Bernard Madoff has taken steps that suggest he could plead guilty as early as next week to charges that he carried out one of the biggest financial frauds in history, lawyers said Friday. ...more

March 7, 2009

Motions to suppress a statement to law enforcement and a gunshot residue test were denied Wednesday in the case of a Sebring man charged with killing Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Nicholas Sottile. ...more

March 6, 2009

One of five Polk County teens accused of beating a classmate last March was sentenced this morning to one year of probation. Britney Mayes was sentenced as a juvenile by Circuit Judge Keith Spoto at the Polk County courthouse in Bartow. ...more

March 5, 2009

A Zephyrhills teen who had a map detailing plans to shoot up his school and access to guns was sentenced Wednesday to a lengthy probation after pleading guilty. ...more

March 5, 2009

A Zephyrhills teen with access to guns and a map detailing plans to shoot up his school was sentenced today to a lengthy probation term after pleading guilty. ...more

March 4, 2009

A teenager accused of brutally raping two Zephyrhills women in 2007 rejected a plea deal today that would have sent him to prison for 30 years. ...more

March 4, 2009

A Valrico man told investigators he intentionally drove his truck into someone he didn't know because, "The devil made me do it," Hillsborough County deputies say. ...more

March 2, 2009

Three men hired to help attack a Sarasota man's in-laws have been sentenced to federal prison terms. ...more

February 23, 2009

The family of Kevin Bryant Jr. sat in tense, restrained silence, just feet from Eli Alvarez. ...more

February 20, 2009

The family of Kevin Bryant Jr. sat in tense, restrained silence, just feet from Eli Alvarez. Alvarez's decision to drink and drive ended 8-year-old Kevin's life on May 10, 2007. The boy's family came to court Thursday to watch Alvarez plead no contest to DUI-manslaughter in exchange for a 12-year prison sentence. ...more

February 19, 2009