Florida the rules are different here Chapter XVI

How many states have Ex-Chamber of Commerce Presidents who date fake canoe Journalists and get arrested while sitting naked in their van and posessing crack coccaine? You got to love Florida.

Hat tip- Florida Cracker,
Open Post- Bright & Early, Jo's Cafe, Is it Just me?, NIF,

Philip Blumberg, former chairman of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and head of one of the largest real-estate investment firms in South Florida, has been charged with possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Broward County.

Blumberg, 48, CEO of American Ventures and chairman-elect of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, was arrested as he sat alone in his car in a remote area of Weston that is known, according to a police report, for trespassing and illegal dumping.

The prominent Miami business leader was pale, sweating profusely and naked from the waist down when Broward Sheriff's Office Deputy Larry Akers approached the black Chevy Trailblazer on Jan. 8, the report said.

Akers said Blumberg, in response to a question about contraband in the SUV, told him there were two bags of marijuana on the floor. Akers found the pot, along with crack cocaine and pipes for smoking drugs.

It was Blumberg's second drug arrest in Broward.

The earlier one occurred in November 2000, while Blumberg chaired the Greater Miami Chamber. BSO deputies Joseph Russo and Jason Rotella pulled him over in Pompano Beach for running a stop sign. They said they spotted a broken glass crack cocaine pipe -- ''in plain view'' -- and discovered a ''small crack cocaine rock'' inside the glove compartment. ''He admitted ownership of the pipe,'' the arrest affidavit says. ``Defendant stated he does have a crack problem.''

Blumberg received a year's probation in that case after pleading no contest to possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia. Circuit Judge Ana Gardiner withheld adjudication. She required Blumberg to submit to random urinalysis and receive outpatient therapy as conditions of the probation. Attorney Bruce Lyons defended Blumberg in the 2000 case. ''Whatever the court required, he did,'' said Lyons, who also represents him on the new charges.

RECENT ARREST

In the recent arrest, which happened shortly after 8 p.m., Blumberg was ''wearing no pants or underwear, he was only wearing a shirt,'' and covered himself with his shorts, Akers' report said. The deputy told him to get dressed and step out of the SUV. ``I asked Philip what he was doing with his pants off and why he was in such a secluded area. He advised that he was trying to get back to Pembroke Pines and had stopped to urinate.''

The deputy also found ``several open boxes of condoms, numerous aerosol cans, a copper color cleaning pad and a wood stick with white powder on the end. All were in plain view sitting on the passengers seat...''

In a glass pipe, Akers said, were ''several small white pieces'' which field-tested positive for ''suspect cocaine.'' The deputy handcuffed Blumberg, read him his rights and put him in his patrol car. Blumberg told Akers the pipe ``belonged to a friend that had left it there.''

During an inventory of the SUV, Akers found a second pipe in a black bag, ''concealed by a silk stocking,'' plus more condoms, lighters, and a ``clear plastic bag with an unknown white powder substance in it.''

The cocaine charge is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. The marijuana and drug paraphernalia charges are misdemeanors that each carry a maximum sentence of up to one year.