November, 2011

Federal Mail Fraud Defense Attorneys Whittel & Melton :: Ex-Gainesville Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Connection with Multi-Million Dollar Ponzi Scheme

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A former Florida resident was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on Thursday for mail fraud in connection with a $30 million Ponzi scheme.

His original charges also included wire fraud and conspiracy, crimes that often get charged in conjunction with mail fraud cases.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, the Florida Attorney General’s Office and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The 48-year-old man was ordered to surrender $29.9 million, numerous computers and computer equipment purchased using earnings from the scheme.

According to authorities, the man received $30 million from more than 500 investors in Florida and throughout the United States by assuring them that they could earn 10 percent interest per month by trading in foreign currency through his company located in Pasco County.

The man supposedly only invested a small portion of the assets obtained, paid investors about $15 million of other investors’ money and spent millions of dollars on personal items for himself, friends and family. He allegedly leased high-end real estate in New York City, private jets, and bought luxury cars, clothing and jewelry.

The Florida Attorney General’s Office shut down the man’s former company in April 2010 and froze its assets after investigating a grievance against the company. During that time the man had a Gainesville address and supposedly went to school in the area.

He was arrested in New York City on Nov. 4, 2010 and indicted Dec. 1.

Mail fraud and wire fraud are broad terms used in any case involving theft by mail, by Internet, by electronic transfer, by phone or any other comparable scenario. The State must prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt to obtain a conviction for this white collar offense. A mail fraud or mail theft case revolves around several points:

• Did the accused actually plan to commit fraud?

• Did the accused willfully and intentionally create a plot to cheat another person or persons
out of money or property?

• Did the accused use the postal system in their scheme to defraud?

Prosecutors and investigators for fraud cases are aggressive in pursuing charges, which means your case can drag on for a lengthy time period. If convicted of mail fraud, the penalties include stiff fines or imprisonment for up to 20 years, possibly both. If the violation concerns a financial institution such as a bank, the fine can be elevated as high as $1,000,000 and imprisonment up to 30 years.

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Posted In: Alachua County , Conspiracy , Mail Fraud , Pasco County , Wire Fraud

July, 2011

Pasco County Criminal Defense Lawyers Whittel & Melton :: Police Searching for Man Allegedly Involved in Wesley Chapel Shooting

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A Zephyrhills, Florida man is being sought on a charge of attempted second-degree murder by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office for his supposed involvement in an alleged playground shooting in Wesley Chapel. This marks the third shooting to occur in the Wesley Chapel, FL area within about a week.

According to investigators, the 30-year-old man allegedly shot a 20-year-old in the stomach after the pair met at a community playground on June 28 for a prescription drug deal. The victim suffered wounds to his abdomen.

The man sought was arrested earlier last month for a marijuana charge and was released the following day after posting bond. Records show the man served prison time for cocaine and grand theft charges.

A day before the playground shooting occurred, a Wesley Chapel man was shot in the face while allegedly selling prescription medications from his house. A masked man supposedly entered the man’s home and shot him; the man’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. No arrests have been made regarding this incident, reports show.

In another shooting that occurred on June 21, a 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault. The man allegedly shot three rounds at a moving vehicle after an argument took place at a neighborhood basketball court. His bail was set at $350,000.

Attempted second-degree murder is a serious offense; along with hefty time behind bars you could have an attempted murder conviction on your record. In the state of Florida, attempted second-degree murder is considered a second-degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. However, if a firearm is used in the charge of an attempted second-degree murder, the penalties increase drastically. A gun escalates the charge to a first-degree felony punishable by a maximum of 30 years in state prison if the gun is discharged. This includes a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison under Florida’s 10-20-Life.

Attempted second-degree murder can be difficult for the State to prove all the elements associated with the crime, which makes some cases very defensible. To prove the crime, the prosecution must show the actions of the accused were dangerous enough to cause the death of another, not that the accused had the intent to kill. In many scenarios attempted second-degree murder is overcharged; the experienced Criminal Defense Lawyers at Whittel & Melton will work to lower your charge. Some cases can be reduced to aggravated assault or misdemeanor battery. The facts of every case are different.

Remember self-defense laws can apply and protect you from an attempted second-degree murder charge. Florida’s law of Stand Your Ground says that you have the right to protect your life or the life of another if you have the reasonably belief either is in danger. This can include using lethal force if you feel you have no other way of protecting yourself or another.

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Posted In: Attempted Murder , Pasco County , Weapons Charges

April, 2011

Hudson, Florida Juvenile Criminal Defense Lawyer :: Pasco County Teenager Charged with Rape at Fivay High School

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A 17-year-old male was arrested Wednesday by Pasco County police for involuntary sexual battery on a teenage girl. The alleged rape occurred at Fivay High School in Hudson, Florida.

The girl told police that the teenage male sent her a text in November to meet him near a boy’s restroom in the high school. The girl said the male pulled her into a boy’s bathroom stall and raped her.

According to BayNews9, the teenager denied any sexual contact with the girl and provided saliva samples for DNA testing to investigators. Testing revealed that his DNA was on the pants the girl was wearing the day of the alleged rape.

The teenager later told police that he lied about not having sexual relations with the girl, but said he did not have sex with her in the alleged time or place of the reported incident.

The teen’s name has not been released as he is not being tried as an adult.

Florida has very strict penalties for teens convicted of sex offenses. Many times sexual offenses allegedly committed by a juvenile are denied bond because of the serious nature the juvenile court system upholds. Juvenile cases are handled quite differently than adult criminal cases; the biggest difference being that juveniles are not given due process. Juvenile cases are heard by a judge who determines the punishments without a jury.

The laws in Florida regarding sex crimes vary by the degree of the crime committed. Penalties for a misdemeanor sex crime could entail jail time of less than a year or probation, a fine, and community service. Penalties for a felony offense, such as sexual battery, can include a lengthy prison term and lifetime registration as a sex offender. The most serious penalty for committing a sex crime as a juvenile is the possibility of registering as a sex offender for life. Any Juvenile 14 years of age or older found guilty of committing, attempting, soliciting or conspiring to commit sexual battery, lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious molestation are required to register within the Florida database.

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Posted In: Juveniles , Pasco County , Sex Crimes

March, 2011

Land O’ Lakes, FL Criminal Lawyer :: Man Accused of Snatching Elderly Woman’s Purse

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A 24-year-old Land O' Lakes man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with robbery by sudden snatching, according to the Pasco County Sherriff’s Office report.

A 77-year-old Land O’ Lakes woman told police she was out shopping at a Kmart store on Feb. 11 when the robbery happened. She walked back to her car, opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat when a man came up to her vehicle, grabbed her purse and ran.

The woman chased the man who snatched her purse and saw him get inside a black vehicle. She later found that her tires had been slashed. A police report indicated that her credit cards were used in Tampa.

When the suspect was contacted by authorities, he said that another man stole the purse, but he was present while the robbery occurred.

The man charged with robbery by sudden snatching lingered in jail Wednesday with bail set at $5,000.

Robbery is referred to as the use of violence or the threat of violence to take another person’s property. Common types of Robbery include purse snatching, carjacking and bank robberies. Depending on a defendant’s criminal history and the facts of any given arrest, a robbery can be charged as a third degree felony up to a life felony.

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Posted In: Pasco County , Robbery

September, 2009

Cross-dresser arrested for Hernando County Violation of Probation

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Cross dressing isn’t a crime, but violating probation can be. Tampabay.com is reporting that Dade City Police Department arrested a 44-year-old man dressed in a black tank top and blue denim skirt Sunday morning after he tried to run from police.

According to the report, a patrol car was making a U-turn on U.S. 301 when they spotted what appeared to be a woman standing behind an abandoned business. When officers shined their spotlight toward the back of the business, and the person took off running into the woods.

The officer and a police dog soon found a man in the woods changing out of the tank top and skirt into a button-down shirt and tan shorts, the report said. After being detained, the man said that he wasn't a prostitute, and that dressing in woman's clothing is something he does in his spare time. He ran because he didn’t want to get arrested in women’s clothing.

The man had an open Hernando County warrant for violating his probation on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license was also arrested that night by the Dade City police for resisting arrest without violence.

Both of these crimes are misdemeanors which means that the cross dresser could be subject to two years in jail—one year for the violation of probation and another for the resisting and officer without violence charge. Generally, a violation of probation subjects a defendant to the maximum penalty they could receive on the underlying charge. Courts are reluctant to impose jail time for violations that involve failure to pay fines or court fees and are more likely to impose jail or prison sentences on violations that involve new charges.

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Posted In: Pasco County , Violation of Probation

April, 2009

Pasco County Criminal Lawyer New Update: New Port Richey, FL Man Charged with Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault on Law Enforcement, DUI

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Despite no known criminal priors, a 23-year-old is behind bars, according to the St. Petersburg Times, in Land O’ Lakes, Pasco County Jail, after a botched traffic stop on Friday night.

Allegedly during a “routine” stop for a missing tag and suspicion of ties to a recent burglary, the defendant tried to ram a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office cruiser in an attempt to hit a deputy who was out of his vehicle.

After the help of a K-9 unit tracking down the defendant who fled on foot, the young man was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, possession of marijuana, reckless driving and driving under the influence. Pasco County first appearance bond judge levied a bail amount of $120,450.

To make matters more complicated, one of the deputies involved in the apprehension of the defendant had a “ride-a-long” from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office Explorer program with him. No doubt, that will be a night to remember for that volunteer youngster.

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Posted In: Assault and Battery , Homicide , Pasco County

December, 2008

Tampa teens arrested for burglary

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Three Tampa juveniles have been arrested on charges of burglary and grand theft auto. It is not clear at this time whether they will be treated as adults.

ABC Action News reports that the charges stem from an incident on East Jean Street on Friday. Thinking no one was home, Tampa Police say the juveniles cased an elderly Sulpher Springs woman’s home and then the teens broke in. The victim heard the noise created by the break in and she investigated, using her crutches. She surprised the juveniles who fled with keys to her van which also had her wheelchair inside.

The juveniles were apprehended a short time later in the same neighborhood when police stopped the kids in the stolen van. Police were able to recover victim's specialized wheel chair from a dumpster. Grand theft auto is third degree felony holding a maximum penalty of five years. Burglary of an occupied dwelling is a second degree felony.

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Posted In: Burglary and Trespass , Pasco County

November, 2008

New Port Richey paramedic arrested for battery

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According to a Sheriff's Office report, New Port Richey Paramedic James McCormick was arrested for battery in relation to an altercation with his girlfriend. Allegedly, he and his girlfriend were arguing when McCormick grabbed her by the throat and started to choke her.

ABC Acton News reports that McCormick's girlfriend scratched him with her fingernails trying to fight back, and thought she was going to die. McCormick told deputies a different side of the story, saying his girlfriend attacked him and he was just defending himself. The Sheriff's Office is now trying to determine if alcohol played a role inthis incident.

McCormick has been arrested and is in jail on the battery charge. Depending on the severity of the woman’s injuries, under Floirda law, McCormick may be charged with a misdemeanor or felony battery--which could potentially hold a penalty of anything from probation to ten years in prison.

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Posted In: Assault and Battery , Pasco County

Jason M. Melton

Criminal Defense Attorney

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