On the ninth day of Scott Rothstein's deposition in Miami -- December 22 -- he made a few interesting comments about his relationships with Plantation police officers.
Rothstein was repeatedly prevented from answering questions about law enforcement by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio -- who cited the government's "investigative privilege" -- except on a few occasions.
On that Thursday, though, Rothstein spoke generally about cops from the Plantation Police Department on several occasions, sometimes unprovoked.
Amid dozens of questions about Rothstein's relationship with the Levinsons (of Levinson Jewelers), Rothstein was explaining how he'd walk into the jewelry store in Plantation with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to buy loose diamonds.
He explains -- not too thoroughly -- that he couldn't just walk in the front door with that cash sometimes because of Plantation police in the store.
"If I was going to the Plantation store, then I would have usually put my car around back or on the side actually, not back, off to the side, not in front of the store because there were Plantation cops in the store all the time," Rothstein said. "I didn't know whether they were say, quote, unquote, friends or cops. If that makes any sense. I think you understand what I'm trying to say."
No further questions were asked about the "quote, unquote, friends or cops."
On another question about "under the table cash transactions," Rothstein explained that he wasn't sure if could answer because the deals were done in Plantation "through a member of law enforcement."
As with the entire deposition, Rothstein didn't name-drop any cops, nor was he allowed to.
On two other occassions in that morning's transcript, Rothstein also mentioned Plantation cops in seemingly irrelevant situations, including right in the middle of a series of yes-or-no questions.
"You maintained political connections stretching from the Broward Sheriff's office on one end of Broward Boulevard, all the way down to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department on the other end of Broward Boulevard, correct?" Rothstein was asked.
"Yes, and all the way out to Plantation," he replied.
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