Congrats to the Hawk

Hometown hero Andre Dawson made the Hall. Sweet!

In SDFLA news, the Scott Rothstein plea has been set, but before Judge Cohn will conduct the change of plea hearing, he is having a McLain hearing next week and requiring the government to state in writing whether it is investigating Rothstein's lawyer Marc Nurik.

I'm in the Middle District today... Will report back this afternoon.

Shocking news

Scott Rothstein to plead guilty. Here's Curt Anderson from the AP:
Disbarred South Florida lawyer Scott Rothstein is negotiating a guilty plea with federal prosecutors on charges of orchestrating a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme using faked legal settlements, his attorney said Tuesday.
"I can tell you that there will be a change of plea to guilty," said Rothstein attorney Marc Nurik. "We don't have any finalization on the details at this point."
Nurik said he will ask a federal judge Wednesday to set a date for the change of plea hearing. Rothstein, 47, pleaded not guilty in December to a five-count indictment accusing him of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud in a scheme that ran from 2005 to 2009.

Scott Rothstein to be arrested tomorrow (Tuesday) -- NUMEROUS UPDATES BELOW

The Herald broke the story here:

Scott Rothstein, the flashy Fort Lauderdale attorney who authorities say ran a $1 billion investment scam while acting like a philanthropic tycoon, is expected to be arrested Tuesday on a federal racketeering charge, sources familiar with the case said.
Rothstein, who had fled to Morocco in late October but returned in early November, is expected to appear at a magistrate hearing to face the RICO conspiracy charge at the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.
While under federal watch in November, Rothstein cooperated with prosecutors and provided them with details of his Ponzi scheme, involving the sale of fabricated legal settlements to wealthy investors.FBI and IRS agents also raided his Fort Lauderdale law office and seized his waterfront home and other assets.
Rothstein could not be reached for comment, and his attorney, Marc Nurik, declined to say anything about his client's imminent arrest.
``Scott intends to see that all legitimate investors get paid back,'' Nurik said late Monday. ``Exactly how that's going to be done remains to be seen. He is sincere in his intent.''
Rothstein, 47, is likely to plead guilty soon while he is in custody. The U.S. attorney's office, meanwhile, will convene a grand jury to consider criminal charges against Rothstein's alleged co-conspirators -- including possibly former employees of his now-defunct firm.

Scott is still talking, this time to the Sun-Sentinel:

Rothstein called Monday, after I sent a text asking if he was about to turn himself into federal authorities, a rumor that was making the rounds."No, I'm not surrendering," he said. "I'm sitting here in the hotel with my attorney (Marc Nurik) and it's a very strange scenario."First we're fielding calls from people asking if we're in protective custody. No, I'm not in protective custody. Now we're getting calls if I'm about to surrender...So I guess you guys are giving me a heads up that I'm about to be arrested."

***

Said [Mark] Nurik: "Nobody's telling us that they're picking him up, and nobody's giving us any right to surrender...He's sitting here with me, talking about the case. He's mostly freaking out about being arrested."

So, he'll obviously be detained with no bond. But should he be?

UPDATE 9:30am Tuesday -- Rothstein has been arrested early Tuesday morning and he wasn't permitted to surrender. He will make his initial appearance this morning in Ft. Lauderdale before Judge Robin Rosenbaum.

SECOND UPDATE -- No bond... Stipulation to detention...

THIRD UPDATE -- Rothstein was charged by way of infomation, which means he is definitely cooperating. Still strange to me that they simply wouldn't indict him. Here's the information, which has been assigned to Judge James Cohn.

Drinks at the Capital Grille over lunch

Bob Norman has been all over the Scott Rothstein case and had the (good?) fortune of running into him at the Capital Grille today. He even took video:



Here's another post about the encounter.

Why is this guy out in public at the Capital Grille talking to reporters? I understand that this was just happenstance, but he was bound to run into someone at lunch at the CG... Right now, he needs to be holed up somewhere not talking. (Hat tip: JA)

Schadenfreude

Sure, there's a lot of that going on with the Scott Rothstein case, but the guy isn't doing anything to help his cause. SFL covers his Herald interview, which was a total train wreck:

"I am sitting here smoking cigars with [my lawyer] Marc [Nurik]."

"Doing pretty good."

"During the brief interview with Nurik, Rothstein could be heard heartily laughing in the background."

It only gets worse:

Nurik would not disclose Rothstein's whereabouts -- a Florida location that Nurik said he -- not federal authorities -- chose.

"I have him hidden," Nurik said. "I'm not going to tell anybody where, including the government. I don't know where people are coming up with this stuff. I have been discussing his case with the government as any defense counsel would under these circumstances.

"I have been in contact with the government," Nurik said. "My client is at an undisclosed location of my choosing and he is talking to no one but me. He hasn't even met with his family."

Nurik declined to discuss the case, but added that Rothstein wanted to say goodbye.

"I'm doing really good," Rothstein said. "Marc is a great lawyer, a great friend. We will speak when the time is right."

YIKES! I'm not even sure that Alan Shore's closing argument on Schadenfreude could help Rothstein:

From the German words, Schaden and Freude, damage and joy. It means to take spiteful, malicious delight in the misfortune of others. We used to dismiss this as simply an ugly side of human nature, but it is much much more than that. Recently a Stanford professor actually captured Schadenfreude on a brain scan. It’s a physiological medical phenomenon. When we see others fall it sometimes causes a chemical to be released in the dorsal striatum of the brain which actually causes us to feel pleasure. If you watch the news or read the papers, which of course you don’t because the Judge said not to, but if you did, you would see the undeniable delicious joy of the media and the public over Kelly Nolan’s plight. I have no doubt that you want Kelly Nolan to be punished. She married for money, she had an affair, she carried on naked in the pool with her boyfriend. She’s cold, materialistic, unlikable, and it might bring you all pleasure to see her go to jail. But as for evidence to establish that she committed a murder beyond all reasonable doubt? It just isn’t there. The only possible route to a guilty verdict here is Schadenfreude.