South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Machelle Coleman, 33, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence in Crestview, FL after stopping her car at a What-a-burger. Officers found her slumped over in her vehicle with a burger on her leg and lettuce all over her lap. Coleman arose soon after EMS arrived on the scene. The officer on scene smelled no alcohol in the car; just a smell of food emanated from the vehicle. She reportedly said she had been drinking gin with her "man" at Helen Back, a local bar, earlier in the evening. No one else was in the car, reports say. Police say this is her fifth DUI in 10 years.

Continue reading " DUI Caught at Fast Food Restaurant in Florida " »

Aurora Kay James, 28, and Peter Howard Whitney, 49, were stopped in Gainesville, FL for driving into a bicycle lane. The stop led to the discovery of crack pipes underneath the driver and passenger seats and vials that contained prescription drugs and crack cocaine. A canine was called on the scene to alert the officers of the drug's presence. Both parties blamed the other for possession of the drug paraphernalia. Both were charged with possession of drugs without a prescription, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Florida laws are always being modified by the legislature. If you've been arrested in South Florida, or arrested in Fort Lauderdale and charged with a drug possession count, or possession of cocaine or possession of heroin you should immediately consult a South Florida criminal defense attorney. The legislature imposes minimum mandatory sentences which started a mandatory one year, then a mandatory three-year, then a mandatory seven-year, 15 year and 25 year sentence for trafficking in controlled substances.

Continue reading " Florida Man and Woman Arrested in Traffic Stop for Drugs " »

Bruce Strachan, 25, was arrested in West Palm Beach for the death of Yamika Murphy and two others. Murphy was his wife, according to police. He was arrested with no incident in Delray Beach according to Palm Beach Sheriff's Office. Strachan was roaming Palm Beach County with a warrant for his arrest after the shooting spree which occurred recently. He was charged with three counts of first degree murder. A judge at the local Gun Club Road jail will be adding further charges to Strachan's case pending further investigation.

Continue reading " West Palm Beach Man Arrested for Murder " »

Crystal Beth Williams, 21, and Jason Clayborn, 52, were arrested by sheriffs of DeFuniak Springs for operating a crystal methamphetamine production center. The two were followed by investigators for over eight months in order for a solid case to develop. Both of them together are thought to be responsible for the production of the a massive supply of meth that supplied the Northwest Florida and Southeast Alabama areas. The list of charges levied again the couple included manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of methamphetamine.

Continue reading " Florida Woman Arrested for Drug Production Operation " »

Warren H, Goldman, Sam Lamport, Gary Richard Powell, Stephen Walton, Aaron Walton, and Kenneth D. Struve have all been arrested and charged in the theft of millions of dollars worth of products from the Publix supermarket chain. Central Florida was their target and police say the criminals were clever. All the men except for one are ranging in age from 53 to 68. The individuals would use their elderly figure to use motorized carts and load up on expensive goods like razors and other health/beauty items. The crimes took place over the past decade so a lot of money was accumulated by the thieves. They would sell the goods on the internet and through local flea markets. Brevard County police disclosed that one of the six suspects had an extensive criminal history. The final charge for most of the men were shoplifting, yet Struve and Goldman were charged with trafficking in stolen property.

Continue reading " Geriatrics in Florida Get Caught Stealing Goods " »

Renaldo Balkman, 25, was arrested by police in Temple Terrace for suspicion of driving under the influence. Balkman refused to comply with officers' request of a blood-alcohol test. HIllborough County Sheriff's Office stated that Balkman was released on $500 bond soon after his arrest. Refusing to comply with a breath test in Florida does not automatically result in a revocation of one's license unlike what many people might claim. The Denver Nugget's star was left out of the commentary by executive of the basketball team Mark Warkentien.

If you have been arrested for driving under the influence, you have only ten days to file a written demand for an administrative hearing with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Failure to do so could also result in the suspension of your driver's license.

Continue reading " Basketball Player Arrested for DUI in Florida " »

Mark Pinder and Parson Exana have pleaded guilty on charges of smuggling cocaine from the Bahamas into Florida. The two men were arrested by Palm Beach County police on May 26 in a Jupiter parking lot. The cocaine moved by the men was estimated to be at a street value of $500,000. Pinder and Exana face a $4 million fine in lieu of the charges, not to mention life in prison.

Cocaine possession, cocaine delivery, cocaine trafficking, in fact all criminal cases filed in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and throughout the state of Florida in which the state seeks criminal sanction for possession of controlled substances begins with a study of Florida statute 893. Statute begins by defining the important words and phrases used in this chapter. In a prosecution for possession of cocaine or possession of any other controlled substance begins with an indictment, which is called prosecutor information, under this statute.

Continue reading " Cocaine Traffickers Arrested in South Florida " »

Anastasia Usher, 31, was arrested for child neglect, armed trafficking of cocaine, and possession of cocaine. Other charges of maintaining a drug dwelling with minors present were also added. The charges against Usher were not assisting in her maintaining custody of her children because of the fact that they showed her to be negligent as a mother. Police say she was held on a substantial bond after the arrest and will face court sentencing in the near future.

Continue reading " Florida Mother Arrested for Handgun and Drugs " »

DUIs in Florida may be getting a pass after the recent mess up in Broward County. Circuit Judge Lee Jay Seidman will rule on a request that all DUI charges be dismissed based on the fact that the breathalyzer systems in place recently were handled improperly thus becoming inadmissible in court. FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) recently fired the employee responsible for the 79 breathalyzer machines in operation throughout Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The employee turned off power to a small number of them before inspection because they "looked like they would fail."

Continue reading " Florida DUI Law Suit Aims For Letting Some Defendants Off " »

Albert Guilder, 66, was charged and convicted of attempted murder in the death of Zilvinas Kuliusas in the 2006 shooting. Guilder will be looking at up to 25 years in prison, minimum. The two men were involved sexually with a Russian immigrant, and Guilder was said to have "felt jealous and threatened." Kuliusas, 33, was shot by Guilder in what he claimed as self-defense. Guilder had called the police due to evidence he saw that child abuse was taking place with Korzum's children by Kuliusas. The complicated situation ended with Kuliusas coming over to shoot Guilder, then with Guilder shooting back in self-defense. Somehow the fight went into an SUV and continued at 45 mph down a local road. The prosecution "scoffed at Guilder's 'incredible' testimony and theory of self defense."

Continue reading " Florida Man Convicted of Attempted Murder with a Gun " »

Roy Cleary, 35, and Leslie Woody, 33, have been arrested and charged with prescription drug fraud by police in Mississippi. Cleary is a resident of Miami yet was caught with the crime he committed up in Iowa. The two tampered with medical records in order to get prescription pills out of a hospital in the western Iowa area. Iowa police say that Cleary attempted to get drugs by going to the emergency room under the pretense of having a shoulder injury. A false address was used by Cleary in the forms to obtain prescription pills, as well as a false signature on all the documents.

Continue reading " Prescription Drug Abuse by Florida Man Leads to Arrest " »

In a strange arrest over the weekend, William Scott Clark, 43, and Elizabeth Haley, 22, were arrested on production of marijuana charges and possession of an explosive device. After a standard protocol traffic stop conducted by Osceola Police led to a small amount of marijuana, an even larger amount of marijuana was found at the home of the individuals stopped earlier. Haley voluntarily led sheriffs back to the couple's trailer located at Cypress Cove in Kissimmee. The investigation there led to a discovery of numerous firearms ranging from a .50 caliber sniper rifle to a semi-automatic Browning "machine" gun. Exotic pets and a voodoo doll with needles stuck in it was found at the scene as well. A few indoor-growing lights were found inside but the marijuana in conjunction with the lights was gone, according to police. Clark made a statement that he possesses licensing for all the firearms and ATF approval for the machine guns.

Continue reading " Florida Man Arrested for Guns and Marijuana " »

Thomas E. Stringer of Tampa plead guilty to a bank fraud charge. The hefty jail time facing Stringer could be in upwards of thirty years. A break in the case though for Stringer is that no parties sustained financial loss in the crime, so Stringer may only face forfeiture of the funds acquired from the fraud itself. No date on sentencing has been confirmed as of yet. The premise of Stringer's fraudulent scheme was to receive a loan for a residential property in Hawaii. A mortgage application made by Stringer was falsified by saying that he did not borrow any money for the down payment. In reality, he used a third party in borrowing some money. The FBI investigated the case to its conclusion, in partnership with two US Attorneys.

Continue reading " Florida Judge Guilty of Mortgage Fraud " »

Gabriel Soto Garcia, 37, was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in a state prison for conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and trafficking in cocaine in excess of 400 grams. Central Florida was the prime location where all the trafficking in cocaine took place, according to investigators. From their introduction of the drug onto the street there, they would distribute to drug dealers spread all over the area.

Continue reading " Florida Drug Trafficker Receives a 10 Year Prison Term " »

John Hillmer was arrested for driving under the influence in Carrollwood, a city near St. Petersburg. Hillmer is a pastor at the Grace Lutheran Church. Members of the church have been very supportive of him even as far as the regional administrative council for the church not sending any disciplinary action his way. Hillmer was caught by deputies of the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office while driving in an erratic manner. He swerved a few times and was stopped by police shortly after. His blood-alcohol content measured way over the 0.08 limit set in Florida. Hillmer was released on $500 bail and attended his church soon after.

Continue reading " Florida Man Charged with DUI; Finds Help in the Community " »

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.

Continue reading " Large Florida Mortgage Lender Stops Loans " »

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.

Continue reading " Florida Cocaine Trafficking Woman Found Guilty " »

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.

Continue reading " Florida Highway Patrol Arrest 50 During Checkpoint " »