The man prosecutors call the “architect and mastermind” of the nationwide college admissions bribery scheme that ensnared celebrities, prominent businesspeople and other parents who used their wealth and privilege to buy their kids’ way into top-tier schools was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Wednesday.

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Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is showing “signs of improvement,” the team said Wednesday, but the player remains in critical condition two days after suffering cardiac arrest during a game against the Bengals in Cincinnati.

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The 28-year-old arrested and charged as a suspect in the November murders of four University of Idaho students has arrived back in Idaho after being transferred Wednesday from the Pennsylvania jail where he was being held without bond before agreeing to be extradited on Tuesday.

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Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in New York federal court Tuesday to eight charges related to the collapse of his former crypto exchange FTX and hedge fund Alameda Research.

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WASHINGTON — Representative-elect George Santos has been hard to pin down.

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(The Center Square) – Gas prices won’t be as volatile in 2023 as they were in 2022, but motorists can likely expect high gas prices this year, according to an analysis by GasBuddy.

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(The Center Square) – California Republican Kevin McCarthy failed Tuesday to get enough support in the first three votes as his bid for Speaker of the House struggles to cross the finish line

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(The Center Square) – December was another record month for Border Patrol agents tasked with apprehending foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. through the southwest border

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VATICAN CITY — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s body is lying in state as thousands of people have lined up across St. Peter’s Square hours before dawn to pay their respects. The doors of St. Peter’s Basilica opened for viewing by the public at just past 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. EST) Monday when the first faithful entered.

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CHICAGO — After a two-year spike during the pandemic and national outrage over police accountability, Chicago has begun to see a decline in homicides, as the Chicago Police Department works to correct crime trends to levels before the coronavirus and turmoil over the killing of George Floyd took hold.

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