1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Judge reassigned after he orders defendant…

Judiciary

Judge reassigned after he orders defendant to wear condom and jokes ‘probation’s gonna check’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 30, 2024, 3:51 pm CDT

A Florida judge has been reassigned to civil court after he told a defendant to always wear a condom and repeated gay double entendres from a 1990s comedy show in a different case.

Broward County, Florida, Circuit Judge Gary Farmer’s Aug. 15 comments were caught on tape, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports in a story republished by Yahoo News.

Florida Politics followed with a story noted by the Florida Bar’s Daily News Summary.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel quoted Farmer’s remarks in three incidents.

Farmer made the condom remark after hearing that a car-theft defendant was expecting three children from three different mothers, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“You’ve been busy,” Farmer said. “You were just shooting all over the place. … I’m going to order that you wear a condom at all times. It’s for your own good. Probation’s gonna check. No, I’m kidding.”

Farmer later told the defendant that he is assigning a new defense lawyer.

“Don’t get her pregnant,” he said.

In another case, Farmer reacted to a defense lawyer’s reference to actor Marlon Wayans from the 1990s sketch comedy show In Living Color, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Farmer repeated gay double entendres, referencing a football sketch.

“Two snaps up and a sweater,” Farmer said. “He likes it when the Oilers play the Packers. He used to be a tight end, and now he’s a wide receiver.”

In a third incident on the same day, Farmer responded to a defendant who was shouting expletives. Farmer warned the defendant about being held in contempt and then appeared to be responding to efforts to remove the defendant.

“What the f- – -,” Farmer said, apparently stopping before using the full F-word.

Farmer was reassigned because of “certain statements” he made, according to a statement by court administrators for the 17th Judicial Circuit in Florida, where Farmer is a judge. The statement said Farmer “admitted transgressions with the [Florida Supreme Court’s] Code of Judicial Conduct” in a meeting with the chief judge, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Farmer did not immediately respond to an ABA Journal message seeking comment left with his office.

Before his election to the bench, Farmer was the Democratic leader in the Florida Senate before he was ousted from the position by party members, according to Florida Politics and the South Florida Sun Sentinel

1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Court-appointed lawyers are victims of stolen…

Criminal Justice

Court-appointed lawyers are victims of stolen check schemes, prosecutors say; 6 people charged

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 8, 2024, 12:28 pm CST

Six people have been charged with depositing stolen checks intended to pay court-appointed lawyers representing indigent defendants in federal cases in New York.

The charges are part of an ongoing investigation into “the widespread theft and depositing of checks” issued to people involved in the criminal justice system, according to a Feb. 7 press release by U.S. Attorney Breon Peace of the Eastern District of New York.

The six defendants are charged in two separate indictments unsealed in Brooklyn, New York City, on Wednesday.

Reuters and Law360 have coverage.

In one case, three defendants were charged with bank fraud and bank fraud conspiracy in connection with the deposit of a $125,386 check issued to a lawyer with offices in Brooklyn, New York City. One of the defendants, Ada Tavarez, is also charged with one count of aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors allege that Tavarez deposited the check into a fraudulent bank account that she created in the attorney’s name using a fake driver’s license and Social Security card, according to the press release and indictment. The signature on the check was forged, according to prosecutors.

A second defendant, Markel Washington, allegedly accessed the account online and called the bank seeking a release of funds when the check was placed on hold. His iCloud account also had photos of Tavarez that were used on the fraudulent driver’s license, the indictment said.

A third defendant, Tyquan Robinson, is accused of accessing an email account in the attorney’s name that was used to open the bank account. The recovery phone number for the account was Robinson’s, prosecutors alleged. His iCloud account also had a note containing personal data for the attorney, prosecutors said.

Tavarez, 58, lives in the Bronx, New York City; Robinson, 29, lives in East Orange, New Jersey; and Washington, 28, lives in the Bronx, New York City.

In a second case, three defendants are accused of participating in a scheme to cash checks issued to third parties. One stolen check was issued to a lawyer for indigent defendants in the amount of $14,856. The check was deposited into an account opened by one of the defendants with a fake endorsement signing it over to him.

The defendants are accused of withdrawing some of the money from ATMs, using it for purchases at stores and restaurants, and using it to buy airline tickets.

One of the defendants was not identified because he wasn’t yet arrested. The others are Nicholas Barton, 27, of Brooklyn, New York City; and Richard Reid, 26, of New York City. They are charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit those crimes.