Florida Criminal Attorney Blog

Marcus Faella, Patricia Faella, and five others were arrested in Osceola County, Florida on Friday after they were accused of miscellaneous crimes, according to news reports. The arrested parties are reportedly Marcus Faella, 39, and his wife Patricia Faella, 36; Jennifer McGowan, 25, and her husband Mark McGowan, 29; Kent McLellan, 22; Paul Jackson, 25; and Diane Stevens, 28. The septet was charged with paramilitary training, evidence of prejudices while committing offense, and attempt to shoot into an occupied dwelling.

Each of the arrested parties were booked into Osceola County Jail on the charges and granted $500,000 bail bond. Marcus and Patricia Faella were reportedly released on Monday afternoon, while the others remained incarcerated in lieu of payment. It is not clear whether any of the defendants has retained a private criminal defense lawyer.

News sources indicate that the arrests were made after a two-year investigation by the FBI Joint Task Force operation in cooperation with local authorities. It is not clear what methods the investigation used in order to gather information, but the affidavit reportedly alleges that the group was planning white supremacist paramilitary activity. The charge of paramilitary training, which each of the defendants was accused of, involves training another person to make or use a weapon in order to further or instigate "a civil disorder within the United States." The charge of evidences of prejudices while commenting offense is reportedly considered a hate crime and is a first-degree felony under Florida law.

One news source that reportedly acquired the affidavit is alleging that Faella considers himself and the rest of the group as "protectors of the white race" and that the defendants were training in order to kill minority groups. According to the affidavit, Marcus Faella told trainees to pretend that they were shooting at the heads of African Americans while conducting firearms training, reported one source.

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Dominick Plateroti was arrested in Boca Raton, Florida for attacking Scott Mauro and Ryan Arnold and drawing a gun in a Boca Raton nightclub on Sunday, March 18, reports indicate. Plateroti, a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy, was charged with three counts of battery and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and booked at Broward County Jail. He reportedly got out of jail on Monday on $5,000 bail bond. It is not currently clear whether he has retained a private criminal defense attorney.

The police report indicates that the incident occurred at the Blue Martini nightclub, located at 6000 Glades Road in Boca Raton in the early hours of the morning. Scott Mauro, who is the General Manager of the Blue Martini, alleged that Plateroti was patronizing the bar because his wife, Trisha Plateroti, is an Events Coordinator at the establishment. Mauro and Plateroti were both off-duty when the incident occurred.

According to Mauro and sever other witnesses, Mauro was sitting at the bar of the club when Plateroti walked up behind him and punched him in the back of the head for no apparent reason. Ryan Arnold, who is friends with Scott Mauro, said he put Plateroti in a chokehold to restrain him, but that Plateroti bit his arm, breaking his skin causing him to draw back.

Plateroti then allegedly pulled out a glock model gun. Mauro says that he yelled "What are you doing?" and that Plateroti put the gun back into his waistband. Witnesses say that the group then went outside and that Mauro started yelling at Plateroti, at which point a police officer that had been called to the club for a noise complaint saw them yelling at each other and intervened.

The officer says in the arrest report that after Mauro and Arnold decided that they wanted to press charges, the officer searched Plateroti as well as Plateroti and Trisha Plateroti's vehicles and was unable to find a gun. However, he says the disc jockey that was performing at the club reported seeing "a man in a black shirt" draw a gun and said that he fled the stage in fear when he saw the gun. The officer also says that surveillance footage taken of the incident "clearly showed Dominick walking over to the bar area and punching Scott Mauro in the back of the head. A scuffle begins and you can see Ryan grab Dominick... you could see Michael Downer (the DJ) who was on stage, run as if he was in fear of something."

The officer also says in the arrest report that there was an "unidentified black male" who had come to the club with Plateroti who appeared to have been in on the attack. The report indicates that before Plateroti attacked Mauro, he and the identified party were talking at a table, and that they both left the table in unison and walked over to where Mauro was afterwards. The officer also mentions that the unidentified person was pushing people away from Plateroti as he fought with Arnold in the surveillance video, apparently trying to protect him. The man has yet to be identified.

A Broward Sheriff's Office deputy shot an armed man in Pompano Beach, Florida after the man fired a shot and refused to comply with police orders to drop his weapon. No arrests have been made and no one was hurt other than the armed man. It is not known whether the deputy, whose name has not yet been released, has a retained a lawyer.

Neighbors report that the slain man, who remains unnamed, had visited the Southeast 22nd Avenue apartment complex near the 800 block of the street in order to visit an ex-girlfriend. Why he made the visit armed is unclear. In any case, the Broward Sheriff's office received a call from someone stating that a man was at the complex threatening another person with a gun. It is not clear if the man was threatening his ex-girlfriend in an act of domestic violence, or threatening someone else.

Police arrived at the scene at approximately 6:30 p.m. They reported seeing a man who was holding a handgun standing outside of the second floor of the apartment, accompanied by another person. "The deputies arrived to find the man pointing the gun at someone," said Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Leljedal. The man then fired a shot at no one in particular. "I don't know if he was firing at someone or if he just fired a round to let people know that the gun was real," commented Leljedal.

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Surveillance cameras at a Mobil gas station in Dania Beach, Florida captured images of two men committing armed robbery with a firearm against three victims. So far no arrests have been made.

The surveillance video begins with the two men exiting a white, newer model dodge charger. The men are seen wearing hoodie style sweatshirts with the hoods over their heads. The men are also seen wearing handkerchiefs over their faces to further conceal their identities.

The surveillance video clearly shows the men ordering the victims around as the hold guns to their bodies. The men are fast moving, aggressive, and go right for the register.

As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer, I have no doubt in my mind that these men will get at least 30 years each in prison if every convicted.

Crimes like these are prosecuted very aggressively and are subject to Florida's 10-20-LIFE law, since they involved the use of guns in the commission of a felony.

Frankly, I have no respect for criminals like these. Armed robberies with firearms involve absolutely zero use of the human brain and are usually perpetrated by scum bags who are too lazy to get real jobs.

Instead, the rob the rest of us at gun point for our hard earned things. In the process, people sometimes get killed.

I'm sorry, I may be a very aggressive criminal defense lawyer, but I have no pity for animals like these.

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Jeffrey Frederick, 24, was arrested after trying to rob Urgent Pain Management in Lake Worth, Florida. According to news reports, Frederick supposedly became very angry after being denied pain medication. After leaving the pain clinic, he returned with a gun and threatened the staff. This resulted in an altercation with one of the doctors during which, Frederick is said to have pointed the gun at the doctor and pulled the trigger. When the gun didn't fire, Frederick supposedly hit the doctor with the gun. At some point during the incident, Frederick demanded money. (Photo Credit: Palm Beach Sheriff's Office)

Frederick did not act alone. According to the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, Friendley Sertile, 21, allegedly acted as a getaway driver. After robbing the Urgent Pain Management clinic, Jeffrey Frederick fled on foot to a nearby mobile home park where he met Sertile.

However, an eye witness was able to take down the license plate number from Sertile's car. This vehicle was ultimately tracked down to an apartment complex near the Palm Beach State College campus. A SWAT team was called and the two bandits were taken into custody after peacefully surrendering.

This case presents the ugly truth behind the pain clinic epidemic in our community. While it is easy to label Jeffrey Frederick as some maniac with a gun, and he sure seems to be, the truth is that he was likely acting out because he is probably addicted to the very pain pills that Urgent Pain Management refused to dispense.

As this case shows, drug offenses are not the only crimes associated with pain clinics.

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