In a 39-page order dated Monday, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman said the law, dubbed as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act and also known as SB 1028, does not violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution because its “sex-based classifications are substantially related to the state’s important interest in promoting women’s athletics.”

“Today, we were asked whether a law that separates public-school sports teams by biological sex violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” said Altman, an appointee of former President Donald Trump. ”We find that it does not.”

“The Plaintiff is right to say that the statute treats transgender girls differently from both cisgender girls and transgender boys,” the judge wrote. “Under the law, after all, biological females (whether cis or trans) can play on both girls’ and boys’ sports teams. Transgender girls, by contrast, considered male by birth, cannot play on girls’ sports teams.”

“But not all gender-based classifications violate the Equal Protection Clause,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign, which brought the case on the student’s behalf, said the organization’s litigation team “is actively working with the plaintiffs on potential next steps.”

The judge said the plaintiff, identified only as D.N., also failed to prove the law was inspired by “discriminatory animus.” And he denied another claim that the law violates Title IX, a federal statute that prohibits sex-based discrimination on the part of educational institutions that receive federal aid.

Altman had temporarily placed the case on hold until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided a case in St. John’s County involving the state’s transgender bathroom law. The entire court decided that Title IX’s reference to “sex” does not include “gender identity.”

The judge also threw out a claim by D.N. with prejudice that the law violates the due process right to privacy.

“The Plaintiff argues that the ‘Defendants’ enforcement of the law would require Plaintiff to disclose sensitive medical information that would otherwise not be available, including to third parties, parents and other students who might file claims under this law,” Altman said. “This potential injury — if we can call it that — is so speculative (and lies so far down a hypothetical chain of imaginary future events) that it cannot support D.N.’s Article III standing here.”

Door open to refile part of the suit

But the judge gave the teenager until Nov. 21 to file an amended complaint that shows how “Title IX prohibits the state from treating D.N., as a biological male, differently than biological females.” Altman also said D.N. could refile the equal protection claim to show “discriminatory animus.”

D.N.’s parents joined in the complaint as plaintiffs; they are listed only by their first names and last initials.

The lawsuit alleged that D.N. played soccer on the girls’ team in middle school, and that she wanted to play on the girls’ high school team. The suit alleged the law would prevent her from playing sports and “decimate her social network.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was named as the lead defendant in the lawsuit, asserted when he signed the act in June 2021 that the “designation of separate sex-specific athletic teams or sports is necessary to promote equality of athletic opportunities, and the majority of Americans support this action.”

“Multiple polls have stated more than 60 percent of Americans believe that biological males should not be participating in women’s sports,” he said.

But the Broward School Board, in a public rebuke of the law, said after the bill’s signing that it would continue its support transgender athletes.

For visiting public and private sector leaders from Tampa who came to South and Central Florida on Monday to tour Brightline’s higher-speed rail system, a conductor’s announcement like that would be music to their ears. They traveled from Miami to Orlando for one reason: They want the line extended to their town, more than a decade after the idea for higher-speed rail service was sidetracked amid partisan politics.

The group of 50 officials led by Tampa Mayor Jane Castor flew to Miami, met with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Brightline executives, then toured Brightline’s MiamiCentral station downtown. They boarded a train for a midday tour of the West Palm Beach station, which is expected to be “similar in scope for a future Tampa station,” the company said in a statement. They resumed their trip with a ride along Brightline’s new 170-mile extension to Orlando International Airport, where they were met by Kevin Thibault, the Executive Director and CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Orlando city Commissioner Jim Gray and other community leaders.

The rail line, which started operations in 2018 and now serves Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Orlando, is fast becoming a showcase for the future of regional higher-speed rail in the United States.

Late last month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg took a southbound ride out of West Palm Beach to highlight the billions of dollars the Biden Administration is making available for new rail development and rehabilitation projects around the nation. Although Brightline is mainly funded with private money, federal grants have flowed to the rail line for safety projects, and high-speed rail projects now on the drawing boards elsewhere are looking to Washington for funds.

They are the types of dollars — $2.4 billion to be exact — that former Gov. Rick Scott rejected in 2011 for a high-speed rail project between Tampa and Orlando. After Scott derided the idea as “Obamarail” and a potential burden on state taxpayers, the federal money was reallocated to other states.

During Monday’s tour of the West Palm Beach station, it didn’t take much prompting to elicit regrets over what could have been from Castor, now in her second term as Tampa’s mayor. or from her predecessor, Bob Buckhorn, who is helping to advance the cause for an Orlando-Tampa extension.

“I’m not sure that I’ll ever get over that,” Castor told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Where we could be right now had we accepted that federal high-speed rail funding years ago … but I try not to dwell on the past.”

Buckhorn, a two-term former Tampa mayor who served from 2011 to 2019, is working for a law firm that advises Brightline on community relations.

“I lived through Gov. Scott canceling the high-speed rail and bemoaning that fact.,” he said. “Now we have the opportunity to do it. This ends up in a strange perverse way as a win for the state and a win for Tampa, for sure.”

Model for transit-oriented development

Before the station tour, West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James took to a lectern to declare Brightline as an important catalyst for his city’s downtown redevelopment.

He spoke of a once-desolate area that is now anchored by the Brightline station and surrounded by a walkable neighborhood filled with condos, apartments and offices.

“We basically called it the donut hole because there was nothing there,” James told the visiting dignitaries. “Literally, no development, a few rundown buildings, the street lighting was horrible, and you would take your life into your own hands if you tried to walk from CityPlace, which was a bustling outdoor retail location.”

“What I can tell you is that nothing would have happened without this Brightline station,” he added. “This particular station is perfectly situated in the heart of our business district. You look behind me and you can see city hall where the dome is and some other buildings going up. It’s the perfect place for the growing economic base of workers and visitors. And the station is within walking distance of a number of classy office spaces, dozens of fine restaurants, and our outstanding waterfront.”

In an interview, Castor said local groups in Hillsborough County are coalescing into a working relationship that will ultimately bring rail service to Tampa from Orlando along the busy 83-mile I-4 corridor, which is routinely clogged with visitors and commuters.

“It’s nice that we can actually see that light at the end of the tunnel and have that Orlando to Tampa connection done in the next few years,” Castor said. “The impact it would have on our economy is remarkable.”

Buckhorn agreed.

“What we see here in West Palm is what we hoped back then would happen” in Tampa, he said.  “We were in support of this in the early days. We wrote letters on behalf of Brightline as they were constructing this (South Florida) leg of it. Now, it’s our turn.”

For visiting public and private sector leaders from Tampa who came to South Florida on Monday to tour Brightline’s higher-speed rail system, a conductor’s announcement like that would be music to their ears. They traveled to the tri-county area for one reason: They want the line extended to their town, more than a decade after the idea for higher-speed rail service was sidetracked amid partisan politics.

The group of 50 officials led by Tampa Mayor Jane Castor flew to Miami, met with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Brightline executives, then toured Brightline’s MiamiCentral station downtown. They boarded a train for a midday tour of the West Palm Beach station, which is expected to be “similar in scope for a future Tampa station,” the company said in a statement. They resumed their trip with a ride along Brightline’s new 170-mile extension to Orlando International Airport.

The rail line, which started operations in 2018 and now serves Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Orlando, is fast becoming a showcase for the future of regional higher-speed rail in the United States.

Late last month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg took a southbound ride out of West Palm Beach to highlight the billions of dollars the Biden Administration is making available for new rail development and rehabilitation projects around the nation. Although Brightline is mainly funded with private money, federal grants have flowed to the rail line for safety projects, and high-speed rail projects now on the drawing boards elsewhere are looking to Washington for funds.

They are the types of dollars — $2.4 billion to be exact — that former Gov. Rick Scott rejected in 2011 for a high-speed rail project between Tampa and Orlando. After Scott derided the idea as “Obamarail” and a potential burden on state taxpayers, the federal money was reallocated to other states.

During Monday’s tour of the West Palm Beach station, it didn’t take much prompting to elicit regrets over what could have been from Castor, now in her second term as Tampa’s mayor. or from her predecessor, Bob Buckhorn, who is helping to advance the cause for an Orlando-Tampa extension.

“I’m not sure that I’ll ever get over that,” Castor told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Where we could be right now had we accepted that federal high-speed rail funding years ago … but I try not to dwell on the past.”

Buckhorn, a two-term former Tampa mayor who served from 2011 to 2019, is working for a law firm that advises Brightline on community relations.

“I lived through Gov. Scott canceling the high-speed rail and bemoaning that fact.,” he said. “Now we have the opportunity to do it. This ends up in a strange perverse way as a win for the state and a win for Tampa, for sure.”

Model for transit-oriented development

Before the station tour, West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James took to a lectern to declare Brightline as an important catalyst for his city’s downtown redevelopment.

He spoke of a once-desolate area that is now anchored by the Brightline station and surrounded by a walkable neighborhood filled with condos, apartments and offices.

“We basically called it the donut hole because there was nothing there,” James told the visiting dignitaries. “Literally, no development, a few rundown buildings, the street lighting was horrible, and you would take your life into your own hands if you tried to walk from CityPlace, which was a bustling outdoor retail location.”

“What I can tell you is that nothing would have happened without this Brightline station,” he added. “This particular station is perfectly situated in the heart of our business district. You look behind me and you can see city hall where the dome is and some other buildings going up. It’s the perfect place for the growing economic base of workers and visitors. And the station is within walking distance of a number of classy office spaces, dozens of fine restaurants, and our outstanding waterfront.”

In an interview, Castor said local groups in Hillsborough County are coalescing into a working relationship that will ultimately bring rail service to Tampa from Orlando along the busy 83-mile I-4 corridor, which is routinely clogged with visitors and commuters.

“It’s nice that we can actually see that light at the end of the tunnel and have that Orlando to Tampa connection done in the next few years,” Castor said. “The impact it would have on our economy is remarkable.”

Buckhorn agreed.

“What we see here in West Palm is what we hoped back then would happen” in Tampa, he said.  “We were in support of this in the early days. We wrote letters on behalf of Brightline as they were constructing this (South Florida) leg of it. Now, it’s our turn.”

For September, fares declined nationally by 13% when compared with September 2022, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. They were down 6.5% from September 2019, which was months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

While consumers whipsawed by sharply higher prices are happy to be cut a break, airline managements have started to adjust their strategies for the coming year amid slippages in demand and persistently high fuel costs.

Financially, the year is becoming a turbulent one for the airlines, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which reported an industrywide net loss among 26 scheduled airlines of $1.2 billion in the first quarter and a net profit of $5.5 billion in the second quarter. But as the third quarter reporting period unfolds, the results have been mostly losses or lower profits for carriers checking in thus far, highlighted by Delta reporting a large profit while American posted a sizable loss.

South Florida-based ultra low cost carrier Spirit Airlines, which posted a $157.6 million net loss, said it would scale back its growth plans. JetBlue Airways of New York, which wants to take over Spirit, lost $153 million and forecast another deficit for the fourth quarter.

Southwest Airlines, which posted a profit that was 30% below last year’s third quarter, announced changes in its route system starting in June 2024. The plan includes the shift to Orlando of most of its nonstop international flights from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

While no one is forecasting a financial washout for any of the airlines, the industry landscape is undergoing changes as the larger carriers start making things uncomfortable for the low-cost budget carriers, analysts say.

Budget carriers under pressure

“None of the budget airlines at least for now are at the risk of bankruptcy,” said Henry Harteveldt, of Atmosphere Research Group, a San Francisco-based advisory firm. “They all have cash balances and assets they can leverage to raise additional cash if necessary.”

“However, it’s very clear that larger airlines are starting to leverage their basic economy fare products more than they have in the past to compete for the customer base,” he said. “And that is going to make life more difficult for the budget airlines.”

“Southwest has been very aggressive so far this fall in offering a number of fare sales sometimes with flights starting as low as $29,” Harteveldt said.

Moreover, infrequent travelers who are “brand agnostic” are checking out amenities offered by the bigger airlines as alternatives to fee-based onboard services offered by the discount carriers.

“The airline industry is brutal when it comes to price-based competition,” Harteveldt said. “Our research shows 15% of passengers have loyalty.to some airline or alliance while 85% are making their airline purchasing decisions trip-to-trip. A lot of them divide their loyalties among multiple airlines.”

A takeover hangs in the balance

Looming in the background is the Biden Administration’s antitrust lawsuit that seeks to stop JetBlue’s $3.8 billion takeover of Spirit. The U.S. Justice Department, in concert with several Northeast states and the District of Columbia, argue the takeover would raise prices for consumers because Spirit would disappear after a deal is closed.

The case went to trial in a Boston federal court last Tuesday.

A win for the government would likely dash JetBlue’s expansion plans, which the carrier argues are critical for it to grow and offset a so-called “Big Four” domination of the industry by American, Delta, Southwest and United. A defeat would also likely squelch JetBlue’s ambitions to expand across Florida.

South Florida’s three international airports are among the most well-served in the country by lower-cost airlines ranging from Spirit and JetBlue to Allegiant and Sun Country. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International relative newcomers Avelo and Flair have entered the picture, providing consumers with travel choices to cities that were unavailable before those carriers took flight.

For its part, Allegiant Air, which is the centerpiece of a travel company based in Las Vegas, Nev., is hoping for a JetBlue court victory in Boston.

In a September deal designed to help mitigate government concerns that JetBlue’s takeover of Spirit would boost consumer prices, JetBlue agreed to transfer to Allegiant all Spirit holdings at Boston Logan International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. JetBlue would also turn over up to five gates and related ground facilities at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International “to promote ultra-low-cost carrier growth,” the airlines said.

The deal followed another by JetBlue that would shift Spirit’s holdings at New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Denver-based Frontier.

Approvals of both deals are required from local airport authorities, the FAA and DOT, and would occur after the closing of JetBlue’s buyout of Spirit in the first half of 2024.

In theory, the agreements would redistribute discounted flight services to consumers flying out of Fort Lauderdale to two other airlines — Frontier and Allegiant.

Allegiant, which along with Frontier also posted losses in the third quarter, is sticking with its strategy of providing unbundled fares off a low base price.

“Affordable fares are the foundation of Allegiant’s business model and consumers can continue to expect industry-low fares across our network,” the company said in a statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

In the interim, will fares industrywide continue their downward trend?

“There is still a lot of uncertainty,” Harteveldt said. “What happens if there is a government shutdown? What happens if we have more strikes or if strikes are resolved? American and United are negotiating with the unions representing flight attendants.”

A likely outcome: Higher labor costs, and, perhaps, higher fares.

The events come as the Miramar-based airline girds for a U.S. Justice Department-driven antitrust trial scheduled to start Tuesday that is likely to determine the fate of its proposed $3.8 billion takeover by JetBlue Airways of New York.

In seemingly short order, Spirit has seen an encouraging rebound and expansion from COVID-19 turn sour amid decreased consumer demand and an unexpected potential problem with Pratt & Whitney engines that power a number of its Airbus jetliners.

On Thursday, the company announced a $157.6 million net loss for its fiscal third quarter, more than quadruple the net loss in the same period of 2022. The results prompted management to slow the pace of new aircraft deliveries “through the end of the decade” and ease capacity growth “in the near term,” CEO Ted Christie said in a statement.

“Softer demand for our product and discounted fares in our markets led to a disappointing outcome for the third quarter 2023,” Christie said. “We continue to see discounted fares for travel booked through the pre-Thanksgiving period. And, unfortunately, we have not seen the anticipated return to a normal demand and pricing environment for the peak holiday periods. Given these continued trends, we are evaluating our growth profile and our competitive position.”

Inspection disruptions

In the meantime, the airline is preparing to deal with an expensive and time-consuming inspection regimen that lies ahead for a number of Airbusneo jetliners it operates, a process that is expected to last through the end of next year.

Spirit said in its financial announcement that engine maker Pratt & Whitney notified the airline “that all the geared turbofan (GTF) neo engines in Spirit’s fleet, including the engines slotted for future aircraft deliveries, for a yet undetermined period, are in the potential pool of engines subject to the inspection and possible replacement, of powdered metal high-pressure turbine and compressor discs.”

Based on an analysis from Pratt & Whitney, the company said, an average of 10 planes in the fourth quarter of this year will be grounded to accommodate engine removals and inspections.

“For 2024, Spirit assumes the average number of grounded neo aircraft will climb steadily from 13 in January to 41 in December, averaging 26 grounded for the full year 2024,” the statement said. “This expectation drives a dramatic decrease in the company’s near-term growth projections. For the full year 2024, Spirit estimates capacity will range between about flat to up mid-single digits compared to the full year 2023.”

Spirit said it has started discussing financial damages with Pratt & Whitney, but the timing and form of the compensation has yet to be determined.

Spokesman Thomas Fletcher confirmed a Friday report by CNBC that the airline will soon suspend training for new-hire flight crew members because it will not be operating as many planes.

“Since we won’t be growing as quickly, we have made the decision to suspend new-hire training efforts for pilots and flight attendants beginning in November until further notice,” he said in an email to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “This is not a decision we’ve taken lightly, but it’s necessary to ensure our crew staffing levels match our operational need given the number of aircraft we can fly.”

An unrelated problem involving aircraft last week required the reported grounding of 25 Spirit jetliners for what the FAA called “mandatory” inspections of an unidentified section of the planes. That exercise forced the carrier to cancel up to 100 flights, a number of them that were scheduled to fly to and from Orlando International Airport, according to the tracking site FlightAware.

Fletcher said that the airline has returned “to normal operations after those cancellations related to inspections. The aircraft were cleared to return to service and we’ve minimized any impact to our guests.”

Antitrust trial about to start

But the most critical event likely to steer Spirit’s long-term future is a trial now scheduled to start in Boston on Tuesday that will decide a federal government’s lawsuit that seeks to block the takeover deal with JetBlue.

Both carriers are predominant operators at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in terms of flights and passengers served. And JetBlue is managing the construction of a new terminal at the airport that is expected to be completed in 2026..

The federal government, which has been joined in its suit by several states and the District of Columbia, asserts that the disappearance of Spirit would leave consumers with higher fares and fewer low-cost options.

JetBlue has countered that its buyout of Spirit would create a stronger platform for competing with the so-called “Big Four” airlines — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines — which collectively control 80% of the market. In a bid to soften the government’s argument, JetBlue has arranged to offload some of the routes operated by Spirit to other discount airlines.

The non-jury trial, which will be conducted before U.S. District Judge William Young, is expected to run into the first week of December, according to the court docket.

From a windswept roof atop the city’s Las Olas parking garage along the Intracoastal Waterway, city and Broward County politicians and promoters ushered in the five-day 64th Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on Wednesday with a mutual sense that the city’s burgeoning marine industry will be delivering another round of good fortune.

“We’re going to put 100,000 people through the gates,” said Phil Purcell, president and CEO of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, the show’s owner. “I don’t know if we’re going to do $1.8 billion of economic impact to the state but I think darn close. If you go back to (2019) we did a little over $900 million in direct sales. So we’ve got a lot to look forward to over the next five days.”

Traffic clogged the streets on the barrier island between Las Olas Boulevard and the 17th Street Causeway bridge. But it didn’t matter to local business owners as shops and restaurants filled up, sidewalks were packed with visitors, and boat show workers and visitors headed for seven venues on both sides of the Intracoastal from the Las Olas Marina to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Bahia Mar Yacht Center and Pier Sixty-Six on the east bank, to the Broward County Convention Center and 17th Street Yacht Basin on the waterway’s west bank.

“The economic impact, as Phil said, over $1.8 billion … it’s going to be another game changer for the city,” said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis, who hosted a ceremony to formally open the show.

Collaborative effort

Trantalis, who has been locked in a dispute with county leaders over his preference for a tunnel, and not a bridge, to be built over the city’s New River to accommodate growing rail traffic, invited County Mayor Lamar Fisher to cut the ceremonial blue ribbon.

“The marine industry is the life blood of Fort Lauderdale,” said Trantalis, who credited the county as a key contributor to the industry’s sustained growth. “It helps drive the economy and continues to thrive year after year as the marine industry as well as the City of Fort Lauderdale and the county continue to reinvest in this industry.”

“It sounds like a cherry on top of the sundae,” Stacy Ritter, CEO and president of Visit Lauderdale, the county’s tourism promotion agency, said of the boat show. “We’re doing well economically, knock on wood. Broward County, especially as it relates to tourism, has really blown the doors off. Last year was a record.

“But when you have the boat show, it’s not just the tourist development tax collection. It’s the sales tax collection. It’s the jobs,” she said. “It’s the restaurants that are full and they keep their people employed. That’s really the lingering effect of the boat show. It’s the start of the season for us and will just continue for us until it gets a little slower later in 2024. It’s an amazing economic bump.”

As the public officials spoke ahead of the show’s noontime opening, brokers, vendors and bankers were already patrolling the show’s venues meeting with clients, engaging in seminars, and putting the finishing touches on their exhibits for the five-day show, which runs through Sunday.

“The industry is still pretty robust from our standpoint,” said Lisa Verbit, a director and national sales executive for the global wealth and investment marine division of Bank of America. “There are still people out there who want to buy yachts.”

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Verbit and a colleague tour shows worldwide to meet with high-end clients and help them obtain financing for their next yacht purchase.

“We are going to have another historical best year in our portfolio,” she said. “We offer anything from purchase money loans for new and pre-owned yachts to construction financing”

The largest yacht loan she and her partner have done was about $260 to $270 million. Back in 1989, when she started in the yacht finance business, typical loans ranged up to $150,000.

“Fort Lauderdale attracts clients from all over the U.S. and even the world,” Verbit said. “Monaco is another big one. The Palm Beach show is very popular. Those are the three shows we focus on.”

Other industry figures agreed that they expect another strong demonstration of of interest among would-be buyers who continue to view boating as a leading form of recreation that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Some are seeing a demographic shift toward younger buyers entering the yachting market.

40th year for towing firm

While the public’s focus will be on new vessels and toys associated with marine recreation, the company that most boaters prefer not to call is marking its 40th year rescuing stranded mariners whose craft have run out of gas or broken down.

Founded in 1983, New York-based Sea Tow is at the show to remind stranded boaters that help is within reach through a service that mirrors roadside auto services such as AAA.

“No one ever plans or wants to be towed on the water,” said CEO Kristen Frohnhoefer, whose father founded the firm in Long Island, N.Y.  “Nobody wants to hear from us.”

“We’re there to provide the peace of mind to people,” she said. “For the unexpected that happens, you will have a local captain to respond to provide assistance and get you on your way and back home safely.”

The firm, which has a national reach, has franchised operators who run tow vessels out of multiple ports around South Florida, where 30 tow boats ply local waters. Up to 450 vessels operate nationally.

Most Sea Tow members operate vessels that are up to 35 feet long. The No 1. problem: Breakdowns that occur due to lack of maintenance, Frohnhoefer said. People who run out of gas or need a battery jump are next on the list. And newer boaters unfamiliar with local tides and shorelines are prime candidates to be rescued from unexpected groundings.

The show’s seven venues

• Broward County Convention Center (1950 Eisenhower Blvd.)
• Bahia Mar Yachting Center (801 Seabreeze Blvd.)
• Las Olas Marina (240 E. Las Olas Circle)
• International Hall of Fame Marina (435 Seabreeze Blvd.)
• Super Yacht Village at Pier 66 South (2150 SE 17th St.)
• Pier 66 Marina (2301 SE 17th St.)
• 17th Street Yacht Basin (1881 SE 17th St.)

If you go

• Tickets: Must be purchased in advance online. Visit flibs.com. (There are no onsite box office sales.)
• Parking: The Broward County Convention Center is the biggest venue with 3,000 spaces. For other parking options, visit: flibs.com/en/attend/parking.html.
• Brightline: Visitors from Miami, Aventura, Boca Raton or West Palm Beach can take the higher speed rail service to the train line’s downtown Fort Lauderdale station. Passengers will have access to a complimentary shuttle to the show.
• Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi: The service connects visitors to all show sites from numerous locations. The service will begin to operate an hour before the show opens and will discontinue an hour after the show closes. Daily tickets ($15) as well as 5-day passes ($65) are available and must be pre-purchased online by visiting watertaxi.com/flibs/.
• Free Shuttle Service: The complimentary shuttles will begin to operate one hour before the show opens and will wrap service one hour after the show closes.

Officials allege the fraud came from assistance offered by the Paycheck Protection Program, known as PPP, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, programs.

Charges were brought in 17 separate cases filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Many of the Sheriff’s Office deputies made their first appearance in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick M. Hunt.

All are charged with fraud in connection with the emergency federal loan programs. Eight of them work in law enforcement, including a sergeant. Nine of them work in the department of detention, including a sergeant.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe said at a Thursday news conference the sworn law enforcement officers are accused of “diverting funds for their personal use,” and made clear it was not done in performance of their official duties. Collectively the 17 individuals took $495,171 from the loan programs.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to uncover the fraud schemes and hold anyone involved accountable — regardless of an individual’s role in the community,” he said. “No matter the amount, we will not allow limited federal tax dollars, which were intended to provide a lifeline to small businesses as they struggled to stay afloat during the economically devastating pandemic lockdown, to be swindled by those who were employed in a position of trust and cast aside their duty to uphold and abide by the law.  Our work is not done. This investigation is ongoing.”

The employees were initially suspended with pay on Oct. 6, then without pay on Thursday, but none has been asked to resign pending results of the investigation, Sheriff Gregory Tony said on Thursday.

Tony said the investigation began in 2021 because of an unrelated internal affairs investigation of an employee when they discovered loan fraud. The Public Corruption Unit received a tip from an employee that several employees may have committed PPP fraud, he said.

As they reviewed who among the BSO’s 5,600 employees had obtained PPP or EIDL loans, investigators realized the fraud could be more widespread. They then began to look into all BSO employees who applied for the loans, Tony said, narrowing it down to 100 people.

Lapointe said that of those, only one had been cleared. “In our investigation, and I can speak to this, we have at least found one person who was part of that vast initial [group] who appeared to actually be committing fraud. But upon our investigation the determination was made that this was in fact a legitimate business and that person at the end of the day, we were not going to prosecute that person.”

The case was handed over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate under its South Florida COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams, and was conducted jointly with the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the FBI Miami and the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

A few detention deputies had reached out to the union “to find out their options” last week after they were suspended, said Tony Marciano, the secretary/treasurer of the detention deputies union. He said the deputies had their uniforms, guns and badges taken away.  “The majority of detention deputies are hard-working, good people. People make mistakes,” he said.

Many of those facing scrutiny had submitted paperwork for the most money possible under the program, a source said.

PPP experts have said the maximum amount a self-employed person without any employees could receive is $20,833. But to get it, a person would have to earn a $100,000 gross income using a formula to cover 2½ months’ payroll.

The South Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office has been pursuing cases of pandemic relief fraud involving the program, which was run by the Small Business Administration, and high-profile convictions have included the daughter of Broward’s former mayor; a Sheriff’s Office detention technician who received a loan for a business that had no evidence of existing prior to 2021, records say; and a political consultant.

The point of the program was to “keep small businesses afloat,” Lapointe said. It also became a pot of “ready targets” for people looking to profit.

“The wheels of justice turn slowly, but turn they do,” he said.

The concern was “let’s get the money out there,” he said, before guardrails were in the place to prevent the economy from a crash.

That attracted “opportunistic individuals,” he said.

The indicted law enforcement deputies

• Stephanie Diane Smith, who still needs to hire an attorney and will be returning to federal court Oct. 26 to be arraigned. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Sources close to the investigation said Smith worked out of the BSO’s Pompano Beach district. The judge denied permission for her to leave the country to attend a wedding in Mexico. She was released on a $50,000 bond. According to the affidavit, Smith, 53, received two PPP loans on behalf of herself as a sole proprietor doing business as Children 1st Basketball Training and Agape Smith Vending “based upon materially false information about the borrower’s total gross business income for the year 2019, as well as a falsified Internal Revenue Service tax form submitted with her applications.” She was an employee since 1996, and was found guilty in past internal affairs investigations of being absent without leave, and a preventable vehicle accident.
• La’Keitha Lawhorn, a 16-year sheriff’s veteran who lives in Miami Lakes and works out of the West Park district. She faces 20 years in prison if convicted of three counts of wire fraud. State records show she created her business, Home Empire Enterprises, LLC, before the pandemic, in November 2019. She was approved for her federal loan in July 2020. The judge Thursday denied permission for her to leave the country to attend a wedding in Jamaica. She still needs an attorney and will be returning to court Oct. 24. She was released on a $50,000 bond. According to the indictment, Lawhorn, 41, applied for and received three PPP loans on behalf of herself and her company, Home Empire Enterprises. She was previously found guilty of one preventable vehicle crash.
• Jean Pierre-Toussaint, 35, from the Tamarac district, is charged with one count of wire fraud. The six-year veteran must return to court Oct. 26 for arraignment and still needs a lawyer. He was released on a $50,000 bond.
• Alexandra Acosta, 37, a member of the SWAT unit, was charged with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on Sept. 14. Acosta was previously investigated twice for preventable vehicle crashes with property damage, according to her personnel file. One of those resulted in a written reprimand and a driver awareness program.
• George Anthony III, 50, a sergeant in the West Park district, was charged by indictment with two counts of wire fraud for two PPP loans “using the same false information” on Sept. 14. Anthony had multiple internal affairs investigations over his time at BSO, and was found guilty of allegations including “discretion,” insubordination, disrespect to a supervisor, and preventable vehicle accidents, according to his personnel file.
• Rorie Brown, 42, applied for and received one PPP loan and submitted an application to the SBA for an EIDL loan “that contained materially false information, including, among other things, the borrower’s gross revenues, cost of goods sold, and number of employee” according to the indictment. He was charged on Sept. 14. Brown was previously found guilty three times of appearing to sleep on duty, according to his internal affairs history, as well as conduct unbecoming of an employee and “meeting BSO standards.”
• Derrick J. Nesbitt, 46, a Deerfield Beach district deputy, was charged on Oct. 5 by indictment with two counts of wire fraud for two PPP loans on behalf of himself as the sole proprietor of Designer Life, LLC. Nesbitt was previously disciplined for “promptness” and a preventable vehicle accident.
• On Oct. 5, Marcus Errol Powell, 37, of the Deerfield Beach district, was charged by indictment with one count of wire fraud. According to the indictment, Powell applied for and received one PPP loan on behalf of himself as the sole proprietor of Bonvivant Industries, LLC.  Powell was previously susepnded for 20 days without pay and on probation for one year after he was found guilty of allegations surrounding a “prisoner of the opposite sex,” according to his internal affairs history. He was also found guilty of breach of confidence, not following body-worn camera recording protocol, taking suitable action, not following reporting requirements and neglect of duty.

The indicted detention deputies

• Keith Dunkley, who voluntarily surrendered Thursday morning and was ordered to give up his passport. His defense attorney, Mike Dutko, requested a trial by jury and entered a not guilty plea. According to federal court records, in the summer of 2020, Dunkley and a co-conspirator submitted fraudulent applications for PPP loans and for other federal loans that were supposed to go to the company Global Group Alliances, LLC. He falsified IRS tax forms and lied about the company’s income and monthly payroll, according to the information filed by the U.S Attorney’s Office. Dunkley, 46, was released on a $50,000 bond. Dunkley worked for the Sheriff’s Office until September 2023, when he resigned for personal reasons, according to his personnel file.
• Katrina Brown, 46, was charged with three counts of wire fraud on Sept. 14. She is accused of applying for and receiving two PPP loans. Brown was previously suspended with pay in May of this year following charges related to “discretion” and “association,” according to her internal affairs history.
• Jewell Farrell Johnson, 46, is charged with two counts of wire fraud for receiving two PPP loans, one on behalf of herself as a sole proprietor and one on behalf of LRJ Enterprises of South Florida.
• Ke’Shondra Tameisha Davis, 37, was charged with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on Sept. 28. Davis was previously suspended without pay in February following charges of use of force and battery, according to her internal affairs history. Before that, she was found guilty of insubordination, disrespect to a coworker, and security of BSO equipment, among other allegations.
• Carolyn Denise Wade, 48, was charged with one count of wire fraud on Sept. 14. She refused to sign the notice of administrative investigative leave without pay on Thursday and the notice of administrative investigative leave with pay when she received it last week. Wade was previously found guilty twice of conduct unbecoming an employee, as well as reporting illness and insubordination.
• Alexis Monique Greene, 47, a deputy in the Juvenile Assessment Center, was charged with two counts of wire fraud for applying for and receiving two PPP loans. Greene was previously investigated for “obtaining property by false personation,” according to her internal affairs history, but the charges were not sustained. She was also suspended for one day for conduct unbecoming an employee and not following social media policy in 2016.
• Ritchie Noah Dubuisson, 25, who was charged with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on Sept. 28.
• Allen Dorvil, 33,  was charged by indictment with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on Sept. 28.
• Ancy Morancy, 33, a sergeant, was charged on Oct. 5 with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on behalf of himself as the sole proprietor of Moore Services Investment Group, LLC. Morancy was previously suspended for one day on charges of failure to render assistance and neglect of duty.

Largest take-down of law enforcement officers in decades?

On Thursday morning, deputies in tactical gear were stationed at the front of the BSO headquarters building on West Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, traffic cones blocking traffic.

This Sheriff’s Office crackdown is one of the largest in a single agency in South Florida since the Miami River Cops scandal.

In the late 1980s, nearly 10% of the Miami Police Department were arrested, fired, suspended, or reprimanded after a drug-related scandal, which included officers planning to fly small planes loaded with 400-500 kilogram shipments of cocaine from Colombia to either Mexico or the Bahamas, then to transport the drugs to Miami for nationwide distribution.

The nickname originated from an incident in which officers stormed a drug-laden ship that was docked on the Miami River, causing three smugglers to drown when they jumped overboard.

Staff writer Amy Beth Bennett contributed to this report.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash

Officials allege the fraud came from assistance offered by the Paycheck Protection Program, known as PPP, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, programs.

Charges were brought in 17 separate cases filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Many of the Sheriff’s Office deputies made their first appearance in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick M. Hunt.

All are charged with fraud in connection with the emergency federal loan programs. Eight of them work in law enforcement, including a sergeant. Nine of them work in the department of detention, including a sergeant.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe said at a Thursday news conference that the sworn law enforcement officers are accused of “diverting funds for their personal use,” and made clear it was not done in performance of their official duties. Collectively the 17 individuals took $495,171 from the loan programs.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to uncover the fraud schemes and hold anyone involved accountable — regardless of an individual’s role in the community,” he said. “No matter the amount, we will not allow limited federal tax dollars, which were intended to provide a lifeline to small businesses as they struggled to stay afloat during the economically devastating pandemic lockdown, to be swindled by those who were employed in a position of trust and cast aside their duty to uphold and abide by the law.  Our work is not done. This investigation is ongoing.”

The employees were initially suspended with pay on Oct. 6, then without pay on Thursday, but none has been asked to resign pending results of the investigation, Sheriff Gregory Tony said on Thursday.

Tony said the investigation began in 2021 because of an unrelated internal affairs investigation of an employee when they discovered loan fraud. The Public Corruption Unit received a tip from an employee that several employees may have committed PPP fraud, he said.

As they reviewed who among the BSO’s 5,600 employees had obtained PPP or EIDL loans, investigators realized the fraud could be more widespread. They then began to look into all BSO employees who applied for the loans, Tony said, narrowing it down to 100 people.

Lapointe said that of those, only one had been cleared. “In our investigation, and I can speak to this, we have at least found one person who was part of that vast initial [group] who appeared to actually be committing fraud. But upon our investigation the determination was made that this was in fact a legitimate business and that person at the end of the day, we were not going to prosecute that person.”

No details were shared about the status of the other cases, other than to say the investigation is ongoing.

The investigation was handed over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to pursue under its South Florida COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Team, and was conducted jointly with the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

A few detention deputies had reached out to the union “to find out their options” last week after they were suspended, said Tony Marciano, the secretary/treasurer of the detention deputies union. He said the deputies had their uniforms, guns and badges taken away.  “The majority of detention deputies are hard-working, good people. People make mistakes,” he said.

The South Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office has been pursuing cases of pandemic relief fraud involving the program, which was run by the Small Business Administration, and high-profile convictions have included the daughter of Broward’s former mayor; a Sheriff’s Office detention technician who received a loan for a business that had no evidence of existing prior to 2021, records say; a political consultant; and two former Miami police officers.

The point of the program was to “keep small businesses afloat,” Lapointe said. It also became a pot of “ready targets” for people looking to profit.

“The wheels of justice turn slowly, but turn they do,” he said.

The concern was “let’s get the money out there,” he said, before guardrails were in the place to prevent the economy from a crash.

That attracted “opportunistic individuals,” he said.

The indicted law enforcement deputies

• Stephanie Diane Smith, who still needs to hire an attorney, will be returning to federal court Oct. 26 to be arraigned. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.  Smith worked out of the BSO’s Pompano Beach district. The judge denied permission for her to leave the country to attend a wedding in Mexico. She was released on a $50,000 bond. According to the affidavit, Smith, 53, received two PPP loans on behalf of herself as a sole proprietor doing business as Children 1st Basketball Training and Agape Smith Vending “based upon materially false information about the borrower’s total gross business income for the year 2019, as well as a falsified Internal Revenue Service tax form submitted with her applications.” She was an employee since 1996, and was found guilty in past internal affairs investigations of being absent without leave, and a preventable vehicle accident.
• La’Keitha Lawhorn, a 16-year sheriff’s veteran, lives in Miami Lakes and works out of the West Park district. She faces 20 years in prison if convicted of three counts of wire fraud. State records show she created her business, Home Empire Enterprises, LLC, before the pandemic, in November 2019. She was approved for her federal loan in July 2020. The judge Thursday denied permission for her to leave the country to attend a wedding in Jamaica. She still needs an attorney and will be returning to court Oct. 24. She was released on a $50,000 bond. According to the indictment, Lawhorn, 41, applied for and received three PPP loans on behalf of herself and her company, Home Empire Enterprises. She was previously found guilty of one preventable vehicle crash.
• Jean Pierre-Toussaint, 35, from the Tamarac district, is charged with one count of wire fraud. The six-year veteran must return to court Oct. 26 for arraignment and still needs a lawyer. He was released on a $50,000 bond.
• Alexandra Acosta, 37, a member of the SWAT unit, was charged with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on Sept. 14. Acosta was previously investigated twice for preventable vehicle crashes with property damage, according to her personnel file. One of those resulted in a written reprimand and a driver awareness program.
• George Anthony III, 50, a sergeant in the West Park district, was charged by indictment with two counts of wire fraud for two PPP loans “using the same false information” on Sept. 14. Anthony had multiple internal affairs investigations over his time at BSO, and was found guilty of allegations including “discretion,” insubordination, disrespect to a supervisor, and preventable vehicle accidents, according to his personnel file.
• Rorie Brown, 42, applied for and received one PPP loan and submitted an application to the SBA for an EIDL loan “that contained materially false information, including, among other things, the borrower’s gross revenues, cost of goods sold, and number of employee” according to the indictment. He was charged on Sept. 14. Brown was previously found guilty three times of appearing to sleep on duty, according to his internal affairs history, as well as conduct unbecoming of an employee and “meeting BSO standards.”
• Derrick J. Nesbitt, 46, a Deerfield Beach district deputy, was charged on Oct. 5 by indictment with two counts of wire fraud for two PPP loans on behalf of himself as the sole proprietor of Designer Life, LLC. Nesbitt was previously disciplined for “promptness” and a preventable vehicle accident.
• On Oct. 5, Marcus Errol Powell, 37, of the Deerfield Beach district, was charged by indictment with one count of wire fraud. According to the indictment, Powell applied for and received one PPP loan on behalf of himself as the sole proprietor of Bonvivant Industries, LLC.  Powell was previously susepnded for 20 days without pay and on probation for one year after he was found guilty of allegations surrounding a “prisoner of the opposite sex,” according to his internal affairs history. He was also found guilty of breach of confidence, not following body-worn camera recording protocol, taking suitable action, not following reporting requirements and neglect of duty.

The indicted detention deputies

• Keith Dunkley, who voluntarily surrendered Thursday morning, was ordered to give up his passport. His defense attorney, Mike Dutko, requested a trial by jury and entered a not guilty plea. According to federal court records, in the summer of 2020, Dunkley and a co-conspirator submitted fraudulent applications for PPP loans and for other federal loans that were supposed to go to the company Global Group Alliances, LLC. He falsified IRS tax forms and lied about the company’s income and monthly payroll, according to the information filed by the U.S Attorney’s Office. Dunkley, 46, was released on a $50,000 bond. Dunkley worked for the Sheriff’s Office until September 2023, when he resigned for personal reasons, according to his personnel file.
• Katrina Brown, 46, was charged with three counts of wire fraud on Sept. 14. She is accused of applying for and receiving two PPP loans. Brown was previously suspended with pay in May of this year following charges related to “discretion” and “association,” according to her internal affairs history.
• Jewell Farrell Johnson, 46, is charged with two counts of wire fraud for receiving two PPP loans, one on behalf of herself as a sole proprietor and one on behalf of LRJ Enterprises of South Florida.
• Ke’Shondra Tameisha Davis, 37, was charged with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on Sept. 28. Davis was previously suspended without pay in February following charges of use of force and battery, according to her internal affairs history. Before that, she was found guilty of insubordination, disrespect to a coworker, and security of BSO equipment, among other allegations.
• Carolyn Denise Wade, 48, was charged with one count of wire fraud on Sept. 14. She refused to sign the notice of administrative investigative leave without pay on Thursday and the notice of administrative investigative leave with pay when she received it last week. Wade was previously found guilty twice of conduct unbecoming an employee, as well as reporting illness and insubordination.
• Alexis Monique Greene, 47, a deputy in the Juvenile Assessment Center, was charged with two counts of wire fraud for applying for and receiving two PPP loans. Greene was previously investigated for “obtaining property by false personation,” according to her internal affairs history, but the charges were not sustained. She was also suspended for one day for conduct unbecoming an employee and not following social media policy in 2016.
• Ritchie Noah Dubuisson, 25, who was charged with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on Sept. 28.
• Allen Dorvil, 33,  was charged by indictment with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on Sept. 28.
• Ancy Morancy, 33, a sergeant, was charged on Oct. 5 with one count of wire fraud for one PPP loan on behalf of himself as the sole proprietor of Moore Services Investment Group, LLC. Morancy was previously suspended for one day on charges of failure to render assistance and neglect of duty.

Largest take-down of law enforcement officers in decades?

This Sheriff’s Office crackdown is one of the largest in a single agency in South Florida since the Miami River Cops scandal.

In the late 1980s, nearly 10% of the Miami Police Department were arrested, fired, suspended, or reprimanded after a drug-related scandal, which included officers planning to fly small planes loaded with 400-500 kilogram shipments of cocaine from Colombia to either Mexico or the Bahamas, then to transport the drugs to Miami for nationwide distribution.

The nickname originated from an incident in which officers stormed a drug-laden ship that was docked on the Miami River, causing three smugglers to drown when they jumped overboard.

Staff writer Amy Beth Bennett contributed to this report.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash

Throughout the summer, both sides have dueled via court motions over access and inspection of classified documents that Trump allegedly mishandled and retained illegally after he left the White House in 2021.

In a filing Wednesday with the court of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who has scheduled a trial for May 20, 2024, attorneys Todd Blanche and Neil Bove of New York and Christopher Kise of Florida argued special counsel Jack Smith is maneuvering to bottle up the defense by scheduling “back-to-back” trials: The documents case in Fort Pierce and the election interference case in Washington, D.C.

The filing came the same day that Trump, who is seeking re-election as president, conducted a campaign rally  in West Palm Beach before 4,000 supporters.

The defense lawyers have repeatedly sought to delay the trials until after the election, saying the cases are too complex to try in such a short period of time and that President Joe Biden is using the Justice Department to derail his would-be opponent in 2024.

“The fact that they continue to contend that it is appropriate and not a violation of President Trump’s due process rights to push forward with back-to-back multi-month trials in different districts with wholly different facts — over a defendant’s objection — reveals a central truth about these cases,” the defense lawyers wrote. “The special counsel’s office is engaged in a reckless effort to try to obtain a conviction of President Trump prior to the 2024 election, no matter the cost.”

“The Court should not permit the use of the criminal justice process toward that end,” the lawyers added.

The lawyers repeated their earlier assertions that the government has not followed through on its obligations to make all the classified documents accessible and available for inspection by the defense. The special counsel’s prosecutors dispute that assertion, saying they have made secure facilities available to review the materials.

Hearings over potential conflicts

The defense filing also came before the two sides were scheduled to square off in Cannon’s court Thursday afternoon to discuss the possibilities of attorney-client conflicts that could impact the cases against co-defendants Waltine Nauta, Trump’s personal aide, and Carlos DeOlivera, the property manager at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.

Both men were charged alongside Trump with obstructing government efforts to recover classified documents hoarded at Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s Florida estate.

Smith’s team had asked for the so-called “Garcia hearings,” which are designed to ensure defendants know their rights when there is a potential for a conflict of interest when sharing the services of the same lawyers.

Although the two men are not represented by the same lawyers, their attorneys either previously represented or now represent others in the case who could become government witnesses at trial.

Smith, the special counsel, has said in two separate motions that Stanley Woodward Jr., a Washington lawyer who represents Nauta, and John Irving, another Washington attorney who represents DeOliveira, each represents three individuals the prosecutors intend to call at trial.

At Thursday’s hearing, Cannon scolded federal prosecutors as she abruptly postponed Nauta’s hearing. “I admonish the government for wasting the court’s time,” Cannon told prosecutors, saying they had presented arguments during Thursday’s hearing that had not been properly raised in earlier court filings.

She said she would set a hearing for a later date for Nauta, the Trump valet charged with conspiring with Trump to conceal classified documents from investigators.

Woodward, Nauta’s attorney, has also represented at least seven other witnesses in the probe, prosecutors say, including a Mar-a-Lago information technology worker who the Justice Department says was asked to delete the surveillance video. That individual retracted “prior false testimony” after switching lawyers, struck a cooperation deal and provided information that incriminated Trump and helped produce a new indictment in July against the former president, Nauta and De Oliveira, prosecutors have said.

During Thursday’s hearing, prosecutor David Harbach, a member of Smith’s team, said that worker would be called as a government witness and questioned — and also cross-examined — about his change in testimony. He said that could create a conflict for Woodward, who as the worker’s former lawyer would presumably would be privy to the confidences of his one-time client.

Woodward has denied any conflict and said the prosecutors had no way of knowing what he knows or doesn’t know about what his client communicated to him.

During a hearing earlier Thursday, De Oliveira said during questioning from Cannon that he understood the concerns arising from his lawyer’s former representation of three government witnesses. Nonetheless, he wanted to keep his attorney, John Irving. Cannon ruled that he could.

Irving told the judge he did not foresee a conflict, saying there was nothing the witnesses — who are now represented by a new lawyer — could reveal that is not already known by the government or that would be problematic for De Oliveira.

De Oliveira is accused of lying to investigators when he claimed — falsely, prosecutors say — he hadn’t even seen boxes moved into Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House. They say he conspired with Trump and Nauta to try to delete surveillance footage from the property to prevent it from being turned over to the grand jury. De Oliveira has pleaded not guilty.

Associated Press writersTerry Spencer and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

But any confiscation of properties such as mansions, golf courses, hotels and office buildings, wherever they may be, is likely to be a long time coming, according to legal observers. They note that the penalty phase of the case, which started Oct. 2 as a bench trial before New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, will last well into December. And then, any ruling against Trump would be bound to be appealed all the way to the Court of Appeals, the top level of the state’s court system.

If James prevails and she ultimately decides to come to Florida to pursue trophy properties such as the venerable Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, the Trump National Doral Miami golf courses in Miami-Dade County or the Trump National Golf Club Jupiter, she would have to ask a Florida court to recognize a civil judgment obtained from Engoron.

James, in her lawsuit, said she is seeking “the awarding and disgorgement of all financial benefits” obtained by Trump, his two sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and various companies “from their fraudulent scheme.”

But it’s too early to be contemplating the enforcement of a New York judgment in a Florida court, lawyers say, noting that Engoron’s finding that Trump committed fraud is on appeal. During personal appearances at trial in New York last week, the former president angrily denied the findings and openly and repeatedly denounced both the judge and James.

“I think it’s too early to tell,” said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice with the Jones Walker firm in Miami. “We have to see what the rest of the trial brings.”

“They’ve appealed his order,” he added. “It’s final, but it’s not final. I don’t think anyone has to worry about having their tee times canceled.”

All fair game?

Still, any properties owned by the Trump empire are potential confiscation targets to help satisfy any financial judgment James’ office might win on New York State’s behalf if legal events fall in her favor as they have thus far. experts say.

“Every one of the properties listed is a candidate for seizure,” said Robert Jarvis, professor of law at the Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University in Davie.

“Once (the New York judgment) is turned into a Florida judgment she can enforce her judgment against any property Trump has in Florida,” he said.

The Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgment Act is what allows holders of civil court judgments from other states to collect what they are owed.

“It can get very complicated depending on who the judgments are against and how the properties are held,” said James D. Silver, a partner at the law firm of Kelley Kronenberg who specializes in complex commercial litigation, bankruptcies and receiverships.

If a judgment is being appealed, he said, the person or entity who has been ordered to pay up and wants to delay payment until the appeal is over could be required by the court to put up a “supersedeas bond” to ultimately ensure payment.

It’s not as if James would lack choices in identifying properties to seize. After a three-year investigation, she alleged Trump “engaged in numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” over multiple years. In a lengthy summary, the suit alleges that Trump overstated the value of nearly two dozen commercial properties in order to secure lower interest rates on loans and lower premium payments for insurance.

Properties spotlighted in the suit included major Trump holdings in New York City and in the northern suburb of Westchester County. The Florida properties are also included, as well as 10 golf courses around the United States and in Scotland.

Besides the golf courses in Doral and Jupiter, Trump operates the Trump International Golf Club outside of West Palm Beach, a favorite retreat when he’s in town, but the land it occupies is leased from the county.  .

In her lawsuit, James noted there are ”500 separate entities that collectively do business” under the Trump Organization umbrella. Ivanka Trump was dropped from the case due to the statute of limitations.

“She is not limited to the properties she has listed,” Jarvis said of James. “Let’s say Trump has a hidden interest in a hotel in Aruba she does not know about. It does not mean she cannot get it if she hasn’t discovered it.”

But of all of the properties listed, the Florida holdings have drawn an abnormal amount of media attention as the courtroom testimony droned on.

Mar-a-Lago

The Palm Beach estate worth at least tens of millions (or more than a billion?), became the focal point of courthouse and social media dueling over its value last week when Trump himself appeared in court.

Between 2011 and 2021, according to court papers, the property has been valued for tax purposes at between $18 million and $27.6 million, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. In his order, Engoron relied on those figures as the “market value.”

In a 35-page order finding fraud on the part of Trump, the judge ridiculed estimates given by longtime Palm Beach real estate broker Lawrence Moens, who asserted in an affidavit as an expert defense witness that the estate’s value could exceed $1.5 billion.

The judge pointed to a deed Trump signed nearly 30 years ago that gave him the right to operate Mar-a-Lago as a club, but negated his ability to use it as a residence or to build additional homes there. The revised status led to the lower valuations by the property appraiser’s office, a factor that was not lost on the judge.

“In defendants’ world: rent-regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party’s lies,” the judge wrote in his order.

Last Thursday, U.S. Rep, Jarad Moscowitz, whose congressional district includes parts of Palm Beach County, stepped into fray by writing a letter to property appraiser Dorothy Jacks, urging that she re-appraise the property to reflect higher numbers.

“Mar-a-Lago was listed as worth $490 million in financial documents given to banks,” the congressman wrote. “If the property value of Mar-a-Lago is so much higher than it was appraised, will you be amending the property value in line with the Trump family’s belief that the property is worth well over a billion dollars?”

“I just sent this letter today, so I have not yet received any correspondence from the Palm Beach County Appraiser’s Office,” Moscowitz said in an email sent to the South Florida Sun Sentinel via his press secretary.

Asked if he expects any local or Florida state law enforcement agencies to follow in the investigative footsteps of the New York attorney general, he replied:  “I will leave it up to county officials to decide whether or not they have been denied tax revenues or if any legal actions need to be taken. The purpose of my letter was simply to question the inconsistency between Trump’s allegations and the amount of property taxes he has been paying.”

Prayers in Doral

Some Trump supporters hope the power of prayer will overcome the power of the courts and state and federal law enforcement. Besides the potential dismantling of Trump’s New York businesses through a court-ordered revocation of their  certificates allowing them to  operate in the state, the former president faces federal and state indictments in Washington and Georgia for alleged interference in the 2020 election, and a federal indictment alleging the mishandling of classified government documents in Florida.

Trump National Miami in Doral, the site of countless popular professional golf tournaments over the decades, will become the scene of a prayer conclave for Trump next Thursday.

The group “Pastors for Trump” have lined up speakers including retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, (pardoned by Trump after pleading guilty in the Russia election interference probe conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller), political adviser Roger Stone and pastor/entrepreneur Jackson Lahmeyer of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“Together, we will unite in prayer, seeking a successful legal outcome for President Trump amidst the challenges he faces,” said an emailed invitation in circulation last week from the pastor group. .

“Despite these hurdles, we have thrilling news to report: President Trump is surging in the polls and is expected to make a triumphant return in 2024,” the message said. “Our collective efforts can play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our great nation. We encourage you to stand with us in prayer and take action to safeguard America’s future.”

But even then, fresh legal initiatives against Trump may not be over. James, according to her lawsuit, referred her findings to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.