Summary:  

• A Florida Department of Law Enforcement memorandum details part of the reason for the raid on Alachua Today/Boukari Law in July 2024 was to investigate alleged crimes against juvenile boys. 

• The memorandum was created in response to complaints about how the raid was carried out and the actions of individuals involved. 

• The memorandum first appeared Tuesday during a civil case involving DW Ashton Catery and Alachua Today that was unrelated to any criminal investigation.  

• Alachua Today sought a court injunction to block publication of this story. 

Disclaimer: This story contains information relating to investigations and allegations of sexual misconduct against minors. 

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) raided Alachua Today and Boukari Law in July 2024 because of an investigation into former city manager Adam Boukari, according to a March memorandum from the Florida Office of the Inspector General. 

This memorandum was filed as an exhibit to a motion in an unrelated civil case, and the exhibit notes that the investigation arose from allegations of sexual acts against juvenile boys.

Boukari denied allegations of criminal wrongdoing in a Thursday comment to Mainstreet. He said that he has known for over a year about a likely ongoing inquiry. He said the July raid by FDLE, which he called illegal, confirmed that belief.

“This is my first opportunity to respond and I unequivocally deny the allegations of any criminal actions or wrongdoing,” Boukari said in a text.

The memorandum said the raid was conducted in part to search for semen from acts involving “the target of this investigation, Adam Boukari and juvenile boys.” The memorandum referenced at least two unnamed victims and the potential for dozens of acts. The memorandum quotes from the Operational Plan and search warrant used by FDLE in the raid. 

“An FDLE investigation revealed that sexual acts have occurred at Alachua Today/Boukari Law involving juvenile victims,” said the search warrant quoted in the memorandum. “The acts occurred sometime around the time period of 2006-2021.”

Adam Boukari served as Alachua’s city manager from 2018 to 2021. 

The March memorandum came to light because of an unrelated civil case involving Alachua Today and a neighboring business, DW Ashton Catery. The civil case started in 2022, but the FDLE raid appears to have caused bumps in the civil case deadlines. 

Leonard Ireland, attorney for DW Ashton Cater, attached the memorandum in a motion filed Tuesday. During a court hearing on April 30, he referenced the memorandum as evidence that Bryan Boukari lied to the court.

Alachua County Today is a weekly newspaper that is operated by the Boukari family, with Bryan Boukari listed as publisher and Ellen Boukari listed as director. The newspaper shares offices in downtown Alachua with Boukari Law, also operated by Bryan Boukari, brother of Adam Boukari.

In a Thursday email, FDLE told Mainstreet that both investigations referenced in the memorandum remained active and declined to comment on them. 

The raid occurred on July 3, 2024, and received widespread coverage at the time, including television coverage on WCJB while agents were still on the scene, but FDLE declined to comment on the reason for the raid.

Just three months before the raid, an FDLE investigation into “crimes against children” at Santa Fe High School (SFHS) became public, but the memorandum does not establish a direct  link between the school and Alachua Today/Boukari.

The March memo says the raid was focused on evidence related to victims at the building in question. 

“Based on the number of known victims, probable victims, and number of sex acts Adam has committed that have resulted in male ejaculation, it is highly probable for Alachua Today to contain trace evidence of semen from many victims,” the memorandum quotes from the search warrant.     

In his text statement, Adam Boukari said he would pursue all avenues to protect his reputation. He was selected as president of the Alachua Chamber of Commerce last year and is a well-known Alachua citizen. 

“I look forward to this matter being closed and I will be pursuing all avenues to protect my reputation,” Adam Boukari said. “I hope there will be an investigation into the manner in which this information was made public as it appears to be a violation of State law and FDLE procedures.”

Complaints addressed in the memorandum

The memorandum from the Florida Office of the Inspector General was created in response to complaints filed by Linda Chapman and Bryan Boukari against FDLE for aspects of its raid at Alachua Today/Boukari Law. 

Chapman did not return Mainstreet’s request for comment. Bryan Boukari responded Thursday to a request for comment by asking for a deadline. Minutes before the deadline, he informed Mainstreet he had just filed a lawsuit on behalf of Alachua Today to prevent Mainstreet from publishing this story. In a subsequent email, he threatened a series of defamation lawsuits.

Chapman, identified as the personal attorney of Bryan Boukari, said in her complaint that FDLE agents illegally searched her office, that legal papers were not as she had left them, and that a case from High Springs was rifled through. Chapman’s office is in the same building as Alachua Today/Boukari Law and the memorandum notes she practiced as “of counsel” in the Boukari Law office.

Chapman’s complaint added that the warrant’s inclusion of the term “semen” with a capital “S,” among other things, was inflammatory and unnecessary. The complaint added that Chapman contended those bodily fluids would not exist because too much time had passed. 

However, FDLE Investigator Troy Cope, who prepared the memorandum, said the search warrant presented “scientific findings that indicated the recovery and analysis of semen could be accomplished on samples many decades old.”

Cope also dismissed claims that case files were rifled through, computer emails were accessed and documents shuffled. Cope reviewed before and after pictures of the offices, which is standard FDLE practice, and said documents in Chapman’s office had been left in place besides a couple of boxes that had been shifted or turned 45 degrees—but with no signs of evidence taken. 

While the memorandum does reference Santa Fe High School, the document stops short of linking the school investigation with the raid. However, in their complaints, Chapman and Bryan Boukari make repeated mention of attorney Bobi Frank, who has an office less than two blocks from Boukari Law/Alachua Today. 

Chapman and Bryan Boukari alleged Frank prompted FDLE to conduct the raid, and the memorandum mentions video footage provided to FDLE that shows Frank outside the Boukari Law offices during the raid talking to an “agent.”

Frank told Mainstreet that she had no part in coordinating the raid.

“The amount of baseless, apparently proven to be false, accusations that have been made against not only Law Enforcement Officers, but also about a fellow Officer of the Court by licensed Attorneys is truly astounding,” Frank said in a Thursday email to Mainstreet. “The accusation is absurd and exposes their pure ignorance on criminal law and, specifically, the application for, and execution of search warrants.”

Frank represents clients in the Santa Fe High School case, even suing the School Board of Alachua County and the city of Alachua for negligence. The case was dismissed in early April for lack of grounds and failure to create a civil cause of action.

Chapman and Bryan Boukari’s complaints also claim inappropriate social media conduct by FDLE Special Agent Yolanda Carbia, who obtained the search warrant leading to the raid.

According to the memorandum, Carbia liked posts by Colby Thompson of Thompson Sod. News stories on the Santa Fe High School investigation were sparked by Thompson’s decision to pull advertising and his kids from the school after he learned about the FDLE investigation into “crimes against children.”

Carbia also commented on a personal post by Thompson, and Thompson responded that they’d hopefully talk soon. 

The memorandum about the FDLE raid clarifies the relationship.  

“It should be noted, a review of the case file revealed Thompson was a witness in the criminal investigation and was being represented by Frank regarding a dispute with SFHS,” the memorandum states. “Thompson was a vocal critic of SFHS [and] the Alachua County School Board, after finding out about allegations of crimes against children being investigated at SFHS.”

Frank didn’t comment on any connection between the investigation into Santa Fe High School and the July raid.

“Based on my experience representing victims of crimes, one thing that I know for certain is that a lot of questions will be answered once FDLE completes its investigation and the case file is made public,” Frank said. 

The memorandum shows that Frank and sources of information had approached law enforcement as early as October 2022 concerning investigations. 

Cope also addressed Chapman’s claim that agents had illegally raided her office (given as 14804 Main Street Suite 100, Alachua, FL). While the building exterior delineates Suite 100 from 200, Cope said Chapman didn’t file her business with Florida using the Suite 100 designation. He added that Chapman was unable to provide any court document that she had filed with her practice that included Suite 100 in the address.  

Cope added that from the interior, the building is open and doesn’t designate between a Suite 100 and 200.

Cope said none of the allegations warranted an internal investigation but recommended that FDLE look into Carbia’s social media activity. Cope added that a determination into whether or not the raid was legal is up to the courts and outside his purview. 

FDLE memorandum used in civil case

The memorandum was filed as part of a motion with the Eighth Judicial Circuit on April 29 by Attorney Leonard Ireland, who declined to comment for this story, regarding a civil case unrelated to the raid. Alachua Today is the defendant in that case and represented by Bryan Boukari while Ireland represents the plaintiff, DW Ashton Catering.

The civil case involves easement rights, but Ireland attached the memorandum to a motion seeking the court’s official notice of the document. In Wednesday’s court hearing, heard by Judge George Wright, Ireland said the purpose was to show that Bryan Boukari lied to the court while litigating the case.

Boukari insisted he’s done nothing wrong.

“I have acted with all candor toward this court, and at no time have I misled any member of this court or opposing counsel on anything that my client or that I have done or would file or would do,” he said.

Bryan Boukari filed emergency motions to seal the memorandum from the court docket. In the motion he said the reason is “to prevent undue harm from public disclosure of potentially exempt investigatory information.”

The clerk removed the document upon request, but Mainstreet received a copy prior to the April 30th hearing.