Michael Ralph Casey. (Photo credit: FBI)South Florida Attorney Pleads Guilty to Jumping Bond
Former Fort Lauderdale attorney Michael R. Casey has pleaded guilty to jumping bond. Instead of showing up for a court hearing in 2014 while facing fraud charges, Casey fled to Mexico, where he said he worked for years teaching English.
September 04, 2018 at 02:24 PM
3 minute read
A former South Florida attorney has plead guilty to violating the bond conditions set for him while pending trial in 2014.
Michael Ralph Casey, who had served as a partner at Berger Singerman as well as Adorno & Yoss, pleaded guilty Aug. 31 to the bond jumping charges filed against him. Casey, who also worked for prominent Miami law firm Greenberg Traurig between 2001 and 2007, now has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Nov. 15.
Related: The Fugitive: Once-Prominent Broward Lawyer Taught English While Hiding in Mexico
The most recent charges against Casey stem from a 2014 incident when he fled the U.S. during proceedings against him in federal court. The underlying case charged Casey with taking part in a $20 million investment fraud scheme relating to his former company, Commodities Online. Casey and other defendants were alleged to have deliberately misled investors and leading them to believe that Commodities Online was turning a profit.
In reality, it was not.
Read the minutes of Michael R. Casey's change of plea here:
According to the press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida's office announcing the recent plea, “Casey and his co-conspirators allegedly used material false and fraudulent representations and material omissions to obtain over $20 million from over 700 investors.”
Casey was indicted in 2012 on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit both. He violated the terms of his bond on April 21, 2014, when he rented a car in Tallahassee and drove more than 2,000 miles to Laredo, Texas. After failing to appear at a status hearing in Miami-Dade, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
Casey successfully evaded extradition to the U.S. for some time. After making an appearance at a July hearing arranging for his extradition to Florida from Houston, Texas, Casey testified to a federal judge in Miami on July 31 that he spent four years making a living in Mexico as an English teacher and translator.
Related: After Four Years on the Lam, Former In-House Lawyer to Be Extradited to Fla.
U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno is overseeing the case against Casey for failing to appear for a court hearing in the underlying case. The original fraud charges against Casey are being heard by K. Michael Moore, Chief U.S. District judge for the Southern District of Florida.
Casey's court-appointed counsel, attorney Victor Edward Rocha, told the Daily Business Review that his client “deeply regrets his conduct and expressed his remorse to the Court.”
“Mr. Casey led an exemplary life,” Rocha said. “And now at the age of 71, we hope that the Court will take his life history and his age into consideration prior to pronouncing sentence.”
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