The tornadoes that killed three people in eastern North Dakota had wind speeds topping 100 mph and caused widespread damage as they tore through largely rural areas, officials said.

Three people, all in their 70s and 80s, died in rural Enderlin, N.D., during a storm that struck late Friday and early Saturday, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said.

The National Weather Service gave preliminary ratings of EF-2 to EF-3 or potentially higher for three tornadoes that struck eastern North Dakota — meaning wind speeds of 111 to 135 mph and 136 to 165 mph, respectively, with varying severity of damage. EF-3 and stronger ranges are not usual for the Northern Plains, National Weather Service Meteorologist Jacob Spender said.

“As we go higher on the scale, it’s not as common but they can still happen,” he said.

The tornadoes uprooted numerous trees, tossed train cars off their tracks and damaged houses, Spender said.

The night included supercells in southeastern North Dakota and a derecho — a powerful windstorm — that tore across the state to the east.

The severe weather then swept across northern Minnesota. Straight-line winds of more than 100 mph caused extensive damage in the Bemidji area, toppling trees, damaging buildings and knocking out power to thousands of customers during an oppressive heat wave. However, no serious injuries were reported.

— Associated Press

‘Serial fraudster’ gets 7-year federal sentence

A Burnsville man with a laundry list of previous felony charges was sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding a California electronics company, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota announced Monday.

Thomas Thanh Pham, 53, also was ordered to pay more than $2.9 million in restitution.

“Fraudsters have flocked to Minnesota for far too long,” Acting U.S. Attorney Josepth Thompson said in a statement. ““Pham is no exception. He is a serial fraudster who has demonstrated that he will not stop until he is stopped. Thanks to the hard work of law enforcement, for the next 84 months, Pham will be where he belongs — in prison.”

According to a press release, between 2019 and 2020, Pham defrauded a California based electronics manufacturing company out of more than $1.2 million by claiming he could broker multimillion-dollar contracts for the business.

Pham asked the company to pay a “deposit bond” of $1.3 million. The company did so, believing it would receive millions of dollars for its repair services. As part of his ploy, Pham sent an initial delivery of 20 samples of electronic devices that supposedly needed repairs. The victim company did not know that the devices were stolen property.

When the victim company asked questions about the deal that was made, Pham did not deliver as promised and offered excuses. Although he had promised to keep the deposit in a refundable escrow account, Pham instead used the money.

— Kristi Miller

Ham radio enthusiasts to exhibit their skills

Area amateur radio operators will show off their communications skills this weekend at an annual field day sponsored by the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association in Baytown Township.

Operators will demonstrate new digital computer-aided communications systems, as well as voice communications and Morse code, said Raymond Speltz, co-chair of the event.

In addition, information about becoming a ham will be available, including how licensed operators can assist with weather spotting and emergency communications, he said.

The field day will be from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at the Baytown Township Town Hall, 4020 McDonald Dr. N.

Similar events organized by the American Radio Relay League and involving more than 35,000 radio operators are being held at more than 2,500 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

More information is available at radioham.org or by emailing Speltz at speltzraymond@gmail.com.

— Mary Divine

Maroon 5 will make return to the X in Oct.

Maroon 5 will play their first local show since 2018 when they headline St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center on Oct. 29.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster. TikTok star Claire Rosinkranz opens.

Maroon 5 emerged in the early ’00s with a string of radio hits including “This Love,” “She Will Be Loved” and “Sunday Morning.” The band’s 2002 debut album, “Songs About Jane,” sold more than 5 million copies. Following up that success proved to be difficult, though, with the band making what looked like their final trip to the Top 10 with the 2007 single “Makes Me Wonder.”

But after bandleader Adam Levine joined the then-new competitive reality TV show “The Voice” as a coach in 2011, Maroon 5 returned to the charts for a string of smashes including “Moves Like Jagger,” “Payphone,” “One More Night,” “Daylight,” “Maps,” “Sugar,” “Don’t Wanna Know” and “What Lovers Do.”

Levine left “The Voice” in 2019 after 16 seasons. Two years later, Maroon 5 released their seventh album “Jordi,” which earned mixed reviews and only generated a single Top 10 hit in “Memories.” Earlier this year, Levine returned as a coach on “The Voice” for a single season.

Maroon 5’s eighth album “Love Is Like” is due out Aug. 15. The first single “Priceless” flopped in the States, but did hit the Top 10 in Mexico, Thailand, New Zealand and several other countries. The follow-up, “All Night,” will be released Friday.

The band was scheduled to play the X in August 2022, but ended up canceling that show along with nearly half of their 2022 dates due to what they called “a combination of unexpected issues and exponentially increased costs.”

— Ross Raihala

Migrant in judge’s case enters a federal plea

Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an immigrant from Mexico in the country illegally, became an inadvertent figure in the debate over immigration enforcement when federal prosecutors charged a Milwaukee judge this spring with obstruction and said she had helped him evade immigration officials.

On Monday, a plea agreement was made public in the immigration case against Flores-Ruiz. The documents, signed on June 20, say he has agreed to plead guilty to entering the United States illegally after being removed from the country in 2013. According to the agreement, Flores-Ruiz will be deported after he serves whatever sentence he receives.

The offense carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine of $250,000, but the agreement says a lower sentence is expected.

The agreement did not mention the Milwaukee judge, Hannah Dugan, or whether Flores-Ruiz would testify at her trial on the obstruction charge, which has yet to be scheduled.

Separately from the federal immigration case, he still faces misdemeanor domestic abuse charges in Wisconsin, stemming from an altercation he had with his roommates, according to a criminal complaint. Those charges were the reason Flores-Ruiz was appearing in Dugan’s courtroom in April. Flores-Ruiz has pleaded not guilty to those charges, which include battery.

Federal immigration agents discovered after Flores-Ruiz was arrested on the state charges that he was not in the country legally and made plans to arrest him at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

Dugan was indicted by a federal grand jury last month on charges of concealing a person from arrest and obstruction of proceedings. Federal prosecutors said that she steered Flores-Ruiz, who was appearing before her, to a courtroom exit that was separate from the hallway where immigration officers were waiting to arrest him. Federal agents later apprehended him outside the courthouse.

Dugan has pleaded not guilt.y.

— New York Times