'Latin American Idol' winner busted smuggling 2.9 lbs of heroin stuffed into high heels

REUTERS

A combination photo shows (clockwise top L) Martha Heredia , 22, the drugs which were found on her possession, the shoes in which the drugs were hidden in, Heredia's luggage and other personal items.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A winner of the TV talent show "Latin American Idol" who was once loved by thousands in her native Dominican Republic was charged with drug smuggling after police found heroin stuffed in the heels of her platform shoes, authorities said Thursday.

Martha Heredia was arrested late Wednesday as she was about to board a plane to New York, said Frank Duran, the National Drug Control Agency's director for the city of Santiago.

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Martha Heredia attends the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards in Puerto Rico.

He said police found 2.9 pounds of heroin in the heels of three pairs of shoes packed in her suitcase. Police also ordered Heredia to undergo X-ray tests to determine whether she had any drugs hidden inside her body, but none were found.

Duran said police are interrogating Heredia to determine whether she was working as a mule for a drug-trafficking organization.

Prosecutor Luisa Liranzo said Heredia does not yet have an attorney. If found guilty, she could face more than 10 years in prison.

The 22-year-old had become a star in the Dominican Republic after she won the final "Latin American Idol" contest in 2009. The show, which ran for three years, was a Spanish-language version of the popular British "Idols" franchise.

On the night Heredia vied for the title, thousands of Dominicans gathered in public plazas to watch her sing on huge TV screens, and then-President Leonel Fernandez urged Dominicans to vote for her.

The country was paralyzed as Dominicans watched the show, prompting Fernandez to quip, "It was said the country came under curfew without the need of a presidential decree."

Miguel Vargas, president of the main opposition party at the time, had donated thousands of prepaid phone cards the night of the final contest so citizens could vote for their compatriot.

"Martha's tenacity and creative capacity are an example, and the least we can do is support her efforts," Vargas said at the time.

Dozens of fans greeted Heredia when she returned to the Dominican Republic after her win, and Fernandez invited her to the National Palace. In February 2010, he gave her the National Youth Award.

"The politicians are lucky you're not running for president because you would beat them all," he said at the time.

But Heredia, nicknamed "La Baby" because of her penchant for calling people "baby", disappeared shortly after all the fanfare, drawing speculations including that she was pregnant.

Then her name was back in the news for different reasons.

In December 2010, Heredia hit and killed a teenage Haitian boy with her car as he tried to cross a highway by foot. She was later ordered to pay his family some $275,000 as part of a lawsuit. The boy's relatives were angered that she did not meet with them to offer her condolences.

"That's not right," Elvys Vandredi, the victim's father, told a local TV station in a 2011 interview for a feature on Martha Heredia called "What happened to Martha Heredia?"

The TV station also featured an interview with Heredia, who said she granted the interview because she was tired of the rumors surrounding her disappearance from the local show business industry.

Heredia blamed her manager at the time for not scheduling concerts or public appearances.

"I need a person who barely sleeps, someone who is constantly connected to social media," she said.

In late 2011, she produced her first album titled "Lose or Win," which she recorded in Mexico under the Sony Music label. The first single did not do well.

Heredia's name disappeared once again and resurfaced last month when she filed a domestic violence complaint against her husband, Manuel Varet Marte, a hip-hop singer known as Vakero. He was ordered held in prison for three months as police investigate the case.

General Prosecutor Francisco Dominguez issued a statement saying Heredia's situation was unfortunate.

"It's very sad that young people who have so much promise, who were bestowed by life with all the grace in the world and an unquestionable talent, because of ambition, bad advice or simply to obtain money see themselves in situations like this," he said.

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National Hotel nears end of long renovation

A panel of frosted glass puts everything in perspective for Delphine Dray as she oversees a years-long, multi-million dollar renovation project at the National Hotel on Miami Beach.

“Chez Claude and Simone,” says the piece of glass stationed between the lobby and restaurant, a reference to Dray’s parents, who bought the hotel in 2007.

“Every time I am exhausted and I pass that glass, I remember why,” said Delphine Dray, who joined her father — a billionaire hotel developer and well-known art collector in France — to restore the hotel after the purchase.

After working with him for years, she is finishing the project alone. Claude Dray, 76, was killed in his Paris home in October of 2011, a shooting that remains under investigation.

In a recent interview and tour of the hotel’s renovations, which are nearly finished, Dray did not discuss her father’s death, which drew extensive media coverage in Europe. But she spoke about the evolution of the father-daughter working relationship, the family’s Art Deco obsession and the inspiration for the hotel’s new old-fashioned touches.

The National is hosting a cocktail party Friday night to give attendees a peek at the progress.

Dray grew up in a home surrounded by Art Deco detail; her parents constantly brought home finds from the flea market. By 2006, they had amassed a fortune in art and furniture, which they sold for $75 million at a Paris auction in 2006.

That sale funded the purchase of the National Hotel at 1677 Collins Ave., which the Drays discovered during a visit to Miami Beach.

After having lunch at the Delano next door, Dray said, “My dad came inside the hotel and fell in love.” The owner was not interested in selling, but Claude Dray persisted, closing the deal in early 2007. Her family also owns the Hôtel de Paris in Saint-Tropez, which reopened Thursday after a complete overhaul overseen by Dray’s mother and older sister.

Delphine Dray said she thought it would be exciting to work on the 1939 hotel with her father, so she moved with her family to South Florida. She quickly discovered challenges, including stringent historic preservation rules and frequent disagreements with her father.

“We did not have at all the same vision,” she said.

For example, she said: “I was preparing mojitos for the Winter Music Conference.” Her father, on the other hand, famously once unplugged a speaker during a party at the hotel because the loud music was disturbing his work.

“We were fighting because that is the way it is supposed to be,” she said. “Now, I understand that he was totally right.”

She described a vision, now her own, of a classic, cozy property that brings guests back to the 1940s.

Joined by her 10-year-old twin girls, Pearl and Swan, and 13-year-old son Chad, Dray pointed out a new telephone meant to look antique mounted on the wall near the elevators on a guest floor. She showed off the entertainment units she designed to resemble furniture that her parents collected. And she highlighted Art Deco flourishes around doorknobs and handles.

“It’s very important for us to have the details,” she said.

With those priorities in mind, she is overseeing the final phase of the renovation, an investment that general manager Jacques Roy said will top $10 million. In addition to the small details, the renovation includes heavier, less obvious work: new drywall in guest rooms, for example, and new windows to replace leaky ones.

Painting of the building’s exterior should be finished in the next two to three weeks, Roy said. Dray compared its earlier unfinished state to resembling “a horror movie — the family Addams.”

And the final couple of guest room floors, as well as the restoration of the original Martini Room, should be done by the end of April.

“At the end, I will be very proud,” Dray said.

The National’s renovation wraps up as nearby properties such as the SLS Hotel South Beach and Gale South Beach & Regent Hotel have been given new life. Jeff Lehman, general manager of The Betsy Hotel and chair of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority, said the National has always been true to its roots. He managed the hotel for 10 years, including for a few months after Dray bought the property.

“I think historic preservation and the restoration of the hotels as they were built 70, 80 years ago is such a huge piece of our DNA,” he said. “It’s a lot of what sets us apart from any other destination on the planet.”

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Miami-Dade drug felon makes quick buck in $12 million tax-refund ID-theft scam

A convicted Miami-Dade drug trafficker unemployed for the past decade discovered how to make a quick buck, cashing $12 million in fraudulent tax-refund checks over five months last year, authorities say.

Frankie Jermaine Anderson skimmed 20 percent of the take for himself, gave 30 percent to a Perrine check-cashing store owner and delivered the other half of the proceeds to the supplier of the refund checks, according to federal prosecutors.

Anderson, 40, was arrested Tuesday on a criminal complaint and charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, theft of federal money and aggravated identity theft. He will have a detention hearing in Miami federal court Monday.

Anderson’s alleged scheme, while hardly unusual in one of the nation’s ID-theft, tax-refund fraud capitals, is nonetheless striking for the total value of Treasury Department checks cashed over such a short span.

Internal Revenue Service agents initially took down Anderson in a sting operation in November, when he was caught with 35 Treasury refund checks totaling $119,165 that he was allegedly trying to cash through a confidential source and undercover agent in Miami. Anderson confessed to the Perrine check-cashing store scam to IRS agents, according to the criminal complaint.

Prosecutor Michael Berger said the fraudulently obtained refund checks in Anderson’s possession included one for a dead person.

The U.S. attorney’s office has moved to seize two homes in Southwest Miami-Dade that are valued at $250,000 each. One home was purchased for Anderson and his wife, Debra, and the other for Anderson’s mother, Berger said.

Also, the office has filed papers to seize Anderson’s fleet of late-model cars: a BMW 530i, BMW X6, Porsche Cayenne, Porsche Panamera, Cadillac CTS, Jaguar XF, Jaguar XJ, and Bentley GT Coupe.

According to state records, Anderson has been unemployed since 2003.

Federal court records show Anderson was convicted in 1995 of conspiracy to possess with intent to manufacture and distribute cocaine. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

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Diane Lane and Josh Brolin to Divorce

Diane Lane, 48, and Josh Brolin, 45, are divorcing after eight years of marriage.

"Diane Lane and Josh Brolin have decided to end their marriage," reps for the couple confirm to ET.

Pics: Top 10 Biggest Divorce Payouts

According to Us Weekly, the divorce "was a mutual decision. It is very amicable. It's not ugly, it's just over."

The two reportedly already split a couple of months ago, and have no children together.

Video: Diane Lane After Husband Josh Brolin's Arrest

This will be the second divorce for both stars.

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Brooklyn Heights woman steals $33K from child

A Brooklyn Heights woman stole $33,000 meant for a child whose grandmother had died, authorities said.

Katrina Perry, 56, took benefits meant to support her own niece who had been adopted by Perry’s mother and the child’s grandmother, investigators said.

The grandmother received checks to support her granddaughter, who is also Perry’s niece, but she died in August 2006, officials said.

“This defendant exploited her family’s situation,” said DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.

The child was thrust into the foster care system but the city continued sending adoption support checks to the grandmother, authorities said.

Perry failed to notify the Administration for Children’s Services that her mother died and the child had been sent to another home, officials said.

Instead, she used her mom’s senior citizen’s MTA reduced fare card to open a checking account in her mother’s name and used it to pocket the payments for several years, authorities said.

“(Perry) illegally siphoned tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds, according to the criminal complaint,” Gill Hearn said. “But the City exposed this troubling conduct and stopped the ongoing charged theft.”

An internal review found that the city was writing checks to the child’s new foster parents as well as the deceased grandmother who had adopted her, authorities said.

Perry was charged yesterday with two counts of grand larceny, 30 counts of identity theft and 14 counts each of petit larceny and criminal impersonation.

kconley@nypost.com

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Broward’s existing home sales, prices rose again in January

The median price of an existing single-family home in Broward County jumped 24.5 percent to $224,088 in January from a year earlier, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors.

The median price of a condominium or townhouse in Broward increased 26.5 percent to $94,900 in January from a year earlier.

Sales of single-family-home in Broward increased 15.3 percent in January to 1,033 from a year earlier, while closings on townhouses and condos increased 10.7 percent year over year, the Realtors group said.

Extremely tight inventory continues to shape the market. The number of single family homes available for sale on the multi-listings service plunged 26.5 percent in January to 4,510 from a year earlier. The number of available listings of condos and townhouses on the market was down 11.2 percent year over year to 6,407 units in Broward in January, the group said.

The months of supply of existing single-family homes fell to 3.8 months, while the inventory of condos and townhouses shrank to 4.7 months. A six-month to nine-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers, while a lower level favors sellers, helping fuel price increases, Realtors say.

Broward homes are selling more quickly and for levels closer to their asking prices in Broward. In January, existing single-family homes fetched 93.4 percent of their listing price, up from 90.9 percent a year earlier. Condos and townhouses went for 93.8 perenct of their asking price, an increase of 1.4 percent from a year earlier.

The median days on the market was 48 for a single-family home, down from 53 a year earlier, and 42 days for a condo or townhouse, down from 43 in January 2012.

“I’m seeing strength right across the board,’’ said Charles Bonfiglio, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors and head of AAA Realty Group. Many Broward residences are fetching multiple offers, frequently above the asking price, he said.

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Author Dan Pallotta hopes to wake up charity leaders at Philanthropy Miami

The way author and entrepreneur Dan Pallotta sees it, charities need to start taking big risks – the kind of risks a business would make.

Pallotta will be speaking about his philosophy during the first day of the Leadership Forum at the Philanthropy Miami conference in Jungle Island on Feb. 21 which focuses on the trends and practices in non-profit management. Currently in its second year, the conference is hosted by South Florida’s Leave a Legacy organization.

“It’s important for charities to come together and share their best practices,” said Teresa Weintraub, co-chair of Leave a Legacy, a nonprofit that promotes philanthropy in Miami-Dade County.

The Leadership Forum will highlight Pallotta’s idea that nonprofit leaders need to take a more proactive economic approach and begin running their organizations like businesses.

He said the things that charity leaders have been taught about undermining the costs is incorrect.

“We have always been taught that charities should spend as little money as possible,” said Pallotta, who is the founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, which invented the multiday AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days. “But unless charities allow themselves to grow then the problems they face are not going to get solved.”

His most recent book is called “Charity Case: How the Nonprofit community Can Stand Up For Itself and Really Change the World”.

The second day of the conference will take place on March 14 at the Hilton Miami Downtown and feature HGTV co-founder Susan Packard.

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Vanity Fair Party: Freida Pinto, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jessica Lowndes on Oscars

With the Academy Awards just a few days away, this Sunday's anticipated ceremony is all the buzz this week. At an event benefiting the global education campaign 10x10, the night's host, Freida Pinto, revealed her Oscar favorite.

"One of the films that I was truly surprised with...[and] truly entertained was 'Argo,'" the actress said of her favorite film of the year. "It was an all-around entertaining film for me. ...I was on the edge of my seat throughout the film. Good luck to the film."

PICS: Look Who's Presenting at The Oscars!

The Immortals actress was host of the D.J. Night event hosted by Vanity Fair and L'Oréal Paris and also narrated part of 10x10's film Girl Rising, which highlights the organization's main motif that education can change someone's life.

Also, a narrator of the film was 16-year-old actress Chloë Grace Moretz, who divulged an actress that she'll be rooting for at the Oscars.

"I really, really hope Anne Hathaway wins because I love her and she's the sweetest girl you'll ever meet," Moretz said of the Les Misérables actress nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

VIDEO: Olivia Munn & More Reveal Oscar Favorites

With many great films and performances nominated for the same awards, it's difficult not only for the Academy but fans as well to pinpoint one film or performance that exceeds the others.

"I'm rooting for them all," 90210 actress Jessica Lowndes said. "I know it's generic and kind of what everyone says, but as an actress I just get so excited for everybody. It's such an accomplishment. ...I just get happy for everybody, so I'm excited for everything."

Select your favorites for this Sunday's Academy Awards with ETonline's interactive Oscars ballot.

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'I did these things' : Jesse Jackson Jr. in tearful guilty plea

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., holding back tears, entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. He faces 46 to 57 months in prison under a plea deal with prosecutors

Before entering the plea to the conspiracy charge, Jackson told U.S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins, "I've never been more clear in my life" in his decision to plead guilty.

Later, when Wilkins asked if Jackson committed the acts outlined in court papers, the former congressman replied, "I did these things." He added later, "Sir, for years I lived in my campaign," and used money from the campaign for personal use.

Getty Images

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. enters U.S. District Court today before his guilty plea.

Jackson dabbed his face with tissues, and at point a court employee brought some tissues to Jackson's lawyer, who gave them to the ex-congressman.

Jackson told the judge he was waiving his right to trial.

"In perfect candor, your honor, I have no interest in wasting the taxpayers' time or money," he said.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 28, and Wilkins is not bound by the plea agreement. Jackson is free until then.

Jackson entered the courtroom holding hands with his wife, Sandra, and looking a bit dazzled as he surveyed the packed room. He kissed his wife and headed to the defense table. She is expected to plead guilty to plead guilty on a charge of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006 through 2011 that knowingly understated the income the couple received.

Jackson's father, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, sat in the front row. Before the hearing started, he wrote notes on a small piece of paper. When the proceedings started, he sat expressionless and virtually motionless, hands folded.

Jesse Jackson Jr., wearing a blue shirt and blue-patterned tie and gray suit, answered a series of questions from the judge, mostly in a muffled tone. When the judge asked if he had consumed any drugs or alcohol in the previous 24 hours, Jackson said he had a beer Tuesday night.

Jackson, 47, used campaign money to buy items including a $43,350 gold-plated men's Rolex watch and $9,587.64 worth of children's furniture, according to court papers filed in the case. His wife spent $5,150 on fur capes and parkas, the court documents said. Prosecutors said that upon conviction Jackson must forfeit $750,000, plus tens of thousands of dollars' worth of memorabilia items and furs.

As the proceedings wound up, Jackson sat at the defense table and shook his head in what looked like an expression of disbelief. After the hearing was adjourned, he walked over to his wife, grabbed her hand, and then was greeted by his father. Jackson Jr. patted his father on the back a few times.

"Tell everybody back home I'm sorry I let them down, OK?" Jackson told Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet, according to her Tweet from the scene.

The charge against Sandra Jackson carries a maximum of three years in prison. However, one of her lawyers, Tom Kirsch, says the plea agreement "does not contemplate a sentence of that length." Sandra Jackson was a Chicago alderman before she resigned last month during the federal investigation.

As the hearing for Jackson got under way Wednesday, newly filed court papers disclosed that the judge had offered to disqualify himself from handling the cases against Jackson and his wife.

As a Law School student, Wilkins said he had supported the presidential campaign of Jackson's father, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, and that as an attorney in 1999, Wilkins had been a guest on a show hosted by Jackson's father.

Prosecutors and lawyers for the couple said they were willing to proceed with the cases with Wilkins presiding. Judicial ethics require that a judge disqualify himself if his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

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Author Dan Pallotta hopes to wake up charity leaders at Philanthropy Miami

The way author and entrepreneur Dan Pallotta sees it, charities need to start taking big risks – the kind of risks a business would make.

Pallotta will be speaking about his philosophy during the first day of the Leadership Forum at the Philanthropy Miami conference in Jungle Island on Feb. 21 which focuses on the trends and practices in non-profit management. Currently in its second year, the conference is hosted by South Florida’s Leave a Legacy organization.

“It’s important for charities to come together and share their best practices,” said Teresa Weintraub, co-chair of Leave a Legacy, a nonprofit that promotes philanthropy in Miami-Dade County.

The Leadership Forum will highlight Pallotta’s idea that nonprofit leaders need to take a more proactive economic approach and begin running their organizations like businesses.

He said the things that charity leaders have been taught about undermining the costs is incorrect.

“We have always been taught that charities should spend as little money as possible,” said Pallotta, who is the founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, which invented the multiday AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days. “But unless charities allow themselves to grow then the problems they face are not going to get solved.”

His most recent book is called “Charity Case: How the Nonprofit community Can Stand Up For Itself and Really Change the World”.

The second day of the conference will take place on March 14 at the Hilton Miami Downtown and feature HGTV co-founder Susan Packard.

Read More..