Six jurors needed only 14 minutes Tuesday to find a man guilty of Trafficking in Methamphetamine (200 or more grams) and three other charges, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Prosecutor Dustin Miller called only three witnesses – the two Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators and a Florida Department of Law Enforcement analyst to prove the case against 53-year-old Ronnie Michael Taylor. He was found guilty of the trafficking charge, and Possession of a Controlled Substance, Fleeing and Attempting to Elude police, and Tampering with Evidence.

Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register sentenced the defendant to 30 years in prison. Under Florida’s enhanced drug trafficking Statutes, the defendant faced at least a 15-year minimum-mandatory sentence and was also fined $250,000.

“The defendant was caught red-handed with nearly 400 grams of methamphetamine while he was on felony probation,” Miller said. “He threw 360 grams out of the vehicle as he fled from law enforcement. The jury held the defendant accountable for his actions.”

BCSO Inv. Phillip Hill attempted to stop the defendant’s vehicle near Florida Avenue and 11^th Street for an expired tag on March 3, 2022. The defendant kept gesturing out the window as if he was going to stop but kept driving. They went through a parking lot before hitting Florida Avenue, where Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Steve Cook, who had been nearby, joined in.

 

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The defendant turned into an apartment complex, followed by Cook, while Hill sped around to the other end of complex where the parking lot emptied onto 11^th Street. The two sandwiched the defendant’s vehicle and he stopped. They found about 36 grams of methamphetamine in the car. The defendant ultimately told them he had thrown out a larger bag during the pursuit and pointed out where it was. Deputies recovered about 360 grams of methamphetamine from that baggie.

“The Sheriff’s Office takes these trafficking cases seriously and so do we,” Miller said. “Working together, those drugs never made it into the hands of users and this defendant won’t be peddling anything in our community in the foreseeable future.”

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for another case of proactive work that intercepted a large quantity of drugs.

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

A man found guilty of child abuse, usually punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison, was sentenced to 8 years Tuesday because his lengthy criminal history qualified him as a Habitual Felony Offender, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

And because Kevin Daniel Fortier, 41, had only been out of prison about 2 years, he will have to serve the first 5 years of this sentence day-for-day as a Prison Release Reoffender.

“The defendant has a documented history of violence and, despite having gone to prison three times, continues to exhibit violent behavior,” Prosecutor Josh James said. “He is a danger to the public and Bay County is made safer with his incarceration.”

A jury found Fortier guilty of Child Abuse July 6 after hearing witnesses and evidence proving that Fortier slapped a child hard enough during an argument in 2021 to knock her off-balance and cause swelling and bruising to her eye.

Fortier, who had previously been to prison three times, got out of prison in 2019 for Trafficking in Methamphetamine and Felony Fleeing and Attempting to Elude.

Based on those previous convictions, James successfully argued that the defendant should be sentenced as a Habitual Felony Offender, meaning he faced a maximum of 10 years in prison instead of 5. He also successfully argued that because he had been released from prison two years earlier, he should have to serve the first 5 years of his sentence day-for-day as a Prison Release Reoffender.

Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark agreed, ordering the 8-year sentence and enhanced penalties.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center for their work on the case.

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

A 21-year-old facing three drug trafficking charges – for Fentanyl, Methamphetamine and Heroin – pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

State Attorney Larry Basford announced Oscar Leiva-Casas, 21, of Los Angeles, Calif., will have to serve a minimum-mandatory 15 years of that sentence under Florida’s drug trafficking laws. The defendant was headed for trial before entering an open plea of no contest to the trafficking charges before Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register. An open plea means the defendant no longer contests the charges and is leaving the sentencing decision up to the judge.

Prosecutor Nichole Pieper was prepared to present evidence and witnesses proving the defendant was in possession of 12 pounds of Methamphetamine, and 120 grams each of Fentanyl and Heroin, when the vehicle he was in was stopped by authorities Aug. 5, 2021, for a traffic violation.

Sheriff’s Office Inv. Steven Cook was leading an investigation into the importation of drugs into Bay County and developed information that Leiva-Casas was involved in resupplying local dealers. Following a traffic stop by Panama City Beach police, a Sheriff’s Office drug K-9 alerted on the vehicle, indicating it held drugs.

A search turned up 1 pound of Methamphetamine, the Fentanyl, and the Heroin in a backpack the defendant had carried to the vehicle. Another 11 pounds of Methamphetamine were found wrapped individually in a box in the cargo area.

Fentanyl is a powerful narcotic that, because of its strength of tiny doses, is causing overdose deaths across the nation. The 120 grams of Fentanyl seized with this arrest could have caused about 60,000 overdoses, Pieper said.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for again working to make arrests and seize drugs before they have a chance to leave the dealers’ hands and reach the streets, and Panama City Beach Police for their assistance.

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

A woman who initially claimed her boyfriend shot himself in the head before admitting she pulled the trigger, was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Nicole Marie Harris, 38, pled guilty as charged Friday to Second-Degree Murder with a Firearm in the Jan. 20 shooting death of her 31-year-old boyfriend, Vivian George Smith, in his Panama City Beach home.

Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register accepted Harris’ sentence of 40 years in prison, the first 25 of which are minimum-mandatory under Florida’s 10-20-Life law involving the use of a firearm in a crime.

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Prosecutor Peter Overstreet was prepared to prove at trial that the defendant shot the victim once in the head on Jan. 20 as they sat on his couch. The defendant initially told Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators that the victim shot himself. Eventually she admitted that she and the victim had been arguing and she fired the shot after the victim had fallen asleep.

At sentencing, Overstreet read a prepared statement from the vicim’s son, who wrote that because of the defendant’s actions he lost a part of himself when his father died.

“Because of you, I cry myself to sleep every night and I have become a very sad and depressed child,” he said in his statement. “I hurt so bad and nothing can ever make that pain go away.”

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for their work in determining what happened that night.

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

 

PANAMA CITY – A woman who hit a multi-passenger golf cart with her truck, ejecting all seven occupants and leaving some hospitalized for months, received the maximum sentence Wednesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Courtney Spears, 28, whose Blood-Alcohol Level (BAL) was more than three times the legal limit at the time of the 2020 crash, was charged with six counts of DUI With Serious Bodily Injury, and one count of DUI (Enhanced) because of her high BAL. She entered an Open Plea of guilty to the charges, meaning Circuit Judge Shonna Young Gay would decide her sentence after hearing testimony.

Prosecutor Barbara Beasley, after testimony from some of the victims and their families about the severity of their injuries that will last a lifetime, asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence.

“As we grow up and age, we are taught there are consequences for everything we do,” Beasley said. “And her Blood-Alcohol Level was .25 – three times the legal limit. She made a terrible decision that day that will affect the victims for the rest of their lives.”

Beasley asked for a sentence of 5 years on each of the first six counts, with each sentence to run consecutively, or one after another. Judge Gay agreed. The defendant was given time served on the seventh charge.

Beasley was prepared to prove that on the night of March 16, 2020, the defendant was driving a large pickup truck south on Lakeview Circle on Panama City Beach. The victims were driving west on Front Beach Road in a “Low Speed Vehicle,” or street-legal golf-cart type vehicle.

The evidence showed the defendant turned left into the path of the LSV, hitting it almost head-on and ejecting all of its occupants. Blood was drawn from her at the scene and it showed a BAL of .25.

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All the victims suffered injuries. Several were hospitalized for lengthy periods of time and will require lifelong care. Two of the most critically injured spoke during sentencing.

Hailey Welch of North Carolina was 18 at the time of the wreck and does not remember it, she said. She spent 21 days in a medically induced coma following the wreck. She suffered a fractured pelvis (now held together with a plate that will have to be replaced), compound fractures of her fibula and tibula, a fractured femur, a blow to the head that left her with lifelong brain trauma. She faces a hip replacement and other surgeries in the future.

“I am changed by you, your selfish decision,” Welch testified. “I don’t know what it’s like to not be in pain. My future does not look good. Pain will always be a part of my life.”

Welch said she was on so much pain medication that she began hallucinating, so she gave up the pills and is learning to live with the pain.

”Not only was her body shattered,” Welch’s mother, Cathy, added. “So were her dreams.”

Speaking to the defendant, Cathy Welch said, “When you decided to drink like that and drive, the accountability is on you. There is only one person to blame, and that is yourself.”

Basford thanked the Panama City Beach Police Department for its handling of a chaotic scene and investigative work, as well as the paramedics who were credited by two victims with saving their lives.

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

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has named Josh James, a 14^th Judicial Circuit prosecutor, as the FWC’s Prosecutor of the Year.

The announcement was made at the FWC’s recent meeting in St. Petersburg.

“Prosecutors like Josh James who establish relationships and share a passion for conservation are critical to our success,” said Col. Brian Smith, Director of the FWC Division of Law Enforcement. “We are fortunate to have such an involved prosecutor working alongside our officers helping to protect the people and natural resources of Florida.”

James, who joined the Bay County office of the 14^th Judicial Circuit in 2021 and prosecutes felony cases, said the nomination was a surprising honor and winning Prosecutor of the Year for the state is humbling.

“I was just very honored. First, to be nominated by my local officers, and even more so to be selected by Col. Smith,” James said. “I’ve only been a prosecutor for 2 years, so I didn’t expect to be recognized by the FWC this early on in my career.”

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Rondeau cited James’ collaboration with FWC officers in the prosecution of multiple cases ranging from hunting over a baited field and being over the bag limit of deer, to BUI (Boating Under the Influence) and the removal of derelict vessels.

Rondeau noted that James has ridden along with FWC officers to see for himself what they encounter and learn more about wildlife law enforcement and is always available when FWC officers have questions about a case.

It was the prosecution of those individual cases that led to James being nominated by FWC Northwest Regional Commander Fred Rondeau.

James, his wife, and daughter attended the FWC conference to receive the award.

“What they do is important and often overlooked,” James said of FWC officers. “A lot of what they do is try to educate the public as well as enforcement and I enjoy working with them. It’s reflective of the relationship between our offices.”

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

A federal judge sentenced the fourth defendant in a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking organization operating primarily in Washington County, announced Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Panama City Resident Office Task Force. They worked closely with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office with help from the Chipley Police Department, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the 14th Judicial Circuit’s State Attorney’s Office in Washington County. Assistant United States Attorney Walter Narramore prosecuted the case.

 

The defendants and their sentences were:

•  Ashley Zurica, 43, of Caryville, Florida, 220 months in prison
•  Ashley Brown, 41, of Caryville, Florida, 180 months in prison
•  Donald Skipper, 55, of Chipley, Florida, 180 months in prison
•  William Carter, 52, of Wausau, Florida, 168 months in prison

“Methamphetamine distribution is a scourge on large and small communities of our district,” stated U.S. Attorney Coody. “With our dedicated law enforcement partners, we are committed to identifying and aggressively prosecuting those who threaten our citizens’ health and safety by distributing such addictive, controlled substances. These sentences demonstrate that resolve.”

All will be on supervised release when they are eventually released from custody.

In 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Panama City Resident Office Task Force initiated an investigation targeting the distribution of multiple kilograms of methamphetamine by Ashley Zurica, Ashley Brown, Donald Skipper, William Carter, and others in Washington county and surrounding areas of north Florida.  Over the course of the three-year investigation, DEA, working with state and local partners, compiled evidence to secure indictments on four Federal defendants in the Northern District of Florida in addition to indictments in other federal districts and multiple State of Florida defendants.  The investigation led to the seizure of several kilograms of methamphetamine, and the identification of illegal drug sources in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.

“Our work with the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Florida and DEA is resulting in convictions and removing illegal narcotics from our community,” said Washington County Sheriff Kevin Crews. “We remain committed to working with our federal, local, and state law enforcement partners to keep these highly addictive and destructive drugs out of our community.”

“Methamphetamine is a highly addictive and destructive substance, which can inflict great harm to our communities,” said DEA Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter.  “The success of this investigation is a direct result of the collaboration between the DEA Miami Field Division and our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, working together to keep our communities safe and healthy.”

This case resulted from a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office,

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

BONIFAY – A man found guilty of sexually abusing a minor is facing up to 30 years in prison at his Sept. 1 sentencing, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

A jury took about 25 minutes Tuesday to find Vu Huy Huynh, 34, a Dothan, Ala. native, guilty as charged of Lewd or Lascivious Battery on a Minor and Unlawful Sexual Activity with Certain Minors. Circuit Court Judge Russell S. Roberts set sentencing for Sept. 1.

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Holmes County Chief Prosecutor Ben Keown and Prosecutor Lawrence Gill called four witnesses and presented evidence proving to jurors that the defendant began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old when he was 30 years old and continued it for two and a half years.

Evidence at trial showed that 6 months after the relationship ended, the juvenile confided in someone who also knew the defendant and the victim was encouraged to report the crime.

The Bonifay Police Department began its investigation in late 2021 and it led to the defendant’s arrest in January, 2022.

Basford thanked the Bonifay Police Department for its hard work on this case. The State Attorney’s Office would also like to thank the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center for their diligence and assistance in the investigation of the case and all witnesses who came forward to help find justice for the victim.

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

A man who was drunk and driving the wrong way on Panama City Beach Parkway when he hit a woman head-on, critically injuring her, was sentenced to 3 years in prison Friday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Former WMBB-TV reporter Tess Rowland, who has endured multiple surgeries since the 2019 wreck, told defendant Jacob Savage at sentencing that he changed her life forever when he chose to drink and drive.

“You may be serving three years, but you, Mr. Savage, have handed me a life sentence,” Rowland said in court. “There isn’t a day I don’t live in pain, see my scars and shutter, or replay the final moments of the crash in my mind. All because you had to celebrate your 22nd birthday.”

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan told Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark that if the case went to trial he would prove the defendant was intoxicated and in possession of marijuana and a controlled substance at the time of the wreck. He pled No Contest and Judge Clark adjudicated him guilty. In addition to prison, he was given 6 years’ probation, his driver’s license was suspended for a year after he serves his sentence, and he must perform 250 hours of public service work. The judge reserved ruling on restitution.

Rowland was involved in the plea process and in agreement with the resolution.

“You are a lot stronger person after the accident, you had to be to make it through that,” Clark said. “And I think you are an inspiration not just for people who are victims of DUI drivers, but for victims of other crimes.”

Rowland was headed to work, eastbound on Panama City Beach Parkway in her 2019 Honda SUV, on May 4, 2021. The defendant, driving a 2007 Chevy Avalanche, turned west into the eastbound lanes and a short distance later hit the Honda head-on, destroying the vehicle. The defendant was not injured, and tests showed his BAC (blood-alcohol content) was 1 ½ times the legal limit of .08.

In addition to the multiple surgeries for the damage to her right shoulder and leg, Rowland is preparing for a shoulder replacement and still cannot lift more than 5 pounds with that arm.

“My knee still gives out on me after I’ve walked a long distance, and I’ve learned to tolerate constant pain,” she said at sentencing. “My shoulder is still classified as broken as the plates and screws have backed out, meaning I could need a shoulder replacement as soon as this year.”

Rowland said she could never forgive the defendant but would pray for him for the sake of others.

“Because if you make this choice again, you could easily kill someone,” she said. “Let it be known that I made a choice to survive, you did not leave me in a position to.”

Basford thanked the multiple agencies involved in the investigation, including the Panama City Beach Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol.

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

A judge sentenced Jeremiah Beazley to Life in prison Friday, one day after a jury took about 40 minutes to find him guilty of murder, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Beazley, 46, was found guilty-as-charged Thursday of Second-Degree Murder with a Firearm and Felon in Possession of a Firearm after a two-day trial for the March 31, 2021 shooting death of Bryan Thomas Anderson. He was facing 25 years to Life in prison under Florida’s 10-20-Life Statute.

“This is probably one of the most well-known criminals in this area,” Prosecutor Peter Overstreet told Circuit Judge Dustin Stephenson in asking for a Life sentence Friday. “I think just about everything that could be done to try and correct that have been tried and have failed.”

Overstreet said the only way to protect people from the defendant was for him to be kept in prison, which is what members of the victim’s family also requested.

“It’s clear to me that Mr. Anderson was well-liked and loved by all who knew him,” Judge Stephenson said to the defendant before sentencing him to Life in prison. “What’s also abundantly clear … is Mr. Anderson is no longer with us and he’s no longer with us because you killed him.”

Overstreet called 13 witnesses ranging from the victim’s wife and a juvenile who was in the Southport trailer when the victim was shot, to 5 Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies and 4 Florida Department of Law Enforcement experts.

The testimony and evidence proved that the victim had given the defendant a place to stay, and that the two were friends although they sometimes argued about what they believed were governmental conspiracies.

The morning of the shooting, the victim, who lived a short distance away, walked to the trailer where the defendant was staying and went into his bedroom. The other occupants of the trailer who testified said they could hear the two talking, but did not hear raised voices or any indication of a scuffle or fight.

They testified they were not concerned until they heard gunshots from the bedroom. The defendant left the bedroom without explanation, got into the passenger’s side of a car that was leaving the residence and hid the gun at a nearby park. The victim was found in the bedroom shot twice, once in the back. The defendant was captured later that day by Bay County sheriff’s deputies.

Basford thanked the Sheriff’s Office for its work in capturing the defendant so quickly and the case it put together, as well as the FDLE for its expert testimony that included findings that the defendant was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the shooting. The victim had no intoxicants in his system.

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