Gilberto Santiesteban Jr.

The family that grew ganja together is now the family that pleaded guilty together. In the spring of last year, federal agents and Miami-Dade narcotics detectives dismantled a clan of marijuana growers that distributed thousands of pounds of high-grade weed from South Florida to New York City. Gilberto Santiesteban Jr., his dad, and his three brothers operated 21 grow houses for nearly seven years. Heck, even their significant others participated in the green conspiracy. It all unraveled when the Santiestebans decided to kidnap and murder a man who stole close to 50 pounds of their weed.

On April 29, Gilberto Jr. and his brother Darvis pleaded guilty to kidnapping and marijuana-trafficking charges after their father and two other siblings cut deals with federal prosecutors.

See also:
- Santiesteban Growhouse Empire Crumbles as Three Members Plead Guilty to Murder, Drug Charges

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Tim Padgett

National magazine journalism may be coughing and gagging its last breaths, but public radio is giving print reporters hope. In an email to supporters late last night, WLRN-Miami Herald News Director Dan Grech announced the station is reopening its Americas Desk. Even better: The desk will be helmed by Tim Padgett, a veteran reporter who spent 23 years covering Latin America and the Caribbean for TIME and Newsweek magazines. Their loss is Miami's gain for sure.

"We're doing this in collaboration with our partners at the Miami Herald and NPR," Grech says in the email. "Join me in welcoming Tim to the WLRN-Miami Herald news team! And stay tuned for his great work."

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As Miami-Dade County moves forward with its $12.6 billion plan to fix the aging water and sewer collection system, Federal Chief Judge Frederico Moreno yesterday awarded a significant victory to the Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper, an environmental group that claims the county proposal does not address sea-level rises and catastrophic storm surge during a major hurricane. Moreno ruled the Biscayne Bay Waterkeeper will be a plaintiff in a lawsuit brought against Miami-Dade by the state and federal environmental protection agencies, as well as the Department of Justice.

The state and federal entities sued Miami-Dade late last year, alleging the county is in violation of the federal Clean Water Act by failing to repair and replace water and sewer plants and thousands of miles of pipes for decades; in some cases as much as half-a-century.

See also:
- Environmentalists Sue to Block $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Miami's Sewers

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John Raimondo following his 1996 arrest for his role in the Sun Gym Gang caper.

John Raimondo is a bit player in the 1999 epic three-part Miami New Times series "Pain & Gain," which blockbuster Hollywood director Michael Bay turned into a passion project that hit theaters over two weeks ago. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the film recounts the absurd dark tale of the Sun Gym Gang, a group of sadistic bodybuilders who kidnapped and tortured wealthy victims to steal their assets during a crime spree between 1994 and 1995. Two of the victims, Frank Griga and Krisztina Furton, ended up dead, their bodies hacked to pieces and dumped in the Everglades. In the story, Raimondo is identified as an accomplice who initially agreed to help Sun Gym Gang members Daniel Lugo and Adrian Doorbal dispose of Griga and Furton.

Following the film's debut, Raimondo contacted New Times to tell his side, becoming the first person implicated in the Sun Gym caper to talk about the gang's grisly crimes.

See also:
- Pain & Gain: Where the Real-Life Sun Gym Gang Characters Are Now
- Pain & Gain: From New Times Story to Michael Bay Film

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Now that the debate about using public funds to fix up Sun-Life Stadium is over, there is an even much bigger public works project that should have Miami-Dade taxpayers especially concerned. For more than a year, officials for the water and sewer department have been working on a $1.5 billion capital improvement plan to fix the county's decrepit water and wastewater collection system. The county did so under pressure from the state and federal environmental protection agencies, which are suing Miami-Dade for failing to replace treatment plants and pipes that, in some cases, are more than 50 years old.

Well, turns out it's going to cost a little more. About $2.7 billion more to be exact. And when Miami-Dade is done paying off the bonds in 30 years, the entire project will end up costing taxpayers the equivalent of six Marlins ballparks.

See also:
- Environmentalists Sue to Block $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Miami's Sewers

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North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre

It's not gonna be easy to follow the dictatorial footsteps of North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre. Throughout his tenure as the city's head cheese, Pierre had done just about everything to attract the kind of attention usually reserved for a small nation's despot. His campaign manager was arrested for allegedly taking bribes. He purchased dozens of police-style badges for his cronies. He had to pay the Florida ethics commission a $8,000 fine for failing to properly report campaign contributions on his 2011 campaign reports. He didn't disclose he was an advisor to the developers of the Biscayne Landing project. And Pierre and his buddies regularly used the city's athletic stadium for pick up soccer games without paying $38,000 in rental fees.

It's gonna be sad to see the termed-out Pierre go next Tuesday when North Miami voters head to the polls to pick a new mayor. However, half of the eight candidates vying to replace Pierre have a good shot of continuing his legacy of dysfunctional, corrupt governance.

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An otherwise mundane Monday afternoon at the Richard Gerstein Justice Building was interrupted by a fiery calamity. A maroon colored Jeep parked in the public lot underneath the State Road 836 overpass caught on fire, sending plumes of acrid black smoke onto the sidewalk and street facing the criminal court house at 1351 NW 12th Street. The vehicle was engulfed in flames and its gas tank blew before a Miami Fire Department truck arrived on the scene to put out the blaze. From our vantage point, no one was inside the Jeep and no bystanders were hurt.

Hopefully the Jeep's owner is insured. We'll update this post once Miami police and fire officials report what may have caused the fire and if they suspect arson. In the meantime, check out photos after the jump.

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Andrew Mirmelli

For the past month, Riptide had been pounding the drum about Tremont Towing snatching cars from a private parking lot on 17th Street at Lenox Avenue in South Beach. Multiple residents have lobbed a laundry list of allegations at the lot, including that it's meter is deliberately similar to the city's nearby electronic meters, yet their cars were towed unless they used the private meter. Others complained that signs warning motorists the lot isn't a city facility were too small and that they were towed for not displaying their ticket properly. Miami Beach resident Hanni Von Metzger even accused Tremont of using two men to rig the machine so the license plate number on receipts didn't match those of cars in the lot -- giving Tremont another reason to tow.

See also:
- Pay the Meter and You'll Still Get Towed at This Private Miami Beach Lot

Now Mirmelli has responded, telling Banana Republican his lot is fairly marked and that he's "not in the business of making a buck by towing cars."

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This meter on 17th Street at Lenox Avenue will get you towed.

Folks looking for a parking spot near Lincoln Road's Regal South Beach movie theater need to stop using the private lot on 17th Street at Lenox Avenue. Because it's becoming increasingly clear that's the only surefire way to avoid getting your car hitched by Tremont Towing and having to pay a couple hundred bucks to retrieve it. Over the past month, Banana Republican has reported two incidents involving drivers whose vehicles were towed even though they paid a meter to station their cars in the lot, which looks like the ones operated by the City of Miami Beach in order to fool motorists.

In one case, freelance journalist Kris Conesa mistakenly paid the city meter instead of the lot's private meter. In the other, family man Eduardo A. Pagan Torres forgot to place his receipt on the dashboard. Both men had to fork over $241 each to get their rides back.

Now, Hanni Von Metzger, a Miami Beach resident since 1963, says she came close to becoming another Tremont victim April 27 when she went to the movies.

See also:
- Pay the Meter and You'll Still Get Towed at This Private Miami Beach Lot
- Tremont Towing Snags Another Car That Paid To Park in Private SoBe Lot

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Gisela Hidalgo got a free 2005 Toyota Prius from Miami-Dade County and sold it for $8,200.

How much can you get for a donated 2005 Toyota Prius previously owned by Miami-Dade County? A cool 8,200 bucks. Talk about a steal of a deal! Too much of a steal, according to the Miami-Dade Office of the Inspector General. And now it has cost a well-respected Cuban-American human rights activist her livelihood.More »