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After listening to Davidian for about 30 minutes, the judge suggested she take a break and talk to her lawyer Kevin Kulik about whether she was truly accepting responsibility and focusing on relevant information she wanted to tell him. |
After two such breaks, Davidian told the judge: "I know I'm guilty … I know it's wrong. I am very, very remorseful." |
The judge told Davidian that she knew what she did was completely unacceptable and criminal in the U.S. and that she orchestrated the fraud. |
"You can use whatever euphemism you like about greasing the wheel but she was corrupting the system," the judge said. He said government money that should have gone to needy people was illegally diverted to people who did not deserve it, depleting the government's limited resources. |
Immediately after Davidian was taken into custody, the judge sentenced the two former state Department of Children & Family (DCF) workers who took bribes from Davidian. |
Gladys Roman, 47, of Deerfield Beach, and George Lopez, 35, of West Palm Beach, both pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring to commit health-care fraud and bribery in programs receiving federal funds. |
The judge sentenced Roman to three years and four months in federal prison and Lopez to 4.5 years. He allowed both of them to remain free on bond and ordered them to surrender early next year. Roman shares Davidian's responsibility to repay the $2.7 million and Lopez was ordered to pay more than $300,600 in restitution... |
The judge said the trio's offenses were all very serious, but he said Davidian "preyed upon" the government workers who were tempted because they had financial difficulties. Roman's salary was not revealed; Lopez's salary was about $27,000, his lawyer said. |
When the judge asked Roman if she wanted to say anything, she replied: "I'm just sorry. I'm so sorry, judge." |
Lopez, a cocaine addict who served time for a serious offense when he was a juvenile, also apologized briefly. He said he recently got a job helping young people who face similar challenges to the ones he encountered growing up. The judge recommended he receive substance abuse treatment in prison for cocaine addiction. |
The judge told Roman and Lopez he had to send a message that government workers who take bribes or other illegal rewards will face serious consequences. |
Prosecutor Kaplan told the judge that Davidian's offenses were very serious, involved hundreds of clients and went on for six years. She paid more than $400,000 in bribes to the former DCF workers, who approved her clients for Medicaid and food stamp benefits they were not entitled to receive and she paid $24,500 to tw... |
Kaplan said Davidian became "persona non grata" at the Social Security offices in Broward in 2011 after she "put $100 on a table during a meeting" and another worker raised questions about what was going on. |
"Clearly in 2011, she knew this was not the way business should be done," Kaplan said but her DCF fraud continued until she was first questioned in early 2014. |
Former Social Security Administration employee Maria Sanchez, 50, of Pembroke Pines, is serving four months in federal prison, followed by four months of house arrest. She was taken into custody last month, after admitted she took money to speed up the benefits process for Davidian's clients. |
The fourth former government worker, Alejandro "Alex" Lomoso, 56, of Davie, also admitted he took bribes to help speed up the benefits approval process for Davidian's clients when he worked for the Social Security Administration in Broward County. His sentencing is scheduled for early January. |
According to court records, Davidian is cooperating with state prosecutors who have filed criminal charges against some of her former clients, including former NHL player Sergei Berezin, who is facing Medicaid fraud charges in Palm Beach County. |
Federal prosecutors said Davidian's cooperation, which included secretly recording phone calls and videotaping meetings with her clients, may merit a sentence reduction in the future, though the judge would make the final decision. |
Kate Middleton’s Parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, Moving into Anmer Hall: Royals Furious at In-Law Invasion? |
It turns out the royals are just like us. Well, not exactly, but it seems even Prince William and Kate Middleton have to deal with family drama. According to Elle, Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, are moving in with Prince William and Kate at their Norfolk Anmer Hall estate. The Duchess of Cambridge is thr... |
The Middletons are set to move in because several staff members quit last month. Good help must be hard to find these days. Carole will reportedly organize housekeeping duties at Anmer Hall while Michael takes care of a pesky mole problem in the garden. Since Prince Charles is an avid gardener, that’s yet another low b... |
If Prince Charles really is bothered by Prince William and Kate Middleton’s new housemates, he won’t have to worry about it for very long. Carole and Michael Middleton are reportedly only staying at the estate until Kate’s baby is born. However, Kate will likely appreciate the support. Recent rumors say Queen Elizabeth... |
What do you think about the news that Kate Middleton’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, are moving in with Prince William and Kate? Do you think Prince Charles is jealous of the Middletons’ time with Will, Kate and Prince George? What about the royal biographer’s claim that Prince William and Kate Middleton “save... |
Kate Middleton and Prince William Ban Camilla Parker-Bowles From Royal Baby Boy Visit? |
Camilla Parker-Bowles To End Up As Queen Consort – Prince Charles’ Plan Worked! |
Prince William and Kate Middleton the Next King and Queen: Meddling Camilla Parker-Bowles Removed by Queen Elizabeth? |
Kate Middleton Petrified Camilla Parker-Bowles Will Make Life Miserable if Queen Elizabeth Abdicates On Christmas? |
Camilla Parker-Bowles Divorce: Demands Prince Charles Ascend Throne Before Queen Elizabeth Picks Prince William Instead? |
Franklin Graham’s position isn’t surprising, although how he reconciles his bigotry with his professed Christian beliefs continues to amaze me. |
However, I am appalled that Duke University, an institution that has historically stood for free speech and the open exchange of ideas, would cave to Mr. Graham’s pressure. |
People may be getting the wrong impression about the Catholic Church’s actions regarding Steav Bates-Congdon and Lonnie Billard. |
The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a sacrament for a man and a woman. |
It had been well known within the church and school, respectively, that each man was gay. Yet, each had kept his job and was loved – as the Pope encourages – within the church and school communities. |
They were not fired because they are gay, but because they breached the promise each had made in their employment agreement. |
The City of Charlotte has lamented in the past that it lacks funds to repair streets and sidewalks. |
Now, we hear City Council is considering the creation of an Office of New Charlotteans and adding more bilingual city staff. |
Do government leaders truly believe these proposals reflect the priorities of taxpayers? |
A perfect example of bureaucratic thinking. |
The widening of I-485 has been a major disappointment – I am not getting home any faster than before construction started. |
The problem is that the widening accomplished one thing – shifting congestion on the outerbelt down toward Rea Road. |
Instead of sitting in traffic for 20 to 30 minutes after merging onto the outerbelt from I-77, I now sit in traffic 20 to 30 minutes due to the Rea Road merge. Thursday evening traffic was backed up for eight miles. |
“Controversial transit project,” indeed. This $130 million pie-in-the-sky dream is supposed to bring entrepreneurs clamoring for storefront property along the trolley line. |
I’m not real clear on exactly what the draw will be. Most of the route will eventually cover somewhat depressed areas from Johnson C. Smith University, through downtown, and out Central Avenue. |
The “dreamers” are certain that new businesses, apartments and other housing will generate enough revenue to offset the $100 million-plus cost. Baloney. |
Elitist politicians are reckless spendthrifts with other people’s money. Swallow the initial cost and scrap this bad idea. |
Look out, Minneapolis and Portland. Long Beach is making its move, aiming to surpass you as America’s Most Bike Friendly City. Does that sound odd for a city whose chief claim to environmental fame has been its massively polluting port and offshore oil facilities — a city that, like the rest of Southern California, has... |
Of course, there are still plenty of cars in Long Beach (though Foster himself drives an electric one), but bicycles are getting more respect, not to mention resources, than ever before. With help from state and federal grants and pressure from local cycling enthusiasts, the city government has installed 130 miles of b... |
Perhaps most innovative has been the city’s effort to establish bike-friendly shopping districts — the first in the country, officials say — engaging local merchants by showing them how, contrary to common belief, biking can actually bring more customers and vitality to shopping districts. |
Not everyone is pleased, of course. A taxi driver named Kenny says bike lanes only reduce parking spots and slow traffic flow, especially because cyclists are “lackadaisical” — by which he seems to mean they don’t pedal as fast as cars want to travel. |
Correction: This story originally stated that Long Beach had installed 50 new bike racks. That referred only to the number of racks installed through the bike-friendly business program. The total number, corrected above, is 1,200. |
For more about the economic impacts of bicycles, read Grist’s Bikenomics series. |
Going back to what King said, it doesn’t matter whether this issue directly affects us; in some way, we are all affected. This is a student issue that only students have the true ability to change. Of course, we have to work with the Penn State administration, borough officials and law enforcement. But in order to tack... |
So for the Feb. 27 State Patty’s Day celebration, we as a student body laid the foundation for a concept of uniting to combat dangerous drinking. The UPUA decided to render a “Safe and Responsible Actions” pledge, which has been endorsed by 38 diverse and prominent organizations on campus. |
We wanted to let students know that we did not want to see the negative statistics from the previous State Patty’s Day. We wanted to strongly encourage our fellow students to not engage in acts that would bring our university shame. |
This was a great step in the right direction in changing the culture. Now some may ask how this Safe and Responsible Actions pledge could stop the dangerous drinking culture on campus. What they have to understand is that it was not about the tangible full-page ad we took out in The Daily Collegian exhibiting the pledg... |
It was about student leaders coming together to talk about the issue and then going back to their various constituencies and facilitating the same discussion to inform our peers of the consequences of dangerous thinking. We had athletes engaging in this discussion, we had Greeks engaging in this discussion, we had mult... |
Some people wanted us to take a stronger stance, but we recognized this was only the beginning of the power that student leaders can exhibit with any issue that affects us while at Penn State. |
When State Patty’s Day was over and the statistics from the police were released, the statistics did show an increase from last year. But that doesn’t mean that my fellow students were any worse than in previous years. In fact, I believe that those who were not Penn State students heavily influenced most of those stats... |
Where do we go from here? We as student leaders laid a solid foundation for combating this and other issues in the future. We have to make sure that we also influence those who come behind us to understand and appreciate the power and purpose of Penn State students united for common student life causes. In this particu... |
If we do that, when I am long gone from Penn State I know that the message and the purpose will still be alive and well with the new leaders. This year, student leaders have been very vocal in many different ways about this issue, and that has to continue year-round and not just for one celebration. |
Christian Dupree Ragland, of Egg Harbor City, N.J., is a junior majoring in political science and sociology at Penn State. He can be reached atcdr5063@psu.edu. |
W.W. Norton is seeking an electronic media sales specialist to join its college department. The primary duties of the emedia sales specialist will be to assist Norton’s college sales representatives in winning adoptions where digital media is an important consideration and to train faculty on the implementation and use... |
Please note: this job description is not designed to cover all activities required of the employee. |
W. W. Norton, Headquartered in New York City, has been publishing exceptional books since 1923. As an independent company owned wholly by its employees, we are unique among publishers and offer a different kind of company culture. As employee owners, we all work hard to achieve a common goal: to produce the best books ... |
W. W. Norton is an equal employment opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or any other protected factor. |
Volunteers have a range of reasons for joining this feminist celebration of womanhood. |
The first time Nic Green made a call-out for 100 women to dance naked on stage, she thought no one would respond to such "a ridiculous idea". She was wrong. |
Since Trilogy was first staged in 2007, the Glasgow artist has been inundated with volunteers. Indeed, the Melbourne season, opening next week, has been oversubscribed. |
"Even though people don't necessarily know the nature of what the choreography is, or the bigger piece it's part of, people decide, I think really clearly, 'I'm going to do that because I'm in this place in my life', or 'because I've been dealing with this', or 'I've just moved on from this…'," she says. |
Before rehearsals for the show's naked dance segment begin in earnest, volunteers are encouraged to talk to each other about their reasons. |
"It's important that everybody has an opportunity to make sense of why they're doing this – because they are going in front of people with no clothes on, and for me it's important that it's done in a really conscious way," Green says. |
In the past volunteers have included survivors of abuse, women who have had double mastectomies and are re-discovering their bodies, women who have come out later in life. "Everybody," she says, "has a reason." |
Trilogy celebrates the joys and complexities of being a woman. When Green began writing it, feminism was a rather "unfashionable" topic. |
"People were quite anti-feminism, young women especially – it seemed almost old-fashioned," she says. "Young women were saying 'I don't need feminism, I'm empowered'. I respect anybody who says they're empowered but feminism is not necessarily as simple as how we feel day-to-day; it's systemic." |
Since Trilogy was last staged in 2010, Green has found herself having to revise some of the content. |
"Even things like the way language around gender has developed – just in the last five years it's changed hugely," she says. "In terms of thinking about gender as a much more fluid choice or assignment; there's so much more awareness around that. And actually, when we're talking about women, we don't just mean women wh... |
But she's heartened that discussion of feminism is now more widespread. |
"Trilogy is certainly not a polemic – it's much more about questions, and celebration: let's take this word 'feminism' and see what questions it brings about in this moment, and let's see who or what we can include in those questions and what's missed out – and why." |
I have to say 'this is me'. |
Part dance, part theatre, Trilogy has three acts, the first being the 20-minute celebratory dance, featuring the volunteers dancing naked, alongside the core cast of five performers (Green included). |
The second, the work's centrepiece, is a response to the 1971 debate at New York's Town Hall between author Norman Mailer and four leading feminists of the time, including Germaine Greer – whose standing among modern feminists has radically altered in the wake of her comment that transgender women "can't be women". |
"I've had to do a lot of thinking about Germaine Greer," says Green. "I still think what she said in 1971 was beautifully succinct, very poetic – about art, ego and gender – and still very relevant. But I can't get behind what she said recently. But I also think, 'well I don't think the same as what I thought six years... |
Green's hope is that audiences won't feel excluded from the work, and will understand that showing the debate (in video form) doesn't equate with her endorsing Greer's recent comments. |
"Trilogy has never been about me going, 'here's all the things I think, I think what she thinks'. It's just a presentation of different kinds of ideas; it's not for me to decide what does woman mean, what does feminism mean, who are the best people to listen to," Green says. |
She has instead created a collage of elements that raise questions that we can all answer "in our own ways". |
The third part of the work focuses on women's lives, from video footage to a live phone call from one of the performer's mothers. |
A joyous finale then follows, during which female members of the audience are invited to strip off and join the stage. To date, they have always responded. |
As for the volunteers, Green says everybody feels the risk. "Very rarely does someone come in and they're absolutely fine with it. There's always a reason people choose to do it, so there's always nerves that come along with that. |
"It sounds naive but it's true – I look at these amazing, brilliant women and think how can you have any negative feelings about yourself? You're beautiful and present and strong." |
Among the volunteers taking part in Trilogy's Melbourne season is 51-year-old Anja O'Connor, who was instantly intrigued when she read about the call-out. |
She's doesn't like taking her clothes off outside an intimate setting, but she was curious to see if she could do it. |
"We are so conditioned – and I am victim of that myself, often quite a happy victim – about our bodies, but at the same time we all, especially women, long for honesty and ... to be relaxed in our skin," she says. |
"I felt it's a really important message not just to bring to myself but to bring to other women and to my children as well – I really thought about my children; I thought this is it, I have to say 'this is me'. Although you see those imperfections, they are so perfectly human, so perfectly feminine … and that's all you... |
She concedes she's "very nervous" but excited too. |
"It's a beautiful opportunity and I felt when I got to rehearsals it's almost like stepping through the secret door in the wardrobe!" |
Heather Bassett, 57, is a former professional lacrosse player, but even as an athlete – she played for Australia at two World Cups in the 1980s – she was never comfortable with her body, always embarrassed to be naked in the change rooms and unable to shower if there were no doors on the stalls. |
"Even at my peak, I still was not empowered enough to say 'this is me – and I'm OK with being me'," she says. |
But in the past year, she has undertaken "personal development" and was curious to see if she could perform naked on stage. |
"Twelve months ago ... I would've said 'I'm not naked in my bedroom!'. But I've been expanding and being empowered as a woman and accepting myself for what I am, for the body I have, being grateful for what I have and not what I don't have – this came along and I thought why not?" |
She hopes to inspire others. |
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