Danger Road chronicles the incredible true story of three drug dealers who were brutally murdered in 1983 on Danger Road in the Florida Everglades. Lured into a phony drug deal, each victim allegedly found themselves at the business end of a gun wielded by a Miami-Dade police officer. But police and prosecutors say Officer Gilbert Fernandez, Jr. and his crew weren't there to arrest the drug dealers. They were there to execute them and steal their eight kilos of cocaine. The story details the transformation of Fernandez, during the intervening years between the 1983 murders and his triple-murder indictment in 1990. The man once named Miami 's Meanest Cop no longer abused and intimidated detainees; he had become a loving father who lived to convert people to his newfound faith in Christianity. In spite of this radical transformation, Fernandez found himself on trial for his life in 1991. Danger Road is the story of that trial, told by John P. Contini, the Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer who represented him.

Danger Road: A True Crime Story of Murder and Redemption

Biographies & Memoirs

Contini, John P.

True Crime

Liberty Pr Pub

Danger Road chronicles the incredible true story of three drug dealers who were brutally murdered in 1983 on Danger Road in the Florida Everglades. Lured into a phony drug deal, the victims found themselves at the business end of a gun wielded by a Miami-Dade police officer. But police and prosecutors say Officer Gilbert Fernandez Jr. and his crew weren't there to arrest the drug dealers. They were there to execute them and steal their eight kilos of cocaine. The story details the transformation of Fernandez, from Miami 's Meanest Cop to a loving father who lived to convert people to his newfound faith in Christianity. Danger Road is the story of Fernandez’s trial for his life, told by John P. Contini, the Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer who represented him. By ripping the lid off the behind-the-scenes machinations of our legal system, one of the author's goals was to cause readers to take another look at the way justice is dispensed in our society. 

Danger Road

Liberty Press

What would cause a highly successful criminal defense lawyer to leave his steady stream of clients, his comfortable suburban home, and his idyllic life with a wife of eleven years and three children for a place where he shared a modest apartment with three drug addicts? South Florida was getting too hot for the lawyer, but that heat had little to do with the outside temperature. John Patrick Contini had to get out of town and he found the perfect hiding place to cool off—Talbott Recovery Center in Atlanta, Georgia where he feigned an addiction so that he could fit in. A client of John's was doing the unthinkable—turning the tables on the man who had helped him the most. Suddenly John came face to face with a brand new person—himself. Feeling the Heat is a probing look into all of our addictions, belief systems, and surprises we learn about ourselves.

Feeling the Heat: An Interrogation of the Soul

Professionals & Academics

What would cause a hugely successful criminal defense lawyer to leave his steady stream of clients, comfortable suburban home home and idyllic life with a wife of ten years and three young children -- for a place where he shared a modest apartment with three drug addicts? His client was doing the unthinkable -- turning the tables on the attorney who had helped him most. South Florida was getting too hot for the lawyer, but that heat had little to do with the outside temperature. John Patrick Contini had to get out of town and he needed a place to hide -- even if that meant feigning an addiction to get admitted into a recovery center in Atlanta. There, John came face to face with a brand new person, himself. Feeling the Heat takes a probing look into the secret places of one man's heart -- and exposes our very human desires, belief systems, the lies we tell ourselves, and the truth about being addicted to more, until we surrender to win. We can run, but we can't hide, -- at least not from ourselves "Living with me wore me out." -- Doug Talbott "If you want to know how it feels to be someone you've never been before, try being yourself." -- Tom Porter "In this life I have seen much trouble. I'm an old man now. Most if it never happened." -- unknown Native American Chief

Feeling The Heat: An Interrogation of the Soul

Literature & Fiction

Liberty Hill Publishing

Liberty Press announces the release of Danger Road: A true crime story of murder and redemption, by criminal defense lawyer and author John P. Contini. Contini was the trial lawyer who defended Gilbert Fernandez, Jr., the former Miami-Dade police officer once named, Miamis Meanest Cop. Danger Road is the riveting courtroom drama that recreates the true crime story of three drug dealers who were brutally murdered in 1983 on a lonely stretch of dirt road - ironically named Danger Road, in the Florida Everglades. Each victim had hoped this final drug deal in Hollywood, Florida would be their big retirement score. Instead, the drug dealers allegedly found themselves at the end of a gun wielded by Metro Dade officer Gilbert Fernandez, Jr., and eventually along Danger Road in Miamis Everglades. Fernandez, formerly known as a Mr. Florida bodybuilding champion, kick boxing champion and black-belt karate instructor, was also alleged to be the muscle for the mob in South Florida. He and his crew were not there to arrest the drug dealers that night, according to police - they were there to kill them and steal their nine kilos of cocaine.

Danger Road: A true crime story of murder and redemption