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Attorney: Dukes To Pay Wife

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 16, 2009

The attorney for Washington Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes said the ex-Tampa Bay Rays player expects to meet next week's deadline to pay more than $40,000 in court-ordered child support and alimony to his estranged wife.

Lawyer Grady Irvin said Thursday that Dukes, 24, has not paid child support totaling just less than $10,000 since September and that the remainder owed is temporary alimony he was ordered to pay in 2008.

Irvin said Dukes paid about $36,000 in child support in 2008, making payments throughout the baseball season.

The outfielder stopped monthly child-support payments of just more than $3,000 in October, and plans to contest in court whether NiShea Dukes is entitled to further alimony.

A circuit judge has given Dukes until Jan. 23 to pay the money or spend 90 days in jail.

A telephone message left for Rick Escobar, NiShea Dukes' attorney, was not returned.

Judge Says Gotti Should Stay In Jail

NEW YORK - John A. "Junior" Gotti, 44, should stay behind bars while awaiting trial on charges he was involved in three gangland murders and cocaine trafficking, a judge ruled Thursday.

The charges against Gotti are serious, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel said at the conclusion of a hearing in Manhattan federal court. "They provide a motive to flee."

It was the first court appearance for Gotti in the city since his latest criminal case was transferred from Tampa, where a racketeering indictment against him was unsealed in 2008.

Package Stirs Up Federal Building

TAMPA - A federal office building in downtown Tampa was evacuated Thursday afternoon when a suspicious package was found in the mailroom, authorities say.

Seventy-five people working in the building, which houses U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Citizenship and Immigration Services workers, were evacuated about 1:45 p.m., Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade says in a written statement.

A hazardous materials team checked the mailroom and the six people inside when the substance was found. As a safety measure, the six people were asked to remove their clothing, take showers and dress in paper suits provided by the hazmat team, Wade said.

They were treated by emergency personnel and chose not to go to a hospital.

The hazmat team took samples of the substance, which was sent to a local lab for analysis. FBI agents are investigating the incident at 5524 W. Cypress St., Wade said.

The offices were closed for the remainder of the day. If lab results indicate the substance is harmful, federal authorities plan to take further action and contact affected workers, Wade said.

If lab results are negative, the building will resume normal hours this morning.

Fraternity Boss: Hazing Not Fatal

HICKORY, N.C - . The fraternity targeted for a possible lawsuit in the death of a Wharton High School graduate says Harrison Kowiak did not die from hazing.

Kowiak, 19, died in November after an off-campus activity with the Theta Chi fraternity at Lenoir-Rhyne University, where he was a student. His parents, who live in Tampa, hired a lawyer and this week released a statement saying their son died of hazing and they intend to sue the university and the fraternity.

Thursday, Dale Taylor, the Theta Chi fraternity national executive director, said hazing did not kill Kowiak.

Kowiak died Nov. 18 from a severe blow to the head during an off-campus game of capture the flag on fraternity pledge week, according to a Catawba County Sheriff's Office investigation. Kowiak was a Theta Chi fraternity pledge.

The district attorney's office announced this week it would not pursue a criminal case.

A staff and wire report

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