Articles Posted in Federal Crimes

U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley sentenced Fort Lauderdale man Van Lawson Williams, 49, to life in prison last week after being found guilty of charges of attempted sex trafficking of minors and sex trafficking in violation of Title 18, United States Code, (section14 1591(a)). The sentencing was announced by a combination of participants of different agencies: Wifredo A. Ferrer, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Michael B. Steinbach, Acting Special Agent in Charge (Miami Field Office FBI); and Chief of Police of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department Franklin C. Adderly, it was disseminated in a press release on January 9, 2013.

A jury found Williams guilty of four counts of sex trafficking of minors, who were between the ages of 12 to 16. and one count of attempted sex trafficking on October 30, 2012. During the trial, six of the victims, the aggregate being runaways when they met Mr. Williams, attested to the fact that they were recruited to become prostitutes working out of Williams’ home located on the 2000 block of NW 30th Avenue. Based on trial evidence, Williams observed young girls in his own neighborhood; pursuing minor females who he believed to be runaways. After finding what he believed to be prospective candidates he then offered them free meals and lodging to stay with him at his Fort Lauderdale residence. After the girls would reach a positive decision to Williams’ offer, after a short time, he would change the rules and persuade them to become prostitutes. He told them that they were welcome to stay but needed to earn money to assist in paying the monthly household expenses. Without agreeing to chip in, they would have to leave. The young girls stated that they were directed to give the money that they obtained for their prostitution services to Williams, on most occasions, during their testimony. More than a few of the girls testified that Mr. Williams did in fact provide them with illegal drugs such as crack cocaine and marijuana. They also testified that Williams had sexual relations with them or tried to attempt to have sex with them.

Williams was originally arrested in May 2012. His first federal court appearance was before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry S. Seltzer at his bond hearing. Based on the original criminal complaint, Williams, who is a convicted felon, would lure young girls to join up with him by offering meals and a place to stay. As previously mentioned he would also give the girls drugs. The girls also told authorities that customers paid money to rent the bedroom in Williams’ residence and then paid the girls up to $150 for services of a sexual nature. Originally, the complaint stated that money would be equally split with Williams however when the girls testified they said that in most cases Williams kept all the proceeds It was also alleged that Williams physically abused a few of the girls and brandished a machete, threatening one of them.

One of the girls read a letter she wrote to the court at the sentencing hearing, recounting the indignity she feels to this day when she sees herself in the mirror. In a letter to the court an additional victim, who was only 12 years old when Williams got her started turning tricks, wrote where she described the harm that she underwent as a consequence of Williams’ actions in and also commented of her dream to someday meet and marry a sweet man.

U. S. Attorney. Ferrer applauded the investigative energies of the FBI and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. The prosecution’s case was handled by AUSAs Mark Dispoto and Corey Steinberg.

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Small business owner, Pavlos “Paul” Kaimacliotis was sentenced on Monday to a federal prison term in excess of 10 years for his role in a kidnapping conspiracy that was infiltrated and thwarted by the FBI earlier this year.

Kaimacliotis, 36, of Jupiter, cut a plea deal back in August to an attempted kidnapping charge. Under the terms of the agreement he would testify against his friend Michael Melillo, who the FBI has branded the architect of the plot. Melillo, a Palm Beach Gardens businessman who was previously an attorney in New Jersey, allegedly planned the kidnapping for close to 18 months along with Kaimacliotis who supposedly withdrew his involvement at some point during that time. However, he admitted to agreeing to act as a lookout for Melillo the day the ransom was supposed to be delivered.

Earlier, in June of this year, a federal judge in West Palm Beach refused to set any bail citing Kaimacliotis as a flight risk and too much of a danger to the community to go free before the trial commenced. This was despite an offer of more than $1.25 million worth of property as bond. The courtroom was also packed with several character witnesses prepared to testify on his behalf, of which many were lawyers.

Originally from Cyprus, Kaimacliotis appeared to be forcing back tears from his eyes as his lawyer described a man so well-liked that in excess of seventy people chose to write letters on his behalf. He was the owner of his own flooring business and his immediate family consists of his wife and four young daughters.

U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley said he had not ever witnessed such an assortment of praising letters about an accused defendant, affecting him to feel “totally at a loss” in how Kaimacliotis became a party to such an appalling arrangement. When the judge questioned him further about how he got caught up in such a heinous situation, Kaimacliotis struggled to afford a clear response. “Melillo inserted himself in my life and it was very hard to get rid of him,” Kaimacliotis replied to the Judge’s examination.

Under the suggested federal sentencing guidelines, the 121-month prison sentence was the minimum term of incarceration that Kaimacliotis could have acquired. His lawyer specified that his client will likely be back in front of Judge Hurley in the hopes of a reduction of sentence established by his cooperation with the federal authorities connected to the case.

Melillo, 50, is scheduled to go to trial next month on two kidnapping charges, one of which can carry a sentence of life in prison. According to witness testimony, it was his plan to kidnap a wealthy Palm Beach Gardens man, and then demand a $20 million ransom from his wife for his return. If she didn’t come up with the money fast, he would send a few of her husband’s fingers as an alarming incentive to come up with the cash.

According to court records, what Melillo didn’t know was that the authorities had learned about the plot when the FBI was alerted by two people who came to their West Palm Beach office last May. One of them was a woman who was described as being personally involved with Melillo.

Melillo was then introduced to an undercover FBI agent posing as a sinister character, court records reveal. Melillo then expressed to the undercover agent that he was planning to kidnap a Palm Beach Gardens man who he believed was engineering private high-stakes poker games which had personally cost him more than $100,000, according to the FBI.

After gaining Melillo’s confidence the undercover FBI agent was able to satisfy Melillo that he had kidnapped the target on May 29th. He then exhibited to Melillo a photo of the victim bound in restraints, holding that day’s newspaper to display the date, convincing Melillo that the deed was done, according to court records.

After showing him the staged photo the agent then gave Melillo a cell phone number that he said belonged to the victim’s wife, but was in fact being directed to a female FBI agent, according to federal authorities.

During the investigation, the intended kidnapping target and his family were taken by FBI agents to an undisclosed location to guarantee their protection, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert H. Waters Jr.

The victim’s identity has been kept under wraps by Federal prosecutors and during proceedings, lawyers for both the prosecution and defense have been vigilant to avoid mentioning the name of the victim and his family members.

As the investigation continued Melillo made the phone call to the provided number and initially demanded $20 million from who he believed to be the victim’s wife. But over three hours of negotiation, he dropped his ransom demand to $12.5 million, court records show. He then directed the supposed wife of the victim to bring the money to Palm Beach International Airport and place it in the trunk of a specified vehicle. After Melillo believed this was completed, he and the undercover FBI agent drove to the location to pick it up, federal authorities said.

Melillo was seen by the FBI that day meeting with Kaimacliotis, while under their surveillance. At the time of his arrest, later that evening, Kaimacliotis confessed that Melillo had called him earlier in the day to let him know that the kidnapping was taking place and for him to pose as a lookout.

Melillo was arrested when he later went to meet the FBI agent in the parking lot of a Home Depot in West Palm Beach to distribute the fictitious ransom money.

AUSA Waters specified that the intended target and his wife have been deeply damaged by the kidnapping plot attempt, and now are both frequently looking over their shoulders and living in fear.

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At the onset of arguments heard against presumed mob boss Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi and five codefendants, Ligambi’s lawyer argued that charges against his client should not be decided based on who the prosecution says they are, but rather on what they’ve done. He went on to tell a federal jury that neither Ligambi nor any of the other defendants named in the case essentially did anything.

As the long-awaited mob racketeering conspiracy trial that began in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia at the end of October, the attorney pronounced in his opening statement that “It’s not a crime to be associated with or to be a member of the Mafia.”

“In America, you can be a member of almost anything. It’s not about being a member. It’s about what you do.”

The “real charges” in the case “wouldn’t support an episode of The Sopranos,” his lawyer said. At another point, he threw in The Godfather, contending that the Philadelphia mob is so ineffective and nonviolent “that Tony Soprano and Don Corleone would laugh at us.” He further stated that the prosecution’s case is built on half-truths and fabrications from cooperating witnesses looking to get out from under their own criminal difficulties and said, on behalf of his clients; “We’re not guilty, we’re victims,” in the trial that is predicted to take eight to twelve weeks to conclude.

However, the prosecution maintains that victims besieged in mob extortions and shakedowns, systematically ordered by Ligambi and his coconspirators are nothing to laugh about.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Labor, told the jury that Ligambi and his co-defendants “exploited” the Philadelphia mob’s violent reputation “to make money” and “to intimidate” victims into paying mob shakedowns and tribute payments in his opening statement.

He then expressed to the jury that Ligambi, 73, and his codefendants were members of an illicit criminal enterprise. “That enterprise”, Labor said, “relied on the aforementioned reputation of the Philadelphia mob to instill fear and intimidate underworld targets.”

Dismissing the defense’s repeatedly stated position that this current case doesn’t contain any of the murder and attempted-murder charges that marked prior mob trials, Labor said that “a dead man” can’t make an extortion payment, but a terrified man can. Also, in his opening statement Labor peppered more than a few potentially incriminating remarks from secretly recorded conversations. The prosecution anticipates playing dozens of recorded dialogues captured by wiretaps and also by wires that were worn by witnesses who cooperated in the investigation. The prosecution purportedly has more than 15,000 recordings and 9,000 surveillance reports collected over a decade of which many refer to this particular case.

In addition to Ligambi, the other five defendants are Joseph “Scoops” Licata, 71, Anthony Staino, 54, George Borgesi, 49, Damion Canalichio, 42, and mob associate Gary Battaglini, 51.

Ligambi is the principal defendant in the case. Authorities contend that he controlled the criminal organization that was involved with unlawful gambling, loansharking and extortion throughout a 12-year period that goes back to 1999.

In one of the recorded conversation with Canalichio, one of the codefendants, Michael F. Orlando Jr., who owed money that he said he couldn’t pay back, asked the alleged loan shark if he might earn credit and good will by working for the organization as a street collector. Canalichio said that Orlando’s loan wasn’t his to forgive. It belonged to “Stevie and Joey,” Orlando presumed this to mean reputed mob boss Joseph Ligambi and one of his lieutenants.

“It’s Uncle Joe’s money?” Orlando asked in the 2002 conversation, which was recorded by the FBI.

“Yeah,” Canalichio answered.

Federal prosecutors played that tape and a grouping of others in their attempt to demonstrate to the jury that even the lesser loans were a portion of a larger organized gambling, extortion and loan-shark racket organized by Ligambi and his associates, and that the money rolled upward.

In another recording, co-defendant George Borgesi, laughed and joked about how he brutally assaulted mob associate Angelo Lutz who lied about trying to cash a check from their pasta business.

“I knocked him out,” Borgesi is heard saying in the phone conversation which was recorded in a Pennsylvania State Police wiretap in November, 1999. “I kicked him so hard he was sleeping… I ripped his shirt off. He was out like a fucking light.”

Labor also cited defendant Anthony Staino in a conversation about an unwilling debt payer to say “I got two gorillas, gonna chop him up,” in what was said to be revealed when referring to one of the recordings.

The trial continues and more recorded testimony is expected to be heard before U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno before the case is sent to the jury.

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The quick thinking and response of a UPS driver turned into an essential lead that ended with the arrest of four men charged with a Coral Springs bank robbery. The UPS driver’s attention was captured when he noticed two men hurriedly rush out of a Nissan Sentra, leaving the doors open, and jump into a Silver Dodge Charger driven by a third man. Wary of the men’s actions, the driver called 911 and reported what he felt to be suspicious activity.

The police were already looking for a vehicle that fit that description as the getaway car of the robbery of a SunTrust bank that took place around 10 am that morning. The bank is located at 9501 Wiles Road in Coral Springs.

In addition to the UPS driver, other members of the public are being praised for helping police and FBI agents for their part in the apprehension of the suspects.

The manager of the bank was on the phone with a customer when two armed men rushed into the bank. One of the men pointed a gun at a teller’s head, demanding money. The teller gave the suspects in excess of $20,000.00 before they ran out of the bank to the awaiting Nissan Sentra. As this was unfolding, the manager told the customer on the phone that the bank was being robbed. The customer immediately hung up the phone and called 911.

“We got the customer’s call before the silent alarm came in to our agency,” Coral Springs Police Sgt. Carla Mertes said. She went on to comment: “One of our officers spotted the car on the Sawgrass and started chasing it to Miami.”

The police then chased the car south on the Sawgrass Expressway and then Interstate 75. According to the F.B.I. who assisted in the pursuit, the suspects then exited east onto Gratigny Parkway in Miami where it crashed into two vehicles near the N.W. 32nd Ave. exit.

One of the individuals in the crash was Derek Mendez, 33, of Hialeah. Ironically, he was driving to a Crime Scene Investigation course at Miami Dade College when he became entangled in the midst of a crime scene investigation. A veteran of the war in Iraq, Mendez suffered injuries to his neck, back and elbow when his car was rear-ended by the suspects’ vehicle. “It freaked me out a little bit but it could have been worse,” Mendez said. “They could have had a gun and start shooting and I could have been in the middle of that.” Mendez went on to say: “I remember some guys getting out of the car and fleeing from the scene. They tried to run away and tried to jump a fence and I saw the cops grab them.

The F.B.I. said that at least three of the four men were suspected in five other bank robberies in Broward County.

In total, four men were arrested for the crime. Gregory Richardson, 34, and Edward Rogers, 40, are accused of robbing the bank. Carlos Jenkins, 24, is accused of driving the two cars used in their escape. Quinton Johnson, 29, is the owner of the Charger; although he claimed at the time of his arrest that it was stolen prior to the crime.

Coral Springs police spokesman Joseph McHugh said that the call from the UPS driver was crucial. “Without that call, we would have been looking for the vehicle they were driving when they left the bank,” he said.

The four men who are now accused of planning and robbing the bank appeared in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Thursday morning. Quinton Johnson who originally reported his car stolen 15 minutes after the robbery then allegedly changed his story and said that he loaned his Dodge Charger to Carlos Jenkins. Johnson then admitted driving his friends to the bank the night before, but denied any participation in the robbery. The four men will be back in court next week when a judge will decide if they will be eligible for bail.

Numerous agencies assisted in the pursuit through Broward and Dade counties, comprising police from Coral Springs, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Miami Dade, Hialeah, Miramar, Miami Gardens, Opa-locka, as well as the FBI.

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