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Xbox Murder

It happened on August 6, 2004. A gruesome murder. At approximately 1am, six individuals were stabbed and then beaten to their deaths. The murdered victims were Michelle Ann Nathan, 19; Erin Belanger, 22; Francisco Ayo-Roman, 30; Anthony Vega, 34; Roberto Gonzalez, 28 and Jonathan Gleason, 17. Most of the victims were asleep when the attack occurred. According to reports, the victims did not fight back.

What in the world could have caused the heartless criminals to violently kill the aforementioned and two small dogs? The shocking answer is a Xbox game. The murderers were squatting at one of the victim’s grandparent’s vacant home. When the Xbox game and some clothing were removed from the home, where they were staying illegally, the boys became enraged.

A clerk at Wal-Mart told investigators that the band of criminals was joking and laughing about killing people. The crew bought baseball batsthis was just two days before the heinous crime. What happened next was simply gruesome. That was almost two years ago. The trial, which had to be moved due to excessive media coverage, is about to get underway.

The prosecution is adamant about seeking the death penalty if the defendants are convicted. To bolster their case, they managed to get one of the crew to flip. His name is Robert Cannon, 19, and he’s going to spill the beans about the destructive events on that fateful August morning. In exchange, Cannon will serve a life sentence. The other three are Troy Victorino, 29; Michael Salas, 20 and Jerone Hunter, 20.

The group is facing six counts of first-degree murder, five counts of mutilating a dead human body and many other felony offenses. Troy Victorino has been labeled as the ringleader. Just before the fatal attacks, he was arrested for beating his friend in the face with a walking stick. Victorino was released on a pitiful $2,500 bond. He was now free to coordinate and strike again.

Due to the bloody evidence in the prosecution’s possession, one can assume that the defendants stand a very good chance at receiving capital punishment if convicted. Since Robert Cannon flipped, the prosecution has a very good case. It will be an uphill battle for the defense. The trial is expected to last about two months. This trial was moved, due to the overwhelming media coverage, to St. Augustine.

Jason A. Martin is a journalist for CriminalJusticeJournalist.com, which is a Criminal Justice website.

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Elder Care Business Owners Should Not Pay Referral Fees

A ruling, on the books since 1972, called the Safe Harbor Provisions states, in part, “the federal anti-kickback law’s main purpose is to protect patients and the federal health care programs from fraud and abuse by curtailing the corrupting influence of money on health care decisions”… it goes on to say, … “anyone who knowingly and willfully receives or pays anything of value to influence the referral of federal health care program business, including Medicare and Medicaid, can be held accountable for a felony. See http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/safeharborregulations/safefs.htm

Violations of the law are punishable by up to five years in prison, criminal fines up to $25,000, administrative civil money penalties up to $50,000, and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs.”

A referral service serves both the senior and the elder care service provider in this manner:

Service providers register with the referral service

A senior searching for a service is asked for their location

The referral company now emails, phones or faxes each service within the desired zip code to provide you with this referral. (You are provided the name, phone number and address of the senior)

You and your staff quickly respond - you know if you get there first, you have a higher chance of contracting with the senior

The senior now receives multiple sales calls from nice people who all say the same thing, “You should choose my company because we are the best”

You contract with the senior

The referral company now sends you a bill. The bill is normally based on the dollar amount you charge the senior.

(Example: An assisted living facility that charges $3,000 per month will typically owe the referral service a fee of $1,500. Their neighbor, the assisted living facility across the street charges $1,500 per month and will owe the same referral service a fee for $750.00 for the same client, same service)

Representatives of referral companies normally earn commissions. This can also pose a concern. If a family’s income depended on earning a high commission, the temptation may be there to direct a senior to a service that

a. Charges more

b. Where the staff has a history of ‘closing’ the sale.

If your business is searching for a legal method to connect with the senior market, see http://www.qualityeldercare.com Searching for a service? See http://www.seniorsapprove.com

Founder of Quality Care Options - the first and only company nationwide that offers a consumer-driven survey and certification process.

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Federal Prison Report

Recently the Federal Bureau of Prisons released an update of their prison population, which included breakdowns of race, sex, sentences and offenses. Currently, there are 189,984 inmates in the United States federal prison system. The breakdown of the information is at times typical and yet surprising other times. Did you know that the average age of a federal inmate is 38? Federal prisons, as you might know, are located all around the United States. The prisons are divided into minimum, low, medium and high (also known as maximum) security.

By far men are convicted of more crimes than women. Women account for just 6.7% of the entire federal prison population. They do make up 27.6% of the federal prison staff. The most common race of federal inmates is Black, followed by Hispanic (classified as white) and white non-Hispanic. Native Americans account for 1.8% of the population and Asians round out the list at 1.6%. There are currently 31,891 Mexican citizens serving time in the federal prison system.

The majority of inmates are locked up in low and medium security prisons. Only 10.3% of the federal inmate population is serving time in high security prisons. 18.7% are serving time in minimum-security locations. While the news routinely talks about how the government is soft on immigration, the stats provided by the Federal Bureau of Prisons show that at least some enforcement is happening. There are 18,886 (10.8%) inmates in the federal system doing time for immigration related offenses.

A strong majority of inmates are serving time for drug related offenses. Weapons, Explosives and Arson offenses are a distant second. Just over half of the entire federal inmate population is being incarcerated for drug related offenses. Most of those incarcerated are serving between 5 and 15 years. Only 3.1% of the population has a life sentence and a miniscule 38 have death sentences. 5-10 years is the most common sentence. Close to 30% of the inmates are serving a sentence of this length.

There are 3,657 sex offenders serving time in federal prisons. Countless others get out and renege on their obligations of release. Only 72.8% of those held in federal prisons are American citizens. Given all of this information, the average federal prison inmate is a minority male in his 30’s serving 5-15 years for a drug related offense.

Jason A. Martin is a journalist, copywriter and entrepreneur with over a decade of successful Internet business experience. His informational articles can be found around the world and at JasonAMartin.com.

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