Convicted felon who shot clerk gets Life sentence under 10-20-Life

Posted on November 14, 2023 by Admin SA

A man found guilty by a jury Oct. 31 of shooting a clerk during an attempted robbery was sentenced to Life in prison Monday under Florida’s 10-20-Life law, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Kedrick Jamal McNeil, 27, was convicted two weeks ago of Attempted Robbery with Discharge of a Firearm causing Great Bodily Harm, Aggravated Battery with a Firearm causing Great Bodily Harm, and Felon in Possession of a handgun.

Prosecutor Peter Overstreet successfully argued that the defendant should be sentenced under Florida’s 10-20-Life law. He also showed the defendant was a Habitual Violent Felony Offender and a Prison Release Reoffender.

“He had been out of prison less than a year and our office will continue to take a tough stance on the use of firearms in a crime, particularly by a previously convicted felon who has been to prison,” Overstreet said.

Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register sentenced the defendant to Life on each of the first two charges under Florida’s enhanced penalties for those who use firearms during the commission of certain crimes.

Overstreet called seven witnesses at trial, including the victim who was shot in the thigh during the attempted robbery. He also presented evidence gathered by Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators to prove the defendant attempted to rob the Beeline Convenience store in Callaway on Sept. 9, 2021, and shot the clerk when she refused to give him money.

A Bay County jury took less than an hour to return a guilty verdict.

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

Man who sexually battered child ordered to prison for life

Posted on November 13, 2023November 15, 2023 by Admin SA

A Fountain man found guilty Nov. 2 of two counts of Sexual Battery against a young girl was given consecutive life sentences Monday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register, who presided over the trial, also designated Brandon Paul Janssen, 23, as a Sexual Predator.

The defendant was charged with two counts of Sexual Battery on a Victim 12 years of age or older but less than 18 years of age. The offenses occurred in 2020 and the arrest was made by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office after an investigation into the allegations.

Prosecutor Jeff Moore called six witnesses, including the victim, and presented jurors evidence proving that the defendant committed the acts in 2020. The victim reported the attacks to law enforcement and the defendant was arrested after being questioned by investigators.

Jurors took about one hour to return a guilty verdict after Moore’s closing argument.

Basford thanked the BCSO for its rapid response and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center for its work with the victim.

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

Habitual offender found guilty of shooting man 5 times, sentenced to 85 years

Posted on November 8, 2023November 8, 2023 by Admin SA

Prosecutor Barbara Beasley, far left in top and bottom photos, reenacted the shooting during the defendant’s testimony (middle row) to show it could not happen as he described.

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A man found guilty of shooting his victim, who survived, 5 times during a dispute was given sentences totaling 85 years in prison Tuesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Kelcey Frank Jones, 34, was found guilty of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm and Shooting into a Building Oct. 18. A Bay County jury deliberated for one hour after hearing the case presented by Prosecutor Barbara Beasley.

Tuesday, Jones faced sentencing on those convictions as well as three charges of Violation of Probation from earlier cases.

Circuit Court Judge Shannon Young Gay sentenced Jones to 15 years each on the VOP charges, to run consecutive to each other, or one after the other. The defendant was sentenced to a minimum-mandatory 25 years on the Aggravated Battery charge, also to run consecutive to the first two sentences.

Finally, Beasley presented evidence proving the defendant was a Habitual Felony Offender, enhancing the potential penalty on the final charge. Judge Gay ordered a 30-year sentence for Shooting into a Building due to the HFO designation. That sentence will run consecutive to all the other sentences, totaling 85 years in prison.

RELATED NEWS: Man guilty of threatening deputy’s life

Beasley called five witnesses, including the victim and Panama City police officers involved in the case, to prove that on March 11, 2019, the defendant became involved in an altercation with the victim, pulled a .380-caliber pistol, and shot the victim 5 times. Evidence showed some of the shots were fired after the victim had fallen to the floor.

The defendant fled and the victim was taken to the hospital where he eventually recovered. The victim and another witness picked the defendant out of a photo lineup.

The defendant took the stand and claimed he acted in self-defense after the victim attacked him and choked him while holding him down on a couch. He claimed he saw the gun in the victim’s waistband, grabbed it, and shot to defend himself.

Basford thanked Panama City police for their work on a difficult case and testimony at trial. He also noted that Florida’s enhanced penalties for repeat offenders and those who use firearms in crimes will continue to be employed.

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

Violent Career Criminal designation lands man 30 years for gun possession

Posted on November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 by Admin SA

CHIPLEY – A man with a six previous convictions for violent crimes in Washington County was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday for being a felon in possession of a firearm, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Stacy Tyrone Blackmon, 38, of Chipley, was found guilty of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm Oct. 12 after Washington County Chief Prosecutor Megan Ford presented the evidence against him. Jurors took about 30 minutes to return the verdict.

“Violent career criminals have no business having guns and the laws in Florida make the penalties stiff if they are caught possessing them. Our office will seek these enhancements to enforce the law and protect the community.”

The charge is a 2^nd Degree Felony, normally punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Ford successfully argued that the defendant’s six previous convictions for crimes ranging from Felony Battery and Aggravated Assault, to Resisting Arrest With Violence and Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer, qualified him as a Violent Career Criminal.

Under that Florida Statute, the possible sentence ranged from a minimum/mandatory 30 years and up to 40. The defendant also was designated as a Prison Release Reoffender because this crime was committed only months after his release from prison. Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson, who presided over the trial, levied the 30-year minimum/mandatory sentence.

Ford called two witnesses and presented evidence that the defendant was in possession of a firearm when he was arrested by Chipley Police Oct. 1, 2020.

Ford proved police had the defendant under surveillance that day when he met with another man and gave him a bag containing a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol in exchange for $275.

Basford thanked the Chipley Police Department for its work on making the arrest and putting the case together.

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

Man pleads guilty to juvenile sex crime, sentenced to 40 years

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Admin SA

A Southport man who pled guilty to committing sexual acts on a young teen was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Joseph Allen Kasprzyk, 45, was set to go to trial Monday. Friday, he pled guilty to Lewd and Lascivious Battery, Lewd and Lascivious Molestation, and two counts of Possession of Child Pornography. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark sentenced the defendant to 40 years in prison as a Sexual Predator.

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan was prepared to present witnesses and evidence from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office that the defendant developed a sexual relationship with a girl in her early teens that came to the attention of investigators.

The defendant fled to Georgia, where he was later apprehended. A search warrant on his cell phone revealed videos that showed him having sex with the victim, as well as additional child pornography images.

Under Florida’s statutes involving sexual crimes against children, the defendant is not eligible to receive any gain time for the first 30 years of his sentence.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for its work in putting together the case and locating the defendant in Georgia.

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

Man guilty of threatening deputy’s life

Posted on November 2, 2023November 2, 2023 by Admin SA

A Tallahassee man found guilty of trying to bribe a deputy who took him into custody, and then threatening to kill him and his family when that failed has been sentenced to 4 years in prison, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

A Bay County jury deliberated about an hour Wednesday before finding Marcus Anthony Campbell, 39, guilty as charged of Bribery of a Public Servant and Corruption by Threat Against a Public Official. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark sentenced the defendant to 48 months in prison.

Prosecutor Josh James called one witness – the victim, Bay County Sheriff’s Office Dep. Jacob Navarro – to prove his case.

Navarro’s testimony and the evidence showed the deputy was called to a beach bar on Dec. 27, 2022, around 2:30 a.m. in reference to a disturbance. As a result, the defendant was taken into custody and placed in the back of Navarro’s patrol car.

On the ride to jail, the defendant offered Navarro $10,000 to let him go. When that was ignored, the defendant offered $20,000, then $50,000, to Navarro.

When Navarro refused the bribes, the defendant then began threatening him. Eventually the defendant said that since the deputy refused the bribe, he was going to find him and his family and shoot all of them together. “I guarantee … y’all gonna die,” he told Navarro.

The defendant was on probation at the time for False Imprisonment and Felony Battery.

Basford thanked the Sheriff’s Office for its work on the case. He said it is an example of what law enforcement officers endure on the job that will not be tolerated.

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

Man guilty of shooting clerk during attempted robbery

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Admin SA

Prosecutor Peter Overstreet addresses jurors, upper left, defendant Kedrick McNeil, center and upper right, video jurors watched of the crime is bottom left, and the defendant fleeing just after shooting the clerk is bottom right.

A Bay County jury took less than an hour to find a habitual felon guilty as charged for shooting a clerk during the attempted robbery of a convenience store, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Prosecutor Peter Overstreet makes a point to jurors during his closing argument.

Kedrick Jamal McNeil, 27, was found guilty of Attempted Robbery with Discharge of a Firearm Causing Great Bodily Harm, and Aggravated Battery with a Firearm Causing Great Bodily Harm. After that finding, jurors heard evidence on a third charge of Felon in Possession of a Firearm and took only 2 minutes to return another guilty verdict. Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register set sentencing for Nov. 13.

Prosecutor Peter Overstreet successfully argued McNeil qualified as both a Habitual Violent Felony Offender and a Prison Release Reoffender for sentencing. The defendant was released from prison Feb. 27, 2021, less than 7 months before the attempted robbery.

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Overstreet called seven witnesses, including the victim who was shot in the thigh during the attempted robbery, and presented evidence gathered by Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators to prove the defendant attempted to rob the Beeline Convenience store in Callaway on Sept. 9, 2021.

Testimony showed the victim, a clerk at the store, and three others were standing outside in the early morning hours when they saw a man wearing a dress come around the corner of the building, before disappearing back into the shadows.

The clerk testified that a short time later she was alone in the store restocking. The defendant, still wearing a dress, came into the store. She said he was pointing a gun at her chest and holding out a fuzzy pink backpack, ordering her to “fill it up.”

The clerk said she refused and the man shot her once in the thigh before fleeing. Security video shows the man in the dress approaching the victim with the gun and firing within a 16-second span.

Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators recovered the spent bullet from a wall. They also asked the public for help and released images from the video. A tip came in that led investigators to friends and family of the defendant and he was identified out of a photo lineup by both a witness and the victim.

Basford thanked the Sheriff’s Office for its work in identifying the defendant and solving the case.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas

Heroin trafficker enters plea day of jury selection, gets 25-year sentence

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Admin SA

A Panama City man arrested by Bay County sheriff’s deputies who found nearly 29 grams of heroin during a search of his home has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading no contest just before a jury was picked to hear the case, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Zavon “Nay-Nay” Palmore, 30, was arrested March 23, 2021 and charged with Trafficking in Heroin (More than 28 grams). Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark accepted the no contest plea, adjudicated the defendant guilty, and sentenced him to a minimum-mandatory 25 years under Florida’s enhanced drug trafficking laws. The defendant was also fined $500,000.

RELATED NEWS: Fentanyl trafficker sentenced to 30 years

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan was prepared to present witnesses and evidence proving that sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant on Palmore’s home March 23, 2021, as part of a narcotics investigation.

“Fentanyl gets a lot of the attention lately, and rightly so, but heroin is also an extremely dangerous drug,” Sullivan said. “We cannot, and will not, tolerate it being distributed in our community.”

Deputies found an open shoe box on the restroom floor containing paraphernalia and almost 29 grams of heroin. A gram of the drug can be sold as 10 separate .1 gram doses.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for the work on its case that led to the search warrant and recovery of the potentially fatal drugs.

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

Man convicted of severely injuring nephew with shotgun blast sentenced to 30 years

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Admin SA

MARIANNA – A Jackson County jury Thursday found a man guilty of shooting his nephew in the leg outside a family member’s home in 2021, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Anthony Tyrone Simmons, 52, of Marianna, was found guilty of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm (Great Bodily Harm) after the jury deliberated for about 1 hour and 45 minutes following the two-day trial prosecuted by Lawrence Gill. Circuit Court Judge Ana Maria Garcia sentenced the defendant to 30 years in prison under Florida’s 10-20-Life law.

Anthony Simmons and, upper left, the shotgun shell recovered at the scene, upper right is a shotgun shell matching it that was recovered in his home. Bottom left is a beer can the defendant threw at the victim in his car. Bottom right are some of the Blink cameras recovered from the defendant’s home.

Gill called about a dozen witnesses and put on evidence that proved on Oct. 5, 2021, the victim was visiting his grandmother. The defendant, his uncle, lived next door and there had been family issues between the two.

The victim testified he was sitting in his car outside his grandmother’s house checking social media on his phone with the door cracked open when he heard the defendant’s voice. That got his attention.

“That’s when he sees Anthony Simmons coming from his residence walking towards him with a long gun,” Gill said. “He gets all the way up to the victim’s vehicle, opens the cracked door, takes a step back, and in that blink of an eye fires a round striking the victim in his left leg right above his ankle.”

The shot caused major damage to the victim’s leg. The defendant then threw a beer can at the victim in his car before the victim managed to drive away and get help.

The can was from a special edition beer and another one like it was found during a search of the defendant’s home. Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigators also recovered the spent shotgun shell at the scene and found another just like it inside the defendant’s home.

Deputies also seized about 8 Blink cameras from the defendant’s home. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and sheriff’s investigators were able to determine that footage/video was deleted from the cameras the same night as the shooting. But they also seized the defendant’s wife’s phone. On there they found a video showing the defendant wielding a shotgun outside near the side of his residence in that same timeframe.

Basford thanked the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and FDLE for their work on the case and retrieving key evidence like the video.

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

Man arrested 3 times in 2 months for trafficking sentenced to 30 years

Posted on October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 by Admin SA

30-year sentence for Fentanyl trafficker

Defendant was in jail for trafficking when deputies tracked down large amount of Fentanyl, Methamphetamine hidden at other residences

A Panama City man found guilty of trafficking in large amounts of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine last month was sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Graylin Joseph Patterson, 31, was found guilty Sept. 8 of Trafficking in Fentanyl (more than 14 grams but less than 28 grams), Trafficking in Methamphetamine (more than 28 grams but less than 200 grams), and Unlawful Use of a Communications Device.

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan, shown here in an earlier drug trafficking trial, presented the case against the defendant.

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan presented the case Sept. 8 and it took jurors less than an hour to find the defendant guilty as charged.

Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark Tuesday sentenced the defendant to 30 years in prison – 15 years of which is minimum-mandatory based on Florida’s enhanced drug trafficking penalties. Clark also fined the defendant a combined $200,000.

Sullivan called three witnesses at trial and presented evidence proving the defendant was in the Bay County Jail June 13, 2022, after Bay County Sheriff’s Office Inv. Phillip Hill charged him with trafficking in Fentanyl.

RELATED NEWS: 3 drug traffickers headed for prison

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The evidence showed that Hill, continuing his investigation, learned that the defendant was making contact with others as he continued to attempt to coordinate collection and distribution of the drugs from two separate residences.

Search warrants served at the two residences turned up a total of 248 grams of Methamphetamine and about 53 grams of Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a potent opiate responsible for overdoses across the country because 2 milligrams can be fatal. Because it is made in clandestine labs, the strength often varies and is unpredictable. The 53 grams belonging to the defendant could cause more than 26,000 overdoses.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and investigators Phillip Hill and Doug Cummings for their thorough work and follow up on the case.

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