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PANAMA CITY, FL – State Attorney Larry Basford announced Monday that a man convicted earlier this month of sexually abusing a child has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
James Matthew Hernandez, 37, must serve a minimum-mandatory 25 years of that sentence. Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson also designated Hernandez a Sexual Predator and imposed a lifetime of probation following his release.
The defendant elected to have Judge Stephenson decide the case rather than a jury.
At the March 11 trial, Prosecutor Morgan McAfee presented evidence and called witnesses, including the victim – who was under the age of 10 at the time of the 2022 crime.
Prosecutor Morgan McAfee
“This outcome demonstrates our dedication to protecting the innocence of the children of Bay County and punishing those who violate it,” McAfee said.
Basford also thanked the Parker Police Department and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center for their work and dedication in bringing this case to justice.
A Wewahitchka man was found guilty as charged Friday of molesting a child in Bay County more than 10 years ago, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Henry Hollis Mangum, 59, was found guilty of 2 counts of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation. The 6-person jury deliberated about 20 minutes after hearing the case presented by Prosecutor Brea Dearing.
Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay set sentencing for May 6. The defendant faces a minimum 25-year sentence.
Dearing called 4 witnesses, including the victim who was under 10 years of age at the time of the offense, and presented evidence proving Mangum molested the child. The crime was initially unreported, but a series of events in 2021 led to the disclosure.
A forensic interview by an Alabama child protection team and other evidence gathered proved the victim’s case.
“We are pleased we got a result that reflects she was telling the truth when she disclosed this sexual abuse to her mom, the police, and today to a jury,” Dearing said. “It was a tough day for her, but now she doesn’t have to worry about him harming her again.”
Dearing noted the importance of the verdict on a crime that was reported years after it occurred, because it shows other sexual abuse victims that they will be heard if they come forward.
Basford thanked both the Alabama agencies initially involved in the investigation and the Panama City Police Department for gathering the evidence to build a strong case.
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.
Ryan Phillips, a lifelong resident of this area who has handled thousands of felony cases, is now a prosecutor for the 14th Judicial Circuit, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Phillips, 40, most recently worked at Legal Services of North Florida, Inc., as a disaster relief attorney. From 2013 until 2020, he worked at the Public Defender’s Office as an assistant public defender handling criminal cases.
“I like being in front of a judge and a jury, interacting with the clerks and staff and just being in the courtroom,” Phillips said.
Phillips was born in Chipley, graduated from Florida State University with a degree in finance, and then obtained his law degree from the University of Miami. Phillips and his wife Emily have been married for 13 years and have a son.
“The plan was never to be a criminal lawyer, but I fell in love with it,” he said.
He enjoyed working for LSNF but wanted to be in the courtroom more often.
“There are certainly cases that involve allegations that are very troubling but, on balance, criminal law is interesting and fun,” he said. “Now I know just how miserable I would be sitting in a Miami law office drafting contracts.
“I feel like I’m older now and have the experience to avoid blind ambition and focus on fulfilling my constitutional mandate – to do justice,” he continued. “Justice is a matter of balance. The people we deal with, whether it be victims or defendants, are our neighbors.”
“Treating defendants with dignity and fairness bolsters the integrity of our justice system, and this can be maintained while striving to ensure that Bay County continues to be a safe place for our friends and family to reside.”
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.
TALLAHASSEE – The First District Court of Appeals Wednesday denied convicted murderer Dan Belc’s three-pronged appeal, leaving in place his conviction and Life sentence, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
State Attorney Larry Basford and Calhoun County Chief Prosecutor William Wright proved to a jury that Belc killed his wife, Judy, in 2018, shooting her multiple times at her family’s house in Blountstown. Belc had followed her after she left their home in Germany and decided to file for divorce. He was found guilty of First-Degree Murder and Aggravated Assault on Oct. 28, 2022. Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson sentenced him to Life in prison without parole.
The defendant, who represented himself at times after his arrest, appealed three related grounds:
That the State improperly cross-examined him about pre-trial statements he made.
That the Court erred in denying a motion for mistrial after the State asked him about those statements while he was on the stand.
And that the Court erred in denying his motion to suppress statements he made to investigators that led them to a secondary crime scene.
In its opinion Wednesday, the DCA unanimously dismissed the appeal.
Belc’s first point of appeal was that his defense was prejudiced by the introduction at trial of his statements that he, “a foreigner” from Germany, could not get a fair trial in Calhoun County. He argued his conviction would have been impossible without jurors hearing those statements.
But the justices noted, first, that the defense did not object to the questions about those statements at trial or move for a mistrial. Secondly, they said the evidence of premeditated murder “was particularly strong.”
“Belc admitted to shooting and killing his wife,” the opinion stated. “Belc had just purchased
and begun carrying a gun for the first time less than a week before shooting his wife, after learning of her plan to divorce him.”
On the second point regarding earlier statements Belc made about a plea, the justices ruled that Chief Judge Patterson correctly denied Belc’s request for a mistrial. They said it was Belc himself who introduced that evidence during his trial testimony when he testified “he had tried to plead guilty ‘many times’ to avoid trial.”
Finally, the justices ruled that the denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress also was proper. The opinion stated that while Belc “asked about an attorney,” he did not invoke his rights when specifically asked if he wanted an attorney present.
“But when given the choice of waiting for an attorney or immediately talking with investigators, Belc chose to continue talking,” the justices wrote.
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.
A man who chose to have a judge decide his fate rather than a jury was found guilty Tuesday of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
James Matthew Hernandez, 37, of Parker, faces up to Life in prison at his March 24 sentencing before Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson.
Instead of a jury hearing the case, Hernandez asked for a bench trial, meaning the testimony and evidence was presented directly to Judge Stephenson without a jury present.
Prosecutor Morgan McAfee called 4 witnesses – including the victim, who was under 10 years of age – and presented evidence showing the defendant sexually molested the child in 2022.
Judge Stephenson heard closing arguments from McAfee and the defense before retiring to determine a verdict. Just over 20 minutes later he returned and handed his verdict form to a court clerk who read it aloud, announcing the defendant was guilty.
Under Florida law, the defendant faces a minimum sentence of 25 years.
Basford thanked the Parker Police Department and Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center for their work on the case.
BONIFAY – A man at the SolFest music festival who tried to grab a deputy’s gun from his holster and then bit the deputy in the head has been sentenced to 6 years in prison, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
James Michael Anderson, 37, of Westville, entered a plea to Aggravated Battery on a Law Enforcement officer Friday and was adjudicated guilty. Holmes County Circuit Court Judge Russell Roberts sentenced the defendant to 6 years in prison, followed by 10 years of felony probation.
The defendant was arrested on May 5, 2024, after attacking a Holmes County Sheriff’s Office deputy at the SolFest music festival in Ponce de Leon. The bite wound was so deep that the deputy’s skull bone was exposed, and the defendant complained “he had hair in his teeth.”
“Violence against our local law enforcement officers will not be tolerated, and criminals that make the choice to do so will be held responsible,” said Holmes County Chief Prosecutor Jacob Cook. “This is the most severe bite wound I have ever seen in my career as a prosecutor, and this defendant is going to spend the next several years in prison paying for his violent actions.”
Cook said the victim has recovered from his injuries, albeit with significant scarring, and remains on the job at the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office.
Cook was prepared to call witnesses and present evidence at trial proving the deputy was working the SolFest music festival, which drew an estimated 10,000 people over the weekend, when he was randomly attacked by the Defendant.
Investigators said the defendant unsuccessfully tried to pull the deputy’s duty gun from his holster, and then attacked the deputy. He bit his head hard enough to remove a large piece of flesh, exposing part of the skull.
Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office for its work on both the case, and its handling of the large crowd over that weekend.
A man found with more than 1,400 grams of methamphetamine in his truck after he fled an attempted stop was found guilty as charged Wednesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Devan A. McDonald, 30, of Panama City, was found guilty of Trafficking in Methamphetamine (more than 200 grams) about 1 hour after Prosecutor Frank Sullivan gave his closing argument.
The first-degree felony has a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison, with a minimum/mandatory 15 years under Florida’s enhanced trafficking laws. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark agreed with Sullivan that the maximum was appropriate in this case, and sentenced the defendant to 30 years and fined him $250,000.
“This is an important win for our office, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and the residents of our community,” Sullivan said. “The arrest and seizure of such a large amount of methamphetamine before it hit the streets kept it from doing more damage. This defendant has shown he has no regard for the dangers this poison poses or the consequences, so a 30-year-sentence will stop him from having another chance for a long time.”
Prosecutor Frank Sullivan during closing arguments.The defendant and his attorney.
The defendant was released from prison in 2019 on a methamphetamine trafficking charge. At the time of this offense, he was out on bond for another meth trafficking charge.
Sullivan called four witnesses and provided evidence, including a large bag of methamphetamine that covered the top of the court podium, to prove the State’s case.
The testimony and evidence showed the Bay County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division was working a case that led to the defendant agreeing to sell a large amount of methamphetamine on March 7, 2023.
The defendant was under surveillance leading up to the transaction and, for safety reasons, the decision was made to stop him after he was seen placing a large bag in his truck from a residence near the meeting site.
When deputies attempted to box him in, he rammed one of them and fled. He was captured about a mile away, slowed by traffic and deputies.
“There’s only one reason for him to flee: because of that big bag of drugs he had in the back seat,” Sullivan told jurors in his closing argument. “The evidence in this case is that Mr. McDonald put that black bag in his vehicle just before deputies stopped him. That’s the evidence.”
A search of his truck turned up about 1,365 grams of methamphetamine in the bag investigators saw him place in the truck. He had $1,200 cash in his pocket. A search of the residence where he picked up the meth turned up about another 71 grams of the drug and $9,000 in cash.
Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and its Special Investigations Division for proactively preventing such a large quantity of drugs from making it to the street.
Ben Bollinger, left, with his family present, was sworn in Monday by State Attorney Larry Basford
Longtime Panama City attorney Ben Bollinger is now Bay County’s Misdemeanor Division Chief, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Bollinger, who during his 28 years of private practice was named one of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Attorneys 8 times, said that like many Bay County residents his outlook on life changed after Hurricane Michael in 2018. His office was damaged, not badly, but business slowed.
“I had time to reflect and really look at whether I was following the plan God wanted me to follow,” he said. The result was a decision to “slow down,” and he put his office on Fourth Street by the courthouse up for sale.
Left to right, Ben Bollinger, Charles Bollinger, Chas, Ann Bollinger, Krystal Bollinger, and, in front, Ethan.
But then a friend and fellow attorney fell ill, and Bollinger stepped up to help with cases and handle the office for about a year as his friend recovered.
“I found that I learned a lot about myself that year, and that volunteer service to others was really satisfying and following God’s will was very humbling,” he said.
About 6 months ago Bob Pell announced he would be retiring from the State Attorney’s Office (Pell retired Friday), where he most recently served as the Misdemeanor Division Chief. Pell was soon talking to Bollinger about the position.
“I have a lot of friends here, Mr. Basford, Mark Graham, other prosecutors,” Bollinger said of the SAO. “These are people I’ve worked with in court and known in the community. I was humbled that I would be considered and the more I thought about it, the more I saw it as an opportunity to be of service to my community.”
With the support of his wife, Krystal, and their children, he took the opportunity.
“I have prayed and feel that God has placed in my heart the desire to help and serve others in the role of an Assistant State Attorney,” he said. “I know that my legal career has more years behind it than ahead of it, but if I can help young attorneys coming up, I want to be at their service.”
Bollinger attended A. Crawford Mosley High School, received his A.A. in Criminal Justice at Gulf Coast Community College (now Gulf Coast State College), his B.S., Criminology at Florida State University, and his law degree from the St. Thomas University School of law in Miami.
He went into private practice in 1996, and during his career was honored for his achievements and highly active in the community. They include receiving the Florida Bar’s President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the 14th Judicial Circuit, being Coordinator for Bay County’s First Saturday Legal Clinic for the poor, President of the Bay County Chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and serving on the board of the Panama City Beach Library.
He also turned to physical fitness as both a stress reliever and to improve his overall health and is now a certified personal trainer. He also is a Spartan SGX Coach and Spartan Krypteia – meaning he coaches athletes on their mental and emotional well-being as well as their physical training program.
A Panama City man was given two Life sentences Thursday after being found guilty as charged of sexually abusing a teenage girl, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Michael Howard Bertok, 64, was found guilty Thursday of Lewd and Lascivious Battery and Lewd and Lascivious Molestation. In addition to the 2 Life sentences, the defendant was designated as a Sexual Predator.
Jurors took about 30 minutes to reach the verdicts after Prosecutor Morgan Morrell presented the State’s case and made her closing argument.
“This was an important case because the victim had the courage to testify, and she got her truth out,” Morrell said. “This defendant will never again have a chance to harm one of our children.”
Defendant Michael BertokProsecutor Morgan Morrell during closing arguments.
Morgan called 3 witnesses, including the victim, and presented evidence proving that the defendant made sexual advances, molested and sexually abused a 14-year-old during 2023.
The activity was disclosed after the defendant was in jail on unrelated charges. The Panama City Police Department initiated the investigation. The Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center conducted a forensics interview with the victim, who detailed the abuse. The defendant was charged with the offenses while still in custody on the earlier charge.
Morrell said it is important for victims of sexual abuse to know they can come forward, that help is available, and that the person who abused them will be held accountable.
“With the expertise of the GCCAC available in our circuit, we helped be our victim’s voice,” Morrell said. “With their help we will continue to prosecute these cases and seek justice for these child victims.”
Basford thanked the Panama City Police Department for its investigation, and the GCCAC for again providing the type of professional interview resources that help resolve such cases.
A Panama City man found guilty of robbing a Dollar General – and suspected in several similar robberies – has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of robbery.
Jaden Delvon Larry, 25, of Panama City, was given the maximum sentence by Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark Thursday. The defendant was found guilty of Robbery, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Prosecutor Frank Sullivan said in addition to the Oct. 18, 2023, robbery of a Dollar General on 15th Street, the defendant was suspected in three other robberies that same year – two at the same store.
“This is certainly a case where the maximum sentence was appropriate,” Sullivan said. “The defendant was on probation for armed carjacking when he committed this crime, and when the other three robberies occurred. He has shown no intention or ability to follow the law, continued to put others in danger, and our streets are safer with him in prison.”
Screengrabs from video show, left to right, the defendant entering the store, forcing a clerk to open the safe, emptying the safe, and then fleeing.
Sullivan said Panama City Police Department investigators had a string of similar robberies in 2023. The Oct. 18, 2023 robbery was the third in a series where a young suspect entered a stand-alone store on a weeknight, wore dark clothing, concealed his face, and fled on foot into the dark.
Sullivan proved to jurors that it was Jaden Larry who walked into the 15th Street Dollar General on Oct. 18, 2023, and ordered an employee to open the safe. In surveillance video the defendant is seen wearing dark clothing and distinct black Nike “Slides,” with the word “Nike” and the Nike “Swoosh” in gold across the top. He is seen running into nearby woods.
The Nike slide and loose cash found by police, along with the slide worn during the robbery.
After the robbery, Panama City police following that path found items involved in the robbery, including loose dollar bills and rolls of coins the defendant dropped. They also found black Nike Slides with the gold logos, as if they had fallen off when the suspect climbed a fence.
Police sent the Nike slides to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for DNA testing. Before the results came back, a fourth robbery occurred Nov. 6. FDLE’s testing found the DNA on the Nike Slides from the Oct. 18 robbery matched the defendant’s DNA. It was on file due to his previous conviction.
Investigators found the defendant did not own a vehicle but was twice stopped by police in 2022 driving a family member’s car. That car was recorded on a stationary license plate reader showing the vehicle about 200 yards west of the store minutes after the robbery.
Basford thanked Panama City police on the thoroughness of their investigation that led to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement identifying the defendant through a DNA match.
