Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

January 16, 2016

Dippolito Murder-for-Hire Police Informant: She Was Set Up

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

The case is packed with so many odd twists and turns, it sounds like some kind of made-for-television movie. And strangely, that’s what the defendant says she was trying to do: Act the part of the villain so she could score a reality television show. The alleged victim was even in on it, she said.

But the Boynton Beach police who arrested her for allegedly paying a hit man to kill her now-ex husband say the plan was real. Meanwhile, the police were filming a “COPS” episode of the whole investigation, and even staged a fake murder scene as part of the case.

Dalia Dippolito was charged and later convicted of solicitation to commit first-degree murder with a firearm and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Then the conviction was overturned two years ago based on improper jury selection. Now, Dippolito’s defense lawyers are arguing the charges should be dropped, presenting testimony from her one-time friend-turned-police-informant Mohamed Shihadeh says he was pressured by police to set up Dippolito. Continue reading

January 13, 2016

Vehicular Homicide Charges in Fort Lauderdale 4-Year-Old’s Death

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Most people think speeding is one of those things that is “no big deal.” People do it all the time, and often with little consequence. But consider this case recently reported by the Sun-Sentinel:

A man has been charged with vehicular homicide in Fort Lauderdale after a high-speed crash resulted in the death of a 4-year-old boy almost two years ago in Sunrise.

The now-21-year-old defendant had been driving at least 70 mph in a black BMW. Investigators would later opine he was driving somewhere in the neighborhood of 83 mph. The speed limit on that stretch of North Pine Island Road is 45 mph. There was a yellow car in front of him. A vehicle ahead of that yellow car made a wide turn into the parking lot of a shopping plaza. The yellow car hit the brakes. The BMW driver, Andrew Ezequiel Perez, couldn’t slow down in time. He lost control.
Continue reading

January 11, 2016

Feds: South Florida Men Rented Out Homes They Didn’t Own

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Three men in South Florida are facing federal fraud charges after authorities allege the men took over control of about 80 houses in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, swapped the locks and then rented these units to tenants who had no idea the “landlords” weren’t the rightful owners.

The four men, all from Palm Beach County, are facing charges that include mail fraud conspiracy and mail fraud. Bond is being withheld until a judge determines whether they should stay locked up while the case is pending.

Authorities say this brazen scheme specifically targeted homes that were owned by a Georgia-based company in the business of buying and renovating homes and then renting them out. Continue reading

January 6, 2016

Report: Mentally Ill Lost in Broward Courts Shuffle

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

It should come as little surprise that persons who are mentally ill comprise a significant portion of the incarcerated population. A recent report by the Treatment Advocacy Center indicated that American prisons and jails house an estimated 360,000 inmates with mental illness – or about 10 times the number of mentally ill patients in state psychiatric hospitals.

Now, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has taken a look at that issue from a micro perspective, analyzing how it has affected those specifically in Broward County.

The crux of what reporters discovered is this:

Those charged with minor felonies in Broward’s mental health court face punishment even when they are never found guilty;
These individuals spend six times longer in the criminal justice system than those in regular court;
About one-third of these individuals spend five years or more in the criminal justice system – even with no conviction at all!

January 2, 2016

Florida DUI Defense: Auto-Brewery Syndrome

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

File this one under “strange but true”:

A New York woman recently successfully warded off a DUI conviction after presenting evidence in court that her body brews its very own alcohol. You read that correctly. This woman reportedly blew a blood-alcohol level that was more than four times the legal limit, despite having consumed nowhere near that level of alcohol.02

Despite this extremely high amount of alcohol in her blood, she was not exhibiting any of the typical symptoms of alcohol consumption when she got to the hospital. Although her blood-alcohol level would suggest she was nearing a coma-state, hospital officials wanted to release her immediately because she didn’t seem drunk at all.

Her defense lawyer was at first puzzled. The woman herself insisted she had only consumed four drinks over a six-hour period when she met her husband at a local bar/grill. Experts opined that at that rate, a woman of her size would have a blood-alcohol level of somewhere between 0.01 and 0.05 by the time she was driving home. She should have been well below the legal limit of 0.08. Continue reading

December 28, 2015

Police: Thieves Accused of Stealing Christmas Gifts in Fort Lauderdale

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Fort Lauderdale police detectives say two teen suspects channeled their inner Grinch recently when they broke into a home on Northwest 17th Avenue and made off with a pillowcase stuffed with Christmas gifts.

Authorities say the two, 19-year-old Qwavon Jones and a 16-year-old who was not named due to his age, were caught after neighbors called police to report they heard glass shattering at a home nearby. Police arrived quickly thereafter, allegedly spotting the two as they ran and hopped a fence while holding the pillowcase. After a brief foot chase, the two were apprehended. Authorities later surmised the two gained entry to the home by smashing a rear window and climbing inside.

South Florida Sun Sentinel reports the two were charged with grand theft, burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and resisting an officer without violence. Investigators say they discovered not only unwrapped gifts inside the pillowcase, including purses and shoes, but also a myriad of jewelry and rings inside the pockets of each. The homeowner later identified the items as belonging to him. In total, the value of the items was placed at $2,000. Continue reading

December 26, 2015

Former Sheriff Deputy Guilty of Receiving Child Pornography

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

He had just turned 22 and his love interest was 15. Years ago, it might simply have been considered a Romeo-and-Juliet story.

But this is modern day, and he was a Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy and that 15-year-old was legally a child. That meant the short video clip the teen sent to his older paramour of himself engaged in a personal sex act was child pornography.

For this exchange and for driving to meet that teenager, fired deputy Matthew Bondi, a Deerfield Beach native, has pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography charge, as codified in 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2). By knowingly receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, he committed a crime formally classified as sexual exploitation of a minor. Now that he has pleaded guilty, Bondi faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. The Sun-Sentinel reports he is expected to be sentenced early next year. Continue reading

December 21, 2015

Troopers Suspect Drunk Driving in Fatal Crash on I-75 in Oakland Park

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

The driver who rear-ended an Oakland Park food truck in September, causing fatal injuries to one of the passengers, is believed to have been under the influence of alcohol, according to investigating troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol.

According to a newly-released search warrant obtained by The Sun-Sentinel, driver Joseph Decaro Jr., co-owner of a Bonefish grill in Plantation, told the trooper he was taste-testing holiday martinis with the bartenders just an hour before the crash. Decaro, who has not been arrested or charged with any crime as of this writing, allegedly told the trooper he had left work about a half hour prior to the crash and had nothing to drink a half hour before he left the restaurant.

Authorities say Decaro was operating an F-150 truck when he rear-ended a food truck in which 54-year-old Patsy Jane D’souza was riding. She wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was ejected onto the highway, where she died. The 48-year-old food truck driver suffered minor injuries.

Decaro, 45, of Miami, reportedly told the investigating troopers on scene that he and his staff were instructing bartenders on how to make certain martini drinks to ensure they were properly mixed. As he described it, he consumed, “A sip of this one, a sip of that one. Make another one, sip of this one, sip of that one.” Continue reading

December 17, 2015

Florida Deputies: 11-Foot Alligator Killed, Ate Hiding Burglary Suspect

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

A 22-year-old suspected burglar was found deceased in a Brevard County pond (which is more like a lake) near where he is believed to have hid as police with K-9 units pursued him ten days earlier. The cause of death? An 11-foot alligator, which was aggressively guarding the man’s corpse as authorities approached.

According to Bay 9 News, Matthew Riggins had notified his girlfriend that he and another man were in the Barefoot Bay community with the intent to commit house burglaries in the middle of the night on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13th. But a resident called the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office around 2 a.m. to report that two men wearing all black were walking behind houses in the neighborhood.

Authorities responded to the scene, but the two men took off on food. Deputies deployed a helicopter and a K-9 unit, but they couldn’t find the men. Meanwhile, according to the Orlando Sentinel, Riggins called his girlfriend to report he was hiding because the authorities were after him. He indicated he would probably be laying low for a few days. That was the last anyone spoke to him. Unfortunately, it seems he was laying low near a very large and aggressive alligator. Continue reading

December 14, 2015

Federal Judge Sentences Former Army Recruiter to 12 Years for Illegal Sexual Contact With Teens

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

For sex and sexual contact with two 17-year-old girls, a 30-year-old former Army recruiter will serve 12 years in federal prison, following a plea agreement for which child pornography charges were dropped.

Jose Nieves Jr., from Sunrise, pleaded guilty to two counts of enticing a child to engage in sexual activity. Per 18 U.S. Code 2422, coercion and enticement, any person who persuades, induces, entices or coerces anyone to travel interstate to engage in any sexual activity (including prostitution) can be charged with this offense, for which the minimum penalty is 10 years and the maximum is 12 years.

However, by agreeing to plead guilty to these charges, he was able to evade conviction on the production of child pornography charge, as codified in 18 U.S.C. 2251, sexual exploitation of children. This statute punishes anyone who entices a minor into sexual conduct for purposes of producing visual depictions of such conduct to between 10 years and life in prison. Continue reading