cvm4
BoM - July '05 & Dec. '10
Saw this on another board and figured those that have been around might want to know what happened to Douglas Hiner aka vitasea
The former Omahan smuggled thousands of cigars on his boat, the Vitamin Sea.
Tuesday, he took his medicine.
Douglas Hiner, a longtime property developer in Omaha, was sentenced in a federal courtroom in Fort Myers, Fla., to three years of probation for smuggling more than 27,000 cigars and 42 bottles of rum from Cuba.
For Hiner, the sentence smelled as sweet as one of the Cohibas he smuggled.
"I'm very relieved,'' Hiner said Tuesday evening by phone from his Fort Myers apartment. "I had moved everything out of my apartment and into a storage locker. Basically, I thought I was going to jail.''
Hiner said he awoke with those thoughts at 2 a.m. Tuesday and couldn't go back to sleep.
Then he arrived at the courtroom Tuesday afternoon to find that the official who performed his presentence investigation was recommending prison. The reason: Though Hiner had no felony record, authorities placed the value of the smuggled cigars at more than $200,000.
But Hiner had a few things going for him. In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors said they wouldn't oppose probation. About a dozen people wrote letters on his behalf, including a few of his former friends from Omaha, he said. And U.S. District Judge John E. Steele was firm but fair, Hiner said.
The sentencing capped Hiner's remarkable run from rags to riches to rags. One of several "mom-and-pop'' building renovators, Hiner had built a small fortune rehabilitating old Omaha buildings. At one point, he accumulated more than 300 rental units and listed his net worth at $6.5 million in SEC filings.
Known for his audacious personality, he then expanded, building affordable housing units in small cities across Nebraska and Kansas in the 1990s.
Many of those projects stalled after accountants discovered that someone had been steering funds from new projects to pay bills on the old. Hiner blamed his former partner, Peter Spoto, who was indicted for bank fraud and has since fled to Australia.
But the result was devastating for Hiner. In 2005 he filed for bankruptcy, listing $930 in assets and $28 million in debts.
In the early 2000s, Hiner had begun sailing to Cuba to take medical supplies that had been donated by Omaha-area hospitals. On his way back, he took something else: cigars.
What started out as a lark for friends had become a moneymaking venture. Hiner advertised his wares on Internet sites.
But in May, U.S. Coast Guard agents found the loot on his boat and in a nearby delivery truck.
Hiner admitted his guilt immediately but remained defiant about the U.S. ban on trade with Cuba.
"Obviously, I wasn't a good smuggler,'' he said. "But it was a victimless crime. Essentially it was a political crime.''
However, Hiner said he is finished with smuggling. He said he has never felt lower than when he was packing his belongings for prison.
He turns 69 on Friday and said he has virtually no job opportunities. He lives on $700 a month in Social Security and food stamps.
He's now a felon. He can't get a passport or travel out of the country. He can't own a gun. But as usual, he's cooking stuff up.
He recently sold the Glass Front Bar -- the building that he and his former girlfriend renovated into a home -- near 13th and William Streets in Omaha.
Hiner said he made about $80,000 from the sale -- a lot less than he had hoped but enough for him to maybe dabble in flipping houses in Fort Myers.
Oh, and he has one other enterprise in mind: Hiner said he continues to gaze fondly at the Vitamin Sea, which still bobs in the waters near Fort Myers. Authorities seized the boat and everything on it.
Now, Hiner says he wants to bid on the 20-year-old, 53-foot-long sloop -- in part because he doesn't believe anyone else will.
So what would he do with it?
"Live on it,'' he said. "I can tell you this -- I certainly won't be going to Cuba.''
The former Omahan smuggled thousands of cigars on his boat, the Vitamin Sea.
Tuesday, he took his medicine.
Douglas Hiner, a longtime property developer in Omaha, was sentenced in a federal courtroom in Fort Myers, Fla., to three years of probation for smuggling more than 27,000 cigars and 42 bottles of rum from Cuba.
For Hiner, the sentence smelled as sweet as one of the Cohibas he smuggled.
"I'm very relieved,'' Hiner said Tuesday evening by phone from his Fort Myers apartment. "I had moved everything out of my apartment and into a storage locker. Basically, I thought I was going to jail.''
Hiner said he awoke with those thoughts at 2 a.m. Tuesday and couldn't go back to sleep.
Then he arrived at the courtroom Tuesday afternoon to find that the official who performed his presentence investigation was recommending prison. The reason: Though Hiner had no felony record, authorities placed the value of the smuggled cigars at more than $200,000.
But Hiner had a few things going for him. In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors said they wouldn't oppose probation. About a dozen people wrote letters on his behalf, including a few of his former friends from Omaha, he said. And U.S. District Judge John E. Steele was firm but fair, Hiner said.
The sentencing capped Hiner's remarkable run from rags to riches to rags. One of several "mom-and-pop'' building renovators, Hiner had built a small fortune rehabilitating old Omaha buildings. At one point, he accumulated more than 300 rental units and listed his net worth at $6.5 million in SEC filings.
Known for his audacious personality, he then expanded, building affordable housing units in small cities across Nebraska and Kansas in the 1990s.
Many of those projects stalled after accountants discovered that someone had been steering funds from new projects to pay bills on the old. Hiner blamed his former partner, Peter Spoto, who was indicted for bank fraud and has since fled to Australia.
But the result was devastating for Hiner. In 2005 he filed for bankruptcy, listing $930 in assets and $28 million in debts.
In the early 2000s, Hiner had begun sailing to Cuba to take medical supplies that had been donated by Omaha-area hospitals. On his way back, he took something else: cigars.
What started out as a lark for friends had become a moneymaking venture. Hiner advertised his wares on Internet sites.
But in May, U.S. Coast Guard agents found the loot on his boat and in a nearby delivery truck.
Hiner admitted his guilt immediately but remained defiant about the U.S. ban on trade with Cuba.
"Obviously, I wasn't a good smuggler,'' he said. "But it was a victimless crime. Essentially it was a political crime.''
However, Hiner said he is finished with smuggling. He said he has never felt lower than when he was packing his belongings for prison.
He turns 69 on Friday and said he has virtually no job opportunities. He lives on $700 a month in Social Security and food stamps.
He's now a felon. He can't get a passport or travel out of the country. He can't own a gun. But as usual, he's cooking stuff up.
He recently sold the Glass Front Bar -- the building that he and his former girlfriend renovated into a home -- near 13th and William Streets in Omaha.
Hiner said he made about $80,000 from the sale -- a lot less than he had hoped but enough for him to maybe dabble in flipping houses in Fort Myers.
Oh, and he has one other enterprise in mind: Hiner said he continues to gaze fondly at the Vitamin Sea, which still bobs in the waters near Fort Myers. Authorities seized the boat and everything on it.
Now, Hiner says he wants to bid on the 20-year-old, 53-foot-long sloop -- in part because he doesn't believe anyone else will.
So what would he do with it?
"Live on it,'' he said. "I can tell you this -- I certainly won't be going to Cuba.''
