Attorney General's Weekly Newsletter
Volume 6, Issue 16 • April 18, 2008

This week, I had the opportunity to participate in several events which touched on issues very important to me, not only as the Attorney General, but as a husband, a father and a grandfather.

On Tuesday, I passed a Cabinet resolution recognizing the third week in April as CyberCrime Awareness Week. One of the most significant aspects of our efforts to educate Floridians about CyberCrime is our CyberSafety program, presented to middle and high school students throughout the state. More than 100 members of my staff have taken this project on voluntarily, and I know, through the feedback we are receiving from our principals, that these programs are saving lives. I cannot express enough my appreciation to all of my CyberSafety volunteers.

Wednesday, I was joined by the Governor to recognize law enforcement officers and victim advocates who have made serving victims of crime their top priority. This week is National Crime Victims' Rights Week and the emphasis of the week is on providing justice to crime victims and their families. This justice comes not only in the form of court rulings and convictions for the perpetrators of crime, but also in the form of providing services, care and support to these victims and their families. I am proud of the role the Attorney General's Office, through my Victim Services Division, plays in this great effort.

Yesterday, I had the privilege to join the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence as we unveiled the expansion of a program designed to save the lives of domestic violence victims. Modeled after a highly successful program in Jacksonville, the Intimate Violence Enhanced Services Team (INVEST) program is a cooperative community effort that identifies victims at high risk of becoming homicide victims and intervenes, providing the women with protective services and making the batterer accountable for his actions. The program is now in five counties throughout the state, and I look forward to the day when we can expand it statewide.

Whether we are protecting children from internet child predators or preventing domestic violence homicides, the Attorney General's Office will continue working to make Florida a safer place.

CyberCrime Update:


Attorney General McCollum announced that Gabriel Garay, an Orlando man, was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to four counts relating to the use of a computer to commit crimes against a minor. Garay was prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution. The case against Garay was part of a sweep for sexual predators conducted by the Polk County Sheriff's Office in March of 2007.

CyberSafety Update - To date, the Attorney General's CyberSafety Presentation has reached more than 65,000 students.

Consumer Protection Actions:


Attorney General McCollum announced that his office has reached a $1.6 million agreement with a Collier County construction company and its president, resolving complaints that more than 100 construction jobs were paid for but never completed. Although he has filed for bankruptcy, Richard Leli and his company, Richard Leli Homes, Inc. have agreed to a court judgment which will allow affected consumers to seek up to $25,000 per claim from the Construction Industries Recovery Fund.

Criminal Proceedings:


Attorney General McCollum announced that a Bay County man was arrested for exploiting an elderly victim and grand theft after investigators revealed that he fraudulently used more than $23,000 of the victim’s money for his own personal benefit. The Panama City man was arrested by authorities with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Attorney General McCollum and Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw announced that two additional gang members have been added to the 18th Statewide Grand Jury’s first gang indictments. The indictments were initially handed down in December against 11 members of SUR-13, a dangerous gang that operates statewide. Both of the men indicted today are in custody.

Attorney General McCollum announced the arrest of a Jacksonville assisted living facility owner on charges that she submitted false claims to the Florida Medicaid program. The owner of the Adams Adult Family Care Home allegedly billed the Medicaid program for more than $20,000 in fraudulent reimbursements. She was taken into custody by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Attorney General McCollum formally announced the expansion of a successful pilot program to address rising numbers of fatal domestic violence cases in Florida. The INVEST program, which stands for Intimate Violence Enhanced Services Team, provides intensive prevention and protection services to domestic abuse victims identified as at high risk for fatal attacks in Alachua, Duval, Orange, St. Lucie and Seminole Counties. These five counties had the highest rates of domestic violence fatalities in the state in 2006.

The Attorney General's Office filed a response with the United States Supreme Court to Mark Dean Schwab's petition for writ of certiorari and a motion to vacate Schwab's stay of execution. The response to the petition for writ of certiorari focuses on the fact that the Florida Supreme Court ratified Florida's lethal injection procedures and those procedures were affirmed through the decision today on Kentucky's Baze case, where procedures to similar Florida's were at issue.

Attorney General McCollum issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on lethal injection:

“I am pleased that through this ruling by the United States Supreme Court, the family of Junny Rios-Martinez finally has the opportunity to see justice served. I am equally gratified to see our belief that the procedures used to carry out lethal injection in Florida are constitutionally sound has been upheld by the highest legal authority in the nation, based on today’s ruling on the Kentucky case which mirrors Florida's lethal injection procedures.”

Attorney General McCollum joined Governor Charlie Crist in honoring three law enforcement officers and three victim advocates for their extraordinary efforts on behalf of Florida victims of crime. The award recipients were honored during a ceremony hosted by Attorney General McCollum to recognize National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The three original commissioners from the Crime Compensation Commission were also recognized and commended for their commitment to crime victims and their families.

Attorney General McCollum issued the following statement recognizing National Crime Victims' Rights Week:

"Until the past few decades, victims of crime and their families regularly endured disappointments and injustices. Today, I am honored to recognize the beginning of National Crime Victims' Rights Week – a week that demonstrates just how far our state and our country have come to care for victims of crime.

"These victims and their families deserve our best efforts to protect them, to serve them, and to care for them, and I am proud of the role the Attorney General’s Office through the Division of Victim Services plays in those efforts."

News Releases:



Panama City Man Arrested for Exploiting Elderly Victim

Statewide Grand Jury Adds Two More Gang Members to First Indictment

Jacksonville Assisted Living Facility Owner Arrested for Billing Medicaid Above Her Licensure

McCollum Obtains $1.6 Million Judgment Against Collier County Construction Company

Attorney General McCollum Announces Expansion of Pilot Program to Combat Rising Domestic Abuse Fatalities

Florida Attorney General Files Response in Schwab Lethal Injection Case Before U.S. Supreme Court

Attorney General’s Statement on the U.S. Supreme Court's Ruling on Lethal Injection

Law Enforcement Officers, Victim Advocates Honored During National Crime Victims' Rights Week

Attorney General McCollum Announces Three-Year Prison Sentence for Orlando Internet Child Predator

Attorney General's Statement on National Crime Victims' Rights Week