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Barry? We All Know You Didn't Do It

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Daniel Ruth

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 29, 2008

To understand how this brouhaha might have begun, you have to appreciate that criminals, especially bad guys doing time in jail, can be some very, very weird people. Yes, it's incredible, but true.

As well, you also have to know that when it comes to being attracted to cameras and microphones, local mouthpieces Barry Cohen and Johnny Trevena are the "Thelma and Louise" of self-promotion.

And that brings us to a conference room as Cohen delivered a tour de force performance of the aggrieved Don Quixote taking on the dark forces of evil, otherwise known as the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and its viceroy, David Gee.

Over the past few days, Cohen has been railing against the high sheriff and his investigators over allegations that he and a former associate, the late Johnny Tranquillo, allegedly conspired to help dispose of the remains of 5-month-old Sabrina Aisenberg, who disappeared from the Valrico home of her parents in 1997.

Lawyered Up

The source of the claim, which made Cohen go more ballistic than Sean Penn confronting the paparazzi, came from two felons, Scott Overbeck, who supposedly confessed to his cellmate, Dennis Byron, who also happens to be lawyered up with Trevena.

In terms of credibility, neither Overbeck nor Byron would ever be confused with Billy Graham.

A few days ago, Cohen interviewed Overbeck and Byron, who told him investigators with the sheriff's department, most notably Gee's legal advisor Tony Peluso, had attempted to get them to implicate the lawyer in Aisenberg's disappearance in return for more lenient treatment on their respective jail terms.

You also need to know that Cohen and Peluso, a former federal prosecutor, have about as much use for each other as Dick Cheney and the Constitution.

Over the weekend, Gee issued a statement noting Barry Cohen "is not, nor has ever been" the subject of an investigation into baby Sabrina's disappearance.

Prison Lowlifes

And that should have been that, until Cohen decided to have a filibuster news conference Monday to decry an investigation into him, which Gee insists never happened.

It's entirely possible, Gee said, that lowlifes in prison being lowlifes in prison, Overbeck and Byron might well have concocted some bizarre story about Cohen, which investigators checked out and eventually dismissed.

"We've even pursued leads from psychics," Gee sighed.

But the sheriff was also quick to defend Peluso, denying his legal counsel, despite the bad blood with Cohen, would attempt to frame the lawyer, especially on the flimsiest allegations of a convict, which would never have held up in court in any event.

"I'll give Peluso more credit," Gee said.

Gee said he currently has five investigators working the baby Sabrina case.

"I did my best to have fresh eyes on this."

Yet, 11 years after the toddler disappeared, Gee's office is no closer to solving this tragedy than it was in 1997.

And if Sabrina is ever found, finally there will be a real story to tell.

Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.

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