11th Circuit Court

2 More Law Firm Workers Face Charges Related to Ex-Attorney Scott Rothstein’s $1.2B Ponzi Scheme

Two more employees face felony charges related to a case that put their former boss, disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein, behind bars for operating an approximately $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme out of his South Florida law firm Bookkeeper William Boockvor, 66, is accused of preparing false bank documents concerning Rothstein Rosenfeldt…

Dec 2, 2011 11:11 AM CST

Teary Attorney Who Cooperated with Feds and Tried to Atone for Mortgage Fraud Gets 2.5 Years

Attorney Carol Asbury hoped to avoid prison for her role in a multimillion-dollar South Florida mortgage fraud, she told the ABA Journal last month. Once she came to her senses and realized she had gotten seriously off track, she went to the feds and told them what she knew, helping…

Nov 18, 2011 9:40 PM CST

4 Charged in Alleged Fringe Plot Targeting DOJ, Federal Judges and IRS to ‘Save’ Constitution

Federal authorities in Georgia have arrested four men they say are involved in an alleged fringe militia plot targeting the U.S. Department of Justice, federal judges and the Internal Revenue Service for attack by explosives and ricin, a highly toxic derivative of castor beans. Dan Roberts, 67, allegedly was captured…

Nov 1, 2011 11:51 PM CDT

Former Gen’l Counsel David Boden is Target of $37.8M Rothstein Law Firm Clawback Suit

An attorney licensed in New York who served as general counsel for the Florida law firm formerly run by now-convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein is facing a $37.8 million clawback suit. The suit, which was filed today in bankruptcy court in Ft. Lauderdale, seeks $1 million that David Boden allegedly…

Oct 27, 2011 11:36 PM CDT

Rothstein Clawback Suits Seek $9.8M from Jeweler, $1.5M from Bugatti Seller, $57K from Cigar Store

The bankruptcy trustee settling the affairs of onetime law firm chief and convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein is targeting the sellers of some of his favorite things in an effort to recover assets for creditors. Clawback suits filed today in federal court in South Florida seek $9.8 million from Levinson…

Oct 20, 2011 1:06 AM CDT

11th Circuit Blocks School and Alien Registration Provisions in Alabama Immigration Law

A federal appeals court has blocked two provisions in Alabama’s tough immigration law, including a requirement for public schools to check the immigration status of students. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today issued an order granting the stays, report CNN, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News. The…

Oct 14, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Fought Foreclosure Fraud Takes Federal Plea in Straw-Buyer Money-Laundering Conspiracy

A Florida title attorney who is playing a prominent role in the fight against mortgage foreclosure fraud by lenders has taken a plea in a federal case over an alleged mortgage fraud conspiracy. Carol Asbury, 59, could get as much as 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when…

Oct 12, 2011 12:34 AM CDT

DOJ Asks 11th Circuit for Emergency Stay of Ala. Immigration Law

After a partial defeat in its effort to block enforcement of a contraversial new immigration law in Alabama at the federal district court level, the U.S. Department of Justice is now seeking an emergency stay from a federal appeals court. In a filing today, the DOJ asked the Atlanta-based 11th…

Oct 7, 2011 7:28 PM CDT

Oops. Yemen Man Cited in Alabama Senators’ Push to Enforce New Immigration Law Is a Legal Resident

A misdemeanor charge against an alleged undocumented immigrant in Etowah County, Ala., last week was billed as the first in the state under a controversial new law that allows police to check the immigration status of an arrestee. Taken into custody Friday for allegedly obstructing a government operation during a…

Oct 5, 2011 7:24 PM CDT

Gov’t Asks Fed’l Court to Vacate Guilty Plea of Ga. Judge to Honest Services Fraud Conspiracy

A longtime Georgia judge avoided prison in 2009 by taking a plea in a federal corruption case. Now it appears that he likely will also avoid a conviction in the case: Federal prosecutors are joining the defense in seeking to vacate the guilty plea of Brooks E. Blitch III to…

Sep 30, 2011 10:01 AM CDT

11th Circuit Nixes ‘Finders Keepers,’ Says Massive Treasure Trove from 1804 Shipwreck Goes to Spain

Some 17 tons of silver coins from the 1804 wartime shipwreck of a Spanish galleon must be returned to the government of Spain, which owns the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a federal court has ruled. Affirming a trial court’s decision, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held…

Sep 21, 2011 9:22 PM CDT

Jury Deadlocks in Federal Mortgage Fraud Trial of Lawyer and Two Former Police Officers

After almost a week of deliberations, a federal jury has deadlocked in a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., mortgage fraud trial of an lawyer who is the owner of a local title company and two former Plantation police officers. Attorney Steven Stoll had faced 34 counts, but his lawyer, Bruce Zimet, said…

Sep 21, 2011 6:54 PM CDT

11th Circuit Nixes 17-Year Term for Terrorism Plotter Jose Padilla, Says It Wasn’t Long Enough

A trial court judge reasoned that convicted terrorism plotter Jose Padilla, 40, would be too old to reoffend after serving a federal prison sentence of a little over 17 years in the Southern District of Florida case. Plus, U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke noted, Padilla had been confined under harsh…

Sep 19, 2011 6:56 PM CDT

Federal Judge Slams Mastermind of $205M Health Care Racket with Record 50-Year Sentence

Citing “a critical need for deterrence against health care fraud,” a federal judge in South Florida today sentenced the convicted mastermind of a $205 million health care racket to a 50-year prison term. The sentence given to Lawrence Duran, 49, by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King following a three-day…

Sep 16, 2011 8:42 PM CDT

11th Circuit Upholds Life Sentences for Juveniles Convicted of Murder

A federal appeals court based in Atlanta has ruled that juveniles convicted of murder may be sentenced to life in prison without parole. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) Wednesday in the case of Kenneth Loggins, the Associated Press reports. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court barred…

Sep 9, 2011 10:30 AM CDT