Man Released On Federal Cocaine Trafficking Charge

January 05, 2010

A Monroe County man was cleared of cocaine trafficking charges in federal court. The defendant, Richard Wolfferts became infamous years ago for his involvement in the car bombing of a local Miami divorce lawyer. The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office prosecuted Wolfferts for the attempted first degree murder of Gino P. Negrettti. With the advice of his Miami criminal lawyers, Wolfferts accepted a five year plea deal with state prosecutors in exchange for his testimony against his co-defendant, Victor Seijas. The five year prison sentence ran concurrently with his federal prison sentence for marijuana trafficking.

Wolfferts testified that Seijas enlisted him to plant a car bomb in Negretti's Cadillac. The bomb exploded which left the divorce lawyer partially paralyzed. Wolfferts told jurors that Seijas ordered him to commit the bombing as revenge for representing his wife in a bitter divorce case. The jury did not buy the testimony provided that he committed the bombing in exchange for a fishing boat and Seijas was acquitted of all charges. Seijas's Miami criminal lawyers argued to the jury that Wolfferts was lying to save himself from a lengthy prison sentence. They also attributed the acquittal to Wolfferts' personality when he testified by saying, "he was completely vicious and frightening, he was scary to the jury, they totally rejected his testimony."

In September, Wolfferts was indicted along with seven other co-defendants in a Miami cocaine trafficking case. Prosecutors alleged that the ring was transported large shipments of cocaine from Panama to Miami in hollowed-out pumpkins. Two of the defendants eventually came forward and told prosecutors that Wolfferts did not have any knowledge of the ongoing cocaine trafficking ring. The remaining co-defendants entered guilty pleas in federal court earlier this month. The charges against Wolfferts were dismissed and he was released from federal custody on December 9, 2009.

There is a simple moral to the story. Even if a person is not involved in a criminal enterprise, i.e. cocaine trafficking, mortgage fraud or Medicare fraud, there is a significant danger in being involved with individuals who are engaged in these types of enterprises. Be aware of who you are involved with, especially if you have a prior criminal history. The prisons, both state and federal, are filled with innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong type of people.

Bomber Overcomes Drug Charges, The Miami Herald, December 29, 2009.