STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE NEWSLETTER

STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE  NEWSLETTER  I want to thank the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) who recently honored me with their 2016 Elected Official of the Year in recognition of my leadership in human services and dedication to serving the community. The NASW is the largest organization of professional social workers in the world with more than 150,000 members in 56 chapters nationwide. The Miami-Dade Unit of the NASW, Florida Chapter, represents over 500 professional social workers in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The group is dedicated to providing humanitarian and financial assistance to individuals and communities in times of crisis. Always striving to make this community better has been my singular goal as State Attorney. Finding creative ways to improve our community and make it a safer place to live and raise our families has always been one of my guiding principles. I am proud that our pioneering successes have garnered state and national attention. It is an honor to have been chosen by such a dedicated group of true humanitarians to receive this recognition. I also want to express my gratitude to the Florida Association of Women Lawyers (FAWL) of Miami-Dade for selecting me for their 2016 Women Making History Award. FAWL's mission is to actively promote gender equality and the leadership roles of FAWL's members in the legal profession, judiciary and community at large. They are dedicated to actively promoting the advancement of women in the legal profession, expanding the leadership role of its members in the community at large, and promoting women's rights. Given FAWL's important goals, receiving the 2016 Women Making History Award is a mark of special recognition that I both appreciate and will always treasure.                                                           Sincerely, Keeping Our Streets Safe and Clean State Attorney's Office staff participated in a Keep Miami Gardens Beautiful event at Carol City Park hosted by Miami Gardens Vice Mayor Felicia Robinson and Councilman Erhabor Ighodaro.   SAO staff joined over  200 volunteers who walked the park and its surrounding areas picking up and disposing of litter to improve the attractiveness of the city and to create a healthier environment for all the residents of Miami Gardens. SAO staff worked hand in hand with these volunteers from other organizations, such as City Year, Kiwanis International, and the Miami Gardens Police Department. For more information regarding future events and to volunteer to Keep Miami Gardens Beautiful, call 786-279-1261. Offender Jailed in "Revenge Porn" Case Source: Florida Department of Motor Vehicles Antonio Giansante Garcia has pled guilty to providing accessibility of nude and sexually explicit photos to his ex-girlfriend's employer, supervisors and fellow workers. The goal of such actions was to embarrass the victim before her professional associates. Search warrant records indicated that Giansante's ex-girlfriend left him in 2012 "...due to his jealousy and possessiveness toward her", stating that the relationship was "unhealthy". During their long-term relationship, Giansante had taken a number of nude photographs and explicit videos without the victims consent. Coworkers, their husbands, and supervisors were all made aware of this material via 'friend' requests from fraudulent Facebook accounts set up by I.T. professional Giansante. The victim was a minor at the time the photos and video were taken which allowed a criminal prosecution to proceed. Prior to 2015, Florida law would not have supported criminal prosecution in that year had these same actions occurred and the victim been an adult. "Revenge Porn is a tool for a spurned former partner, spouse or lover to gain power and control over someone," commented State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "It is a means of breaking the will and destroying the reputation and self-image of someone the criminal claims to have loved. Mr. Giansante's plan for dominance was spoiled by this victim's courage in coming forward to prosecute this crime." State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and a coalition of victim advocates, including Miami-Dade FAWL, were able to convince the Florida Legislature last year to enact legislation which now makes "revenge porn" a crime. State Attorney Speaks at Black Nurses Assoc. Event State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle spoke to a sold-out crowd during The Miami Chapter of the Black Nurses Association's  first "Call to Action against Gun Violence" event.    The mission of the Miami Chapter of the Black Nurses Association is to investigate, define and determine what the health needs of African Americans are and implement change to make them available to African Americans and other minorities. Black Nurses have the understanding, knowledge, interest, concern, and experience to make a significant difference in the health care status of the African American Community.    Addressing the nurses about gun violence at the Betty T. Ferguson Center in Miami Gardens, the State Attorney commented, "I deeply believe that it takes a partnership of citizens, law enforcement and prosecutors to get these shooters off our streets. We cannot let our community be ruled by these neighborhood terrorists who want to manipulate us to fear them, to respect them, and worse, to give them what they want; the very power over life and death. To be silent is to give up all of one's hopes and dreams." Company Owner Charged For Defrauding Airport Source: Miami-Dade Corrections Department As a result of a joint investigation by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office and the Miami-Dade County Office of the Inspector General, Luis Alberto Ramirez, the former President, Vice President, Secretary, and the former sole owner of Aviation Main Services, Inc. (AMSI), a company performing services at the Miami International Airport (MIA), has been arrested and charged with Organized Scheme to Defraud over $50,000 and Grand Theft over $100,000, both    First Degree Felonies. Ramirez has since sold his majority interest in AMSI. Before this sale, both a Miami Dade County Audit and the subsequent joint criminal investigation found that AMSI/Ramirez had "misstated" its gross revenues reported to the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) and had underpaid its opportunity fees. The losses to MDAD total $376,809. While AMSI has provided the services at MIA since 1992, the investigation focused on losses from 2009 to 2015. AMSI is a private company approved through MDAD permits and/or lease agreements to provide ramp services to multiple cargo airlines and cargo clients at MIA. Once AMSI is hired by a client, the client calls AMSI for services prior to the arrival of a cargo aircraft. AMSI meets the aircraft and performs the requested services, which can include: "ground support services" such as aircraft towing and aircraft guidance in and out of parking positions.  The MDAD/AMSI permits and/or lease agreements required AMSI to pay specific fees, called opportunity fees, based upon AMSI's gross revenues. These opportunity fees, set by the Board of County Commissioners, are 7% of gross revenues derived from ground support services and 3% of gross revenues derived from line maintenance services. Mr. Ramirez admitted that he billed his customers the correct 7% opportunity fee for ground support services rendered. He then falsified records submitted to MDAD to make it falsely appear as if AMSI had performed line maintenance services instead. He then paid MDAD the lesser 3% fee and pocketed the 4% difference. "This case is a message for those who think they can cheat our local government and get away with it," noted State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "There will be a high personal cost for those nickels, dimes and dollars fraudulently siphoned from taxpayers, because you will be arrested and you will find yourself standing inside a jail cell. Investigators, like those at the Miami-Dade County Office of the Inspector General, and my prosecutors will see to that." Prosecutor of the Year The Miami-Dade Police Chiefs Association and the Law Enforcement Officers Charitable Foundation hosted its 16th Annual LEO Gala at Jungle Island. This annual event, often called the "Academy Awards" for law enforcement officers, is intended to recognize outstanding members of the law enforcement community for their excellence in their specific areas of work and expertise.    This year, Assistant State Attorney Isis Perez was selected for  the 2016 Prosecutor of the Year Award for her decades of service, past successes, and more recent successes as a member of the State Attorney's Office's Public Corruption Unit.    Isis began her career as an ASA in 1990 and has just completed her twenty-fifth year with the office. Her first assignment was in the misdemeanor division and she transferred thereafter to the felony trial divisions where she successfully served as a third, second, and first degree felony prosecutor. After these assignments, Isis was promoted to Chief of County Court where she supervised combined general misdemeanor, traffic misdemeanor, and domestic violence courts.    After her assignment to the Sexual Battery Unit, Isis was promoted to the position of Division Chief in the Felony Trial Divisions where she was assigned to investigate and prosecute homicides.    While she was a Felony Division Chief, Isis prosecuted a defendant who crashed into an on-duty Florida Highway Patrol Officer, seriously injuring her and ending her law enforcement career. That defendant was convicted at trial and while awaiting surrender for the commencement of his state prison sentence, escaped from the jurisdiction.    After over a decade of collaboration with local, state and federal law enforcement officers, that defendant was recently extradited from Panama and is now in state prison serving a ten-year state prison sentence. The former Trooper was present in the courtroom upon his return to the United States and before he was sent to state prison.    Isis has now been in the State Attorney's Office's Public Corruption Unit for over a decade. During that time, she has successfully prosecuted numerous public officials and employees. Most notably, Isis successfully prosecuted a law enforcement officer who tarnished his badge and dishonored all of us in law enforcement by committing an armed car-jacking using his assigned unmarked police car; that officer is currently in state prison.    Recently, Isis was also lead in the investigating prosecution team that identified a law enforcement officer who committed a grand theft and was dealing in stolen property; that officer is now also in state prison. More recently, Isis was the lead attorney in the investigation and prosecution of the owner and Chief Executive Officer of a multimillion dollar string of for-profit medical colleges. He was convicted of crimes involving election financing fraud. The schools have since been shuttered.    Finally, Isis recently completed a long term investigation and jury trial that resulted in the conviction of the Mayor of a major municipality in Miami-Dade County. That mayor had solicited and received payment from a private third-party source to advance claims made by a private developer.    Along the way, Isis has been lead trial counsel in dozens and dozens of jury trials and has served as mentor to countless young lawyers at the State Attorney's Office. State Attorney's Office Alumni Profile  Cynthia Everett, City Attorney, City of Fort Lauderdale Cynthia A. Everett doesn't remember exactly when it was that she realized that she wanted to be a lawyer. "One of my childhood friends says that I said it in elementary school but I don't remember. What I do remember is that in college, being a lawyer became my goal," she recalls.    Born in Connecticut, Ms. Everett moved around quite a bit. Her father was in the military and they lived all over the country including four years in Alabama and four years in New York. "You learn a lot from living in different places especially that people are pretty much the same wherever you go."    Eventually they moved to South Dade where Ms. Everett has family. She received her undergraduate degree in Government from Florida State University and later her Juris Doctorate from George Washington University School of Law in 1982.    "I had only applied to law schools in the DC area but when I graduated I wanted a change of scenery. So when The Miami State Attorney's Office came to interview at my school, I applied. I also wanted to be close to my family."    "Once hired, I thought that I was going to have the summer off to study for the Florida Bar Exam, but I was asked to start in the middle of June and work as a Certified Legal Intern in the Criminal Intake Department." Ms. Everett was working and studying during this time and after passing the Bar, she then joined the fall class when it began in August. "Jay Novick was our trainer and he was excellent. We were on the second floor of the Gerstein Building and it was a freezer in there. I used to have to wear gloves because it was so cold," she exclaims with a nostalgic laugh.    "The best opportunity for us as new prosecutors was to go and watch the senior attorneys that were legends in the legal community, in action during a trial. It was the best classroom ever." Ms. Everett recommends that young prosecutors do that and also feel free to pick the brains of the most senior attorneys. "You can learn from everyone," she advises. "I knew that Cynthia would always be a star, no matter what legal theater she chose to enter," commented State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. Her successes have not just been based on pure talent and intelligence alone, but also on her ability to quickly evaluate a situation, find those common points of agreement, and bring people together. No wonder Cynthia is so highly respected in South Florida's governmental spheres."    "When I was at the SAO, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle was counsel for the Grand Jury. Because of the nature of the Grand Jury process, there was always an air of mystery and a curiosity as to what was going on," she quips. "What Kathy has done over the years is amazing, especially in a field where women are judged differently than men. She came up through the ranks and is respected and supported by the community. Kathy is a great role model and she is also a friend." After her time in County, she went on to serve in Juvenile for a short time and then on to Felonies. During her time in the Felony Division, there was a case that still makes her emotional to this day. As she was recounting the story, she was moved to tears as the retelling of it brought it back to life for her.    "It was a felony murder case involving a mother and daughter as victims. The defendant attacked the mother as she got out of her car and tried to steal her purse. The daughter tried to help her mother. In her rush to help her mother, she didn't put the car in "park" and the mother ended up being crushed and killed by the moving car. It was so heartbreaking. Every so often I run into the daughter and we talk. I get quite emotional just thinking of the case."    Ms. Everett's passion is truly part of her strength and success as a lawyer. After her time at the SAO (1982-1989), she went on to practice Civil Litigation at the U.S. Attorney's Office (1989-1995) before going into private practice with a small firm (1995-1997). She returned to public service in 1997 as City Attorney for the City of Opa-Locka until 1999. Ms. Everett then opened up her own law practice (1999-2013) in which she counted the Village of Pinecrest as one of her clients. In 2013, Ms. Everett returned to government as City Attorney for the City of Fort Lauderdale.    Although Ms. Everett has had an illustrious career and various positions, she tells young prosecutors that being an Assistant State Attorney is the best job that they will ever have. "Enjoy your time there and make friendships because they will last a lifetime!"    Ms. Everett's advice to prosecutors: "Listen, watch and learn. I was given great advice and that is to be open and receive information and advice from senior prosecutors. You need to be yourself but adapt and grow."    "Remember that as prosecutors, jurors are judging you too; your appearance... your demeanor...everything. So especially regarding your appearance, it's better to err on the side of what is classic and professional. Also, you have to know your jury and adapt your message to best reach them."    "But most of all you need to walk into that courtroom being prepared and just own it." Courthouse Highlights Senior Trial Counsel (STC) Gail Levine & Assistant State Attorney (ASA) Chris Flanagan obtained a 1st Degree Murder conviction before Judge Tinkler-Mendez. ASAs Robert Guinn and Marbely Hernandez got a guilty verdict in a very complicated trial before Judge Pooler wherein the defendant was convicted in a multiple count Armed Sexual Battery/Armed Kidnapping case. STC Michael Von Zamft & ASAs Alicia Priovolos & Derek Ko obtained a  1st Degree Murder and Attempted Armed Robbery conviction before Judge Hersch. The Child Support Program (CSP) Division staff collected $2,712.90 for South Florida families at the most recent outreach event held at Notre Dame D'Haiti Church. In one case, CSP staff collected a lump sum of  $80,545.84 in child support arrears administratively. ASA Danelle Bernten represented a custodial parent who was able to receive a $33,062.71 lump sum in child support arrears from the non-custodial parent's 401k plan.