South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog

73-Year Old Oakland Park Man Shoots Burglar during Robbery of His Home

September 9, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Kevin Madigan, 46, of Boca Raton, never expected to be under attack after he hurled a clay paving brick through the window of 73-year-old Charles Rieckman’s house in the course of his attempt to attain some of Mr. Rieckman’s cash or property which would assist in the funding of his crack cocaine habit.

Watching in horror as Madigan entered his home through the damaged window and snatched his flat-screen television, Rieckman ran into his bedroom, grabbed his 38 caliber pistol which he stored in a bedside nightstand drawer and then ran out of his house in hot pursuit of the intruder.
Once outside, he found Madigan brawling with his 70-yearld old neighbor Joan Thurmond, as she was making an effort to call 911. Seeing the battle in progress he then drew his weapon, opened fire, shooting five or six rounds at the perpetrator. At least a few bullets hit pay dirt but Mr. Rieckman didn’t know at the time if he wounded the suspect or not as he witnessed Madigan continue running to his parked silver Toyota Camry, get inside, start the vehicle and zip away, pilfering his T.V.

When police responded they asked Rieckman if he thought the robber knew he’d been hit. He replied “I don’t know if he knew or not .He stopped tussling with my neighbor, so maybe I hit him and that’s when he decided to take off because he was trying to get her phone and she held onto it.”

Ms. Thurmond was in front of her house when she heard the sound of glass shattering next door. When she saw Madigan, she started to shout that she was calling the police. After that the suspect attacked her.

“I was scared. I was very scared,” she said, but was still able to get through to 911. “We need help,” she roared to the 911 operator. “Ma’am, what’s going on?” the operator questioned. “Somebody’s shooting,” she continued. She went on to inform the operator that “There’s a guy with coal-black hair, heavy-set, with a white T-shirt. He left in a silver sedan car.” Her level-headedness in giving a proper description to the 911 operator assisted the police in finding the suspect and his vehicle.

The gunplay ended when Rieckman felt that the threat had concluded. “At that time I realized I was out of danger and so was Joan. I could have fired and flattened his tires.”

Mr. Rieckman, a retired high school math teacher, originally from New Jersey said it was the first time that he had ever fired a gun for personal defense. He bought the gun years before.

“I had never even shot it before,” he remarked. “Actually, I pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I didn’t remember I had to pull back on the clip, so I pulled back on the clip and it started shooting.”

Rieckman credits his former vocation as being partially responsible for saving the day. He mentioned that he’d tangled with tough guys before. “I used to be a teacher, which trains you to deal with incorrigibles.”

Police found Madigan a few miles away in Oakland Park, slumped over the wheel of his Camry which had crashed into some bushes near the intersection of N.E. 11th Ave. and 43rd St., according to sheriff’s spokesman Mike Jachles. He was bleeding but “his injuries were described as not life-threatening,” he said. “There was stolen property recovered, a TV among other things, in his vehicle.” He was taken to a Fort Lauderdale hospital in police custody to have his wounds attended to.

Last week, after being released from the hospital, Madigan was observed weeping and grimacing in pain as Broward Judge John Hurley set his bail at $216 thousand during his bond hearing.

At the hearing, a friend told the Judge that Madigan is a drug addict who needs treatment. She went on to comment that “When he is clean and sober, he is a decent human being” She also told the Judge that her friend was hit with four rounds: one in his stomach, his hand, a kneecap and on his shin.

According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office Madigan faces multiple charges, including burglary on an occupied dwelling, criminal mischief, strong-arm robbery and grand theft.

“It appears this was a justifiable shooting. Every indication is that the homeowner was defending himself, his property and his neighbor from being attacked by the intruder,” according to the Sheriff’s office spokesman.

New York’s Stop and Frisk Tactic Controversy

September 5, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

As seems to be the case with major issues of our time, most topics seem to be classified politically by Republican vs. Democrat, Conservative vs. Liberal or a Right vs. Left wing philosophy.

Where we get our information from is a key factor in what we tend to believe to be true; in reference to most major subjects emphasized by the media. Depending on what newspaper, TV station or website you frequent will usually sway your sentiments to the validity of the opinions of their commentators or journalists.

The current controversy surrounding New York City’s stop and frisk controversy seems not to be typically defined by this traditional political divide.

Based on accepted ideologies, you would think that a person who is pro-choice, an advocate for stricter gun control laws and in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage would be against any law that gives police officers the right to stop and frisk anyone based on as little as the officer’s own judgment; especially in a situation where racial profiling is alleged.

Michael Bloomberg, the current Mayor of New York City who is known to be a social liberal and was a lifelong member of the Democratic Party before running under the guise of a Republican and then winning his last election, would be assumed to be against this type of tactic. Based on his admitted ideologies, logic would point to him finding any law that violates a person’s individual rights objectionable. Nevertheless, the Mayor is one of the strongest advocates of the stop and frisk technique. His Police Commissioner, Raymond Kelly, a registered Democrat also passionately supports the law.

Proponents of the practice emphasize that the method works, has lowered crime, and has been a major factor in keeping people safer than they would be without its application. Its critics maintain that it is a blatant method of abusing what is constituted as illegal searches’, flagrant means of racial profiling and an ineffective crime fighting apparatus with an obvious constitutional problem.

Always a controversial issue, it has recently come under fire and national attention in the Floyd v. City of New York federal class action lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights. CCR is an organization “dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

On Aug. 12, in a 198-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that the stop and frisk practice is unconstitutional. In an interview, Scheindlin said the “case is about whether the city has a policy or custom of violating the Constitution by making unlawful stops and conducting unlawful frisks… The city’s highest officials have turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner.” In all, the Judge issued two rulings. The first, Order on Liability, can be read in its entirety by clicking here. The second, Order on Remedy can be found at this link. To view the summary of Judge Scheindlin’s Remedial Decision click here.

Scheindlin also disagreed with the Mayor’s administration’s claim that police officers merely do more stop-and-frisks in minority neighborhoods due to the fact that those areas are where crime is the highest.

“Both statistical and anecdotal evidence showed that minorities are indeed treated differently than whites,” Scheindlin declared, determining that the stop-and-frisk practice will be allowed to continue but it does have to bring the policy in line with the Constitution. Police no longer can decide to make stops on disguised excuses for racial profiling. Peter Zimroth, a former Manhattan District Attorney was appointed by Scheindlin to oversee changes the department would have to adhere to. Pending this oversight, Scheindlin said that “various remedies” including a trial program necessitating the use of “body-worn cameras” in one police precinct of each borough and “community-based joint remedial process” will be reviewed and hence ordered by her.

In her ruling, Scheindlin acknowledged that the goal of deterring crime may be “laudable,” but said, “Many police practices may be useful for fighting crime, preventive detention or coerced confessions, for example, but because they are unconstitutional they cannot be used, no matter how effective.”

In a press conference, a noticeably upset Bloomberg condemned Scheindlin’s ruling stating “This is a very dangerous decision made by a judge that I think just does not understand how policing works, and what is compliant with the U.S. Constitution as determined by the Supreme Court,” He also went on to say that “the city plans to appeal Judge Scheindlin’s decision” and accused the Judge of not giving the city a “fair trial”. He went on to say that “given the judge’s public comments and media interviews throughout the case, this decision was certainly not a surprise.”

However, the actual statistics regarding stop and frisk may not prove out Bloomberg’s argument.

Since the time Bloomberg took the oath of office in 2002 through the end of 2012, there have been approximately 4.4 million stops. Of those, the success rate of finding drugs or weapons has been surprisingly low. It has also shown that Caucasians are more likely to be found carrying a concealed weapon than a non-white individual even though the statistics for the stops are heavily weighed to be conducted in non-white neighborhoods.

Breaking down the overall numbers, blacks denoted 51 percent of the stops and Hispanics 33 percent though representing only 26% and 24% of the New York City’s population respectively. Since 2002 when Bloomberg took office and the practice intensified, 88 percent of all stops resulted in no charges being filed.

How this data is collected:
Each time a police officer stops a person in NYC they manually fill out an incident form related to the stop. The forms are then entered into a database. The NYPD reports this data in a paper report that is released quarterly, and also released in a report generated from an electronic database on an annual basis.

The New York Civil Liberties Union releases a quarterly paper report that includes all information relating to stops, arrests, and summonses. These figures are broken down by individual precinct where the stop took place as well as the gender and race of the individual involved. This paper report offers a rudimentary portrait broken down by each precinct regarding all stop-and-frisk acts and can be found by clicking here.

In 2002, New Yorkers were stopped by the police 97,296 times. 80,176 or 82 percent resulted in no arrests. A year later residents of the city were stopped almost twice as many times (160,851). 87 percent of those stops resulted in no weapons or drugs being found. During that year 54 percent were black, 31 percent Latino while only 12 percent were white. By 2012 New Yorkers were stopped by the police 532,911 times, an over 500 percent rise from 2002. 89 percent of the stops resulted in no arrests and the breakdown by race was 55 percent black, 32 percent Hispanic and only 10 percent white.

The success rate for finding a weapon or drugs in a ‘stop-and-frisk’ situation is just 1 in 147 stops for African-Americans, 1 in 99 for Hispanics, and 1 in 20 for whites. Three separate university studies have failed to find any connection of the implementation of the stop-and-frisk tactics and the massive drop in violent crime in New York City since the early 1990s when widespread gang violence and drug related arrests began to diminish.

One university study from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Center on Race, Crime and Justice established that the overwhelming majority of stops over the past two years were not made due to a suspect’s description, and that 90 percent of the individuals that were stopped were in finality, recognized to be doing nothing wrong. “Overwhelmingly, innocent people are being targeted by stop-and-frisk, and it’s one of the reasons why New Yorkers are complaining,” In an interview, the study’s lead journalist, Dr. Delores Jones-Brown, said “The mayor has said that the racial disparity can be explained away by criminal activity and by the fact that the officers are responding to the descriptions that they’re given by victims, and so the fact that 85 percent of stops do not involve a description means that that particular statement is not quite accurate.” She also criticized what she pronounced was a stop-and-frisk quota system. The NYPD has denied that such a quota system exists.

History
The U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment states:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Although the law enforcement community had followed the practice of stop and frisk for preceding decades, it wasn’t until the 1968 Supreme Court case of Terry v. the State of Ohio that is was appraised under the Fourth Amendment’s shield regarding unreasonable searches and seizures. As noted above, according to Fourth Amendment case law, in order for a Search and Seizure to be constitutional it must be established upon the conjecture of probable cause. The stop and frisk technique was generally conducted on the foundation of only reasonable suspicion a somewhat lower standard.

In the Terry case a plainclothes police officer noticed three men acting in a suspicious manner. He observed them repeatedly peering into a store window, walking away and then returning to the store to do the same. In the officer’s opinion it was more than likely that they were preparing to rob the store. Upon approaching them, he identified himself as a police officer, asked their names and began to question them. Dissatisfied with the responses he was given he then initiated a frisk of one of his suspects. The pat down resulted in the officer finding a gun for which the individual was not able to produce a permit.

Although in this instance, the officer did not have probable cause or an issued warrant; his suspicions led him to believe that the men were “casing” the store with the sole intention of robbing it. It was argued by the accused that under the Fourth Amendment the search was unreasonable citing that the search wasn’t sustained by probable cause and only brought about because of what the officer described as his experience and suspicions.

The defendants’ arguments were rejected by the Court noting that stops and frisks were significantly less intrusive than a normal search and full-scale arrest. The Court also noted that the police’s safety requirements were at stake and the frisk took place in the interests of crime prevention giving the officer certain latitude to perform the frisk before complete probable cause had been established. The requirement of reasonability implied by the Fourth Amendment is adequately flexible to allow a law enforcement officer to explore and investigate the circumstance.

There was also a concern by the Court that necessitating probable cause for a simple frisk could place the officer in unnecessary endangerment during the course of his investigation. According to the ruling, the “sole justification” for a frisk, is the “protection of the police officer and others nearby.” Due to this narrow scope, a frisk must be “reasonably designed to discover guns, knives, clubs, or other hidden instruments for the assault of the police officer.” In conclusion, siding with the officer’s experience and arguments, it was concluded that his belief of reasonable suspicion dictated a stop and frisk which the Court found to be constitutional under the Fourth Amendment.

Subsequently, this type of police procedure became termed as a “Terry stop” or an “investigatory detention.” The Court’s decision endorsed police actions to include stopping and questioning persons they feel to be acting in a suspicious manner. It also gave them the authorization to pat them down for weapons. The ruling also incorporated other nonintrusive search methods including the usage of drug-sniffing dogs and the procedure of using metal detectors when an officer of the law felt it to be necessary. During the detention of the suspect(s), an officer is granted the condition to call in to find out if there are any outstanding wants or warrants as well as conducting a search by computer to see if the suspect is wanted for criminalities.

Summing it up, the definition of stop and frisk based on the 1968 Supreme Court ruling translates to a situation where a law enforcement officer becomes suspicious of any individual(s) and detains the person(s) with authorization to run his hands lightly over the suspect’s visible clothing in an effort to decide if a weapon is concealed. This ruling has basically remained intact until Judge Scheindlin’s decision was released earlier this year.

The Talk Show Circuit
“No question about it, violent crime will go up,” Kelly answered when asked by NBC “Meet the Press” host David Gregory whether “people will die” if the current stop and frisk is removed from policy.

“This is something that’s integral to policing. This happens throughout America in any police jurisdiction. You have to do it,” he continued. “Officers have to have the right of inquiry if they see some suspicious behavior. So I can assure you, this is not just a New York City issue; it’s an issue throughout America. And this case has to be appealed, in my judgment, because it will be taken as a template and have significant impact in policing throughout America.”

“What we’re doing… and what we’re trying to do… is save lives,” Kelly added on ABC’s television show “This Week.”

After Janet Napolitano announced her retirement in July from the Department of Homeland Security, the Commissioner has often been spoken about as being the leading candidate to fill that vacancy. In an interview last month, President Barack Obama commended Kelly stating, “Mr. Kelly might be very happy where he is, but if he’s not, I’d want to know about it, because obviously he’d be very well-qualified for the job.”

On CBS’ “Face the Nation, when queried about the president’s comment and the likelihood of his nomination to the post “Kelly responded by saying “Well, the president made a very flattering statement, when he was asked a question about me specifically. But I’m not gonna comment any further. I’ve spent some time in Washington. I know it’s wise to keep my mouth shut at this time.”

Following Kelly’s “Meet the Press” interview, Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP went on the show and was quick to criticize the Commissioner’s current position as police chief and his conceivable appointment to head the DHS.

“So, this is the problem”, he said. “We just heard a man who aspires to be the head of the Department of Homeland Security, say that his officers have to violate the U.S. Constitution to make us safer,”. He continued by saying “that should send chills down the spine of everyone in this country.” Coincidently, those words were strikingly similar to those articulated by Edward Snowden when he was interviewed by Glenn Greenwald in reference to the U.S. Government’s spying techniques on its citizens by its use of the National Security Agency (NSA).

Normally conservative Fox News has had mixed reactions on the topic. On the O’Reilly Factor, one of its top late night TV shows, Bill O’Reilly said “Stop-and-Frisk Is Intrusive, but It Saves Hundreds of Lives.” He also contended in his Talking Points Memo that “while the policy is intrusive, it has helped save the lives of hundreds of New Yorkers.”

Guests on the show have had conflicting opinions. One of his guests, Nathaniel Pendleton, the father of murdered Chicago teen Hadiya Pendleton was questioned by O’Reilly if he wished the stop-and-frisk policy had been used in Chicago preceding his daughter’s murder. Unexpectedly, Pendleton said no. He also questioned the usefulness and intent of that type of policing. He went on to say that “Stop-and-frisk against minorities is totally unfair.” He went on to say that “I think tougher gun laws is a much better deterrent than just making people, pulling, criminalizing people for what you may think this guy may have.”

But another guest, Jackie Rowe-Adams submitted that if police had been utilizing stop and frisk tactics, her sons would who were murdered would still be alive today. Rowe-Adams, co-founder of Harlem Mothers Save, says ‘stop and frisk’ is very necessary, especially in areas of high crime.

Laura Ingraham, an ultra-conservative radio host as well as a Fox News contributor, blatantly criticized Judge Scheindlin for her ruling. Ingraham and other contributors from the show Fox & Friends held that this judge’s “utopian” worldview would change if she lived in a high-crime area of New York City.

In the meantime, staunch conservative Amy Holmes, a former speechwriter for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), blasted stop and frisk on the liberal rival CNBC network saying that “it is racially discriminatory because, in her wealthier and whiter Manhattan neighborhood, criminal behavior is practiced in the open without fear of police reprisal.” She accused the policy of not zeroing in on the seizure of illegal weapons but said that it was more a policy used to lead to the arrests of minorities that possessed marijuana. “I live in the West Village in New York City, and there’s no ‘stop-and-frisk’ policy there and I could point to you 10 people who were smoking pot openly, and they didn’t get arrested.”

Other CNBC shows brought in mixed feeling to the policy and Judge Scheindlin’s ruling on its constitutionality.

Sam Stein a writer for the Huffington Post and a CNBC contributor said “Statistically it appears race-driven and relatively ineffective,” He argued that only 6% of stops lead to arrests, while close to 90 percent of the stops lead to no further action.

Somewhat conflictingly, MSNBC Executive Editor Richard Wolffe said. “It’s been effective. They can point to declining crime numbers as a real achievement. The question is: does this policy lead to it?

The Last Word, another late night CNBC program hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell has repetitively demonstrated how the statistics prove that the practice of stop and frisk is not effective and clearly discriminates against minority citizens.

Stop and Frisk and the Mayoral Race
Mayor Bloomberg’s third and final term will come to an end before his appeal is even heard. But the stop and frisk appeal has become an opportunity for mayoral contenders to differentiate themselves from him and possibly heighten their standing with minority voters. The leading Republican candidates thus far have defended the practice, calling it an effective policing tool. But it’s the Democrats that are almost assured to win the coming election.

Of the three prime Democratic all of them want to change it, though their general positions somewhat differ.

Christine Quinn who in the early stages of the race was the front runner after Anthony Weiner self-destructed wants oversight by an inspector general of the Police Department but doesn’t back a proposal to open up state courts to biased-based profiling suits. “Unconstitutional stop-and-frisk will have to end,” she said.
She is also the only candidate who has said the she would keep Ray Kelly as Commissioner.

Bill de Blasio, who recently has moved to lead in the current polling with 32 percent of likely NY City voters giving him their support, is in favor of both actions. “You can’t be in favor of fairness in policing and vote against a ban on racial profiling,” he remarked.

Bill Thompson, the only black candidate has said that he requires more clarification. He doesn’t support either of the two methods mentioned, calls them bureaucratic and contends that his new administration would be able to eradicate the issue of profiling on its own. “It is in the training. It is in eliminating the quotas that they’re established right now,” Thompson said.

Anthony Weiner, still campaigning although his chances of winning the contest are now infinitesimal has said he’d force police to wear cameras. John Liu who in recent polling is only showing 4 percent support is the sole candidate who wants to get rid of it overall.

All the Democratic candidates allude to community policing as a approach to diminish the amount of stop-and-frisk incidences, believing that police officers can work directly with the citizens of New York to keep the crime rate low.

Each and every police cruiser in the city shows the motto “C P R” which stands for Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect.

Two Miami Residents Plead Guilty for Receiving Health Care Kickbacks

September 3, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Crimes relating to the Health Care Industry are one of the most costly issues that American taxpayers are forced to endure. The FBI has estimated that crimes of this nature cost taxpayers an average of $80 billion annually. Statistics show that as little as three percent of this money is recovered and in many cases whistle blowers get paid a substantial amount of the recovered funds for their participation in bringing the offenders of these criminalities to justice.

In an article posted here on August 20, our narrative conveyed a story of a married couple who pleaded guilty to the federal charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Another of the charges that was originally levied against them in the indictment was the payment of kickbacks to patient recruiters in order to direct willing patients to Flores Home Health, the couple’s health care clinic. There, the therapy services offered turned out to be curatively deceitful and in many situations, not delivered in the least, although settlement by Medicare was conveyed for the fabricated and theoretical services rendered.

Elizabeth Monteagudo, 33, and Cristobal Gonzalez, 39, didn’t work for Flores Home Health but their job description of patient recruiters fit the same type of personnel that were paid by Marina Sanchez Pajon and Miguel Jimenez the owners of Flores. Yesterday, the two Miami residents pleaded guilty to receiving kickbacks for their part in a similar federal health care fraud; this scheme in its entirety netting $48 Million.

Throughout the duration of early 2009, concluding roughly in mid-2011, Monteagudo and Gonzalez operated as patient recruiters for Caring Nurse Home Health Care Corp., soliciting and receiving kickbacks and bribes from the owners and operators of the health care company in return for allowing the agency to bill the Medicare program on behalf of the recruited patients. Gonzalez also worked for Good Quality Home Health Care, Inc. in the same capacity. Comparable to the Flores case, these Medicare recipients were subsequently billed for therapy and home health care services that were medically needless or not provided at all, according to documents presented in court.

Additionally, Monteagudo who owned and operated a company named Starlite Home Health Agency Inc. also admitted to her participation with $7 million in fraudulent Medicare billings.

In a separate case that led to these two guilty pleas, the owner/operators of Caring Nurse Home Health Care Corp. and Good Quality Home Health Care, Inc. were sentenced to serve 9 years, and a little over 4 years in prison. On Feb. 27, 2013, Rogelio Rodriguez received the longer sentence while Raymond Aday was given the lesser. These sentences were announced subsequent to their guilty pleas in December 2012. Rodriguez was the owner of the two health care companies and Aday managed both. The two pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud which was charged in an indictment unsealed in October of last year. That indictment charged that between the period of January 2006 and June 2011, each of the two companies submitted claims in the area of $48 million for home health services that weren’t necessary medically, and in many cases not provided at all. In lieu of these falsified claims $33 million of the total amount billed was actually paid by Medicare.

According to the court documents from that case, Rodriguez and Aday colluded with patient recruiters with their ultimate goal being the illegitimate charging of Medicare for unnecessary services rendered. The documents also stated that both defendants paid bribes and kickbacks to the above-mentioned patient recruiters, as well as others.

According to the Department of Justice, nurses and office staff at both health care companies were also implicated for falsifying files of their patients in their attempt to make it seem that the Medicare beneficiaries qualified for services when they in fact did not.

In addition to the term of their incarceration, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno sentenced Aday to pay $2.1 million and Rodriguez to pay $33 million in restitution. They will each also have to pay a fine of $100,000. The two were also penalized to a term of three years of supervised release at the completion of their prison terms.

Both cases were investigated by the FBI and Department of Health & Human Services-Office of the Inspector General, which was conveyed as a measure of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.

Notorious “Queen of the Pacific” Drug Madam Deported to Mexico

August 27, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

A cocorrido is a type of Spanish folk music which is said to date back to the Mexican Revolution of 1910. These catchy melodic ballads originally told the stories of revolutionary fighters and their heroic acts and escapades. In recent years this genre of music has evolved, and the similar narcocorrido has become a contemporary type of this musical tradition. It uses an accordion-based polka type technique as a rhythmic base. These new corridos, focusing on drug smugglers have added the word “narco” to the original genus which comes from the English word “narcotics”. Some music critics have also compared the very danceable narcocorrido songs to the gangster rap variety.

In a current song by the Spanish band Los Tucanes de Tijuana, it is said that Sandra Avila Beltran, 52 is connected to the lyric “The more beautiful the rose, the sharper the thorns.”

Last week Avila Beltran was deported back to Mexico after last month’s sentencing in Miami. She was among 129 individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which is the primary investigative division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She and the others were flown to Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City and handed over to authorities.

Avila Beltran, dubbed “Queen of the Pacific” (La Reina del Pacífico) by the mass media was first detained and arrested in September, 2007. She was charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs as well as other organized crime charges. Although some of the charges were hastily dropped she remained in custody for money laundering, and possession of illegal weapons. She was extradited to the U.S. in August, 2012 to face criminal charges brought about by the U.S. government. At the time of her arrest the Mexican government and U.S. officials considered her a significant link to the Sinaloa Mexican drug cartel as well as the Colombian Norte del Valle Cartel.

Avila Beltran is no stranger to the illegal drug trafficking business. A family member, Rafael Caro Quintero was at one time the leader of the Guadalajara Cartel. Other family members have played a crucial part in her illicit career. Police in Mexico point out that she’s the niece of Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, who was at one time known as the godfather of the entire Mexican drug business. Gallardo is currently serving the balance of a forty-year sentence for the murder of U.S. DEA special agent Enrique Camarena in 1984. Additionally, her great uncle Juan Jose Quintero Payan was previously extradited to the United States for drug trafficking charges. Similarly her mother’s side of the family became involved in heroin trafficking in the 1970s and later expanded their operations to include the marketing of cocaine. DEA agents have stated that Avila Beltran never moved away from engaging in the viciousness that comes with the territory and that “she used the typical intimidation tactics of Mexican organizations.”, and in effect was a “third-generation” drug trafficker.

She had love affairs with more than a few recognized drug lords in her younger days. She twice married; both times to ex-police superiors who switched their careers by becoming drug traffickers. Both of her husbands were killed by hired assassins at a later time. Officials consider her rise to prominence in the drug trafficking trade largely to her most recent bond with Juan Diego Espinoza Ramirez, who goes by the name of “The Tiger.” Ramirez is known to be a significant member of the Colombian Norte del Valle cartel. Avila Beltran lived in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and Hermosillo, Sonora, until in excess of nine tons of cocaine was discovered by police in 2001 on a ship in Manzanillo, Colima in the Pacific port of Mexico. The authorities, through their investigation, were able to track the cargo to both her and Ramirez. She had dodged authorities for years, until they tied her to this shipment.

The spotlight inadvertently fell on Ms. Beltran when it was she that alerted authorities, asking for their assistance, when her then teenage son was kidnapped and held for a $5 million ransom in 2002. Her son was eventually returned but the case raised suspicions into her activities. These suspicions and inconsistencies finally propelled an investigation into her way of life. More than four years after her son’s return the investigation that was carried out by more than 30 federal agents finally yielded enough evidence to lead to her arrest.

This April, in Miami federal court Avila Beltran pleaded guilty to the charge of being an accessory after the fact to the charge of drug trafficking. She was sentenced to just less than six years in prison. However, she was let go almost immediately; being credited for time she had already served in Mexico. She had been in custody in that country since 2007.

In Mexico, she was charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs, and charges of organized crime. She was acquitted of those charges in 2010 by a Mexican judge, but was extradited in 2012 and sent back to South Florida to face new charges of conspiring to smuggle large amounts of cocaine into the U.S more than 10 years ago.

Avila was released on July 30 from a Miami federal prison and handed over to ICE. She was deported from Miami back to Mexico last week.

In a news release, Field office director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Adrian P. Macias stated that “The deportation of this convicted aggravated felon, as thousands of others, is the result of the robust working relationship ICE has with the government of Mexico”

South Florida Husband & Wife Plead Guilty to Health Care Fraud Conspiracy

August 20, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

The family business was thriving. Between late 2009 and mid 2012 Flores Home Health, a Miami based health care agency billed and were paid roughly $8 million for the care and services they provided to their patients.

Marina Sanchez Pajon, 29 and Miguel Jimenez, 43, a married couple from Dade County found success in the health care industry. They put together a top-notch sales force of patient recruiters. They also had excellent “contacts” in doctors’ offices and clinics that were paid very well for providing clientele for the couple’s enterprise.

Jimenez controlled and managed the company’s everyday activities and oversaw all aspects of its operation. His wife Maria was responsible for supervising the “employees”, and taking care of the mountain of paperwork that is customary in this type of enterprise.

Regrettably, the patient recruiters of Flores Home Health were not compensated with a typical salary structure. They were given kickbacks and bribes to steer patients to the married couple’s clinic. Once the patients were attained they would receive home health and therapy services that were therapeutically pointless and in some cases, not provided at all. Their doctors’ office “contacts” were also retained by the inducements of bribes and payoffs that would provide the couple’s firm with medical certifications, therapy prescriptions, and various other required documents. These forms and documents made it possible for them to bill their “chief purchaser” for physical and occupational therapy provided to their patients. The firm’s “chief purchaser” was Medicare.

Flores Home Health is no longer operating and the said “employees” and “contacts” are now branded as coconspirators. On May 14, 2013 Pajon and Jimenez were indicted. The indictment charged them with the crimes of conspiracy to receive and pay health care kickbacks, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and substantive kickback charges. At the time, The Asset Forfeiture Section of the Department of Justice that prosecutes criminal and civil asset forfeiture matters, dealing with an extensive assortment of federal offenses had acquired seizure warrants and restraining orders on five vehicles and bank accounts holding $160,000. The HHS-OIG has also filed “*lis pendens” (Latin for “suit pending” see footnote) against four real properties that were acquired with profits derived from the scheme.

The indictment was brought as the result of sweeping arrests by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force which was responsible for the takedown of 24 individuals from the South Florida area in March. 89 Individuals in total were rounded up nationally for the submission of over $45 million in fabricated billings to Medicare.

On August 13, in Miami, the couple each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro in the Southern District of Florida. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 30. The pair is each facing a sentence of 10 years in prison as a maximum penalty.

The case was investigated by the FBI as well as the Office of Inspector General’s U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The case was just one of many where indictments were unsealed regarding investigations conducted by the M.F.S.F. The strike force is currently functioning in nine cities across the country. Since its inception it has indicted more than 1,500 defendants that have fraudulently billed Medicare more than $5 billion.

In the words of U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer, “Health care fraud continues to be a drain on scarce Medicare dollars, as unscrupulous individuals insist on using the Medicare Trust Fund as their private ATMs. We are undaunted and remain committed in our resolve to help preserve and protect Medicare for those who need it, the sick, the elderly and the poor.”

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder also commented in reference to the work done by the Strike Force “Today’s announcement marks the latest step forward in our comprehensive efforts to combat fraud and abuse in our health-care systems…” they are “protecting the American people from all forms of health-care fraud, safeguarding taxpayer resources and ensuring the integrity of essential health-care programs.” Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the multiple agencies involved as well as the FBI.

*As it now stands, a lis pendens is a printed announcement stating that a lawsuit has been filed in regard to real estate, which involves either the title to the property or a claimed proprietorship concern in it. A lis pendens that is recorded against a complete entity or a section of property signals a potential buyer or financier that the property’s title is presently in question.

Three Sentenced in 2011 New Year’s Eve Hate Crime under the Shepard Act

August 15, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

The Matthew Shepard Act, in full named the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is an action of Congress that was passed in Oct. 2009 by a bipartisan Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama. The law boosts the 1969 federal hate-crime law concerning bias-motivated crimes, or race hate that includes but is not limited to include crimes motivated by a victim’s gender identity, actual or perceived gender, disability, or sexual orientation.

Three men from two separately known alleged “hate” groups were sentenced for their roles in a 2011 New Year’s Eve attack in accordance with this law.

On August 7, Michal Gunar, 29, of East Windsor, New Jersey, was sentenced to 33 months in prison. His codefendant, Kyle Powell, 24, of West Collingswood, New Jersey, was sentenced to 15 months behind bars.

Both men were known members of the Aryan Terror Brigade (ATB) and were arrested in December 2012 along with Christopher Ising, 31, of Waretown, who was a disciple of another New Jersey-based white supremacist organization known as the Atlantic City “Skinheads”. Gunar and Powell were both sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joel A. Pisano on August 7 and Ising learned his fate two days later in federal Court in Trenton.

Gunar and Ising had previously pleaded guilty to an indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault, as well as the actual commission of a hate crime assault. Powell only pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit a hate crime assault which resulted in his slighter sentence and the shortened period of incarceration.

Based on the original allegations, the three men along with other like-minded individuals were reveling together at what has been labeled a “meet and greet” occasion for white supremacists that was being held in East Brunswick, NJ at Mr. Ising’s home.

Court reports demonstrated that at the conclusion of the event, the three men and other party goers, propelled by alcohol and white supremacist music drove to a nearby apartment complex located in the neighboring town of Sayreville. They were psyched up and it appeared that their principal objective was to assault random non-Caucasian individuals.

Ising, who had brass knuckles in his possession, and Gunar, flaunting a large knife, hauled one of their victims out of a parked car that was located in the apartment complex’s parking lot, according to the indictment. At that time, a friend of the victim ran to his aid. He too was then attacked.

The first of their targets was beaten in the head and repeatedly punched in the face as Gunar allegedly hollered, “show me your faces you Arab sand niggers,” Ising attacked the second man punching him in the head, using the brass knuckles he brought along specifically for the occasion. Powell was not involved in the actual assault but purportedly stood in close proximity observing; as the assault was carried out. Both victims were of Egyptian descent. Their names have been withheld and have only been referred to as M.H. and R.M.

Following the attack the two thugs returned to Ising’s house where Gunar bragged about the attack on his Facebook page and posted a pair of bloodied pants. Later that week he posted the racial slur, previously mentioned above and wrote “it was me and my other bro on like 6 or eight and we whooped them”

According to Wikipedia a “hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society.”

The FBI labels hate groups whose “primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization.”

Both the Aryan Terror Brigade and Atlantic City Skinheads are acknowledged as being part of the neo-Nazi Blood and Honor Network, which currently has been making a concerted effort to reconstruct the associates amid street hate groups, using white power concerts, events and rallies as their means.

To view the FBI’s latest press release, regarding the statistics associated with hate crimes click here. The most recent press release concerning this article can be found here.

Three Broward County Men Arrested for Armed Jewelry Store Robbery

August 10, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Surveillance video showed two men brandishing handguns, their heads covered by ski masks enter Renee’s Golden Touch jewelry store located at 6501 Taft Street in Hollywood this past Saturday, prompting two quick-thinking employees to flee through a back door but not before pressing an alarm that alerted authorities to the robbery in process.

During the heist, two customers were forced to the ground at gunpoint as the criminals’ emptied showcases and trays of items, later found to be valued between ten and twenty thousand dollars.

Erik Mobley a relative of one of the men who was “forced to the ground” at the time of the robbery, armed with his own gun, was outside the store when he noticed the two men exit. He pursued the blue Pontiac that acted as their getaway car, driven by a third man, and followed them on Johnson Street, observing jewelry being thrown out the car windows as he tried to chase them down. As Mobley continued his pursuit, the driver of the car appeared to lose control, and crashed on the 8300 block in Hollywood. After the collision, they again drove away only to again crash the vehicle at the 9400 block in neighboring Pembroke Pines.

With the help of an off-duty Miami Gardens police officer who was fortuitously present at the scene of the second crash, Mobley was able to subdue 27-year-old Mark McPherson, of Plantation, as the two other suspects took off on foot.

Still on the move they tried to break into a locked home near the crash site but were unable to gain access.

As the action continued to play out, a resident in the area noticed that the police activity had moved in proximity of his own backyard. Armed with his own firearm, he released his dogs which immediately started barking at a large box in the backyard which the homeowner used to store cushions. That box became the final hiding place of the two remaining perpetrators.

Noticing two men glancing at him from inside the box, the homeowner pointed his gun at them and then beckoned police to the area where the two suspects were attempting to hide.

The two gunmen identified as Travass Alexander Quinn, 22, of Fort Lauderdale and 17-year-old Malcolm Jones of Fort Lauderdale were arrested at the scene and reunited with McPherson, their third cohort. They were all charged with grand theft of more than $10,000 but less than $20,000 as well as robbery with a firearm. Quinn was additionally charged with attempted burglary of an occupied dwelling for his failed attempt of breaking into the above mentioned property.

Thankfully, nobody was injured and all of the jewelry was recovered from the theft.

Quinn was previously arrested in Kissimmee, Florida in January 2011 when he was only 19 years old. He and an accomplice, Willie Frank Morgan, were taken to the Osceola County Jail on charges of grand theft auto, occupied armed burglary, possession of burglary tools and resisting arrest without violence.

All Court appearances by Quinn for those offenses were either adjudicated “guilty no trial required” or “Nolle Prossed”, which is a Latin legal term that translates to a declaration made to the judge by a prosecutor in a criminal case either before or during trial, indicating that the charges in the case against the defendant(s) is being dropped.

To view the Osceola County Clerk of Courts Docket Entries for the previous charges against Quinn regarding his earlier offenses that have since been disposed click here.

Nyack Man charged with vehicular manslaughter in Hudson River Boating Accident

August 7, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

The nuptials were set for this coming Saturday in Pearl River in the same Church where their wedding service was to be held. But instead of exchanging vows, Brian Bond observed as Lindsey Stewart’s dark colored casket was taken off the altar and placed into a waiting hearse after the ceremony at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church just a few weeks before the two were to be wed.

During the service, the Rev. John Havrilla urged the attendees to pray for the families of “two beautiful young people whose lives were filled with hope and dreams, and that has been snuffed away.”

The Rockland County Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the accident where a 21-foot Stingray speedboat, out for a night of fun, collided with a construction barge that was secured on the Hudson River carrying construction materials for the $3.9 billion project to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge. Bond and Stewart were thrown upon impact and their bodies were found on separate days during the search for the two missing passengers. The barge was one of many that were moored for the project. In addition to carrying his 30-yearl old wife-to-be, the boat was also packed with most of their wedding party.

Stewart’s mother, Carol Stewart Kosik, told a crowd of nearly 200 people that “Next Saturday I was supposed to be sitting there and Lindsey was supposed to be up here,” as she mourned the death of her daughter after the ceremony. The July 26 late-night collision also was responsible for the death of Mark Lennon, who was to be the best man.

One of the friends, 35-year-old Jojo John of Nyack was driving the boat when the collision transpired. Sheriff’s Department Chief William Barbera said that John, of Nyack was charged with vehicular manslaughter and three counts of vehicular assault. The Chief suggested that there was probable cause to believe the driver may have been operating the vessel while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and may face further charges. John was also injured and hospitalized along with the three remaining occupants of the boat. He was arraigned in his Nyack Hospital bed.

All of the victims’ families were quick to submit to investigators that the passengers on the boat “had consumed very little alcohol and considered themselves sober.” Stewart’s and Lennon’s families also said in the statement, “Compounding our agony is the rush, by some, to cast blame on or even malign the victims.”

All of the occupants of the boat have stated to police that there were no lights displayed on the barge and no one saw it before the boat crashed into it. The families of the victims publicly requested that any Hudson River boaters who may have been in the area to submit to authorities any information they may have in regard to the barges in that area, describing if they were properly lit. John’s attorney said he was also conducting an independent investigation and asked boaters and witnesses to contact him at tzbarge@gmail.com, a mailbox that was set up for research regarding this case.

The NY State Thruway Authority and the Coast Guard, has maintained that the barge was properly lit. However, additional lighting was added after the crash.

Unfortunately, Mr. John’s previous record may weigh against him.

According to the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department Mr. John has a history of drug arrests and was previously sentenced to community service and probation. He was charged with drug possession in 2009 and drug-related conspiracy in 2010.

But Sheryl Palacio, 35, of Valley Cottage, N.Y., a friend of both John and Brian Bond defended him saying he “would never, ever want to put his friends in danger.” Ms. Palacio assisted in the search effort. She went on to describe John as a “jovial, loving person.”

Pain Clinic Doctors Who Declined Plea Deals Convicted of Lesser Charge

August 6, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Follow Up: The Prosecution accused the two doctors of being “drug dealers in white coats”. They inferred that the pair abandoned their medical ethics and were reckless, authorizing illegal pill distributors, and persons addicted to drugs the reward of being prescribed hundreds of pills at a time if they were willing to make the journey to the South Florida pain clinic where they worked. In some cases, individuals described as such would travel more than 1,000 miles to arrive where the two doctors and others like them practiced their craft.

The prosecution originally accused the doctors of murder by causing the deaths of patients who overdosed on the pain medications they prescribed in addition to money laundering; with reference to the proceeds of the prescriptions they wrote.

In a previous article posted here on July 26 it was reported that the two doctors each refused to accept plea deals, emphasizing their innocence. As a result of those decisions the penalty of life imprisonment loomed large.

Nonetheless, last week, although the jury acquitted doctors Cynthia Cadet, 43, and Joseph Castronuovo, 74, on the principal charge of murder (causing the deaths of nine patients that died due to Oxycodone overdoses which they prescribed), they were found guilty of the lesser charge of money laundering for their part in the conspiracy which involved a collection of South Florida pain clinics nicknamed “Oxy Alley”.

Cadet, a retired U.S. Air Force major, and Castronuovo worked at the pain clinic dubbed a pill mill by law enforcement authorities, owned and operated by Chris and Jeff George. Both George brothers are currently serving significant periods of incarceration for their previous guilty pleas in the pain clinic controversy.

Previously in this case, 26 other doctors accepted guilty pleas, most of them receiving five-year sentences. Cadet and Castronuovo were the only two hold-outs.

The West Palm Beach federal jury deliberated for 20 hours before reaching their verdict.

On the money laundering charges, the prosecution sought Castronuovo to pay more than $60,000, and Cadet to pay $1.2 million in a forfeiture of their proceeds. But the decision by the jury was for each to pay $10,001 in the monetary segment of their sentence. There was no mention how and why the jury came up with that specific monetary figure.

During the trial, both defense attorneys argued that the two doctors were uninformed of any conspiracy and were only practicing medicine within state standards regarding the prescribing of drugs to their patients. This standard allows a licensed physician to dispense psychoactive chemical opioid pain pills without fear of reprimand.

“There was not a single piece of evidence at this trial that showed she knew of any conspiracy,” argued Cadet’s attorney.

“It’s an inconsistent verdict when you’re saying to the judge, we’re finding her not guilty, yet on the proceeds of the conspiracy, she’s guilty of that.”

Lawyers for the defendants said that the convictions were a “compromise verdict” handed down by a jury that needed to find the doctors guilty of “something” after a trial that lasted eight-weeks. But both defense attorneys said they were pleased by the outcome thus far. They also both asserted they would appeal the money laundering sentences, on the grounds that they were inconsistent with acquittals in the more serious drug charges.
To read our previous article on this topic, click here

The FBI Press Release can be read by clicking here.

Two South Florida Doctors Decline Plea Deals in Pill Mill Connected Murders

July 26, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Drs. Cynthia Cadet, 42 and Joseph Castronuovo, 72 maintain their innocence. The two doctors who are each charged with 13 offenses related to prescribing drugs while working at the pain clinics that were operated by the now infamous twin brothers, Chris and Jeff George, are willing to face trial and take their chances before a jury.

The two doctors have declined plea deals that were offered and are now looking at possible sentences of life in prison because their prescription-writing of Oxycodone led to nine deaths, federal officials assert.

Since August 2011, eleven other doctors that were indicted in the same arrests have either pleaded guilty to money laundering or mail fraud in federal court. Most of them received five-year sentences.

Cadet is accused of contributing to the deaths of seven patients that she allegedly prescribed drugs to at the George brother clinics located in three Palm Beach County cities as well as several Broward County cities. Castronuovo is linked to two deaths, according to prosecutors.

It was in August 2011 when thirty-two individuals including thirteen doctors were rounded up by the FBI and charged with the illegal distribution of various drugs through the operation of “pill mills” which operated in Broward and Palm Beach County as well as generating sales through the Internet.

At the time, the indictment alleged that Chris and Jeffrey George, operated, managed and financed the following four pain management clinics in Broward and Palm Beach Counties: Executive Pain, American Pain, Hallandale Pain and the East Coast Pain clinics. From 2008 to early 2010, the George’s clinics dispersed in the area of 20 million oxycodone pills and generated more than $40 million of income from the sales of the controlled substance.

In Oct, 2011 Jeff George pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death by overdose of one of the clients who frequented his “pill mill” pain clinics. In January 2012 he was sentenced to 15 1/2 years in prison. Three weeks later his brother Chris was given a 17 1/2-year sentence.

It was the testimony of Jeff that implicated all the other defendants associated with the case including arrests of his brother, mother, sister-in-law and a childhood friend. Cadet and Castronuovo were also named in his testimony.

Pleading leniency for his client, Jeff George’s attorney David Roth said to the Court; “In my 43 years of practicing law, I can’t remember any case where a defendant has cooperated knowing that as a result of his cooperation there was a high probability it would lead to the arrests of his mother and his brother. Mr. George, in street language, has come clean.”

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra wasn’t feeling Mr. Roth’s intriguing oratory and decided that his client deserved to spend a long time behind bars.

Oxycodone is the number one form of prescription, and sometimes illegally obtained drugs that are attributed to cause death by overdose. Heroin and cocaine combined don’t come close to the amount of overdose deaths caused by Oxycodone. It is categorized as a Schedule II narcotic. These categories have a high probability of initiating drug abuse and addiction. It can be ingested through the nose by sorting, or liquefied and then injected, to achieve an instantaneous high.

South Florida has been distinguished as the pill mill capital of the world according to Florida’s current Attorney General Pam Bondi. Dan Gelber, a former prosecutor and now a member of the Florida Senate, representing the 35th District said that the state (Florida) is the “Sam’s Club of prescription drugs.” Authorities aren’t surprised to find drugs put together and originating from Florida turning up in packages up and down the east coast. Florida has been acknowledged as the illicit prescription drug capital of the country by local, state and federal law enforcement officials, especially for oxycodone and oxycontin.