Articles Posted in Federal Crimes

As the headlines were dominated by the Boston Marathon bombing that claimed the lives of three and injured scores of participants and bystanders last month, a Fort Lauderdale cab driver is being held and charged with assisting his younger brother in the planning of a terrorist attack aimed at New York City.

Sheheryar Alam Qazi, 30, of Oakland Park, is being held in the Federal Detention Center located in downtown Miami after U.S. Magistrate Chris M. McAllen denied his request for bond last Tuesday. He and his brother were both arrested in November. His wife has been identified as an “unindicted co-conspirator” who had complete knowledge of the alleged plot.

Last December, well before the Boston bombing, a federal magistrate ordered 20 year old Raees Alam Qazi, the younger of the two brothers to be detained citing he was a flight risk and a danger to the community. At that time, the older Alam Qazi agreed to voluntary detention after his brother’s and his arrests. It wasn’t until last Tuesday that the older brother’s request for bond was denied in Federal Court.

Although it is thought that Sheheryar Alam Qazi was not going to participate in the actual attack, Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Gilbert said that he “played a significant role” by financing his younger brother’s living expenses, providing his meals and purchasing a computer for him with full knowledge that he solely needed it to perform research in the capacity of the making of a bomb. As it turned out, the computer was purchased from an FBI informant.

Gilbert stated at the older brother’s bond hearing that “He paid for everything so his brother could concentrate on his plan for the attack in New York. “He fully knew what his brother was intending to do.”

There were also recordings introduced where the older Alam Qazi spoke with undercover informants as well as recordings of him speaking with his wife in reference to the alleged commencing conspiracy. His defense attorney, Ronald Chapman argued that the recordings could have been “interpreted in an innocent way.” and suggested a $20,000.00 bond for the defendant. Prior to being denied the bond, he went on to say that his client could live with his wife, son and parents, in their Sunrise home and wear an electronic ankle monitor pending trial.

Both brothers are now charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. In a parallel to the Boston bombing it was found that they are both naturalized U.S. citizens coming from a country that has been asserted to align and sympathize with terrorists. In this case, Pakistan is their country of origin. The two brothers also lived together.

If convicted of the charges, the penalty for the material-support charge is a confinement of up to 15 years in prison while the weapons charge can sustain a potential life sentence.

According to the FBI, the plot came to light when on Nov. 23, of last year Raees Qazi left South Florida with one of his friends, driving in a van to New York. Once in the city, Qazi rode a bicycle through Manhattan, gauging possible targets that included the theater district, Times Square, and the Wall Street area.

When he returned to the Fort Lauderdale area at the end of November both he and his brother were arrested in Oakland Park. During interrogation, Raees initially denied all charges, but later confessed to the bombing plot, according to Gilbert.

During a search of their home, the FBI found and seized the chemical peroxide, cords of Christmas lights, and batteries that were all taken as evidence. Gilbert said that it was believed that these materials were going to be the main ingredients to be used for a suicide bombing or possibly a remote detonation somewhere in the New York metropolitan area
The Prosecutor also said that in August 2012, in a recorded conversation, Sheheryar expressed to a FBI informant that his younger brother was “hooked up with al-Qaida.” He was also recorded labeling his brother as a “lone wolf,” comparing him to the 2010 Times Square bomber who was foiled and arrested.

He supposedly learned how to assemble the bomb by reading the al-Qaida online magazine, “Inspire.”

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Last month, police arrested Roman Thomas III, 26, of Miami for his involvement in a human trafficking investigation. At present, Thomas was on probation after he was incarcerated for four years when he was convicted of having sex with a minor. He was released from state prison prior to this latest arrest, and was wearing a Florida state corrections Department GPS monitor when Miami police again took him into custody on March 18.
Thomas has an extensive criminal past. He was charged with attempted murder and felony battery, as well as other assorted charges in 2008, and wound up pleading guilty to the battery charge and four counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a minor child g aged between 12 and 16.

After the completion of his prison sentence, Thomas was released in September, and placed on five years’ probation with the attached ankle monitor.

The monitor was inspected lastly on March 1 by state probation officers who found no problem with its functionality. But the court was notified that the officers in charge of the oversight of the device received a “bracelet gone” alarm on March 10.

Police charge that Thomas, who goes by the street name of “Suave”, forced a 13-year old girl to have both of her eyelids tattooed with his street name.

According to The Miami Herald, Thomas, who has an extensive criminal record, allegedly forced the underage girl to go with him to a flea market tattoo parlor, located in Liberty City; after she threatened to leave him. Inking the girl with his mark was punishment for her threatening to leave, and apparently his attempt to break her down and completely dominate her.

The runaway girl, nicknamed “Sparkle,” who supposedly ran away from her home to escape a muddled family life was pimped out by way of the classified advertising section of backpage.com, a website that allows the posting of escort services, police say.

Thomas and another woman, Shanteria Sanders, 23, also of Miami, taught the girl how to solicit johns and gave her condoms, provided her with marijuana, alcohol, and the drug known as “Molly” to loosen her up in preparation for having sex with men at the Miami Shores Motel.

Investigators first found out about the abuse after the victim’s mother tracked her daughter to the Miami hotel. Police then took the youth from the hotel and placed Thomas and Sanders under arrest.

The two suspects allegedly convinced the victim to work as a prostitute. Ms. Sanders, who also displays Thomas’s “Suave” tattoo across her chest, was also charged in the offense.

The drug “Molly”, indicated by its most common name “Ecstasy”, is a stimulant, considered to be an illegal recreational drug. It was originally used as a treatment used in psychotherapy. It is said to be safe in doses up to 75mg, but has exhibited that it can cause neurotoxic effects in higher doses. It’s one of the most popular recreational substances used by a multitude of people on a yearly basis.

“It’s outrageous that this girl would be branded for life at such an early age, on of all places her eyelids,” said Miami Lt. Jose Alfonso, who was the lead investigator in the case laid out by the State Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit.

Thomas will be formally charged in the new case on April 13. The charges include the delivery of a controlled substance to a child, human trafficking, lewd and lascivious exhibition and false imprisonment. As previously mentioned, Ms. Sanders faces the same charges as a collaborator in the crime.

The victim is now getting treatment and rehabilitation caused by her ordeal in a program known as Project Gold.

Project Gold is a group that is dedicated to assisting abused victims, and is operated by the Miami Kristi House, a private, non-profit organization, devoted to the therapy and elimination of sexual abuse of children.

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Two men were charged in a tax refund ploy relating to a massive identity theft scheme this past October.

On October 5, 2012, Charlton Escarmant, 29, of Miami and Arthy Icart, 25 of North Miami were charged in a five-count federal indictment aimed at their involvement in the scam.

In excess of three thousand names were found on Escarmant’s computer which was stolen from the Tallahassee Community College’s financial aid office; it was revealed when evidence was presented during court testimony.

The swindle was initiated when Escarmant used the stolen identification information to file tax returns. He also fashioned bogus W-2 forms in his own name with fabricated employment material. His personal W-2 deceptively demonstrated that he worked as a veterinarian at the Central Broward Animal Hospital. The prosecution proved that he never worked at that facility.

At the time of their arrest, Escarmant and his co-conspirator Icart criminally possessed roughly 22 pre-paid tax debit cards designated in other person’s names. They submitted roughly 400 falsified tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service, pursuing in excess of $3 million in tax refunds during the period that the scheme evolved.

In January, Icart pled guilty to charges of aggravated ID theft, conspiracy to file fraudulent tax claims, and access device fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Lenard in early April.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, late last Tuesday, it was announced by U. S. Attorney Wilfredo A. Ferrer that Escarmant was convicted by a jury of two counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of conspiracy to submit false claims to the Internal Revenue Service, as well as one count of access device fraud. Sentencing for his part in the case has been scheduled for June 17, in front of U.S. District Judge Lenard as well. The penalty that Escarmant faces is a possible 24 year maximum sentence of incarceration based on Florida statutory guidelines.

Subsequent to Escarmant’s conviction, at the press conference held, Ferrer applauded the investigative determinations of the South Florida Identity Theft Tax Fraud Strike Force and acknowledged a special commendation to the IRS- Criminal Investigation unit as well as the work done by the North Miami Beach Police Department He also praised and gave his thanks to Tallahassee Community College for their help and support during the course of the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elina Rubin-Smith and Michael B. Nadler.

Based on figures collected by the Federal Trade Commission reported cases of identity theft in the United States were led last year by the state of Florida. The city of Miami has proved to be the biggest loser with a rate of approximately 324 identity theft complaints per 100,000 residents which is an incident rate that is highest in the country. The state as a whole has been attributed for 178complaints per 100,000 residents which is also the highest in the nation.

74,496 possible falsified returns filed in Miami alone resulted in excess of $280 million in fraudulent refunds; according to a report compiled last September by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Per capita, the City of Miami’s amount of false returns founded on identity theft was 46 times the national average and stolen income tax refund fraud monetary value exceeded the national average by 70 times.

It is expected that tax return identity theft in the United States will increase significantly over the next five years. A TIGTA report notes that the I.R.S. estimates it is likely that they will pay more than $21 billion in fraudulent tax refunds over that period of time.

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A civil suit filed on behalf of Anthony Caravella, now 44 was thrown out by U.S. District Judge James Cohn against the city of Miramar and the Broward Sheriff’s Office, leaving four former Broward County sheriff’s department detectives as the sole residual defendants. He also discharged an allegation that the accused four officers conspired against the mentally challenged minor.

However, allegations still stand that the detectives conspired to coerce a confession from Caravella who was subsequently convicted and jailed for the rape/murder of Ada Cox Jankowski in November 1983.

Caravella was arrested for failing to appear in juvenile court on a grand theft charge in December 1983. During his time in custody, he was interrogated by police in reference to Jankowski’s murder. Caravella, who was tested to demonstrate that he maintained an IQ of 67, eventually provided four separate statements that were recorded by police. None of them apparently contained the same facts but they did lead to implicating him in the murder.
The statements were so dissimilar, that they conflicted with the evidence and in some cases contradicted themselves. At first, Caravella told police that the crime was perpetrated by three other youths. He then changed his story completely admitting that he had committed the crime, hitting the victim over the head with a soda bottle and killing her. In truth, she had been raped, stabbed and strangled. He made reference to the victim as being a “girl,” despite her age being much older than him, and also said that she was taller than he was when she was actually approximately eight inches shorter. He went on to say that the victim’s pants were wholly off, when they were only partially pulled off. He further went on to say that the victim’s shoes had both been removed, when one of them was still on one of her feet.

Caravella was convicted by a jury, after he turned 16, on August 3, 1984, almost exclusively on the foundation of his declarations to the police. There was never any physical evidence linked to him found at the crime scene. His attorneys argued that he was pressured into giving fabricated admissions by making him believe that he could get another female teenaged friend, Dawn Simone Herron, out of trouble if he voiced to them what they sought to know about the murder of Jankowski. His attorneys also implied that he had been threatened and even beaten by police up until the time he confessed to the crime. At the conclusion of the trial, Caravella was sentenced to life in prison.

Seventeen years later, in May 2001, Caravella’s attorneys’ swayed Broward County prosecutors to agree to again test the physical evidence recovered from the crime., These items included numerous hairs found on the victim’s body, a steak knife, T-shirt, as well as a vaginal swab that was taken. In November, the authorities conveyed that tests were inconclusive on the fingernail scrapings as well as the results of the rape kit. There wasn’t any sperm found according to Broward County lab analysts.

Despite the inconclusive results of the Broward County lab analysis, the evidence was later sent to Dr. Edward Blake, a DNA expert in California, who was able to isolate sperm and in September 2009, authorities said that Caravella was eliminated as the source of sperm found in the victim’s body.

In a separate finding, in 2002, during the prosecutor’s review of the evidence, they stumbled upon a recording of a telephone conversation made to a detective in the case from one of Caravella’s friends. The content of the tape revealed that the friend said that he took part in the crime along with Caravella. At that time, the friend was grilled further but denied any involvement. Defense attorneys argued that the tape, which was of great importance, was never turned over to the defense preceding Caravella’s trial.
Caravella was finally released from prison after being excluded by DNA evidence as the source of any physical confirmation in the case. The Broward Circuit judge who presided over the case apologized to him in open court on behalf of the state of Florida.

Recently, all the attorneys involved in the civil action declined to remark on the judge’s ruling due to the fact that the trial is still going on. The judge established that the agencies involved in the case had not been notified that there were ever any problems with any of the officers’ conduct before or during the case.

At last week’s hearing, attorneys representing the detectives played the four audio-taped statements for the jury before bringing forth an expert witness who expressed to the jurors that in his opinion, the officers handled the entire murder investigation “in a very professional way”. He also went on to testify that the handling of the questioning “followed the traditional guidelines of 1983.”

Joseph Matthews is a former homicide investigator for the city of Miami Beach and now, a police instructor. He has also been a frequent commentator on FOX News and has worked as a cold case homicide investigator for the popular television show “America’s Most Wanted.”

Matthews testified that he saw no problems with the questioning of Caravella by police, or the way other suspects in the homicide investigation were examined.

“He was a normal, well-spoken 15-year-old,” Matthews said, referring to Caravella, and also stated that the police would have had no reason to believe that Caravella had a below average IQ, and could be considered mentally challenged.

When asked to explain what he meant by his statement by Caravella’s attorney, he said that Caravella was more articulate than most people who commit crimes and suggested that the majority of inmates currently in the Broward County Jail have an IQ below seventy.

When Caravella’s lawyer went on to ask him for the basis for his opinion, he replied: “I was basing my opinion on my opinion, not that I did an IQ test or anything” on the inmates in jail. He further commented in reference to the questioning that it was done “in a very professional manner” and that officers “selected the right technique” to question him. He said that he saw “no improper or inappropriate questions” used on Caravella, and any so called leading questions were appropriate. Officers had the right to speak to Caravella without reading him his rights when they were under the impression that he might have witnessed the slaying instead of being involved in the murder.

Detectives also had the right to question him without having a parent present, Matthews said, specifying that Caravella’s mother was present for three of the four taped statements. She also testified that her son had also confessed to her the details of the murder. Matthews went on to say that the detectives went “out of their way” to respect Caravella’s rights and “above and beyond” in reading him his Miranda rights.

Addressing the jury Matthews said he thought Caravella’s statements, which included a lot of incorrect information and many erroneous details were credible. He also stalwartly suggested that Caravella committed the murder.

Closing arguments in the case are slated to begin after a DNA expert, called by retired Sheriff’s Major Tony Fantigrassi, finishes his testimony. The expert previously advised that the testing on the old DNA evidence was not reliable.

Caravella’s attorney is expected to ask jurors to find that the retired Sheriff’s Major and retired Miramar detectives George Pierson, William Mantesta and Bill Guess coerced her client into falsely confessing to the 1983 murder.

She is also expected to ask the jury for compensation and punitive damages against all four officers. No monetary settlement has been mentioned thus far. Caravella’s lawyer also made what has been taken as a tactical decision dropping assertions of intentional infliction of emotional distress which was a part of the original lawsuit.

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On May 1, 2010, a black male, dressed in royal blue surgical scrubs, and wearing a dark masklike nylon covering his face, entered the Bank of America located at 7215 W. Atlantic Boulevard in Delray Beach, Florida. Wielding a dark colored handgun he forced customers at gunpoint to lie on the floor and herded bank employees to the vault area where he made the bank manager open vault drawers. He also grabbed cash from numerous tellers’ drawers and then removed the dye packs before leaving the bank. Once calculated, the amount of the money stolen turned out to be in excess of $30,000 in cash.

Delray Beach Police were called and given the description of the suspect but were unable to find anyone in the vicinity who matched the appearance.

As their investigation continued, just three weeks later on Monday, May 21, 2010 at approximately 9:30 a.m., an individual who appeared to be the same man entered a Plantation BB&T bank branch located at 450 Pine Island Road. Demonstrating a similar method, he forced a customer of the bank down to the floor and covered his face with a black beanie. He then pointed his gun at a bank teller and ordered her to open the entrance to the tellers’ area. After gaining access, he filled a cloth sack with nearly $14,000 in cash and subsequently fled the bank.

This time he didn’t get far.

Plantation Police captured Bryan Whitehead, 32, of Miami, in a nearby gas station parking lot. Searching the suspect’s vehicle, the police found the firearm used during the commission of the robbery as well as the suspect’s disguise, and a police scanner. The stolen money from the most recent robbery was also recovered.

According to Sargent Al Butler, of the Plantation police department “One of our sergeants shut off the exit to the gas station and was checking each car individually when he came into contact with the person that fit the description. “One thing led to another and he ended up being positively identified by the bank personnel and the witness.”

After the conclusion of Whitehead’s trial he was recently sentenced before U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch for bank robbery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(a), and the use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code: section 924(c). Zloch sentenced Whitehead to 471 months in prison (over 39 years) to be followed by five years of supervised release after his term of imprisonment is concluded.

In a FBI press release the terms of Whitehead’s sentencing was announced in conjunction by Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Michael B. Steinbach, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; W. Howard Harrison, Chief, Plantation Police Department; and Anthony Strianese, Chief, Delray Beach Police Department.

The press release can be read in full on the FBI’s Website by clicking here

Department of Justice (1349 Bank Robbery – General Overview): Click Here

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U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley sentenced Fort Lauderdale man Van Lawson Williams, 49, to life in prison last week after being found guilty of charges of attempted sex trafficking of minors and sex trafficking in violation of Title 18, United States Code, (section14 1591(a)). The sentencing was announced by a combination of participants of different agencies: Wifredo A. Ferrer, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Michael B. Steinbach, Acting Special Agent in Charge (Miami Field Office FBI); and Chief of Police of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department Franklin C. Adderly, it was disseminated in a press release on January 9, 2013.

A jury found Williams guilty of four counts of sex trafficking of minors, who were between the ages of 12 to 16. and one count of attempted sex trafficking on October 30, 2012. During the trial, six of the victims, the aggregate being runaways when they met Mr. Williams, attested to the fact that they were recruited to become prostitutes working out of Williams’ home located on the 2000 block of NW 30th Avenue. Based on trial evidence, Williams observed young girls in his own neighborhood; pursuing minor females who he believed to be runaways. After finding what he believed to be prospective candidates he then offered them free meals and lodging to stay with him at his Fort Lauderdale residence. After the girls would reach a positive decision to Williams’ offer, after a short time, he would change the rules and persuade them to become prostitutes. He told them that they were welcome to stay but needed to earn money to assist in paying the monthly household expenses. Without agreeing to chip in, they would have to leave. The young girls stated that they were directed to give the money that they obtained for their prostitution services to Williams, on most occasions, during their testimony. More than a few of the girls testified that Mr. Williams did in fact provide them with illegal drugs such as crack cocaine and marijuana. They also testified that Williams had sexual relations with them or tried to attempt to have sex with them.

Williams was originally arrested in May 2012. His first federal court appearance was before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry S. Seltzer at his bond hearing. Based on the original criminal complaint, Williams, who is a convicted felon, would lure young girls to join up with him by offering meals and a place to stay. As previously mentioned he would also give the girls drugs. The girls also told authorities that customers paid money to rent the bedroom in Williams’ residence and then paid the girls up to $150 for services of a sexual nature. Originally, the complaint stated that money would be equally split with Williams however when the girls testified they said that in most cases Williams kept all the proceeds It was also alleged that Williams physically abused a few of the girls and brandished a machete, threatening one of them.

One of the girls read a letter she wrote to the court at the sentencing hearing, recounting the indignity she feels to this day when she sees herself in the mirror. In a letter to the court an additional victim, who was only 12 years old when Williams got her started turning tricks, wrote where she described the harm that she underwent as a consequence of Williams’ actions in and also commented of her dream to someday meet and marry a sweet man.

U. S. Attorney. Ferrer applauded the investigative energies of the FBI and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. The prosecution’s case was handled by AUSAs Mark Dispoto and Corey Steinberg.

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Small business owner, Pavlos “Paul” Kaimacliotis was sentenced on Monday to a federal prison term in excess of 10 years for his role in a kidnapping conspiracy that was infiltrated and thwarted by the FBI earlier this year.

Kaimacliotis, 36, of Jupiter, cut a plea deal back in August to an attempted kidnapping charge. Under the terms of the agreement he would testify against his friend Michael Melillo, who the FBI has branded the architect of the plot. Melillo, a Palm Beach Gardens businessman who was previously an attorney in New Jersey, allegedly planned the kidnapping for close to 18 months along with Kaimacliotis who supposedly withdrew his involvement at some point during that time. However, he admitted to agreeing to act as a lookout for Melillo the day the ransom was supposed to be delivered.

Earlier, in June of this year, a federal judge in West Palm Beach refused to set any bail citing Kaimacliotis as a flight risk and too much of a danger to the community to go free before the trial commenced. This was despite an offer of more than $1.25 million worth of property as bond. The courtroom was also packed with several character witnesses prepared to testify on his behalf, of which many were lawyers.

Originally from Cyprus, Kaimacliotis appeared to be forcing back tears from his eyes as his lawyer described a man so well-liked that in excess of seventy people chose to write letters on his behalf. He was the owner of his own flooring business and his immediate family consists of his wife and four young daughters.

U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley said he had not ever witnessed such an assortment of praising letters about an accused defendant, affecting him to feel “totally at a loss” in how Kaimacliotis became a party to such an appalling arrangement. When the judge questioned him further about how he got caught up in such a heinous situation, Kaimacliotis struggled to afford a clear response. “Melillo inserted himself in my life and it was very hard to get rid of him,” Kaimacliotis replied to the Judge’s examination.

Under the suggested federal sentencing guidelines, the 121-month prison sentence was the minimum term of incarceration that Kaimacliotis could have acquired. His lawyer specified that his client will likely be back in front of Judge Hurley in the hopes of a reduction of sentence established by his cooperation with the federal authorities connected to the case.

Melillo, 50, is scheduled to go to trial next month on two kidnapping charges, one of which can carry a sentence of life in prison. According to witness testimony, it was his plan to kidnap a wealthy Palm Beach Gardens man, and then demand a $20 million ransom from his wife for his return. If she didn’t come up with the money fast, he would send a few of her husband’s fingers as an alarming incentive to come up with the cash.

According to court records, what Melillo didn’t know was that the authorities had learned about the plot when the FBI was alerted by two people who came to their West Palm Beach office last May. One of them was a woman who was described as being personally involved with Melillo.

Melillo was then introduced to an undercover FBI agent posing as a sinister character, court records reveal. Melillo then expressed to the undercover agent that he was planning to kidnap a Palm Beach Gardens man who he believed was engineering private high-stakes poker games which had personally cost him more than $100,000, according to the FBI.

After gaining Melillo’s confidence the undercover FBI agent was able to satisfy Melillo that he had kidnapped the target on May 29th. He then exhibited to Melillo a photo of the victim bound in restraints, holding that day’s newspaper to display the date, convincing Melillo that the deed was done, according to court records.

After showing him the staged photo the agent then gave Melillo a cell phone number that he said belonged to the victim’s wife, but was in fact being directed to a female FBI agent, according to federal authorities.

During the investigation, the intended kidnapping target and his family were taken by FBI agents to an undisclosed location to guarantee their protection, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert H. Waters Jr.

The victim’s identity has been kept under wraps by Federal prosecutors and during proceedings, lawyers for both the prosecution and defense have been vigilant to avoid mentioning the name of the victim and his family members.

As the investigation continued Melillo made the phone call to the provided number and initially demanded $20 million from who he believed to be the victim’s wife. But over three hours of negotiation, he dropped his ransom demand to $12.5 million, court records show. He then directed the supposed wife of the victim to bring the money to Palm Beach International Airport and place it in the trunk of a specified vehicle. After Melillo believed this was completed, he and the undercover FBI agent drove to the location to pick it up, federal authorities said.

Melillo was seen by the FBI that day meeting with Kaimacliotis, while under their surveillance. At the time of his arrest, later that evening, Kaimacliotis confessed that Melillo had called him earlier in the day to let him know that the kidnapping was taking place and for him to pose as a lookout.

Melillo was arrested when he later went to meet the FBI agent in the parking lot of a Home Depot in West Palm Beach to distribute the fictitious ransom money.

AUSA Waters specified that the intended target and his wife have been deeply damaged by the kidnapping plot attempt, and now are both frequently looking over their shoulders and living in fear.

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At the onset of arguments heard against presumed mob boss Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi and five codefendants, Ligambi’s lawyer argued that charges against his client should not be decided based on who the prosecution says they are, but rather on what they’ve done. He went on to tell a federal jury that neither Ligambi nor any of the other defendants named in the case essentially did anything.

As the long-awaited mob racketeering conspiracy trial that began in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia at the end of October, the attorney pronounced in his opening statement that “It’s not a crime to be associated with or to be a member of the Mafia.”

“In America, you can be a member of almost anything. It’s not about being a member. It’s about what you do.”

The “real charges” in the case “wouldn’t support an episode of The Sopranos,” his lawyer said. At another point, he threw in The Godfather, contending that the Philadelphia mob is so ineffective and nonviolent “that Tony Soprano and Don Corleone would laugh at us.” He further stated that the prosecution’s case is built on half-truths and fabrications from cooperating witnesses looking to get out from under their own criminal difficulties and said, on behalf of his clients; “We’re not guilty, we’re victims,” in the trial that is predicted to take eight to twelve weeks to conclude.

However, the prosecution maintains that victims besieged in mob extortions and shakedowns, systematically ordered by Ligambi and his coconspirators are nothing to laugh about.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Labor, told the jury that Ligambi and his co-defendants “exploited” the Philadelphia mob’s violent reputation “to make money” and “to intimidate” victims into paying mob shakedowns and tribute payments in his opening statement.

He then expressed to the jury that Ligambi, 73, and his codefendants were members of an illicit criminal enterprise. “That enterprise”, Labor said, “relied on the aforementioned reputation of the Philadelphia mob to instill fear and intimidate underworld targets.”

Dismissing the defense’s repeatedly stated position that this current case doesn’t contain any of the murder and attempted-murder charges that marked prior mob trials, Labor said that “a dead man” can’t make an extortion payment, but a terrified man can. Also, in his opening statement Labor peppered more than a few potentially incriminating remarks from secretly recorded conversations. The prosecution anticipates playing dozens of recorded dialogues captured by wiretaps and also by wires that were worn by witnesses who cooperated in the investigation. The prosecution purportedly has more than 15,000 recordings and 9,000 surveillance reports collected over a decade of which many refer to this particular case.

In addition to Ligambi, the other five defendants are Joseph “Scoops” Licata, 71, Anthony Staino, 54, George Borgesi, 49, Damion Canalichio, 42, and mob associate Gary Battaglini, 51.

Ligambi is the principal defendant in the case. Authorities contend that he controlled the criminal organization that was involved with unlawful gambling, loansharking and extortion throughout a 12-year period that goes back to 1999.

In one of the recorded conversation with Canalichio, one of the codefendants, Michael F. Orlando Jr., who owed money that he said he couldn’t pay back, asked the alleged loan shark if he might earn credit and good will by working for the organization as a street collector. Canalichio said that Orlando’s loan wasn’t his to forgive. It belonged to “Stevie and Joey,” Orlando presumed this to mean reputed mob boss Joseph Ligambi and one of his lieutenants.

“It’s Uncle Joe’s money?” Orlando asked in the 2002 conversation, which was recorded by the FBI.

“Yeah,” Canalichio answered.

Federal prosecutors played that tape and a grouping of others in their attempt to demonstrate to the jury that even the lesser loans were a portion of a larger organized gambling, extortion and loan-shark racket organized by Ligambi and his associates, and that the money rolled upward.

In another recording, co-defendant George Borgesi, laughed and joked about how he brutally assaulted mob associate Angelo Lutz who lied about trying to cash a check from their pasta business.

“I knocked him out,” Borgesi is heard saying in the phone conversation which was recorded in a Pennsylvania State Police wiretap in November, 1999. “I kicked him so hard he was sleeping… I ripped his shirt off. He was out like a fucking light.”

Labor also cited defendant Anthony Staino in a conversation about an unwilling debt payer to say “I got two gorillas, gonna chop him up,” in what was said to be revealed when referring to one of the recordings.

The trial continues and more recorded testimony is expected to be heard before U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno before the case is sent to the jury.

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The quick thinking and response of a UPS driver turned into an essential lead that ended with the arrest of four men charged with a Coral Springs bank robbery. The UPS driver’s attention was captured when he noticed two men hurriedly rush out of a Nissan Sentra, leaving the doors open, and jump into a Silver Dodge Charger driven by a third man. Wary of the men’s actions, the driver called 911 and reported what he felt to be suspicious activity.

The police were already looking for a vehicle that fit that description as the getaway car of the robbery of a SunTrust bank that took place around 10 am that morning. The bank is located at 9501 Wiles Road in Coral Springs.

In addition to the UPS driver, other members of the public are being praised for helping police and FBI agents for their part in the apprehension of the suspects.

The manager of the bank was on the phone with a customer when two armed men rushed into the bank. One of the men pointed a gun at a teller’s head, demanding money. The teller gave the suspects in excess of $20,000.00 before they ran out of the bank to the awaiting Nissan Sentra. As this was unfolding, the manager told the customer on the phone that the bank was being robbed. The customer immediately hung up the phone and called 911.

“We got the customer’s call before the silent alarm came in to our agency,” Coral Springs Police Sgt. Carla Mertes said. She went on to comment: “One of our officers spotted the car on the Sawgrass and started chasing it to Miami.”

The police then chased the car south on the Sawgrass Expressway and then Interstate 75. According to the F.B.I. who assisted in the pursuit, the suspects then exited east onto Gratigny Parkway in Miami where it crashed into two vehicles near the N.W. 32nd Ave. exit.

One of the individuals in the crash was Derek Mendez, 33, of Hialeah. Ironically, he was driving to a Crime Scene Investigation course at Miami Dade College when he became entangled in the midst of a crime scene investigation. A veteran of the war in Iraq, Mendez suffered injuries to his neck, back and elbow when his car was rear-ended by the suspects’ vehicle. “It freaked me out a little bit but it could have been worse,” Mendez said. “They could have had a gun and start shooting and I could have been in the middle of that.” Mendez went on to say: “I remember some guys getting out of the car and fleeing from the scene. They tried to run away and tried to jump a fence and I saw the cops grab them.

The F.B.I. said that at least three of the four men were suspected in five other bank robberies in Broward County.

In total, four men were arrested for the crime. Gregory Richardson, 34, and Edward Rogers, 40, are accused of robbing the bank. Carlos Jenkins, 24, is accused of driving the two cars used in their escape. Quinton Johnson, 29, is the owner of the Charger; although he claimed at the time of his arrest that it was stolen prior to the crime.

Coral Springs police spokesman Joseph McHugh said that the call from the UPS driver was crucial. “Without that call, we would have been looking for the vehicle they were driving when they left the bank,” he said.

The four men who are now accused of planning and robbing the bank appeared in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Thursday morning. Quinton Johnson who originally reported his car stolen 15 minutes after the robbery then allegedly changed his story and said that he loaned his Dodge Charger to Carlos Jenkins. Johnson then admitted driving his friends to the bank the night before, but denied any participation in the robbery. The four men will be back in court next week when a judge will decide if they will be eligible for bail.

Numerous agencies assisted in the pursuit through Broward and Dade counties, comprising police from Coral Springs, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Miami Dade, Hialeah, Miramar, Miami Gardens, Opa-locka, as well as the FBI.

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