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Judge outraged as 85-year-old French widow tossed in detention amid inheritance dispute
This lady should never have been arrested. I am glad that the judge is pissed
An 85-year-old French woman detained by U.S. immigration officials for 16 days has returned to her native country, whose government alleges violent misconduct in the case.
— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-04-17T23:44:47Z
https://www.rawstory.com/ice-2676758699
An 85-year-old French woman detained by U.S. immigration officials for 16 days has returned to her native country, whose government alleges violent misconduct in the case.
Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé arrived Friday at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, where she was greeted by her three adult children still wearing detention center clothing, and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated "there were acts of violence" in the case that concerned government authorities, reported the New York Times......
An Alabama probate judge overseeing the estate concluded that one of Ross's sons — a retired state trooper employed at a federal courthouse in Anniston — was responsible for her arrest. The judge noted that law enforcement officers informed the son, Tony Ross, of the impending detention a day before the arrest occurred.
Shirley A. Millwood, a Republican county probate judge elected in 2024, found that the Ross brothers had deliberately rerouted mail to prevent Ross-Mahé from receiving correspondence related to her citizenship application, causing her to miss an immigration hearing.
Millwood denied the sons' request to administer the estate, instead appointing an independent administrator, and ordered the federal government to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ross-Mahé's arrest and detention.
Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé arrived Friday at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, where she was greeted by her three adult children still wearing detention center clothing, and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated "there were acts of violence" in the case that concerned government authorities, reported the New York Times......
An Alabama probate judge overseeing the estate concluded that one of Ross's sons — a retired state trooper employed at a federal courthouse in Anniston — was responsible for her arrest. The judge noted that law enforcement officers informed the son, Tony Ross, of the impending detention a day before the arrest occurred.
Shirley A. Millwood, a Republican county probate judge elected in 2024, found that the Ross brothers had deliberately rerouted mail to prevent Ross-Mahé from receiving correspondence related to her citizenship application, causing her to miss an immigration hearing.
Millwood denied the sons' request to administer the estate, instead appointing an independent administrator, and ordered the federal government to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ross-Mahé's arrest and detention.
13 replies
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Ms. Ross-Mahé and Bill Ross in January 2024, just after purchasing a truck. Cooper Chevrolet GMC
Judge Millwood wrote in her ruling that she believed that Mr. Ross’s younger son, Tony Ross, who she said was a retired Alabama state trooper now working at a federal courthouse in Anniston, had used his position as a government employee to have Ms. Ross-Mahé arrested.
In Alabama, probate judges oversee many administrative matters, including wills, and Judge Millwood is handling the inheritance dispute because Mr. Ross did not leave one.
Under Alabama’s inheritance laws for people who die without a will, Ms. Ross-Mahé would be entitled to half of Mr. Ross’s estate, and his children would split the other half.
The day after Mr. Ross died, his sons came to the house and each drove off with one of his vehicles, a truck and a 2018 Mercedes-Benz, according to Judge Millwood.
Ms. Ross-Mahé said in a court filing last month that the older of Mr. Ross’s sons, Gary Ross, had rerouted all mail sent to his father’s home, which caused her to miss an appointment with immigration officials. Because of her citizenship status, Ms. Ross-Mahé said, she was not on her husband’s checking account and did not have access to money to pay for food, clothing or utilities. Her son said the internet, utilities and cable had been turned off at the home.
In Alabama, probate judges oversee many administrative matters, including wills, and Judge Millwood is handling the inheritance dispute because Mr. Ross did not leave one.
Under Alabama’s inheritance laws for people who die without a will, Ms. Ross-Mahé would be entitled to half of Mr. Ross’s estate, and his children would split the other half.
The day after Mr. Ross died, his sons came to the house and each drove off with one of his vehicles, a truck and a 2018 Mercedes-Benz, according to Judge Millwood.
Ms. Ross-Mahé said in a court filing last month that the older of Mr. Ross’s sons, Gary Ross, had rerouted all mail sent to his father’s home, which caused her to miss an appointment with immigration officials. Because of her citizenship status, Ms. Ross-Mahé said, she was not on her husband’s checking account and did not have access to money to pay for food, clothing or utilities. Her son said the internet, utilities and cable had been turned off at the home.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/us/ice-detention-alabama-french-woman.html
It would have made much more sense to summarize the NYT story like this:
"Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé, still wearing detention center clothing, arrived Friday at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, where she was greeted by her three adult children..."
which is much much clearer than this mess...
Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé arrived Friday at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, where she was greeted by her three adult children still wearing detention center clothing, and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated "there were acts of violence" in the case that concerned government authorities, reported the New York Times......
I guess this is Raw Story's sloppy attempt to summarize the work of others (NYT). Maybe they figure that this kind of messy synopsis helps to insulate them from accusations of copyright infringement and plagiarism.
Aggregators like RawStory try to stay within the law by rewriting the original story in their own words and providing a hyperlink back to the source. As long as they don't copy-paste large blocks of text word-for-word, they are usually safe from copyright lawsuits.
Interestingly, Raw Story has actually sued OpenAI (the makers of ChatGPT), accusing the AI of "scraping" and using their content without permission --- the same kind of "aggregation" practice for which they are often criticized by larger newspapers.
IMHO... RawStory generally sucks.