Court Digest

Florida
Suspended city official pleads not guilty to money laundering and other charges
MIAMI (AP) — A suspended Miami city commissioner who is accused of accepting $245,000 in exchange for voting to approve construction of a sports facility has pleaded not guilty to multiple felony charges, including bribery and money laundering.

Alex Diaz de la Portilla did not appear in court Friday, but his attorney, Ben Kuehne, entered the plea for him.

Diaz de la Portilla and a co-defendant, Miami attorney William Riley Jr., were arrested Sept. 14.

Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Diaz de la Portilla, who is a fellow Republican, after the commissioner’s arrest. Kuehne said Friday that his client was campaigning for the Nov. 7 election to keep his seat on the commission.

“We look forward to a vindication of these charges because Alex is not guilty,” Kuehne said at the Miami-Dade criminal courthouse, according to the Miami Herald.

Kuehne requested that Diaz de la Portilla be tried separately from Riley, WPLG-TV reported.

On Friday, Riley’s attorney also entered a not guilty plea for his client, who did not appear in court. Riley is accused of being the front for the business that allegedly gave money to the Diaz de la Portilla campaign in exchange for the right to build a sports facility on land that is now a downtown city park.

Both men bonded out of jail soon after being arrested, and their next status hearing is Nov. 14. A trial date has not been set.

Diaz de la Portilla is a former state legislator and was elected to the city commission in 2019.

Investigators said Diaz de la Portilla and Riley accepted more than $15,000 for the Miami-Dade County Court judicial campaign of Diaz de la Portilla’s brother but did not report the money, as required by state law.
Riley also controlled a bank account in the name of a Delaware-based corporation to launder about $245,000 in concealed political contributions made by a management services company in exchange for permission to build a sports complex, officials said.

Investigators also said Diaz de la Portilla operated and controlled two political committees used both for his brother’s campaign and for personal spending. Records showed one of the committees reported donations of about $2.3 million and the other reported more than $800,000.

Diaz de La Portilla and Riley are each charged with one count of money laundering, three counts of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, one count of bribery and one count of criminal conspiracy.

Diaz de la Portilla is also charged with four counts of official misconduct, one count of campaign contribution in excess of legal limits and two counts of failure to report a gift. Riley is also charged with failure to disclose lobbyist expenses.

Georgia
A $1.4 million speeding ticket surprised man before officials clarified situation
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man was left reeling after receiving a $1.4 million speeding ticket, but city officials say the figure was just a placeholder, not the actual fine.

Connor Cato tells WSAV-TV in Savannah that he received the citation after getting pulled over in September for driving 90 mph (145 kph) in a 55 mph (89 kph) zone.

He called the court thinking the figure was a typo but says he was told he either had to pay it or appear in court in December.

Savannah officials say anyone caught driving more than 35 mph (56 kph) above the speed limit has to appear in court, where a judge will determine the actual fine.

The figure Cato received reflected a “placeholder” that was automatically generated by e-citation software used by the local Recorder’s Court, said Joshua Peacock, a spokesman for Savannah’s city government.
The actual fine cannot exceed $1,000 in addition to state-mandated costs.

“We do not issue that placeholder as a threat to scare anybody into court, even if this person heard differently from somebody in our organization,” Peacock told The Associated Press.

He added that the court “is currently working on adjusting the placeholder language to avoid any confusion.”

Florida
Executive who had business ties to Playgirl magazine pleads guilty to $250M fraud at lending company
MIAMI (AP) — A Florida executive whose family business once owned Playgirl magazine has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud for misleading investors in another of his companies — one that made high-interest loans to small businesses.

Carl R. Ruderman, 82, was chairman and chief executive officer of 1 Global Capital LLC, a commercial lending company that filed for bankruptcy in July 2018. Federal authorities said he took part in a $250 million scheme that affected more than 3,400 investors in 42 states.

Ruderman pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Miami. Court records show sentencing is set for Jan. 3, and he faces up to five years in prison and forfeiture of more than $250 million.

Ruderman admitted spending 1 Global investors’ money on credit card payments, vacation travel, drivers, nannies, housekeepers, tuition, mortgage payments, luxury car payments and insurance payments for his art collection and jewelry, the Justice Department said in a news release Friday

Ruderman also admitted diverting investors’ money to businesses benefitting him and his family, without investors’ knowledge, the department said.

The company — based in Hallandale Beach, Florida — made loans to small businesses, called merchant cash advance loans. Prosecutors compared those to payday loans.

The Justice Department said Ruderman admitted he and others made false representations to investors and potential investors about the profitability of 1 Global. Investors were falsely told the company had been audited by a public accounting firm, that investors’ money would be spent on the merchant cash advance loans, and that people could expect double-digit returns on investments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said in a 2018 complaint against Ruderman and 1 Global that the company collected money from investors, many of whom used retirement savings, from February 2014 to July 2018.

The SEC said 1 Global was formed in 2013 and owned by the Ruderman Family Trust. The SEC said the trust also owned other businesses, including Digi South, which “used to own Playgirl and other adult magazines.” Digi South used the same address as 1 Global and “received approximately $805,000 in investor funds from 1 Global for no consideration or legitimate services,” the SEC said.

Four of Ruderman’s co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the 1 Global fraud, the Justice Department said.

Alan G. Heide, 65, of Lake Worth, Florida, the former 1 Global chief financial officer, pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay more than $57 million in restitution.

Andrew Dale Ledbetter, 81, a lawyer from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pleaded guilty in 2021 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. He was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay more than $148 million in restitution.

Steven Allen Schwartz, 78, of Delray Beach, Florida, a director and consultant at 1 Global, pleaded guilty in 2020 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. He was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $36 million in restitution.

Jan Douglas Atlas, 78, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a lawyer, pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. He was sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to pay more than $29 million in restitution.

Iowa
Jurors clear man charged with murder of students
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jurors on Friday cleared an Iowa man charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two students at a Des Moines alternative school, a month after another man was convicted for his role in the killings.

Bravon Tukes, 20, was acquitted of two counts of first-degree murder and single counts of attempted murder, criminal gang participation and willful injury causing serious injury, according to the Des Moines Register.

The decision came about a month after jurors found Preston Walls, 19, guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter and willful injury causing serious injury for his role in the Jan. 23 shooting at the Starts Right Here program. Prosecutors also had sought to convict Walls of first-degree murder.

As the judge read the not guilty verdicts, Tukes hugged one of his attorneys.

The shooting at the alternative school on the edge of downtown Des Moines killed Gionni Dameron, 18, and Rashad Carr, 16. Will Keeps, a former Chicago gang member and rapper who started the program for at-risk teens, was injured in the shooting when he tried to intervene.

Prosecutors argued the shootings were prompted by a dispute between members of different gangs.

Walls admitted to the shooting but said he brought a gun to the school and shot the other students because they had threatened him and he feared for his life.

Tukes, who had driven Walls away after the shooting, argued in his trial that he had not planned the shooting. Walls testified during Tukes’ trial and supported the claim that his friend didn’t have a role in the shootings.

Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham said in a statement that she disagreed with the verdict.

“We believe the evidence was clear that Mr. Tukes conspired with fellow gang member Preston Walls for at least a month before the killings. Mr. Tukes aided Mr. Walls by meeting him a half-mile from the crime scene and driving Mr. Walls away from the area,” Graham said. “Regardless of the verdicts, this has been and will always be a horrific tragedy. We continue to be heartbroken for our community, and we continue to grieve with the families.”

Alabama
Joran van der Sloot expected to plead guilty in Natalee Holloway extortion case
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Court records filed Friday indicate Joran van der Sloot, the chief suspect in Natalee Holloway’s 2005 disappearance, intends to plead guilty in a federal case accusing him of trying to extort money from the missing teen’s mother.

A federal judge set an Oct. 18 plea and sentencing hearing for van der Sloot in Birmingham, Alabama. He had previously entered a plea of not guilty in the case.

Emails sent to van der Sloot’s attorney and a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors were not immediately returned Friday evening

Van der Sloot was extradited to Alabama from Peru, where he’s serving a 28-year sentence after confessing to killing a Peruvian woman in 2010.

Holloway went missing during a high school graduation trip with classmates to Aruba. The Alabama teen was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, a student at an international school on the island. The mysterious disappearance sparked years of news coverage and countless true-crime podcasts. Van der Sloot was identified as a main suspect and was detained for questioning but no charges were filed in the case.

A judge declared Holloway dead but her body has never been found.

U.S. prosecutors say that in 2010, van der Sloot sought money from Beth Holloway to disclose the location of her daughter’s body. A grand jury indicted him that year.