Ex-county worker charged with bribery

By TIMES WIRES
Published August 15, 2007

TAMPA

A former employee in the Hillsborough County tax collector's office who has been accused of abusing her position by selling driver's licenses to people without proper documentation now faces a federal charge.

Deisy Oropesa, 30, was charged with conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes Monday. Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa say Oropesa was part of a "large scale fraud" to give illegal immigrants driver's licenses in exchange for money.

The federal affidavit says Oropesa, a senior customer service representative for the tax collector, told investigators she was part of an organized scheme to peddle drivers' licenses for $200 apiece. She said she pocketed more than $25,000.

TAMPA

Couple fights county to save their pit bull

Tiffany Eckart and Tyler Burbank want their dog back.

Hillsborough County Animal Services says Kane, a 7-year-old pit bullterrier, is dangerous and should be euthanized.

Twice, the agency has taken custody of the dog on account of its aggressive behavior and sought criminal charges against its owners.

The Valrico couple went to court Tuesday, armed with an administrative hearing officer's order that said Kane shouldn't be on doggie death row.

Their lawyer, Joe Episcopo, argued an assistant county attorney should be held in contempt for refusing to release the dog.

County Judge Nick Nazaretian didn't send any humans to jail, but he didn't let Kane out either.

Eckart and Burbank vowed to continue their fight.

Elsewhere

MORE GROWTH ALONG THE PARKWAY: Home Depot is planning a new store at the Suncoast Parkway and State Road 54. It will be behind the Shell station and SunTrust bank, across from the SuperTarget store in the Suncoast Crossings mall.

BEES ATTACK: A cloud of bees swarmed a tree-trimming crew after they disturbed a hive at 10200 N Armenia Ave. in Tampa Tuesday. One man was brought to University Community Hospital with multiple stings, said Tampa Fire Rescue spokesman Bill Wade.

RAILROAD CROSSING MALFUNCTION: Traffic on McMullen-Booth Road was locked up for about 90 minutes Tuesday after a pair of railroad crossing gates malfunctioned and got locked in the down position, officials said. The CSX crossing gates in both directions went down about 12:25 p.m., causing huge traffic backups.

[Last modified August 14, 2007, 22:50:26]