When the video was playing in the federal courtroom Monday showing Fitzroy Salesman taking $3,000 cash from an undercover FBI agent, I looked over at Salesman at the defense table and had one thought. Joe Eggelletion must be really pissed at this guy. It was Salesman, after all, who provided the gateway for the…
In what amounted to a no-brainer decision, a jury found Fitzroy Salesman guilty on four felony counts of bribery and extortion after four and a half hours of deliberation, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Salesman faces up to 60 years in prison, but sentencing guidelines fall between five and seven. From the Sentinel article: “As the verdict…
A Nova Southeastern University professor who spent his promising career trying to cure cancer was murdered during an apparent home invasion in his usually quiet Plantation suburb in the middle of the night. Dr. Joseph Morrissey, 46, was tied up and shot before his house was set on fire by an armed man, according to…
As he sat in the Westin Diplomat hotel room with the “old man,” then-Miramar Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman spoke of how he’s a man of action. The old man — an undercover FBI agent whom Salesman believed was a wealthy construction magnate from up north — asked him how he felt about…
The Miami Herald is reporting that Broward County Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin won’t seek reelection. She’s citing health reasons (Parkinson’s disease), but as we reported here first, she’s under investigation by the State Attorney’s Office relating to some nasty business in her town of Southwest Ranches. The best part of the Herald article is the story about how…
At the risk of inspiring more interblog conflict about religion, here are some memorable quotes about the topic followed by those who uttered them. The answers come after the jump. Quotes 1. “When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.” 2. “Religion is what keeps…
UPDATED: New details have emerged about the Scott Rothstein Mafia case. First, when Rothstein cooperated with the feds against alleged Sicilian Mafiosi Roberto Settineri, he began by contacting Settineri directly, a source close to the case told me. When Rothstein offered to meet with Settineri in a public place, the reputed mobster…
Those were the words of Brazilian national Luis Renato Jung when he allegedly picked a fight with the wrong guy — alleged Sicilian Mafiosi and Scott Rothstein target Roberto Settineri. That’s when Jung allegedly “began harassing and taunting the victims by saying, ‘You fucking Italian, look at your fucking face,”…
Robert Payton, who started as a garbage man with Miramar 34 years ago and rose all the way to city manager, took the stand in the Fitzroy Salesman trial today and showed us how weak and ineffective leadership in government can enable corruption. Payton didn’t commit a crime during the Salesman saga, or at least it…
Note to Federal Bankruptcy Judge Raymond Ray: When it’s a tossup, side with the First Amendment over secrecy. Especially when it comes to Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein cohorts like his former law partner Steven Lippman. Lippman, who is being sued by the bankruptcy court for $3.8 million in alleged Ponzi funds he…
Below are several classic quotes on the nature of right and wrong. One of them was uttered by Fitzroy Salesman on undercover tapes made by the FBI. Match the quote with the right speaker (answers come after the jump). 1. “Nobody thinks in terms of human beings. Governments don’t. Why should we? They talk…
In addition to talking about how to get government jobs in corrupt Broward County, Fitzroy Salesman and the undercover agents spoke of plane mishaps, parking tickets, driving school, sex, and a “camel toe contest” between beauty pageant contestants (including Miss Canada), according to trial testimony yesterday. One of Salesman’s defense attorneys, Daniel Aaronson,…
Ever since author Arthur Jay Harris showed me the evidence, I’ve been a believer that Jeffrey Dahmer killed Adam Walsh. So after more than two years, after Harris’ book has been published, after the Daily Business Review published an article on it more than two years, after stories I’ve done, and after…
It’s Friday and I’m working on some more long-term stuff, so I’ll make this quick: Why don’t politicians in Broward County have any shame? I mean, in a lot of places when a judge gets caught not only partying with a prosecutor on a homicide case during the trial and then…
Alleged Sicilian mobster and Scott Rothstein target Roberto Settineri was arraigned in federal court this morning. The pleas was not guilty, of course. “We invoke discovery, demand a trial by jury — we’re ready,” his lawyer, Jeffrey Weiner, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Rosenbaum. A handcuffed Settineri was in his…
I want to go off script here for a second and rail about a small government move that has gotten my goat. It’s just a little Plantation thing, but it illustrates the central problem of government privatizing services it should be providing. Today’s Plantation Forum newspaper’s lead headline is “City outsources…
When fallen Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein returned from Morocco last November after his Ponzi scheme blew up, he went straight into the womb of the federal government, where he immediately began working as an informant. Rothstein, who talked his way into a $1.2 billion bogus investment scheme, would now…
Scott Rothstein, wherever he is now, did a lot of damage to a lot of people in this town. I can’t help but believe that his toxic life may have contributed to the untimely death of a promising young woman. Timmerman with Gov. Crist in photo taken at Scott Rothstein’s home Julie…
He won’t give his name, but as he sat across from me in a Fort Lauderdale eatery today, he was clearly stressed as he talked about the place of worship, the Downtown Jewish Center Chabad. The chabad has been in the news because Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein was not only a dedicated…
Well, GOP consultant Roger Stone was deposed in the Scott Rothstein bankruptcy case yesterday and, true to his usual form, he didn’t disappoint. And of course, most of the good stuff didn’t concern the real business at hand, which is whether Stone owes Rothstein creditors $60,000 that was listed as…
In light of Scott Rothstein’s Mob turn, I started putting together a little history on Mafia action in Broward (and Palm Beach) County yesterday, and it was such a big hit, I’m going to give you some more today and try to highlight a new one each day this week. Boca Raton, where…
In light of Scott Rothstein’s alleged Mafiosi takedown of alleged Sicilian mobster Roberto Settineri, the Sun-Sentinel this morning attempted to explain the Mafia’s presence in Broward County. It made brief mention of Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, and Nicky Scarfo, but it was a superficial gloss-over with a few quotes from so-called experts. If you really want…
