Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Coconut Grove Man Accused Of Money Laundering And Bribing State-Owned Companies
The high-rise condominiums of Miami are beautiful to behold, but many of them harbor ugly secrets. People say that, when you are rich, everyone is willing to let you buy things, with few questions asked, and if this is the case, then it is no surprise that many of the most sought-after real estate… Read More »
Will Your Prison Sentence End Early Because Of Compassionate Release?
One of the most stressful moments when you are a defendant in a criminal case is when your lawyer tells you the maximum penalty you could face; sometimes it amounts to more years in prison than a person can survive. That is only the worst-case scenario, and most defendants do not receive the maximum… Read More »
Three Broward Defendants Arrested In Bail Bonds Kickback Scheme
Getting arrested and going to jail for the first time is a terrifying and bewildering experience. The state does not have the right to imprison you except after you have been convicted of a crime and unless due process was observed in arriving at your conviction, and yet people get arrested and taken to… Read More »
Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Gets Probation For Defrauding The Sheriff’s Department Out Of More Than $15,000
Most workers are entitled to receive overtime pay during weeks when they work more than 40 hours. If you are eligible for overtime pay, then you get 1.5 times your usual pay rate for each hour or partial hour beyond the 40th that you work in a given week. In general, overtime pay applies… Read More »
Med Spa Maverick Received More Than $1 Million In PPP Loans While Drug Charges Against Him Were Pending
When med spas and “lotions and potions” multilevel marketing representatives try to sell skincare products to male clients, they act like it is news that skin care is for men, too, but in Florida, we have known this for decades. Everyone who has been to South Florida has seen its impossibly handsome dudes, but… Read More »
Nutritional Supplement Bros Headed To Prison For Conspiracy To Distribute Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic steroids are to the human body as iguanas are to the Florida ecosystem. The body naturally produces testosterone, which increases muscle mass, but anabolic steroids taken as pills or injections mimic the effects of testosterone except on a much larger scale, causing all kinds of dysfunction with the body’s own hormones. Walk into… Read More »
Employee Of Broward News Station Arrested On Suspicion Of Video Voyeurism
Every journalist knows that cell phone cameras can be used for good or ill. In some cases, images and videos captured on mobile phones can tell the truth in ways that verbal accounts cannot. In their closing arguments during Derek Chauvin’s trial for the murder of George Floyd, prosecutors urged jurors to believe their… Read More »
Personal Finance Superstar Faces Charges For PPP Fraud
The end of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was one of the first signs that we as a society were going to have to learn to live with the SARS-COV-2 virus instead of waiting for it to go away as quickly as it had appeared. Even though many months have passed since lenders last… Read More »
Owner Of Non-Existent Healthcare Companies Gets Prison Sentence For COVID Relief Fraud
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevailing sentiment is that business owners, along with everyone else, will just have to find a way to live with the not-so-novel coronavirus. In Florida, which has been especially hard hit by several waves of COVID infections, people are starting to see COVID as just another invasive… Read More »
Flanagan High School Teacher Arrested For Statutory Rape Of Student
Florida teens are known for their movie star levels of self confidence and for their encyclopedic knowledge of risqué lyrics, but their elders are not fooled by the façade and can see that the kids are just kids. Likewise, in Florida, the age of consent, meaning the age at which a person can legally… Read More »
Five South Florida Defendants Imprisoned For Medicare Fraud
Florida is famous as a permanent or seasonal destination for retirees, and there are plenty of ways to make money off of the Sunshine State’s old folks. First, there are the legitimate businesses, such as early bird specials and senior breakfast menus, oldies radio stations, and bingo halls. If you are not so concerned… Read More »
Kodak Black Faces More Legal Trouble After Narrowly Avoiding Lengthy Prison Sentences Several Times
The best movies keep you guessing until the very end whether things will turn out well for the protagonists. Think of the most action-packed crime drama you have ever seen; it pales in comparison to the real-life experiences of Kodak Black who, at the tender age of 24, has been a prolific participant in… Read More »
Miami-Dade Court Clerk Faces Charges For Theft And Fraud For Stealing Divorce Filing Fees
Divorce can ruin your finances in a variety of ways; there is a reason that recently divorced people account for a disproportionately high percentage of divorce filings. The court might order you to keep paying the mortgage on your former marital home, where your ex-spouse continues to reside, even as you are responsible for… Read More »
Five Defendants Await Sentencing After Pleading Guilty In Fort Myers Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Case
The court can order you to go to jail if you disobey a court order; this is called criminal contempt of court. Jail time is not the only possible punishment for contempt; most of the time, people held in contempt of court must only pay monetary fines. If you have ever heard a divorced… Read More »
Former Miami-Dade County Employee Gets Six Months In Prison For Making False Statements In Order To Receive COVID-19 Relief Loan
The COVID-19 pandemic has been extraordinarily disruptive to the daily routines and income of millions of working people and small business owners. If you are still employed now at the same job where you were working before the pandemic, and if your income has not decreased during this time, you are one of the… Read More »
Palm Beach Gardens Police Officer Arrested For Stalking Ex-Girlfriend
Domestic violence does not have to involve physical injuries, or even any physical contact, to count as domestic violence. Stalking and harassment by a former romantic partner or an estranged spouse meet the legal definition of domestic violence, and people who experience these non-physical forms of domestic violence are entitled to the same protections,… Read More »
Financial Crimes Charges Filed Against Both Alleged Victims In Pooh Shiesty Shooting Case
Lontrell Williams, known by his stage name Pooh Shiesty, is only 22 years old, and he has lived in Tennessee for most of his life. His star rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions of people who were stuck at home streamed his songs, and when more than 670,000 people followed him on Instagram. … Read More »
Aventura Businessman Sentenced To 82 Months For His Role In Scamming Medicare By Performing Medically Unnecessary Lab Tests
The pandemic shutdown days of 2020 brought about a new normal. It required some people to overcome their fear of technology. Finally setting up online banking and communicating with co-workers by video chat are not everyone’s cup of tea, but for the cautious, they were better than risking exposure to a contagious illness with… Read More »
Upon Extradition To Miami, Alex Saab Gets Most Charges Dropped, Resulting In A Maximum Sentence Of 20 Years For Money Laundering
Recent efforts at the federal level to combat money laundering, especially instances involving wealthy foreign nationals hiding unethically appropriated funds in United States shell corporations and real estate investments, will make it harder for people to obscure the origins of large sums of money. Meanwhile, some high-profile money laundering cases are still pending, including… Read More »
Jury Finds Connecticut Man Guilty Of Trafficking Three Women To Miami Before Super Bowl
Screenwriters look at South Florida’s biggest celebrations and see right through to the seamy underbelly, and the Super Bowl, which has taken place in Miami 11 times in its 50-year history, is no exception. The crimes that go on while most people’s attention is on the big game, the halftime show, the commercials interesting… Read More »
