Crime and Law

Miami-Dade Police Lured Robbers to the Redland, Then Shot Them

Franken-Artist Enrique Gomez De Molina Sentenced to 20 Months for Wildlife Smuggling

​Enrique Gomez De Molina, the local artist who specializes in surrealist objects assembled from the taxidermied parts of different animals, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for smuggling endangered wildlife. De Molina was first arrested in late November just before Art Basel, and plead gu ... More >>

Miami is America's Third Most Stressful City

Sea breezes and sunshine apparently aren't stress busters, as five Florida cities have found themselves in CNBC.com's top ten list of America's most stressful cities. Miami came in third thanks in part to crime, crappy traffic and high unemployment. 

ICE snitch Angel Jose Perez duped the FBI and got rich

Sea breezes and sunshine apparently aren't stress busters, as five Florida cities have found themselves in CNBC.com's top ten list of America's most stressful cities. Miami came in third thanks in part to crime, crappy traffic and high unemployment. 

Mos Def Challenges BET, Oprah, and Obama to Pay Tribute to Executed Prisoner Troy Davis

Photo by Marta Xochilt Perez​On September 21, 2011, at 11:08 p.m. in Jackson, Georgia, a death row inmate named Troy Davis, convicted 20 years ago for the murder of off-duty Savannah policeman Mark MacPhail, was executed by lethal injection. For decades, though, Davis, his supporters, and many j ... More >>

Anthony Mangione, South Florida's Top Immigration Cop, Arrested on Child Porn Charges

​Anthony Mangione, the chief of the the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's South Florida department, was arrested today on charges related to child pornography. Mangione had been suspended in April after federal investigators found images of child porn on his computer in his Broward County ... More >>

Kellyd Rodriguez, Accused Santeria Stalker, Charged With Massive Loan Fraud

via Miami-Dade CorrectionsKellyd Rodriguez​The orishas must be looking out for Carlos Valdes. We wrote this week about the local Santería priest's legal battle with Kellyd Rodriguez -- a man Valdes says has stalked his family for four years because he hates the Afro-Cuban religion.Yesterday Rodri ... More >>

Miami Heat's Mike Miller Scammed by Ponzi Schemer John Johnson

​Poor Mike Miller. He sat out a good chunk of last season with a thumb injury, only to return to not win the NBA Finals. Now it turns out he was taken for a financial ride by Ponzi schemer John Johnson. Guy just can't catch a break. Of course, maybe Miller should have done his homework before inve ... More >>

53 Percent of Floridians Still Think Gay Marriage Should Be Illegal

In its seemingly random sports poll released today, Public Policy Polling did sneak in a few poll questions about actual public policy. Though a majority of Americans now support gay marriage, Floridians aren't quite ready for it. Though, they do, by a large majority, support civil unions for s ... More >>

Shaq's Bizarre Sex Tape and Kidnapping Scandal

​LeBron James might be the most hated man in basketball, but at least he's not involved in a bizarre scandal involving gang members, robbery, kidnapping, and a sex tape. Can't say the same for Shaquille O'Neal. Los Angeles prosecutors are investigating a weird case allegedly centered on a tap ... More >>

ICE won't let Lyglenson Lemorin return for his son's funeral

​LeBron James might be the most hated man in basketball, but at least he's not involved in a bizarre scandal involving gang members, robbery, kidnapping, and a sex tape. Can't say the same for Shaquille O'Neal. Los Angeles prosecutors are investigating a weird case allegedly centered on a tap ... More >>

Four Women Claim Sexual Assault at Doral Golf Resort and Spa

​Four women have come forward and claimed they were sexually assaulted by employees at the spa at Doral Golf Resort & Spa. Two woman came forward with their allegations in early February, and now, according to NBCMiami, two other women plan to sue the resort for sexual assault by spa work ... More >>

Meet the man behind poorly spelled lawsuit against WikiLeaks

​Four women have come forward and claimed they were sexually assaulted by employees at the spa at Doral Golf Resort & Spa. Two woman came forward with their allegations in early February, and now, according to NBCMiami, two other women plan to sue the resort for sexual assault by spa work ... More >>

Efraim Diveroli Earns Four Years In Prison For Fraudulent Arms Deal To Afghanistan

​Efraim Diveroli, the young Miami Beach gun runner who stirred national outrage two years ago with a fraudulent a $300 million Pentagon ammunition deal, listened with downcast eyes yesterday as a federal judge read aloud his sentence: four years in prison, a $250,000 fine and $149,000 in restituti ... More >>

Crash Course: 411-PAIN network will line their pockets with your insurance money

​Efraim Diveroli, the young Miami Beach gun runner who stirred national outrage two years ago with a fraudulent a $300 million Pentagon ammunition deal, listened with downcast eyes yesterday as a federal judge read aloud his sentence: four years in prison, a $250,000 fine and $149,000 in restituti ... More >>

Jim Morrison Pardon Coming This Morning, But Local Rockers Ask Crist Not To Stop There (Update: It's Official)

No longer a suspected dong-dangler.​At last, our long national nightmare is over: the long deceased Jim Morrison will no longer have a record for drunkenly dangling his dong at a Miami concert. But while Morrison's pardon -- which should be made official at 9 a.m. -- closes a sordid footnote in ro ... More >>

Class Action Suit Filed Against University of Miami for Racially Discriminatory Hiring Practices

The University of Miami touts its diverse student and faculty population proudly, but a new lawsuit filed against the school claims it practices racial discrimination in its hiring policies. Though, there's no complaint that UM is judging applicants directly on the color of their skin, rather the sc ... More >>

Today In Cocaine: Ten Busted in Juarez-to-Miami Ring, Colombian Coke Lord Due In Federal Court

​It's already been a busy week for the drug that made Miami -- or at least for the feds' perpetual war on the white stuff. First, the DEA arrested 10 people, mostly from Miami and Hialeah, and charged them with organizing a ring shuttling coke from Juarez to South Florida.Then came word that a muc ... More >>

DeVito South Beach tip scandal

​It's already been a busy week for the drug that made Miami -- or at least for the feds' perpetual war on the white stuff. First, the DEA arrested 10 people, mostly from Miami and Hialeah, and charged them with organizing a ring shuttling coke from Juarez to South Florida.Then came word that a muc ... More >>

China Grill, Prime One Twelve Latest to Be Sued by Ex-Employees for Tip Skimming

China Grill in South Beach is in hot water over a recent lawsuit​When we head to most South Beach restaurants, we customers expect to get fleeced: $200 steaks, $50 sushi rolls, $15 mineral water. But the employees? According to two lawsuits filed earlier this summer, fancy South Beach restaurants ... More >>

Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum

China Grill in South Beach is in hot water over a recent lawsuit​When we head to most South Beach restaurants, we customers expect to get fleeced: $200 steaks, $50 sushi rolls, $15 mineral water. But the employees? According to two lawsuits filed earlier this summer, fancy South Beach restaurants ... More >>

Miami Cops Shoot and Kill Another Suspect Near Pork And Beans Projects (Update)

​The Magic City's violent summer just keeps boiling on, as Miami police shot and killed another suspect early this morning-- the fourth police shooting in just over a month.Details on the latest clash, which ended just a few hours ago, are still sketchy. Sometime after midnight last night, cops we ... More >>

Phoenix, Arizona: America's kidnapping capital is brutal

​The Magic City's violent summer just keeps boiling on, as Miami police shot and killed another suspect early this morning-- the fourth police shooting in just over a month.Details on the latest clash, which ended just a few hours ago, are still sketchy. Sometime after midnight last night, cops we ... More >>

Man Found Shot to Death in Truck

via CBS4​In today's news roundup: A dead body is found in a truck, a teacher drives while under the influence of booze and Xanax, and those huge LCD billboards in downtown Miami have a long way to go before they're erected.

Hialeah McDonald's Robbed by Employee Dressed as Ninja

​A McDonald's in Hialeah was robbed not once, but twice by a man dressed like a ninja, in head-to-toe black. Turned out the robberies were perpetrated by Michel Quiroz, an 18-year-old employee at the restaurant. He even continued to show up for work after the robberies, but eventually his co-worke ... More >>

Yankier Crespo Arrested For Shooting A Man In The Neck In West Miami

via Miami Dade CorrectionsYankier Crespo faces a charge of second-degree attempted murder.​Just after 10 this morning, a 32-year-old Cuban immigrant named Yankier Crespo got into a fight with another man riding in his black Camry. The yelling turned into a fistfight, and the men spilled out onto S ... More >>

Mafia-Connected Haitian Ponzi Schemer Michael J. Muzio Sentenced to 13.5 Years

​Michael J. Muzio, one of four co-conspirators in a Ponzi scheme that targeted South Florida Haitian-Americans, has been sentenced to 163 months in federal prison. In April, New Times told you about the $14.3 million dollar scheme, which offered to double investors' cash in 90 days. Two of Muzio's ... More >>

Arrests Made in Miami Beach Resort Shooting, Police Remain Tightlipped About Prostitute Reports

​Police have released the name of the victim and information that they've made several arrests in connection with last Saturday's bizarre fatal shooting at the Miami Beach Resort and Spa, but they remain tightlipped about other details. Among those details: a report that the victim was shot by a p ... More >>

Miami Beach Resort Shooting Was Over Drugs, Not Hookers

​Turns out the shooting at the Miami Beach Resort and Spa Saturday had nothing to do with hookers, but drugs. At least that's what the Miami Beach Police Department is saying. Oh, and that weird smell? It was pepper spray.

Dead Men Talking

​Turns out the shooting at the Miami Beach Resort and Spa Saturday had nothing to do with hookers, but drugs. At least that's what the Miami Beach Police Department is saying. Oh, and that weird smell? It was pepper spray.

First Ever Class-Action Suit Over Toxic Chinese Drywall Certified In Miami

As we reported in a January investigation, toxic Chinese drywall is forcing thousands around Florida to make an impossible choice between abandoning brand new homes or exposing their families to dangerous fumes. ​The state continues to drag its feet, protecting politically connected builders. ... More >>

Thirty Killed in Raids of Dudus' Kingston Camp

​The extradition saga of Jamaican druglord Christopher "Dudus" Coke, leader of the ultra-violent South Florida-connected Shower Posse, has become yet more bloody today. The Associated Press is reporting that at least 30 people have been killed in gunfights between bandits, soldiers, and cops in th ... More >>

Hack Pack

The biggest identity theft case ever. Right here in Miami.

California Governor Candidate Wants to Put Pedophiles on an Island, Sounds Oddly Familiar

via CurbedLA​A minor candidate in California's governor race has proposed an oddly familiar idea for dealing with convicted sex offenders and pedophiles: he wants to put them all on an island. No, Ron Book has not moved to the Golden State.Douglas Hughes, a dark horse Republican candidate, has mad ... More >>

Richard von Houtman is Out For Dwyane Wade's Blood (and Urine)

Richard von HoutmanRemember Dwyane Wade's baron nemesis Richard von Houtman? You know, Wade's incessantly inflammatory former business partner with a sketchy past, sued by the Miami Heat superstar last May after he claimed in an e-mail to Heat coach and president Pat Riley that Wade was using cocain ... More >>

Venezuela Murder Rate Has Quadrupled Under Hugo Chávez

One person is murdered every two hours in Venezuela, according to new statistics released by the independent Venezuelan Observatory of Violence.The murder rate in the South American country has more than quadrupled since Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999. There were 54 homicides per 100,000 people ... More >>

Three Miami-Dade Cops Arrested, Charged With Obstruction of Justice and Perjury

Three Miami-Dade police officers lied under oath last year when they told a judge that they read a suspect his Miranda Rights during a traffic stop that led to a felony weapons charge, federal officials say. ​The three officers -- patrolmen Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Alkibiades Dodge, and Sgt. Wa ... More >>

From Bolivia: Massacre victims get no justice

Three Miami-Dade police officers lied under oath last year when they told a judge that they read a suspect his Miranda Rights during a traffic stop that led to a felony weapons charge, federal officials say. ​The three officers -- patrolmen Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Alkibiades Dodge, and Sgt. Wa ... More >>

Unequal Justice

At federal prisons across the country, guards are preying on inmates. FDC Miami is no different.

Hialeah Man Wrongly Convicted of Murder

He's behind bars for life.

Sex Offenders Set Up Camp

The Julia Tuttle becomes a colony. Politicians pass the buck.

117 Dead

Since 2000, dozens have died in county jails. Poor medical care has contributed to the problem.

Freedom for Sale, Part 1

A lawyer offered convicts reduced sentences for a price

Jump-Out Boys

Scheming snitches, dirty detectives, intrepid investigators. This ain't The Shield's Strike Team.

Miami, Crime, and Urban Design

This is a dangerous place, and dangerously divided as well

This Week's Day by Day Picks

This is a dangerous place, and dangerously divided as well

Pain & Gain, Part 3

A wealthy couple disappears, the slumbering Metro-Dade Police Department awakens, and the ghastly deeds of Miami's Sun Gym gang at last come to an end.

Bud Men

Despite the risks, local pot farmers have taken homegrown high-tech

Dynasty

Despite the risks, local pot farmers have taken homegrown high-tech

Field of Teens

When you grow up in the migrant labor camps of South Dade, sometimes it's gang life -- and sometimes it's no life