A woman arrested with about 43 grams of methamphetamine during a Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigation has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after entering a plea to trafficking, State Attorney Larry Basford said.

Catherine Denise Merritt, 54, of Panama City, was charged with Trafficking in Methamphetamine (between 28 and 200 grams). She must serve a minimum-mandatory 7 years under Florida’s enhanced drug trafficking Statutes. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark also levied a $100,000 fine.

Prosecutor Zachary VanDyke was prepared to call witnesses and present evidence proving the defendant was in possession of the methamphetamine when Bay County Sheriff’s Deputies served a search warrant on a South Jan Drive residence May 31, 2022.

The testimony would have shown that deputies found the defendant and a co-defendant in a small, debris-filled room in the rear of the residence. On the couch, underneath the defendant’s bag, deputies found 43 grams of methamphetamine.

Smaller amounts of the drug were found in the residence, along with numerous syringes and drug paraphernalia.

“The Sheriff’s Office gave us a good case to prosecute and also kept most of the drugs from making it to the streets,” VanDyke said. “The conditions inside the residence and the amount of trash and debris did not stop them from finding the drugs. The self-incriminating statements they obtained from the defendant were crucial to resolving this with a plea.”

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Deputies questioned the defendant, who admitted she had 3 ounces of methamphetamine delivered to the residence the night before in a Funyuns bag. That bag was found next to the seized drugs. She said they had already sold ¼ ounce.

Basford thanked the Sheriff’s Office for its proactive work and quick reaction that resulted in the arrests and seizure.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

A Louisiana man who was part of a 4-man burglary crew that stole more than $100,000 in collectible baseball cards from a Panama City business in 2023 was found guilty of Grand Theft Over $100,000 Friday.

State Attorney Larry Basford said Leon Rowe Jr., 31, of Louisiana, is the first of the defendants to go to trial in any of the cases. A second defendant here pled to his charges and testified against Rowe at Friday’s trial. A third defendant is awaiting trial and the fourth has not been captured.

Prosecutor Zachary VanDyke said Rowe and was part of a burglary and theft spree involving gaming and collectible stores that stretched from Panama City west to Louisiana in late 2022 and early 2023. The three defendants in the Panama City case are from the same area of Louisiana.

In the Panama City case, the defendants took hundreds of collector’s cards ranging from a 1955 Sandy Koufax ($4,500) and 1963 Pete Rose ($4,000), to a 1954 Hank Aaron ($4,000) and a 1948 American Association Babe Ruth ($3,000). The collection included 65 Mickey Mantles, 34 Hank Aarons, 11 Whitey Fords, and cards from Tom Seaver, Roger Maris, Nolan Ryan, and Johnny Bench.

“Thirty-five years of work and more than $100,000 disappeared on the night of Feb. 16, 2023, when this defendant helped break into this store and steal these cards,” VanDyke said. “They were in and out in less than 3 minutes. Three minutes, and 35 years’ worth of work – gone.

“We are glad the jury held this defendant accountable, but there is nothing that will fill the hole left in the victim by the loss of his collectibles.”

The charge is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. The jury took 20 minutes to reach a verdict after VanDyke’s closing argument.

In the Panama City case, surveillance video showed a man swinging a large hammer at the glass entrance door and kicking a hole in it. Four men wearing gloves and with their faces covered rushed through the hole, with at least two grabbing collectible bats to smash the glass cases inside.

All four fled within 3 minutes.

      

Following that, there was a string of similar thefts across the Gulf Coast. DNA found at one crime scene in Alabama was matched to Rowe and Cedric Vondo, 37, also of Louisiana. Vondo gave a statement incriminating himself, Rowe, and another co-defendant.

Basford thanked the law enforcement network across the Gulf Coast that collaborated in connecting the cases, and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for its work on a similar case that assisted the Panama City Police Department’s case.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

A jury took 90 minutes Friday evening to find James Edward Mixon guilty as charged of two counts of Sexual Battery and two counts of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Circuit Court Judge Dedee Costello set sentencing for Nov. 5, when the defendant, 42, faces up to Life in prison for 2 counts of Sexual Battery on a Victim Older than 12 and Younger than 18, and two counts of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation.

The 3-day trial, led by Prosecutor Morgan Morrell with Prosecutor Brea Dearing, was the third related to the sexual abuse of a young girl in 2024. Jonathan Allen Mixon, 39, of Youngstown, pled to Lewd or Lascivious Molestation and several other charges and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He testified against James Mixon. Amber Gunder, 39, pled to several charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

“This defendant needed to be off the streets because he would’ve continued doing this kind of thing,” Morrell said. “He’s caused a tremendous amount of emotional damage that she will have to live with and deal with for the rest of her life.”

The victim was adopted by an out-of-state family member.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These charges sprung from a separate case involving the victim, who disclosed what had happened while undergoing counseling. The evidence included not just victim testimony, but a number of explicit texts and pictures found through Facebook messenger accounts.

The victim said the defendant sexually abused her twice in incidents involving the co-defendants.

Morrell called 4 witnesses – the victim, another young girl who said the defendant sexually abused her, Merritt, and co-defendant Jonathan Mixon.

The testimony showed all three defendants had been drinking and doing cocaine when the abuse occurred.

Morrell said it was a complicated case with multiple defendants and the work of Bay County Sheriff’s Office Inv. Dakota Merritt of the Criminal Investigations Division was particularly helpful.

“There were a lot of moving parts with 3 defendants and Inv. Merritt did an extremely thorough report and investigation, he was very invested and a big part of this case,” Morrell said.

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Morrell said after the verdict was announced and jurors were filing out of the courtroom, she was able to make contact with the victim from this case and the victim who testified about a similar attack.

“I was able to turn around, and they were both holding hands with the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center advocate and they were both smiling, with tears running down their faces,” Morrell said. “And when the jury was out, they both gave me a big hug.

“That was just priceless and reminded me of why we work so hard on these cases.”

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the GCCAC for their work and collaboration in investigating and putting together a case that is resulting in three people going to prison for sexually abusing a child.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

Three law graduates from as far away as Utah and as close as Bonifay were sworn in as prosecutors this week to handle cases in the 14^th Judicial Circuit, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Bailey Harris, Daniele Thomas, and Nicholas White – already employed at the State Attorney’s Office as legal interns – were informed last week they had passed the Florida Bar exam. Wednesday Basford swore them in as prosecutors.

BAILEY HARRIS

Bailey Harris was born and raised in Bonifay. She grew up planning to go into the medical field, but at Chipola College decided to pursue a business administration degree because she had been working in the banking field.

As she neared her Bachelor’s Degree, she decided to pursue her interest in the law as it related to banking. In 2021 she entered the Florida State University School of Law without the thought that she would one day become a prosecutor.

“The law had always interested me for sure, but criminal law was nowhere on my radar,” Harris said. “Then I started taking the classes on criminal law and criminal procedure in my second year and I loved it, and excelled at it, and that’s when I decided that is what I wanted to do.”

Harris, married with two children, knew she and her husband wanted to return home and she applied for an opening at the SAO.

“This was my first and only job I applied for online, and the next day Mr. Basford called me personally and he was very interested, he had asked about me around the Bonifay office,” she said. “It showed me that he is very much interested and concerned with who is working with him and cares about his employees and that struck me as important.”

Bailey accepted a job offer and will be handling Third-Degree Felonies and juvenile cases in Jackson County.

DANIELE THOMAS

Daniele Thomas was born and raised in Jacksonville, received her undergraduate degree at Florida State University and obtained her law degree at Barry University.

Thomas spent about 5 years as an intern at Perry & Young’s Tallahassee office while going through college, and that often brought her to Panama City.

“I came to visit here a lot – our first Christmas party was at Andy’s Flour Power – and I just fell in love with the area,” she said. “My favorite thing here is that the sense of community is very strong and everyone takes care of each other.”

Thomas said she was in her freshman year of high school and was intrigued by the law so her mother, a Realtor and property manager, helped connect her with some eviction/real estate attorneys for a summer.

“I just fell in love with the law,” Thomas said. “I knew I wanted to be a trial attorney, and someone suggested that the best trial experience you can get is working for the State Attorney’s Office.

“And I am a very stubborn person, so the idea of the State having to carry the burden and prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt appealed to me, so I was intrigued by the State Attorney’s Office.”

Thomas hopes to help make the community safer and a better place to live, while also becoming a better attorney and a better person.

“This is a great place to meet people who are having the best day of their lives, or the worst day of their lives,” she said. “It’s about treating everyone fairly and seeing if there’s any middle ground. It felt like home as soon as I got here.”

NICHOLAS WHITE

The path for Nicholas White from home to being a prosecutor here was a bit longer – it stretched from Utah, where he was born and raised, to law school in South Carolina, and then here.

Born and raised in Sandy, Utah, White also took a different path before college – he went on a two-year church mission to Guatemala.

“I was in 5 different parts of the country for an extended period,” he said. “My dad and brothers did it so I wanted to do it. It was awesome, but probably the hardest and best thing thing I’ve ever done.”

White spent time in rural areas, having to learn the language because no one spoke English. But he learned a lifetime of lessons.

“I always say that there is not a day that goes by since then that I haven’t used something I learned there,” he said. “It helped shape my path.”

Upon his return, White attended and graduated from Brigham Young University, then headed to South Carolina with his wife to get his law degree from the Charleston School of Law.

“The law was always something I thought would be a good career for me, that fit me and kind of how I function and operate,” he said. “I had several other jobs, but I didn’t think I was best utilizing my talents as well as I should have been., so I went to law school.”

White’s interest initially was in transactional contract law, business related matters that he found interesting. But that was before his second year of law school and the criminal law classes.

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“I really enjoyed those classes and more and more I realized I liked telling stories to groups of people,” he said. “I knew people who did other things for 20 years and had never been inside a courthouse.

White said once that decision was made, he knew that he wanted to be on the prosecution’s side.

“I think it’s important to have a society that doesn’t tolerate crime and has rules of law that have to be followed,” he said. “I think it’s easier for me personally to be working on something where if someone has broken the law they be held accountable, as opposed to the opposite as a defense attorney.”

White and his wife had been to Florida before, but not Panama City. A fellow graduate from the Charleston School of Law, SAO Prosecutor Morgan Morrell, got him interested in this area.

“I reached out to her and she was telling me about the office and the area and it sounded great,” White said. “And she said they were hiring. When I interviewed, I liked the methods and process that Mr. Basford used and it really seemed like the right kind of place for me.”

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

A fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking case that started with a traffic stop last year has now resulted in a fourth person being sentenced to prison, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Willie Goldsmith, 39, of Lynn Haven, pled no contest and was adjudicated guilty of Trafficking in Fentanyl (more than 14 grams but less than 28 grams), and Trafficking in Amphetamine (28 grams or more). Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark accepted the plea and sentenced Goldsmith to 20 years in prison. Judge Clark also ordered a $100,000 fine.

Goldsmith was set for trial last week. Prosecutor Frank Sullivan was prepared to call witnesses and present evidence that the defendant was in possession of a large quantity of fentanyl and methamphetamine when he drove away from a co-defendant’s residence April 6, 2024. Goldsmith entered his plea the day of jury selection.

The evidence would have shown that on April 4, 2024, Alicia Ducker, 30, of Panama City, was pulled over by Panama City Police for a traffic violation and not wearing her seatbelt. She behaved erratically, and K9 Rambo alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle.

Ducker was found to be hiding methamphetamine and fentanyl in her underwear. She said she got them from Anthony Polly, 43, who lived nearby. Ducker has since pled and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Police set up surveillance on Polly’s apartment and obtained a search warrant. On April 6, they saw Polly exit his apartment and get into Goldsmith’s truck, where they sat for about 5 minutes.

Goldsmith pulled out and was stopped for a traffic violation. K9 Rambo alerted for the presence of drugs and police found about 64 grams of methamphetamine and about 60 grams of fentanyl in the truck.

Officers then served the search warrant on Polly’s residence and found about 78 grams of methamphetamine in 4 baggies, and nearly 17 grams of fentanyl. Polly admitted to selling the drugs to Ducker two days earlier.

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Polly pled to Trafficking in Fentanyl and Methamphetamine and received a 15-year sentence.

A second person in the residence, Andy Lee Rhodes, was found to have a small amount of methamphetamine. He has since pled and was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

Basford thanked Panama City police for their proactive work and quick reaction that resulted in the arrests and seizures.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

A jury deliberated for only 7 minutes Wednesday before finding a Panama City man guilty of Trafficking in Fentanyl (more than 28 grams) after he mailed nearly 1,000 grams of the deadly drug here from California, State Attorney Larry Basford said.

Kevin Matthew McCray, 33, faces up to 30 years in prison, with a minimum-mandatory 25 years. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark set sentencing for Oct. 24.

Bay County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division arrested McCray Dec. 6, 2022, hours after he got off his return flight from California where he had picked up about a kilo of fentanyl.

“This is just a huge amount of fentanyl and was a really unique case,” Sullivan said. “This seizure by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office was by far the largest ever in our circuit, and one of the largest in the state.

“To put that into context, in a hospital setting a typical fentanyl dose is 50 micrograms,” Sullivan continued. “The fentanyl kept off the streets by the Sheriff’s Office was enough to give almost every one of Florida’s 23 million residents a dose.”

It also was enough fentanyl to cause a fatal overdose for every resident of the 14^th Judicial Circuit – with tens of thousands of doses to spare.

As part of a 2022 narcotics investigation, the Sheriff’s Office learned the defendant was in California to pick up about a kilo of fentanyl that he mailed back to a Panama City address. He was placed under surveillance after his return flight landed Dec. 6, 2022, and pulled over later that day for a traffic infraction.

During questioning, he admitted to traveling to California to pick up the drugs and mailing them back here.

Sullivan said the arrest, seizure, and successful prosecution of a defendant like McCray is a victory for everyone.

“Law enforcement has a lot of different tools to fight drugs and it’s not very effective when a lot of addicts are being arrested again and again because it doesn’t really stop the suppl y,” Sullivan said. “In this case law enforcement didn’t just go to the next step to arrest the dealer, they went all the way to the top and arrested the drug supplier,” he continued. “They went to the head of the snake.”

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation that enabled it to track the drugs from California to Panama City and then make an arrest before it got into the hands of local dealers.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

 

A 36-year-old Panama City man who repeatedly had sex with a young teen while supplying her with drugs and alcohol was found guilty Tuesday of 3 counts of Lewd & Lascivious Battery.

Following the verdict, State Attorney Larry Basford said, Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark sentenced Brayon Stevenson to 12 years in prison on each count. They will run consecutively, or back-to-back, for a total sentence of 36 years. He also was designated as a Sexual Predator.

Prosecutor JP Ferreira said the verdict and sentence send an important message: it is a crime for an adult to have sex with a minor under any circumstances –in this case while supplying and using marijuana and alcohol with the victim.

“Our laws are designed to protect juveniles who are vulnerable to predatory adults who would commit acts like this against a 13-year-old,” Ferreira said. “It does not matter if a minor is willingly drinking or using marijuana, an adult knows better, our laws recognize that, and the penalties are harsh.”

The victim’s mother first reported the sexual activity in 2022 after discovering it via a text she received.

Ferreira, with co-prosecutor Frank Sullivan, only called 3 witnesses: the victim, another juvenile who was with the defendant and victim on portions of the rides, and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center staff member who interviewed the victim.

The victim said she met the defendant on Snapchat in 2022 while looking for someone to sell her marijuana. She said she and a friend rode around with the defendant and smoked marijuana. The defendant continued this pattern, she said, but on multiple occasions he dropped her friend off first, leaving her alone with him.

As the investigation – involving Panama City Beach Police, Springfield Police, and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office – continued, evidence showed the defendant would drop off the friend and then drive to various locations and engage in sex with the victim.

Basford thanked the multiple agencies involved for their work and collaboration.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

A traffic stop that turned into a drug bust last year, led to a 15-year prison sentence Wednesday for a Panama City man charged with Trafficking in Methamphetamine and Fentanyl, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Anthony Allen Polly, 43, of Panama City, was also fined a combined $150,000 by Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark under Florida’s enhanced penalties for drug trafficking. He also must serve a minimum-mandatory 7 years.

Polly was one of multiple people arrested during a 3-day investigation by the Panama City Police Department. Two other defendants have pled and been sentenced to prison; two await trial.

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan said the pleas entered by three of the defendants showed the strength of the case put together by Panama City Police and its narcotics unit.

“The alertness of the officer who initiated the traffic stop helped lead to the discovery of drugs in that vehicle,” Prosecutor Frank Sullivan said. “The investigation and surveillance initiated by the city culminated two days later with a search warrant being served on this defendant and multiple arrests, with three defendants now in prison.”

Sullivan was prepared to present witnesses and evidence proving that on April 4, 2024, a woman was pulled over for a traffic violation and not wearing her seatbelt near Polly’s apartment. She behaved erratically, and K9 Rambo alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle.

The driver told police she was hiding three plastic baggies in her underwear. The contents tested positive for methamphetamine, fentanyl, and Clonazepam. She told police she bought the drugs from defendant Polly.

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Police set up surveillance on the apartment and obtained a search warrant. On April 6 they saw the defendant exit his apartment and get into a truck that had parked in front for about 5 minutes.

The truck left and was pulled over for a traffic violation. K9 Rambo alerted for the presence of drugs and police found a large amount of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the truck.

Officers then served the search warrant on Polly’s residence and found about 78 grams of methamphetamine in 4 baggies, and nearly 17 grams of fentanyl. The defendant admitted to selling the drugs to the woman who was arrested three days earlier.

Basford thanked Panama City Police for their proactive work and quick reaction that resulted in the arrests and seizures.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

A Panama City man found passed out in his car with drugs and paraphernalia visible was sentenced to 54 months in prison today, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Avery Lane McSwain, 44, pled No Contest to Trafficking in Methamphetamine (more than 14 grams), Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Paraphernalia. Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register accepted the plea and sentence, which includes a 3-year minimum-mandatory under Florida’s enhanced drug statutes. The defendant was also fined $50,000.

Prosecutor Jeff Moore was prepared to call witnesses and introduce evidence that the defendant was in possession of the drugs in his car on June 2, 2024.

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Bay County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. J. Turner and Deputy D. Heape were on patrol that morning when they saw the defendant’s vehicle on the shoulder of Big Daddy drive with the defendant “slumped over” in front of the steering wheel

The deputies stopped to check on the man’s welfare and could see a piece of tin foil with suspected drug residue, a straw used to snort drugs, a clear baggie with powder in it, and a lighter. They awakened the defendant and asked him to exit the vehicle.

In the pocket of the opened driver’s door, deputies saw a baggie of a clear substance that turned out to be about 21 grams of methamphetamine.

The defendant has a long history of drug-related arrests and previously served a short prison term for possession of heroin.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies for their proactive efforts on patrol.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.

 

A Georgia woman was found guilty of Vehicular Homicide Friday evening in the 2022 death of a motorcyclist during Thunder Beach 2022, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Tammi Michelle Hornsby, 50, of Senoia, Ga., was found guilty in the death of David Wayne Wooten, 47, of Douglasville, Ga. The jury deliberated for about 3 hours after two days of testimony. Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay set sentencing for Nov. 4. Vehicular Homicide is a Second-Degree Felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Mark Graham and Prosecutor Jack Lyons called 5 witnesses and presented evidence – including video of the collision. They proved Wooten died April 30, 2022, when Hornsby’s speeding Jeep struck his motorcycle as he tried to cross Thomas Drive to turn left from Silver Sands Road.

The vehicles erupted in a ball of fire, creating a chaotic scene as witnesses from nearby businesses rushed to offer aid. The evidence showed Hornsby, westbound on Thomas Drive, was driving about 30 mph over the speed limit, crossing lanes, had been drinking, and did not take any evasive action until .8 seconds before impact.

“Let’s get one thing straight right here,” Graham told jurors in his closing argument. “But for her speeding, Mr. Wooten would still be alive today and we wouldn’t be here. We have her speeding, we have her impaired, we have her driving 64 mph during bike week in a 35 mph zone. We have her crossing not just one, but one, two, three street walks with signs.”

“He could’ve safely crossed if she was going 35 mph, but she wasn’t, she was going almost double that, and that’s the problem.”

Wooten was southbound at Thomas Drive on his motorcycle waiting to turn left. Surveillance video from nearby businesses showed the victim waiting as one car passed at what appeared to be a normal speed. As Wooten crossed the intersection, the defendant’s car appears from the east at a high rate of speed, hitting the victim as he was almost across the intersection.

He suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

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Trooper Cory Guster testified that the defendant smelled of alcohol, showed clear signs of being under the influence, refused to take a field sobriety test, and refused to take a breathalyzer.

“Put together all her actions, how she was driving, the circumstances,” Graham said. “She knew she’d been drinking, she knew she was speeding. She flat-out told (the trooper) no when asked to take the test. Her normal faculties were impaired.”

Trooper Samuel Ellis’ Traffic Homicide Investigation and data retrieved from the defendant’s Event Data Recorder in her jeep showed she was going 64 mph 5 seconds before the impact and didn’t apply the brakes until .8 seconds before impact.

It all added up to one thing, Graham said: But for the defendant’s high rate of speed and impaired ability to react, the wreck never would have occurred.

Basford thanked the Florida Highway Patrol for its work on the case and the eyewitnesses who came forward for testifying.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.