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A man found guilty of 5 counts of Child Abuse that took place only months after he was released from prison was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison Monday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Jamal Tykeeon Wodford, 25, of Panama City, was found guilty at trial Oct. 7 of 5 charges of felony Child Abuse, and 3 misdemeanor offenses involving Battery and Assault.
Prosecutor Jennifer Lieb, at podium, addresses jurors during trial with Prosecutor Heather Errede (seated).The defendant talks with his attorney during trial.
Prosecutor Jennifer Lieb successfully argued that the defendant should be sentenced as a Prison Release Reoffender based on his criminal history. The defendant was released from prison in October, 2021, about three months before these offenses. He was in prison for Felony Battery and Possession of a Controlled Substance.
Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register sentenced the defendant to 69.45 months on one of the Child Abuse charges, and, because of the PRR designation, the maximum of 5 years on each of the 4 remaining Child Abuse convictions.
Judge Register ordered the first three sentences to be served consecutively, or one after the other. The final two sentences will run concurrently with the others.
The defendant was arrested Jan. 24 by Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies after they received multiple calls that shots had been fired at the victims’ home.
The State presented witnesses and evidence that a disturbance had broken out between the defendant and his ex-girlfriend at her home. During the assault on the adult victim, the evidence showed, the children were endangered and placed in fear.
Two Bay County men were sentenced to prison Thursday in unrelated drug cases – one for Trafficking in Methamphetamine and the other for possessing and selling a drug known as “Scoop” or “Water,” State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Terrius Eugene Gainer, 46, of Panama City, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson Thursday. Gainer entered an open plea of guilty to Trafficking in Amphetamine (more than 28 grams) and Possession of Paraphernalia on Oct. 12, the day his trial was supposed to begin and after a jury had been selected. A defendant can “open plea” at any time, meaning the defendant admits guilt to the charges but does not accept an offer from the State. The Judge determines the proper sentence after hearing from both the State and the Defense.
Terrius Gainer
“This defendant has been to prison multiple times over the last 20 years and within two or three years of each release he would be arrested on new offenses,” Prosecutor Nicole Reed said. “As the severity of the charges have grown, so have the penalties, and he is now paying a higher price.”
Reed noted that the defendant’s previous prison sentences have ranged from just over 1 year to a 10-year sentence for robbery. He was last released from prison on May 24, 2020, for drug possession charges. He was arrested on the latest charges in December, 2021.
Reed also thanked the jurors who never got to hear the case. “They showed up to do their civic duty, and they were selected to hear this case,” she said. “They returned on the day of trial only to find out the defendant had just decided to plead guilty. That is a lot of their time they willingly gave and it is appreciated.”
Gainer was designated as Habitual Felony Offender for sentencing based on previous convictions.
For trial, Reed was prepared to call witnesses and present evidence showing that Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle Gainer was driving on Thomas Drive on Dec. 13, 2021. Deputies knew Gainer did not have a valid driver’s license and the vehicle’s registration was expired. When asked if there was anything illegal in the vehicle, the defendant admitted he had about 2 ounces of “Ice,” or Methamphetamine. Deputies then searched the vehicle and found about 52 grams of Methamphetamine in multiple bags.
Also Thursday, John Virgil Murphy, Jr., 46, of Panama City, was sentenced to 7 years in prison by Judge Stephenson for possession of a large quantity of a chemical that the body rapidly converts into GHB. He was found guilty at trial Oct. 13 of Sale or Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
John Murphy
Murphy’s sentence was the result of his April, 2021, arrest following an investigation by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office that led to the seizure of a large quantity of 1,4 Butanediol. The substance – an industrial chemical designed to make floor stripper and paint thinner, as well as some types of plastics and similar materials – is rapidly converted into GHB after it is ingested.
Florida Statutes classify the chemical as a Schedule 1 drug with no acceptable medical use and high potential for abuse.
Prosecutor Dustin Miller, who presented the case Oct. 13, reiterated that authorities will not tolerate “the poison that drug dealers are bringing into our community.”
“And when it comes to the Butanediol, this is a particularly dangerous poison because it not only causes overdoses, it can be used as a ‘date-rape’ drug,” Miller said.
Basford thanked the Sheriff’s Office investigators and personnel involved in the two arrests both for the proactive nature of the investigations and the strength of the cases they put together.
A Bay County jury took about 80 minutes Thursday to return a guilty verdict against a man who struck a woman hard enough to break her nose and damage her mouth to the point that it required corrective surgery, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Tony Leon Brown, 58, of Panama City, was found guilty as charged of Felony Battery Resulting in Great Bodily Harm. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark set sentencing for Dec. 2 at 1:30 p.m.
Prosecutor Josh James called three witnesses – Bay County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Procter, Dr. Marie Becker of Tallahassee, and the victim – to prove the defendant committed the crime against a former girlfriend.
“In returning a verdict of guilty, the jury sent a strong message to defendants like Tony Brown: the citizens of Bay County will not tolerate violence,” James said. “Thanks to the hard work of Deputy Jason Procter and the victim’s courage in testifying, the defendant now faces prison and the consequences of his actions.”
Evidence showed that the victim was in Panama City to visit her family and was holding her 6-month-old granddaughter when the defendant showed up at the residence.
An argument ensued, according to testimony, because the victim had broken up with the defendant and would not go out with him that night. The defendant then punched the victim in the face.
“He felt disrespected, so he punished her for that,” James told jurors. “He just got upset because she wouldn’t do what he wanted her to do.”
The defendant fled after 911 was called. An ambulance took the victim to the hospital and within days she had to undergo surgery in Tallahassee to correct the damage. Dr. Becker testified the surgery was medically necessary or there would have been permanent disfigurement.
The victim testified she continues to suffer with pain and difficulty breathing.
The defendant has a previous conviction for Felony Battery in 2008.
A Bay County jury discounted a woman’s testimony in her own defense and found her guilty of drug trafficking Wednesday, but she never returned once deliberations began and is now a fugitive, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark ordered a capias for the arrest of Ashley Yvonne Peters after dismissing the jurors who found her guilty of Trafficking in Methamphetamine (between 14 and 28 grams), Possession of Paraphernalia, and Tampering with Physical Evidence.
Ashley Yvonne Peters
Peters, 37, a white female about 5 feet, 3 inches tall, and weighing about 200 pounds, was present during the trial and took the stand in her own defense for about 10 minutes Wednesday morning.
Following Prosecutor Jennifer Lieb’s closing arguments and the judge’s jury instructions, deliberations began at 11:37 a.m. and court was in recess. Court was reconvened at 12:18 to address a question from jurors and the defendant was not there. When it was announced around 1:30 p.m. that the jury had reached a verdict – but before jurors were brought back into the courtroom – the court made a finding that the defendant was voluntarily absent.
The jury announced its guilty verdicts and after jurors were released Judge Clark found the defendant had also violated a previous Violation of Probation for Possession of Methamphetamine and ordered a hold-without-bond capias for her arrest.
The defendant is facing up to 30 years in prison on the drug-trafficking charge, with the first 3 years being minimum-mandatory.
Lieb called four witnesses: Bay County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Gage Cowart, the case agent; BCSO Inv. Doug Cummings; Panama City Beach Police Department Det. Stephanie Thomas and Florida Department of Law Enforcement analyst Pallavi Vira.
The witnesses’ testimony and evidence presented at trial proved that the defendant was driving a vehicle involved in a traffic stop June 18, 2020, around 9:40 p.m. Cummings’ K9, Bix, detected the odor of narcotics coming from the vehicle.
The defendant, before a female officer could search her, admitted she had about an ounce of Methamphetamine in her underwear. It was recovered and a search of the vehicle turned up a digital scale, syringes, and other paraphernalia.
Abel Ortiz was given two Life sentences Tuesday for his part in the Dec. 29, 2019 attempted robbery and murder of Edward Kenneth Ross in his Panama City Beach home, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
The defendant was found guilty as charged Sept. 22 of First Degree Felony Murder and Attempted Robbery with a Firearm after a three-day trial. He was one of three gunmen who burst into the Ross home Dec. 29, armed and seeking to rob the victim. Instead, all three shot at the victim, with the defendant shooting 7 times and hitting the victim with 3 bullets, including a final shot to the back.
Prosecutor Mark Graham addresses Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay, asking for the maximum sentence.
The gunmen fled as the victim died before his father’s eyes.
“Mr. Ortiz, in some way your robbery was a success,” the victim’s father told the court in his Victim Impact Statement. “You robbed me of a son and the family that he would have … I now have to live for the rest of my life with the images of my son laying on the floor bleeding out, gasping for air and watching as the life light in his eyes went out while I was on the phone with 911.”
Bay County Chief Prosecutor Mark Graham asked for the maximum sentence.
“Out of the accomplices and shooters, this defendant is the most vicious,” Bay County Chief Prosecutor Mark Graham told Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay at sentencing. “The defendant deserves the same mercy that he showed Edward Ross that night when he leaned over the couch and shot him in the back as he lay helpless on the floor.”
Because the defendant was a juvenile – he was about 6 months away from turning 18 when the crime occurred – the sentencing was guided by different Florida Statutes than it would have been for an adult.
The defendant, right, and his attorney in court Tuesday.
That started with the jury’s verdict form, which included special “findings” for both charges that jurors had to decide. On the First Degree Felony Murder Charge, jurors found that the defendant actually possessed and discharged a firearm causing great bodily harm or death, and that he killed or intended to kill the victim. This meant the minimum sentence the defendant faced would be 40 years, with the first 25 years being served day-for-day. The maximum sentence was Life.
On the Attempted Robbery with a Firearm charge, in addition to finding the defendant guilty, jurors found he possessed and discharged a firearm during the crime causing “great bodily harm or death” to the victim. That also carried a maximum sentence of Life in prison.
And regardless of the sentence, under Florida Law the defendant, because he was a juvenile at the time, will be eligible for a sentencing review after 25 years.
Graham, in asking for the maximum, pointed out the defendant was only six months away from being an adult when he committed the murder, was a willing and eager participant, fired multiple times including a final shot to the back as the victim lay helpless, and bragged about the killing to others.
Graham also noted the defendant had a lengthy criminal history with 13 arrests prior to the homicide. And since his arrest and turning 18, Graham said, the defendant has had 15 disciplinary actions at the Bay County Jail.
Prosecutor Mark Graham addressing jurors during Ortiz’ trial.
Finally, Graham introduced courtroom footage taken after the verdict was delivered and as jurors were being escorted out. As they passed the defense table, the defendant cursed at them.
“The defendant continues to demonstrate that he cannot comply with rules and/or directions,” Graham said, adding later, “The defendant’s extensive juvenile history and the number of juvenile sanctions that were imposed on the defendant clearly shows that he has little or no chance to be rehabilitated.”
Judge Gay, in handing down 2 Life sentences, ordered that they be served concurrently as required by law.
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.
MARIANNA – A man found guilty Friday of holding a teenager against her will while he sexually battered her has been sentenced to Life in prison without the possibility of parole, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Thomas Leroy Davis, 45, of Greenwood, was found guilty Friday of Sexual Battery Upon a Child 12 years of Age or Older but Under 18 Years of Age, and False Imprisonment. Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register sentenced the defendant to Life without parole on the first charge and 5 years in prison on the second, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Thomas Davis
Jackson County Chief Prosecutor Shalla Jefcoat put on witnesses who provided testimony and evidence that the defendant committed the offense against the victim in April, 2020, inside a home.
Testimony showed that someone who heard the victim yelling for help rushed to her aid and the defendant fled. He was picked up a short distance away by Jackson County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
The jury took about 2 ½ hours to reach its verdict of guilty as charged. The defendant has four prior felony convictions and previously went to prison.
Basford thanked the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center for the case it put together, as well as the witness who responded to the victim’s cries for help.
BLOUNTSTOWN – A case that stretched over 4 years ended Friday when a jury took just over an hour to convict Dan Belc of murdering his wife in 2018 after she filed for divorce and refused his demands for reconciliation.
Belc was found guilty of First-Degree Murder for killing Judith Belc, as well as Aggravated Assault for waving his gun at the victim’s brother, who was coming to her aid behind the family’s home, and threatening to shoot him. Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson ordered Belc held in the Calhoun County Jail until sentencing, at which time he faces Life in Prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutor Bill Wright during closing arguments.
“Northwest Florida is a good place to live, but when tragedies happen, we make sure that justice is served,” State Attorney Larry Basford told a large gathering of Judith Belc’s relatives in the courtroom after the verdict. “We could not have done this without your help.”
“Thank you for everything,” responded Judith Belc’s brother, Robert Yoder Jr., who was also a witness in the case. “We appreciate the work and how much everyone involved cared.”
Prosecutor Bill Wright addresses jurors, left, with State Attorney Larry Basford.The defendant and attorneys watch bodycam footage of a traffic stop earlier the day of the murder.
Calhoun County Chief Prosecutor Bill Wright, who led the prosecution team, said he was pleased that a verdict in the week-long trial was returned in about 70 minutes.
“It’s amazing how often they get it right,” he said of the duties given to jurors. “We could not have done this without the help of the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, the FDLE, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the staff here at the State Attorney’s Office and the family.
“And I am looking forward to the defendant spending the rest of his life in prison and the family finally getting justice.”
Prosecutor Bill Wright during his cross-examination of the defendant.
Within hours of the shooting and before he was in custody, the defendant admitted to multiple people that three bullets he fired from his .45-caliber pistol struck Judith Belc – two in the head and one in the torso. At trial, the defendant testified that he “snapped” and fired in the “heat of passion” without realizing what he was doing.
But there was no evidence to support that claim. The evidence and roughly 20 witnesses called by the State proved that the defendant killed his wife in anger because, after two dozen years of being able to “control” her, she had made up her mind to go through with a divorce.
The Belcs and four of their children were living in Germany, where the defendant worked, when the victim returned to their Tallahassee home to get away from her husband a few weeks before the shooting. When he flew overseas and showed up there, they left for her family’s home just outside Blountstown, where the shooting later occurred.
Dr. Greg Prichard testified that it boiled down to the defendant losing control.
“That domestic situation was not going his way and ultimately he made a decision, ‘If I can’t have her, nobody can,’” Prichard said.
After the shooting, the defendant drove around for hours making phone calls with his wife’s body in the trunk. In recorded phone conversations he told family members and a 911 operator that he shot his wife three times because she was divorcing him. At the urging of family members and the 911 operator, he turned himself in at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office that morning, the body still in the trunk
For additional information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.
A man convicted of possessing 11 video clips depicting children in sexual acts has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, designated a Sexual Predator, and will not be allowed access to the internet or internet capable devices when released.
Marcus Allen Creel, 35, of Southport, entered a plea of No Contest to 11 counts of Possession of Child Pornography, Failure to Register as a Sex Offender and Violation of Probation. He was adjudicated guilty by Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark.
Marcus Creel
The defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison. That will be followed by 10 years of Sex Offender Probation during which he will have to wear an electronic monitor and will not be allowed internet access or “internet capable” devices, like smart phones. He will not be allowed to have contact with minors.
The defendant was arrested by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in March, 2021, after Inv. Jeremy Mathis received five reports from the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children that Google had identified child pornography images being uploaded to its servers.
Prosecutor Jennifer Lieb was prepared to present evidence gathered by Mathis and the Sheriff’s Office that the images were uploaded through email accounts associated with the defendant. Evidence would have shown the IP address through which the images were uploaded returned to the defendant’s home.
Further, evidence would have shown the defendant admitted receiving the child pornography.
State Attorney Larry Basford thanked Sheriff’s Office investigators for their work in identifying the defendant based on the Google report and helping put together a strong case.
A Nov. 8 sentencing is set for a man found guilty of possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance that the body turns into GHB, also known as “Scoop” or “Water.”
State Attorney Larry Basford said John Virgil Murphy, Jr., 46, of Panama City, was found guilty of Sale or Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia on Thursday.
John Murphy
A Bay County jury took 1 hour and 23 minutes to return the verdict. Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson set sentencing for Nov. 8. The defendant faces up to 15 years in prison.
Prosecutor Dustin Miller called four witnesses and presented evidence showing the defendant was in possession of a large quantity of 1,4 Butanediol, an industrial chemical designed to make floor stripper and paint thinner, as well as some types of plastics and similar materials.
1,4 Butanediol was found in the red container.A closer view of the cotainers found in truck.
Florida Statutes define 1,4 Butanediol as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no currently acceptable medical use. When ingested, the chemical quickly turns into GHB, also known as “Scoop,” and can cause overdoses and death even in small doses.
Following the verdict, Prosecutor Miller said the case reiterates that authorities will not tolerate “the poison that drug dealers are bringing into our community.”
“And when it comes to the Butanediol, this is a particularly dangerous poison because it not only causes overdoses, it can be used as a ‘date-rape’ drug,” Miller said. “So it’s not only fueling an addiction, it could be helping someone in furthering more heinous crimes.”
Testimony, including case agent Inv. Gage Cowart of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, showed authorities surveilled the defendant at a Panama City home for about 3 weeks in 2021. They obtained and served a search warrant on April 7, 2021.
Among the items found was a gasoline can containing approximately 2.2 kilograms of 1,4-Butanediol in the floorboard of a truck the defendant had been seen in and working on several times. That is about 1,100 doses. In a statement to authorities, the defendant admitted the liquid was his, saying he bought it online and planned to distribute it in Bay County.
Basford thanked the Sheriff’s Office and investigators Cowart, Jeremy Head and Doug Cummings for their work in obtaining the search warrant and their subsequent testimony.
CHIPLEY – A man charged with intimidating his victim to drop charges in two cases against him was convicted of Tampering with a Witness Monday and could face Life in prison, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
A Washington County jury took 19 minutes to find Mitchell Brigham, 36, of Chipley, guilty of Tampering with a Victim and Violation of Conditions of Pretrial Release. Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson set sentencing for Nov. 7.
The defendant was in jail on various charges, including arrests in February and in March for Aggravated Battery (Pregnant Person) involving the same victim, when the latest offense occurred.
Washington County Chief Prosecutor Megan Ford presented three witnesses, including the victim, and evidence included recorded phone calls from the defendant in jail to the victim.
State Attorney’s Office Investigator John Pettis was one of those witnesses. Pettis found that the defendant had called the victim some 50 times from jail between his March 29 arrest and April 5. On the calls that connected, the defendant and victim spoke a total of about six hours. The defendant told the victim to drop the charges. He explained in detail how to drop the charges, and how to provide him with proof that she had dropped the charges.
The victim did attempt to drop the charges but testified at trial it was only because of the defendant’s intimidation in the phone calls.
Aggravated Battery on a Pregnant Person is a Second-Degree Felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Under Florida Law, Tampering with the Victim or Witness in a Second-Degree Felony is a First-Degree Felony offense, with a penalty of up to 30 years in prison.
Additionally, Ford is seeking to have the defendant sentenced under Florida’s Habitual Felony Offender law. If successful, the defendant faces up to life in prison.
The defendant has a lengthy criminal history that includes four prison sentences dating back to 2004, and it includes a previous conviction for Tampering with a Witness/Victim. He still faces trial on the February and March charges of Aggravated Battery (Pregnant Person).
Basford credited Ford on her successful prosecution involving a repeat victim and Pettis for finding the phone calls that showed the defendant was tampering with the victim.
