CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Isaias Antonio, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Victor Cruz, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Felix Cuevas, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Richard Figueroa-Santiago, No. 08-021458CF (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Antonio Germiniano, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Devin Goldie, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Miguel Jimenez, Jr., (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Erik Hernandez, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Uriel Lujan, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Yan Rocha, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Obduella Soto, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Pablo Ortega, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Priscilla Ortiz, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Elvis Eladio Rodriguez, No. 08-000169CF (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).
CRIMINAL CASE: Florida v. Marcos Santiago, (Fla. Cir. Ct., Lee County filed Nov. 14, 2008).

In what appears to be the first use of a new Florida law that criminalizes the promotion of gangs on the Internet, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested 15 men over the contents of their MySpace pages, which prosecutors claim advertised and promoted gang membership.
The suspects ranged in age from 14 to 58 years old, and from those with long criminal records to those with no previous arrests. Prosecutors contended that many of them had displayed their gang membership and criminal intentions on MySpace and other web sites. Examples cited by prosecutors included a 15-year-old's "hit list" of "people I wanna kill," and a 14-year-old's posted pictures of himself dressed in gang colors and displaying gang hand signals.
On August 4, Florida District Court Judge Ramiro Mañalich heard arguments from attorneys from two of the defendants, Richard Omar Figueroa-Santiago and Elvis Eladio Rodriguez, both contending that the statute is unconstitutional.
It is unclear whether Judge Ramiro Mañalich has decided the question, but the case is proceeding, with a pre-trial conference held on Dec. 8.


Case Information and Links:

14 accused gang members arrested in Internet recruiting bust (Naples News, Nov. 14, 2008)
Lee County notches 15th arrest in effort to curb gang activity via the Internet (Naples News, Nov. 17, 2008)

Busted on Myspace: Two men headed to court for gang material on Web sites (Naples News, July 28, 2009)
Are gang-related Web postings illegal? Judge listens to arguments (Naples News, Aug. 4, 2009)