Articles Posted in Fraud

Tampa Bay Online reported yesterday that former Florida Appellate Court Judge Thomas E. Stringer publicly admitted this morning that he is guilty of bank fraud for helping a stripper hide her financial assets from creditors. According to the federal charge, he lied on a loan application to purchase a house in Hawaii, saying the money used for the down payment was his, when it was from stripper Christy Yamanaka.

According to reports, Stringer plead guilty under the terms of a plea agreement he and federal prosecutors signed last month. He has yet to be sentenced.

During yesterday’s hearing Stringer was advised by a federal magistrate that as a result of his plea, he may not run for public office and he may be in jeopardy of losing his law license. In addition, Stringer’s state pension may be affected by a federal criminal conviction.

Although Stringer’s crimes could subject him to thirty (30) years in prison, Federal Prosecutors are not recommending prison time for Stringer. However his sentence will ultimately be up to the magistrate’s discretion. Stringer also agreed to forfeit $222,000.

Stringer, retired from the bench in February as he was being investigated by the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission.

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Tampa, Florida Circuit Court Judge Daniel Perry sentenced a man to the maximum 30 years of Florida State Prison and included as a term of his probation, restitution in the amount of approximately $60,000, according to Tampa Tribune’s Kevin Graham.

Florida has long been considered one of the most punitive states in the union for several reasons. The foremost being the way in which it deals with Violations of Probation. Not only are the violation of probation hearings void of any 5th amendment rights to silence and often very quick, but the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure require far less proof than the usual burden of beyond a reasonable doubt.

In this case, the defendant clearly offended the court by the nature in which he violated probation. The original criminal fraud case alleged that he defrauded over $400,000 from area residents. The violation of probation allegation was that during his probation he was witnessed claiming to be the grandson of Frank Sinatra and in need of small loans due to a banking error. These scams were alleged to have taken place in cities like Austin, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada.