TEXARKANA — A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and convicted felon must serve 18 months in federal prison for having dozens of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in Texas.

Robert D. Whittington III was sentenced Thursday in Texarkana. Whittington pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Officers in March 2018 raided Whittington’s home in Hooks, 150 miles (241.39 kilometers) northeast of Dallas. Authorities found more than 100 firearms and 19,000 rounds of ammunition.

Prosecutors say Whittington in 2011 was convicted of terrorizing in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, over threatening letters and a deer-hunting camp. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

 

Clark Gable’s grandson died of overdose

DALLAS — A medical examiner says the grandson of actor Clark Gable died of an accidental drug overdose.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office says an autopsy found Clark James Gable III was killed by a combination of the opioids fentanyl and oxycodone, and the sedative alprazolam. It ruled his death an accident.

Gable died in February. The 30-year-old lived in Dallas and hosted the reality TV show “Cheaters,” which featured confrontations with people suspected of infidelity. He is survived by his fiancée and their infant daughter.

Gable’s death was the latest in a national opioid crisis that the Centers for Disease Control says claimed 48,000 lives in 2017. The manufacturer of Oxycodone last month agreed to pay $270 million to settle one of thousands of lawsuits blaming it in the crisis.

 

Ex-Texas swimmer sues over tainted vitamins

DALLAS — A world champion swimmer and former University of Texas athlete is suing a Dallas-based health company claiming that its multivitamins led to her suspension from international competition.

Madisyn Cox sued Cooper Concepts on Monday in state court. She says the vitamins caused a failed drug test and a suspension handed down by the international swimming governing body.

Last year, FINA suspended Cox after she tested positive for the stimulant trimetazidine. Cox was forced to miss several major events. Her lawsuit says Cox fought the suspension and eventually had a lab conduct testing. It found the banned substance in the Cooper vitamins she’d been taking.

The company says it was “saddened and disappointed” for Cox and “immediately removed” the vitamins from its product line last year upon learning of the issue.

 

4 sentenced for using helicopter for hunting

LAREDO — A rancher and a pilot are among four men sentenced to one year of probation and fined for a 2017 South Texas trip using a helicopter to hunt and kill exotic animals.

A federal judge in Laredo on Wednesday sentenced 36-year-old Cody Morganthaler of Oklahoma and three men from Laredo — 33-year-old Edelmiro Martinez, 39-year-old Eduardo Lopez and 56-year-old Inocente Sanchez.

Prosecutors say Martinez owned Laredo Hunting Resort. Sanchez flies helicopters. Lopez helped organize the $12,000 hunt in which Morganthaler killed four antelope and sheep, on the ground and from the air.

All pleaded guilty to violating federal law that bans using aircraft to shoot animals for sport or trophy hunting.

Morganthaler, Martinez, and Lopez must pay $5,000 fines. The pilot was fined $2,500.

Morganthaler’s Oklahoma hometown wasn’t immediately available.