The Florida Masochist

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Michael Drennon. Mr. Drennon held up a bank in Bensalem PA last Friday. Guess what he used for the note for the bank teller? An old paycheck stub with his name and address on it! 

BENSALEM, Pa. - A note handed to a bank teller demanding $20, $50 and $100 bills "the quicker the better" was written on a pay stub that led police to a robbery suspect even though the name and address were crossed out with a marker.

"It wasn't a huge forensic undertaking," Steven Moran, Bensalem director of public safety, said Wednesday. "We just put it under a light."

The FBI charged Michael Drennon, 26, of Philadelphia, with robbing the Wachovia Bank in Bensalem on Friday. Drennon, who had been living in a halfway house while on probation, was being held at the federal detention center in Philadelphia pending a hearing scheduled for Friday. It couldn't immediately be determined if he had an attorney.

The man who slipped the teller the note Friday left the bank with about $2,500, authorities said. Police said Drennon had about $1,800 on him when he was arrested

Another illegal alien story- 27 year old goes to high school

This one garners no sympathy from me either as did the other one this week. This Guatamalan man age 27, was enrolled in a local high school. He managed that trick by using fake identification. Did anyone ever check it? Apparently not. Mr. Ramirez-Mejia most likely faces deportation when his fraud case is resolved.

Open Post/Trackback- Cao's Blog and Bright & Early

Josue Oswaldo Ramirez-Mejia wanted to learn English. He wanted to read books. He wanted to learn so badly that he broke the law to get an education.

A month ago, the illegal immigrant from Guatemala forged his birth certificate, to age 17, and his school transcript to get into high school.

This week, his wallet containing his Guatemalan ID card slipped out of his pocket, and so did his secret — Ramirez-Mejia was 27.

Schools officials called him to the office, where sheriff's deputies questioned him. He was charged with forgery and could be deported.

"He just wanted to get in," his brother, Maximo Ramirez, said in a telephone interview Thursday night.

Ramirez-Mejia, who was born in Guatemala, had lived with his older brother in West Palm Beach before moving to Pasco County three months ago.

In August, he registered at J.W. Mitchell High School in an affluent and fast-growing section of Pasco County.

While his brother Maximo worked 15-hour days laying tile, Ramirez-Mejia listened to lectures on U.S. history, government and economics.

He was passing all his classes.

A sheriff's spokesman said there is no evidence to suggest he intended to do anything but get an education.

Ramirez-Mejia now sits in the Land O' Lakes Detention Center until someone can post his $5,000 bail. But that won't be anytime soon.

"I don't have any money," his brother said.

Ramirez and his brother are from an agricultural city on the west coast of Guatemala. They came to Palm Beach County four years ago to work.

In January, they incorporated a business, Torre Fuerte Inc. Three months ago, they moved to Pasco County.

A few weeks after school started, Ramirez-Mejia enrolled in the school. Ramirez said he doesn't know who helped his brother enroll in the school, but they both knew it was wrong.

On Tuesday, Ramirez-Mejia lost his wallet. A student picked it up after fourth period and turned it in to a gym teacher. The teacher opened it and saw a photograph of Ramirez-Mejia on a Guatemalan identification card. The date of birth was Jan. 3, 1978.

"I'm alone and I'm very sad because my brother is not here and I cannot speak to him,"

Ramirez said in Spanish. Ramirez, who does not speak English, said deputies did not provide an interpreter.

"They won't let me see him. They said I need $5,000."

Even if he bonds out of jail, Ramirez-Mejia may face deportation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will process him at its Tampa office, but spokeswoman Pam McCullough it's unlikely the agency will require him to post a second bail. He will face an immigration judge but not until the forgery case against him is closed.

How many lives have to be lost before we enforce our laws?

The following story is outrageous. A mother of two is dead and it shouldn't have happened. An illegal immigrant arrested multiple times for driving without a license was the cause of the crash.(Just wait the Palm Beach Post will find this the time to come out with the obligatory editorial saying why illegals should get driver licenses.) Our immigration laws are almost only enforced against those who want to come here legally. Too many politicians either in the pocket of contributors who make their money off the work of illegals, or other politicians who are blind to the problem.

My feelings on this issue as with our often broken justice system are the same. The American public will only take so much. How many lives will be lost before our politicians learn?

LANTANA — A 42-year-old mother of two was killed Sunday evening after an illegal immigrant arrested four previous times for driving without a license stopped his truck in the middle of traffic on South Military Trail to find his cellphone, according to police.

Motorcyclists riding behind the truck crashed into it, claiming the life of Lantana resident Kimberly Jo Dahmer and seriously injuring her husband.

Daniel Rodriguez Mendoza, 21, of 3919 Nowata Road, was denied bail Monday on charges of driving without a license and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.

The family of Dahmer, who was on one of two motorcycles that slammed into the rear of Mendoza's 1988 Chevy Blazer, say those charges are not enough.

"He's got to be charged with murder; he's the reason she's dead," said Valerie Audain, Dahmer's niece. "Why should he get a chance to enjoy his own family? Jail is too easy."

Dahmer was riding northbound on South Military Trail near Blue Pine Circle on the back of a 1996 Harley-Davidson before 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The driver was her husband of 17 years, Steve Dahmer. He and two others aboard another Harley were taken to Delray Medical Center. On Monday, his 43rd birthday, he was in surgery still unaware of his wife's fate.

"They were soulmates," Audain said. "You never met two who belong together like them."
His family said doctors were trying to save his leg and will operate again today.

The driver of the other motorcycle, Pierre Nadeau, 49, of West Palm Beach, was in serious condition Monday afternoon. His passenger, 43-year-old Lynne Gardner, also of West Palm Beach, was released from the hospital.

None on the motorcyclists was wearing helmets when Mendoza abruptly came to a stop, said Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Terri Barbera. Following the crash and Kimberly Jo Dahmer's ejection from the bike, an unscathed Mendoza made a U-turn, fleeing about 500 feet before motorcyclists riding with the crash victims forced him off the road and removed his car keys, police reported.

Mendoza later told sheriff's deputies he stopped his truck because he thought he saw his cellphone in the road, Barbera said.

Dahmer left behind a 16-year-old daughter, a 9-year-old son and a 2-month-old grandson, relatives said. Friends and family gathered at the Dahmers' Ocean Avenue home Monday afternoon were infuriated that Mendoza had previous arrests for driving without a license.

In the span of one year, between July 2003 and March 2004, Mendoza was arrested four times on that charge, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other state records.

Out of the five total charges he faced, one of which was filed after an accident, he was found guilty once, for speeding, records show. He also was charged Sunday with failure to appear in court after one of the previous arrests.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is National Institute of Health employee Michelle Ledgister. Unhappy with the tax assessment on her home by the Broward County Property Appraiser's Office, Ms. Ledgister threatened an attack of anthrax spores on the office. According to the FBI Ledgister said.

"It's Michelle Ledgister ..... NIH is located where infectious agents are, and you guys now have anthrax spores. Toodles,"

Gives her name, where she works. Michelle Ledgister is a really outrageously dumb Knucklehead winner.

Click here to read the entire Sun-Sentinel article.

What a load of Bull Tahe

Here is some interesting news from Oregon.

BROWNSVILLE, Ore. - It could have happened to anyone: Charles Gastorf and his wife, Cheryl, forgot to pay the $10 tab for 10 bags of steer manure during a recent shopping trip to their local Wal-Mart.

The two say that in the confusion of shopping on that March day they simply forgot to add in the cost of the manure. When the Gastorfs explained their forgetfulness to Lebanon City Attorney
Tom McHill, he dropped shoplifting charges against them.

That could have been the end of the story — except for the letter from the world's largest retailer that soon arrived in their mailbox, demanding $175 in civil damages.

That's when the Gastorfs learned about a little-known Oregon law that allows retailers to pursue civil penalties regardless of whether a person is found guilty or innocent of theft.

The Gastorfs — who live in a manufactured home and are retired — spoke to an attorney, who told them that challenging the action in court could cost them several thousand dollars, much more than the $175 civil claim.

So the Gastorfs paid Wal-Mart the money.

"We wouldn't want to embark on a life of crime at our ages and become manure thieves. I mean, if you were going to steal something, would you steal manure?" Gastorf said.

But Shardon Weber, a spokeswoman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, told The Albany Democrat Herald that the company has decided to refund the Gastorfs' $175.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is former NFL player Lawrence Phillips. He was arrested yesterday for running down three teenagers with his car. This isn't Mr. Phillips first run-in with the law. He has had a history of them going back to his playing days at the University of Nebraska. At the time of his arrest Phillips was also wanted on charges of Domestic abuse.

Note to Yahoo- Lawrence Phillips was never a NFL star contrary to your headline. He was a bust, a bum, a failure and alot of other words. Star isn't one of them.

Hat tip- LaShawn Barber

LOS ANGELES - Former NFL running back Lawrence Phillips, who was wanted by police for domestic violence, was arrested Sunday after allegedly running his car into three teenagers who argued with him during a pickup football game, police said.

Phillips, 30, was booked on suspicion of attempted murder and domestic abuse and held without bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Web site. It wasn't immediately clear if Phillips had an attorney to represent him.

Police had been seeking Phillips since earlier this month for allegedly attacking his girlfriend twice, once choking her into unconsciousness.

Phillips joined a group of 16- and 17-year-olds in a pickup football game in Exposition Park on Sunday and got into an argument with some of the teens, said Los Angeles Police Officer Sandra Escalante. He left, but came back and drove a car onto the field, hitting three of the boys, she said.

The three teenagers were treated at a hospital; none of their injuries was considered life threatening, police said.

The car was reported stolen in San Diego last week, Escalante said.

Phillips was arrested and held on the domestic violence felony warrant. Charges are pending in the Sunday incident, Escalante said.

It wasn't immediately clear if Phillips had an attorney to represent him.

The former University of Nebraska star has a history of high-profile trouble with the law going back a decade to his time as one of the nation's top college football players.

The Feckless Barry Krischer

Mr. Barry Krischer has been Palm Beach County state attorney for over 10 years. Last month I gave him a Knucklehead award when it was revealed he planned to give a job to a disgraced former judge who had been accused of sexual harassment. Judge Berman after accusing his accusers resigned rather than appear before a conduct board. 3.5 years later Krischer offers him a job.

Now Krischer is back in the news. Last February there was a shooting in Delray Beach. 16 year old Jerrod Miller was shot by Delray police officer Darren Cogoni. At the time Miller was driving a car and in conflicting testimony said to be threatening bystanders with his driving. Cogoni shot at Miller's car from behind killing the young man.

Miller is black, Cogoni is white and this has caused some racial tension in Delray Beach. Some black leaders calling for charges against the officer. I'm not judging the case but the shooting from behind does bug me.

Krischer is the state attorney who should be investigating if charges should be followed. Instead

Krischer said in a statement that he passed on the decision in part because the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation "did not result in a finding of criminal behavior."

He also said County Judge Debra Moses Stephens' nonbinding decision in the April inquest "was based in part on hearsay and other inadmissible testimony and evidence elicited from the witnesses in response to community questions posited by those present in the courtroom."

Judge Stephens said charges should be filed. But Krischer doesn't like the way she ruled. Why did he have a coroner's inquest in the first place? I know the answer, he doesn't want to make the decision.

Going to the grand jury, it's like what did we have the inquest for?" Jerrod's father, Kenneth Miller, said. "It seems like they're just stalling. It's causing the family a lot of pain."

I'm sorry for Mr. Miller's loss. Also I have to agree with him. Our state attorney doesn't want to do his job and wants to pass the buck to others. Enough is enough Mr. Krischer, do your job or resign it. You're to serve this county and right now you are serving no one.

PS- Read the entire Palm Beach Post article. It's very informative.

Prison inmate collects 3.5 million in bogus tax refunds from the IRS

Just another indication of how dysfunctional most of our government is. No one caught on this for over 10 years! Below is the Yahoo News article.

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, AP Economics Writer 55 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - A South Carolina prison inmate told a rapt House panel Wednesday about how he defrauded the U.S. government of $3.5 million by filing bogus tax returns.

The man, an anonymous 37-year-old inmate dubbed "John Doe," testified behind a partition to prevent him from being photographed or videotaped during the House Ways and Means subcommittee on oversight hearing.

He said he started out by filing phony returns for 10 inmates in 1991, which netted $4,200 to $5,400. He kept a $1,000 commission on each return.

"Over the years, I filed six to seven hundred returns," Doe said. "The total dollar amount would be approximately $3.5 million, face value," of which he netted $600,000 to $700,000.

Doe said inmates spent most of the ill-gotten tax return money to buy illegal drugs.

"The money and drugs eventually lead to beatings, stabbings and extortion," he said. "With the money I personally made, I often looked out for poor or indigent inmates who got no help from home." But he conceded he also used the money to buy sneakers, a color TV and "lots of drugs."

The Internal Revenue Service estimates that 15 percent of all tax fraud is committed by prison inmates.

"Tax fraud in any form is unacceptable and illegal," said the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn. "But it is particularly outrageous when it is committed by prison inmates while they are behind bars."

In the typical scam, the inmate fills out a tax form with phony income and withholding information, and then claims a large refund.

Nancy J. Jardini, chief of criminal investigation at the IRS, said one obstacle to cracking down on the problem is a section of the IRS code which prevents the agency from disclosing tax information, with a few exceptions.

"None of the exceptions permit the IRS to refer refund fraud information to prison officials for the imposition of administrative sanctions," she said.

The Knucklehead of the Day award

Goes to the Ft. Lauderdale News Sun Sentinel for their coverage of the story of the rape and burying alive of an 8-year-old girl here in Florida got nationwide publicity since last night. Here is the how the Palm Beach Post covered the story.

LAKE WORTH — The two officers stared down at the pile of stones, saw only a small hand and a foot sticking out and assumed the little girl they had frantically searched for was dead.

Finally, they had found her at a secluded landfill, her body stuffed inside a large bright yellow recycling bin, with rocks and crushed concrete covering her. The bin lay inside a trash container, a dismal last resting place.

The officers summoned a superior, Lake Worth Detective Lt. Dave Matthews, who, after seven tense hours of hunting, also thought the case had ended in the worst of tragedies.

And then something happened.

“Her hand just moved!” Matthews shouted.

Moments later, the officers had unearthed an 8-year-old girl who had lived through a nightmare but survived to identify a teenager as her abductor, sexual attacker and would-be killer, police said.

Kudos to Sgt. Michael Hall of the Lake Worth Police Dept. and Sheriff’s Cpl. Bob Cresswell who found the girl who had left for dead piled under some rocks in a recycle bin. They are heroes for saving this girl’s life.

The girl was in St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach Sunday, where medical staff said she was in good condition. Her alleged assailant, Milagro Cunningham, 17, of Lake Worth, was in custody, on charges of attempted murder, sexual battery and false imprisonment. Police said he had confessed.

Only animals do this to children that young an age. Mr.Cunningham is the scum of the earth and spending the rest of his rotting in prison is far too easy on him. Castration with a dull knife, cutting off his balls would be more appropriate.

That goes too to the other scum in Broward County who was sent to jail for life. That animal(I won’t call him a man, because he isn’t one) sexually assaulted a two-year-old.

Contrast the Palm Beach Post coverage of this story with the one in today’s Sun Sentinel.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not identifying the suspect or the victim because of their ages and the nature of the charges. Their relatives are also not being identified.

I understand not identifying the girl, but can someone please tell me why this paper is protecting the identity of her attacker? He is a minor but he commited rape and attempted murder! For christsakes the guy deserves to be hung by his balls for the heinous acts he did the paper feels he should be protected!!!!!!!

What the hell is wrong with this country? We can’t protect our young ones from scum like this. What this country needs to do is serve out punishment appropriate for the crime instead of watching out for their rights. That’s the way we’ll stop these obscene acts and the animals that perpertrate them. Till then this is going to happen again and again.

For protecting scum, the Sun Sentinel is the Knucklehead of the Day.