Florida Kidnapping Rings Investigated (Author: Michael James Ross)

Florida Kidnapping Rings Investigated

Collier County, Florida

Author: Michael James Ross

Published: September 23rd, 2024

Updated: March 19th, 2025

The following documents and articles will detail the ongoing corruption in Collier County, Florida. These documents prove as evidence of the current corruption with human trafficking and government funded kidnapping rings. This book is divided into two sections. The first section deals with the corruption and human trafficking in Collier County, Florida. The second section details the current illegal arrest and detainment of scientific journalist and medical journalist Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com.

This article was written in order to free Michael James Ross from his illegal arrest while attempting to stop these human trafficking rings in Collier County, Florida. The authorities in Collier County, Florida illegally arrested journalist Michael James Ross. Michael James Ross was illegally arrested, the authorities claimed he was a convicted felon with an air rifle in the State of Florida, and wanted to give Michael James Ross over 10 years in prison for this crime he did not commit. The authorities and judges have refused to hand over the audio evidence that states the original reason why Michael James Ross was being arrested. These Judges and police both are now tampering with audio evidence and why the media cannot even produce a copy of the correct audio recordings of the arrest of Michael James Ross. We are calling for the Florida National Guard to arrest the police officers that were involved with this illegal arrest. We are now calling for the arrest of Police Chief Kevin Rambosk and Police Officer Delia C. Luna for tampering with audio evidence, obstruction of justice, and the illegal arrest of a journalist in the scientific community and medical community.

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Sections:

Section 1: Human Trafficking & Government Kidnapping Rings in Collier County Florida

Section 2: Michael James Ross PollutionScience.com vs Collier County, Florida Government - (Corruption in Collier County, Florida, Human Trafficking & Government Kidnapping Rings)

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Section 1: Human Trafficking & Government Kidnapping Rings in Collier County Florida

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Global Government Kidnapping Rings Investigated (Humboldt County, CA) - (Author: Michael James Ross)

January 2nd, 2017

Governmentkidnappingrings.blogspot.com

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Pollution Science X - Florida - (Pollution Science 101 - Florida) (Editor: Michael James Ross)

April 4th, 2024

PollutionScience101Florida.blogspot.com

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Lawsuit Accuses V.I. Government of Abetting Epstein’s Sex-Trafficking Scheme

November 24, 2023

https://stthomassource.com/content/2023/11/24/lawsuit-accuses-v-i-government-of-abetting-epsteins-sex-trafficking-scheme/

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U.S. Virgin Islands cozied up to Jeffrey Epstein. Now they’re profiting from his sex crimes

9-22-2023

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/u-s-virgin-islands-cozied-up-to-jeffrey-epstein-now-they-re-profiting-from-his-sex-crimes/ar-AA1h6VEb

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Jeffrey Epstein’s cushy federal deal was the only one of its kind in South Florida for at least three decades

April 26, 2021

The Sticky sweet deal that lawyers for serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein worked out with South Florida federal prosecutors veered so far off the beaten path, it blazed a path of its own.

Over the last 29 years, three non-prosecution agreements (NPAs), the kind of deal Epstein got, went to big companies in the Southern District of Florida, according to a list compiled by the University of Virginia and Duke law schools.

But since no company executive was accused of anything close to Epstein’s level of depravity, his deal appears to be one of a kind. His informal criminal enterprise that preyed upon teenage girls had no name to include in the law schools’ “corporate prosecution registry.”

https://www.floridabulldog.org/2021/04/jeffrey-epstein-cushy-federal-deal-one-of-a-kind/

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Newly released transcripts show Florida prosecutors knew of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse two years prior to lenient plea deal

July 2, 2024

In short:

Florida prosecutors knew about Jeffrey Epstein's sexual assaults on teenage girls two years before they agreed to a lenient plea deal, as revealed by newly released grand jury transcripts from 2006.

Despite testimony from teenage victims, Epstein avoided severe federal charges and received a light sentence, allowing him to continue his criminal activities for over a decade, protected by his connections to powerful individuals.
What's next?

Florida grand jury transcripts are usually kept secret forever, but a new bill created an exemption for cases like Epstein's.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-02/judge-orders-surprise-jeffrey-epstein-transcript-release-/104049516

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Florida Prosecutors Knew Epstein Raped Teenage Girls 2 Years Before Cutting Deal, Transcript Shows

July 1, 2024

A Florida judge has released transcripts detailing 2006 grand jury testimony that accused the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein of sexually assaulting numerous underage teenage girls at his Palm Beach mansion

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2024-07-01/judge-calls-jeffrey-epstein-most-infamous-pedophile-in-american-history-as-he-releases-transcripts

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EXCLUSIVE: FBI Wins Legal Fight to Keep its Files on Jeffrey Epstein Secret; Government 'Is Covering its Tracks,' Claims Lawyer Seeking Their Release

6-27-2024

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/exclusive-fbi-wins-legal-fight-to-keep-its-files-on-jeffrey-epstein-secret-government-is-covering-its-tracks-claims-lawyer-seeking-their-release/ar-BB1oZUBL

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Jeffrey Epstein victims sue FBI, allege coverup

February 14, 2024

https://www.reuters.com/legal/jeffrey-epstein-victims-sue-fbi-allege-coverup-2024-02-14/

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23 of Jeffrey Epstein’s Accusers Finally Got Their Day in Court. Here’s What They Said

August 27, 2019

https://time.com/5662688/jeffrey-epstein-accusers-court/

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Human trafficking laws were supposed to help women. Victims’ stories say otherwise.

2023

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2023/01/19/human-trafficking-laws-enforcement-impact-victim-experience/10392339002/

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Florida attorney general pushes state to be more aggressive with feds over human trafficking

June 18, 2024

Attorney General Ashley Moody says federal government to blame for prevalence of trafficking

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is touting the take-down of a human trafficking ring by a new statewide strike force. Moody blames the federal government for the prevalence of trafficking and is pushing Florida to be more aggressive.

“Human trafficking is an atrocious crime.”

Moody is known for her passionate opposition to human trafficking.

“And certainly, in the last few years with the wide-open border and the lack of enforcement of the rule of law as it pertains to the border, this has been an even greater challenge,” she said.

On Thursday, Moody announced the bust of a trafficking ring in the Tampa Bay area and the rescue of 10 of its victims. She also announced the new Florida Human Trafficking Strike Team, which is helping local law enforcement already. Their latest arrest was Lina Payne, who is accused of recruiting women from South America with promises of jobs, then forcing them into sex work to pay off their travel debts, often under threats of violence.

Florida has ranked among the states with the highest incidents of human trafficking for at least a decade, according to calls made to the national human trafficking hotline. But Moody is unhappy with that hotline, and so she’s established a state hotline that reports directly to Florida law enforcement. Moody is critical of Catherine Chen, who leads the national hotline under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Unfortunately, within the last couple of years, under this administration, the new executive director has decided to stop forwarding those tips directly to law enforcement," Moody said. "And as you can imagine, in Florida, we work cooperatively with and support the efforts of the men and women of law enforcement.”

The national hotline has been in existence for 17 years and has served 75,000 victims and survivors on a 24/7 basis. According to Chen, they report about 30 percent of their cases to law enforcement.

Those include all cases involving the abuse, neglect or trafficking of a minor, which are reported to child welfare as well as to law enforcement… cases involving violence or the imminent threat of harm or death…if an adult victim of trafficking asks them to call…or if an adult victim asks someone else to call for them.

Chen says the other 70 percent of their callers are usually seeking services, and often call several times before they ask. And callers often don’t want law enforcement involved. The reason hotline staff puts those decisions in the hands of callers…

“…is the loss of power and autonomy," said Chen. "It’s the loss of the ability to make your own decisions. And it’s the loss of the ability to control your circumstances.”

Chen says many victims are in relationships with their traffickers, even share children with them. And many traffickers know where the loved ones of their victims live, and threaten to harm them.

“What we are trying our best to do is to rebuild trust and to rebuild agency as fast as we can," Chen said. "And to help that person – who knows what is the safest for them, who knows all the different dimensions of what they have to deal with – make the choices that are right for them.”

Now Florida has a new state hotline, 855-FLA-SAFE, so that people can report directly to law enforcement. The Florida House of Representatives voted unanimously for the bill that created it, and Gov. Ron. DeSantis signed it into law last month. Actually, the function of reporting human trafficking was added to an already-established hotline that also reports food stamp fraud and gasoline pump fraud.

Moody urges the public to call in tips to law enforcement if they suspect trafficking, even if it’s something they aren’t sure is significant…

“…and they’ll call, and we can solve a cold case. Whether it’s a change of consciousness or they have a feeling it’s more than they initially thought – call! It’s not going to be any skin off our back to run it down.”

Moody says with those tips, law enforcement agencies often can review reports of suspected trafficking and put plans in place to rescue victims.

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Florida’s trafficking hotline number is (855) 352-7233. The National Human Trafficking Hotline number is (888) 373-7888.

https://www.wusf.org/politics-issues/2024-06-18/human-trafficking-ashley-moody-florida-attorney-general-pushes-state-more-aggressive-feds

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Florida Ranks Third in Human Trafficking, But Can't Prosecute Many Cases

2013

https://www.wlrn.org/news/2013-08-15/florida-ranks-third-in-human-trafficking-but-cant-prosecute-many-cases

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I survived Epstein and Maxwell’s sex ring. Then the gaslighting began.

July 19, 2022

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/19/i-survived-jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-ring/

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Ann Coulter: The Great Epstein Cover-up, Part I

5 Jan 2022

https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2022/01/05/ann-coulter-the-great-epstein-cover-up-part-i/

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New records detail how Epstein levereged connections to the wealthy, powerful to abuse girls

Jan 5, 2024

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/new-records-detail-how-epstein-levereged-connections-to-the-wealthy-powerful-to-abuse-girls

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JP Morgan settles Epstein lawsuits with US Virgin Islands and Jes Staley

26 September 2023

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66925934

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Ethics complaint filed against Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann

2021

https://winknews.com/2021/05/19/ethics-complaint-filed-against-naples-mayor-teresa-heitmann/

An ethics complaint filed against the mayor of Naples is alleging corruption at City Hall, including a child prostitution ring, involving high-ranking leaders in Naples and Collier County.

The complaint was written by Brian Dye, the director of technology services for the City of Naples, to the Florida Commission on Ethics with a date of Monday, May 17.

The 7-page complaint alleges that Mayor Teresa Heitmann abused her position and office, directed Dye to break Sunshine Laws and destroy public records and used her position for personal gain...

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office referred it to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement because through the complaint Sheriff Kevin Rambosk learned Heitmann had accused Rambosk of running a child prostitution ring at the Naples Municipal Airport with former Naples Mayor Bill Barnett.

According to the complaint, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Heitmann’s actions “were not criminal enough to warrant their attention as the most they could prosecute her for was a second-degree misdemeanor.”

They told Dye to take his concerns to the Florida Commission on Ethics.

As for the allegations made against Rambosk, the sheriff said: “The allegations made by Mayor Heitmann against me are untrue, irresponsible, unethical and defamatory. These allegations made by a sitting elected leader are outrageous...”

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$100 million lawsuit: Over 20 Collier County hotels, motels accountable for sex trafficking

February 6, 2020

A new lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages for two victims claims the owners of nearly two dozen Collier County hotels and motels are responsible for sex trafficking on their premises.

Along some of the busiest and public roads in Collier County, a new 87-page lawsuit claims there is a dark side we need to shine a light on.

https://winknews.com/2020/02/06/100-million-lawsuit-over-20-collier-county-hotels-motels-accountable-for-sex-trafficking/

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Lawsuit claims sex trafficking took place in more than 20 Collier County hotels

2023

COLLIER COUNTY — A new lawsuit, just filed in Collier County, shows a sex trafficking ring was operating in more than 20 different hotels for years.

Now, the victims are suing the hotel chains for $100 million in damages for not doing something about it. The brands named in the lawsuit include Best Western, La Quinta, Fairfield Inn, and Gulf Coast Inn.

“Our position is, basically, the hotels turned a blind eye. They knew, or they should have known, but it was an economic factor for them. These hotel rooms were being rented out,” said attorney Sharon Hanlon, who is representing the victims.

She said the hotels are at fault because the signs were unmistakable.

“Male traffickers were paying for the room with cash, and they would do it day by day, because they never knew when they were going to be raided on by the cops or anything,” said Hanlon.

And the lawsuit shows, in some cases, staff at the hotels didn’t just allow abuse, they joined in.

https://naplesshelter.org/lawsuit-claims-sex-trafficking-took-place-in-more-than-20-collier-county-hotels/

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See the list of hotels and motels named in a Collier County sex trafficking lawsuit

Feb 6, 2020

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/crime/2020/02/06/list-collier-hotels-and-motels-named-sex-trafficking-lawsuit/4669494002/

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Lawsuit: Jeffrey Epstein raped woman in Naples hotel room and threatened to feed her to gators

March 31, 2021

https://winknews.com/2021/03/31/lawsuit-jeffrey-epstein-raped-woman-in-naples-hotel-room-and-threatened-to-feed-her-to-gators/

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Lawsuit alleges woman was raped at Naples hotel by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2008

March 31, 2021

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/crime/2021/03/31/lawsuit-florida-woman-raped-naples-hotel-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell/4826267001/

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Judge Tossed Right To Sue Rape Victim – Florida Attorneys Still Pursue Her, Threaten Arrest

March 23, 2019

https://thewashingtonstandard.com/judge-tossed-right-to-sue-rape-victim-florida-attorneys-still-pursue-her-threaten-arrest/

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Innocence Sold: Florida Hotels Have Stacked Up Thousands of Violations of a 2019 sex-trafficking law. But no one has been fined.

11/20/2022

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2022/11/20/innocence-sold-florida-hotels-have-stacked-up-thousands-of-violations-of-a-2019-sex-trafficking-law-but-not-one-has-been-fined/

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Human traffickers profit off Southwest Florida hotel rooms

July 4, 2023

https://winknews.com/2023/07/04/swfl-hotel-rooms-human-trafficking/

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Florida prosecutors knew Epstein raped teenage girls 2 years before cutting deal, transcript shows

July 1, 2024

https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-grand-jury-transcript-florida-b5dce49bdd9bcbce2969107919ddc2d0

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Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to low security federal prison in Florida

July 25, 2022

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/us/ghislaine-maxwell-prison-transfer/index.html

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‘Rampant’ sexual abuse epidemic at Florida prison holding Ghislaine Maxwell, report says

25 April 2023

US Senate report found abuse at federal prisons and lack of accountability

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/ghislaine-maxwell-florida-prison-abuse-b2326698.html

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Florida's public list of sex buyers removed from state website after 3 years

Jan 10, 2024

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/floridas-public-list-of-sex-buyers-removed-from-state-website-after-3-years

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The New York Times, Bill Gates Met With Jeffrey Epstein Many Times, Despite His Past, Oct. 12, 2019

January 4, 2024

The Guardian, Prince Andrew, Clinton, Hawking: what do the Epstein documents say about key people?, Jan. 5, 2024

CNN, Jeffrey Epstein documents unsealed, naming Prince Andrew and former President Clinton, Jan. 3, 2024

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/feb/01/instagram-posts/we-fact-checked-a-years-old-epstein-list-with-166/

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Innocence Sold: Florida's Foster System Provides dangerous Sex Traffickers With Easy Access to Vulnerable Children

11-27-2022

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2022/11/27/innocence-sold-floridas-foster-system-provides-dangerous-sex-traffickers-with-easy-access-to-vulnerable-children/

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Human trafficking bust: Teacher, coaches among 228 arrested in Polk County

March 5, 2024

https://www.fox13news.com/news/human-trafficking-bust-teacher-coaches-among-228-arrested-in-polk-county

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Human traffickers, smugglers use this Florida highway the most, according to FHP (I-75)

February 10, 2022

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/02/10/which-florida-highways-are-human-traffickers-smugglers-caught-using-the-most/

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Human trafficking in Florida continues to be a problem (includes multimedia content)

October 28, 2022

https://caplinnews.fiu.edu/human-trafficking-in-florida-continues-to-be-a-problem/

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Human Trafficking and Smuggling in Tampa Bay, Florida: Processes, Policies and Procedures

2015

https://commons.erau.edu/mcnair/vol2/iss1/5/

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SWFL group ran human trafficking ring up, authorities say

March 06, 2015

A routine traffic stop by a Collier County sheriff’s deputy unraveled one of the largest human trafficking rings in Southwest Florida, leading to the arrests of 15 men and women Friday.

During a 2013 traffic stop, a deputy identified a woman as a potential victim. Detectives began an investigation and eventually identified a half-dozen women who’d been trafficked across the state and pimped out to as many as 45 people per day.

Each of the six victims had been illegally smuggled into the country after being promised legal jobs and reunions with their families. Once in the U.S., however, the women — who were in their 20s and 30s — were forced to work as commercial sex slaves, according to officials.

https://archive.naplesnews.com/news/crime/swfl-group-ran-human-trafficking-ring-up-authorities-say-ep-974148610-335578971.html/

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WINK News: Collier County human trafficking victim tells her story to help others

https://naplesshelter.org/wink-news-collier-county-human-trafficking-victim-tells-her-story-to-help-others/

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Engaging the community, Collier Sheriff fights to end human trafficking

2019

https://winknews.com/2019/05/29/engaging-the-community-collier-sheriff-fights-to-end-human-trafficking/

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Lawsuit against Collier County Sheriff's Office alleges wrongful arrest, battery, retaliation

Aug 2020

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/crime/2020/08/05/wrongful-arrest-lawsuit-filed-against-collier-county-sheriffs-office/3298736001/

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25 arrested by task force for human trafficking involving 37 victims

September 21, 2023

The Southwest Florida Intercept Task Force arrested 25 people for children and human trafficking.

According to Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, there were 37 victims connected to the arrests and the youngest was only 2 years old.

“The most horrific was a 2-year-old toddler who was placed on a dating site, a dating app, advertising the toddler for sex,” said Rambosk. “There’s no real words to explain that. We just need to look. We rescued the victim, and we arrested the perpetrator. That’s what this whole program is about.”

https://winknews.com/2023/09/21/children-human-trafficking-25-arrests-37-victims/

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2 men arrested in Collier County human trafficking operation

2016

https://winknews.com/2016/01/11/2-men-arrested-in-collier-county-human-trafficking-operation/

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Human trafficking data has a home in St. Pete

June 6, 2023

She added that discerning those links would aid local and state law enforcement interventions. It would also provide a better understanding of trafficking rates, when people are most likely to become victims and how often they move to other locations or remain trapped in one spot.

Wagers noted that numerous state agencies work to combat human and sex trafficking and support victims. Those collect data alongside police departments and the state tip line.

She said the hotline is currently a primary information source. However, there are no follow-up investigations to ensure that someone is a trafficking victim or if multiple people reported the same person.

“So now, someone who wasn’t even a human trafficking victim gets counted twice,” Wagers explained. “Then there are other ones where no one ever calls, but they do come into the system and are appropriately labeled as a human trafficking survivor victim.”

She elaborated that the anonymous, national tip line information that places Florida as the third-worst state for trafficking is not “awful.” Wagers said it is just one data point and difficult to verify.

While there is no state ranking for the region, officials consider Tampa Bay a “hotbed.” Wagers said that is due to the area’s unique characteristics making it favorable for successful criminal or legitimate enterprises.

“If you had to quickly and efficiently move goods, you need access to certain things,” she added. “One is a port, and an international airport and freeways. Where you see these concentrations of human trafficking tips, they are in states – and then cities within the states – that have a couple of those features.

https://stpetecatalyst.com/human-trafficking-data-has-a-home-in-st-pete/

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Miami Is a Hot Spot for Human Trafficking

March 07, 2024

Florida ranks third in the country in human trafficking cases according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, with Miami-Dade County having the most reported cases in the state. As a result, local law enforcement authorities, including the state attorney's office, are focusing their efforts on addressing the crisis. Statistics are currently showing that Miami is the number 5 city for human trafficking in the United States. Miami International Airport is claimed to be a hub for human trafficking cases because of the heavy domestic and international travel.

https://www.dmtlaw.com/blog/miami-is-a-hot-spot-for-human-trafficking/

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Naples mayor says complaint against her meant to sabotage reputation

May 26, 2021

An ethics complaint by City IT Director Brian Dye against the mayor in the City of Naples has brought forward serious accusations. It brought up allegations of corruption and child prostitution involving high-ranking leaders in Naples and Collier County.

We sat down with Mayor Teresa Heitmann who told us the complaint doesn’t look like something the IT director would write.

Heitmann believes the IT director was put up to it and she says a seven-page complaint is meant to sabotage her reputation.

“It’s shocking and impurely accusations that have potentially now harmed important relationships with the city,” Heitmann said.

The complaint claims Heitmann accused the former mayor and Sheriff Kevin Rambosk of running a child sex ring out of Naples Airport.

https://winknews.com/2021/05/26/naples-mayor-says-complaint-against-her-meant-to-sabotage-reputation/

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Slavery in our midst: Luncheon at yacht club spotlights human trafficking

January 24, 2018

The amazing thing is, slavery is happening today, in 2018, and all around us in our own community.

We tend to think of slavery or human trafficking as something from long ago or taking place in faraway lands. But as a group at the Naples Sailing & Yacht Club found out on Jan. 19, though, it is happening in this century, right here in Collier County.

Naples Community Church hosted the presentation to boost awareness of human trafficking, in recognition that January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The approximately 110 attending the luncheon heard from two people who are intimately involved in dealing with the problem, Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and Linda Oberhaus, CEO of the Shelter for Abused Women and Children.

Human trafficking can involve forced labor, often agricultural; domestic servitude in the trafficker’s or another home; and sex trafficking, Rambosk and Oberhaus told the gathering, taking turns and “tag-teaming” the presentation. Because such a high percentage of the human trafficking, especially that which ordinary citizens are likely to come across in our area, is sex trafficking, that was the focus of most of the discussion.

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/communities/collier-citizen/2018/01/24/slavery-our-midst-luncheon-yacht-club-spotlights-human-trafficking/1061985001/

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Former Naples customs officer admits to stealing almost $19,000 cash from passengers

June 19, 2024

A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer who worked out of the Naples Airport admitted to stealing cash from passengers.

According to the plea agreement, 43-year-old William Timothy said he stole from at least 17 people totaling nearly $19,000.

https://winknews.com/2024/06/19/customs-officer-stealing/

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Police: Former Collier cop asked teenage girls for nude pictures

Dec. 11, 2019

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/police-former-collier-cop-asked-teenage-girls-for-nude-pictures/

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Collier County KEVIN RAMBOSK Declares It's Good To Be KING!

2014

https://aquakiki.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/collier-county-kevin-rambosk-declares-its-good-to-be-king/

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Sheriff candidate files ethics complaint against Rambosk

June 27, 2008

For the second time in three months, a candidate for Collier County sheriff filed a complaint with a state commission accusing fellow candidate Kevin Rambosk of violating state statutes.

Collier County businessman Vinny Angiolillo, the owner of Class Act Limousine in North Naples, filed a complaint this week, this time with the Florida Elections Commission.

In the complaint, Angiolillo, who once compared the Sheriff's Office to a criminal gang, alleges that both Rambosk and the Sheriff's Office "wantonly disrupted" his political campaign and caused "irreversible damage" to his campaign and reputation.

Sheriff Don Hunter called the complaint "enormously misleading." Rambosk, an executive officer with the Sheriff's Office, called it "politically motivated, irresponsible and malicious."

Angiolillo said he mailed the complaint on Thursday and confirmed its receipt on Friday. However, Kevin Smith, an investigator with the commission, said he could neither confirm nor deny receipt of the document due to commission policies...

https://archive.naplesnews.com/news/politics/elections/sheriff-candidate-files-ethics-complaint-against-rambosk-ep-401493839-344468672.html

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Crash leads to human smuggling arrest in Naples

Apr 07, 2022

https://www.fox4now.com/collier-county/crash-leads-to-human-trafficking-arrest-in-naples

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Serenity Walk Park filled with sex offenders

February 23, 2024

A family-friendly place is filled with sex offenders, drugs and vandalism.

That’s the picture painted by public complaints, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
In a single two-day time period, CCSO has made five different indecent exposure arrests at Serenity Walk Park in Naples.

In one case, an undercover deputy said he was groped...

https://winknews.com/2024/02/23/serenity-walk-park-sex-offenders/

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Inside Miracle Village, Florida's Isolated Community of Sex Offenders

2015

In January of 2013, photographer Sofia Valiente took residency at Miracle Village, an isolated community that houses convicted sex offenders in Florida.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/jmbzz7/inside-miracle-village-379

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The village where half the population are sex offenders

July 2013

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23063492

Bill Gates and Matt Gaetz Reveal the Shallow, Dangerous Truth About the American War on Sex Trafficking

May 20, 2021

https://newrepublic.com/article/162451/bill-gates-matt-gaetz-jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking

There’s no great conspiracy at play in the crises unfolding around the philanthropist and the congressman—just the banal myopias of power.

There is almost no schadenfreude in the Matt Gaetz downfall. The latest chapter unfolded Monday, with the Florida congressman’s ostensibly now-former wingman, Joel Greenberg, pleading guilty to sex trafficking a minor and promising his cooperation in a federal investigation reportedly involving Gaetz himself. During the proceedings, a plane flying near the Orlando courthouse dragged a banner reading, “Tick Tock Matt Gaetz.”

The vast majority of men facing federal sex trafficking charges in the United States do not hold such political power. Nor do they wield the kind of brute influence once wielded by someone like Jeffrey Epstein, who courted billionaires and philanthropists and sometimes men who were both. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was apparently one of them, a relationship that may have even been a factor in his recently announced divorce. As in the example of Gaetz, the alleged sex trafficker Gates met with repeatedly was hiding in plain sight.

The Epstein and Greenberg cases bear little resemblance to the pop crime depiction of a sex trafficking ring, a fact that may (rather belatedly) help unwind the influence of a two-decades-long war on sex trafficking fueled by salacious myths and racialized caricatures. And contra QAnon and centuries of associated sex slavery panic, there is no nefarious elite cabal orchestrating a great sex trafficking cover-up. The Gates and Gaetz stories may expose a more uncomfortable truth: The people who associate with such high-profile men accused of or involved in sex trafficking may see no disconnect between those relationships and their own claims to be fighting sex trafficking.

When Gates was being entertained by Epstein at the financier’s Manhattan townhouse, several years had passed since a sex trafficking investigation resulted in Epstein’s very publicly pleading guilty to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. “Gulliver’s playfulness had unintended consequences,” Epstein told The New York Times a few months before his brief incarceration, likening himself to the narrator of Jonathan Swift’s novel, all in the course of being interviewed on his own private island. “That is what happens with wealth. There are unexpected burdens as well as benefits.” It was a “burden”that meets the federal definition of sex trafficking. Since then, the Department of Justice has charged many more men who were alleged to have solicited commercial sex with the crime of sex trafficking. In 2019, according to the Human Trafficking Institute, 103 people faced sex trafficking charges for soliciting sex—about 10 percent of all federal trafficking defendants.

Both Greenberg and Epstein appear to have explicitly cultivated relationships with powerful people both to enrich themselves and as cover. Just before Trump left office, Greenberg pressed Trump associate Roger Stone for a preemptive pardon. “They know he paid me to pay the girls and that he and I both had sex with the girl who was underage,” Greenberg wrote Stone. (This was some months before Gaetz’s connection to the Greenberg sex trafficking investigation was first reported.)

Greenberg had reason to believe this could work; Trump had elevated Gaetz as something like an heir and so would be personally invested in protecting that investment in his own political future. Trump also talked a big (and unfounded) game about being the toughest president on trafficking, something Greenberg apparently did not perceive to be an obstacle. In fact, the more Trump touted his anti–sex trafficking initiatives, the more he seemed to alienate the anti-trafficking movement, a rare and early indication that this kind of professed “commitment” to fighting sex trafficking was empty and damaging.

Epstein, meanwhile, according to the Times, met multiple times at his townhouse with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private charitable organization in the world; he also pitched the foundation on a “multibillion-dollar charitable fund—an arrangement that had the potential to generate enormous fees”—for himself, along with the attendant good publicity.

Over the years, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had poured millions of dollars into anti–sex trafficking groups, among many other causes, including $5 million to the evangelical group International Justice Mission, which is perhaps most known for conducting dramatic brothel raids in Southeast Asia. At the time, international sex workers’ rights groups condemned the grant and IJM, but nearly no one else drew attention to the traumatic arrests and threats of deportations alleged by sex workers whose workplaces were raided. Nick Kristof, an influential mouthpiece for anti–sex trafficking groups, including IJM, celebrated the raids, a bit predictably. Such efforts were lauded again in his 2015 column titled “Bill and Melinda Gates’ Pillow Talk,” which according to Kristof includes items like “the utility of empowering women.” Why wouldn’t Epstein want in on that brand association?

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Feds’ raid on Diddy’s Miami Beach mansions goes into the night in sex-trafficking probe

March 26, 2024

The raid came weeks after a lawsuit alleged that Diddy was the leader of a “widespread and dangerous criminal sex trafficking organization.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article287081310.html

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Rays’ Wander Franco faces additional charge of human trafficking

July 10th, 2024

The star shortstop could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the latest charge. Wednesday, he was shifted to MLB’s restricted list and is no longer getting paid.

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2024/07/10/wander-franco-human-trafficking-sexual-abuse-exploitation-charges-dominican-prosecutors/

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Average human trafficking victims in SWFL, 15-year-old girls

February 1, 2024

https://winknews.com/2024/02/01/human-trafficking-victims-swfl-girls/

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Florida Sex Money Murder Gang Dismantled

Apr 13, 2022

https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/florida-sex-money-murder-gang-dismantled

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WINK News: Human trafficking in Southwest Florida

https://naplesshelter.org/wink-trafficking/

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Human trafficking continues to be a growing problem in Florida

2020

https://www.wfla.com/news/human-trafficking-continues-to-be-a-growing-problem-in-florida/

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U.S. Marshals Find 200 Missing Children Across the Nation During Operation We Will Find You 2

Jul 08, 2024

https://www.redlakenationnews.com/story/2024/07/08/news/us-marshals-find-200-missing-children-across-the-nation-during-operation-we-will-find-you-2/123618.html

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Global Government Kidnapping Rings Investigated (Humboldt County, CA) - (Author: Michael James Ross)

January 2nd, 2017

Governmentkidnappingrings.blogspot.com

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{It is my job to inform the public if an organisation ever tried to bribe or intimidate my media agency in order to stop my news reports, we have stated that our media would tell the public if this ever happened. It is our duty to inform the people that the government officials in Naples, Florida (Collier County, Florida) are trying to silence our scientific reports. These officials in Collier County, Florida are behind one of the biggest human trafficking rings in the nation. The District Attorneys of the 20th District Court in Naples, Florida (Collier County, Florida) were behind covering up these human smuggling rings. We want Judge Elizabeth Krier, Judge Kyle Cohen Judge John Mcgowan, Amira D. Fox, Nicole Santini and Rhiannon Gomes of the 20th District Court to be arrested for tampering with evidence}.

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Feds bust ‘modern-day slavery’ ring amid new immigration enforcement effort

Dec. 9, 2021

At least 100 immigrant workers were freed from conditions in which at least two died, another was repeatedly raped, and others were kidnapped and threatened with death.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/feds-bust-modern-day-slavery-ring-new-effort-immigration-enforcement-rcna8273

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Florida sheriff blasts border policies after 21 charged in sex trafficking ring

Sheriff Judd: Illegal foreign nationals used DHS papers to fly to major cities for free

Mar 7, 2024

https://www.thecentersquare.com/florida/article_e83ba45e-dce3-11ee-b509-a75f0b01c4cf.html

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Massachusetts seeks human trafficking probe targeting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over migrants

Sep 18, 2022

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/09/18/massachusetts-human-trafficking-probe-desantis-migrants/10419960002/

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ICE busts significant sex trafficking ring operating from Florida to North Carolina

January 16, 2013

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the results of a lengthy investigation, called Operation Dark Night, into a sex trafficking ring operating in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. The investigation, which was led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), led to a takedown yesterday in which authorities made 13 criminal arrests and 44 administrative arrests tied to the investigation, as well as the rescue of as many as 11 victims.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-busts-significant-sex-trafficking-ring-operating-florida-north-carolina

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Proposal to ban free prison labor introduced for 2022 Florida legislative session

2022

https://humantraffickingsearch.org/resource/proposal-to-ban-free-prison-labor-introduced-for-2022-florida-legislative-session/

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Government complicit in migrant child trafficking: Whistleblower

7-9-2024

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/government-complicit-in-migrant-child-trafficking-whistleblower/ar-BB1pHEXu

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Human trafficking in Florida

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_Florida

Human trafficking in Florida is the illegal trade of human beings for sexual exploitation or forced labor as it occurs in the state of Florida. After California and New York, Florida has the most human trafficking cases in the United States. Florida has had cases of sex trafficking, domestic servitude, and forced labor.

Florida has a large agricultural economy and a large immigrant population, which has made it a prime environment for forced labor, particularly in the tomato industry. Also Florida's tourism industry has also helped make the state a prime target for human traffickers. Concerted efforts have led to the freeing of thousands of slaves in recent years. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center reported receiving 1,518 calls and emails in 2015 about human trafficking in Florida.

Anti-trafficking laws and policies

The United States Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in 2000, which not only criminalizes human trafficking but aims to support its victims.[5] In 2002, the Florida Department of Children and Families Office of Refugee Resettlement began a project to explore how Florida could implement this new law.

Statewide Council on Human Trafficking

The Florida Legislature started the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, which will spend two years developing policy recommendations for curbing human trafficking by prosecuting offenders and providing services to victims.[6] The council includes fifteen members, including prosecutors, legislators, health experts, social services experts, and former Attorney General Pam Bondi as Chair.

The council will work toward creating recommendations for certifying safe homes for victims of human trafficking and for prosecuting traffickers who participate in the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons through coercion.

Florida farmworkers

Federal Civil Rights officials have prosecuted five slavery operations involving over 1,000 workers in Florida's fields since 1997. In November 2002, Ramiro Ramos, his brother Juan, and their cousin Jose Luis, sub-contractors of a farm in Immokalee, Florida, were charged ten—twelve years each for holding migrant workers in involuntary servitude.[9] The human trafficking ring was uncovered by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a local organization that focuses on human rights of the Mexican and Central American immigrants in the region who are exploited for cheap or unpaid labor.

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History of slavery in Florida

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_Florida

Slavery in Florida occurred among indigenous tribes and during Spanish rule. Florida's purchase by the United States from Spain in 1819 (effective 1821) was primarily a measure to strengthen the system of slavery on Southern plantations, by denying potential runaways the formerly safe haven of Florida. Florida became a slave state, seceded, and passed laws to exile or enslave free blacks. Even after abolition, forced labor continued.

Few enslaved Africans were imported into Florida from Cuba in the period of Spanish colonial rule, as there was little for them to do—no mines, no plantations. Starting in 1687, slaves escaping from English colonies to the north were freed when they reached Florida and accepted Catholic baptism. Black slavery in the region was widely established after Florida came under British then American control. Slavery in Florida was theoretically abolished by the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln, though as the state was then part of the Confederacy this had little immediate effect.

Slavery in Florida did not end abruptly on one specific day. As news arrived of the end of the Civil War and the collapse of the Confederacy in the spring of 1865, slavery unofficially ended, as there were no more slave catchers or other authority to enforce the peculiar institution. Newly emancipated African Americans departed their plantations, often in search of relatives who were separated from their family. The end of slavery was made formal by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865. Some of the characteristics of slavery, such as inability to leave an abusive situation, continued under sharecropping, convict leasing, and vagrancy laws. In the 20th and 21st centuries, conditions approximating slavery are found among marginal immigrant populations, especially migrant farm workers and trafficked sex workers. The Florida Slavery Memorial is planned.

Slavery before arrival of the Europeans

Enslavement predates the period of European colonization and was practiced by various indigenous peoples. Florida had some of the first African slaves in what is now the United States in 1526, as well as the first emancipation of escaping slaves in 1687 and the first settlement of free blacks in 1735.

Human trafficking in the 20th and 21st centuries

Main article: Human trafficking in Florida

After California and New York, Florida has the most human trafficking cases in the United States. Florida has had cases of sex trafficking, domestic servitude, and forced labor.

Florida has a large agricultural economy and a large immigrant population, which has made it a prime environment for forced labor, particularly in the tomato industry. Concerted efforts have led to the freeing of thousands of slaves in recent years. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center reported receiving 1,518 calls and emails in 2015 about human trafficking in Florida.

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Florida sheriff to Congress after illegal immigrants nabbed in human trafficking probe: 'Shame on all of them'

March 5, 2024

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said: 'The politicians are politicking while the victims are being victimized'

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-sheriff-congress-illegal-immigrants-nabbed-human-trafficking-probe-shame-all-them

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Indicted head of Haitian kidnapping ring freed

2015

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article18827622.html

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Increase in sextortion cases causes FBI to issue major warning

January 18, 2024

The problem with sextortion is getting so bad that the FBI has issued a major warning.

Sextortion is a form of exploitation where victims, including children and teens, are coerced into sharing explicit photos or videos of themselves. The predator will use the images to blackmail the target with threats to publicly expose the material.

“Sextortion is something that we’ve seen blow up and double and triple in the last couple of years,” said Lt. Wade Williams with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office...

https://winknews.com/2024/01/18/increase-sextortion-cases-causes-fbi-issue-major-warning/

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DANGER – SEXtortion Scandal Rocks Florida

https://aquakiki.wordpress.com/tag/collier-county/

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John Ring Jr., a Tampa politico with ties to the mayor and members of city council, pleads not guilty in sex offender case

Apr 11, 2023

The State Attorney filed a 'request to seal' Ring's warrant because of 'potential evidence suggesting public corruption within the City of Tampa...'

https://www.cltampa.com/news/john-ring-jr-a-tampa-politico-with-ties-to-the-mayor-and-members-of-city-council-pleads-not-guilty-in-sex-offender-case-15447849

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Opa-locka Police accused of massive corruption

2011

State authorities are probing what could be the most significant police corruption case in years in perpetually troubled Opa-locka.

According to city memos obtained by Miami New Times and confirmed by City Manager Clarance Patterson, officers have told internal investigators that city cops:

• had sex with arrested offenders "in lieu of moving forward to prosecution, eventually unarresting the individuals and discarding the police report";

• stole property from the station;

• ordered lower-ranking officers to release arrested suspects and discard the reports, which would violate state law;

• improperly transported liquor in police vehicles for private parties;

• horsed around with Tasers on the job;

• slept on duty.

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/opa-locka-police-accused-of-massive-corruption-6381216

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Florida police officers entangled in widespread sex scandal

2013

LAKELAND, Fla. – Authorities are investigating a widespread sex scandal involving nearly a dozen police officers in one Florida city after a civilian crime analyst detailed trysts with the men in police and fire stations, patrol cars, motels and even in a parking lot after a memorial service for a slain officer.

Sue Eberle, 37, has told officials that she had consensual and sometimes coerced sex with the officers and a firefighter, and that she once was propositioned by a city worker in Lakeland.

Eberle's accounts of the liaisons were largely corroborated by her sexual partners and others within the police department, and published in a graphic, 59-page report written in an incredulous tone by the county's top prosecutor. It said the department's problems investigating crimes might be caused by some high-ranking officers being more interested in having sex with Eberle than doing their jobs.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-police-officers-entangled-in-widespread-sex-scandal

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Top 10 Worst Prisons in Florida State

April 8, 2023

4. Lowell Correctional Institution (Ocala)

Lowell Correctional Institution is Florida’s largest women’s prison and has been the subject of numerous lawsuits and investigations. In 2015, an investigation found that guards were sexually abusing inmates and trading favors for sex. The prison has also been criticized for its overcrowding, poor medical care, and lack of educational programs.

https://theprisondirect.com/top-10-worst-prisons-in-florida-state/

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DOJ Launches Investigation into Abuse at Florida Women’s Prison

Loaded on Jan. 8, 2019

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2019/jan/8/doj-launches-investigation-abuse-florida-womens-prison/

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Florida's unsafe prisons

2-3-2015

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/opinion/2015/02/04/floridas-unsafe-prisons/29296705007/

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Rothstein Exposé Details Sex, Murder, and Corruption Behind Florida's Largest Ponzi Scheme

2013

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanmaglich/2013/01/21/rothstein-expose-details-sex-murder-and-corruption-behind-floridas-largest-ponzi-scheme/?sh=499e5f4f683e

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Seminole County judge absent from work amid misconduct allegations, chief judge says

2015

https://www.wesh.com/article/seminole-county-judge-absent-from-work-amid-misconduct-allegations-chief-judge-says-1/4442237

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Tallahassee corruption probe turns attention to judges: sources

2021

The public corruption investigation that has gripped Tallahassee for the last three years has expanded, according to law enforcement sources close to the investigation.

Now, it has wrapped its tendrils around state courts in North Central and Northwest Florida.

It isn’t clear which judges have caught investigators’ eyes, but there is certainly some overlap with the investigation that snared Scott Maddox, a former Tallahassee City Commissioner.

While judicial misconduct is typically investigated by Florida’s Judicial Qualifications Committee, the fact that federal investigators are now looking into cases in Tallahassee means the fallout from the ongoing public corruption investigation is far from over.

A hint on who may be in the crosshairs: one of the Leon County judges who was supposed to oversee Maddox’s disbarment was pulled from the case with no real explanation.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/451536-tallahassee-corruption-probe-turns-attention-to-judges-sources-say/

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WESH 2 investigates 'bad judges' in Central Florida

2015

The misconduct allegations are of everything from election law violations to bad behavior on and off the bench

WESH 2 examined the best ways to weed out the “bad judges” in Florida.

Click here to watch this report

There are 62 disciplinary cases against Florida judges since 2001; 18 of those cases stem from Central Florida.

"I think I tried almost every kind of case that you can imagine." said retired judge OH "Bill" Eaton, who has 42 years of experience in law, including 24 years as a local circuit judge and two years as chief judge.

"There are some people on that list that I would have predicted would be on that list at one time or another… simply because of qualifications," Eaton said.

"I think Central Florida's relatively high numbers right now are an anomaly. I don't think that's the norm,” Gray Robinson attorney Mayanne Downs said.

Downs is also a former Florida Bar president and is currently on Florida’s Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates misconduct by state judges.

https://www.wesh.com/article/wesh-2-investigates-bad-judges-in-central-florida-1/4442238

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Indictments Shock Florida Town, Inured to Vice Reports

March 20, 1978

LAKE CITY, Fla.—Corruption was way of life for so long in Lake City that the community began to lose sight of the difference between fixing a speeding ticket and letting criminals escape justice for a once.

That is one view offered to explain why a Federal investigation of local racketeering has led to the indictment of several prominent citizens, including two of the four circuit judges in Florida's Third Judicial District, on charges that a conspiracy existed to operate gambling, prostitution and a drug ring, in addition to putting a price tag on justice in the courtroom.

This small city 25 miles south of the Georgia border was shocked by the indictments, but at least some of the surprise seemed to be not so much that vice and corruption flourished in Lake City but that the powerful had been brought to justice.

In fact, there was very little moral out. rage expressed.

https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/20/archives/indictments-shock-florida-town-inured-to-vice-reports-judge-invited.html

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Southern District Florida Courts; A Haven for Bribery, Corruption and Impeachment Proceedings against Sitting Federal Judges

November 19, 2020

It’s no surprise, Texas and Florida lead the way when it comes to the handful of impeachments against Federal Judges, as archived in the history of the United States of America.

https://lawsintexas.com/southern-district-florida-courts-a-haven-for-bribery-corruption-and-impeachment-proceedings-against-sitting-federal-judges/

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Corrupt Florida Justice and Judges

March 26, 2009

ATTENTION: COURT/POLITICAL EDITORS

COURT REFORMER ANDY MARTIN HAS LONG RECORD OF FILING SUCCESSFUL COMPLAINTS AGAINST FLORIDA JUDGES

(FORT LAUDERDALE)(March 25, 2007) Chicago-based Internet journalist, broadcaster and media critic Andy Martin has a long history of successfully filing judicial complaints and legal proceedings against Florida judges. Martin founded the Campaign Court Reform (CCR) in 1989 and has served as Founding Executive Director since then.

The CCR receives reports nationally and attempts to point the spotlight on judicial arrogance, corruption and abuse of power. Martin began his career as a judicial reformer while a law student at the University of Illinois, as a small part of a team that exposed bank stock bribes on the Illinois Supreme Court and led to the removal of two judges, Roy Solfisburg and Ray Klingbiel, see Illinois Supreme Court Docket No. 39798.

This week Martin filed judicial misconduct complaints against Broward County Chief Judge Dale Ross and Circuit Judge Larry Korda.

"We have been asked for a list of Florida judges against whom I successfully filed judicial misconduct complaints or legal proceedings," Martin noted. "We had to dig into our morgue because our computerized records do not go back that far. Nevertheless, we have assembled a pretty complete list. It may not be complete but it is awesome...

https://corruptfloridajusticeandjudges.blogspot.com/

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Book Release: People v Money- Corruption Scandal Rocks the Florida Court System

2019

https://www.kjnewswire.com/4536/book-release-people-v-money-corruption-scandal-rocks-florida-court-system

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Corrupt justice: what happens when judges' bias taints a case?

2015

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/18/judge-bias-corrupts-court-cases

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Fraud on the Court as a Basis for Dismissal with Prejudice or Default: An Old Remedy Has New Teeth

February 2004

https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/fraud-on-the-court-as-a-basis-for-dismissal-with-prejudice-or-default-an-old-remedy-has-new-teeth/

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FLORIDA JUDGES THAT CORRUPTLY UNDERMINE THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM AND THE RULE OF LAW

SADLY, FLORIDA JUDGES have been exempt from the same level of scrutiny as our politicians and the Media, but there are increasingly more pervasive attacks on judicial integrity. Abuses of power, corruption, lack of accountability, secrecy, and impunity from prosecution are eroding public trust and confidence in the judicial system.

As judges and public servants, the above individuals took an Oath of Office to uphold and protect the U.S. and Florida Constitutions; to honor the Code of Judicial Conduct, to uphold the Separation of Powers Doctrine, and to respect the constitutional rights and civil liberties of all Floridians. By ruling unconstitutional the Constitution and laws that are the source of their authority, these corrupt judges automatically deprived themselves of their own authority to rule.

For their corrupt, racist, unconstitutional misconduct, Broward Circuit Court Judge Dale Cohen, Monroe Circuit Court Judge Luis Garcia, Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Diana Lewis, and Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Sarah I. Zabel, need to be removed from the bench by the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) and disbarred by the Florida Bar. They have forever disgraced their office and will live in this ignominious Wall of Shame.

Don’t be afraid. PREPARE YOUR COMPLAINT AGAINST THESE CORRUPT JUDGES USING THIS OFFICIAL JQC COMPLAINT FORM here:

http://floridajqc.com/images/JQCComplaintForm.pdf

https://floridademocraticleague.com/wall-of-shame/unethical-judges/

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5 Florida Judges Reprimanded in $500 Million Child Welfare Agency Conflict

September 6, 2019

https://www.coreysdigs.com/law-order/5-florida-judges-reprimanded-in-500-million-child-welfare-agency-conflict/

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Florida court consolidation idea rejected by committee amid criticism move was power grab

Nov 2023

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2023/11/03/idea-to-consolidate-floridas-judicial-circuits-is-rejected/71441977007/

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Florida Corruption Investigation...

2009

https://disgustedwiththesystem.blogspot.com/2009/10/florida-corruption-investigation.html

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2 Judges Guilty in Florida Corruption Inquiry

1993

https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/28/us/2-judges-guilty-in-florida-corruption-inquiry.html

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CORRUPT FLORIDA JUDGES

    CORRUPT HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
        Corrupt Judge Art E. McNeil
        Corrupt Judge Catherine M. Catlin
        Corrupt Judge Cheryl K. Thomas
        Corrupt Judge Jennifer X. Gabbard
        Corrupt Judge Richard A. Weis
        Corrupt Judge William F. Jung

    CORRUPT PALM BEACH COUNTY
        Corrupt Judge Martin Colin

    CORRUPT TAMPA JUDGES
        Corrupt Judge Daryl M. Manning
        Corrupt Judge Jack St. Arnold

https://courtvictim.com/abusers/judges/florida/

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4 Florida Judges Are Indicted In Federal Corruption Inquiry

1991

https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/25/us/4-florida-judges-are-indicted-in-federal-corruption-inquiry.html

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Fight for Fair and Impartial Courts in Florida and the Right to Speak Out About Corruption

July 9, 2023

https://www.change.org/p/fight-for-fair-and-impartial-courts-in-florida-and-the-right-to-speak-out-about-corruption

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Corruption probe becomes issue in Osceola Clerk of Court race

2020

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/355583-corruption-probe-becomes-issue-in-osceola-clerk-of-court-race/

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Investigation Finds That Florida’s Court-Appointed Guardianship System Is Corrupt

2019

https://www.gierachlaw.com/investigation-finds-that-floridas-court-appointed-guardianship-system-is-corrupt/

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Florida Grand Jury - Stop the Corruption in the Florida Courts

https://floridagrandjury.blogspot.com/

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'A startling situation': Public Defender's Office struggling to keep attorneys

2023

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Southwest Florida is feeling the impact of a nationwide issue: an attorney shortage. The Public Defender's Office for the 20th Judicial District spoke with Fox 4 about the retention problems, and how this could impact you.

Every day, someone accused of a crime sits inside of a courtroom. If they cannot afford a lawyer, they can be appointed a public defender. However, finding the lawyers to do that is a problem in some areas.

The 20th Judicial District represents Lee, Collier, Hendry, Charlotte and Glades counties with 60% of the cases starting in Lee County. The office is run by Kathy Smith, the public defender.

She manages 141 employees; 80 are attorneys. She says it's not hard to convince people to work in Florida, but there are still some roadblocks.

"My big issue is retention of those people," Smith said. "This is a tough job."

The retention issue is something we're seeing across the country. Smith says the reason behind the problem in her office comes back to money...

https://www.fox4now.com/news/local-news/lee-county/a-startling-situation-public-defenders-office-struggling-to-keep-attorneys

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Under the gun of a new discipline rule, Florida lawyers had better keep judges happy…or else

2021

Judges who want to punish lawyers for any reason now have a superpower that can derail careers, courtesy of the Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court.

A new rule effective in December grants judges far greater authority over lawyer discipline. The high court signed off on the recommendation from Bar leaders in an Oct. 21 opinion.

Florida lawyers who oppose the judicial oversight rule — privately, fearing retaliation — call it a power grab...

https://www.floridabulldog.org/2021/10/under-new-discipline-rule-florida-lawyers-better-keep-judges-happy-or-else/

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‘It’s really a mess’: Bexar County DA hampered by SAPD, BCSO mishandling of evidence and communication issues

December 15, 2021

DA blames volume of video evidence, technology and process issues for lapses

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/12/15/its-really-a-mess-bexar-county-da-hampered-by-sapd-bcso-mishandling-of-evidence-and-communication-issues/

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Trials for former Lynn Haven mayor, city attorney pushed to May

2021

Anderson and Albritton were indicted in August 2020 on more than 60 criminal counts linked to a scandal involving the theft of $5 million in Hurricane Michael debris removal funds. The counts include "conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest service fraud, substantive counts of wire fraud, honest service fraud and theft concerning federal programs," a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice said.

https://www.newsherald.com/story/news/2021/02/04/former-bay-county-florida-mayor-corruption-trial-moved-may/4392301001/

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Federal corruption trial of North Florida lawyer underway in Jacksonville

Jun. 6, 2022

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WCTV) - The federal corruption trial of North Florida lawyer Marion Michael O’Steen is now underway in Jacksonville.

O’Steen was arrested and accused of a bribery and extortion scheme with former Third Circuit State Attorney Jeff Siegmeister.

Siegmeister plead guilty in February and is listed as a witness in O’Steen’s trial by both the prosecution and defense, according to federal court records.

O’Steen is accused of making deals with Siegmeister to reduce the charges or sentences of his clients. The February 2021 indictment says in one case, O’Steen bought one of Siegmeister’s Braford bulls and in another case asked a client to pay tens of thousands of dollars to make a gambling charge “go away completely.”

https://www.wctv.tv/2022/06/06/federal-corruption-trial-north-florida-lawyer-underway-jacksonville/

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Miami attorneys bankrolled DEA bribery scheme, federal prosecutors say

Jan 23, 2024

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/miami-attorneys-bankrolled-dea-bribery-scheme-federal-prosecutors-say

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Jury Convicts Federal Agent of Witness Tampering and Obstructing Justice

August 29, 2023

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/jury-convicts-federal-agent-witness-tampering-and-obstructing-justice

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Sheriff's office did not investigate deputy whose statements did not match surveillance

Sep 2019

Public records show the Collier County Sheriff's Office failed to conduct a formal investigation into the actions and statements of a deputy at the heart of a federal lawsuit alleging unlawful arrest and excessive use of force...

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/crime/2019/09/20/collier-county-sheriffs-office-never-investigated-deputy-whose-statements-did-not-match-surveillance/2338818001/

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ALLEGATIONS OF SELECTIVE PROSECUTION: THE EROSION OF PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN OUR FEDERAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

2007

https://archive.org/details/gov.gpo.fdsys.CHRG-110hhrg38507

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Judge had ties to mob drug dealer

Jan. 28, 1992

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/01/28/judge-had-ties-to-mob-drug-dealer/

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Former City of Miami Police Officer Sentenced to Over 11 Years in Prison for Attempted Cocaine Trafficking and Attempted Hobbs Act Extortion

July 2, 2024

MIAMI – Frenel Cenat, a former police officer with the City of Miami Police Department (MPD) was sentenced today to 135 months in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, by Senior U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn in Fort Lauderdale. Cenat previously pled guilty to attempted Hobbs Act extortion under color of official right and attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The charges arose from the use of his police position and authority, and his unmarked MPD-issued vehicle and equipment to conduct two illegal traffic stops to steal what he believed were drug proceeds and seven kilograms of cocaine from the drivers.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/former-city-miami-police-officer-sentenced-over-11-years-prison-attempted-cocaine

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Ex-deputy suspected in disappearances of two Collier men responds to lawsuit

Oct 3, 2018

The former deputy suspected in the disappearances of two Collier County men has responded to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against him.

Steven Calkins, a former Collier County Sheriff's Office corporal, is thought to be the last person to see Felipe Santos and Terrance Williams alive before they disappeared in October 2003 and January 2004, respectively.

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2018/10/03/former-deputy-suspected-disappearances-two-collier-men-responds-lawsuit/1507942002/

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Immokalee community wants Collier County Deputies held responsible for death of Nicolas Morales

February 21, 2021

https://winknews.com/2021/02/21/immokalee-community-wants-collier-county-deputies-held-responsible-for-death-of-nicolas-morales/

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Former LCSO deputies discuss corruption allegations with FBI

December 22, 2017

Former Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies are communicating with the FBI about corruption allegations.

Documents from the Freeh report titled “Appendix A” and “Appendix B” were first released to the News-Press in October.

The documents showed that members of the Fort Myers Police Department and at least one LCSO deputy were implicated with corruption, foul internal affairs investigations, and assisting alleged dealers in a drug trafficking ring, which was known to kill witnesses, all with near impunity.

https://winknews.com/2017/12/22/former-lcso-deputies-discuss-corruption-allegations-fbi/

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Caught on bodycam: FBI agent chasing Florida corruption complaint ends up locked in patrol car

May 13, 2022

https://news.yahoo.com/caught-bodycam-fbi-agent-chasing-194814636.html

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FBI informant talks of his role in cracking Palm Bay corruption case

2019

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2019/07/26/fbi-informant-talks-his-role-cracking-palm-bay-corruption-case/1616077001/

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Report: Moonlighting ex-Collier official lobbied for county vendor in 'apparent' conflict of interest

July 17, 2023

Sean Callahan was quietly fired in January of 2022 after county staff discovered he was secretly working as a lobbyist for a powerful Washington D.C. lobbying firm — a moonlighting job that violated county policies, ethical guidelines, and anti-fraud measures.

Now a new report by the county’s Office of the Inspector General reveals that one of Callahan's undisclosed lobbyist clients, Jacobs Solutions, is a long-time vendor for Collier County.

The OIG report, which was exclusively obtained by the Florida Center for Government Accountability (FLCGA), found that Callahan was in “apparent” violation of the county's conflict of interest policy when Jacobs Engineering and CH2MHill, both subsidiaries of Jacob Solutions, became his clients. Notably, these companies were appearing before the Board of Collier County at the time with county purchase orders totaling $4.5 million.

https://news.wgcu.org/government-politics/2023-07-17/report-moonlighting-ex-collier-official-lobbied-for-county-vendor-in-apparent-conflict-of-interest

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Ethics, public corruption conference slated in Naples

2023

Forum of interest to attorneys, elected officials, journalists and the public

The motto of the City of Naples is “Ethics above all else.”

In August 2020, voters in the City of Naples approved a referendum establishing a Commission on Ethics and Governmental Integrity. This independent commission is charged with, among other things, providing ethics education and training for city employees, elected officials and lobbyists and enforcing the city’s ethics code which includes “lobbyist registration, reporting and regulation.” The code extends to elected officials and employees and, in some instances, to third parties who transact business with the city.

Ethics in government? Who could possibly be against ethics in government? It may surprise you to learn that the road leading to the creation of the Naples Commission on Ethics and Governmental Integrity was a rocky one. Way back in 2016, a then-City Council member voted on a proposed development in the city.

Subsequently, it was discovered that this particular council person might have engaged in a conflict of interest. Because there was no local agency to enforce the then-existing ethics code in the city, a complaint was filed in Tallahassee with the State Ethics Commission. (Ultimately, no probable cause was found in the complaint). It was then that former City Councilwoman Linda Penniman proposed the formation of a local government ethics commission. The majority of the City Council at the time rejected the idea.

A group of concerned citizens formed a political action committee called Ethics Naples and began collecting signatures to place a charter amendment on the ballot. The city fought their efforts to get the referendum on the ballot. Who could be against ethics in government? The city lost in court at the trial level, appealed that decision and lost the appeal as well. By that time, it was 2020 and the composition of the Council had changed. Ray Christman, who was a member of Ethics Naples, was elected to Council and the four incumbents who opposed the ethics commission were swept out of office.

This led to the August referendum where 62% of the citizens of Naples voted to approve the creation of the ethics commission.

In November 2020, the first five volunteer members of the commission were appointed...

https://www.news-press.com/story/opinion/2023/03/12/ethics-public-corruption-conference-slated-in-naples/69987379007/

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Florida’s Path to Ethics Reform

2020

https://www.integrityflorida.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Floridas-Path-to-Ethics-Reform-final.pdf

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Naples leaders reject Collier ethics commission

2017

Naples leaders rejected a proposal Tuesday for an independent ethics watchdog to oversee conduct from city and county government officials.

“I’d say it’s dead in the water,” Collier County Commissioner Penny Taylor said about her suggested countywide commission on ethics.

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2017/03/07/naples-council-rejects-ethics-collier-county-commission/98851246/

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Naples ethics commission to self-start investigations based on informal complaints

2021

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/government/2021/07/12/naples-ethics-commission-votes-self-start-investigations/7617285002/

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Naples officials: PAC declined way to resolve dispute over ethics panel

2018

A referendum aiming to establish a Naples ethics commission will not appear on the August ballot due to a legal battle between the city and the PAC behind the referendum, but court documents show city officials offered to expedite the process in May and the PAC declined.

The city's dispute with the PAC, called Ethics Naples, could cost taxpayers $40,000 if a special election is called for the referendum, a county official said.

“We've been bending over backwards to try to expedite the process,” Assistant City Manager Roger Reinke said. "Ethics Naples has refused the city's offer to mutually expedite the hearing on the matter."

In fact, Ethics Naples leaders "have done everything they can to avoid having the courts examine whether the petition is legal before having it placed on the ballot,” City Attorney Jim Fox wrote in a June 15 email to the City Council.

Councilors voted May 2 to let a judge decide whether the referendum, which would establish an ethics commission if approved, would appear before voters.

The next day, Fox recommended both parties agree to waive discovery and expedite the summary-judgment briefing, which would have put the case before a judge by the end of the month.

However, Ethics Naples did not agree and instead filed an emergency petition in the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal, which transferred the case back to the 20th Judicial Circuit.

Ethics Naples then filed another emergency petition with Collier Circuit Judge James Shenko, even though the city's original case already was pending in front of Collier Circuit Judge Hugh Hayes. When Shenko realized that, he dismissed the emergency petition.

    "This clear attempt to forum shop ... was frivolous and merely delayed resolving the dispute," the city wrote in response to the PAC's emergency motion.

    "If Ethics Naples truly believed that this dispute was an emergency, then it should have ... agreed to the expedited litigation.

    "Instead, Ethics Naples has spent almost a month shopping for a judge other than Judge Hayes and doing everything it can to delay and avoid the constitutional question."

Ray Christman, executive director of Ethics Naples, said the PAC thought the emergency petitions were the most appropriate action, given the city's approach to the case.

"The core issue as far as we're concerned is the ministerial duty of the council to put the issue on the ballot," Christman said.

"Had their (request for declaratory judgment) been focused on that issue and only that issue, we would have responded quickly and it's possible it would have been done in time for the August election," he said.

Instead, the city's complaint focuses on more than a dozen alleged flaws with the referendum's language.

Ethics Naples has described that as a "piecemeal attack," and the PAC filed a request Tuesday to dismiss the city's complaint.

"The city took an 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach in their filing, which we thought was simply trying to distract the court from what the issue really is," Christman said. "Those are matters to be dealt with after the referendum is on the ballot."

More:Naples Council votes to have judge decide legality of ethics referendum

More:Commentary: Let Naples residents vote on ethics reform

But that wouldn't be fair to voters, Reinke said. He compared the situation to someone trying to push a referendum to segregate the city's drinking fountains.

“Just because they got enough petition signatures, does that mean we should put it on the ballot, even though it’s patently illegal? Of course not,” he said. “This is the same idea, and if the voters pass an illegal law, they’ll have the expectation that it’ll somehow become legal.”

Although the council has until June 29 to submit the referendum question to the county to place it on the Aug. 28 primary election ballot, a judge won't hear the case in time to meet that deadline.

That means that if a judge decides the referendum is legal, the city would have to host a special election, costing $35,000 to $40,000, according to Trish Robertson, a spokeswoman for the Collier County supervisor of elections.

More:Proposal for Naples ethics panel draws enough signatures for ballot spot

More:PAC aims at August ballot for referendum on creating Naples ethics panel

According to City Attorney Bob Pritt, one of the more questionable aspects of the referendum is a requirement that any proposed amendment to the city's ethics code by the ethics commission would become law unless five or more City Council members vote against it.

The proposed referendum states two of the five ethics commission members would be appointed by the state attorney and the public defender for the 20th Judicial Circuit, which includes Collier County. Pritt has said they might have conflicts of interest if an ethics violation becomes a criminal case.

Either party has the right to appeal the judge's decision, Pritt said, so the case could end up back in the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal. It also could end up going before the Florida Supreme Court or even the U.S. Supreme Court, although that's unlikely, Pritt said.

Judge Hayes is scheduled to hear the case Aug. 21.

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/government/2018/06/21/ethics-naples-pac-declined-expedite-ethics-referendum-naples/709720002/

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Judge won't look at Naples ethics panel question in time for ballot spot

2018

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/government/2018/06/15/naples-ethics-referendum-not-august-ballot/693868002/

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Ethics PAC fights back against Naples Council to get referendum on August ballot

2018

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/government/2018/05/18/ethics-pac-fights-naples-city-council-get-referendum-august-ballot/622440002/

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Commentary: Let Naples residents vote on ethics reform

2018

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/opinion/2018/05/13/naples-city-council-lawsuit-ethics-reform-petition-voters-ballot/599232002/

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Corrosive” Florida Senate bill will hide public corruption rather than expose it, ethics expert says

February 2, 2024

https://news.wgcu.org/government-politics/2024-02-02/corrosive-florida-senate-bill-will-hide-public-corruption-rather-than-expose-it-ethics-expert-says

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Florida ethics overhaul will leave corruption unchecked, watchdog groups warn

3-19-2024

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/03/19/florida-ethics-overhaul-will-leave-corruption-unchecked-watchdog-groups-warn/

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Florida Senate bill restricts ethics probes, opening the door to more public corruption

Feb 7, 2024

Bill moving through the Florida Legislature removes the reins on corruption and fraud. Reliable public information, including news media investigations, would now fall in the category of "hearsay."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/florida-senate-bill-restricts-ethics-probes-opening-the-door-to-more-public-corruption/ar-BB1hWcf6

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Collier growth had seamy side

2001

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2001/11/04/collier-growth-had-seamy-side/

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Collier County employee resigns amid fraud investigation

June 19, 2015

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.- WINK News has learned the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating allegations of fraud in Collier County Government.

New documents show supervisor, JR Gorentz admits to county leaders he modified back up documentation for the invoices. This has to do with a job involving the company, BQ Concrete...

https://winknews.com/2015/06/19/collier-county-employee-resigns-amid-fraud-investigation/

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Naples Vice Mayor Mike McCabe set to resign over new Florida financial disclosure rules

2023

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2023/12/20/naples-vice-mayor-resigning-after-new-state-financial-disclosure-rules/71987002007/

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What is Form 6? Here's why so many elected city officials are abruptly resigning across Florida

2023

You might be excused for wondering if a strange disease that only affects local government officials is suddenly sweeping across the state.

Most of the North Palm Beach Village Council have resigned, including the mayor, and Eagle Lake barely avoided losing a quorum.

The Naples vice mayor announced his resignation on Dec. 31.

Dunnellon’s mayor and a council member stepped down.

Four out of the five St. Pete Beach city council members resigned.

The mayors in Cedar Key and Williston announced their departures.

At least eight elected officials in Pinellas County have left office or plan to, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Two Daytona Beach Shores city commissioners bailed, as have one in Fort Myers Beach. one in Jacksonville Beach, one in Bradenton Beach and two in Bartow.

Four of the five McIntosh Town Council members, two city council members in Orange City, one in Sanibel and a town commissioner in Longboat Key are gone.

The Town of Reddick lost the entire town council and the mayor.

Why are so many small-town elected officials across Florida abruptly resigning?

Among the other new laws that took effect on Jan. 1, they had to reveal their finances in detail for the first time. A change to the Ethics Commission laws requires city and municipal elected officials to fill out something called Form 6, the same disclosure form that state and county elected officials have had to fill out for years. So would new candidates for office, which could frighten some people away from representing their communities.

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/21/florida-elected-mayors-council-members-resigning-before-form-6-financial-disclosures/71982196007/

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We’re #1 {In Public Corruption}

June 21, 2012

https://naples.floridaweekly.com/articles/were-1-in-public-corruption/

NUMBER ONE.

In sports, it’s usually cause for celebration. In sales, in earnings, in awards or accolades, ditto.

But in public corruption, the number-one ranking serves both as cause for despair and as a wake-up call to people who elect or appoint public servants. Their question should become, “Why, and how can we fix it?”

Now Florida, once the pioneer and preeminent champion of open government, has taken the number-one ranking for government corruption in the United States, ahead of California, Texas and New York, each of which contains a larger population.

Florida’s middle district, which includes Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties and stretches from south of Naples northward to the Georgia line, has played a significant role in spawning government corruption. Here, Florida Weekly offers a glimpse of that history in Southwest Florida, and the men and women who shaped it, dating back about three decades.

Ironically, that’s roughly the lifespan of the Sunshine State’s pioneering openrecords laws — laws making public the actions of elected and appointed government officials.

“It’s been (45 years) since Florida put in place government in the sunshine, and we once held the leading position in the country and maybe the world for giving the public the tools to hold government accountable,” says Dan Krassner, executive director of the nonprofit watchdog group Integrity Florida. “But that’s changed. Since that law was enacted, the legislature has weakened it with more than 1,000 exemptions, which shows Florida is moving in the wrong direction.”

Convictions of corrupt public officials show the same thing, perhaps.

Using numbers from a U.S. Department of Justice report detailing a decade of wrongdoing from 2001 to 2010, mostly in local government, Integrity Florida reported that federal prosecutors convicted 781 men and women for corruption and fraud, most of them working in local government.

In the Middle District, according to the report, there were 220 federal convictions alone.

That’s not all. The Florida Commission on Ethics, a relatively toothless arm of state government that cannot undertake investigations of officials unless complaints are filed formally first, and can only levy fines of up to $10,000, has done business in the region as well, says Cary Stillman, a spokeswoman.

In the last five years, 30 complaints of ethics violations by government officials were filed in Lee, 13 in Collier and six in Charlotte County. Of those, there were four total violations and three probable cause rulings, in which the Ethics Commission took no further action.

Neither officials for the U.S. Attorney’s office in the middle district or the state’s Ethics Commission were able to provide names and descriptions of the federal convictions or ethics violations by press time. But a glimpse at the past and the present suggests that even if history doesn’t repeat itself, its patterns and the tendencies of men and women who create it anew, do.

Among other things, the numbers of convictions and violations likely demonstrate that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Which is why history may prove the best teacher.

When corruption meant death, drugs

Within the lifetimes of the oldest men and women who live in the region, corruption could mean blood and an early 20th century version of slavery, not just financial misbehavior. Across the South, including in Southwest Florida, conscript labor camps created a widely accepted form of official corruption unequaled since.

In an era before open-government laws, black males and some poor whites were regularly arrested on trumped up charges and used as conscript labor in turpentine camps — lumber camps where pines were cut and processed for turpentine. They led brutal lives, too frequently dying in the camps and being buried in nameless graves from El Jobean to Babcock Ranch in Charlotte County, and points south, historians report.

The perpetrators were never charged with any crimes, and authorities were well paid to provide the conscripts.

Almost everything official was done differently in those days.

Travelers found dead along roads or trails, for example, were sometimes simply disposed of in unmarked roadside holes, a solution that required no inquests, no paperwork, and almost no trouble or public expense.

“It was a fairly common custom,” recalled Vernon Peeples, the Charlotte County historian and former state legislator, in a conversation with Florida Weekly last year.

“If somebody was found dead, they’d have a coroner’s jury, and men from the coroner’s jury would go out and find the body and ask themselves if anybody recognized it. If no one recognized the body, it was buried on the spot by the side of the road.”

For decades, officials also used the poll tax to control votes, effectively preventing many blacks and some poor whites who couldn’t afford to pay it from entering the voting booth.

But Bartow native and United States Sen. Spessard L. Holland brought that corrupt exercise to a halt by sponsoring the 24th Amendment to the Constitution in 1964, which prohibited the poll tax. By 1966 it had become law in all 50 states.

As Florida grew and the population of the region began to swell beginning in the 1960s, people began to pay more attention to official corruption.

Still, it wasn’t always white-collar crime. During the famous drug busts in Everglades City in 1983, for example, about 80 percent of the town’s male population found itself behind bars for helping transport “square grouper” — bales of marijuana. Nobody, including local officials, seemed to care that since the 1970s many residents had been illegally taking in hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in drug money until the arrests, which were part of President Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs.

Then everything changed except white-collar corruption in local government.

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Florida most corrupt? Not necessarily so, study says

6/17/2012

https://archive.naplesnews.com/news/state/florida-most-corrupt-not-necessarily-so-study-says-ep-388651567-342496342.html

Known more for its sunny beaches and magical theme parks, Florida is getting attention this month for a less flattering reason: corruption.

Florida leads the nation in federal corruption convictions, according to a report released in early June by the non-profit watchdog group Integrity Florida.

From 2000 to 2010, Florida had 781 such convictions, which include violations like misuse of public money, vote buying and conflict of interest crimes. But that number, which comes from Department of Justice data analyzed by Integrity Florida, doesn't tell the full story, some say.

When considering population, Florida ranked 19th in the country for corruption convictions, according to a University of Illinois in Chicago study released this year that crunched data from 1976 to 2010. And some say the high number of convictions could be the result of the state's Sunshine Law — one of the most expansive open records laws in the nation — or prosecutors who are aggressive in ethics violation cases.

The University of Illinois study found Florida had 0.94 public corruption convictions per 10,000 population between 1976 and 2010, good for 19th in the country. The District of Columbia led the nation with 16.70 convictions per 10,000 population, followed by Louisiana with 2.00 and Mississippi with 1.89.

Jim Nowlan, who co-authored the University of Illinois study, said there are limitations to any data set measuring corruption. For instance, his data accounts for factors like population and growth, but can't measure qualitative factors like the amount of resources the U.S. Attorney's Office had in pursuing the corruption cases.

"In one period of time, the U.S. Attorney for several districts in Florida might be very aggressive, or non-aggressive, for public corruption convictions," Nowlan said. "What I'm getting at is, you don't want to read too much into this or parse it too finely. ... None of it is perfect."

Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, said Florida's large population — it's the country's fourth most populous state — means it often is at the top of national statistics. And the state's open records laws could help expose corruption, thereby bumping up the ranking, he said.

"Florida's Sunshine Laws are leading the nation for transparency and public access," Richter said. "For example, I don't know of any other state that has a program like Sunburst where any citizen can read every email from their governor and his top staff."

Although public corruption cases typically are expensive and time-intensive, they remain "paramount as one of the priorities in a democratic society," said Robert O'Neill, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.

"Prosecutors here tend to be pretty vigilant," he said. "Law enforcement tends to work these types of cases, and I think the courts are tough on them when they're brought before them."

Dan Krassner, an author of Integrity Florida's analysis, said his organization accepts those factors as possible explanations for Florida's high ranking but he remains concerned about the gross number of convictions.

Imagine if Florida led the country in murder convictions, he said. Although that could indicate good sleuthing by law enforcement, "that would still be a problem for our state's reputation, and an issue policy makers would want to address."

The Middle District of Florida, which includes Collier and Lee counties, had 248 federal corruption convictions in the 11-year period analyzed by Integrity Florida. But getting numbers specific to Southwest Florida is difficult, in part because the Middle District includes large cities like Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa.

The most notable corruption scandal in recent Collier County history was the Stadium Naples case, in which 10 local public officials and businessmen were found guilty of swapping bribes to help get a proposed $100 million golf stadium built in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Since then, Collier amended its ethics code, which now requires officials to report all gifts, even though Florida law doesn't require disclosures for gifts less than $100. Collier County Judge Mike Carr, who helped draft the changes as a state ethics committeeman, said he believes corruption is cyclical and is far less rampant today than it has been historically.

"Ten years ago, Collier County was at the sipping cup of corruption; now, I think it's as honest as any place on earth," he said.

Around the same as the Stadium Naples scandal came to light, a two-year internal investigation by the Collier County Sheriff's Office found two deputies in the Immokalee district were abusing their badge. Jim Sanders pleaded guilty in 2001 to taking money from gambling tables at illegal Immokalee gaming houses in exchange for not making arrests or shutting the gambling businesses down.

A federal judge found his colleague, Glendell Edison, guilty of distributing $500,000 worth of cocaine and taking payouts from drug dealers in exchange for protecting them from arrest. Edison later pleaded guilty to state charges saying he once saw three children tied up behind a meat slicer at an Immokalee store, but took more than $4,000 from the boys' parents in exchange for not reporting the abuse.

The case built by internal affairs investigators helped secure the indictments against the men. Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said the role of the internal affairs bureau remains important today.

"Any complaint, no matter the level or severity, is intaken by the agency," he said. "We want people to know that we are open to both compliments and complaints, and that we'll follow it through to a resolution."

Carr, the Collier County judge, said new countywide regulations have birthed a "different climate" where officials are more aware of habits that could become corrupt.

"There's a saying that 'All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.' That saying is as true now as it was then," Carr said. "Corruption doesn't say, 'I'm corruption, and welcome me.' It sneaks up on you with good ol' boys, we're-just-trying-to-be-nice, we're friends.

"If people know that you've got someone looking over your shoulder, it makes it easier to stay honest."

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Collier commissioners rush deeply flawed ordinance

2023

https://www.news-press.com/story/opinion/2023/04/23/collier-commissioners-rush-deeply-flawed-ordinance/70131637007/

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Neil Clark, lobbyist named in $60 million Ohio bribery probe, found dead in Florida

March 16, 2021

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Editor's Note: The above video aired on February 22, 2021

A prominent Ohio lobbyist who had been charged in a federal corruption case has been found dead in Florida.

Authorities in Collier County, Florida confirmed to 3News' Columbus sister station 10TV News Tuesday that they are investigating the death of prominent Ohio lobbyist, Neil Clark.

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/ohio/neil-clark-lobbyist-named-60-million-ohio-bribery-probe-found-dead-florida/95-58fc40d3-6e4d-4049-8ee5-2bc72629c31e

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Lighthouse Project - History: Stadium Naples was biggest public corruption scandal in local history

4/2/2012

https://archive.naplesnews.com/special/lighthouse/lighthouse-project---history-stadium-naples-was-biggest-public-corruption-scandal-in-local-history-e-342577612.html

ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen unveiled plans for a first-of-its-kind golf stadium in 1996, an ambitious, $100 million project to be located northeast of the city of Naples. The facility, to include luxury skyboxes and 12,000 seats surrounding the course's 18th hole, would be called Stadium Naples. But the stadium was never built. Plans fell apart under controversy and public outrage when a Naples Daily News investigation revealed in 1997 that an elected official, then Collier County Commissioner John Norris, had negotiated for a stake in Stadium Naples estimated at $7.5 million before casting votes to benefit his developer partners and the stadium.

The controversy would only grow from there. Following the urging of residents and the local Republican Party, then Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a detailed investigation into the matter, as well as the assignment of a special prosecutor.

What resulted was the largest corruption case in Collier's history, netting charges against 10 people: four public officials, five business leaders and an attorney. For more than six years, investigations into the project, which was attempted a second time with now defunct Naples-based brokerage company A.S. Goldmen & Co., continued.

The case was sprawling and complicated. Eventually, the public would learn that A.S. Goldmen & Co. had manipulated a number of small company stocks, including Stadium Naples partner Millennium Sports Management, in what state and federal securities regulators dubbed one of the nation's most notorious boiler rooms. It would learn that David Mobley, the financier whose Maricopa Investments backed Stadium Naples and The Strand, was cheating investors of millions, pumping their money into his posh lifestyle and failed businesses and charities.

'People were closing their eyes; the whole society was rupturing with corruption,' Mike Carr, a Collier County judge who was then a Republican state committeeman and leading voice in calls for an outside investigation, said of the time.

'Roads weren't being built. Developments that shouldn't have been built were being built. Zoning decisions were not based on merit but who was being paid off; taxes weren't being collected on fancy golf clubs. The saying around here was, 'To get along, you go along.' It was a cesspool.'

'We've been amazed at the institutionalized corruption we've been seeing,' special prosecutor Michael Von Zamft said in October 2001, when prosecutors unveiled sweeping new corruption charges and the last five arrests.

Prosecutors charged the 10 Stadium Naples co-defendants with conspiring to deprive the citizens of Collier County of the honest services of public officials by swapping financial incentives for votes and influence favorable to their projects.

Although initially only Norris was in the spotlight for wrongful dealings with developers, it was later revealed that other county officials had also accepted gifts and favors from them.

'Crooks are like cockroaches and the sunlight makes them run,' Carr said. Once the first hints of corruption began coming out, he said, the rest followed.

Then Commissioner Tim Constantine, the public learned in 2000, received a discount on his wedding reception at a country club and a $100,000 business loan from the Stadium Naples developer. The loan wasn't repaid.

It learned Neil Dorrill handed out pay raises to key county employees days before leaving his job as county manager in 1997 to become president of the first Stadium Naples development partnership.

Tim Hancock, another county commissioner at the time, admitted to taking more than 40 free golf games from lobbyists while in office.

Several years would pass before the case ended in January 2004 with the last remaining defendant, Norris, striking a deal with prosecutors.

The defendants were dealt varying sentences, ranging from community service to house arrest and thousands of dollars in fines.

The case led to changes at the state and local level. Ethics ordinances were passed by both city and county government. And the Florida Legislature amended state law, stiffening penalties for public corruption.

Commissioner Fred Coyle, who was a city council member when the city's ordinance was adopted, said the new rules help sensitize elected officials to how the public perceives their interaction with developers. The ordinances closed the loopholes and prohibit officials from engaging in activities that could even be viewed as unethical.

'We probably overreact in some cases,' Coyle said. 'We are probably overly cautious and that's not bad.'

Carr said although 'there's more money here (and) you're going to get more crooks gravitating toward money,' he believes the area's elected officials to be honest and he is proud of that. The county, Carr said, has to continue to maintain integrity and take the stance that corruption is unacceptable.

'If we keep in mind what's happened before, we can make new mistakes,' he said. 'We don't have to make the old ones.'

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The History of the Florida Everglades Is a History of Crime and Mystery

2022

https://crimereads.com/the-history-of-the-florida-everglades-is-a-history-of-crime-and-mystery/

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Governor's call to investigate public corruption includes Lee, Collier counties

2009

The government corruption probe Gov. Charlie Crist asked the Florida Supreme Court for this week could pry into courthouses in Lee County and Collier counties.

Southwest Florida is familiar with public corruption. Investigations, indictments and prison terms have taken down county commissioners in both counties, though it's believed recent high-profile arrests in Broward and Palm Beach counties more likely spurred the governor's request.

Stadium Naples was the largest public corruption case in Collier history. It was rooted in ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen's plans for a $100 million golf stadium in North Naples, a scheme that involved three county commissioners, a former county manager, three developers, a convicted hedge fund manager and a real estate attorney.

https://archive.naplesnews.com/news/crime/governors-call-to-investigate-public-corruption-includes-lee-collier-counties-ep-396719078-343629412.html

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Ex-Collier commissioner gets probation

2003

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2003/06/22/ex-collier-commissioner-gets-probation/28754169007/

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Police chief among 160 people arrested in Florida sex sting

Polk County sheriff’s office say they dismantled a major human trafficking organisation

10 September 2022

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/florida-sex-sting-human-trafficking-b2164395.html

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Retired Cook County judge among over 100 arrested in Florida human trafficking sting

March 17, 2022

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WLS) -- A retired Cook County judge was among over 100 people arrested in a human trafficking investigation in Florida.

Daniel Peters, 66, of Palos Hills, is charged with soliciting a prostitute.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Peters told authorities he was a retired judge in the Cook County 4th Sub Circuit and a special assistant for legal affairs at the Cook County Sheriff's Office in Illinois.

Peters was arrested during a six-day undercover human trafficking operation conducted by the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office said Peters is no longer on the bench or in county government.

According to the Polk County officials, detectives identified prostitutes who posted online advertisements, as well as the "johns" communicating with them online, with "the intent to identify and free any victims who were being forced into prostitution, or anyone participating in the trafficking of victims.

Investigators said they also identified and investigated adults who engaged in online sexually charged conversations with those they believed to be children, netting four arrests.

Undercover detectives communicated online with the suspects and arranged for a meetup at a location where they were arrested after their arrival.

Sheriff Judd said the oldest person arrested was 67-year old Derek Collins, who showed up to the residence drinking Ensure, the youngest was a 17-year old male. Both were arrested for soliciting for a prostitute.

https://abc7chicago.com/cook-county-judge-daniel-peters-palos-hills-human-trafficking/11656728/

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Teacher, nurse among 123 arrested during Hillsborough County human trafficking operation that rescued 28: HCSO

January 11, 2024

TAMPA, Fla. - More than 120 people have been arrested and 28 victims have been saved following a 90-day human trafficking operation in Hillsborough County, according to the sheriff's office.

For the past 90 days, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office’s Human Trafficking Squad conducted a number of investigations under the name Operation Renewed Hope.

According to Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, detectives conducted a number of undercover streetwalker and hotel/motel operations along with online chats, in which undercover investigators posed a minors available for sex. The sheriff added that they also posed as guardians selling children for sex.

Sheriff Chronister said he chose to conduct the operation over the holidays when children are out of school and more likely to be online.

https://www.fox13news.com/news/over-120-arrested-in-hillsborough-county-human-trafficking-operation-hcso

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A Florida Psychologist Befriended a Teen. Then She Allegedly Tried to Traffic the Girl, Police Say

8-21-2024

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/a-florida-psychologist-befriended-a-teen-then-she-allegedly-tried-to-traffic-the-girl-police-say/ar-AA1pcCrm

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WATCH IT: Brave dad fights off man accused of attempting to kidnap child from Miami Beach store

February 8, 2024

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/watch-it-brave-dad-fights-off-man-accused-of-attempting-to-kidnap-child-from-miami-beach-store/

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Video shows Hillsborough kidnapping victim escape captor after months of abuse: 'I need help'

April 4, 2024

https://www.fox13news.com/news/video-shows-hillsborough-kidnapping-victim-escape-captor-after-months-of-abuse-i-need-help

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FBI finds 200 sex trafficking victims, 59 missing children in two-week sweep

Aug 1, 2023

The nationwide operation also identified or arrested 126 suspects of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking and 68 suspected traffickers.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-finds-200-sex-trafficking-victims-59-missing-children-two-week-swe-rcna97580

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10 Victims Freed From Human Trafficking Ring In Florida

6/15/2024

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Thursday announced the successful rescue of 10 victims of human trafficking and the formation of a new statewide strike team dedicated to combating this heinous crime.

The announcement was made at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center, where Moody highlighted the critical need for increased efforts to address human trafficking in the state.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/10-victims-freed-from-human-trafficking-ring-in-florida/ar-BB1ohsvE

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Kidnapped Florida Women Saved by Alert Hotel Workers: ‘They Were Told They Weren’t Going to Be Allowed to Leave’

11/3/2023

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/kidnapped-florida-women-saved-by-alert-hotel-workers-they-were-told-they-weren-t-going-to-be-allowed-to-leave/ar-AA1jmElC

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Florida sheriff: Military, teacher included in those apprehended in massive human trafficking bust

21 of 228 arrested were in country illegally, Sheriff Judd says

A massive human trafficking bust in Florida resulted in 228 arrests, including members of the U.S. military and a teacher, authorities said Tuesday.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said 150 suspects, or johns, were arrested along with 66 prostitutes and 12 others in the multi-agency operation dubbed Operation March Sadness 2024. Among the suspects were a schoolteacher, coaches and active-duty military members, among other professions.

Of the 228 individuals arrested, 21 were in the country illegally.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-sheriff-military-teacher-included-those-apprehended-massive-human-trafficking-bust

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102 Suspects Arrested In Polk Human Trafficking Operation

Oct 28, 2021

A teen was rescued in a six-day sex sting operation by the Polk County Sheriff's Office that netted over a 100 people, authorities said.

https://patch.com/florida/lakeland/102-suspects-apprehended-polk-human-trafficking-operation

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Polk County human-trafficking bust nets 228 arrests

March 05, 2024

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/nearly-230-arrested-13-human-trafficking-victims-identified-polk-county-sheriff-says/C6KKVKM4WFDB5MF4QD2ASBNB2U/

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Tallahassee sex trafficking investigation leads to more than 170 arrests

November 17, 2020

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/383951-tallahassee-sex-trafficking-investigation-leads-to-more-than-170-arrests/

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Florida law enforcement makes record number of arrests during human trafficking operation

8-20-2024

Florida law enforcement officials arrested 148 people and recovered seven victims during a human trafficking sting called "Operation Summer Shield."

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said during a press conference Tuesday the goal of the operation was to prevent children from becoming victims of human trafficking during the summer, when they're out of school and spending more time on the internet.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/florida-law-enforcement-makes-record-number-of-arrests-during-human-trafficking-operation/ar-AA1p99cd

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More than 150 people arrested in Florida sex sting, Georgia cop resigns

Among those arrested in the sex sting were two Disney employees, a state corrections officer, several teachers and a deputy police chief from Georgia

September 10, 2022

https://www.foxnews.com/us/more-than-150-people-arrested-florida-sex-sting-georgia-cop-resigns

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3 Disney workers, school athletic director among 219 arrested in Florida human trafficking sting

Sep. 28, 2023

https://nypost.com/2023/09/28/disney-workers-among-200-arrested-in-fl-human-trafficking-sting/

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Disney Employees, Judge Among 108 Arrested in Fla. Sting Operation Aiming to Catch Traffickers, Predators

March 16, 2022

https://people.com/crime/disney-employees-judge-among-108-arrested-in-florida-sting-operation-aiming-to-catch-traffickers-predators/

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How Bohemian Grove changed Disney History

https://www.reddit.com/r/bohemiangrove/comments/rnuner/how_bohemian_grove_changed_disney_history/

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A Tiny Tourist Island Off the Coast of Florida Is a Human Smuggling Hub

October 21, 2022

https://www.vice.com/en/article/bimini-bahamas-human-smuggling/

BIMINI, Bahamas — The captain landed his small boat under cover of night on the shore of Bimini, the tiny, 9-square-mile island that is part of the Bahamas. Four men boarded, and the captain guided them with his flashlight. As soon as they were seated, the light went off, pitching them into darkness. The boat pushed off into the open sea, heading west to Miami. They would be there in an hour and a half. The moonless night meant they would be invisible to the Border Patrol vessels and Coast Guard drones patrolling the Florida coast.

A few miles away, tourists at the Resorts World luxury complex were oblivious to the human smuggling taking place under their noses. Yet the two booming industries rely on each other.

On weekends and holidays, thousands of young Floridians pour onto the tiny island to collect their colored wristbands, ready to enjoy the Bahamas’ low drinking age of 18. That Sunday night, the DJ flew in from Miami, and as college students partied on one end of the island, it provided the perfect distraction for the migrants to set off undetected.

The number of undocumented migrants trying to enter the U.S. by sea has exploded in the past year, and Bimini is at the heart of that illicit flow of humans. Since Oct. 1, 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard has caught 5,392 Cubans trying to cross to the United States, a sixfold increase from the previous year. Over the same period, it also stopped 7,173 Haitians at sea, five times more than the year before.

The smuggling routes are well established, with towns like Port-au-Paix in Haiti and Mariel in Cuba serving as key departure points. But the post-COVID era has made people more desperate. In the past year, large-scale persecution of opponents to the Cuban regime, food shortages, and an economic crisis exacerbated by the pandemic pushed more Cubans to flee, while a political crisis combined with spiking gang violence pushed people out of Haiti. The backlog of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and the growing complexities around entering via land have all contributed to a massive rise in migrants desperate enough to attempt the journey to the U.S. by boat.

Some are crossing the Pacific from Mexico to California on the West Coast, but most use an old and treacherous route through the Florida Straits. In July this year, 17 Haitian migrants drowned off Nassau when their boat capsized; 25 more were rescued. In September, 17 Cuban migrants went missing and four survived when their boat sank off Key West, and in August another two migrants died and 15 went missing when their boat capsized off Key West. The list goes on.

But Bimini is a route famous for getting migrants successfully to Florida. Situated only 52 miles from the Florida coast, it’s the shortest route as the crow flies.

Migrants from Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic come by chartered boat to the Bahamas, then work to earn enough money to afford the second leg of the journey to the U.S., for which smugglers charge around $5,000. Many of the island’s 2,000 residents benefit from this illegal trade. Restaurants feed them and residents house them.

Just 52 miles from the Florida coast, the tiny island of Bimini is the shortest route as the crow flies to reach the U.S from the Bahamas.

Waiting migrants leave when their smugglers judge that the time is right in waters that are patrolled by both the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bahamas Defense Force. But neither has a fleet large enough to detect every boat. “If you use a light, then they can see you, and if you use the GPS, they can still see you off of a satellite. They can track you down,” said Miles (not his real name), a smuggler who’s been taking migrants to Florida for over 20 years, told VICE World News. Smugglers are first and foremost experienced navigators with years at sea, people who can orient themselves off a compass alone or by looking at the stars on clear nights.

On the other side, there’s usually a spotter who makes sure the coast is clear for landing. “That person is already paid just to sit there and if something fucked-up looks like it is going to happen, they give you a call,” Miles told us. “Sometimes it’s a woman, sometimes it’s a guy, sometimes a woman with her kid.”

Another way

But there’s another, more deluxe, way to get smuggled out of Bimini: on the boats bringing the American tourists to and from the party island. The route between Bimini and Miami sees hundreds of pleasure boats, yachts, and jet-skis on the water during weekends and holidays.

“When you look at the overall volume of boat traffic that’s crossing the Florida Straits from Bimini to the U.S. and back and forth on any given weekend, it’s easy to blend in with that traffic,” said Capt. Benjamin Golightly of the U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District.

Smugglers even use yachts that look like American tourist boats to evade suspicion, while hiding migrants below deck, Miles said. “White people, they’re spending like 12 grand, 16 grand, sometimes almost 20 grand per person,” he explained. At that cost, well-heeded migrants expect a bespoke service. “When you get to that level, you’re not just dropping off; somebody has to be there to pick them up [from the dropoff point in Florida],” he said.

This type of smuggling deal is popular with more well-off migrants from Asia or Russia, according to people we spoke with in the smuggling business. “You have to be funded to do these things, so other people in the U.S. buy the boats,” said a smuggler who asked us to call him Jay. He said he helps organize voyages, as well as feed and hide migrants in Bimini until the captain gives him a departure point and time.

The Bahamian authorities

It’s difficult to measure the level of collusion between the Bahamian authorities and the traffickers. Smugglers and human rights advocates told VICE World News that members of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, Bahamas’ military, are paid to turn a blind eye. One Haitian smuggler operating in Nassau, the capital, who was in charge of shuttling migrants arriving from the airport to different embarkation points on behalf of a Haitian smuggling network, said his organization pays the Defense Force a cut for each migrant. Two human rights advocates told us that smugglers sometimes conspire with local authorities to abandon migrants on cayes, or small islands, letting the migrants believe they’ve made it to the U.S. Then the defense forces scoop them up.

The Bahamian economy is largely dependent on tourism for its survival, and any negative news can severely hurt. Several VICE World News requests for interviews with members of the government and the Bahamian Defense Forces went unanswered.

But once in a while, the government feels forced to act on incidents too important to ignore.

In January, a migrant boat capsized a few miles off the coast of Bimini on its way to Florida. The images of the lone survivor, a Colombian man, made headlines across the U.S. Five bodies were found by rescue teams, but 40 were believed to be on board.

For months afterwards, the smuggling business on the island ground to a halt. “There was too much heat,” said Jay. For him, Bimini has fallen victim to its own success. Less-experienced, aspiring smugglers on the islands get in on the business with more rudimentary operations, overloading boats to make more money per trip, which then capsize and draw attention.

For smugglers, death by drowning is bad for business, but the risk comes with the journey. “I’m pretty sure everybody who goes in the boat has heard some really fucked-up story about somebody dying, the boat flipping over, et cetera,” Miles told us. “But you still want to go, right? So by you accepting that, accept the fact that that shit can happen to you, too.”

Trafficking, whether people or drugs, has been part of Bimini’s ecosystem for generations because of its proximity to the U.S. The smuggling trade is passed down through generations who started off smuggling cocaine before the human trafficking business took off.

Everyone in the smuggling trade VICE World News spoke to on the island had another job: fishermen, mechanics, and service-industry workers catering to the American tourists who flock to the island on weekends and holidays.

But smuggling provides too much easy money for it to ever stop, said Miles. “As long as you get the money, you do what you got to do.”

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Matt Gaetz Is Said to Face Justice Dept. Inquiry Over Sex With an Underage Girl

March 30, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/politics/matt-gaetz-sex-trafficking-investigation.html

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The Justice Department's sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz seems stalled, attorneys say

Oct 8, 2022

The sex-crimes probe federal officials launched against Gaetz has been hampered by one major issue, experts say: the perceived credibility of key witnesses.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-departments-sex-trafficking-investigation-rep-matt-gaetz-seems-rcna49229

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‘The Monsters Are the Men’: Inside a Thriving Sex Trafficking Trade in Florida

Feb. 23, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/us/robert-kraft-trafficking-florida.html

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Suspect Wanted, Others Charged in Separate Miami-Dade Human Trafficking Busts

April 20, 2022

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/suspect-wanted-others-charged-in-separate-miami-dade-human-trafficking-busts/2740846/

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Massive human trafficking operation busted in Florida with more than 120 arrests

2024

Undercover stings in Florida resulted in the arrest of more than 120 people - including a teacher, nurse, basketball coach, and even a person employed by a spiritual organization - as part of a sweeping operation targeting human trafficking.

Fox13 reported the investigations were part of Operation Renewed Hope, a 90-day human trafficking operation under which 123 individuals were arrested, and 28 victims were saved.

In a press conference aired on Fox13, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said investigators targeted this crime through a "multipronged approach" by conducting several undercover prostitution stings and hotel/motel operations.

The sheriff added that undercover investigators posed as minors available for sex via online chats, as well as posing as guardians selling children for sex.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/massive-human-trafficking-operation-busted-in-florida-with-more-than-120-arrests/ar-AA1mPbjY

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WATCH LIVE: Sheriff Grady Judd speaks about human-trafficking bust that netted 228 arrests

2024

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is giving an update after hundreds of people were arrested during a human trafficking investigation.

Officials said “Operations March Sadness 2024″ led to the arrest of 228 people, including 21 who are in the country illegally.

Deputies said the eight-day-long multi-agency undercover investigation was focused on human trafficking.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/watch-live-sheriff-grady-judd-speaks-about-human-trafficking-bust-that-netted-228-arrests/ar-BB1jmRjT

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Florida sting targeting child sex exploitation finds nearly 40% of arrestees in US illegally

August 2, 2023

Operation Cross County XIII was a nationwide operation and located 59 missing minors

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-child-sex-trafficking-operation-finds-40-percent-arrestees-us-illegally

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Leader of Sex Trafficking Ring Sentenced to 60 Years in Federal Prison, Ordered to Pay Over $14 Million in Restitution

September 27, 2022

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/leader-sex-trafficking-ring-sentenced-60-years-federal-prison-ordered-pay-over-14

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2 Alachua County men among 9 accused of paying for sex with girl

2019

https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/crime/2019/05/17/2-alachua-county-men-accused-of-paying-for-sex-with-girl/5131062007/

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What's Going On with Child Trafficking and Why Doesn't It Get News Coverage?

Oct 15, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnFnyC3v0zU

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FBI charges Franklin County Sheriff's Office official in Florida child sexual abuse case

Jun 2, 2023

https://roanoke.com/news/local/crime-courts/fbi-charges-franklin-county-sheriffs-office-official-in-florida-child-sexual-abuse-case/article_9bb01d2c-01a1-11ee-8777-3356cf15bac1.html

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10/08 Rambosk's Deputy Forced ORAL SEX On YOUNG BOY in NAPLES MALL Restroom! Collier Malls NOTSO Safe For KIDS! Deputy Goes Unpunished In CORRUPT COLLIER COUNTY System

2014

https://aquakiki.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/new-1008-rambosks-deputy-forced-oral-sex-on-young-boy-in-naples-mall-restroom-collier-malls-notso-safe-for-kids-deputy-goes-unpunished-in-corrupt-collier-county-system/

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Charges filed after union corruption investigation at Port Tampa Bay

2018

https://www.wfla.com/8-on-your-side/charges-filed-after-union-corruption-investigation-at-port-tampa-bay/

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Court documents hint at ‘public corruption’ within city of Tampa

2023

The documents relate to the arrest of John Ring, aka Gio Fucarino, friend to many.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2023/05/06/court-documents-hint-public-corruption-within-city-tampa/

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Tampa Indicts Six in Classic Waterfront Corruption Case

2021

https://maritime-executive.com/article/tampa-indicts-six-in-classic-waterfront-corruption-case

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North Florida U.S. attorney reports 19 corruption cases over past year

Sep. 16, 2020

https://www.wctv.tv/2020/09/16/north-florida-us-attorney-reports-19-corruption-cases-over-past-year/

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Northern Florida District Public Corruption Cases 2019 - 2020

https://www.scribd.com/document/476294986/Northern-Florida-District-Public-Corruption-Cases-2019-2020

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Public corruption dominates conversation among Miami commission candidates

2023

https://www.wlrn.org/government-politics/2023-10-04/miami-commission-election-corruption-candidates

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Miami-Dade advocates want legislators to pass laws going after corrupt associations

2023

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/03/03/miami-dade-state-attorney-wants-legislators-to-pass-laws-going-after-corrupt-associations/

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Federal Corruption Probe Leads To 29 Indicted In Panhandle

November 17, 2019

A federal grand jury has indicted more than two dozen people in the Panhandle accused of illegally pocketing drought assistance money.

The alleged co-conspirators listed in the indictment include:

• Jeremiah Joe Rolling, 43, of Westville, Florida; Investigator – Office of the State Public Defender

• Jordan Ryan Hicks, 36, of Ponce De Leon, Florida; Former Florida Department of Corrections Officer

• James Stacey Paul, 46, of Bonifay, Florida; Public Works - City of Bonifay, Florida

• Kyle Martin Hudson, 39, of Westville, Florida; Former Holmes County Clerk of Court

• Danyel Michelle Witt, 44, of Bonifay, Florida; Clerk – United States Postal Service

• Sheryl Day Gillman, 52, of Bonifay, Florida; Secretary - Florida Farm Bureau

• Shyloe Rose Sachse, 40, of Bonifay, Florida; Former Corrections Officer

• Tillman Douglas Mears, 30, of Bonifay, Florida; Public Works - City of Bonifay, Florida

• Dwayne Frazier White, 49, of Bonifay, Florida Former City of Bonifay Police Officer

https://news.wgcu.org/2019-11-17/federal-corruption-probe-leads-to-29-indicted-in-panhandle

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Ongoing corruption investigation in Bay County continues

Aug 5, 2021

https://www.mypanhandle.com/news/local-news/bay-county/ongoing-corruption-investigation-in-bay-county-continues/

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Section 2: Michael James Ross PollutionScience.com vs Collier County, Florida Government - (Corruption in Collier County, Florida, Human Trafficking & Government Kidnapping Rings)

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Pollution Science X - Florida - (Pollution Science 101 - Florida) (Editor: Michael James Ross)

April 4th, 2024

PollutionScience101Florida.blogspot.com

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We now would like to file a complaint under the 28 U.S. Code § 144 - Bias or prejudice of a judge against Judge Kyle Cohen, Judge Elizabeth Krier and Judge John Mcgowan of the Twentieth District Court in Collier County, Florida. We no longer think that these judges are competent. We want these judges to no longer have authority in any further court cases to harm others as well. We accuse these judges of being no better than the Judges in the "Kids for Cash Scandal," we are now requesting that these Judges either should be fired, or these judges need to step down. We request that these following judges now face prison time, just as Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella in the "Kids for Cash Scandal" received prison time. We wish to prosecute Judge Elizabeth Krier, Judge Kyle Cohen and Judge John Mcgowan similar to Michel Conahan and Mark Ciavarella in the "Kids for Cash Scandal," We want to know who else the 20th District Court in Collier County, Florida has illegally jailed, we want these citizens released. We are going to request that the 20th District Court be closed down on charges of mass corruption if these illegal arrests of citizens and journalists continue. We consider this a form of mass corruption from the 20th District Court if these charges are not dropped at once. We are going to start asking that the 20th District Court now face daily fines for keeping this illegal trial of Michael Ross still going. We are calling for the Florida National Guard and military to now arrest Judges Krier, Cohen and Mcgowan for tampering with evidence. We have disowned these judges, we will now disown the 20th District Court if the 20th District Court continues to harm scientific researchers and continues with the illegal arrest of Michael Ross. These judges are no longer to work in the legal system. These Judges are guilty of tampering with evidence, we want these Judges from the 20th District Court stopped right now. We want all of these Courtroom officials tried for treason and given the fullest possible punishment for treason. We no longer want the 20th District Court to have any authority in this case, the 20th District Court has broken too many laws. These Judges are a nuisance to the scientific community and medical community. These Judges are a nuisance to the scientific community. These authorities have had their chance to arrest Delia C. Luna for the wrongful arrest of Michael Ross. We consider this an obstruction of justice. The law requires that if a police officer wrongfully arrests a citizen for any reason, that this officer behind the wrongful arrest is now to be detained by law. Michael Ross was wrongfully arrested in January of 2024, it is now past August and the judges attempt to continue an illegal trial. We consider this a form of inhumane torture of a journalist. We are calling the Florida National Guard to arrest Collier County Police Officer Delia C. Luna and Collier County Police Chief Officer Rambosk.

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Michael Ross vs Florida - Illegal Arrest - Document: Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Pages 1-109

July 1st, 2024

https://archive.org/details/evidence-a-7

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Michael Ross vs Florida - Illegal Arrest - Court Document: Evidence Exhibit A 4

July 1st, 2024

https://archive.org/details/evidence-a-4

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Michael James Ross vs Collier County, Florida

PRIMARY DOCKET # 24CF95

Our Environmental Websites and Reports:

Website: Pollution Science - PollutionScience.com

Book: Pollution Science X - Florida - https://pollutionscience101Florida.blogspot.com

Michael Ross from PollutionScience.com was doing an environmental survey report while investigating illegal wastewater dumping from a beach storm drain off 2nd Avenue in Naples, Florida and was illegally detained at this location on January 14th, 2024 at 1:30 am.
Michael Ross was investigating the illegal stormwater dumping complaints when the police illegally raided his vehicle. The police illegally searched the vehicle of Michael Ross by force and found an air rifle that was not a true firearm. The authorities lied at first and said it was an unidentified rifle instead of just saying it was an air rifle gun made by Gamo, this was done in order to illegally detain Ross longer. The authorities then lied right off the bat and said that Michael Ross had a felony, the authorities then stated that it was illegal to own the air rifle in the State of Florida because Ross had a previous felony. The fact is that Michael Ross was never convicted of a felony in his life, and it is legal for Michael Ross to own the air rifle. The authorities claimed that it was illegal for felons to own an air rifle in the State of Florida and that Ross was being detained for having an air rifle in his vehicle. Michael Ross was arrested for having an air rifle, Michael Ross will be filing a lawsuit against this illegal detainment. Here is Ross's Driver's License number (Texas Driver's License number: 18785123) (California Driver's License: D8434672) (American Passport Id # 587031279) so that you can see for yourselves that Michael Ross does not have a felony. These officials lied to the public including other news agencies and claimed Ross had a felony when Ross did not have a previous felony.

The government of Collier County had to create a lie about Ross in order to stop his investigative journalism. The government lied to the press and this is why you see the headlines that were claiming Ross was a felon that had an air rifle in his vehicle. The truth is that Ross was never a convicted felon and it was legal for Ross to own the air rifle. The police also claimed Ross was sleeping, when Ross claims he was not sleeping and that he was just relaxing. There was a parking sign for the parking hours but the sign was torn off the post, there was no way to tell the parking hours, Ross was just enjoying the beach after visiting most of the amusement parks in Florida for over two weeks. Ross was planning on spending several months in Florida. For the records Ross checked the time on my cellphone just 10 minutes before the illegal arrest. Ross was planning on leaving the area at 2 am that night. We do not like how the police tell multiple lies in front of journalists in order to falsify more charges against people.

The problem is the Naples government assumed Michael Ross had a previous felony because Ross was found with 2 grams of hash in 2009 in Texas, Ross received a reduced punishment down to a misdemeanor instead of having a felony. The officials in Collier County, Florida assumed it was a felony to have hash in Texas, these officials in Florida lied and said Ross received a felony from having hash in Texas. The truth is the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and Ross never received a felony. This is why even the media was lied to and you can see in the headlines that the government misled the media, and why the news article claims Ross was a felon in possession of an air rifle when it turns out that Michael Ross was never a convicted felon in his entire life. This makes it difficult to get more support from others, this is because the public was lied to and thinks Ross was a felon with an air rifle. It even makes it more difficult if Ross wanted to find a job in the scientific community while the news headlines are inaccurate and claim falsely that Ross was a felon. We believe that an AI computer could have told the police by mistake that Ross had a felony. We also see that the police removed all audio evidence of stating that Ross was being arrested as being a felon with an air rifle.
You will notice that the police arrested Ross first for trying to say that Ross was a felon in possession of an air rifle, the police had no idea how much cannabis hemp that Ross had at the time. Ross was originally detained first because the police lied and said Ross was a felon in order to illegally arrest Ross.
The police had to dismiss the case of Ross being a felon with an air rifle, this is simply because Ross was never a felon and that Michael Ross was illegally arrested. We consider this as an illegal attempt to try to gain illegal access to his research van.

The Police refused to identify the Gamo pellet gun as an air rifle and said that the rifle was an unidentified rifle for multiple days. This was done in attempt to hold Ross in custody longer illegally. The police knew they made a mistake in arresting Ross for having a pellet gun that was legal. The police wanted to use the unidentified rifle as a distraction, this however kept Ross in jail longer illegally and we will be seeking damages for this illegal arrest.
We notice that the police did not even release the full audio recording of the arrest of Michael Ross on 1/14/2014 at 1:30:10 am. We do not even see that the police were able to identify the air rifle for a few days.

We also want to state that we believe why it took longer to hear the charges. The police knew they made a mistake and why it took longer for the police to figure out they illegally arrested Ross for falsely saying that Ross was a felon with an unidentified rifle, when Ross simply was not a felon with a rifle or an air rifle. A jury will see multiple counts of tampering with evidence and see that this evidence presented by these Collier County officials was falsified. No honorable person would try to harm a scientific researcher and medical researcher that has already had this much tainted evidence and illegal detainment. The authorities are greedy and want the money and silver, they don't care about our science research and medical research.

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The illegal arrest of Michael Ross - Background check to prove Michael Ross was never a felon.

July 16th,2024

https://archive.org/details/innocent-not-a-felon

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Evidence Court Document - Evidence Exhibit A-4 & A-7 - Judge Krier:

Twentieth District Court Judge Krier caused Libel, Slander and illegally signed court documents that stated that Michael Ross is to be punished as a previous felon, this was an illegal punishment and that Michael Ross was never a previous felon. This judge attempted to give Michael James Ross extra punishment from his illegal sentence and made the untrue statement that Michael Ross was a previous felon. The truth is that Michael Ross was never a felon. This Judge is trying to give Ross extra punishment and time, this judge states that Michael Ross is a felon which is wrong. We want this judge removed from office and to never be able to work as a judge again.

The Police illegally arrested Michael Ross and stated Ross was a previously convicted felon that was found with an air rifle in his vehicle, the truth is that Michael Ross was never a felon. Mrs. Gomes the District attorney lied and continued the extension of the illegal arrest of Ross by saying Ross was to be tried as a convicted felon with an air rifle, Mrs. Gomes also wanted to add additional punishments for falsely stating that Ross was a previous felon as well. Judge Elizabeth Krier (Respondeat superior) approved of Amira D. Fox and Nicole Santini of adding additional punishments for Michael Ross. Fox, Gomes & Santini falsely stated that Ross would receive more punishments for being a previous felon while being illegally arrested.

The police wrongfully stated that Ross was being arrested as a felon in possession of an air rifle in his vehicle. The truth is that the police did not tell the truth, Michael Ross was never a convicted felon. The police then lied and said that Ross's Gamo air rifle was an unidentified rifle to hold Ross in custody longer. Mrs. Gomes lied in court and told the Judge and public that Ross was being charged as a convicted felon with an air rifle. This statement was not true and that Michael Ross was never a felon. The arrest of Michael James Ross for having an air rifle was a form of either police error or intent to illegally arrest scientific and medical journalist Michael Ross, we consider this illegal arrest a form of police brutality. Judge Elizabeth Krier approved of the illegal arrest of Michael Ross and allowed Amira D. Fox and Nicole N. Santini to approve of additional punishments on Ross's punishment scoresheet. Additional points were added to Ross's 3.992(a) Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet because Fox and Santini stated that Ross was being punished as a previous felon. This also added more punishments on all other charges. We accuse these authorities of illegally giving Michael James Ross more punishment charges in attempt to silence political journalist Michael Ross. This was done with malice, spite and with intent to illegally keep Michael Ross longer in custody, and this caused harm to Michael Ross of PollutionScience.com in different ways. We want Rhiannon Gomes, Amira Fox, Nicole Santini and Judge Elizabeth Krier to face arrest for tampering with evidence, this includes the libel, slander and contempt in court under oath. Rhiannon Gomes lied under oath and stated that Michael Ross was to be charged as a convicted felon with an air rifle. This created Judge Krier to increase the punishments of Michael Ross, simply because this made Judge Krier think that Ross's punishment should be more for being a previously convicted felon. Rhiannon Gomes tried to create malice to harm a member of the scientific community and the medical community.

Michael James Ross from pollution Science is seeking 5 million dollars in damages for being illegally arrested on January 14th, 2024 by Delia C. Luna and the Collier County Police. Michael Ross is seeking an additional 6 million dollars for being held longer illegally in custody by Police Chief Kevin Rambosk. The authorities should have let Ross go with this illegal arrest. The Young District Attorney Gomes did not properly check and also wrongfully assumed that Michael Ross was a felon when Michael Ross was not a felon. This mistake caused Michael Ross to spend multiple days illegally detained, and this caused a lot of stress when having to go to court to prove that Ross was never a felon. We want 7 million dollars in additional damages for being illegally detained longer by young District Attorney Rhiannon Gomes. May we remind the Jury what a Young District Attorney is, this attorney has only been working as a District Attorney since 2021. This Young attorney is not qualified to continue to give illegal punishments to journalist Michael Ross of Pollution Science. We want the Twentieth District Court Attorneys to stop issuing more illegal punishments from continuing to state that Ross is a felon. The authorities knew they made a mistake in illegally arresting Ross for having an air rifle, the authorities then stated the air rifle was unidentified for multiple days. The air rifle was in stock condition and any competent officer could clearly see that it was a Gamo pellet gun within one minute, the air rifle was unloaded and stored away out of public sight. The serial number and name of the air rifle was in no way obstructed and could be identified within one minute or less. Amira D. Fox and Nicole Santini also went along and took Young District Attorney Mrs. Gomes's word that Ross was a felon and trusted her judgment which was wrong. Fox and Santini tried to add additional punishment points on the punishment scoresheet of Michael Ross and stated that Ross was a previous felon, this was in attempt to give Ross more time on my charges because of this error. Judge Elizabeth Krier approved of these documents as well that stated Ross was a felon. Michael Ross is seeking Fourteen Million Dollars in damages from Amira D. Fox. We are seeking Eight Million Dollars in Damages from Nicole N. Santini, and we are seeking Twenty Million dollars in Damages from Judge Elizabeth Krier.

My 4th Amendment rights were violated, the police stated that I was being arrested as a felon with an air rifle to gain access to my vehicle, I was never a felon and this was an illegal arrest. My 2nd Amendment rights were violated, I was illegally arrested for owning an air rifle. My 8th Amendment rights were violated with cruel and unusual punishment, my punishments were increased because the authorities claimed falsely I was a felon. My 1st Amendment rights to peacefully gather were also violated. My 13th Amendment rights were violated, the State of Florida is running a type of racketeering system in their prison systems to illegally extort money and wrongfully convict innocent citizens. These innocent citizens are then sent to private prison labor camps for profit.

Michael James Ross is also alleging libel, defamation, slander, defamation per se, business disparagement, business defamation, tortious interference with current and/or prospective business relations, civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress caused by the authorities of Collier County, Florida. We need to stop good researchers in the scientific community and medical community from facing wrongful arrest and ask the authorities to please stop this Vexatious litigation. These authorities have already lied and stated Ross was a felon and this was not true. The original reason why Ross was being arrested is because the authorities stated that Ross was a previous felon in possession of an air rifle. We consider this Vexatious litigation by the authorities of Collier County, Florida if they continue to break the law to illegally arrest reporters. The authorities have broken multiple laws and that if Michael Ross is illegally jailed for this, the public will know that Michael Ross from PollutionScience.com is being jailed illegally. We consider this gross negligence, Nonfeasance, Misfeasance, and acting with severe recklessness with disregard for the safety or well-being of another person by Collier County officials. This is happening while the authorities lie to the public and tell the public that Michael Ross was a felon in possession of an air-rifle, when the authorities made the mistake and lied to the public about Ross being a felon. Michael Ross was never a felon, and the Collier County Police officers made a mistake in arresting Michael Ross for having an air rifle that was legal for him to own. This was the first main cause for the authorities trying to detain Ross, we want the audio recording from the Collier County Police from 12 am to 3 am on the morning of the arrest on January 14th, 2024. We are asking the public to stop this illegal detainment of Michael Ross as a scientific journalist and medical journalist.

We accuse Collier County Courtroom authorities of acting with scienter and that these authorities were fully aware of what they were doing.

Scienter refers to a person’s mental state at the time they allegedly committed a crime. Specifically, scienter refers to whether the individual intentionally and knowingly acted with the intent to defraud or manipulate, or if the results of their actions were simply caused by a mistake or accident. Scienter is a Latin term, which translates to “knowledge.” Therefore, someone who acts with scienter is fully aware of what they are doing and the consequences that can result, yet they go ahead with it anyway.

This illegal arrest has caused me multiple forms of personal injury, emotional stress, physical stress, headaches, Libel and Slander. It is now more difficult to find work, this is a form of Libel, Slander and this harms my public reputation as a scientific journalist and medical journalist.
The police have stolen money I wanted to use on fixing my teeth, I have had to put off fixing my teeth until the authorities give me my stolen research funds back. I will now have to sell my 3.25 acre property in Austin because of this illegal arrest, I was going to turn this land into a storage rental property. I have lost millions of dollars I was going to earn from investing this money into my business. I have lost millions of dollars because the authorities refuse to give me back my laptops with priceless science, medical and COVID research. I have now lost millions in research and accuse the Collier County authorities of harming researchers in the scientific community and medical community. The authorities attempted to edit out the audio that stated I was being arrested as a previously convicted felon with an air rifle multiple times. This was done at the time of my arrest and when I was being questioned sitting in my vehicle. The authorities removed multiple audio clips that stated the original reason of why I was being arrested and attempted to shift blame to arrest me for cannabis that was not mine. The audio of Officer Delia C. Luna was not shown in the evidence we received. Officer Delia C. Luna stated that the first original reason why we were being arrested is that we were a convicted felon with an air rifle. The police asked me if I owned an air rifle while I was sitting in my vehicle, I stated that I did have an air rifle in the vehicle. The police then stated for me to step out of the vehicle, and within a minute the police stated that I was being arrested for being a previous convicted felon in possession of an air rifle. The authorities did not know how much cannabis or THC-A legal hash that we had at the time. The audio of Troy A. Menning stating that I was being arrested as a previous convicted felon with an air rifle was deleted when I was being interviewed at the police station. We see that the audio recording that the authorities gave my lawyer had the section of audio taken out where Troy A. Menning stated that I was being arrested as a felon with an air rifle. We accuse the Collier County Police Department of trying to tamper with multiple forms of evidence.

I bought the air rifle legally in Texas and did not break any laws. Florida claims to try and be one of the more conservative states, yet we see how they are trying to complain about American citizens trying to own an Air Rifle. I remember in the 1990s that any American could go into a store to buy an air rifle legally. I will state for the record that I was never a felon and that I bought the air rifle legally. I want the air rifle that was illegally confiscated and stolen from me by the Collier County, Florida police department back. I want all of my property back that was illegally confiscated.

The Police Lied and said that we had a felony and that we were a felon in possession of an air rifle. This was done to gain illegal access to search our research vehicle to plant false evidence. We were clearly not a felon and want all charges dismissed. I knew that I had an air rifle but I was unaware that there was 9mm ammo, the vehicle was used by multiple people and the van had not been cleaned. The air rifle was not in plain sight and was in a box.

You will notice that the authorities misspell the word paraphernalia in my charges and instead use the word parapherna. We think that this must have been an auto spell check error where the spell checker accidentally fills in the wrong word and not the word you typed. This is another reason why we think that an AI computer is behind some of these mistakes. I am starting to think that it is the AI computer that is getting some people in trouble.

I would like to know who has written this report, it appears that someone replaced the word Paraphernalia with the word Parapherna. This was a red flag because we believe an AI computer is doing a lot of this and that some of these clerks are mostly letting the AI computers try and write the report. Am I being charged with parapherna as a crime? I would like these charges of Parapherna dropped and do not think that I deserve the punishment for a crime that I did not commit.

May we remind the court what parapherna is.

Parapherna - Definition: The property of a woman that on her marriage is not made a part of her dower but remains her own and entirely free from the control of the husband

Does the Twentieth District Court really wish to give Michael James Ross a misdemeanor for the crime of parapherna?

We refuse these charges and that the Collier County officials have multiple errors in their reports.

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Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 4: The Police knew that Ross had an Air Rifle and the police stated that they found an air rifle within the first minutes of searching the vehicle. The Police knew they illegally arrested Michael Ross and this was a wrongful arrest. It turns out that Ross was never a convicted felon and that Ross was illegally arrested for a crime that he did not commit. The authorities then lied and stated that Ross was being arrested for an unknown rifle to make the charge sound worse, this was also done in an attempt to make it look as if Ross had a real rifle. The following document states that Ross was arrested for an unknown rifle.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 5: The following Court document states that Ross was being charged as a previous convicted felon in possession of ammunition. This statement was false and this was an illegal charge the authorities had to drop against Michael Ross.

You will notice that the authorities even state multiple times that Ross was being charged with a firearm as a convicted felon.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit Evidence A-7 - Page 73: 790.23(3) - POSSESSION OF A FIREARM OR CONCEALED WEAPON BY A CONVICTED FELON

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 74: 790.23(3) - POSSESSION OF A FIREARM OR CONCEALED WEAPON BY A CONVICTED FELON

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - page 13: The following states that Michael James Ross was illegally arrested for the following crime: 790.23(3) - POSSESSION OF A FIREARM OR CONCEALED WEAPON BY A CONVICTED FELON

You will notice that the other arresting police officers had to leave out that Ross was being illegally arrested for an air rifle. We believe the arresting police officers left out in their original reports that the first reason why Michael Ross was being detained was for being an accused felon in possession of an air rifle. Keep in mind that one of the first questions the authorities asked Ross is if he had an air rifle. Michael Ross replied truthfully to the officers and stated that he did own an air rifle and felt that there was nothing wrong with owning a pellet gun in America. Michael Ross told the truth to the authorities, we can see that the authorities were dishonorable and lied on multiple occasions to have journalist Michael James Ross illegally arrested. We want all of the arresting officers fired, we can clearly see that they lied to cover for each other in their reports. These officers are bad apples and we do not want them to continue to influence other officers to also be corrupt as the following officers. We no longer want the following officers to work as police officers. These officers failed to write in their reports that Michael Ross was being arrested as a previous convicted felon with an air rifle.

Delia C. Luna

Evan J. Scott

Anthony N. Iannuzzi

John Redhead

Yasmin M. Pachecho

Lynnze E. Bender

Leovijildo Rodriguez

Derrick Vazquez

Jake Crowther

We believe that most of the police officers understood and heard Officer Luna state that Michael Ross was being arrested in possession of an air rifle. It could be possible that the officers that were away from the van and standing on the beach may not have heard that Ross was being arrested for having an air rifle as a previously convicted felon. These were lies the Collier County Police Department made. We could like to prosecute the Collier County Police Department, Chief Rambosk and the officers that edited the video and audio footage of the illegal arrest of Michael Ross to faces charges of tampering with evidence. We also want an investigation into the corruption of many attorneys in Florida. Ross is seeking an additional 6 million dollars in damages from Police Chief Kevin Rambosk. Police Chief Rambosk acted illegally and decided to keep Ross illegally detained as a journalist. Ross is seeking an additional 30,000 Dollars for each day this illegal court trial goes on. We consider this a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Michael Ross was illegally arrested on January 14th, 2024, this illegal trial continues to go on even past August 2024.

The only way we will allow these officers back on the force is if they testify that Michael James Ross was illegally arrested. These officers must admit that Michael Ross was illegally arrested, and why they were told to not state that Ross was being arrested as a previous convicted felon with an air rifle.

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The following is in relation to the Document titled "Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 page 5" states the following.

The court again created another lie and continued to state that Michael Ross had a criminal history and was conducted to determine Ross was a convicted felon. This again added more libel and slander to the good name of Journalist Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com.

This report lied and stated that Ross had a criminal history of threatening a Judge in Texas, Ross was never charged with threatening anyone, this again is another lie that has now caused Michael Ross more harm, we consider this a form of libel and slander. No wonder Judge Cohen was so upset about this report, here is the following statement:

"A criminal history was conducted to determine Ross was a convicted felon. Due to Ross having an extensive criminal history, including threatening/ terrorizing a judge in Texas, officer Luna is request Ross's bond be set by the judge."

You will notice that officer Luna cannot even spell the sentence right and should have used the word requesting instead of request also. This statement also lied when it stated that Ross was a convicted felon, this increased Ross's bond more since Ross was now being treated as a past convicted felon instead of a non-felon.

Judge Kyle Cohen said that the prosecuting attorney had written a very poorly written report. We think Judge Kyle Cohen knew the authorities messed up with the illegal arrest. At first we thought Judge Cohen might be on our side, we now must question if Judge Kyle Cohen was being bribed for continuing the case, or if this was a simple error that Ross was being charged a previous felon with an air rifle that was overlooked. This evidence is already tainted and I was never a felon with an Air rifle, this is what I was originally being arrested for, this is what the News Articles claim. I want the audio recordings of all the times I was told I was being arrested as a felon with an rifle. It is not right that the Judge allows this proceeding to continue with multiple sources of tainted evidence. We wish for another District Court to hear this trial instead of the 20th District Court. The 20th District Court has tainted too much evidence and is not being honorable and honest with the evidence presented in this trial. The 20th District Court now has too much bias against Ross and has already broken too many laws to even hold a legal trial.

We now would like to file a complaint under the 28 U.S. Code § 144 - Bias or prejudice of a judge against Judge Kyle Cohen, Judge Elizabeth Krier and Judge John Mcgowan of the Twentieth District Court in Collier County, Florida. We no longer think that these judges are competent and want these judges to no longer have authority in any further court cases to harm others as well. We want to know who else in the 20th District Court that thinks this is acceptable to keep Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com in this illegal court trial still. We will be filing a lawsuit against the next Judge in Collier County for 30 million dollars if they wish to continue this illegal case and continue to state that Ross should be punished as a previous felon.

The Police have stolen over 8,000$ and 4 boxes of American Silver Eagle Coins (Over 50,000$ in silver coins). These funds were to be used to build a business to retire. I wanted to build a Storage Container business on my property that was on 3 acres of land in Austin, there would be over One Hundred Storage Sheds. I am now forced to sell my property because of this illegal arrest in Collier County, Florida. I have lost millions of dollars in profit I could have made with this money as an investment in my business.

Many companies now think that I am a felon and that I wanted to get hired by a science company even to do work. I have lost millions of dollars where I could have been making over 400,000$ a year working with my research.

I am unable to now work at these companies because they search my name and see that I am a felon in the news articles. I have already written some of these companies that the article stating that I am a felon is not true.

I want to be compensated for my illegal arrest, I will use these funds for medical research and science research.

This illegal arrest has cost me over 14,000$ in bail. This bail was set so high because the authorities illegally gave me the bail of a previously convicted felon, I want to be compensated for these financial losses.

I have spent over 1,000$ in towing fees, transportation and recovery to get my vehicle.

The Police Damaged and smashed my Ep-500 Battery bank that was over 5,000$ , the police smashed this battery on the ground, the police edited and removed this from the video.

We have spent over 10,000$ in legal fees and filing fees.

I am a Bronze Medalist in one of the 2019 National Sumo Wrestling tournaments, I will be filing a complaint with the Olympic committee and wrestling committee about my illegal arrest. The authorities have also cost me millions of dollars in contracts and endorsements I could have had with many wrestling and MMA organisations.

9/5/2019 - Mike Ross Wins a Sumo Wrestling Tournament Medal - 2019 New Orleans Sumo Tournament

https://archive.org/details/sumotournament2019neworleans

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I have spent thousands of dollars in travel fees to travel from Texas to Florida for each court hearing.

We have written a report on the environmental damage being caused by the officials in Collier County, Florida. We will be filing an environmental lawsuit against the State of Florida.

If the authorities want to continue to illegally detain medical researchers in Florida, then we must question if other science researchers and medical researchers are having their medical research harmed in the state of Florida.

These authorities do not care about our science research, they just want to steal our science research funds and illegally detain journalists and researchers.

We would like to state for the court records of how many complaints Judge Krier has against her. This judge has one of the lowest approval ratings out of any Judge in Florida. Let us see what other complaints have been filed against judge Elizabeth Krier and State Attorney Amira Fox.

Twentieth Circuit Judge Elizabeth V. Krier

TheRobingRoom.com - Where Judges are Judged

Collier County, FL

Attorney Average Rating: 2.1 out of 10.0 - 16 rating(s)
Non-Attorney Average Rating: 1.0 out of 10.0 - 31 rating(s)

http://www.therobingroom.com/florida/Judge.aspx?id=19459

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We are calling for all Science researchers and medical researchers to leave America. Your research is no longer safe. We are ordering the Scientific Community and Medical Community to move your research out of America and the State of Florida, this is a direct order. The Biden government is trying to harm medical researchers and science researchers. Your research is not safe in America, tell the Biden government that you refuse to release research while Michael James Ross is being illegally detained. The Scientific community and medical community are now calling for a full boycott on the Biden government. The Biden government wants to harm America with unlawful Third World immigrants. The Biden Administration wants to harm First World researchers. The government of Florida is a disgrace and continues to let Judge Elizabeth Krier to harm journalist Michael James Ross. We want Judge Krier to lose her authority to harm more scientific journalists. The scientific community now calls for a full boycott on the Biden government until Michael James Ross is released from this illegal trial. The government of Florida has no honor and wishes to continue an illegal trial with Judge Krier attempting to give Michael Ross 5 years in prison for having an air rifle as a felon. Michael James Ross was never a convicted felon. Judge Krier is now obstructing justice by not arresting Officer Delia C. Luna. It is the law that Officer Delia C. Luna face arrest. By law, an officer that illegally arrests an American citizen needs to be detained. Office Delia C. Luna illegally arrested Michael James Ross. It has been over 6 months and the Judges refuse to arrest this officer. The reason is that this officer and the judges are behind a kidnapping cell with Jeffery Epstein. We are about to arrest members of this kidnapping cell, this starts with Collier County, Florida Police Officer Delia C. Luna, Collier County Police Chief Kevin Rambosk, 20th District Court Judge Elizabeth Krier, 20th District Court Judge John Mcgowan, and 20th District Court District Attorney Rhiannon Gomes.

We are offering the Florida National Guard 100,000$ for the arrest of 20th District Court Judge Elizabeth Krier.
Status: This Judge remains at large and continues to harm scientific researchers and medical researchers.

Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com is now calling for the arrest of Judge Kyle Cohen of the 20th District Court in Collier County, Florida. We want a citizens arrest of this Judge. We want the Florida National Guard and Militia to arrest this corrupt Judge. Failure to stop this judge will result in consequences for ALL American citizens.

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Palm Beach Deputies Bribed to Let Epstein Run Trafficking Ring While “Not so incarcerated?

July 23, 2019

Editor’s note: There is a story here and it goes much further than the Epstein/Maxwell/Trump blackmail scheme or child rape. It didn’t begin with Epstein or his Mega friends, the 20 Jewish American billionaires (some we believe totally innocent….some) whose funding may well have paid for the child rape ring now being exposed.

https://veteranstoday.com/2019/07/23/palm-beach-deputies-bribed-to-let-epstein-run-trafficking-ring-while-not-so-incarcerated/

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{We accuse Judge Cohen of the 20th District Court of being associated with Jeffery Epstein and this Kids for Cash human trafficking ring}.

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We are offering the Florida National Guard 100,000$ for the arrest of 20th District Court Judge Kyle Cohen

Status: This Judge remains at large and continues to harm scientific researchers and medical researchers.

Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com is now calling for the arrest of 20th District Court Judge Kyle Cohen of Naples, Florida. The scientific community is going to ask the public to decide. We want to ask the American people, was it really worth it to keep these corrupt judges in power, when the scientific community

knew all along that the public was behind a good portion of this corruption, and this is why these corrupt judges remain in power. We blame the corrupt people in Florida for allowing this. This is why the scientific community is now going to counter the corrupt people of Florida. Many of the corrupt people in Florida can join these judges, that is because the scientific community has now disowned the people of Florida.The people of Florida were a disgrace and let this corruption flourish. This Judge attempts to bring in illegal Mexicans while attempting to harm First World researchers. This judge is a traitor and we are now calling for the Florida national Guard to arrest Judge Cohen. We are calling for the scientific community to arrest Judge Cohen. This judge is only a lawyer, having a law degree is one of the easiest degrees to get in college. This judge is a nuisance and a parasite to the scientific community and medical community. We now declare full martial law in the State of Florida until these Judge face arrest. Remember that these Judges could avoid arrest if they dropped this illegal trial of Michael James Ross. These Judges want to continue an illegal trial and refuse to arrest any police officer for a wrongful arrest. This Judge is a racist Lamanite Judge. This Judge does not like my views on my video series Solomon's Temple, this is why this racist judge attacked my ministry on Solomon's Temple.

We are offering the Florida National Guard 100,000$ for the arrest of 20th District Court Judge John Mcgowen

Status: This Judge remains at large and continues to harm scientific researchers and medical researchers.

Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com is now calling for the arrest of Judge John Mcgowan. The American people are to stop this judge. If the people

of Florida refuse this task, then the scientific community is to now disown the people of Florida. If anyone wants any reason to why the scientific community

has now disowned the people of America, and why we are now going to be calling for mass arrests of the public until we can stop this corruption in the State of Florida.

The citizens of the State of Florida have decided to ally with the corrupt politicians listed in our book Pollution Science - Florida. This is why the scientific community

is now going to disown the people of Florida and call for a 30% reduction in the population in the State of Florida, this is for refusing to cooperate with Michael Ross from PollutionScience.com. We are now going to request that the scientific community disown the people of Florida and to start mass population reduction in the State of Florida, we need to start by sterilizing or phasing out many of these unlawful low IQ Third world immigrants. Most of the public would have very little honor about this and just continue to attempt to hinder and cause problems for the scientific community. If anyone has any objections to this, you need to speak up now.

Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com is now calling for the arrest of

Naples, Florida 20th District Court Attorney Nicole N. Santini, Florida State Attorney Amira D. Fox, 20th District Court Attorney Rhiannon Gomes, Naples, Florida, Police Chief Kevin Rambosk (100,000$ reward to the Florida National Guard for the arrest of Police Chief Kevin Rambosk), Naples, Florida Police Officer Delia C. Luna of Naples (100,000$ reward to the National Guard for the arrest of Collier County, Police Officer Delia C. Luna), Florida for the attempted murder of Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com. The public will have little honor about this, so the scientific community is now going to request the people of Florida join these judges in being arrested. We have already given people the orders to not allow more illegal immigrants in America, this is why we are going to now go door to door and arrest these unlawful Third World immigrants in America. The people of Florida are too corrupt and now the people of Florida will pay for their crimes against Michael James Ross from PollutionScience.com and for refusing to cooperate. These people of Florida would rather support these corrupt government officials, this is why the scientific community is now going to override these corrupt people in Florida, and to arrest all the people of Florida until the people of Florida stop with allowing these corrupt judges they put in place. The people of Florida have been dishonored, this is why many Americans face prison sentences for having an air rifle for being a convicted felon, then the people of Florida think this is acceptable as they destroy the right to bear arms. Florida has many retired New Yorkers, many of these people even voted for Obama and Biden, many of these groups are now a nuisance to the rest of America. This is why we are now calling for full martial law in the State of Florida. Remember that if these judges arrest the officers that illegally detained Michael James Ross, then we will stop calling for the arrest of these judges. We will soon decide if these judges will arrest these officers that illegally detained Michael Ross, or well these judges attempt to obstruct justice and continue an illegal trial.

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The Next Tier In Lee County, Florida Corruption: State Attorney Amira Fox

April 24, 2019

https://thewashingtonstandard.com/the-next-tier-in-lee-county-florida-corruption-state-attorney-amira-fox/

I’ve been covering a story in Lee County, Florida which has uncovered a host of corruption related to the case of Deanna Williams in the judicial system, attorneys and the sheriff’s office. That has led to uncovering documents concerning the fraud the current sheriff, Carmine Marceno, has perpetrated on the people of the county and which the governor and attorney general are letting him get away with. There is still more to come on those both those stories as soon as I receive the documents I need to confirm several things. The next tier in the corruption is the state attorney for the 20th Judicial Circuit, Amira Fox.

According to Fox’s website:

Amira recognizes that the number one duty of a prosecutor is to keep the community safe. She and her husband Mike have raised four children in SW Florida and care deeply about the safety of our community. She understands that the worst criminals deserve the strongest sentences and believes that violent and habitual offenders must be severely punished. Recently, Amira worked to convict Mesac Damas, who murdered his wife and five children in Collier County and was successful in obtaining six death sentences. Amira has a long and distinguished record of convicting some of the most serious criminals in our five-county circuit since 1990.

Additionally, Amira has been instrumental in targeting those who commit crimes due to drug addiction and mental illness in order to hold them accountable while simultaneously seeking appropriate treatment so that they do not return to the criminal justice system. Thanks to the efforts of Amira, the Courts, local law enforcement, and local drug and mental health professionals, our area is a leader within Florida for its effective Drug Courts, Mental Health Courts and, Veteran’s Courts.

Finally, Amira believes that prosecutors must always look for new ways to attack crime and keep us safe. She has been instrumental over her last five years as Chief Assistant State Attorney in working with law enforcement to implement the gang and racketeering task force which has resulted in racketeering charges against gang members. She has also led the way in cooperating with law enforcement in conducting wiretap operations to catch and punish those who are selling and trafficking opioids and other illegal drugs in our community.

Now, a prosecutor’s number one duty is not to keep the community safe. It is to prosecute criminals. I grant that keeps the community safe, but when a woman like this is running around with a sheriff that has presented himself fraudulently, that is not keeping the community safe. It’s aiding and abetting.

Furthermore, I’ll be revealing just how Fox’s husband, Mike, is tied into the sordid injustice that Deanna Williams has suffered in a later article.

For today, I want to deal with just one case of the corruption of Amira Fox. The following two articles are posted in their entirety with permission from the author, along with links to the evidence of the complaint against her that she campaigned during working hours, which is a violation of law. Notice how despite the evidence, it was swept under the rug.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox – FL Dept. of Law Enforcement Criminal Complaint / Open Investigation – FL. Dept. of State/Division of Elections

(Blue links are live)
Violations of Florida Statute 104.31 and Florida Statute 110.233.
Current – Open investigation with the Department of State/Division of Elections requested by FDLE. Complaints dated 9/11/2018 and 9/28/2018 were filed with FDLE who in turn, submitted the complaints by mail to Christie Willis at the Division of Elections on Nov 2, 2018 and Oct 17, 2018, for investigation. FDLE EI Number 73-8648, IRR 759, IRR 851. Dept. of State complaint #19-1 is being reviewed by Deputy General Counsel Ashley Davis. (please see details below)

Edwards, Candice D. <Candice.Edwards@dos.myflorida.com>

Jan 30 at 11:24 AM

Good Afternoon,

Your case number for you complaint form is 19-1, please allow Deputy General Counsel Ashley Davis time to fully review your complaint. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank You,
Candice Edwards
Executive Assistant , Office of the General Counsel
_________________________________________________________________________________

The complaints #1, #2, and #3 (listed below) were sent to FDLE on the dates provided.
After calling FDLE for an update in January 2019, I spoke with two different FDLE Investigators who stated my two complaints on Amira Fox campaigning during work hours were mailed to the Department of State/ Division of Elections for investigation on November 2, 2018 and October 17, 2018.
Upon calling the Division of Elections I was informed they had no records of my complaints; I then resubmitted complaint #1 in late January.
Complaints #2 and #3, regarding the Illegal Slaughter farms were not found at FDLE and were thought to have been included with complaint #1 and sent to the Division of Elections.  All documents appear to have been lost.
__________________________________________________________________________________
(click on the blue links for complaint details)

NBC2 News – Complaint alleges state attorney candidate Amira Fox campaigned during work hours

9/11/2018 FDLE Complaints

Criminal Complaint # 01:  Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira D. Fox, Bar Number 861316 –
A new complaint has been sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement requesting a criminal investigation into Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira D. Fox’s campaigning activities during work hours as a state employee to run for the position of State Attorney during 2018.

Quoted in the Fort Myers News-Press (August 11, 2018) that Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira D. Fox admitted refunding money to the state for campaigning while she was officially working.  According to Ms. Fox’s 2018 work calendar, it appears Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira D. Fox continued to campaign during work hours while running for Lee County State Attorney.
Violations of Florida Statute 104.31 and Florida Statute 110.233.
Supplemental – 9.28.18 FDLE Supplemental Amira Fox year 2018

FDLE Criminal Complaints – Campaigning During Work Hours
FDLE Stephen B. Russell – State Attorney
FDLE_Larry Justham Complaint – Lee County Felony Division Chief – Assistant State Attorney Larry D. Justham
FDLE Complaint Abe Thornburg – Assistant State Attorney
SAO Policy

Complaint # 02:
State Attorney Stephen B. Russell, Bar Number 214299 , Lee County Felony Division Chief Larry D. Justham, Bar Number 303518, Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira D. Fox, Bar Number 861316, Assistant State Attorney Cameron J. Siggs, Bar Number 61207
Criminal investigation requested into Prosecution case State Attorney’s Office 18MM21891 CFS18-177672, conducted by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Lee County State Attorney’s Office.
Case evidence photos are referenced with the current case number CFS # 18-MM-021891 with arrest date of 4/17/2018 however, the photos are dated a year prior on 4/17/2017, a year earlier, and after the internal investigation between the Sheriff’s office and State Attorney’s office was referenced as closed by Sgt. Randy Hodges in the news on 4/12/2018. This case went to court and the paperwork has gone through the Sheriff’s office and the State Attorney’s office with inconsistent dates.  Pig – 828.13 Confinement of animals without sufficient food, water, or exercise; abandonment of animals.
Goats – 828.073 Animals found in distress.
(Lethargic pig was diagnosed by Vet with broken leg and euthanized)

Complaint # 03:
Criminal investigation requested into complaints #1 and #2
State Attorney Stephen B. Russell, Bar Number 214299 , Lee County Felony Division Chief Larry D. Justham, Bar Number 303518, Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira D. Fox, Bar Number 861316, Assistant State Attorney Cameron J. Siggs, Bar Number 61207

1. According to Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox, “Four illegal slaughterhouses were shut down in Lee County”.
Public records request reveal there is no documentation available at the Lee County State Attorney’s Office reflecting the slaughterhouses were shut down. Evidence reveals the farms were still in operation.

2.  Two Felonies were committed on 8/11/2017 in front of a Lee County Sheriff’s Detective during an active investigation between Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Lee County State Attorney’s Office.
While under the supervision of the State Attorney’s office in a joint investigation, the sworn Affidavit was notarized but unsigned and filed away, no arrest were made.

Here is the follow-up:

Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox – FL Commission on Ethics Complaint /Investigation/Dismissed

(Blue links are live)
The Florida Commission on Ethics; with recommendation from Attorney General Advocate Elizabeth Miller dismissed all complaints regarding Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox campaigning during work hours.
(The complaints are currently being investigated by the Florida Department of State/Division of Elections) (Click Link)

You may review a few of the Florida Commission on Ethics hearing documents here:
Complaint 17-164
17164 Correspondence from Complainant
17164 Order to Investigate
18148 Order to Investigate
17164 Advocate_s Recommendation
17164 Report of Investigation
17164 Public Report
Apr2019pres

(Written complaint # 18-148; July 1st is a noted date typo, the correct date, July 5th, is documented in the four paged detailed spreadsheet of political events attended during work hours. It should be noted public records reveal Fox turned in a list of requested Leave dates from January 1, 2017 through July 31, 2018; however the details of the times for each request were not listed on the report, such as all day or half day, hours, etc. According to Fox’s timesheets she attended political events during work hours then took annual leave or sick leave after the political events were attended.

18-148 Original Complaints can be viewed below

It is the duty of the Florida Commission on Ethics to investigation all facts parties materially related to the complaint at issue. It appears the Florida Commission on Ethics did not fully investigate the overwhelming evidence presented in Complaint # 18-148 which revealed adequate reason to conduct an investigation beyond probable cause; nor were the direct witnesses provided to Investigator Travis Wade by both myself and complaint #17-164 contacted by Mr. Wade or Attorney General Advocate Elizabeth Miller.

(Opinion) It is concerning that Amira Fox, Russell’s Chief Assistant State Attorney cleared Pam Bondi in the Trump donation case without a proper investigation. Complainant Attorney Larrabee stated the decision by State Attorney Stephan Russell was flawed for not contacting him to conduct an investigation.
Pam Bondi endorsed Amira Fox for State Attorney, Pam Bondi strongly supported Ashley Moody as her successor, now it appears we have an Attorney General Advocate (previous Bondi staffer) Elizabeth Miller dismissing Amira Fox’s alleged ethical violations without a proper investigation. Ashley Moody owes the citizens of Florida an explanation why there was not a proper and full investigation.
#18-148:

Original Complaints:
(click on the blue links to read the full complaint)

Florida Commission #18-148 Ethics Complaint – Campaigning During Work Hours – (March, April, May 2018)
Supplemental #18- 148 – Supplemental Ethics Complaint – (January, February, June, July, August 2018)
Florida Statute 104.31, Florida Statute 110.233 – Criminal Violations

Notice, she was not cleared in this matter, the state simply didn’t investigate.

Just like the FDLE failed to do their due diligence in investigating Sheriff Carmine Marceno for clear ethics violations that should have gotten him removed from office and left a woman pregnant and her grand theft complaint of $200,000 ignored, it seems that Fox has the same connections in the State of Florida among those who simply don’t believe they should investigate this level of corruption.

And keep in mind, these are Republicans we’re talking about here.

For previous articles in this ongoing series, see below:

https://thewashingtonstandard.com/the-next-tier-in-lee-county-florida-corruption-state-attorney-amira-fox/

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Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox – FDLE / FL. Dept. of State/Division of Elections / Legally Insufficient

June 19, 2019

“You have alleged that Almira D. Fox violated sections 104.31 and 110.233, Florida Statutes, through her campaign activities while employed as a state employee and simultaneously running, or contemplating a run, as a candidate for the office of state attorney."

“Based upon the aforementioned rule’s requirements, your complaint is deemed legally insufficient. We have no jurisdiction to inquire about candidate activities generally, but can only review “candidate petition activities.” Your complaint form indicates that a complaint was also filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Commission on Ethics, agencies that may have jurisdiction to investigate alleged violations of general law and matters involving officers and employees of Florida, respectively. We will not be taking any further action on your complaint."

1. According to Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox, “Four illegal slaughterhouses were shut down in Lee County”.
Public records request reveal there is no documentation available at the Lee County State Attorney’s Office reflecting the slaughterhouses were shut down. Evidence reveals the farms were still in operation.
2. Two Felonies were committed on 8/11/2017 in front of a Lee County Sheriff’s Detective during an active investigation between Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Lee County State Attorney’s Office.
While under the supervision of the State Attorney’s office in a joint investigation, the sworn Affidavit was notarized but unsigned and filed away, no arrest were made.

https://causes.worldpeacemeet.com/voiceforanimals/chief-assistant-state-attorney-amira-fox-fl-dept-of-law-enforcement-criminal-complaints-open-investigation-fl-dept-of-state-division-of-elections/

______________

Evidence Exhibit: iHeartRadio News

Iheart.com is one of the largest radio broadcasting networks. It is a shame that iheart.com repeated the lie told by the officials Collier County, Florida. iheart.com published an article in their headlines that states "felon Found Asleep with 8,000$, Airsoft Rifle, and 98 Rounds of Ammunition." I was never a felon to begin with and these lies that were spread hurt me in many ways. This is why we are warning others in the media to not trust what the officials in Collier County, Florida have to say. We understand that it can be difficult for everyone in the media to fact check to see who is a felon or not, especially when the government of Collier County lies and announces to the press that Michael Ross was a felon in possession of an air rifle. The media agencies that repeat these lies being told will also be held accountable. We are seeking damages for the harm that was caused through libel and slander to Michael Ross from PollutionScience.com.

The Police have illegally confiscated over 60,000$ of mine, I should have gotten these funds back by now, instead the media has lied to the public and stated I was a convicted felon with an air rifle, many people in the public believed this lie. This lie that was spread is one of the reasons why I was illegally detained longer also, and I should have gotten back my money that was illegally confiscated by now. These funds were to be used to build a business in Austin, Texas to retire. I wanted to build a Storage business on my property that is over 3 acres of land near downtown Austin, Texas. I am now forced to sell my property because of this illegal arrest in Collier County, Florida. I have lost millions of dollars in profit I could have made with this money as an investment in my business.

It is now more difficult to find work if I wanted. I wanted to get hired by a research company for medical research or science research. It is difficult to find work at some of these companies because of the headlines from I Heart Media Inc. that stated I was a convicted felon with an air rifle in their headlines. Some companies now think that I am a felon, I have lost millions in work contracts from companies that would have hired me, these companies will not hire someone they see in the news headlines that states they are a felon being charged with crimes. I could have been making a lot of money working for a research company, now it is more difficult to find work because of the lies being spread by Collier County officials and the media.

We consider this article written by I heart radio to not be true, in fact this is a form of libel and slander. Michael Ross from pollution science wishes to be compensated for these compensatory damages, General Damages, Special Damages and Punitive Damages.

Michael Ross is seeking 15 Million Dollars in damages from I heart Radio. We are willing to settle out of court for less. We do not hate I heart Radio, we could sue for several times more money but we are not greedy. We do not want to hurt the trading stock of I Heart radio or any company for that matter. We see the damages that I heart Radio caused from having other media organisations repeat the lie that Michael Ross was a felon. We have a list of damages in the text provided below.

________________________________

Evidence Exhibit: iHeartradio News (Wrongful Arrest of Michael Ross)

July 5th, 2024

https://archive.org/details/evidence-exhibit-iheartradio

________________________________

Evidence Exhibit: MSN News Headline

The Microsoft Network did not tell the truth in their published article about researcher Michael Ross from PollutionScience.com. The article stated that Michael Ross was a felon and this was not true. Michael Ross was never a felon to begin with, MSN never properly checked to see if Michael Ross was a felon or not before writing an article trying to say that Michael Ross was a convicted felon. The article also stated that Michael Ross was being arrested as a felon for being in possession of an airsoft rifle in his vehicle. Michael Ross was never a convicted felon, MSN had to delete the article because the article was not true and caused a lot of harm to Michael Ross. We are seeking damages for the harm that was caused through libel and slander to Michael Ross from pollution Science.

We consider this gross negligence or recklessness reporting. These reporters did not even identify that I was the owner of the Pollution Science media agency.

The Microsoft Article states that Michael Ross was a felon being arrested with an airsoft rifle.

The article assumed that I was a felon because it mirrored a report from iheart.com that said I was a felon. Both of these media agencies were just
repeating the lie that the authorities told them, we do not hate any media company for this. We tried to tell the authorities several times ourselves that we were not felons. The problem I believe is that an AI computer told the authorities I was a felon because I was found with hash in 2009 in Texas, but I was given a misdemeanor instead of a felony.

MSN caused Michael Ross harm, Libel and Slander, this also is endangering my life and why I am having to go to court over the police trying to illegally arrest me. Then these authorities with the media both do not tell the truth to the public and say I was a felon with an air-rifle. MSN helped continue the lie to hurt our chances of why the public might not even want to now show up to the courthouse to support us.

The Police lied and illegally confiscated over 60,000$ worth of money from Michael Ross. We believe that Michael Ross could have been released from this illegal arrest, but that the media repeated this lie that Ross was a felon, and this is why Ross could not gain enough public support to be let free on an illegal arrest.

I am unable to now work at these companies because they search my name and see that I am a felon. I have already written to some of these companies that the article stating that I am a felon is not true.

I want to be compensated for my illegal arrest, I will use these funds for medical research and science research.

We cannot allow mainstream media to support the lies told against scientific reporters to cause them this much harm. We need to stop these illegal arrests of people in the scientific community and medical community.

We can see here that there is clearly very little respect for people in the scientific community. We want the Authorities and the media to stop trying to tell the public that Michael Ross was a felon with an airsoft rifle, BB gun, pellet gun or firearm. The lies have gone too far now and have endangered our lives for being falsely thrown in jail. We want this to never happen again to others, and why it is unfortunate that we must take these authorities and media agencies to court. Keep in mind that I could have sued MSN and other media agencies for a lot more money than I am asking for. This is simply because I do not want to cause harm to any business or try and take away too much from the people that work for them. You must keep in mind the General Damages, Special Damages and Punitive Damages. With all of the time we have spent fighting this case, I could have made several more Pollution Science books. I have to drive or fly from Texas to Florida for each court case, this costs me thousands of dollars. I have had to pay over 10,000$ in attorney fees, and that I might not even be done with attorney fees with the different wrongful arrest lawsuits I am filing. It is going to cost me thousands to file these lawsuits, not to mention the time and stress. Michael Ross is asking for a judgment of 12 million dollars awarded to him from MSN.

______________________________

Evidence Exhibit: MSN News Headline (Wrongful Arrest of Michael Ross - Michael Ross was never a convicted felon)

July 5th, 2024

https://archive.org/details/evidence-exhibit-msn

______________________________

Evidence Exhibit: Wink News (CBS)

Wink News (CBS) wrote in their article the following statement:

"Convicted felon Michael Ross was arrested after he was found asleep in a van, allegedly in possession of narcotics, over 8,000$ in cash, an airsoft rifle and 98 rounds of ammunition."

However, Wink News was just repeating this article and that this article did not say that I was a felon in the main front headlines such as I heart Radio or MSN stated in their news headlines.

This statement that Michael Ross is a convicted Felon is not true, Michael Ross was never a convicted felon. Wink News (CBS) did not do their full research. Wink News (CBS) should have done their full research instead of listening to the lies of the authorities in Collier County, Florida. Wink news circulated these harmful lies that caused harm and damages as well as MSN. We do not hate Wink News, I Heart Media or Microsoft News. We did not want these media agencies to repeat this lie and that they never even stated what scientific media organisation we are from. This media agency left out that Michael Ross is the author of different Pollution Science books and articles.

We consider this Libel and Slander.

I have lost millions of dollars in jobs I could have taken as a researcher. I will also have to now sell my home because of the money the Collier County authorities illegally confiscated, this money was to build a business. I was illegally arrested and detained even longer because the media refused to help, and instead the media would spread the lies told by the authorities in Collier County, Florida.

We are asking for 9 Million Dollars from Wink News (CBS) in compensatory damages, General damages, Special damages and Punitive damages.

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Evidence Exhibit: Wink News (CBS) - Untrue Statement that Michael Ross was a convicted felon - Michael Ross was never a convicted Felon)

July 5th, 2024

https://archive.org/details/evidence-exhibit-wink-news-cbs

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Evidence Exhibit: Recently Booked (Illegal Arrest - Michael James Ross was never a convicted felon and was illegally arrested)

July 5th, 2024

https://archive.org/details/evidence-exhibit-recently-booked

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Evidence Exhibit: Piowire News - (Michael Ross was illegally arrested and was never a previous convicted felon)

July 5th, 2024

https://archive.org/details/evidence-exhibit-piowire

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Evidence Exhibit: Brightgram News (Illegal arrest - Michael James Ross was never a Felon).

July 5th, 2024

https://archive.org/details/evidence-brightgram

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We have stated that we will not be filing a lawsuit against NBC news, this is simply because NBC never stated that Michael Ross was a felon. It seems that NBC knew better that Ross was not a felon. NBC actually double checked to make sure they did not write false libel and slander.

______________

We bought our cannabis legally from the Greenhouse cannabis clinic in Florida. We have had a medical cannabis prescription in California since 2006. You can even go to the website ( https://www.thegreeenhouse.com ) and call them up to see that they can legally sell multiple ounces of cannabis. We would like to state that this is legal because of the Farm Bill in 2018.

I bought THC-A hash which was legal. We think that the authorities illegally gained access to our research quarters and planted hash that was not ours to try and frame us to get us in trouble.

I witnessed people smoking near the beach less than an hour from the incident of my illegal arrest, I was not the only one on the beach. Cannabis is also legal recreationally. I also had THC-A hemp concentrate which is legal to buy. Many courts want to decide if that just because someone has THC-A hemp cannabis that smells similar to real cannabis, would this give the police to have probable cause to search the vehicle that was parked. Some would say that just because an officer could smell alcohol around a car that is parked, would this give officers the right to search the vehicle. The officers never asked what type of cannabis that I had when I was sitting in my vehicle. Keep in mind that I have very important research and that this illegal search and seizure caused a lot of good scientific research and medical research that was destroyed on purpose by the Collier County Police Department. I accuse the authorities of trying to plant more cannabis than I had, this includes trying to plant hash that was not mine.

I had only around under 1 ounce of cannabis around 20 grams or less, I stated I had less than around 20 grams to Detective Menning. I made certain that I did not have over 1 ounce of cannabis for certain. I stated this was real cannabis but the hash was THC-A legal hash, this is why some people have a scale to check the weight. I wanted to make sure that I also had a couple grams of THC-A hash that is legal to have. I was asked about what type of hash it was and I was told it was legal hash to have, I was told the hash was legal and that it was THC-A. I accuse the authorities of planting false evidence and the authorities added more cannabis than I originally had. I only had THC-A hash which is legal, we accuse the authorities of trying to claim that it was real hash and planted fake evidence to get me in trouble.

Report Number: 24-0000468-002 lied and stated the following libel and slander. The report first stated that Michael Ross was found with 1.15898 pounds of cannabis (Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 5), then the report changed later and stated that Ross was found with 1.519 pounds of cannabis (Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 75). We see no record of the police stating they found extra cannabis after their search. Officer Luna stated that the police found 1.15898 pounds of cannabis when the police completed their search of the vehicle. The police then lied on Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 13 that states Ross was being charged with 1.519 pounds of cannabis.

Ross claimed he had around 1 ounce or less or cannabis and less than 20-22 grams and that it was no more than a quarter pound which is legal to carry in Florida. The police claimed I first had 1.15898 Pounds, and now the police claim it was 1.519 lbs. I refuse these charges and believe the police lied about the amount and type of cannabis in my vehicle. The Police gained access to my vehicle with an illegal arrest and stated I was being arrested for being a previous convicted felon in possession of an air rifle. The truth is that Michael Ross was never a convicted felon and that Michael Ross was wrongfully arrested by the Collier County Police on January 14th, 2024 at 1:30 am.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit Evidence A-7 - Page 10 of 109: Officer Luna states in her Report that Ross was arrested for 1.15898 lbs of cannabis. We believe that this statement was a lie and that Ross never had over 1 pound of cannabis. We see that in the evidence under Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 75 that states Ross was arrested for 1.519 Pounds of cannabis. We see that these are two conflicting statements and that the police first off lied and planted fake evidence to make it look like that Michael Ross had over a pound of cannabis. We notice the Police lie and said Ross was first found with 1.15898 pounds of cannabis, the police later tried to increase the amount and lied, the police then lied and said that Ross had 1.519 pounds of cannabis.

Page 49 states that Ross is being charged with 0.229 pounds (10.4 Grams) of THC oil and .01896 pounds (8.6 Grams) of THC wax.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 5 stated that Ross was found with 0.1746 pounds of cannabis oil and 0.0326 Pounds of cannabis wax, we can see these are two conflicting reports on the amount of weight that the Collier County Police claim they found.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 5: Officer Luna states that Ross was found with 1.15898 pounds of cannabis leaf.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 75 states Ross was arrested for 1.519 Pounds of cannabis leaf, again we can see these are two different conflicting statements in the official police report.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 Page 5 - The authorities do not give a clear amount of hash that I was caught with, the authorities either illegally planted hash in my car or created a falsified police report. The police also had to change the amount twice on the oil, wax and cannabis leaf. I never had oil or wax, I Had legal THC-A hemp hash that was only around 1 gram that I stated. We believe foul play was involved and that we see the police cannot get their story straight on how much cannabis Ross had. The police lied and even many years from now when this is said and done, I will have to tell the public that the authorities framed me illegally and planted hash there that was not mine.

The police state that I was found with 0.1746 Pounds of Cannabis Oil and 0.0326 pounds of cannabis wax. The police try to make it look like we had a lot of cannabis hash that was not ours. We would like for the Collier County Police Department to explain the confusing numbering system to make it clear how much hash that Ross was being charged with. Please explain what 0.0326 pounds is in grams to the Jury and public. Please explain how much is 0.1746 pounds in grams that you claim you found. We want to know why the officers lied about the weight of the hash that was illegally planted and why the officers are trying to claim that this is a fraction of a pound in hash. Ross claims to have legal THC-A hash and only to have around a gram.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 48: The Police then state Ross had the following amount of Hash: THC oil (approximate weight 10.4 grams (0.0229 pounds), and THC wax (approximate weight 8.6 grams (0.01896 pounds). We see a conflicting statement of Officer Luna on Court Document Evidence Exhibit A7 - Page 5. We would like to know how .00326 pounds of cannabis wax and 0.1746 pounds of cannabis oil was changed 3 different times total. Court Document Evidence Exhibit A7 - Page 48 states a completely different amount. Not only did Officer Luna lie that Ross that was a felon convicted of having an air rifle, it turns out that Ross was never a felon, look at how many times we have had to repeat the statement that Ross is not a felon to prove these lies were false.

We want to know why Officer Luna and the police have multiple conflicting reports about Ross being a convicted felon, this includes the air rifle the police refused to identify for multiple days. We also want to know why the police lied and framed Ross for being a convicted felon with an air rifle, the police continued to not tell the truth to the public about the amount of cannabis Ross had.

We believe the Police framed Michael Ross in order to stop Ross with trying to publish more scientific journals and medical journals. The Collier County Police continue to attempt to get Ross in trouble, this was because Officer Luna knew she had already lied about Ross being a convicted felon with an air rifle. This is why Officer Luna attempted to lie even more, this was done with spite and to attempt to give Ross more time for being detained on the illegal arrest that officer Luna first created. This is why we clearly see that Officer Luna already lied in her police report and that the weight she claimed that was found was untrue, we can see that all of the police reports about the illegal arrest of Michael James Ross have been tainted. There is no way that Michael Ross ever had this much hash, these are the most absurd charges. There is no way that I am carrying around 18 grams of hash in my van. We are asking the public to please stop the Collier County Officials from trying to lie and frame Michael Ross for crimes that he did not commit. These are the same officials that also lied about Ross being a felon with an air rifle.

Court Document Evidence Exhibit A-7 - Page 108 states: ROSS admitted ownership of the marijuana found in his vehicle but was not certain of the exact quantity. ROSS claimed he has a medical marijuana card issued by the state of California and purchased the marijuana and THC products from a delivery service in Orlando, Florida called “Kovolo Cut-Off Collective”.

You will notice the error in the police report that stated I did not show a medical cannabis card and that I purchased from a delivery service in Orlando, Florida.

I showed the police my medical cannabis card, the cannabis card from Covelo cut-off Collective in California.

The Police got this statement wrong and stated that Covelo collective was a delivery service in Florida.

I bought the cannabis leaf and cannabis THC-A hash in Florida, it is legal to buy cannabis in Florida. My medical cannabis card was issued to me in the State of California, The Covelo Collective in the State of California issued me one of my cannabis licenses.

You can see for the record our Medical Documents under the Archive video titled Evidence Exhibit: Medical Documents (Michael Ross).

We also have proof that Ross purchased the Silver Coins in 2019. The Archive video titled Financial Statements (Michael Ross) proves that Ross bought these silver coins, these coins belong to Michael James Ross.

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Evidence Exhibit: Medical Documents (Michael Ross)

July 11th, 2024

https://archive.org/details/medical-documents

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Evidence Exhibit: Financial Statements (Michael Ross)

July 11th, 2024

https://archive.org/details/financial-statements-Ross

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Ross bought cannabis from The Green House and also other dispensaries.
The Green House said that we can buy as much cannabis as we wanted. You can go in the store and buy a pound of cannabis legally, the problem is that another county such as Collier County tries to state that we had over 20 grams which does not make sense. The problem is one county will let you have multiple pounds of cannabis, while the next county over in Collier County acts almost like a different country and changes the law. Just because someone has a license to grow multiple pounds of cannabis in one state where it is legal, this does not mean those individuals are trying to sell that cannabis in other states illegally. Most people say that most other counties in Florida would not have detained me for such a small amount of cannabis. We want to file a class action lawsuit so that more people are not harmed by these draconian laws, we consider this a form of entrapment. It isn't fair that I can buy over a pound of medical cannabis legally in one county, while the next county over is trying to say it is a felony to have a pound of cannabis. I have a medical cannabis license in California. I had only around 1 ounce of cannabis. I thought at the most it could be around a little over an Ounce but not over 2 ounces. I made certain that I did not have over 4 ounces of cannabis. I told the authorities I was for certain it was under 4 ounces, then the authorities claim it was 1.1 lbs, then the media claims it is 1.5 lbs. It isn't fair how I only had around an ounce of cannabis, then the media says I had a pound and a half. I also had a couple grams of THC-A hash that is legal to have. I accuse the authorities of planting false evidence and added more cannabis than I originally had. I only had THC-A hash which is legal and accuse the authorities of trying to claim that it was real hash and planted fake evidence to get me in trouble. They stated why I had a scale and multiple bags, and that the State of California stated it is legal to have a scale or multiple bags, and that the State of Florida must also recognize this. The scale was to weigh silver and to weigh letters for the mail. So what if someone wants to keep a scale around to at least know how much cannabis they have. You can also use a scale to weigh how much cannabis to put in edible food. Keep in mind that you can also eat over 1-4 ounces of cannabis in food, and why a pound of cannabis might only last some people less than a couple months. I have thrown in an ounce of cannabis in my meals in the past. We bought cannabis in containers from the dispensary and that these containers do not preserve the cannabis well, we wanted to put the cannabis in older medical containers that were still in medical jars and had the QR code. The QR code was starting to get worn out on some of the clear plastic bags with the medical cannabis logo and QR code. These were not in hard plastic containers for the medical cannabis. The cannabis bag with the QR code could be reused to seal the cannabis. We noticed that the police took the cannabis out of their original containers and destroyed the medical containers. We consider this another form of tampering with evidence. The police then tampered with audio evidence to make it look like the cannabis was not medical cannabis. All of the cannabis we had were in medical cannabis containers or recreational containers. The Police asked if I had medical containers and I stated yes, but I was not sure if they were medical containers or recreational containers. I bought the cannabis legally from different dispensaries and these containers had the QR code on them. You can see in the news pictures that some of the cannabis we bought from the clinic was still in its original packaging, yet this does not look like the cannabis that we had. I am not sure if those were the same THC-A hash containers, we accuse the police of planting fake evidence to get us in trouble with hash that was not ours. This cannabis also had a lot of leaves and why it wasn't even that much cannabis to smoke. I would say that it could be less than 20 grams of smokable material. It is difficult to judge the amount of weight if the cannabis was mostly just leaf. I believe that I should not be punished for having medical cannabis, and that I have a medical cannabis prescription in California where it is even legal now to grow cannabis for recreational use. It is not right that the authorities threaten good researchers with so many years in prison for a crime that I did not commit. I would like to state that the authorities first lied and stated I was being charged as a previous felon in possession of an air rifle, and that I was illegally given so much time on my punishment scoresheet because the authorities are now trying to say that I was a previous convicted felon. The police want to now lie and state that I was a previous convicted felon to give me 15 years in prison for what I consider was around 1 ounce of cannabis and legal THC-A hash that I had around a gram of, but I did not have more than 2 grams of legal THC-A hash. We want the nightmare to end right now and for the officials to finally stop this illegal detainment and punishment against journalist Michael James Ross. I do not think it is fair to be charged with this much punishment and time for under around an ounce of cannabis that I had, this would include the 2 grams of hash that were not mine. We consider 15 years cruel and unusual punishment for having such a small amount of cannabis. The authorities illegally have given Michael Ross 15 years of jail time for crimes he did not commit, this is why Michael Ross was forced into filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit, this is in order to stop this illegal arrest. We want the public to see that the authorities have lied and tainted multiple sources of evidence to harm Michael James Ross of PollutionScience.com. Any reasonable court would have dismissed this already as a highly illegal case. This is why I am confident that we will now be released from this illegal arrest. We are going to please ask the court to release Michael James Ross from this illegal arrest and these illegal court hearings.

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Hemp Production and the 2018 Farm Bill

July 25, 2019

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/congressional-testimony/hemp-production-and-2018-farm-bill-07252019

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Minnesota Law Bans Searches Based Solely On Marijuana Odor

Jun 20, 2024

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajherrington/2024/06/19/minnesota-laws-bans-searches-based-solely-on-marijuana-odor/

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Police who smell weed can’t search your car anymore. Here’s why.

Apr 21, 2024

The FOX 9 Investigators examine how the Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled that the smell of marijuana alone is no longer enough to search someone's car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW8_EYCDkDA

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ARREST: NARCOTICS & POSSESSION OF AMMUNITION BY CONVICTED FELON

January 15th, 2024

https://piowire.com/naples-police-department/news/arrest-narcotics-possession-of-ammunition-by-convicted-felon

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Felon Found Asleep with $8,000, Airsoft Rifle, and 98 Rounds of Ammunition

Jan 16, 2024

https://991wqik.iheart.com/featured/florida-news/content/2024-01-15-felon-found-asleep-with-8000-airsoft-rifle-and-98-rounds-of-ammunition/

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Man arrested in Naples after found with drugs and over $60K

A man was arrested in Naples after being found with Marijuana and $60,687 worth of cash and silver.

Jan 15, 2024

https://www.nbc-2.com/article/man-arrested-in-naples-after-found-with-drugs-and-over-dollar60k/46394360

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SWFL arrests involve convicted felon, parking spot rage and notorious shooter

Published: January 20, 2024

https://winknews.com/2024/01/20/swfl-arrests-involve-convicted-felon-parking-spot-rage-and-notorious-shooters/

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Felon Found asleep with 8,000$, Airsoft Rifle and 98 Rounds of Ammunition

January 2024

https://brightgram.com/naples-fl/3888187/felon-found-asleep-with-8000-airsoft-rifle-and-98-rounds-of-ammunition/

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Recently Booked (Michael James Ross)

https://recentlybooked.com/FL/Collier/MICHAEL-ROSS~11_202400000399

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{You will notice that Brightgram had to remove the following article, because the article is not true. However, the media was just repeating a lie that the authorities told them. We never had a felony. It is sad how people claim Florida is a conservative state. One of my friends stated that Florida is just a trap for conservatives and that it is actually one of the most corrupt states, I now understand what my friend was saying. Florida is so corrupt that they tell some of their better journalists and researchers that I cannot even own a BB gun, then create lies to steal my science research funds. Then I have the authorities forcing me to spend thousands of dollars on lawyers that I shouldn't have to, this is a huge waste of my time. Keep in mind how we now see a record number of lawyer billboard advertisements. I accuse the Naples authorities of trying to ruin my science research, when you shouldn't be harassing your better science and medical researchers over something so petty. Would you harass other medical researchers such as Dr. Malone. I want this to stop right now or we are going to order the military and public to stop these corrupt officials abducting my media agency and abducting journalists, scientists and researchers similar to the Communist Pol Pot regime. We are now going to organize a writer's strike. We refuse to finish our research on the Arctic and Antarctic until the authorities give us back our property and money. Do you understand how important this science research is. We do not like the attitudes of these corrupt officials in Collier County, Florida. I doubt most of them even read science publications. This is why the scientific community is organizing for the arrests of these corrupt government officials in Collier County, Florida until you stop trying to harass Michael James Ross from Pollution Science.

These reports on the Arctic and Antarctic will be considered additional information for our report on the ocean and wind cycles of Florida stated in this article. We refuse to finish these scientific reports until the 20th District Court gives us our property, including our science and medical research funds back. We accuse the authorities in Collier County, Florida of trying to harm our media agency in order for us to stop our scientific reports and want the public to stop these corrupt government officials}.

Pollution Science 101 - Antarctic - PollutionScience101Antarctic.blogspot.com

Pollution Science 101 - Arctic - PollutionScience101Arctic.Blogspot.com

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Biden Push to Ease Marijuana Restrictions Sparks Tensions

March 2024

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/biden-push-to-ease-marijuana-restrictions-sparks-tensions/ar-BB1jBIgR?cvid=b6539d706fde4c6ebf928c1188592820&ei=3

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Rhiannon Gomes, Judge Elizabeth Krier and Judge Kyle Cohen are a danger to the legal system, these Judges made a mistake and tried to give one of the best researchers in America 5 years in prison for claiming he was a felon with an air rifle. These judges are a danger to the scientific community and medical community. We want the Florida National Guard to shut-down Collier County, Florida under Martial Law.

We accuse these Judges of being in a similar type of Kids for Cash scandal. We clearly can see that these Judges were also helping pedophile rings such as Jeffery Epstein get away in Naples, Florida hotel rooms.

Bill Gates is connected to Jeffery Epstein in many ways. Why would Bill Gates want to spread some negative news article about Michael James Ross that was not true. We see that the mainstream media can decide who they choose to attack with untrue articles. Why is it that Bill Gates is connected with Epstein, then Microsoft News attempts to spread disinformation about a journalist attempting to stop many of these human trafficking rings that Bill Gates has ties to. This raises a giant red flag. Michael james Ross also has some of the top research in the county on COVID. We now must question if Microsoft news has bias against our COVID information. Is Microsoft News being used as a weapon to report disinformation about medical journalist and journalists from the scientific community?

Bill Gates Met With Jeffrey Epstein Many Times, Despite His Past

Oct. 12, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/business/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates.html

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Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein: A Timeline of Their Relationship

May 10, 2021

https://www.newsweek.com/bill-gates-jeffrey-epstein-timeline-friendship-relationship-1590004

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Bill Gates ‘Befriended Billionaire Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’ as He Was ‘Convinced He Could Land Him a Nobel Peace Prize’

8/13/2024

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bill-gates-befriended-billionaire-pedophile-jeffrey-epstein-as-he-was-convinced-he-could-land-him-a-nobel-peace-prize/ar-AA1oJyhK

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Bill Gates says his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was ‘a huge mistake.’

Aug. 4, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/business/bill-gates-jeffrey-epstein-cnn.html

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Bill Gates says he shouldn’t have had dinners with Jeffrey Epstein

January 30, 2023

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/business/bill-gates-jeffrey-epstein-dinner-regrets/index.html

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Court documents reveal names of powerful men allegedly linked to Jeffrey Epstein

January 4, 2024

Court documents made public on Wednesday disclosed the names of dozens of powerful men with alleged connections to convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019.

Federal Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan unsealed the documents, revealing the names of numerous individuals described in a 2015 civil lawsuit as associates, affiliates or victims of Epstein.

The documents include references to former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, the magician David Copperfield, Prince Andrew, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, actor Kevin Spacey, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, the late New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Vice President Al Gore, among others.

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/03/1222130537/jeffrey-epstein-court-records-reveal-men-clinton-prince-andrew

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'Arrest Bill Gates': Protesters Descend on Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation HQ

Jun 29, 2021

Protesters in London called for Bill Gates to be arrested on Saturday as they gathered outside the U.K. headquarters of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of a larger protest against COVID-19 lockdown measures.

Videos circulating on social media on Tuesday appeared to show dozens of protesters outside the Gates Foundation's HQ in the British capital. They can be heard shouting "Arrest Bill Gates!" several times. Other social media users who were present at the protest also said demonstrators had been to the foundation's HQ on Saturday.

Gates, the founder of Microsoft and a multibillionaire, has been at the center of unfounded conspiracy theories involving the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of a vaccine.

https://www.newsweek.com/arrest-bill-gates-protesters-descend-bill-melinda-gates-foundation-hq-1605177

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We want Collier County, Florida Police Chief Kevin Rambosk to face arrest for tampering with audio and for human trafficking. We now see how the Collier County, Florida police tampered with audio evidence. The Police refused to release the audio and video footage of Michael Ross being told to step out of his car, and that the original reason why Michael James Ross was arrested was for the police claiming Ross was a convicted felon with an air rifle in his vehicle. This was a wrongful arrest. It is by law that an officer who arrests someone illegally needs to have their badge taken away and to also face arrest, this officer needs to now be arrested for the false arrest of a journalist. The Judges have failed to arrest any of these officers for an illegal arrest and for tampering with audio evidence. We clearly stated that all the cannabis was legal, we had under one ounce of cannabis, and for certain no more than a quarter pound. The Police changed their story multiple times about how much weight of cannabis that we had. The police also took the bag out of the containers we had the cannabis in and claimed they were not in medical containers. The Hash was legal THC-A hash that we bought from a cannabis dispensary in Florida.

The police tried to give Michael Ross 5 years in prison for claiming Ross was a convicted felon with an air rifle. These judges and District Attorneys of Collier County, Florida are a danger and we want these judges gavels taken away. We no longer believe that 20th District Court District Attorney Rhiannon Gomes is fit to continue to hand down illegal full 5 year prison sentences. How dare the 20th District Court of Collier County, Florida try to hand down these illegal sentences. We accuse the 20th District Court of Collier County, Florida of trying to terrorize their own researchers with illegal prison sentences and continue illegal trials of journalists. Judge Cohen is not fit to continue to hand down illegal prison sentences of 5 years in prison, then allow the District Attorney Rhiannon Gomes to continue an illegal trial to detain Michael Ross in jail longer for claiming he was a convicted felon with an air rifle. Michael Ross was thrown back in jail illegally, this happened the same hour when Rhiannon Gomes stated Ross was a felon with an air rifle and wanted to give Ross an illegal 5 year prison sentence. Ross was then illegally thrown back in jail while the police falsified audio and video evidence, then changed how much cannabis and hash Ross had multiple times. The police then planted bags of cannabis and hash that were not mine. Even the mainstream media lied about Michael Ross being a felon, including how the media claimed that Ross had 1.1 pounds of cannabis, to now 1.5 pounds of cannabis. The audio evidence was tampered with and I did not even state many of those these statements such as how all the cannabis was under one ounce and in medical containers, the police then stated it was over a quarter pound, to being over a pound. in the recording that my attorney was given.

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Here is an email that Wink News sent in their response to our lawsuit. --

Dear Mr. Ross --

I represent WINK News and I write in connection with the lawsuit you filed against my client earlier this week. I understand (based on your representations to the court in your filing papers) that you are representing yourself (that is, acting "pro se"), despite your having included attorney Donald Day's name in the civil cover sheet. He advised me he is not representing you in this matter but is handling your criminal case.

You should know that Florida law clearly prohibits the kind of claim you are attempting to bring against my client and thus I urge you to voluntarily dismiss your lawsuit against WINK immediately. Pursuing this claim under these circumstances could be considered frivolous as a matter of law. Under Florida law (which governs your case here) news organizations have a privilege – known as the "official reports" or "fair report" privilege – to publish the contents of official records (such as the police report here) and cannot be held liable as a matter of law even if that record is erroneous in any way. See, for example, Woodard v. Sunbeam Television Corporation, 616 So.2d 501, 502-03 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (finding no liability to rely on information provided by law enforcement) (affirming summary judgment for broadcasters), citing Ortega v. Post-Newsweek Stations, Florida, Inc., 510 So.2d 972, 975 - 77 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (finding no liability for reliance on information provided by government officials) (affirming summary judgment for broadcaster); Readon v. WPLG LLC, 317 So.3d 1229, 1236 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021) (finding no liability for, among other things, relying on court records for reporting) (affirming dismissal). I have attached your booking sheet from the Naples Police Department about which my client reported. See the last two paragraphs in the arrest narrative on the last page describing you as a "felon." Even if you believe the Naples Police falsely described you as a "felon," the law forbids my client from being held liable for reporting what was in the police report.

I and my colleagues have litigated these types of matters successfully many times – including, among others, some of the cases I've cited above – and the "official reports" or "fair report" privilege is well established.

Accordingly, respectfully, your lawsuit against WINK is not well taken. Now that you are on notice your case is legally without merit, we urge you to voluntarily dismiss it immediately.

We look forward to seeing the notice of dismissal.

Regards,

Karen Kammer

Counsel for WINK News

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Michael James Ross -

You are CBS News, you are a very woke liberal news company that has done all it can to harm America. You are better off settling out of court instead of trying to fight this.

How dare CBS News attempt to write Michael James Ross of PollutionScience.com such an unrefined and feeble comment.

You need to apologize to the public, your news company is a disgrace and had to remove your article that lied and stated Michael James Ross was a felon. We archived your fake news article to showcase to the public how CBS news harms the scientific press and media journalists. CBS news is now also guilty of helping this child kidnapping ring, in Collier County Florida . CBS will refuse to report on this and instead attack journalists trying to stop this human trafficking ring. CBS News promotes illegal immigrants invading America, and to create fake news stories about News journalists. We want to see the article where CBS now apologizes to Michael James Ross for lying that Ross is a felon with an air rifle. CBS is guilty of trying to lie to the public about journalist Michael James Ross. Notice how CBS refuses to apologize and write a correction on their fake story. We dare CBS to write another article that states Michael Ross is a convicted felon with an air rifle. PollutionScience.com is calling for a full boycott on CBS. We want CBS to stop the lies in their news articles that harm scientific journalists. CBS News is no better than a media agency being controlled under the Pol Pot regime. Notice CBS news lies about journalist Michael James Ross, CBS lied and stated Michael Ross was a felon that was arrested with an air rifle. CBS refuses to correct their article or apologize to Michael Ross. CBS has done all it can to harm America and the Nations of Europe. CBS wants for American culture and European culture to face cultural genocide from Third World refugees. CBS is guilty of attempting to bring down First World nations and First World scientific journalists.

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Human traffickers profit off Southwest Florida hotel rooms

July 4, 2023

https://winknews.com/2023/07/04/swfl-hotel-rooms-human-trafficking/

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Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to low security federal prison in Florida

July 25, 2022

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/us/ghislaine-maxwell-prison-transfer/index.html

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Human trafficking bust: Teacher, coaches among 228 arrested in Polk County

March 5, 2024

https://www.fox13news.com/news/human-trafficking-bust-teacher-coaches-among-228-arrested-in-polk-county

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Human trafficking in Florida continues to be a problem (includes multimedia content)

October 28, 2022

https://caplinnews.fiu.edu/human-trafficking-in-florida-continues-to-be-a-problem/

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Human Trafficking and Smuggling in Tampa Bay, Florida: Processes, Policies and Procedures

2015

https://commons.erau.edu/mcnair/vol2/iss1/5/

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Collier County KEVIN RAMBOSK Declares It's Good To Be KING!

2014

https://aquakiki.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/collier-county-kevin-rambosk-declares-its-good-to-be-king/

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Crash leads to human smuggling arrest in Naples

Apr 07, 2022

https://www.fox4now.com/collier-county/crash-leads-to-human-trafficking-arrest-in-naples

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The village where half the population are sex offenders

July 2013

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23063492

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By the numbers: Florida had third-highest human trafficking rate in 2019

Sep 22, 2020

https://www.wfla.com/news/by-the-numbers/by-the-numbers-human-trafficking-in-florida/

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The Jeffrey Epstein case shows the problem with Florida’s grand jury secrecy

3-20-2024

Florida and other states should stop relying so heavily on grand jury secrecy in general — as secrecy is never good for public trust.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2024/03/20/jeffrey-epstein-case-shows-problem-with-floridas-grand-jury-secrecy/

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A timeline of the Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell scandal

June 28, 2022

https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-timeline-b9f15710fabb72e8581c71e94acf513e

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Feds’ raid on Diddy’s Miami Beach mansions goes into the night in sex-trafficking probe

March 26, 2024

The raid came weeks after a lawsuit alleged that Diddy was the leader of a “widespread and dangerous criminal sex trafficking organization.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article287081310.html

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Average human trafficking victims in SWFL, 15-year-old girls

February 1, 2024

https://winknews.com/2024/02/01/human-trafficking-victims-swfl-girls/

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Florida Sex Money Murder Gang Dismantled

Apr 13, 2022

https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/florida-sex-money-murder-gang-dismantled

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WINK News: Human trafficking in Southwest Florida

https://naplesshelter.org/wink-trafficking/

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Human trafficking continues to be a growing problem in Florida

2020

https://www.wfla.com/news/human-trafficking-continues-to-be-a-growing-problem-in-florida/

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Global Government Kidnapping Rings Investigated (Humboldt County, CA)

January 2nd, 2017

Governmentkidnappingrings.blogspot.com

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Florida's Worst Corruption Scandals, Ranked

10/28/2015

Nobody does corruption quite like Florida. Sure, places like Illinois and Detroit have had high-profile cases, but no state has public corruption to quite the extent that we do (seriously, Integrity Florida found that between 1976-2012 over 1,760 public officials in this state had been convicted of corruption), so narrowing it down to a top 12 is almost impossible. Almost. From a US attorney biting a stripper to dead people casting votes, here are the dozen weirdest, most egregious, and just flat-out only-in-Florida political scandals in our history.

5. Operation Court Broom

Ah, the 1980s in Miami. A time when a judge could sell his decisions, freebase cocaine, and dime out drug informants to cartels for a measly 50 grand. Or at least they could before Operation Court Broom. That’s the name of an FBI sting of Dade County judges, where fake cases were created and Manuel Noriega’s lawyer wore a wire to catch five judges, who took up to $50,000 to fix cases. Two of the most upstanding among them: Harvey Shenberg, who gave up the name of a confidential drug informant to a cartel for $50,000. And Phillip Davis, who when federal agents raided his home looking for marked cash used in the bribery sting, found Amanda Bynes-levels of cocaine along with all the tools used for freebasing.

2. Miami River Cops

The 1980s were not exactly a glorious time for the Miami Police Department, and bottomed out with the Miami River Cops. In summer 1985, a boat full of $12 million worth of cocaine docked on the Miami River, and somewhere along the line the offload went bad. A nearby night watchman called the police claiming gunfire during a “police raid," but somehow the raid mysteriously had no police report. Nor were the 400 kilos of cocaine on the boat ever heard from again. Though they may have been floating in the Miami River next to the three dead bodies that resulted from the “raid.” The missing drugs prompted an investigation that unearthed a network of crooked Little Havana cops who shook down drug dealers, stole their money and drugs, and profited from it all. In the end, 24 cops were convicted and 17 went to prison as a result of the investigation.

1. Miami mayoral recall

Why the world was even slightly surprised South Florida botched the 2000 presidential election is a mystery to anyone who was here in 1997. That was the year that, despite capturing nearly half the vote in the general election, Joe Carollo lost the mayoral runoff to Xavier Suarez. The big difference during the runoff? Some very important voting blocs turned out to pull the lever for Suarez, including the dead, convicted felons, non-residents of Miami, and homeless people Suarez staffers paid $10 apiece. Also credited for his win: a flood of absentee ballots coming in from City Commission District 3 represented by... Humberto Hernandez, who at the time was on suspension pending federal indictment. While the FDLE investigated and Suarez encouraged Miamians to keep their mouths shut, a federal trial began in February, and a month later the election was declared invalid. Joe Carollo ultimately took over as mayor, several Suarez staffers were indicted, and Humberto Hernandez still went to prison.

https://www.thrillist.com/lifestyle/miami/floridas-worst-corruption-scandals-including-xavier-suarez-hialeah-mayor-and-bob-allen

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‘Totes Legit’ tipster found 282 possible voter fraud cases in Florida; few prosecuted outside The Villages

2022

News 6 investigates how Florida officials handled double voting cases uncovered by a prolific tipster

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2022/09/06/totes-legit-tipster-alerted-florida-to-282-possible-voter-fraud-cases-few-have-been-prosecuted/

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Collier County tests voting machines amid widespread concerns of election fraud

2022

https://news.wgcu.org/news/2022-01-21/collier-county-tests-voting-machines-amid-widespread-concerns-of-election-fraud

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Collier voters concerned mysterious WiFi connection granted access to county election machines

Nov 10, 2022

https://www.wguf989.com/2022/11/10/collier-voters-concerned-mysterious-wifi-connection-granted-access-to-county-election-machines/

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Collier County voters seek answers to mysterious text about mail ballots

Feb 14, 2024

https://www.nbc-2.com/article/collier-county-voters-seek-answers-to-mysterious-text-about-mail-ballots/46792435

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Florida's election police investigating alleged election crime in Collier County

Feb 22, 2024

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. —

NBC2 has confirmed that Florida's election police are investigating whether an election crime was committed in Collier County.

The investigation comes after Collier County voters last week reported receiving misleading text messages claiming they requested a mail ballot when in fact they did not.

The matter has now caught the attention of Tallahassee. All of this is happening right in the middle of the presidential preference primary as voters are going out and already casting a vote. Collier County Supervisor of Elections Melissa Blazier reports she has turned all of the information she gathered over to the governor's election police.

Shortly after the misleading texts went out, Blazier posted on social media that the political PAC Win America was behind it.

The text made it seem like it came from Naples candidate for Mayor Gary Price, who said DC politics was showing its ugly face in Naples.

“Quite frankly this seems like election fraud,” Blazier told NBC2.

Today she confirmed she's asked the Office of Election Crimes and Security to investigate.

“I ended up packaging up the information and I spoke with the Office of Election Crimes and Security in Tallahassee who advised 'Yes, they would like to investigate,'" Blazier said.

She said the Win America PAC continues sending out misleading text messages about the Price campaign.

She’s concerned that if a local municipal race is creating this much controversy, a national presidential race could become even more contentious.

“I think that's why in the end I decided we should get involved because yes if you look at what is happening now in small municipal election I can only imagine what's going to happen in November,” Blazier said.

Price said the state’s election police have not contacted him but that he would cooperate if they reach out to him.

“I think voters have lost a lot of confidence and that is one of the things I think we need to preserve is that people feel comfortable with their election regardless of the outcome,” Price said.

https://www.nbc-2.com/article/floridas-election-police-investigating-alleged-election-crime-in-collier-county/46913330

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Collier County commissioner Hall caught in election deception -- cites Bible verse as defense

August 10, 2023

https://news.wgcu.org/government-politics/2023-08-10/collier-county-commissioner-hall-caught-in-election-deception-cites-bible-verse-as-defense

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Florida's effort to charge 20 people with voter fraud has hit some roadblocks

December 21, 2022

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/21/1144265521/florida-voter-fraud-cases-prosecution-update

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What Is Florida's 'Big Corruption Scandal'? Trump Tweets About 'Election Fraud' as Governor Rick Scott Files Suit

Nov 09, 2018

https://www.newsweek.com/what-floridas-big-corruption-scandal-trump-tweets-about-election-fraud-1208407

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2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_United_States_presidential_election_recount_in_Florida

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Global Voter Fraud Investigated - (Author: Michael James Ross)

December 10th, 2016

Globalvoterfraud.blogspot.com

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Florida Passes Sweeping Bill to Keep Young People Off Social Media

February 23rd, 2024

https://www.allsides.com/news/2024-02-23-1650/business-florida-passes-sweeping-bill-keep-young-people-social-media

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Former Hillsborough school official files lawsuit alleging high-level corruption

2017

https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/Former-Hillsborough-school-official-files-lawsuit-alleging-high-level-corruption_161814026/

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Corruption in Florida Public Schools: A Perverse Disparity of Justice

2014

https://drrichswier.com/2014/04/20/corruption-in-florida-public-schools-a-perverse-disparity-of-justice/

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Deputies today arrested a former Collier County Public Schools employee after a CCSO investigation found she stole thousands of dollars from an elementary school.

Apr 14, 2023

https://twitter.com/CollierSheriff/status/1646975378202738690

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Congresswoman Corrine Brown And Chief Of Staff Charged With Fraud Scheme Involving Bogus Non-Profit Scholarship Entity

July 8, 2016

Jacksonville, FL – Congresswoman Corrine Brown and her chief of staff were indicted today for their roles in a conspiracy and fraud scheme involving a fraudulent education charity.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/congresswoman-corrine-brown-and-chief-staff-charged-fraud-scheme-involving-bogus-non

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Ethics complaint against Collier superintendent involves Mercedes and $18,000. How did it end?

2023

In May, a Naples citizen filed an ethics complaint against Collier County Public Schools Superintendent Leslie Ricciardelli. The complaint claimed Ricciardelli violated Florida law by not declaring part of her personal finances. A hearing took place on Oct. 20.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ethics-complaint-against-collier-superintendent-involves-mercedes-and-18-000-how-did-it-end/ar-AA1iLSu8

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Detective testifies about evidence against Miami-Dade school board member’s son accused of shooting cop

September 13, 2023

Detective: Evidence includes videos, phone records, and a police officer who recognized the suspect

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/09/13/hearing-to-be-held-for-man-accused-of-shooting-miami-dade-detective/

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NBC Airs Two-Part Series on Corrupt Family Courts Putting Kids in Danger

May 14, 2021

https://pjmedia.com/megan-fox/2021/05/14/nbc-airs-two-part-series-on-family-court-corruption-that-puts-kids-in-danger-n1447007

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Separating Fact from Fiction on Florida’s Defamation Bills

February 27, 2024

https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/02/separating-fact-from-fiction-on-floridas-defamation-bills/

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Ron DeSantis Embodies the Republican Surrender to Antisemitism Once again, the “mainstream” Republican refuses to condemn Jew hatred.

Nov 2023

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/ron-desantis-elon-musk-antisemitism-white-nationalism-trump.html

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A Florida bill attacking ‘critical theory’ in higher education has the state’s Jewish academics worried

March 22, 2023

https://www.jta.org/2023/03/22/united-states/a-florida-bill-attacking-critical-theory-in-higher-education-has-the-states-jewish-academics-worried

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Florida budget framework increases Jewish day school security funding 25%

February 8, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis has long been a ‘steadfast friend of the Jewish people’ and Israel defender, a spokesman told JNS.

https://www.jns.org/florida-budget-framework-increases-jewish-day-school-security-funding-25/

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DeSantis approves $25M for Florida Jewish day school security

January 30, 2024

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/656115-desantis-approves-25m-for-florida-jewish-day-school-security/

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$45M Appropriated By Legislature To Protect Jewish Institutions In FL

2023

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dollar45m-appropriated-by-legislature-to-protect-jewish-institutions-in-fl/ar-AA1jCltD

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Florida Jewish leaders push local officials for approval to build Holocaust museum: 'This is your legacy'

January 27, 2024

Advocates demand answers, stress need to educate young people about antisemitism after Oct. 7 terror

https://www.foxnews.com/media/florida-jewish-leaders-push-local-officials-approval-build-holocaust-museum-legacy

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State, Cities Fight Back Against Growing Antisemitism In Florida

May 11, 2023

Florida now ranks fourth in the country for incidences of antisemitism, with 269 incidents in 2022.

https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/state-cities-fight-back-against-growing-antisemitism-florida

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs legislation against antisemitism into law

JUNE 4, 2019

The legislation defines as antisemitism calls for violence against Jews, advancing conspiracy theories about Jewish control and Holocaust denial.

https://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/Florida-Gov-Ron-DeSantis-signs-legislation-against-antisemitism-into-law-591517

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Florida rejects Holocaust education textbooks in clampdown on ‘woke’ instruction

May 11, 2023

https://www.jta.org/2023/05/11/united-states/florida-rejects-holocaust-education-textbooks-in-clampdown-on-woke-instruction

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David Irving jailed for Holocaust denial

20 Feb 2006

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/20/austria.thefarright

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British historian sentenced to 3 years for denying Holocaust

Feb 20, 2006

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/british-historian-sentenced-to-3-years-for-denying-holocaust-1.601100

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Holocaust Deniers Sent to Prison

July 01, 2007

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2007/holocaust-deniers-sent-prison

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Holocaust Investigation Marathon 1 - Michael Ross speaks

2019

https://archive.org/details/HolocaustInvestigationMarathon1

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Antisemitism in the Soviet Union

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_Soviet_Union

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Category: Jewish communists

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Jewish_communists

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Jewish Bolshevism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Bolshevism

Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism, is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims that the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a Jewish plot and that Jews controlled the Soviet Union and international communist movements, often in furtherance of a plan to destroy Western civilization. It was one of the main Nazi beliefs that served as an ideological justification for the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the Holocaust.

After the Russian Revolution, the antisemitic canard was the title of the pamphlet The Jewish Bolshevism, which featured in the racist propaganda of the anti-communist White movement forces during the Russian Civil War (1918–1922). During the 1930s, the Nazi Party in Germany and the German American Bund in the United States propagated the antisemitic theory to their followers, sympathisers, and fellow travellers.

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DeSantis invites Jewish students fearing antisemitism to Florida universities

1-09-2024

The governor proposes waiving application deadlines and credit requirements and an emergency order is issued.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2024/01/09/desantis-invites-jewish-students-florida-universities/

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Antisemitism in Florida

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Florida

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Major Jewish population centers worldwide saw hate crimes skyrocket in 2021

May 6, 2022

https://www.heritagefl.com/story/2022/05/06/news/major-jewish-population-centers-worldwide-saw-hate-crimes-skyrocket-in-2021/16597.html

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Florida Jewish leaders react to budget funding to combat antisemitism

Dec 5, 2023

https://www.wpbf.com/article/florida-jewish-leaders-budget-funding-antisemitism/46045117

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Antisemitism rises among Hispanic Miami’s right wing

April 27, 2021

https://forward.com/news/468551/antisemitism-rises-among-hispanic-miamis-right-wing/

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Miami Is America's Second Most Jewish City, in Case You Needed Proof

December 2, 2010

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-is-americas-second-most-jewish-city-in-case-you-needed-proof-6539777

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JEWISH POPULATION GROWING STUDY FINDS 38% RISE IN PAST SEVEN YEARS

1987

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1987/10/08/jewish-population-growing-study-finds-38-rise-in-past-seven-years/

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The Florida-Israel connection: How the state cultivates its Jewish ties

Oct. 20, 2023

With booming trade and staunch political support, Gov. Ron DeSantis calls Florida “the most pro-Israel state.”

https://www.tampabay.com/news/2023/10/20/florida-israel-connection-how-state-cultivates-its-jewish-ties/

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This map shows the 20 congressional districts with the most Jews

September 10, 2020

https://www.jta.org/2020/09/10/united-states/this-map-shows-the-20-congressional-districts-with-the-most-jews

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History of the Jews in South Florida

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_South_Florida

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Florida: It’s not just for old Jews anymore

By Uriel Heilman February 11, 2014

https://www.jta.org/2014/02/11/united-states/florida-its-not-just-for-old-jews-anymore

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From 'highly offensive' to 'he's not wrong,' GOP senators respond to Trump's remarks about Jewish voters

March 19, 2024

Trump invoked a dual loyalty trope this week when he said that "any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion" and "hates" Israel.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-republicans-respond-trumps-remarks-jewish-voters-rcna144181

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For Biden, Jewish voter turnout is key in Florida as race with Trump tightens

October 23, 2020

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article246648813.html

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A Florida Dem engaging with Cuba is a ‘communist,’ but a Republican doing same becomes Speaker | Opinion

September 19, 2023

https://news.yahoo.com/florida-dem-engaging-cuba-communist-195329020.html

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History of the Jews in Cuba

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Cuba

Jewish Cubans, Cuban Jews, or Cubans of Jewish heritage, have lived in the nation of Cuba for centuries. Some Cubans trace Jewish ancestry to Marranos (forced converts to Christianity) who came as colonists, though few of these practice Judaism today. The majority of Cuban Jews are descended from European Jews who immigrated in the early 20th century. More than 24,000 Jews lived in Cuba in 1924, and still more immigrated to the country in the 1930s. Following the 1959 communist revolution, 94% of the country's Jews emigrated, most of them to the United States. In 2007 an estimated 1,500 known Jewish Cubans remained in the country, overwhelmingly located in Havana. Several hundred have since immigrated to Israel. Considered one of the most important Latin American Jewish sites, Beth Shalom Temple is the epicenter for current Jewish life in Cuba and still conducts weekly Shabbat services.

In addition to the descendants of Cuban Jews living in the United States, there is also a significant population which claims descent from non-Cuban Jews and from Cuban gentiles.

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Fury as Miami reveal Africa themed police car for Black History Month

03 February 2023

The mayor said the cruiser was a ‘beautiful collaboration’ between the department and Black History Month, but others were not as receptive

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/miami-police-car-black-history-month-b2275551.html

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A Black History Month-themed police car in Miami draws criticism

February 4, 2023

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/04/1154266889/a-black-history-month-themed-police-car-in-miami-draws-criticism

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Collier County Sheriff’s Office claims undocumented felons are moving to the area

2021

https://www.nbc-2.com/article/collier-county-sheriffs-office-claims-undocumented-felons-are-moving-to-the-area/46739655

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4,100 immigrants in Lee & Collier counties have ICE court cases

2017

https://www.news-press.com/story/news/investigations/melanie-payne/2017/08/08/more-than-4-000-southwest-florida-immigrants-face-deportation/548823001/

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Profile of the Unauthorized Population: Collier County, FL

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/county/12021

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Profile of the Unauthorized Population: Florida

Unauthorized Population: 772,000

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/state/FL

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Florida's new immigration law creates 'panic' in agriculture community

May 12, 2023

Law could have wide-ranging impact on industries vital to state's economy

https://www.wptv.com/news/palm-beach-county/floridas-new-immigration-law-creates-panic-in-agriculture-community

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DeSantis signs bills that he says will keep immigrants living in the US illegally from Florida

March 15, 2024

https://wtop.com/national/2024/03/desantis-signs-bills-that-he-says-will-keep-immigrants-living-in-the-us-illegally-from-florida/

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Sales are way down at a Florida flea market. A new immigration law could be to blame.

AUGUST 2, 2023

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/02/1191297764/florida-immigration-law-desantis-economy-politics-civil-rights

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'Immigrants leaving Florida in fear': New immigration law sparks exodus of workers

Jun 30, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dfDioh9UFY

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Race and crime in the United States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_crime_in_the_United_States

Hispanics

According to a 2009 report by the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2007 Latinos "accounted for 40% of all sentenced federal offenders ‒ more than triple their share (13%) of the total U.S. adult population". This was an increase from 24% in 1991. Between 1991 and 2007, enforcement of federal immigration laws became a growing priority in response to undocumented immigration. By 2007, among Hispanic offenders sentenced in federal courts, 48% were immigration offenses, 37% drug offenses, and 15% for other offenses. One reason for the large increase in immigration offenses is that they exclusively fall under federal jurisdiction.

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Hispanics and Latinos in Florida

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanics_and_Latinos_in_Florida

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Historic wave of Cuban migrants will have a lasting impact on Florida

Dec. 16, 2022

An exodus of over 220,000 Cubans have come through the U.S.-Mexico border in the last fiscal year. Over 6,000 more were interdicted at sea in 2021.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/historic-wave-cuban-migrants-florida-impact-lasting-rcna61989

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Cuban migrants flow into Florida Keys, overwhelm officials

January 4, 2023

https://apnews.com/article/united-states-government-cuba-florida-875b5ffd18563c479543ed77fffe77dd

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Cuban Migration to Florida at Its Highest Since Obama Administration

Jun 21, 2021

https://www.newsweek.com/cuban-migration-florida-its-highest-since-obama-administration-1602788

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Communist regime in Cuba is not ‘accidentally’ authoritarian; it is ‘intentionally totalitarian’ | Opinion

July 27, 2023

https://news.yahoo.com/communist-regime-cuba-not-accidentally-163153712.html

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The Cuban Missile Crisis at 50: America and Cuba Still Frozen in 1962

Oct. 17, 2012

Raúl Castro's decision this week to let Cubans travel freely outside their communist island is a reminder of the jaded cold-war policies Washington and Havana adopted after the 1962 U.S.-Soviet standoff

https://world.time.com/2012/10/17/the-cuban-missile-crisis-at-50-america-and-cuba-still-frozen-in-1962/

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Cuban missile crisis

international incident [1962]

https://www.britannica.com/event/Cuban-missile-crisis

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Kennedy and Cuba: Operation Mongoose

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cuba/2019-10-03/kennedy-cuba-operation-mongoose

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White House says it will not tolerate Cuba's efforts to influence US elections

2023

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-says-it-will-not-tolerate-cuba-s-efforts-to-influence-us-elections/ar-AA1lOCjk

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How Fidel Castro’s revolution remade South Florida

2016

https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-castro-florida-20161127-story.html

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Chinese Communism is Alive and Well in Our Government

March 26, 2024

https://www.citizensjournal.net/chinese-communism-is-alive-and-well-in-our-government/

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How Cubans Transformed Florida Politics and Gained National Influence

December 2014

https://academic.oup.com/florida-scholarship-online/book/19578/chapter-abstract/178313632?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false

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Florida bill that would require schools to teach history of communism spurs debate

Feb 2024

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-bill-that-would-require-schools-to-teach-history-of-communism-spurs-debate/ar-BB1iicMg

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Florida bill to teach kindergarteners about threats of communism gets Senate approval

Feb 21 2024

Bill sponsor Jay Collins, R-Tampa, and other supporters have warned that young people are increasingly viewing communism in a positive light

https://www.cltampa.com/news/florida-bill-to-teach-kindergarteners-about-threats-of-communism-gets-senate-approval-17304373

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DeSantis Kicking China, Cuba and Others Out of Florida Universities

March 1, 2024

https://anticommunist.zone/desantis-kicking-china-cuba-and-others-out-of-florida-universities/

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DeSantis' latest anti-communist campaign targets Florida schools linked to Chinese firms

2023

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/09/25/desantis-suspends-school-funds-chinese-communist-party-allegations/70960346007/

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DeSantis bans ‘Chinese agents’, citizens of other ‘countries of concern’ from buying real estate in Florida

2023

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/desantis-bans-chinese-agents-citizens-of-other-countries-of-concern-from-buying-real-estate-in-florida/ar-AA1aUOvb

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Blames COVID on Chinese Communist Party, Signs Bills Thwarting Chinese Influence in Schools

Jun 07, 2021

https://www.newsweek.com/florida-gov-ron-desantis-blames-covid-chinese-communist-party-signs-bills-thwarting-chinese-1598214

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Governor Ron DeSantis Declares First Annual Victims of Communism Day

November 7, 2022

https://www.flgov.com/2022/11/07/governor-ron-desantis-declares-first-annual-victims-of-communism-day/

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The United States' concerns over China's activities in Cuba

June 21, 2023

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/21/1183578300/the-united-states-concerns-over-chinas-activities-in-cuba

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Chinese spies in Cuba? The problem runs deeper than that.

June 16, 2023

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/06/chinese-spies-in-cuba-problem-runs-deeper-than-that/

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China, Russia, Iran and Cuba all tried to meddle in 2022 US congressional elections, intelligence assessment finds

December 18, 2023

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/18/politics/china-russia-iran-cuba-2022-midterm-election-meddling/index.html

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Russian mob eclipses Italian Mafia in South Florida, FBI says

June 1, 2011

https://boulderweekly.com/news/russian-mob-eclipses-italian-mafia-in-south-florida-fbi-says/

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Russian mob influence growing in South Florida, FBI says

2011

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2011/06/01/russian-mob-influence-growing-in/7325405007/

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Inside Florida's 'Little Moscow,' where Russian money flows thanks to 'rich daddies' snapping up real estate

Mar 6, 2022

https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-little-moscow-sunny-isles-miami-russian-money-real-estate-2022-3?op=1

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Florida's worst spies: Espionage comes to the Sunshine State

June 16, 2017

https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/floridas-worst-spies-espionage-comes-to-the-sunshine-state/2327447/

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Local officials will no longer be able to investigate police misconduct under proposal

January 5, 2024

MIAMI - Civilians charged with investigating police misconduct could lose that power under a bill proposed in the Florida Legislature. If passed, the bill also bans municipalities from passing measures to handle officer conduct.

The proposal has critics that include Ursula Price, Director of the Miami-Dade Independent Civilian Panel, which oversees investigations of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/local-officials-will-no-longer-be-able-to-investigate-police-misconduct-under-proposal/

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Another record year for press-freedom violations in the US

January 12, 2022

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/2021-press-freedom-prior-restraint-arrests.php

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A record number of journalists are in prison right now, according to press freedom report

December 16, 2021

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/09/media/journalists-imprisoned-cpj-census/index.html

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{We accuse the Biden Administration of this illegal arrest of Michael Ross from PollutionScience.com, this was in order to silence journalist Michael Ross}.

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July 1st, 2020 - A Joe Biden Investigation 2020 - (7-1-2020) - (Joe Biden, Barack Obama & Beto O'Rourke) - (Author: Michael Ross)

https://bidenreport.blogspot.com

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Hollywood officers charged in FBI sting

2007

FORT LAUDERDALE -- A two-year FBI sting operation into corruption in the Hollywood Police Department has resulted in federal charges against four veteran officers who allegedly protected what they thought were mob shipments of drugs as well as stolen art, diamonds and watches.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2007/02/24/hollywood-officers-charged-in-fbi-sting/28531010007/

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The Dirtiest Cops In America; Brevard County Sheriffs Take 1st Place

Brevard Counties Sheriffs Department... Police Corruption Is Not Just Accepted, It's Mandatory.

"Brevard County come on vacation, leave on probation..."

It's sad to say that these are police stationed in our great nation, the Brevard County Sheriffs Office is without a doubt a disgrace, not only to every other American police department but also to the United States of America entirely. Which is why I've decided to bring their unjustified, unconstitutional behavior to light. So that the rest of the country can be made aware of the mockery that they are making of upholding the law. Here the Sheriff is a celebrity, criminal justice is a game show, and even the pettiest of criminals are treated like they are enemy forces of a rival country instead of the American citizens they truly are. This county fuels its economy by ripping apart one family after another and destroying the lives of countless individuals. Too many lives to count in fact, all ruined by the most pathetic interpretation of criminal justice modern America has ever had to witness. It's time for this Sheriffs department to finally be held accountable for their actions, so that, maybe one day, they'll no longer be one of the most corrupt police departments in the country...

https://vocal.media/criminal/the-dirtiest-cops-in-america-brevard-county-sheriffs-take-1st-place

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Operation Florida: The Insanely Corrupt Police That Were Running the Drug Trade

May 20, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzl2bR03Nhk

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Drug Related Police Corruption: The Miami Experience (From Police Misconduct: A Reader for the 21st Century

Annotation

In the late 1980's, nearly 10 percent of the entire Miami Police Department (Florida) was suspended or fired after a drug-related scandal; this paper explores the events that led up to this corruption scandal, and lessons are drawn for other police agencies.

https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/drug-related-police-corruption-miami-experience-police-misconduct

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Ranking Miami-Dade's Most Corrupt Cities

2018

Opa-locka

Opa-locka is so crooked its own residents tried to wipe it off the map. Last August, a few local activists were so tired of fighting graft that they actually started a petition to dissolve the town. "Once you're tapped out, you're tapped out," said Willis Howard, one of the locals who mounted the charge. "The city revenues are tapped out, there's no leadership, and in this case, you can't even file bankruptcy to restructure your assets, because there's nothing for you to restructure."

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-dades-most-corrupt-cities-ranked-10533469

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Undercover sting busts Miami cop shaking down suspects for money, drugs, feds say

November 17, 2023

MIAMI – Federal agents arrested an officer with the Miami Police Department after he was caught in a sting trying to extort suspects for cash and drugs, officials with the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday.

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/11/17/undercover-sting-busts-miami-cop-shaking-down-suspects-for-money-drugs-feds-say/

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Culture of corruption in Biscayne Park Police way worse than I imagined

2019

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article226890009.html

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The Mess Left Behind by Dirty Cops

https://www.biscaynetimes.com/news/the-mess-left-behind-by-dirty-cops/

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Florida’s new database on cops with bad records has holes, reform advocates say

2022

The new database doesn’t include citizen complaints, only goes back a decade, and for an officer to make the list, he or she must have a felony criminal conviction or have been found guilty of a moral character violation.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/07/28/florida-new-database-on-cops-with-bad-records-has-holes-reform-advocates-say/

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Florida police organization offers to hire cops who were fired or resigned over police misconduct

2020

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/us/brevard-county-florida-police-union-misconduct-trnd/index.html

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Problem police officers don't just go away, studies find. They get hired somewhere else.

2021

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/crime/2021/04/28/florida-disciplined-police-decertification-use-of-force-rehired/4876622001/

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Florida gave thousands of tarnished officers a second chance. Hundreds blew it again.

2021

https://www.naplesnews.com/in-depth/news/crime/2020/12/29/hundreds-florida-officers-given-second-chance-blew-again/3764571001/

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‘Florida’s Worst Cop’ Was Just Fired for Misconduct—for the Seventh Time

2021

https://news.yahoo.com/florida-worst-cop-just-fired-171631570.html

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Former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo sues city, claiming he was fired for being whistleblower

January 20, 2022

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/us/art-acevedo-lawsuit-miami-whistleblower/index.html

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‘It never stops’: killings by US police reach record high in 2022

2023

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/06/us-police-killings-record-number-2022

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Shooting of Miami-Dade detective related to probe into corruption at jails, source says

March 13, 2023

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/03/13/shooting-of-miami-dade-detective-related-to-probe-into-corruption-at-jails-sourc-says/

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How Cops Who Use Force and Even Kill Can Hide Their Names From the Public

2020

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-cops-who-use-force-and-even-kill-can-hide-their-names-from-the-public

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Sheriff who can’t carry a gun? Felon runs to become Florida county’s top cop

2023

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/647246-sheriff-who-cant-carry-a-gun-felon-runs-to-become-florida-countys-top-cop/

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Former Tampa Police Corporal Pleads Guilty To Public Corruption Charges

2015

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/former-tampa-police-corporal-pleads-guilty-public-corruption-charges

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Editorial: Toughen Florida law to put kibosh on careers of bad cops

2021

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/editorials/2021/01/27/editorial-toughen-florida-law-prevent-bad-cops-being-rehired-elsewhere/4257403001/

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How Do Bad Cops Stay in Power? Just Look at Miami.

2021

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/22/javier-ortiz-florida-police-misconduct-protections-516231

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Rotten to the Core: Your One-Stop Shop for Hollywood Police Corruption

2009

https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/rotten-to-the-core-your-one-stop-shop-for-hollywood-police-corruption-6448495

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Report: Miami cops cleared their own

2002

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2002/03/18/report-miami-cops-cleared-their-own/

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Problem cops: State notes sharp rise in disciplined officers

2011

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/crime/2011/03/29/problem-cops-state-notes-sharp/7587825007/

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Florida Police Deputies Charged With Stealing Nearly A Half Million Dollars In Covid Funds

2023

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2023/10/16/florida-police-deputies-charged-with-stealing-nearly-a-half-million-dollars-in-covid-funds/?sh=23180dcb251c

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Ex-BSO lieutenant pleads guilty to fleecing hundreds of thousands from COVID loan program

March 2024

A former Broward Sheriff’s Office lieutenant on Wednesday joined a long list of BSO employees who have pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars from a U.S. government-funded loan program meant to help struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ernest Bernard Gonder Jr. admitted in Miami federal court that he fleeced more than $167,000 from the federal Paycheck Protection Program — much more than 17 other BSO employees who were arrested in October on charges of stealing tens of thousands of dollars each from the same program.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/ex-bso-lieutenant-pleads-guilty-to-fleecing-hundreds-of-thousands-from-covid-loan-program/ar-BB1jselP

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Former Florida State Representative Sentenced To Federal Prison For Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, And Making False Statements In Connection With COVID-19 Relief Fraud

October 19, 2023

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/former-florida-state-representative-sentenced-federal-prison-wire-fraud-money

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’50 to 70′ BSO employees accused in PPP loan fraud case, Florida Bulldog reports

October 11, 2023

https://wsvn.com/news/local/broward/50-to-70-bso-employees-accused-in-ppp-loan-fraud-case-florida-bulldog-reports/

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'We Hate Corrupt And Dirty Cops, Abusive Cops', Broward Police Chiefs Lay Out Action Plan

2020

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/broward-police-chiefs-lay-out-action-plan/

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Judges side with public corruption probe into cops at tony Florida town of Golden Beach

2019

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article226256050.html

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Dozens of South Florida Officers Charged in Past 5 Years Following Use of Force Allegations

September 12, 2022

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/dozens-of-south-florida-officers-charged-in-past-5-years-following-use-of-force-allegations/2856383/

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POLICE BRUTALITY. BLUELINE OF CORRUPTION IN FLORIDA

https://www.facebook.com/groups/586656768547265/

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Veterans, police officers fighting City of Naples for benefits they say they’re owed

December 6, 2021

https://winknews.com/2021/12/06/veterans-police-officers-suing-city-of-naples-for-benefits-they-say-theyre-owe/

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Former MDPD Police Officer, Former Public Service Aide, and Two Tow Truck Drivers Arrested in Illegal Bribery and Kickback Scheme

2015

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/miami/news/press-releases/former-mdpd-police-officer-former-public-service-aide-and-two-tow-truck-drivers-arrested-in-illegal-bribery-and-kickback-scheme

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Police officer Karl Waldon and a band of thugs terrorized, stole and killed for money; then they were brought to justice

2021

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2021/03/18/terror-blue-police-officer-karl-waldon-and-band-thugs-terrorized-stole-and-killed-money-then-they-we/4732730001/

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The authors of an ugly story about cops-turned-robbers discuss why police seem to be at war with citizens

‘I Got a Monster: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Corrupt Police Squad.’

2020

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/how-americas-most-corrupt-police-squad-27912687

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Local Police in Florida Acting Like They’re the CIA (But They’re Not)

2014

https://www.aclufl.org/en/news/local-police-florida-acting-theyre-cia-theyre-not

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BSO Employee Faces Fraud Charges, Including Buying Miami-Dade County Resident SSN For $200

2022

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/bso-tech-accused-of-fraud/

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Florida city manager charged in $3.4M corruption scheme

2021

TAMARAC, Fla. (AP) — The manager of a South Florida city has been charged in a corruption scheme involving the attempted extortion of $3.4 million from an investment company.

Tamarac City Manager Michael Cernech was charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering with two developers by allegedly trying to extort the money from 13th Floor Investments.

https://apnews.com/article/business-florida-f8734f0442d4b89c3a1ae9b51727ce7b

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Miami city commissioner charged with bribery and money laundering

2023

MIAMI (AP) — A city of Miami commissioner accused of bribery and money laundering was arrested Thursday on multiple corruption charges, officials said.

https://apnews.com/article/miami-commissioner-money-laundering-florida-04dc202faede26bf85fb8a4ac17544d0

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Florida official sentence to 5 years in corruption case

2021

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A former city commissioner who once ran the Florida Democratic Party was sentenced to five years in federal prison for taking money from Uber and undercover FBI agents in exchange for his influence.

Former Tallahassee Commissioner Scott Maddox pleaded guilty in 2019 to wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit tax fraud. The sentencing was delayed while Maddox and co-defendant Paige Carter-Smith cooperated with investigators in the prosecution of a local developer.

https://www.cbs17.com/news/florida-official-sentence-to-5-years-in-corruption-case/

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New indictment alleges Lynn Haven corruption began years before Hurricane Michael

2021

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - An indictment handed down this week by federal investigators is alleging years of fraud by the former Lynn Haven mayor and a local businessman. Past indictments detailed corruption charges that started after Hurricane Michael, but this week’s indictment shows a pattern of corruption that began in 2015.

https://www.wjhg.com/2021/11/19/new-indictment-alleges-lynn-haven-corruption-began-years-before-hurricane-michael/

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Longtime Florida Congresswoman Sentenced to 5-Year Prison Term for Corruption

December 4, 2017

In 1992, Corrine Brown of Jacksonville, Fla., was the first African American from that state to be elected to Congress since Reconstruction. She served 12 terms until this January, when she lost the 2016 Democratic primary because of both corruption charges and gerrymandering of her 5th Congressional District.

On Monday, a federal judge sentenced Brown to five years in federal prison after she was convicted in May on 18 corruption charges ranging from mail fraud to filing a false federal tax return in relation to her One Door for Education charity, which prosecutors allege she used as a personal “slush fund” for herself and her associates.

https://www.theroot.com/longtime-florida-congresswoman-sentenced-to-5-year-pris-1820990592

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Documents detailing FBI Investigation in alleged public corruption resealed

2022

https://www.wjhg.com/2022/08/17/documents-detailing-fbi-investigation-alleged-public-corruption-resealed/

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Arrests of 3 Mayors Reinforce Florida’s Notoriety as a Hothouse for Corruption

2013

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/us/arrests-of-3-mayors-reinforce-floridas-notoriety-as-a-hothouse-for-corruption.html

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Critics question proposed ban on Florida Bar investigating sitting constitutional officers

2021

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2021/10/16/critics-question-proposed-ban-on-florida-bar-investigating-sitting-constitutional-officers/

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Is the city of Tallahassee the most corrupt in Florida as President Trump said?

2018

https://www.politifact.com/article/2018/oct/31/city-tallahassee-most-corrupt-florida-president-tr/

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Prosecutor vows to go after corruption in Tallahassee and north Florida

2019

TALLAHASSEE — A federal prosecutor warned a long-running probe that resulted in criminal charges against the former head of the state Democratic Party and hung over the campaign of Andrew Gillum is just the start of a sustained effort to go after corruption in north Florida...

https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2019/08/06/prosecutor-vows-to-go-after-corruption-in-tallahassee-and-north-florida-1132144

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Florida Democrat removed from office, faces corruption charges following FBI sting

January 27, 2018

A Florida mayor was removed from office Friday after she was arrested and charged with three felony corruption charges.

Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order suspending Joy Cooper, the 57-year-old mayor of Hallandale Beach, a city just north of Miami, after she was accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions through former attorney Alan Koslow.

Cooper surrender to authorities on Thursday following an undercover FBI investigation. She was charged with money laundering, official misconduct and exceeding campaign contribution limits, the Sun Sentinel reported.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-democrat-removed-from-office-faces-corruption-charges-following-fbi-sting

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Florida’s former Democratic leader sentenced to 5 years in corruption case

2021

Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox, who once ran the Florida Democratic Party, pleaded guilty in 2019 to wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit tax fraud.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/09/09/floridas-former-democratic-leader-sentenced-to-5-years-in-corruption-case/

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Ghost candidates, dark money and a 'winning formula': Florida corruption case linked to Republican insiders

2021

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/state/2021/07/30/florida-ghost-candidate-election-corruption-frank-artiles-republican-lawmakers-third-party/5391308001/

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Public corruption investigation links prominent Republicans across Florida

2021

https://www.rawstory.com/florida-republican-corruption-spreads/

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Legacy of Corruption: GEO Buys Off the Florida Political Establishment

March 15, 2011

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s unsettling history of extremely close ties to private prison operator GEO Group and the possible federal investigation into Florida’s private prison giveaway of more than $120 million

Newly minted U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was sworn in on January 5, 2011 with unfinished business back home.

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2011/mar/15/legacy-of-corruption-geo-buys-off-the-florida-political-establishment/

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Florida prisons riddled with corruption, staffers tell senators – Miami Herald

Mar 17, 2024

https://corruptionbuzz.com/2024/03/17/florida-prisons-riddled-with-corruption-staffers-tell-senators-miami-herald/

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Justice Department watchdog finds alarming conditions inside Florida federal prison

November 9, 2023

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211823240/justice-department-watchdog-finds-alarming-conditions-inside-florida-federal-pri

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Florida prisons didn’t like ‘demanding’ watchdog. Now he’s gone.

Sept. 30, 2020

Inspector General Lester Fernandez, on the job since June 6, 2016, had rubbed people in high-ranking positions, like the head of Florida’s Department of Corrections, the wrong way. He was replaced Tuesday.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2020/09/30/florida-prisons-didnt-like-demanding-watchdog-now-hes-gone/

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Whistleblower correctional officer paid the price for reporting abuse

CO: “I knew once I did the right thing, and I stepped forward...my career would be over”

July 19, 2015

https://www.corrections1.com/corrections/articles/whistleblower-correctional-officer-paid-the-price-for-reporting-abuse-IPvbKfHs0ZnSAeXn/

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Prison death renews scrutiny on warden demoted after guard's slaying

2014

https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/prison-death-renews-scrutiny-on-warden-demoted-after-guards-slaying/2184581/

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Violence, Abuse, and Death at For-Profit Prisons: A GEO Group Rap Sheet

September 26, 2013

https://prwatch.org/news/2013/09/12255/violence-abuse-and-death-profit-prisons-geo-group-rap-sheet

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Florida prison chief disagrees with feds on abuse report

1-14-2021

For at least a decade, women at the prison have complained that officers tramp through their dorms and showers and grope, rape and threaten to beat and even kill them if they don’t comply with their sexual demands.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/01/14/florida-prison-chief-disagrees-with-feds-on-abuse-report/

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Ex-Florida prison boss: Drunken orgies tainted system

2008

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) -- Softball, drunken orgies and a prison system run like the mafia. That's what Florida's former prison secretary says he inherited when he took over one of the nation's largest prison systems two years ago.

https://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/11/prison.boss/index.html

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Florida lawmakers didn’t fix prisons. They may wish they had | Opinion

March 2024

It’s not easy to muster public sympathy or political support for a purpose linked to a group that includes murderers, rapists and child molesters. So the 2024 Legislature’s refusal to adequately address festering problems within the state’s massive prison system was not a total surprise.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/florida-lawmakers-didn-t-fix-prisons-they-may-wish-they-had-opinion/ar-BB1k00sw

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At Least 35 Florida DOC Employees and Contractors Arrested in Just Over a Year

April 28, 2022

An examination of Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) employee and contractor arrests from March 2021 to April 2022 revealed that 18 were charged with introducing contraband, and another 10 were charged with assaulting prisoners. Six more were charged with having illicit relationships with prisoners under their...

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2022/apr/28/least-35-florida-doc-employees-and-contractors-arrested-just-over-year/

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Bartered sex, corruption and cover-ups behind bars in nation’s largest women’s prison

2015

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/florida-prisons/article49175685.html#storylink=cpy

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Corruption, abuse and more inside the nation's largest women's prison (w/video)

Dec. 14, 2015

https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/corruption-abuse-and-more-inside-the-nations-largest-womens-prison-wvideo/2257644/

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Paging Ron DeSantis: Journalist Faces 20 Years in Prison for Investigating Corruption at Fla. Women's Shelter

May 05, 2021

https://pjmedia.com/megan-fox/2021/05/05/paging-ron-desantis-journalist-faces-20-years-in-prison-for-investigating-corruption-at-fla-womens-shelter-n1444723

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From retaliation to torture in a Florida prison unfit for habitation

February 28, 2018

https://sfbayview.com/2018/02/from-retaliation-to-torture-in-a-florida-prison-unfit-for-habitation/

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Forced prison labor system- in Florida it can be deadly

2024

Florida’s prison system, the third largest in the U.S., relies heavily on forced labor to keep its facilities running and support various government agencies. Approximately 80,000 incarcerated persons across 128 prisons, including 20 work camps, are compelled to perform a range of tasks without pay. These duties include cleaning toilets, preparing food, road construction, and hurricane preparation for county agencies. Incarcerated individuals are forced to work under threat of punishment, solitary confinement, and sometimes even physical abuse if they refuse.

Unbeatable profits

A glaring example is Aramark’s In2Work program, which uses incarcerated labor to make premium meals for other inmates, sold to their families and friends, without providing any compensation. Julius Smith, who entered the Florida prison system at 18, shared with The Guardian, “If we don’t do the work, then the prison does not operate.” This coerced labor is essential for the prison system’s daily operations which politicians and prison authorities across the country readily admit.

A 2022 ACLU report exposed the widespread use of forced labor in U.S. prisons, revealing that inmates produce $2 billion in goods and $9 billion in services annually, with negligible or no compensation. Seven states, including Florida, pay nothing for prison labor. If an incarcerated person refuses to work for free, they can be denied family calls and visits, put in solitary confinement, and refused parole.

https://humantraffickingsearch.org/resource/forced-prison-labor-system-in-florida-it-can-be-deadly/

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Florida's unsafe prisons

Adequate funding would protect inmates, officers and the public

2015

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/opinion/2015/02/04/floridas-unsafe-prisons/29296705007/

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Misconduct in Federal Prisons Is Tolerated or Ignored, Congressional Report Says

Jan. 4, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/us/prison-misconduct-congressional-study.html

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Senate launches group to examine reports of corruption and abuse in federal prisons

Feb 17, 2022

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/senate-launches-group-to-examine-reports-of-corruption-and-abuse-in-federal-prisons

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After report outlines private prison problems, lawmakers demand fixes

Feb 17, 2023

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/17/florida-private-prisons-report-shows-pattern-of-failed-oversight-and-compliance/69910767007/

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A report spells out dire conditions in Florida's prison system

November 16, 2023

https://www.wlrn.org/law-justice/2023-11-16/a-report-spells-out-dire-conditions-in-floridas-prison-system

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The Florida prison system is a corrupt dysfunctional mess

November 20, 2014

https://www.sfltimes.com/opinion/the-florida-prison-system-is-a-corrupt-dysfunctional-mess

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Prison inspectors: Corruption rampant in Florida system

March 10, 2015

https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/prison-inspectors-corruption-rampant-in-florida-system/2220754/

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The 8 Worst Prisons in Florida

https://journeyz.co/worst-prisons-in-florida/

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What's Wrong With Florida's Prisons?

Oct. 17, 2007

https://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1672366,00.html

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Banned behind bars: 20,000 books can't be read by Florida inmates; the list may surprise you

2019

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/09/banned-behind-bars-20-000-books-cant-read-florida-inmates/1934468001/

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Statement on Florida DOC's banned books list and prison censorship

July 16, 2019.

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/in-the-news/2019/statement-florida-banned-books-list-and-prison-censorship/

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Lawsuit alleges Florida Department of Corrections impounded publications that inform inmates of their rights

Aug. 18, 2021

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/in-the-news/2021/lawsuit-alleges-florida-department-corrections-impounded-publications-inform-inmates-their-rights/

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Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Florida Department of Corrections For Unlawfully Confiscating Millions of Dollars of Digital Music and Books

February 19, 2019

https://fji.law/our-work/class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-florida-department-of-corrections-for-unlawfully-confiscating-millions-of-dollars-of-digital-music-and-books/

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Will Lawsuits and Exposés Lead to Reform of Florida’s Brutal Prisons?

Feb. 2, 2016

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/feb/2/will-lawsuits-and-exposes-lead-reform-floridas-brutal-prisons/

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Hundreds of Inmates Riot at Florida Prison

September 28, 2016

A nationwide prison strike planned Friday has Florida’s jails and state prisons on high alert through the weekend, bracing for possible upheavals by inmates protesting what they say is inhumane and violent treatment.

https://incarceratedworkers.org/news/hundreds-inmates-riot-florida-prison

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Frorida Prisons — all of them — on lockdown

2017

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article167756842.html

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Protestors Block Access to Private Prison Company's South Florida Headquarters

2019

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article237995029.html

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Senators told about corruption in Florida prison system

March 10, 2015

https://winknews.com/2015/03/10/senators-told-about-corruption-in-florida-prison-system/

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Florida lawmakers won't hear bills to improve state prison conditions this session

'What's really sad is that I follow these (bills) every year – and they always die,' one advocate said.

March 1, 2024

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/01/bills-to-improve-florida-prison-conditions-likely-dead-this-session/72595958007/

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How for-profit prisons have become the biggest lobby no one is talking about

April 28, 2015

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/

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As other states ban unpaid 'slave' prison labor, lawmakers drop plans to tackle issue in Florida

March 8, 2023

https://www.wuwf.org/florida-news/2023-03-08/as-other-states-ban-unpaid-slave-prison-labor-lawmakers-drop-plans-to-tackle-issue-in-florida

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Florida Provides Lesson in How Not to Privatize State Prisons

Feb. 15, 2012

When Florida lawmakers used a backdoor approach to try to privatize almost 30 state detention facilities in 2011, they likely did not anticipate the outcome. By the time the political dust had settled, the union representing prison employees had successfully sued to stop the privatization plan...

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2012/feb/15/florida-provides-lesson-in-how-not-to-privatize-state-prisons/

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Florida's Bloated Prison System Will Cost Billions To Maintain

11.17.2023

Florida's mandatory minimum sentences created a large, elderly prison population. Now the bill is coming due.

https://reason.com/2023/11/17/floridas-bloated-prison-system-will-cost-billions-to-maintain/

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Lawmakers hear report that says path of Florida’s prison system is ‘unsustainable’

November 15, 2023

Urges $582 million for air-conditioning, a provision questioned by one GOP senator

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/11/15/lawmakers-hear-report-that-says-path-of-floridas-prison-system-is-unsustainable/

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The private prison industry in FL is now changing; the state is taking more control

October 18, 2023

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/10/18/the-private-prison-industry-in-fl-is-now-changing-the-state-is-taking-more-control/

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Director of Florida's Private Prison Commisssion Resigns, Fined $10,000 for Ethics Violations

Oct. 15, 2003

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2003/oct/15/director-of-floridas-private-prison-commisssion-resigns-fined-10000-for-ethics-violations/

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Private prisons aren’t the villain. The entire system needs reform | Opinion

2021

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2021/02/24/private-prisons-arent-the-villain-the-entire-system-needs-reform-opinion/

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Florida prison privatization stalls in legislature

February 7, 2012

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-prisons-florida-idUKTRE8162A220120207/

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Private Prison Companies Bilk Florida Taxpayers Out of Millions

June 15, 2007

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2007/jun/15/private-prison-companies-bilk-florida-taxpayers-out-of-millions/

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Prison Privatization: Bad for Florida, Bad for Taxpayers

https://www.inthepublicinterest.org/wp-content/uploads/floridaprivateprisonsfactsheet42111.pdf

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Florida Prisons and Jails Retaliate Against Prisoners Who File Lawsuits by Countersuing for Costs of Incarceration

July 2, 2019

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2019/jul/2/florida-prisons-and-jails-retaliate-against-prisoners-who-file-lawsuits-countersuing-costs-incarceration/

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Arrests of Federal Prison Guards Soar 90% Over Past Decade; Misconduct Cases Double

Sept. 15, 2012

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2012/sep/15/arrests-of-federal-prison-guards-soar-90-over-past-decade-misconduct-cases-double/

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Florida Prison Boss Fires 32 Over Inmate Deaths

2014

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article2176191.html

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Florida Prisons Face Ongoing Staff Shortages Due to Low Pay And Long Hours

Aug. 1, 2021

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2021/aug/1/florida-prisons-face-ongoing-staff-shortages-due-low-pay-and-long-hours/

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‘System in crisis’: Florida struggles to retain prison guards

Feb. 22, 2021

Last year, 42 percent of new employees left the state corrections department in their first year, and 57 percent left by the end of the second year. That turnover is worse now.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/02/22/system-in-crisis-florida-struggles-to-retain-prison-guards/

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Facility closures continue as Florida prisons face ‘unprecedented’ staff shortage

2021

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2021/09/13/facility-closures-continue-as-florida-prisons-face-unprecedented-staff-shortage/

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Florida Prisons Fire Guards: Reports Of Abuse, Corruption Lead To Massive Clean-Up Effort

Sep 22, 2014

https://www.inquisitr.com/1491789/florida-prisons-fire-guards-reports-of-abuse-corruption-lead-to-massive-clean-up-effort

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Florida: Private Prison Company Allowed to Overcharge State, Mistreat Prisoners

Jan. 8, 2018

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/jan/8/florida-private-prison-company-allowed-overcharge-state-mistreat-prisoners/

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Price Hikes at Florida Prisons Leave Residents Furious

October 8, 2023

There’s a new canteen supplier in town — and now the cost of regular staples are 16% to 400% higher than before.

https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2023/10/08/canteen-prices-soar-florida-prisons/

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Opinion: Florida jails serving as debtors' prison

Sep 2017

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2017/09/04/opinion-florida-jails-serving-debtors-prison/624478001/

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Private Prisons Lock Up Thousands Of Americans With Almost No Oversight

2017

America’s for-profit prison industry controls 126,000 Americans’ lives. It’s a $5 billion sector — one that encompasses the operation of 65% of the nation’s immigration detention beds. And at the same time, it is largely opaque, often unaccountable to the public or the government.

https://time.com/5013760/american-private-prisons-donald-trump/

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{We need to deport unlawful immigrants out of the country}.

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A Federal Judge Put Hundreds of Immigrants Behind Bars While Her Husband Invested in Private Prisons

August 24, 2017

https://www.motherjones.com/criminal-justice/2017/08/a-federal-judge-put-hundreds-of-immigrants-behind-bars-while-her-husband-invested-in-private-prisons/

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Investigators accuse Florida Department of Corrections of corruption

July 8, 2014

https://www.tampabay.com/investigators-accuse-florida-department-of-corrections-of-corruption/2187616/

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Florida's Private-Prison Population Spiked 211 Percent Since 2000

August 3, 2018

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/florida-private-prison-inmates-spiked-from-2000-to-2016-sentencing-report-says-10589872

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Study: Private prisons result in more inmates, longer sentences

September 18, 2020

The Labour Economics study suggests two potential reasons for the increase: corruption and increased capacity.

https://bigthink.com/the-present/private-prisons/

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Study Shows Private Prison Companies Use Influence to Increase Incarceration

Aug. 22, 2016

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/aug/22/study-shows-private-prison-companies-use-influence-increase-incarceration/

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Hidden corporate profits in the U.S. prison system: the unorthodox policy-making of the American Legislative Exchange Council

2015

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10282580.2016.1185949

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New contracts give private prison giant nearly 80 percent of Florida's private prison market

2013

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2013/12/16/new-contracts-give-private-prison-giant-nearly-80-percent-floridas-private/15805432007/

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Five Reasons South Florida's Pro-Trump Private-Prison Company Is Evil

January 7, 2018

You shouldn't be able to turn a profit from imprisoning people. That seems obvious. The basic goal of the American criminal-justice system should be to eradicate crime — but multibillion-dollar private-prison systems can't earn big profits if there's no crime.

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/five-reasons-boca-private-prison-company-geo-group-is-evil-9967258

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Former Florida prisons chief who took kickbacks released from federal prison

April 2013

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2013/04/16/former-florida-prisons-chief-who-took-kickbacks-released-federal-prison/15831804007/

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Seven Former GEO Employees Plead Guilty in Federal Texas Private Jail Bribery Scheme

Oct. 1, 2021

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2021/oct/1/seven-former-geo-employees-plead-guilty-federal-texas-private-jail-bribery-scheme/

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Private prison investors love the Florida Senate's budget

Feb 24, 2022

Senate leaders, who got $200,000 from private-prison contractor GEO Group just before session, want to build two big new prisons – one of which may be privatized.

https://jasongarcia.substack.com/p/private-prison-investors-love-the

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Marco Rubio, Geo Group, and a Legacy of Corruption

August 29, 2012

https://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/08/11591/marco-rubio-geo-group-and-legacy-corruption

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Ron DeSantis just accepted $100K from the GEO Group, a controversial Florida-based private prison giant

Aug 17, 2018

A political action committee supporting Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis just got a $100,000 from the GEO Group, a Florida-based private prison giant known for numerous human rights investigations.

According to public records, on Aug. 15 the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC accepted $50,000 from GEO Group, Inc. and another $50,000 from the company's CEO, George C. Zoley.

The GEO Group, which is headquartered in Boca Raton and is the second largest private prison group in the country, was an early supporter of the DeSantis campaign. Records show they also gave the congressman another $50,000 back in March of 2017.

DeSantis isn't alone. The GEO Group has sprinkled cash all over Florida politicians, including Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics. In fact, it's hard to find someone who hasn't taken money from the group.

But it makes sense the GEO Group is heavily backing DeSantis, considering the congressman parrots everything the president says, and they directly profit from Trump's abysmal immigration policies.

According to the investigative website Sludge, the GEO Group currently holds almost a half billion dollars in ICE contracts. For some perspective, last year the Trump Administration spent a record $1.7 billion on private contracts, which means the GEO Group gets more direct cash from ICE than any other company. Plus, it doesn't hurt that former aides to Attorney General Jeff Sessions are now lobbyists for the GEO Group.

The company is a private prison behemoth and has immigration detention centers all over the country, including Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, California, and of course, Florida.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/ron-desantis-just-accepted-100k-from-the-geo-group-a-controversial-florida-based-private-prison-giant-17272961

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Kyle Cohen appointed as 20th Judicial Circuit Court Judge

May 29, 2020

He replaces retiring Judge Keith Cary.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Estero prosecutor Kyle Cohen as a 20th Judicial Circuit Court Judge.

Cohen previously served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida where he’s worked since 2008.

Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit includes Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties.

Cohen has worked on a range of issues in federal court including tort, bankruptcy, employment discrimination, Administrative Procedures Act, Bivens, civil rights, contractual disputes, medical malpractice, summons enforcement, immigration, Touhy, eminent domain, FIRREA, qui tam, and False Claims Act litigation.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/336459-kyle-cohen-appointed-as-20th-judicial-circuit-court-judge/

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Broward Judge to Stand Trial on Ethics Charge

May 13, 2010

FORT LAUDERDALE | A Broward County judge has lost his bid to dismiss a misconduct charge against him.

Circuit Judge Dale Cohen is set to stand trial Sept. 13 for allegedly exploiting his position to further the interests of himself and his wife, who is running for election to the county bench.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission denied dismissing the ethics complaint today.

Cohen’s attorney says the allegations against the judge don’t correlate with the specifications of the Code of Judicial Conduct...

https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2010/05/13/broward-judge-to-stand-trial-on-ethics-charge/26270264007/

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Trial set for Philadelphia County Judge Cohen’s discipline over irresponsible Facebook posts

May 31, 2023

On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, the Court of Judicial Discipline of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued an order setting the trial of the disciplinary matter concerning Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark B. Cohen of the 1st Judicial District.

The case is entitled “In the Matter of Judge Mark B. Cohen,” with case no. 1 JD 2023.

The Judicial Conduct Board filed formal charges against Cohen on February 23, 2023, accusing Cohen to have authored and made improper posts to his personal Facebook page. In summary, Judge Cohen’s Facebook posting consisted of the following: (1) his sympathetic, supportive, or positive views of political figures, living and dead, of the Democratic Party and, generally, of the political “left”; (2) his support for legislation instituted and embraced by the Democratic Party and, generally, the political “left”; (3) his support for policy initiatives or issues embraced by the Democratic Party and, generally, the political “left”; (4) his criticism of political figures of the Republican Party and the political “right”; and (5) his criticism of policy initiatives and legislation instituted and embraced by the Republican Party or the political “right”.

https://abusivediscretion.com/trial-set-for-philadelphia-county-judge-cohens-discipline-over-irresponsible-facebook-posts/

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{We see that we have three corrupt judges with the last name Cohen}.

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DeSantis Installs Corrupt Crony As Elections Supervisor In Orange Co.

March 2024

DeSantis seems to have dropped off the national radar screen since his humiliating performance in the Republican presidential primary. But at least in Orange County, Florida, DeSantis looks busy setting up what could well be a rigged election.

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell did a deep dive into the dark facts behind the appointment of Glen Gilzean as Orange County elections supervisor. For starters, Maxwell reports that Gilzean brazenly flouted ethics rules when he failed to resign as chair of the state’s ethics commission when he got his $400,000-a-year gig running DeSantis’ anti-Disney government district...

https://crooksandliars.com/2024/03/desantis-installs-corrupt-crony-elections#google_vignette

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Ron DeSantis Accused of 'Public Corruption' by Former GOP Lawmaker

Apr 22, 2023

https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-accused-public-corruption-former-gop-lawmaker-1796077

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Possible Corruption at the Florida GOP Could Threaten DeSantis in 2022

August 17, 2021

https://floridianpress.com/2021/08/possible-corruption-at-the-florida-gop-could-threaten-desantis-in-2022/

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{Many assume that Desantis wants to stop illegal aliens and sanctuary cities. These unlawful immigrants go against the wishes of the scientific community with illegal immigration. Desantis wants to kick illegal immigrants out of Florida, but that these illegal immigrants might end up in other states and sent to private prisons in America. The problem is that these unlawful immigrants are released and set free in America still. It is good that Desantis has sent the Florida National Guard to the Texas border to stop illegal immigrants. The problem is that unlawful immigrants are being put in prison work camps for a few years to make profit for the private prison industries. These unlawful immigrants are then released back into America after their prison term in these prison work camps for unlawful immigrants. The Biden Administration wants to make these unlawful immigrants citizens of America.

Desantis was critical about the COVID vaccine which is also good. We support Ron Desantis and sending the National Guard to the border to protect America. We however were not in favor of how Desantis would just put unlawful immigrants in prison work camps, then these unlawful immigrants are released back into America once their prison sentence is up. Desantis was associated with a group that took money from the GEO Group private prison company. We think that we should not assimilate these illegal Third World immigrants to become American citizens. The country is already full and that we should not waste more natural resources on unlawful immigrants who refuse to cooperate with the scientific community and the population census. We can see the direct harm that these illegal immigrants have caused the environment. A lot of the groundwater in America is drying up, these unlawful immigrants just add more to the problem}.

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DeSantis recruiters eyed Catholic church for migrant flights that bishop calls ‘reprehensible’

June 8, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recruiters set their sights on Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the Texas border city of El Paso in search of asylum-seekers they could take from its bustling migrant shelter to California’s capital on taxpayer-funded private jets.

Intentionally or not, envoys for Florida’s Catholic governor and Republican presidential candidate infused an element of his own religion into his latest move on immigration, which has drawn sharp criticism from El Paso’s Catholic bishop.

“Without going into the details of the politics of it, it does seem clear that they were being used not out of concern for the migrants but in an effort to make a political point,” Bishop Mark Seitz told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Seitz said many migrants arriving in the U.S. don’t know the geography, including how far cities and states are from one another, and are just anxious to move on.

DeSantis has acknowledged that Florida paid to transport 36 mostly Venezuelan migrants from Republican-led Texas to Sacramento on charter flights last Friday and on Monday. The first group was dropped off in front of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Sacramento, also the headquarters of Catholic Charities, apparently without warning. Local advocates and officials met the second group at the airport after learning of their arrival.

The governor says they made the trip voluntarily — a claim that some migrant advocates challenge. He also says they signed waivers to that effect and that California effectively invited them with its welcoming policies.

“I think the border should be closed. I don’t think we should have any of this. But if there’s a policy to have an open border, then I think the sanctuary jurisdictions should be the ones that have to bear that,” DeSantis said Wednesday at an event for law enforcement officials in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Asked about the bishop’s criticism, DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said the governor’s previous comments “stand on their own.”

In May, DeSantis signed a law allocating up to $12 million for migrant flights, like two that Florida funded last year from San Antonio to the pricey Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard.

References to the Martha’s Vineyard flights have become a staple in DeSantis’ presidential stump speech and often draw hearty applause from Republican primary voters. The Sacramento flights are part of a broader effort by certain Republican-led states to send migrants to Democratic-leaning parts of the country, including New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

https://apnews.com/article/desantis-migrants-flights-border-california-catholic-aa274a39b65712ea2d70bd480a62928e

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Biden admin parole program sparks 550% increase of undocumented migrants pouring into Florida from just last year: data

Dec. 27, 2023

https://nypost.com/2023/12/27/news/more-undocumented-migrants-heading-to-florida-than-ever-with-550-increase-this-year/

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Florida Struggles to Accommodate Immigration-Fueled Population Growth as its Environmental Impacts Worsen

November 2021

https://www.fairus.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/fl-environ-case-study.pdf

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‘Been there before’: Haitian community leaders urge caution as Florida deploys troops to halt potential migrant surge

March 17, 2024

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/17/us/haiti-migrants-florida/index.html

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Marine Corps Sends Special Response Unit to Haiti After Partial US Embassy Evacuation

3-13-2024

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/03/13/marine-corps-sends-special-response-unit-haiti-after-partial-us-embassy-evacuation.html

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Challenge to Florida's 'sanctuary cities' law gets rejected

April 17, 2023

https://www.wlrn.org/immigration/2023-04-17/challenge-to-floridas-sanctuary-cities-law-gets-rejected

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Florida officers break up sex trafficking ring run by illegal migrants

October 24, 2022

Sheriff's Officers in Florida rescued eight women who were forced into sex trafficking by smugglers who illegally brought them into the U.S.

Officers with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office rescued eight women who were forced into sex trafficking in Florida by smugglers who illegally brought them into the U.S. through the southern border. They also arrested their alleged smuggler and trafficker, Rosalia Leonard Garcia, 29, and Amet Maqueira, 35.

Arrestees of Human Trafficking Case pic.twitter.com/o8vNUJB2Nn— HCSO (@HCSOSheriff) October 24, 2022

Sheriff Chad Chronister made the announcement on Monday with Attorney General Ashley Moody and other officials. Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution charged Garcia and Maqueira with 47 counts of human trafficking and will be prosecuting them.

“These horrific acts of sex trafficking are among the most depraved crimes we have seen in a long time and highlight how criminals are taking advantage of [President Joe] Biden’s open border to advance their illicit trade,” Moody said. “I applaud the swift, courageous actions of Sheriff Chronister’s deputies and ensure my Statewide Prosecutors will hold the traffickers accountable in court for what they did to these eight women.”

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/florida-officers-break-sex-trafficking-ring-stemming-illegal-border

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Venezuelan sex trafficking gang that brands young girls operating in US, linked to ex-cop’s murder: reports

Jan. 20, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/01/20/news/venezuelan-sex-trafficking-gang-that-brands-young-girls-operating-in-us-linked-to-ex-cops-murder-reports/

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Local pharmacist charged with attempted sex trafficking of a minor and child sex tourism

April 23, 2024

MIAMI – On April 19, a local pharmacist was charged by criminal complaint with attempted sex trafficking of a minor and attempted travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

According to the criminal complaint and the underlying affidavit, law enforcement officers stopped Stefan Andres Correa, 42, of Miami, Florida, attempting to board a flight from Miami to Bogota, Colombia. It is alleged that, law enforcement officers discovered nine cellular phones in Correa’s possession containing videos of Correa engaging in intercourse with purported minor children, as well as a chat exchange with a suspected sex trafficker, where Correa allegedly paid for commercial sex with children aged between 10 to 12 years old in Colombia. According to the allegations, during the chat exchange, Correa agreed with the suspected sex trafficker to meet with the minor victims once he arrived in Colombia.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/local-pharmacist-charged-attempted-sex-trafficking-minor-and-child-sex-tourism

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A long corruption probe in Tallahassee whimpers to a close — The return of Rod Smith? — Gruters talks about allegations on internal GOP call

2021

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2021/07/28/a-long-corruption-probe-in-tallahassee-whimpers-to-a-close-the-return-of-rod-smith-gruters-talks-about-allegations-on-internal-gop-call-493753

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U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe to release details of 'massive' corruption probe in Panama City

2019

U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe will announce details of "a massive public corruption scheme" on Friday in Panama City.

The investigation, which seems to have flown beneath the radar, is not believed to be connected to Tallahassee's long-running public corruption probe, which led to guilty pleas from former City Commissioner Scott Maddox and former Downtown Improvement Authority Executive Director Paige Carter-Smith.

In a news release, the U.S. Attorney's Office said it would announce the outcome of what's being described as a "major long-term investigation into widespread public corruption" by its Public Trust Unit.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2019/11/13/u-s-attorney-larry-keefe-to-release-details-of-major-corruption-probe-in-panama-city-florida/4178651002/

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Ex-commissioner in Florida city convicted of corruption

2019

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A former city commissioner in Florida is facing prison time after he was convicted of corruption charges arising from a tiki bar he operated in a strip mall.

Court records show a jury late Monday found 56-year-old David McLean guilty of bribery, official misconduct and theft charges. McLean was a commissioner in the South Florida city of Margate.

Trial evidence showed McLean used his influence to do city favors for the tiki bar’s landlord. In return, the landlord forgave about $8,000 in rent and made another $6,000 in cash payments.

https://apnews.com/general-news-7eda58207c5345718dba91b426f5e258

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Gainesville’s city audit controversy, explained

2022

https://www.alligator.org/article/2022/11/gainesvilles-city-audit-controversy-explained

After delayed financial reports to the state, the Gainesville city auditor’s resignation and planned international commission trips, some local residents are worried about their tax dollars.

Four successive issues led to local concern: a formal letter from the state about late city financial reports, three city commissioners traveling to Israel off public funds, the city auditor’s resignation and budget changes made Nov. 17.

Gainesville’s upcoming fiscal budget is around $445 million, with about $14 million of general fund debt made up of bonds and other obligations.

Juli Aitch, Gainesville resident, said recent decisions were irresponsible given the situation.“They are robbing the citizens of Gainesville,” Aitch said.

However, Gainesville city officials say the series of financial controversies were both expected and planned for.

Commissioners’ trip to Israel

City Commissioners David Arreola and Adrian Hayes-Santos, as well as Mayor Lauren Poe will travel to Israel for MuniWorld, an international city government conference. The three will leave Dec. 2, just over a month before they all exit office after reaching their term limit.

MuniWorld is a three-day convention for cities across the globe. Participants will see Jerusalem’s tech startup projects, connect with other municipalities and watch lectures on local government practices.

The attendance fee is $200 per person and accommodations are $600, according to its website.

City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut first expressed concern over the trip, calling it a waste of money given the city’s financial circumstances.

“This international trip taken by commissioners with expenses paid by public funds is disingenuous to all our constituents,” Chestnut wrote in an email to them.

For each fiscal year, commissioners receive a $5,000 stipend for travel. The 2023 fiscal year began Oct. 1. Chestnut also said the trip would take travel funding away from oncoming commissioners, though Arreola and Hayes-Santos said that was inaccurate.“When the new commission is sworn in, they will have their own budgets,” Arreola said.

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Joel Greenberg alleged far-reaching public corruption in Florida jailhouse interview

2022

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/554553-joel-greenberg-alleged-far-reaching-public-corruption-in-florida-jailhouse-interview/

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As Gaetz investigation ramps up, feds mount sweeping probe into Central Florida political scene: Sources

June 18, 2021

Since federal prosecutors obtained the cooperation of GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz's once close-ally in May, sources tell ABC News the ongoing investigation, which includes sex trafficking allegations involving Gaetz, has engulfed the tight-knit Central Florida political scene as prosecutors continue their investigation of the Florida congressman.

Former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, who reached a plea deal last month, has been assisting federal agents in the sprawling probe that has recently revved up its focus on alleged corruption and fraud stemming from Greenberg's time in office and beyond, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The former tax collector pleaded guilty in May to a host of crimes including charges of stalking, identity theft, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official, as well as a sex trafficking charge. Greenberg is prepared to hand over evidence and testimony that could implicate Gaetz and others, sources told ABC News.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/gaetz-investigation-ramps-feds-mount-sweeping-probe-central/story?id=78321551

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Fmr. Opa-Locka City Manager Turns Himself In

2016

OPA-LOCKA (CBSMiami) -- The former city manager of Opa-locka who is facing federal corruption charges turned himself into police Monday morning.

Former Opa-locka City Manager David Chiverton appeared before a Judge in federal court Monday afternoon...

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/fmr-opa-locka-city-manager-turns-himself-in-on-corruption-charges/

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Marco Island city manager responds to latest police scandal

March 23, 2023

https://winknews.com/2023/03/23/marco-island-city-manager-responds-to-latest-police-scandal/

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Corrupt politicians have free rein in Florida

2014

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/corrupt-politicians-have-free-rein-in-florida-2242139

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The most corrupt state(s) in America

2014

Florida: Between 1998 and 2007, 824 public officials in Florida were convicted on public corruption charges at the local, state and federal level. According to a tally compiled by the New York Times, that was more than any other state. New York came in second place, with 704 public officials locked up, while Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Ohio and Illinois all saw more than 500 officials convicted.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/01/22/the-most-corrupt-states-in-america/

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Florida Is the Most Corrupt State in the Union, According to a Federal Tally of Convictions

June 6, 2012

In 2010, a statewide grand jury slammed Florida laws for being too lax on corruption, and made a number of suggestions, most of which were never implemented. Then-Gov. Charlie Crist called for that grand jury investigation in 2009 following a string of high profile arrests of public officials and political figures. He noted at the time that he had been forced to remove 33 public officials from office in less than three years as governor because of varying instances of wrongdoing.

https://flaglerlive.com/florida-most-corrupt/#gsc.tab=0

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Harvard finds Florida among most politically corrupt states in U.S.

2015

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/191150-harvard-says-florida-one-of-americas-most-politically-corrupt-states/

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LIST: Florida among America's most corrupt states

Jun 11, 2014

https://www.wesh.com/article/list-florida-among-america-s-most-corrupt-states/4330300

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City too corrupt for Florida is spared

2014

Hampton, Florida CNN —

This worn-down, one stoplight town found redemption Friday night in a Baptist church named Victory. Cheers broke out in the pews as two Florida lawmakers abandoned their quest to strip Hampton of its cityhood.

The battle for the 89-year-old city’s survival began in February with the release of a scathing audit that read like a textbook of municipal malfeasance – finding 31 violations of local, state and federal codes, along with allegations of nepotism, double-dipping and personal use of city property.

Surviving was a sweet win for this city of just 477 residents – 476 if you don’t count the former mayor, who’s sitting up the road in jail on a drug charge.

Already a notorious speed trap, the place gained even more infamy as a symbol of small-town corruption when the legislators threatened last month to yank its city charter. Late-night comedians mocked Hampton as “too Florida, even for Florida.”

https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/29/us/hampton-florida-corruption-survival/index.html

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Florida Is The Most Corrupt State In The Country, According To Integrity Florida Study

2012

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/florida-most-corrupt-in-country_n_1577571

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Florida Corruption News Monitoring

https://uspolitics.einnews.com/news/florida-corruption

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A most disorderly court : scandal and reform in the Florida judiciary

2008

https://archive.org/details/mostdisorderlyco0000dyck/page/n9/mode/2up

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POLICE CORRUPTION PLAGUING FLORIDA

1986

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/03/us/police-corruption-plaguing-florida.html

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Police Corruption is becoming a pandemic too

2020

https://www.transparency.org/en/news/police-corruption-is-becoming-a-pandemic-too

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Aquakiki News Investigative News Videos & Reports

6/18 Vid-CROOKED Top Florida Cop RIC BRADSHAW-Owns MILLION$ In Real Estate-Ties To MAFIA In Palm Beach Mansions

https://aquakiki.wordpress.com/

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Lee County Florida Corruption

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LeeCountyFloridaCorruption/

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'Corruption in the Courts' Comment Brings New Troubles for South Florida Attorney | Daily Business Review

https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracywhatever/comments/v7xbdc/corruption_in_the_courts_comment_brings_new/

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Widespread CORRUPTION In Entire FLORIDA Collier County Judicial System - CORRUPT and INCOMPETENT Judges and Deputies Go Unchecked By FEDS & Local Media

2014

https://aquakiki.wordpress.com/category/koh-chang-island/

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Miami Mafia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Mafia

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Trafficante crime family

The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. After the death of Santo Jr. in 1987, the Tampa Mafia family has been controlled by Vincent LoScalzo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafficante_crime_family

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DeCavalcante crime family

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCavalcante_crime_family

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Bufalino crime family

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bufalino_crime_family

The Bufalino crime family, also known as the Pittston crime family, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre crime family, the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Mafia, or the Scranton Mafia, was an Italian-American Mafia crime family active in Northeastern Pennsylvania, primarily in the cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Pittston.

D'Elia the last boss

William "Big Billy" D'Elia became the new boss of the Bufalino crime family after the death of boss Russell Bufalino in 1994. He started his criminal career in the Bufalino family in the late 1960s as Bufalino's driver, after his late sister married the only son of capo James David Osticco. According to the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, D'Elia was placed in the crew of Caporegime Phillip Medico. D'Elia advanced through the ranks of the organization rather quickly, due to the natural attrition of members and indictments in the 1980s and 1990s. He took over the crime family's solid waste rackets and oversaw the traditional Mafia rackets run by the members and associates of the family. D'Elia also attempted to replenish the aging ranks of the family, with limited success. As boss, D'Elia worked with the other crime families in New York City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Southern Florida, and Los Angeles. In the 1990s, D'Elia was linked to a money laundering scheme involving numerous Northeastern Pennsylvania bookmakers, escort services, corrupt politicians, and associates of Russian organized crime. D'Elia was closely aligned with the Philadelphia crime family.[19] When Philadelphia crime family boss John Stanfa was imprisoned, D'Elia was one of Stanfa's choices as interim caretaker of the family.

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MAFIA LINK SEEN IN TRASH CARTING IN WEST FLORIDA

July 3, 1983

Florida has begun to crack down hard on racketeers from New York who, according to Federal and state prosecutors, are invading the garbage collection and disposal industry here on the state's west coast.

On Tuesday, the Florida Attorney General, Jim Smith, and the Pinellas County State Attorney, James T. Russell, jointly filed a civil antitrust suit against 20 individuals and 12 west Florida refuse hauling companies. At a news conference, the officials described the defendants as practitioners of ''mob-style control'' of the trash hauling industry in this booming retirement area. Threats and Beatings Cited

In January, the United States Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force in the Tampa area is to begin trying a major criminal racketeering case against 11 people, including five of those named in the state's civil antitrust suit. The five, identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as Mafia members or associates from New York, are accused of conspiring to seize control of garbage disposal here by ''getting tough.''

The indictment cites threats, extortion, beatings, pistol whippings and the burning of garbage trucks belonging to local trash haulers who resisted the mob takeover. One defendant is quoted in the indictment as saying these actions are ''operating as in New York.''

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/03/us/mafia-link-seen-in-trash-carting-in-west-florida.html

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Illegal waste disposal in the time of the mafia: a tale of enforcement and social well being (Italian Mafia)

2012

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09640568.2011.620324

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West Palm Beach Task Force Tackles Illegal Dumping, Over 255K lbs. of Waste Cleared and 14 Arrests Made

June 07, 2024

https://hoodline.com/2024/06/west-palm-beach-task-force-tackles-illegal-dumping-over-255k-lbs-of-waste-cleared-and-14-arrests-made/

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10 Businesses Supposedly Controlled by the Mafia

Dec 1, 2021

    Garbage Hauling/Waste Management
    Gambling
    Carpentry and Construction
    Wind Energy
    Real Estate
    Restaurants and Pizzerias
    Bars
    Pornography
    Music Recording
    Drugs

https://people.howstuffworks.com/10-businesses-supposedly-controlled-by-the-mafia.htm

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The Reason The Mob And The Garbage Industry Are So Connected

2021

https://www.grunge.com/632158/the-reason-the-mob-and-the-garbage-industry-are-so-connected/

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The Garbage Wars: Cracking the Cartel

1995

https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/30/business/the-garbage-wars-cracking-the-cartel.html

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Bergeron vs Waste Management trial nears; focus on legitimacy of $525-million recycling deal

2021

https://www.floridabulldog.org/2021/03/bergeron-vs-waste-management-trial-nears/

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Judge: Waste Management has rebutted crime-fraud allegations for now

January 2020

https://www.floridabulldog.org/2020/01/judge-waste-management-has-rebutted-crime-fraud-allegations-for-now/

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Tampa and the mob: From bolita to Trafficante

Nov. 16, 2022

TAMPA, Fla. - From the gangland days of the early 20th century to the 1960s and 70s gangsters, the mafia and Tampa have always been intertwined.

During its mid-century peak, organized crime controlled or had a hand in everything from gambling and prostitution to political corruption, election rigging, unions and more.

And Tampa was right in the middle of it.

On this episode of To The Point Already, anchors Rick Elmhorst and Roy De Jesus talk with organized crime writer Scott M. Deitche about Tampa's vivid mob backstory.

"The history of the mafia in Tampa is part of the history of Tampa," said Deitche, a Bay area-based writer who has written extensively about mafia history in Tampa. "(Mafia bosses) controlled politicians, elections and had hands in legitimate businesses."

The fabric of the Tampa's history is richly woven with stories of ruthless gangsters who first grabbed control of illegal bolita gambling and liquor distribution during Prohibition, executed rivals, controlled the narcotics trade and eventually broadened their influence across Florida and into pre-Castro Cuba.

Infamous in the city's lore is the "Era of Blood," when 25 gangsters were gunned down on the streets as Italian, Cuban and Anglo underworld factions battled for power from the 1920s to the '50s.

And a Godfather-like legend surrounds Tampa-born crime boss Santo Trafficante Jr., who took over the Sicilian Mafia in Florida from his father in 1954 and built a criminal empire that was the envy of mob families across the country.

Trafficante famously never spent a night in an American jail. Trafficante died in 1987 following a heart operation and the Tampa mob's heydey died with him.

Deitche's book "Cigar City Mafia" is a who's who of Tampa gangland activity. He followed that up with a book on Trafficante and also operates Mafia Tours in Ybor City.

He says it's the mafia characters that fascinate people to this day.

"It's part of the history of Tampa," he said. "I try to tell it as even-handed as I can. When I do the tour, when I talk to people and show them where this guy got whacked, they're eyes light up. People respond to that.

"I can talk about the minutiae of the political corruption but (people) are more interested in the big crime."

https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2022/11/15/tampa-and-the-mob-from-bolita-to-trafficante

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Mafia has long history in South Florida but new ways and new rivals

March 21, 2010

Ever since the ruthless Chicago mobster Al Capone bought a mansion on Miami's Palm Island in 1928, South Florida has been a destination for organized crime figures who want to relax and do a little business.

The rackets have evolved over the years — loan-sharking, extortion and gambling have largely given way to stock scams, money laundering and white-collar fraud — and the Italians and Jews of yore have been joined by rival contingents from Russia, Israel and South America.

But the culture of greed and violence has remained a constant.

Mobsters generally prefer to keep a low profile here, but La Costa Nostra — "this thing of ours" — is once more in the headlines, this time connected with Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein.

Upon his return from Morocco last November, Rothstein reportedly went to work for the FBI, even as agents were dismantling his $1.2 billion investment fraud.

Roberto Settineri, the alleged Sicilian mobster whom Rothstein is credited with bringing down this month, appears to have the same short fuse and propensity for violence, according to a Miami Beach police report, that has marked mob behavior for a century...

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/crime/2010/03/21/mafia-has-long-history-in/7152830007/

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New insight into the mob connections in Southwest Florida

November 1, 2018

Here in North Naples, the intersection of Orange Blossom Dr. and Bridgewater Bay Blvd. seems completely calm and quiet. But in April of 2017, the intersection is where law enforcement nabbed one of the men now accused of killing notorious gangster Whitey Bulger.

“He was protected by the FBI,” John Pollok said.

Pollok was the attorney for many of the mobs’ biggest names. These include Angelo the “Duck,” Johnny Dio Guardi and John Gotti. Pollok now lives in North Naples. He said, Whitey Bulger’s years as an informant made him vulnerable.

“His position apparently to inform on the mob,” Pollok said, “they didn’t appreciate it.”

“They,” as in organized crime. Freddy Geas, the man picked up by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office years ago and reputed Mafia hit man.

Pollok said the vicious attack on Bulger only a day after his transfer to the West Virginia prison is all part of the mob mentality.

“For may years the FBI protected him despite the fact — he was one bad dude,” Pollok said. “They don’t forget, but neither does the mob.”

But the mob did seem to remember Southwest Florida as a hiding ground, Pollok said.

“Oh yes!” he said. “They would. They like the weather like anyone else.”

But Pollok believes Bulger’s death signals a change.

“The Godfather,” Pollok said. “Those days we think of are over”

https://winknews.com/2018/11/01/new-insight-into-the-mob-connections-in-southwest-florida/

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Arrest of Gotti recalls Florida mob history

Sep 28, 2008

The ghosts of Tampa's old-time wiseguys awakened this summer when Mafia scion John "Junior" Gotti came to town in handcuffs.

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26928518

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The Bum Farto Files: Married to the Mob

April 30, 2020

Key West Fire Chief Joseph “Bum” Farto disappeared on Feb. 16, 1976, while awaiting sentencing for a drug trafficking conviction stemming from Operation Conch – a sting operation that found Farto allegedly selling cocaine from the city’s fire station. Bum Farto became the Jimmy Hoffa of Key West, and the island has swirled with rumors of his fate since he disappeared. David Sloan and Quincy Perkins have launched an unparalleled investigation into Chief Farto’s life, legends and disappearance in an attempt to find the truth. Each week they will share elements of their research here in the Key West Weekly while working to solve one of the greatest mysteries in the history of Key West.

https://keysweekly.com/42/the-bum-farto-files-married-to-the-mob/

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The Rise and Fall of the Tampa Mafia

November 21, 2023

https://playeatlas.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-tampa-mafia/

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Sunshine State Mafia (Book)

A History of Florida’s Mobsters, Hit Men, and Wise Guys

Pub Date: 3/5/2024

Author: Doug Kelly

https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813080482

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Mobsters in Miami: Five Crime Bosses That Made the Magic City Home

January 15, 2011

Known as the "mob's accountant," Meyer Lansky was financier who worked with golden era gangsters like Charles "Lucky" Luciano and childhood friend "Bugsy" Siegel. Though often portrayed as a secondary character in Hollywood mob hits, Lansky might have been the most influential crime boss of the entire Twentieth Century, helping...

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/arts/mobsters-in-miami-five-crime-bosses-that-made-the-magic-city-home-6506671

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Operation Gladio | How The Mob Financed The CIA's Secret Army

Jul 6, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k7YTFrmt84

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Florida Mobsters: From Prohibition to Prosecution

February 4, 2024

https://www.floridaman.media/florida-mobsters-from-prohibition-to-prosecution/

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Reputed mob captain gets prison in Fla. fraud case

Dec 16, 2008

https://www.indeonline.com/story/news/2008/12/17/reputed-mob-captain-gets-prison/42863460007/

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Who are Tampa's new mob leaders?

Published May 5, 1991

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1991/05/05/who-are-tampa-s-new-mob-leaders/

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Miami becomes 'Little Moscow': FBI says Russian mob eclipses Italian Mafia in South Florida

June 1, 2011

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393246/Russian-mob-eclipses-Italian-Mafia-South-Florida-FBI-says.html

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Florida's worst spies: Espionage comes to the Sunshine State

June 16, 2017

https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/floridas-worst-spies-espionage-comes-to-the-sunshine-state/2327447/

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Convicted hit man’s escape in Central Florida evokes mob’s ‘ruthless’ heyday in American city

April 9, 2022

https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/convicted-hit-mans-escape-in-central-florida-evokes-mobs-ruthless-heyday-in-american-city/

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Why Is the Mob Often Tied to the Garbage Industry?

May 23, 2012

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/30738/why-mob-often-tied-garbage-industry

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Why the Mafia Loves Garbage

Jan 11, 2008

Hauling trash and organized crime.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2008/01/why-does-the-mafia-get-involved-in-hauling-garbage.html

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Poisoning for Profit - The Mafia and Toxic Waste in America

1985

Annotation

Information from undercover investigations, hearings, taped conversations, confessions, and suppressed official reports documents organized crime's involvement in illegal toxic waste dumping and the ineffectiveness of government agencies responsible for regulating toxic waste disposal.

Abstract

A historic review chronicles organized crime's domination of the solid waste disposal industry in the Northeast and the illegal tactics used to eliminate competition and fix prices. The expansion of organized crime into toxic waste disposal is then detailed, with particular attention to the practice of dumping such wastes in areas not legally designated as toxic waste dump sites. Case studies of the consequences of such dumping are presented. Also described are the efforts of a few law enforcement officials to counter illegal toxic waste disposal and expose the payoffs, bribes, political favors, and collusion between organized crime, industry, and the government that hindered a concerted effort to stop illegal toxic waste dumping. Although much of the book focuses on illegal toxic waste dumping in the New York-New Jersey region, evidence of the same pattern in other States is also presented. The halting and sometimes obstructionist efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Carter and Reagan administrations regarding the regulation of toxic waste dumping are discussed. 56 references and a subject index.

https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/poisoning-profit-mafia-and-toxic-waste-america

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Toxic waste dumping by the 'Ndrangheta

The 'Ndrangheta, a criminal organization from Calabria, Italy, has been involved in radioactive waste dumping since the 1980s. Ships with toxic and radioactive waste were sunk off the Italian coast. In addition, vessels were allegedly sent to Somalia and other developing countries with toxic waste, including radioactive waste cargoes, which were either sunk with the ship or buried on land. The introduction of more rigorous environmental legislation in the 1980s made illegal waste dumping a lucrative business for organized crime groups in Italy. The phenomenon of widespread environmental crime perpetrated by criminal syndicates like the Camorra and 'Ndrangheta has given rise to the term "ecomafia".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_waste_dumping_by_the_%27Ndrangheta

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The Mob Is Secretly Dumping Nuclear Waste Across Italy and Africa

January 31, 2014

https://gizmodo.com/the-mob-is-secretly-dumping-nuclear-waste-across-italy-1513190243

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Mafia turncoat reveals sinking of ships with toxic waste in Med.

Malta implicated

September 16, 2009

https://timesofmalta.com/article/mafia-turncoat-reveals-sinking-of-ships-with-toxic-waste-in-med.273529

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Italian mafia boss says pollution turned him into a police informant

Oct 30, 2013

He knew the mafia's toxic-waste dumping would doom people to die from cancer, and he eventually felt bad enough to do something about it.

https://grist.org/living/italian-mafia-boss-says-pollution-turned-him-into-a-police-informant/

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The Italian Mob's Toxic Waste Dumping Is Giving People Cancer

January 4, 2016

https://www.vice.com/en/article/53dpvq/the-italian-mobs-toxic-waste-dumping-is-giving-people-cancer

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A Mafia Legacy Taints the Earth in Southern Italy

Jan. 29, 2014

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/world/europe/beneath-southern-italy-a-deadly-mob-legacy.html

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Recycling And The Mob

August 1, 2019

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/01/747170708/recycling-and-the-mob

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Garbage hauling cartels: the dark matter of organized crime

2022

https://mafiagenealogy.com/2022/10/01/garbage-hauling-cartels-the-dark-matter-of-organized-crime/

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Scientists uncover 'missing' plastics deep in the ocean

2/2/2022

FAU Scientists Uncover ‘Missing’ Plastics Deep in the Ocean

About 51 trillion microplastics are floating in the surface waters of oceans around the world. Originating from various types of plastics, these tiny fragments (less than 5 millimeters in length) pollute natural ecosystems. Hundreds of studies have surveyed plastic debris on the surface or near surface of the ocean. However, these studies only “scratch the surface,” and do not provide a complete inventory of what’s lurking beneath.

A study led by Florida Atlantic University is the first to unveil the prevalence of plastics in the entire water column of an offshore plastic accumulation zone in the southern Atlantic Ocean and implicates the ocean interior as a crucial pool of ‘missing’ plastics.

Results, published in the journal Global Change Biology , demonstrate that small microplastics are critical, underexplored and integral to the oceanic plastic inventory. In addition, findings show that weak ocean current systems contribute to the formation of small microplastics hotspots at depth, suggesting a higher encounter rate for subsurface particle feeders like zooplankton.

“Our study highlights the urgency for more quantification of the deep-ocean microplastics, especially the smaller size fraction, to better understand ecosystem exposure and to predict the fate and impacts of these microplastics,” said Tracy Mincer, Ph.D., senior author and an assistant professor of biology at FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and FAU Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College.

To gain a better mechanistic understanding of how plastics sink from the ocean surface beyond the mixed layer and ultimately to abyssal depths of the ocean, the researchers sampled plastic particles in the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre using in-situ high-volume filtration, Manta net and MultiNet sampling, combined with micro-Fourier-transform-infrared imaging.

They found that abundances and distribution patterns of small microplastics varied geographically and vertially due to the diverse and complex redistribution processes interacting with different plastic particles. They also observed large horizontal and vertical variations in the abundances of small microplastics, displaying inverse vertical trends in some cases. Small microplastics abundances in pump samples were more than two orders of magnitude higher than large microplastics concurrently collected in MultiNet samples.

“Small microplastics are different from large microplastics with respect to their high abundance, chemical nature, transport behavior, weathering stages, interactions with ambient environments, bioavailability and the release efficiency of plastic additives,” said Shiye Zhao, Ph.D., first author and a post-doctoral fellow at FAU Harbor Branch. “These distinct characteristics impact their environmental fate and potential impacts on marine ecosystems.”

https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/missing-microplastics-ocean.php

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Pollution Science X - Florida - (Pollution Science 101 - Florida) (Editor: Michael James Ross)

April 4th, 2024

PollutionScience101Florida.blogspot.com

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There Are 450 Serial Killer Suspects Traveling Across The US Right Now — Here's What The FBI Knows

Jun 18, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4_yNe5DClI

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FBI focusing on specific pool of suspects as part of Highway Serial Killings Initiative

Aug 1, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGQoyDUMybw

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What really brought down this human trafficking ring is they were abusing the powers of the Temple.

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