On December 19, 2024, Robert David Gulledge, 59, of Jacksonville, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to a federal agency. Gulledge faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. According to court documents, Gulledge created aContinue Reading
On December 19, 2024, Gabriella Oropesa, of Cooper City, Florida, was convicted for her role in a conspiracy aimed at intimidating and threatening employees of pro-life pregnancy help centers. Oropesa, along with her co-conspirators Caleb Freestone, Amber Stewart-Smith, and Annarella Rivera, targeted reproductive health facilities that offered counseling and servicesContinue Reading
On December 20, 2024, U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger sentenced Jameise Vaughn Christian, 22, of Washington, D.C., to 12 years and 10 months in federal prison. Christian was convicted of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robberies and brandishing a firearm during two armed jewelry store robberies in Paterson, NewContinue Reading
On December 18, 2024, Michael John Pellicione, 76, the owner of a Port St. Lucie gun shop operating from his residence, pleaded guilty to a five-count indictment for violating federal firearm record-keeping laws. Pellicione, a federal firearms licensee (FFL), admitted to failing to record the sale of five firearms inContinue Reading
On December 17, 2024, James Edward Daniels, 59, and Frederick Eugene Rudolph, 69, both of Miami, Florida, were convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, multiple counts of kidnapping resulting in death, and kidnapping. The trial took place before U.S. District Court Judge Roy K. Altman. The convictionsContinue Reading
On December 18, 2024, Vernell Syrethia Lawson, 33, a former Miami-Dade Correctional Officer, and Gabrielle Nicole Bess-Mills, 35, appeared in court following an unsealed indictment accusing them of involvement in a criminal enterprise led by Terrance Carter, 31. The indictment alleges that Carter operated a drug trafficking organization that reliedContinue Reading
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 36-year-old Donald Mitchell of Lakeland for sexual offenses against a student by an authority figure (F2). On December 10, 2024, the former student, a 19-year-old female, reported via social media that she had been engaged in a sexual relationship with Mitchell from October of 2023,Continue Reading
Senior U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan has sentenced 41-year-old Anthony Tyrone Mackey of Jacksonville to seven years in federal prison for possessing firearms as a convicted felon. A federal jury convicted Mackey on August 27, 2024. The conviction stems from an incident on March 29, 2023, when officers with theContinue Reading
Deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office arrested 70-year-old Harold Church Jr. of St. Petersburg on December 5, 2024, for felony Misuse of a Laser Lighting Device after he illuminated an airborne Sheriff’s Office helicopter. According to deputies, at approximately 8:10 p.m. on Thursday, the Sheriff’s helicopter was assisting inContinue Reading
United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that a federal jury has convicted Javier Mares (44, Bradenton) of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and over 50 grams of actual methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being a convicted felon in possession ofContinue Reading