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Peter Sartes is a Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Attorney located in Clearwater, Florida. He has participated in a number of trials that have received national attention, including the Terri Schiavo case and the trial of Sarasota socialite Marian Morgan. He is junior partner in the Law Firm of Tragos and Sartes.

Notable Cases

 * Marian Morgan: Sarasota socialite Marian Morgan ran a $28,000,000 Ponzi scheme, together with husband John S. Morgan. On September 11, 2011, she was convicted of all 22 felony counts on which she was indicted, including conspiracy to commit fraud, transportation of stolen property, money laundering and tax evasion. and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. Peter Sartes was her attorney, paid for by the state because Morgan claimed indigence. Upon conviction, but before sentencing, Morgan fired Sartes and hired a high priced attorney in an attempt to win a new trial. The new lawyer, Barry Cohen, claimed that Sartes had not prepared his client adequately. The prosecutor cited Sartes' diligence in representing his client, and the request for a new trial was denied. Morgan's hiring of an expensive attorney after claiming indigence was considered an example of her lack of cooperation with the court, and may have been a factor in her sentencing.  She was sentenced to 30 years in prison, more than double the sentence of local Ponzi schemers Arthur Nadel and Beau Diamond who had stolen much larger sums.

Publications

 * HOW MYSPACE AFFECTS MY CASE, The Florida Defender, 2010
 * Withhold of Adjudication: What everyone needs to know, The Florida Bar Journal, 2008
 * DIVERSION PROGRAMS: PTI...dismissal...problem solved...or is it?, The Florida Bar Journal, 2008
 * COUNSELING A DEFENDANT OF A SEX CASE: What they need to know to be fully informed, Florida Defender, 2006
 * So, You’re Faced with Child Hearsay: What’s In, What’s Not, The Florida Bar Journal, 2004
 * What’s Happening with Apprendi: Florida’s Response, The Record, Journal of the Appellate Section of the Florida, 2002