2 Strikes and You’re Out, Florida’s Harsh Career Criminal Sentencing

A recent article took a look at Florida’s Prison Releasee Reoffender statute, which mandates a maximum penalty for designated offenders. The problem with sentencing strictures that take discretion away, is that imbalanced sentences can follow. The man discussed in this article, Steve Brana, was sentenced to life for robbery, except the robber with the gun got less time. Brana’s only prior offenses were juvenile burglaries. It’s appropriate to take a violent offender off the streets for a time to ensure the safety of the community, but life in prison for an accomplice (or principle) who has no violent history may not be necessary.

The Ninja Robber Trial is Underway in Naples

Surveillance Footage of Robbery

Andres Perez

A string of Florida robberies were dubbed the “Ninja Robberies” because the robbers dressed in black clothes and masks that were similar to ninja garb. A group of men, several from Immokalee, are accused of a series of nine armed robberies stretching from Collier County all the way to Orlando. Several men were convicted in Orlando and sentenced to several years each in prison for charges there. A couple of robbers have also pled to multiple charges in Collier and have been sentenced to 40 years for their involvement. Now on trial is Andres Perez, who is facing 37 different counts in Collier County, including Racketeering, Armed Home-Invasion Robbery, Carjacking and many more. Perez is accused of being the mastermind of the Ninja robberies. He faces life in prison in a trial that is expected to take several weeks. I would not be surprised if some of the co-defendants take the stand to testify against him as a condition of their plea deals.

Watch out for this Femme Fatale

Mayira Okheda-Garsia

Mayira Okheda-Garsia may not look the part, but this femme fatale has been charged with masterminding an armed robbery plot against her ex-boyfriend in Collier County. The victim said that Okheda and three masked, armed men busted through his sliding glass door and robbed him at gunpoint. He said the men were wearing bandannas and held him at gunpoint while they took his gold jewelry. His roommate came in, and all four offenders fled in a Toyota Camry.

Davante Sparks

Deputies located the Camry, which took off. After a chase, the vehicle stopped and the occupants fled, though the driver was caught. Deputies called in aviation and K-9 units to conduct a search, and ultimately located Okheda hiding under a trailer. They caught a third suspect, Devante Sparks, when he texted Okheda’s phone to let her know he had made it

Kameron Williams

home… they went to his house and picked him up. The fourth suspect is still on the run. All the suspects are facing charges for armed home invasion robbery and theft, and the driver, Kameron Williams, also faces charges for high-speed fleeing. Arrest records indicate both Okheda and Sparks have gang affiliation.

Brittany Stubbs

The case reminds of the Brittany Stubbs, who lured a local businessman with the promise of sex. She had planned for her boyfriend and his brother to rob the man, but the robbery went south and the man was shot and killed. All were charged with first-degree felony murder. Stubbs flipped on the co-defendants and got a 25-year sentence, while the brothers were both sentenced to mandatory life in prison. In this case, fortunately nobody was shot, but it is a life felony. In both cases, the defendants were young and some really poor choices effectively ruined their lives and those of others.

Alleged Cop-Killer Desmaret Indicted for First Degree Murder

Wisner Desmaret

A grand jury has returned an indictment for First Degree Murder against Wisner Desmaret, the man accused of killing FMPD Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller. A grand jury indictment is a necessary step in Florida to proceed on First Degree Murder charges, and may be the next step toward the state seeking the death penalty. The grand jury found evidence that he killed Jobbers-Miller with premeditated design or in the course of committing a violent felony (resisting an officer with violence), in addition to additional charges of Resisting with Violence, Robbery, Depriving an Officer of Means of Protection, Attempted Murder and Aggravated Assault on other officers, and Burglary and Grand Theft. The police report indicates that Wisner, a former boxer, knocked Jobbers-Miller down, took his gun, and shot him in the head while he was still on the ground. He then fired at two other officers, one of whom shot Desmaret before he was taken into custody.

Desmaret is set for arraignment on August 27, though that may be moved up, since the indictment has been filed. Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox was the prosecutor who obtained the indictment, and will likely be handling the case.

Friday Fun- Robber Attempts to Stick-Up 7-11 Convenience Store with only his Finger

It’s like something out of a movie. A Cohen Brothers movie!

A few days ago, a young man walked into a Bonita Springs 7-11 with a shirt wrapped around his face. He wanted to hold the place up, but didn’t have a weapon, and tried to use his finger to scare the clerks. Maybe he meant to put it in his pocket, but whatever the case, he wasn’t too scary because they could see that all he had was a finger that he was waving around! He didn’t get any money, but trying to rob a store is still a crime and deputies are still on the lookout for the attempted robber!

Will the Juice get Loose? O.J. up for Parole Hearing Tomorrow…

OJ Simpson, via NV DOC

Tomorrow the State of Nevada will hold a parole hearing for O.J. Simpson, who’s been incarcerated there since he was convicted of an armed robbery in Las Vegas in 2008. He was previously granted parole on some other charges, but the more serious charges were not eligible until this year. Since he was successful at the last hearing, there is a good chance he will be granted parole this time, which should allow his release in October. He’s apparently even telling friends that he feels good about his chances.

Interstingly, even the victims support his release. One of them already passed away, but his family indicates that the would have supported his release, and the surviving victim indicates he has forgiven Simpson and feels he’s served enough time. In a crazy anecdote, a former prison guard recounts that OJ nearly got written up for an illicit cookie, which could have derailed his parole chances.

Could OJ Simpson get out of Prison this Summer

OJ Simpson via NV DOC

OJ Simpson is coming up for parole this year, and might actually be able to get out this fall. He’s in prison in Nevada for his role in a robbery since 2008, when he was sentenced to up to 33 years. He came up for parole on some of those charges in 2013, and was granted parole to those charges, but was not eligible for every count for which he is imprisoned. The other charges will be parole-eligible in October and they will likely hold the hearing on eligibility this summer. It’s completely within the discretion of the parole board, but in light of his being granted parole earlier on the other charges, and due to his advancing age, I expect he will be able to get parole later this year. I am far from an expert on it, since I don’t practice in Nevada, but Sports Illustrated does a great job looking into the process.

Guy Commits Coolest $1.6 Million Armored Car Robbery Ever

 

Ever see the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day? There’s a scene where Murray’s character, Phil, times the behavior of armored guards to walk up and steal a bag of money when they aren’t looking. Some guy in New York actually pulled that off!

Here’s the scene from Goundhog Day, if you haven’t seen it before. It makes more sense to know that Bill Murray is reliving the same day over and over again, so he knows what’s going to happen…

So, a guy in New York just pulled off that move. He walked up to an unguarded armored truck, snatched a bucket of money, and walked off. The whole thing was caught on camera, and NYPD Crimestoppers are looking for tips if anyone recognized the guy. Here’s the footage of the sneaky thief:

Here’s the amazing thing… this guy didn’t just get a bucket of change. The bucket he swiped was full of gold! The five-gallon pail had 82 pounds of flaked gold, worth $1.6 million dollars. It was so heavy, it took him an hour to walk a few blocks where he got in a van to make his escape. Police pieced all this together by reviewing the surveillance footage in the video, above. They still have not identified him, and are looking for tips.

Screen Capture of the Groundhog-style Thief

I called this a robbery in the title, but it’s really more of a simple grand theft. Robbery typically indicates taking property from a person, but there’s nobody here. It’s like shoplifting, except from an armored car. It’s exactly like the Groundhog Day, theft, so I’m beside myself because it’s one of my favorite movies. But this guy didn’t plan it out… he probably just saw an opportunity, and got really lucky. Winner, winner, chicken dinner and bucket of gold. I think they have an idea who it is, because investigators think the suspect is laying low in Florida. Because of course he is. Just so EPIC.

UPDATE: Here’s the Latest on the Ryan Lochte Situation

UPDATE: Lochte has issued a statement.

So, Ryan Lochte was out with some other U.S. Swimmers and later reported a robbery. The New York Times has a full breakdown of the timeline of events, and the current status of everything.

Basically, the men had their cab stop at a gas station to use the restroom. Lochte initially said they were pulled over by someone pretending to be a police officer, but later publicly said they had stopped at the gas station. He says they were stopped by a man or men with badges, and ordered to the ground and to hand over their money. The gas station says they they damaged some of the facilities, and that a security guard confronted them. Video from the gas station shows them on the ground- that actually supports part of Lochte’s statement. Some people are now saying that the security guards may have tried to get them to pay, or extorted them, while others say the men offered money to the gas station. The whole thing is weird.

The common law definition of Robbery is taking the property of another by force or the threat of force. If the guard, who had a gun, ordered Lochte and the swimmers around and demanded money, it could constitute common law robbery. I do not know the definition of robbery in Brazil, but it potentially could fit, or could fit some other extortion charge. That’s not to say Lochte and/or the other swimmers are blameless, they could be facing charges for destruction of property, even if it bore out that they weren’t charged for false report.

Swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz, who were pulled off a plane, gave a statement to police that did not indicate a robbery, and were permitted to travel back to the United States. Jimmy Feigen made an arrangement to make a payment to a Brazillian organization in a deal to avoid prosecution- which sounds like a deferred prosecution deal that one might see here. Lochte may end up doing something like that, as the charge is not ultimately that serious of an offense, and is more of a case of him acting drunk and stupid than criminally. It probably would not have been an issue if he had heeded the advice of USOC, and not said anything, instead of giving a graphic interview to the media the next morning.

The lie is usually worse than the crime.

via Deadspin

 

Lochte Indicted! 2 U.S. Swimmers Indicted

Ryan Lochte and James Feigen have reportedly been indicted by Rio police. Reports indicate that have been charged with false report of a crime (in Florida, that’s only a misdemeanor offense). Feigen is reportedly still in Brazil, but Lochte has already returned to the United States. Developing…