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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.
State Attorney Larry Basford announced today that Kathreen Adams has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child.
Holmes County Circuit Court Judge Russell Roberts handed down the sentence after considering testimony, arguments from both sides, and mitigating circumstances in what he described as a “fair and appropriate sentence in this tragic case.”
Prosecutor Peter Overstreet emphasized the severity of the case and the “horrific” way the defendant’s 23-month-old child died after being left unattended in a car overnight while her parents slept off the methamphetamine they had used.
Prosecutor Peter Overstreet, center, and the defense attorney speak with the defendant after sentencing.Prosecutor Peter Overstreet after addressing Circuit Judge Russell Roberts during sentencing.
Adams, 25, testified and accepted responsibility for what happened, saying she is haunted by her actions that day and the loss of her child. She asked for leniency. Her attorney also talked about her remorse and cooperation and asked for a 15-year sentence.
Overstreet said it was a tragic case with no winners, but Adams cooperated, the co-defendant and father of the child Christopher McLean did not, and that was the difference in how the case played out. McLean, 35, is serving a 22-year sentence. He also said Adams’ cooperation was a mitigating factor.
“Make no mistake, Judge, we agree with the death of this child being horrific, and nothing is going to change that,” said Overstreet, while noting Adams provided critical assistance in the case after being separated from her co-defendant. “But the State would not have been able to prosecute this as successfully as it did without Ms. Adams.”
Overstreet was prepared to call witnesses and present evidence proving the defendants were high on methamphetamine when they returned home after midnight May 16, 2023, and left the toddler in Adams’ car until mid-afternoon. The child died from hyperthermia. Both parents were charged with Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child.
Following the sentencing, Overstreet and the defense attorney spoke briefly to Adams, telling her she had done the right thing by coming forward with the truth.
Basford thanked the HCSO for its work on the case and gathering the evidence that led to charges.
A woman whose victims say stole more than $1 million from their business over nearly a decade was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Pamela Lynn Wilson, 66, of Panama City, previously entered an “open plea” of No Contest to Grand Theft over $100,000 and Organized Scheme to Defraud (more than $50,000). An “open plea” means Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay would decide the sentence.
Prosecutor Peter Overstreet was prepared to present witnesses and evidence proving the defendant, over a period of years, orchestrated false payouts that the victims believed totaled between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
An audit conducted after $22,000 went missing in 2022 showed a total of 485 fraudulent checks totaling $1.22 million were written during that time, an employee said at Friday’s sentencing.
“When someone steals this type of money, it’s not like stealing a TV from Wal-Mart, this is different,” said Overstreet, who noted the defendant interacted daily with the victims while knowing she was financially damaging their lives and business. “That’s a very cold thing to do to a whole bunch of other people who trusted you.”
The defendant apologized to the family before her attorney asked for a 34.5-month sentence.
“They did not deserve what I did to them,” she said to Judge Gay. “I want them to know truthfully how sorry I am. I fell into a hole of gambling addiction.”
Overstreet asked for a 20-year sentence, pointing to the victim’s testimony that the financial loss damaged their business, paychecks, retirements, and income.
“Addiction is a horrible thing,” he said. “But she was treating (the victim’s business) like an ATM machine. She went back to get more over and over and over … and because everyone trusted her, she continued to siphon money away from this business.”
Basford thanked Panama City police for their work on the case, and the victims who provided valuable information to the investigation.
(Defendant Jacob Manuel is fingerprinted after being sentenced to prison)(Chief Assistant State Attorney Mark Graham talks to one of the victims’ son and his wife.)
A man facing multiple charges for driving under the influence and causing a wreck that killed 2 people in 2022 was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
As jurors lined up outside the courtroom for the start of the trial Tuesday, Jacob Hunter Michael, 25, of Panama City, pled No Contest to 2 counts of DUI-Manslaughter, and 1 count of DUI With Serious Bodily Injury. He could have faced up to Life in prison if convicted as charged.
(Defendant Jacob Manuel)
Tallulah Montez Beaman Ellis and her daughter, Tammy R. Hughes, died May 10, 2022, when the defendant’s car hit them from behind at about 130 mph on John Pitts Road. Hughes’ then-9-year-old granddaughter was critically injured.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Mark Graham told Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark the families of both victims, present in the courtroom, approved the plea before it was offered.
“This case is a real tragedy, as is the case with most DUI-Manslaughters,” Graham said. “You have the Ellis and Hughes families that lost a mother and daughter – leaving behind great-grandchildren, grandchildren, children and more. And that’s forever.
“Then you have the defendant who is a relatively young man with no criminal record and he’s going to prison for 40 years from one bad night of making bad choices.”
Graham was prepared to call witnesses and present evidence from the Florida Highway Patrol’s investigation that the defendant was eastbound on John Pitts Road at about 130 mph when it topped an incline and ran into the rear of the victim’s vehicle.
The defendant’s Dodge Charger spun off and caught fire. He was pulled to safety. The victims’ vehicle was crushed, killing Ellis – who was driving – and Hughes. Hughes’ daughter suffered critical injuries but recovered.
Basford thanked the FHP for it’s work at the scene that night and putting together a strong case.
BONIFAY – Christopher Martin McLean has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child and related charges after pleading no contest Wednesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
McLean, 35, of Westville, pled no contest to the manslaughter charge, Aggravated Child Abuse, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Resisting an Officer without Violence. Circuit Court Judge Russell Roberts adjudicated the defendant guilty of all charges and entered the 22-year sentence. McLean is the father of the victim.
Kathreen June Adams, 24, the co-defendant and mother of the 23-month-old victim, previously pled guilty to Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Aggravated Child Abuse. She is awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutor Peter Overstreet was prepared to call witnesses and present evidence proving the defendants were high on methamphetamine when they returned home after midnight May 16, 2023, and left the toddler in Adams’ car until mid-afternoon. The child died from hyperthermia.
“This is a sad case where there are no winners, only losers,” Overstreet said. “Drug addiction led to an innocent child dying needlessly.”
The evidence would have shown the defendants stopped and bought methamphetamine, and used it, before picking up the two children from the babysitter after Adams got off work. They got home sometime after midnight May 16, 2023.
The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office was called to the home around 3 p.m. Deputies found the child unresponsive with a body temperature around 107 degrees. Both parents initially claimed they found the child that way in her bed.
During questioning, Adams relented and said when she and McLean returned home after midnight, the 4-year-old was brought inside but neither parent brought in the 23-month-old.
Adams, who said she had been using meth for days without sleep, fell asleep on the couch. McLean also fell asleep.
Adams awakened sometime before 3 p.m. and realized her daughter was not in the house. She found her unresponsive in the car.
Testimony would have shown McLean coached Adams to lie and say they found the child in her bed.
Basford thanked the HCSO for its work on the case and helping gather evidence that would lead to the manslaughter charges.
