Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Doug Landry, 37, of 28855 Old CC Road, Albany, Louisiana, on one count of organized fraud over $50,000, related to a fictitious over billing scheme.
In 2015, Landry orchestrated an elaborate fraudulent scheme based on his work-related travel expenses. He created fictitious reimbursement receipts, incorporated fraudulent companies, and provided fictitious receipts to his employer, a company located in Pensacola. The company’s accounting department reimbursed Landry for approximately $152,000 from 2015-2016. Landry also utilized his own company, Reign Industries in Louisiana, to further his fraudulent activities in Florida.
FDLE began its investigation in October 2016 with assistance from the Escambia County State Attorney’s Office. Landry was arrested today by FDLE agents and the Louisiana State Police and booked into the county jail located in Hammond, Louisiana, Tangipahoa Parish.
The case will be prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney, 1st Judicial Circuit.
Featured
Children’s Week Events are Approaching at the State Capitol and Near You
Partners of Children’s Week will host interactive events throughout the state this month leading up to and following the 22nd Annual Children’s Week at the State Capitol – an advocacy event and celebration for Florida’s children and youth happening March 26-31. Local Children’s Week events will be both fun and educational and include activities such as arts and crafts, live readings, luncheons, outdoor activities, parades and more. You can view a full listing of events by county on the Children’s Week website.
Coinciding with the legislative session, Children’s Week serves as a platform for numerous organizations across the state to advocate for children’s and family issues to Florida lawmakers. On its biggest day, Tuesday, March 28, a variety of free activities for the entire family will take place at the State Capitol. One of the most popular events happening on Tuesday is the interactive Storybook Village hosted by the Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of the Big Bend. This event allows over 2,000 children to see their favorite books come to life through art, music, drama and dance. This year’s Storybook Village theme is “Alphabet Zoo” and every child in attendance will receive a free copy of a book. Children and adults attending are encouraged to dress as their favorite storybook characters.
“Every child deserves to have access to books and every child deserves to be read to regularly. It is our goal that Storybook Village will inspire children and adults alike to read and to read together,” said Morgan Evers, program services manager for the ELC of the Big Bend and coordinator of the Storybook Village. “It’s a place where some children may hear a book read aloud for the first time and others will go home with their very first book. In a short time, Storybook Village has exponentially grown thanks to our amazing partners who donate time, effort, creativity, volunteers and supplies.”
In addition to the Storybook Village happening on Tuesday, there also will be free Starbucks coffee in the morning, grab-and-go breakfast by Farmshare, a free lunch presented by Sunshine Health, over 100 exhibitor booths to visit, a town hall meeting, youth advocacy workshop for middle and high school students and a chance to hear from legislators.
For more information about Children’s Week and events in your community, please visit www.childrensweek.org.
Florida Senate Passes Legislation to Require Unanimous Verdict in Death Penalty Cases
The Florida Senate today passed Senate Bill 280, Sentencing for Capital Felonies, by Senator Randolph Bracy (D-Ocoee), which revises sentencing requirements in capital felony cases to require a unanimous jury verdict, rather than a certain number of jurors, for a sentencing recommendation of death.
“This legislation ensures that our state has a constitutionally-compliant system of justice in place for both the families of victims and the individuals charged with serious crimes,” said Senator Bracy. “This important legislation removes ambiguity from our death penalty statute, which will help reduce delays in due process for all parties involved in death penalty cases.”
“This legislation satisfies the constitutional requirements announced by the Court in the Hurst and Perry opinions, and is consistent with the position the Senate took last year when we considered legislation requiring a unanimous jury verdict in capital cases,” said Senate President Joe Negron (R-Stuart). “This bill will make certain that death penalty cases in Florida proceed in a timely manner.”
In October 2016, the Florida Supreme Court determined in Hurst v. State that in order for the death penalty to be imposed, the sentencing phase jury must vote unanimously for a death sentence. The Hurst v. State ruling was applied to the 2016 death penalty sentencing statutes challenged in Perry v. State.
Distinguished archaeologist Kathleen Deagan named to Flagler College Board of Trustees
Kathleen Deagan, Distinguished Research Curator Emerita at University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History, has been elected to the Flagler College Board of Trustees.
Deagan is well known for her archaeological research of the Spanish colonial period in Florida and the Caribbean. She has conducted extensive archaeological digs in St. Augustine since 1972, including the identification and excavations of Ft. Mose, America’s first free black community, and Florida’s first Spanish settlement.
Flagler Board of Trustees Chairman Frank Upchurch said Deagan is a natural fit for the Board and will bring a wealth of academic experience.
“It is an honor to have Kathy Deagan join the Board of Trustees,” he said. “She has had a distinguished academic career, and is highly-respected in both her field and throughout the community. She has devoted her life to higher education, and that experience will be invaluable on the Board.”
Deagan has always had a close relationship with Flagler through her frequent field schools in St. Augustine that often included Flagler students and her involvement in the Flagler-based Historic St. Augustine Research Institute.
“I love the Flagler mission,” she said, adding that she has the highest respect for the college’s focus on the liberal arts and its emphasis on citizenship and critical thinking.
Deagan received her Ph.D. in 1974 from University of Florida, and after teaching at Florida State University in its Anthropology Department for eight years, joined University of Florida’s faculty in 1982.
Since 1979, she has worked at Spanish colonial sites in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. She has directed excavations in collaboration with Jose M. Cruxent at Christopher Colombus’ first town in America, La Isabela, and has also directed archaeological programs at Concepcion de la Vega (1496-1562) in the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Real, Haiti (1502-1578). Deagan has also worked since 1983 at the site of En Bas Saline, Haiti, a large Taino town thought to have been the location of La Navidad, Columbus’s first fort, in 1492. She has been a consultant on historic preservation and archaeology projects in Spain, Venezuela, Panama, Peru, Jamaica and Honduras.
Deagan is the author of eight books and more than 65 scientific papers. She was named “Alumna of Outstanding Distinction” by University of Florida in 1998, and is a recipient of the Society for Historical Archaeology’s J.C. Harrington Award for Lifetime Distinction in Historical Archaeology. She was awarded the “Order of La Florida” by the City of St. Augustine in 2007 for distinguished service to the city.
ICYMI: Editorial: Heroin epidemic needs Gov. Rick Scott, Pam Bondi fix
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi should show leadership on heroin crisis.
In 2011, Gov. Rick Scott declared a statewide public health emergency to combat the pill-mill crisis that was killing seven people a day.
Six years later, Florida faces an even deadlier killer. This time it’s heroin, which is killing 10 people a day.
As he did with Zika last summer, we urge the governor to recognize the heroin epidemic for what it is — a public health emergency in urgent need of greater funding, increased awareness and wider distribution of naloxone, a drug used to treat overdoses.
“There is no family, no race, no ethnicity, no income level this epidemic cannot touch — and no effective state bulwark in place to stop it,” Senate Democratic Leader Oscar Braynon of Miami Gardens wrote in a letter to the governor.
Indeed, Marion County Commissioner Kathy Bryant — this year’s president of the Florida Association of Counties — lost her brother, Daniel, to an overdose last July. She’s not the only county commissioner who’s lost someone to heroin, either. The association made addressing the opioid epidemic one of its top five priorities this year.
“People don’t think it’s people like you and me, and that’s just not the case,” says Bryant, of Ocala. “It’s everywhere. It’s one of those drugs that’s extremely hard to get away from once you start it.”
The association is seeking more money for mental health care and substance abuse, knowing addicts don’t generally have insurance for treatment and families can afford only so much. They also want to ensure ambulances are stocked with naloxone, noting some South Florida fire departments can’t afford it. And they seek tougher penalties for people who sell heroin, a good goal, though it’s hard to believe tougher penalties will stop sales. Sure, longer sentences could keep dealers off the streets longer, but the painful truth is that addicts will find another supplier.
In other states that have declared public health emergencies, like Virginia, anyone can now obtain naloxone at pharmacies without a prescription, which lets families and friends be prepared to help people in the throes of an overdose. And Massachusetts released $20 million two years ago to get more addicts into treatment.
Sadly, the rise in heroin abuse is associated with the closure of the pain-pill clinics. Plus, heroin is increasingly compounded with fentanyl, a synthetic drug that can be lethal at low doses. Bad batches and uncertainty about potency are part of what’s causing so many deaths.
Between 2013 and 2014, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission says deaths from heroin increased 124 percent. The next year, heroin deaths rose 80 percent. The trend shows no sign of ebbing.
Beyond the human toll, the costs are staggering.
The Palm Beach Post investigated the crisis and reports some stunning numbers:
- In the first nine months of 2015, Florida hospitals charged $1.1 billion for heroin-related visits, with many of those bills going unpaid.
- From 2010 to 2015, Florida hospitals charged $5.7 billion for heroin-related visits, including $2.1 billion to the state Medicaidprogram.
- In those same five years, hospitals charged $967 million for babies born addicted to heroin. Medicaid was the primary payer in almost all of those cases — $826 million.
Scott spokeswoman Lauren Schenone said in a statement that the administration is listening. Surgeon General Celeste Philip and Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Mike Carroll are scheduled to meet with legislators “to hear their input on the subject.” In Florida, the surgeon general is the person who formally calls a public health emergency.
State health officials should listen hard and make the obvious call. For not only is the heroin epidemic killing people, it’s destroying families and leaving children without parents.
Schenone noted that Scott’s proposed budget includes $4 million for the Florida Violent Crime and Drug Control Council, of which $2 million will “be provided for financial assistance to local law enforcement to conduct investigations related to heroin abuse.”
That’s not nearly enough money. It’s expensive to treat addiction, wage public education campaigns and stock ambulances with emergency drugs.
These last few months, the governor has been waging the fight of his political life to secure $85 million in economic incentives to lure businesses to Florida.
Let us see equal tenacity in fighting for Florida families facing the consequences of addiction.
Let us see Attorney General Pam Bondi show the same muscle she used in fighting pill mills to fight the heroin epidemic.
Let the governor call the heroin epidemic what it is: a public health emergency.
And let Daniel’s family — his sister and brothers, his three children, his parents, everyone — be the last to face the despair of this epidemic on their own.
Florida Supreme Court: Regular weekly opinion release, 3/9/2017
Filings for the Florida Supreme Court
March 9, 2017
- SC12-1252 & SC14-881 – Charles L. Anderson v. State of Florida and Charles L. Anderson v. Julie L. Jones, etc.
- SC12-2469 – Dale Glenn Middleton v. State of Florida
- SC14-383 – Inquiry Concerning a Judge, No. 13-25 Re: Andrew J. Decker, III – Corrected Opinion and Notice of Correction
- SC14-1551 – Howard Steven Ault v. State of Florida
- SC16-8 & SC16-56 – Cary Michael Lambrix v. State of Florida and Cary Michael Lambrix v. Julie L. Jones, etc.
- SC16-118 – Joyce C. Shaw, et al. v. Mark A. Hunter, Sheriff, etc., et al.
- SC16-724 – In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases – Report 2016-01
Senate Passes Excellence in Higher Education Act
Legislation expands financial aid and scholarship programs,
streamlines 2+2 college-to-university partnerships, strengthens
performance tools to keep schools accountable to taxpayers
The Florida Senate today passed Senate Bill 2, the Florida Excellence in Higher Education Act, sponsored by Senator Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton). Senate Bill 2 is the key component of Senate President Joe Negron’s (R-Stuart) Excellence in Higher Education Agenda for the 2017 Legislative Session.
Senate Bill 2 promotes on-time graduation by expanding student financial assistance and support, establishing tuition and fee incentives, streamlining 2+2 articulation, and strengthening mechanisms that keep colleges and universities accountable to Florida taxpayers. The legislation also expands policy and funding tools universities can leverage to recruit and retain the very best faculty, enhance professional and graduate schools, and improve aging infrastructure and research laboratories.
Statement by President Negron:
“This comprehensive legislation will boost the strength and competitiveness of our state’s higher education system as our primary economic engine to drive vibrant, sustainable economic development and growth in high-paying jobs. Our primary objectives are to work with universities to better serve students and increase their accountability to the taxpayers. I believe Florida taxpayers will see a return worthy of their investment when our top Florida students attend our own universities, complete degree programs on-time, and then graduate with job opportunities in high-demand fields needed in our growing communities.
“As we worked on this legislation over the last year, I have enjoyed the opportunity to hear from students and learn about the challenges they face as they work to complete their degrees. Like many students today, I worked throughout college and law school, and I understand the challenge of working and balancing difficult coursework. I am confident this package of policy enhancements will help more students graduate on-time, while maintaining the flexibility some students need as they balance their studies with family and work obligations.”
Statement by Senator Galvano:
“Our goal is to preserve access and increase affordability for Florida students, while at the same time making strategic investments that elevate the prominence of our state universities and increase their ability to compete as national destination institutions.
“By increasing need and merit-based financial assistance for university students and requiring universities to create flexible tuition policies, we can improve Florida’s 4-year graduation rate, which means cost savings for students and their families. Together with policy enhancements and funding investments that support university efforts to recruit and retain renowned faculty, improve facilities, and enhance professional schools, this legislation will help elevate the national reputation of Florida’s state universities, and further increase the return on investment for students, parents, and taxpayers.
“The bill prioritizes on-time graduation as a goal for our system of higher education, while still recognizing that, for a variety of reasons, not all students will be able to complete their programs within the traditional timetable. The legislation also makes it clear that schools are only evaluated on the graduation rates of our traditional, full-time, first-time-in-college students. No student is penalized in any way by this policy. In fact, this pro-student legislation supports students by removing barriers to graduation and helping ease financial insecurities that lead students to delay completing their degrees.”
SENATE BILL 2 – THE FLORIDA EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION ACT
Expands Student Financial Assistance and Support
- Reinstates Highest Bright Futures Scholarship Program Award (Florida Academic Scholar) to cover 100 percent of tuition and certain tuition-indexed fees, including the summer term, plus $300 for textbooks and college-related expenses during the fall and spring terms.
- Expands the Benacquisto Scholar Program to provide awards for qualified out-of-state students, as funded in the General Appropriations Act (GAA), equal to the highest cost of resident student attendance at a state university. The student must physically reside in the community of the university he or she is attending.
- Revises the 1st Generation Matching Grant Program to provide two to one (state to local match versus one to one), as funded in the GAA.
- Creates the Florida Farmworker Student Scholarship Program to provide need-based scholarships to cover the cost of tuition and fees for farmworkers and the children of farmworkers to earn a workforce certificate or a college degree.
Establishes Tuition and Fee Incentives
The Legislature has authorized state universities to implement flexible tuition policies to assist students in accessing higher education in our state. To date, no state university has implemented a block tuition policy.
- Requires universities to implement a block tuition policy, which must specify an in-state block tuition rate and an out-of-state block tuition rate for full-time undergraduate students. The university board of trustees and the Board of Governors must publicly approve the block tuition policy in time for implementation by no later than the Fall 2018 semester.
Streamlines 2+2 Articulation
- Establishes the 2+2 targeted pathway program to strengthen Florida’s 2+2 system of articulation and improve student retention and on-time graduation in four years with a baccalaureate degree.
- Requires each community college to execute at least one 2+2 targeted pathway articulation agreement by the 2018-19 academic year. The articulation agreement must provide students who meet specified requirements guaranteed access to the state university and baccalaureate degree program in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
- Requires district school boards to notify students and parents with accurate and timely information about how college credits generated in high school will apply towards a college degree.
Strengthens Mechanisms That Keep Colleges and Universities Accountable To Florida Taxpayers
Incentivizes full-time student graduation in four years by focusing institutional efforts on initiatives that reduce student time to, and costs of, on-time degree completion.
- Upgrades State University System (SUS) Performance Metrics in Preeminence and Performance Funding programs:
- Tightens graduation rate expectations to four-year (from six-year) for a baccalaureate degree. (Note: Universities are only evaluated based on the graduation rates of students who are enrolled full-time, beginning in the fall semester, and who have not previously enrolled.)
- Repeals preeminent university authority for a six-credit set of “unique courses” that consume time and money for non-transferable credit.
- Upgrades Florida College System (FCS) Performance Metrics in Distinguished College and Performance Funding programs:
- Tightens degree (associate and bachelor) graduation rate metrics to 100 percent (versus 150 percent) of normal-time completion. (Note: Colleges are only evaluated based on the graduation rates of students who are enrolled full-time, beginning in the fall semester, and who have not previously enrolled.)
- Adds a college affordability metric, which must be adopted by the State Board of Education.
- Specifies the job placement metric must be based on wage thresholds that reflect the added value of the applicable certificate or degree.
Expands and Enhances Policy and Funding Tools State Universities can Leverage to Recruit and Retain the Very Best Faculty
- Establishes a World Class Faculty Scholar Program to fund university efforts to recruit, recognize, and retain star faculty and teams, as funded in the GAA.
- Establishes a University Professional and Graduate Degree Excellence Program to promote quality and excellence in university professional school and graduate study outcomes in high-impact fields of medicine, law, and business, as funded in the GAA.
- Links education to job opportunities by expanding university responsibility to identify internship opportunities for students to benefit from industry experts and mentors, earn industry certifications, and become employed in high-demand fields of unmet need.
Statement by Commissioner Adam Putnam on Today’s Historically Low Citrus Crop Forecast
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam released the following statement today after the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its monthly citrus crop forecast for the 2016-2017 season, which is down four-percent from the February forecast:
“Although not unexpected, today’s historically low forecast is the latest example of citrus greening’s continued devastation of Florida’s citrus industry. Until a long-term solution is discovered, which some of our state’s brightest minds are working on, we must support Florida’s multi-billion dollar citrus industry and the more than 60,000 jobs it supports.”
The USDA’s forecast today of 67 million boxes of oranges for the 2016-2017 season is down more than 17 percent from the 81.5 million boxes harvested last season. Today’s forecast represents a decline of more than 70 percent since the peak of citrus production at 244 million boxes during the 1997-98 season.
In support of Florida’s growers and industry groups seeking approval from the EPA for the use of certain antimicrobial treatments to combat greening, a bacterial disease spread by a tiny, invasive insect, Commissioner Putnam issued a crisis declaration in 2016 regarding their Section 18 application to the Environmental Protection Agency, which allowed the immediate use of these treatments.
For more information about the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit FreshFromFlorida.com.
Governor Rick Scott to Give Update on Collier County Wildfire
Tomorrow, March 10th, Governor Rick Scott and Commissioner Adam Putnam will give an update on the Collier County wildfire at the Collier County Emergency Management facilty.
WHAT: Update on Collier County Wildfire
WHEN: 9:00 AM
WHERE: Collier County Emergency Management
8075 Lely Cultural Pkwy
Naples, FL 34113
Attorney General Bondi to Convene the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking
MEDIA ADVISORY
Attorney General Pam Bondi will convene this year’s first meeting of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking today, March 9, at 1:00 p.m. in Tallahassee. The 15-member council, chaired by Attorney General Bondi, builds on existing state and local partnerships working to make Florida a zero-tolerance state for human trafficking. Members of the council include law enforcement officers, legislators, prosecutors and experts in health, education and social services.
WHO: Attorney General Pam Bondi and members of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking
WHEN: Thursday, March 9, 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Cabinet Meeting Room
The Capitol, LL-03
Tallahassee, Fla.
To view the meeting agenda, click here.
For more information on the Statewide Council for Human Trafficking, visit MyFloridaLegal.com.
