A Florida widow opened a bill from a funeral home and found a charge of more than $60,000 — for "storing" her husband's cremated remains in an urn the size of a shoebox. There is a name for what happens when a funeral provider uses a family's loved one as leverage. I call it funeral ransom. And Florida families need to know it is not something they simply have to accept.

The case was reported by WFTV's Action 9 consumer unit in Central Florida: a widow locked in a dispute with a funeral home over her husband's cremation was billed $95 per day — month after month — to store his ashes, until the total passed $60,000. She told reporters she was "floored." According to that reporting, state regulators reviewing the underlying dispute found the funeral home violated Florida statutes requiring signed cremation documents and an accurate listing of the services purchased. Whatever the merits of any billing dispute, one number tells you everything: sixty thousand dollars to shelve a shoebox.

"Funeral Ransom" Is Real — the FTC Has Punished It

This is not one rogue invoice. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice sued Legacy Cremation Services and Funeral & Cremation Group of North America, alleging the companies advertised deceptively low prices, misrepresented where they were located — and, when grieving customers balked at surprise fees, withheld cremated remains to extract payment. In 2023, the FTC announced a settlement requiring $275,000 in civil penalties and strict court-ordered rules on how those companies deal with customers. The federal government does not use words like these lightly: withholding a family's remains to force payment was at the center of the case.

The FTC's Funeral Rule — the federal regulation that has governed the industry for decades — exists precisely because grieving customers are uniquely vulnerable. It entitles you to itemized pricing before you buy, and it prohibits forcing you into bundles you did not choose. Florida adds its own layer on top: Chapter 497 of the Florida Statutes licenses and disciplines every funeral establishment in the state, with cremation in particular surrounded by written-authorization requirements — because once it happens, it cannot be undone.

Why Withholding Remains Is Different From Any Other Billing Dispute

If a mechanic and a customer disagree over a bill, the law gives the mechanic a lien on the car. A car is property. Your husband's ashes are not a car. Florida law treats human remains as something sacred — the family's interest in the remains of someone they love is a legally protected interest, and courts in this state have long recognized claims for the negligent or intentional mishandling of remains, including recovery for the family's mental anguish. A provider who converts that sacred interest into a collection tactic is not driving a hard bargain. It is inflicting a new injury on a grieving family — and that injury can itself become the basis of a civil claim against the funeral home.

The Two-Track Response: What a Family Should Do

The regulatory complaint and the civil claim work together. The state can investigate, discipline the license, and — once its file closes — that investigative record can become evidence. The civil courts can address what the regulator cannot: the family's own injury. I have walked families through both tracks, and I explain how they fit together in my earlier article on Florida's legal framework for funeral home liability and on my funeral home negligence practice page.

No family should have to negotiate for the return of someone they love. If that is what is happening to yours, the law is on your side — and you do not have to face it alone.

This article is attorney advertising and is provided for general educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It discusses matters drawn from published news reports and public federal enforcement actions; the FTC allegations described were resolved by settlement, and any persons or businesses mentioned are entitled to all defenses and presumptions the law provides. This firm does not represent any party in the reported cases, and nothing in this article describes any pending client matter. Every case is different; past results do not guarantee future outcomes. If a funeral establishment is withholding a loved one's remains or billing your family unfairly, consult a licensed Florida attorney about the specific facts and applicable deadlines. Dennis Gonzalez Jr., P.A., 11401 SW 40th Street, Suite 250, Miami, FL 33165.

The worst funeral home scandal in modern American history has now ended in prison sentences measured in decades. Nearly 190 families in Colorado learned that the "cremated remains" on their mantels were fake — and that the people they loved had been left in a building for years. The question I hear from Florida families is simple and fair: could that happen here? The honest answer takes a full article.

A brief, dignified summary of the public record: the owners of a Colorado funeral home were found to have stored nearly 190 decedents in a building between 2019 and 2023 while giving families substitute ashes. When prosecutors first negotiated a plea deal, the judge rejected it after grieving families objected that the proposed sentence was too lenient — a rare and remarkable moment covered by PBS and national outlets. Under new agreements, both owners pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse. In 2026, one was sentenced to 40 years in state prison and the other to 30, on top of federal fraud sentences. The families said what every family in their position says: no sentence gives back what was taken.

Why Colorado Was Vulnerable — and Why Florida Is Different

The Colorado tragedy did not happen in a vacuum. At the time, Colorado was widely reported to be among the least-regulated states in the country for funeral services — with no licensing requirement for funeral directors and minimal routine oversight. The scandal forced that state to rewrite its laws. Florida sits at the other end of the spectrum. Chapter 497 of the Florida Statutes — the Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services Act — puts the entire death-care industry under a licensing and enforcement regime administered by the Department of Financial Services and its Division of Funeral, Cemetery & Consumer Services.

The Honest Part: Where the Gaps Are

I litigate against funeral homes in this state, so I will not pretend Florida's system is airtight. Licensing and inspections raise the floor — they do not guarantee the ceiling. Enforcement is largely complaint-driven, which means misconduct behind closed doors can go unnoticed until a family speaks up. Unlicensed activity still happens; Florida revoked an Orlando funeral home's license this year after finding its owner dealt with families without a funeral director's license. And what happens inside a locked preparation room or a third-party crematory is, as a practical matter, invisible to everyone until something forces it into the light. Colorado's horror was extreme. Smaller versions of the same betrayal — lost remains, wrong remains, unauthorized cremation, decomposition from improper storage — happen in regulated states too, including this one.

Five Questions Every Family Should Ask

When Trust Is Broken, Florida Families Have Rights

In Colorado, the criminal courts answered — eventually. But criminal prosecution is the state's remedy, not the family's. Florida gives betrayed families their own tools: a regulatory complaint to DFS that can trigger investigation and discipline, and a civil claim for the negligent or intentional mishandling of remains — a claim under which Florida law has long recognized recovery for the family's emotional anguish, because the injury in these cases was never financial. I have written in depth about Florida's legal framework for funeral home liability, and it remains one of the core areas of my practice — you can see the full scope on my funeral home negligence attorney page.

The families in Colorado deserved better than they got — from the industry and, for too long, from the law. Florida families deserve to know that here, the law is already on their side. It only works if they use it.

This article is attorney advertising and is provided for general educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Colorado case is described from public court records and national news reporting, including PBS; the convictions referenced followed guilty pleas, and all persons accused of crimes are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. This firm does not represent any party in the reported case, and nothing in this article describes any pending client matter. Every case is different; past results do not guarantee future outcomes. If you believe a funeral establishment mishandled a loved one's remains, consult a licensed Florida attorney about the specific facts and applicable deadlines. Dennis Gonzalez Jr., P.A., 11401 SW 40th Street, Suite 250, Miami, FL 33165.

A reality TV star allegedly walks into a World Cup quarterfinal without a ticket — and walks out charged with a felony. Not trespass. A felony most people, including plenty of lawyers, have never heard of. With the World Cup running through Miami all month, it is time somebody explained it.

Here is what happened, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office and news reports: during Saturday's England–Norway quarterfinal at Hard Rock Stadium, "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" star Tommie Lee (Atasha Chizaah Jefferson) allegedly entered the stadium through an unauthorized east entrance without a ticket, passed through a southeast gate, and made it to the 100-level seats before deputies detained her. She was one of six people arrested at that match, was booked at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, was released on a $1,000 bond, and has pleaded not guilty. Those are allegations — she, like everyone arrested, is presumed innocent. My firm does not represent anyone in this case. What interests me is the charge itself: interference with a sporting or entertainment event, a third-degree felony under section 871.05, Florida Statutes.

The Felony Nobody's Heard Of

In 2023, as Florida geared up to host mega-events like this World Cup, state lawmakers created a dedicated crime for interfering with sporting and entertainment events: section 871.05, Florida Statutes. The statute reaches three things: touching a player, official, or performer during the event; slipping into a restricted area like the field or the stage; and — the reason this case is a felony — willfully entering or staying inside the venue of a ticketed event with more than 5,000 people, without a ticket or authorization. The first two are first-degree misdemeanors. That last one, the World Cup scenario, is a third-degree felony under section 871.05(2)(c) and (3)(b). Before this law, sneaking into a stadium was generally handled as trespass. Now, walking into a packed, ticketed mega-event without permission is its own felony offense — which in Florida means exposure to up to five years in prison, five years of probation, and a $5,000 fine. For jumping a gate.

Why It's Not "Just Trespass"

Ordinary trespass in Florida is a misdemeanor — even trespass after a warning, the version most people pick up at bars and businesses, tops out at county jail time. The stadium statute exists because lawmakers decided mega-event security breaches are different in kind: tens of thousands of people, international scrutiny, and crowd-safety risks that a backyard fence-hop does not create. Whether you agree with that policy or not, the practical takeaway is this: at a World Cup match, prosecutors have a felony on the menu, and they are using it. Six people learned that at one game.

What a Stadium Arrest Actually Looks Like

Get detained at Hard Rock and you are not going home that night. You are transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center — TGK — for booking, and you see a judge at first appearance, generally within 24 hours, where bond is addressed. Family trying to find someone in custody can use the county's inmate search, and an attorney can appear and argue at the bond hearing. And do not let the $1,000 bond in this case fool you — bond measures flight risk and danger, not seriousness. The five-year felony exposure does not shrink because the bond was small.

The good news, from where I sit as a Miami criminal defense lawyer: charges like this are often very workable. A first-time, non-violent stadium case may be a candidate for diversion, a negotiated reduction to a misdemeanor, or — depending on the facts and the proof — an outright fight over whether the statute even fits what happened. But those outcomes get built early, before arraignment hardens the State's position. The worst move is treating a felony charge casually because the underlying conduct sounds silly.

More matches are coming to Hard Rock Stadium, the crowds are only getting bigger, and law enforcement has made its posture clear. Buy the ticket. Stay in your section. And if you or someone visiting you gets swept up anyway — over a gate, a seat, or a misunderstanding — get a lawyer on it before your first court date, not after.

This article is attorney advertising and is provided for general educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It discusses allegations reported by law enforcement and news media; all persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. This firm does not represent any party in the reported case. Every case is different — consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation. Dennis Gonzalez Jr., P.A., 11401 SW 40th Street, Suite 250, Miami, FL 33165.

That sounds like a strange thing for a lawyer to admit. It is actually the most important thing you can know about how I practice.

Every week, people call my office about injury cases. Fender-benders. Minor slip-and-falls. Soft-tissue claims that will resolve in a few months with a modest settlement. These are real injuries and real cases — and most of the time, I decline them and refer them to capable colleagues who handle volume practices.

Why? Because my personal injury practice is built for one kind of case: the catastrophic case. The case where a family’s entire future is on the line. The case the insurance company assigns to its most experienced adjusters and its best defense firms. The case that cannot afford to be one file among four hundred on a paralegal’s desk.

What “Catastrophic” Actually Means

Catastrophic injury is not a legal term of art so much as a practical reality: an injury that permanently changes how a person lives, works, and cares for their family. In my practice, that means cases involving:

Why Selectivity Is Your Advantage, Not Mine

Here is what most people never see from the outside: a catastrophic injury case is not a bigger version of a small case. It is a fundamentally different animal.

• The defense is different. When the exposure is seven or eight figures, insurance carriers do not send form letters. They hire biomechanical engineers, retain their own neurologists, conduct surveillance, and staff the file with senior trial counsel from day one.
• The proof is different. A catastrophic case is built on life care planners, economists, neuropsychologists, accident reconstructionists, and treating physicians — a coordinated team that has to survive expert challenges and cross-examination.
• The stakes are different. A soft-tissue case that settles low is a disappointment. A catastrophic case that settles low is a lifetime of unfunded medical care, lost income, and a family carrying a burden the responsible party should have paid for.

What Florida’s New Legal Landscape Means for Serious Cases

Florida’s 2023 tort reform (House Bill 837) rewrote the rules for injury cases — I covered the full overhaul when it passed in my analysis of Florida’s bad faith and comparative negligence reforms. Two changes matter enormously for catastrophic claims:

• Modified comparative fault. If a jury finds you more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing. Defense lawyers now build their entire strategy around pushing blame across that line — which makes early investigation and evidence preservation more critical than ever.
• A shorter clock. The statute of limitations for most Florida negligence cases is now two years, not four. In a catastrophic case — where experts must be retained and records assembled — two years is far less time than it sounds.

These changes punish delay. Families dealing with an ICU stay understandably put “call a lawyer” last on the list. The defense is counting on that.

What Working With Me Looks Like

Because I limit the number of catastrophic cases I take, every client gets what high-stakes litigation actually requires: direct access to the attorney — not a case manager — a fully developed damages presentation built with credentialed experts, and a case prepared from day one as if it will be tried, because insurance companies pay trial value only to lawyers who are genuinely prepared to try the case. And when a case falls outside what I handle, I will tell you honestly on the first call and point you to the right lawyer for it — at no cost to you.

That is the whole philosophy. Fewer cases. Bigger stakes. Full attention. You can see exactly what my practice covers — and the answers to the questions families ask most — on my Miami catastrophic injury attorney page.

Para las familias que prefieren informarse en español: visite nuestra página de abogado de lesiones personales en Miami.

This article is attorney advertising and is provided for general educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Deadlines described are general statements of Florida law that may not apply to your specific situation — consult a licensed Florida attorney promptly about your case. Dennis Gonzalez Jr., P.A., 11401 SW 40th Street, Suite 250, Miami, FL 33165.

McGregor–Holloway 2 lasted less than a round. Some of the fights it inspired in Miami bars lasted longer — and ended in handcuffs. Here is what Florida law says about what happens next.

Last night, millions watched Max Holloway stop Conor McGregor in the first round at UFC 329. Across Miami — Brickell, Wynwood, Little Havana, Kendall — watch parties packed every sports bar in the county. And if history is any guide, fight night produced a predictable spike in arrests: battery, disorderly conduct, resisting without violence, and DUI on the drive home.

If you or someone you love was arrested last night, the next few days matter more than you think. As a Miami criminal defense attorney, here is what I want you to understand before you say a single word to anyone.

One Punch Is All It Takes: Florida’s Battery Ladder

People assume a bar scuffle is a slap on the wrist. Florida law says otherwise. The same punch can be charged three very different ways depending on the injury and the circumstances:

Notice how fast the ladder climbs. A shove is a misdemeanor battery. A punch that breaks an orbital bone is a felony. Swing a beer bottle — even if you barely connect — and prosecutors can charge aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony carrying up to fifteen years. And you do not even have to land a punch: threatening someone with a weapon can be charged as aggravated assault, a felony of its own.

“But He Swung First” — Mutual Combat and Self-Defense in Florida

The most common thing I hear after a bar fight arrest: “It was mutual — we were both fighting.” Here is the hard truth: “mutual combat” is not a get-out-of-jail card in Florida. Police arriving at a chaotic scene rarely sort out who started it. They arrest whoever is standing, bleeding least, or loudest.

Florida’s self-defense law, including the Stand Your Ground framework in Chapter 776, can be a powerful defense — but it has real limits in a bar-fight scenario:

• You cannot be the initial aggressor. If witnesses or video show you threw first, self-defense gets much harder.
• Force must be proportional. Answering a shove with a bottle to the head is not self-defense — it is aggravated battery.
• Video is everywhere. Every Miami sports bar has cameras, and every patron has a phone. That footage can convict you — or completely clear you. Getting it preserved immediately is one of the first things a defense lawyer does.

The Charges That Ride Along: Disorderly Conduct, Resisting, and DUI

Battery rarely travels alone on fight night. The typical Miami watch-party arrest package includes:

• Disorderly conduct (§ 877.03, Fla. Stat.) — a catch-all charge for the chaos itself;
• Resisting an officer without violence (§ 843.02, Fla. Stat.) — often added for nothing more than pulling an arm away; and
• DUI (§ 316.193, Fla. Stat.) — because the night does not end at the bar. A first DUI conviction carries fines, license suspension, DUI school, and possible jail — and it never comes off your record. In some cases a DUI reduction to reckless driving is achievable with the right defense.

The 3 Things to Do in the Next 24 Hours

If a friend or family member was arrested and you are still trying to locate them, start with our Miami-Dade inmate search resource. If they are being held on bond, understanding bond hearings early can shorten their time in custody.

Why the urgency? Because the earliest days of a criminal case are when evidence is most alive. Surveillance systems record over their own footage — sometimes in as little as a week. Witnesses scatter. And prosecutors make their initial charging decisions based on a one-sided police report unless someone credibly presents the other side, fast.

A Fight Doesn’t Have to Define Your Future

Most of the people arrested on fight night are not career criminals. They are professionals, students, parents — people who had too much to drink on a big night and made a five-second mistake, or were simply standing in the wrong place when the chaos started. The difference between a conviction that follows you forever and a case that gets reduced, diverted, or dismissed often comes down to how quickly and intelligently you respond.

This article is attorney advertising and is provided for general educational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; past results do not guarantee future outcomes. If you have been arrested or charged with a crime, consult a licensed Florida attorney about the specific facts of your case. Dennis Gonzalez Jr., P.A., 11401 SW 40th Street, Suite 250, Miami, FL 33165.

If you think the headlines about Washington going easy on crypto mean Florida is going easy too, you are dangerously wrong.

In 2025, the federal government made an unprecedented pivot. The SEC dropped roughly 89 cryptocurrency enforcement actions. The DOJ dissolved its dedicated crypto prosecution unit. The White House issued an executive order declaring the United States should be the “crypto capital of the world.”

Meanwhile, in Tallahassee and in courtrooms across South Florida, the State of Florida did the exact opposite. New laws. More seizures. Bigger prosecutions. Florida’s Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit is actively seizing cryptocurrency from exchange accounts. A Miami-area man was charged in February 2026 in connection with an alleged $328 million crypto Ponzi scheme. And a new bill would require every virtual currency kiosk in the state to obtain a money transmitter license — or face felony charges.

This article explains exactly what changed, what Florida law says right now, and what a criminal defense attorney looks for when defending these cases.

What the Federal Government Actually Changed

On January 23, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14178, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.” The order revoked Biden-era crypto frameworks, prohibited a central bank digital currency, and created a Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets led by crypto czar David Sacks.

Then came the enforcement reversals — rapid, sweeping, and historic.

Florida Went the Other Direction: New Laws, More Seizures, Bigger Cases

While Washington was pulling back, Tallahassee was building new tools to go after crypto-related crimes harder. Here is what Florida did in 2025 and 2026.

HB 319: Virtual Currency Kiosk Regulation (2025)

Florida has over 3,100 crypto ATMs — the second-highest count in the nation. HB 319 expanded Chapter 560’s money services business regulations to cover virtual currency kiosk operators, requiring them to obtain a license from the Office of Financial Regulation, comply with transaction limits and consumer disclosure rules, and provide refund mechanisms. Operators already running before January 1, 2026 had 30 days to register. Operating without a license is a felony under Florida law.

Why does this matter for criminal defense? Because AARP Florida and FDLE issued a joint warning in February 2026 reporting $333 million in crypto ATM scam losses nationwide in 2025. Prosecutors are now armed with a licensing requirement that turns any unlicensed operator into a felon — even if the underlying transactions were legitimate.

HB 1039 / SB 1038: Florida Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve (2026)

Filed in January 2026, these companion bills would authorize Florida’s Chief Financial Officer to purchase and hold cryptocurrency with an average market cap of at least $500 billion over the prior two years — effectively limiting the reserve to Bitcoin. Up to 10% of certain public funds could be allocated, though pension funds are explicitly excluded. The conditional effective date is July 1, 2026.

The defense implication: Florida is simultaneously embracing cryptocurrency as a state investment and prosecuting individuals who use it. That tension creates arguments about regulatory ambiguity that an experienced defense attorney can use.

Aggressive Crypto Forfeiture Actions

Florida’s Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit, operating within the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, is actively seizing cryptocurrency from exchange accounts on platforms including Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and LBank. They collaborate with FDLE and local sheriff’s offices using blockchain analytics tools like Chainalysis.

But these seizures are not bulletproof. In June 2025, a Wakulla County judge ordered a sheriff’s office to return over $500,000 in Bitcoin after finding the seizure procedures were improper. Defense attorneys are increasingly challenging the analytics methodology, the chain of custody for digital assets, and whether seized funds from a co-mingled exchange account actually belong to the defendant.

Florida Crypto Fraud Charges: The Statutes Prosecutors Use

Florida prosecutors have a powerful toolkit of state statutes that apply to cryptocurrency fraud. Understanding these is essential for anyone facing an investigation or charges.

The “Organized Fraud” Statute Is the Real Weapon: § 817.034, Fla. Stat.

Florida’s Communications Fraud Act criminalizes any systematic, ongoing scheme to defraud. Prosecutors love this statute for crypto cases because every single email, text message, social media post, or phone call promoting a fraudulent crypto project is a separate “communication” in furtherance of the scheme. That means hundreds of potential counts from a single investigation.

The 2024 amendments made this even more dangerous: schemes targeting individuals aged 65 or older, minors, or disabled persons are automatically reclassified one degree higher. A scheme to defraud a senior citizen out of $25,000 in a crypto scam jumps from a second-degree felony (15 years) to a first-degree felony (30 years).

Florida’s Money Laundering Act Explicitly Covers “Virtual Currency”: § 896.101, Fla. Stat.

In 2017, Florida amended § 896.101 to define “virtual currency” as a medium of exchange in electronic or digital format. This resolved the ambiguity that nearly derailed the prosecution in State v. Espinoza, where a trial court initially dismissed money laundering charges against a Bitcoin seller because Bitcoin did not fit the old statutory definitions. The Third District Court of Appeal reversed in 2019 and reinstated the charges.

The statute’s “should have known after reasonable inquiry” standard for transactions over $10,000 gives prosecutors broad leverage. This means you do not have to know the funds are illicit — if a reasonable person would have asked questions and you did not, you can be charged.

Recent Florida Crypto Prosecutions: Real Cases, Real Consequences

How a Criminal Defense Attorney Fights Crypto Fraud Charges in Florida

As a former prosecutor, I know how the State builds these cases. That means I know where the weaknesses are. Here are the defense strategies that matter in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions: Crypto Fraud Charges in Florida

This week, video surfaced showing a Miami-Dade corrections officer repeatedly striking a handcuffed inmate inside an elevator at the Pre-Trial Detention Center. The officer swung on the restrained man multiple times. The inmate, Spencer Butler, was heard on body camera footage hours later yelling that he had been beaten.

The officer, Myth Louis-Jeune, was charged with misdemeanor battery. But here is the part that should concern every person sitting inside a Miami-Dade jail right now, and every family member waiting on the outside: the beating happened on March 1, 2023. Charges were not filed until January 30, 2026. Nearly three years passed before the State Attorney's Office acted.

And this was not an isolated incident. In a separate case at Dade Correctional Institution in Florida City, seven corrections officers were arrested and charged with battery on a detainee, tampering with physical evidence, failure to report use of force, and perjury — after investigators determined that two officers kicked and punched a handcuffed inmate named Christopher Castro in the face, head, and back while five other officers watched and said nothing.

I am not writing this post to attack corrections officers. The vast majority do a difficult, dangerous, and underpaid job with professionalism. But when an officer crosses the line — when force is used not to maintain order but to punish, to retaliate, or to send a message — Florida law is clear: that is a crime.

Under § 944.35, Florida Statutes, a corrections officer is only authorized to use physical force on an inmate when it is reasonably necessary for specific, limited purposes: self-defense, preventing escape, preventing property damage, or maintaining institutional order. Force used outside of those circumstances — particularly force used with malicious intent against a restrained person — is not "doing the job." It is battery.

In the Dade Correctional case, officers were charged under multiple provisions — battery, evidence tampering, perjury, and failure to report. The system held them accountable. But it only happened because investigators were able to piece together what occurred in an area with no surveillance cameras.

According to prosecutors, the delay in filing charges against Officer Louis-Jeune was because the officer's previous defense attorney requested additional time to investigate and present mitigation evidence and expert opinions. Three years of additional time.

Meanwhile, the officer remained employed. Records show he had already been suspended for a separate use-of-force/excessive force incident in November 2021 — two years before the elevator beating. He was eventually relieved of duty with pay after the charges were filed.

That disparity is why having an attorney who understands both sides of the system matters.

If you believe that someone you love has been subjected to excessive force or abuse inside a Miami-Dade correctional facility, there are steps you can take — but you need to act quickly:

Two separate incidents. Two separate facilities. Eight officers charged. Video evidence in one case, investigative evidence in the other. A pattern of officers believing they can use force without consequence — and in some cases, conspiring to hide it.

If you have a family member inside the Miami-Dade Pre-Trial Detention Center or Dade Correctional Institution right now, these are not abstract news stories. This is the environment your loved one is living in every day.

And if your family member is the one facing criminal charges — if they are the defendant, not the victim — they still have rights. Being accused of a crime does not strip away the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 17 of the Florida Constitution both prohibit excessive force against incarcerated individuals. Being arrested does not make you less human. Being charged does not make you a punching bag.

I am a former prosecutor. I have worked inside the system. I have seen how cases are built, how evidence is handled, and how decisions are made about who gets charged and who does not. I chose to leave prosecution and dedicate my practice to criminal defense because I believe that everyone — including the person sitting in a jail cell right now reading charges they do not fully understand — deserves someone fighting for them.

These cases out of Miami-Dade are a reminder that the system is not always just. Officers with prior disciplinary histories remain on the job for years. Beatings of handcuffed people go uncharged for nearly three years. Fellow officers watch abuse happen and say nothing.

If you or someone you love is facing criminal charges in Miami-Dade County, you need an attorney who knows how the system works — and how it fails.

Your Child Was Just Arrested for a Threat They Never Made. AI Did This.

A classmate used artificial intelligence to fabricate a threatening image and fake text messages — and now your child is in handcuffs. This is not science fiction. It is happening in Florida schools right now. Here is what you need to know.

By Dennis Gonzalez Jr., Esq.  ·  Former Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney  ·  Florida Bar  ·  (305) 209-0384

The Scenario No Parent Imagines — Until It Happens to Them

Marco's parents are calling lawyers before they have finished reading the arrest report. The charge: a second-degree felony under § 836.10, Florida Statutes — written or electronic threats to kill or conduct a mass shooting. Up to fifteen years in state prison. A permanent record. A destroyed future — for something their son did not do.

Now consider a second version of this nightmare.

These scenarios are not hypothetical in the sense that they are unlikely. They are composite descriptions of incidents that have already occurred. The technology to do this is free, available on any smartphone, and requires zero technical skill. What is happening next door — in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana — is coming to South Florida, if it has not already arrived.

This Is Already Happening. We Have the Cases.

"The law has not caught up to the technology. In Florida, there is no statute specifically criminalizing the use of AI to create threatening content and frame another person. That gap is a danger — and a defense."

The Florida Criminal Charges: What They Actually Mean

Florida law does not require police to verify the authenticity of digital evidence before making an arrest. They need only probable cause — a reasonable belief that a crime was committed. An AI-generated image that looks real can supply that probable cause. The charges that follow are serious.

The critical wrinkle no one is talking about

The 2021 amendment to § 836.10 — passed directly because of a Florida court ruling that social media threats did not violate the old law — now includes a "procuring" provision. A student who creates a fake AI image and causes someone else to share it could be charged as the person who procured the transmission. The creator of the fake threat and the person falsely accused may both face felony charges under the same statute.

And unlike most felony charges, violations of §§ 790.163 and 790.164 carry mandatory adjudication — meaning even a judge cannot withhold the conviction. Florida's standard juvenile diversion programs are largely unavailable for second-degree felonies. The path through this requires aggressive legal defense from the very first day.

The Constitutional Defense: Why the Law Is on Your Side

Here is what most people — and many attorneys — do not understand about these cases. The United States Supreme Court gave defendants powerful ammunition in Counterman v. Colorado, 600 U.S. 66 (2023). The Court held that to prosecute someone for making a "true threat," the State must prove the defendant subjectively understood — at minimum, recklessly — that their communication would be viewed as threatening. Good faith mistakes, pranks, and content someone never created cannot satisfy this standard.

For the wrongly accused student: they had zero awareness of any communication, because they sent none. The State cannot establish recklessness against someone who played no role in creating the content. Florida's own appellate courts have applied this principle. In TRW v. State, 363 So. 3d 1081 (Fla. 4th DCA 2023), the court held the State must show the defendant communicated "with the knowledge that it would be viewed as a threat." No communication. No knowledge. No conviction.

For the student who created the fake content thinking it was a harmless prank: Counterman requires conscious disregard of a substantial risk. If a teenager genuinely did not understand that a fake AI image would trigger a school lockdown and police response, that subjective mental state is a legally cognizable defense — not an excuse, but a constitutional argument that must be investigated and raised by counsel who knows how to make it.

The Evidence Defense: What the AI Left Behind

AI-generated images are not forensically invisible. Every file tells a story — to those who know how to read it.

This is the defense that freed Kumayl Raza. A digital forensic expert examined the evidence, found the traces of fabrication, and traced the content back to its actual source. Without that expert — retained after his arrest — Raza might have taken a plea deal to a lesser charge just to end the nightmare.

What to Do in the Next 60 Minutes

One More Scenario — The One Nobody Talks About

Carlos is not a bad kid. He made a catastrophic miscalculation about what "funny" means when AI technology puts realistic-looking threatening content into anyone's hands. But Florida law does not currently have a specific AI-generated content exception. It does not distinguish between a prank and a genuine threat based on the medium. What it has is a second-degree felony statute, a mandatory adjudication provision for false reports causing school lockdowns, and a juvenile justice system with almost no diversion options for crimes of this severity.

Carlos needs a defense attorney who understands both the law and the technology — and who can argue, under Counterman v. Colorado, that a teenager who posted a dark joke did not "consciously disregard a substantial risk" that his content would be viewed as a genuine threat. That argument is available. But it must be made by someone who knows how to make it — and who moves on Day One.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change; consult a qualified Florida criminal defense attorney for advice specific to your situation. Dennis Gonzalez Jr. is licensed by the Florida Bar. Results are not guaranteed and depend on the specific facts of each case.