Who is My Prosecutor?

      Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey J. Smith is the prosecutor presiding over the investigation of my medical office, Colasante Clinic, which was raided by dozens of FBI agents on June 16, 2011.  On August 6, 2011 my personal and business bank accounts were forfeited, with Mr.  Smith's permission, leaving my business with no liquid assets for continued operation, and no means of paying for legal representation.   I know of no good reason for the government to have assaulted my clinic and my reputation in this way.
    Colasante Clinic has been under investigation for two years, three months, and six days.  The investigation was initiated in response to a whistleblower report filed by Pat McCullough, who purchased and bankrupted, in little over a year, my previous clinic--which was well-respected, solvent and had 8,000 patient charts--in Hawthorne, FL.  She needed to deflect attention from her wrongdoing, including misrepresentation of clinic assets to banks in order to gain approval for bank loans.
     Ms. McCullough's accumulated $12 million in debts was forgiven, astoundingly, in June 2011, in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filed in Lexington, KY..  During her brief ownership of Hawthorne Medical Center, Ms. McCullough found it easy to use her brash certainty, claims of victimhood, and unctuous charm to bamboozle vendors, lenders, insurance companies, local businesses, employees, consultants, and--perhaps--government agents.  Where did the $12 million go?  That's anybody's guess.
     On September 14, 2011 an emergency hearing took place at the Alachua County courthouse.  During the daylong hearing my lawyers requested return--or copies--of the 3,000 patient charts confiscated during the raid, as well as enough working capital to allow the clinic to conduct business.  They also requested that the affidavits giving the reasons behind the investigation be opened.
     Mr. Corey Smith represented the government at this hearing, along with U.S. Prosecutor Bobby Stinson.  Mr. Smith's argument against returning my patients' medical records was that copying them would be too time-consuming and costly for the government.  He stated that any important records could be obtained by following a procedure outlined by the FBI.  That procedure required ten steps, several weeks, and a cost to be borne by the clinic--and it proved unworkable.  Most patients, moreover, are still unable to obtain records directly from the FBI office.
     Mr. Smith's reasons for refusing to open the affidavits were twofold:  1) "Even redacted affidavits (with blackout of names or other identifying information) might put the witnesses at risk," and 2) "Dr. Colasante only wants to know what's in the affidavits so that she can build a defense."  Those reasons were good enough, apparently, for Magistrate Gary Jones, who presided over the hearing and permitted the affidavits to remain sealed.
     Mr. Smith had to delay his attention to the Colasante Clinic case because he was busy with another case, which went to court for seven days and ended February 20, 2012.  He was attempting to convict four former executives of Vanguard Fire and Casualty Company, on grounds of fraud.  A grand jury had indicted them, but everyone knows that grand jury trials are formalities--one-sided, conducted in secret, controlled by government officials, and in no way a declaration of guilt.
     The executives of Vanguard Casualty were charged with making false statements about the company's financial status in the wake of the 2004 hurricanes, after a spate of claims demolished the company's assets.  The statements were made to Florida's CAP fund as part of a request for help.   Here's the link:   

http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/press/2011/mar/vanguard.html

     What happened?  It took six years and $500,000 of government money to bring the case to court.   (How did the defendants last that long, I wonder.  "The government moves slowly," my lawyers warned me.)  The four accused executives faced five years in prison for conspiracy, and ten more years for each count of fraud.
     The case was heard by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle.  On Feburary 20, 2012, after seven days in court, midway through the hearing, Judge Hinkle did something highly unusual:  he halted the hearing, and issued a judgment of acquittal.  He stated that he hadn't done this in fifteen years.
     The four executives were released from all charges of fraud, in the middle of the hearing, because Assistant Prosecutor Corey Smith had so little evidence to support his case against them.  "How can it be a fraud case, if they said, 'Here's what we're doing'?" Judge Hinkle asked in court.  He also declared  that the government had, in fact, proved that the defendants were innocent.
     Here's the link to a report about the Vanguard Casualty trial and acquittal:

http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/117212078.html

     This was not a good outcome for Mr. Smith.  This is not how a prosecutor makes a reputation and climbs up the government ladder.  Wasting government funds on cases that have no merit is a public disgrace.  I wonder what Mr. Smith was thinking, as he reviewed the facts of the Vanguard Casualty case before the trial.
     I  also wonder if Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey J. Smith is planning to do something similar in my case, to have me indicted, and take me to court, in order to prove my innocence in front of a judge, and in front of the entire country?
     I will not go gentle into that good night, as Dylan Thomas's phrased it.  Perhaps my attorneys are right, telling me to avoid criticizing the government.  I don't have to criticize the government--our judicial system and public attorneys are on view for all of us to observe.  Are there any consequences for federal and state attorneys who misconstrue or inflate the evidence brought before them, and who waste our government's time and tax dollars?  Is being an Assistant U.S. Attorney a position with tenure?  Can Mr. Smith do this again and again, without consequences?  Is this like other government jobs, from which employees--no matter how incompetent--never seem to have to worry about getting fired?