One week after he was arrested with cocaine at the Tallahassee airport, a candidate for Broward public defender is speaking out in his own defense.
Gary Ostrow, a veteran criminal defense attorney in Fort Lauderdale, said he did not know that a vial of cocaine was in his jacket pocket until Transportation Security Administration screeners found it and pulled him aside.
''I would not have put it through the belt if I thought something was in there,'' Ostrow said. ``That would have been ridiculously stupid.''
Ostrow, 52, was arrested at 11:35 a.m. May 2 at the Tallahassee Regional Airport.
Here is his account of what happened:
Ostrow, a Republican, had flown to Tallahassee earlier that morning to file last-minute papers to run for public defender. He is running against the Democratic incumbent, Howard Finkelstein. Alex Arreaza, a Democrat with a law office in Wilton Manors, also is vying for the position.
After dropping off the documents, Ostrow and a friend, Broward defense attorney Alex Lambidis, ate breakfast at a Tallahassee restaurant and took a cab back to the airport.
At the security checkpoint, Ostrow walked through the metal detector and was rechecked by a screener with a wand, as his belongings, including his blue blazer, were being examined on the conveyer belt.
It was then that the TSA employee noticed the clear vial with a light purple top in the right inside breast pocket of Ostrow's jacket.
The powder inside the glass vial was later tested and identified as 0.9 grams of cocaine, according to a police report.
TSA contacted police, who handcuffed Ostrow at the airport and took him to the police station, where he was charged with one count of cocaine possession.
He remained in jail for several hours before being released later in the day.
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement report shows no other criminal arrests for Ostrow, an attorney since 1982 who has represented Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams.
For now, Ostrow says he is focusing on his ``health and welfare.''
He is in the process of hiring an attorney and says he will face whatever consequences he encounters.
''I intend to deal with it like a man,'' he said.
As for his bid to become Broward's next public defender, Ostrow is unsure whether he will continue to pursue it.
''Based on my rapport with the bench and the judges, I feel that I can be a force that will take the office in a more positive direction,'' he said. ``But I have to reconsider that whole position, obviously.''
