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Dr. Farid Fata recently pled guilty to 16 Federal criminal counts including 13 counts of healthcare fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count of receiving kickbacks. In a disturbingly unusual case involving a doctor fraudulently submitting requests for reimbursement from several healthcare organizations, Dr. Farid Fata went so far as to knowingly misdiagnose several patients with cancer and subsequently ordering that they receive cancer treatments, including chemotherapy. In doing this he was able to bilk several healthcare organizations out of a ton of money to his benefit. In spite of only 10 patients being named in the indictment, US Attorney Barb McQuade believes there to be many more patients affected and misdiagnosed in a similar capacity. At least one patient died while under the care of Dr. Fata though a murder charge is unlikely at this time.

While the admission by Dr. Farid Fata that he knowingly administered chemotherapy to those not in need of it is no doubt disgusting, US Attorney Barb McQuade’s effort to earn a life sentence on Dr. Fata could fall short. Healthcare fraud, as charged under 18 USC 1347 typically carries with it a 10 year maximum penalty unless serious bodily injury occurred as defined in 18 USC 1365(h)(3). An issue will be whether improperly administering chemotherapy, which is poison, involved a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain or a protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. In spite of the maximum penalty, sentencing guideline 2B1.1, amongst others, dictates aggravating factors that could drive the guidelines to a level suggesting more time be served than a statutory maximum. If the guidelines suggest a higher sentence than allowed by a statutory maximum on a singular count, the court can run the sentences for multiple counts consecutively, “but only to the extent necessary to produce a combined sentence equal to the total punishment.”
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Jeffersonville, Indiana man, Joseph A. Oberhansley, 33, is accused of murdering his girlfriend and ultimately eating portions of her corpse. Oberhansley was arrested last Thursday after police came to his girlfriend, Tammy Blanton’s home looking for her as she failed to show up for work. According to news sources, Oberhansley began acting suspicious when police questioned him as to Blanton’s whereabouts. Police observed a fresh cut across Oberhansley’s knuckles during their contact and then patted down Oberhansley for weapons, finding a knife in the accused’s back pocket full of hair and what appeared to be blood. Officers then combed Blanton’s home calling her name only to find her corpse under a vinyl camping tent in her bathtub. Her skull had been crushed from multiple sharp force trauma to her head, neck, and torso. As if things weren’t ugly enough, after an autopsy was performed it is noted that part of Ms. Blanton’s heart, lungs, and brain were missing. Bad for Mr. Oberhansley, the missing body parts will no doubt be used by Prosecutors to correlate with a dinner plate found in the home with what appeared to be skull and bone resting on it and a pair of cooking tongs with blood all over them. That said, it won’t help Mr. Oberhansley’s case that he admitted to police that he removed several of Blanton’s organs and ate them, both cooked and raw.

Ouch. Hard to say much more about this. Unless there is a golden nugget of information regarding this situation unknown at the time of this blog, this Tampa criminal attorney is of the opinion that Mr. Oberhansley is in a bit of trouble. As it stands, he will very likely be charged with Indiana’s first degree murder statute for a premeditated killing of Ms. Blanton. I can’t speak for Indiana but if this case were in Florida, the State would need to prove the following: 1) Ms. Blanton is dead. 2) The death was caused by the criminal act of Mr. Oberhansley, and 3) There was a premeditated killing of Ms. Blanton.

Though this is tragic, the strangest (and grossest) issue is the evidence of cannibalization of his girlfriend. Though Indiana doesn’t appear to have a statute on the books specifically dealing with cannibalism (neither does Florida though he would get charged with abuse of a dead human body against FS 872.06) he will be charged with abuse of a corpse. Again, were this in Florida the State would have to prove that Mr. Oberhansley mutilated, committed sexual abuse upon, or otherwise grossly abused the corpse of Ms. Blanton.
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Just about every Federal felony carries behind a term of incarceration a period where one is on a probation like status called supervised release. For all intents and purposes supervised release is just like probation in that you will be monitored by a Federal probation officer, will forego certain rights while on supervision, and will have to meet certain requirements laid out by the Court specific to your case in addition to those general requirements for anyone on supervised release. For the most part as long as you mind your P’s and Q’s you won’t have an issue with a potential violation. Should you slip up, depending on the severity of the slip up, you could receive anywhere from nothing more than a stern coming to Jesus conversation from your Federal Probation Officer all the way up to several more years in a Federal prison. Regardless of your violation, because you were on Federal probation, you need to speak to a Federal violation of supervised release attorney quickly to generate a strategy.

A violation of Federal Supervised release occurs when you commit a new crime or you technically violate your supervised release by dropping a dirty urine, miss a meeting with your Federal probation officer, or some other minor type of conduct that technically violates the terms of your supervised release. As with any criminal offense, the sentencing potential is related to the seriousness of the alleged violation. The severity levels are classified as follows:
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Sunrise, Florida man, Khemraj Samlall told law enforcement he was only joking when he allegedly attempted to ignite gasoline that he “accidentally” spilled on his wife and her bed earlier this week. As a result of this claimed joke, Mr. Samlall is now facing felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill. According to reports Mr. Samlall and his wife were arguing after Mr. Samlall came home drunk. Mrs. Samlall is thought to have told him he was a bad father for not spending enough time with his children, prompting Mr. Samlall to retrieve a red gas can from outside in order to dump the gasoline contents on his wife and her bed. Mr. Samlall claims his actions were nothing more than a joke and his attempt to convince her to leave him alone and in the process he accidentally spilled gasoline on her and her bed. He further claims that his attempt to light the gasoline with a lighter was merely a joke, without an intent to do any harm. As so often is the case with an allegation of domestic violence, after initially telling police that she feared her husband, Mrs. Samlall retracted her statement, telling a Judge that Mr. Samlall is a great guy and a good father to their children.

Hmm… Evidently they joke a little differently in south Florida. That said, I get it. Nagging wife, guy gets a little soused up at the bar with his rough riding buddy after watching his team get dominated by a lesser opponent. Times are tough and you come home and are met at the door by the Angry Bird that explodes upon impact. Mrs. Samlall was running hot when Khemraj rolled in. Tale as old as time. We’ve all been there. That said, I’m still not sure the old “dump an accelerant on her and watch her squirm as I strike a lighter” joke was totally appropriate. The knives may have taken it a bit too far as well. Get better Khemraj!!!

In all seriousness, the defense of “just kidding” probably isn’t going to cut it in this situation. Aside from the fact that this could have obviously killed his wife and burned his home to the ground, Mr. Samlall now faces extremely serious charges. Aggravated Assault is codified at Florida Statute 784.021 and is really nothing more than an upgraded assault. Defined, an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge in Florida is an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent all while having in their possession a deadly weapon. In this case, where there is no firearm present Mr. Samlall will avoid a minimum mandatory sentence but does face the prospect of prison time, as his charge is a third degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
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Kosovo born and now Tampa Bay area resident Sami Osmakac was found guilty last week of the federal crime of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction and knowingly possessing a firearm not registered to him in the National Firearms and Transfer Record. Osmakac’s case received national attention in 2012 when he was indicted after posting videos on YouTube, declaring his intention to blow up highly populated Tampa areas including Hyde Park and Ybor City and then subsequently purchasing non-functioning weapons from undercover FBI agents. According to Tampa news reports, Osmakac claimed to want to set off a car bomb near Macdinton’s Irish Pub in south Tampa as he claimed the area of Macdinton’s is a stomping grounds for sinners and homosexuals. Osmakac cited revenge for the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki as his rationale for his planned destruction. In spite of his Tampa Federal criminal lawyer’s argument at trial that Osmakac was an easy target for an overzealous law enforcement agency and that he was entrapped as a result, the Tampa federal jury came back guilty on both counts in the 2012 indictment.

While Osmakac wasn’t charged under a terrorism related statute, what he was indicted for is commonly used when one is suspected of committing or attempting to commit a terrorist act on American soil. Specifically a charge that one has attempted to use a weapon of mass destruction requires the Federal government to prove the following:

1. That the Defendant attempted to use a weapon of mass destruction against any person or property within the United States;

2. that the Defendant did not have lawful authority to use the weapon of mass destruction; and

3. the mail or any facility of interstate or foreign commerce was used to further the offense or the property was used in interstate or foreign commerce or in an activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce or any perpetrator traveled in or caused another to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to further the offense or the offense, or the results of the offense, affected interstate or foreign commerce or the offense would have affected interstate or foreign commerce.
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Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jameis Winston was accused this week of stealing crab legs from a Tallahassee, Florida Publix. Since the time of the incident, media outlets, NFL scouts, and fans of certain rival teams have taken issue with Winston’s actions, making fun, questioning his character and showing concern over his draft stock. Perhaps these concerns are warranted and perhaps not, all are certainly entitled to their opinion. At the end of the day, Winston wasn’t charged with a criminal offense for retail theft or petit theft but rather was issued a civil infraction requiring him to perform public service hours and pay a nominal fine. His eligibility for the civil infraction program was reviewed by local law enforcement in Tallahassee and Winston was ultimately deemed a proper candidate for diversionary action. I’ll be the first to admit I’m biased as I’m both a Tampa criminal lawyer and a Garnet and Gold bleeding, armchair quarterbacking, TV yelling, die hard Florida State alum. Though many believe Winston intended to steal the items from Publix, could it possibly be that this really was what just began as an innocent mistake followed by poor judgment? I’m confident my friends from that school in Hogtown will insist on his criminality but could it be possible that there was no criminal intent here?

As with most other crimes, an allegation of petit theft requires that the person accused possessed the requisite mental state to commit a crime. In English, the State Attorney must show, in order to prove a theft crime has occurred, that one intended to deprive the victim of their property either temporarily or permanently. Generally proof of intent is found circumstantially through an effort to deceive a victim, an effort to conceal the stolen item or an admission of guilt. Had the State charged Winston with a crime in this instance, it would have been for a second degree misdemeanor petit theft count as the value of the property taken was less than $100.

Though I wouldn’t normally recommend someone roll the dice and take their theft allegation to trial on a lack of mental state defense (unless the facts are completely legitimate), Winston’s initial actions in leaving the store without paying may be a decent situation where that defense could work. After winning the Heisman Trophy Winston is arguably one of the biggest sports celebrities going today. No doubt he is approached constantly by students and grown men alike asking for an autograph or picture, or doing anything they can to get his attention. If this occurred while he was in Publix, it is possible that in a moment of distraction, Winston did leave with his food, not realizing his mistake. Not to make excuses for my alma mater’s quarterback, but unfortunately being a criminal defense attorney doesn’t provide the same kind of entertaining schedule one who is a dual sport athlete on two nationally ranked collegiate teams has. He is an everyday player in two sports that overlap. He’s taking a full load of classes. The guy has to be busy. He’s probably a bit tired at times too. Could it be that that added to this incident? What of the fact that he left without concealing the items? Witnesses stated that he left holding the items in plain view. That’s not very good thievery in my opinion.
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In nearly every Federal drug charge I’ve handled in Tampa, my client has been charged as part of a Federal drug conspiracy. Depending on my client’s role or position within the alleged conspiracy, he or she is often approached, through me, to cooperate with the United States Attorney’s investigation in an attempt to bolster their Federal prosecution of co-conspirators or to seek information on other conspirators higher up the in the criminal organization. Depending on the stage of the investigation and very likely my client’s role, the Feds may defer on seeking a Federal Indictment against my client. Considering the Indictment system of charging a crime is a mechanism meant to protect the suspect from unsubstantiated prosecution, there could be risk in waiving the right to a Grand Jury. That said, there could be benefit in waiving that right as well…

Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7 states that an offense other than criminal contempt must be prosecuted through a Grand Jury Indictment if the punishment for the offense is death or by jail for longer than one year. In other words, we the people have the right to have a Grand Jury hear charging evidence against us in all Federal felonies. Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(b) a defendant may waive a Federal Indictment and be charged by an Information so long as that waiver is made in open court and the waiver of the indictment is made after the defendant has been advised of the nature of the charge against him or her and has been fully advised of their rights. This is generally accompanied by a written waiver of a Federal Indictment that is then filed with the applicable Court.
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Meet Patricia Ann Jamison. Ms. Jamison was recently accused of the odd act of pooping in a courthouse elevator and subsequently arrested for the same event. According to a Huffington Post story, on March 7, 2013 security staff at the St. Lucie County Courthouse was notified that there was a mysterious pile of poop located in the corner area of a public elevator. When Security investigated this crime scene, to their dismay lay a steaming pile of pew poo thought to be left by a human animal. Security staff consulted security video of individuals coming in and out of the elevator in question and noticed that Ms. Jamison was the last to enter the elevator prior to the poo appearing and first to leave. Specifically and possibly the damning piece of the puzzle for her criminal lawyer to deal with, Jamison was witnessed before the elevator doors closed to “pull her pants down and back up toward the interior elevator buttons consistent with someone using the bathroom.” Ultimately when the elevator arrived on the first floor of the courthouse Ms. Jamison was witnessed “fixing her pants and pulling her shirt out of her pants as if she pulled her pants up over her shirt.” After she was alleged to have pooped in the elevator Ms. Jamison then made her way to her criminal defense attorney‘s office where she was ultimately identified based on her signing in to her attorney’s office.
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Many believe this week is the greatest week in all of sports. Work efficiency goes in the can, attention is diverted, and more than 50 million red blooded Americans will be living and dying on whether the sophomore shooting guard from Dingleberry Tech can finish the back half of his two free throws to knock out a national power like Duke or Michigan State. Hopes that are so high in the opening round are often crushed like an egg in round two or three. This, my friends is March Madness. The thrill of not only watching your team play for it all, but also having the chance to win a little cash in your local pool is, in my opinion, one of America’s greatest sports traditions. But are these sports pools legal? Like any other question to a lawyer, the answer is going to be a resounding and useless, “it depends.” Wa wa wa… In all actuality the answer hinges on whether you pay to play.

If you are in a pool where everyone just plays for “fun,” and submits a bracket with no hope of sweet, sweet, beer money victory then you’re going to be ok and you haven’t done anything wrong, other than maybe be a little boring. It is highly unlikely that in this situation you’ll need to buzz your criminal attorney friend after being arrested for violating a Federal or State law or gaming regulation. No reason to get your Mom jeans in a bundle. As a law-abiding attorney, I reside in the village of Mom jeans basketball brackets.

Now, if you, like the other 49,999,995 American basketball tournament fans drop at least a twenty spot in support of your favorite round ballers, you could be in violation of a few Federal and State laws. Back around 1961 our friends up in DC decided to poo in America’s cheerios yet again (see prohibition) by passing the “Interstate Wire Act of 1961” coded as 18 USC 1084. In passing this law, these boring folks made it illegal and punishable by up to two years in the Federal poke to engage in the business of betting or wagering by using a wire communication facility for the transmission into interstate or foreign commerce bets or information assisting a bet. What the hell does that mean? May need a Federal criminal lawyer to figure it out. Where could we find one of those? It means that if you get on the phone, dial up your interweb, shoot a text to your buddy, send an IM, tweet, Facebook a friend, or use any other electronic method that hasn’t been ruled out of this statute, that you could be getting a visit from Federal Officer Friendly. My definition could be a little over or underbroad in reality but you get the gist. Technically you OR your buddy running the pool could get popped under this statute. In all seriousness though, this act was aimed at organized crime to shut down their book making ventures. In all actuality it probably was a decent thing.

What about your buddy that may think he’s a bookie or your favorite sports bar that hosts your favorite March Madness pool? Again, see above. They could also find trouble through the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. This Federal law, codified at 28 USC 3701, makes it illegal for a private individual to run a betting scheme based on a competitive game in which a professional or amateur athlete plays. What this statute also did was fill in gaps left by the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 with respect to intrastate (occurring wholly within a State) gambling activities. The Interstate Wire Act of 1961 only dealt with interstate gambling activities. In other words, the Feds can now slap around those that run our pools for activity completely within our respective State of residence. Organized crime, blah blah blah.
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Teacher’s Aide by day, pantless driver by night? That’s what Pasco County deputies claim after pulling over Kristi Steuber earlier this week. According to a police report, Steuber was pulled over in Pasco County for speeding when deputies detected an odor of alcohol on her breath after making contact. Deputies claim Steuber attempted to explain where she had been and what she was doing but simply mumbled when asked. As is standard protocol when an officer has reasonable suspicion of DUI, Steuben was asked to exit the vehicle to perform field sobriety exercises. This is when things went downhill quickly for Steuber according to the police. Police allege Steuber had nothing on from the waist down when she exited her car and didn’t acknowledge this fact until asked twice to put on some pants. As one could imagine, based at least in part on the allegation of a breezy booty and her mugshot, Steuber was arrested for DUI and later is alleged to have blown a .135 and .137.

There are certain DUI cases that make DUI lawyers cringe. This, my friends, is one of them. Compared to many DUI’s I’ve handled, this breath test isn’t remarkable. As most know, in Florida, to be convicted of driving under the influence the State must prove the defendant drove or was in actual physical control of a vehicle and while doing so was either under the influence of alcoholic beverages or a chemical substance or a controlled substance to the extent that his or her normal faculties were impaired or had a blood or breath-alcohol level of .08 or more. The .13 breath test Steuber is alleged to have given, though above the legal limit isn’t a rockstar level. The struggle for her attorney will be the issue of pants. Having pants on when pulled over by the police is helpful when trying to convince them or a jury that the driver was sober. Obviously no pants isn’t proof positive that one is impaired, however one could safely say most prosecutors would rely heavily on this fact while making their case. Free legal advice- when driving home from the bar, wear pants.
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