GUILTY PLEA SET FOR CANADIAN MAN IN FLORIDA SEX TOURIST CASE
A Canadian man is scheduled to plead guilty to charges he traveled to Florida to have sex with someone investigators say he believed was an underage boy. A Miami federal judge set the plea change Monday afternoon for 47-year-old Rene Roberge of Sherbrooke, Quebec, who had previously pleaded not guilty. Roberge’s lawyer has said a plea deal was in the works.
FLORIDA HOSPITAL PARENT COMPANY TO PAY $5.4 MILLION IN ONCOLOGIST FALSE CLAIMS CASE
The parent company of Florida Hospital in central Florida has agreed to pay $5.4 million to resolve a false claims case involving radiation oncologists. The U.S. Justice Department announced the settlement on Thursday with Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation. Authorities say the hospital provided radiation services to Medicare patients with cancer without supervision from an oncologist or a similarly-qualified person in violation of the False Claims Act.
ST. PETERSBURG POLICE DOG BITEN BY RATTLESNAKE DURING PURSUIT
A St. Petersburg police pursuit of a suspect was cut short when a police dog was bitten by a rattlesnake. St. Petersburg Police say Officer Joseph Lehmann and his dog, Ajax, were searching for a suspect in a wooded area Thursday when the snake bit Ajax. Lehmann shot the snake. Ajax was stabilized after receiving antivenin treatment.
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT ORDERS NEW SENTENCES IN JUVENILE CASES
A 33-year-old woman serving life without parole for the murder of a Panama City-area cab driver when she was 15 will get a new sentence under a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday. The Florida high court is also giving anyone who received life sentences for crimes committed as juveniles two years to seek new sentences, which could affect about 200 people.
FLORIDA PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY WILL BE HELD MARCH 15, 2016
Florida’s presidential primary will be held March 15 next year. Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Thursday setting the primary date, which will give Republicans the option of making the election a winner-take-all contest. The law previously had the primary date set for March 1.
