Alleged gopher tortoise killer to go on trial
Fact Box
Mirani was released on $30,000 bail, according to the Charlotte County Clerk of Court. He has pleaded not guilty.
A Gasparilla Island property owner goes on trial Feb. 1 in Punta Gorda on 12 felony counts of killing or wounding endangered gopher tortoises.
As first reported by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Hesam Oddin Mirani bought a lot on the island for $512,500 in 2005 with plans to build a home. But the gopher burrows laid in his way.
Samantha Syoen, communications director for the State Attorney's Office in Fort Myers, said Mirani wiped out the burrows in 2008 and must face the consequences now. The maximum sentence for conviction on the charges is 60 years in prison, Syoen said.
Property owners are required to keep the tortoises on their property or relocate them to a suitable site. Their burrows provide habitat for other threatened species, including the gopher mouse and the indigo snake.
Mirani was released on $30,000 bail, according to the Charlotte County Clerk of Court. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mirani, a former engineer for Parsons Brinckerhoff, is reportedly the business owner of Mirtek Engineering & Development Corp. in Orlando and Boca Grande.
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bocamover
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12-28-09 1:38 PM
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I say put this man in jail for 60 years if he is guilty but if he is not guilty, put the FWC officers - who falsely accused this guy - in jail for 60 years. There should be equal punishment for those who falsely accuse innocent people.
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bocamover
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12-28-09 9:26 AM
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There were constructions nearby of this guy’s vacant lot for years. Some of them are still active. What can a property owner who doesn’t live here do to prevent others from entering his property? Neighbors along Sunset Pines Circle even installed ropes and large rocks to prevent the construction equipments from parking there. Until a year ago, it was a common scene for us seeing heavy construction trucks offloading their equipments in this man’s property because there was no other place available to them.
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user41
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12-28-09 1:00 AM
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OMG! Something is dead wrong. This is not the man we know. The guy is an animal lover and his dog has a better life than most people do! Your article is wrong. Someone set this guy up. I met this man and he is nothing like what you are trying to describe him. No one in the neighborhood has done more to protect gopher tortoise than this guy. Have you seen his construction site? Have you seen how clean it is?
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bocamover
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12-27-09 10:15 AM
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The state has no evidence. They went after this guy as a payback since this man brought charges against the FWC officers. This man will be exonerated and another shameful chapter will be added to the history of those in power who think they can abuse their power and destroy people’s reputation. People should not rush into judgment. They need to wait until the trial starts.
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bocamover
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12-26-09 1:35 PM
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Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice to Deceive. Folks in the North Gulf Shores Drive know that the Florida Fish & Wildlife WC started on a pack of lies and continued with more lies piled on when it went after this man to settle a score. It was the job of your paper to break the tangled web of deceit with the truth or at least question it. It is what a responsible journalist does. It doesn’t become an apologist for one side without examining the facts from the other side or at least publish the opinion of the other party side by side so your readers could judge for themselves. Only and only if your paper came to the neighborhood and interviewed us! I am wondering if this man has an attorney. I am also wondering why you didn’t contact this man’s attorney to get his side of the story.
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bocamover
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12-25-09 3:10 PM
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A simple question: This incident happened 18 months ago. Why hasn’t been a trial until now? Why did they wait this long? Why is this making the paper now? Who leaked it the day before Christmas? Is there a concerted effort to destroy this man before the trial starts? Is it possible that someone from the FWC office has leaked the news to the paper? There should be an investigation.
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bocamover
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12-25-09 9:14 AM
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Neighbors are revolted beyond words by the distortion of facts out of malice and personal vendetta by the FWC officers. Today this innocent man is charged, who is next tomorrow?! Where are the evidences that a man who lived 2500 miles away from the island destroyed gopher tortoise holes in his property? Where is your paper’s sense of investigative work? Why don’t you investigate this yourself? Relocation of gopher tortoise burrow is easy. Why would a man risk millions of dollars and jail to save $2K? Does it make any sense? Your paper should contact the homeowner association. You should contact neighbors.
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bocamover
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12-25-09 8:50 AM
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The neighbors are behind this man and they know he is innocent. They told the officers of the FWC exactly what happened. They even gave the FWC officers the descriptions of the construction vehicles that were seen on this man’s property. The only thing these FWC officers had to do was to drive to the bridge authority and review the camera tapes to identify those vehicles and tag numbers. They didn’t do it. Instead they went after an easy target: a vacant lot owner who lived 2500 miles away! An innocent man is charged because we lost our power. We have allowed these FWC officers in the island to operate without any supervision and oversight. They can do anything they want and they have the power of the State Attorney Office that rubber-stamps anything these people do. If we decide to challenge these people, it will cost us thousand of dollars in attorney fees. They can walk into our property, they can seize our property, and they can insult us without us having any power to defend o
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bocamover
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12-24-09 10:34 PM
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Everone in the island knows that the FWC officers abuse their power more than is being reported.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 10:32 PM
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Why didn't you contact this man's atotrney before you published this article to get his side of the story? Is it possible that the FWC officers may have used poor judgment or abused their power?
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bocamover
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12-24-09 8:47 PM
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The title of the article published by Gasparilla Gazatte is a libel. This man should file lawsuit against this paper.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 7:30 PM
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For almost we had a construction site in the cul-de-sac in NW Gasparilla Pass Blvd just 600 feet away from this man’s vacant lot. More than 20 trucks were passing this man’s property every day for almost three years and some of those trucks used to stop at this man’s lot all the time. The FWC officers rushed into the judgment without examining the facts.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 7:24 PM
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If you want to see how bad and unruly the contractors have been in our neighborhood, come and see Sunset Pines Circle that is within 500 feet of this man’s vacant lot. All neighbors have placed parking barriers in front of their lots to stop the construction trucks from parking in front of their lots. If the FWC officers contacted our homeowner association, they could learn the problem firsthand.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 7:15 PM
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Someone needs to explain to this Samantha Syoen that this man’s property was the only vacant lot that was unwatched in the neighborhood because the owner lived in California. Other vacant lots had either fence around them or the property owners lived nearby. For years, we witnessed contractors and utility companies using this man’s lot for staging since he wasn’t there. Trucks were parked at or adjacent to this guy’s lot constantly. Someone filled the gopher tortoise holes in this man’s lot and the FWC officers are charging this man. Any of the utility companies or its workers or contractors could have done it. Someone needs to ask this Samantha Syoen that why her office did not contact the homeowner association! She could learn a thing or two if she did!
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bocamover
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12-24-09 11:26 AM
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It is amazing how far this weekly paper has gone out of its way to destroy a man's reputation for some charges that no one found him guilty yet. They not only published the man's current company but also they even printed his previous employer too! I guess the person who printed this article must be a friend of those FWC officers! It is sad. I smell a lawsuit!
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bocamover
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12-24-09 7:09 AM
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This guy should sue your paper for millions of dollars for publishing your one- sided story and before the case goes on trial. People are innocent until proven guilty. Your paper didn't even have decency to come to our neighborhood and interview the neighbors who know this man is completely innocent. Why didn’t you interview this man or his attorney? There are two sides to every story. These charges are bogus.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 6:54 AM
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The neighbors saw illegal activates on this guy's property and told the FWC officers. They told the officers that this man wasn’t even there when those things happened. It is a small community and we talk all the time. We even described the shape of the vehicles to the officers. The officers weren't interested at all to hear what he had to say. The officers didn’t even get the names of those neighbors who gave them that information and none of those neighbors were called by the officers to testify! There are cameras all over Boca Grande. When you come to Boca Grande, there are several cameras that 24/7 tape you at the toll plaza. The only thing the FWC officers had to do to find the person who did the alleged crime was to run to the Gasparilla Bridge Authority office and review the tapes. In fact there is a sign at the toll booth that says “CCTV in Operation”! How could the officers miss those signs?! Your paper should go to the bridge authority to see if the officers even looked a
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bocamover
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12-24-09 6:49 AM
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This is a power play by the FWC officers. They want to bring this guy down because he and FWC officers got into arguments and all neighbors know about these. They won't succeed. There are just too many witnesses in the nieghborhood.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 6:47 AM
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The truth is that someone filled 12 gopher tortoise holes in this man’s property when he was an absentee owner living 2500 miles away. The FWC officers charged this guy because he didn’t have a security guard watching gopher tortoise burrows on his property 24/7! We live in the neighborhood and know who filled those holes. We told the FWC officers but they didn’t want to hear it! All neighbors know that there were construction sites close to this man's vacant lot for the past three years and those contractors repeatedly parked their cars in this man's land. Neighbors saw that the contractors used this man’s property for offloading their construction equipments. Neighbors even complained to the homeowner association about the construction sites and they even put barriers in front of their own lots to stop contractors from parking there. Neighbors saw utility companies routinely parking on this man’s property and neighbors saw kids with ATV on the man’s property. This is a power
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bocamover
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12-24-09 2:08 AM
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Shame on Gasparilla Gazette for not doing its homework! This man is innocent. The ones that need to go on trial are the FWC officers. They drive way over speed limit in the island, they park in the areas that specifically have "No Parking" signs; they bully people; and they lie all the time. This man is a hero. Our neighborhood knows that this man has not done anything wrong. In fact, the man lived in California when the say he killed turtles on his property. It is hard to kill turtles when you live in California and don't even live here! We all know what happened there. The FWC dropped the ball in the investigation. Instead of listening to us, they made up their mind at the beginning. The FWC officer parked his car beside his property for days and conducted a ridiculous and shameful investigation. This is how our tax money being wasted. We pay for these officers and they violate our rights every day using the money we pay them.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 1:25 AM
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We told the FWC officers that we saw vehicles on this guy’s property and gave the officers descriptions of the vehicles. The officers weren’t interested in what we were saying. They wanted this guy so bad because he didn’t let them bully him. If the governor assures us that he would pay for our legal fees if the FWC decide to go after us, we would be more than happy to testify on behalf of this guy. Everyone knows that if you dare to question the FWC officers, all of a sudden a dead turtle is found on you property and the next minute the FWC officers are knocking on your door taking you to jail! The truth will be known ultimately, but before it is known you end up paying thousands of dollars in legal fees. What is the punishment for the FWC officers when they lie? Absolutely nothing! It costs them not even a penny to abuse their power for their personal vendetta.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 1:21 AM
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If you want to learn the real story and how this man has been mistreated by the FWC officers, come and talk to us – his neighbors. This guy is a good person. He cares for animals way more than the FWC officers and if you come to our neighborhood, you will find that he has been more considerate of wildlife and neighbors than anyone else who ever built a house in this island. You are talking about a man who DROVE from California to Florida because he didn’t want to have his golden retriever placed in the bottom of the airplane where it is not pressurized. How many people do you know that do this for their dog? This man is now being accused of animal cruelty by the officers of the FWC! Give me a break! The same officers who park their trucks almost on the top of the gopher tortoise burrows!
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bocamover
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12-24-09 1:20 AM
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Why didn’t you contact this man’s neighbors to see what they went through for the past two years because of the abuse of power by the FWC officers? Why didn’t you talk to the man’s homeowner association to learn the real story? Why didn’t you ask the neighbors to see how FWC officers asked them to lie about this guy and they refused? Why didn’t you examine these charges to see even if they made any sense? You publish these unproven charges and destroy this man’s reputation without giving the person the benefit of the doubt.
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bocamover
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12-24-09 12:57 AM
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These are only allegations and nothing has been proven. In fact, all neighbors know that these allegations are false because this person didn't even live here. It is so shameful that people's reputation can be destroyed this way before a person could go on trial and defend himself/herself. The biggest lawbreakers in Boca Grande are the FWC officers who try to intimidate everyone. Why didn’t you publish the name of the officers who brought these charges? How are you going to restore this man’s reputation as well as his company’s reputation when it is found that these charges are all lies? Why didn’t you wait until the jury’s decision before you published this story?
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bocamover
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12-23-09 10:20 PM
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Not so fast! Those who are familiar with the case know that this is a political trial not a criminal trial. Mr. Mirani will be exonerated from all these baseless charges. These charges are bunch of lies. The officers of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commissions (FWC) have brought these charges against Mr. Mirani to retaliate against him since had reported them to the Office of Inspector General for violating state’s laws. It is time that someone stands up to some of these Fish and Wildlife officers who do not follow state’s laws. The officers of the FWC have ignored crucial information and lied. Those lies will come out during the trial. This trial will become the trial of the FWC officers!
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