John Pacenti knocks it out of the park

He's got two interesting stories in the DBR this morning:

1) Lew Freeman's emails from prison and 2) the age of our district's judges.

Here's a part of the Freeman article:

Other reports from Freeman dispel any notion of a "Club Fed" where white collar criminals enjoy the comforts of home.

He spins a story of when 11 "new spa members" showed up late one night and there was a shortage of mattresses. Inmates learned there were 300 new mattresses at the prison storage but couldn't be touched because they were to be used in case of a hurricane.

The temperature in the prison also fluctuates wildly, he relates. A cold snap in the fall was made even more brutal for inmates by an air conditioner still blowing. Freeman said he bought a wool cap for five tunas and another inmate loaned him a long-sleeved shirt.

"I was petrified of waking up one morning and urinating ice cubes from the freezing," he said.

Then when temperatures returned to normal, the air conditioning unit broke, and Freeman said he stripped down to a T-shirt and shorts at night to stay cool.

He also relates a time when three urinals broke and the hot water was turned off forcing inmates to take cold showers.

"If you wanted a warm shower it was up to you to supply it. No I didn't pee in (the) shower," he wrote.

Freeman spins a lot of bathroom humor. Not a big change from his days on the outside. He revels in the fact that there are private shower stalls, but adds he doesn't think he's in too much danger if he drops the soap: "I am too old and undesirable to this population."

And the age issue article has some interesting comments from our judges. Here's Judge King:

King didn't shy away from the issue. In a 45-minute interview, he talked about telling fellow judges and established attorneys in the community — the old lions of the bar, as he calls them — to alert him or Moreno if he starts to slip. King was articulate and entertaining. He said he takes no medication and seemed chagrined that he had to run to the eye doctor to update his eyeglass prescription.

King, who has been on the bench 40 years, still routinely travels to Key West for trials in the southernmost point of the district and is overseeing multidistrict litigation involving debit card fees. He still does some things old school. He will not sign an order electronically and keeps a paper printout docket of all the cases before him on the corner of his desk.

The judge said he also watches how his rulings hold up on appeal. He said if he is only reversed a couple of times a year among the numerous decisions he makes, he believes he still has what it takes to keep on the bench.

King said another reason judges don't readily retire is because they see the position as a calling.

"The philosophy is that this is sort of like becoming a priest or a rabbi or a minister," he said. "It is a life commitment."

Judge Moreno has a good quote: "Getting older, as in many things, is a good thing. Judges are like good wine, the older they get, the better they get."

How much time should Lew Freeman get?

Update: I've been told that the govt is asking for at least 15 years; probation 12.5; and the defense 7.5. Not confirmed.

Judge Huck is set to sentence him on Friday.

Joe DeMaria filed this sentencing memo on Freeman's behalf on Monday. It's an interesting contrast to the memo filed for Scott Rothstein, especially in tone. Also of note is that Freeman still seems to have the support of the community -- 277 letters were filed on his behalf. The biggest difference, of course, is the loss; here it's somewhere in the millions, not the billions.

I believe that the probation office calculated the guidelines at 78-87 months based on a high loss calculation, but the parties will be fighting over loss. The maximum sentence is 20 years.

What sentence will Lew Freeman receive from Judge Huck
	5 years or less.
	A guidelines sentence of 78-87 months (as calculated by probation).
	10 years.
	The max -- 20 years.
pollcode.com free polls

Here is the sentencing memo:

Lewis Freeman Sentencing Memorandum

John Pacenti's article on the upcoming sentencing is here.

More associates charged...

...but this time it isn't Rothstein's people; it's Lew Freeman's. Here's the information charging Jose Wong and Steven Jockers. Like Rothstein's COO, they are charged in an information, which is a clear sign that they've already cut a deal. According to the USAO press release:

Jose Wong began working as an employee at LBFP in1992. Wong held various accounting positions in LBFP, and was ultimately promoted to comptroller at LBFP. In this position, Wong performed all the bookkeeping related to LBFP’s operating accounts and managed Lewis B. Freeman’s personal finances. Wong also prepared financial reports, such as bank reconciliations and cash-flow reports, on a number of matters to which Freeman had been appointed as the fiduciary. Additionally, Wong deposited a large number of unauthorized checks payable to LBFP from the fiduciary accounts into the LBFP operating accounts.
Steven Jockers worked as an employee at LBFP since1998. Jockers frequently assisted Freeman and other principals of LBFP in the day-to-day functions required to maintain receiverships, liquidating trusteeships, and assignments for the benefit of creditors. Jockers also did bookkeeping and prepared financial reports, such as bank reconciliations and cash-flow reports, on a number of matters to which Freeman had been appointed as the fiduciary.
It is estimated that Freeman issued more than 100 unauthorized checks and consequently misappropriated more than $6 million from fiduciary accounts he was responsible for safeguarding.

The case is assigned to Judge Lenard.

We're Popular!

Joan Fleischman covers the Legal Services event in this Herald article, and the blog gets some ink!

Quince on Thursday at the Margulies Collection in Miami's Wynwood Arts District. Not a quince to celebrate a young lady's 15th birthday. This is about Chief Justice Peggy A. Quince -- pronounced ``kwince'' -- of the Florida Supreme Court. Quince, 62, is a guest speaker at a Legal Services of Greater Miami shindig.
The nonprofit provides legal assistance -- in civil cases such as foreclosures and IRS disputes -- for low-income folks in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Last year, Legal Services helped 18,352 clients and recovered more than $1.3 million in disability, unemployment compensation and other government benefits as well as child support, says executive director Marcia Cypen.
The agency operates on a $7.4 million budget with 33 lawyers. Funding comes from sources including The Florida Bar Foundation, Dade Community Foundation, University of Miami's law school and other private donors.
***
Quince will share the podium with Michael Putney, WPLG-ABC 10's senior political reporter. Putney admires Cypen and the agency: ``They provide indispensable services to people who desperately need legal advice and help.''
The 285-plus expected guests include: former Florida Supreme Court Justices Kogan and Raoul Cantero; U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz; Third District Court of Appeal Judges Gerald Cope and Vance Salter; Miami-Dade Chief Judge Joel Brown and fellow jurists Maxine Cohen Lando, Jennifer Bailey, Flora Seff, Don Cohn, Myriam Lehr, Linda Singer Stein and Nushin Sayfie; Alex Acosta, dean of Florida International University's law school; Dean Robertson, senior corporate counsel for Vitas Healthcare Corp.; Derek Jackson, Florida Marlins VP and general counsel; and attorneys Marlon Hill, Gabrielle D'Alemberte, Tomas Gamba, Norman Moscowitz, H.T. Smith, Michael Moore and Leslie Lott, and David O. Markus, who writes the popular Southern District of Florida Blog.

The Stearns Weaver Miller law firm, Harke & Clasby and Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton are among donors that will be recognized.
Reception is from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, 591 NW 27th St. (The 45,000-square-foot space showcases the private collection of arts patron Martin Z. Margulies. He has more than 800 works on display, and opens the facility to the public through April.)
The Legal Services event is open to the public, too -- tickets are $75.




In other news, Lewis Freeman will plead guilty today, and it won't be in front of Judge Ungaro, who recused. Judge Huck drew the case. Any thoughts as to what an appropriate sentence is in this case?

Lew Freeman who?

Lew Freeman finally surrendered today on an information, charging one 20 year count. The best thing that ever happened to Freeman is Scott Rothstein. No one seems to care about this case anymore even though Freeman was as well known as Rothstein. But the losses in this case are only 2.6 million instead of a billion...