The Strong Defense
You Deserve
Staring life in federal prison in the face, a Plant City man's tearful remorse for his crimes led the presiding judge to sentence him to seventeen years behind bars instead.Telling a story of an early life marred by grinding poverty in Mexico, Saul Velazquez-Bazan's...
Six Hillsborough county residents are facing fraud charges and a seventh individual is still being sought for the same for allegedly participating in a scheme to illegally harvest credit card numbers using scanning machines placed on gas pumps.Investigators with the...
Pinellas County officials say an argument over illicit drugs precipitated a murder in a motel in Largo, and have charged a transient man in connection with the killing.Authorities say Angel Enrigue Martinez became enmeshed in a disagreement with Ricky Garland in the...
A St. Petersburg man was arrested without incident last week after a warrant was issued for him in the matter of the killing of another man in Jordan Park earlier this month.Police say they arrested Denzel Rashad Tarver four days after the warrant was issued against...
A New Port Richey woman was mostly tight lipped after being arrested for an allegedly near-fatal domestic assault police say she committed last week - though they said that she did open her mouth long enough to spit at one of their number.Deputies from the Pasco...
A former United States Air Force sergeant's death sentence for a pair of 2007 murders was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court last week thanks, in large part, to the work of Florida Board Certified Criminal Trial Attorney Bjorn Brunvand.Ralph Daniel "Ron" Wright,...
A former Pinellas County sheriff's deputy went on trial last week on allegations that he stole prescription medication turned into the department for destruction and pawned his department-issued duty firearm.Steven Jared Smith is being charged with possession of...
Three inmates of the Pinellas County Jail landed in the hospital after overdosing on drugs allegedly brought into the facility by one of their number.Robert Gilner was booked into jail early last week for driving under the influence and driving on a suspended or...
An alleged suicidal comment led to the arrest of a Tampa man who authorities believe murdered his girlfriend.Last Saturday Hector Favio "Pops" Acevedo allegedly called his mother Maria Soto, telling her that he wished to end his own life. Police say she picked him up...
The second time was a charm for a man first convicted six years ago for a 2006 murder, as a Pinellas County jury opted not to convict a Mississippi man again for the crime last week.Twenty-nine-year-old Hector Josue Vasquez-Padilla was first charged with the murder of...
