The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on August 31, 2021, a Bay County jury found Luis Fabian Moran Rivas guilty as charged of Aggravated Battery on a Pregnant Person. 

On February 22, 2020, the Panama City Police Department responded to a domestic violence call at the Foxwood apartments in Panama City. After investigation, it was determined that Mr. Rivas had pushed the Victim down and kicked her in the back and stomach. The Victim was 6 months pregnant with the Defendant’s child.  A neighbor witnessed the attack and called the police. 

The case was investigated by Detective Robert Johnson of the Panama City Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Jacob Cook and Jae Hee Kim. The Defendant will be sentenced by the Honorable Judge Ana Maria Garcia on October 5, 2021.  Aggravated Battery on a Pregnant Person is a second degree felony, punishable by a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in the Florida Department of Corrections. 

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on August 31, 2021, Senior Circuit Judge Dedee Costello sentenced Tevin Rashad Brown to 25 years in prison. He was sentenced as a Habitual Violent Felony Offender based on his previous convictions for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

Brown entered an open plea on August 2, 2021, to Trafficking in Illegal Drugs (Heroin), Felon in Possession of a Firearm (Actual Possession), Possession of Cocaine with Intent to Distribute, Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, Tampering with Evidence, Resisting Officer without Violence, and Driving While License Canceled, Suspended or Revoked.

On September 9, 2020, members of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office Investigative Division conducted surveillance on Kacy Lane after receiving credible information that the Defendant would be conducting a drug sale at that location. Research conducted prior to that day revealed that the Defendant was a convicted felon and his driver license was suspended. Investigators witnessed the Defendant drive up to an address on Kacy Lane and he was arrested for Driving While License Suspended or Revoked. A search of the Defendant’s person incident to arrest found he had a Smith and Wesson 9mm firearm in his waist and a trafficking amount of heroin in his pocket which he attempted to destroy after arrest. A search of the Defendant’s vehicle revealed pre-cut pieces of crack cocaine and fentanyl pills. In his post-Miranda interview, the Defendant admitted that he came to the location to sell heroin and that the items found in the car belonged to him.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Lynelle Dowe and Jennifer Lieb. The case agent was Investigator Phillip Hill of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on August 25, 2021, a Bay County jury found Ivan Ferrer Perdomo guilty as charged of Robbery with a Deadly Weapon, Aggravated Battery, False Imprisonment, Grand Theft Motor Vehicle, and Tampering with a Victim or Witness.

Perdomo was a long time friend of the victim and, at the time, was out on parole for prior felony sentences he had received. An argument earlier in the day involving a woman led to the victim calling police. Perdomo, knowing his parole would be violated, ran from police, later disclosing that he had hidden in an unknown crawl space under the floor in the victim’s laundry room. Hours passed and Perdomo emerged from his hiding spot and attacked the victim with a knife while the victim was in the shower. Perdomo then made the victim get dressed after cutting him in the face with the knife. Perdomo beat the victim, tied his hands and legs, and gagged him. Perdomo robbed the victim of his money, medication, and truck. Perdomo then told the victim that if the victim made a sound prior to him leaving, he would kill the victim and the victim’s sister, who was in the kitchen. Perdomo then left the bedroom, stealing the truck and all the victim’s phones. Perdomo later fled to Miami and to Texas before being apprehended with the help of the U.S. Marshals.

The case was investigated by the Panama City Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Peter Overstreet and Jae Hee Kim. The Defendant was immediately sentenced to life in prison as a Prison Releasee Reoffender by the Honorable Judge Christopher Patterson.

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on August 20, 2021, Timothy John Jokinen was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jokinen was convicted by a Jackson County jury of one count of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation on June 29, 2021. Evidence presented at trial proved that on November 25, 2019, the Defendant visited the Victim’s family at the Grand Ridge Park at the corner of Broadway Street and Porter Avenue in Grand Ridge, Florida. While the Victim’s father was in the restroom, the Defendant began to place his hands down the pants of the Victim in a lewd and lascivious manner. An eyewitness exiting the restroom caught the Defendant in the act of molesting the Victim. Two more eyewitnesses on the scene also were able to observe the Defendant’s actions and confronted him about those actions before calling local law enforcement. The facts at trial went on to prove that the Defendant was over the age of 18 at the time and the Victim was under the age of 12.

Once law enforcement arrived on the scene, and after a thorough investigation, the Defendant was arrested and charged with the crime. Subsequently, the Victim was interviewed by the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center’s Child Protective Team and further evidence of the abuse was disclosed that incriminated the Defendant.

This case was investigated by Deputy Brandon Arroyo of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Benjamin Keown and Shalla Jefcoat.

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on August 11, 2021 a Bay County jury found Voisiar Macon guilty as charged of battery through the use of excessive force in restraining a person taken into custody.

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on August 12, 2021, a Bay County jury found Justin Lee Givens guilty as charged of Sexual Battery Under Specified Circumstances and Battery Upon a Detainee by Another Detainee.

Evidence presented at trial proved that the Defendant was an inmate in the confinement unit of the Bay County Jail when he used threats, intimidation and physical violence to force his cellmate to commit oral sex upon him.

The case was investigated by Bay County Jail staff and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Frank Sullivan.  Sentencing is set for September 3, 2021, before the Honorable Dustin Stephenson.  The Defendant, who qualifies as a Habitual Felony Offender, faces up to life in prison.

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on August 6, 2021, Jason Kenneth Jones was given three consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jones was convicted by a Bay County jury of two counts of Second Degree Murder with a Firearm and one count of Attempted Second Degree Murder with a Firearm on July 14, 2021. Evidence presented at trial proved that the Defendant shot his mother three times in her home on the family’s property. He then followed his girlfriend and her minor child as they fled the scene, shooting at them several times and striking his girlfriend in the hip. She ran from the Defendant, who began to chase her. He shot a bystander near the roadway twice in the face. The Defendant’s girlfriend was able to hide from him in a nearby residence after a family allowed her into their home. It was later discovered that the Defendant had set his mother’s residence on fire. The Defendant’s mother and the bystander died from their injuries; his girlfriend survived. The Defendant remained at large for approximately 24 hours before being apprehended by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

The case was investigated by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by State Attorney Larry Basford and Assistant State Attorney Frank Sullivan.

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.

PRESS RELEASE

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on August 5, 2021, William Cooper Brandt was sentenced to 35 years in prison with a 10-year minimum mandatory sentence.  Brandt was convicted by a Bay County jury on June 22, 2021, of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm and Assault.

Evidence presented at trial proved that the Defendant beat the victim about the head and face with a firearm.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Barbara Beasley and Jacob Cook.

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.

PRESS RELEASE

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that Devin Collier has rejoined the State Attorney’s Office as an Assistant State Attorney in the Major Crimes Division.  Mr. Collier previously worked with the office from 2013-2018 as a felony prosecutor and Division Chief in the Panama City office.

Mr. Collier most recently worked with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor, handling several counseling and litigation matters; offering legal counsel to the Bureau of Land Management relevant to its relocation to the West and representing the Department in the resulting Congressional inquiry; and working on the Employment and Labor Law Unit’s COVID-19 response team.

Prior to joining the Department, Mr. Collier worked as an Associate Attorney with the law firm of Barron and Redding, P.A., where he handled commercial litigation, and immediately before that, he worked at the State Attorney’s Office.  Before joining the State’s Attorneys Office, Mr. Collier worked in the private sector at his own law firm, The Collier Firm. And before that, he worked with the Public Defender’s Office, Second Judicial Circuit, as an Appellate Counsel, representing indigent clients before Florida’s First District Court of Appeal. During law school, Mr. Collier was a judicial intern for the Honorable Patrick White, Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida.

Mr. Collier earned his Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude, at the Florida A&M University College of Law, where he achieved the following: 2010 and 2011 Outstanding Law Review Staff Editor; National Employment Law Association Fellow; Dean’s Top Performer Scholarship Award; and Teaching Assistant for Civil Procedure I and II.  We welcome Mr. Collier back to our team!

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.

Press Release

The Office of State Attorney Larry Basford announces that on July 14, 2021, a Bay County jury found Jason Kenneth Jones guilty as charged of two counts of Second Degree Murder with a Firearm and one count of Attempted Second Degree Murder with a Firearm.

Evidence presented at trial proved that the Defendant shot his mother three times in her home on the family’s property.  He then followed his girlfriend and her minor child as they fled the scene, shooting at them several times and striking his girlfriend in the hip.  She ran from the Defendant, who began to chase her.  He shot a bystander near the roadway twice in the face.  The Defendant’s girlfriend was able to hide from him in a nearby residence after a family allowed her into their home.  It was later discovered that the Defendant had set his mother’s residence on fire.  The Defendant’s mother and the bystander died from their injuries; his girlfriend survived.  The Defendant remained at large for approximately 24 hours before being apprehended by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

The case was investigated by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by State Attorney Larry Basford and Assistant State Attorney Frank Sullivan.  Sentencing is set for August 6, 2021, before the Honorable Dustin Stephenson.  The Defendant faces a sentence of life in prison.

For additional information, contact State Attorney Larry Basford.