11th Circuit Court

11th Circuit: Money in Rothstein law firm accounts can’t be forfeited to feds

In a decision that may benefit ordinary creditors of a defunct Florida law firm and cost those swindled by its imprisoned former managing partner, Scott Rothstein, a federal appeals court has ruled that funds in Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler bank accounts are not subject to forfeiture by the feds. That means…

Jun 12, 2013 9:25 PM CDT

Onetime Natalee Holloway suspect may wed from Peruvian jail to avoid extortion extradition

Corrected: Convicted murderer Joran van der Sloot is now jailed in Peru, where he was found guilty of slaying college student Stephany Flores. His crime there was high-profile because of extensive publicity over the still-unsolved disappearance of another young woman, U.S. citizen Natalee Holloway, who vanished in Aruba while on…

Jun 3, 2013 2:46 PM CDT

$1M overbilling claim leads to criminal case against lawyer and office manager

A former office manager for a small Florida law firm who was federally indicted earlier this month, along with her ex-boss, in an alleged conspiracy to overbill a client by $1 million has taken a plea. Maria Hassun pleaded guilty to one theft count in federal court in Fort Lauderdale…

May 30, 2013 6:00 PM CDT

Activist ex-prosecutor ‘indicts’ Obama, Holder, Justice Roberts and others

Claiming that a so-called citizens grand jury has the power to indict and try top U.S. officials, a former federal prosecutor well-known for his conservative activism and views has convened such a panel in Ocala, Fla. It has now “indicted” a number of top members of the Obama administration, including…

May 30, 2013 4:12 PM CDT

Woman dies on courthouse floor without medical aid after arrest over unpaid ticket, suit says

Arrested and jailed over an allegedly unpaid 2008 traffic ticket, Dwana Voncia London-Richardson died, at age 45, on an Alabama courthouse floor days after sheriff’s department and jail workers failed to provide her with medical treatment, a federal lawsuit says. It names as defendants the St. Clair County sheriff, county…

May 20, 2013 3:16 PM CDT

Lawyer extradited from Nicaragua is accused of role in $137M fraud scheme

An American lawyer has been deported from Nicaragua after authorities say he tried to get a passport there using a fake birth certificate and is being extradited to Florida, where he will face federal prosecution for his alleged role in a $137 million stock-investment fraud scheme. Lawrence Hartman is accused…

May 16, 2013 6:10 PM CDT

Lawyer who started on pro bono capital appeal as summer associate hopes to take it to top US court

When William Ernest Kuenzel got married to a social worker in 2008, attorney David Kochman was his best man. He’s also Kuenzel’s pro bono appellate counsel in a death-penalty case in which the attorney is asserting that his client is actually, factually innocent. Kochman, a 33-year-old commercial litigation associate at…

May 3, 2013 5:10 PM CDT

Widow who owed $21.6M to feds gets ‘effectively 5 seconds’ of probation, as judge scolds government

An elderly Palm Beach, Fla., widow with a high school education got “effectively five seconds” of probation from a federal judge in an offshore tax-evasion case after paying a $21.6 million penalty and back taxes. Mary Estelle Curran, 79, had inherited $43 million in Swiss bank accounts from her husband,…

Apr 26, 2013 3:50 PM CDT

Law firm, 2 attorneys sued by FDIC, accused of helping bank make $82M in illegal loans

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has sued a Florida law firm and two of its attorneys, contending that they failed to take note of “glaring red flags” when representing Orion Bank in making $82 million in illegal loans in 2009. Nason, Yeager, Gerson, White & Lioce, as well as a…

Apr 18, 2013 7:42 PM CDT

Company sues former law firm, says failure to detect issues before IPO cost millions

A Florida-based company that sells health products over the Internet has sued its former law firm, contending that it lost millions because Shefsky & Froehlich failed to detect and inform its leaders, prior to going forward with an initial public offering, of corporate governance and capital structure issues. In the…

Apr 16, 2013 5:35 PM CDT

Man who paid hospital workers for patient info to sell medical and legal services gets 4 years

A man who admittedly paid husband-and-wife hospital employees over $10,000 to provide confidential patient information that was used to solicit individuals for additional medical and legal services was sentenced this week to four years in federal prison. Sergei Kusyakov, 39, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to defraud the United…

Apr 10, 2013 4:22 PM CDT

Man arrested in clerk’s office as he was trying to file a federal suit pleads guilty in assault case

Arrested nearly two years ago in the clerk’s office when he went to file a lawsuit at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a pro se plaintiff has now pleaded guilty in the assault case that resulted. A guard noticed when Larry Paul Delaney went through security at the…

Apr 5, 2013 6:56 PM CDT

Prayers before city meetings are constitutional, appeals court rules

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has said that allowing prayers before city meetings in Florida is constitutional. The ruling (PDF) is a victory for the city of Lakeland, which is among many municipalities in Florida that open meetings with prayer, the News-Press reports. Atheists of Florida filed suit…

Mar 27, 2013 9:30 PM CDT

Man angry over stripper’s $750 debt made death threats to judge and prosecutor, feds say

A scheme that federal prosecutors say Amin Abbas Eltayeb launched to try to collect on the $750 loan he had made to an exotic dancer allegedly resulted in threats against a Florida judge, prosecutor and sheriff’s deputy. Warned by the woman’s boyfriend to leave her alone after she had repaid…

Mar 26, 2013 4:26 PM CDT

Trustee wants to raise money to pay Casey Anthony’s debts by selling her life story

With nearly $800,000 in obligations, about $1,000 in assets and minimal work experience and training, it might seem that Casey Anthony, who is 26 and unemployed, has little likelihood of being able to pay the debts that drove her into bankruptcy. But a bankruptcy trustee has a different idea. Stephen…

Mar 18, 2013 10:55 PM CDT