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EXCLUSIVE: How an Illegal Immigrant Lied, Stole, and Sued a No-Kill Animal Sanctuary — Then Broken California Justice Awarded Her Millions – 1500 Animals Endangered by Decision

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6 months ago

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By Paul Serran with guest contributor Frank Parlato

To hear of yet another story about an illegal migrant gaming a broken justice system to get away with lying, stealing, and committing fraud – all while scoring a multimillion-dollar payday – is bound to distress any right-thinking person.

If, on top of that, we learn that the fate of 1500 rescued animals hangs in the balance, it is even more outrageous.

Adriana Duarte Valentines, of Lancaster, California, entered the United States illegally 22 years ago. She came from Mexico with her husband, Raul Lopez, and their young son, Raul Jr. All three entered unlawfully. While living in the U.S. under false pretenses, Duarte and Lopez had two more children.

DELTA Rescue has cared for rescue animals since 1979.

In 2017, Duarte got a job as a cat caretaker at DELTA Rescue, a 115-acre mountaintop animal sanctuary in Acton, California. The sanctuary was founded in 1979 by Leo Grillo, and it houses over 1,500 dogs, cats, and horses — most abandoned in the desert or Angeles National Forest.

Duarte told DELTA she was a U.S. citizen. She gave a fake Social Security number and claimed she had picked lettuce in California fields. Management, trusting her, didn’t verify the lie. She was hired at $15 an hour.

Soon, Duarte saw an opportunity. Nobody checked what she put in her truck, and nobody asked questions. Over time, she escalated. Eyewitnesses and records show she stole over $350,000 worth of supplies — cat food, dog food, janitorial goods, even blankets meant for rescued animals.

To move more product, she needed more time. Duarte began visiting the trailer of overnight horse caretaker Jorge Avalos. An affair blossomed, and Duarte began billing DELTA for the hours she spent with him.

Then, she became pregnant by her lover. She told no one, neither her husband nor DELTA – which had a policy prohibiting pregnant employees from working with cats due to the risk of toxoplasmosis, a parasite found in cat litter that can cause birth defects and miscarriage. When a coworker asked if she was expecting, she said no.

Duarte’s pickup with alleged stolen products.

Duarte concealed her pregnancy until just before she gave birth. One day, she left work abruptly and did not return.

Three days later, on February 2, 2020, she emailed Grillo, revealing to her former employer that she was pregnant, saying she wanted to go back to work. Grillo reminded her that pregnant women couldn’t work with cats. The health risks were real.

Two days later, she emailed again — baby born, daycare arranged, ready to come back. Grillo’s response: “The fact that you lied to us already discredits anything else you say.”

Then, her husband found out about her affair. Furious, Raul Lopez confronted Avalos, who fled to Mexico.

The affair was over. The theft income gone. The job terminated. So, Duarte filed a lawsuit. Despite the lies, the theft, the false identity, and illegal status — she claimed she was the victim.

Duarte (with her daughter) and lawyer Nalbandyan.

Enter Jacob A. Nalbandyan who filed a sweeping complaint: Pregnancy discrimination, National origin discrimination, Disability discrimination, Wrongful termination, Retaliation under California’s FEHA.

The trial began October 1, 2024, in Department 24 of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. Presiding was Judge Kristin S. Escalante.

Escalante shaped the outcome with her pretrial rulings, deciding that jurors weren’t allowed to hear that Duarte entered the U.S. illegally; that she used a fake Social Security number; and her concealment of pregnancy.

The judge also ruled that DELTA Rescue was not allowed to be described as a nonprofit or that it depended on donations.

Judge Kristin S. Escalante.

During the trial, Judge Escalante allowed Duarte to bring her 4-year-old daughter, dressed in rags, into court.

The judge allowed Nalbandyan to present Dr. Anthony Reading, a psychologist who met Duarte once, four years after her firing. He called the job loss a ‘pivotal event’ that caused permanent damage.

The defense called their own expert, Dr. Marcel Ponton. He ran psychological tests. Results showed ‘almost 100% exaggeration’. “She’s faking,” he said.

But the crucial evidence was none of this: Judge Escalante allowed Nalbandyan to play edited video clips from Leo Grillo’s deposition — over 50 times. Twenty-four times on the day Grillo testified.

The videos, stripped of context, showed an upset Grillo losing his temper in the deposition. He called Duarte a ‘bimbo’, said he did not know she was pregnant because she was ‘obese’, and the last – that she was a ‘lettuce picker’- which was exactly what she told her employers.

‘Lettuce picker’ was presented as a slur against Hispanics, became the mantra of the trial. This white guy called a Mexican worker a lettuce picker. And they played the video 50 times!

The jury members — eight Mexican-Americans, one African-American, one Asian, and two Caucasians – were bombarded with it.

Grillo with one of the rescued dogs.

So, the jury ruled: $16,002 in lost wages; $180,950 in economic damages; $5.5 million for pain and suffering; $1 million in punitive damages.

$6.7 million — for a woman who lied, stole, and sued all the way to the bank.

Judge Escalante later reduced the total award to $3 million — a number that still threatens the survival of DELTA.

Leo Grillo spent 45 years building a no-kill sanctuary on a mountain, rescuing creatures no one else would touch, and creating a model for humane animal care.

Now, Grillo has to place an enormous bond to guarantee the appeal – his life’s work and the fate of 1500 animals are hanging by a thread.

Please consider helping DELTA Rescue to continue to care for rescued animals, donate here.

The post EXCLUSIVE: How an Illegal Immigrant Lied, Stole, and Sued a No-Kill Animal Sanctuary — Then Broken California Justice Awarded Her Millions – 1500 Animals Endangered by Decision appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Politics

Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle

Published

21 hours ago

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September 24, 2025

By

Screencap of YouTube video.

A Black Lives Matter activist in Boston named Monica Cannon-Grant pleaded guilty to federal charges this week, admitting that she scammed donors and used their money to fund her own lavish lifestyle.

Cannon-Grant was previously held up as an admired figure. The city of Boston named her the Bostonian of the year at one point for her ‘social justice activism’ and she was even recognized by the Boston Celtics basketball team for her efforts.

She is now facing a minimum of two years in prison.

The New York Post reports:

BLM-linked activist admits conning donors to fund her lavish lifestyle

A once-celebrated Boston social activist has pleaded guilty to defrauding donors — including Black Lives Matter — out of thousands of dollars that she used as a personal piggy bank.

Monica Cannon-Grant, 44, pleaded guilty Monday to 18 counts of fraud-related crimes that she committed with her late husband while operating their Violence in Boston (VIB) activists group, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.

The activist scammed money — including $3,000 from a BLM group — while claiming it was to help feed children and run protests like one in 2020 over the murder of George Floyd and police violence.

Cannon-Grant also conned her way into getting $100,000 in federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits — which she used to pay off her personal auto loan and car insurance policy.

But she has now confessed to transferring funds to personal bank accounts to pay for rent, shopping sprees, delivery meals, visits to a nail salon — and even a summer vacation to Maryland.

Just amazing.

Here’s a local video report:

She should pay back every penny.

The post Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Keith Olbermann Backpedals Furiously With Apology for Threatening CNN’s Scott Jennings – Jennings Responds (VIDEO)

Published

22 hours ago

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September 24, 2025

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As the Gateway Pundit reported yesterday, former MSNBC host and generally unhinged leftist Keith Olbermann, appeared to threaten CNN’s conservative pundit Scott Jennings on Twitter saying, ‘You’re next motherf**ker.’

Well, Olbermann may have gotten a phone call or a visit from the FBI because today he walked back those comments with a full-throated apology.

RedState has an update:

To quickly recap, Scott Jennings, a Salem Media Network radio host and conservative CNN political commentator, reacted to breaking news on Monday that Kimmel had been reinstated by tweeting, “So basically his employer suspended him for being an insensitive pr**k, and we don’t live in an authoritarian regime? Got it.”

This enraged Olbermann, who proceeded to tweet what many, including Jennings, perceived to be a threat. “You’re next, motherf**ker. But keep mugging to the camera.” Jennings tagged Patel and included a screengrab of the tweets in response.

Though the FBI hasn’t commented as to whether an investigation was launched, Olbermann ostensibly appears to have thought twice about what he tweeted and deleted, apologizing profusely in tweets posted on Tuesday and claiming what he wrote was “misinterpreted”:

See Olbermann’s tweet below:

Scott Jennings, always a class act, offered this hilarious response:

Keith Olbermann really needs help. The guy is just so out of control.

The post Keith Olbermann Backpedals Furiously With Apology for Threatening CNN’s Scott Jennings – Jennings Responds (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Where is Lance Twiggs? Kirk Assassin’s Transgender Lover Has Vanished

Published

22 hours ago

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September 24, 2025

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Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson and roommate Lance Twiggs

Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson lived with his transgender partner – a male-to-female trans named Lance “Luna” Twiggs.

The FBI used Robinson’s texts with his transgender partner to solidify that Robinson was the assassin. Lance Twiggs has not been charged with any crime; however, federal authorities are still investigating.

Last week, Utah authorities released the text exchange between Tyler Robinson and his transgender lover, Lance Twiggs, sent shortly after Kirk’s assassination.

Utah County District Attorney Jeff Gray announced seven charges against Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson. They will also be seeking the death penalty.

Robinson was charged with:

– Count 1: Aggravated murder (capital offense)
– Count 2: Felony reckless discharge of a firearm causing bodily injury
– Count 3: Felony obstruction of justice for hiding the firearm
– Count 4: Felony obstruction of justice for discarding the clothing he wore during the shooting
– Count 5: Witness tampering for asking roommate to delete incriminating messages
– Count 6: Witness temperating for demanding trans roommate stay silent, and not speak to police
– Count 7: Commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child

Jeff Gray released the chilling texts between Tyler Robinson and his “love” Lance Twiggs.

Read the text exchange here:

Tyler Robinson texts with transgender lover Lance Twiggs / 1
Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson texts with transgender lover Lance Twiggs / 2

Lance Twiggs was reportedly cooperating with the FBI, however, according to the Daily Mail he has seemingly vanished.

“If [Lance Twiggs] ever comes back, it will be in a body bag,” a neighbor said to the Daily Mail. “That’s not a threat – I’m just saying that there are so many people who want a piece of him he’d be mad to show his face in public again. This was a generational event.”

The Daily Mail reported:

The Trans boyfriend of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin has fled their former lovenest – and locals tell the Daily Mail they never want to see him again.

Lance Twiggs, 22, was led away for questioning when police swooped on the smart three-bed condo he shared with accused gunman Tyler Robinson, 22.

Shaken neighbors say the part time plumber has not been back to the $320,000 property in St. George, Utah – one declaring: ‘Good riddance. I never want to see either of them again.’

His beaten-up Infinity compact is still parked in his space with his work gear tossed across the back seat and a sandwich wrapper and a drink on the front passenger seat.

Upstairs lights have been left on for more than a week and notes and Amazon packages are piling up outside the home owned by Twiggs’s devout Mormon family.

The post Where is Lance Twiggs? Kirk Assassin’s Transgender Lover Has Vanished appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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