Crime Correspondent: Maimi

Geovani Nunez , Jorge Hernandez both 13-year veterans of the Miami Police Department, were paid a combined $39,500 by a man

Officer Geovani Nunez and Detective Jorge Hernandez, both 13-year veterans of the Miami Police Department, were paid a combined $39,500 by a man they thought was involved in numerous illegal businesses, prosecutors said. That man, however, was secretly an FBI informant and all of their conversations were taped.U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said the case was particularly disheartening in a year when several South Florida police officers have died in the line of duty."It is sad that a handful of individuals choose to repay their colleagues' sacrifice through criminal conduct," Acosta said.Nunez and Hernandez were released on bail after appearing briefly in court Friday. Their lawyers said they would fight the charges, which carry potential life sentences.Nunez's attorney, Michael Catalano, said the FBI sting means that all of the allegedly illegal conduct was staged and not real."They are charged with committing crimes that did not exist," he said.It's was not immediately clear if Hernandez had an attorney.Court documents show that Nunez got involved with the informant in March 2007 after losing a part-time job at a Miami nightclub. Eventually he and Hernandez allegedly helped protect shipments -- sometimes using their police cars to escort trucks -- of what they thought were stolen televisions and computers and at least 12 kilograms of cocaine.Police Chief John Timoney said the two officers would be fired and that he hoped their alleged actions wouldn't hurt morale at the department."These two, as far as I'm concerned, are aberrations," Timoney said.The case is similar to a recent FBI sting that eventually involved charges against five officers of the Hollywood Police Department. Those five all pleaded guilty and four received lengthy prison sentences.

Geovani Nunez , Jorge Hernandez both 13-year veterans of the Miami Police Department, were paid a combined $39,500 by a man

Officer Geovani Nunez and Detective Jorge Hernandez, both 13-year veterans of the Miami Police Department, were paid a combined $39,500 by a...

Ben Kuehne a lawyer's lawyer, an attorney whose ethics are beyond reproach

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNW3oixOyKdWr6XGWQfsKbOq8RsMvhjyhCVPjTLQn-LIrlOSlCSB_VLLyWYkp2VO1_slJfuRrkB5lXVLuPvFmU9T7glKoP4IqNZq5DGogbRrcv5FQ1THoBg998zr8TUCxlO7xAKzmQFs/s1600-h/ben.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164553113266438882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNW3oixOyKdWr6XGWQfsKbOq8RsMvhjyhCVPjTLQn-LIrlOSlCSB_VLLyWYkp2VO1_slJfuRrkB5lXVLuPvFmU9T7glKoP4IqNZq5DGogbRrcv5FQ1THoBg998zr8TUCxlO7xAKzmQFs/s320/ben.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Ben Kuehne a lawyer's lawyer, an attorney whose ethics are beyond reproach. Vice President Al Gore relied on him in his fight to get ballots recounted in the 2000 presidential election. But the Miami attorney appeared Thursday before a federal magistrate charged with laundering $5.2 million in drug money that was transferred to celebrity lawyer Roy Black to defend Colombian cocaine kingpin Fabio Ochoa. "I am completely innocent of these charges," Kuehne told U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Brown. Kuehne wore a blue suit, his trademark bowtie and American flag lapel pin for his court appearance. The defense and prosecutors agreed to a $250,000 bond. The indictment revives the issue of the legal suitability of money accepted by criminal defense attorneys from clients accused of drug trafficking and money laundering. Medellin kingpin Fabio Ochoa faced charges of plotting to smuggle 30 tons of powder cocaine per month into the United States from 1997 to 1999. Since it's illegal to accept funds from a criminal enterprise, Black paid Kuehne $197,300 to vet money coming from horse and cattle holdings of the Ochoa family and property offered to cover Black's fees. Kuehne's investigation played out in an elaborate procedure prior to Ochoa's trial in front of U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore in 2003. The attorney produced six opinion letters concluding funds transferred to Black for Ochoa's defense were legitimate, the six-count indictment said. But prosecutors charge almost $1 million tracked to Black ran through five federal undercover operations that intercepted drug money in Miami, New York and Houston in 2002. Kuehne, Colombian attorney Oscar Saldarriaga Ochoa and Colombian accountant Gloria Florez Velez knew the money was tainted but told the defense team it did not have a criminal taint, prosecutors charged. "This is a sad day for the Department of Justice," said John Nields, a partner at the Howry law firm in Washington and one of Kuehne's attorneys. "They have indicted one of the finest attorneys in Miami."

Ben Kuehne a lawyer's lawyer, an attorney whose ethics are beyond reproach

Ben Kuehne a lawyer's lawyer, an attorney whose ethics are beyond reproach. Vice President Al Gore relied on him in his fight to get bal...