http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-director-mueller-announces-sac-appointments
Washington, D.C. July 07, 2003

FBI National Press Office (202) 324-3691
Washington, DC – FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III announced today four
selections to the position of Special Agent in Charge.
Weysan Dun, Special Agent in Charge, Springfield Division: Mr. Dun entered on duty with the Bureau in 1982 and has
served in the Chicago, New Haven, Omaha, and San Francisco field offices. During his career, Mr. Dun has developed expertise
in National Security, High Technology Theft, and Terrorism matters. In his current assignment as an Inspector, Inspection
Division, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C., Mr. Dun has displayed extensive organizational and analytical skills.
Charles D. Elder, Special Agent in Charge, Louisville Division: Mr. Elder entered on duty with the Bureau in 1982 and has
served in the Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Sacramento, and San Francisco field offices. During his career, Mr. Elder has
distinguished himself in the FBI’s White Collar Crime Program with an emphasis on Economic Crimes, Health Care Fraud,
Computer Crimes and Public Corruption. Most recently, Mr. Elder has served as Section Chief for the Operational Support
Section, Criminal Investigative Division, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C., where his extensive experience was an invaluable
asset.
Robert James Jordan, Special Agent in Charge, Portland Division: Mr. Jordan entered on duty with the Bureau in 1980 and
has served in the Boston, Newark, and San Diego field offices. During his career, Mr. Jordan has been involved in a number of
successful high profile Public Corruption investigations, culminating in his appointment to head the FBI’s national Public
Corruption Program. Currently, Mr. Jordan serves as the Assistant Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility, FBI
Headquarters, Washington, D.C., where he has re-engineered the office, and greatly streamlined the disciplinary process within
the FBI.
Carl Whitehead, Special Agent in Charge, Tampa Division: Mr. Whitehead entered on duty with
the Bureau in 1982 and has served in the Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans and San Antonio field
offices. During his career, Mr. Whitehead has directed several significant drug, public corruption and
violent crimes investigations. Most recently, as an Inspector, Inspection Division, FBI Headquarters,
Washington, D.C., Mr. Whitehead has significantly contributed to ensuring the operational and
administrative efficiency of the FBI.
Washington, D.C. July 17, 2007 
FBI National Press Office (202) 324-3691
Steven E. Ibison has been named Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI’s Tampa Division.
Director Robert S. Mueller III appointed him to this position to replace retiring SAC Carl Whitehead
Jr. Most recently, Ibison served as an inspector in the Inspection Division.
Ibison entered on duty as a special agent of the FBI in July 1988. Upon completion of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico,
Virginia, he was assigned to the Albuquerque Division, Gallup Resident Agency, were he investigated Indian Country and violent
crime matters. In 1991, Ibison was transferred to the Houston Division, Bryan-College Station Resident Agency, were he was
assigned to white collar, violent crime, and drug investigations. In June 1997, he was promoted to supervisory special agent in
the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., were he had program management responsibilities
for significant drug investigations occurring along the Southwest border.
In June 1999, Ibison was designated a field supervisor in the Indianapolis Division, Merrillville Resident Agency, where he
supervised white collar, violent crime, and drug investigations occurring in northern Indiana. In January 2003, he was promoted
to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the San Antonio Division, McAllen Resident Agency, where he provided oversight for all
the FBI's investigative programs along the U.S. border with Mexico from Brownsville, Texas, to Del Rio, Texas. In June 2005,
Ibison was promoted to the ranks of the Senior Executive Service by Director Mueller and assigned as an inspector in the
Inspection Division. As an inspector, Ibison led inspection teams in the review of FBI field divisions, FBI Headquarters divisions,
legal attache offices, and critical shooting incidents.
Born and raised in Santa Paula, California, Ibison earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Fresno State University in 1983.
He began his career as a police officer in Weatherford, Texas in 1983, and in 1987 earned a Masters degree in public
administration from Tarleton State University in Stephensville, Texas. Ibison and his wife, Beverly, are the parents of four
children.
These files were downloaded on 1-11-2012 - the night before they had Shawn come on from
Largo and look at the latest I added to the lies & alibi's page. The damaged Road surface pic,
The talk about him getting a citation for a loud muffler, then fixing the car & selling it three
weeks after getting to FL. Plus the pic. of drag marks that I said could have been made by a
movers dolly, plus the cottages back door shot on 2-7-2002 & another posted by a local on 22-2002 on crimenews2000,com proving Frazier is lying about picking up or dropping off
anything through that doorway like he testified to.
1-11-2012 8:06AM (0) No Visitors but 1 Keyword and Files downloaded
Keyword
judge gaston fernandez of hillsborough county complaints
Page
No data available for this date range.
Total
Page
No data available for this date range.
Referrals
Percentage
0
100.00
Requests Avg. Time
Count
1
Req %
File
/AdditionalDocuments/MichaelOkeefeDA/CapeDACaughtUpInFederalProbe.doc
/AdditionalDocuments/PeterManso/WickedLocal-RobPhelpsInterviewPeterMansoTalksToTheBannerAboutHisNewBook-7-13-2011.doc
/AdditionalDocuments/RobertGeorge/AssociateInLawyersAllegedSchemeIDd3-25-2011-Updated.doc
/AdditionalDocuments/RobertGeorge/CapeCodMurderMobBossSalemmeDeal-4-14-08.doc
/AdditionalDocuments/ShawnMulvey-MSP-7-1-05/SM-7-28-08-Large-Taken5-8-08.jpg
/Bulger/NPR-LegislatorAimsToRegulateFBIBehavior-9-3-2008.doc
/InvestigativeChronology/limonefinalalljuly26.doc
/ProvableEvidences/LettersToFromOfficials/LettersTo-From-FBIDirMueller/TampaSAC-StevenEIbison.doc
Percentage
100.00
Time %
Requests
Percentage
1
12.50
1
12.50
1
12.50
1
12.50
1
12.50
1
1
12.50
12.50
1
12.50
http://www.woodwardlaw.com/foreclosurenews/erincollinscullarobeinginvestigatedbyherbossattorneygeneral
Erin Collins Cullaro Being Investigated by her Boss The
Attorney General
posted May 9, 2010 4:37 PM by Bill Trudelle [updated Jun 6, 2010 12:50 PM]
Erin Collins Cullaro is a former employee of the Echevarria Law Group now known as The Florida
Default Law Group and now acting as an expert witness for Florida Default.
Erin Collins Cullaro now works for the The Florida Attorney Generals office in the economic crime division, a division of
the Attorney General that is charged with the intake of complaints against Cullaro’s former employer, The Florida Default
Law Group. William Trudelle, a long time mortgage professional, rallied against the activity of Florida Default dating back
to 2004. Trudelle filed a complaint at the request of the office and never understood why his detailed complaint never
received any attention, until he discovered that Cullaro, who was assigned to Trudelle’s complaint, actually worked for the
very people who were the subject of Trudelle’s RICO and Racketeering allegations. The current Cullaro's investigation
started because of her multiple different mysterious signatures appearing on Florida Default documents.
Trudelle’s complaint named several high ranking members of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers (FAMB), their
CPA Morris Berch, President Didier Malagies, Lawyer Anthony Woodward, all as systematically performing
mortgage fraud and hiring known convicted drug traffickers as loan officers (a fact proven 3-years
later by the Miami Herald). Berch lost his CPA license in 2004 but maintained his membership with the FAMB and his
Mortgage Broker license til 2009. Malagies and Woodward were terminated from doing FHA loans in 2005 but kept his
mortgage brokers license. Woodward was suspended from practicing law for filing tens of thousands of false affidavits for
The Florida Default Law Group. Trudelle states “it all makes sense now, the very person who was suppose to investigate
these crimes used to work for Florida Default and is currently helping them commit these crimes”. Trudelle references
court filings that prove Erin Collins Cullaro took over doing the same illegal activity that got Anthony Woodward
suspended. Trudelle also references his June 2009 filings with the Second District Court of Appeals that named Erin
Collins Cullaro. Trudelle comments, “Its a shame I had to wait until lawyers like Matthew D. Weidner, Esq and Ice Legal
discovered what i always knew, I'm glad they kept the pressure on, perhaps now my five year appeal floating in limbo will
finally be resolved favorably”.
Trudelle claims soon after he filed his RICO and Racketeering complaint, associated with hundreds of millions in
damages and penalties regarding Anthony Woodward and THe Florida Default Law Group, he was the subject
of; stalking, physical attacks, death threats, and frivolous lawsuits by judgment proof drug
addicts verifiably associated with the parties within Trudelle’s complaint. Trudelle had filed
complaints with the AUS Attorney Denise Barnet, FBI area chief Carl Whitehead, State Attorney Mark Ober,
Florida Attorney General and the Department of Financial Regulation Bob Tedcastle. "Soon after I discussed my case with
Cullaro the Department of Finance dropped their 8 month investigation into my complaint, why did so many Floridians
have to suffer," Trudelle asks?
Soon Trudelle was brought to trial on multiple battery charges filed by his adversaries, one instance Trudelle was actually
attacked by a violent lunatic with a long criminal history, where the eye witnesses vouched that Trudelle was attacked, yet
the State Attorney Mark Ober filed charges against Trudelle. The charges were dropped on the day of trial. The other
instance was by Anthony Woodward who Trudelle testified, “Woodward had put out a credible death threat against me
and my wife and the State’s Attorney had failed to investigate or protect us in the past, he took the word of a know lunatic
over ey-witness and me”. Woodward was even caught threatening Trudelle in the witness area at trial stating “I am
pursuing this in case I have to blow Trudelle away some day, I want the paper trail”, evidence kept from the jury. Mark
Ober’s entire case against Trudelle was, "William Trudelle attacked Anthony Woodward in his office while he was working
Judge Gaston Fernandez
as an attorney suing Trudelle". Prior to trial
ruled that Trudelle was not
allowed to introduce that Anthony Woodward was actually suspended from practicing law on the day in question (a felony)
who was suspended for the very allegations of Trudelle’s RICO complaint against Woodward. Trudelle was also
precluded from proving that any lawsuit was won by Trudelle 14 months prior. Judge Fernandez then ruled Trudelle was
entitled to a jury instruction on self-defense, then failed to charge the jury. The case has been on appeal for five years
because the day after trial Mark Ober removed all the evidence from the file, and the exculpatory evidence has
disappeared completely.
Trudelle bought Woodward’s expired domain www.WoodwardLaw.com plus www.FloridaBarCard.com to chronicle
Florida’s foreclosure fraud, the Florida Bar’s inadequacy to stop unethical lawyers ,and the inappropriate power lawyers
hold.
Courthouse Inquiry Ends With No Sign Of Corruption
By Elaine Silvestrini and Thomas W. Krause
The Tampa Tribune
September 8, 2006
TAMPA - No officials at the Hillsborough County Courthouse will be charged with any crimes at the
conclusion of a lengthy investigation into possible corruption.
Carl Whitehead, special agent in charge of the Tampa office of the FBI, said: "I am very confident that
we have conducted a thorough and exhaustive investigation into these allegations. We were not able to
substantiate those allegations. I believe the public should feel comfortable and have a sense of confidence
that they can deal with their state court system. I have no information that would indicate otherwise."
U.S. Attorney Paul Perez said Thursday: "Bottom line, is that the FBI and the FDLE over the last number
of years received a lot of complaints, leads, allegations, and they did their due diligence in running out
each one of those, and that took time."
Perez wrote a letter to Hillsborough Chief Judge Manuel Menendez Jr. on Aug. 29, saying, "The investigation
has concluded with our assessment that no current judicial officer or court employees engaged in any alleged
wrongdoing and that there was no credible evidence of 'courthouse corruption' within the 13th Judicial Circuit."
Perez said Thursday that the investigation also cleared former judges and courthouse employees.
Menendez said he hopes the letter will assure the public that there's no corruption at the courthouse.
"I would really like this to be the last chapter of that saga," he said.
Case Predated Investigators
Perez said the corruption investigation, which began before he took office in March 2002, really involved a
series of unrelated incidents that were "all looked at by the same group of federal or state investigators."
"Whenever a lead or tip was given, it would go to them," Perez said. "To me this was unfortunate, because most
of these [cases] stood on their own."
Whitehead said the investigation, which also predates his tenure, was an umbrella investigation into
several similar allegations involving people who traveled in the same circles. But he said the allegations of
wrongdoing were unrelated in that they didn't involve people who were accused of committing crimes
together.
The way the investigation was set up, Whitehead said, "everything that came in that was remotely
connected was kind of put in under this umbrella."
Because he was not involved in the beginning, Whitehead said he wasn't sure of the thinking behind that
approach. "Maybe there was some good reason to do that," he said. "Tangentially, they were somewhat
related, but not in the way that you would think of in an investigation."
Whitehead said the investigation started in 2002 as a spinoff of an organized crime case in the Sarasota
area. He said a subject in that investigation gave agents information about possible wrongdoing at the
Hillsborough County Courthouse. The source, whom Whitehead wouldn't identify, mentioned former
sheriff's Maj. Rocky Rodriguez, who would later figure prominently in stories about the investigation.
Perez said the only indictment resulting from the investigation was of former postal union chief Lenin "Lenny"
Perez - not related to the U.S. attorney - who was accused of accepting kickbacks from health care providers for
referring union workers' compensation claims to them.
Lenin Perez, past president of Local 599 of the National Association of Letter Carriers in Tampa, was sentenced
in May to 21 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a single felony charge of receiving a kickback.
Under a plea deal, federal prosecutors dismissed 32 other charges. His co-defendant, private investigator Joseph
Anthony Gonzalez, was sentenced to probation.
Whitehead said Lenin Perez was investigated as part of the larger investigation because authorities initially
received allegations that he was involved in wrongdoing at the courthouse. "That was not substantiated,"
Whitehead said. "What was substantiated was that he was involved in other scams."
Menendez said he has spoken to Paul Perez about the courthouse investigation on several occasions. Typically,
Menendez said, federal officials do not comment publicly on investigations. In this case, because there were
public statements, Menendez said he made a special request to Perez.
"All I ask, in fairness to everyone involved, is that we announce when it is concluded," Menendez said.The
closed investigation, he said, shows that corruption did not exist. "If they found anything, they would have
brought charges," he said.
Chief Judge Criticizes Tribune
Menendez had harsh words for the local media, The Tampa Tribune specifically.
The Tribune strung together many unrelated events and tried to "paint a picture of some giant entity" of
courthouse corruption, Menendez said.
He said federal agencies did investigate several allegations regarding courthouse officials.
"That doesn't mean there was a massive investigation into corruption at the courthouse," he said.
Although the investigations were minor and unrelated, Menendez said, the Tribune consistently pointed to them
as evidence of one large corruption investigation.
At least three sworn affidavits acquired by the Tribune mention an investigation into corruption at the
Hillsborough County Courthouse.
In 2003, Circuit Judge Gregory P. Holder provided an affidavit in which he says he has taken a stand against
courthouse corruption. That same year, a Tampa police detective and a former FBI agent said in sworn
affidavits that they worked with Holder as part of an investigation into corruption at the courthouse.
The affidavits were all filed as part of a separate investigation into Holder. The Judicial Qualifications
Commission investigated whether Holder had plagiarized in a paper he wrote as an Air Force Reserve officer in
1997. Holder was cleared of that allegation.
Last year, during a JQC hearing, Holder said under oath that he assisted in a federal investigation into former
chief Judge F. Dennis Alvarez, former Circuit Judge Robert H. Bonanno and former Hillsborough County
sheriff's deputy Rodriguez.
Menendez Dismissed Holder's Testimony.
"I'm not going to disagree with him," Menendez said. "I don't have any details about what he was or was not
doing."
Holder declined to comment on the closed investigation.
Barry Cohen, Alvarez's lawyer, said: "I think Mr. Perez is to be commended for sending a letter advising the
courts that an investigation has been concluded. A person spends a lifetime building a reputation. Most of the
time, it's more important that anything we have. When there is a suggestion in the media that someone has been
involved in criminal or corrupt activity it is a serious matter and not to be taken lightly. … We're glad it's over
with."
Bonanno, who is now in private practice, said no one from the FBI or FDLE has ever contacted him about any
investigation.
"It's really nice to see that the Greg Holder flight of fantasy has finally landed," Bonanno said. "I don't need any
vindication. No one has ever accused me of anything."
Bonanno was discovered after hours in July 2000 inside Holder's darkened chambers. He resigned in January
2002 as the state Legislature was about to commence an impeachment hearing.
Rodriguez, who now works as a private investigator, expressed relief that the investigation has closed, but
frustration that it took so long. A former major with the sheriff's office, Rodriguez turned aside an undercover
informant's attempt to give him a bribe in 2002.
Rodriguez was forced to retire from the sheriff's department in 2003 for making thousands of dollars worth of
unauthorized calls on his department-issued cell phone.
"I dedicated my entire adult life to law enforcement," he said Thursday. "I don't wish those allegations or those
innuendos on my worst enemy."
Judge Asks That JQC Repay Fees
Gregory Holder Is Innocent
after Spending $1.8-million to Fight Plagiarism Charges.
By Colleen Jenkins
Times Staff Writer
June 9, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder asked Florida Supreme Court justices on
Thursday to do something they never have done before:
Order the Judicial Qualifications Commission to pay attorneys' fees for judges who beat the rap on misconduct
charges, starting with him.
Holder racked up about $1.8-million in legal fees during his successful two-year fight against plagiarism
charges.
Justices didn't rule on the motion or talk specifics Thursday, but they questioned whether reimbursing Holder
would serve a public purpose.
"There's not a pot of money to keep going back to fund these things," Justice R. Fred Lewis said.
Even if they granted Holder's motion, justices said, the power to actually pay his legal bill would rest with the
state Legislature.
Holder made the unusual request last year after a hearing panel dismissed charges that he plagiarized portions of
a 1998 research paper for a course at MacDill Air Force Base.
It was the first time since 1987 that the JQC dismissed charges against a judge after a trial.
Complicating matters, the constitutional amendment that regulates JQC procedure permits the prevailing party
to recover legal costs for things such as copies and experts but doesn't address attorneys' fees.
David Weinstein, Holder's lead attorney, argued that the judge was entitled to recoup the fees because he spent
his own money fighting charges related to the performance of his official duties. Holder thinks his participation
in a federal probe of courthouse corruption prompted the anonymous plagiarism allegation.
The judge's victory helped restore a good judge to the bench and the public's faith in the judiciary, Weinstein
said during the hearing.
"It's a common law right" to be reimbursed at public expense, he said.
Weinstein said judges have two inadequate options when faced with public JQC probes: resign or risk financial
ruin mounting a rigorous defense. Holder said he's paid about $100,000 of the total cost to hire attorneys from
three law firms to depose dozens of witnesses and several experts from around the country.
"A blanket rule covering judges' fees is a far more workable rule," Weinstein said. Because judges rarely
prevail, the rule would not put undue burden on the JQC, he said.
Charles Pillans III, who prosecuted the case for the JQC, said the issue wasn't nearly that broad.
He urged justices to focus on the "very compelling circumstantial evidence" against Holder, saying the case was
driven solely by the allegedly cribbed paper and not the judge's whistle-blowing ways.
"This case did not arise out of Judge Holder's official duties,'' he said.
Chief Justice Barbara Pariente wondered whether holding the JQC liable for judges' legal fees would make its
members less willing to prosecute future misconduct cases.
The Holder case has significant ramifications for the ethics body, JQC executive director Brooke Kennerly said.
"It's very important how they decide," said Kennerly, who attended the oral arguments. "Because I think the
independence of the JQC and its duties can be affected."
The court did not set a deadline for a decision, which requires four votes from the panel of six. Justice Charles
T. Wells recused himself from Thursday's proceedings because his daughter recently took a job with Pillans'
Jacksonville firm, Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters said.
A ruling siding with Holder would mark only the start of his quest. The judge's attorneys have asked the
Supreme Court to appoint a special master to decide how much the judge is entitled to.
Then Holder likely would have to bring his request to the Legislature, which has approved only one claims bill
of any kind since 2001.
State Rep. Kevin Ambler, a Lutz Republican who served with Holder in the Air Force and Reserve, said after
the hearing that legislators may need to create a mechanism for judges seeking such reimbursement.
Judge Holder Aims for Spot on Federal Bench
Cleared of Plagiarism Charges by a Judicial Review Board,
He Seeks a Seat in Federal Court in Jacksonville.
By Candace Rondeaux
St. Petersburg Times
January 5, 2006
TAMPA - Last year, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder was facing the possibility of being booted
from the bench. This year, he's looking for a new, higher profile judgeship.
Six months after the state's Judicial Qualifications Commission cleared him of plagiarism charges, Holder, 52,
has applied to be a Florida federal district judge. A 10-year veteran of state court, Holder is one of 25 candidates
being considered for a slot in the Middle District of Florida.
Reached at his office Wednesday, Holder declined to comment.
Florida Judicial Nominating Commission chairman Micky Grindstaff confirmed, however, that Holder's
application was one of several received last month. The appointee would replace retiring Jacksonville federal
Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger but would initially be assigned to work in federal court in Fort Myers, Grindstaff
said.
"This is a very strong pool of applicants. We have a number of state court judges and we have half a dozen or
more federal magistrates. There are several folks with lengthy federal experience," Grindstaff said. If
nominated, Holder would not be the first Hillsborough judge to make the leap to the federal judgeship. Several
former state circuit judges now work in Tampa's federal courts, including U.S. District Judges Elizabeth A.
Kovachevich, Richard Lazzara, James D. Whittemore and James Moody Jr.
But applying for a federal judgeship is a rigorous process. In addition to providing letters of reference, work and
educational history and several writing samples, applicants undergo a screening process of interviews and a
detailed background check.
Not long ago, a background check might have proved a problem for Holder. Long known as a squeaky clean
whistleblower, Holder recently faced allegations that he had plagiarized portions of a research paper by a fellow
Air Force reservist. After a lengthy and expensive trial, the JQC cleared Holder of the plagiarism charges in
June.
But the controversy didn't end there. A month after the charges were dismissed, Holder's attorneys filed a
motion asking the JQC to pay his nearly $2-million legal bill. Although the JQC recommended paying about
$140,000 in costs it balked at using public funds to pay all of Holder's legal fees. The Florida Supreme Court
has yet to rule on who should pay.
Ironically, one of Holder's competitors for the federal post is JQC chairman James R. Wolf. A judge in the
state's 1st DCA, Wolf has twice had a hand in JQC investigations into charges against Holder in recent years.
A select pool of candidates will be interviewed Jan. 25. Following that, committee members will send three or
more names to Sen. Mel Martinez, who will review nominees with Sen. Bill Nelson.
After the bipartisan review, a name will be forwarded to President Bush for official nomination and
confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
Grindstaff said a nominee's name could be forwarded to President Bush as early as spring.
State Justices To Hear Holder Case
By John W. Allman
Tampa Tribune
December 5, 2005
TAMPA - -- As 2005 comes to a close, the legal saga of Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Gregory P. Holder
does not.
Holder was cleared this year by the Judicial Qualifications Commission of charges that he plagiarized a military
research paper in the late 1990s and lied about the work. He has said he should not have to pay $1.77 million in
legal fees he accrued during his defense.
Now the state Supreme Court will decide who gets the bill. The court agreed Friday to hear arguments in 2006.
Holder's legal team must submit a brief to the court stating its position by Dec. 28. The JQC will have 20 days
to respond.
"We're very pleased," David Weinstein, Holder's lead attorney, said Friday. "It certainly shows the Supreme
Court is interested in the issue and is prepared to take a hard look at the merits."
Charles Pillans III, the JQC's special counsel in the case, said Friday he had not received the court order.
The JQC filed charges against Holder in July 2003.
By the time the case reached trial in June, Holder was revealed as an informant for the FBI and Florida
Department of Law Enforcement in a corruption investigation at the courthouse, and a former assistant U.S.
attorney in Tampa was accused of crafting a labyrinthine plot to discredit the judge.
Holder was cleared by unanimous decision following six days of testimony.
This story can be found at: http://www.tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBJ5G0GRGE.html
Judge Deserves Reimbursement
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
August 18, 2005
The agency that polices Florida judges sure thought Hillsborough Circuit Judge Greg Holder's fitness on the
bench was at issue when it charged him with cribbing a paper for an Air Force course. But after spending two
years prosecuting a case it lost, the state Judicial Qualifications Commission makes the reverse argument for not
paying his legal bills. This injustice compounds the wrong-headed decision to prosecute. Holder deserves
reasonable reimbursement, and the JQC needs to fix the way it enforces judicial ethics.
Holder hired three law firms to defend against charges he plagiarized a research paper the then-Air Force
reservist submitted for work required for a promotion to colonel. The JQC dismissed the charges in June after a
week of testimony before a six-member board that raised doubts about the allegations. Holder's original paper
was never found - a key lack of evidence that should have scuttled the case. The origin of the alleged copy was
so weak, the JQC, in a rare move, cleared Holder only days after the testimony ended.
Such a sweeping rebuke of the judgment to prosecute should have made the JQC sensitive to Holder's request
for legal fees. While the panel suggested it would repay at least some of his nearly $141,000 in court costs, it
balked at paying roughly $1.8-million additionally in legal fees. Holder is not entitled, at public expense, to the
priciest defense his team can assemble. But he certainly is entitled to recover some costs the state imposed on
him and his family. His job and reputation, after all, were at stake. The JQC caught itself in a tangle. It cannot
dodge paying fees by arguing, as it tries, that "there is not a sufficient nexus" between the paper and Holder's
duties as a judge when it made the opposite case to justify charging him. And if there is no nexus, what
authority did the JQC have to initiate prosecution in the first place? Rather than prolong a spectacle that
undermines support for an agency that has cleaned up the Hillsborough judiciary, the state should offer to pay
some reasonable fees and learn from the experience. We know who is watching the judges. Who is watching the
JQC?
JQC Needs To Pay Up For Gamble With Weak Case
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times Columnist
August 16, 2005
If the case against Gregory Holder had been an act on American Idol, Simon Cowell would have
sneered it off the stage.
If the evidence against Holder had to compete on Survivor, it would have been voted out in the first
episode.
As things really went, the ethics case against Holder, a circuit judge in Tampa, was thrown out
after a panel actually heard the evidence (or the lack thereof).
To sum up: The case stunk.
TROXLER
Now Holder is asking to be paid $1.77-million for his legal bills. But the same state outfit that prosecuted him
in the first place says he shouldn't get a dime.
We oughta pay him something.
Admittedly, $1.77-million is one big fat lawyer bill. The right way to go is to appoint an outside party, pore
through the records and arrive at a figure.
As you might recall, Holder was accused of plagiarism for a paper he wrote in the U.S. Air Force Reserve back
in the 1990s.
It was a bizarre case. Holder's accuser popped up with a crudely faked paper that supposedly had been slipped
under his door. Holder's defense was that it wasn't the same paper he turned in, and that he was being framed.
Since nobody ever found Holder's original paper, there was no way to tell whether the alleged copy was
genuine. It didn't look genuine though. It sure looked like a clumsy, artless fake, with portions pasted onto some
of the pages, so that the margin notations didn't even match what was on the page.
Besides, Holder was a proud, pain-in-the-neck, straight-arrow Boy Scout in every other way, even squealing on
other judges for their own ethics problems. It was extremely unlikely that he would suddenly turn into a cheater,
especially in the military service of which he was so proud.
Could it be that the JQC's eagerness to prosecute was influenced by ill will? After all, Holder was a constant
complainer and a snitch about the state court system. He was such a good source for the FBI that at one point
the feds even gave him his own cell phone.
As for the lawyer bills:
Interestingly, there is no cut-and-dried rule in Florida on the payment of legal defense fees for public officials.
In a 1990 case, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that it depends on whether public officials were defending
themselves on charges related to their official duties.
Here, the JQC contends that the charges relate to Holder's military service, not to any action he took as a judge.
Yet Holder faced ethics charges only because the JQC decided to file them. He was not accused of any crime,
but of violating the canons of ethics that apply to Florida judges. The charges against him existed precisely
because of his status as a judge, whose "official duties" included obeying those rules.
As a second line of argument, the JQC mounts a "poor man" defense against Holder's claim, pointing out that it
is greater than the commission's annual budget. The JQC warns that handing out big pots of money for legal
fees could hurt the commission's ability to pursue future cases.
To this latter argument, I would reply, using a technical legal term: tough noogies.
Holder is the total and clear winner in this case. He is the wronged party. The JQC ought not be able to file a
weak case against him, drag him through two years of suffering, lose in a slam-dunk ruling and then walk away
whistling.
If anything, there ought to be an investigation into the JQC itself, to see whether its members violated their
oaths of office by pursuing a prosecution with insufficient evidence. If the commission suffers a kick in the
budget as a consequence, well, fine.
For sure, the JQC is usually the good guy when it comes to judicial misconduct. We in the Tampa Bay area
have plenty of experience with being rescued from bad judges by the JQC. But in this case, the commission
went oddly awry. Holder is entitled to reasonable legal fees.
Judicial Panel Rejects Reimbursing Holder's Fees
By John W. Allman
Tampa Tribune
Aug 10, 2005
TAMPA - Circuit Judge Gregory P. Holder was not acting as a judge when
he wrote a military research paper he later was alleged to have plagiarized,
and therefore he should not be paid for his attorney fees.
That was the response this week of the Judicial Qualifications Commission
to Holder's request to the Florida Supreme Court last month for $1.77
million he says he owes three law firms that handled his successful defense.
The court will take the matter under advisement and determine what the
next step will be, said Craig Waters, a public information officer for the
high court.
Holder, at the time an Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel, was accused of
copying passages from a peer's research paper during a 1997-98 military
class he took while seeking promotion to colonel. He also was alleged to
have violated judicial ethics by certifying the work as his own.
The JQC, which polices Florida's judges, dismissed charges against Holder
on June 23. The panel found that while troubling, the evidence failed to
meet the level needed to clearly and convincingly establish guilt.
Holder's motion for fees cites Florida case law that states public officials
are eligible for reimbursement of fees at public expense if the case
coincides with their official duties and serves a public purpose.
Charles Pillans III, the JQC's special counsel in the Holder case, in a
response Monday, said that while Holder's case served a public purpose,
there is no correlation between his job as a judge and his writing a research
paper.
Pillans also said that Holder's request ignores a Florida Supreme Court
ruling that costs accrued during a JQC proceeding ``must be kept within
strict bounds'' so the JQC is not deterred ``from initiating a prosecution or a
judge from defending against a charge.''
The same ruling, Pillans wrote, states that costs are not to include attorney
fees.
Holder also has asked for reimbursement of court costs totaling $140,870.
The JQC hearing panel, in a separate response filed Monday, asked the
court to refer that issue back to the panel to determine the exact amount of
costs to be awarded.
Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915.
This story can be found at:
http://www.tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBDP6137CE.html
Holder's Pricey Defense
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Aug 3, 2005
Hillborough County Circuit Judge Gregory Holder says he racked up a
$1.92-million tab fighting charges that he plagiarized an Air Force research
paper. Now, a month after the case was dismissed, he wants the Judicial
Qualifications Commission to foot the bill.
"I've paid considerable sums and so has my family," Holder said.
On Monday, Holder's attorneys filed a motion asking the JQC to pay the
judge's legal bill. Holder hired attorneys from three separate law firms a
little more than two years ago to defend against charges he plagiarized a
1998 research paper for a course at MacDill Air Force Base. His attorneys
deposed dozens of witnesses and called several experts to the stand during
the June JQC hearing.
Holder said he's personally shelled out about $100,000 for his legal defense.
It's just a fraction of what he owes, but it represents about 75 percent of his
nearly $135,000 annual salary. In a 2001 financial statement, the judge
listed his net worth at $265,680.
During the JQC hearing, several witnesses raised serious doubts about
allegations that the former Air Force reservist had cribbed the paper from
another student, E. David Hoard. No one was ever able to produce the paper
Holder originally submitted. The JQC concluded the evidence against
Holder was not convincing enough and dismissed the charges against
Holder.
A June 23 JQC order recommended that the Florida Supreme Court award
costs to Holder. But commission officials said costs are one thing, attorney
fees are quite another.
"It seems awfully high to me," said JQC general counsel Tom McDonald.
McDonald said Tuesday that he hadn't seen the motion filed by Holder's
attorney. But he said the JQC's annual budget is only about $800,000.
"We can't pay it," said JQC general counsel Tom McDonald. "The state
would end up paying it."
Holder's Tampa attorney, David Weinstein, said he was "cautiously
optimistic" that the six-member panel that reviewed Holder's case would
consider paying the estimated $140,000 in costs. Weinstein acknowledged,
however, that he'll probably have a fight on his hands when it comes to
collecting the roughly $1.77-million in legal fees. But he said the fees are
reasonable.
"It's not unusual for a case that goes on for several years and that involves
experts and witnesses and depositions from around the country," Weinstein
said. "We had to start from scratch investigating these charges ourselves.
This was a very time-consuming and expensive proposition."
Charles Pillans, the JQC's special counsel on the Holder case, said the
payment of attorney fees would be unprecedented.
"I think there will be an issue as to whether they're entitled to fees," he said.
Weinstein cited Florida common laws that entitle public officials who
successfully defend against legal charges brought in connection with their
jobs to seek to recover expenses. He has asked the court to appoint a special
master to determine what, if any, fees can be collected from the JQC.
The JQC rarely dismisses charges after a full hearing. In 1987, Orlando
Judge Joseph Baker faced an allegation that he had taken a leave of absence
without getting permission from his chief judge. The JQC tried the case but
decided the evidence was not convincing.
The commission's executive director could not be reached to comment on
who bore responsibility for Baker's costs and fees.
In the Holder case, as with Baker, the JQC will make a recommendation to
the court about the repayment of costs and fees. McDonald said he doubts
Holder will get everything he's asking for.
"We probably will negotiate with him on costs but the court has ruled that
fees are not to be repaid," McDonald said.
This story can be found at:
http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBYSYPTWBE.html
Judge Seeks $1.92-Million in Costs Defending Self
After winning a case last month, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder wants the Judicial Qualificatio
By Candace Rondeaux
St. Petersburg Times
July 26, 2005
TAMPA - Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder says he racked up a
$1.92-million tab fighting charges that he plagiarized an Air Force research
paper. Now, a month after the case was dismissed, he wants the Judicial
Qualifications Commission to foot the bill.
"I've paid considerable sums and so has my family," Holder said.
On Monday, Holder's attorneys filed a motion asking the JQC to pay the
judge's legal bill. Holder hired attorneys from three separate law firms a
little more than two years ago to defend against charges he plagiarized a
1998 research paper for a course at MacDill Air Force Base. His attorneys
deposed dozens of witnesses and called several experts to the stand during
the June JQC hearing.
Holder said he's personally shelled out about $100,000 for his legal defense.
It's just a fraction of what he owes, but it represents about 75 percent of his
nearly $135,000 annual salary. In a 2001 financial statement, the judge
listed his net worth at $265,680.
During the JQC hearing, several witnesses raised serious doubts about
allegations that the former Air Force reservist had cribbed the paper from
another student, E. David Hoard. No one was ever able to produce the paper
Holder originally submitted. The JQC concluded the evidence against
Holder was not convincing enough and dismissed the charges against
Holder.
A June 23 JQC order recommended that the Florida Supreme Court award
costs to Holder. But commission officials said costs are one thing, attorney
fees are quite another.
"It seems awfully high to me," said JQC general counsel Tom McDonald.
McDonald said Tuesday that he hadn't seen the motion filed by Holder's
attorney. But he said the JQC's annual budget is only about $800,000.
"We can't pay it," said JQC general counsel Tom McDonald. "The state
would end up paying it."
Holder's Tampa attorney, David Weinstein, said he was "cautiously
optimistic" that the sixmember panel that reviewed Holder's case would consider paying the
estimated $140,000 in costs. Weinstein acknowledged, however, that he'll
probably have a fight on his hands when it comes to collecting the roughly
$1.77-million in legal fees. But he said the fees are reasonable.
"It's not unusual for a case that goes on for several years and that involves
experts and witnesses and depositions from around the country," Weinstein
said. "We had to start from scratch investigating these charges ourselves.
This was a very time-consuming and expensive proposition."
Charles Pillans, the JQC's special counsel on the Holder case, said the
payment of attorney fees would be unprecedented.
"I think there will be an issue as to whether they're entitled to fees," he said.
Weinstein cited Florida common laws that entitle public officials who
successfully defend against legal charges brought in connection with their
jobs to seek to recover expenses. He has asked the court to appoint a special
master to determine what, if any, fees can be collected from the JQC.
The JQC rarely dismisses charges after a full hearing. In 1987, Orlando
Judge Joseph Baker faced an allegation that he had taken a leave of absence
without getting permission from his chief judge. The JQC tried the case but
decided the evidence was not convincing.
The commission's executive director could not be reached to comment on
who bore responsibility for Baker's costs and fees.
In the Holder case, as with Baker, the JQC will make a recommendation to
the court about the repayment of costs and fees. McDonald said he doubts
Holder will get everything he's asking for.
"We probably will negotiate with him on costs but the court has ruled that
fees are not to be repaid," McDonald said.
****
The cost of Judge Gregory Holder's defense
TOTAL COSTS: $140,870.79
A sampling of costs
Expert expenses & fees: $63,226.86
Copy fees: $19,065.56
Trial exhibit expenses: $2,547.78
Legal research fees: $9,527.00
TOTAL ATTORNEY FEES: $1,779,691.81
By law firm
Bales Weinstein: $1,194,947.50
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood: $533,627.50
James, Hoyer, Newcomer & Smiljanich: $51,116.81
Judge Holder Cleared By Panel
By John W. Allman
Tampa Tribune
June 23, 2005
TAMPA - Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder was cleared
Wednesday of charges that he plagiarized a research paper in 1997 and
violated judicial ethics by certifying the work as his own.
The verdict, which was unanimous, was delivered by a six-person hearing
panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission, the agency that polices
Florida's judges. It was outlined in a 2 1/2-page dismissal order.
Although some of the evidence against Holder was ``troublesome,'' the
order stated, it failed to meet the level needed to clearly and convincingly
establish guilt.
``The evidence was extremely conflicting and the implications disturbing,''
the order continued. ``The credibility of certain witnesses was in doubt. The
memories of the long past events were unclear.''
Neither Holder nor his attorneys returned telephone calls Wednesday night
seeking comment.
Leonard Haber, a clinical and forensic psychologist from Miami Beach who
is a lay member of the JQC hearing panel, said in an interview that no
single factor led the panel to its finding.
``I couldn't point to one thing,'' Haber said.
Neither side could produce an original copy of Holder's research paper, and
several witnesses gave conflicting testimony about having seen it, he said.
Haber declined to say when or how the panel reached its decision but said
members had an ongoing sense of the evidence as it emerged in what
amounted to a trial this month at the Hillsborough County Courthouse.
Panelist John Cardillo, a Naples lawyer, said he, too, found the evidence
conflicting.
``Anybody who sat through that trial could see both sides had a point,''
Cardillo said.
It was complicated, he added, by witnesses on each side whose testimony
was problematic, he said. In particular, he cited Assistant U.S. Attorney
Jeffrey Del Fuoco, who testified that he received the disputed research
paper anonymously in 2002.
``I would say that he had some memory problems,'' Cardillo said.
For Holder, the verdict ends an ordeal that began nearly two years ago.
The JQC filed charges against him in July 2003 alleging that he had cribbed
nearly 10 pages of text verbatim from a colleague for a research paper he
had to submit as a requirement for promotion in the Air Force Reserve.
Holder, 51 and a West Point graduate, was a lieutenant colonel in the
Reserve at the time and was striving to make colonel. The case rested upon
a photocopy of what was purported to be his research paper. No original
version of it could be found.
Holder denied the plagiarism allegation and subsequently said he had been
framed by unnamed enemies.
At times, his conspiracy theory and a subplot involving his role in a longrunning public corruption investigation threatened to overshadow the JQC
hearing.
Holder testified that during 2001 and 2002, he helped FBI and Florida
Department of Law Enforcement agents with the corruption investigation. It
was begun over allegations of past case-fixing at the courthouse, as well as
prostitution, gambling and money laundering, involving judges and some
then in law enforcement.
Holder named three people as being targets of the probe: Former Chief
Judge F. Dennis Alvarez, former Circuit Judge Robert Bonanno and Rocky
Rodriguez, formerly a major in the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Alvarez, speaking through his attorney, and Bonanno chided Holder's
testimony as rumor. Rodriguez did not respond to a request for comment.
No one has been charged in the investigation. The case is ongoing, the FBI
says.
Holder testified that people at the courthouse knew he was an informant. He
also testified about writing a letter to the Justice Department in 2002 in
which he complained that investigators hadn't followed up on evidence he
provided of case-fixing and bribery.
Holder's attorneys zeroed in on Del Fuoco. He stood to be embarrassed the
most by Holder's criticism of the investigation, they said, because Holder
was complaining to Del Fuoco's superior.
Del Fuoco, however, stood by his account under cross-examination.
This story can be found at:
http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGB9C2VIAAE.html
Panel's Decision On Judge Could Take Weeks
By John W. Allman
Tampa Tribune
June 15, 2005
TAMPA - There's the simple answer, and the not so simple.
The simple answer might mean disgrace. The not so simple could rocket
skepticism of law enforcement in Hillsborough County to a new plateau,
one where anyone is capable of anything.
In the middle of it all is a man accustomed to being behind the bench, not
on trial before it: Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory P. Holder, a military
man from a military family, who may or may not still have his job come
July.
Holder's six-day hearing before the state Judicial Qualifications
Commission ended Tuesday with a recap of allegations that he plagiarized
an Air Force Reserve research paper in 1997-98.
The West Point graduate, where honor is supposed to mean all, is accused
of breaching judicial ethics by signing a certificate affirming the paper as
his own.
The allegation has been hanging over Holder for two years. Now he must
wait while a JQC hearing panel - in essence, a jury of his peers - considers
whether clear and convincing evidence exists of guilt. If so, Holder could
face a range of punishment up to removal from the bench.
The courtroom filled early Tuesday for closing arguments. More than 60
Holder supporters were there. ``Thank you all for coming,'' said his mother,
Alice.
Charles Pillans III, retained by the JQC to prosecute the case, offered the
simple answer: The judge made a terrible mistake. Stressed and rushing to
meet a deadline, he lifted 10 pages of text verbatim from a paper written
years earlier by a military colleague.
David Weinstein, Holder's lawyer, countered with a more elaborate
explanation, a not- so-simple conspiracy theory that plays off Holder's role
as an FBI informant in an ongoing public corruption investigation. A plot to
discredit the judge perhaps carried out by a controversial assistant U.S.
attorney, Jeffrey Del Fuoco, who once specialized in corruption cases,
Weinstein said. He fabricated the disputed paper, then lied about it,
Weinstein suggested.
``That [he] made this up is pure fantasy,'' Del Fuoco's attorney, Craig
Huffman, said Tuesday night. ``My client's credibility is beyond question.''
Original Copy Missing
The hearing was hindered by the fact that no one has an original version of
Holder's research paper, which he submitted in January 1998 as part of an
Air War College course. At the time Holder was seeking promotion in the
Air Force Reserve to colonel.
Neither the judge nor the military can locate an original copy of the
document. The paper in dispute is a photocopy.
Pillans said Holder had already flunked the first exam of the course because
he didn't read the material. His judicial office was moving. His wife was ill,
and his judicial assistant was on pain medication and having trouble typing
the paper in the military's exacting format.
Then Holder made a poor choice, Pillans said. He had asked for, and
received, a copy of a peer's paper, one whose passages appear in the
plagiarized version. The same paper was found typed into his judicial
assistant's computer. Text from that computer file appears verbatim in the
plagiarized copy, Pillans said.
The disputed photocopy also contains written comments specific to the text,
Pillans said, put there by the Air Force Reserve officer who graded Holder's
paper.
If the photocopy was fabricated, then the fabricators were ``ingenious,''
Pillans said. ``They put incorrect information in there and then comments
pointing out [its inaccuracy].''
Del Fuoco, Pillans said, didn't act like a conspirator. He testified during the
hearing that he received an anonymous package in 2002 containing two
research papers, one of them the alleged Holder paper.
By that point, Holder was aiding agents investigating allegations of
courthouse corruption. Del Fuoco was the federal prosecutor heading up the
probe.
``To suggest to you [that Del Fuoco] had some motive to derail a public
corruption case,'' Pillans said, ``there's no basis, no motive, no fact.''
Credibility Questioned
Citing testimony Monday from Manatee County Sheriff Charles Wells, who
said Del Fuoco once tried to extort money from him, Weinstein argued that
Del Fuoco is a liar with no credibility.
And he had motive - a letter from Holder to the Justice Department
criticizing the slowness of the corruption investigation.
``If there was an anonymous source, that person would have come forward
by now,'' Weinstein said. ``They don't exist.''
The simple, and the not so simple.
The members of the hearing panel went home to ponder the evidence. The
chairman, Escambia County Circuit Judge John Kuder, said the verdict
could take two weeks.
Reporter Lenny Savino contributed to this story. John W. Allman can be
reached at (813) 259-7915.
This story can be found at:
http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGBFEL2YY9E.html
Judge Names Inquiry's Targets
By Candace Rondeaux
St. Petersburg Times
June 14, 2005
TAMPA - Two years ago, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder's
lower left desk drawer was just an ordinary file holder. But on Monday, the
drawer and its contents became a Pandora's box of questions about the
former Air Force reservist's role as a courthouse whistle-blower in a federal
investigation into courthouse corruption.
Less than a week after a Tampa detective testified that Holder, 51, was a
key witness in the federal corruption inquiry, Holder detailed his role in the
investigation and named several Tampa officials as targets of the
investigation in testimony before the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
"The targets of that federal investigation were (Judge) F. Dennis Alvarez,
Judge Robert Bonnano and Maj. Rocky Rodriguez of the Hillsborough
County Sheriff's Office," Holder said.
Holder also again denied allegations brought by the JQC that he plagiarized
a 1998 Air Force research paper. He said he was meticulous about the file
he kept in his desk drawer that contained both the paper he submitted for an
Air Force course and a similar paper by another student, E. David Hoard.
Holder has consistently contended that the allegations stem from his role in
the federal investigation. The veteran jurist's defense attorneys also have
repeatedly brought up an incident involving a nighttime visit Bonnano
made to Holder's chambers in July 2000, but have made no direct allegation
that Bonnano might somehow be behind the current accusations against
Holder.
Holder told the six-member panel he provided information to federal
investigators about courthouse corruption from September 2001 to May
2002.
"I felt that my actions as a cooperating witness were consistent with my
oath to God and the community," Holder said.
The JQC panel will decide whether Holder cribbed parts of the research
paper from Hoard, a fellow Air Force reservist. If the panel finds the
evidence against Holder to be credible and convincing, they can
recommend to the the Florida Supreme Court punishment ranging from a
reprimand to removal from the bench.
Holder has questioned what became of the federal inquiry. In November
2002, Holder fired off a stern letter to the U.S. Justice Department's Office
of Professional Responsibility that raised concerns about how the
corruption inquiry had been handled. He said he was incensed by the FBI's
decision to drop the inquiry despite "compelling evidence" he had provided
about a bribe received by another unnamed Circuit Court judge in Tampa.
http://www.tampabay.com©© Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times
Holder Says Others Had Ax To Grind In Frame-Up
By John W. Allman
The Tampa Tribune
Jun 15, 2005
TAMPA - Former Chief Judge F. Dennis Alvarez is a target in a sweeping
federal and state corruption investigation stretching from the Hillsborough
County courthouse to the Sheriff's Office, a sitting judge testified Monday.
The judge, Gregory P. Holder, spent eight months as an FBI informant in
the corruption investigation, and is currently on trial for allegedly
plagiarizing a research paper he wrote as an Air Force Reserve officer in
1997.
The probe was launched four years ago by the FBI and Florida Department
of Law Enforcement. It has focused on allegations of case-fixing at the
courthouse, prostitution, money laundering and illegal gambling.
A longtime Alvarez friend, former Circuit Judge Robert H. Bonanno, also is
a target of the investigation, Holder said. Bonanno resigned 2 1/2 years ago
on the eve of an impeachment hearing after a bailiff caught him inside
Holder's chambers after hours in 2000 while Holder was out of town.
And so is Rocky Rodriguez, a former Hillsborough County sheriff's major
who was once considered a likely successor to former Sheriff Cal
Henderson, Holder said. Rodriguez retired in lieu of being fired in 2003 for
making scores of personal calls on his departmental cellular telephone,
most to his girlfriend.
Alvarez left the bench under pressure in 2001 after a series of courthouse
scandals.
Holder named the three testifying in his own defense before the Judicial
Qualifications Commission, the body that regulates Florida's judges. A JQC
hearing panel is considering the plagiarism case against him. Holder is
accused of violating Florida's Judicial Code of Conduct by signing a
statement on the paper affirming the work as his own. If convicted, he
could be removed from the bench.
Holder's defense is that he was framed because of his role in the corruption
investigation.
``The folks I was offering evidence against knew of my involvement,''
Holder testified, ``and would do anything to stop the investigation.''
Several witnesses for Holder, however, testified that they knew of no
attempt to discredit or harm him, even after word began to spread that he
might be cooperating in the probe.
Coming To A Conclusion
Monday marked the fifth day of testimony. The proceeding is expected to
conclude today.
Holder's role as an informant spanned part of 2001 and early 2002. Agents
repeatedly met with Holder secretly and told him to call a secret telephone
number if he needed anything, according to court documents.
Holder's former judicial assistant, Lorraine Nasco, testified last week that
she also met with agents and was given a phone number to call if she felt
threatened.
Holder did not say how he knew that the agents were focusing on Alvarez,
Bonanno and Rodriguez, nor did he say anything about what the agents
were after.
But court documents show that Holder told them about a judge believed to
have taken a bribe.
Holder pointed agents to other judges at the courthouse, he testified.
``They spoke with a number of colleagues,'' he said.
Asked why they picked him out of more than 50 sitting judges, Holder fell
back on his reputation for tolerating no wrongdoing.
``They thought I had information,'' he said, ``[and they] felt I was honest
and forthright and would do the right thing.''
Charles Pillans III, the JQC's special counsel in the case, suggested that by
assisting in the investigation, Holder might have violated another provision
of Florida's Judicial Code of Conduct. Pillans also asked if Holder sought
advice before agreeing to help.
``At no time did I seek anyone's advice,'' Holder replied, adding that he did
not actually investigate anything.
In other developments Monday:
* A computer software expert testified that with modern technology,
someone could have easily created a forgery to make it look as though
Holder's research paper had been plagiarized.
* Holder's cross- examination revealed inconsistencies in what he told
military investigators when the plagiarism allegation first surfaced against
him and what he has said since.
* After recalling names, dates and minute details of his life in direct
testimony last week, Holder said he couldn't remember certain things about
the disputed research paper.
* And members of the hearing panel peppered Holder and other witnesses
on his behalf about his character.
After learning that Holder had once failed a military exam, for example,
panel member John T. Cardillo asked about Holder's failings.
``We've heard a lot about all his qualities,'' Cardillo said. ``There are things
that occur. We're not dealing with someone who is super-human.''
Holder Breaks New Ground
But the big news came when Holder named names, and thus became the
first person with inside knowledge about the corruption investigation to
speak of it publicly.
Alvarez, speaking through his attorney, Barry Cohen, brushed aside
Holder's revelation.
``Judge Holder of all people should know that we're a system of facts and
evidence, not rumor and scuttlebutt,'' Cohen said. ``The [corruption]
investigation is four years old and we assume that if there were any fact to
support any allegations of wrongdoing, the government would have acted.''
Bonanno said much the same.
``I have been hearing about this ongoing corruption probe for four years,''
he said. ``Greg Holder has spoken to every agency that would listen to him.
It's all in his head. It's sad.''
Rodriguez did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
FBI and FDLE officials said Monday they're prohibited from discussing
ongoing investigations.
But Carl Whitehead, special agent in charge of the FBI's Tampa office,
recently said in an interview that the corruption investigation is still active.
Reporter Lenny Savino contributed to this story. John W. Allman can be
reached at (813) 259-7915.
This story can be found at:
http://www.tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBTFG8MX9E.html
Judge's Lawyers Say Paper Fake
Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Gregory Holder Is Accused of Plagiarizing a Research Paper He Wrote in
By Jennifer Liberto,
St. Petersburg Times.
June 9, 2005
TAMPA - Missing, zig-zagging staples and a wrong date were cited
Wednesday as reasons to doubt the authenticity of a research paper being
used to attack the integrity of Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Gregory
Holder.
Holder's defense team began presenting its case Wednesday before the
Judicial Qualifications Committee, which is considering whether Holder
plagiarized a 1998 research report written for a seminar at MacDill Air
Force Base.
Holder has since retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve but had completed
a research paper to further his rank.
Now attorneys are arguing about two copies of a research paper, which
have since surfaced, while the original has disappeared. The copies show
that 10 pages of Holder's 21 page report were copied verbatim from a report
written by a Pentagon employee.
Holder and his attorneys say these copies are not the report Holder
submitted to U.S. Air Force officials at Air War College. The defense says
the research papers presented at the JQC hearing were fabricated, in a plot
to retaliate against the judge for his part in a pending federal corruption
investigation at the Tampa courthouse.
Holder, 51, could lose his job if the panel finds the plagiarism charges are
clear and convincing during the hearing. The deliberations are expected to
continue through next week.
Holder's attorneys started building their case Wednesday that Holder did
not author the research paper copies in question. Their strongest witnesses
included a forensic analyst who specializes in documents and said the
papers were forged. Also a Tampa Police Department employee said that
Holder could be a target for retaliation.
Detective James Bartoszak had been working with the FBI investigating
corruption at the courthouse and said he worked with Judge Holder, who
had been a secret informant in the investigation.
Holder had been given a secret mobile phone for contacting law
enforcement to avoid tipping anyone off about his cooperation, Bartoszak
said.
Later, Bruce Dekraker, a documents analyst with Green and Associates of
Tampa, said that the two copies in question had clearly been assembled,
which he determined by analyzing different numbers of staple holes in
different pages. Some had up to nine holes, some had four and one had
none. "It's consistent with forgery," Dekraker said.
The defense also presented a videotaped deposition given by Tampa
attorney John Vento who said he had read an original copy of Holder's
ungraded research paper back in 1998, because Holder had sent him a copy
to read over. Vento, also an Air Force veteran, had earlier completed a
research paper for the same Air War College course and had coached
Holder how to approach the research paper.
Vento gave examples of how the research paper in question contained many
typographical and factual errors, such as the wrong date for the Battle of
Britain in World War II, something Holder would have known.
The commission makes recommendations to the Florida Supreme Court
about whether a judge should be privately or publicly reprimanded,
suspended or even removed from office.
Witnesses Say No Evidence
Of Plot To Discredit Holder
By John W. Allman
Tampa Tribune
June 9, 2005
TAMPA - Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Gregory P. Holder has said
for nearly two years that he is the victim of an elaborate effort to discredit
him and undermine his role as a federal informant in a sweeping public
corruption investigation.
As the third day of testimony ended Wednesday in his Judicial
Qualifications Commission hearing, the crucial questions - why, who and
how - remain unanswered.
Holder, an Air Force Reserve colonel, is alleged to have plagiarized an
academic paper he submitted seven years ago for a military class to gain
promotion. He is accused of violating judicial ethics by signing a statement
on the paper authenticating his work.
If the JQC's hearing panel, which polices Florida's judges, finds him guilty,
Holder could be removed from the bench.
Two law enforcement experts who worked the corruption investigation both
testified Wednesday that there is no evidence anyone has tried to discredit
him.
Scott Peterka, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent, spoke at
length about a July 2000 incident in which former Circuit Judge Robert
Bonanno was found inside Holder's locked judicial office.
The incident sparked a grand jury inquiry and defined a time of turmoil at
the courthouse. Bonanno, former Chief Judge Dennis Alvarez and former
Circuit Judge Gasper Ficarrotta all resigned during that period. All had
issues with Holder.
``The question has been raised maybe someone, someone in the courthouse,
fabricated the paper,'' Charles Pillans III, special counsel to the JQC, said
on cross- examination.
Peterka said he was not testifying that Alvarez, Bonanno or Ficarrotta was
involved.
Tampa police Detective James Bartoszak, who spent more than a year with
the FDLE and FBI investigating possible corruption at the courthouse and
the sheriff's office, said it is typical for targets in white-collar corruption
cases to try to discredit informants.
``Putting them in compromising positions with women. Planting drugs in
their vehicles,'' he said, adding that he has never heard of anyone forging a
research paper as retaliation.
Bartoszak, however, could not name names. He said the corruption
investigation remains open.
He told Pillans he had no knowledge of ``any direct retaliation against
Judge Holder.''
The day began with Holder's attorney, Steven T. Cottreau, addressing an
invisible witness. Pillans called it the most ``surreal event'' in his legal
career.
``I can't disagree with that,'' said Circuit Judge John Kuder of Pensacola,
who is chairing the JQC panel. ``It is unusual and hard for me to grasp,
too.''
Cottreau said he wanted to inform the panel of what he might ask Pillan's
chief expert, Linda James, a forensic document examiner from Dallas.
Cottreau's address, however, became a monologue on why James'
conclusion is wrong.
The Tampa Tribune hired James in February 2004 to review the paper
allegedly plagiarized by Holder. She, along with two other experts retained
by the newspaper, concluded the purported Holder paper had not been
forged.
Pillans sought James as a witness after the Tribune's story appeared. She is
recovering from a medical condition at her home, he said, and is unable to
appear at the hearing.
Holder's expert is Bruce Dekraker, a former law enforcement officer with
more than 30 years' experience detecting falsified documents.
He inspected two documents at issue in the Holder case: one slipped
anonymously under the door of an assistant U.S. attorney in early 2002 and
another copy found nearly a year later by the same person in a storage
locker.
Both documents have markings on them similar to notations made by an
instructor grading the work. However, both are missing key marks such as a
written grade and a time-date stamp used to log a paper when it is
submitted.
Dekraker based his analysis on such criteria as staple marks that don't line
up. He concluded that critical portions of the two papers - the cover sheet
and 10 pages of verbatim text lifted from another student's paper - are
actually duplicates.
``They're highly remanufactured documents,'' Dekraker said, ``and, in my
opinion, they're forgeries.''
``What level of sophistication would it take to forge these papers?'' asked
panelist Howard Coker.
Dekraker said it would require computer skills, including use of Adobe
Photoshop, a program that allows for manipulation of images; a knowledge
of the military course Holder took; and, the ability to write a military
research paper.
``If one person did it, he'd have to possess all those abilities,'' Coker said.
http://www.tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBZPMOFQ9E.html
Ex-Judge Recounts Invitation To Clique
By John W. Allman and Michael Fechter
The Tampa Tribune
May 2, 2004
Tampa Fl - The conversation, he says, came less than a year after he
became a Hillsborough County judge.
He sat and listened, he says, as a judge told him about a small band of
judges who gave one another a heads-up whenever friends were to come to
court. Then the other judge asked whether he would join the group.
Donald Evans remembers that he was stunned.
He still appears to be, more than 20 years later, recounting the moment,
with clarity and conviction, when he says he realized he was privy to
``some conspiracy of sorts amongst a handful of judges.''
Evans said it was his first substantial interaction with F. Dennis Alvarez ,
the man who would eventually control the courthouse for 12 years as chief
judge. At the time, Evans and Alvarez were county judges. Evans was
essentially a rookie, having taken the bench in 1982.
Alvarez said `` `I have this same understanding with six, seven, eight
judges,' '' Evans said in an interview with The Tampa Tribune. ``I said,
`Dennis, don't put me on your list.' ''
Evans didn't report the conversation at the time, he said.
But it stayed with him, much like a subsequent series of events with another
colleague, Circuit Judge Robert Bonanno, one of Alvarez's closest friends.
The events Evans describes provide the first detailed look at the courthouse
issues tied to a broad federal and state corruption investigation in Tampa.
The probe, being conducted by the FBI and Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, has been moving along two tracks. One involves allegations
of past case-fixing at the courthouse by former judges and others. The other
involves allegations of money laundering, loan-sharking, illegal gambling
and prostitution, and has touched on individuals in law enforcement and
private business.
Evans, 65, has been interviewed twice by FBI agents, he said, most recently
in late 2001.
Although several past judges thought to be under scrutiny, including
Alvarez and Bonanno, have resigned while being investigated for
noncriminal ethical issues, no one has been criminally charged in the
corruption investigation.
The Players Involved
Evans' relationship with Alvarez and Bonanno would play out over the next
two decades, culminating in a rumor being spread about Evans' sexuality
and Evans later being subpoenaed to testify before a state legislative
committee that was considering whether to recommend Bonanno's
impeachment.
Alvarez, now a private lawyer, initially agreed to an interview for this story,
then canceled, then said he would not comment publicly even after hearing
Evans' claims in detail.
Bonanno, after an expletive- filled rant against Evans, also initially agreed
to consider an interview. He did not return three subsequent phone calls.
The Tribune spoke with Chief Judge Manuel Menendez Jr., Circuit Judges
J. Rogers Padgett and Debra Behnke, the late Circuit Judge Robert J.
Simms, who died of an apparent heart attack April 9, six other current or
former circuit judges who refused to allow their names to be used, plus
former Chief Judge J. Clifford Cheatwood.
All but one had heard about some or all of Evans' experiences either
directly from him or from others at the courthouse.
Menendez declined to talk about Evans without saying why.
Many of the other judges interviewed by the Tribune said they respect
Evans and have no reason to doubt him, although some questioned why he
would go public with his story now.
Evans is perhaps best remembered for his 10 years at the helm of
Hillsborough County's drug court, an alternative to jail or prison for people
who might benefit from treatment for substance addiction. He retired from
the bench in January 2003 and now runs a private mediation office.
``I'm confident there's not any sort of mass conspiracy'' involving all of
Hillsborough County's judges, Evans said, ``and the vast majority of judges
I hold in high esteem.''
But Evans does not feel that way about Alvarez and Bonanno, who he
believes led a small clique of judges who ``held great sway over some of
their colleagues.''
The Conversation
Evans launched a quiet campaign while on the bench to inform and educate
new judges about the ways of the courthouse when they were elected or
appointed. He took them to lunch or spoke to them in passing.
``I would tell them about that meeting with Dennis,'' Evans said. ``When he
did it to me, I had no idea it was coming. At least they could have a headsup.''
It was his way of trying to ``undermine their efforts to compromise new
judges,'' he said.
Alvarez's alleged overture began with a telephone call, Evans said. Evans
wasn't available and called Alvarez later. This time Alvarez wasn't
available. Meanwhile, Evans kept the cases on his docket moving through
court.
Later, Alvarez came to his office, Evans said.
``He said, `A friend of mine came in front of you today.' '' Evans recalled,
after which Alvarez mentioned the person by name. ``I said, `Yeah, I
hammered him pretty heavy.' He said, `Yeah, you sure did. That was the
reason I was calling you, because he was a friend of mine.' ''
In that case, Evans said, it was just as well he and Alvarez hadn't spoken
beforehand. If they had, Evans said, he would have recused himself and
passed the case to another judge.
Alvarez assured him that he wouldn't have asked him to do anything wrong,
Evans said. Then, he said, Alvarez made his pitch.
``He said, `Look, you're going to have people that are friends of yours come
in front of me,' '' Evans said. `` `I'm going to have friends come in front of
you. I would like to be comfortable calling you. If a friend of yours comes
in front of me, I would like you to be comfortable calling me.' ''
That's when Alvarez said ``six, seven, eight'' other judges did this for one
another, Evans said.
``I reached a clear conclusion,'' Evans said. ``I concluded that the reason
there was a sharing of this friendship relationship was because there was an
expectation it would be a factor in how the case would be handled.''
What sort of factor? ``That there would be some level of preferential
treatment,'' Evans said.
Alvarez left when Evans told him he wasn't interested, Evans said.
``He smiled, said he understood and that was it,'' Evans said.
The Judges' Feud
Evans took the opportunity to tell new judges about other incidents, as well.
He said he talked about what he perceived as a questionable arrangement in
the county's traffic court whereby defendants with attorneys could enter no
contest pleas, have judgment withheld and be penalized court costs only.
That allowed them to keep their records clean.
He talked about how his decision not to follow suit angered the attorneys,
and about how Bonanno, also then a county judge, had once disposed in
similar fashion of a number of cases assigned to Evans - without Evans'
knowledge or approval.
Evans protested to Bonanno afterward, he said. Nothing was resolved. To
the contrary, they began a long-running feud.
For example: Bonanno subsequently applied for a seat on the circuit court
bench. Evans said the chairwoman of the Judicial Nominating Commission,
a panel that recommends judicial candidates to the governor when
vacancies occur, called him to ask whether a story she had heard about
Bonanno disposing of Evans' cases was true. It was, Evans said, and the
commission passed over Bonanno for the nomination.
Then things got really ugly.
Bonanno, aided by Alvarez, launched a smear campaign that angers Evans
to this day, he said.
Evans was going through a divorce. A rumor began circulating about a
document in Evans' divorce file in which he supposedly acknowledged
being gay and having had a torrid affair. As if seeking added shock value,
his partner was alleged to have been black.
A fellow judge, Susan Bucklew, who now sits on the federal bench, told
him that she heard the rumor from Alvarez and Bonanno, Evans said.
Bucklew did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Although it wasn't true, the rumor spread quickly.
``I looked into bringing a slander action against them,'' Evans said.
Time has eased some of his concerns over discussing the incident publicly.
But Evans still simmers at the mention of it.
``I considered it then, and still consider it, to be about as low class an act as
a person can do,'' he said, visibly uncomfortable. ``It bothered me that
circuit judges, whom many people would not think they would tell lies like
this, were doing so. Especially when one was the chief judge.''
Other judges were distressed, too.
Simms was especially flabbergasted. He was the judge in Evans' divorce
case.
``Whoever said it to me didn't go further because I was emphatic,'' he said.
``I had read the file.''
In addition to the Evans rumor, Behnke said that Alvarez, while chief
judge, spread similar rumors about other members of the judiciary who
weren't considered members of his inner circle. She declined to discuss
details.
The Chance To Testify
Evans was finally asked to tell his side of the story publicly in late 2001.
Bonanno, who had since become a circuit judge, had become embroiled in a
series of scandals beginning in mid- 2000. He was caught after- hours
inside the locked offices of another judge, Gregory P. Holder, and was later
accused of having had an affair with a court clerk.
A special grand jury launched an investigation. It found no basis for
criminal charges, but in a scathing report said Bonanno should resign or be
removed. The Judicial Qualifications Commission, the agency responsible
for policing Florida's judges, recommended that Bonanno be reprimanded
publicly for poor judgment.
Throughout, Bonanno refused to step aside. So a committee of the state
House of Representatives began impeachment proceedings against him.
A legislative aide called Evans and asked him to testify. Evans said he
would, if subpoenaed.
The morning Evans was to appear in late December 2001, Bonanno decided
to resign. He left the bench less than a month later, in January 2002.
No one on the committee knew exactly what he had planned to say, Evans
said. He skirted questions from reporters that day.
But first and foremost, Evans said, he planned to address the rumor, as well
as how Bonanno once disposed of cases that had been assigned to Evans,
plus anything else he was asked.
``Had I been asked the question, I would have told the truth,'' he said.
Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915. Reporter
Michael Fechter can be reached at (813) 259-7621.
This story can be found at:
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGA6R9XKQTD.html
Informant Judge Complains Corruption Probe Abandoned
The Associated Press
Herald Tribune
December 4, 2003
TAMPA, Fla. -- A Hillsborough Circuit Court judge who served as an FBI
informant in an investigation of courthouse corruption complained the
probe was abandoned and asked the U.S. Justice Department to step in, The
Tampa Tribune reported Thursday.
Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Gregory P. Holder complained 13 months
ago the FBI had abandoned the investigation, the newspaper reported. The
Justice Department began its inquiry into Holder's allegations in February
and has since passed the case to the Justice Department's inspector general's
office.
Meanwhile, a Tampa police detective working on the case corroborated
Holder's concerns and tells a remarkable tale of the judge working as an
informant and putting his life in danger to assist the FBI, the Tribune
reported. The judge was so concerned for his family's safety he began
carrying a gun, Detective James W. Bartoszak said in an affidavit. "I was
just concerned about the safety of my family more than myself," Holder
told the Tribune. "I was warned about that by FBI agents so I warned my
family and carried a weapon."
Hillsborough County's courthouse has been rocked by allegations of casefixing, bribery, prostitution, loan-sharking and illegal gambling. A special
grand jury seated several years ago issued no indictment but wrote a
scathing report on the courthouse shenanigans, and former Chief Judge
Dennis Alvarez resigned under pressure from state judicial watchdogs.
Holder is now the subject of a Judicial Qualifications Commission
investigation that he plagiarized a paper he wrote as an officer in the Air
Force Reserves. Holder denies the plagiarism charge and said the document
given to investigators was fabricated to frame him in retaliation. He is to
face a JQC trial on that charge in January.
The Tribune obtained Bartoszak's affidavit from the JQC through a public
records request. The detective said in the affidavit investigators approached
Holder for help because they were confident he was clean and Holder
proved to be a good source. Bartoszak's affidavit does not name targets or
provide any other details of the corruption investigation. But it says the
probe "was halted and the investigation team was dismantled for reasons
that were not made clear to me or any other member of the team" in 2002.
Moses Jordan, chief of investigations for the Tampa office of the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement, said Wednesday that the corruption
investigation is still open and is being worked actively by FBI and FDLE
agents. The FBI declined to comment, citing a pending investigation.
Alvarez, who left office under pressure from the JQC in 2001, said
Wednesday that he had no knowledge of an investigation into judicial
corruption under his watch, and he dismissed Bartoszak's claim as
"fantasyland."
38 to Testify for Judge Holder
By Cassio Furtado
Tampa Tribune - Florida
September 16, 2003
TAMPA - Attorneys for Circuit Judge Gregory Holder, accused of
plagiarizing a paper he submitted to the Air Force in 1998, on Monday
released a list of 38 witnesses they will call to testify at a hearing to decide
whether Holder should be suspended pending an investigation.
Among them is Tampa FBI Special Agent Kelly Thomas, who was a
leading investigator in the ongoing federal probe of Hillsborough County
Courthouse scandals.
David Weinstein, one of Holder's attorneys, said the witnesses will show
that Holder ``has been and continues to be a hard-working and fair judge,
who clearly should remain on the bench.''
In July, the Judicial Qualifications Commission accused Holder, 49, of
plagiarizing about half of his 21-page report on the Allied bombing of
Europe during World War II.
The commission alleges much of the report was copied from Col. E. David
Hoard's version written two years before Holder's. But Holder says the
plagiarized report is not the one he submitted to the Air War College as part
of a process to be promoted to colonel.
The witness list for the Nov. 14 hearing at the Airport Marriott Hotel also
includes several judges, Tampa area lawyers such as multimillionaire Steve
Yerrid, Air Force officials and Holder's former secretary, Lorraine Nasco,
who says she typed Holder's original paper in late 1997.
Attorneys John Vento and James Russick and Air Force Lt. Col. William O.
Howe Jr., who recently filed affidavits saying Holder didn't plagiarize his
paper, will be called.
A Hillsborough County judge since 1994, Holder has been a whistleblower
in past court scandals. He assisted in a sexual harassment investigation
against Judge Edward Ward and demanded that Judge Robert Bonanno be
investigated for entering Holder's chambers after hours without permission.
Both judges resigned.
To see full story on Judge Holder on this Website click here.
Ousted Lawyer Wants the Judge Removed
Judge Gregory Holder Knocked Attorney Arnold Levine Off
a Plum Case Now Levine Wants Holder Recused
By Jeff Testerman,
Times Staff Writer
St. Petersburg Times
September 4, 2003
TAMPA - Two weeks ago, Circuit Judge Gregory P. Holder threw
prominent attorney Arnold Levine off a civil case involving the Tampa Bay
Lightning and former team owner Art Williams.
The judge ruled Levine acted improperly when he stepped into an empty
courtroom and viewed documents involving another Lightning case that
had gone to trial.
Now, Levine has fired back.
Relying on transcripts from a grand jury investigation into the Hillsborough
County judiciary, Levine's attorney, David Maney, says Holder should be
disqualified from trying the Williams lawsuit because of the judge's
relationship with his bailiff, Sylvia Morgan.
Judge Holder never revealed his close relationship with Morgan, Maney
claims in papers filed this week, yet gave great weight to her testimony
about Levine's actions in the empty courtroom, even though what she said
was "diametrically opposed" to Levine's explanation.
Williams and his company now maintain they cannot receive a fair trial in
Holder's court. Maney's motion to remove Holder stems from a tip he says
he got from an anonymous male caller on Aug. 22, two days after Holder
had removed Levine. The tipster said "a close personal relationship" existed
between Holder and Morgan, and suggested Maney and Levine read the
grand jury transcripts of the investigation into former Hillsborough Circuit
Judge Robert Bonanno.
The two lawyers did just that, downloading six volumes of transcripts from
the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission's Web site.
They found testimony concerning bailiff Sylvia Morgan - known then as
Sylvia Gay - entering Holder's darkened chambers on July 27, 2000, and
unexpectedly encountering Bonanno lurking there. Morgan didn't buy
Bonanno's explanation, that he wanted to discuss courthouse politics with
Holder, who was no friend of his and was away on U.S. Air Force Reserve
duty. She reported the incident to Holder.
Holder, characterizing Bonanno's motives as "nefarious," demanded an
investigation. Bonanno resigned months later, as the Florida House Judicial
Oversight Committee was preparing to launch impeachment proceedings
against him.
In grand jury testimony about the incident, former Chief Hillsborough
Circuit Judge Dennis Alvarez said, "Sylvia and Holder are very, very close.
In fact he considers her family; very close."
Other testimony revealed that Holder helped his bailiff prepare a memo
about the Bonanno incident, that she was named Bailiff of the Year in 2000
after being nominated by Holder, that she kept personal items such as her
lunch and magazines in Holder's break room, and that she frequently had
lunch with Holder in his break room.
In his motion to disqualify Holder, Maney complains that the judge refused
at an Aug. 20 hearing to allow Levine to take the stand to rebut the sworn
deposition of Morgan.
Levine has said he looked at only "public records" on the Lightning defense
table when he entered an empty courtroom prior to resumption of a tax trial
in June. And he insists he had no words with Morgan when she came in
through a side door.
According to her deposition, Morgan said Levine was lying.
She says she told Levine "to get away from that stuff," whereupon he
replied, "I am an attorney. I know what I can do and what I cannot do."
Morgan said she replied, "I am a bailiff and I know exactly what I can do,"
before writing a report on his actions around the Lightning's legal papers.
Based partly on Morgan's testimony, Holder ruled last month that Levine's
conduct amounted to an "absolute appearance of impropriety," that
mandated banishment from the Williams case.
Williams, through the entity ALW Sports, claims he did not receive
appropriate broadcast revenue when he sold the Lightning, nor was he
responsible for some property taxes at the downtown arena then known as
the Ice Palace.
The Lightning's new owners claim in the suit that Williams improperly
depleted the team's bank account and reduced arena staff at the time of the
sale.
After Levine was discovered by Morgan, Lightning attorneys asserted
Levine sought to gain unfair and unethical competitive advantage by
secretly peering at confidential Lightning records being used in the hockey
team's tax lawsuit against Hillsborough Property Appraiser Rob Turner.
In that case, the Lightning won a reduction in the assessment of the arena,
now known as the St. Pete Times Forum, from $110-million to $25.5million.
Holder's removal of Levine was a severe blow to Williams' defense team.
Maney told Holder last month that Levine, whose billings had already
reached $510,000 in the case, was "utterably irreplaceable."
Like The Inquisition?
Letters to the Editor
By David Hubbard - Tampa
Published: Jan 15, 2002 – Tampa Tribune
Florida's Judicial Qualification Commission operates like the Spanish
Inquisition, independent of any checks and hidden from public view. It has
cooked up charges against Judge Gregory Holder, a judge we are assured
has integrity and is impartial. The charges are absurd and reveal the failure
of the JQC. Holder is a good judge and is gagged by archaic secrecy rules
for the JQC to hide behind. Others' years of misconduct have gone
undetected, but meticulous examination of Holder's truthful application
brings the JQC running. Judicial governance must come out of the dark
ages. Sunshine laws must apply.
JQC In The `Sunshine'
Letter to the Editor
By Debbie Ressler - Tampa
Published Jan 15, 2002 – Tampa Tribune
``Florida in the sunshine'' is a phrase that is often used to ensure that
governmental activities are open to the citizens of our state. Elected
officials can no longer hide behind the door of secrecy. Judge Greg Holder
has relinquished his right to privacy with the JQC investigations. Florida in
the sunshine is not a feared phenomenon to Holder. One has to wonder if
the JQC is fearful of the openness of records. All judges who are elected by
the populace should be more than happy to have all investigations open to
the public. The judiciary serves the citizens, and the citizens have the right
to know exactly what is occurring in the investigations. Allow Judge Greg
Holder to serve as an example of honesty, openness and service.
Bonanno's Calculated Dodge
A Times Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Published December 28, 2001
Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Robert Bonanno could have saved
taxpayers a lot of money and the judiciary a lot of grief had he resigned
before Thursday over what clearly were unethical acts that ruined his
credibility as a judge and public servant. By clinging to the privileges of
power so long, Bonanno brought additional disgrace to the judiciary by
revealing the weaknesses of Florida's system for holding unfit judges
accountable.
Bonanno is the latest embarrassment to depart the Hillsborough judiciary,
and his ouster should help the new chief judge, Manuel Menendez Jr., to
build a courthouse culture based on candor and integrity. For all his bluster,
Bonanno in the end wasn't willing to stand and explain his alleged affair
with a courthouse clerk or why he was caught alone in a fellow judge's
darkened office. There were other questions about his professional and
personal life that were to be raised Thursday as impeachment hearings got
under way in Tampa. Many had also hoped the hearings would reveal more
about how then-chief Judge Dennis Alvarez handled a string of courthouse
scandals.
Even though Bonanno is gone, the people of Hillsborough still deserve
answers to many questions about a man who spent two decades on the
bench. For all the promises he and his lawyer made, Bonanno still hasn't
given the public his side to stories about the case sealings, the land deal, the
girlfriend.
Bonanno's resignation is an embarrassing blow to the Judicial
Qualifications Commission, which recommended to the state Supreme
Court that Bonanno be allowed to remain on the bench. Indeed, it was the
JQC's failure that prompted state lawmakers to begin impeachment
proceedings. It would be a disappointing footnote for the record if Bonanno
could spin his resignation as a reaction to the political process of
impeachment, rather than, as it was, a calculated dodge to avoid
professional punishment by his peers. For that reason, it is important for the
JQC to finish its work.
However welcome the outcome, state Rep. Larry Crow, R-Dunedin,
chairman of the House Judicial Oversight Committee, jumped the gun by
starting the impeachment process before the state Supreme Court completed
its own disciplinary process against Bonanno. If lawmakers are serious
about improving the process for policing judges, they should give the JQC
an adequate budget and determine whether the secrecy clause governing
investigations protects bad judges more than it does the wrongly accused. In
Bonanno's case and others, the record has never been made fully public
because judges are allowed to time their resignations in a way that keeps
their dirty laundry concealed.
Thursday represented incremental progress, but the best protection against
future Bonannos is a more open process that rewards candor and integrity,
not the cleverness to play the system.
Watch how JQC handles Holder
Times Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
December 20, 2001
Like him or not, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Greg Holder has helped to
bring about positive change at the county courthouse. The local judiciary is
more diverse, more open, more professional and more accountable because
Holder alone among 48 judges had the courage to speak out against the
good ol' boy system that has long been the fabric of Tampa politics. Now
Holder is the subject of a conduct complaint -- thin gruel, by the look of
documents and interviews released thus far. How the Judicial Qualifications
Commission handles the matter will reflect on that agency's own judgment
and candor.
We are in no position to judge at this stage whether Holder violated judicial
ethics. The JQC is trying to determine whether Holder misled a federal
judicial nominating panel by declaring at the time that he was unaware of
any professional complaints filed against him. Holder had met on two
occasions with the JQC chairman, who admonished him for speaking to
reporters. Several attorney-members of the nominating commission said
they did not believe that Holder misled them. They also said they doubted
that the facts amounted to a material change or would have played a role in
determining whether Holder was nominated. It will be up to the JQC to
make a convincing case that a meeting between judicial colleagues
somehow equates with a formal disciplinary process.
Holder has welcomed an airing of the facts, and we'll leave his defense to
him. But the episode raises troubling questions about the process and
whether judges who blow the whistle face retaliation. On what pretext for
example, did a JQC representative meet with Holder? The disciplinary
process exists to establish a public record and to prevent a small circle of
judges from refereeing ethical and political disputes. If the JQC meeting
with Holder was intended to keep him quiet, what confidence can the public
have in the agency's ability to handle judges who are genuine problems?
The JQC has at least as many questions to answer. If it is firing a shot over
Holder's bow to keep other judges from voicing dissent, then the whole
concept behind the JQC -- that the judiciary can be trusted to self-police -will lose its moral authority.
Holder has his detractors -- they call him a showboat -- but it would be
derelict to disregard the political and personal risks he took to right a justice
system terribly off-track. Don't forget what the community learned about
Judge Ward, Judge Ficarrotta, Judge Bonanno. If the JQC has a case against
Holder, it should pursue it without reserve for the contribution he's made.
What we may see instead is another example of the old boys at work.
CARL WHITEHEAD WAS in the CORRUPTED LA FBI from 1985-1995 where it has been proven the CIA was
distributing the Crack cocaine which caused the epidemic. CIA-Bush 1- Iran-Contra (ARMS & DRUGS) MS-13
is the same group that received 1,000's of weapons in El Salvador under Operation Castaway, which is or
isn't under investigation according to Rep. Gus Bilirakis in 2011.
Federal Grant Targets Gangs
By KEITH MORELLI kmorelli@tampatrib.com
Published: Apr 27, 2006
TAMPA - Herb Saumell unloads his gear in the back of the
Mercury Mountaineer just after 7 p.m. on a clear and balmy March
evening, peering through the diminishing light to see what he needs.
He has just talked to a handful of Hillsborough County sheriff�s deputies at a night roll call in the
District 3 office, asking for their help in identifying suspected gang members in northwest Hillsborough
County.
Now, Saumell, Dave Evarts and Willie Gergel, all members of the sheriff �s gang unit, are heading
out to arrest two teenagers said to be peripherally involved in a double slaying in Town �N Country
the previous month. They engage in chitchat as they strap on sidearms and test their Tasers.
The teens they are looking for are said to have ditched the shotgun used by their pal in the shooting,
then broke into a house trying to evade the law. Authorities say they battered a woman inside,
throwing her against a wall before being chased out by her boyfriend. Both were identified by the
victims. The boys are 16 and 17.
With black vests emblazoned with �Sheriff,� gun belts and paperwork in place, the deputies, each
wearing T-shirts, including Gergel�s �The Shield� T-shirt, head toward Town �N Country and the
first teen�s home.
Eleven members of the Hillsborough County sheriff�s gang unit are on the front lines of the fight, and
even though problems here are nothing like in Los Angeles and New York, over-the-top violence
occasionally spills out.
Like the recent double homicide in Town �N Country.
�We didn�t see that coming,� Saumell said.
Most gangs in Hillsborough County spend their time spray-painting privacy fences and brawling with
one another. Serious violence is not the norm, deputies say. At least for now.
If street gangs such as MS-13 � creating havoc in Los Angeles, suburban Washington, Hartford,
Conn., and elsewhere � are urban warriors engaged in combat with the law and one another, often
with murderous results, the street gangs of Hillsborough are the minor leagues.
The loosely structured gangs here mostly are more like youth groups with spray cans than gangs with
hierarchies and mission statements. Their energies more often are spent spray-painting graffiti on the
sides of convenience stores at lost intersections in rural eastern Hillsborough County and fistfighting
with teens they think are in rival gangs.
Occasionally, though, their misdeeds crest into violence and even homicide.
February�s Town �N Country homicides of two young men likely were the result of a gang rivalry,
authorities say. Neither of the victims, Michael Roberts, 20, and Sebastian Luengas, 16, was on any
gang-member list, but the shooters are at least affiliated with the Bloods, deputies say.
On March 16, three teenage men were arrested in connection with the shooting. A fourth is being
sought.
Gang unit members say the shootings are the tip of the area�s gangland iceberg. A dangerous tip.
It�s not just gangbangers getting hurt. Often, gang crimes injure innocent bystanders.
Innocent people in Sarasota last year became the victims of gang crime when Sur 13 shot up a Norte
14 house and, inside, a 9-year-old girl was hit. Her only mistake was that her family moved into the
house after the Norte 14 gang moved out, said Doug Bieniek, a Hillsborough County State
Attorney�s Office investigator handling gang cases.
�With guns and drive-bys, there�s always a chance of [innocent] people getting hurt,� Bieniek
said. �To me, the gang members are a threat. They are homeland terrorists.�
Saumell, Evarts and Gergel pull up to a dark house in Town �N Country, the home of one of the
youths they hope to have in handcuffs by the end of the night. Without a word, Saumell and Evarts
walk to the rear of the house to make sure no one skips out the back door.
Gergel knocks loudly. Somewhere down the street, a dog barks. There is no movement in the house.
It remains dark. Nothing moves. The deputies shine flashlights through a rear window.
�They�ve cleared out,� one says.
�There�s nothing in there.�
The decision is made to head to the second house. Here, lights are on, and people move about inside
the roomy middle-class house.
The same strategy is employed, and again Gergel knocks on the door. He sees movement inside and
thinks he might have seen the teen run into a rear bedroom. A woman answers the door. Across the
street, a woman walking a dog and talking on a cell phone pauses to watch.
Gergel tells the woman at the door he�s looking for the teen and names him. She shakes her head.
�He�s not here,� she says, glancing away, not looking at the deputy.
�If you see him, can you have him give me a call?� Gergel asks. �I just need to talk to him.� He
hands her a card. She promises to call.
Gergel suspects the woman lied to him, that she is harboring the boy. Walking back to the SUV,
Gergel glances down.
�That�s his bicycle,� he says.
�I could have asked to go in, but I�ll wait for the warrant,� he says. �I don�t want to tip my hand
right now.�
Some clever police work is done during the trip, involving a cellular telephone call to TECO, and
within a minute they have a new address for the first teenager, a small house in the heart of Sulphur
Springs. The trio of gang unit deputies head into the city.
Gangs in Tampa for the most part are neighborhood cliques that have no real affiliation with other
gangs. Police enforcement years ago broke up some of the city�s main gangs, although in recent
months antigang officers have seen two gangs, Serrano 13 and Norte 14, moving into the city, said
the unit head, Sgt. Kenny Norris.
Certified � by authorities � gang members are easily identified, experts say. They have tattoos or
freely admit to � and sometimes boast about � their membership. Locally, street gangs are more
likely to be juvenile delinquents who share the same neighborhoods, taste in music and movies and
occasionally venture out to vex and disrupt society.
They do have the potential to become more than what they are, Saumell said. With a little
organization, maybe from outside influences, the street gangs that now are more of an irritant could
become a major problem for law enforcement.
It�s a long way from Los Angeles, and the Bloods and Crips of Hillsborough County have little to do
with the famed West Coast street gangs. They are Hispanic, like most local street gangs, but they
rarely kill one another or run sophisticated criminal enterprises that keep everyone in easy, dirty
money.
Saumell said there is a throng of loosely affiliated gangs, but only about seven have drawn the
attention of the sheriff�s gang unit.
There are guidelines that define a gang and its members, he said. Gangs have to have two or more
members and be involved in a criminal activity. Gang members must meet any two of about eight
criteria, from merely living in a gang-infested area to admitting membership, he said.
Still, the 20 or so identified gangs known to operate in Hillsborough County (mostly the east side),
with an estimated 200 or so members, don�t all fit those guidelines.
Most are teens wearing the same colors and hanging around together, he said. Sort of gang wannabes. But watch what you say, Saumell said in a recent interview.
�There are no such things as wanna-bes,� he said. �That�s the worst thing you could do, to call
someone a wanna-be. That just means they now have to prove something.�
He agreed the gangs of eastern Hillsborough pretty much prey on one another, but they do like to rob
migrant workers, who are paid in cash and are hesitant to contact the authorities if they are robbed.
The immigrant workers are prime targets, Saumell said. The victims don�t want to draw attention to
themselves or their immigration status, and they don�t want to suffer retribution from the gang
members who robbed them.
So the 11-member sheriff�s gang unit investigating gang assaults and violence face unique
difficulties in doing their job.
Gang unit deputies use every tool available to them. If a suspected gang member is arrested on a
drug or gun charge, deputies will pressure him or her to give up information in exchange for favorable
treatment.
Deputies also go undercover to infiltrate gangs, and they establish relationships with gang members
to ask about rival gangs, which often serves up a treasure-trove of information.
Saumell said gangs are sprouting up nationwide in rural areas, mainly to escape the watchful eye of
authorities. In Virginia and Maryland, a ruthless gang, MS 13, is emerging, beating and sometimes
killing rival gang members.
MS 13, short for Mara Salvatrucha, began in Los Angeles and spread to El Salvador to recruit
guerrilla fighters not unaccustomed to ruthless tactics. It spread to other Latin American countries and
several states. So far, MS 13 hasn�t established a strong foothold in Florida, but that could change,
authorities said.
In July, three suspected MS 13 gang members were picked up in north Tampa on charges of
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a pellet gun, and trying to recruit gang members.
The three men were accused of trying to force another man to join the gang and threatening him with
the pellet gun. They eventually pleaded guilty to recruiting and soliciting a gang membership and
were sentenced to 18 months of probation. Marcial Hernandez, 27, and Carlos Moran-Castellano, 24,
were turned over to federal authorities. Rudy Regalado, 28, was released on bail.
The sheriff�s gang unit, which numbers one deputy for every 20 known gang members, knows who
the gang members are, Saumell said, and few have escaped the eyes of the law. Many want to be
recognized.
Doug Bieniek, a Hillsborough County State Attorney�s Office investigator who handles gang cases,
said there may be more gang members out there, but law enforcement agencies now have good
sources as to who�s who.
�We keep pretty good databases [on identified gang members], and if a victim or a complainant says
the suspect is a gang member, we can confirm if it�s gang related,� Bieniek said in a recent
interview.
All it takes for a case to land on Bieniek�s desk is that the suspect is a gang member.
�They do everything from slinging dope to homicides,� he said.
With the federal government now in the fight against street gangs nationwide, just where a gang
member ends up in court depends on several factors, he said.
�Well, whoever gets more bang for the buck,� he said. �If we are looking at a career criminal
facing 30 years to life, we would hold on to case. If there are gun charges involved, the feds may get
better prison time, and it goes to them.�
In Hillsborough County, all street gang cases have been prosecuted in state court.
In September, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee announced a six-month operation against
gangs that netted more than 100 suspected gang members, 52 of whom had confirmed ties.
At the time, Gee said the sweep �put a significant dent in gang activities� and that the arrests
helped thwart a home invasion robbery.
Seven months later, about 15 of the people arrested await sentencing or trial, but most have been
diverted into misdemeanor intervention programs, sentenced to time served or had their cases
dropped. In some cases, suspected gang members charged with serious crimes such as attempted
murder or sexual battery have had those charges reduced. Instead of jail, they got probation, a
Tribune analysis shows.
Some of those swept up were arrested on warrants for failing to return a rental car, or among the 16
juveniles arrested, alcohol or marijuana possession.
Wednesday, Gee said the Bay area is not a hotbed of gang activity but is on the verge of a serious
gang problem.
�This still is a city we can save,� he said.
Tuesday is trash day in Sulphur Springs, and trash cans and bags line the narrow 10th Street stretch
just north of the Hillsborough River on Monday night. Tall oaks, frilly with fuzzy spring growth, filter the
half-moon light. The hum of Nebraska Avenue traffic is ever-present. Saumell, Evarts and Gergel
aren�t sure they have the right house, but it�s worth a look. They walk up to the front door and peer
inside the crescent window at the top of the red door.
Inside, a large German shepherd notices and begins barking. Evarts turns his baseball cap around
and knocks.
The door opens and an older man looks out. Gergel looks in and spots the teen on the floor.
�I need to talk to him,� Gergel says, pointing in. Someone inside holds the large dog, still barking,
clamoring to get out. Instead, out comes the teen.
Quickly, he is turned around and handcuffs are put on him. He denies having anything to do with the
shooting. His grandmother is asked to come out so the deputies can explain what they are doing.
Evarts and Gergel tell her why they are taking her grandson.
�He was identified by three different people,� Gergel says. �People who don�t even know him.
We just didn�t come here to snatch him away.�
The teen is led to the back of a waiting patrol car. The grandmother is asked if she has seen her
grandson�s friend. She says she knows him, glancing at the mug shot, but hasn �t seen him.
The deputies point to the photo of the friend, saying he is the one they really want, that he may be the
one who dragged her grandson into this trouble.
�He�s a real knucklehead,� Gergel says. �A REAL knucklehead.�
The deputies tell her of her grandson�s alleged involvement, and she says the gang problem in
Town �N Country is the reason she moved.
�Is your grandson a gang member?� Evarts asks.
�Not that I know of,� she says.
Pointing to the squad car, Gergel says, �If he cooperates and tells us what happened that night, it�ll
be a lot easier for him. If he doesn�t, he may be prosecuted as an adult, and burglary with battery is
a life felony.�
The silent treatment is what Bieniek, investigator for the prosecutor�s office, usually gets when he
tries to get gang members to testify against fellow gang members. Victims also are reluctant to testify.
�Some of the cases are extremely hard to even get to prosecution phase because gang members
intimidate witnesses and victims,� he said. �We had victims come in and say, �No, that�s not
what I told police.� ... They were threatened, but we can�t prove it. Most victims are not going to
say they were intimidated.�
Gangs are never going to go away. They offer hope and a sense of belonging to disenfranchised
youths looking for discipline and acceptance, Bieniek said. Some families pass the gang tradition
down through generations, he said.
�We are now looking at families who have kids who are third-generation gang members. They are
bringing up their kids as gang members who then bring up their kids as gang members.
�Kids are looking for values and discipline, and gangs will give them that,� he said.
Others stay in gangs because they make money through theft or drug dealing.
�Gangs been around since the time of man,� he said. �I think they are going to be around for a
long time to come. Hopefully we can get rid of the worst ones.
Local authorities say they are kept busy watching over street gangs, but federal authorities � who
look at the big picture � say that around here, street gangs have yet to evolve into a dangerous
force.
U.S. Attorney Paul Perez, who oversees the Middle District of Florida, which stretches from
Jacksonville to Orlando to Tampa, has yet to prosecute a street gang case in federal court, though he
was given authority to do that last year as part of a Community Shield initiative.
Maybe the efforts of law enforcers are keeping ultraviolent, well-organized gangs out of the area. Or
maybe it�s just that street gangs aren�t to the point where murder, gun and dope dealing are
profitable enough to organize.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, federal and local law enforcement agencies have been much more
cooperative with one another, he said. It�s that synergy that has resulted in a more effective effort to
curtail violent gang crimes.
When law enforcement gets ahead of the gang evolution in an area, that helps.
Perez is ready to go after gangs profiting from drugs or guns, sometimes at the murderous expense
of rivals and innocent bystanders.
Street-gang activity in West Central Florida, and particularly Hillsborough County, just isn�t at that
point, he said.
�I think it is growing,� Perez said. �I think the awareness of it is, too. Do we have the same
problems as some other parts of the country? Not yet. But it�s never too early to be vigilant.�
Most of the new street gangs emerge from the Hispanic population, he said.
�It�s demographics,� he said. �There are a lot more Hispanics in the country and a lot more
illegals, which is a ripe recruitment group.�
FBI Special Agent in Charge Carl Whitehead, before coming to Tampa, spent 10 years in Los
Angeles, a city with a notorious gang problem.
Between 1985 and 1995, the Crips and Bloods ran amok, and as an FBI agent, Whitehead had
a front row seat for the gang violence and criminal activity.
�They were very active,� Whitehead said in an interview. �They were violent and into the
drug trade. Crack cocaine at the time was a serious problem.�
The past two years, Whitehead has headed up the Tampa FBI office, which has jumped into
the fight against street gangs in Hillsborough and surrounding counties. Here, Whitehead
said, there isn�t much of a problem.
The main concern for his office is MS 13, the ultraviolent gang spreading across Latin America
and into some U.S. states, but not Florida yet, he said. The arrests last year of the suspected
MS 13 members in north Tampa might have been overblown, he said, as their affiliations were
never proved.
Across the nation, there are about 30,000 different street gangs boasting a membership of
some 800,000, he said.
�There has been a significant development since the 1980s,� he said, starting with the Crips
and Bloods in Los Angeles and ending up with MS 13, now at the top of the gang ladder.
Where these gangs flourish, �there is a significant risk to the public,� he said.
�There is no strong evidence they have established themselves in this area,� he said.
There are gangs here, he said, some having affiliations with national counterparts, but their
criminal activities don�t extend much beyond minor drug and some gun dealing and graffiti.
They mostly prey on one another, with assaults and home invasions. Sometimes their
activities affect innocent bystanders, as in the cases of drive-by shootings and robberies.
�Clearly, they pose a security threat,� Whitehead said. �They are more than just kids being
rambunctious and writing graffiti on walls.�
In the past, street gang crimes were investigated by local law enforcement. In some parts of
the nation it has grown beyond that, Whitehead said, with gang violence in Virginia and
Maryland catching the attention of Congress, which asked the FBI to get involved.
What the FBI brings to the fight is its intelligence network, he said.
�We�re an international and global agency,� he said. �We gather intelligence all over the
world, in 70 different countries.� That includes many countries in Central and South America
with close ties to gangs in the United States.
�We�re talking to foreign police agencies and sharing that information here,� he said. �We
are able to take that information, analyze it and see trends.
�Our goal is to disrupt and dismantle these gangs,� he said. The fact that there is no serious
gang problem in this area may be the result of the proactive approach by law enforcement
here, he said.
�It�s outstanding here,� he said. �The best [cooperation] I�ve experienced in my 24 years
in the FBI. We all get along extremely well.�
One out of 2 isn�t bad for a few hours work after dark on a Monday night. Saumell, Evarts and
Gergel head back to the office to question the captured teenager. His loyalties will be tested. Does he
belong more to his friends and the gang or to himself and his family?
The only way to tackle gangs is by taking down one member at a time. Sometimes it is easy;
sometimes it isn�t. Like tonight, they say.
One family member understands and hopes her teen will cooperate to save what has suddenly turned
into a rocky life path. The other hides the teen, hoping to protect him from the consequences of his
alleged actions. But, of course, the law won�t go away just because you say the teen is not at home.
Rather, the law will return in a few nights with a warrant. Then the back bedroom no longer is a safe
hiding place.
�Some parents will protect their kids to the end,� Saumell said. �If they have only one offense in
their background, I can see that, but some of these kids have 30 or more arrests. ... How can they
justify that?�
Postscript: On March 16, three men were arrested in connection with the shooting. A fourth is being
sought.
Brian Joseph Lima, 18, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder. Elijah M. Thomas,
16, was charged with tampering with physical evidence, being a minor in possession of a firearm and
burglary with battery, Both are in the Orient Road Jail. Lima is being held without bail. No bail has
been set for Thomas.
Freddie Vasquez, 19, charged with discharging a firearm in public, was arrested in Pasco County and
failed to appear in court either here or there. Julio Efrain Navarro, 17, is being sought by detectives. A
warrant has been issued for his arrest on a burglary with assault charge.
Reporter Anthony McCartney contributed to this story. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813)
865-1504.
WILLIAM AMBROSE TRUDELLE Born MAR 1965
3914 W MCKAY
TAMPA, FL 33609 (813) 536-9100
WILLIAM AMBROSE TRUDELLE Born MAR 1965
1 GATESHEAD DR
DUNEDIN, FL 34698
WILLIAM AMBROSE TRUDELLE
7318 HARBOURMASTER CT
TAMPA, FL 33607 (813) 843-7388