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A Kentucky man accused of having unwanted sexual relations with a 21-year-old schizophrenic woman at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort has pleaded to a reduced charge, avoiding the possibility of spending decades in prison.
Farhad Zakerhaghighi, 61, struck a deal with prosecutors this month, avoiding the felony charge of sexual battery on a person with a mental defect. He pled no contest March 13 to misdemeanor battery and now faces no more than one year of his life behind bars, as compared to a 30-year maximum for the original felony charge. A sentencing hearing is set for May 21 in Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Cox’s Vero Beach courtroom. Read more here. INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A Vero Lake Estates man convicted in 2014 of first degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon is getting a second chance to revisit his day in court.
Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Cox last month affirmed her decision to grant Bradford Vose’s request for an evidentiary hearing in a motion for post-conviction relief, despite the objection of prosecutors. The parties were due in court again Thursday. The high profile 2010 shooting death of Joseph Farruggio captured headlines for days throughout the three-day trial and lengthy criminal investigation into two 21-year-old Sebastian River High School classmates and a botched drug deal that left one of them dead. Vose, 25 at the time of his conviction, was sentenced to life in prison. His appeal for a reversal was denied in 2016. Read more here. Police arrested a pair of home healthcare aides last week claiming they defrauded a John’s Island couple and spent more than $500,000 of their elderly clients’ money on personal expenses and luxury goods, including a Bahamian cruise, a stay at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and a five-day Rolls Royce Ghost rental priced at more than $900 a day.
Both victims suffered from dementia and cognitive impairment and one of them passed away during the early stages of the investigation, adding urgency to the detectives’ work, Indian River Shores Police Chief Rich Rosell said. Officers at the Shores Public Safety Department didn’t stop working on behalf of the victims when the suspects were behind bars, Rosell added. The lead detective on the case went to ask credit card companies to forgive the stolen debt. He was able to get Citibank and American Express to forgive over $400,000 in fraudulent debt. Read more here. Vero Beach spine surgeon Johnny Benjamin was indicted a second time by a federal grand jury this month as prosecutors added an additional weapons charge to the doctor’s litany of drug charges. Two co-defendants, the informants who cooperated with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as it investigated Benjamin, were named for the first time and indicted on multiple drug charges.
Zachary Steward and Keven George Slater were charged with one count of conspiring with Benjamin in Palm Beach County to possess and distribute a controlled substance resulting in death; one count of distribution there during the fall of 2016; and an additional count for illegal distribution of a controlled substance in Indian River County as early as January of that year. Each defendant faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted. Read more here. INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — An Indian River County jury will be asked to decide for a second time if a convicted Vero Beach killer deserves to die for his crime. This time, unlike the decision in 1999, its recommendation must be unanimous.
Paul Evans, whom authorities say murdered an acquaintance’s husband when he was just 19-years-old for the promise of money from a life-insurance payout, has been returned to the Indian River County Jail to await a new sentencing. Guided by 2016 decisions made in the U.S. and Florida supreme courts, defendants ordered to death after June of 2002 whose jury was not unanimous are now entitled to have their punishment reviewed. In Evans’ case, a panel of 12 jurors voted 9-3 to send him to the electric chair. Read more here. A healthcare fraud case against the founder of Treasure Coast Dermatology was dismissed in federal court last week after Dr. Tim Ioannides agreed to a $2.5 million settlement with the U.S. Government. The move comes years after a former patient told authorities the physician allegedly billed Medicare for a procedure she never had, a violation of the False Claims Act.
Ioannides, a Vero Beach island resident who owns dermatology offices in Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties, insisted he had done nothing wrong. He called the government and its lawyers corrupt, and termed what happened to him a “shakedown.” Ioannides’ deal does not admit liability and the allegations against the doctor were never proven. His medical license is unaltered, though his billing practices and books will be now subject to additional audits as part of an integrity agreement. The patient who brought the original complaint to the government will receive $475,000 in the multimillion-dollar settlement deal. The False Claims Act allows whistleblowers to receive a portion of any financial recovery the U.S. Government is awarded. Read more here. The daughter of a woman shot and killed by an Indian River County Sheriff’s deputy responding to an attempted suicide call told investigators she wished she had never dialed 911. In documents released to Vero Beach 32963, Susan Teel’s family details the horrific events leading up to her tragic death and their thoughts on law enforcement’s handing of the situation.
Interview transcripts were provided by the Office of the State Attorney in response to a public records request. The agency conducted an investigation into the fatal incident last July and brought its findings to a grand jury for review. The officer was cleared of both criminal and administrative wrongdoing, though an attorney for the Teel family has notified the Sheriff’s Office of intent to file a civil complaint. Susan Teel was shot within minutes of Deputy Jonathan Lozada arriving at her home. The confrontation between the distraught woman and deputy happened so fast, her husband, an emergency room physician, didn’t even make it up the stairs before his wife was shot. Read more here. INDIAN RIVERS SHORES — A pair of home health care aids were arrested Tuesday after police claim they defrauded a John’s Island couple and spent more than $500,000 of their elderly clients’ money on luxury goods like cruises and a five-day Rolls Royce Ghost rental priced at nearly $995 a day.
Chiquita McGee, 29, and Sophia Shepherd, 30, both of Vero Beach, are expected to appear in court Wednesday. They face felony charges of exploitation of the elderly, organized fraud and scheme to defraud an organization. If convicted, they could spend up to 60 years in prison. The former contractors with Indian River Home Care convinced their patients, a husband and wife duo, to allow them to open credit cards in their names, but under the victims’ accounts, reports the Indian River Shores Public Safety Department. Read more here. Come year’s end, the Indian River County courthouse will lose three of its six sitting judges to retirement. The men, who serve on both the 19th Judicial Circuit and the County Court bench, collectively have spent more than 70 years making decisions that shaped the county’s growth and development and helped protect the safety and wellbeing of the residents who call it home.
They’ve put murderers behind bars, tried to ensure fair development, kept the courthouse running smoothly, made tough decisions and held lawyers accountable. Sometimes, their decisions are challenged. Other times, they are celebrated. At all times, however, their work has lasting impact. “Overall, I think we are losing three very good judges,” Bruce Colton, State Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit said of the impending departure of Judges Robert Pegg, Joe Wild and Paul Kanarek. Read more here. |
Beth WaltonWriter, World Traveler, Mother. These are my stories. Archives
August 2018
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