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Friday, March 6, 2026

CBP asks judge for more time to work on tariff refunds

March 06, 2026
CBP asks judge for more time to work on tariff refunds

A Customs and Border Protection official on Friday told a federal judge that the agency does not have the technology or manpower to immediately process $166 billion in tariff refunds, arguing the process would distract from its role addressing "imminent threats to national security."

ABC News

In a sworn filing, the official said that CBP needs an additional 45 days to create a system to process refunds for the more than 53 million entries related to the unlawful tariffs.

"CBP has never been ordered to, nor has it attempted to, process a volume of refunds anywhere near the volume of total entries and Entry Summary lines on which IEEPA duties have been deposited," wrote Brandon Lord, the executive director of CBP's Trade Programs Directorate.

Mike Blake/Reuters, FILE - PHOTO: Shipping containers are shown stacked together on Terminal Island at the port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, Feb. 24, 2026.

What's next for Trump's tariffs? Experts explain

The disclosure comes two days after a judge from the Court of International Trade initially ordered the Trump administration to remove the tariffs from its backlog of import paperwork. Even though the liquidation process -- when the agency finalizes a tariff payment after goods enter the country -- is largely automated and the Supreme Courtoverturned the tariffstwo weeks ago, Lord said that Customs and Border Protection "is not able to comply" with the court's order.

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"CBP is now facing an unprecedented volume of refunds. Its existing administrative procedures and technology are not well suited to a task of this scale and will require manual work that will prevent personnel from fully carrying out the agency's trade enforcement mission," Lord said.

According to Lord, the current system used to process tariffs cannot handle the volume of refund requests, and that doing so manually would take resources away from "responsibilities that serve to mitigate imminent threats to national security and economic security."

Supreme Court invalidates most of Trump's tariffs

Following a hearing on Friday related to the refund process, which was closed to the public, Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade suspended his earlier order to immediately begin recalculating tariffs dues.

By lifting his initial order, the judge appears to be making room for the refund process to play out, though the exact timeline of refunds remains unclear.

During previous hearings, the judge had expressed skepticism that the refund process would be a "mess" or that the government lacked the resources to issue refunds.

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'Worse than a prison': 911 calls, interviews reveal problems at ICE's largest detention camp

March 06, 2026
'Worse than a prison': 911 calls, interviews reveal problems at ICE's largest detention camp

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Serious medical and mental health emergencies have been routine at the nation's largest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility since its opening, according torecords obtained by The Associated Press.

Associated Press

Data and recordings from more than a hundred 911 calls at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, along with interviews and court filings, offer a disturbing portrait of overcrowding, medical neglect, malnutrition and emotional distress.

Current and former detainees describe a camp where about 3,000 people have lived per day in loud and unsanitary quarters. They say detainees struggle to obtain health care as disease spreads, lose weight because of a lack of food, and fear security guards known to use force to put down disturbances.

"Every day felt like a week. Every week felt like a month. Every month felt like a year," said Owen Ramsingh, a former property manager in Columbia, Missouri, who spent several weeks in the camp before his deportation in February to the Netherlands. "Camp East Montana was 1,000% worse than a prison."

EDITOR'S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at988lifeline.org

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who did not provide their name rejected claims of subprime conditions, saying Camp East Montana detainees receive food, water and medical treatment in a facility that is regularly cleaned.

Here are some takeaways from AP's reporting:

Camp averaged nearly one 911 call per day for months

After its opening in mid-August, staff at the camp made nearly one 911 call per day in its first five months of operation, according to data covering 130 calls from the City of El Paso obtained by the AP.

In one call, a man is heard sobbing after being assaulted by another detainee. In another, a doctor says a man is banging his head against the wall while expressing suicidal thoughts. In a third, a nurse says a pregnant woman is in severe pain and has coronavirus.

The injured detainees ranged from a 19-year-old man who fell out of a bunk bed to a 79-year-old man struggling to breathe. At least 20 emergencies were reported as seizures, including some that resulted in serious head trauma.

Calls reveal repeated attempted suicides

The calls show detainees have repeatedly tried to harm themselves and expressed suicidal thoughts.

Two incidents have resulted in death. On Jan. 3, ICE said security guards responded after a 55-year-old Cuban man tried to harm himself and then used handcuffs and force to restrain him. A medical examiner ruled that Geraldo Lunas Campos's death was a homicide caused by asphyxia.

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On Jan. 14, staff reported that a 36-year-old Nicaraguan man died by suicide days after he was detained while working in Minnesota.

In addition to those cases, at least six other suicide attempts were reported, according to records from the City of El Paso.

The DHS spokesperson said the facility's staff "closely monitors at-risk detainees" and provides mental health treatment.

ICE has not released inspection results

The Washington Post reported in September that a required ICE inspection found conditions at the facility violated at least 60 federal standards for immigration detention. But that report has never been released, unlike dozens of other inspections at facilities posted on ICE's website.

DHS has called claims of violations described in the Post story false without explaining why the inspection report was wrong. ICE's current database on detention facilities indicates Camp East Montana has never been inspected but is scheduled for one this fiscal year.

A DHS spokesperson said ICE's Office of Detention Oversight recently completed an inspection at Camp East Montana but provided no other information and the results have not been made public.

Congresswoman calls for camp's closure and contract investigation

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat who has toured the camp several times, is calling for its closure.

"This facility should not be operational. It feels like this contractor is reinventing the wheel, and people are losing their lives in their experiment," she said.

She said the facility had temporarily cut its population below 1,900 when she visited last month and will be closed to visitors temporarily because of a measles outbreak.

On one visit, a female detainee showed Escobar a meager serving of scrambled eggs that was served still frozen in the middle. She learned detainees protested after they had stopped receiving juice, fruit and milk with their meals.

Escobar met with a detainee from Ecuador who said his arm had been broken during a violent arrest by immigration agents in Minnesota. Weeks later, the congresswoman could still the fractured bones in his forearm poking up under the skin.

Escobar called for an investigation into contractor Acquisition Logistics LLC, which was awarded a contract worth up to $1.3 billion to build and operate the camp. She said the company, which didn't return messages, and its subcontractors were not delivering services paid for by taxpayers.

"People should be moved by the abject cruelty, but if they're not, I hope they're moved by the fraud and corruption," Escobar said.

Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa, and Biesecker reported from Washington.

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Hungary’s top diplomat stokes anger at anti-Ukraine protest with allegation of election meddling

March 06, 2026
Hungary's top diplomat stokes anger at anti-Ukraine protest with allegation of election meddling

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) —Hungary's pro-Russian foreign minister Friday accused neighboringUkraineof seeking to interfere in upcoming Hungarian elections in whichPrime Minister Viktor Orbánfaces anunprecedented challenge.

Associated Press

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó made the accusation in a speech to several hundred protesters outside Ukraine's embassy in Budapest. The demonstration, organized by a shadowy pro-government organization with ties to Orbán's Fidesz party, came the same day that Hungarydetained seven Ukrainian state-owned bank employeesand seized two armored cars carrying some $80 million in cash. Kyiv decried the move as illegal hostage taking.

Speaking at the protest, Szijjártó made a slew of unsubstantiated allegations, including that Ukraine had been coordinating with the European Union and Orbán's opposition to block Russian oil shipments to Hungary across the Druzhba pipeline.

Demonstrators shouted angrily when Szijjártó accused Ukraine of seeking to influence Hungary's April elections in order to bring in a government that would make decisions more favorable to Kyiv.

"This is something that will not happen in Hungary. There will be no pro-Ukraine government, and Hungary will not have a pro-Ukraine prime minister," Szijjártó said.

"Ukraine is fighting for itself, not for us and not in place of us, so we owe absolutely nothing to Ukraine," he said.

The demonstration, in which other ruling party politicians also spoke, came against a backdrop of rising tensions between Hungary and Ukraine, who are embroiled in abitter feudover Hungary's access to Russian oil through a pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory.

Oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline have been interrupted since Jan. 27. Ukraine says a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline's infrastructure, and that repairing it carried risks to technicians. It said that even if restored, it would remain vulnerable to further Russian attacks.

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Hungary's government has accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up supplies of Russian crude, and has vowed to take strong countermeasures against Kyiv until oil flows resume.

Orbán, who has maintained close relations with the Kremlin while escalating anaggressive anti-Ukraine campaignahead of the election next month, has called Ukraine Hungary's "enemy," and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of seeking to provoke an energy crisis in order to sway the April 12 vote.

The Hungarian leader previously ceased diesel shipments to Ukraine, vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia andblocked a major, 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loanfor Kyiv in retaliation for the interruption in oil shipments. He's alsodeployed military forcesto key energy infrastructure sites across Hungary, accusing Ukraine of plotting disruptions.

Trailing in most polls behind a popular center-right challenger, the populist Orbán has staked the election on convincing voters that Ukraine poses an existential threat to Hungary's security.

In office since 2010, the EU's longest-serving leader has claimed that if he loses the election, the EU will force Hungary into bankruptcy by cutting Russian energy imports, and that Hungarian youth will be sent to their deaths on the front lines in Ukraine.

Szijjárto, the Hungarian foreign minister, traveled to Moscow on Wednesday for a cordialmeeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he sought guarantees from Russian authorities that Hungary would continue to have access to Russian oil and gas despite disruptions caused bythe war in the Middle Eastand interruptions to Druzhba flows.

On Friday, he said Ukraine had placed Hungary under an "oil blockade" meant to assist Orbán's challenger before the vote.

"They know precisely that if there is a crisis in Hungary's oil supply ... it is bad for the government," he said.

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U.K. Police Arrest Men on Suspicion of Spying for Iran

March 06, 2026
U.K. Police Arrest Men on Suspicion of Spying for Iran

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Stamer during a news conference in London, England, on March 5, 2026. Credit - Tolga Akmen—Getty Images

Time

Four men were arrested early Friday morning on suspicion of conducting surveillance of locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community in London to assist Iran.

The Metropolitan Police said the men, aged between 22 to 55, were "arrested as part of a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation" under the National Security Act.

"The men were arrested on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act, 2023. The country to which the investigation relates is Iran," astatementconfirmed.

Detectives arrested the men shortly after 1 a.m., local time, at addresses in the London boroughs of Barnet, Harrow, and Watford as part of what police described as a "pre-planned operation." One of the men is an Iranian national; the other three are dual British-Iranian nationals.

Six additional men were arrested at the same location in Harrow, five on suspicion of assisting an offender and one on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.

All of the men in question have been taken into police custody.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the arrests "are part of a long-running investigation and part of our ongoing work to disrupt malign activity where we suspect it."

Acknowledging that the Jewish community, in particular, may be concerned, she urged the public to "remain vigilant" and contact the authorities if they witness or hear anything alarming.

British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoodthankedpolice and security services following the arrests.

She said the authorities "won't hesitate to take action to counter any threat to the U.K." and have the "government's full support as they carry out their vital work."

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy declined to comment directly on the arrests, but said during aninterviewthat "Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism globally and sadly, that is in effect in our own society as well. Our intelligence services and counter-terrorism police have thwarted lots of action over the last few years."

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RAF Typhoon aircraft, seen here taking off for operations across the Middle East, at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, on March 3, 2026 in Akrotiri, Cyprus. <span class=Sgt Lee Goddard - MoD Crown/Getty " style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Meanwhile, the U.K.-based charity Campaign Against Antisemitism expressed gratitude over the arrests, but said the threat from Iran is "still not being taken seriously by the Government" andarguedthat the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) should be proscribed as a terrorist organization in the U.K.

The U.K. arrests come amid the widening of the Iran war, which has engulfed several countries and territories across the world after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran last weekend which resulted in the death of IranianSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran's retaliatory strikes have since targeted Gulf nations and also aBritish airbasein Cyprus.

While the U.K. refused to get involved in the initial U.S.-Israeli led strikes on Iran, it has since allowed the U.S. to use British bases and has launched defensive measures in a bid to protect U.K. citizens and allies against Iranian retaliation.

The government has also launched an extensiveoperationto bring home British citizens that are currently stranded in the Middle East.

The rise of antisemitic incidents in the U.K.

U.K.-based charity Community Security Trust (CST), which aims to "protect British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism,"recorded3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate reported over the course of 2025, a 4% rise from the 3,556 incidents logged in 2024.

Only in 2023 has CST recorded more, when 4,298 cases of antisemitism were reported following a spike in incidents amid the immediate aftermath of October 7.

There were over 293,000 Jewish people living in the United Kingdom when the last comprehensivenational censuswas conducted in March 2021.

Cases of antisemitism and hate crimes towards Jewish Americans have also surged in recent years.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported that in the three months following the start of the Israel-Hamas war,antisemitic incidents in the U.S. skyrocketed by 361%.

According to the State of Antisemitism in America 2025report, 91% of American Jews said they feel less safe as a Jewish person in the United States due to violent incidents including the arson attack on aJewish Governor's home, the firebombing of Jewish people inBoulder, and themurdersat the Capital Jewish Museum.

Contact usatletters@time.com.

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Kurdish Iranian dissidents in Iraq deny attack plans but say they would join a US invasion of Iran

March 06, 2026
Kurdish Iranian dissidents in Iraq deny attack plans but say they would join a US invasion of Iran

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Officials with one of the armedKurdishIranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq told The Associated Press that they are not planning an imminent cross-border attack on Iran but would join a ground invasion if the U.S. were to launch one.

Associated Press Rebaz Sherifi, military commander at the Kurdistan Freedom Party PAK, speaks during an interview in Irbil, Iraq, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rashid Yahya) A member of the Kurdistan Freedom Party PAK, stand guard in Irbil, Iraq, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rashid Yahya) Members of the Kurdistan Freedom Party PAK stand guard in Irbil, Iraq, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Rashid Yahya)

Iraq Iran Kurds

The comments appeared to be aimed at reassuring Iraqi Kurdish officials, who have said they do not want attacks to be launched against Iran from their territory, fearing that they will be further dragged into the war in the Middle East sparked by the U.S. and Israel's strikes on Iran.

In the event of a U.S. ground operation, "then we would enter alongside the coalition forces," said Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party PAK, in an interview with the AP Thursday. But he said, "The Kurds must not place themselves as the spearhead of the attack."

He added that his group also has armed members already present inside of Iran and that they would not necessarily require cross-border support if they were to stage an uprising.

Nadiri said the Kurdish groups have been in contact with the U.S. and Israel but denied having received any material aid from them.

The comments came after Kurdish officials said earlier this week that the Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potentialcross-bordermilitary operationin Iran, and the U.S. had asked Iraqi Kurds to support them

Rebaz Sharifi, a military commander with the PAK, said it would be "a very positive development" if the U.S. and its allies were to arm the Kurdish groups, but also denied that they have received any such support so far.

Sharifi said he expects that at some point, U.S. President Donald Trump "might want the peshmerga forces of Eastern Kurdistan to participate in the conflict during a ground invasion" and "if it reaches that point, we, for our part, would be pleased with it."

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However, the two officials sought to dispel the fears of Iraqi Kurdish officials that Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region would be used as a launching pad.

Peshawa Hawramani, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government, said in a statement earlier this week that "allegations claiming that we are part of a plan to arm and send Kurdish opposition parties into Iranian territory are completely unfounded" and that the Iraqi Kurdish parties do not want to "expand the war and tensions in the region."

Already Iran and allied Iraqi militias have launched dozens of missiles and drone attacks into northern Iraq, targeting the U.S. bases and consulate in Irbil as well as bases of the Iranian Kurdish dissident groups.

Sharifi said PAK's bases have been attacked twice with ballistic missiles and four times with drones since the start of the war, killing one of their fighters and wounding three others.

Nadiri said that "since the (Iraqi) Kurdistan region has adopted a policy of not becoming a part of this conflict and because we do not want to disrupt the stability and security here and we respect the laws of this region, consequently, the environment has not yet been established for us to move our forces back into Eastern Kurdistan."

He was using the term used by Kurdish groups to refer to the Kurdish region of Iran.

The potential military involvement of the Kurds has raised tensions with other Iranian opposition groups - notably the faction led by the former shah's son, Reza Pahlavi, who has accused the Kurds of being separatists aiming to carve up Iran.

Sharifi said that his group's "ultimate goal is the statehood of the Kurds in all four regions and the reunification of Kurdistan," referring to the Kurdish areas that are currently split among Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria.

Nadiri said that a confederal system could be a "viable solution" that would allow the Kurdish area to remain part of Iran while maintaining its "own sovereignty, identity, and unique characteristics."

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Exclusive-US investigation points to likely US responsibility in Iran school strike, sources say

March 06, 2026
Exclusive-US investigation points to likely US responsibility in Iran school strike, sources say

(This March 5 story has been republished to fix an image caption, with no changes to text)

Reuters A satellite image, annotated by Reuters, shows the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' school and other structures damaged after being struck, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Minab, Hormozgan Province, Iran March 4, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS Graves are being prepared for the victims following a reported strike on a school in Minab, Iran, March 2, 2026. Iranian Foreign Media Department/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS FILE PHOTO: People and rescue forces work following an Israel strike on a school in Minab, Iran, February 28, 2026. Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo FILE PHOTO: People and rescue forces work following an Israel strike on a school in Minab, Iran, February 28, 2026. Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo

A satellite image, annotated by Reuters, shows the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' school and other structures damaged after being struck, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Minab

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of ‌children on Saturday but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation, two U.S. officials told Reuters.

Reuters was unable to determine more details ‌about the investigation, including what evidence contributed to the tentative assessment, what type of munition was used, who was responsible or why the U.S. might have struck the school.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday acknowledged the ​U.S. military was investigating the incident.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, did not rule out the possibility that new evidence could emerge that absolves the U.S. of responsibility and points to another responsible party in the incident.

Reuters could not determine how much longer the investigation would last or what evidence U.S. investigators are seeking before the assessment can be completed.

The girls' school in Minab, in southern Iran, was hit on Saturday during the first day of U.S. and Israeli attacks on the country. Iran's ambassador to the ‌U.N. in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the strike killed 150 students. ⁠Reuters could not independently confirm the death toll.

According to archived copies of the school's official website, the school is adjacent to a compound operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military force that reports to Iran's supreme leader.

The Pentagon referred questions from Reuters to the U.S. ⁠military's Central Command, whose spokesperson, Captain Timothy Hawkins, said: "It would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation."

The White House did not directly comment on the investigation, but press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to Reuters, "While the Department of War is currently investigating this matter, the Iranian regime targets civilians and children, not the United States of America."

Asked about the incident ​during ​a news briefing on Wednesday, Hegseth said: "We're investigating that. We, of course, never target civilian targets. But ​we're taking a look and investigating that."

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ‌told reporters on Monday that the United States would not deliberately target a school.

"The Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them," Rubio said.

SATELLITE IMAGES SUGGEST STRIKES FROM AIR

Israeli and U.S. forces have until now divided their attacks in Iran both geographically and by target type, a senior Israeli official and a source with direct knowledge of the joint planning said. While Israel was striking missile launch sites in western Iran, the United States was attacking such targets, as well as naval ones, in the south.

Reuters shared satellite imagery and visuals of the aftermath of the Minab attack with N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, a munitions ‌research consultancy.

"Taken together, the satellite imagery and available videos suggest the school and adjacent IRGC compound were ​hit by multiple simultaneous or near-simultaneous strikes with explosive munitions, most likely air-delivered types," Jenzen-Jones wrote in an ​email.

He cautioned that it is difficult to be definitive about the type of ​munitions used in the ongoing conflict and said that to determine responsibility investigators would generally attempt to review munition remnants.

The U.N. human rights ‌office, without saying who it believed was responsible for the strike, called ​on Tuesday for an investigation.

"The onus is on ​the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it," U.N. human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a press briefing in Geneva.

Images of the girls' funeral on Tuesday were shown on Iranian state television. Their small coffins were draped with Iranian flags and passed from a truck across a large crowd towards the grave ​site.

Deliberately attacking a school or hospital or any other civilian ‌structure would likely be a war crime under international humanitarian law.

If a U.S. role were to be confirmed, the strike would rank among the worst ​cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the Middle East.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in ​Jerusalem and James Pearson in London; Editing by Craig Timberg, Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)

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Former Cal State Bakersfield player, assistant coach Kevin Mays awaiting trial on pimping, human trafficking, other charges: Report

March 06, 2026
Former Cal State Bakersfield player, assistant coach Kevin Mays awaiting trial on pimping, human trafficking, other charges: Report

Kevin Mays, a former Cal State Bakersfield men's basketball player and temporary assistant coach, is awaiting trial on pimping and several other charges,ESPN's Shwetha Surendran reported on Thursday.

Yahoo Sports December 05, 2015: Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners forward Kevin Mays (10) during the game between Northern Arizona at Cal State Bakersfield at Icardo Center, in Bakersfield, CA. (Photo by David Dennis/Icon Sportswire) (Photo by David Dennis/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Mays, 32 years old when he was arrested this past September, is in jail and reportedly being held without bail. His preliminary hearing is set for March 13, according to ESPN's report, which unpacks the rap sheet of 11 criminal and misdemeanor charges he's facing.

In addition to human trafficking, Mays has been charged with possession of automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines, possession of methamphetamine and marijuana with intent to sell, and possession of more than 600 images of youth or child pornography, some of which depicted kids as young as 4, per ESPN.

Mays has pleaded not guilty on all charges.

Now-former longtime CSUB men's basketball head coach Rod Barnes coached Mays from 2014-16. In Mays' second and final season with the Roadrunners, he helped the program reach its first and only Division I NCAA tournament.

In 2019, he reportedly applied to become a player-development coordinator at CSUB. He got that position and then, this past June, took a job as a temporary assistant coach under Barnes. In Mays' new role, he was making a salary of just over $3,000 per month, according to ESPN's report, which cited school records.

Barnes reportedly received a tip in late August from an anonymous email sender, who alleged that Mays was working as a pimp in Las Vegas, Oregon, Washington and California.

In that same email, the tipster identified an alleged victim, whom Mays had allegedly trafficked for several months, and whom the Bakersfield Police Department later determined was 23 years old, per ESPN.

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The alleged victim was not part of CSUB's staff or student body, according to ESPN, which cited Kern County court records and university police.

"FIX IT OR THE WHOLE STAFF WILL FALL," the tipster wrote to Barnes in an email the sender described as a "first warning and a final warning," according to ESPN.

Barnes forwarded that email to CSUB's human resources office, leading to the investigation that uncovered Mays' nefarious activity.

The school announced in September that Barnes, reportedly shocked by Mays' alleged pimping, and then-athletic director Kyle Conder would no longer be occupying their roles.

Conder sued CSUB for what he claims is retaliation for whistleblowing, per ESPN, which reported Conder said he tried to warn the administration about "potential crimes and misconduct" at the university.

That said, according to ESPN's report, in a separate lawsuit from two anonymous softball players — who sued the school and a softball coach accused of harassment, illegal weapons transactions and more — Conder is alleged to have displayed "a pattern ... of failing to respond when receiving complaints against Coach Mays."

A subsequent email from the tipster reportedly informed the police that Mays' alleged victim had been arrested on a DUI charge in a car Mays had provided her.

ESPN's report, referencing an ensuing police investigation, details that Mays used a CSUB account to rent that car, which the alleged victim used for her sex work.

After carrying out a sting operation, Sacramento police reportedly interviewed the alleged victim, who identified Mays as her "boyfriend," but police detected text messages between them that exhibited Mays' "involvement and control" over her sex work.

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