Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 9-18-15 Edition

Features
Police Officer Upset Over Pension Board Official Comments
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Mayor Bob Buckhorn
created a Citizens Review Board recently after the idea was raised during a regular City Council meeting. The purpose of the board is to re- view certain complaints filed against Tampa Police Offi- cers.
But comments made by the Police Benevolent Associ- ation pertaining to City Coun- cil has Officer Orlando Gudes upset. The president of the organization was quoted in a daily newspaper as saying police union leaders are calling on their members to boycott Officer of the Month ceremonies in City Council Chambers.
For several years, City Council has recognized an “Officer of the Month” from the Tampa Police Depart- ment. The officer is tradition- ally given a plaque from City Council, along with restau- rant vouchers, vouchers for family outings, and other services, such as cable televi- sion.
A 25-year veteran of the department, Officer Gudes said, “I think it is a travesty that the PBA would be in- volved in some type of revolt against the City Council, the Mayor, the Chief, taxpaying citizens, business owners, and those men and women at TPD who have received these awards.
“I received “Officer of the Month” in 1997 and “School Resource Officer Of The Year” in 1998, and at that
MASTER PATROLMAN ORLANDO GUDES ... Veteran Tampa
Police Officer
time Bob Buckhorn was on City Council and signed both of my awards.
“I want the community to know that all police officers do not feel that way and I’ve talked to many since the arti- cle printed. This is an issue that is not our (police offi- cers) issue. If they do this, it will leave a bad taste in the citizens’ mouths regarding police. The majority of the citizens like the police,” Offi- cer Gudes said.
City Council Chairman Frank Reddick said, “I’m disappointed in the PBA lead- ership. They have decided that this is personal, which it is not and I feel if they return the plaques, it will be a mis- take.
“Primarily, we have sev- eral businesses that give to these officers every month and the number of businesses who make donations are on the increase. If they do this, it would be a disservice to the City and to those businesses.”
Ex-Police Employee Indicted In Tax Fraud Case
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
For 33 years, a Tampa woman was employed in a civilian capacity at the Tampa Police Department. She was allowed to retire last year amid controversy that she was involved in a tax fraud scheme.
On Tuesday, United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Ms. Tonia Bright with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of obtaining informa- tion from a protected com- puter, and four counts of aggravated identity theft re- lated to her involvement in a stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) scheme.
The indictment also noti- fies Ms. Bright that the United States intends to seek a forfeiture money judgment equal to the proceeds of the offenses.
According to the indict- ment, Ms. Bright worked as a Community Service Officer in the District 3 Office. As part of her duties, Ms. Bright took reports from cit- izens related to incidents not requiring the response of a sworn police officer. In this capacity, she had access to local, state, and federal law
RITA GIRVEN
... has already pleaded guilty, will be sentenced November 20, 2015
enforcement databases, in- cluding the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computerized index. Her use of these databases was re- stricted to the performance of her authorized duties.
As part of the conspiracy, Ms. Bright is alleged to have accessed personal iden- tifiable information (PII) of individuals using a variety of sources, including NCIC, de- spite having no legitimate law enforcement purpose for doing so.
She is alleged to have then passed the information on to others, including Ms. Rita Girven. Officials Ms. Bright was aware that the information would be used to commit crimes.
Ms. Girven and others
used the illegally obtained in- formation to electronically file, and cause others to file, fraudulent federal income tax returns claiming tax re- funds, investigators said.
The fraudulently ob- tained tax refunds were de- posited onto reloadable debit cards, issued in the conspir- ators’ names and the names of others, including the iden- tity theft victims’ names.
Ms. Girven and others then allegedly used the debit cards at retail establishments and ATMs to withdraw the funds and shared in the pro- ceeds.
Ms. Girven pleaded guilty to conspiracy to com- mit wire fraud and aggra- vated identity theft in March 2015. She reportedly admit- ted to receiving $33,002.00 as a result of filing the false income tax refunds. Her sen- tencing hearing is scheduled for November 20, 2015.
If convicted, Ms. Bright is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy charge, 5 years in federal prison on each of the computer intru- sion offenses, and a 2-year term of imprisonment for each aggravated identity theft count that would be served consecutively to the sentence imposed on the other counts.
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