Curt Anderson

November 04, 2008 | Daily Report Online

MIAMI AP - A federal jury convicted a wealthy Venezuelan Monday of acting as an illegal foreign agent who came to the U.S. to cover up a Latin American political scandal involving a cash-stuffed suitcase smuggled into Argentina.Jurors deliberated seven days - at one point indicating they were hopelessly deadlocked - before finding Franklin Duran, 41, guilty of foreign agent and conspiracy charges.

By CURT ANDERSON

4 minute read

January 27, 2010 | Daily Report Online

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. AP - A disbarred attorney who courted politicians and star athletes and led a flamboyant lifestyle even by South Florida standards pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges that he ran a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.Scott Rothstein, 47, pleaded guilty to all five counts against him, including wire fraud, money-laundering conspiracy and a racketeering charge commonly used to take down Mafia chieftains.

By CURT ANDERSON

4 minute read

September 08, 2008 | Daily Report Online

MIAMI AP - John J. Connolly was hundreds of miles away in 1982 when gambling executive John Callahan's bullet-riddled body was discovered in the trunk of his Cadillac at Miami's airport.The admitted shooter says he never met Connolly, the disgraced ex-FBI man at the heart of the agency's sordid dealings with Boston's Winter Hill Gang.

By CURT ANDERSON

5 minute read

February 08, 2008 | Daily Report Online

MIAMI AP A man found innocent by a jury of terrorism conspiracy accusations said Friday it was unfair for the Bush administration to deport him using virtually identical charges and denied ever posing a threat to the U.S. government."I feel like I'm being treated unjustly," said Lyglenson Lemorin by telephone from a detention center in Lumpkin, Ga.

By CURT ANDERSON

4 minute read

May 03, 2007 | Daily Report Online

MIAMI AP - A significant number of potential jurors in the Jose Padilla terrorism support case say they aren't sure who is responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, many because they don't trust the news media or U.S. government pronouncements."There are too many ifs, too many things going on," one male juror said.

By Curt Anderson

4 minute read

January 23, 2008 | Daily Report Online

MIAMI AP - U.S. prosecutors face steep legal hurdles if they appeal the prison terms imposed on Jose Padilla and two other men convicted of terrorism conspiracy and material support charges because of the broad powers federal judges enjoy in deciding sentences.Only a few years ago, judges were required to more closely follow federal sentencing guidelines and deviations were difficult.

By CURT ANDERSON

5 minute read

January 22, 2008 | Daily Report Online

MIAMI AP - Convicted terrorism conspirator Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to blow up a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a major city, was sentenced Tuesday 17 years and four months in prison on charges that don't mention those initial allegations.The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke marks another step in the extraordinary personal and legal odyssey for the 37-year-old Muslim convert, a U.

By CURT ANDERSON

5 minute read

May 06, 2009 | Daily Report Online

MIAMI AP - Paris Hilton may seem like the ultimate party girl, but she and her handlers swear she's really a globe-trotting workaholic who relentlessly plugs her projects and products.Defending herself against a lawsuit claiming she didn't do enough to promote the 2006 bomb "Pledge This," Hilton insists in a deposition in Miami federal court that she went the extra mile for the movie.

By CURT ANDERSON

4 minute read

June 02, 2008 | Daily Report Online

MIAMI AP - Surf the TV channels anywhere in America on a given weekday, and chances are you'll find a former Miami judge holding court.Miami now counts five former criminal court judges with TV shows, two of whom were nominated for a daytime Emmy this year. South Florida has more than its share of high-profile court cases and colorful characters, and the combination seems to make for must-see TV.

By CURT ANDERSON

5 minute read

November 16, 2010 | Daily Report Online

It used to be that every time a bank sold a mortgage, the county land recording office received a fee. It wasn't much-$30 or so-but then real estate boomed in the 1990s and banks pooled millions of mortgages into securities that investors bought and sold.One mortgage transaction became a dozen or more, and the tab grew ever larger.

By Curt Anderson and Michelle Conlin

7 minute read