South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Tyron Hamilton Oliver, 38, is being charged with two counts of child abuse and assault. Oliver gave a near-lethal amount of alcohol to his 14-year-old nephew, according to police. The child received grain alcohol and cigarettes to his nephew when the 14 year old’s father was not at home. The child was severely impaired to the point of 0.267 BAC; 0.3 can be deadly, for reference. The nephew’s father came back home and held a combative Oliver down until police arrived on the scene.
Florida Student Charged with Felony and Marijuana
Ruben Lopez, 19, was arrested by University of South Florida police and charged with a third-degree felony for disabling a fire alarm as well as misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The USF student was smoking marijuana in his dorm room at Beta Hall and disabled the alarm in his room so he could get away with smoking drugs. Police searched the room after the arrest and found a marijuana joint in Lopez’s furniture drawer. Bail is set at $7500 for Lopez.
Two Florida Men Arrested for Cocaine Smuggling
Mark Pinder, 41, and Parson Exana, 38, were sentenced for smuggling cocaine. Pinder got a sentence of 12 years in federal prison and Exana received 9 years. The cocaine was transported by the two from the Bahamas into South Florida. Investigators took part in an undercover drug sting where they bought 297 kilos of cocaine from Pinder via a vessel to vessel transfer. The investigators then made a controlled delivery of the cocaine to Exana and Pinder when they were in Jupiter, FL a day after the original purchase. Exana and his partner Pinder are still in custody and awaiting trial.
Florida DUI Woman Not Found Guilty in Fatal Crash
A Palm Bay woman was found to be not guilty of the 2007 rollover crash resulting in her sustaining injuries and the death of her friend. The verdict was returned after 3 days of deliberation regarding the DUI manslaughter of Jennifer Carty, 20. State prosecutors say that evidence clearly shows the girls’ injuries not coinciding with charges placed against the defendant. Florida Highway Patrol reported that Carty had a BAC of 0.126 whereas the other girl in the car, Ravin Billington, had a BAC of 0.167. Both are under the age of 21 and are not be having any readings of BAC by law. Defense attorneys said that witnesses to the accident could not determine who the driver of the vehicle was and after the accident, due to the ejection of Carty, could not determine that Billington was the driver. Carty was later determined to be the driver of her mother’s car.
Florida Yacht Broker Sentenced for Tax Evasion
Robert Moran, a yacht broker from Fort Lauderdale, was sentenced to 2 months in prison for his role in filing false federal tax returns and using off-shore bank accounts to conceal millions of dollars. Swiss bank UBS was the banking institution utilized by Moran in his criminal activities. The Honorable Judge James Cohn of Federal District Court in Fort Lauderdale did give credit to Moran due to him confessing his crime and for helping federal investigators in the probe of UBS and other off-shore banks. Moran is the third UBS client to be sentenced in the last 2 weeks in the South Florida region. Moran will be facing a felony record for tax evasion and loss of his yacht broker license.
Florida Truck Driver Arrested for Marijuana
Edward Gross, 53, was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Gross was stopped by Louisiana State Police for a routine safety inspection. Upon further examination, officers became suspicious of certain features regarding Gross’ big rig truck and decided to call in a police dog. The dog sniffed out the stash of 31 pounds of marijuana Gross was hiding under a bunk in the cab. Gross was immediately arrested and jailed at the Iberville Parish Prison pending his court date.
Drunk Drivers Might Have to Blow Before Driving Their Cars
California is now one of the few states in the country to enact legislation that will mandate alcohol detection technology to be installed in the cars of first-time DUI offenders. Some people have protested that the injunction on first-time offenders is quite severe and should be reserved for habitual drunk drivers instead. Anti-drunk driving groups like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) are in favor of the legislation. “The single best way to get drunken drivers off the road right now is to get interlock ignition devices in the cars of all convicted drunken drivers,” said Chuck Hurley, the CEO of MADD.
Florida Deputy Defends Himself Against Aggressive Florida Man
Jerry Wesley Camp, 43, was shot and killed by a Seminole County Deputy after having a rifle aimed at him. The police officer located Camp’s truck after a 911 dispatch call reported a sexual assault at 10 am in the city of Winter Park. Camp exited his vehicle, raised his weapon at the officer leaving the deputy with no choice but to shoot in self-defense. FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) is currently underway in the investigation of this shooting.
Jamaican Woman Commits Mortgage Fraud in Florida
Yvette Scott-Patterson will be charged with mortgage fraud in the purchasing of more than 30 properties by use of fraudulent home loans. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida has said Scott-Patterson will be facing six years in prison, a $110,000 fine and deportation after her sentence. Prosecutors say that she and others in her group used false documentation in order to secure loans. Some of the fake papers were forged bank statements, false or stolen drivers licenses and phony employment verification letters. It is estimated that nearly $10 million in fraud was conducted by Scott-Patterson and her criminal colleagues. She fled the country in 2006 and was arrested 2 years later by the local Fugitve Apprehension Team resulting in her extradition back to the US. Nine individuals, including her husband Delroy Patterson, were charged and have plead guilty. Scott-Patterson’s formal charges were one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, as well as another count of aggravated identity theft in association with the scheme.
Israeli Man Says Broward Sheriffs Roughed Him Up
Guma Aguiar, 32, claims that officers punched him, called him anti-Semetic slurs, and broke his fingers. Broward Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jim Leljedal said that the accusations made by Aguiar are ridiculous. Aguiar, a multimillionaire, has used an attorney to formally file a complaint that mistreatment occurred during him being in police custody. “He tried to intimidate me and said that he had money, he would fight and he would embarrass us,” Leljedal said. For the plea deal that Aguiar faced, he paid $536 for fees in court and was guaranteed that both drug charges will be expunged.