03/26/2005

Associated Press

A Monroe man charged with defrauding the government, banks, businesses and Internet auction customers of hundreds of thousands of dollars pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court on Friday, four years after he fled to Greece to avoid prosecution.

Evangelos Dimitrios Soukas, 26, was arrested when he arrived at an airport in Cyprus on Jan. 14. The FBI had asked Interpol to keep an eye out for Soukas, who had been living in Greece, prosecutors said.

A 50-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Seattle last month charged him with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, mail and wire fraud and identity fraud.

Starting in 1999, he routinely placed false advertisements for items such as laptop computers on Internet auction sites, the indictment said. The winning bidder typically received nothing after paying, though one received a box filled with Styrofoam and rocks.

He also opened bank accounts in other people's names and filed fraudulent tax returns in his own name and others, prosecutors said. The IRS sent him checks totaling nearly $11,000.

His lawyer, Scott Engelhard, had no comment Friday. Trial was scheduled for May 31.

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RICHLAND, Wash. — Tests of three elk killed on the Hanford Reach National Monument turned up no sign of radioactive contamination, Department of Energy officials have reported.

The elk were subject to Geiger counter tests in the field after they were killed in January. Then scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory took bone, liver and muscle samples for further analysis.

"This was more of a verification," said local DOE official Steve Wisness. "We didn't expect any problem at all."

The elk tested below detectable levels for cesium and plutonium contamination. Strontium levels were similar to those found in organisms around the world due to past atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, he said, noting that there also are naturally occurring sources of radioactivity.

The elk were tested as part of the larger federal testing program that samples just about everything around Hanford, from roadkill to vegetables.

The results mean the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the Reach, can continue to use trap-and-relocate programs and government shoots and meat donation as options for reducing the herd, now numbering about 700 animals.

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KALALOCH, Wash. (AP) — Now that the clams are safe to eat, Kalaloch Beach will be opened for razor clam digging on morning tides Tuesday and Wednesday.

Kalaloch has been closed to clam digging because the clams had elevated levels of domoic acid, a natural marine toxin that can be harmful, even fatal to humans.

The harvest area at the beach extends from South Beach campground north to Brown's Point. Diggers may take no more than 15 razor clams and must keep the first 15 harvested, regardless of size or condition.

The short season was announced Thursday by the Olympic National Park and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which jointly manage the recreational razor clam fishery at Kalaloch.

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OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Kent dentist who has admitted sexual misconduct has been suspended by the state Health Department and the Dental Quality Assurance Commission.

Marc R. Joondeph pleaded guilty in November in King County Superior Court in Kent to four counts of dealing or possessing child pornography and communicating with minors for immoral purposes. Prosecutors said he tried to engage in sexually suggestive online conversations with girls who were his patients.

The summary suspension announced Friday means that Joondeph may not practice or be employed as a dentist in Washington state until a hearing is held.

Joondeph did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press for comment.