Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Tue, 24 Nov 92 14:12:10 EST Message-ID: Lines: 88 \SE A;NATION;AMERICAN SCENE;MIDWEST \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY Brothers get life for bank robbery SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Two brothers accused of kidnapping a Missouri banker from his Arkansas home and drowning him in an Oklahoma lake were sentenced yesterday to life in prison. Prosecutors said Joseph A. Agofsky, 26, and Shannon Agofsky, 21, kidnapped banker Dan Short from his home in Sulphur Springs, Ark., on Oct. 6, 1989, and robbed $71,000 from his State Bank of Noel, Mo., the town where the brothers lived. U.S. District Judge Russell Clark sentenced the two to life for bank robbery, a concurrent term of five years for conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and a consecutive term of five years for using a firearm in a violent crime. Shannon Agofsky also was ordered to make restitution of $69,000 to the Kansas Bankers Surety Co. and $2,500 to the State Bank of Noel. The brothers still face a first-degree murder trial in Delaware County, Okla., where Mr. Short was bound to a weighted chair and thrown into Grand Lake. Oklahoma prosecutors will seek the death penalty. S=NEW STORY Jockey Guild guilty of bribing legislator LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A jockeys group yesterday pleaded guilty to bribing at least one state legislator during a Las Vegas convention in 1986. The plea agreement in U.S. District Court is part of a federal investigation of corruption in Kentucky state government that has focused on the horse industry. The Jockey Guild entered the plea to a single count of aiding and abetting extortion. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a $25,000 fine. Judge Charles Simpson withheld sentencing, and the group could be liable for the maximum penalty of $500,000 in fines. According to the charge, a representative of the Jockey Guild gave $1,400 to former state Rep. Bill McBee during the convention in December 1986. Guild attorney Joel Cohen said Mr. McBee asked for the money during the convention. Authorities have said Mr. McBee accepted the money in return for influence on horse-industry legislation. S=NEW STORY Plea bargain likely in patricide case ANADARKO, Okla. - A teen-age girl charged with murder in the shooting death of her abusive father likely will plead guilty to a lesser charge amid complaints about her facing prosecution as an adult, attorneys said yesterday. Billie Joe Powell, 16, was freed on bail yesterday after an anonymous benefactor from Boston who heard about her case arranged to have bond posted. Assistant District Attorney Richard Kirby and defense attorney Melody Brannon held a news conference to announce plea-bargain negotiations. Terms were incomplete yesterday. Ms. Brannon said District Attorney Gene Christian assured her that a first-degree murder charge would be changed to manslaughter. The minimum prison sentence for manslaughter is four years. Prosecutors asked that the case be handled in juvenile court, but a judge last week ordered that the girl stand trial as an adult. The maximum juvenile penalty would have been detention until age 18. Family members and others have testified she suffered chronic abuse from her father, Billy Ray Powell, 47, who was fatally shot Aug. 26. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM