Feds: Polk couple stole $400,000 from foster child
By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune
Published: August 25, 2010
TAMPA - First, his father murdered his mother.
Then, authorities say, the teen's foster parents stole $400,000 in life insurance left by his mother.
Radhames Antonio Oropeza, 53, and Asia Concepcion Oropeza, 52, of Davenport, were arrested today on charges of conspiring to commit fraud and wire fraud against their former foster child, who is now 24.
"The nature of this crime stinks," U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun III told the Polk County couple.
They told McCoun they currently have two other foster children, ages 7 and 3, and receive about $900 a month from the state to care for the children.
Officials are not releasing the victim's name in the fraud case. He was 14 when he went to live with the couple after his father murdered his mother in New York. His father is serving a life sentence.
The teen received his mother's life insurance proceeds after he turned 18.
The Oropezas moved to Davenport about five years ago, officials said. According to a federal indictment unsealed today, the couple flew the teen to Florida for a visit and tried to persuade him to use the life insurance money to invest in properties.
Eventually, the victim agreed to deposit the money into certificates of deposit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill said Asia Oropeza had her name added to the accounts without the victim's knowledge. She then used the account as collateral for loans and transferred the money to another bank.
"None of this money went to the victim," O'Neill told McCoun.
He said the young man sent the couple letters and telephoned repeatedly trying to get the money back. But the story kept changing about where the money was.
"This is a classic example of a crime of greed," O'Neill said.
O'Neill said federal authorities were alerted by an attorney who does pro bono work for foster children.
He said investigators were unaware of the couple's two current foster children and would be alerting state authorities about the fraud case.
Asked about their sources of income, the couple said they receive about $900 a month for each of two local rental properties they own. Radhames Oropeza said he earns about $1,000 a month as a handyman.
The couple said they own their Davenport home without a mortgage and that Asia Oropeza owns a house in New York worth about $900,000, although that home is in foreclosure.
O'Neill said the government would seize properties to compensate the victim's $400,000.
Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/aug/25/feds-polk-couple-stole-400000-foster-child/news-breaking/
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Thursday, August 26, 2010
DCYF Screws Up Again-Family in the System since 1990's
DCF Regulations Under Microscope
http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/2010/08/dcf-regulations-under-microscope.html
http://legallykidnapped.blogspot.com/2010/08/dcf-regulations-under-microscope.html
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
ADDERALL, THE STUDY DRUG, POSES SERIOUS HEALTH RISKS
ADDERALL, THE STUDY DRUG, POSES SERIOUS HEALTH RISKS
Grades are important, but for some overly ambitious students, they are more important than their health.
Adderall is a prescription drug that is prescribed for kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Now, the drug is being clandestinely used to improve grades on college campuses. Since the drug is known for its ability to promote concentration and focus, students desperate to get a winning edge in school are popping it in order to enhance their ability to retain knowledge, stay up later and work faster during study sessions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 23 percent of young people admitted to abusing prescription drugs, and Adderall was one of the most common. In fact, the drug is so common among college students that on campus it is commonly referred to as the “study drug.”
This medically-unsupervised method for taking this prescription medication has health and medical experts, as well as teachers and parents, extremely concerned over the pressure today’s students face while trying to succeed in school.
The FDA has been keeping a watchful eye on the drug since it was approved for use in the 1990s. In early 2006, the FDA announced that, for the past two years, they have been monitoring cases of cardiovascular injury and sudden death in patients taking Adderall. According to FDA officials, more than 50 cases of sudden death have occurred in American adults and children taking the drug or medications that contain similar ingredients. Adderall is a combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine, two stimulatory drugs that can lead to addiction.
According to the U.S. Library of Medicine, Adderall can cause death in children and adults with an existing heart condition. In addition, it has been linked to stunted growth in kids, and comes with a host of side effects like increased heart rate, anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, seizures and hallucinations.
Prescription drugs can be just as lethal as illicit drugs. If you or someone you know is taking Adderal to improve their grades, it is important to get the necessary help, as soon as possible.
http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2010/08/adderall-the-study-drug-poses-serious-health-risks/
Grades are important, but for some overly ambitious students, they are more important than their health.
Adderall is a prescription drug that is prescribed for kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Now, the drug is being clandestinely used to improve grades on college campuses. Since the drug is known for its ability to promote concentration and focus, students desperate to get a winning edge in school are popping it in order to enhance their ability to retain knowledge, stay up later and work faster during study sessions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 23 percent of young people admitted to abusing prescription drugs, and Adderall was one of the most common. In fact, the drug is so common among college students that on campus it is commonly referred to as the “study drug.”
This medically-unsupervised method for taking this prescription medication has health and medical experts, as well as teachers and parents, extremely concerned over the pressure today’s students face while trying to succeed in school.
The FDA has been keeping a watchful eye on the drug since it was approved for use in the 1990s. In early 2006, the FDA announced that, for the past two years, they have been monitoring cases of cardiovascular injury and sudden death in patients taking Adderall. According to FDA officials, more than 50 cases of sudden death have occurred in American adults and children taking the drug or medications that contain similar ingredients. Adderall is a combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine, two stimulatory drugs that can lead to addiction.
According to the U.S. Library of Medicine, Adderall can cause death in children and adults with an existing heart condition. In addition, it has been linked to stunted growth in kids, and comes with a host of side effects like increased heart rate, anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, seizures and hallucinations.
Prescription drugs can be just as lethal as illicit drugs. If you or someone you know is taking Adderal to improve their grades, it is important to get the necessary help, as soon as possible.
http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2010/08/adderall-the-study-drug-poses-serious-health-risks/
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Child Protective Services Destroys Kids & Here's PROOF.flv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnNyA3v7U80
Florida Emerges as National Model For Preserving Families and Protecting Children
Posted: 5:18 PM Aug 24, 2010
Florida Emerges as National Model For Preserving Families and Protecting Children
Florida is a national leader in child welfare due to its substantial progress in preserving families and providing safe and permanent homes for children affected by abuse or neglect
Reporter: DCF Press Release
Orlando, FL - Florida is a national leader in child welfare due to its substantial progress in preserving families and providing safe and permanent homes for children affected by abuse or neglect, Secretary George H. Sheldon of the Florida Department of Children and Families said in his “State of the Child 2010” speech on Tuesday.
“Now, I am not yet ready to declare that Florida has the best child-welfare system in the nation. But we are leading the nation in some very important ways. We are setting an example for America in the preservation of families and protecting children,” Sheldon said at the 2010 Dependency Summit. “Together we have re-imagined and remade Florida’s child welfare system into a national model for reform.”
Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty joined Secretary Sheldon on the opening day of the Dependency Summit. The audience of about 2,000 included many of DCF’s local partners in the courts, law enforcement and community-based care agencies, substance abuse and mental health providers, child advocates, youth in foster care and biological, foster and adoptive families.
“Since the beginning of Governor Crist’s administration nearly four years ago, you have achieved what the New York Times called a ‘radical transformation’ in child welfare,” said Sheldon, appointed DCF secretary in September 2008 after serving as the agency’s deputy secretary under his predecessor, former Attorney General Bob Butterworth. “You have reduced children in out-of-home care, accomplished record adoptions and guardianship, and reunified families
with reduced rates of re-abuse.”
“Governor Crist never wavered in his support for our work. So many times he told me, ’Just do the right thing.’ He meant it, and he has stood by us and stood by the children who come into our care,” Sheldon said. “The Casey Family Programs, the Eckerd Foundation, the Youth Law Center and others have made major investments of their time, money and expertise in Florida. We could not have done what we have done without them. We could not have done it without partnerships at every level, all over this state.”
Florida undertook several transformative initiatives, becoming the first state allowed to use federal dollars based on the needs of children and not solely on children in foster care and setting the goal of safely reducing the number of children in foster care by 50 percent by 2012.
Since the beginning of Governor Crist’s administration, Florida has:
- Safely reduced the number of children in foster care by nearly 11,000
- a 36 percent reduction.
- Set adoption records with nearly 12,000 children adopted from foster
care, and received a nearly $10 million federal bonus in September 2009
that recognized Florida as best in the nation in increasing adoptions.
- Reunified more than 30,000 children with their parents.
- Placed nearly 16,000 children into permanent guardianships, most
often with relatives.
- Was ranked number one among the states in 2010 by the federal
government for achieving timeliness of adoptions.
The August 24-26 Summit brings together a wide range of individuals who work with Florida’s vulnerable children and families so they can collaborate on innovations and best practices to find effective solutions.
For more information, please visit the Department of Children and
Families Web site at http://www.dcf.state.fl.us.
http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/101417984.html
Florida Emerges as National Model For Preserving Families and Protecting Children
Florida is a national leader in child welfare due to its substantial progress in preserving families and providing safe and permanent homes for children affected by abuse or neglect
Reporter: DCF Press Release
Orlando, FL - Florida is a national leader in child welfare due to its substantial progress in preserving families and providing safe and permanent homes for children affected by abuse or neglect, Secretary George H. Sheldon of the Florida Department of Children and Families said in his “State of the Child 2010” speech on Tuesday.
“Now, I am not yet ready to declare that Florida has the best child-welfare system in the nation. But we are leading the nation in some very important ways. We are setting an example for America in the preservation of families and protecting children,” Sheldon said at the 2010 Dependency Summit. “Together we have re-imagined and remade Florida’s child welfare system into a national model for reform.”
Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty joined Secretary Sheldon on the opening day of the Dependency Summit. The audience of about 2,000 included many of DCF’s local partners in the courts, law enforcement and community-based care agencies, substance abuse and mental health providers, child advocates, youth in foster care and biological, foster and adoptive families.
“Since the beginning of Governor Crist’s administration nearly four years ago, you have achieved what the New York Times called a ‘radical transformation’ in child welfare,” said Sheldon, appointed DCF secretary in September 2008 after serving as the agency’s deputy secretary under his predecessor, former Attorney General Bob Butterworth. “You have reduced children in out-of-home care, accomplished record adoptions and guardianship, and reunified families
with reduced rates of re-abuse.”
“Governor Crist never wavered in his support for our work. So many times he told me, ’Just do the right thing.’ He meant it, and he has stood by us and stood by the children who come into our care,” Sheldon said. “The Casey Family Programs, the Eckerd Foundation, the Youth Law Center and others have made major investments of their time, money and expertise in Florida. We could not have done what we have done without them. We could not have done it without partnerships at every level, all over this state.”
Florida undertook several transformative initiatives, becoming the first state allowed to use federal dollars based on the needs of children and not solely on children in foster care and setting the goal of safely reducing the number of children in foster care by 50 percent by 2012.
Since the beginning of Governor Crist’s administration, Florida has:
- Safely reduced the number of children in foster care by nearly 11,000
- a 36 percent reduction.
- Set adoption records with nearly 12,000 children adopted from foster
care, and received a nearly $10 million federal bonus in September 2009
that recognized Florida as best in the nation in increasing adoptions.
- Reunified more than 30,000 children with their parents.
- Placed nearly 16,000 children into permanent guardianships, most
often with relatives.
- Was ranked number one among the states in 2010 by the federal
government for achieving timeliness of adoptions.
The August 24-26 Summit brings together a wide range of individuals who work with Florida’s vulnerable children and families so they can collaborate on innovations and best practices to find effective solutions.
For more information, please visit the Department of Children and
Families Web site at http://www.dcf.state.fl.us.
http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/101417984.html
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)