Lots of goings on in the district last week with the progression of new judges and the elevation of Judge Robin Rosenbaum to the 11th Circuit, which should officially happen today. Congratulations to Judge Rosenbaum in advance!
She's still busy though, sentencing Rogerio Scotton to 9 years on Friday. He was the race car driver who represented himself during trial and engaged in all kinds of shenanigans, including claiming (falsely) that he had a sex tape to prove his marriage was legit. Paula McMahon of the Sun-Sentinel has more:
He also was found guilty of two counts of lying to immigration officials about his marriage to a Cuban woman. Jurors found that the Brazilian citizen entered into a sham marriage with Ailyn Mollinedo in July 2008 so that he could remain in the United States.
Mollinedo testified that the marriage was one of convenience. She said that she had never lived with Scotton and never had sex with him. Under U.S. immigration rules, foreign citizens who marry Cuban nationals may qualify for U.S. permanent resident status.
Prosecutors said that Scotton bullied Mollinedo and tried to control her by holding on to her green card. Mollinedo testified that she entered into the marriage as a favor to Scotton and stayed in it because he threatened her and her family if she told the truth.
Scotton insisted that the marriage was real and insisted many times in court that he had video footage of him having sex with Mollinedo that he wanted to show the judge and jury to prove that their relationship was real.
The judge said Friday that there was no evidence at all that any such video had ever existed and that Scotton's continued pretense in court — to her and the jury — was "absolutely inappropriate and obstructive."
The sex-tapes pretense was just one of many inappropriate acts committed by Scotton, the judge said.
"I don't think they were indiscretions," Rosenbaum said. "I think they were purposeful attempts to mislead this jury and this court."
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