Opinion ID: 1765383
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: criminal acts leading to suspension

Text: Boose was admitted to the practice of law in Florida on November 10, 1969, and in Nebraska on July 27, 1970. Boose has maintained his membership in the Nebraska State Bar Association. His practice in Florida focuses on land use and zoning laws. Boose's guilty plea provides the following facts regarding his conviction: Boose was an attorney who specialized in land use and zoning laws. He regularly appeared before the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners in Florida, seeking approval of land use, zoning, and other real-estate-related matters for his clients. At the heart of the criminal prosecution was the sale of 3,500 acres of undeveloped land in Martin County, Florida, known as Nine Gems. In August 2002, Anthony Masilotti, a member of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, retained Boose to purchase a 150-acre tract of Nine Gems. To facilitate the purchase, Boose created a Florida land trust, naming a Boose law firm employee to act as trustee. Masilotti's then-wife was the sole beneficiary of the trust. After he purchased the land, Masilotti used his position as a public official to pursue the purchase of the entire Nine Gems land by the South Florida Water Management District. He did not disclose that he had a financial interest in the land. The district ultimately purchased Nine Gems in October 2004, including the land owned by Masilotti. The district paid Masilotti $1.7 million by wire transfer for the sale of his holdings within Nine Gems. In March 2004, before the closing on the sale, Boose became aware that Masilotti misused his public position to advance and leverage the sale of Nine Gems. But Boose did not make Masilotti's self-dealing known to the authorities. The government later charged Boose with having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony and failing to report it, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 4. Boose pleaded guilty and admitted that he knew or should have known that Masilotti had engaged in wire fraud and that he failed to report it to the appropriate criminal authorities. On January 25, 2008, the court sentenced Boose to serve 24 months' imprisonment, fined him $25,000, and placed him on 1 year of supervised release. Boose also paid more than $400,000 in restitution.