Florida Criminal Attorney Blog

Anthony Costanzo, a Broward County, Florida sheriff's deputy, was arrested on Wednesday after authorities accused him of attempting to affect the outcome of a criminal trial, according to news reports. Costanzo, 42, was reportedly booked into Broward Main Jail on charges of felony use of a phone, evidence tampering, witness tampering, and disclosure of confidential information. He has since been released on $5,000 bail bond, sources indicate.

Area media outlets are reporting that Costanzo has been on the Broward police force for twelve years. If convicted as charged, Costanzo could purportedly be sentenced to life in prison. There is no indication that he has ever faced criminal charges in the past. He was even featured on the television show Cops, a Fox series that follows law enforcement officers on the job. She show is Fox's longest-running program.

Sources indicate that Costanzo has been accused of trying to aid Fort Lauderdale Detective Billy Koepke, who is currently undergoing prosecution along with his partner for official misconduct, racketeering, extortion, false imprisonment, kidnapping, grand theft, and falsifying records. Both men, aged 30 and 32 respectively, face life in prison if convicted as charged. Their arrests evidently came after a two-month long internal investigation within the police department.

News sources indicate that the pair has been accused of pulling people over for traffic stops and searching for money and drugs. If they found large sums of money or drugs, the officers allegedly fabricated a charge in order to arrest the person, confiscated the goods, and pocketed a portion before turning the rest into the police department as evidence. This allegedly went on between late April and late August of 2010 and involved four separate traffic stops, at which victims allege they were robbed of $1,550 to nearly $5,500.

The charges against Koepke are quite serious. One victim, Mike Mayer, has reportedly alleged that he was removed from a vehicle in which he was a passenger one afternoon in August 2010. Mayer insists that he had not committed any crimes, but he was allegedly told that he could go to life in prison and that if he wanted to be set free, he had to "set up" a third party. Mayer alleges that he was driven around for hours, handcuffed, in the back of a police car without having committed a crime. Two other defendants alleged that after being arrested on drug charges, they would never see their money or car again and that they should "post bond and get the hell out of Florida and never come back."

Continue reading "Anthony Costanzo, Broward County, Florida Deputy, Arrested for Tampering in Case" »

Nicole Stasnek and Derek Fernandes, Coral Springs, Florida officers, allegedly lied about Susan Mait's arrest in court. The pair is being investigated after an accidental cell phone recording revealed that they had lied under oath about the circumstances surrounding Mait's arrest. No charges have yet been filed against Fernandes, 35, and Stasnek. It is not clear whether either party has retained a private criminal defense attorney.

The pair is suspected of lying while testifying in a case against 60-year-old Susan Mait of Coral Springs, who Stasnek arrested on October 4, 2011 on charges of felony obstruction of a police officer and driving under the influence. Mait allegedly refused to comply with repeated police requests to show her driver's license and resisted arrest, and the officers said that they suspected that she had been drinking. The DUI charge was later dropped after testing showed that Mait was not under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs at the time of the incident.

During the initial testimony, Fernandes said that he spotted a Lexis SUV stopped on Royal Palm Boulevard while doing rounds and stopped his cruiser to see what was going on. Mait apparently got out of her car and approached the officer, saying that she needed to call a tow truck because two of her tires had suddenly blown out. She allegedly told Fernandes that she was unable to move the car but wanted to drive it the remaining miles to her home. According to Fernandes, she also told him that she was under the influence of Xanax.

Fernandes said in court that he told Mait to call a tow truck and that during that time, Stasnek arrived at the scene. Stasnek agreed with the testimony and told the court that she approached Mait and asked to see her driver's license upon her arrival. Mait, who was on the phone with GEICO, refused. Stasnek claimed that she warned Mait multiple times that she would arrest Mait should she refuse to comply with the request. She then alleged that Mait put a hand in her face while refusing to comply. Stasnek told the court that in response she pulled Mait out of the car and arrested her.

Mait dropped her cell phone as Stasnek removed her from the vehicle, and the GEICO representative who was on the line ended up recording the entire incident thereon, save a small amount of time spent on hold. The officers alleged that Mait resisted arrest by body slamming Stasnek and tensing up her body. Stasnek also said under oath that she never swore at Mait, as Mait alleged. Mait spent one night in jail on the original charges.

The recording, which is 17 minutes long, revealed the following dialogue between Stasnek and Mait when Stasnek asked for the driver's license:

Mait: Did you not see me on the phone?
Stasnek: Did you not see this uniform I have on? Don't give me any s*** right now. Give me your f***ing driver's license.

It also revealed this dialogue between Stasnek and Fernandes after the arrest:

Fernandes: I didn't hear anything you said. I was in the back of the car.
Stasnek: I did drop the F*** bomb.
Fernandes (laughing): I didn't hear that. In my statement, I'll say I didn't hear that.

Also, although both officers said that they had said under oath that they told Mait that she was disobeying a lawful demand several times, the recording did not contain any such exchange.

Joshua Cooper was arrested last week for unlicensed telemarketing in Boca Raton, Florida. His arrest, while very controversial, has sent ripples through the telemarketing industry here in Florida. Many telemarketing companies and their employees are now worried that they too may be arrested and subjected to criminal prosecution for acts that are thought to be perfectly legal.

While the Florida Telemarketing Act makes unlicensed telemarketing illegal, there are a number of exceptions to this rule and in some cases, I think they Act may not even apply at all.

Given this reality and the fact that licensing enforcement is on the rise, it would be a good idea for telemarketing companies throughout Florida to obtain legal counsel to determine if they are compliant with all licensing statutes.

This blog entry will be the first of a multi-part series intended to be a general discussion of a telemarketer's potential for criminal liability under the Florida Telemarketing Act. The series will also address some of the inherent limitations of the Act and some of the licensing exceptions that may apply.

As a criminal defense lawyer, I am very intrigued by these cases because the Florida Telemarketing Act is easily misinterpreted by over-zealous law enforcement. Remember, law enforcement exists to make arrests and build cases. In a budgetary environment like the present one, it is no surprise that the State of Florida is increasing its licensing enforcement practices, since these prosecutions are routinely accompanied by civil penalties which can include heavy fines.

Continue reading "Fighting False Arrest for Unlicensed Telemarketing in Florida (Part 1)" »