A Miami woman has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a former assistant state attorney and others in the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office intimidated her into testifying during the resentencing of a convicted gang leader.
Tricia Geter Pinder, a key witness in the prosecution of her ex‑boyfriend Corey Smith, the onetime leader of the “John Does” gang, says state attorneys lied to her and caused years of emotional distress. Smith’s original death sentence was overturned, and he was resentenced in 2024 to 30 years in prison.
During that process, a judge removed then Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Von Zamft and another attorney from Smith’s case because of their actions. Those actions are now part of the lawsuit, which targets current and former members of the State Attorney’s Office.
Geter Pinder says she was pressured to testify in 2024, and the suit claims Von Zamft and others threatened her life, warned that convicted murderers would come after her, and threatened to jail or prosecute her.
Recorded phone calls captured what Geter Pinder’s attorney calls threats that “give chills down your spine.”
Her attorney, Ariel Lett, says jailhouse phone calls recorded at the time captured Von Zamft discussing Geter Pinder with another witness, convicted killer Latravis Gallashaw. In one call, Von Zamft refers to a “Black Widow,” which Lett says is a reference to Geter Pinder.
Von Zamft tells Gallashaw that if she refuses to testify, he would “find a way to make her unavailable” so he could use her prior testimony instead.
Lett said Gallashaw’s reaction to the comment is “what gives chills down your spine,” suggesting the convicted killer believed Von Zamft was talking about taking Geter Pinder “off the table.”
The recorded calls have been public record since 2024. Lett said the lawsuit was filed two years later to seek justice for both Geter Pinder and the community.
The complaint states Geter Pinder suffers from severe emotional distress, anxiety, paranoia about her safety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other ailments.
The State Attorney’s Office confirmed three of the defendants named in the lawsuit still work there.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office did not provide a statement but confirmed that three of the defendants named in the lawsuit remain employed there.
A Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputy, described in the lawsuit as a liaison between the State Attorney’s Office and Geter Pinder, is also a defendant. The agency confirmed his employment but declined to comment on the case.
Von Zamft resigned after he and another assistant U.S. attorney were dismissed from the Smith resentencing in 2024. Reached by phone, he said he had not read the full lawsuit and had not been served. Asked whether he ever threatened witnesses in the Smith case,
Von Zamft said, “I know that I did not.” He called the lawsuit “based upon falsehoods and mistruths” and said Geter Pinder was treated fairly.
“Nothing was done to the best of my knowledge that was inappropriate or unethical during the course of the Corey Smith presentation when I represented the state,” he said. He emphasized he was not involved in Smith’s original conviction, only the resentencing.
Lett said she is still trying to serve Von Zamft, who has moved out of state. The lawsuit cannot move forward in federal court until service is completed.
