LAWFUEL – Law Firm News – R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office (“FBI”), and Brian J. Wimpling, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (“IRS”), announced that defendant, William R. Boose, III, 62, of North Palm Beach, Florida, has been charged in a criminal Information with misprision of a felony, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 4. If convicted, Boose faces a maximum period of three years’ incarceration and a $250,000 fine.
Boose is charged with failing to disclose and affirmatively concealing from law enforcement Boose’s knowledge of, and information related to, Anthony Masilotti’s use of his Masilotti’s office to advance the sale of the Nine Gems transaction to the South Florida Water Management District. To that end, as charged in the Information, Boose knowingly and materially altered notations, notes and a billing statement in Boose’s file to conceal Masilotti’s involvement and then subsequently lied to federal investigators regarding his knowledge of Masilotti’s involvement in the Nine Gems transaction.
United States Attorney Acosta stated, “A law degree is not a license to assist public officials in violating the law. Indeed, of all professions, attorneys and law enforcement officials have a heightened duty to take all possible steps to uphold the law. This prosecution evidences our commitment to vigorously prosecute and bring to justice not only those who misuse their public offices for personal gain but also those who knowingly assist and conceal such crimes.”
Jonathan Solomon, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami FBI Office, added, “As an attorney, William Boose had a duty to represent business dealings with the county in an ethical and transparent manner. Instead, he disguised the true nature of Masilotti’s land transaction for his own personal gain. Public corruption will remain a top priority for the FBI and we will devote the necessary resources to combat it.
“Attorneys are individuals who are trusted to work within the legal system and not manipulate it for their own personal gain. IRS-CI will continue to lend financial expertise to investigate not only the public officials involved in public corruption, but those who assist them,” said IRS Special Agent in Charge Brian Wimpling.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the IRS and FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John Kastrenakes and Stephen Carlton.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/ or on http://pacer.
