Florida State Trooper Fraud

Posted on 02/03/10, in Sun-Sentinel 23 views

Miami-Dade County – The trooper’s victims were befuddled when they learned they had pending traffic tickets.

Most weren’t even on the road during the time of their supposed infractions, they told prosecutors. One said his wife was driving the car that day. Another had just returned from a trip to Illinois. A third hadn’t even been in the United States for two years — he was in the midst of a divorce dispute in Peru.

Now the Florida Highway Patrol trooper who issued those tickets is being written up himself, accused of trying to boost his ticket output by writing hundreds of fake citations to scores of drivers.

Paul C. Lawrence, 38, an FHP trooper based in Miami-Dade County, was arrested Tuesday on 22 counts of official misconduct, a third-degree felony. In addition, 203 traffic citations that Lawrence issued since November have been dismissed.

Prosecutors think there may be even more.

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