Jean Merola Contd.

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| Friday, July 11, 2008 | St. Petersburg Times

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From the front page > . FRIES continued from 1B

French fry grandmother is acquitted tified that Merola was visibly agitated and verbally abusive to Parco. Parco told the court Merola said she hoped he was Christian because he was “pure evil and going to hell.” Merola did not testify, and the defense did not present any witnesses. Sue Cushell, whose daughter videotaped the arrest, said Parco was very calm throughout the ordeal. Merola, on the other hand, “wagged her finger in his face and gave him a piece of her mind,” Cushell said. McDonald’s shift manager Sarah Curtis said she had to deliver food for nearly an hour to stuck patrons. And it took her two tries to get Merola to take her unsalted fries. Police Cpl. Carl Conyers said he advised Parco to arrest Merola, despite his repeated attempts to defuse the situation. “He did not want to take her to jail,” Conyers said. Parco was later cleared by police supervisors of any policy violation in the way he handled Merola’s arrest. But in May, Parco resigned from the Police Department during an internal affairs investigation of allegations that he behaved inappropriately March 29 when responding to a childcustody call. Witnesses told investigators that he offered a 15-year-old girl chewing tobacco, fired his Taser into his cruiser windshield to demonstrate how it worked and showed the teen a computer video of a cow being Tasered. He denied doing those things, but electronic usage logs on the computer and Taser indicated otherwise. Defense attorney Steven Andrews said he and Merola learned a lot throughout the trial and felt sorry for Parco in the end. “There’s no winners here,” Andrews said. After the verdict, Merola said little herself and was cut off by her attorney several times when she began to speak.

tampabay.com for the latest news

. AL-ARIAN continued from 1B

Judge grants Al-Arian bail In late 2005, a Tampa jury acquitted him on eight of the charges and deadlocked on nine others. In May 2006, Al-Arian accepted a plea agreement for helping associates of a terrorist organization with nonviolent activities. He finished serving his 57-month sentence in April. Under the terms of the plea deal, Al-Arian would have been deported “expeditiously” as soon as the sentence was done, but a federal prosecutor in Virginia wanted him to testify before a grand jury investigating an Islamic think tank in Herndon, Va. AlArian refused, saying it violated the terms of his plea agreement. Al-Arian’s trial on the criminal contempt charges is scheduled for mid August. If found guilty, he could remain in prison for years. Al-Arian’s attorney, Jonathan Turley, said, “The government has painted itself into a corner with Dr. Al-Arian. … Either it must release him on bond or deport him very soon.” What “soon” means is not clear. Arturo Rios Jr., a St. Petersburg lawyer specializing in immigration issues, said it’s not uncommon for a judge to grant bail and then for immigration officials to take custody of an individual. Once Al-Arian is in the custody of ICE, authorities will have 48 hours to give him a notice to appear, which Rios described as a summons to begin the deportation process. He said deportation could happen within 60 days from that point or take up to a year, depending on the case. In a separate order from Al-Arian’s conditions of release, which include him posting $340,000 he has in his retirement pension, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said that ICE has filed an immigration detainer with the U.S. Marshal Service. Brinkema ordered that once AlArian posts bail, he must be released into the custody of ICE. Officials are to

MEG LAUGHLIN | Times

Nahla Al-Arian and Leena Al-Arian, Sami Al-Arian’s wife and daughter, who live in Cairo, react with joy to a federal judge granting bond.

make Al-Arian available for all hearings in his criminal case. After court Thursday, Turley called the contempt case is “a ruse.” Al-Arian has spoken with prosecutors about the think tank and has even agreed to take a polygraph test. What the prosecutors really want, said Turley, is AlArian to answer questions about the Florida case, “which is a clear violation of the plea agreement.” Prosecutors in Virginia could not be reached for comment. Linda Moreno, who represented Al-Arian at his 2005 trial, cheered the judge’s ruling. “I’m so happy that Judge Brinkema restores the confidence that Americans are due in our system of justice,” she said. Becky Steele, regional director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said the judge appears to be holding the executive branch accountable. “The heartening thing for me here

is that the system seems to be working and that the judge is making an independent assessment of what seems to be persecution by the government,” Steele said. But lawyer Eddie Suarez said he doesn’t think the ruling does much. “At the end of the day, I’m not sure we’ve accomplished a whole lot,” Suarez said. “He’ll still be held on these immigration issues.” If Al-Arian is released on bond, his wife, Nahla, 47, said she and two of her children will return from Cairo to the United States to reunite with her husband and their three other children. On the other hand, the family will wait to reunite in Cairo if Al-Arian is deported soon. “Either way, it looks as if we will finally be a family again,” Nahla said. Meg Laughlin can be reached at [email protected].

. MINDFREAK

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Will he survive the blast? have talked about today’s meeting, Angel’s representatives this week performed their own disappearing act. Contacted Wednesday, they said they would call right back. They never did. They also didn’t return calls Thursday. Asked about the secrecy, Mayor Frank Hibbard said, “They don’t like divulging what they’re doing for preparation purposes. “They don’t want people watching the process, watching what they do,” he said. Hibbard, who has long wanted the rundown building removed, said he is not concerned with the methods, only the results. “All I care about is that the Spyglass disappears,” he said. “Whether it’s a bulldozer, dynamite or an illusionist, it better disappear.” City officials say they aren’t quite sure how the Clearwater made the list of cities the entertainer is considering. They only know an A&E producer contacted them about it recently. The show would reimburse any city costs to stage the event, city spokesman Doug Matthews said. He said he understands that A&E wants to start promoting the show’s fourth season in the next week or so. “It would be extraordinary publicity because it’s a popular show,” Matthews said. “To do it live and feature Clearwater and the new BeachWalk and all the things we’re doing — you can’t put a price on that.” Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Mike Donila can be reached at mdonila@sptimes. com or (727) 445-4160.

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BIOGRAPHY

Criss Angel (Christopher Sarantakos) Age: 40. Residence: Las Vegas. Career: Learned his first magic trick from his aunt at age 6. Performed at parties and restaurants, a local cable TV show and some television specials before staging 600 off-Broadway performances in New York. Then created Criss Angel Mindfreak, which debuted in July 2005. Last season the show attracted 2.7million viewers. Also has appeared on late-night talk shows, Larry King, Oprah and CSI: New York. Quote: “I consider myself an artist who uses many different paintbrushes to create the image I want, whether it’s using illusions, magic, mentalism, hypnosis, escapes, performance art or music.” (Chicago Tribune, Aug. 6, 2006)

. SENTENCING

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57 months for data thief van said he did it because he was desperate. His wife was unemployed and he had no money in his 401(k), he said. “I (in) no way intended to cause anybody any grief or hardship,” Sullivan said in court. “Every week it happened, I regretted it … but it didn’t stop me from doing it.” Sullivan’s actions caused C e r t e g y t o Sullivan notify about 8.4-million Americans — including 460,000 Floridians — that their data had been methodically stolen over a five-year period. Seven class-action lawsuits resulted, and six remain, which are in various stages of being settled, Palermo said. The people who sued Certegy over their information being sold have won a judgment for attorneys’ fees of about $2.35-million, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said victims included residents of all 50 states, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and military personnel overseas.