Christine Armario

February 17, 2009 | Daily Report Online

SPRING HILL, Fla. AP - For three years, neighbors in a quaint, middle-class community scarcely saw the lanky 16-year-old boy who lived with his adoptive mother and her boyfriend.Now, they know why: According to authorities, the teen was brutally abused and held captive in his own home. Most recently, he'd been confined to a bathroom, locked from the outside and sealed with a piece of plywood over the window.

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

5 minute read

July 06, 2009 | Daily Report Online

TAMPA, Fla. AP - In a Tampa middle school locker room, prosecutors say four flag football players held down a younger teammate and committed a horrifying assault: Raping him with a hockey stick and a broom handle."Don't do it again or this is going to happen to you again," a witness says he heard one of the boys say in the April attack.

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

5 minute read

January 28, 2009 | Daily Report Online

TAMPA, Florida AP - Money manager Arthur Nadel owed investors $50 million �???37.8 million out of funds that apparently contained far less when his predicament worsened: A concerned partner insisted that an outside accountant review their books after a separate scandal erupted involving financier Bernard Madoff.

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO and LARRY NEUMEISTER

4 minute read

November 20, 2009 | Law.com

A South Florida jury has ordered Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million to a former smoker, agreeing that the tobacco company's negligence was the cause of her emphysema. The award for Cindy Naugle, 61, is the largest to date among 8,000 lawsuits filed in the state against tobacco companies. The award amounts to $56 million in compensatory and $244 million in punitive damages against Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group. The company said it will seek further review of the verdict.

By Christine Armario

3 minute read