Imagine the horror of a car accident.  Picture two mangled bodies of steel stranded in the middle of an open intersection.  Now replace the cars with boats and the streets with the ocean, where new kinds of dangers become a reality.  The bright sun in your eyes, the spray of ocean water, and the constant rocking of a boat- they’re ingredients for a catastrophe on the water while intoxicated.

The Dangers of a BUI

Boating can seem like the perfect time to celebrate a little and the consequences of a few drinks one day on the water can seem miniscule.  They aren’t.  Recent reports show that alcohol is one of the top five contributing factors in boating accidents and roughly half of all boating accidents are linked to drug and alcohol use.

Few people are aware how dangerous boating under the influence can be and even fewer know how to fight a BUI in the courts.  A good BUI lawyer is hard to come by.

Boating under the influence carries strict penalties such as:

• Suspension or revocation of licenses
• Steep fees
• Jail Time
• Probation
• Community service,
• Alcohol counseling
• And potential Civil Liability.

Law enforcement is clamping down on BUI offenders and there aren’t enough BUI lawyers are out there to meet the rising demands.  The charges are serious and your freedom is on the line.  Musca Law will defend that line and ensure your safety and peace of mind.  Get the experts that can help you swiftly and professionally.

BUI Lawyer in New Port Richey

Musca Law offers sound legal advice and top-tier BUI defense.  Our staff has experience and knowledge well above its peers.  From a mild first time offense to a fatal accident, we offer help to those who need it.  Act while you still can and get the Drunk Boating lawyer you need to protect you or your loved ones.  Call us today and receive professional consultation about your options.

Our offices serve Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, New Port Richey, Bayonet Point, Holiday and we can be reached at (727) 324-4531

Our office address is 6328 U.S. Highway 19, Suite F New Port Richey, Florida 34652

With computers taking center stage in how we carry our lives in the modern world, new types of crimes have emerged and few people understand it.  While law enforcement from the local police to the FBI has highly trained, computer forensics specialists, convictions are often carried out far too quickly.

If you’re under investigation, there’s precious little time to contact a skilled Internet crime lawyer.

The Florida justice system is committed to its fight against you and it would rather convict you than admit to a mistake.  There are countless that have been unjustly accused.

What Can Your Internet Crime Lawyer Protect You From?

Internet fraud can range from a variety of pyramid schemes to scam offers.  Musca Law has the tools to investigate and discover if the government was involved in forms of illegal entrapment against you.

Child pornography charges can be leveled against you if you are found in possession of obscene materials at home or your work.  We have the skilled internet crime defense to fight those charges.  Our offices may be able to argue that the material is not obscene and subsequently not illegal.  Our pro internet crime attorneys may be able to prove that the methods the government used to prosecute you involved an illegal search.

From online gambling to illegal drug sales online and fraud, Musca Law has the internet crime defense you need.

Professional Internet Crime Lawyers at Musca Law

Facing the massive pool of government resources to fight and investigate internet crimes, you’ll need a strong internet crime defense to protect you.

Our offices understand the law and technology.  We have the resources to ensure your safety swiftly and efficiently.  Measures will be taken immediately to investigate your circumstances.  You have options and consulting one of our internet crime lawyers today will show just what they are.

Your rights will be protected and guaranteeing your freedom is as easy as one phone call to our internet crime lawyers.

From the FBI and the Secret Service to the US postal service, countless government institutions are committed to investigating charges of fraud.  With such a large, varied opposition prepared to strike you down with every ounce of strength they have, it’s important to have a fraud defense lawyer that you can depend on.

A white collar crime doesn’t have to keep you down, and from immigration fraud to the highest white collar crime, Musca Law has the tools and resources to safeguard your future.

Musca Law is prepared to give premiere representation to businesses and individuals who have been charged with fraud or even those who are in the midst of the pre-indictment process.  We have the key knowledge to preventing the worst and thoroughly analyze the strength of the prosecution.

We back our claims with unmatched experience and offer a fierce legal defense.  Musca Law has argued numerous motions and holds a reputation for excellence.

Unmatched Fraud Defense

We’ve represented doctors, healthcare providers and other bodies over varying forms of fraud, including improper billing, acceptance of kickbacks and false claims.  Our offices have the resources to fight against many other forms of fraud, such as, but not limited to:

• Medicare Fraud
• Business fraud
• Insurance fraud
• Credit card fraud
• Internet fraud [Internet Crime]
• Online Identity Theft
• Electronic Fraud
• Conspiracy Charges
• Bank Fraud

We work without clients to meet their expectations then exceed them unlike any other.  Our fraud lawyers are committed to working around the clock, devoting every single resource within our power to your defense.  Your freedom and rights come first at Musca law, and that’s a promise.

Experience working with fraud lawyers who keep their clients informed, at ease and always up to date with the status of their case.  We’re never more than a phone call away and soon you’ll be able to put your fraud charges behind you.

Don’t hesitate and call today.

Our offices serve Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, New Port Richey, Bayonet Point, Holiday and we can be reached at (727) 324-4531.

If you’re charged with a DUI, it’s urgent that you get a DUI lawyer to fight those charges. A DUI conviction can carry
• Hefty fines,
• Jail time,
• License suspension or possible revoking,
• Along with mandatory ignition interlock installation in your car
• And other possible punishments.

The police act fast and without the right help, the consequences could be disastrous. When you drink alcohol before operating a vehicle, whether it’s a car or a boat, law enforcement acts fast.

There is help and you can keep your license and your freedom by getting a skilled DUI lawyer.

Can I Fight My DUI?

A common misconception is that being arrested means you must be guilty. Family or friends may urge you to plead to your DUI charge without speaking to a lawyer. Proving your guilt isn’t your job; it’s work for the police. You have rights and the chance to fight for your freedom.

Police investigations are thorough, and they’ll do everything they can to gather evidence to put you behind bars. As your DUI lawyer, we put that same diligence to your advantage and find the evidence you need to stay free. Expose the faults in the case against you. Sometimes, it only takes one small police mistake to set you free. The smallest details and technicalities can keep you free and it takes knowledge and experience to exploit it. Get the DUI attorneys that know how to find those flaws.

The DUI Lawyers You Need Are a Phone Call Away

A good DUI defense starts putting your life back on track to normal. The results speak for themselves.

While other firms simply handle the occasional DUI defense, we specialize as DUI lawyers. We know the methods of police drug tests from field sobriety tests to breath tests. Armed with the knowledge behind these methods, you can critically examine what the police have against you. Our staff will inform you of the best approach and diligently work toward securing your freedom.

Get the peace of mind you want at an affordable price.

Our offices serve Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, New Port Richey, Bayonet Point, Holiday and we can be reached at (727) 324-4531.
Our office address is 6328 U.S. Highway 19, Suite F, New Port Richey, FL 34652

They sought suspects at residences throughout Pasco County. They visited motels on the U.S. 19 corridor. They lit Holiday up at night.

Over 36 hours, law enforcement officers arrested a total of 244 people in what’s being called the largest warrants sweep conducted in the county.

The multi-agency sweep, dubbed “Operation Law and Order,” flooded parts of Pasco with nearly 110 law enforcement officers from noon to midnight, Tuesday through Thursday of this week.

“Our citizens saw an overwhelming force of presence out there, and they deserve that,” said Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco.

The sweep included law enforcement involvement from the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Postal Service and the New Port Richey, Dade City, Port Richey and Zephyrhills police departments, among other agencies.

Law enforcement personnel attempted to serve 1,053 warrants. A total of 302 warrants were served, including 130 felony warrants and 172 misdemeanors.

Of the 244 total arrests, 68 were on probable cause.

The arrests were made in the county, but some were of warrants from other jurisdictions that listed their subjects’ residences as being in Pasco.

There were warrants issued for drug crimes. Officers found marijuana, methamphetamine and prescription pills.

The most violent of the crimes people were served warrants for were aggravated assaults, batteries and domestic violence offenses, said Sgt. Dan Olds, head of the sheriff’s office’s warrants unit.

At the point of the sweep, Pasco had accumulated 22,000 outstanding arrest warrants, the oldest on file dating back to 1972, Olds said. He did not know if that one was worked.

The largest warrant sweep in the county before this was in the late 1980s, he said.

Nocco said that he remembered that one warrant officers were working dated all the way back to 1988.

“We were driving down some streets, and there was probably about seven houses that had possible warrants,” he said.

The Pasco Sheriff’s Office receives about 1,000 warrants a month on average, said Capt. Michael Ferrantelli and serves about 800 of them.

A key component of Nocco’s administration is fighting pill crime in Pasco.

“Make no mistake about it; we arrested a lot of people in the past three days that were addicted to prescription pills,” Nocco said.

In one incident, officers arrived at a residence to serve a warrant and found the intended recipient absent, Nocco said. What they did see there was a female with a year-old baby in bed with her. She had black and blue marks on an arm, needle marks on her legs and pills on her. Nocco said she had warrants out on her.

“It breaks your heart when you see that little baby,” he said.

Nocco said he plans to continue sweeps.

“We feel the pain of our citizens in those neighborhoods that are crime-ridden,” Nocco said. “We hear them, we understand them and we’re going to rescue them from the situations they’re in.”

Legal troubles in Pasco? Contact a Pasco Defense attorney at Musca Law right now for a free consultation.

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A 29-year-old man is accused of using personal information of deceased people to file taxes in their names. Gary T. did this at least two dozen times and claims to have received a few thousand dollars in tax return money from the scam, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

This crime is somewhat common, authorities say. But Gary might be a piece to a larger case:

He is suspected of being part of an organized fraud ring filing fraudulent tax returns in the Tampa Bay area, a report states. The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has been working with the U.S. Secret Service, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Tampa Police Department for three months on a task force investigating these rings, the report states.

Pasco authorities referred all questions about Gary and the fraud rings to the Secret Service, which declined to comment.

“It is ongoing,” Special Agent in Charge John Joyce said of the case. “It is very active. I can’t comment on it at all.”

In Gary ‘ arrest report, Pasco Detective Justin Ross said Gary, along with those involved in the organized fraud rings, have been finding personal identification of the deceased through genealogy websites. Ross said the criminals file the returns through Turbo Tax and have the funds placed on credit cards that require no bank account or credit check.

“The tax returns are placed onto Green Dot credit cards and sent out to the suspects who filed the tax returns,” Ross wrote. “The suspects are able to have full access to the Green Dot accounts and can spend the money on the cards at their discretion.

“IRS tax fraud has become an epidemic in the Tampa Bay area,” he wrote.

Gary, of Tampa, was picked up by Pasco deputies in an unrelated case about 1:20 a.m. Monday in Wesley Chapel, after an ex-girlfriend accused Gary of stalking her. While he was being searched, deputies found two credit cards in his backpack that did not have his name on them, a report states. A search of his car led to a list of 22 names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of citizens — many of whom were deceased, authorities said.

Gary is charged with 22 counts of fraudulent use of personal identification and one count of stalking. He is being held at the Pasco County jail in lieu of $57,500 bail.

If you’ve also been charged with a fraud crime in Florida, or another type of criminal offense entirely, it’s vital that you quickly contact a Pasco criminal defense lawyer at Musca Law to go over your legal options. Call 727-480-9675 right now to schedule a free phone consultation.

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The central-east-west rift in Pasco County may have historical roots, but it’s time to set them aside, said Sheriff Chris Nocco.

Addressing members of the Land O’ Lakes Rotary Club on Monday, Sept. 12, Nocco said law enforcement agencies and residents throughout the county need to work together to tackle crime.

“Criminals don’t know any boundaries,” he said. “Criminals don’t care what ZIP code or area code you’re in.”

With that in mind, Nocco’s agency has been working with others throughout the county to share intelligence about crime on a regular basis. The county’s SWAT team also recently combined with New Port Richey’s to provide better overall coverage, Nocco said.

Through Intelligence Led Policing, the agency is also concentrating its efforts on more strategic coverage of crime hot spots in the county. The idea is to root out career criminals and to deploy forces where they are critically needed.

“Six percent of the criminals commit 60 percent of the crimes,” Nocco told Rotary members.

Concerning Issues

Pasco County is facing a number of pressing law enforcement issues, Nocco said, that require a full county effort tamp down on.

Illegal use of prescription pills is a major issue that’s affecting the county from one end to the other.

“We’re number two in the state for (pill-related) deaths,” he said. “(And), we’re number two for babies being born addicted. If we don’t stop this epidemic now, we’re not going to have (a next generation), they’re all going to be addicts.”

While big crimes such as prescription pill sales are pressing, Nocco said the small issues aren’t flying under the radar in Pasco. His deputies are placing an emphasis on everything from cracking down on panhandling to citing unlicensed contractors.

“I want that mentality — you don’t commit a crime in Pasco County,” he said.

Get Involved

Residents can get involved in helping the sheriff’s office crack down on crime by keeping their eyes and ears open, Nocco said. The agency is also looking for feedback on priorities for the sheriff’s office.

Anyone can voice their opinion about priorities by taking an online survey available on the sheriff’s office website. The results will be used to help put together a five-year strategic plan for the agency. Nocco hopes to have this ready in February.

Residents can also get more involved by reporting crimes. The sheriff’s office has an anonymous tip form on its website.

If you’ve been accused of a crime, of any type, in Pasco County, there are things that can be done in your legal defense. Contact a Pasco County criminal attorney at Musca Law today to discuss this matter.

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As county commissioners signaled they will approve Sheriff Chris Nocco’s request for more deputies, they learned the bill for law enforcement could get much higher in the coming years.

Nocco is asking for 23 new staffers, most of whom would combat prescription drug abuse. Besides two new teams of deputies, he also wants three crime analysts and eight nurses to deal with inmate addiction issues at the county jail.

Several commissioners said on Tuesday they were open to his request.

“It is an epidemic that is affecting all aspects, all walks of life in Pasco County,” said Commissioner Ted Schrader. “This is quickly getting out of control. They’re obviously short-staffed in that regard. I’m inclined to give him what he’s asking for.”

Those new employees would cost $1.6 million and would be paid for with savings from pension costs. The Legislature this spring required all state employees to begin contributing 3 percent of their salary toward their retirement, saving the Sheriff’s Office $4.7 million.

But besides continuing to pay salaries for the new deputies, commissioners will face additional law enforcement costs a year from now, when the county begins paying for 24 other deputies that were hired a couple of years ago with a grant from federal stimulus money.

The county has been socking money away for the past three years to pay the first year’s $2.4 million cost. But commissioners will have to find money to pay those deputies starting the following year.

“Does anybody on the board think that the financial conditions are going to be greatly improved next year?” said county budget chief Mike Nurrenbrock.

At a budget hearing Tuesday night, commissioners gave tentative approval to the upcoming year’s $1 billion county budget that leaves the property tax rate the same as this year: $7.68 for every $1,000 of assessed value. The budget year begins Oct. 1.

Commissioner Jack Mariano cast the lone vote against the spending plan, citing insufficient funding for parks. He has been crusading against new fees for parking, boat launches and youth sports from the moment they were adopted last September.

The fees were billed as a way to offset proposed cuts to the parks budget. They were supposed to raise $876,000, including $656,000 from parking fees alone. But a bungled roll out of the parking fees means collections are currently about a third of that figure.

Mariano even floated a slight increase in the property tax rate as a way to end the fees. For a homeowner, that would mean an extra $2 in taxes for every $50,000 in assessed value.

On Tuesday, Mariano said he ran the plan by several of Pasco’s top commercial taxpayers, including east Pasco egg farmer Wilton Simpson, major car dealerships and the Shops at Wiregrass.

“They all firmly believe we need to really promote the parks,” he said. “They would pay extra taxes. They don’t mind the extra money.”

Mariano’s idea couldn’t take effect this coming year, as commissioners voted to keep the property tax rate the same as this past year. He has said he is laying the groundwork to eliminate the fees with a future tax rate increase.

For next year’s budget, commissioners have roughly $1.3 million to play with. They’ve already spent about $230,000 for various expenses, such as continued operations of the two county swimming pools and an extra veterans resource officer.

Whatever money is left over would go into reserves. Nurrenbrock said the county wants to boost reserves from $24 million to $32 million to help the county continue operating during a disaster such as a hurricane.

Commissioners are scheduled to discuss the sheriff’s budget next week at a budget workshop, and they will hold a final public hearing on the county budget at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in New Port Richey.

Has an existing Pasco police officer already charged you with a crime? If so, you have the right to stand up for yourself in court. Contact our Pasco County defense attorneys today to discuss your options.

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In home video released Monday by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, authorities say a drug dealer and his cohorts are showing off their stash of illegal prescription pills.

“That’s what we get rid of a day,” said one the men in the video as he showed piles of pills spread out on a floor.

The footage goes back to a 2009 case and was confiscated by the Sheriff’s office after the suspects were arrested.

One of the suspects bragged that he was a fugitive, wanted by the FBI and DEA.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco says these are the type of people that are destroying our community.  “You can see in this video, he could care less about the families he’s destroying. He doesn’t care about the children in school that are taking these pills. For him it’s about money and glory.”

“Look at that. Skittles, taste the rainbow,” said one of the suspects, as he showed off a pile of colorful pills.

Nocco says he will show this video to citizens at Monday’s crime-fighting workshop. It’s a chance for people to tell the sheriff about the problems in Pasco County. He says so far their main concern is about the pill problem.

“It affects their family. It affects their loved ones. It affects their community. And they want to see us go out there and be more aggressive with it,” said Nocco.

Nocco says they are seeing more violence, especially around pain management clinics. He says the Sheriff’s office is concentrating in those areas. He also says people with prescriptions need to be keep their pills secured.

“We tell people when they leave a bank, don’t walk out with a roll of twenty dollar bills in your hand. The same thing with that little white bag. Wrap it up in a brown bag. Put it into a larger container, so people don’t see that you are leaving the store with prescription pills,” said Nocco.

The crime-fighting workshop is Monday at 7 pm at the St. George Community Center in Port Richey.

From a legal standpoint, not the smartest move. However, drug offenders deserve every right to a fair trial when charged with a crime. For this reason, our Pasco County drug crime attorneys offer a free legal consultation to discuss your drug offense. Call 727-480-9675 right now.

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Pasco deputies are seeking two men suspected of stealing copper wire from two Withlachoochee River Electric Cooperative substations.

Deputies say they already have the getaway driver involved in at least one of the thefts, on Aug. 4. Marylynn Maldonado, 23, was charged with criminal mischief, grand theft and dealing in stolen property because she allegedly drove Joshua Lee Petty and Donald Rebston to the substation at 17029 East Road, near the Hernando County line.

The men stole about 200 feet of copper wire, valued at about $1,196, deputies said. The theft caused thousands in damage and will directly affect co-op members’ electric bills, said Withlacoochee spokesman David Lambert.

Authorities believe the trio also hit another WREC substation at 16540 Old Dixie Highway on Aug. 16, stealing a large spool of wire worth about $800 and causing thousands of dollars in additional damage.

Lambert said the East Road substation had been hit by thieves last August. They stole copper ground wire, which protected the plant against lightning. It was subsequently struck by a bolt that caused thousand of dollars in damage.

Copper thefts are common, though people don’t understand how dangerous it is, Lambert said. People have been electrocuted and severely injured trying to steal copper.

If you’re charged with a theft crime in Pasco County, don’t waste time contacting a Pasco County defense lawyer at Musca Law.

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