Two men accused of an $83 million mortgage loan scheme are asking a judge to let them travel while they are free on bond. ...more

August 12, 2008

Two men charged in an $83 million mortgage loan scheme are asking a judge to let them travel while they are free on bond. One of the men wants to judge a cat show in New Zealand, and the other wants to travel for his real estate consulting business. ...more

August 11, 2008

A federal judge denied a new trial Monday morning for a video producer convicted in June of distributing obscene materials. ...more

July 29, 2008

A federal judge this morning denied a new trial for a video producer convicted in June of distributing obscene materials. ...more

July 28, 2008

A federal judge in Virginia has granted bail for Sami Al-Arian while he awaits a trial in August on contempt charges. But it was unclear whether Al-Arian will be released from custody, because government authorities are still trying to hold him in immigration detention pending his deportation, according to a blog post by Jonathan Turley, one of Al-Arian's attorneys. ...more

July 10, 2008

TAMPA – A Port Richey pain doctor repeatedly visited the Internet to view and download photographs of children being sexually abused by adults, a federal prosecutor told a jury today. ...more

July 8, 2008

TAMPA – A man who robbed and beat a jewelry courier, stealing jewels valued at nearly $350,000, was sentenced this morning to 17 years in federal prison. ...more

June 24, 2008

It's no exaggeration to say Bill James, who died Monday at age 75, pulled Hillsborough County's reputation out of the mud. ...more

June 19, 2008

TAMPA - A panel of jurors saw an extreme hard-core pornographic movie today and is expected to see many more as it weighs whether a California porn producer, who uses the name Max Hardcore, has violated criminal obscenity laws. Today, U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew decided federal prosecutors can show excerpts of the movies as they put on their case. Defense lawyers for Max Hardcore, whose real name is Paul F. Little, argued that jurors need to see the entirety of the movies because the repetition of the acts is a necessary component. ...more

May 29, 2008

TAMPA - With a security officer posted outside to check the identification of anyone who looked underage and a pounding soundtrack blaring through the sound system, a federal jury watched five graphic video montages this morning in the obscenity trial of a man who calls himself Max Hardcore. "It's hard to believe that these innocent-looking girls will subject themselves to such vile perversions," boasts the Max Hardcore Web site, which depicts the defendant, whose real name is Paul Little, smiling broadly from beneath a white cowboy hat. ...more

May 28, 2008