Blog

Red Light Camera Tickets are being issued each day in the many incorporated cities and municipalities located in Miami-Dade County. Many of us are familiar with this phenomenon. We receive a notice in the mail with a photo of a car we were allegedly driving, seemingly crossing over the white stop line after the light had already turned red. We are then given an opportunity to pay a fee to the tune of $153.00. It may not seem as grave as a ticket that a...

Federal Fraud prosecutions have comprised a large percentage of Federal criminal cases during this decade. Mortgage Fraud and Bank Fraud cases were abundant in the Southern District of Florida in the years after 2008 following the real estate boom and crash. Banks were handing out loans with no income verification, which invited fraudulent financial representations. Straw buyers with good credit were frequently used by unsavory characters to purchase ...

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is the law enforcement agency which determines whether or not a person is eligible to Expunge or Seal their criminal record. See Florida Statute §943.0585 to view the law regarding Expunging and Florida Statute §943.059 regarding the Sealing of Criminal Records. Since a person may legally "deny or fail to acknowledge" their arrest, this is very valuable for many reasons such as employment, college, and o...

Florida laws specifically protect classes of people who are known to have been abused and who are least able to protect themselves, such as the elderly, handicapped, and children. At issue is a recent Florida case where an elderly, wheelchair bound 65-year-old man was allegedly left out in the heat and sun for an extended period of time where he ultimately died. Since I do not know any more facts about this particular case than reported in a news blurb...

Recently, a man from Vero Beach was arrested for allegedly attempting to break into jail. That's right, he was allegedly breaking into jail. As your resource for legal information, and a Florida criminal defense attorney who has defended a number of intoxication cases, I'd like to help you understand what to expect in the event that you or someone you know finds himself in a similar situation. The Report The story goes like this. The Vero Beach ...

You probably hear about plea bargains all the time in TV dramas, but how does a plea bargain actually occur? As your local Florida criminal lawyer, I'd like to let you in on the details of when and where they can occur. There Is No Set Time for Plea Bargains The truth is, plea bargains can occur at any time along the timeline of the criminal case. I have had cases where the plea bargain process has begun before the Arraignment, at the Arraignment...

As a Florida criminal defense lawyer with over 30 years of experience, I feel it's time to shed some light on plea bargains and why they exist. The reason is very straightforward. The fact lies within the complex and over-burdened court system. How Florida Court Works It's simple math. In the calendar year 2015, twenty-six thousand (26,000) defendants were arrested and assigned Felony case numbers in Miami-Dade County, Florida. There are 52 weeks ...

Today, I'm going to tell you the story of "Neil", a smart man who needed a South Florida criminal lawyer to straighten out the details of a very scary case. Neil was an entrepreneur growing marijuana in his house. He had enough plants and weight to subject him to a three-year minimum mandatory Prison sanction on a Drug Trafficking charge, which carried a maximum of thirty years. It seems that a competitor or someone who didn't like Neil gave the Police...

This week I resolved an interesting criminal case. My client was charged in two felony cases. One case was Trafficking in Cocaine (more than 400 grams) which carries a 15-year minimum mandatory. The second case was operating a "chop shop" that contained numerous stolen motorcycles and motorcycle parts. Prior to my becoming involved in the case, the Public Defender was able to negotiate a plea offer down from fifteen years to seven years in State Prison...

As a Florida criminal lawyer, I've seen some very interesting cases dealing with drug crimes. As always, I help my clients get the best outcome. Here are a few important things to know if you're facing drug charges in South Florida. Most drug cases involve the search of an individual or a place, such as a house or building. As such, either a search warrant is required or some valid exception to the search warrant requirement. This is a protection af...