Miami Herald, June 8, 2005
Joan Fleischman, Talk of the Town Column

NO WIN?

      Miami lawyers Ron Lowy, 47, and Clayton Kaeiser, 48, won a round for client Raphael R. Levy-before the U.S. Supreme Court.
      Levy, doing 14 years in federal prison for his role in a $117 million life insurance scam, is appealing the length of his sentence. Levy says his plea agreement with the government called for him to get 10 years, but U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley socked him with extra time.
      Levy took his argument to the 11th Circuit court of Appeals, which upheld Hurley. On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the 11th Circuit to reconsider whether Hurley's sentence was appropriate based on recent changes in the law.
      Levy, 55, is an ex-cop. He served six years as a part-time deputy in upstate New York's Monroe County Sheriff's Office, and two years as a full-time police officer and firefighter with Greenacres Department of Public Safety in Palm Beach County.
      Even if Levy succeeds in getting his 14-year prison term reduced to 10, he's still looking at several more years behind bars. He got 19 years in an unrelated criminal case-a $32 million investment fraud.
      Federal prosecutors: Stephen Carlton and Ellen Cohen.