Articles Posted in Crime News

Governor Charlie Crist has signed into law a prescription drug tracking bill that will put a damper on the pill pipeline into eastern Kentucky. One such case that recently has been completed revolving around this “pipeline” is that of a Broward County pain clinic patient accused of obtaining pills and selling them in Kentucky. Oxycodone was the drug involved in this crime.

The new law will “definitely help,” says Sheriff Terry Keelin of the Boyd County Sheriff Department in Kentucky. 90 percent of the suspects in the Boyd Sherrif Office have been obtaining their pills from Florida. “Operation Pill Crusher” has received 105 people indicted during the program, and of those a large number were also from Florida clinics.

Continue reading →

James Earl Taylor, 40, and Mary S. Childers, 44, were arrested last Sunday for domestic assault. Bedford County Sheriff’s Department stated that their deputies arrived on the scene to find the couple in an argument. The two were “involved in a verbal altercation” during which the Frito-Lay product of Cheetos snacks were used to assault one of the partners. Sheriffs found evidence of the assault yet “no physical marks on either party and the primary aggressor was unable to be determined.” Both members of the party were charged $2500 in bond.

Continue reading →

Crescencio Rojas, 43, was arrested in Brownsville, Texas. Rojas was wanted in the perpetration of rape of an elderly person. More precisely, he was accused of sexual assault, battery, and lewd and libidinous acts against an elderly person. US Customs and Border Protection intervened at the Veterans International Bridge in the Brownsville area and apprehended Rojas as he was riding a bus coming back to the United States from Mexico. A warrant check on the national system showed that he had a warrant for sexual assault out of Dade County.

Continue reading →

Michael Mayer, 55, pled guilty to federal charges regarding his actions of supplying oxycodone pills and cocaine on a major level to street-level and other small distributors. Drug trafficking charges in this situation carry a sentence of at least 10 years of imprisonment as well as $4 million dollars in fines.

Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute is not a charge to be laughed at and Mayer will be paying the price for this. $2.64 million and forfeiture of real estate, cars, watercraft and other personal property in Mayer’s homes in Costa Rica and Columbia are on the chopping block.

Continue reading →

Alex Smart, 30, was arrested Monday afternoon with 2 counts of first degree murder and a count of second degree murder. Three slayings in the Orlando are allegedly connected to Smart, prompting federal agents to arrest the man. The murders were called “heinous” and “bloody” by many involved in the investigations. The shootings took place at the Palms Apartments on July 30.

Continue reading →

A 29-foot US flagged white boat was found to be in possession of roughly $2.5 million dollars worth of marijuana. The Coast Guard boarded the vessel and found the 1250 pounds of pot and offloaded it at Sector Miami soon after detection and seizure. Initially the Coast Guard went on board to conduct a standard safety inspection but then quickly became alerted to the marijuana which was in plain view. This would be Cutter Dolphin’s first drug bust in service for the Coast Guard. The smugglers caught on the ship were detained and transferred into custody of the US Customs and Border Protection. Overall, supervisors said this was one of the largest busts in recent history and a proud first for the crew of the Cutter Dolphin and Sector Miami Coast Guard division.

Continue reading →

Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. will be paying $9 million in a settlement to the state of New Jersey. In part of a multi-state settlement with a Florida-based mortgage company, the corporation was accused of mortgage fraud by selling high risk mortgages and using shady lending procedures. The state banking agency identifying as the plaintiff in this case also claimed that half of the money to be dispersed in the settlement will go to the national system in progress that will attempt to prevent fraud and make the mortgage regulation process more efficient.

Over $3 billion in assets were apparent in the Ocala, FL company. $30 billion in loans were made annually as well. TBW gave over $100,000 in refunds in response to erroneously charged fees to all their New Jersey customers from 2006. The Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program, known as the Making Home Affordable program, will be used in the guidelines the TBW corporation will adapt with in relations with their customers with loans.

Continue reading →

Lorraine Rich, 58, from Bangor, Maine, has been sentenced to jail for four months in a case US Attorney Paula Silsby has pursued. Rich received $33,000 from the government in a fraudulent manner. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been ordered as the recipient of fines to be paid in restitution by Lorraine Rich and her crime. Rich was documented as using veterans’ benefits for her family member. Rich’s aunt had continued to collect money even after the aunt’s death. This fraudulent crime is a white collar crime of sorts and is just one of many that the government is currently collecting on during the massive tax and money crunch we all face in this economy.

Continue reading →

Marco Antonio Perez Torres, 36, is in custody now stemming from charges of narcotics trafficking. Torres was arrested in 2007 during an operation conducted by the Volusia Bureau of Investigation. He pleaded guilty to charges of trafficking and conspiracy of 400 grams or more of cocaine. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will take custody of Torres following this conviction in order to process his deportation.

Continue reading →

Nine people have been charged in connection with a $2.4 million dollar mortgage fraud conspiracy. The ring was led by a leader based in Alachua County as well as among for other counties. FDLE made all 9 arrests last Tuesday and said that 17 homes are under investigation in Marion County. William H. King, 52, and Beverly Ann King, 52, are the alleged leaders of the group. The formal charges levied against King and the other 7 in the ring were criminal racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering (RICO).

A chief investigator in the arrests said that the organization they had just apprehended is no different than any other organization in that it requires “a lot of people ot get the job done – mortgage brokers, notary publics, people working in a title company, people who are appraisers. It takes all of these people to get a loan through. And what these people did was work together to deceive the mortgage lenders.”

Continue reading →