A number of churches in the Canada and the United States have been vandalized by criminals, some of whom claim to be acting in response to recent revelations around the horrifying mistreatment of indigenous children in Canada at the hands of mostly Catholic-run schools. Officials are still investigating the incidents.Continue Reading
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reports detectives assigned to the Crimes Against Children Unit have arrested 28-year-old Lonnie Smith for 11 counts of Possession of Child Pornography. According to detectives, their investigation began after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. An online account wasContinue Reading
43-year-old Tampa man, Lewis Matthews, was sentenced to life in prison by Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Fernandez today for sexually battering and molesting his girlfriend’s 10-year-old daughter—then pouring bleach onto her genitals to try to destroy evidence of the crime. Matthews was found guilty on June 4 following a three-dayContinue Reading
Nine people have been arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for drug trafficking and various other charges, after a suspicious package was discovered at a shipping facility on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. From that discovery, an investigation was launched, with a collaboration among several PCSO specialized units: High-Intensity Drug-TraffickingContinue Reading
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington sentenced 36-year-old Palm Harbor man, Steven Phillip Griffin, II to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release, for receiving and transporting endangered species in violation of the Endangered Species Act and forContinue Reading
28-year-old Pasco County man, Justin Case Lebarron, was sentenced Wednesday to life imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine resulting in death, distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine resulting in death, possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, and maintaining a drug-involved premises after being found guilty in April. AccordingContinue Reading
U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Edgar Vazquez (36, Fort Myers) to 11 years in federal prison for possessing with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. The court also ordered Vazquez to forfeit a firearm and ammunition that were involved in the offense. VazquezContinue Reading
U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Jamar Maurice James (31, Fort Myers) to 10 years in federal prison for possessing ammunition as a convicted felon in connection with a shooting at an apartment complex parking lot in Fort Myers. James had pleaded guilty on January 13, 2021. AccordingContinue Reading
One of the world’s leading two-factor authentication firms has analyzed an FBI Internet Crime Report to reveal which states have the highest chances of cyber attacks happening. The platform examined the number of cybercrimes committed in each state/district in the US and then revealed what that number was per 100,000Continue Reading
The suspect in a shooting that critically injured a man in Gibsonton over the weekend has been arrested, deputies said. Angel Hernandez-Tellez, 29, was arrested without incident by the Hale County Sheriff’s Office in Greensboro, Ala., according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. The police press release issued Tuesday confirmedContinue Reading
A 32-year-old North Fort Myers, Florida man was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for two bank robberies, an attempted bank robbery, a Hobbs Act robbery, and three counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. John Armstrong had pleaded guilty on September 22, 2020. Armstrong’s co-defendants, TanyaContinue Reading
News that United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez indicted James Lapin of threatening to assault a member of Congress went viral and proved to be riddled with false information. Now, as of March 11, Lapin can stand upright, innocent of all charges, and works to clear his name. The rulingContinue Reading
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Florida announced Wednesday that 24-year-old Napa, California man, Benjamin Tucker Patz pleaded guilty to transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce. According to the plea agreement, on July 20, 2019, the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team lost a home game to the ChicagoContinue Reading
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) announced the arrest of 38-year-old Christina Siddell of Lake Wales. Siddell, a school bus attendant at Alturas Elementary School, was arrested for burglary with assault, according to the PCSO. According to the affidavit, Siddell met her former boyfriend and his new girlfriend at theContinue Reading
On Friday, the United States Attorney in the Middle District of Florida announced the indictment charging Henry Lee White, III, 26 of Orlando with sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, transportation of an individual in interstate commerce for the purpose of prostitution, coercion and enticement, and being a felonContinue Reading
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) announced the arrest of a St. Petersburg man one count of Sexual Battery (Physically Helpless) and one count of Unlawful Acts of a Sexually Transmissible Disease. On March 5, 2021, detectives assigned to the Robbery/Homicide Unit arrested 59-year-old Isaiah Banks. The day before, deputies wereContinue Reading
Former Mayor of Brooksville, Florida, Kevin Hohn, has been arrested and charged by federal criminal complaint with possession and distribution of images depicting the sexual abuse of children. According to the criminal complaint, in September and December 2020, investigators identified a certain internet protocol address as having distributed images andContinue Reading
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) announced the arrest of 42-year-old Arne Jensen, Jr. of Avon Park. Jensen was charged with traveling to meet a minor for sex, 3-counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor, and attempted sexual battery. According to the affidavit, the reportee, an adult female, postedContinue Reading
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) announced the arrest of 63-year-old David Norman Guess of St. Petersburg for the possession of child pornography. Detectives began their investigation a year ago, after receiving information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), that child exploitation material was being uploadedContinue Reading
45-year-old Lakeland, Florida man, Julio Gonzalez has been indicted with four counts of theft of public money and two counts of aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment, Gonzalez used the identity of another individual to commit Social Security fraud and theft of government funds. The indictment also alleges thatContinue Reading
24-year-old Jorge Esteban Sanchez Ramos of Ontario in San Bernardino County was sentenced last week to 18 months in federal prison for blackmailing female friends and acquaintances on Facebook by threatening to publish nude photographs and videos of them unless they complied with his demands of sending him additional sexually explicitContinue Reading
