PALM BEACH GARDENS - It wasn't the kind of discovery police expected to make in the upscale Mirasol neighborhood: $300,000 cash and drugs in a closet, and a man who said he dealt the drugs for a Mexican ring that threatened to kill his family if he turned on them. But the March discovery by Palm Beach Gardens police on routine warrant sweeps ended with the conviction Thursday of Andres Zarco Pineda, 30, who pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine. [continues 526 words]
Her newborn's eyes still shut, his skin still purple, Julie Wolfcale motions to a nurse in Indian River Memorial Hospital's maternity wing. "I want to have him with me as long as I can," she says. "I got my 48 hours with him, and I want them all." She lifts the 4-hour-old boy to her face and says, "I'm thinking Sam. . It'll be my name for him. I'm sure they'll change it." His adoptive parents will drive in from Maryland this same October day. [continues 2457 words]
As family members say goodbye to Jose Luis Escobedo, his wife, Yessica, and their two toddler boys, Luis Damian and Luis Julian, in Brownsville, Texas, Monday, authorities will keep a close watch at the funeral for Escobedo's younger brother. Jose Manuel Escobedo was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 2003. Labeled an escapee by the federal Bureau of Prisons, he disappeared on his way to a work camp seven months ago. The younger brother arrived at Oakdale Correctional Complex in Louisiana, a minimum security prison, in March 2005. Rolando Jimenez, an executive assistant at the facility, said Escobedo had no discipline problems and took public transportation to transfer to a work camp less than a year after arriving at Oakdale. But he never reported to the work camp. [continues 408 words]
PORT ST. LUCIE - Two months, 51 alleged marijuana grow houses and hundreds of overtime hours later, police investigators in Florida's safest city boast a new expertise. When Port St. Lucie police began busting the grow houses in early May, they followed mail and other documents from house to house. But now they can spot growing operations from the street, officials said. And their experience has brought statewide attention. Police Chief John Skinner said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement recently contacted him, asking whether Port St. Lucie investigators could make a presentation to FDLE officials in Tallahassee. [continues 293 words]
PORT ST. LUCIE - The largest marijuana grow-house operation in the city's history has taken more prisoners than the arrest reports tell. Three demure women who normally keep records have been digging up 6- foot-tall pot plants and lugging them out to dry in a secret location at 2 a.m. Crime-scene investigator's computer screensaver flashes between pictures of his 5-month-old daughter and marijuana leaves. And one day last week anyone visiting the police department was greeted by smiling retiree volunteers at the front desk and the overwhelming smell of raw marijuana wafting through the air. [continues 348 words]
