STUART — All 139 charges filed against an attorney’s legal assistant arrested in June 2008 on suspicion of stealing from her boss were dropped Monday, according to the Martin County Clerk of Court Web site.

Port St. Lucie resident Wandalyn Jackson of Port St. Lucie was arrested by Stuart Police Department detectives on suspicion of writing herself more than 50 checks totaling more than $15,000 from her employer’s probate law firm in Stuart. The case was scheduled to go to trial Monday.

The 139 counts against Jackson were a combination of charges of grand theft, petit theft, forgery and uttering, or using, a forged document.

FORT PIERCE — Two co-defendants arrested in the Kobie Gary marijuana growing case were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.

David Jeffrey Grant of Jensen Beach was sentenced to five years in prison followed by four years’ supervised release, and Steven Shepherd of Hobe Sound was sentenced to 15 months in prison followed by three years’ supervised release, both after pleading guilty to similar charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 100 or more marijuana plants.

Grant was arrested in December after authorities matched his fingerprints to light tubes found in a Hobe Sound house that were part of a lighting system used to grow pot plants. Shepherd and Gary, 30, the son of prominent Stuart attorney Willie Gary, were arrested Oct. 27 at the same house.

Gary pleaded guilty in January to a similar charge of conspiracy to grow and distribute marijuana as part of a deal in which federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss two charges related to maintaining a place to cultivate, possess and distribute more than 100 pot plants.

He faces at least five years in prison when he’s sentenced April 7 in Miami by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, who sentenced Grant and Shepherd.

Gary’s attorney, Richard Kibbey has filed paperwork claiming his client was singled out for prosecution and has said he’ll ask for a “safety valve exception” that would allow a shorter prison term by showing Gary wasn’t a ringleader or used guns in the offenses.

Updated March 4, 2010, 2:15pm

By Melissa E. Holsman

STUART — A judge this week ordered a Stuart man arrested in July for possessing 20,000 pounds of fireworks inside his garage to spend 25 years behind bars for trafficking in morphine.

James Buhs, 46. a convicted felon with a history that includes possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a machine gun, was arrested at his East Ocean Boulevard home in Stuart as state and federal authorities seized about $100,000 in illegal fireworks, explosive materials and several weapons.

Members of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, Tactical Unit, SWAT Team, Bomb Disposal Team and Special Investigations Section served a search warrant at the address.

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STUART — A judge Tuesday ruled that women in court papers known as “Jane Does” who have accused famed attorney Willie Gary of sexual misconduct will be allowed to be deposed as part of the sexual battery lawsuit filed against him by a former secretary.

Attorneys representing Jillian Nedd, 28, a former employee of Gary’s law firm who in her lawsuit accuses him of raping her at a Stuart hotel in 2007, claimed that years before that incident other women were similar victims of Gary’s sexual conduct, with some signing confidential settlement agreements.

That’s the case with Jane Doe No. 5, argued Nedd’s Stuart attorneys Linda Capobianco and Jerome Stone, who said she entered into a confidential agreement with Gary about 11 years ago.

Capobianco in court said they tried to depose Jane Doe No. 5, but when they inquired into the basis of her settlement, she refused to comply, citing a confidential agreement she entered into with Gary and his firm under the direction of Gary’s law partner, Lorenzo Williams.

“It’s our understanding she had an incident similar to the plaintiff’s incident,” Capobianco said.

She said they want to depose Jane Doe No. 5, and several other Jane Does and one John Doe “to be able to establish that … the firm had knowledge of the prior instances.”

“And as to the defendant Gary,” Capobianco said, “to establish his modus operandi (and) common plan or scheme.”

Attorney Craig Hudson, who represents Gary’s firm — Gary, Williams, Finney, Lewis, Watson and Speranado — strongly objected to the move.

He argued the events involving Jane Doe No. 5 occurred 11 years ago, making her information too “remote” to be relevant.

“The purpose is to show propensity and to show bad acts, which is specifically excluded under the law,” Hudson argued.

“They want this because they figure this will make Mr. Gary look bad and make the firm look bad,” he continued, “so because there is a confidential settlement agreement, I think the court should take a step back and say ‘wait a second, let’s take a hard look at the admissibility issue before we violate a confidential settlement.’”

Martin Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger, though, said based on her review of Jane Doe No. 5’s confidential settlement, she determined Nedd’s lawyers could depose the women and others like her, but she forbid any inquiry into specific terms of any agreements, including any cash amounts paid by Gary or the firm.

“But other than that,” Metzger ruled, “I do find that the testimony sought from Jane Doe No. 5 is potentially relevant; it’s reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence in this case, so I am going to allow it.”

MARTIN COUNTY — An emergency room physician will face a misdemeanor charge in a boating accident that crippled a Palm Beach Gardens man, officials announced Thursday.

The State Attorney’s Office charged Roger M. Nicosia, 56, of Stuart, with violating navigational rules following a yearlong investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The offshore boating accident happened Jan. 9, 2009, about 4 1/2 miles northeast of the St. Lucie Inlet. Robert Murphy Jr. of Palm Beach Gardens was diving when he was struck. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — A Miami family that used fake documents to obtain nearly $6 million in mortgage loans used to buy homes converted into marijuana grow farms were ordered Thursday to serve more than five years in federal prison.

The sophisticated scheme, operated during the height of the housing boom, included buying 18 homes in St. Lucie, Miami-Dade, Lee and Columbia counties that were used to cultivate more than 1,000 pot plants worth about $1.3 million, federal records show. (more…)

VERO BEACH — If the owner of Vero Fashion Outlets mall doesn’t answer a $32.15-million mortgage foreclosure lawsuit by Sept. 16, it could lose the right to defend itself in the case, according to attorneys.

If so, a judge could order the outdoor mall at Interstate 95 and State Road 60 — the first large mall in the county — to be sold.

“We plan to stay open during the foreclosure and after,” said West Palm Beach attorney Kenneth Curtin, who represents the mortgage holder, LNV Corp., of Nevada. “The mall will stay the same as it is now, with tenants.” (more…)

VERO BEACH — A Nevada corporation that holds the mortgage for Vero Fashion Outlets is seeking to foreclose on the mall, according to civil lawsuit filed in Indian River Circuit Court.

LNV Corp. of Nevada is seeking $32.15 million, including principal and interest, because the mall defaulted on payments, according to the lawsuit.

“Vero (Fashion Outlets) has defaulted,” wrote attorney Kenneth Curtin, of West Palm Beach, in a lawsuit filed Aug. 26. It is assigned to Circuit Judge Paul Kanarek. No action has been taken in the civil lawsuit and the mall’s owners have not responded to the allegations. Curtin did not return calls Wednesday.
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Alex Barton with his mother, Melissa Barton

A mother whose autistic son was voted out of kindergarten in St. Lucie County last year is planning a press conference this afternoon to announce the filing of a federal lawsuit against the school district, several school officials and the local teacher’s union.

The complaint submitted in federal court alleges 5-year-old Alex Barton suffered irreparable damage when his teacher Wendy Portillo “orchestrated a ‘Survivor-style’ vote” asking the boy’s classmates whether or not he should be allowed to return to the class after he’d been repeatedly disruptive. The class voted him out 14-2.

Alex has since been diagnosed with a form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome.

Wendy Portillo answers questions during an administrative hearing.

The school board initially suspended Portillo one year and stripped her tenure, but in June they restored her tenue and said she will be allowed to return to the classroom in November.

St. Lucie County Schools spokeswoman Janice Karst this afternoon said the district does not comment on active livitgation.

Barton this morning declined to discuss the specifics of the lawsuit, reserving comment for the press conference scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at her attorney Paul Sopp’s office in West Palm Beach.

She did say that her son now attends a private school in Palm Beach County through a scholarship.

“He’s doing so well,” she said. “His teacher’s a sweetheart.”

Sopp said that that while Barton is seeking monetary damages from the suit, a victory in the case would help other students.

“What we’re trying to do is ensure that no one in the St. Lucie County school district is denied education based upon their disability,” Sopp said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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A six-member jury took only two hours to find Indian River County Administrator Joe Baird not guilty of DUI late Wednesday afternoon.

Baird, noticeably jubilant, sat with his attorney Bobby Guttridge as the court clerk read the verdict at 3:57 p.m. Baird then hugged his girlfriend and deferred comments to his attorney, before leaving the courthouse. (more…)