South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog

Guilty of Accessory After the Fact in Head Found in Everglades Case

January 29, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Robert Mackey, 44 was convicted of trying to cover up a crime.
The original charge against Mackey was second-degree murder. He was accused of being one of the two men who killed Lorraine Hatzakorzian, a New York woman, and then cut her into pieces; pitching her head into a canal in a section of the Everglades, almost seven years ago. Mackey still could spend up to 30 years of incarceration for being convicted of accessory after the fact when he’s sentenced on Feb. 28.

Mackey was from New York and listed his occupation as a tree trimmer. Mackey’s prior co-defendant, Paul Trucchio, 39 accepted a prison term of 30-years last year rather than take his chances with a jury that could have sent him to prison for the rest of his life if convicted.

On Monday, the jury deliberated for over two hours without being able to reach a verdict but Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes told them to go back and continue their deliberations in the hopes of reaching an agreement.

After 2½ hours of further deliberations on Tuesday, the verdict came in acquitting Mackey of second-degree murder but finding him guilty of the lesser but still serious charge. As the jurors departed the courthouse they declined to answer any questions, in regard to whether they believed that Mackey was innocent of the grisly murder whatsoever or if they think he killed her somewhere other than within the boundaries of the state of Florida. They also didn’t reveal any details of their original split-decision on the second-degree murder charge.

The charges were challenging for the prosecution to establish from the onset. There were no witnesses tied to the suspect that could directly attribute the death of Lorraine Hatzakorzian directly to the defendant. He was not seen with her, nor did anyone witness him murder her. There were no witnesses that saw him cut off her head or throw it into the canal. There was nobody called that could even verify that Mackey was in the state on April 28, 2007, which was the day that severed head was discovered.

Mackey’s Defense attorney, John George argued that his client wasn’t involved in the victim’s death and an appeal is likely.

In spite of the aforesaid lack of physical evidence the jurors did hear evidence that swayed them to believe that the defendant was linked to the crime. Prosecutor Gregg Rossman exhibited that Mackey and Trucchio were both pulled over by a Volusia County police officer because the car being driven was missing its back window and had a large crack in the front windshield. The vehicle turned out to be the victim’s blue Dodge pickup and was stopped a few days after her head was recovered from the canal. A third man, Louis Caroleo, a friend of Mackey’s was also in the vehicle when it was pulled over. When called to the stand Caroleo testified that Mackey and Trucchio independently confessed to killing a woman and cutting off her head and getting rid of it. They both then prayed to a concrete alligator; that the remains of their deed would be digested before any of the proof was exposed. According to Caroleo’s testimony, this took place outside of the Port Orange motel where they were staying in the late springtime months of 2007. Additionally both men were seen scrubbing the car inside and out with bleach and acid.

In rebuttal, defense lawyer John George mentioned that the missing fragments of the story were an indication that the prosecution couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mackey had anything at all to do with the crime. “For one thing”, he said, “no one established that Hatzakorzian died in Florida. No one established that Mackey was even in Florida when she died or that he was responsible for her death”.

The prosecutor then pressed the jury to depend on the legal presumption that “a murder is presumed to have been committed in the same jurisdiction where the body was found unless there is evidence to the contrary.” And the sole part of Hatzakorzian that was ever found was located in Broward County.

There were also signs that the victim’s head was tossed in the water not too long before it was found, Rossman also argued. “Blood at the scene was still bright red”, he said, “and the head itself showed no signs of being pecked at by wildlife.”

The Broward County Sheriff’s deputy who recovered the head said that he had to act hurriedly to prevent alligators that were close by to the scene from getting to it first.

Apparently, the prosecution’s case was enough to influence jurors that Mackey did indeed assist helping Trucchio cover up the crime.

About 10 members of Hatzakorzian’s family attended every day of the trial.

Related Reading, Explanation of Accessory after the Fact:: Click Here

Broward County Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Sex Trafficking of Minors

January 21, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

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

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

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

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

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

New Strict Anti-DUI Device Legislation Introduced in California

January 16, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Gerald “Jerry” Hill is a Democratic member of the Senate who represents the 13th district for California. Throughout a career encompassing over 20 years as a public servant he was on the San Mateo City Council, serving one term as Mayor, as well as the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. During his tenancy in the state legislature, Hill’s emphasis has been concentrated on job creation, consumer protection, saving taxpayer monies, the improvement of environmental issues and public health, accompanied by facilitating schools to produce the workforce of the future.

Hill will now introduce new legislation that will necessitate any individuals who are convicted of a second drunken driving offense to put a new blood alcohol level testing device into their vehicles. Hill, a long-time advocate against drinking and driving introduced the bill which would rigorously crack down on repeat DUI offenders. According to Hill’s office, presently, at least 24 states call for ignition interlock devices for individuals who repeat an offense of driving under the influence (DUI). 17 states already do so for first-time offenders that have been convicted of the crime. An ignition interlock device is an apparatus that when attached to a car’s ignition necessitates a breath sample in advance of the engine being able to start. The device stops the car’s engine from starting if it detects a blood alcohol level that exceeds a pre-set limit. In the event of a third DUI conviction the penalty would be the mandatory use of the device for two years; and a fourth DUI conviction would incur the same penalty but for a period of three years. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggested that each state institute these devices for persons convicted of DUI.

In a phone interview in December, Hill said that “The law is so in favor of repeat DUI (driving under the influence) offenders.”

As an assemblyman, in 2010, Hill composed DUI law AB 1601, which was previously signed by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger before being further amended after his departure. The new law certifies that judges in California have the capacity to revoke driver’s licenses for repeat DUI offenders for a period of up to 10 years. The new law went into effect on January 1, 2012.

In California there were 161,074 DUI convictions in 2009, the most recent year in which statewide data is accessible. 27 percent, or 43,432, of those convictions were for repeat offenders According to Hill’s office. Based on further research there were 195,879 arrests in 2011. In 2012, almost 280,000 devices were fitted and are now operating in the United States, including approximately 24,000 in California, based on statistics provided by Hill’s office.

As quoted by Hill, “This (new) bill is sort of a follow-up to that effort to do something about the staggering numbers, the 40,000 annually repeat DUI offenders,”
In addition, if the legislation passes, this bill would require repeat DUI offenders to complete a special ignition lock program in addition to completing the DUI prevention course required by present law.

Legislation requiring the ignition interlock, even after one DUI conviction and as well as for drivers who are only slightly found to test above the legal limit should be a big help in preventing accidents, according to The NTSB.
Related reading on : Law AB 1601: Click Here

Engagement Ring Connected to Insurance Fraud Arrest

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

In a news release from the Department of Insurance, former full-time North Carolina resident Nathan Daniel Cooperman, 40, was charged with one count of insurance fraud and one count of obtaining property by false pretense in an announcement made by Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin detailed at the time of Cooperman’s arrest in Manhattan on January 2nd.

It is alleged that Cooperman, who presently resides at 218 First Ave., New York, N.Y, submitted a claim to the Travelers Claims Hartford Auto Insurance Company on Aug. 25, 2007, claiming that an engagement ring valued at $50,000 was one of the articles stolen in the course of a burglary of his Durham, North Carolina home. Cooperman still owns and maintains the property according to investigators from the Department of Insurance.

Travelers settled the claim for just under the insured assessment of $50, 000, which was wholly paid to Cooperman. However, as the investigation continued investigators received what became a crucial lead relayed by Cooperman’s ex-fiancé that the claim was fabricated and she still had the ring in her possession. Investigators now allege that the ring was never stolen and Cooperman deliberately lied and made false and fraudulent claims to acquire the reimbursement for the insured value of the ring. Presently, no charges have been filed against Cooperman’s ex-fiancé and it hasn’t been affirmed whether she was an informed party to the false claim or not. But since it was she that informed the Department of Insurance of the alleged fraud it is has been assumed that she had no knowledge of the false claim at the time of its initiation. At this time, the name of Cooperman’s ex-fiancé has not been released.

Cooperman is now being detained by the New York City Police Department as he awaits extradition to North Carolina to face these charges and stand trial. It has not been specified if his ex-fiancé will testify against him.

Our search of the traditional informational criminal databases and public records Websites has not found any prior charges or convictions against Cooperman.

The Department of Insurance maintains a staff of 20 affirmed state law enforcement officers devoted to investigating and prosecuting assertions of insurance fraud as well as and bail bonding fraud. Since the time that Wayne Goodwin began his term as Insurance Commissioner in 2009, criminal investigators have established in excess of 14,000 grievances, resulting in more than 600 arrests, 300 convictions of a criminal nature, and there are presently more than 100 court cases awaiting prosecution. These efforts have provided more than $48 million in repayment and monetary retrievals for the victims.

It is estimated that 10 cents of every dollar paid in insurance premiums is responsible for the payment of falsified claims. If you feel you have knowledge and would like to report suspected fraudulent activity of this nature, please call the Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division at 919-807-6840. All callers may remain anonymous. Information for reporting false claims can also be found at their Website, located at: http://www.ncdoi.com

Son Slays Father, Sets Fire on New Year’s Eve

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

A Holiday, Florida man was arrested early Thursday morning after he allegedly stabbed his Father to death and then poured gasoline on the body setting it ablaze inside the master bedroom of their home located at 5617 Mosaic Drive, according to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the bedroom where it originated, according to Fox 13 News.

Baron Von Duke Vercruysse, 23 was arrested Tuesday morning after the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, accused him of” homicidal violence” in the related death of his Father, 52-year-old Rene Dominique Vercruysse.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that Sherriff’s deputies believed a dispute between the father and son led to the death.

Police discovered the elder Vercruysse’s body when they responded to the fire at approximately 10:20 p.m. on Monday night. An initial autopsy revealed that the elder Vercruysse died of “homicidal violence”, and not injuries consistent with the fire, according to Bay News 9.

Deputies specified that the younger Vercruysse confessed to the murder. He’s been charged with first-degree murder as well as arson. The Times reports that his prior rap sheet includes larceny and more than one possession of a controlled substance.

A neighbor also told The Times that he heard a sharp scream discernible from New Year’s Eve festivities Monday evening, just before authorities responded to the fire. “It was sharp,” Randal Tilton said. “It scared me.”

Bail was denied by Judge W. Lowell Bray Jr. on the murder count. A bond of $150,000 was fixed on the arson charge. Vercruysse was also assigned a public defender, although he told the Judge that he made, “two grand a month.”

Vercruysse is now being held in Land O’Lakes jail. It is reported that he claimed self-defense citing years of abuse by his Father. He said he lived in fear of doing anything wrong. He said he suffered black eyes, bloody noses, fat lips imposed by his Father.

“I didn’t mean to kill him,” Vercruysse told the Times. “I just wanted him to stop beating me.”

He said he fought back on New Year’s Eve. His account of that night is as follows:

Vercruysse said he had been at a friend’s house. When he came home to the house he shared with his father on Mosaic Drive in Holiday the arguing began over Vercruysse’s monetary issues, continued unemployment and his messy room. The argument took place in the bedroom. Then he said his father took a .38-caliber pistol from the nightstand and aimed it at him.

Vercruysse then shoved his Father and turned away. Purportedly, the elder Vercruysse then brought the butt of the gun down on his son’s head. Vercruysse said the blow brought him down to the ground where he noticed a knife with about a 3-inch blade under the bed. He said he grabbed it, stood up and faced his father, closed his eyes, and stabbed.

“All he could hear in the dark, his hand thrusting outward, was his father’s scream.” A neighbor would tell reporters later.

When questioned during the investigation his Sister, Elizabeth, described her Father as a different man from her Brother’s accusatory description. She remembers her father as being a big, jovial man with a thick Cajun accent. He called her every day and his best friend was her 9-year-old daughter. “He could be tough sometimes”, she said,” but deep down he was a mush ball.”

A date for opening arguments has not been set.

Related, (Penalties of Murder Charges):

Arizona Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Running over Husband for Not Voting in Presidential Election

December 31, 2012 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

A six month pregnant Gilbert, Arizona woman was arrested and charged with domestic violence and aggravated assault last month after becoming enraged when she discovered that her husband didn’t vote in last month’s Presidential election.

According to witnesses, Holly Solomon, 28, was seen arguing with her husband Daniel in a parking lot after she became infuriated during their discussion involving his decision not to vote in the election that took place on November 6. The witnesses, one of whom made a 911 call heard shouting and saw Mrs. Solomon get into her Jeep and chase her husband through the parking lot, the East Valley Tribune reported. Another witness commented that “He got out of the car and she was screaming at him. And he started walking away and she started driving in circles around him and she wouldn’t let him go so finally he took off to try to get away and she ran into him.”

The exchange between the two which quickly got out-of-hand was driven by Solomon’s loathing of President Obama’s recently enacted Affordable Care Act, generally known as Obamacare according to MyFox Phoenix.

During the mad chase, Mr. Solomon tried to hide behind a light pole at first, but Mrs. Solomon pursued him while yelling at him, a Gilbert, AZ. Police report confirmed.

When the husband tried to escape, she drove after him, finally hitting him with the SUV and sandwiching him between the Jeep and the parking lot curb, according to local police. Mr. Solomon was taken to a local hospital where he is in critical condition. It was later revealed that he sustained a fracture of the pelvic area, artery damage and also faces potential “permanent disfiguration” caused by the violent attack, according to court records.

Daniel Solomon communicated to police that his wife began arguing with him the weekend after the election, explicitly due to his “lack of voter participation,” in the Presidential race. Gilbert police Sergeant Jesse Sanger communicated in an e-mail that he said Solomon’s wife believed that her family was going to face undue hardships as the result of President Obama again winning the Presidential election and the establishment of Obamacare that will now become the law of the land.

Mrs. Solomon pleaded not guilty to the charges which are possibly the Country’s largest overreaction to the outcome of a Presidential election. Initially, the plea, which is customarily just a formality to charges of reckless driving, disorderly conduct with a weapon, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, was heard by a jailhouse Judge who told her that she was now charged with the three counts. She is being held on a $50,000 bond and had nothing to say through the brief proceeding although when medics originally arrived at the scene and found her husband pinned under the vehicle she explained that she had hoped to “scare” him with her actions. Neither drugs nor alcohol were assumed to be an element of the incident
Solomon’s next court date is planned for January 11, 2013, which happens to be nine days before President Obama’s second inauguration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7fTJOUxu8I

Woman Arrested in Sandy Hook Massacre Charity Scam

December 27, 2012 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Setting up a Pay Pal account for donations and using her Facebook page to publicize her idea a Bronx, New York woman allegedly set a fraudulent scam into motion claiming to be the aunt of one of the children slain in the Newtown, Connecticut. School massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

On Thursday the FBI arrested Nouel Alba, 37, for allegedly amassing fraudulent “funeral fund” donations for one of the children killed in the Newtown school bloodbath; fictitiously claiming that she was the child’s aunt.

She was charged with making false statements to federal agents. She then faced a U.S. magistrate in Hartford, Connecticut, who released her on a $50,000 bond. The penalty of such a conviction could have her face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to the FBI, Alba used her Facebook page, as well as telephone and text messages to ask for donations for the purported “funeral fund” of 6-year-old Noah Pozner, who was the first child to be buried of the twenty children and six adults massacred on Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct.

The complaint against her charges that she instructed potential targets to donate money to a PayPal account which was controlled and accessed by her. When she was contacted by FBI Special Agents who were in charge of scrutinizing fundraising scams associated with the Newtown tragedy, Alba untruthfully specified that she did not post any material related to the Newtown events on her Facebook account or solicit any donations. She also stated to them that she did not access her PayPal account at all recently. In spite of the preceding statement, Alba went on to tell agents that she immediately refunded any donations that she did receive.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Mertz was quoted as saying “It is unconscionable to think that the families of the victims in Newtown and a sympathetic community looking to provide them some sort of financial support and comfort have become the targets of criminals.” She went on to comment “Today’s arrest is a stern message that the FBI will investigate and bring to justice those who perpetrate Internet fundraising scams, especially those scams that exploit the most vulnerable in their time of shared sorrow.”

Apparently, Alba is not a novice to these types of scams. According to The New York Post Alba also posted messages on the Web claiming she had founded numerous charities to help storm victims in the days after Hurricane Sandy hit.

But it turned out that the postings were packed with deceitful claims, as well as an invalid tax-ID number for one of the so called charitable organizations.

Later in the week during an interview with CNN before her arrest, Alba denied being involved in any scams whatsoever.
Alba’s latest alleged swindle was uncovered when NBC News reported last week that the ploy initiated within an hour from the time that the shootings took place. They said that a woman wrote on her Facebook page, “All we know is 18 kids have been killed … still no word on my nephew.”

NBC traced the Facebook account to Alba, and then went to her home and recorded an audio interview with her in which she denied writing the post as well as any requests for charitable contributions on her Facebook page.

“I’m disgusted by it,” the slain boy’s uncle, Alexis Haller, expressed to NBC News. “I think it’s disgusting behavior.”

Federal and state authorities “are actively monitoring the Internet and investigating multiple fundraising scams” stemming from the killings according to U.S. Attorney David Fein.

Alba’s broadly disseminated photograph was posted on the Scrapbook Stamp Society website on Friday but according to Sherri Baldy, owner and CEO, she is not associated with the organization as anything more than what she labeled a “crafter”. Alba joined the organization about a year ago but has not been active for most of the time, Baldy said.

Related Reading: Common Fraud Schemes (FBI Website)
Related YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYcXus2bvjY
Video and more related comments on You Tube

Kidnapping Plot Accomplice Sentenced as “Mastermind” Faces Trial

December 18, 2012 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Defense Attorney cites federal racketeering case as no more than a glorified gambling case

December 4, 2012 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah,” Canalichio answered.

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

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

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

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

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

Trial to begin in “DCF Nightmare” Rilya Wilson murder case

November 28, 2012 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Ten years after the Florida Department of Children and Families was rocked by scandal that resulted in the DCF secretary leaving, its top administrator in Miami resigning and numerous employees being fired, the case again will surge to the top of the headlines. At the time, the case exposed serious failings in Florida’s child-welfare system.

The original cause of the furor was the reported April 2002 disappearance of Rilya Wilson, who was in state custody under the care of the child-welfare agency. Not only had the child gone missing but it took 15 months before anyone at the agency noticed that she was unaccounted for. The child was four years old when she apparently disappeared.

In April 2002, Geralyn Graham, 57, the foster mother, who lived with a roommate, Pamela Graham (no relation), alerted DCF that the girl had been removed from her home by a DCF social worker 15 months previously. The Department of Children and Families then acknowledged that their workers had missed more than a year of required monthly visits to Graham’s foster home. Pamela Graham claimed to be Geralyn’s sister at the time of the incident.

”Apparently the department went to do a follow-up with Graham, and she essentially told them: “Well, I don’t have her. You guys took her from me a year ago,” said Detective Lupo Jimenez of the Miami-Dade Police Department. ”That’s when we were notified. They have no idea where this child is. I’ve never seen this before.”.

Graham told officials that Rilya was last seen in January 2001, when a woman who she assumed was a representative of the DCF appeared at her home and took the child, telling her that the child needed to undergo psychological and neurological testing. She went on to say that a few days later, a second woman arrived at her house, to retrieve some of the girl’s clothes and said that Rilya would stay in the state’s custody for further testing. She then said that a few weeks later, a third individual, showed up at her home and inquired about Rilya’s siblings, who at that time were still in her custody. She mentioned that on that occurrence the person was a man.

Officials of DCF responded that they had no record of any of those events and that Rilya’s caseworker had never approved her removal from Graham’s residence.

District administrator for the Department of Children and Families in Miami, Charles Aulander, said, ”One of the requirements is that a counselor have a face-to-face visit with the child at least once per month, and I did not know that that was not going on.” He added, ”I would have hoped that we would have discovered this much sooner, but we didn’t.”
Jack Levine, president of the Center for Florida’s Children, a child advocacy group in Tallahassee, said the agency’s handling of the case was deplorable.

”I’m shocked by the apparent insufficiency of being able to track the whereabouts of a child who was assumed to be under the watchful eye of our child protection system,” Mr. Levine said. ”Those eyes that should have been watching were closed.”
Soon after the DCF scandal was realized Geralyn Graham, and her roommate Pamela Graham, 37, who at the time alleged they are sisters, were charged with stealing $14,257 worth of food stamps as well as multiple counts of fraud for continuing to collect benefits for the child long after she vanished, according the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office
Geralyn Graham was charged with seven counts of obtaining welfare, food stamps and Medicaid benefits with false identification and documents. Pamela Graham was charged with 12 counts of welfare fraud, aiding and abetting public assistance fraud and related charges all of them not associated with the case. Both women served time in jail.

The latest events
Now, a decade after, prosecutors have built what they believe to be a strong first-degree murder case against Graham. Based on information provided by jailhouse informants including Pamela Graham, and statements from former friends, it is alleged that Rilya Wilson was brutally abused by her caregiver. Prosecutors introduced a cage into evidence where they believe Rilya was placed for the purpose of punishment within Graham’s home. A witness for the prosecution said that she saw scars on Rilya’s arms and head before her disappearance. “There were scrapes on her arms. There was a gash on her head, forehead area,” family friend Laquica Tuff said speaking of Rilya’s condition at that time.

Just last week, the defense motioned for a mistrial citing that prosecutor Joshua Weintraub’s law license had been temporarily suspended due to a failure to meet continuing legal education requirements. He was reinstated Tuesday after showing the requirements were met and the mistrial was denied by Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler-Mendez. Mendez said that previous court rulings have made clear that clerical mistakes such as Weintraub’s were never intended to be the kind of law-license suspension that could prejudice a defendant such as Graham. The judge called it a “ministerial circumstance” and stated that Weintraub had actually earned more than the necessary thirty hours of educational credits.

The star witness for the prosecution is Robin Lunceford. Lunceford was serving a life sentence, but had it reduced by 10 years when she told authorities that Graham, who she was in jail with, had confessed to killing Wilson by smothering her with a pillow. Lunceford is now scheduled for release in March 2014.

Another unnamed inmate also reported that Graham confessed to the murder.

Prosecutors also have the cooperation of Pamela Graham, although she insists she has never had any knowledge as to what happened to Rilya.

Opening arguments are set for this Monday in what now is a first-degree murder case Graham faces a life sentence if convicted and may even face the death penalty. Other charges lodged against her are kidnapping and child abuse although a body was never found.