criminal defense

A number of factors appear to have played a role in lower arrest rates at South Florida’s premier electronic music festival in Miami this year compared to years past.

The Miami Herald reports there were a total of 35 arrests over the course of the three-day revelry at Bayfront Park, which was attended by more than 150,000 mostly-young guests from around the globe. This number of arrests represents a 50 percent drop from 2016, continuing the downward arrest trend that began in 2013.

Police officials say part of it has to do with a number of changes, including increased police enforcement and a crowd that is maturing. Authorities say educating the public was a big part of this success, as was close cooperation with the event creators and promoters. Continue reading

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

Articles Tagged with criminal defense

Report: Ultra Music Festival Arrests Down From Years’ Past

Former Sheriff Deputy Guilty of Receiving Child Pornography