Recent Blog Posts
Miami Rapper and Reality TV Star Baby Blue Accused of PPP Loan Fraud
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a provision of the CARES Act passed as an emergency response to the financial disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, quickly disbursed funds to applicants claiming to represent businesses with 500 or fewer employees. The law contains strict requirements for the expenses for which loan recipients may use the… Read More »
Fort Myers Construction Contractor Pleads Not Guilty to PPP Loan Fraud After Being Accused of Using Federal Loan Money to Buy Boat
Business owners using their companies’ money for personal expenses is nothing new. In fact, sometimes there is a fine line between business expenses and personal luxuries. The year of the COVID-19 pandemic is, undisputedly, not the time to walk that fine line. During the pandemic, businesses have been closing at an alarming rate, and… Read More »
Palm Beach County Chiropractor Pleads Guilty to Fraud for Durable Medical Equipment Scheme
You are not the only person who has ever been astounded by the huge numbers on your billing statements from doctors’ offices and hospitals. The bills are still expensive even after your insurance pays its share, but the amounts billed to insurance companies and Medicare are nothing short of astronomical. Where does all that… Read More »
The “Tomb Raider” Fraud Scheme and Its Aftermath: Two Broward County Lawyers Now Face Criminal Charges
If in-person socializing ever makes a comeback, see what your guests say if you ask them to name the first South Florida stereotypes that come to mind. Your guests will probably mention South Florida’s reputation as a retirement destination and the plethora of mansions purchased by people whose eyes are bigger than their wallets. … Read More »
Margate Man Serving Prison Sentence for Possession of Child Exploitation Images Must Also Pay Restitution to Nine Victims
In the age of social media, almost everyone has a little fear in the back of their minds that their worst moments will circulate forever on the Internet, never to be lived down. This fear is enough to make most of us take care to avoid making off-color comments and expletive-filled rants or wearing… Read More »
Broward County Mortgage Consultant Appeals His Money Laundering Conviction, Claiming That the Scammers Led Him to Believe They Were Legitimate Clients
Email scams have existed for as long as email has. It is usually easy to spot the scams. The sender signs the email with a personal name or a business name, but a Google search for the person or the business does not turn up any relevant results. The writing style is awkward or… Read More »
Broward Family Reunites After Draconian Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws Force Parents to Spend 15 Years in Prison
Mandatory minimum sentencing laws have attracted criticism for a variety of years. First, they are a classic example of how a conviction for a nonviolent crime such as drug possession can effectively ruin someone’s life; when drug crimes carry a mandatory minimum sentence, getting caught with a single dose of drugs can mean that… Read More »
Former NYPD Officer Sentenced to Seven Years for Providing Armed Security for Sunrise Drug Deal
The perks of one’s job are sweeter when shared with family and friends. What lawyer does not delight in bringing his or her children to the office on teacher planning days and seeing them draw pictures on legal pads, then tear off the pages they used and display their drawings on the fridge? Many… Read More »
Jude Faccidomo Quoted in the Miami Herald article “Jury trials to slowly return in Miami, but Zoom court will go on, sparking new controversy”
“What we are dealing with is the old ‘Jurassic Park’ argument. The courts seem so consumed with whether they can hold these hearings, they haven’t really stopped to think if they should,” said Jude Faccidomo, of Miami, the group’s president-elect. “These are difficult times, but if history has taught us anything, the most important… Read More »
Former Police Officer Sentenced to Four Concurrent Prison Sentences for Forcing Suspected Drunk Driver and Passenger to Run Down Alligator Alley Naked
South Florida news headlines tell of numerous abuses by people in positions of authority. While elected officials, law enforcement officers, and wealthy executives usually are not able to avoid legal consequences for their actions, they are much more likely to get lenient sentences and generous plea deals, so that the sentences they serve seem… Read More »
Miramar Man Gets 70 Months in Prison for Selling Drugs in Small Quantities on the Dark Web
The Internet makes life simpler, except when it doesn’t. You can buy and sell almost anything online, even illegal and marginally legal drugs. Perhaps more importantly, you can pretend to be anyone. Sooner or later, though, your real-life activities will expose the real person behind the online persona. This was what happened to a… Read More »
Former Employee of Coral Springs Middle School Sentenced to 75 Years for Sexually Abusing Student
Fewer than ten percent of criminal cases go to trial. Unless the attorneys for the defendant are able to get the charges dropped, the next best option is usually a plea bargain. Most defendants get a much lighter sentence if they plead guilty to some of their charges than if they fight all of… Read More »
Broward Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Possession and Distribution of Obscene Images
It is against the law to possess pornographic content depicting the sexual abuse of minors. As with any crime, a person cannot be punished for it unless he or she enters a guilty plea or unless a jury determines, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he or she has committed the crime. Since so many… Read More »
Former Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Deputy Gets Five Years in Plea Deal for Sober Home Patient Brokering Scheme
The shady machinations of South Florida’s addiction treatment centers and sober living homes in the second decade of the 21st century have become the stuff of legend. Tales of “druggy buggies” transporting people on a desperate quest for sobriety from one candy-colored beachfront house-turned-rehab to another have featured in everything from “Florida man” memes… Read More »
Federal Jury Acquits Man After Drug Bust at Fort Lauderdale Airbnb
Every person accused of a misdemeanor or felony in the United States has the right to a trial by jury, but in practice, very few defendants exercise those rights. The punishments are usually worse if a jury returns a guilty verdict at trial than if the defendant had pleaded guilty. Sometimes defense lawyers are… Read More »
Fort Lauderdale Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Selling Fentanyl That Caused Fatal Overdose
If a person dies from a drug overdose, does it mean that the person who sold or gave the fatal dose or drugs to the victim killed him or her? Most of the time, drug cases are completely separate from homicide cases, but in the past three years, Florida courts have tried several defendants… Read More »
Coconut Creek Police Officer Acquitted of Sexual Molestation After Other Charges Are Dropped
Between reporting a crime and a defendant being convicted are many steps of a legal process that aims to be fair both to defendants and to victims. The defendant has the right to enter a plea of not guilty, and if he does, the jury cannot convict him unless the prosecution convinces them, beyond… Read More »
Former Boynton Beach Police Officer Gets Two Years for Possession of Images of Child Exploitation
A man previously employed by the Boynton Beach Police Department will serve two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of obscene images showing children being subjected to sexual abuse. Like many people who buy abusive images online, he and the people who conspired with him in the trafficking of the images… Read More »
Former Sheriff’s Deputy Gets Probation in Plea Deal After Pleading Guilty to Possession of Obscene Material Involving a Minor
Possession of obscene images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors is a felony according to Florida law. A person convicted of one count of possession of obscene material involving a minor can face up to five years in prison, as well as having to register as a sex offender. Why, then, is a former… Read More »
Music Producer Serving Sentence for Drug Trafficking Seeks to Overturn His Conviction
In 2020, it should be obvious to anyone that police officers who act as though the rules do not apply to them often get away with it and also that not everything that people post on social media is factually accurate enough to be used as the basis for a decision. The process of… Read More »
