South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog

Gay Florida Teen Charged With Statutory Rape

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

An 18-year-old honor student was charged with statutory rape, specifically two counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a child after it was found she had sex with a 14-year old classmate. What puts this case a bit more in the spotlight than the standard case of its type is that the classmate was the same gender as the accused student.

Kaitlyn Hunt, 18 of Sebastian, Fla., now faces these concerns after the parents of her “then” 14-year old girlfriend chose to pursue the case by asking prosecutors to move forward with the charges.

It was the girls’ basketball coach that first found out about the relationship between the two girls and alerted the younger girl’s parents. Both students were teammates and Hunt was also a cheerleader.

Hunt was kicked off the basketball team and subsequently expelled from Sebastian River High School where both of the girls attended class.

Kaitlyn’s family asserts that the now 15-year-old’s parents brought forward the charges against their daughter because they were livid about their daughter being involved in a same-sex liaison.

Her father, Steve Hunt said that the day before his daughter was arrested; the younger girl’s parents, with police present, covertly recorded a telephone conversation between the two girls in which they talked about kissing in the school bathroom.

“It’s horrible. For my daughter’s sexual preferences, she’s getting two felony charges. It could possibly ruin her future,” he told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Hunt’s mother, Kelley Hunt Smith said that her daughter played on the same basketball team with her younger girlfriend and was a part of the same group of friends. Their relationship was consenting and it had started shortly after Kaitlyn’s eighteenth birthday. She also said that she imagined that the younger girl’s parents were aware of their relationship.

The younger girl’s mother reportedly said that “she’s just a mom protecting her daughter” and it has nothing to do with any gay rights issues.

Gay rights activists have said that the older student is unfairly under attack for what would be a common high school romance if the circumstances were of a heterosexual nature.

But Florida State Attorney Bruce Colton said that a relationship such as this one is still a crime and once the charges have been filed they won’t be dropped due to the belief that they were only brought forward because it involved a gay romance. He told a local newspaper that the equivalent charges would relate to a heterosexual case and that they generally do. His office, which is responsible in four Florida counties for the oversight of approximately three quarters of a million individuals, normally prosecutes up to 30 comparable cases on a yearly basis. When asked if this situation was unique he replied that he could only recollect two other instances that involved a same-sex pair.

He was also quoted as remarking that “The law doesn’t make any differentiation. It doesn’t matter if it’s two girls or two boys, or an older boy and a younger girl or an older girl and a younger boy. Whatever the combination, it doesn’t matter.”

His office charged Hunt in February and at that time Colton said that he would recommend a lenient sentence of house arrest for two years in a plea deal. However, if she chose to go to trial, she could face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and find herself in the situation of having to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.

But even if convicted she could further fight that outcome in appeal, because she and her alleged victim were less than four years apart in age. This provision falls under Florida’s “Romeo & Juliet law that was passed in 2007; the purpose of which was to allow a percentage of young individuals convicted of statutory sex offenses to avoid the harsh consequences of lifetime inclusion into the sex-offender registry due to the fact that the original crime was of a consensual nature. The defendant’s birthday must literally be within four years to the day of the minor’s birthday. Based on the difference in their ages, in this case, the law would apply.

On May 24 Hunt decided not to take the plea arrangement.

Her attorney called her client a courageous teenager who is choosing not to accept the current plea offer by the state of Florida. It’s a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same sex involved in a relationship. If this case involved a boy and a girl, we don’t believe there’d be the media attention to this case. Our client’s a model citizen.”

Bronx Detective Arrested on Computer Hacking Charges

June 12, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

“Jealousy is a strange transformer of characters.” – Arthur Conan Doyle
Prosecutors didn’t suggest a motive for a New York City Detective being charged with Cyber-crimes but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and various other police sources said that it was done in order for him to grasp who was communicating with his ex-girlfriend. “I know that the allegations have to do with the fact that he went to a company to be able to hack into information that may have been related to a relationship he had with a young woman and I believe the mother of his child,” said Kelly.

Edwin Vargas, 42, a Detective from the Bronx and 20-year veteran of the New York City Police Department was arrested late last month for allegedly hacking into some of his colleague’s email accounts.

According to NBC New York, Vargas believed that his ex-girlfriend, also a police officer was having a relationship with a workmate and hacked into other officer’s email accounts to see if there was any incriminating information for his concerns therein. He is also accused of performing at least two illegal searches in the FBI’s database; the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), without consent.

By way of tapping into the NCIC database he apparently gained further information dealing with two police officers whose email addresses he had previously obtained through the results of the email hacking.

According to the complaint, it is charged that he paid an independent unspecified email hacking service based in Los Angeles, CA in excess of $4000 in exchange for passwords to his fellow officers email boxes. Another allegation charges that he scrutinized another cop’s cell phone records so he could see who that officer was receiving text message from.

An investigation of the “hacking” service showed that some NYPD employees’ email boxes had been compromised and it was that evidence that led back to Vargas. The Internal Affairs Division (IAD) first began questioning him in early April about cyber-stalking his ex-girlfriend. The investigation became a joint effort between the IAD and the FBI due to the assertions of the federal agency’s database being hacked.

The results of the investigation demonstrated that he snooped on more than 40 mailboxes, 21 of them maintained by those with NYPD affiliations. The activity took place over more than a 2-year period between 2010 and 2012.

Detective Vargas is now charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking and one count of computer hacking to be tried in federal court. Each of the charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos was quoted as remarking.” Of all places, the police department is not a workplace where one should have to be concerned about an unscrupulous fellow employee.”

To read related federal cases concerning these types of allegations demonstrating the penalties for these charges, click here (FBI Press Release, March 06, 2012)

Cubans Rights Activists Dismayed Over New U.S. Deportation Bill

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

As the controversial debate over immigration reform intensifies in the legislature, Cuban Immigration rights activists in South Florida say they have grown distressed over a separate bill filed by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX). Smith is the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and draftsman of laws that strengthened immigration enforcement in 1996.

The bill affects Cubans with deportation orders and enables authorities to re-detain those of them who have been previously convicted of crimes, for an indeterminate period of time.

The activists are carefully observing the bill’s progress through the House although there seems to be no immediate danger of the bill becoming law.

The Immigration rights advocates maintain that the bill proposed by Smith would fundamentally reestablish the capability of immigration authorities to indefinitely hold previously convicted foreign nationals up until the time they can be deported.

The U.S. Immigration Service lost that ability in 2001, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that foreign nationals, who cannot be deported, should not be held in detention longer than a period of six months. The Supreme Court upheld that ruling again in 2005.

Although the Smith bill does not specifically mention Cubans, the activists fear that Cuban immigrants are probable to be amongst the utmost affected by the passage of the bill due to the fact that they compose one of the largest groups of foreign nationals who may not be deported, in some cases due to Florida’s wet foot, dry foot policy.

However, a staffer that works under Smith in the House Judiciary Committee was quoted as saying that the bill does not target all “non-deportable” Cubans but rather aims at “dangerous non-deportable criminal immigrants,” whether they are Cuban nationals or their origin is from any other foreign locale. He went on to say that “prolonged” detention would be reserved for rapists, child molesters, murderers and those that have committed and been convicted of aggravated felonies, the latter, under immigration law include various drug offenses as well as other non-specified crimes.

In further comment the staffer implied that the bill would not be retroactive although many immigrant rights activists were concerned that the language suggested in the bill would permit immigration officials to detain foreign nationals, including Cubans even if their deportation directives were dispensed prior to the bill being legislated.

In February of this year the US Supreme Court decided the case of Chaidez v. United States holding that Padilla v Kentucky decided in 2010 was not retroactive; thereby depriving non-citizens of the protections afforded those defendants who pled guilty without being properly counseled about the deportation consequences of their guilty pleas in the past. *See footnote
The Padilla post-conviction litigation generated a lot of commentary across the nation. The principal concern in those cases is whether defendants who were convicted prior to the Padilla case’s finality could benefit from the results of the Padilla ruling. Ultimately, the question asks if Padilla relates retroactively. Whether this decision will have any bearing on the newly introduced Smith bill has yet to be determined.

In a statement issued by Susana Barciela, the policy director for the Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center commented “This bill is so sweeping that it would result in thousands of harmless immigrants being jailed for years, among them, asylum seekers and torture survivors.”

Ira Kurzban, a Miami immigration lawyer said the Smith bill is an “attempt to reverse” prior Supreme Court rulings. Kurzban is considered to be a national authority on immigration law.

According to a report that will be released this month, the majority of foreign nationals being held for deportation by the debated immigration enforcement program termed “Secure Communities” in Dade County, Florida were not criminals who posed a danger to the community.

The 57 page report, “False Promises: The Failure of Secure Communities in Miami-Dade County,” concluded that their findings are inconsistent with the detailed intentions of the 2008 federally launched program.

These objectives are the detainment and deportation of sentenced and convicted foreign nationals who categorize a sustainable threat to general public safety and those who repeat violations of existing immigration laws, as displayed in example by immigrants who have returned to the United States after their deportation only to commit and be convicted of further crimes.

“Contrary to these policy goals, we found that 61 percent of individuals ordered for removal from Miami-Dade County are either low-level offenders or not guilty of the crime for which they were arrested,” according to the “False Promises” report.

The Research Institute on Social & Economic Policy at Florida International University’s Center for Labor Research & Studies and the staff of a Miami immigrant-rights organization, Americans for Immigrant Justice, jointly organized and prepared the report.

*Further subject matter dealing with this topic can be found on the In the Media section of this Website referencing the case of State v. Owran Green.

NYC Woman Pleads Guilty to Fraudulent Newtown Bloodbath Fundraising Scheme

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

A New York City woman pleaded guilty last week to fraud in a fundraising scheme, claiming to be the aunt of one of the children killed in the Newtown, Conn. Massacre last December. At the time of her arrest she was also charged with lying to FBI agents and potentially faces federal charges that include interstate transportation of stolen property, access device fraud and wire fraud.

Nouel Alba, 37, of the Bronx was arrested by FBI agents after she tried to solicit people into making donations by writing in a Facebook post that she was the aunt of Noah Pozner, one of the Newtown students that were killed in the now well-publicized attack. She used Facebook as her means to beseech anyone to donate money only a few hours after the horrific incident occurred. She reportedly was asking for donations to assist in paying for the child’s funeral. Twenty young children and six adults were gunned down on Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

According to U.S. Attorney Jonathan Francis’s office Alba instructed unaware victims to send money to a Pay Pal account that she controlled. The messages were posted under the screen name of Victorian Glam Fairys, a Facebook page that has since been taken down by the Social Media Network.

The day after the shootings, she began imploring for donations. She posted that these donations were “to be used for my brother and other families.”

Another post stated “Reality set in when they asked for photos and if our loved ones had any marks on their body. A part of me regrets having to be the one to identify my nephew’s body; I couldn’t help but to hold my nephew in my arms and then give my brother and sister-in-law the bad news.”

She went as far as emailing the Sandy Hook PTA on Dec. 16, and received replies from two of the officers from that organization which she deceptively used to falsify a link to the school with potential contributors.

Alba also used text messaging to communicate with other prospective donors. She said that President Obama “hugged us and even cried with us.” in one of them. In yet another, she typed: “I’m a mess. Not looking forward to seeking that casket; 11 gun shot in his little body; I can’t bare the pain, the fear he went through. We always promised to protect him and the one time we needed to be there we weren’t there to protect him.”

She was interviewed by CNN after the charges were filed and claimed that she was set up. After the televised interview when she was contacted by FBI Special Agents Jillian Guerrera and Milan Kosanovic she maintained that she never made any posts whatsoever on the Facebook page and had no idea that any funds were being transferred into her Pay Pal account.
According to Court records, all the donations which totaled in excess of $5000.00 have been returned.

Last Thursday she admitted in federal court that she was indeed guilty of the charges brought against her. She pleaded guilty to wire fraud as well as making false statements to FBI agents. A conviction of wire fraud can carry a maximum sentence of twenty years while the false statement sentence could yield a term of up to five years. Nonetheless, an initial calculation of her suggested sentencing guidelines asks for her to obtain a term of incarceration not to exceed six months, according to A.U.S.A. Jonathan Francis.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel asked her in federal court: “Is it true that in December 2012 you used Facebook, email and other kinds of electronic communication to falsely claim to be related to a victim; and you elicited donations from people?”

“Yeah,” she replied with apparent indifference.

She’ll be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael Shea on August 29 in Hartford Conn.

To read the latest official FBI press release dealing with this case, click here.
You can also read a previous article from my Florida blog posted last December by clicking here.

Florida Man Final Co-conspirator Found Guilty of Mortgage Wire Fraud

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

In 2007 the housing market in Florida was booming. Many individuals were buying properties, fixing them up and reselling them for quick profits. At the time some believed that housing values would only continue to rise. This practice known as flipping became one of the major factors causing the impending economic recession that arose in the following year.

Houses were greatly inflated in value and when housing prices made a U-turn and quickly went down thousands of individuals found that they were under water, the worth of their properties now significantly lower than what they paid for them.

The practice of flipping is not an illegal act in itself but in some cases fraudulent practicing of these techniques occurred.

Four men, Michael Chadwick, Matthew Landsman, Joshua Unger and J. Patrick Brester, devised a scheme to defraud lending institutions by leading them to believe that housing prices of properties bought by Brester’s shell corporations, and to be financed through the other co-conspirators were worth a substantial amount more than the rate that they were actually purchased at.

All of the fraudulent transactions included Brester, primarily buying condominium units by way of shell development companies and then simultaneously “flipping” them to Michael Chadwick. To expedite the scheme, Brester and his co-conspirators misled mortgage bankers in reference to the true nature of the deals. They overstated the purchase prices of the properties and, in due course, the amount lent by the mortgage lenders to them. Their method of doing so was by including monetary charges that were falsely described as “management fees”. The fees were made payable to the shell corporations which they controlled. The management fees were actually the method by which Brester and his co-conspirators directed monies back to themselves without the banks gaining knowledge.

In Brester’s trial the evidence and testimony demonstrated that Brester and his accomplices produced interstate wire transfers of the loan’s profits from the victim lenders that were transferred into bank accounts maintained by the shell companies, comprising Landwick I LLC and IGS Inc. Proof was offered at trial that exhibited that Brester turned a profit of more than $550,000 from his part in the scheme. Brester received the majority of the proceeds of the illicit transactions. The amount of money that the mortgage companies lost exceeded $1.3 million.

Chadwick, Landsman, and Unger had already been convicted of the scheme but Brester, 40, of Sarasota, Florida who was characterized as the middleman, had not been indicted until August of last year.

Chadwick has already completed a one-year prison sentence and Unger had been sentenced to 41 months in prison. Although Unger’s attorney vehemently stated that Unger only played a minor role in the flipping scheme it is believed that the Judge dispensed such a harsh sentence because of his prior criminal record. Unger had been previously convicted of three DUI violations, issuing bad checks, and using a fellow volunteer’s credit card from a charity he was a part of in excess of $12,000.00. However, the sentencing judge reserved the right to minimize Unger’s sentence if he agreed to testify against J. Patrick Brester, the final co-conspirator of the wire fraud offense.

Landsman was also convicted and is still serving a two-year prison sentence that began in late 2011. The three men all pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud in an arrangement that involved purchasing and instantaneously reselling the condominiums which were located in Sarasota’s Vintage Grand complex at inflated rates. The objective was to profit from the sales by fraudulent means using the quantity of the money the co-conspirators would be able to borrow from banks and subsequently the amount they could receive in what were deemed incentives, commissions and fees, from Brester’s shell corporations that was fleetingly the original owner.

Earlier this month, it was announced by U. S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill that Brester was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution as well as three counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution.

Each of the counts carries a penalty of up to one million in fines and a maximum of thirty years in federal prison.

The complete FBI press release can be read by clicking here.

Florida Man Sentenced in Medicare Money-Laundering Operation

May 22, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Money laundering is a legal term describing a process of disguising the origins of proceeds obtained by illegal activity to appear to have been derived from a legitimate source.

Some of the methods used to achieve these means can be extensive as is the case in this article. The fact that the original method that was used was so involved, time consuming and costly is what ultimately led to the arrest and warrants for its participants, according to prosecutors.

It was a precedent setting event when Miami prosecutors charged Oscar L. Sanchez, 47, the owner of a check-cashing store located in Naples Florida, with the laundering of millions of dollars which found its way to Cuba relating to a Medicare money laundering ring last summer. The case was the first of its kind where authorities were able to connect swindled healthcare proceeds originating in the United States moving into Cuba’s state-controlled banking system
Earlier this month, without any apparent uproar, the convicted money launderer was sentenced by a Miami federal judge to a prison term of 4 and one half years. The terms of his sentence will also include serving one additional year of home detention after his release as well as his surrender of approximately a half-million dollars in assets to the government. He will also have to complete 1,600 hours of community service. His prison sentence is set to begin on June 15 upon his voluntary surrender.

Sanchez’s original sentence was reduced by U.S. District Judge Paul Huck by 40 percent based on prosecutor Ron Davidson’s suggestion that he assisted authorities in bringing money-laundering and Medicare fraud charges against three other accused accomplices.

A Cuban-born U.S. citizen, Sanchez was indicted on a single conspiracy charge of performing a central role in laundering the proceeds of seventy medical facilities based in South Florida who were deceptively billing the Medicare system for almost $375 million and received in excess of $70 million. He was personally held blamable for about $10 million of that laundered total when he pleaded guilty in late August of last year.

During his interrogation, it became evident that Sanchez was only a small player in a much larger operation and not the architect, as was first believed after his arrest.

Through Sanchez’s cooperation, the prosecution disclosed that he admitted that he worked together with a so called currency exchange entrepreneur who allegedly played the principal role in the scheme. He then exposed an offshore company by name of Caribbean Transfers. This turned out to be the company that bankrolled the intricate money-laundering organization that relocated more than $30 million in pilfered Medicare payments that originated in South Florida and was moved into Cuban banks.

Acting on Sanchez’s information, prosecutors filed conspiracy charges against Jorge Emilio Perez, the creator of Caribbean Transfers, and two South Florida men, Felipe Ruiz and Kirian Vega. They were both charged with laundering Medicare payments through Sanchez, who did business with the company founded by Perez. Perez is presently at large.

Ruiz, 38, owned two medical equipment businesses in Miami; incorporated under other persons’ names. He was recently denied bail because a judge believed him to be a flight risk and was afraid he would take flight to Cuba or another country of close proximity in the Caribbean.

Vega, 35, who was the owner of a Miami pharmacy has already pleaded guilty to the charge and has been sentenced to three years in prison. The ownership of Vega’s pharmacy which also sold medical supplies was similarly listed under another person’s name.

Prosecutor Davidson said during Ruiz’s bond hearing back in October, “They used Oscar Sanchez as a middle man.”

The Prosecutor dubbed Caribbean Transfers as an illegal sort of “Western Union” for monetary transfers. Their website says that it focuses in remittance services to the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other countries in the Caribbean.

The FBI along with agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Health and Human Services department which investigated the Sanchez case, suspect that Perez, the mastermind of the illicit enterprise is currently hiding in the Dominican Republic.

According to court records as part of the money-laundering complex, Sanchez worked together with Perez and his companions who worked at Caribbean Transfers. The business organized shell companies that had bank accounts in Trinidad and Canada. Hindered by U.S. limitations on transmittals from the U.S. to Cuba, Caribbean Transfers, sought to transport millions of dollars to the Island nation.

They had purchased in excess of twenty cartons of money orders, transporting them in amounts of less than $10,000 which enabled them to avoid declaring their actual source. U.S. law requires that any transfer in excess of $10,000 being brought in or out of the country be declared on a customs form. According to court records the company used various aliases when conducting business, one of them being Bill Clinton.
As previously mentioned this was an involved, time consuming and costly operation with many countries and persons involved until Sanchez became a part of it, making it a much easier entity to operate.

As written in court documentation, Davidson wrote “Benefitting both sides of the transactions, [Sanchez] was a financier for fraudsters and a capitalist for the Cuban banks,”
Sanchez received a percentage of 1 to 1.5 percent for matching up the two parties. One of them, headed by Caribbean Transfers delivered millions of dollars in available cash which were then produced by Cuban exiles’ remittances to the Medicare fraud ringleaders.

Records display that those alleged lawbreakers, subsequently, wired money, drawn from their South Florida commercial bank accounts or sent checks to the other’s shell companies in Canada. Those dirtied proceeds were then conveyed by Caribbean Transfers as settlements to Cubans living on the island. A shell company is a company that exists but does not actually do any business or have any assets.

“Through this process, [Perez] and his associates successfully moved millions of dollars of cash from the United States to Cuba without detection by U.S. law enforcement,” wrote Davidson.
Davidson along with fellow prosecutor Eloisa Delgado Fernandez worked on the case that led to the arrests and convictions.

To read the FBI press release dealing with this article click here

Florida Man with Possible Link to Boston Bombing Slayed by FBI Agent

May 17, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

An Orlando, Florida man who has been linked to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the alleged mastermind of the recent Boston Marathon bombing was shot to death as he was preparing to sign a confession dealing with an unrelated crime that occurred in Waltham, Massachusetts 2 years ago.

Ibragim Todashev, a 27 year old Chechen immigrant made a succession of incriminating declarations to the FBI in regard to a triple homicide that took place in Waltham in 2011. The incident took place as he was being interrogated for his possible involvement in the Boston bombings that injured in excess of two hundred, sixty people and killed three. More than a few of Todashev’s friends relayed to the Orlando Sentinel that the FBI had been following Ibragim since two days after the Boston attack which occurred on April 15, and had been questioning him in regard to the bombings, but his former roommate Khusen Taramov said that the FBI was questioning Todashev about a conversation he had with Tamerlan Tsarnaev at least a month before the bombings transpired.

During questioning by two Massachusetts state troopers with the FBI present, Todashev was said to incriminate himself in a triple homicide where three men were discovered dead inside an apartment with their throats slashed. Marijuana was found spattered all over the dead bodies.

Brendan Mess, 25, one of the victims of the horrific crime, was previously described by Tamerlan Tsarnaev as his “best friend” according to the owner of the gym where he and Mess, who were both training as boxers, worked out, as reported in The Boston Globe. The other two victims of the murders were Erik Weissman, 31, and Raphael Teken, 37.

Officials said that not only did he implicate himself in the killings but he went on to say that Tsarnaev was also involved in the triple murder. Two other spokespersons who were also informed of the investigation told the Associated Press that authorities believe Todashev had more than a minor connection with the older Tsarnaev brother.

Todashev’s shooting and subsequent death occurred when he was in the process of signing the confession admitting to his part in the triple homicide. The Washington Times reported that he became agitated and lunged at the FBI representative who was present at the scene before he was shot by the agent.

According to The Associated Press as relayed by law enforcement officials, it was not clear if Todashev was equipped with a knife when he leapt at the FBI agent. However, it was known that he was a mixed martial arts expert that potentially sets his abilities for causing bodily damage at a level much higher than that of the average individual.

In a statement obtained by FoxNews.com FBI Agent Dave Couvertier said “The agent, along with other law enforcement personnel, were interviewing an individual in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation when a violent confrontation was initiated by the subject… During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life-threatening injuries. As this incident is under review, we have no further details at this time.”

As might be expected, one of his friends had only positive things to say when asked about him. One of them, Saeed Dunkaev was quoted as saying “He’s a regular guy, nothing wrong,” However, another friend, and former roommate, Muslin Chapkhanov, admitted that Todashev knew the older Tsarnaev brother. He “was living in Boston and I think he trained with him,” Chapkhanov said.

Todashev did in fact live in Watertown, Mass., last year according to public records. For the past year he’d been living with other Chechen immigrants in the immediate area, specifically the town of Kissimmee, until he moved to the greater Orlando area during the past year.

Todashev was known by police in both Florida and Massachusetts to have a fierce temper. He was arrested in Boston in 2010 in an incident classified as road rage. Recently, he was involved in in a fight with a father and son over a parking space. For that episode he was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery. However, he was released on $3,500 bail.
The FBI has now sent a review team from Washington to investigate the shooting and death of Todashev. They will question witnesses who were at the condo where the shooting took place, including the two Massachusetts State Police officers that were interviewing him along with other law enforcement officials. To date, the FBI agent who fired the deadly shot has not been identified to the public but is known to be from the FBI’s Boston division.

You can read the FBI’s latest press release by clicking here

Santiesteban Family Grow-House Associate Acquitted of Murder & Kidnapping

May 12, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

A history of violence surrounds a Miami family that operated marijuana grow-houses in Miami since 2004. They paid a multitude of caretakers to watch over the crops and were known to be cultivating over 1000 marijuana plants worth millions of dollars, according to Federal authorities.

They were the owners of dozens of houses all over Dade County, but had the property titles listed under the names of other less significant-known collaborators, according to the prosecution in a case that involved the 2009 murder of Fidel Ruz Moreno, who the family believed was stealing marijuana plants from one of their properties.

After finding out that his Miami drug operation was under investigation, it is believed that Gilberto Santiesteban Jr. who ran the operation fled to Mexico in early 2010. But it is thought that in the latter part of the year, he paid a “coyote” to sneak him back into the U.S.
Gilberto’s three brothers were also known as kingpins of the grow-house enterprise.
In June 2012, thirteen men and women, who were either family members or persons associated with the family, were arrested for their involvement in the enormous grow-house network. Federal authorities said that the arrests included baby-faced Gilberto, his Father; Gilberto Sr. and his three brothers. Norge Manduley, 39, another member of the “family” was also arrested in the roundup.

Manduley was accused of hijacking Moreno’s cargo van, beating him severely, then shooting him and putting the body into the cargo hold of his van
As his empire dissolved, on April 29, Gilberto pled guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Since February, the detained Santiesteban family and their cronies have been dealing with the prosecution in attempts to lessen the time they would have to serve for their crimes. One of the brothers, Derrick Santiesteban, along with his wife Yadira pled guilty on February 15. Five of the other defendants, including Brother Alexander Santiesteban went on to plead guilty later in the month. Four more of their connections pled guilty in March.

On April 12, the Father, Gilberto Sr., joined the rest of his codefendants with a guilty plea. Gilberto Jr. and another brother, Darvis, were the last plead out with exception to Manduley who was found not guilty of kidnapping and the murder when deliberations concluded last Monday following a weeklong trial. The jury did find Manduley guilty of one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute less than 100 marijuana plants.

Manduley hugged his defense attorney after hearing the outcome of the jury’s considerations.

It appears that the jury had their doubts about the murder and kidnapping charges when a group of government witnesses testified in federal court that Manduley was the shooter, but a few of the defense witnesses disputed that fact and stated that he wasn’t the person who fired the weapon that killed Fidel Ruz Moreno in 2009.

“There was a lot on the line here,” Manduley’s attorney said after the 12-person jury’s acquittal of his client.

He told a reporter from the Miami Herald that “The government had a bunch of co-defendants who were all dirty and the jury didn’t like that… The government brought no independent witnesses. I brought two independent witnesses who identified another person as the shooter.”

If convicted, Manduley would have had to face a compulsory life sentence. He’ll be sentenced for the one count guilty verdict on July 30 before U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore.

The head of the organization, the younger Gilberto’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 18.

Judge Appoints Three Lawyers in Last Minute Death Penalty Appeal

May 8, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

On Monday, the dilemma of who will represent convicted killer William Van Poyck, 58 in a midnight hour appeal has been awkwardly resolved by Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Charles Burton when he appointed “all” three lawyers that had dealings in Van Poyck’s case over the past 26 years. Most people involved in the 2-hour hearing considered the ruling to be bizarre to say the least.

Van Poyck was convicted of murdering Glades Correctional Institution prison guard Fred Griffis in 1987 in front of a doctor’s office located in West Palm Beach.

In the trial where he was found guilty, he was originally represented by William Lasley who was later arrested for possession of cocaine after Van Poyck’s guilty verdict was confirmed. He has since vanished from the case letting his membership in the Florida Bar expire. He claimed an insanity defense in his own case.

The deadline for motions to be filed that could save Van Poyck’s life was set for 3 p.m. this Friday. He is scheduled to be executed on June 12.

Attorney’s Jeffrey Davis & Gerald Bettman were appointed by Burton due to the fact that they both have previously represented him in his appeals that have been going on since his 1987 conviction. The Judge stated that both lawyers had the most understanding of most of the issues dealing with the case. He also appointed Tallahassee attorney Mark Olive to assist in the intricate appeals after a death warrant is signed by the Governor. Florida’s Governor Rick Scott signed the death warrant on May 3.

Both Davis & Gerald Bettman explained to the Judge that they neither had the proper time, expertise or resources to represent their appointed client properly. Davis specified that the single logical maneuver would be to petition the Florida Supreme Court to permit a stay of execution in order for all of the appointed attorneys to present the dynamic type of appeal that’s demanded by the state before an execution takes place.

He also suggested that if that scenario couldn’t be achieved, another option would be to ask the 11th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to intercede on the matter.

“Everyone’s willing to clear the decks and put in the time necessary but four days, that’s just not enough time.” he said.

He went on to say “Frankly, this is the kind of case that gives the death penalty a bad name.” Davis practices civil appellate law in Wisconsin, a state that doesn’t have the death penalty.
Mark Olive, the third attorney named in the last minute appeal is known as a premier death-penalty defense attorney, practicing in the state of Florida. He told the Judge that he has the “legal chops” but has no knowledge referring to Van Poyck’s situation. “It’s just a farce, frankly,” he said.
Since his original lawyer’s arrest Davis and Bettman had previously represented Van Poyck on particular issues but the two were never actually appointed to represent him before. Neither of them ever anticipated being recruited to handle this appeal. Davis, who was vacationing in France, last week, said he never received any notification that the death warrant was signed by the Governor. He also mentioned that he was never delivered an order laying out the stringent timetable for appeal by the Florida Supreme Court.

Bettman also argued that he shouldn’t be required to handle the last-minute appeal but his name appears on two of Van Poyck’s previous appeals. Davis’s name appears on the other ten.

Late last Friday, the Florida Supreme Court handed down a ruling specifying that any of the fourteen lawyers who filed appeals for Van Poyck in the past were still his lawyers. This set the stage for this week’s hearing by mandating Burton to choose which of the fourteen lawyers, counting Mr. Lasley, was most capable to handle the last-ditch effort appeal.

Martin McClain, an attorney and a death-penalty expert, who also could have been chosen at the Judge’s discretion, said that what the three attorneys are being asked to do in four days is impossible. “Crazy,” he said, outlining his view of the Judge’s appointments. “Absolutely insane.” In previous cases concerning volunteer lawyers, the Florida Supreme Court stays of execution have been granted in the effort for new lawyers to “get up to speed”, he said.

Brothers Accused of Terrorism Charges Parallel Boston Marathon Bombing

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

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.”