LEHIGH ACRES FGCU softball team helps Habitat for Humanity build three homes The Florida Gulf Coast University softball team helped Habitat for Humanity build three homes Saturday.
ESTERO Home Base Golf Tournament helps SWFL Veterans Veterans hit the green at the Copperleaf Golf Course on Saturday. This was part of the Home Base golf tournament.
FORT MYERS At least one person dead after propane truck collides with golf cart Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that has left one person dead and another injured Saturday morning.
Scattered storms ahead for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking weekend temperatures in the low to mid-90s this weekend with a chance for scattered storms this afternoon.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 3 Thunderstorms tried to put a stop to week three of high school football on Friday Night, but gridiron action prevailed.
Man accused of plotting murder-for-hire denied bond A man suspected of being involved with a murder-for-hire plot will stay behind bars. Ryan Toranzo had his renewed motion to set bond denied today in Collier County Court.
LABELLE Two dead after crash on State Road 80 According to the Florida Highway Patrol, there was a crash on State Road 80 that has left at least one person dead Friday evening.
DeSoto County looks to recruit more teachers While it can sometimes be easy to fill a classroom with students, it is not so easy for teachers. Schools across the nation and locally in Southwest Florida are still dealing with the challenges of teacher shortages. With class back in session, so is teacher recruiting for DeSoto County schools. The assistant superintendent, Jake Reynolds, […]
IMMOKALEE ROAD Push for change after deadly crash on Immokalee Rd. We’re told the woman was driving with two kids in the car when a semi ran a red light and hit her Thursday morning.
FORT MYERS BEACH Mobi-Mats deployed on Fort Myers Beach A walkway to paradise! Brand new and blue, the Mobi-Mat is making things easier for Fort Myers Beachgoers.
NAPLES Women of Steel business conference inspiring and empowering women Focused, hardworking, empowered. These women have made a name for themselves as Women of Steel.
NAPLES Beloved Collier County bus driver retires after 20 years After 20 years of getting kids to school safely, a beloved Collier County bus driver is retiring.
Wade Wilson has new death row mugshot Convicted double-killer Wade Wilson has a new death row mugshot.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Sizzle Dining is back in SWFL It’s Sizzle Season! Local restaurants are ready to welcome new faces by offering exclusive menu deals to attract new customers.
LEHIGH ACRES FGCU softball team helps Habitat for Humanity build three homes The Florida Gulf Coast University softball team helped Habitat for Humanity build three homes Saturday.
ESTERO Home Base Golf Tournament helps SWFL Veterans Veterans hit the green at the Copperleaf Golf Course on Saturday. This was part of the Home Base golf tournament.
FORT MYERS At least one person dead after propane truck collides with golf cart Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that has left one person dead and another injured Saturday morning.
Scattered storms ahead for your Saturday plans The Weather Authority is tracking weekend temperatures in the low to mid-90s this weekend with a chance for scattered storms this afternoon.
WINK NEWS SWFL Scoreboard: High School Football Week 3 Thunderstorms tried to put a stop to week three of high school football on Friday Night, but gridiron action prevailed.
Man accused of plotting murder-for-hire denied bond A man suspected of being involved with a murder-for-hire plot will stay behind bars. Ryan Toranzo had his renewed motion to set bond denied today in Collier County Court.
LABELLE Two dead after crash on State Road 80 According to the Florida Highway Patrol, there was a crash on State Road 80 that has left at least one person dead Friday evening.
DeSoto County looks to recruit more teachers While it can sometimes be easy to fill a classroom with students, it is not so easy for teachers. Schools across the nation and locally in Southwest Florida are still dealing with the challenges of teacher shortages. With class back in session, so is teacher recruiting for DeSoto County schools. The assistant superintendent, Jake Reynolds, […]
IMMOKALEE ROAD Push for change after deadly crash on Immokalee Rd. We’re told the woman was driving with two kids in the car when a semi ran a red light and hit her Thursday morning.
FORT MYERS BEACH Mobi-Mats deployed on Fort Myers Beach A walkway to paradise! Brand new and blue, the Mobi-Mat is making things easier for Fort Myers Beachgoers.
NAPLES Women of Steel business conference inspiring and empowering women Focused, hardworking, empowered. These women have made a name for themselves as Women of Steel.
NAPLES Beloved Collier County bus driver retires after 20 years After 20 years of getting kids to school safely, a beloved Collier County bus driver is retiring.
Wade Wilson has new death row mugshot Convicted double-killer Wade Wilson has a new death row mugshot.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Sizzle Dining is back in SWFL It’s Sizzle Season! Local restaurants are ready to welcome new faces by offering exclusive menu deals to attract new customers.
MGN Online NEW YORK (AP) – Bernard Madoff’s former director of operations for investments was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $155 billion. Daniel Bonventre, 67, was sentenced for his part in the company’s yearslong multibillion-dollar fraud, and four of his co-defendants are expected to learn their fate in coming days. The government has said they’re the most culpable defendants after Madoff for a fraud that cost thousands of investors nearly $20 billion. “I was used by the ultimate con man,” Bonventre said before his sentence was pronounced. Madoff, who was arrested in December 2008, is serving a 150-year prison sentence. He was ordered to forfeit $171 billion. The huge forfeiture numbers represent an amount of money connected to the fraud, not the amount stolen or lost. Madoff, the one-time Nasdaq chairman, told investors in financial statements in November 2008 that the nearly $20 billion they had given him had grown in value to over $60 billion. In reality, Madoff didn’t invest their money and was nearly broke. Madoff’s former secretary, Annette Bongiorno, 66, is still awaiting sentencing, as are computer programmers Jerome O’Hara, 51, and George Perez, 48; and account manager JoAnn Crupi, 53. Prosecutors have said all five deserved stiffer sentences than Madoff’s brother, Peter, who received a maximum 10-year sentence after the one-time compliance director for Madoff’s firm pleaded guilty. They said Bonventre and Bongiorno were the most culpable of the five because of their “40-year involvement at the very heart of the fraud.” They said Crupi, who joined later but “took on an active and ambitious role,” was next while the computer programmers were slightly less culpable than Crupi. Bonventre’s sentence fell between what prosecutors and the defense sought. Prosecutors recommended Bonventre receive significantly more than the 20 years suggested by the Probation Department, saying he had lied to the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the jury and the judge. “Bonventre’s hubris and lack of remorse is simply staggering,” prosecutors wrote. Bonventre’s lawyers noted that their client turns 68 this month and that a sentence of any length could amount to a life term. Like defense lawyers for the others, they portrayed their client as a victim of a controlling and evil Madoff. They recommended Bonventre receive home confinement, community service or a short term of incarceration.