The Straw Buyer Halloween edition, the search for voters in the strangest places...

I know today's post is a departure from our regular fare but I think what I stumbled upon yesterday was shocking enough that it deserves to be talked about.  As some of you may know I have business interests in the Northwest area of Dade county ranging from the western end of the Miami river all the way north to the Golden Glades interchange.  On any given day you can find me going back and forth throughout these areas several times and for those familiar with this part of our county, you know that the neighborhoods that I drive through are somewhat less than desirable.

One of the roads that I find myself on several times a day is the Airport expressway AKA State Road 112, when going westbound, I usually get off at 27th avenue then continue west on the one way service road to 32nd avenue then hang a left and go south.  This short cut down the service road allows me to bypass the traffic on 27th avenue and on 36th street, but this shortcut comes at a price, it puts me in some of the worst neighborhoods during its duration while taking me past a county storage yard  and old cemetery.  Driving past the county storage yard is aggravating as you can see all the waste that goes on as evidenced by all the unused and vehicles and equipment.  The cemetery isn't that bad as the overwhelming majority of the graves are set a few hundred yards away from the road, this photo illustrates that pretty well... 

As you can see in the photo, the service road that I frequent is on the southern border of the Evergreen Memorial Park property that runs along side the 112 and the newly constructed metrorail bridge.  Since you really can't see anything from the road, I normally just speed through without paying attention to anything, plus the graves are far enough from the road that for the most part your view to the north is of mostly an empty grassy lot.

There was something a bit different yesterday afternoon though, as I was zipping by I noticed some activity over by the tree at the lower right of the photo.  From what I was able to make out there was two guys fiddling around with something under that tree.  I slowed down to get a better look but since it's a one way street with heavy truck traffic, I wasn't able to stop and see what was going on.  Something told me to go back around and take another look but in order to do so I had to go to 32 avenue, go south to 36th street, back to 27th avenue then north till I got to the Airport Expressway service road, all in all about a 7 minute drive.  This time when I got close, I drove up on the sidewalk and pulled up slowly.  The two guys that I saw under the tree earlier saw me coming and took off.  From what I was able to make of the two guys, they seemed to be local homeless folks.  As I got closer to the tree, my jaw dropped when I saw what these guys were up to...

The caskets in this cemetery aren't below the ground, they're contained in concrete boxes with heavy concrete lids.  What these guys had done was remove the concrete lid and then lift the casket out but when they did, the rotten wooden casket just fell apart dumping it's contents onto the ground...

When I realized that those two crackheads were attempting to rob this grave, I got sick to my stomach and hauled ass.  WTF is wrong with people today?!  I jumped back in my car and hauled ass.  I tried calling the cemetery but was unable to get a working phone number.

Note to self, when driving by this cemetery next time, don't look north!

Hurricane Sandy and some comments...

I've been caught up in all the hoopla over Hurricane Sandy...

In the meantime, take a look at this insightful piece that our friend Al Crespo wrote yesterday.  Thanks for giving us props Al, we appreciate it.  

Getting back on topic, take a look at some of the comments people have left over the last few days regarding the City of South Miami Chief of Police, Orlando Martinez de Castro's ethical lapses.   Entertaining to hear from some of his supporters!

The Herald picks up the City of South Miami Police Chief ethics story and a question for our readers, would you consider a bullet hole in a friend a "blemish"?

The Miami Herald decided to pick up our story, once again without mentioning us, on City of South Miami's Police Chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro, and his problems with the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission.  Check it for yourselves...

South Miami police chief accused of violating ethics laws
ANDREA TORRES

The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust announced Tuesday that investigators found evidence that Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro violated South Miami’s “prohibition on transacting business with the city,” as well the County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance’s “prohibition on exploitation of official position.”

“The chief has been in law enforcement over 40 years with an unblemished record,” said Martinez de Castro’s Coral Gables attorney Simon Steckel. “We are looking forward to going to a full evidentiary hearing where we believe he will be completely vindicated.”

The accusations are related to two of his wife’s businesses -- Airways Auto Tag Agency and Beck & Lo’s Insurance Agency.

The South Miami Police Department contracted Airways three times during 2011 for tags and titles for forfeiture vehicles. Steckel said Martinez de Castro did not approve the transactions and was not in the direct chain of command. Major Ana Baixauli was.

The police chief is also being accused of using his city e-mail in April to solicit business for Beck & Lo.

“It was not a solicitation of business,” Steckel said. “The person to whom he is accused of soliciting business to has never been interviewed.”

The case will proceed to a public hearing.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/23/v-print/3063847/chief-accused-of-violating-ethics.html#storylink=cpy

That's all well and good, it's nice to hear that Chief Martinez de Castro's attorney will be vigorously defending the chief during this public hearing.  There's one thing that really bothered me though (other than the Herald not mentioning us) and that is this statement from the Chief's attorney, Simon Steckel...

“The chief has been in law enforcement over 40 years with an unblemished record,”

Are you sure about that Mr. Steckel?  Unblemished?  I can think of several blemishes that exist over the Chief's 40 year career in law enforcement but for the sake of today's argument, let's step into the Straw Buyer's time machine and go back to 1971 and see what we can find...

As always, click on the image to enlarge...

Well, well, well...

So according to the article, Officer Martinez de Castro goes over to a friends apartment and bumps into another friend Miguel Vives, they start horsing around, Mr. Vives calls Mr. Martinez de Castro "fatman" and next thing he knows he's DEAD from a bullet fired from Officer Martinez's gun!  DAMN!

So what do you say Mr. Steckel?  I'd be willing to say that the bullet hole in Mr. Vives is a "blemish", wouldn't you?  The circumstances surrounding this "accidental" shooting are rather suspicious to say the least, I'm going to do a little more digging to see what I can come up with, unfortunately, Mr. Vives won't be of much help.

So what's the takeaway from today's post?  NEVER CALL ORLANDO MARTINEZ DE CASTRO "FATMAN"!!!!!! 

City of South Miami police chief in deep shit...

It seems like just yesterday we were moaning about how the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission was dragging it's feet in the investigation that arose from our ethics complaint against the City of South Miami Police Chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro, for steering city business to his wife's tag agency.  Literally an hour after I made that post we get this email from the Ethics Commission...

For Immediate Release:  October 23, 2012
Contact: Joseph Centorino, Executive Director
 (305) 350-0613 or centori@miamidade.gov

Police Chief faces ethics violations 

The police chief of South Miami is facing four charges of violating ethics laws for steering city business to his wife’s companies.  The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust (COE) today found probable cause that Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro violated South Miami’s “prohibition on transacting business with the city,” as well the County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance’s “prohibition on exploitation of official position.”  The complaint against Martinez de Castro (C 12-31) cites three times during 2011when the South Miami Police Department contracted with Airways Auto Tag Agency for tags and titles for forfeiture vehicles.  Airways is owned by Ileana Martinez de Castro, the police chief’s wife.  She also owns Beck & Lo’s Insurance Agency, Inc.  Last April, Chief de Castro used his city e-mail account to solicit business for his wife’s agency.   The case will proceed to a public hearing.

HOLY CRAP!

This press release confirms rumors that we heard months ago.  Our sources told us that the ethics commission had issued a probable cause letter several months ago and that Chief Martinez had hired a criminal defense attorney that was trying to cut a deal with the Ethics Commission to let him simply get off with a fine or some other slap on the wrist.  Luckily for us, the Ethics Commission stood firm and refused to let Chief Martinez off, now we have to wait for the public hearing and see how things pan out.  Our sources also tell us that Chief Martinez has hired Miami doper era criminal defense attorney Simon Steckel to defend him during this ethics investigation.  Mr Steckel is an interesting character with a checkered past, you can read a little about him here and here.

The consequences of this public hearing could be dire for the chief, let's not forget that if he's found guilty, his cushy job as the chief of police is TOAST!  What's really sick about this whole ordeal though is that we're told that the Chief's defense is going to consist of making City of South Miami Police Major Ana Baixauli the scapegoat for his misdeeds.  That's too bad but is to be expected from someone like Chief Martinez, I guess we'll have to end up giving the ethics commission the video recordings of people we interviewed over the last year who told us in no uncertain terms that the Chief himself directed them to take city business to his wife's tag agency...

So now we have two ethics complaints!

I guess by now the folks over at the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission may be a little of tired hearing from us...

So far we've managed to file two complaints, the first one against City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro for sending city business to his wife's tag agency and the second one against City of South Miami Commissioner Valerie Newman for altering an email sent by the city clerk regarding a public records request.

All in all that's some pretty serious shit.  From what I've been told the ethics commission is going to come down hard on the Chief and I'm told there's been a flurry of activity regarding Commissioner Newman's funny email business.  That's all well and good, but is that enough?  Where's the state attorneys office in all of this?  After all, we're alleging that the police chief from South Miami sent several thousands of dollars worth of city business over to his wife's tag agency, shouldn't this be a matter taken up by the state attorneys office?  

What if these alleged ethics violations happened somewhere other than a sleepy predominantly upper middle class little town like South Miami?  Say these ethical lapses happened in a place on the other end of the spectrum, say like the City of  Opa-Locka, how would something like sending city business to a government employee's family member be handled?  It seems like the state attorneys office has a penchant for nabbing crooked politicians over in places like Opa Locka yet she seems reluctant to go after fellow Cuban Americans in places like the city of South Miami.  It certainly doesn't help when the police chief claims to be close personal friends with the state attorney herself.

Regardless, we're stuck waiting for Joe Centorino and his crew at the Ethics Commission to make a decision on these nefarious characters over in South Miami.  Let's hope that the noise we've made makes it a bit easier for them to sweep these ethical and possible criminal acts under the rug.

Dispatches from Krome Detention Center

As those of you following our story on South Miami handyman Warren Papove know, Mr. Papove is still sitting in Krome Detention Center awaiting deportation.  From what I'm told he's been there now for over 100 days.  We received a letter from Mr. Papove back in September describing the conditions over at Krome...

Greetings from Krome; a legal limbo land where rights aren't given by the constitution, but by ICE agents. After 68 days I haven't seen a judge or my deportation officer. Apparently I have the right to neither. You see in 1988  I signed a voluntary deportation order in California. It was explained to me that I couldn't return for 5 years. In Nov'93  I returned via Amtrak from Montreal to Mobile, Alabama where I continued working with my employer. Later in Florida he abandoned myself and another worker. He owed us both bonuses.      On the word of a snitch and a single ICE officer this deportation order was reinstated denying me any right to see a judge. The deportation officer assigned to me has left her job and did little prior to leaving. I've not spoken to her or her replacement. The officers  come on UNIT for about 10 minutes on Thursdays. 5-7 officers for 60-65 people. Mine doesn't show although the others claim he/she is downstairs and will be up shortly.        Allow me to clarify my most serious offense,Cocaine possession. Threre was no cocaine, there was a pipe with residue. I was sentenced to 24 HOURS OF PROBATION !!       After having access to me denied by a Canadian Consular official I visited  with MIAMI HERALD REPORTER ANDREA TORRES.She was physically removed part way through our visit. I was transferred the next day to Glades facility in Moore Haven. Transfers are not only due to overcrowding. They are also used as punishment for those who dare fight their case.      Transfers involve hours of waiting, shackled  at both the departure and arrival sites besides shackled traveling. All non-local calls are $2.85 connection fee and 50 cents / Minuit. Visiting is hindered , envelope procurement is interrupted and money earned ( $1.00 /day is possible ) is partially transferred and partially confiscated. Case defense suffers. The day after my transfer to Glades I was charged Federally with REENTRY and returned to Krome for a few hours before being sent to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in downtown Miami.      I saw a judge for bail purposes only. Only a quarter of a million dollars. One week later the charge was dismissed. I didn't get to see the judge. While  in Federal prison I was hungry. Lunch was often a sandwich and soup. If you hadn't somehow already bought a bowl you couldn't get the soup! No drink without purchase of a cup either. No water fountain. There was a sink, remember I was not convicted of anything, nor had I seen a judge regarding case merit.       Now I'm back at Krome where the guards are privately contracted (DOYON)  but ICE makes all relevant rules and decisions so there is a layer of separation.          Hundreds of people have passed through since I've been here have been deported before. I know two others charged with RE-ENTRY. One has twice served 4 year sentences, the other has a more lengthy record.          After  90 days they must review my case. They could renew the 90 day process in perpetuity. Unlawful confinement?          Most people I've talked to here have children and either wives, finances or girlfriends/ ex's. Most will be leaving voluntarily or by force. Your tax dollars hard at work here now will undoubtedly be working hard in the future.       Thanks for everyone who has supported me. Warren Papove, Krone Detention Center, Sept 12,2012

If that wasn't bad enough, the next letter we got last week certainly was...

Greetings  from Krome,      Well CO [Corrections Officer] Summers caught some homosexual activity in the shower last night and the one guy was shipped out hours later. A start. The other guy is the problem. He sings. A lot. In a fake feminine voice.       While I was in the bathroom with the regulars working out with a bag of water in a laundry bag he came up o the chest high wall and poked his head over. As I'm curling the bag he smiles at me demonically and says, "Look Killer's working out". Then he comes around. I tell him to get the ______ out of my space. He refuses. So I put down the bag and charge him. He bails out and runs to the center of a foreigner prayer circle. It's like a mix of Santeria and other religions. They're all talking in foreign languages at the same time  laying their hands on him, but in this exorcism the poltergeist is running the show. Then there's CO Foote. Severely overweight, bad hair and a bad attitude. A spinster in the making. In the cafeteria line she wants me to close a 3foot gap with the poltergeist, I refuse, she threatens "Sergeant" ( for discipline) but the other Canadian intervenes and prevents me from being boxed. Foote is left drooling. She smelled blood and was denied. I sense denial is a recurring theme in the nightmare that must be her life.      There's CO Garnett, the mail call guy, who's pretty civil and will go out of his way as much as he can to help people send or receive mail and use the library. There's also CO C. Hinson who disrespected "Chihuahua" and a dozen others so severely I thought he was about to get hurt. He was lucky. If he's smart he'd change career paths. He won't stay lucky forever.       There's Brito, the ICE agent who tries to intimidate people as if people who've endured this crap can be scared by his death stare. Yeah Brito, you're a tough guy. Everyone's impressed. The ICE guys who do shakedowns along with the DOYON private security are a comedy of intimidation techniques. Like drunken NY Jets fans, you know the ones I'm talking about with their Joe Klecko jerseys that are 5 sizes too small because it ain't the 80's anymore, puking in a trash can while their 10 year old son holds their beer for them. Substitute arms for beer bellies.       The poltergeist is singing again. I'm trying to write. My eyes are blurring. A surgical glove nearby stops him/her cold. Thank you CO Summers. I finally spoke to my deportation officer on Thurs Sept 20 to ask about my status. He said I had pending charges of re-entry they were going to prosecute. Those charges were dismissed August 22, a month ago. At any point does a confinement become unlawful when they don't have to follow their own rules? I was hoping you could bring this to the appropriate people's attention, particularly because they see no need for judges in certain cases. Thanks for your help. Warren Papove

YIKES!  Incredible that this poor man, who was nothing more than collateral damage in a political war at the City of South Miami, is still sitting in detention.  What purpose does it serve at this point not to deport this man back to Canada?

So what's the big deal about altering an email?

No big deal for you and me as average citizens but a completely different situation if you're a government employee or heaven forbid an elected official!  We left off last time discussing the issue of a potentially altered and forged email that City of South Miami Commissioner Valerie Newman allegedly forwarded to her minions.  The email was originally from the City of South Miami assistant city clerk and as we said the other day, the original email was fairly innocuous.  

The problem arose when Commissioner Newman forwarded that innocent email to her friends, somehow there was a whole other paragraph in that email that magically appeared when it left the commissioner's outbox, here it is in case you need your memory refreshed...

By inserting this extra paragraph or so into the original email, it appears as if the intent was to make the reader believe that this text came from non other than the assistant city clerk.  In case either our readers or the folks over at the Miami Dade County Ethics commission haven't been able to figure out why this is wrong and downright ILLEGAL, let's take a look at Florida Statute 839.13...

Title XLVI CRIMES  

Chapter 839

OFFENSES BY PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

839.13 Falsifying records.—

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if any judge, justice, mayor, alderman, clerk, sheriff, coroner, or other public officer, or employee or agent of or contractor with a public agency, or any person whatsoever, shall steal, embezzle, alter, corruptly withdraw, falsify or avoid any record, process, charter, gift, grant, conveyance, or contract, or any paper filed in any judicial proceeding in any court of this state, or shall knowingly and willfully take off, discharge or conceal any issue, forfeited recognizance, or other forfeiture, or other paper above mentioned, or shall forge, deface, or falsify any document or instrument recorded, or filed in any court, or any registry, acknowledgment, or certificate, or shall fraudulently alter, deface, or falsify any minutes, documents, books, or any proceedings whatever of or belonging to any public office within this state; or if any person shall cause or procure any of the offenses aforesaid to be committed, or be in anywise concerned therein, the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(2)(a) Any person who knowingly falsifies, alters, destroys, defaces, overwrites, removes, or discards an official record relating to an individual in the care and custody of a state agency, which act has the potential to detrimentally affect the health, safety, or welfare of that individual, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “care and custody” includes, but is not limited to, a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415.
(b) Any person who commits a violation of paragraph (a) which contributes to great bodily harm to or the death of an individual in the care and custody of a state agency commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “care and custody” includes, but is not limited to, a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415.
(c) Any person who knowingly falsifies, alters, destroys, defaces, overwrites, removes, or discards records of the Department of Children and Family Services or its contract provider with the intent to conceal a fact material to a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits prosecution for a violation of paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) involving records described in this paragraph.
(d) This section does not prohibit the disposing or archiving of records as otherwise provided by law. In addition, this section does not prohibit any person from correcting or updating records.
(3) In any prosecution under this section, it shall not be necessary to prove the ownership or value of any paper or instrument involved.
History.—s. 19, Feb. 10, 1832; RS 2571; GS 3483; RGS 5357; CGL 7492; s. 1023, ch. 71-136; s. 1, ch. 2002-386; s. 2, ch. 2007-174.

That's right!  If you're caught screwing around with documents or in this case emails, according to the letter of the law...

 ...the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

LOL!  That's some pretty serious shit right there folks, if indeed Commissioner Newman did alter this email, her ass is toast.  Like we said on Tuesday, we've already filed a formal complaint with the ethics commission outlining the potential infraction, now let's sit back and see what happens.  

Tomorrow we'll discuss the potential ramifications of this alleged act of forgery and we'll also discuss the back of this email, a story so disturbing it may make you not want to ride your bike through the City of South Miami!

The tale of two emails...

Fucking emails...

All day, all night my inbox is constantly buzzing with emails.  With the exception of the nonsensical emails my friends send me, I don't know what I'd do without email.  I can't even begin to tell  you how many times emails have saved my ass by memorializing conversations that I've had were the other people involved had conveniently forgotten critical parts of our conversations that were to my benefit.  

Regardless, what a lot of people seem to somehow forget is that emails create a permanent record of conversations that can be referred back to when the contents of the conversation are in question.  This is particularly useful, or troublesome depending on the content of the email, if you're a public official in the state of Florida who is subject to the states wide ranging Sunshine Laws regarding public records.  Take for example this email that was sent from City of South Miami deputy city clerk Nikki Payne to City of South Miami Commissioner Valerie Newman...

Email From Nikki Payne to Valerie Newman

No big deal, this is simply an email from the deputy city clerk in response to a public information request from Commissioner Newman regarding the arrest of a man named Davidson Schmich (we'll discuss this case later).  In response to the public information request the clerk simply says...

Good afternoon,
Attached please find the information regarding your public records request.
Thanks,

Simple enough right?  Now look what happens to that very same email that city clerk sent to Newman at 4:23 September 21, 2012 when the commissioner forwarded it to her peeps...

Email From Nikki Payne to Valerie Newman Altered

NO SHIT?

Did you guys catch that?  Let's look at the contents of the original email again...

Now look at the altered version of this email that Commissioner Newman sent out to her cronies...

Where the hell did this part come from?

LOL!  We've busted City of South Miami Commissioner Valerie Newman tampering with then sending out a fraudulent email!

So why the hell would the Commissioner feel the need to commit fraud by sending out this obviously altered email?  Could she have had any other intention than to mislead the reader into thinking that the City Clerk had sent the email with the extra couple of paragraphs rather than that rather innocuous first email that was simply acknowledging a public records request?  This seems like nothing more than a simple case of FRAUD with a side dish of FORGERY!

We'll get into the back story and explore her possible reasons for this major ethical lapse tomorrow, in the mean time, we're going to forward Commissioner Newman's foray into the world of fraud to our friends over at the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission...

It's Columbus day!

It's a quasi holiday where half the shit is open and the other half is closed with no rhyme or reason.  If that wasn't enough, we're celebrating a fraud as well!  Regardless, we'll consider this lame holiday a day off for us, stay tuned though as we've uncovered a City of South Miami commissioner committing fraud and we've managed to get a copy of the police report we discussed last week...

More trouble over at the City of South Miami

Looks like things are heating up again over at the "city of pleasant living". Our sources tell us that a certain detective that we've written about before was caught in an compromising position in the backseat of a car in or around the Winn Dixie parking lot in South Miami. The problem is that the female he was caught with was allegedly either underage or was eighteen and was under his charge as part of a South Miami youth organization.

We're told that the pd conducted an investigation that resulted in the detective receiving a one day suspension from the department. Did you expect anything else from a department run by a corrupt chief like Orlando Martinez de Castro?

We've already put in a public information request for the detectives ia file and will update as soon as we get it. Karma's a bitch ain't it Detective?

Party time, another anniversary...

I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately therefore the lack of posts over the last week.  I started to get my shit together this afternoon when I realized that tomorrow is October 3, which would make it the fifth anniversary of the Miami Dade County Mortgage Fraud Task Force's first case and also the fourth anniversary of the arrests in the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case that turned my family's life inside out. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the Barrera mortgage fraud story, it's a case that was hobbled together in a rush by a rookie MDPD detective, Jorge Baluja, and a washed up assistant state attorney, Bill Kostrzewski, where they took the word of a unemployed serial fraudster named Bernardo Barrera, who claimed that his identity was stolen and used in the commission of a massive mortgage fraud scheme. Unfortunately, the state put together the case without properly investigating and overlooked the fact that alleged "victim" was himself an integral part of the mortgage fraud scheme. Once we uncovered Mr. Barrera's complicity in this scheme, he quickly uprooted and hauled ass to Panama. What's troublesome though is even though we presented overwhelming evidence of Mr Barrera's complicity to the state attorneys office, to this day they refuse to go after him.

So where's everyone now?  As we mentioned before, Mr. Barrera after selling whatever he had in the United States, hauled ass and escaped to his native Panama safe from extradition to the United States.  How about the assclown detective that put together the bullshit case?  From what I've been told, he's been demoted several times, most recently to driving a marked patrol car in the Northside District of Miami Dade County.  That's a far cry from his days as a detective on the MDPD Economic crimes unit, isn't it?  How about that dipshit prosecutor, Bill Kostrzewski, who tried to prosecute the case?  I'm told that he's been taken off any meaningful prosecutions and relegated to petty bullshit economic crimes cases.  Nice.  So much for that headline case he put together that appeared all over the news early that October back in 2008.

What amazes me the most though since I started writing this blog is how some criminal prosecutions make headlines yet others manage to escape the spotlight.  When Mr. Kostrzewski went after my wife, somehow both he and the state attorneys office managed to get a press release to anyone in the media with a pulse, yet after following such cases for four plus years now I can't believe how many other cases that should have been in the media somehow were never mentioned.  A perfect example would be the Veldora Arthur mortgage fraud case.  There wasn't a single peep about that case until we broke it here on our blog.  I wonder why?  Wasn't a City of Miami assistant fire chief getting federally indicted for millions of dollars worth of fraud newsworthy?

I've come to realize over the last few years that the main ingredient in keeping this blog going is anger, specifically my anger towards those in law enforcement and the state attorneys office that abuse their powers to destroy innocent people's lives in order to further their own goals.  Need examples?  How about the three tellers that were railroaded Detective Baluja in the Airways Auto Tag case as a favor to the City of South Miami's police chief?  Can you think of an abuse of power worse than that? 

So what now?  Four years after the "headline case" that prosecutor Kostrzewski and detective Baluja put together was filed, have we achieved anything?  I like to think we have.  I have to believe that we played some part in getting Mr. Baluja demoted and I know that we are, at least in part, responsible for getting prosecutor Kostrzewski thrown off the mortgage fraud task force within the state attorneys office.  Is that enough?  I think not.  We have some more work to do, I'm going to start talking about some of the things the state attorneys office did to me over the last few years and for shits and grins, we're going to try to get at least one member of the Baluja clan arrested.  Stay tuned...