PICKLO'S HISTORY
Here are more articles on Picklo's first arrest and how they let him go because he worked on taxpayer money. It's more common than not. Below the articles you will find stories of his newest crime. Will he go free again? Kay Lee
Family Relieved Suspect Is In Custody
Police Say Victim Was InnocentPOSTED: 11:45 p.m. EDT October 18, 2000Former insurance fraud investigator Arthur Picklo, 39, has been arrested and charged with the attempted murder of Gaudalupe Frausto.
It was last month when police believe that Picklo first showed a badge, pulled Frausto over and shot him twice in the head.
"The officer is alleged to have pulled a weapon, pointed it at the victim, asked him where he kept the money and shot him twice in the head," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Frank Mackesy said.
Police say that Picklo then stole more than $20,000 from Frausto, a man police believe Picklo may have been investigating. Frausto would survive and then later identify his assailant.
Picklo worked for a year and a half with the Division of Insurance Fraud out of an office in Jacksonville. Before that, he spent 10 years with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Now his former colleagues and law enforcement officers are reacting to the allegations.
By phone in Tallahassee, Insurance Fraud Assistant Director Jerry Stewart told NewsChannel 4, "We are very shocked and very saddened. It's very disturbing when one of your officers is charged with a violent crime like this. We've never had any situation like this before."
"Anytime a law enforcement officer is involved in an act that results in criminal wrongdoing and this level of violence, it's disappointing to the rest of us in law enforcement," Mackesy said.
For the family of the victim, they are now relieved that a suspect has been caught.
Frausto wished not to speak with NewsChannel 4 on camera, but he said that he's thankful to have survived that night, and can now sleep easier
"Lupe thanks God every day he's back with his family, he's back with his community. He feels really fortunate," Sharon Frausto said.
Frausto's family says that the events of last September left him with serious facial injuries, but they believe he will soon return to his job in the construction business.
"Mr. Frausto is an innocent victim who had done what he was told to do by a law enforcement agent. That's about as simple as it gets," Mackesy said.
Frausto must still undergo several more surgeries for serious wounds to his face.
Meanwhile, Picklo has been placed on administrative leave.
Co-Workers Shocked By Investigator's Charges
Personal Problems May Have Led To Attempted MurderPOSTED: 5:37 p.m. EDT October 19, 2000Police say that 39-year old Art Picklo shot a man twice in the face last month, then stole more than $20,000.
At the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, where Picklo spent 11 years and most of his career, the news came hard.
"Especially when it's someone you know and work with and have been working details and working cases with, it really was a shock to all of us," Columbia County Sheriff Frank Owen said.
Because Picklo had worked so long in Lake City, just about everybody to whom NewsChannel 4 talked had either heard of him or knew him personally.
"I'm hearing people talk," Former Lieutenant Greg Delgato said. "They are just like, 'Can you believe this?,' and my first reaction is, 'I can't believe this.'"
Delgado worked with Picklo for all 11 years, and through that time he says that Picklo was well-liked by his fellow officers.
"Everybody who met him liked him," Delgado said. "Just an all-around kind of guy you would like to spend a little time with."
But Picklo's personal life may have been in crisis.
Two years ago he went through a divorce, was soon demoted from lieutenant to sergeant, and then he was investigated internally by the department on a sexual harassment charge. In another case, an officer filed a complaint accusing Picklo of threatening his life.
"Anytime a person, their family is in difficulty, that's a personal crisis," Owen said.
A year later he resigned and joined the Division of Insurance Fraud in Jacksonville. The division said that he was also well-liked there and was considered a strong investigator. Now they're shocked that one of their own could be charged with such a serious crime.
"It's something you think just wouldn't have happened," Delgado said.
Picklo remains on administrative leave with the State Division of Insurance Fraud pending its own internal investigation.
State prosecutors were in Lake City Thursday combing through records at the sheriff's office for their own investigation.
Former Insurance Investigator On Trial For Shooting, Theft
POSTED: 12:22 pm EST March 5, 2002JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As a undercover agent with the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud and former deputy with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, Arthur Picklo has been in court many times.
But Tuesday he listened as prosecutors laid out their case against him. Picklo (pictured, right) is accused of trying to kill a man.
"Arthur Picklo got up on September 15, the year 2000, and went to work as an officer of the law," Assistant State Attorney Dan Skinner told the jury. "He went home that day having broken the law he swore to uphold."
Prosecutors said Picklo pulled over a man he had been investigating and knew had upwards of $30,000 in his car. They said Picklo ordered the victim to turn the car off, then shot him twice in the head.
That victim, Guadalupe Frausto, survived, and took the stand, identifying Picklo as the man who pulled him over, led him to a residential road, then entered his car.
"He got into my truck, sat on passenger side and right away he asked me 'where the money?' It felt like an explosion," Frausto testified.
In its opening statement, the defense told the court that Frausto had identified the wrong man, and that Picklo did not have time to commit the crime.
"The evidence will show that it was impossible for him to shoot Guadalupe Frausto because of the time Frausto was shot," public defender Ann Finnell said. "Picklo was en route back to park, buying sodas or being wired for his next job."
This prosecution has more witnesses to call and reportedly will use ballistics to show that a bullet found at the scene came from a gun Picklo was borrowing at the time.
The trail is expected to last the rest of the week.
Picklo Released After Not-Guilty Verdict
Insurance Investigator Acquitted After Three-Day Trial
UPDATED: 1:55 pm EST March 8, 2002
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Arthur Picklo walked out of the Duval County jail just before noon Friday -- a free man for the first time since his arrest for attempted murder 1½ years ago.
The former state Department of Insurance investigator and Columbia County sheriff's deputy was found not guilty by a Duval County jury after a three-day trial this week.
It took only three hours for the jury to acquit Picklo of attempted murder and armed robbery charges resulting from the shooting of Guadalupe Frausto in Riverside during an undercover investigation. Frausto was shot twice in the head and robbed of more than $30,000 in September 2000.
Picklo, 40, choked back tears of joy when the jury announced the verdict Thursday evening. Friends in court hugged each other in celebration.
"We're very happy with the verdict," public defender Waffa Hanania said. "I think there were some issues we raised that the state couldn't explain, and I think the jury made the appropriate verdict based on the evidence they heard."
Channel 4 reporter Brad Puffer reported that the prosecution team appeared stunned after the verdict. Assistant State Attorney Laura Starrett broke into tears in the hall, then left without comment.
"We are very disappointed," State Attorney Harry Shorstein said. "We considered it a very serious case and thought the evidence was substantial."
That evidence included the victim taking the stand and identifying Picklo as the man who shot him in the face.
Frausto did not comment, but his family was angry, insisting the state left out evidence, including recordings with another inmate saying that Picklo offered him $7,500 to "finish the job."
"He's already tried to kill him, and he's already tried to put a hit on him and he's out on the street now," Guadalupe Frausto's sister, Susan Frausto, said.
But the defense successfully poked holes in the state's case, saying Picklo did not have time to commit the crime, that he lacked motive, and that the state lacked physical evidence.
After the verdict, Picklo remained in jail overnight on a misdemeanor charge.
Puffer spoke with Picklo as he left jail this morning and will have those comments and more developments in the case this afternoon on Eyewitness News beginning at 5 p.m.
Copyright 2004 by News4Jax.com.Jury Foreman Criticizes Picklo Prosecution
POSTED: 5:27 pm EST March 8, 2002JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As Arthur Picklo walked out of jail Friday morning -- a free man after 17 months -- he had only one comment.
The 40-year-old former state Department of Insurance investigator and Columbia County sheriff's deputy was found not guilty on charges he shot and robbed a man in September, 2000.
The jury foreman told us the public defender raised enough doubts that they had no choice but to acquit Picklo.
"Even in your heart you may think there's a gun, there's a bullet," jury foreman Robert Lopresti said the day after the verdict. "There were just too many other questions."
Those question included whether Picklo had time to commit the crime and the credibility of the victim. But Lopresti also said the prosecution -- headed by Laura Starrett -- was ineffective.
"Laura Starrett just didn't impress us. If anything, we thought the other -- Hanania was much more professional," Lopresti said. "Could he have done it? Yes. But, gosh, if you are going to put all the time and effort into prosecuting, they could have done a much better job."
It took only three hours for the jury to acquit Picklo of attempted murder and armed robbery charges resulting from the shooting of Guadalupe Frausto in Riverside during an undercover investigation. Frausto was shot twice in the head and robbed of more than $30,000 in September 2000.
Frausto remains convinced it was Picklo who shot him twice in the face and stole more than $30,000. Both he and his private attorney were stunned by the verdict.
"I'm 100 percent sure that he's my man," Frausto told Channel 4's Brad Puffer on Friday. "He's the man that did (it) .... It's God up there that know."
Everybody associated with this case was in a serious state of shock when this verdict came down," defense attorney Bob Willis said. "You don't let this go. There's a pure injustice that occurred in this case, and we're not going to sit on that."
Jacksonville's state attorney stands behind his prosecution team.
"We are very disappointed," Shorstein told Channel 4 after the verdict. "We considered it a very serious case and thought the evidence was substantial."
"Anyhow, here's your updates on scumbag Picklo. He faces a minimum of ten years federal and a maximum of LIFE plus 40 years and/or a million dollar fine."
State investigator on trial in federal construction probe
http://fox30online.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=B210DD21-20FB-4CD1-B0A7-1BDD6D533F9D
Last Update: 5/23/2005 9:02:48 AM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A former state fraud investigator is on trial in Jacksonville for allegedly shooting the target of a construction probe.
Arthur Picklo is charged with federal civil rights violations, armed robbery, obstruction of justice and a firearms charge. He's accused of shooting Jacksonville house framer Guadalupe Frausto nearly five years ago. Frausto was the target of a federal investigation examining the construction industry.
Picklo had been on the front lines of a federal grand jury probe into worker's compensation fraud, money laundering and the use of illegal aliens by builders.
The investigation is still under way.©2005 Associated Press.
State Investigator Faces Second Trial For 2000 Shooting
POSTED: 7:42 am EDT May 23, 2005JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A former state fraud investigator is on trial on federal charges for allegedly shooting the target of a construction probe.
Picklo is accused of shooting Jacksonville house framer Guadalupe Frausto nearly five years ago. Frausto, the target of a federal investigation examining the construction industry, was shot twice in the head and robbed of more than $30,000 in September 2000.
The former state Department of Insurance investigator and Columbia County sheriff's deputy was found not guilty on state charges of attempted murder and armed robbery in March 2002.
Picklo had been on the front lines of a federal grand jury probe into worker's compensation fraud, money laundering and the use of illegal aliens by builders.
That investigation is still under way.
Acquitted Cop Stands Trial Again
the link: http://www.news4jax.com/news/4522059/detail.htmlArthur Picklo Charged With Robbery, Violating Civil Rights Of Victim
POSTED: 7:06 pm EDT May 23, 2005JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- An acquitted Columbia County deputy and agent for the Florida Department of Financial Services is on trial again on new charges related to the same shooting. Arthur Picklo is accused of robbing and violating the civil rights of the man he is suspected of shooting nearly five years ago.
Picklo spent 17 months in jail awaiting trial on attempted murder charges in 2002. Investigators said Picklo was working undercover when he shot Guadalupe Frausto twice in the face and then stole $34,000 from him. A Duval County jury ultimately found him not guilty.
Picklo faced a federal court for the first time Monday, this time charged with robbery and violating the civil rights of Frausto. According to court officials, double jeopardy does not apply in Picklo's case because the charges are not the same.
Guadalupe Frausto
Picklo's attorney made the same argument in his opening statements as the one that won favor with the jury in his client's initial trial. The defense said Picklo could not have been at two places at once -- the scene of the shooting in Riverside and Boone Park in Avondale, where attorneys said he was meeting other agents.
But prosecutors said there was plenty of time for Picklo to get to both places. Channel 4's lead investigator Jennifer Waugh drove the approximately seven-mile stretch, making it in two-and-a-half minutes.
Something federal prosecutors have now that was not available in the previous trial is a bullet fragment taken from Frausto's jawbone. Prosecutors argue it is similar to the type of bullet used in the gun they said Picklo shot at Frausto.
Stories:
- March 8, 2002: Picklo Released After Not-Guilty Verdict
- March 7, 2002: Both Sides Rest In Attempted Murder Trial
- March 5, 2002: Former Insurance Investigator On Trial For Shooting, Theft
- October 19, 2000: Co-Workers Shocked By Investigator's Charges
- October 19, 2000: Family Relieved Suspect Is In Custody
Previous Stories:
- February 21, 2002: Investigator Will Stand Trial For Attempted Murder
- October 19, 2000: Co-Workers Shocked By Investigator's Charges
- October 19, 2000: Family Relieved Suspect Is In Custody
- October 18, 2000: Insurance Investigator Charged With Attempted Murder
Copyright 2005 by News4Jax.com.
