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Lafave Has Eyes On Writing, TV

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Debra Lafave wipes her forehead as she walks from the Hillsborough County Courthouse after a probation violation hearing Dec. 18.2007 in Tampa.

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By THOMAS W. KRAUSE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 23, 2007

Updated: 12/22/2007 11:14 pm

TAMPA - The young blonde who once worked as a waitress in a Sun City Center restaurant and now sweeps floors in her mother's Ruskin barber shop has aspirations for television stardom and is certain she could write a best-selling book.

But the woman with goals of success beyond her hourly wages is not your typical youthful daydreamer - she is a registered sex offender who hopes her stint on house arrest will end soon.

Debra Lafave, 27, has the looks and the name recognition that might land her that coveted TV gig. She has plenty of subject matter for a book.

Standing in her way, however, are at least two Florida laws intended to prevent convicted criminals from making money off their crimes. Additionally, Lafave signed a plea agreement that includes a provision prohibiting her from making money off any "celebrity, fame, infamy or notoriety" stemming from the case.

Legal experts are torn on whether the laws and provision in the plea agreement would withstand scrutiny if Lafave mounted a challenge.

Lafave's lawyer, John Fitzgibbons, said he didn't want to say much on the topic. Lafave is defending an allegation that she violated provisions of her house arrest by having a private conversation with a 17-year-old girl. The two used to work together at Danny Boy's Restaurant. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 10.

If she is cleared of the allegation, Fitzgibbons has said, he will petition a judge to commute Lafave's last year of house arrest to probation.

"So she can explore other job opportunities rather than the job she has currently working for her mother," he said.

He declined to say what type of job she would seek.

Celebrity Sex Offender

In 2004, while working as an English teacher at Greco Middle School, Lafave began to flirt with a 14-year-old student. As the school year ended, prosecutors contended, she stayed in contact with the boy and had sex with him in her Riverview town house and her portable classroom at the school.

At the end of 2005, after much media coverage, the boy's mother agreed to allow Lafave to enter a deal with prosecutors that did not include prison. She said she did not want her son to have to testify.

Lafave pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years of house arrest followed by seven years of probation.

After the deal was approved, Lafave held a news conference where she blamed her crime on bipolar disorder. She said she hoped to write a book about the disease so more people could understand that it is real.

She also said she hoped to take Web-based journalism classes so someday she could get an on-air job as a television journalist.

When Lafave first announced her ambitious plans for the future, her attorney said any book would be about the disease, not her crime, so it should be allowed by the courts. An on-air journalism job, Fitzgibbons said at the time, would not amount to her profiting from her crime.

Last week, Fitzgibbons declined to elaborate on Lafave's plans.

"I have not talked to her lately about that," he said. "Until her house arrest status and violation status are resolved, we are not really looking much past today."

Although people have called Fitzgibbons with "job inquiries" for Lafave, he said he would not return any of those calls as long as Lafave remains on house arrest.

Laws Prevent Crime Profits

In 1976 and 1977, residents of New York City were terrorized by David Berkowitz's "Son of Sam" killing spree. Two years later, the imprisoned Berkowitz announced that he wanted to write a book.

This spurred the New York Legislature to enact a law where criminals would forfeit any profits from books and movie deals that have to do with their crimes.

Since that law was put into effect, 39 states, including Florida, have enacted similar laws.

In 1991, however, Simon & Schuster entered a book deal with former mobster Henry Hill. Although New York officials tried to block publication using the Son-of-Sam law, the U.S. Supreme Court said the publishing house had a constitutional right to sell the book. The court said laws prohibiting convicts from telling their stories would have stifled such important books as "The Autobiography of Malcolm X."

Hill's book was published and became the basis for the movie "Goodfellas."

This year, a graduate student at the University of Florida wrote a master's thesis that analyzed the Son-of-Sam laws and other legal means of preventing criminals from making profits. Many of these laws, Christina Locke points out, are unenforceable.

Despite the 1991 Supreme Court ruling, Locke wrote, 28 states kept Son-of-Sam laws. Florida's, she wrote, includes much of the language that the Supreme Court said is invalid.

Still, Locke said, Florida has found other ways to prevent convicted criminals from turning their crimes into cash.

In 1994, the Legislature passed the Victim Compensation Act. According to the law, the state can collect money from a convicted criminal to recover the cost of investigation, prosecution and incarceration. Victims and their family also can seek to get a share for their own damages.

This law, Locke says, withstood challenges when University of Florida serial killer Danny Rolling tried to sell autographs and publish a book of his artwork from prison.

Lafave Loopholes

Charles Rose, a criminal law professor at Stetson University College of Law, said he agrees with Locke that Florida's version of the Son-of-Sam law would not stand up to legal scrutiny.

The Victim's Compensation Act, he said, also might be inadequate in preventing Lafave from profiting off her crime, Rose said.

For the victim to receive money, his family would have to testify about damages Lafave caused. If the family did not want the teen to testify at a criminal trial, Rose said, they probably won't want him to testify at a civil hearing.

The state might not be any more successful in winning money from Lafave, he said.

Typically, this law prevents people who are serving long prison terms from making money. If inmates try, the state can file liens against them, saying they owe the state for food and lodging. Rose said he has never heard of the state trying to recover money from someone serving probation.

Lafave, however, has one more roadblock preventing her from using her background to jump-start a career. The plea deal she signed with prosecutors says she can't make any money, directly or indirectly, based on notoriety she gained from her crime.

Assistant State Attorney Mike Sinacore, who prosecuted Lafave, said he knows of no other Hillsborough County agreement with similar language.

"We didn't think it would be appropriate for her to benefit from her criminal actions," Sinacore said.

Asked if the wording would prevent Lafave from an on-air television career or prevent her from writing a book, Sinacore said he would not discuss hypotheticals.

"If the issue arises," he said, "we'll deal with it."

Rose said the specific content in any book and the subject matter discussed on television would become important.

Lafave has said her book would focus on bipolar disorder, not her crime. If she writes about the large number of women, nationally, who have had similar problems, she might skate under the plea agreement provision, Rose said.

If the book comes out salacious, on the other hand, providing details of her sexual encounters with the teenager, she's going to run into problems, Rose said.

Similarly, Rose said, if Lafave got an on-air television job, she could maintain that the work did not stem from her notoriety.

"You could argue that she gets that job because of her personality, her on-air demeanor and her appearance," he said. "If they didn't say they hired her for who she is, I don't think the state can prevent her from taking the job."

Still, if her television gig focused on discussions of her crime, or if it were sexual in nature, she might have a problem, Rose said.

Once Lafave's probation is complete, Rose said, the state will have almost no say in her career choices. She remains on probation until 2015.

Until then, just because she might get away with skirting the rules does not mean she should try, Rose said. There is no reason to taunt authorities.

"If a probation officer really begins to take her life apart, she will not be able to withstand it," he said. "She'd be in prison. That's not just her; that's anybody."

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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