It took a foreign journalist to top former WPLG reporter Jilda Unruh's ballsyness for getting the story. Unruh is best remembered for accosting reformed crackhead and school district lobbyist Ric Sisser in his hospital bed while he was being treated for congestive heart failure.
Now comes Martin Sarthou, a television reporter for Teledoce of Uruguay, who this past October was able to sneak his cell phone camera past security at the Miami federal courthouse and used it to film extradition proceedings in October 2006 involving Juan Peirana Basso.
Uruguayan prosecutors accuse Basso with taking part in an $800 million banking scandal involving institutions in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. Sarthou's images were broadcast on Teledoce, including pictures of Peirano being led into court in handcuffs and leg shackles, according to court documents. Cameras are banned in federal courthouses and only limited personnel can bring in cell phones or other electronics in southern Florida federal courts.
Basso's lawyers warned Sarthou not to disseminate the images, but they were broadcast anyway as "unique, exclusive photos" in a report on Oct. 27. According to a translated script, Sarthou said the network "deemed it important for viewers to have access to the images and the extradition proceedings.
Last Thursday, Sarthou pled guilty and was sentenced for criminal contempt of court by Chief United States Magistrate Judge Ted E. Bandstra. Sarthou was fined $1000 and barred from entering any federal courthouse in Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Fort Pierce for one year. - NA
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