MIAMI LAKES, Fla. – A Miami Lakes man faces multiple felony charges after prosecutors accused him of misrepresenting himself as a lawyer to two prospective clients and the state, taking money for legal services he never provided and, in an expletive-laden text message, threatening at least one victim who complained to the state bar.
Prosecutors charged Ian Anthony Medina, 28, with practicing law without a license, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and making a false statement to the Florida Department of State.
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According to an arrest warrant, the Florida Bar had received complaints that Medina was misrepresenting himself as a lawyer and taking money for legal services he never provided and asked the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office to investigate.
The warrant said Medina displayed a fake Florida Bar card with a number that actually belonged to another local attorney, Alexander Clavero, who said he did not personally know Medina and did not authorize him to use his bar number.
“Mr. Clavero advised he knew that (sic) someone named, Ian Medina, because he had been contacted and told by several of the defendant’s former classmates from Emory Law School,” the warrant states.
The warrant states that one victim paid Medina $3,500 through payment app Square for legal services he never provided after Medina called him, unsolicited, offering to represent him over a personal injury claim. It states Medina became unresponsive after receiving the money.
It states another victim, a woman, paid Medina $750 using payment app Zelle for an elder law case relating to her father. She said she found Medina listed as an attorney on the website “Requestlegalhelp.com.”
The warrant states that, once again, Medina became unresponsive to emails and text messages after receiving the money. That led the victim to file a complaint with the Florida Bar, it said.
Suddenly, according to the warrant, Medina became responsive again.
He’s accused of texting the victim profanity-laden death threats, calling her a “dead c--- b----,” a “meth head,” and, using a homophobic slur, a “tweaker a-- f--,” saying “You will die today b----,” and ending the paragraph with “Love, your attorney.”
Afterwards, according to the warrant, he re-iterated some of the name-calling in all caps, writing “YOUR (sic) A F---ING TWEAKER F--
B----”
Investigators said they found that Medina formed multiple business entities where he misrepresented himself as an attorney, listing his name as “Ian A. Medina, Esq.”
Miami-Dade court records show that Medina submitted a $40,000 bond.