Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

December 9, 2015

Florida Judge Sentences Probation Violator to 60 Years in Prison

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

A Florida probation violation is a serious matter that, depending on the circumstances, can result in reinstatement of the original maximum penalty, which may include years in prison. In fact, one might end up being sentenced to years behind bars for doing something that, had they not been on probation, would have been perfectly legal.

That’s why people tend to take these matters less seriously; they don’t see their offense as being egregious. But the courts can and do often take a very different stance.

Take for example the recent case of Herbert Smith, the 23-year-old Broward County man who was just sentenced to 60 years in prison for driving on a suspended license – a violation of his probation. This was not only much in excess of what defense lawyers were arguing, it was 47 more years than what prosecutors were requesting. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the stunning sentence has sparked outrage within the community, as family members have garnered 19,000 signatures in a petition to remove Broward Circuit Judge Matthew Destry. However, that’s not how the system works. Judges are elected, and the only way to remove one before an election is via a formal process overseen by the Florida Supreme Court. Continue reading

December 5, 2015

False Teeth Fraud Inquiry Morphs Into Child Porn Investigation in Sunrise

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

Marino Vigna was a dentist who primarily treated geriatric patients suffering from dementia in nursing homes throughout Southeast Florida.

The Florida Attorney General’s office launched an investigation back in 2012 when they received information indicating the dentist may have been engaging in fraudulent billing practices. There were allegations he was charging for services he never completed. In other cases, there were instance in which it was alleged patients had dental work completed when it wasn’t necessary.

In search of billing records that might support these assertions, state investigators seized several office computers in June of this year. These included hard drivers and business records. But when they opened those records, they allegedly found something else entirely: Child pornography. Continue reading

December 1, 2015

Smart v. Florida – Rape Trial Will Continue After Juror Misconduct

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

When a prospective juror in Palm Beach County stated in front of 70 others that a rape case defendant didn’t deserve a fair trail and ought to be “hung outside,” it was opined by the judge to be an attempt to get out of jury duty.

The judge said it won’t work. It’s possible the juror may face sanctions for his remarks in a courtroom this past July. The comments were made in response to a question by the judge. Still, the judge agreed to grant a defense motion to excuse all 70 prospective jurors, despite objections from prosecutors that it wasn’t necessary.

Now, the judge has ruled the case will continue with another attempt at trial. Attorneys for the defendant, 54-year-old Frederick Lincoln Smart, had argued the trial shouldn’t go forward at all because there was a deadline to hold the trial by no later than Aug. 6th. Smart filed a demand for a speedy trial, which meant there was only 50 days in which to commence the trial under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.191(b). Continue reading

November 29, 2015

Florida Woman Gets House Arrest for $240k Social Security Fraud

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

Social Security fraud is addressed under federal statutes – specifically, 42 U.S.C. 1383a. In part, the law defines fraud as having knowledge of the occurrence of any event that would affect one’s initial or continued right to any such benefit or the initial or continued right to any such benefit of any other individual in whose behalf or she applied for or received the benefits, along with a failure to disclose it.

Violation of this law carries a maximum five years in prison, plus an order for restitution.

Despite this, a Deerfield Beach woman who allegedly committed Social Security fraud for more than three decades was sentenced to house arrest, probation, community service and restitution. This was after defendant Claudia Carpenter, 60, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of government funds. The Sun-Sentinel reported Carpenter admitted to the court when entering her plea that she failed to tell the Social Security Administration when her mother died in 1984. Instead, she continued collecting her mother’s disability checks – about $900 each month – which were automatically deposited to their joint bank accounts. Years later, she started taking the money out of automatic teller machines. Continue reading

November 27, 2015

Florida Hit-and-Run Captured on Electronic Devices

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

Most criminal lawyers will tell you eye witness testimony is incredibly unreliable. There are often many ways to successfully challenge eye witness accounts in court.

However, it can be much more challenging when the “witness” is a camera. In this digital age, where everyone has a smartphone, surveillance cameras are everywhere and even traffic signals come equipped with the ability to capture images, that’s becoming an increasing reality in many cases.

This was underscored recently in the case of a Sunrise hit-and-run crash last month. Continue reading

November 21, 2015

DUI Manslaughter Defendant Fights for Third Trial in Two Appeals

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

A battle over blood evidence is one of just two fronts on which a polo club founder is fighting his conviction for DUI manslaughter, following a second trial over a fatal accident in Wellington that killed a 23-year-old recent engineering graduate.

Defense attorneys for 52-year-old John Goodman, heir to a heating-and-cooling company and founder of the polo club, argued recently before Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal that the blood evidence against him is not reliable. Because prosecutors leaned heavily on it during his second trial, they argue a new trial should be granted.

He is also appealing his retrial conviction on other technicality grounds. Further, he is asking the state to give him “credit for time served” for the 368 days he spent on house arrest while his second trial was pending.

Prosecutors are fighting back on each of these appeals. https://www.ansaralaw.com/dui.html

November 17, 2015

Broward Reduces Penalties for Possessing Pot

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

Broward County commissioners have voted unanimously to slash the punishment for those caught in possession of small amounts of marijuana. The measure allows a person to be issued a civil citation instead of an arrest if:

–The amount of the drug with which they are caught is 20 grams or less;
–The person did not also commit domestic violence, DUI or some other felony;
–The person has not had three or more prior citations for marijuana possession.

Commissioners at this point have taken it as far as they can. They cannot decriminalize a drug that is illegal under state (and technically, federal) law. That means police and prosecutors will be given discretion. They can choose to issue a citation that comes with a civil fine, or they can treat the offense as a misdemeanor.

November 14, 2015

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to $10 Million Investment Fraud

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

A 75-year-old man from Broward County admitted in a Fort Lauderdale federal courtroom that he and two others heisted millions of dollars from investors more than 10 years ago, blew a good chunk of it on lavish lifestyles and squirreled away the rest in overseas accounts.

Burton Greenberg of Plantation pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy at a recent hearing. He faces up to two decades behind bars.

The guilty plea comes just one month after he and another man, 60-year-old Bruce Kane of Fort Lauderdale, were arrested in connection with the scheme. Kane is being held in a prison in upstate New York, where he was apprehended. A third man, a Canadian national, is a suspect but has not yet been arrested, though he is believed to be residing in Turkey.

These kinds of white collar criminal cases are almost always prosecuted at the federal level, which often translates to harsher penalties.

November 10, 2015

Florida DUI Manslaughter, Hit-Run Cases Result in Disparate Sentences

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

Last month, a South Florida disc jockey was convicted of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in an auto accident that killed a couple in a vehicle stopped at a traffic signal ahead of him. The crash happened in 2013 in Coral Gables.

Defendant, Ervens Prudent, is better known in Miami as “DJ AOL.” His blood-alcohol level was allegedly nearly twice the legal limit as he was driving home from a friend’s wedding. Though he conceded on the stand he was at-fault for the crash, he insisted he wasn’t drunk. Rather, he had fallen asleep.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 18, and he faces up to 30 years in prison. The question of what he’ll actually get is tough to say, given how disparate sentences can be in cases that alleged DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and hit-and-run.

This fact was highlighted several months ago in an in-depth analysis by the Miami Herald, which found that while the average DUI manslaughter sentence in Florida was 9.5 years, punishments varied greatly depending on jurisdiction. For example:
–Palm Beach County – Average 11.54 years average
–Hillsborough County – 10.18 years average
–Miami-Dade – 6.09 years average

November 7, 2015

Juvenile Facing Felony Charges in Fatal Crash Following Police Chase

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

A 15-year-old from Boca Raton is facing charges of vehicular homicide and homicide while engaged in a felony offense after he crashed a stolen Mustang into a Honda Pilot during a police pursuit. Although the teen and his 20-year-old passenger were uninjured, the driver of the Pilot, 46-year-old Wendy Harris, was killed.

At this time, we’re not naming the teen because he hasn’t (yet) been charged as an adult. However, considering the circumstances of this situation, we recognize it’s highly probable prosecutors will do so.F.S. 985.557 is the “direct file” statute, which spells out situations in which prosecutors have discretion in “direct filing” a juvenile offender as an adult – to face (mostly) adult penalties, and when such action is mandatory.

The statute says that when any child who is 14 or 15 at the time of the alleged offense, prosecutors can seek adult sanctions when the person is arrested for a number of serious and violent felonies, including robbery, sexual assault, arson, aggravated child abuse, aggravated stalking, grand theft, robbery, kidnapping, carjacking or grand theft of a vehicle (when juvenile has a prior adjudication for the same or similar offense). Prosecutors may be required to “Mandatory Direct File” when the child is 16 or 17 at the time of allegedly committing a forcible felony or when any felony offense is committed and the teen has a previous adjudication for a violent felony.