-duty shooting at the Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

U.S. Attorney Russell M. Coleman said in a statement that a grand jury indicted Victor Silvers of Clarksville, Tennessee, on seven counts in the fatal shooting of Brittney N. Silvers of Jacksonville, Florida.

Silvers is charged with first-degree murder, domestic violence, violation of a protective order and other counts in the shooting. An affidavit says a domestic violence order prohibited Victor Silvers from possessing a firearm and ordered him to stay 300 feet away from his wife.

Silvers was originally charged by federal complaint the day after the Oct. 14 shooting and remains in custody.

The federal public defender’s office said Wednesday that it doesn’t comment on open cases.

An affidavit in support of the criminal complaint says Silvers went to his estranged wife’s home, where she was socializing with a male friend and began banging on her door. The affidavit says the friend went to a bathroom and heard shouting followed by a gunshot. A short time later, the affidavit says Victor Silvers entered the bathroom and a struggled ensued in which the gun was fired three times, striking the friend in the leg.

The affidavit says a neighbor walking his dog heard the gunshots and saw Victor Silvers shoot Brittney Silvers in front of her residence.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Silvers could face life in prison or the death penalty.

Former basketball player killed in Kan. murder-suicide

SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have identified a former college basketball player in Kentucky as the victim of a murder-suicide in suburban Kansas City.

Police in Shawnee, Kansas, found the bodies of 27-year-old Courtney Bivins, of Kansas City, Missouri, and 34-year-old Joshua Mobley, of Mission, Kansas, near a park on Sunday. Police say Mobley shot Bivins and then himself. Police in Kansas said they were “close friends” but weren’t in a domestic relationship.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Bivins played in 19 games at Western Kentucky University before transferring to Campbellsville University, where she graduated in 2013 with a biology degree. Campbellsville said Bivins, who previously went by the last name of Clifton, was a nurse and had been “actively pursuing a career field in anesthesiology.”

Campbellsville Sports Information Director Jordan Alves said Bivins, who ranked 14th in the NAIA for three-point shooting and 18th for total scoring during her senior year, could “shoot it with the best of them.” She is also ranked 14th on Campbellsville’s women’s all-time scoring record.

“We are deeply saddened by the news of this tragedy,” Campbellsville President Michael V. Carter said in a release. “Courtney was fun to watch on the court, and I remember her talents fondly during her time as a Lady Tiger. We ask that everyone involved with Campbellsville University keep the Clifton and Bivins families in their prayers during this time.”

The university said funeral arrangements have not been made.