South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog

Hurricane Irma Brings Out Burglars and Looters in South Florida Crime Spree

September 17, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

As Hurricane Irma barreled through the Caribbean laying waste to all centers of population in its path, opportunities arose for those with criminal intent.

After the storm basically leveled the tiny island of Barbuda leaving much of the Island’s 1600 residents homeless the category five storm continued further west wreaking havoc on Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barts and the Virgin Islands. Up to ninety percent of the domestic and commercial structures on these islands were badly damaged or completely destroyed.

The storm then skimmed the northern coast of Puerto Rico producing a loss of power for more than one million of its residents but spared the island nation of its total force before setting its sights on the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the Turks and Caicos along with the southernmost Bahamian Islands. It then grazed the coast of Cuba alternating between Category four and five status with its center of destruction correctly forecasted to turn north threatening the Florida Keys and the east coast of the state.

Opiate Epidemic Assaults South Florida

August 20, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, the opioid epidemic became a campaign issue with overdose deaths hitting a peak of 28,000 nationally the previous year detailed by the latest current available data.

It was just a few weeks ago that the President of the United States declared the opioid crisis a National emergency. More than a year earlier, the Governor of Florida stated that opioid abuse was a public health emergency in the state.

Locally, a Miami man was arrested this past June for heroin trafficking and possession of Fentanyl. He was coordinating transactions of the opiates with what turned out to be a police informant.

South Florida Man and New Wife Charged with Sexual Assault of Her Sister

July 30, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

July 29, 2017

Dale Leary, of Cutler Bay had been married to his now ex-wife Claudia for more than 10 years when the couple decided to take in a high school exchange student from Spain.

They employed CCI Greenheart, a Chicago-based nonprofit that cleared students to live in the United States from numerous foreign countries.

Road Rage and Guns, a Growing Problem in South Florida

June 26, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Road rage and guns can be a lethal combination here in South Florida. The frequency of these incidents has more than doubled since 2014.

Florida and Texas which are states with the largest number of relaxed gun laws, and concealed carry permit holders lead the way according to the available data.

Just last month a Fort Lauderdale man was arrested after being accused of pointing a loaded gun at the passenger of another vehicle while driving on the US1 Overseas Highway in Key Largo.

Thankfully, in this case, no shots were fired.
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Palm Beach County Men Plead Guilty to Terrorism Related Charges

May 28, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

5/28/2017

When reporters asked Ariana Grande for comment as she disembarked in South Florida they were given no immediate comment. But the young Boca Raton pop star later tweeted through social media the following: “broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.” [Sic] – She later posted prepared remarks on Twitter which can be read by clicking this link.

This first online comment was in response to the heinous terrorist attack that took place in Manchester, England earlier last week killing at least 22 people and injuring 59, at last count.

Florida Man Seeking Asylum Faced Deportation Due to Past Misdemeanors

April 27, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

APRIL 27, 2017
Marco Aurelio Coello was tortured in Venezuela before he left that country to seek asylum in the United States.

Coello is an activist who took part in a protest in 2014 in opposition to the regime of Nicolás Maduro when he was a high school student.

In due course the protest he attended became violent.
Coello was tear-gassed and arrested on charges of inciting violence before being tortured according to his lawyer. He was subsequently released due to what was labeled as psychological problems.

While awaiting trial in Venezuela the 19 year old student recognized the fact that he had no choice but to flee the country; the alternative could be facing a decade or more in prison because of his participation in the political demonstration.

In 2015 he told a local journalist that he knew he had no choice but to leave his homeland.
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Verdict Decided in South Florida Homicide of Former Cop by Ex-Wife

March 22, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

This article is about the case of a Clearwater High School teacher named Cara Ryan who admitted to the shooting death of her ex-husband, John Rush, a retired Sergeant for the St. Petersburg Police Department.

You can find the lead-in to this blog post on my Website by clicking here

Ms. Ryan was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in March, 2015. Investigators didn’t believe that Ryan lured Rush to the apartment with the intent to kill him.

Her bail was originally set at $500,000 but was cut in half by the same Circuit Court Judge a few days later.

The judge stated that although the evidence against Ms. Ryan was “pretty significant,” her family ties in the area made her a low flight risk. She was released on bail the following morning, about a week after her initial arrest.

Florida Case Interrupts the Statute of Limitations

February 21, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

A crime that was committed more than a specific quantified number of years ago may be subject to a statute of limitation which is basically a clock making sure prosecutions don’t move forward in an attempt to prosecute a crime based on physical evidence or eyewitness testimony that may have deteriorated in its reliability over the passage of time.

After the time period of the particular statute has run out, the accused, for all intents and purposes cannot be prosecuted for the alleged crime.

Certain crimes do not have a statute of limitation. A criminal homicide, for example, has none. Some states vary in which crimes are covered by this statute such as various violent crimes, sex offenses involving minors, kidnapping, arson, forgery and other offenses.

South Florida Woman Facing Federal Bank Robbery Charges

January 21, 2017 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

It was the height of the Holiday shopping season last month, when a middle aged woman wearing sweat pants and a dark colored hat walked into a bank and simply handed a teller a note which read “This is a robbery. Smile & act naturally”. She also told the teller that she was armed and wouldn’t hesitate to use her weapon, “so don’t act like a hero”, even though witnesses to the apparent robbery didn’t see a weapon in the woman’s possession, according to the federal criminal complaint.

After her arrest, which took place three days after the alleged robbery, and after being taken into custody, Sonya Clark, who is fifty two years old and works for a moving company also seemingly confessed to robbing a local branch of a TD bank in Boynton Beach late last year, near her residence. The bank that was hit in Fort Lauderdale was also a TD Bank
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South Florida Man Charged for Arson with Hate Crime Enhancement

December 12, 2016 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Last week, in a Charleston, South Carolina District Courthouse a Federal jury heard the startling recorded confession of Dylan Roof who when questioned by FBI Agents simply said in a calm manner that “I went to that church in Charleston and I did it.”

Roof is accused of slaughtering nine African American churchgoers during a prayer service at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

Throughout questioning by FBI agents, Roof also admitted that he considered himself to be a white supremacist and was motivated after reading about the Trevon Martin case in Florida as well as ultimately deciding to take revenge because blacks were raping white women.