Today Randall Rosado, 45, was found guilty as charged on 19 criminal charges. He was found guilty of 6 counts of Unlawful Retaliation Against Public Officials and 13 counts of Simulating Legal Processes. The guilty verdict was reached by the jury following an 8 day trial in Lee County. Rosado faces up to life in prison.
The crime involved arrest warrants, fictitious court orders and liens against Judges, the Lee County Clerk of Court and lawyers being filed. Most of the lawyers were involved in foreclosures. Two individuals who were previously convicted in Lee and Okeechobee Counties hired Rosado to assist them with the foreclosure of their homes. He created his own court and used the judgement from the fake court to get the liens. The individuals who hired Rosado thought it was a real court. Another individual from California hired Mr. Rosado because he thought he was a real estate agent to assist him in a short sale and Mr. Rosado instead took over his property and used the fictitious court in an attempt to delay the foreclosures.
“I appreciate the hard work of the entire Economic Crime Unit team. Assistant State Attorneys James Miller and Jennifer Royal along with Investigator Bob Nichols had hundreds of pieces of evidence in this complex case. We appreciate the assistance of the FBI including their Domestic Terrorism Section in the prosecution of this case,” said State Attorney Amira Fox.
The FBI testified that the defendant and two co-defendants espoused views that were consistent with the sovereign citizen movement. Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or “sovereign” from the United States. As a result, they believe they do not have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement.
Rosado’s sentencing is set for September 13th. Co-defendant Joel Soucy was prosecuted in the
20th circuit and was sentenced to 14 months of incarceration and 10 years of probation with a
special condition that he can only file court documents with a licensed attorney. A second co-defendant was prosecuted in another judicial circuit.
Samantha Syoen
Communications Director
State Attorney’s Office
ssyoen@sao20.org
239-533-1125