Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Federal prosecutors in South Florida have accused the head of an infamous Mexican drug gang and five others of allegedly smuggling over 500 kilograms (1,000+ pounds) of Mexican methamphetamine into the United States. Law enforcement officers intercepted over 1,100 pounds of crystal meth before it could enter the streets in what is now the biggest methamphetamine bust ever in Miami-Dade County.

The accused have received drug conspiracy, drug distribution, drug importation, and other charges in a pair of separate lawsuits. One lawsuit accused one man of drug trafficking offenses. He is a past mayor of Aguililla, Mexico, and, per the charges, the chief of the United Cartels in Michoacán, Mexico. It even suspects another person of being a co-conspirator. On March 30, 2021, both men were detained in Guatemala at the behest of the United States.

Another four suspects are accused with a second federal complaint about their involvement in the suspected drug operation. On March 30, 2021, law enforcement agents arrested these four suspects in Miami. They have made their first appearances and are expected in federal magistrate court in Miami on April 7, 2021, for custody hearings.

In Ocala, a 24-year-old Florida man has been charged with a federal hate crime. A federal grand jury in Orlando charged the man from Dunnellon with setting alight and destroying the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Ocala, returning an accusation against him.

In July of last year, the man set fire to the Queen of Peace Catholic Church, according to the indictment. According to the complaint, he was inspired to start the fire because of the church’s religious nature. He faces a single count of causing malicious harm to religious property, a hate crime offense under the Church Arson Prevention Act, and a single count of committing a felony through the use of fuel.

The man faces a potential sentence of 20 years in jail if accused of causing malicious damage to religious property. For using fire to commit a crime, he faces an extra statutory sentence of ten years in prison. He may also face a three-year supervised release sentence, as well as a $250,000 fine and restitution.

A pair of Florida men have earned themselves federal prison time after they were caught stealing more than ninety in sea turtle eggs. These eggs are protected by federal law as part of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

One of the men, per the criminal complaint, dropped the other off at Singer Island Beach, located to the north of Palm Beach, one night in May of last year. Officials said the man who was dropped off uncovered a sea turtle nest, grabbed 93 eggs, and then made a phone call to be picked up. Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw the poaching and pulled over the men’s vehicle. Sea biologists retrieved and moved the eggs.

The men were reportedly trying to market the sea turtle eggs, according to prosecutors.

Earlier this month, a federal magistrate judge in Fort Lauderdale ordered a South Florida pediatrician to be held without bail awaiting conviction on a federal charge of alleged child pornography possession.

In June of last year, the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force obtained a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about files containing child pornography being posted to an e-mail server, including a recording of a child being sexually assaulted, per the federal criminal complaint affidavit. Law enforcement tracked down the pediatrician, who practiced in Broward County, Florida. According to the affidavit, law enforcement officers gathered information that he was using an instant messaging program to access child pornography and speak with minors when a search warrant at his Parkland, Florida residence was executed.

A federal magistrate judge in Fort Lauderdale ordered the pediatrician’s pre-trial arrest, which means he will be held in jail until his federal trial. He could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted of the federal charge. In connection with the suspected behavior, he is now facing a state court prosecution.

A 33-year-old Palm Beach Gardens, Florida man has been charged with assault of an Assistant United States Attorney as well as conspiring to murder an Assistant United States Attorney by a federal grand jury in South Florida.

Per court filings, in November of 2019, a jury found the man guilty of various federal offenses in a related lawsuit. He grabbed a chair by his table and hurled it at the Assistant United States Attorney investigating his case while the jury was leaving the courthouse, narrowly hitting him, according to the complaint. The man was tackled by several Deputy United States Marshals who tried to restrain him. He allegedly attempted to murder and attack the Assistant United States Attorney as this was going on.

The prosecution is merely a charge. Unless he is found guilty, the man is presumed innocent. He faces a potential term of 20 years in prison if convicted.

Federal agents in Fort Lauderdale arrested a top associate of a suspected New York crime family on drug-related plot charges on Sunday.

The man, who is related to a reputed mafia boss, was recently apprehended by Homeland Security Investigations agents and made an appearance in federal court. As he awaited sentencing in New York, a federal magistrate judge ordered him to be held in home detention with an electronic ankle bracelet. The man is one of six men targeted by federal investigators, who have dubbed the gang the Western New York “Italian Organized Crime” family.

The man and his sibling were named as co-conspirators by prosecutors in the case of a former US Law Enforcement Administration agent who was indicted in 2019 on charges of taking well over $200,000 in payments to assist drug traffickers in evading prosecution, including those the government believes may have ties to organized crime. He has entered a not guilty plea.

A 59-year-old Boca Raton has been charged by South Florida federal prosecutors with

making an interstate commerce contact where she made threats to kill Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents.

According to the charges in the affidavit of the criminal case, the FBI was tipped off online last month by the National Hazard Operation Center that the woman shared details on her Facebook profile that she was at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. Agents reached her via phone on January 28, 2021, telling her of the FBI and its interest in inquiring about her trip to Washington, D.C. The woman wanted to know whether the agents had confirmation that she in Washington D.C., the affidavit says. She denied traveling to Washington D.C. but said she knew people who were traveling there. She decided to communicate with the FBI and gave her Boca Raton address.

A trio of suspects have been charged by West Palm Beach federal prosecutors with conspiring to manufacture more than thirty pounds of crystal methamphetamine. Each of the defendants is a Mexican national. A pair of them made their first federal magistrate court appearances on Monday. Last Friday, the third suspect made his first appearance before a Wisconsin federal magistrate judge where he was convicted.

The criminal prosecution affidavits filed in federal court allege that the three suspects conspired to transport methamphetamine from Atlanta, Georgia for sale in West Palm Beach, Florida. On January 22, 2021, the operation was disrupted when two of them transferred more than thirty pounds of crystal methamphetamine to an undercover cop, the affidavits claim.

Each criminal faces a compulsory term of 10 years imprisonment upon arrest or even life imprisonment.