The Umansky Law Firm

A 28-year-old woman who worked for a company that processes E-PASS payments was arrested after she allegedly photocopied customer checks and sold them to others who stole money from the compromised accounts. She has been charged with conspiracy to commit organized fraud and fraudulently using personal-identification information, both felonies.

Authorities say the woman worked as a customer service representative and took the bank account numbers of people, and sold them to others who then put their own names on the checks and cashed or spent them. About three dozen people were affected by this.

An investigation began in September 2008 when Orange County Sheriff's Office stopped a woman in a traffic stop and found copies of Expressway Authority customer checks on her. She and several others were arrested for cashing counterfeit checks throughout Florida. During the investigation, investigators allegedly found checks, drivers licenses, and bank account numbers for dozens of people who were not customers of E-PASS.

The worker at the center of the investigation is currently being held in Orange County Jail on $50,150 bail.

If you have been charged with fraud or theft in the Orange County or Orlando, Florida area, or anywhere else in the state of Florida, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm. We offer a free initial and confidential case evaluation.

Elmore Torn, better known to the world as actor Rip Torn, was arrested last Friday in Connecticut after allegedly breaking into a bank after hours. Making things worse for Mr. Torn are that he was extremely inebriated and carrying a loaded gun. The 78-year-old actor allegedly broke a window of the Litchfield Bancorp in Salisbury, according to police.

Torn appeared in court on February 1st and pleaded not guilty to the burglary and gun charges. He was shackled at the wrists and ankles to several other prisoners. Torn was allegedly so drunk at the time of his arrest that he believed he was in his own home when he was arrested.

Torn posted $100,000 bail and agreed to enter alcohol rehab as soon as he is released.

The actor has had several run-ins with the law over the last few years, all of them alcohol related. He has two past DUI arrests in New York, and was given probation in a DUI case in Connecticut last year.

In the inevitable statement from "sources close to the actor," his family has attempted multiple interventions to get him to stop drinking with very little to show for it. He apparently believes he has made progress in cutting down from four pints of alcohol a day to one pint.

If you have been charged with theft or burglary in Orange County or Orlando, Florida, or anywhere else in the state of Florida, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm for an initial and confidential consultation.

A 23-year-old US Army private is being held without bail in the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach for allegedly stealing a military Humvee. He is charged with grand theft for the theft from Fort Stewart in Georgia.

Authorities claim the private ran out of gas and was pulled over on the side of I-95 early Tuesday morning. An officer approached what he believed to be a stranded motorist. The private was found sitting in the Humvee and had only his military identification card and no driver's license. He claimed he was taking the Humvee to Fort Lauderdale.

The officer alleges he became suspicious because the private did not have orders, a government fuel card, and was dressed in civilian clothing. The private was taken to a hotel and the Humvee towed until the story could be verified.

When authorities received word that the vehicle was stolen from the military base, the private was arrested. He is also going to be charged with absent without leave (AWOL) by the army.

It seems a bit harsh to hold this young man without bail over a stolen vehicle. Perhaps the local authorities are waiting for the military to come get him, but it is not as if he murdered someone. Rather than treating all those who allegedly break the law the same, there are degrees and everyone has the right to be treated as innocent until proven guilty.

If you or a family member has been charged with grand theft, please contact the experienced criminal defense lawyers at the Umansky Law Firm. We serve clients in the Orange County and Orlando, Florida area, as well as the state of Florida.

A 26-year-old man in training to become a state correctional officer was arrested and charged with burglary and criminal mischief in Celebration last Saturday morning.

Authorities were called to a home burglary and found the alleged burglar nearby. He told deputies a confusing story, in which he was having problems with his girlfriend, was insecure and was looking for another "lady friend." Allegedly, he was lost in Celebration, so he knocked on three different doors.

He said his hormones were confusing him, and was hoping a woman answered the door so he could "seduce her." The alleged burglar also told deputies he returned to one house to watch the woman inside and allegedly thought about sexually assaulting her. He said he had broken into homes in the past and stolen items from them.

After explaining and confessing all of this to the deputies, the alleged burglar recanted everything, claiming he was nervous about losing his job.

Residents inside one of the homes allegedly heard someone knocking on their front door early in the morning. When they answered the door, they said a man claimed he was lost in Celebration. They gave him directions out, but later heard loud noises, described as someone attempting to open the door. The residents then set off the home alarm and called 911. When deputies found the alleged burglar nearby, he was apparently very cooperative with their investigation.

He is being held at the Osceola County Jail on $100,000 bail for burglary and $250 for the criminal mischief charge.

If you have been charged with burglary or theft in the Orange County or Orlando, Florida area, or anywhere else in the state of Florida, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm.

Authorities say the father and former stepmother of Haleigh Cummings have been arrested and charged with trafficking prescription drugs in Putnam County. Haleigh Cummings' disappearance from her father's doublewide trailer last year when she was five made national headlines. There has been no sign of her since she was reported missing.

Twenty-six-year-old Ronald Cummings, who made several television appeals for his daughter's return, and 18-year-old Misty Croslin were among five people arrested in a drug sting. They face a minimum-mandatory sentence of 25 years in state prison for multiple counts of trafficking medical prescription drugs. The month long investigation involved the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, as well as other federal officials.

According to deputy sheriffs, an undercover detective allegedly purchased almost $4000 worth of drugs from Cummings and Croslin, as well as three other people. Croslin faces six counts of trafficking in prescription medication and is being held on $950,000 bail. Cummings faces three counts of the same charge and is being held on $500,000 bail. The other three each face one count and are also being held on bail.

Last October, Croslin was allegedly robbed while attempting to buy drugs in Palatka. After Haleigh Cummings disappearance, she and Ronald Cummings got married, but soon divorced.

If you have been arrested on a drug charge in the Orange County or Orlando, Florida area, or anywhere else in the state of Florida, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm for an initial consultation.

A 19-year-old man is under arrest, charged with multiple counts of burglary and grand-theft. He has been linked to at least nine car burglaries in the Clermont and Minneola area.

In one burglary, an unmarked Ocoee Police vehicle door was opened by the suspect who took a Taser from a police belt. The suspect then allegedly discharged the Taser into his foot and shocked himself. However, this apparently didn't dissuade the man from then removing two sets of handcuffs, a nightstick, two magazines and a digital camera.

Later, the hapless suspect locked himself up with the stolen handcuffs and had to call authorities to get him out of them.

Police learned the suspect of the police vehicle break in was staying with friends. At an apartment they found some of the stolen objects, but not the suspect. However, he was apparently taken into custody shortly after that. On the way to the police station, the suspect allegedly asked police if his arrest was about the Taser incident.

The suspect allegedly told authorities that he was supposed to meet someone in Clermont and saw a light on in a car. He looked inside and saw the police belt and took the Taser and the other objects. He then allegedly entered several other cars and took cameras and an iPod. He alleges that others were also involved in "car hopping," or going around and pulling on door handles.

If you have been charged with theft in the Orange County or Orlando, Florida area, or anywhere else in the state of Florida, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm for a free and confidential consultation.

A 78-year-old Florida grandmother spent 15 days in jail after she was arrested for driving with a suspended license in November. She was initially pulled over in September for driving too slowly and given a ticket then for driving with a suspended or revoked license. A judge then issued an arrest warrant for her when she did not show up for a court appearance. The criminal charge carried a penalty of $1000 fine and up to a year in jail.

However, ten days after the woman was given her ticket, she received a letter from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles that stated her driving privileges were being restored upon further review. The problem is that this letter was referring to another incident the woman was involved in. Why should she have gone to court when she received a letter saying everything was okay?

In November, police came to her house and arrested her. She told the Miami Herald that they treated her as if she had killed someone. At her initial court appearance, public defenders failed to show and there was not assistant public defender to meet with her at the Broward County Jail. The pretrial services division found she was eligible for pretrial release on her own recognizance on the morning of her initial court appearance; she never let the judge know this, though.

Fifteen days after she was arrested at her December 2 arraignment, charges were dropped against her by the prosecutors. The judge saw a 78-year-old woman handcuffed and chained and released her and reportedly said, "I think she's suffered enough at our system's mistakes."

If you have been pulled over and given a citation, but you are unclear about what it means, or if you have been arrested on a warrant, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm for an initial free consultation.