School Teacher Arrested and Charged for Enticing a Minor to Engage in Sexual Acts

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Addy M. Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, (FDLE), Miami Field Division; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; Chadwick Wagner, Chief, Hollywood Police Department; Al Lamberti, Sheriff, Broward Sheriff’s Office; and Franklin Adderley, Chief, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, announce today’s filing of a complaint following the June 16, 2012 arrest of Thomas Patrick Keelan, 54, of Roanoke, Virginia, on charges resulting from an FDLE-led investigation into allegations that Keelan attempted to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and that he traveled in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor. Keelan made his initial appearance in federal court today at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman.

According to the criminal complaint, between 2009 and 2010, Keelan was a teacher at a private school in Miami-Dade County. While at the school, Keelan began to have a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. According to the criminal complaint, over the next two years, Keelan had sex with the minor approximately 60 times.

The complaint further alleges that in the fall of 2010, Keelan accepted a job as the head of the English department at a private school in Roanoke, Virginia. In May 2012, the Miami-Dade victim, then 17 years old, began cooperating with law enforcement and placed several phone calls to Keelan. In these calls, Keelan expressed his love for the minor victim and, in one call, masturbated while on the phone with the victim. By the end of the call, Keelan had told the victim that he wanted to travel down to Miami to have sex with the victim again. In a subsequent call, Keelan told the victim that he would meet the victim at the same hotel in Hollywood, Florida where he and the victim had sex before.

On May 28, 2012, the complaint alleges, Keelan reserved a room at a Hollywood hotel for seven days, beginning June 16, 2012. On June 1, 2012, Keelan told the victim that he planned to leave Virginia by car on June 15, 2012 and arrive in South Florida on June 16, 2012. According to the complaint, on June 16, 2012, Keelan arrived at the Hollywood hotel, parked his car in the hotel parking lot, and entered the lobby. Keelan was arrested when he entered the hotel.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FDLE and FBI. Mr. Ferrer would also like to thank the Hollywood Police Department, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Roy K. Altman.

Two More Defendants Sentenced in Florida Pill Mill Operation

Additional Defendants Sentenced in Broward and Palm Beach Counties in Operation Oxy Alley

Jan 20 – Miami – Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division; Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and José A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), announced the sentencing of two additional defendants in connection with charges stemming from Operation Oxy Alley, a coordinated investigation into pill mills in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

Including the two defendants sentenced today, 13 defendants have been sentenced to date on an indictment unsealed on August 23, 2010, which charged 32 defendants. The indictment alleged that defendants Christopher and Jeffrey George, twin brothers, operated, managed and financed four pain management clinics in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. According to the indictment and statements made in court, from 2008 to early 2010, these pill mills distributed approximately 20 million oxycodone pills and made more than $40 million from the illegal sales of controlled substances. Thirteen of the thirty-two defendants were doctors.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra sentenced two defendants, both of whom had previously pled guilty in September and October 2011. Christopher Hutson, 31, of Wellington, pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and Christine Chico-Blume, a doctor, 59, of Jupiter, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Christopher Hutson was sentenced to 108 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Christine Chico-Blume was sentenced to 60 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release.

At present, 28 of the 32 defendants named in the indictment have pleaded guilty, including clinic owners Christopher and Jeffrey George. The sentencing hearings are scheduled to continue throughout January and February 2012.

The investigation and prosecution were the result of work by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. DEA, FBI, IRS-CID were assisted by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the Hollywood Police Department, the Boca Raton Police Department, and the Davie Police Department. Coordination efforts also included cooperation by the Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office as well as contributions by the Delray Beach Police Department, Jupiter Police Department, West Palm Beach Police Department, Boynton Beach Police Department, Medley Police Department, Homestead Police Department, North Miami Beach Police Department, and Sunny Isles Police Department.

Hollywood Police and Others

March 13, 2007 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books added three writers; one from the Hollywood Police Department (Florida), the Clinton Township Police Department (New Jersey) and the Chicago Police Department.

Lieutenant Ryan Melsky, of the Clinton Township Police Department authored Common Sense Wisdom for the New Officer. According to the book description, “Ryan Melsky knows how helpful hard-earned life lessons from veteran cops can be for young officers, so he decided to share them. This treasure chest of arm-around-the-shoulder advice will help keep you safe and make your career shine!”

Ernie Dorling was a Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and is now a supervisory Special Agent with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. He was also a police officer with the Hollywood Police Department (Florida). Ernie has worked as a federal agent since 1978 with assignments in Washington, DC and Germany where he earned his Masters Degree in Public Administration. Ernest Dorling has authored two true crime books, With Consciousness of Guilt and Murder: A Family Affair.

According to the book description of With Consciousness of Guilt, “The first time Sam Consiglio assaulted a woman, he was 13-years-old. He would grab women by the breasts and run. When caught, he promised the police and his father he would never do that again. It’s probably the one promise Sam made to anyone that he actually kept. For over 25 years, Sam preyed upon unsuspecting women from Michigan to Florida to California. Using his wit and charming personality, he gained their confidence and trust before turning violent whenever he needed to satisfy his sexual urges. With almost every arrest, Sam was able to beat the police and the prosecutors as they tried in vain, to have him incarcerated. And with each failure of the courts to keep him behind bars, Sam grew more confident that no one could ever keep him locked up.”

One Amazon reader/reviewer remarked of Murder: A Family Affair, “a must read! Mug Shots on Court TV and A&E's City Confidential did a disservice to the truth in this case. Ernie Dorling's accuracy and writing style brings the characters alive. Everyone that I spoke to, said once they started reading; they couldn't put it down. Two women reading the book at the same time called each other every night to talk about every event in the book. Each chapter is more unbelievable than the one before.”

Thomas J. Cline, a 30-year member of the Chicago Police Department authored a collection of short stories about life as a police officer in Cop Tales. According to the book description, “Cop Tales is a unique, empathic look into the harsh realities and aberrant adventures of a big city patrolman. Whether as a recruit training at the academy, a rookie going through his baptism of fire, or an officer with years under his belt, Thomas Cline paints a vivid picture of his encounters, thoughts, and opinions.” Bill Nolan, the President of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7 said of Cop Tales, “sometimes too revealing, nails what being a cop is really about including the laughs, triumph and tragedy.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 407 police officers (representing 174 police departments) and their 877 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.

Police Writers fly past 700

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books exceed 700 books by 286 police officers with the addition of Rick Stone, Bill Hubbard and Kim Wozencraft.

Rick Stone joined the Dallas Police Department in July 1973. He served as a police officer, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and division commander. In 1988, he was one of nine national finalists for the job of Chief of Police. In 1989, he became the chief of police of Wichita, Kansas. In 1996, he became the chief of police of the Hollywood Police Department (Florida).

Rick Stone’s fiction novel, “Behind the Gold Star,” explores “Seven days in the life of a Police Chief struggling against bureaucratic stupidity, personal conflicts, and his department’s collection of screw-ups, nut cases, and weird happenings. Reflective of his big city experience, the Chief tries desperately to balance competing forces in the professional and political arena of a smaller agency. Full of surprising twists and turns, with enough sex and violence to be reflective of the front page of today’s newspaper, Behind the Gold Star will keep you hanging on every page and in the end, the characters give real meaning to the phrase, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

In 1991, Sergeant Bill Hubbard was a member of the Lubbock Police Department, assigned to the identification section. What begins as a routine task sends Hubbard on a collision course with a corrupt forensic pathologist and “power-hungry district attorney.” As one reader said, “Well written, quick paced and quite a ride. It's easy to get lost in this book, until it sends a shiver down your spine when you remember this is a true story.”

Kim Wozencraft is a former undercover narcotics agent. She and her partner's exploits while employed by the Tyler Police Department are the inspiration behind her book, "Rush". Both Kim and her partner were eventually convicted of Federal civil rights crimes for making false drug cases against a number of people in Tyler. Both spent time in federal prison. Prior to going to prison in 1982, she and her partner (Craig Matthews) were married.

Additionally, police writer James O. Born announced the February release of his latest novel, “Fields of Fire.” In Fields of Fire, ATF agent Alex Duarte returns to use all his skills to locate and stop a serial bomber. According to author Michael Connelly, "With Field of Fire James O. Born certainly comes into his own. This book is chock full of insider knowledge and experience but there is so much more than that. There is a story and a character that should put this book at the top of any reader's stack. Alex Duarte is my kind of cop. I hope he sticks around for a long, long time."

Police-Writers.com now hosts 286 police officers (representing 118 police departments) and their 703 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors and international police officers who have written books.