By William D. Slicker
Over the years I have met several memorable characters in the courtroom. Here are the stories of three of them: (1) an opposing attorney, (2) an opposing party, and (3) one of my clients.
The opposing attorney that I have found memorable is Lonnie Kocontes. Mr. Kocontes had originally been admitted to practice law in Nebraska. While there, he was convicted of drug trafficking and burglary and spent about three years during 1976-1979 in prison on those charges. When he got out, he was later convicted of distributing drugs and spent about another three years in prison during 1981-1984.[1]
He subsequently moved from Nebraska to California where despite his felony convictions, he was admitted as an attorney in 1993. He married in 1995 and divorced in 2002.[2] In 2000, he was charged with having sex with a minor, but the charges were dropped when the 15 year old girl did not want to testify at trial.[3] Mr. Kocontes wanted to sell what had been the marital home, a house worth between $450,000 and $500,000, and split the proceeds with his ex-wife. However, she did not want to move out of the house or sell it. They supposedly reconciled and in May, 2006 they went on a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea where Mr. Kocontes’ former wife, Micki Kanesaki, disappeared over the railing.[4] So, it appeared that Mr. Kocontes would get the entire house. However, the former wife’s body floated up on the coast of Italy and in early June, 2006 the authorities were able to examine the body for a cause of death. Her body showed that the lungs were not filled with water, so she had not drowned from falling over into the sea. Rather, she was strangled.[5]
Before the legal authorities could successfully prosecute Mr. Kocontes for the death of his former wife, Mr. Kocontes moved to the State of Florida in October, 2006 and had himself appointed as an ad hoc vice attorney for the other side of a case I became involved in. Mr. Kocontes did not handle himself in a manner in which I thought an attorney should and therefore, we did a little research on him and discovered his questionable past. When I filed a motion to have Mr. Kocontes removed as pro hoc vice attorney based on his background, the case then quickly settled. Finally in 2020, Mr. Kocontes was convicted of murdering his former wife and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.[6] Mr. Kocontes was also charged with hiring a hitman to kill a prime witness against him, but that charge was dropped when he was convicted of the murder of his former wife.[7]
In another case, I faced off against Mr. Phillip Wasserman as an opposing party. Mr. Wasserman had been admitted as an attorney member of the Florida Bar, even though his business, Kalamazoo Development Company, Inc. had filed for bankruptcy in a failed effort to avoid foreclosure on its sole property[8] and he bragged that his father and grandfather had been members of the mafia[9] and Mr. Wasserman had previously been charged by the Florida Insurance Commission with making false and deceptive statements to purchasers of insurance.[10] Mr. Wasserman later ran a series of art galleries called Artistic Investments in which he’d take pieces of art on consignment. He claimed that one of his investors was Santo J. Trafficante (who was head of the mafia family that controlled Florida).[11] Artistic Investments was forced into bankruptcy when a number of artists accused Mr. Wasserman of not paying them or returning their art, plus a number of his landlords sued him for not paying rent.[12]
Mr. Wasserman had a history of problems with judges, other attorneys, and the Florida Bar. He was held in contempt on a case being tried by Judge Frank White.[13] He was suspended from the Florida Bar for shouting at Judge Bonnie Newton and becoming so angry that the bailiff called for a backup bailiff.[14] He was suspended from the Florida Bar for giving the Florida Bar a check that bounced. Then, he continued to practice even though he had been suspended. He was then suspended again.[15] When I dealt with Mr. Wasserman, he did not like the questions I asked him and upon seeing me outside the court house, he told me that if he ever found me in an alley behind a restaurant or a bar that he would beat the shit out of me. Mr. Wasserman had a similar confrontation with attorney Warren Knaust.[16] Later, Mr. Wasserman ran afoul of Judge John Lenderman. When Mr. Wasserman spoke with the judge’s assistant, Cindy Decker, he called her “a little motherfucker” and called the judge a “motherfucking son of a bitch.”[17] That apparently was enough for the Florida Bar. The Florida Bar was on the verge of revoking Mr. Wasserman’s license to practice law when he resigned from the Bar.
Mr. Wasserman then moved to Sarasota where he became a financial advisor and he started a new insurance venture called “Fast Life.” The U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida subsequently charged Mr. Wasserman and his CPA partner with fraud on elderly investors and sought restitution of $6.3 million.[18] Mr. Wasserman’s partner, Kenneth Rothman accepted a plea deal that could carry a maximum of 8 years imprisonment. Mr. Wasserman continued to fight against the charges. In December of 2021, his motion to dismiss the case against him was denied. After a six week trial ending in May of 2023, a jury convicted Mr. Wasserman of conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud.[19] At his sentencing hearing, several of his victims testified that he had taken all of their retirement funds. One couple alone lost $3 million. Also at his sentencing hearing Mr. Wasserman had several witnesses give statements that he should be given probation with the condition that he make restitution. One of those witnesses stated that Mr. Wasserman had been earning over $5 million a year. Another witness stated that Mr. Wasserman had been getting anywhere from 25-40% from other life insurance agents’ commissions based on them getting him leads from Mr. Wasserman. Mr. Wasserman, himself, took the stand and said he once lived in a 3 million house and owned 9 automobiles. The final sentencing was done on January 31, 2024 at which time the judge gave the 67-year-old Mr. Wasserman 15 years imprisonment, ordered him to pay $6.8 million in restitution and $6.3 million in forfeiture.
A third memorable character was actually a client who shall remain nameless. My client took a vacation to the Caribbean where she met a man from Haiti and came to believe that he was a good man, married him, and brought him to the United States. However, once living with her in the United States, he avoided her and was only interested in his children. The client believed that her husband’s real purpose of marrying her was just to get entry into the United States. I asked her if the marriage had been consummated and she told me no. I filed a petition for annulment of the marriage based on fraud and at the hearing, the judge asked my client if she had ever had sex with the respondent. She replied that she had given him a blow job. The judge looked at me and said “I guess we are in Bill Clinton territory and you will have to amend your pleading to ask for a divorce.”
So if you are an attorney and you are bored with your job, maybe you just are not meeting the right people. Hang in there. You never know who might show up.
[1] Lonnie Kocontes Accused Cruise Ship Murderer, www.cruisebruise.com/cruise/unbelieveable_but_true/Lonnie_Kocontes_Accused_cruise_ship_murderer
[2] “Almost Got Away with the Perfect Crime” Https://www.nbclosangeles/irvine-lonnie-kocontes
[3] “Lawyer on leave pending charges.” Pasadena Star News, May 31, 2000.
[4] “Almost Got Away with the Perfect Crime.” Https://www.nbclosangeles/irvine-lonnie-kocontes
[5] “Almost Got Away with the Perfect Crime” Https://www.nbclosangeles/irvine-lonnie-kocontes
[6] Ibid.
[7] Open Water, Dateline TV Episode January 8, 2021.
[8] Porter v. Kalamazoo Development Company, Inc., Sixth Circuit Case 86-8364; Kalamazoo Development Case 86-5738 (M.D. Fla. 1986)
[9] “Court Suspends Controversial Lawyer.” St. Petersburg Times, Sec B, Page 1, March 22, 1996
[10] Insurance Commission Administrative Case 81-L-2325
[11] “Troubled Waters Mire Art Gallery.” St. Petersburg Times, March 28, 1988
[12] Ibid; In Re: Bankruptcy of Artistic Investments, Inc. (M.D. Fla. 1988)
[13] Gulf Health Inc. v. Phillip R. Wasserman, Sixth Circuit Case 84-14586
[14] The Florida Bar v. Phillip R. Wasserman, 675 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 1996).
[15] Florida Bar v. Wasserman, 654 So. 2d 905 (1995)
[16] “Lawyer Charged with Indirect Contempt.” St. Petersburg Times, May 20, 1994
[17] The Florida Bar v. Wasserman, 675 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 1996)
[18] United States v. Wasserman, Case 20-CR-207-CHR-CS (M.D. Fla. 2020).
[19] Jury convicts insurance agent of defrauding elderly investors https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal/investigation
