11th Circuit Court

‘Scrivener’ Closing Attorney Ruined By $19M Real Estate Fraud

Atlanta attorney R. Joseph Costanzo Jr. was a little fish in sea of bigtime mortgage fraud, according to his defense lawyer. But after two years of closing fraudulent real estate deals in the Atlanta area as part of a $19 million “flipping” scheme that reportedly involved at least 21 people,…

Feb 12, 2008 1:34 AM CST

Facing Prison, Prominent Fla. Lawyer Still Has Many Friends

Disbarred and facing a prison sentence, a once-prominent member of Palm Beach County’s political structure still had a significant team of well-wishers in his corner as he was sentenced today to a two-year federal prison term in a corruption case . William Boose III, 63, kissed his former law partner,…

Jan 25, 2008 11:00 PM CST

Judge Lowers Padilla Sentence Because of Harsh Confinement

Updated: Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting to release a dirty bomb in the United States, has been sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison for conspiring to “murder, kidnap and maim” people overseas. The 37-year-old Padilla had been expected to get life in prison, the Miami Herald…

Jan 22, 2008 5:41 PM CST

ID Fraud Case a Cautionary Tale for Business Travelers

A Colombian engineer pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami yesterday to a 16-count indictment concerning an identity fraud scheme that netted him up to $750,000 from unsuspecting business travelers worldwide and could easily be copied by other thieves. To perpetrate the crimes, Mario Alberto Simbaqueba Bonilla, 40, simply checked…

Jan 10, 2008 5:34 PM CST

Fla. Field-Workers File Class Action Claiming Wage Violations

In an unusual move that has caught the attention of local South Florida residents, several field-workers have filed a federal lawsuit contending that the owner of the farm at which they have been harvesting beans for years has underpaid them and hundreds of other laborers. The basis of their suit,…

Jan 9, 2008 10:12 PM CST

Mistrial in Sears Tower Terror Case

The so-called Liberty City 7 trial in federal court in Miami over alleged, abortive plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and FBI buildings in other major cities has fizzled out for now. One defendant was acquitted and the jury deadlocked concerning the other six, concluding the case…

Dec 13, 2007 11:02 PM CST

Lawyer Refiles Suit Against DontDateHimGirl.com

A Pittsburgh lawyer has refiled his defamation lawsuit against DontDateHimGirl.com in Miami federal court. Todd Hollis is acting as his own lawyer in the suit filed last week, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Hollis alleges the website defamed him with posts that falsely claimed he has multiple girlfriends, is gay or…

Dec 7, 2007 12:32 PM CST

Former High-Flying PI Lawyer Sentenced to 15 Years

A once-prominent Miami lawyer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for bilking elderly asbestos clients out of more than $13 million. The sentence for Louis Robles was the longest possible under federal sentencing guidelines, the Daily Business Review reports. U.S. District Judge Alan Gold also ordered Robles to…

Dec 7, 2007 11:51 AM CST

Police Informant Sues Over Job Loss

A confidential police informant in Atlanta who lost his job after his identity was revealed because of a furor of publicity over a botched drug raid has sued the city for damages. Alex White contends in his federal lawsuit that he made about $25,000 annually from this work and seeks…

Dec 6, 2007 10:47 PM CST

Hacker Sentenced to 110 Years for MySpace Threats

A computer hacker who gained remote access to the computers of Florida high school girls with MySpace pages has been sentenced to 110 years in prison for extorting nude pictures from them. Ivory Dickerson pleaded guilty earlier this year to manufacturing and possessing child pornography and computer intrusion, the Orlando…

Dec 5, 2007 1:30 PM CST

Dell Serves up ‘Domain Tasting’ Suit With Novel Claim

Computer maker Dell Inc. has filed a federal lawsuit that claims several companies violated counterfeiting laws by buying and selling Web addresses with misspellings of its name. The lawsuit contends three companies that register domain names set up a network with Caribbean shell companies to use Web addresses with typos…

Nov 29, 2007 2:04 PM CST

Lawyer’s Conviction for Obstructing Probe Upheld

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a former Florida lawyer for conspiring to obstruct an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The lawyer, Donald Frank Mintmire, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court…

Nov 20, 2007 2:33 PM CST

Richard Scruggs Wins Venue Change in Contempt Case

A renowned Mississippi personal injury lawyer defending a criminal contempt case after allegedly defying the instructions of an Alabama federal judge to turn over insurance company documents has scored an apparent victory in a wide-ranging ongoing court battle related to insurance coverage for Hurricane Katrina. Federal district court judges in…

Nov 15, 2007 8:20 PM CST

Supreme Court Blocks Fla. Execution; 11th Circuit Didn’t Act

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the Florida execution of child killer Mark Dean Schwab, the Associated Press reports. The move was widely expected. Earlier today a federal appeals court had refused to halt the execution, saying the U.S. Supreme Court can issue an injunction if it sees fit.…

Nov 15, 2007 7:02 PM CST

Bookkeeper Admits Paying Personal Loans From Dead Lawyer’s Accounts

A former bookkeeper for Miami lawyer William Huggett has pleaded guilty to writing checks from his personal accounts after his death in 2004. Sara San Martin, who is also known as Sara Echeverria, pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud in Miami federal court on Tuesday, the Daily Business…

Nov 15, 2007 1:39 PM CST