Articles Tagged with Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer

As an investigation into a 2019 shooting involving a Baton Rouge, Louisiana rapper moves on, federal and state investigators from Louisiana paid a visit to Florida.

In May 2019, a black Cadillac Escalade pulled up and opened fire while the rapper and his friends were leaving Trump International Beach Club.

The rapper did not suffer a gunshot. His girlfriend, though, did receive an injury and had to be taken to a hospital. A young boy also suffered grazed by a bullet during the incident. The boy was examined and released. Another victim lost his life in the crossfire when he was shot in the head while inside his vehicle.

A court battle over a Florida bill that increased the age of purchasing rifles and other long weapons from 18 to 21 saw increased activity recently, with lawyers representing the National Rifle Association and state officials seeking to undermine expert witnesses from each side.

Following the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the age limit was included as part of sweeping legislation. When the then-19-year-old gunman opened fire at the school with the use of a semi-automatic rifle, 14 students and a trio of staff members lost their lives.

Although the statute banned anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing long weapons, it did not prohibit them from owning the guns or getting the guns as gifts. The marketing of handguns to persons younger than 21 has long been banned under federal legislation.

According to court documents, a Cuban-born man alleged to be secretly helping an international militant organization by posting recruitment videos on social media is being held in a Miami federal lockup.

The 23-year-old man who resides close to Fort Myers was refused bail and convicted in Miami last week of supplying material assistance to ISIS, an al-Qaeda offshoot that has achieved prominence through Middle Eastern conflicts and the decapitation of Western hostages. In September, the man was arrested in Miami while meeting with an FBI operative acting undercover.

A naturalized U.S. citizen, the man faces a single terrorist charge of up to 20 years in jail and has an arraignment scheduled for January 7. In the U.S. counter-terrorism section, his defense counsel says he plans to carry out a plea bargain with U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutors to limit his future punishment.

A popular American rapper, singer, and songwriter is generating headlines after recently being charged with alleged possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The charge is a federal offense and could land the rapper in prison for up to ten years.

Documents filed in Miami federal court claim the rapper, even with recognizing he had the previous conviction on his record, had a firearm and ammo in December of last year.

Authorities said that after his baggage was searched upon arrival in Miami on a private jet, the 38-year-old rapper admitted possessing the gold-plated handgun. First published by the Miami Herald, a search warrant said the rapper told police the gun was a Father’s Day present. Investigators also mentioned the rapper having alleged illicit drugs in the baggage, but no drug violation has been filed against the musician.

A sealed federal lawsuit was finally unsealed earlier this week, revealing fraud allegations by a one-time senior executive of a highly regarded private Miami university. The lawsuit alleges that the healthcare system of the school billed Medicare millions of dollars in needless diagnostic testing and saddled patients with undisclosed costs for trips to the clinic.

The U.S. Department of Justice started investigating the claims after the former chief executive officer of the university’s school of medicine, who filed a 2013 whistle-blower lawsuit, first raised them. At a time when the university was dealing with huge debt after completing an unprecedented expansion of its medical school into a sprawling academic health system, the man accused the university of making false charges with Medicare for needless organ donation testing and overcharging patients for clinic visits.

To read more, visit https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article246919602.html.

A woman working for the United States Postal Service recently appeared in federal court after being accused of allegedly stealing a Miami-Dade County mail-in ballot. Among the other items she stole include gift cards, prepaid debit cards, letters, and more.

A pair of postal inspector agents questioned the woman who admitted that she used the stolen debit cards at stores. After being told she would need to turn in her identification for the postal service, the woman told the agents that the ID was in her car. When asked whether there was mail in the vehicle, the woman initially said no before changing her mind. As agents approached the woman’s vehicle, they noticed multiple satchels containing white envelopes. The majority of the mail was intended for delivery within a Miami Beach zip code.

To read more, visit https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article246561663.html.

Earlier this month, in Miami federal court, an American international hospitality corporation had a class-action lawsuit filed against it. Since a new Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal decision, the business is part of a broader wave of hotels facing lawsuits over gratuity or service charges that allegedly violate unfair trade practice laws.

The case came from a hotel guest who, via a QR code, ordered several meals at restaurants in one of the hotels belonging to the hospitality group, which carried an electronic version of the restaurant menu. According to the lawsuit, the woman ordered food and beverages from the menu on her mobile. Although her check had “20 percent SVC CHG,” she said she did not see any note on the menu of the restaurant that an automatic gratuity or service fee about such fees being added to her check. The woman argues that an electronic, mandatory gratuity was unfairly paid.

The class-action case aims to stand for the interests of other class members who bought food or drinks at one of the several hotel properties of the hospitality business in Florida during the last four years.

A Miami police officer is generating headlines after he was allegedly caught wearing a pro-Trump mask while in uniform at an early voting site. Based on Florida law, voters, poll watchers and workers, and other individuals that have been approved by those supervising the election are the ones allowed in a polling place. Furthermore, it is against both state and federal law for a person to solicit or intimidate a voter while they are within 150 feet of a voting site entrance.

It has not been confirmed whether the officer was at the voting site for an official reason or if he sought to vote himself.

The incident with the officer happened just one day following the start of Florida’s early voting and the announcement by Miami officials that plainclothes officers would be deployed near voting sites to put voters at ease.

A 21-year-old South Florida man has been charged with cyberstalking by federal prosecutors after he allegedly made multiple social media posts threatening to kill a woman.

The criminal complaint filed in Florida’s Southern District alleges that the man developed hundreds of false social media accounts during a six month to cyberstalk the woman. In connection with the victim, he made racial and derogative comments, including anti-black comments. The man also shared the address of the Florida home where the woman’s parents resided, per the complaint, and made threats to visit the home and injure them.

In July of this year, after the woman relocated to Los Angeles from South Florida, the abuse and threats persisted. The man discovered the home address of the woman and posted it online under a fictitious social media identity and allegedly threatened to injure or kill her, according to the criminal complaint.