Shorter prison term sought for lobbyist

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is asking for a dramatic reduction in prison time for imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for cooperating with a massive FBI corruption investigation. Abramoff is serving nearly six years in prison for a fraudulent Florida casino deal. (AP)

BOISE - A longtime sex offender was sentenced to death yesterday for the 2005 kidnapping, torture, and murder of a 9-year-old northern Idaho boy after federal jurors who watched video of some of the brutality deliberated for just three hours. Joseph Edward Duncan III kidnapped Dylan Groene and his younger sister after killing his mother, older brother, and his mother's fiancée. (AP)

INDEPENDENCE - A 20-year-old woman who kidnapped a pregnant teenager she met online in a foiled plot steal her unborn baby has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Lauren Gash, of Odessa, pleaded guilty last month to kidnapping, assault, and felonious restraint in the July 2007 attack on Amanda Howard, then 18, inside a Blue Springs motel room. (AP)

RALEIGH - A 21-year-old mother of two who survived five days in her wrecked pickup truck was in serious condition yesterday after being pulled from a North Carolina ravine. A spokeswoman at Carolinas Medical Center said Amber Pennell was listed in serious condition at the Charlotte hospital. (AP)