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Thread: Tony Villegas Sentenced to Life in Prison for the 2008 FL Slaying of Melissa Britt Lewis

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    Tony Villegas Sentenced to Life in Prison for the 2008 FL Slaying of Melissa Britt Lewis

    Suspect competent for Broward County trial in Rothstein law partner's killing

    The man charged with strangling one of fraudster Scott Rothstein's law partners is competent to stand trial after spending 10 months locked in a mental health facility, a Broward judge ruled Tuesday.

    Tony Villegas' defense team did not fight the recent findings of two forensic psychologists that he is mentally fit to continue with court proceedings in the March 2008 slaying of Melissa Britt Lewis. If he's convicted of first-degree murder, he could face the death penalty.

    Lewis had been best friends with Villegas' ex-wife, Debra Villegas. Debra Villegas, the chief operating officer of Rothstein's law firm, is slated to start serving a 10-year prison sentence in June after pleading guilty to helping her boss pull off his $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme, the largest financial fraud in South Florida history.

    Tony Villegas probably won't go to trial until next year, one of his attorneys, Bruce Fleisher, said after Tuesday's brief court hearing before Broward Circuit Judge William Haury.

    Fleisher said Villegas' defense team will be exploring the connections Rothstein has with the murder case including his relationships with Lewis and Debra Villegas and Rothstein's ties with law enforcement. Until Rothstein's Ponzi scheme spectacularly collapsed in November 2009, the flashy, tough-talking lawyer was a regular presence at Tony Villegas' court hearings.

    Fleisher said he will likely seek to get sworn depositions from both Rothstein and Debra Villegas in the criminal case. Rothstein is serving a 50-year prison sentence for his Ponzi scheme.

    Tony Villegas, 47, is accused of confronting Lewis at her Plantation home on March 6, 2008, strangling her and then dumping her body in a canal. Villegas, a train conductor with no criminal past, was arrested a week later and taken to the Broward County Jail, where he was held without bond.

    He was found incompetent to stand trial in May 2010 after two mental health experts concluded he was unable to effectively assist in his defense. He was transferred to a secure mental health facility where he was held until being brought back to the Broward County Jail last month.

    Court documents show DNA taken from Lewis' jacket — which was found in her abandoned Cadillac SUV — matches Tony Villegas with the odds of it belonging to someone else being 1 in 30 billion. A nurse at the medical office building where the SUV was found has identified Villegas' silver Corvette as being in the parking lot that night, according to court records.

    Police say they also used records of Lewis' iPhone signals to show that the night of her murder, it was taken from Plantation to the area in Hialeah where Tony Villegas lived. The next morning the iPhone's path mirrored the Florida East Coast train that Tony Villegas was riding, court records show.

    Al Milian, Tony Villegas' other attorney, has previously said that DNA evidence can be fabricated and there's a "lack of evidence and motive" in the case.

    Debra Villegas has told Plantation police that her ex-husband was controlling and physically abusive. The couple's teenage son has said his father repeatedly blamed Lewis for the couple's break-up, court records show.

    http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/su...n-1395883.html

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    Rothstein loses it when asked about law partner's slaying

    Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein lost his cool when asked if one of his law partners was murdered because she learned about his crimes, according to transcripts of his testimony released Tuesday.

    "You're disgusting," an upset Rothstein exclaimed when an attorney pressed him on Melissa Britt Lewis' death. "Everyone knows that I wasn't involved in it. That's disgusting."

    Rothstein's outburst came during the most aggressive questioning of his extraordinary 10-day deposition session. An attorney for Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust fired question after question at the convicted fraudster, not only asking him about Lewis' slaying, but the suicides of his former bodyguard and a former law clerk.

    "(Lewis) was murdered because she knew too much, right?" asked Mary Barzee-Flores, one of the bank's attorneys.

    "Excuse me?" Rothstein replied. "Are you attempting to insinuate that I had something to do with that poor girl's death? Have you lost your mind?"

    Lewis, 39, was strangled on March 5, 2008, and her body dumped in a Plantation canal. The man charged with her murder, Tony Villegas, is the ex-husband of Debra Villegas, the former chief operating officer of Rothstein's law firm. Debra Villegas had been best friends with Lewis.

    Debra Villegas is now serving a 10-year prison sentence for assisting Rothstein in pulling off his $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme – the largest financial fraud in South Florida history.

    State prosecutors believe Tony Villegas, who is awaiting trial, killed Lewis because of her relationship with his then-estranged wife. DNA taken from Lewis' jacket – that was found in her abandoned Cadillac SUV – is a 1-in-30-billion match with Tony Villegas, according to court records.

    Debra Villegas told Plantation police that her husband was controlling and that she lived in fear of him. The couple's teenage son told police his father repeatedly blamed Lewis for the couple's break-up.

    Tony Villegas has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

    His defense team has said they will be exploring the connections Rothstein had with the murder case including his relationships with Lewis and Debra Villegas as well as Rothstein's ties with law enforcement.

    Rothstein said in his deposition that he once had an affair with Lewis when he taught her at Nova Southeastern University Law School.

    "Melissa Lewis was a good person," Rothstein said. "She didn't know too much. She was killed by a psychopath."

    Transcripts of the final two days of Rothstein's deposition are being reviewed by the Sun Sentinel. Rothstein spent 10 days behind closed doors in a Miami federal courtroom lasty month answering the questions of more than 30 attorneys involved in litigation related to his bankrupt Fort Lauderdale law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler. He is hoping for a reduction in his 50-year prison sentence.

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/bro...,2970818.story

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    Will Rothstein saga muddle Tony Villegas murder trial?

    Six years after lawyer Melissa Lewis' death, questions abound

    By Michael Mayo
    The Sun-Sentinel

    Tony Villegas' long-delayed trial for the murder of Scott Rothstein law firm partner Melissa Lewis has been set for September, and the case has enough intrigue to fill a John Grisham novel. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Villegas, 50, a railroad conductor with no prior criminal history, has pleaded not guilty.

    "We're just ready to get it over with," Lewis' sister, Carrie Fisher, told me Friday.

    The latest in a string of status hearings was held last week, and Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson wants the 6-year-old case to reach a jury.

    Lewis' body was found in a canal near her Plantation home in March 2008. Villegas was indicted by a grand jury later that month and is being held without bond at the Broward main jail. The big question hanging over the trial: What impact will the 2009 Ponzi scheme implosion of Rothstein's law firm have?

    Especially when you consider that two key people in Lewis' life — Debra Villegas and Rothstein — are now in federal prison for their roles in the $1.6 billion fraud.

    Debra Villegas, Tony Villegas' estranged wife and Lewis' best friend, was chief operating officer of Rothstein's firm and is serving a 10-year sentence. She's on the state's witness list, and defense lawyers are sure to make an issue of her credibility. Police and prosecutors theorize that an enraged Tony Villegas killed Lewis because he blamed her for his marital breakup.

    Rothstein, Lewis' boss and her former law school professor, is serving a 50-year sentence. He is not on the witness list, but Tony Villegas co-counsel Al Milian told me the defense team might want to depose Rothstein. In a December 2011 civil deposition related to the Ponzi scheme, Rothstein admitted he slept with Lewis when she was a 30-year-old law student. He lost his composure when an attorney started asking questions about Lewis' murder, asking if she was killed "because she knew too much."

    Rothstein responded: "Excuse me? Are you attempting to insinuate that I had something to do with that poor girl's death? Have you lost your mind? ...You're disgusting. Everyone knows that I wasn't involved in it. That's disgusting."

    Rothstein might find the conspiracy theories repugnant, but there's no telling what a jury will make of the overall situation.

    Milian describes the state's case as "circumstantial." The strongest evidence: DNA that matches Tony Villegas' was found on Lewis' jacket in her abandoned SUV. Milian wouldn't discuss defense strategy, but I could see how Tony Villegas might claim evidence was planted and that he was framed.

    "The way I look at it, if I was on that jury, how could you not think there's reasonable doubt?" said Larry Drulard, Tony Villegas' former supervisor. Drulard called Tony "a meek guy;" he said he believes Tony is innocent.

    When I asked Lewis' sister, Carrie Fisher, how the Rothstein Ponzi implosion might impact the murder case and whether she thought Tony Villegas was the killer, she said, "I can't comment on that."

    Drulard said he still gets postcards from Tony Villegas, but he stopped getting jail phone calls from him a year ago. "He writes that he can't wait to get out, that he's sure he's coming home and he's looking forward to spending Christmas with his family," Drulard told me Friday. "He wants to get his old job at the railroad back."

    Tony Villegas had two stints in lockdown units at state psychiatric facilities, in 2010 and 2011, when he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.

    Said Drulard: "From some of his latest letters, it seems he's having a hell of a time keeping things together. But after all he's been through, that's understandable. It's been a long six years."

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-...,556348.column

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    More new twists in Melissa Lewis murder case

    By Michael Mayo
    The Sun-Sentinel

    Tony Villegas' long-delayed trial for the 2008 murder of Scott Rothstein law firm partner Melissa Lewis has been set for Dec. 1, and the intriguing case that seems worthy of a John Grisham novel now has another new wrinkle.

    Debra Villegas is ailing in prison with heart problems, and her ability to testify against her ex-husband for the killing of her best friend — Lewis — is in doubt.

    "Too soon to tell," Debra Villegas' attorney, Paul Lazarus, said about her status.

    Debra Villegas, Rothstein's former right-hand woman serving a 10-year sentence for her role in his $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme, will soon transfer to a specialized medical prison in Texas. She apparently "flat-lined" and went into cardiac arrest during a recent episode at the Coleman Federal Correctional Institution in Central Florida, a source close to the case told me.

    "[Debra] has some illnesses, but I can't get into them," Lazarus said, citing privacy laws.

    At a status hearing for Tony Villegas on Tuesday, Broward homicide prosecutor Al Ribas said Debra Villegas, 47, was under the care of a cardiologist and would need medical clearance to testify at the trial.

    In other developments this week, the state revealed it will no longer seek the death penalty against Tony Villegas, 50, and prosecutors have offered him a plea deal. Tony Villegas has until Sept. 23 to accept. His attorneys, Bruce Fleisher and Al Milian, declined to divulge details. "I think we'll see a trial," Milian said.

    Carrie Fisher, Melissa Lewis' sister, told me Wednesday she had mixed feelings when the Broward State Attorney's Office informed the family it was waiving the death penalty. "I was told it was no longer on the table," she said. "We're just waiting to see if he takes the plea."

    It's been six-and-a-half years since Lewis' death.

    "It's just kind of tedious waiting," said Fisher, who plans to travel from her South Carolina home to attend the three-week trial.

    Lewis' body was found in a canal near her Plantation home in March 2008, before Rothstein's Ponzi scheme came to light. Tony Villegas was charged with first-degree murder later that month. He pleaded not guilty and has been held without bond since his arrest.

    Now there is a hard deadline to finish by year's end: Milian was recently elected a Miami-Dade Circuit Judge and will take the bench Jan. 5.

    Debra Villegas' testimony could be pivotal to the prosecution's theory that a jealous, angry Tony Villegas killed Melissa Lewis because he blamed her for his crumbling marriage. Tony Villegas, a train conductor with no prior criminal history, has pleaded not guilty.

    When Rothstein's Ponzi scheme unraveled, it was natural to wonder if Lewis' murder was somehow connected and if the case against Tony Villegas would be muddled. Rothstein was close with cops (he once represented the Plantation Police Department's union) and his corrupting influence extended to two Broward Sheriff's Office deputies, who have pleaded guilty to carrying out a false arrest. Could Tony Villegas play the Rothstein card and say he was framed?

    Tony Villegas' attorneys have indicated they won't be going that route.

    Rothstein, serving a 50-year prison term, isn't on the witness list. Rothstein has said he had nothing to do with Lewis' death. In a December 2011 civil deposition, Rothstein lost his composure when an attorney asked if Lewis was killed "because she knew too much."

    Rothstein responded: "Excuse me? Are you attempting to insinuate that I had something to do with that poor girl's death? Have you lost your mind? ...You're disgusting. Everyone knows that I wasn't involved in it. That's disgusting."

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-...7879152.column

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    Opening Statements Underway In Villegas Murder Trial

    FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Opening statements got underway Monday in the murder trial of a man accused of killing Plantation attorney Melissa Britt Lewis then dumping her body in a canal.

    Tony Villegas was originally ruled incompetent to stand trial and spent 10 months locked in a mental health facility. That decision was then overturned after two forensic psychologists found him mentally fit.

    Melissa Britt Lewis was a law partner of notorious case convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, She was also best friends with Villegas’ ex-wife, Debra Villegas, Rothstein’s chief operating officer.

    Despite conspiracy theories early on, investigators concluded Lewis was not a part of Rothstein’s $1.6 billion Ponzi scheme and her death had nothing to do with him.

    Prosecutors say Villegas killed Lewis in March, 2008 because he blamed her for the breakup of his marriage.

    The defense may try to plant the suggestion that Rothstein was behind Lewis’ murder because, as an attorney said in an earlier civil proceedings, “she knew too much.”

    The judge has forbidden the defense from bringing Rothstein into the murder trial, but that could change if any witnesses make unsolicited reference to the Ponzi schemer.

    Defense attorney Bruce Fleischer offered no detail in his opening remarks to jurors, saying only that the death of Melissa Lewis was a puzzle.

    “There will be pieces of the puzzle, important pieces of the puzzle, that when you analyze them, that are missing,” Fleischer said.

    Assistant State Attorney painted a seemingly overwhelming case against Villegas. His DNA was found on her suit jacket in her abandoned SUV. It was missing a button that had been torn off. A matching button was found on her garage floor. Also on the garage floor was pepper spray residue.

    Villegas’ roommate testified that when he came home the day of Lewis’s disappearance, the defendant was washing pepper spray off of his hands and arms.

    Police could not find the victim’s cell phone. They say tracking records show it went back and forth between Broward and Miami- Dade on an FEC train line after her death. Villegas was a conductor on the train.

    Debra Villegas was sentenced to 10-years in after pleading guilty to her role in Rothstein’s scheme. Rothstein was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Villegas won early release for cooperating in the Ponzi investigation.

    Debra Villegas is expected to testify against her ex-husband. She will say her estranged husband was violent and threatened to “chop her up and feed her to alligators” if she went through with the divorce. Villegas faces the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.

    http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/06/20...rial-underway/

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Man accused of murdering ex-wife’s best friend found guilty

    FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A jury found Tony Villegas guilty of first-degree murder of his ex-wife’s best friend, Melissa Britt Lewis, Monday.

    The trial took about a week and closing arguments were made Monday morning. The jury then deliberated for less than two hours before they reached a guilty verdict.

    According to officials, Tony Villegas, 52, was accused of strangling Lewis, an attorney, at her Plantation home, in March of 2008. Police said Villegas blamed Lewis for the break up of his marriage.

    Lewis was found dead in a Plantation canal, with her SUV abandoned nearby. Signs of a struggle were found in her garage, and prosecutors said DNA evidence and electronic pings from Villegas’ cellphone linked Villegas to the murder scene.

    On Monday, in their closing remarks, prosecutors noted that Lewis was best friends with Villegas’ wife at the time of her murder, and that Villegas had been jealous of their relationship.

    According to prosecutors, Villegas’ DNA was found 16 different times on the suit jacket Lewis was wearing the night she was murdered. “There’s not one other person on the planet earth that could leave the DNA on this jacket that she was so proud of to have bought and worn that day, other than that man right there,” said prosecutor Shari Tate, as she pointed to Villegas.

    Lewis’ family addressed Villegas in court. “With this selfish act of jealousy, you not only violated our family, but your own too,” said Lynn Haberl, Lewis’ aunt. “We will all suffer this loss as long as we live, but we forgive you.”

    Lewis’ family said that they had to forgive Villegas in order to move on from the tragedy.

    Villegas’ ex-wife is also relieved that the trial is over. “I’m happy for Melissa’s family, to get a day of closure for them, they have justice,” she said. “For my kids, it’s obviously very difficult, but also for them, they get to bring this to a close as well.”

    Villegas’ attorney also spoke about the conviction. “The conviction to the first-degree is never something we’re hoping for, but there are issues to discuss, an appeal dealing with the Rothstein connection that we were prevented from bringing out and discussing during trial,” he said.

    Lewis was convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein’s partner. Villegas’ wife also worked with Rothstein as his chief operating officer. “Rothstein was somewhat tied into organized crime,” Villegas’ lawyer said. “Rothstein was involved in a Ponzi scheme making tons and tons of money, and perhaps there are certain people from the Rothstein firm who found out about this.”

    Villegas has yet to be sentenced, but he faces life behind bars.

    http://wsvn.com/news/local/tony-vill...al-winds-down/

    Villegas was sentenced to life later.
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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