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• Zachary Taylor Blood, 33, of Galveston, Texas, pleaded guilty on Jan. 25 to trying to smuggle two men into the United States in a flag-draped coffin, The New York Times reported.
Blood showed up at a border patrol checkpoint near Encino, Texas, on Oct. 26, where he told the agent he was hauling a "Dead guy, Navy guy" when asked about his cargo.
But the agent, who was a military veteran, noticed the "rusty and dented coffin" and saw that the flag had been "crudely taped" to it.
Agents explored further and found two live men, cousins, inside the coffin.
One man told agents that it had been hot and hard to breathe in the box, and he had agreed to pay $6,000 to be smuggled to San Antonio.
Blood will be sentenced on May 11 and could receive up to five years in federal prison.
• The Irish Times reported that on Jan. 21, two men carried Peader Doyle, 66, into a post office in Carlow, Ireland, and inquired about collecting his pension.
Staff and other customers became concerned about Doyle, as he seemed unresponsive, and made efforts to resuscitate him, but he was already deceased.
While an investigation showed there was no foul play in his death, the two men were detained by police on Jan. 26.
One of the men had gone to the post office earlier that day to try to collect Doyle's pension, but he was told the person had to be there.
Both insisted that Doyle was alive but unwell when they left his home and that they helped him as he walked to the post office. They believe he died there.