By MANUEL RUEDA, Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Trump administration on Tuesday designated another Latin American drug cartel as a foreign terrorist organization, increasing financial pressure on its members and opening the door to potential military action against them.

The U.S. State Department said Clan del Golfo, which is based in Colombia, has been listed both as a foreign and a global terrorist group, calling it a “violent and powerful criminal organization” that uses cocaine trafficking to fund violent activities.

“Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, and civilians in Colombia,” the statement said.

The designation comes after the Trump administration in September added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in almost 30 years. It was a stinging rebuke to a traditional U.S. ally that reflects a recent surge in cocaine production and fraying ties between the White House and the country’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro.

The United States also sanctioned Petro in October over accusations that he had allowed drug cartels in the South American nation to “flourish” and export cocaine to the U.S. — accusations that he vehemently denied, arguing that Colombia is intercepting record levels of cocaine shipments without killing suspected smugglers.

With an estimated 9,000 fighters, Clan del Golfo is one of Colombia’s most powerful armed groups. Also known by its Spanish acronym AGC, the group evolved from right-wing paramilitary squads that fought Marxist guerillas in Colombia in the 1990s and 2000s.

A report published last year by the Human Rights Defender’s Office, a public agency, said that AGC is present in about a third of Colombia’s 1,103 municipalities, where it extorts local businesses and has also been accused of recruiting children.

Clan del Golfo has been involved in peace talks with Colombia’s government since September, which could lead to the disarmament of its fighters in exchange for reduced sentences for its leadership.

Earlier this month, the Colombian government and the AGC signed an agreement in Qatar, under which the group’s fighters as of next March will be allowed to gather in specially designated zones in northern and western Colombia where they will be free from prosecution, as peace talks continue. The agreement also states that the Colombian government will suspend any extradition of AGC leaders to the U.S. during negotiations.

Elizabeth Dickinson, a Colombia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Tuesday’s designation could be a message to the Colombian government to take a tougher stance against the group.

“The tensions between Colombia and Washington are at historic levels,” Dickinson said.

She added that while terrorist designations are usually meant to stop third parties from doing business with targeted groups, the designation against AGC could be more “symbolic” — and it will “give pause to Colombian authorities … going forward.”

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Colombia has also recently held peace talks with the National Liberation Army, also an organization designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., and in the past it struck a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, while it was still designated as a terrorist group.

The designation does not provide the U.S. government with the immediate authority to conduct military strikes, although it enhances the legal framework for attacks against targeted groups to be carried out.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration designated Venezuelan gangs Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles as foreign terrorist organizations, before launching strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela, whose legality has been questioned by U.S. lawmakers.

The Trump administration has also accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of sending drug shipments to the U.S.

And last week, Trump said Petro has been “fairly hostile” to the U.S. and that he was “going to have himself some big problems if he doesn’t wise up.”

A woman admitted to aggressively handling children at a Blaine daycare center where she worked and will receive a month in jail and probation as part of a plea agreement.

Chloe Kaye Johnson, 25, of Andover pleaded guilty Monday in Anoka County District Court to felony malicious punishment of a child in connection with the abuse at Small World Learning Center last year.

Chloe Kaye Johnson (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

The plea deal reached with prosecutors calls for a 30-day jail sentence and five years of probation. Johnson’s attorney can argue for electronic home monitoring or work release at sentencing, which is scheduled for Feb. 27. Five other charges, including third-degree assault, will be dismissed.

Co-defendant Elizabeth Augusta Wiemerslage, 24, of Coon Rapids, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years’ probation in May after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting third-degree assault and aiding and abetting malicious punishment of a child. She also reached a plea deal.

According to the criminal complaints, the parents of a 5-month-old reported alleged abuse July 16 after taking the infant to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis after finding bruising on her thighs, groin, buttocks and legs.

Daycare surveillance video showed Johnson grabbing the infant by her lower body and “violently” flipping the child onto her back on a floor mat, the complaints say. The infant’s face hit the mat repeatedly during the incident, with Wiemerslage just a few feet away.

Police identified two other victims and contacted their parents.

In another video, Johnson picked up a second infant and held a cloth to the baby’s mouth and nose for several seconds while the child was crying. Johnson then gripped the child by the neck and shoved a bottle repeatedly in and out of the baby’s mouth. Later, Wiemerslage picked up the child and allegedly “violently slammed” her down on a support pillow, the charges say.

Elizabeth Augusta Wiemerslage Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

At another time, Wiemerslage picked up a third infant and “aggressively” shoved the child down onto a changing table. Later, Wiemerslage “violently” picked up the infant by the arm and “aggressively” moved the child around on a mat as Johnson watched.

Johnson initially told officers she was helping the infants learn how to roll over, but ultimately admitted she was “too rough, and admitted her behavior could have caused the (5-month old’s) bruising,” the complaint states. “(Wiemerslage) also admitted to her behavior and that it was wrong.”

Medical examinations showed the 5-month-old girl had bruising in nine areas that were consistent with a “grip injury” or “squeeze‐type injury,” while another infant was found to have a healing leg fracture “suspicious for nonaccidental trauma,” the complaint says. Bruising was found on three other infants who were in the care of Wiemerslage and Johnson.

The daughter of Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, was one of the victims of the abuse, and he later introduced legislation to require childcare centers with active maltreatment violations to retain video footage for 60 days and have cameras in their infant and toddler rooms.

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The Ramsey County board unanimously approved its 2026 tax levy and 2026-2027 operating budget Tuesday, both decreases from previously proposals.

The board passed an 8.25% 2026 tax levy – down from the proposed maximum tax levy of 9.75% – and a 2026 operating budget of $924,063,479 and 2027 operating budget of $962,473,868.

An earlier proposed operating budget for 2026 was $929.25 million and the 2027 proposed operating budget was $968.45 million.

The reductions come following budget shifts and reductions in levy-supported spending. Community members who shared their feedback and concerns with the budget helped shape it, county officials said.

Flexibility

Still, there were difficult tradeoffs, they said.

One of the reasons the most recent cuts were previously not brought forward was to provide the county some flexibility to do its work, said County Manager Ling Becker during a November board workshop.

Cost shifts to the county from the federal level have negatively impacted the county’s safety net, said District 6 Commissioner Mai Chong Xiong.

“This budget reflects the reality, and that the board has made intentional choices to reduce that impact as much as possible,” Chong Xiong said.

About 46% of the county’s budget is funded through property taxes and county officials have cited rising costs, limited revenue growth, increasing demand for services, as well as uncertainty on the federal and state level as budget pressures. County officials on Tuesday also cited increasing state and federal mandates for services that counties are required to provide.

Budget cuts

Budget cuts include reductions to state-mandated burial assistance funding for low-income residents for 2026, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s newly proposed community engagement funding, county contributions to Ramsey County Historical Society and other funds.

“And I just want to say … this is just spread across the enterprise, it’s things like cuts in IT, cuts in our CEO Next cohort that is going to be delayed, it’s cuts in some of the different staffing and programs and services,” said District 1 Commissioner Tara Jebens-Singh. “We heard folks who were feeling the pain about shifts in services that were happening within their staffing units, within their community. So those are very real. They weren’t taken light-heartedly.”

Nonprofits

County officials also addressed comments from residents on county spending with non-profit partners brought up during the county’s truth in taxation hearing on Dec. 11. That spending represented around 4% of the county budget in 2024 and is not the primary driver of cost increases, which largely come from cost shifts, personnel costs and increased service demands, according to Becker.

“Ramsey County does not provide unrestricted donations. It funds nonprofits through contracts to deliver specific, often state-mandated, services,” Becker said.

She added: “County staff conduct regular invoice reviews and ongoing performance monitoring to ensure that services are delivered as intended and funds are used appropriately. These efforts are aligned across departments and reviewed regularly to prevent fraud, waste and abuse. In addition, the county’s chief compliance and ethics officer who oversees the internal auditor provides independent oversight to strengthen accountability and to ensure consistent adherence to county policies and all legal requirements.”

For further information on county budget changes discussed on Tuesday, go to tinyurl.com/3sjr5uz2.

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By JAIMIE DING, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A doctor who pleaded guilty in a scheme to supply ketamine to actor Matthew Perry was sentenced Tuesday to 8 months of home confinement.

Dr. Mark Chavez of San Diego is on supervised release for 3 years and will be expected to do 300 hours of community service for his role in the “Friends” star’s overdose death, Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett ruled.

Chavez acquired ketamine and gave it to Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison earlier this month for selling ketamine to Perry in the months leading up to his death.

FILE – Dr. Mark Chavez, a physician from San Diego, who is charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s fatal overdose, is seen after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine in Los Angeles on Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Plasencia admitted to taking advantage of Perry, knowing he was a struggling addict. Plasencia texted Chavez that Perry was a “moron” who could be exploited for money, according to court filings.

Perry had been taking the surgical anesthetic ketamine legally as a treatment for depression. But when his regular doctor wouldn’t provide it in the amounts he wanted, he turned to Plasencia.

Chavez admitted to obtaining the ketamine from a wholesale distributor on false pretenses and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. He has not been in custody.

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest TV stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit.

Chavez is the second person to be sentenced of the five defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s death at age 54 in 2023.

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Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct. 28. The medical examiner ruled ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.

Seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him, about a month before his death Perry found Plasencia, who in turn asked Chavez to obtain the drug for him.

He met with Plasencia between San Diego and Los Angeles to hand off ketamine he got using fraudulent prescriptions. In all, he admitted to supplying 22 5-milliliter vials of ketamine and nine ketamine lozenges.

Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of six months home confinement, two years of probation, and at least 300 hours of community service. Chavez’s attorneys asked for credit for time served and three years of probation.

The other three defendants who reached deals to plead guilty will be sentenced at their own hearings in the coming months. Garnett has said she would seek to make sure all the sentences made sense in relation to one another.

AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed reporting.