Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Can You Restore Your Voting Rights After A Felony Conviction In Florida?
When a judge hands down your sentence, you might begin counting the days until you can do all the things you used to enjoy, and which you used to take for granted. If your sentence involves prison, you look forward to your release, when you can sit at your family’s dinner table again. If… Read More »
Xylazine, The Non-Opioid That Just Made The Opioid Epidemic Even Scarier
In Florida, you can get in big trouble for selling a small quantity of drugs, but you can get into much bigger trouble if the person who bought the drugs dies from an overdose as a result of consuming them. Most buyers of street drugs are not sure what they are buying, and street-level… Read More »
Money Laundering In Florida: Beyond The Stereotypes
We all know the stereotypes about money laundering. Maybe you have eaten dinner in a restaurant that has been open for years in a part of town where the rent must be sky high and wondered how it can possibly stay open unless it is a front for an illegal business. Perhaps, after binge-watching… Read More »
Florida Criminal Mischief Laws
The word “mischief” sometimes carries the connotation of harmless fun, such as the exchange of joke gifts or piling up pennies from floor to ceiling outside the dorm room of the student who usually sleeps in late enough for his neighbors to be able to pull off such a stunt. In the context of… Read More »
Receiving Stolen Property In Florida
Everything is so expensive these days that it only makes sense to jump at the opportunity to buy something when you find it for sale at an affordable price. Be careful when someone tries to sell you something at rock bottom prices, though. When something seems too good to be true, it probably is,… Read More »
When Can The Court Order You To Forfeit Assets?
Every year at tax time, people love to complain about the government taking their hard-earned money. With the exception of tax obligations, all the money you earn or inherit and all the property you acquire is yours to keep, as long as you acquired it legally. This has probably never happened to you, unless… Read More »
Sarasota Man Sentenced For $500K COVID-19 Benefit Fraud, USAO Says
SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) – A Sarasota man was sentenced to time in federal prison after the U.S. Attorney’s Office said he “engaged in a scheme to defraud several federal and state programs by obtaining COVID-19 related benefits.” Randy Xavier Jones, 34, will spend five years and one month in federal prison for wire fraud… Read More »
It Is Easier For A Registered Florida Sex Offender To Go On A Caribbean Cruise Than To Visit A Local Park And Other Little-Known Facts
When a judge reads out your sentence after you have pleaded guilty to a crime or been convicted at trial, the first thing most people do is to start counting the days, hours, and minutes until their sentence can be over and they can put this unpleasant experience behind them. Anyone who has been… Read More »
Instagram Is Florida’s Biggest Snitch
On Instagram, everyone is richer, cooler, and better looking than they are in real life. Sometimes, though, Instagram and other social media sites inadvertently show you sides of people that they do not want you to see, especially if you are a law enforcement officer. If you have an active social media account and… Read More »
Frequently Asked Questions About DUI In Florida
Some illegal actions are more socially acceptable than others; almost everyone has temporarily parked their car on someone else’s private property without permission, for example, even though the law considers this a no-no, and some of us have the parking tickets to prove it. Likewise, in many parts of Florida, cannabis possession exists in… Read More »