TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—As a new school year begins, Attorney General Ashley Moody is encouraging participation in a new initiative to help students build positive relationships with school resource officers. The Hallway Heroes initiative will provide schools with crime-prevention resources to foster relationships with school resource officers and urge students to report suspicious activity.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “As the mother of a school-aged child who is about to head back to class, I am excited about our new initiative to keep students safe and help law enforcement stop crime. Our Hallway Heroes initiative will encourage students to build positive relationships with their school resource officers to increase school safety. We have already seen how building these bonds of trust between students and officers can help law enforcement stop crime and better protect students, and we hope this new initiative will serve to further strengthen these important relationships.” Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution is filing criminal charges against the owner of a Tampa-based pool company for stealing more than $1.5 million from Floridians and failing to complete customers’ pools. James Ivan Staten, Jr., owner and operator of Olympus Pools, faces charges of aggravated white-collar crime, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and contractor fraud. Staten accepted large down payments and then left many consumers in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Polk counties with no pools and destroyed yards. Attorney General Moody, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced the charges today in Tampa.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “For many people, finally saving enough money to buy a pool takes years of dreaming and hard work, but for the victimized customers of Olympus Pools, their dream turned into a nightmare. This defendant conned numerous Florida property owners by demanding large down payments on pools, then abandoning job sites—destroying backyards and leaving customers short of funds to try and fix the mess.” Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody is pushing Congress to pass legislation to protect veterans. In a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general, Attorney General Moody is calling on congressional leaders to support the passage of legislative proposals included in Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding Veterans Affairs Benefits Act.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Our veterans sacrifice so much for our freedom, and they should be able to access the benefits they earned without being preyed upon by bad actors. We need Congress to help protect these brave Americans by passing the GUARD VA Benefits Act and reinstating criminal penalties for unlicensed individuals who may try to prey on our nation’s veterans.”

In a letter sent to congressional leaders, the coalition of attorneys general explained that the passing of the bipartisan legislation would hold unlicensed and unregulated actors accountable for targeting and preying upon veterans who apply for benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Continue reading →