A man convicted of manslaughter in the 2000 beating death of a Grand Forks man must serve two more years in prison after a judge revoked his probation Tuesday.
Shaun Bingaman, 37, was accused of violating his probation four times while living in Arizona. Grand Forks County Assistant State's Attorney David Jones said the violations involved use of marijuana and alcohol as well as harassment of a probation officer over the telephone.
Bingaman was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison with two years suspended. Jones said the judge Tuesday ordered Bingaman to serve the two years that were suspended.
Along with Bingaman, David Lewandowski was charged in the death of 26-year-old Timothy Kingsbury. Lewandowski was sentenced to a year in prison on a lesser charge of negligent homicide.
On Oct. 2, 2000, Kingsbury got into a fight with Bingaman and Lewandowski in the parking lot of the Ambassador Motel in Grand Forks, where Bingaman and Lewandowski each had a room. Kingsbury showed up, drunk and riding a bicycle, to confront Bingaman over money and a woman, trial testimony showed.
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According to testimony, Bingaman kicked Kingsbury in the head four or five times while Lewandowski was holding Kingsbury in a bear hug. The altercation continued with Bingaman putting Kingsbury in a headlock or chokehold until police arrived, testimony showed. Kingsbury was unconscious when police showed up. He was revived later at Altru Hospital, but he died Oct. 6, 2000, after several days on life support.
GF man charged in accidental shooting
A Grand Forks man has been charged with reckless endangerment in an accidental shooting that sent a bullet into an apartment, nearly hitting a woman.
An officer's report says Kyle Michael Black was playing with his friend's unloaded handgun Oct. 11 in an apartment on the 2700 block of South 38th Street. His friend later loaded the gun without telling Black, and Black resumed playing with the gun not knowing it was loaded, the report states.
The gun fired a round that went into the floor, came through the ceiling of the apartment below and bounced off a wall, almost striking a 23-year-old woman, the report says. The woman told the Herald she and two others in the apartment were shaken, but not injured.
The charge against Black was filed on Friday. He has an active warrant for his arrest and does not yet have a court date.
Black is a senior at UND, according to the school's Web site. A message left on his phone was not returned Tuesday evening.
The reckless endangerment charge against Black is a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
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-- Archie Ingersoll
Police: Phone scam resurfaces
Grand Forks police say the over-the-phone grandkid scam has surfaced once again.
The scammers' stories vary, but the gist of their fraud continues to center on a supposed plea from a grandchild in Canada who's in trouble and needs money, detective Mike Flannery said Tuesday.
Sometimes the caller poses as a grandchild; other times the caller claims to be a law enforcement officer saying the grandchild is having legal issues or a doctor saying the grandchild is injured, he said.
"They're cold calls, and they just let the conversation take them where they will," Flannery said. "It all comes down to the same old shtick: Wire money to Canada."
He said scammers sometimes request money be sent to a city other than where the caller claims to be.
Flannery said no one has been taken in by the scam recently, but attempts have been reported. He advises anyone who receives such a call to get a callback number and independently verify where their grandchild is.
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-- Archie Ingersoll
