United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Miranda Delee Farleigh (25, Ocklawaha) has pleaded guilty to possessing stolen mail. Farleigh faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Farleigh had been indicted on February 1, 2022. According to courtContinue Reading
U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced three former Hamilton Correctional Institution Annex officers for violating the civil rights of an inmate. Coty Michael Wiltgen (32, Live Oak) was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release; Ethan Burkett (25, Valdosta, GA) wasContinue Reading
United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that DeAnna Marie Stinson (50, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. According to court documents, on June 24, 2021, Stinson created an account onContinue Reading
U.S. District Judge James Moody has sentenced Mary Kathryn Marr (42, Miami) to 14 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Court also ordered Marr to forfeit various assets, which are traceable to proceeds of the offense and, as part of her sentence, entered a moneyContinue Reading
U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway today sentenced Johnson W. Eustache to five years in federal prison for wire fraud and aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. The court also ordered Eustache to forfeit approximately $700,000 seized from several bank accounts, as well as real propertiesContinue Reading
United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Tatiana Power (41, Weston) today pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy related to a Florida-based international enterprise that operated subscription-based sexually exploitative “child modeling” websites. Power faces up to 20 years in federal prison. According to court documents, Tatiana Power (alsoContinue Reading
Pennsylvania district attorney Kevin Steele filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the 2018 Bill Cosby sexual assault conviction, arguing that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s June decision sets a dangerous precedent with “far-reaching negative consequences.” The June ruling hinged on a press release issued in 2005 byContinue Reading
A South Florida tax preparer was sentenced today to two years in prison for perpetrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain over 100 COVID-19 relief loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). According to court documents, Leonel Rivero, 35, of Miami, owned a tax-preparation business and submitted approximately 118 fraudulent PPPContinue Reading
Edgar Hurtado-Ramirez (52, Mexico) today pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder monetary instruments and engage in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. Hurtado-Ramirez faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. According to the plea agreement, Hurtado-RamirezContinue Reading
Dustin Shane Sandiford (31, Citrus Springs) has pleaded guilty to using a minor to produce child sex abuse images. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, and up to 30 years, in federal prison. He had been indicted on June 30, 2021. His sentencing hearing is scheduled forContinue Reading
Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the extradition of Glib Oleksandr Ivanov-Tolpintsev (28, Chernivtsi, Ukraine) in connection with charges of conspiracy, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, and trafficking in computer passwords. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in federal prison. The indictmentContinue Reading
Kimberly Fleer (27, Seffner) has pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl to an individual, causing that individual’s death. Fleer faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years, and up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. According to the plea agreement, on November 2, 2019,Continue Reading
U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton has sentenced Lascelles Peter Francis, III (30, Daytona) to 15 years and 10 months in federal prison for possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Francis had pleaded guilty on MarchContinue Reading
U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Edgar Vazquez (36, Fort Myers) to 11 years in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. The court also ordered Vazquez to forfeit a firearm and ammunition that were involved in the offense. VazquezContinue Reading
U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Jamar Maurice James (31, Fort Myers) to 10 years in federal prison for possessing ammunition as a convicted felon in connection with a shooting at an apartment complex parking lot in Fort Myers. James had pleaded guilty on January 13, 2021. AccordingContinue Reading
A federal judge sentenced a Tampa man to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison for sex trafficking of minors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. Luis Berrios-Trinidad, 30, of Tampa, was also ordered to forfeit a Glock 19 9mm handgun and cellular phone,Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled about half of Oklahoma belongs to Native Americans, recognizing this part as a reservation. The justices decided 5-4 in the Jimcy McGirt 1997 child rape case, that Oklahoma’s eastern portion, including Tulsa, will now fall under federal jurisdiction for criminal prosecution and that theContinue Reading
United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Jonathan Michael Rouffe (47, Boca Raton) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. According to the plea agreement, in 2018,Continue Reading
St. Petersburg Mayor, Rick Kriseman has declared the Pinellas County community a sanctuary city in response to President Trump’s plans to crackdown on immigration. “While our county sheriff’s office is ultimately responsible for notifying the federal government about individuals who are here illegally, I have no hesitation in declaring St.Continue Reading
Next week a federal court will consider whether Florida can continue denying kosher meals to Jewish prisoners, even when the vast majority of state prisons and the federal government have provided them for many years. Florida claims that providing kosher meals would be too expensive—even though the estimated cost ofContinue Reading
