A Hillsborough Circuit Judge sentenced Kevin Smith of Oldsmar to a year and a day in state prison this week after Smith pleaded guilty to the drunk driving death of a Tampa woman in 2008. Smith was charged with DUI manslaughter related to the death of Vickie Colonna.

Colonna’s family had originally asked that Smith receive the maximum 15-year sentence. Prosecutors told the judge this week, however, that the state and Colonna’s family accepted the one-year sentence which was the result of a plea negotiation.

After Smith completes his prison sentence, he will be placed on 10 years of probation. His driver’s license was permanently revoked and he must perform 50 hours of community service and pay up to $12,200 restitution to cover Colonna’s medical and funeral expenses. (more…)

Hernando County Sheriff’s deputies arrested ten people in Brooksville earlier this week on marijuana charges. More than 270 marijuana plants were discovered in two houses by the deputies on Wednesday. The defendants, all of Brooksville, were charged with a variety of drug and tampering charges including cultivation of marijuana.

Detectives had reportedly been watching the houses and picked up some of suspects after seeing them visit the homes for an extended period of time, according to deputies. Because the plants were located throughout both homes, authorities concluded all of the suspects were aware they were grow houses, according to an arrest report.

Four houses were actually raided and searched; only two had been allegedly converted to grow houses.

At those two homes, detectives found marijuana as well as extra sets of power lines used to divert electricity needed to operate A/C units, several grow lights, fans, and other items used to grow marijuana, according to arrest reports.

Fort Myers real estate agent Thomas Daugherty pleaded guilty earlier this month to federal tax evasion charges in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers.

Prosecutors alleged that Daugherty, who handled commercial real estate transactions, reported a total of $3,366,733 in income for the years 1998 through 2005. He reported $2,020,655 in income for the years 2006 and 2007. However, Daugherty failed to pay $1,648,227 in taxes for the years 1998 through 2005.

Law enforcement further alleged, and Daugherty admitted, that he maintained a lifestyle of hoarding and spending cash in order to hide his assets from the IRS during that time. He cashed his real estate commission checks or purchased cashier’s checks made out to himself, rather than depositing them into his bank account. From November 2002 through April 2008, Daugherty purchased more than 210 cashier’s checks totaling more than $2,190,000 and made payable to himself while maintaining nominal or negative bank account balances.

The failure to pay income tax alone would probably not have concerned federal authorities to quite the extent that Daugherty’s evasion tactics apparently did. Daughtery will now be the subject of a pre-sentence investigation and faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

Janusz Suzdorf of Dunedin was arrested this month on a federal complaint charging him with conspiring to traffic in Oxycodone. Suzdorf is the latest in a string of arrests related to the Neurology & Pain Center clinics located in Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, Jacksonville and St. Petersburg. Previously, the clinics’ co-owners Troy Wubbena and Dr. Jeffrey Friedlander along with two other employees were indicted on similar charges.

According to the complaint, Suzdorf conspired with Wubbena, who is a physician’s assistant, to illegally distribute Oxycodone through the use of blank prescription forms pre-signed by Wubbena’s supervising physician, Dr. Friedlander. Law enforcement says that the blank forms were then filled out by Wubbena and others employed at the clinics in the names of purported patients for Oxycodone. These prescriptions for Oxycodone were then filled at various pharmacies throughout the Tampa Bay area and illegally distributed by Wubbena, Suzdorf, and others.

Wubbena, Friedlander and the other employees were initially charged back in March 2009. Wubbena was indicted on additional charges earlier this month. There is no indication as to why this latest round of charges were not filed last spring as well. The two clinic employees initially charged pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to distribute drugs and have agreed to cooperate with the government – this may well be the explanation for additional charges so late in the process.

If convicted, Suzdorf faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

See Also:

• Doctor from Tampa & St. Pete Clinics Indicted on Drug Charges
• Tampa Pain Clinic Owner Indicted Again on Drug Charges

A federal judge this week found Rogelio Zarco Perez of Dade City guilty of gun charges relating to a large-scale raid last August. Perez previously pleaded guilty to drug charges.

Law enforcement seized fifty-two kilograms of cocaine and $2.2 million in cash from 12019 Duck Lake Canal Road, Dade City, on August 26th, 2009, the largest drug seizure in the history of Pasco County. Perez’s three co-defendants pleaded guilty to drug charges for their roles last month.

The investigation leading to Perez’s indictment began in 2007 and revealed large cocaine importation, storage, and distribution scheme. The Dade City address was used as drug and cash storage. Several Ocala addresses were used as distribution points.

Law enforcement pulled a truck over after it left the Duck Lake Canal address and discovered over $2 million in a fuel tank. A search warrant was then executed at the residence. Drugs and cash were found. Perez and another co-conspirator were arrested.

The case was investigated by a taskforce comprised of agents and detectives from the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Highway Patrol.

Sentencing is scheduled for April. Perez faces up to life in prison on the drug charges.

See Also:

Pasco Detectives Seize $1.5 Million in Cocaine

Troy Wubbena, physician assistant and co-owner of the Neurology & Pain Center clinics located in Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, Jacksonville, and St. Petersburg, has been indicted again on a charge of conspiracy to traffic in oxycodone. Wubbena, of Tampa, was already facing charges of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, morphine, hydrocodone and Aprazolam (commonly known as Xanax) without a valid medical purpose and outside the course of professional practice and defrauding Medicare out of more than $200,000.

Wubbena and clinic co-owner Dr. Jeffrey Friedlander, along with two clinic employees, were initially charged back in March. The two clinic employees have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and have agreed to cooperate with the government. (more…)

On Thursday, a Pinellas County jury convicted Cordaro Hardin of first-degree murder in the 2007 shooting deaths of two St. Petersburg men. The penalty phase of the capital murder trial occurred on Friday. The jury declined to recommend that Hardin by sentenced to death, instead recommending the only other alternative sentence – life in prison.

Hardin himself communicated to the jury through the song he wrote. From the witness stand, Hardin sang, “God, I need a little assistance, will you be with me? By my side when I leave here, where do I go from here?”

Hardin was represented by Tampa Bay area capital murder defense attorney Bjorn Brunvand. At Friday’s hearing, Brunvand called the killings senseless but argued that Hardin should be spared from execution. Brunvand pointed out that Hardin had no previous criminal record and was only 18 at the time of the shootings. Hardin maintains his innocence. (more…)

Last week, Tampa Bay area criminal defense attorney Bjorn Brunvand was featured in an article in the St. Petersburg Times on juror questioning.

In January 2008. the Florida Supreme Court began allowing jurors to take notes during trials and to ask questions in civil trials. The juror questioning procedure is still discretionary in a criminal trial.

The judge in the recent capital murder trial of John Ditullio in Pasco County allowed questions to be submitted by members of the jury. Brunvand defended Ditullion at trial. A mistrial was declared after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

The article can be found at: http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/jurors-questions-revealed-evidence-insight-in-pasco-neo-nazi-trial/1063041

See Also:

• Brunvand Wins Motion to Have Defendant’s Tattoos Covered During Trial

• New Port Richey Death Penalty Trial Continues

• Hung Jury, Mistrial in New Port Richey Death Penalty Trial

In January 2008, Damian Eagan of Pinellas County was shot in the hand and arm by a man with dreadlocks who was attempting to steal $4,000 in cash. Eagan later identified Mariuntay Murray in a photo lineup as the person who shot him.

Eagan and Murray knew each other. Murray’s brother had dated Eagan’s sister.

Prosecutors charged Murray with attempted first-degree murder and robbery. The case went to trial this past week.

Eagan was the first witness called to the stand by prosecutors. Under direct examination by the assistant state attorney, though, Eagan testified that he wasn’t “100% sure” who shot him.

“Were you 100 percent sure when you (identified him) back in February 2008?” the prosecutor asked. (more…)

Christopher Taylor, a 26-year-old St. Petersburg man, pleaded guilty this week to second-degree murder for the 2007 shooting death of James Lasseter. Taylor was represented by Tampa Bay area criminal defense attorney Bjorn E. Brunvand.

Taylor entered a guilty plea in accordance with a plea agreement with prosecutors. Under the agreement negotiated between the state and the defense, Taylor was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He will be required to serve each day of the sentence but will receive credit for time already served in jail post-arrest.

Authorities alleged that Taylor shot Lasseter because he believed Lasseter sold him fake cocaine. Taylor was originally charged with first-degree murder which carries a mandatory life sentence upon conviction.

Local news reported that Assistant State Attorney Bill Burgess said he was pleased that the arrangement would take Taylor off the streets for 25 years. Taylor’s attorney Brunvand said the arrangement does provide “an opportunity for him to become a member of society again.”