South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Taylor, Bean & Whitaker halted all mortgage loan funding today in result of a federal investigation. Federal authorities had called the company to close loans which were insured by the Federal Housing Administration. In addition to the FHA suspending the firm, Ginnie Mae cut off Taylor, Bean & Whitaker from its mortgage-backed securities program. Mortgage fraud is running rampant in large-level organizations in today’s business age and its affecting consumers directly. The lender based out of Ocala did not submit a mandatory report which led to the investigation and eventual shutdown.
Florida Cocaine Trafficking Woman Found Guilty
Marta Pagan was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for drug trafficking. She was arrested in 2000 during an investigation being conducted by the DEA. The investigation led to the discovery of Pagan’s heroin drug trafficking ring running through Central Florida. Pagan became a fugitive after her arrest and was later caught in Connecticut. She was extradited back to Florida and sentenced for her fleeing the state and for her drug trafficking charges. A 5 year probation sentence was tacked on to her prison term, as well as fines for repayment of extradition fees due to her fleeing Florida.
Florida Highway Patrol Arrest 50 During Checkpoint
Alabama State Troopers teamed up with Florida Highway Patrol last Friday in a “Take Back our Highways” initiative with the goal of making roads safer for all. Most of the arrests were for drivers with no insurance, no seatbelts, or having broken equipment. No DUI arrests were made, yet of the fifty arrests made, a surprising seven were arrest warrants wanted by authorities. Located at the Alabama/Florida border along a major highway, the troopers’ checkpoint was quite successful and commended by other agencies as a positive operation.
Florida Death Row Inmate May Be Executed
John Richard Marek, 47, will likely go on with his scheduled execution in Tallahassee. Marek was charged with the kidnapping, rape and murder of a Broward County woman in 1983. The original execution slated for May 13 was delayed by the court to allow Marek’s defense counsel to argue that he was not the actual killer, but his accomplice was. Six witnesses were brought in to the appeal as new testimony, according to Marek’s lawyer. The six witnesses were also in prison with Raymond Wigley, the new accused murderer. Justices overseeing the appeal reviewed the case and denied it with a unanimous decision. ‘Given the inconsistencies in Wigley’s statements and the strong inference that the statements constituted prison `tough talk’ and were calculated by Wigley to obtain some advantage for himself, the probative value of the testimony recounting Wigley’s statements is negligible,” wrote the justices. Both Marek and Wigley were convicted of first-degree murder yet Marek was the only one of the two sentenced to death.
Two Florida Women Arrested for Marijuana Possession
Haley Oreskovich, 18, and Sharine Gregory, 22, were arrested under the suspicion of intent to sell. The Otoe County Sheriff’s department of Nebraska City, Nebraska found the marijuana by use of a new canine sniffer they recently acquired. Gregory denied there being any significant amount of marijuana in the car by stating to the county court judge “there was no way there was a pound of marijuana”. No further deliberation in the case was recommended by the judge to the defendants until the appointment of legal counsel.
Florida DUI Woman Gets Arrested for Drugs
Janet Landrum, 42, of Manatee County was arrested recently for possession of cocaine, marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia. Landrum has a record of a whopping ten DUIs from a variety of states including Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky, not to mention a prior arrest of driving with a suspended license. This will be the first time though that jail time is on the plate for Landrum’s offenses. She faces up to ten years in prison with the recent onslaught of felony driving under the influence and felony driving with a suspended license charges.
Florida Man Arrested in Nebraska for Multiple Charges
Manual Ramirez, 62, was arrested in Scottbluff, Nebraska for being wanted on charges of assault, violation of probation, and vehicle theft. Nebraska State Patrol are responsible for the arrest. Troopers had to resort to using tire-puncturing strips to disable the driver, who reached speeds up to 100 mph. The emergency maneuvers resulted in the vehicle going out of control and flipping several times before finally resting right side up. Ramirez was treated for minor injuries and arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle as well as fleeing to avoid arrest, speeding and reckless driving.
Former NFL Player Sentenced to Florida Prison for Cocaine Trafficking
Travis Henry, 30, was sentenced to federal holding facilities on federal cocaine trafficking charges. The former Denver Bronco player was arrested for a drug transaction in Colorado involving multiple kilos of cocaine. After this incident it was brought to the federal authorities’ attention that Henry was a major financier of a prominent drug ring known to push cocaine from Montana to Colorado. Henry was charged with a single count of trafficking cocaine by this admission. Henry’s final verdict resulted in a 3 year prison sentence in Florida followed by a five year supervised probation.
Florida Murder Fugitive Caught By Community Assistance
Alvin Adderly was arrested in Georgia last Sunday in connection with the shooting and murder of Kenneth Moore Jr. of Brevard County. Moore was killed in his home, leaving police with little clues to go off on in the direction of his assailant or his last known location. The community is being commended for their participation in nabbing Adderly. Tips came in that Adderly might be stay with a close friend in American, Georgia. Deputies followed up on the information and arrested Adderly in the residence stated with no incident. The arrest bring tremendous relief to the grieving family of the deceased. “We are prepared for a speedy and just conclusion. We are prepared for the criminal justice system to take over now,” said Moore family spokeswoman Jennifer Collins-Mostert.
41 Floridians Charged in Mortgage Fraud
US Attorney Jeffrey Sloman was the acting official in charge of launching an investigation and resulting criminal charges against the recent wave of 41 individuals caught in the mortgage fraud net. Nearly $41 million were amassed from the six cases the charges are stemmed from. Feds say that almost every level of the transactions were fraudulent including the purchasers, lenders, and title companies. US Attorney Sloman has accumulated 218 people in the wake of an anti-fraud initiative conducted throughout South Florida. It is said that the total damage created by these mortgage fraud schemes are around $268 million. Florida ranks in the top five states in the country for mortgage fraud. Many don’t realize how damaging mortgage fraud and these white-collar crimes are as they injure homeowners by effectively creating more foreclosures and the resulting inflation or deflation of home prices.