Tag Archives: Broward Sheriffs office

Governor Ron DeSantis Unveils Bold Plans To Ramp Up Florida’s Role In Fighting Illegal Immigration

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Governor Ron DeSantis

Governor Ron DeSantis will unveil a bold plan to combat illegal immigration at a Winter Haven press conference Wednesday morning. On Monday, DeSantis called for a special legislation session to aid President-Elect Donald Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants accused of criminal behavior. Despite pushback from some legislators, Trump endorsed DeSantis’ call for a special session on Tuesday.

In a phone call with reporters, administration officials said DeSantis wants to maximize authority and resources to assist Federal authorities.

Under Section 287(g) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, local authorities are required to partner with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents to detain and remove dangerous illegal immigrants. Under Florida law, local sheriffs departments are required to follow Section 287(g).

Administration officials said they want to use the most “robust model” under Section 287(g) which would require municipal police departments to assist Federal deportation plans.

Under DeSantis’ plan, the Florida Legislature would expand authority to transport illegal immigrants outside of the United States.

Other legislative goals include expanding gang statutes to include foreign gangs and cartel members, increasing penalties for illegal immigrants who vote in Florida elections, requiring local businesses to verify remittances are made by legal immigrants only and declaring any illegal arrested to be detained as a flight risk.

While Florida has trended solidly Republican under DeSantis, officials in blue Broward have repeatedly expressed opposition to DeSantis’ plans.

Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony is a vocal opponent of enforcement of new homeless encampment laws as well as any plans to combat dangerous illegal immigration.

On Monday, Governor DeSantis signaled his willingness to remove public officials who refuse to enforce the law.

“State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation’s immigration laws,” DeSantis said. “I have the authority with respect to certain officials to suspend them from their offices if they are neglecting their duties.”

Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Convicted At Trial Of COVID-19 Relief Fraud

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From the US Attorney’s Office Southern District of Florida:

MIAMI – On March 5, a federal jury in Fort Lauderdale convicted a Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) deputy of two counts of wire fraud for her COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. 

 

In 2021, Stephanie Diane Smith, 53, of Sunrise, Florida, applied for and received two PPP loans for herself as a sole proprietor doing business as Children 1st Basketball Training and Agape Smith Vending, respectively, based upon materially false information about each business’s total amount of gross income for the year 2019, including a falsified IRS tax form submitted with each application. Smith also sought and received forgiveness of both fraudulently obtained PPP loans, which totaled over $31,000 in principal and interest. During the period of the scheme, Smith was employed as a deputy sheriff in BSO’s Department of Law Enforcement.

 

The sentencing is scheduled for May 29 before U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn.  Smith faces up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud conviction. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

 

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe; Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri, FBI, Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Brian Tucker, Eastern Region, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony of BSO made the announcement.

 

FBI Miami, FRB-OIG and BSO investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Snider and Trevor Jones are prosecuting it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren Grove is handling asset forfeiture.

 

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

 

On September 15, 2022, the Attorney General selected the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to head one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud.  The Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and focuses on large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors, as well as those who committed multiple instances of pandemic relief fraud. The Strike Force uses prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Additional information regarding the Strike Force may be found athttps://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-covid-19-fraud-strike-force-teams.