Month: January 2013

A Sarasota man was sentenced to five years in federal prison this month for his role in a complicated mortgage fraud scheme. Arthur R. Seaborne had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud. In addition to the prison sentence, Seaborne was ordered...

Federal prosecutors report that Jessy Paliyath Peter of Lakeland pleaded guilty this month to theft of government funds and making a false statement to obtain federal employee's compensation. At the root of the case is a fraudulent workers' compensation...

Trial began this week in Hillsborough County against 46-year-old Chunping Lin, who is charged with second-degree murder in the 2011 death of his wife Lixin Tian. Tian died in July 2011 after being removed from life support, following a May 2011 beating by Lin. Tian's...

Hillsborough County law enforcement used DNA evidence and technology to identify Otano Anton Leggett, currently a Florida state prison inmate, as a suspect in an early 2012 Tampa murder. Leggett is serving a two-year sentence at the Liberty Correctional Institution...

In July 2007, Paula O'Conner and her 15-month-old son, Alijah, were murdered in their St. Petersburg home. Detectives later found a left-handed black glove - covered inside and out with DNA - was found on a couch near her front door. Law enforcement officers and...

In a case we've discussed here on this blog in the past, Trevor Dooley, 72 was sentenced this week to eight years in prison after being found guilty by a Hillsborough County jury of the manslaughter death of David James.Dooley asserted a "stand your ground" defense in...

Back in May of 2011, Mervin Bettis attempted to shoplift $1,100 worth of razor blade cartridges from a Target store on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa. Retired FBI agent Russell Horner was one of two Target-employed security officers who struggled with Bettis as he tried...