Sunday, December 29, 2013

The Anatomy of a Cover Up!


How the Martin County Sheriff's Office engineers a cover-up:

1.    They receive a complaint from victims alleging very serious or criminal misconduct by the MCSO,

2.    They deliberately omit reviewing the most serious allegations,

3.    They treat multiple citizen victims as if there is only one,

4.    They pretend that the violation was not a crime but just a rules/policy violation.

5.    They allow the MCSO employee to lie and then pretend that he was truthful,

6.    They pretend to discipline the wrongdoing MCSO employee by claiming they               reprimanded him,

7.    They promote the wrongdoing Lieutenant to Captain within two months,

8.    They write a false report claiming that they have done a “thorough” and “complete” investigation,

9.    They add that they have taken all the actions necessary against the wrongdoer,

10.  Their report forecloses any further action by the State Attorney and/or the FDLE.

But wait, there's more,
But you’ll have to look under the rug to find it.

"Investigative Experts" has submitted the following complaint to Governor Rick Scott,  Attorney General Pam Bondi, United States Congressman Patrick Murphy, United States Attorney Ft. Pierce, and 19th District State Attorney Bruce Colton.

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Ira B. Robins                                                     Salvatore Rastrelli
Post Office Box 302                                                        3110 South East Slater Street                       
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201                                      Stuart, Florida 34997
414-305-8832                                                                   772-215-1162
irarobins@gmail.com                                     salvatore@rastrelliinvestigations.com


December 29, 2013


Governor Rick Scott
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001


Re: Request for immediate investigation into alleged criminal conduct of Lieutenant (now Captain) Michael Ewing and the ensuing cover-up by officials of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and others.


Dear Governor Scott:

Enclosed please find copies of our most recent posting on both irarobins.blogspot.com and Facebook @ Archangels of Justice about the criminal conduct and ensuing cover-up committed by the MCSO and others.  We are also submitting to you each and every document that we possess on the case.  As you can see the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the 19th Circuit State Attorney, and MCSO have been passing the buck to each other to avoid taking the necessary actions. 

We are investigative experts, with more than 80 years of investigative experience, and have been notifying thousands of viewers about the misconduct, criminal violations, cronyism and related cover-ups engineered by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.  The FDLE refers complaints to the State Attorney who refers the victims of very provable criminal misconduct right back to the MCSO where their complaints are buried without further action.   There is abundant evidence to show that the State Attorney is working to protect the MCSO and has become complicit in this matter and others like it.  Something must be done immediately to correct this pattern and practice of dishonesty in order to restore our faith in the criminal justice system.

In the attached case, the victim and her victim husband declined to support William Snyder in his 2012 run for Martin County Sheriff.  They had absolutely no contact and/or communication with Lieutenant Michael Ewing who was an ardent supporter of Snyder and had been actively working on his campaign.  After learning the victims were withdrawing their support for Snyder, Lieutenant Ewing illegally entered the Drivers and Vehicle Information Databank (DAVID) System without a valid police reason and repeatedly searched the personal information of the victim and her husband.  He deliberately failed to enter a valid and legal reason for his search as is required by the State of Florida. 

The victims filed the attached complaints with the MCSO and Ewing received a verbal reprimand for Misuse of Communications Facilities and a written reprimand for Engaging in Political Activity On Duty.  Both of those violations violate Florida State Statutes.  MCSO refused to address the very provable Misuse of Official Position and Untruthfulness violations. They allowed Ewing to lie during their Internal Affairs investigation which is a crime and should have been referred to the State Attorney for criminal prosecution.   Upon conviction the FDLE should have withdrawn Ewing’s certification.  The Martin County Sheriff’s Office had orchestrated a cover-up by falsely writing that they had conducted a “thorough” and “complete” investigation and had taken the appropriate action by reprimanding Ewing.  The internal affairs investigators and all of the supervisory personnel who refused to address all of the misconduct and then signed off on that report are parties to the criminal cover-up also. 

MCSO rules state that an employee receiving a reprimand is ineligible for promotion within a year after receiving a reprimand. Approximately two months after being reprimanded Lieutenant Ewing, Sheriff Snyder’s political crony, was promoted to Captain and received a substantial raise in pay.  That is just one example of the “game playing” being perpetrated upon the citizens by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney.  That conduct must stop.

Therefore, we hereby request that you commence an immediate investigation into the aforementioned criminal violations, verify each and every one, and take the necessary actions to protect our citizens and stop this embarrassment to our way of life.

Thank you very much.

Respectfully submitted,

IBR                                                                                           SER
Ira B. Robins                                                                           Salvatore Rastrelli

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Authored by:  Ira B. Robins                                                  Salvatore Rastrelli
www.salvatorerastrelli.com

QUESTIONS: Will Governor Scott cause an investigation into this criminal conduct and cover-up?  Will the fact that so many people have been following us, with more joining everyday, be a factor in his decision?  How many people will read our next posting?  Please tell your friends.  

TAGS: Governor Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, US Attorney Ft. Pierce, 19th District State Attorney Bruce Colton, Martin County Sheriff Snyder, Captain Michael Ewing.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

It's Good To Be Archangels

The following portions of a letter from Steve Leighton's attorney was received by Ira Robins and Salvatore Rastrelli.  We have removed irrelevant information regarding un-involved parties that the attorney appears to have deliberately inserted in his letter without verifying the facts before hand.   Additionally, we removed the names of the attorney's partners and their certifications because they are irrelevant to this message and we don't care about them anyway.
Attorney Grazi has apparently taken Leighton's word as the truth and ends his letter with "PLEASE GOVERN YOUR ACTIONS ACCORDINGLY." in all capitol letters!  Please read the attorney's letter and our response.  Especially, the last three lines.  We have also sent a copy of our response letter to Martin County Sheriff Snyder to inform him that Leighton may be opening him, and others, to deposition and the revealing of more evidence of their misconduct.  Stay tuned!

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 GRAZI & GIANINO
Attorneys at Law
A Partnership of Attorneys
Including Professional Association
217 E. Ocean Boulevard
P.O. Drawer 2846
Stuart, Florida 34995-2846
Phone (772) 286-0200
Fax (772) 2864789


December 19,2013  
                                                                                             
Ira B. Robins                                                                          Certified Mail-Return Receipt Requested  
P.o. Box 302                                                                          #7011 1570000346173556
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201                                              

Salvatore Rastrelli                                                                    Certified Mail-Return Receipt Requested
3110 SE Slater Street                                                               # 7013 1090000225395786
Stuart, FL 34997


Gentlemen:

Please be advised that this office represents Stephen G. Leighton. This correspondence is being sent to you pursuant to §770.01 Florida Statutes, which provides as follows:

"Notice condition precedent to action or prosecution for libel or slander. -
Before any civil action is brought for publication or broadcast, in a newspaper,
periodical, or other medium, of a libel or slander, the plaintiff shall, at least
5 days before instituting such action, serve notice in writing on the
defendant, specifying the article or broadcast and the statements therein
which he or she alleges to be false and defamatory."

Your attention is all directed to §770.02 Florida Statutes that provides you with the ability to make a full and fair correction, apology, or retraction.

Mr. Leighton has been advised that there have been a number of posts on the irarobins.blog.com
Website that claim to have been authored by Ira B. Robins and Salvatore Rastrelli. In particular, I am specifying and referencing the blog dated December 3,2013, as well as the blog from December 15, 2013. Printouts of both of those are enclosed herein for your convenience. With regards to the blog dated December 3, 2013, the following statements are incorrect and need to be retracted and or corrected.

        (1) As you well know from your request for records from the Martin County Sheriffs Office,
the base salary of Steve Leighton is not $90,000.00 per year.
        (2) Mr. Leighton does not receive the $500.00 per month bonus that is paid to executives within a department.
        (3) Leighton does not own and operate Leighton Security, having previously sold the security
business known as Leighton Security Management, Inc. to Deacon 10 LLC that now operates as
Leighton Security pursuant to registering a fictitious name with the Division of Corporations known as Leighton Security Management, Inc.

You suggest that because Leighton is the President of Leighton Security that it constitutes a "direct violation of MCSO policies, ethically a conflict for the Sheriff and Leighton, and may be a violation of criminal law." Since Mr. Leighton is not currently operating Leighton Security Management, Inc., and has no involvement with Leighton Security, this statement is absolutely incorrect. In addition, you state that Mr. Leighton "diverts to his own company private assignments from various businesses that are meant for off-duty Deputies. It sounds as if he fills his own pockets to the detriment of those MCSO Deputies seeking to earn additional money to supplement their County wages. And, Leighton appears to run his security business while on duty and while being paid his exorbitant County salary." Again, Mr. Leighton divested himself of the security company well before your blog. To verify, please seecorporate records for Deacon 10, LLC which operates under the fictitious name of Leighton Security, copies of which are enclosed for your convenience.

All of these statements in the December 3, 2013 posting are untrue and defamatory, and demand for retraction of those statements is hereby made.

The December 15, 2013 blog is relatively short, and again suggests that there is some misconduct
related to Steve Leighton being a Deputy Sheriff, and suggesting that Sheriff William Snyder should "know that the misconduct that he has allowed has already gotten out of hand .... (and) Does the Sheriff know that just getting rid of Steve Leighton will not return him to good standing in the hearts of the community?" Although the reference to "misconduct" is less offensive, it is still untrue. It also is a tortious interference with Mr. Leighton's contractual rights, and should be withdrawn and a correction issued.

Thank you all in advance for your anticipated cooperation in printing the requested and required
retractions and corrections within a timely fashion.

PLEASE GOVERN YOUR ACTIONS ACCORDINGLY

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Ira B. Robins                                                            Salvatore E. Rastrelli
Post Office Box 302                                                                                                       3110 South East Slater Street                       
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201                                                                                     Stuart, Florida 34997
414-305-8832                                                                                                                 772-215-1162
irarobins@gmail.com                                                                                                   salvatore@ rastrelliinvestigations.com

December 23, 2013

Attorney Lief J. Grazi
Grazi & Gianino, LLP
217 East Ocean Boulevard                                                       Sent by: CERTIFIED MAIL
P.O. Drawer 2846                                                                   RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Stuart, Florida 34995-2486

Re: Leighton Security Management

Mr. Grazi,

We are in receipt of your letter concerning Leighton Security Management and its owners Mr. Leighton and Mr. Pitt. Before you continue to threaten us with future prosecution/civil suits of libel or slander action, we wish to make this clear. As an attorney of your caliber, you are required to verify everything your client tells you, before threatening action.  It is apparent that you have not done so. We are not associated with Investigative Experts, Inc.  We are however, investigative experts, consultants, or investigators with a combined total in excess of 80 years of experience. If you actually verified the information your client told you beforehand, you would know he hasn’t told you everything. We on the other hand, have verified all information before posting it to the blog.

The information that we have posted is neither libel nor slanderous. We possess overwhelming evidence supporting the posts. If you take another look at what we stated, and your client informs of the true facts, we are confident you will advise him to stop wasting all of our time.

If you proceed with legal action against us, our attorneys look forward to thoroughly deposing Mr. Leighton, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, and other witnesses. This will facilitate our cause of justice, which will enable us to expose more corruption in a court of law.

Sincerely,

Ira B. Robins                                                                                        Salvatore E. Rastrelli
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QUESTIONS: Do you think that Attorney Grazi should have had Steve Leighton produce his pay stubs, corporate records and documents before he sent us his letter?  Do you think he knows that we filed public records requests and obtained the supporting evidence prior to reporting our findings to the public?  Do you think that Attorney Grazi should GOVERN HIS ACTIONS ACCORDINGLY!


Authored by:  Ira B. Robins                                                 Salvatore Rastrelli
www.salvatorerastrelli.com

TAGS: Martin County Sheriff Snyder, Steve Leighton, Attorney Lief J. Grazi.


                                                                                    

Sunday, December 22, 2013


This Letter of Complaint Has Been Sent to Congressman Patrick E. Murphy  

Additionally, complaints seeking an investigation were also sent to Governor Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department J. D. Patterson, Jr., Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald M. Bailey,  United States Attorney Southern District of Miami Florida Wifredo A. Ferrer , and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. 
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Ira B. Robins                     Salvatore Rastrelli
Investigative Expert                                   Investigative Expert
Post Office Box 302                                                                                 3110 South East Slater Street                       
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201                                                               Stuart, Florida 34997
414-305-8832                                                                                           772-215-1162
irarobins@gmail.com                                                                               salvatore@ rastrelliinvestigations.com


December 21, 2013


United States Congressman Patrick E. Murphy
Martin County Office
171 SW Flagler Avenue
Stuart, Florida 34994

Re: Complaint regarding misuse of federal funds and request for investigation.

Dear Congressman Murphy,

For the past 4 weeks we have been publishing a blog (irarobins.blogspot.com) and a Facebook site (Archangels of Justice) disclosing irregularities we have found regarding recent activities within the higher echelon of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.  In our most recent postings we disclosed that while reviewing the internal affairs records of the Miami-Dade Police Department we found evidence of possible criminal wrongdoing by a former Chief Counsel and a Chief/Commander of MDPD one of whom is an attorney and now the second in command of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. 

In fact, we are enclosing a copy of a memorandum dated May 9, 2012 from James K. Loftus, Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, clearly stating that that Chief Counsel Glenn Theobald had retired from their Department but “The recommended action would be termination if still employed by the Department.” Additionally, we are enclosing a copy of a “To Whom It May Concern” letter from the MDPD files regarding a complaint that had been filed about this matter.  There is substantial proof that MDPD conducted an internal affairs investigation into the matter and found that the two Chiefs/Commanders had committed enough substantial acts that their dismissals would have been warranted. This entire MDPD investigation apparently revolves around the misuse/misappropriation of 1.5 million dollars of federal money earmarked for environmental issues. 

The allegations submitted by a whistleblower in the attached letter claim:

“Chief/Commander Frank Vecin has “spent well over 1.5 million dollars in the past 5 years for equipment that has nothing to do with environmental investigations.” and that he “has used the environmental trust funds for his personal slush fund.  Further, Chief Vecin purchased computers, vehicles, cell phones, rental vehicles and given them to his departmental friends, and units that have nothing to do with environmental investigations.”  It is suggested that an audit of all purchased items through the above trust fund be conducted.  WE NEED the funding to protect the citizens of Miami-Dade County from environmental hazards.” 

Information we have received clearly shows that MDPD conducted an internal affairs investigation into these allegations and apparently found substantial grounds to “sustain” them.  In these matters Chief Vecin worked in concert with former MDPD Chief Counsel Glenn Theobald who is presently Legal Affairs Director and second in command at the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.  Theobald acts as Sheriff when the elected Sheriff is unavailable.

Since the Miami-Dade Police Department did conduct an internal investigation into this misuse/misappropriation of federal funds and apparently found them to be valid did they ever request a federal or state criminal investigation into this matter and was a criminal investigation into this matter ever conducted?  

If the answer to this question is no, please consider this document to be our official complaint and a request for an investigation.


Thank you very much.

Respectfully submitted,

IBR                                                                                          SER

Ira B. Robins                                                                            Salvatore Rastrelli

IBR/kal                                                                                    Stuart Florida
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QUESTIONS: Isn't about time MCSO Sheriff William Snyder and Glenn Theobald part ways? For the good of the MCSO, shouldn't Sheriff Snyder attempt to save himself?  Or is it already too late?  STAY TUNED!

Authored by:  Ira B. Robins                                                 Salvatore Rastrelli

Tags: Martin County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff William Snyder, Glenn Theobald, Miami-Dade Police Department, Governor Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department James K. Loftus, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald M. Bailey,  United States Attorney Southern District of Miami Florida Wifredo A. Ferrer , and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. 


   

Thursday, December 19, 2013



Sheriff Snyder Can't Hide From The Truth!

Evidence we have already posted, and more we will post in the future, seems to indicate that people Martin County Sheriff William Snyder has put in place as his top echelon commanders have a substantial history of wrongdoing.  When he took office, Snyder publicly said his decision to restructure the Sheriff's Office has to do with putting in people "who will share my vision and passion for law enforcement," and not politics.  Now it appears that his vision is somewhat cloudy.

Recent Public Records requests we filed with the Miami-Dade Police Department revealed information concerning MDPD Chief Counsel (Attorney) Glenn Theobald's participation in the mis-use of 1.5 Million dollars earmarked by the federal government for environmental issues.  Theobald, an Attorney, is presently Snyder's Legal Affairs Director and second in command of the MCSO.  And it appears that he left his job with the Miami-Dade Police just one step ahead of being fired.

The following Memorandum concerning Theobald was copied from the Miami-Dade Professional Compliance Bureau (Internal Affairs Division) concerning just some of his past activities:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date May 9, 2012

From:  James K. Loftus, Director
           Miami-Dade Police Department

Subject: Disposition of IA (INTERNAL AFFAIRS)  2010-0241

Marked: CLOSED             JUN 1, 2012

This writer has reviewed the above subject file and concurs with the Disposition Panel's findings of Sustained for the allegation against former Chief Counsel Glenn Theobald.  Chief Counsel Theobald retired from the Department on May 2, 2010. The recommended action would be termination if still employed by the Department.

JKL/ip
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In viewing records that were provided to us pursuant to another public records request we submitted to the MCSO, Glenn Theobald's employment information appears to be irregular and suspicious. Although all sworn personnel are required to undergo a polygraph test prior to being hired, the line next to Theobald's polygraph test results is marked "WAIVED."   Snyder's long time associate at the Miami-Dade Police Department didn't even have to take the required polygraph test.  Additionally, although a request seeking any Internal Affairs investigations and the findings appear to have been requested by MCSO it is unknown if they were ever forwarded or, if they had been received, never placed in Theobald's file.  

We do not know if the missing or misused funds issue was ever referred for prosecution to either state or federal authorities. Usually, police agencies do not refer such cases for prosecution so as to not publicly discredit their departments or hinder their chances of receiving financial grants in the future.  If the MDPD would have notified the Florida Department of Law Enforcement about Theobald's involvement with the missing or mis-used funds they may have had to revoke his law enforcement certification which would have made him ineligible to work for MCSO.  Investigation pending!

QUESTIONS:  Why did Sheriff Snyder give Theobald a waiver from taking the required polygraph test? Did he know about Theobald's prior involvement with the missing or misused funds?  How could he not know?  If Theobald withheld that information from Snyder shouldn't he be immediately terminated from MCSO now that Snyder knows about it?  If Snyder did, in fact, know about it shouldn't they both be brought up on charges and fired from MCSO?  Does Snyder know that, over time, good looks diminish while "stupid" last forever?  By the way, since we are aware that the County Board has been following our posts doesn't their past lack of "due diligence" and/or their present non-response make them just as culpable as Sheriff Snyder?

Authored by:  Ira B. Robins                                                      Salvatore Rastrelli



Tags: Martin County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff William Snyder, Glenn Theobald, Miami-Dade Police Department, James K. Loftus Director Miami-Dade Police Department

Sunday, December 15, 2013


Is This The First of Many Problems Facing MCSO Deputy Steve Leighton?

The following letters were submitted to the named individuals last week.  After reading them ask yourself the following questions:

QUESTIONS: Is it possible that Steve Leighton believes he's really the Sheriff?   Will Sheriff William Snyder try to save himself by eventually getting rid of Steve Leighton?  Does the Sheriff know that the misconduct he has allowed has already gotten out of hand?  Does the Sheriff know that just getting rid of Steve Leighton will not return him to good standing in the hearts of the community?  Why don't you ask him?  Stay tuned.









Approximately 20 feet away.
Approximately 6 feet away.
Approximately 2 feet away.
Approximately 10 feet away.


Authored by:  Ira B. Robins                                                      Salvatore Rastrelli

TAGS: Steve Leighton, Leighton Security Management, MCSO, Martin County Sheriff's Department.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Has Sheriff Snyder Been Living In A Fantasy World?

In January 2013 William D. Snyder took the oath of the newly elected Sheriff of Martin County. He had run his campaign claiming his strategy was that of saving the taxpayers money, helping Martin County businesses, and of providing the best of the best law enforcement available.

As we have already reported, “Archangels Of Justice” has discovered that the Sheriff went out of the county by hundreds of miles to purchase numerous automobiles that he could have purchased in Martin County at the same or comparable prices.  That would have given local dealerships “home grown” business, but would also have kept those local related tax dollars in Martin County. And after all, the local dealerships pay hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly in county and city taxes.

We have also learned that upon taking office, Snyder purchased a 2013 Dodge Charger for his use as Sheriff.  The base price of the car was $23,000 and he had $10,000 in options added at Alan Jay Automotive in Sebring, Florida. When the car arrived in Martin County he had it sent to Extreme Performance and added an additional batch of upgrades which cost the taxpayers approximately $8,000 additional dollars. Many of the upgrades were such as handling packages, a louder exhaust system and assortment of other frills to make the Sheriff's car personal.  Snyder could have opted for a detective version of the Chevrolet Impala police package that presently patrols Martin County's roadways and spent far less of taxpayer money.  The Police Package Impala is good enough for deputies that patrol the streets and should be more than good enough for the sheriff.  He is an administrator, does not actually perform any patrol duties, and has no real need for a vehicle other than to take him to and from his office, etc.   It seems apparent that he has wasted more taxpayer money for his own vanity.

And as we have already disclosed on this Blog, the Sheriff has replaced and reassigned many hard working deputies with his personal friends and at a substantial additional cost to taxpayers. That doesn’t include the $500 monthly bonuses he pays them for nothing, and who really don’t appear to be the best of the best law enforcement personnel available.

By the way, he now calls his car "Darth Vader" after the villain from the Star Wars series. And years ago, when he was a Major on MCSO he had named his car “Black Pearl” after the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” 

QUESTIONS: Does it appear that Sheriff Snyder never really grew up?  Didn’t the William Snyder who ran for Sheriff claim that he was going to spend taxpayer’s money frugally?   Does it seem that he spends taxpayer money as if it comes from his own personal slush fund?  Does the county board oversee the Sheriff’s spending?  Did they approve the additional dollars to purchase and upgraded “Darth Vader?  Are the awake enough to check and verify that every item requested in the Sheriff’s Department new budget is necessary, reasonable, and not a complete waste of taxpayer money?  Shouldn’t they be? Why don’t you ask them?

Authored by:  Ira B. Robins                                                      Salvatore Rastrelli

TAGS: Sheriff William Snyder, Martin County Sheriff’s Office, Darth Vader, Black Pearl