Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

2 inmates charged in murder-for-hire plots

By Times Staff
Published June 4, 2006

2 inmates charged in murder-for-hire plots

TAVARES - Two Lake County jail inmates face unrelated charges of conspiring to kill children who were scheduled to testify against them in separate abuse cases.

Daniel King, 25, offered someone $5,000 to kidnap and kill a 5-year-old girl who accused him of forcing her to engage in a sexual act, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Jeffrey Roden, 36, wrote a letter to his father asking for $1,000 so he could hire a hit man to kill his girlfriend and her 4-year-old son, deputies said.

The boy had accused Roden of beating him with a belt.

King was charged Thursday with one count of solicitation to commit murder and one count of solicitation to commit kidnapping. Roden was also charged Thursday with two counts of solicitation to commit murder. Both men are being held without bond.

A message left for King's public defender was not returned Saturday. Jail officials did not have the name of Roden's attorney.

The latest murder-for-hire plots came just days after authorities said a Tavares couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial.

The couple, ages 60 and 59, were charged with four counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit murder. They were being held without bond. The Associated Press has withheld the names of the grandparents and the family members to protect the children's identities.

State medical board disciplines 2 doctors

TALLAHASSEE - The state's medical board has voted to revoke the license of a doctor convicted of $3.2-million in health care fraud for performing unnecessary surgeries.

Friday's decision against Dr. Michael Rosin, 55, comes days before he is to be sentenced on the fraud charges. The Sarasota dermatologist faces up to five years in prison. His attorney has said the conviction will be appealed.

Meanwhile, the medical board also penalized physician Walter Choung with a $15,000 fine for cutting into the left knee of a patient who needed surgery on his right knee.

NTSB: Pilot lost control in South Florida crash

GAINESVILLE, Ga. - The crash of a small plane that killed a Georgia pilot after it struck a house and burst into flames last year in South Florida most likely happened because he lost control of the plane, federal investigators ruled. Gerald Ballard, 58, a home builder from Gainesville, Ga., was killed in January 2005 when his Cirrus SR22 crashed into a house and burst into flames in Coconut Creek. He had departed from Fort Lauderdale and was traveling to Naples.

Detective acquitted of falsifying reports

FORT LAUDERDALE - A former Broward sheriff's detective has been acquitted of charges that he falsified crime reports.

A jury deliberated for two hours Friday before finding Christian Zapata, 34, not guilty of eight counts of official misconduct. He had faced up to five years in prison on each count.

Five other deputies have been charged in the case; two have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.

Zapata's first trial ended Feb. 23 in a mistrial after defense attorneys said prosecutors failed to provide key documents. He still faces six identical charges to be tried separately.

WIRE REPORTS

[Last modified June 4, 2006, 07:50:38]