Ex-Republican Party Chair Faces Sentencing This Week
March 26, 2013
Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, who pled guilty on the eve of a potentially politically salacious trial that could have aired the laundry of the state GOP and former Gov. Charlie Crist, will find out his prison fate Wednesday.
Greer’s pre-trial guilty plea in February allowed him to avert the possibility of up to 75 years in prison for fraud, money laundering and theft when he again appears before Circuit Judge Donald Myers at 1:30 p.m. in Orlando.
Instead, Greer, 50, faces the prospect of a maximum sentence of 35 years on four counts of theft and a reduced money laundering charge. The recommended sentence, per state guidelines, is more likely to put Greer in prison for closer to 3-and-a-half years.
Greer, ran the party from 2007 to 2010, has been able to stay at home since his plea announcement on Feb. 11. A grand jury had indicted Greer in 2010 on six counts, including a charge of organized fraud which was dropped with the guilty plea.
Greer’s attorney Damon Chase, who had fiercely claimed “the evidence was overwhelmingly in our favor,” was not immediately available for comment on Monday.
Greer’s guilty admission accepts the state premise that he created a shell fund-raising company called Victory Strategies that was used to steer Republican Party of Florida money into his personal bank account, on top of the $130,000 salary he got from the party.
Greer long claimed the party was aware of the arrangement, even approving a secret $123,000 severance deal that was supposed to shroud him from criminal liability. He filed suit against the RPOF, former Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, seeking the severance money and $5 million in damages.
The suit was dropped with the guilty plea.
RPOF leadership has spent the past three years trying to distance themselves from Greer, who they have accused of lavishly spending party money.
While chairing the RPOF, Greer first drew complaints from inside the party for taking side in a number of primary contests.
Greer has blamed his banishment from the party and eventual downfall for his ties to Crist, and particularly his support of Crist’s controversial embrace of President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus package and later Crist’s run for U.S. Senate in 2010 against Marco Rubio.
After Greer pled guilty, RPOF Executive Director Mike Grissom referred to Greer as “the man Charlie Crist personally picked to lead the Republican Party of Florida.”
“The truth is now known that Jim Greer broke the law, stole from RPOF and our donors, and then said and did everything he could to cover up and distract attention from his crimes,” Grissom said in a release. “Everything Jim Greer has said and done over these past few years should be considered in that light.”
Crist also disassociated himself from Greer’s actions, claiming under oath to have had no knowledge of Victory Strategies until one day reading about it in a newspaper.
Democrats, meanwhile, have tried to keep Republicans from ducking blame. But the Florida Democratic Party may also start to push the matter into the past as Crist continues to fuel speculation he will run, as a Democrat, for governor in 2014.
By The News Service of Florida
Police Arrest Convicted Sex Offender Posing As Model Recruiter
March 26, 2013
A convicted sex offender allegedly posed as a model recruiter to contact underage girls has been arrested for failing to register his email address with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Pensacola Police Detective Chris Wilkinson said Bret Randall May, 42, had been using the email address bodytalk_ent@yahoo.com. Through the email address, May was in contact with an undercover police officer whom he thought was a 15-year-old female he tried to recruit for the Foxx Model and Talent Agency. Wilkinson said May used the alias “Bret Foxx” and it is believed May had been in contact with underage females through the email address.
May teaches martial arts and was reportedly running a business called Power Up Life Coaching Guidance for Mind, Body and Spirit by Dr. Bret. He listed his name as “Bret Lacoste” on business cards and the email address was powerupcoach@yahoo.com.
In 2006, May was convicted in Mobile and served three years in prison for sexually molesting two 9-year old females and a 14-year-old female. Wilkinson began investigating May in 2011 after the mother of one of the 9-year-old girls contacted him and said he had opened a modeling agency in Pensacola and she was concerned about his contact with children.
Wilkinson said the investigation is continuing and more charges are possible against May.
In addition to the Pensacola Police Department, the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office, members of a task from the U.S. Marshal’s Office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force participated in the investigation.
Anyone having information regarding May’s activities is asked to contact Detective Chris Wilkinson at (850) 436- 5406.
Expansion Of Kids Health Insurance Program Stalled
March 26, 2013
With a third of the annual regular legislative session already gone, a bill that would close gaps in access to health care coverage for Florida children has passed just one committee and appears in danger of not passing.
The proposal (HB 689) by Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, would bridge the gap between when a child loses other health care coverage – such as when a parent loses a job or otherwise can’t pay for private health coverage– and when the child is enrolled in Florida KidCare, the low-cost federal-state children’s health insurance program.
Harrell’s bill would allow children to keep receiving medical treatment until a final eligibility decision is made, usually within 45 days.
“Most of them do end up getting the coverage in the long run,” said Rich Robleto, executive director of the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, which includes KidCare. “This would just expedite it…It’s the kind of administrative simplification that KidCare is always looking for.”
Currently there’s no provision in state law to deem a child presumptively eligible while the application is considered. But if a family already qualifies for a program such as food stamps, the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program or Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), the children would be presumed eligible for KidCare.
“This is a very important step to reaching more children – and often the most vulnerable children,” said former lawmaker Sam Bell, a lobbyist for children’s health services.
The Healthy Families Committee, which Harrell chairs, approved the bill unanimously on March 11. It faces two more committees. A Senate companion (SB 548) by Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, has three committee references, but has yet to be heard.
The sticking point seems to be the bill’s fiscal impact, which House appropriations analysts put at $14.3 million for Fiscal Year 2013-2014.
KidCare and the Federally Qualified Health Centers estimated the cost at just under $1.9 million based on a two-month eligibility period. According to Harrell, the Agency for Health Care Administration estimated the costs at about $15 million.
“It’s hard to say exactly what that figure is going to be,” Harrell said. “I think it’s on the lower side…but you don’t know how many kids are going to qualify.”
Few states have a higher percentage of uninsured children than Florida. In 2011, about 579,000 children statewide were uninsured, including 358,000 low-income children who were eligible for KidCare.
Karen Woodall, a member of the KidCare Advisory Board, acknowledged that some states are wary of the presumptive eligibility option, fearing that parents will misrepresent their income to get health care for their kids. Woodall said even if the children are found not to be eligible, states would be reimbursed at the Medicaid matching rate for any care they receive.
“This doesn’t mean that every child who is presumed eligible will in fact get a service anywhere before their enrollment,” Woodall said. “It’s just an insurance that a child who needs a service doesn’t have to wait for the 45-day application process.”
AHCA based its fiscal impact estimates for the presumptive eligibility option on an additional 9,689 children being covered.
Harrell said the higher estimates don’t take into account the cost savings of keeping children healthy and out of the hospital emergency room.
“It has a fiscal (impact), no doubt about it,” Harrell said of her measure. “But in the long run, I think it will prevent children from winding up more ill, and needing more treatment – and also winding up in emergency-room situations that are very expensive.”
By The News Service of Florida
Forest Service Urges Caution Due To Fire Weather Conditions
March 26, 2013
Officials with Florida Forest Service’s Blackwater Forestry Center are keeping an eye on the weather conditions this week as a dry cold front moves through the area bringing strong winds and extremely low humidity. Near freezing temperatures and relative humidity predicted to be in the upper teens will combine to create high fire danger and all but eliminate the benefits of this past weekend’s rains.
“We’re looking at a freeze-drying effect in essence,” said David smith, operations administrator for the Blackwater District which serves Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties. “We’re approaching spring, and wetter weather, but we still have a lot of dead vegetation from the winter. Those dead fuels, plus high winds and low humidity could lead to an increased potential for fires to start as well grow if and when they do ignite.”
Smith noted that while some areas of the district have seen more than an inch of rain in recent weeks, we have been experiencing an uptick in wildfires compared to last year. So far, Forest Service firefighters have responded to 31 fires this month compared to 15 for all of March of 2012. The 10-year average for wildfires in March is 38 for the Blackwater District.
“While we’re not seeing an above-average number of fires so far, we are seeing more than last year,” he said. “This dry, cold weather will not help that situation, either.”
Pictured: A wildfire sparked by a house fire threatened four additional structures Monday afternoon on McBridge Road in Byrneville. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Molino Residents Compete In National Dog Obedience Championship
March 26, 2013
Two Molino residents recently competed with their Border Collies in the the 2013 AKC National Obedience Championship in Tulsa, OK.
Victory Hulett placed third overall among all breeds and first in her individual breed. Joanne Permowic placed fifth in her breed. Hulett also had the third highest cumulative score, among all breeds, from the two-day event.
Hulett and Permowic train together at the Leading Edge Dog Obedience School on Muscogee Road.
Pictured left: Victory Hulett and her dog Reign (left), and Joanne Permowic and her dog Clint at the 2013 AKC National Obedience Championship in Tulsa, OK. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Friday’s Blue Angel Practice Canceled; Other Practices To Go As Planned
March 26, 2013
Due to the upcoming holiday weekend the Blue Angels have canceled their practice demonstration scheduled for Friday at NAS Pensacola.
Practices scheduled for earlier in the week will proceed as planned. Tuesday and Wednesday practice will begin at 8:30 a.m. Practice scheduled for Thursday, March 28, will begin at 11:30 a.m.
Bleacher seating is provided behind the National Naval Aviation Museum. Admission is free.
State Loses Round On Medicaid Physician Pay
March 26, 2013
A judge has ruled that the federal Affordable Care Act does not shield the state from key parts of a lawsuit alleging that Florida’s Medicaid program has provided inadequate care to children.
The years-long lawsuit, which has been led by the Florida Pediatric Society, contends that many physicians will not treat children in the Medicaid program because the state’s payment rates are too low. But the state argued that most of those issues are moot because the Affordable Care Act in 2013 and 2014 boosts pay for primary-care physicians who treat Medicaid patients.
Miami federal Judge Adalberto Jordan, who heard arguments March 15, issued a two-page opinion last week rejecting the state’s arguments.
Though the higher payment rates legally took effect Jan. 1, Jordan wrote that the state has not received a federal approval to boost physician pay. When that approval comes, the state says it will make the higher payments retroactively. The higher payments would be to the rates paid in the Medicare program.
“Without this approval, qualified and eligible medical providers in Florida have not been paid, and will not be paid, the higher Medicare reimbursement rates,” wrote Jordan, who has already held a lengthy trial in the overall case but has not ruled. “These providers, therefore, are still being paid the rates that the plaintiffs are challenging in this case, and everything remains the same as it was at trial.”
Jordan added that the state could again raise the arguments when it gets approval of the higher rates from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. But he indicated that the state likely will not succeed because the rate increases — which are fully funded by Washington — are only scheduled for 2013 and 2014.
“(The) defendants will have a difficult burden to overcome,” Jordan wrote. “If, as everyone agrees, there is speculation about what Florida will do with respect to Medicaid rates on or after January 1, 2015, and what CMS (the federal agency) will do with respect to Florida’s decision, it would appear that the defendants will have a hard time showing that their eventual payment of Medicare rates to certain providers — because of a federal mandate which lasts for only two years — moots any part of this case.”
Doctors have long complained about the state’s low payment rates. That is not the only issue in the lawsuit, which dates to 2005, but rates play an important role.
In a document filed in January, attorneys for the state argued that the Affordable Care Act gives physicians what they have wanted.
“Throughout trial, plaintiffs argued over and over that they should (have) received Medicare rates for their services,” the document said. “This was their stated desired relief. Therefore this issue is moot.”
But attorneys for the pediatric society and other plaintiffs, including children, questioned the state’s commitment to paying higher rates.
“Florida has implemented the increase only to the extent required by federal law, only for so long as federal law requires the increase and only to the extent the federal government is paying 100 percent of the cost,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote.
By The News Service of Florida
Search Continues For Missing Woman; Exclusive Details Coming
March 25, 2013
At a press conference Monday in Poarch, Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff Grover Smith said the search is continuing for Melinda Wall McGhee who was last seen alive 10 years ago Sunday. And lead investigator Tommy Calhoun said authorities are retracing their steps, going back through years of investigative work looking for that clue that might solve the case.
We’ll bring you complete details of the press conference Tuesday morning on NorthEscambia.com, and we’ll also hear detao;s from a close family member and go back to that day in 2003 that McGhee was last seen alive. It’s an exclusive story Tuesday morning that you will read only on NorthEscambia.com.
Pictured: Law enforcement agencies and family members held a press conference Monday to discuss the disappearance of Melinda Wall McGhee 10 years ago. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Special Olympics Torch Run Begins In Century (With Gallery)
March 25, 2013
The 2013 Law Enforcement Torch Run in support of Florida Special Olympics began in Century Monday morning.
The torch run started at the Florida/Alabama state line in the Food Giant parking lot about 7:15 Monday. Employees from Century Correctional Institution and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office escorted the torch down Highway 29 through Century.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run is an event to raise awareness and support for the Special Olympics.
Law enforcement officers from over 300 Florida agencies (police departments, sheriff’s offices, Florida Department of Corrections, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Customs, Air Force Police and Marine Patrol) all participate in the state-wide torch run to benefit the athletes of Special Olympics Florida. Each year, over 5,000 officers carry the torch on a 1500-mile relay through 66 counties in Florida.
Pictured: The 2013 Law Enforcement Torch Run in support of Florida Special Olympics begins in Century Monday morning. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
One Critically Injured In Jacks Branch Road Wreck
March 25, 2013
One person was critically injured in a two vehicle wreck late Sunday afternoon near Cantonment.
The accident happened just before 6 p.m. in a sharp curve on Jacks Branch Road between the two entrances to Green Tree Circle. Two cars collided and came to rest in a concrete ditch. The female driver of one vehicle was transported to a Pensacola hospital with critical injuries; the driver of a Honda Civic was uninjured.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Names and further details a have not been released.
Pictured: One person was critically injured in this two vehicle crash late Sunday afternoon on Jacks Branch Road near Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
