Free Republic

A Bradenton woman who admitted to a long-running identity-and-benefits fraud is headed to federal prison, after a judge said her scheme siphoned off nearly $185,000 in government money. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland sentenced 69-year-old Rosario Alaniz to 15 months in federal prison on March 17, 2026, and ordered her to pay $184,904.75 in restitution, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida. Prosecutors said Alaniz pleaded guilty in December 2025, admitting she used a fraudulently obtained U.S. passport to collect Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and Social Security disability payments. U.S. Attorney...

A 37-year-old Florida woman named Mandolyn Shaffer-Brockwell was arrested after allegedly unleashing a violent road rage tirade in Orlando, beating a pregnant driver, attacking an elderly bystander, and biting a police officer who tried to arrest her.(snip) According to police, the incident occurred on February 23 in the middle of a busy Orlando roadway near the Mall of Millenia. Shaffer-Brockwell is accused of repeatedly stopping her vehicle abruptly and refusing to let the pregnant victim change lanes, leading the victim to honk her horn. This allegedly triggered Shaffer-Brockwell, who then burst from her car, charged at the victim's SUV, and...

Oh, I had not heard about this at all. It happened a couple of days ago, and what a development. This began as a COVID-era fraud case, but what it ended up as should strike fear in the heart of every Somali Learing Center hustler and every Armenian hospice provider. That naturalized citizenship is not the shield of steel one might have thought it was, or that it used to be back when no one paid attention to such things. For the year between April 2020 and the next May, 25-year-old Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint of Fort Lauderdale, FL, had...

A man in Florida for a bachelor party humiliated his friend by stealing all the women they met at Miami Beach bars, then stabbed the pal after he became "agitated" and confronted him, cops say. Olajuwon Dickerson, 32, of Massachusetts, is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after attacking the victim while partying with him and two other friends, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Pulse Nightclub building in downtown Orlando has been demolished, nearly 10 years after 49 people were killed, and 53 others were hurt in a mass shooting at the LGBTQ club.

A Central Florida grandmother is demanding justice after deputies say a teenager intentionally ran over and killed her 17-year-old grandson in Orlando last November. The crash happened along Wakulla Way near West Oak Ridge Road. Investigators say a 17-year-old suspect is now under arrest in connection with the case. Ecstasy Mooty says her life changed in an instant when her grandson, 17-year-old Mikhail Cuba, was struck and killed while riding his e-bike in November along Wakulla Way near West Oak Ridge Road. The Florida Highway Patrol initially handled the crash investigation before turning it over to the sheriff’s office homicide...

A stubborn patient has refused to leave her Florida hospital room even though she was discharged by doctors five months ago, a lawsuit alleges. Charlotte Paynter has allegedly been unlawfully occupying Room 373 at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital since October, according to a civil lawsuit filed by the hospital on March 3. Paynter, 69, was admitted to the medical facility for treatment for an undisclosed condition last year, the hospital said in the complaint obtained by the Daily Mail. Doctors issued a formal discharge order on October 6 after it was determined that she no longer needed acute care services, the...

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – A Fountain woman was arrested on Tuesday for the alleged murder of her boyfriend. 38-year-old Joseph Eiler was last seen alive early Thursday morning after he had a fight with his girlfriend, Ashley Averett. Saturday, Eiler’s dad and Averett reported him missing. During an initial interview with Averett on Monday, investigators reported that Averett said Joseph had left the home with an unknown friend after their argument on Thursday. Bay County Sheriff’s investigators say there were red flags from the beginning. For instance, Eiler had just started working at a local car dealership. “Seemed...

The man convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old mother of two from North Port, was executed on Tuesday. At the scheduled execution time of 6 p.m., the curtain went up, and King gave a nearly inaudible statement ... He did not apologize for the murder or seek forgiveness. The incident happened in 2008 when Lee saved her kids after Michael King, 54, broke into her home and took her. King then took Lee to his home and raped her before driving her out to a remote area, shooting her and burying her. At one point,...

🚨 BREAKING: In an incredible development, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office and AG James Uthmeier just pledged 100% FULL COOPERATION with Dr. Oz's new investigation into rampant healthcare fraud in Florida See how EASY it is, Minnesota and California?! 👏🏻☀️ Trump CMS chief Dr. Oz said he found "horrifying" amounts of healthcare fraud in the state, and is seeking more documentation In response, DeSantis' chief of staff replied Florida is "working closely" with CMS "We have zero tolerance for waste, fraud, and abuse — and we will aggressively deploy every resource necessary to root it out at any level in...

Southern Florida is quietly falling to the Muslim Brotherhood’s insidious civilizational jihad, as local leaders—from mayors donning Islamic garb to police and FBI officials—roll out the red carpet for Brotherhood-tied groups at Ramadan 2026 iftars across 14 cities, betraying the state’s anti-terror stance and legitimizing networks bent on subverting American institutions through smiling infiltration and “diversity” rhetoric.

The noise that spooked spring breakers at Daytona Beach and caused a massive stampede over the weekend was not gunshots, the sheriff revealed Monday. The panic-causing sound had a much more mundane origin: people crushing water bottles. “There were zero gunshots on the beach,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Monday after video showing hundreds of terrified beachgoers fleeing for their lives went viral. Chitwood added that there were 50 deputies in the crowd.

A year ago, the stage seemed set for Vice President JD Vance to succeed President Donald Trump as the MAGA heir apparent in 2028. Vance, just 40 years old at the time of the 2024 election, came into office with wave of support from Republicans and the backing of the president's family. And while the vice president remains well-positioned ahead of a likely 2028 campaign, questions are quietly emerging over Vance's inevitability, especially as Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s profile and responsibilities have grown throughout the first year of Trump’s second term, most recently around the war with Iran. The...

A popular Spring Break destination has been rocked by gun violence over the weekend, after five different shootings occurred in just three days, leaving one police officer injured and a suspect in critical condition. Video of one incident shared online showed thousands of screaming people running down Daytona Beach, Florida, while law enforcement agencies from multiple jurisdictions dispersed across the sand. None of the shootings unfolded on the beach itself, though two shootings on Saturday were beachside, officials with the Volusia Sheriff's Office told WFTV. There was also a fight at Joint Bar on Seabreeze in which a shot was...

Wild video has surfaced of thousands of terrified spring break beachgoers fleeing the sand in Florida as gunshots rang out over the weekend. At least four shootings have been reported in Daytona Beach since Friday as scores of spring breakers descended on the city, WFTV9 reported. Four shootings and massive unruly crowds turned Daytona Beach’s spring-break weekend into a public safety nightmare, as thousands fled the sand while police from multiple agencies rushed in to restore order. In one of the chaotic incidents, footage shot from a hotel balcony captured the moment screaming bikini-clad sunbathers scattered the beach after a...

The Pentagon has identified six U.S. service members who were killed when a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq during a combat mission in support of Operation Epic Fury. The incident, which occurred on Thursday, took place in "friendly" airspace during an unspecified incident involving another aircraft. While the other plane landed safely, the KC-135 crashed. Military officials said the incident was not due to hostile or friendly fire and remains under investigation. The airmen were assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida and the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air...

ORLANDO, Fla. (WESH/CNN NEWSOURCE/WKRC) - A Florida judge sentenced a 70-year-old man to 37 years in prison Wednesday for a 2023 crash that killed four members of one family. Richard Ferguson was convicted in October 2025 of manslaughter after prosecutors said he allowed his unlicensed 15-year-old son to drive his car. Authorities said the teen, who did not have a permit, crashed into another vehicle, killing three children and their grandmother.

For some people, spiders are no joke. Arachnophobia affects between 2.7-6.1% of people and is one of the most common anxiety disorders, according to the National Institutes of Health. The wolf spider, garden spider and the house spider are most common in Tampa, Florida. It’s unclear if New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler deals with the fear, but he made sure that the insect was taken care of before a spring training game. Schlittler called security to get a spider out of his locker before the team took on the Detroit Tigers, according to the YES Network. Schlittler didn’t pitch...

After fighting for almost a decade to gain U.S. citizenship, time is running out for Marine Corps veteran Paul Canton. He’ll likely be deported soon back to his native New Zealand, despite serving in the U.S. military for seven years, and building a life in Central Florida for more than 25 years. Canton’s story first hit the news cycle in 2020 when his application for citizenship was rejected by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, even though the former Marine had no criminal record. Despite the setback, Canton and his family kept working on his citizenship case, gaining support from leaders...

Florida lawmakers are sending Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a strict elections bill modeled after the federal SAVE America Act strongly championed by President Donald Trump that mandates voters verify their citizenship when registering. Lawmakers in Tallahassee, Florida, in the GOP-dominated state House approved the measure in a 77–28 vote Thursday, hours after the bill passed the Republican-controlled state Senate 27–12. The votes in both houses of the Florida legislature were nearly entirely along party lines. DeSantis, a supporter of what he calls "the Florida version of the SAVE Act," is expected to sign the measure when it reaches his desk....