Anna Sorokin arrives in New York State Supreme Court for her trial on grand larceny charges, in New York, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Sorokin is on trial on grand larceny and theft of services charges. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK — Anna Sorokin traveled in celebrity circles and tossed $100 tips — all the more reason to believe she was the German heiress she said she was. But behind the jet-set lifestyle and pricey threads, prosecutors have said, was a fraudster who bilked friends, banks and hotels for a taste of the high life. Sorokin, 28, lived in luxury New York City hotel rooms she couldn’t afford, promised a friend an all-expenses paid trip to Morocco and then stuck her with the $62,000 bill, and peddled bogus bank statements in a quest for a $22 million loan, the Manhattan DA’s office has alleged. On Wednesday, the one-time darling of the Big Apple social scene went on trial on grand larceny and theft of services charges alleging she swindled various people and businesses out of $275,000 in a 10-month odyssey that saw her jetting to the Midwest and Marrakesh before landing in a cell at Rikers Island. “Her overall scheme has been to claim to be a wealthy German heiress with approximately $60 million in funds being held abroad,” prosecutor Catherine McCaw said after Sorokin’s October 2017 arrest. “She’s born in Russia and has not a cent to her name as far as we can determine.” Sorokin’s attorney said she never intended to commit a crime. Sorokin arrived in the world of champagne wishes and caviar dreams in 2016 with a new name (Anna Delvey) and a wardrobe to match (Celine sunglasses, Gucci sandals and high-end buys from Net-a-Porter and Elyse Walker). She made a show of proving she belonged, passing crisp Benjamins to Uber drivers and hotel concierges, but she gave varying accounts for the source of her wealth, according to people who knew her. At different times, they said, she’d claim her father was a diplomat, an oil baron or a solar panel muckity-muck. In reality, he’s a former trucker who runs a heating-and-cooling business.

Tlingit Code Talkers honored

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Army veteran Richard Bean Sr. died without anyone knowing that he and four other long-deceased Alaska Natives had used their Tlingit language to outsmart the Japanese during World War II. Now, they are finally being hailed in their home state for their lifesaving efforts as servicemen. Earlier this month, legislators passed a formal citation honoring the Tlingit Code Talkers. State flags were flown at half-staff and later presented to the men’s families. Bean and the others had been forbidden to speak Tlingit as schoolchildren in their southeast Alaska villages. Later, they used it to provide the military with unbreakable codes, as did their more well-known peers, Navajo Code Talkers. The language of the Alaska Natives had been suppressed by missionaries and teachers trying to “civilize” them, said Rosita Worl, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute. The Juneau nonprofit works to preserve and enhance the cultures of southeast Alaska’s Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribes. The men’s contributions went undisclosed for decades because the U.S. military had kept the unbroken codes secret in case they were needed in future wars.

Lyft hikes IPO target to $70-$72

SAN FRANCISCO — Lyft is lifting the price target for its initial public offering in a sign of the excitement surrounding the stock market debut of a ride-hailing service that’s gaining ground on its rival Uber. With the revision disclosed Wednesday, Lyft is now seeking $70 to $72 per share, up from its previous goal of $62 to $68. If it attains its new pricing goal, Lyft will have a market value of about $24 billion, even though the San Francisco company still hasn’t turned a profit since co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer started the service in 2012. Since then, Lyft and Uber have combined to popularize the trend of summoning a ride on a smartphone app that connects them to drivers who use their own cars to pick up passengers. The fares are split between the drivers and the ride-hailing companies that make the connections. The trend has turned into a worldwide cultural phenomenon with plenty of room with future growth, the key reason why so many investors appear to want a slice of the action now. Uber is expected to price its IPO later this spring.

LA targets illegal pot sales

LOS ANGELES — Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday that Los Angeles is considering a major crackdown on illegal marijuana shops that have been bedeviling the city’s legal marketplace. The move that could pump tens of millions of dollars into police enforcement comes as legal shops struggle to turn a profit while hundreds of illicit storefronts enjoy brisk sales, thanks to their typically cheaper, tax-free prices. The legal shops “can’t get undercut every single day by everybody else that’s out there,” the mayor told reporters at City Hall. The Democratic mayor in his second term didn’t put a precise figure on the spending for the city’s upcoming budget, but he estimated it would be a ten-fold increase from the current year. “It really comes down to how much overtime, how any officers we can have” closing illegal shops, he said. The proliferation of illicit shops has outraged legal businesses that warn that the illicit shops pose safety and health concerns. Pot sold in state-licensed shops is tested by independent labs.

$80M awarded in Roundup suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. jury on Wednesday awarded more than $80 million in damages to a California man who blamed Roundup weed killer for his cancer, in a case that his attorneys say could help determine the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits. Edwin Hardeman proved that Roundup’s design was defective, it lacked sufficient cancer warnings and its manufacturer, agribusiness giant Monsanto, was negligent, the six-person jury in San Francisco found. It awarded Hardeman more than $5 million in compensation and an additional $75 million in punitive damages. Hardeman, 70, put his arm around his wife, Mary, as the verdict was read and hugged his attorneys. Monsanto says studies have established that glyphosate, the active ingredient in its widely used weed killer, is safe. The company said it will appeal. Hardeman said he used Roundup products to treat poison oak, overgrowth and weeds on his San Francisco Bay Area property for years. The same jury previously found that Roundup was a substantial factor in Hardeman’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Sentenced for shove off bridge

VANCOUVER, Wash. — A woman who pleaded guilty to pushing her 16-year-old friend from a bridge at a popular swimming area near Vancouver has been sentenced to two days in jail and 38 days on a county work crew. Clark County District Court Judge Darvin Zimmerman sentenced 19-year-old Tay’lor Smith on Wednesday, saying she should do some jail time in light of Jordan Holgerson’s serious injuries. Smith pleaded guilty earlier this month to misdemeanor reckless endangerment as part of a plea agreement. Smith pushed Holgerson off the bridge Aug. 7 at Moulton Falls northeast of Vancouver. Video posted on YouTube that was widely viewed shows Holgerson being pushed. The 50-foot fall broke Holgerson’s ribs, caused severe bruising and punctured her lungs. In court Wednesday she said she’s still dealing with physical therapy, pain, anxiety and panic attacks. Holgerson started to cry during her statement to the judge and an advocate then read it for her, saying Holgerson was terrified when she was pushed and when she was in the water thought she was going to die.

Survives week stuck in snow

PARK VALLEY, Utah — Michelle Richan was stranded for a week in snow and mud in rural Utah — but she was prepared, police said. Richan travels with an abundance of survival gear and had enough food and water in her SUV to last another week, she said. She got stuck March 19 on a remote road in the northwest corner of the state while traveling home to Brigham City from Eureka, Nev. Trapped without cellphone service, she decided to stay put, spending her time collecting firewood and burning fires. A week after she got stuck, a pilot spotted her from his small plane and radioed searchers on the ground. “I spotted something orange, so I just went really low to look at it and saw her actually running out of the car,” pilot Ivo Zdarsky said. A snowplow driver found Richan Tuesday and freed her vehicle. She was reunited with her family in Park Valley.

Parks debuting new attractions

ORLANDO, Fla. — Some Florida theme parks will be debuting new attractions this week. SeaWorld Orlando on Wednesday is opening a Sesame Street land, while down the interstate, Legoland Florida in Winter Haven is debuting an area based on “The Lego Movie” and its sequel. Both additions to central Florida’s theme park landscape are aimed at young families. The 6-acre Sesame Street land at SeaWorld Orlando is located where the kid-friendly Shamu’s Happy Harbor used to be. It’s an apt location given the Sesame Street land is the theme park’s boldest step away from live killer whale shows.

Tough life for rare turkey shoot

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi hunter who shot a rare white turkey says he’s been verbally attacked after TV personality Keith Olbermann called on his Twitter followers to make the hunter’s life a “living hell.” The Clarion-Ledger wrote a story Monday about how Hunter Waltman of Kiln, Mississippi, bagged the rare bird, which is not illegal to hunt. On Tuesday, Olbermann tweeted the story, identified Waltman by name, and called him a “pea-brained scumbag.” A nationally known sports and political commentator, Olbermann also said the “nitwit clown” who wrote the story should be fired. Waltman tells the newspaper he’s received verbal attacks because of Olbermann’s tweet. But he also tells the Sun-Herald newspaper that he doesn’t let the negative comments get to him. Clarion-Ledger executive editor Sam R. Hall issued a statement calling Olbermann’s tweet “recklessly irresponsible.”

Engines failed from lack of oil

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A cruise ship that was the focus of a daring rescue operation off Norway’s frigid North Sea coast became disabled because its engines didn’t have enough lubricating oil, the country’s top maritime official said Wednesday. Low oil levels were the “direct cause” of the engine failure that stranded the ship during a storm Saturday, Lars Alvestad, the acting director general of the Norwegian Maritime Authority, said. Sensors detected the oil shortage and automatically shut down the Viking Sky’s engines to prevent a breakdown, he said. The ship’s harrowing weekend ordeal injured dozens of people, including 36 who were admitted to hospitals. Four people from the ship remained hospitalized Wednesday, including one being treated in an intensive care ward in critical but stable condition, Norwegian health officials said. Alvestad said the amount of oil was “relatively low” but still “within set limits” as the Viking Sky neared Hustadvika, a shallow area known for shipwrecks that has many reefs but no larger islands to offer boats shelter from pounding waves. “The heavy seas probably caused movements in the tanks so large that the supply to the lubricating oil pumps stopped,” Alvestad said during a news conference. “This triggered an alarm indicating a low level of lubrication oil, which in turn, shortly thereafter, caused an automatic shutdown of the engines.”

Man pleads to Wisconsin slayings

BARRON, Wis. — A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty Wednesday to kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents, in a move that spares the girl held captive in a remote cabin for three months from the possible trauma of having to testify at his trial. Jake Patterson, 21, sniffled and his voice caught as he pleaded guilty to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped a count of armed burglary. Patterson faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced May 24; Wisconsin does not have the death penalty. Patterson had said he would plead guilty in a letter sent this month to a Minneapolis TV station, saying he didn’t want the Closs family “to worry about a trial.” Patterson admitted kidnapping Jayme after killing her parents, James and Denise Closs, on Oct. 15 at the family’s home near Barron, about 90 miles northeast of Minneapolis. Jayme escaped in January, after 88 days in Patterson’s cabin in near the small, isolated town of Gordon, some 60 miles from her home. The plea, coupled with an earlier decision by prosecutors not to bring charges in the county where Jayme was held, increases the chances that the details of her time in captivity will remain private.

3 crashed 1,800-can food display

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Police have arrested three juveniles suspected of crashing a display of 1,800-food cans collected for an Alaska food bank. The chest-high structure built by 17 engineering students at Anchorage’s Dimond High School was displayed at the Dimond Center mall. The display was the only student structure in an annual “Canstructure” competition, which raises food donations for the Food Bank of Alaska. Architecture and engineering firms entered a dozen other entries. Anchorage police say the suspects slammed their bodies into the display Sunday night and fled. Two suspects are from Dimond High. The third is a home-school student. The food was valued at $2,300. Many of the cans were damaged. The food bank is evaluating whether damaged cans can be accepted.

NYC has world’s tallest politician

NEW YORK — A 6-foot-10 New York City councilman from Brooklyn has been named tallest politician in the world. Robert Cornegy Jr. was honored for that distinction at a City Hall ceremony on Wednesday after being officially certified by Guinness World Records as world’s tallest male politician on Jan. 14. Cornegy says he went for the title two years ago after a constituent jokingly told him “you have to be the tallest politician ever.” Cornegy says being tall has its challenges, especially shopping for shoes and clothes. The previous record holder was a British member of Parliament named Sir Louis Gluckstein, who measured 6-foot-7-1/2 inches. He died in 1979 and was succeeded by another British politician who stood at 6-foot-6 inches.

Truck carrying chemical explodes

CAMDEN, Ark. — A commercial truck hauling a chemical commonly used as fertilizer exploded Wednesday on a highway in Arkansas, killing the driver and creating a massive crater in the road. The driver had called 911 early Wednesday to report that his brakes had caught fire. The driver, 63-year-old Randall McDougal, attempted to extinguish the blaze but was killed when the truck exploded, authorities said. “It looks like a bomb went off,” Camden Fire Chief Robert Medford said. “There’s a big hole in the ground on where the truck was at.” State police said that McDougal was employed by Blann Trucking Co. and was hauling ammonium nitrate from El Dorado to Texarkana in south Arkansas.

Thought victim was werewolf

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A jury has deadlocked and a mistrial has been declared in a northern Virginia murder case in which the defendant said he thought his victim was a werewolf. The judge dismissed the jurors Wednesday after three days of deliberations in Alexandria Circuit Court in the trial of 34-year-old Pankaj Bhasin. He was charged with murder in the July 13 death of 65-year-old Bradford Jackson, who managed a window store in Old Town Alexandria. His neck was broken and he was stabbed more than 50 times with a box cutter. Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed Bhasin was mentally ill, but prosecutors disputed Bhasin was legally insane. Bhasin’s lawyers said their client was suffering delusions after checking out of a mental hospital near his New Jersey home.

May to step down if Brexit OK’d

LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May offered up her job in exchange for her Brexit deal Wednesday, telling colleagues she would quit within weeks if the agreement was passed and Britain left the European Union. May’s dramatic concession that “there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership” was a last-ditch effort to bring enough reluctant colleagues on board to push her twice-rejected EU divorce deal over the line. It looked like it might not be enough, as a key Northern Ireland party said it would not be supporting the deal. May’s announcement came as lawmakers sought an alternative to May’s unpopular deal after wrestling control of Parliament’s agenda away from her Brexit-weakened government. May has been under mounting pressure from pro-Brexit members of her Conservative Party to quit. Many Brexiteers accuse her of negotiating a bad divorce deal that leaves Britain too closely tied to the bloc after it leaves.

Police paid for hotel for brothers

CHICAGO — Chicago police provided a six-night hotel stay with separate rooms and 24-hour security to two brothers who said they were paid by “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett to stage a racist, anti-gay attack on him, according to investigative reports released Wednesday to several media outlets. The hotel rooms were part of an effort to avoid the media last month as detectives investigated Smollett’s report that he was assaulted in January by a pair of men in downtown Chicago, the reports said. The heavily redacted reports blacked out the names of Abimbola Osundairo and Olabinjo Osundairo, but the context makes it clear that the brothers were put up from Feb. 15 to Feb. 21 at the Chicago South Loop Hotel near the city’s McCormick Place convention center. Police paid for the hotel and the security. “Assistance for food and incidentals were also provided,” one report said. Police met with the men at the hotel, stopped at restaurants to get meals for them and drove the pair and their attorney to court, taking them into the courthouse through a back entrance to avoid the media, according to the reports. A judge on Wednesday sealed the investigative documents, and police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said he was awaiting a written copy of the order to determine if he could comment, including disclosing how much the stay cost the department.

FAA defends reliance on builders

WASHINGTON — Under fire from lawmakers on Capitol Hill over the two deadly Boeing crashes, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday defended the FAA’s practice of relying on aircraft makers to help certify their own planes for flight. Acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell said the strategy has “consistently produced safe aircraft designs for decades.” And he said the agency would need 10,000 more employees and an additional $1.8 billion a year to do all the work now done by designated employees of the companies it regulates. Under the self-certifying program, these employees perform tests and inspections needed to win safety approvals, with the FAA overseeing their work. The approach is credited with holding down government costs and speeding the rollout of new models. But in the wake of the air disasters involving Boeing’s new 737 Max jetliner in Ethiopia and Indonesia, that practice has been seized on as evidence of an overly cozy relationship between the FAA and the industry. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said at a Senate subcommittee hearing that delegating safety work to the companies puts “the fox in charge of the henhouse.”

Parkland looks beyond therapy

PARKLAND, Fla. — Days after the suicides of two student survivors of the Parkland school shooting, community leaders were frantically putting extra services in place Wednesday to try to connect with those hard-to-reach students who are averse to traditional therapy. A local nonprofit had planned to open a teen wellness center near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on April 30, offering free activities like karaoke night, yoga, kickboxing and acupuncture for students who weren’t interested in talking to a therapist. But Eagle’s Haven opened ahead of schedule Monday to address emergency needs of students and their families. “One teen just wanted to cry yesterday and didn’t want to talk. Another teen wanted to tell his story about the actual shooting,” said Julie Gordon, a licensed therapist and program director of Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options, the nonprofit behind Eagle’s Haven. The first Parkland suicide took place March 16. Cara Aiello told WFOR-TV her 18-year-old daughter Sydney had suffered from survivor’s guilt — her friend, Meadow Pollack, died in the attack. Coral Springs police Officer Tyler Reik confirmed Monday that a Stoneman Douglas sophomore apparently killed himself Saturday, but officials were still awaiting autopsy results. The boy’s name was not immediately released. The newly opened wellness center in a nondescript, mostly empty office space offered cookies, fruit and coffee for those who want just to check it out until they start holding after-school activities. The students are on spring break this week, making reaching them outside a central location more difficult.

Wisconsin court restores laws

MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin appeals court sided with Republicans on Wednesday and reinstated laws they passed during a lame-duck legislative session that weaken the powers of the Democratic governor and attorney general. Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess blocked the laws last week as unconstitutional, finding lawmakers convened illegally when they passed them in December. The 3rd District Court of Appeals granted a request by GOP legislators to stay Niess’ ruling pending a full appeal, ruling that Niess underestimated Republican lawmakers’ chance of a successful appeal and injuries that result from enjoining potentially valid legislation. Some of the laws remain blocked despite the stay, however. Another Dane County judge on Tuesday blocked some provisions that he felt violated the separation of powers. That ruling still stands. Republicans passed the legislation in December after Democrat Tony Evers defeated Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Josh Kaul defeated Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel in the November midterm elections. The laws were designed to weaken Evers and Kaul and guarantee Republicans could defend in court GOP-backed statutes that Evers and Kaul don’t support. The laws prohibit Evers from withdrawing from lawsuits without legislative approval, a move designed to prevent him from fulfilling a campaign pledge to pull Wisconsin out of a multistate lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act. The laws also prevent Kaul from settling lawsuits without legislative approval and require him to deposit settlement awards in the state general fund rather than in state Department of Justice accounts.