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MONTEPLIER, Vt. (AP) — A story alleging that a Vermont senator has been arrested by the FBI and will face charges of illegal gambling and drug possession is untrue.
Several websites ran the story about Sen. Warren Sherman and his arrest at Sanders Field in Burlington. It described how Sherman was flying around in a private 727 "with a bunch of rich Democrats in a mobile den of iniquity."
There is no senator named Sherman, nor an airport named Sanders Field in Vermont. The state's two senators are Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy.
The photo accompanying the story purports to show Sherman being led away in handcuffs. It's actually an image of a former police chief that appeared in Newsday in New York.
The story also wrongfully alleges that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was said to have been distraught at the news.
In response, her spokesman said, "Vermont is well represented in the United States Senate by fine public servants who cause us neither distress or panic."
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This story is part of an ongoing Associated Press effort to fact-check claims in suspected false news stories.
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