January, 2012

Citrus County Drug Crimes Defense Attorneys Whittel & Melton :: Six Arrested Following Extensive Drug Investigations

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Six Citrus County, Florida residents have been arrested and are facing various drug charges after investigations conducted by the Sheriff’s Office and the CCSO’s Tactical Impact Unit and Pharmacy Diversion Unit revealed illegal dealings of prescription narcotics.

The arrests ranged from doctor shopping to hydrocodone trafficking. Several of the supposed suspects, ranging in age from 22 to 57, are accused of selling cocaine and other substances as well as selling their prescription pills for a profit.

A CCSO spokesperson mentioned that the introduction of Florida’s new prescription drug monitoring program E-FORCSE or Electronic - Florida Online Reporting of Controlled Substances Evaluation makes it easier than ever to monitor who may be doctor shopping. Law enforcement agents, doctors and pharmacists can use the program to see what drugs patients are receiving and from what doctors.

Doctor shopping also known as Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud has become an increasingly popular charge in Florida. Due to the large amount of pressure placed upon law enforcement to track down those suspected of prescription drug abuse, new tracking systems have been developed to monitor patient’s medical records and pharmacy histories. These amped up security measures put doctors as well as patients at a greater risk for being accused of committing a prescription drug crime. Electronic databases put even patients given legal prescriptions to treat an injury or illness in jeopardy of a drug crime arrest.

Doctor shopping, in general, is when a patient visits multiple doctors to gain access to multiple prescriptions. It is illegal for patients to visit different doctors without disclosing that information to them, even if they are under the care of several physicians for legitimate reasons. In the State of Florida, doctor shopping is classified as a third-degree felony that carries mandatory penalties and could include up to five years in State Prison. In addition, the State can charge every transaction as a separate crime, which could result in multiple consecutive sentences.

The Florida Drug Crimes Defense Lawyers at Whittel & Melton are experienced with how the State Attorney’s Office investigates these types of crimes and will work to get your charges related to doctor shopping or any other type of drug charge reduced or dismissed. As trial attorneys, we treat every case as if it is going to trial and can provide you with a solid defense no matter what the circumstances are surrounding your arrest.

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Posted In: Citrus County , Doctor Shopping , Drug Charges , Obtaining Controlled Substance by Fraud

April, 2011

Florida Drug Trafficking Defense Attorney :: Inverness, FL Doctor Accused of Trafficking Prescription Pills

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A Homosassa, Florida family doctor described by police as a drug dealer with a medical license and a lab coat was arrested Tuesday and charged with two counts of trafficking in hydrocodone and one count of criminal conspiracy to traffic in hydrocodone. The 71-year-old doctor of osteopathy was taken into custody at his family practice where he voluntarily forfeited his medical license to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to the Citrus County Chronicle Online, the doctor’s bail was set at $1.5 million and the investigation is ongoing. If convicted of any of the crimes, just one of the counts could carry a sentence of over 20 years. At 71, this would be tantamount to a life sentence.

Police supposedly recovered 9,000 pills from the doctor’s office, but believed there should have been around 18,000. Since January 2010, law enforcement believes he has been responsible for dispensing about 42,000 pills. The Department of Health investigated into the doctor’s past records and believes 300,000 pills with a street value of $1.8 million were; sold since 2005.

The doctor allegedly sold the pills to street-level dealers who then sold the pills for as much as $5 to $6 each. The Citrus County State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were able to make multiple undercover controlled purchases of prescription hydrocodone pills throughout the county. Of the thousands of pills exchanged during these transactions, they were all allegedly tracked back to the Homosassa doctor and his medical offices.

A FDLE Special Agent said that the Tampa Bay region leads the state in the number of deaths linked to prescription drugs. Though the region only accounts for 17 percent of the state’s population, it accounts for 29 percent of the prescription drug deaths in the state.

Police said this is a unique case because the doctor involved was not a pain management doctor.

In most drug trafficking cases in Florida, criminal prosecutors usually file conspiracy charges along with trafficking charges in an attempt to seek convictions for both drug trafficking and an agreement to traffic drugs. To be convicted of conspiracy, the crime does not actually have to be completed. The most essential aspect of conspiracy is that two or more individuals come to an agreement or an understanding thus entering into a criminal venture. Conspiracy ends once an act advances the crime and the participants complete the criminal endeavor or someone extracts themselves from the situation.

Proving drug trafficking requires substantiating possession with the intent to dispense a controlled substance. Sentences are determined through the weight value of the total pills in question. A trafficking charge of hydrocodone at minimum is a three year sentence with a fine of $50,000 and a maximum of 25 years in prison plus a fine of $500,000.

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Posted In: Citrus County , Drug Trafficking

April, 2011

Inverness, Florida Criminal Defense Attorney :: Citrus County Couple Arrested for Swindling Money from Supermarkets

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The Citrus County Sherriff’s Office arrested a 25-year-old Lecanto, Florida woman and a 29-year-old Beverly Hills, FL man for scheming to defraud, criminal conspiracy and giving worthless checks.

A deputy arrived at a Publix Supermarket in Inverness, FL after receiving a call from the store manager regarding a woman trying to return purchases made with a check for cash. The manager told the deputy that the checks the woman was using were from an account that allegedly had insufficient funds.

According to the Citrus County Chronicle, the woman and her boyfriend had been buying items at local Publix supermarkets with worthless checks and then going to different Publix stores to return the items for cash.

It is the understanding of law enforcement that an account was opened for $50 on April 1, 2011. Further, the allegation is a total of $530.77 that was written on this account and the total cash refunds were for $167.90.

According to the arrest report, the man and woman took turns making purchases and returning items.

The couple was transported to the Citrus County Detention Facility in Lecanto. Her bond was set at $4,100; his bond was set $3,500.

In Florida, you could face a worthless check charge by writing a check with reasonable knowledge that the check won’t clear or the account has been closed. The charge of Worthless Checks is a first degree misdemeanor carrying a potential jail sentence of up to one year and fines of no more than $1,000. If a single worthless check is more than $150 or multiple bad checks written total more than $150, you will face third degree felony charges with a potential sentence of five years in prison.

Many people bounce checks due to difficult financial situations. Due to a miscalculation of funds or a simple error in balancing their checkbook, people can write checks that bounce and end up facing criminal charges. Under Florida law, unknowingly writing a bad check can be a defense to a worthless checks crime. If the person cashing the check was notified there were insufficient funds available at the time of receipt, this too can be a defense to a worthless check charge and may prevent prosecution under Florida law.

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Posted In: Citrus County , Fraud , Worthless Checks

January, 2011

Inverness, FL Criminal Lawyer :: Registered Sex Offender Charged with Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of Retarded Girl

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A 45-year-old man was arrested and charged with molesting a 25-year-old mildly retarded girl from Crystal River on Monday by the Citrus County Sherriff’s Office.

According to the arrest report, the Citrus County man is a registered sex offender.

The arrest report shares that the girl’s brother caught the man on top of his sister with his pants down, while she was fully clothed. The girl verified the story when her mother questioned her.

The girl told the Citrus County Sherriff’s Office that this had happened three or four other times over the past few years.

After being read his rights, during questioning the man admitted what happened and that he knew the girl was mildly retarded. He confirmed that the incident had happened three times throughout the past couple years.

The man was arrested and transported to county jail on the charge of lewd and lascivious molestation. No bond was set.

The words lewd and lascivious both have the same meaning which is a lustful, wicked or sensual intent of the person committing a certain act. In this case the girl can be referred to as a “disabled adult,” which describes any person over the age of 18 that suffers from a physical or mental incapacitation due to a developmental disability. The facts that the girl is disabled, a sexual act occurred and that the man knew she was disabled are the three elements the State will have to prove to convict the man of a sex crime.

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Posted In: Citrus County , Criminal , Sex Crimes

October, 2010

Citrus County, Florida Internet Sex Sting Operation Results in 22 Arrests

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Inverness, Florida – The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office has deemed last week's sex crime sting to be a success, as it resulted the arrest of some 22 individuals for alleged Internet Sex Crimes. The operation, which allegedly started with an online Craigslist advertisement featuring “a young mother who was seeking subjects to teach her teenage daughter how to please a man and share in intimate family fun”.

The Florida Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers at Whittel & Melton have already begun defending several of these men in Circuit Court in Citrus County.

These types of sting operations have become popular with local law enforcement since the inception of the Dateline NBC's “To Catch a Predator” series which shot some of its episodes in Fort Myers, Florida. In that operation, 24 men were arrested in a three day period.

The types of crimes usually charged in these cases involve using the internet to solicit or secure sex with a minor, aka Internet Solicitation, or traveling to meet a minor for sex. Some of the cases may also involve the possession of or distribution of child pornography-- as many times, law enforcement will engage in online conversations, or chat in online chatrooms, posing as a minor. During these chats, law enforcement may exchange pornographic material to lure an individual to the physical location of the sting operation.

In these recent cases, the State will undoubtedly be seeking convictions under Florida’s Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act. As a part of the sting operation, Citrus County authorities also seized one handgun, 26 cell phones, 19 personal computers, four cameras and countless motor vehicles. It is unclear at this point how many of these seizures will stick in court.

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Posted In: Citrus County , Sex Crimes

November, 2009

Floral City man accepts 25 year prison term in Hernando County sexual battery

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Citrus County Online is reporting that the 20-year-old Floral City man who was set to go to trial next week for sexually battering an eight year old girl accepted a plea deal last week of 25 years in prison and lifetime probation. He was facing life in prison.

The man was charged with sexual battery on a child and false imprisonment of a child relating to the February blindfolding, handcuffing, and sexually battering of a 8-year-old Brooksville girl. According to the State Attorney’s Office, the plea negotiation was approved by the girl’s family because understandably, they did not want the child to have to testify in open court about the horrific experience.

In abuse cases involving children making statements to law enforcement or other adults regarding their abuse, the State has an extra burden if they want these statements to be introduced at trial. Under the Florida Rules of Evidence and Florida Statutes Section 90, the State must show, at a hearing separate from the trial, that the child’s out of court statement about the abuse is reliable. Some of the factors courts can consider in determining whether these child hearsay statements are admissible for a jury to consider include: when the statement was made in relation to the abuse, how the child’s statement was elicited, whether the child was coached prior to questioning and whether forcing the child to testify in open court would cause serious emotional harm. Many times, getting these statements into evidence can make or break the State’s case, as it is quite common for children to recant their statements as time passes.

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Posted In: Citrus County , Sex Crimes

March, 2009

Citrus County Criminal Defense Attorney News Update: Juvenile Corrections Officer Charged with Sex Crime

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According to the Citrus County Chronicle, Citrus County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a 23 year-old female detention officer for allegedly performing a sex act on a 17 year-old male inmate.

Citrus County is of course no stranger to newsworthy sex crimes, as this was the location of the brutal Jessica Lunsford rape and murder several years ago. The detention officer was not taken into custody in the facility she previously worked as she was released and not asked to post a bond.

According to reports, the Citrus County Juvenile Detention officer first allegedly denied the act, but after consenting and allegedly failing a voice stress analysis, the former officer confessed to the events. The reports indicate that not only was a sex act performed, but also a personal mobile phone number was also allegedly exchanged.

Sexual Misconduct by a Correctional Employee is a felony and it is undetermined at this time if this case will be prosecuted by the Citrus County State Attorney’s Office.

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Posted In: Citrus County , Sex Crimes

Jason M. Melton

Criminal Defense Attorney

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