TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) – Cacherelle Murray says her former legal professional, David Whigham, stole $60,000 from her eleven-year-old son, who needed the funds for remedy after an awful vehicle crash. “A lot of humans had been affected. This isn’t always a touch crime. He needs to be prosecuted to the [fullest] extent,” said Murray.
Murray is simply one of all eleven victims from whom Whigham stole. The now-disbarred attorney recently pleaded responsible to nine counts of grand theft.
Prosecutors say he stole over $1.5 million from charities in addition to kids and adults with disabilities.
Margaret Petti employed Whigham to defend her special needs to accept as true with but as an alternative; he wiped her out.
Now she wants him to rot in prison. “He didn’t know what he became doing? Did it become a one-time aspect? Really?” Petti requested. “He became underneath research and in the method of being disbarred whilst he took my money. I failed to understand that he knew exactly what he became doing.” Prosecutors say Whigham’s regulation company became going beneath, so he used his clients’ cash to shop the commercial enterprise.
He also took his family on lavish vacations, offered a ship, ate fancy dinners, and paid different payments.
During the 3 hour sentencing, Whigham, who faces 185 years in jail, begged for mercy. “I take full responsibility for what I did. I cannot explain why I made the selections I did. I do not know; my simplest wish is that the courtroom offers me a hazard to right my wrongs,” stated Whigham. The judge will make his ruling on Monday. Prosecutors are soliciting for 10 years in jail. The defense is requesting their patron to be sentenced to probation.
CLEARWATER, Fla. (FOX thirteen) – It’s been a staple in downtown Clearwater for 58-years. But now the vacant Harborview Center is coming down.
“This is truly an exciting day for everyone right here in Clearwater,” stated Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos.
Decked out in difficult hats and reflective vests, metropolis leaders had been equipped to get their fingers dirty Friday, symbolically smashing away with sledgehammers at the building’s outer wall. Perched on top waterfront belongings, the Harborview Center is being demolished and jumpstarting the metropolis’s Imagine Clearwater redevelopment venture. “We’re gonna eliminate all that now and have a civic gateway, so you have an unobstructed view of Clearwater Beach and the entire Coachman Park area,” Cretekos said.
The 3-tale structure was built in 1961 and operated as a Maas Brothers branch store. It’s been primarily vacant given that 2009. Folks collected Friday to have a good time the milestone of the building eventually coming down. “Oh, I wouldn’t pass over it for the sector,” laughed Eleanore Lyda. “We’re gonna dispose of this dinosaur and have a stunning park.” “This is so symbolic of having this constructing come down because it just opens up the destiny,” Downtown Development Board Member Lina Teixeira stated.
The event becomes presupposed to be the kick-off to the building’s demolition, but half the structure is already torn down. Once it’s long gone, downtown may be related to the waterfront. “The park might be beautiful; to simply crest Cleveland Street and spot the water, it is going to be simply beautiful,” stated Lyda. The Imagine Clearwater mission continues to be in the design segment. But the roughly $50-million plan consists of about 19-acres of park space.
Leaders desire it will revitalize the downtown center of Clearwater. “It’s gonna help the merchants to convey a majority of these humans down; it’s going to have extra feet on the street,” Lyda said. “It’s gonna positioned us on the map and make us extra appealing because it’s gonna be a splendid destination,” said Teixeira. The Harborview Center’s demolition should be completed in August, and the entire Imagine Clearwater project is ready to be entirely in 2021.
