Clearwater Criminal Defense Law Blog

Earlier this month, a Tampa federal judge sentenced three Michigan residents for bank fraud, mail theft, and aggravated identity theft that occurred in Duval, Charlotte, Hillsborough, Manatee, Monroe, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and Seminole Counties between 2007 and 2009.According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Gerald Thomas Lange, Anthony Joseph Henig, Kayla Rose Kirklin, and Stephanie Renee Fields conspired to and stole checks and identity information from various mailboxes throughout the Middle District of Florida. They then used the stolen information...

A federal jury in Tampa found Scott Allan Bennett of Washington, DC guilty this month of lying to government officials to obtain housing on MacDill Air Force Base, as well as wearing a U.S. military uniform without authorization and violating a defense property security regulation with regard to firearms he had on MacDill Air Force Base. At his sentencing hearing in October, Bennett faces a maximum penalty of seven-and-a-half years in federal prison.According to the evidence presented at trial, Bennett was a civilian contractor working on MacDill Air Force Base, southwest of downtown Tampa....

A Pasco County jury deliberated for about 30 minutes yesterday before recommending that John Ditullio Jr. be sentenced to life in a Florida prison. Ditullio had faced the death penalty for the murder of Kristofer King in 2006.The eight-day retrial ended Wednesday when the jury returned guilty verdicts for first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. The case was first tried last year and ended in a hung jury when the jurors could not reach a unanimous decision.There were several differences between the first and second trials including the State's use of witness Kraig Constantino,...

The second murder trial of John Ditullio Jr. was continued this week by Pasco County Circuit Judge Michael Andrews, at the request of Ditullio (whose defense attorney is Bjorn Brunvand of this office). The case was first tried last December but the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. It had been scheduled for retrial next week.The case is set for scheduling hearing on Monday and will likely be rescheduled for trial in November or December.Ditullio is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the 2006 stabbings of Kristofer King and Patricia Wells. Ditullio faces the...

Last December, a Pasco County jury failed to reach a verdict in the murder trial of John Ditullio, Jr. Ditullio and his criminal defense attorneys from the Law Offices of Bjorn Bruvand will return to court on September 27th for a second trial on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Ditullio faces the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree murder.Today, a judge ruled again that Ditullio can once again hire a makeup artist at the state's expense to cover several tattoos including his swastika tattoo during trial.As at the first trial, the defense team will be allowed to...

Kevin McMahon, client of  was convicted of racketeering four years ago but was recently sentenced to time served and five years of probation as a result of substantial cooperation with investigators. Because of the information McMahon provided, he is now participating in the federal witness protection program. McMahon testified in New York against John A. Gotti, son of the infamous Gambino crime family boss. He also provided information on hit man Charles Carneglia, formerly a very close friend. McMohon ultimately gave authorities information on dozens of other...