For more than a year, New Times has been investigating Thompson Academy, a publicly funded, privately run juvenile detention center in Pembroke Pines where teens have alleged they faced physical and sexual abuse. Most recently, the lockup's top administrator, Craig Ferguson, left his post while under investigation by the state Department of Juvenile Justice. According to allegations made by former Thompson employees, last year Ferguson took three boys home with him, bought them clothes, and allowed them to shower at his house. New Times is currently wading through more than 200 pages of documents detailing the state's investigation of Ferguson.

Meanwhile, Youth Services International, the Sarasota-based prison company that runs Thompson, is facing additional scrutiny in Minnesota. Martin and Faribault counties, More >>

Delray Beach Police

For a larger photo, click on this one. For a better dog, go to the pound.

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PBSO

Goodman and Tupac, out on bail.

UPDATE 5/18: Goodman was released from jail this morning and is now home in Wellington.

5/17: When polo mogul John Goodman goes home to Wellington to serve house arrest while appealing his conviction for DUI manslaughter, he will join a prestigious group of felons who had a similar luxury. As we noted yesterday, Boynton Beach femme fatale Dalia Dippolito is currently out on a $500,000 bond while appealing her conviction for solicitation to commit murder. But she's not alone:

Tom DeLay, longtime Republican congressman from Texas and former House Majority Leader, is currently out on bail while appealing his conviction for conspiracy and money laundering charges related to corporate campaign donations.

Former media mogul Conrad Black was temporarily released from prison while he
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Photo by Eric Barton

Phillips served as his own attorney for years while trying to prove his innocence.

A federal judge declined today to release a man from prison where he is serving a 24-year term on drug charges, despite the fact that prosecutors have agreed to drop the charges against him. 
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Dalia Dippolito is on house arrest pending her appeal.

Multimillionaire John Goodman will soon return to the lap of luxury, at home beside the lush green grounds of the International Polo Club he founded in Wellington. Rather than immediately serving his 16-year prison sentence, he will win this get-out-of-jail pass after posting a $7 million bond and paying for off-duty cops to monitor him around the clock.

For a man convicted of killing a 23-year-old in a drunk driving accident, the setup hardly sounds like harsh punishment. But it's the deal Goodman struck to avoid prison while appealing his case, and it brings to mind another high-profile appeal in Palm Beach County. Dalia Dippolito, the Boynton Beach newlywed convicted last year of plotting to have her husband whacked by a hit man, is currently on house arrest after posting a $500,000 bond.

Both celebrity criminals were sentenced More >>

Photo by Eric Barton

Phillips has spent 11 years in federal prison.

A federal inmate who has served 11 years on drug charges he says he didn't commit has convinced prosecutors to let him out of prison.

Elroy Phillips refused to accept his fate after being sentenced to 30 years on charges of selling drugs to an undercover cop. He conducted records searches, hired a private investigator, and dug up information on the dirty cop who testified against him. Last week, federal prosecutors were finally convinced to dismiss charges against him.

The final step is to get a federal judge to let him go free. U.S. District Court Judge Joan A. Lenard, who originally sentenced Phillips, must now decide whether to accept an agreement signed by prosecutors that would dismiss most of the charges against Phillips and allow him out of prison. More >>

All photos courtesy Broward State Attorney

A portrait of Pileggi and Vinci, found in their home.

While we were reporting our cover story on the murder of high-flying multimillionaire Ron Vinci and the impending trial of his girlfriend, Catherine Pileggi, New Times went to court to fight for the release of evidence and statements collected during the police investigation. The judge granted us access to everything except Pileggi's private journals. Those files informed the story as well as subsequent revelations about a bottle of poisoned gin and a death in St. Lucia. More >>

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Sometimes it's fun to play "Termites, Circus, or Crime Scene?"

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