30-Year Sentence for Man With 700+ Grams of Cocaine

Posted on July 27, 2026July 27, 2026 by Admin SA

A man who picked up a package containing more than 700 grams of cocaine while under surveillance was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday after being found guilty of Trafficking in Cocaine (More than 400 Grams), State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Naiym Muhammad, 33, of Panama City, was also found guilty of Tampering with Evidence Friday. Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay sentenced the defendant to 30 years in prison, with the first 15 years being minimum-mandatory.

Prosecutor Jada Watkins called 5 witnesses – 3 Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives agent, and a Florida Department of Law Enforcement analyst – to prove her case.

“This was a large amount of cocaine and the collaboration between the different agencies involved not only stopped these drugs from making it to the street, it held the defendant accountable,” Watkins said. “The US Postal Inspection Service did a great job by identifying the package as suspicious and notifying law enforcement.”

The evidence showed that in early February 2023, the US Postal Inspection Service notified the Bay County Sheriff’s Office that it had flagged a suspicious package sent from Brownsville, Texas, to an address on E. 7^th Plaza here. Their investigation showed the sender of the package was using a fictitious name and was also using a fictitious name for the recipient at the Panama City address.

As part of an undercover operation the package was delivered to the address while members of the BCSO Special Investigation Division maintained surveillance on the residence. Shortly after the package was delivered Feb. 9, 2023, a man later identified as the defendant pulled into the driveway. He approached the front porch, looked in both directions, picked up the package and returned to his car.

He drove away and investigators followed as they saw him run a stop sign and make an illegal U-turn on 11^th Street. They initiated a traffic stop and saw the defendant throw a phone out of his window before pulling over.

A drug-detecting K-9 alerted for the presence of drugs in the vehicle and investigators saw the package. When they opened it they found the cocaine in vacuum-sealed packaging.

Basford thanked the U.S. Postal Service, BCSO, and all involved for their work that kept the drugs from being sold and led to a successful outcome.

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

Calhoun Sentenced to Death in 2010 Murder of Mia Brown

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Admin SA

State Attorney Larry Basford, left, and Prosecutor Peter Overstreet at Friday’s sentencing

For the second time, Johnny Mack “Skeeto” Calhoun was sentenced to death Friday for the brutal murder of Holmes County resident Mia Brown in 2010, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

As prosecutors, defense attorneys, and members of the victim’s family watched, Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson said he had reviewed all materials submitted and the arguments made by both sides. He then ordered Calhoun be put to death by lethal injection.

It is the second time Calhoun has been sentenced to death by Patterson for kidnapping Brown, keeping her in the trunk of his car overnight, and then burning her alive in it the following day. The first was in 2012, but the defendant was given a new sentencing hearing following a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affecting cases across the state. The jury at the new sentencing recommended death by a 9-3 vote in April.

“Justice in this case has been a long time in coming,” Basford said following sentencing “Now, 5,698 days have passed since Mia Brown was burned alive in her car by the defendant. This was a very cruel and horrific murder.”

Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Patterson announces the sentence.

Basford noted that this is the second time a jury as recommended death for Calhoun, the second time Judge Patterson has ordered the death sentence for him, and he has faith the Florida Supreme Court for the second time will affirm the sentence.

“When all is said and done, the defendant will be strapped to a gurney, a needle will be placed in his arm, he will be injected with a lethal dose of chemicals, and he will draw his last breath,” Basford said.

State Attorney Larry Basford, right, and Prosecutor Peter Overstreet, left, speak to members of the victims’ family.

Basford and Prosecutor Peter Overstreet presented nearly 20 witnesses and evidence at the sentencing phase in April proving the victim was kidnapped, bound, gagged, and burned alive in her car in December 2010.

Basford and Overstreet proved the murder met two of the aggravating factors required by law: it was committed during a kidnapping that facilitated the murder, and it was cold, calculated and premeditated.

Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their work and collaboration on the original case.

In Friday’s 15-page sentencing order, Chief Judge Patterson outlined the facts and history of the case as well as the aggravating and mitigating factors.

“The Defendant is eligible for a sentence of death, and a careful review of the aggravating factors determined to exist beyond a reasonable doubt, which far outweigh the mitigating circumstances, established by a greater weight of the evidence, makes clear that a sentence of death is the only appropriate penalty in the present case,” Patterson wrote.

Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their handling of the case. He especially thanked the victim’s family “for their patience and faith.”

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

Life Sentence for Drug Trafficker, Repeat Offender

Posted on July 23, 2026July 23, 2026 by Admin SA

A conviction for Trafficking in Methamphetamine (more than 14 grams) coupled with a lengthy criminal history combined to land Alphanso Frederick Hall a Life sentence Thursday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Hall, 40, of Panama City Beach, was found guilty of the trafficking charge and Unlawful Use of a 2-Way Communication Device June 30. That trafficking charge is a First-Degree Felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

But Prosecutor Frank Sullivan successfully argued to have Hall sentenced as a Habitual Felony Offender based on previous convictions of Trafficking in Cocaine (2007 and 2013), Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle (2007 and 2013) and other charges. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark agreed, which under Florida law upgraded the maximum punishment to a Life felony.

The defendant most recently served a 54-month prison sentence on drug charges. He was released April 1, 2024. The current Trafficking offense occurred Feb. 18, 2025, less than a year later.

“The defendant has shown no interest in following the law while continuing to deliver drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine onto our streets over the last 20 years,” Sullivan said. “His criminal history shows that when he is released from prison he eventually gets caught poisoning our community again.

“There will be no more chances for Mr. Hall.”

In the latest case, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division had the defendant under surveillance as part of an undercover operation. Sullivan presented witnesses and evidence proving investigators used a confidential informant to set up a controlled drug buy for Feb. 18, 2025.

When investigators arrested the defendant he was in possession of 5 separate baggies of methamphetamine. Each of the baggies held just over 3 grams of meth – often sold as an “8-ball.”

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation that helped bring the case to a successful conclusion.

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

Man Facing Meth Trafficking Trial Enters Plea, Receives 15-year Sentence

Posted on July 23, 2026July 23, 2026 by Admin SA

A Panama City man set to go to trial Thursday for Trafficking in Methamphetamine (more than 28) grams instead entered an open plea Wednesday and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Lajarvis Santez Allen, 40, of Panama City, entered an open plea to the charge, meaning Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay would decide the sentence without an arranged agreement. The charge carries a minimum-mandatory 7 years in prison and up to 30 years.

After hearing from Prosecutor Zachary VanDyke, the defendant, and family members of the defendant, Gay handed down a sentence of 15 years.

“The State would say this isn’t the kind of person we want out on the streets of Florida, and that you sentence him to at least 15 years in the Department of Corrections,” VanDyke said.

VanDyke was prepared to call witnesses and present evidence that Panama City Beach Police Department detectives developed information the defendant was delivering a large amount of methamphetamine to a location on the beach on Feb. 15, 2024.

The defendant was under surveillance and was detained after pulling into a driveway in the area where the transaction was supposed to occur. Detectives said the defendant was moving “furtively” and appeared to be concealing an item in his pants while still in the car.

A drug-detecting K-9 alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle, which was searched without success. But the defendant was found to have about 2 ounces of methamphetamine hidden in his boxer shorts.

Basford thanked the Panama City Beach Police Department for its pre-emptive work that kept the methamphetamine from reaching the streets.

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

JURY: Pittman Stabbed Boyfriend to Death

Posted on July 23, 2026July 23, 2026 by Admin SA

A Panama City man was found guilty as charged Wednesday of Second-Degree Murder in the July 18, 2023 stabbing death of his boyfriend at a Springfield convenience store, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Calvin Lovelle Pittman, 47, of Panama City, was found guilty of Second-Degree Murder and Destruction or Tampering with Physical Evidence after about 45 minutes of deliberation. Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay set sentencing for Sept. 11. The murder charge is a First-Degree Felony punishable by up to Life in prison.

Prosecutor Peter Overstreet called about a dozen witnesses and presented physical evidence in the 2-day trial proving Pittman stabbed Phillip S. Harvey, 20, in the side while the two were arguing in Harvey’s car July 18, 2023. The victim suffered a large, 4-inch-deep gash to his lower left abdomen before exiting the car and stumbling about 20 feet where he collapsed.

A key piece of evidence came from the victim himself. As hospital workers tried to stabilize him for emergency surgery that day, he told two nurses that he was stabbed by Pittman during an argument.

“Mr. Harvey did nothing wrong to deserve this, but as he fought for his life on the way to surgery that day, he did something very right: he was able to identify his attacker by name,” Overstreet said. “He knew his life was in danger and he made very sure that the authorities would know it was Calvin Pittman who did this. He played a large part in bringing his killer to justice.”

“We are grateful the jurors saw this case for what it was, looked at the evidence, and concluded Mr. Harvey was telling the truth.”

Two nurses on duty that day testified the victim identified his attacker. They both also testified he asked them if he was “going to see his mom,” who passed away two years earlier.

One said the victim, suffering from a deep stab wound that went through his spleen and kidney, also asked her if he was going to see his mom as she helped get him ready for surgery.

“He said his boyfriend Calvin Pittman stabbed him during an argument,” she testified. “He told me he knew he was going to see his momma now. They put him under for the surgery and he bled out.”

Prosecutor Morgan Morrell, far left, questions a witness.

Overstreet said the victim’s identification of the killer came with no doubt.

“I submit to you when a man is dying … I don’t think he’s going to somehow fantasize and misrepresent something,” Overstreet said. “He was afraid he was going to die and he wanted his killer caught.”

Surveillance video showed the victim’s car pull up to the gas pumps of a Springfield convenience store the evening of July 18, 2023. Witnesses said there was no disturbance or shouting that drew their attention at first. But 39 seconds after arriving the defendant gets out, and 2 seconds after that the driver gets out clutching his side. He can be seen stumbling away but after 9 seconds collapses.

The passenger, identified as Calvin Pittman, is seen leaving the car and going to the victim, bending over him for a brief period. Seconds after the clerk arrived and began administering first aid, the defendant calmly walked back to the car and 20 seconds later was driving away.

“The defense would have you believe he was rendering aid, he was not,” Overstreet said. “He was essentially covering up what he had done. He didn’t do anything, he didn’t say anything, and when all eyes were on the victim what did Calvin Pittman do? He calmly walked away, shut the passenger’s door … and fled because he did not want to get caught for what he had done.”

Pittman was caught the next day in Panama City by police following “pings” emitted by a T-Mobile device in the vehicle. The defendant had parked it among some other cars hidden by houses and a fence, not visible from the roadway.

Basford thanked the Springfield Police Department, Panama City Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their work on the investigation.

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

Man Found Guilty of Trafficking Fentanyl, Sentenced to 30 years in Prison

Posted on July 16, 2026 by Admin SA

A jury needed only 13 minutes Thursday to find a man guilty of Trafficking in Fentanyl (more than 28 grams) after he drove from Fort Walton Beach to sell an ounce and a half of fentanyl to a Panama City Police Department confidential informant, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Mario Ardale Donaldson, 24, of Fort Walton Beach, was also found guilty of Unlawful use of a Two-Way Communications Device. Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson ordered the 30-year sentence, which includes a minimum-mandatory 25 years and a $500,000 fine under Florida’s enhanced drug trafficking statutes.

Prosecutor Christopher Walters called two Panama City Police Department Corporals who testified Donaldson agreed to the sale through a confidential informant March 11, 2025. The defendant was known as a fentanyl dealer, and told police he was “fronted” the drugs before driving to Panama City. That means he had to pay back his dealer once he made the sale.

But when he got back to Panama City and went to the designated spot for the transaction, he instead was detained by Panama City police.

During questioning at the Panama City Police Department, it was learned the defendant was carrying a large bag of fentanyl in his groin area. He retrieved it for police and admitted his participation in the day’s activities.

“This is a large amount of fentanyl and the Panama City Police Department did an excellent job of reacting to information it developed and making an arrest before it could hit the streets,” Walters said. “Fentanyl is so potent and unpredictable, and it is a plague on the community.”

The testimony and evidence proved that a confidential information told police he knew someone selling large amounts of fentanyl. He called the defendant, with police monitoring, and set up the deal.

Basford thanked the Panama City Police Department for its quick action in the case.

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

60 Months in Prison for Contractor in Hurricane Michael Theft Case

Posted on July 16, 2026 by Admin SA

A Tampa-area contractor found guilty last month of taking tens of thousands of dollars from an 87-year-old man for work that never took place after Hurricane Michael was sentenced to 5 years in prison Thursday.

State Attorney Larry Basford said Mark Eugene Stargardt, 66, of Stargardt and Associates, LLC in Valrico, was found guilty June 16 of Grand Theft (more than $20,000). He has been in custody since. Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay Thursday also ordered the defendant to make $46,606.33 in restitution.

“This has been an absolute nightmare for the victim in this case,” Prosecutor Zachary VanDyke said after the trial. “He did everything right and the defendant took advantage of him and continued to lead him along for months. His perseverance and attention to detail – keeping track of all his records – helped make sure this defendant was held accountable.”

VanDyke called witnesses and presented evidence proving Stargardt and his company cashed checks from the victim totaling about $38,000 between February 2019 and May 2019 even though, by August 2019, no work had been done on the property in 6 months. The only permit pulled was for the initial demolition, which was incomplete, done improperly, and had to be redone by another contractor.

As the victim’s frustration with the lack of progress mounted, he repeatedly contacted the company and its representatives. But at trial he testified that at every turn there was either an excuse or a promise of how it would be made right.

By August the defendant took his complaints to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated and arrested Stargardt.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation that helped bring the case to a successful conclusion.

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

Man Driving Impaired by Meth Guilty in Death of Girlfriend and Unborn Child

Posted on July 15, 2026 by Admin SA

A jury Wednesday agreed that Mark Pegg was under the influence of methamphetamine when he rear-ended a van on U.S. 231, killing his girlfriend and their unborn child.

State Attorney Larry Basford announced Pegg, 39, was found guilty as charged of DUI-Manslaughter in the March 23, 2024 death of his 33-year-old girlfriend and their unborn child. Kristen Clark was 35 weeks pregnant. Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson sentenced Pegg to 30 years in prison – 15 years on each count to run consecutively – and a lifetime of probation.

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan called 6 witnesses, including two experts who said the amount of methamphetamine in the defendant’s blood after the wreck was well above therapeutic ranges and would have impaired his cognitive functioning. The defendant, according to the evidence, never even hit the brakes when he rear-ended a van stopped at a red light at U.S. 231 and State 390 that night.

“These deaths, this wreck, were a terrible tragedy and they were avoidable,” Sullivan said. “Two innocent lives were lost all because this defendant decided to smoke meth and get behind a wheel.

“Whether it is from alcohol, or in this case high levels of methamphetamine, no one is safe from an impaired driver,” he continued. “The Panama City Police Department did an excellent job of thoroughly investigating this case and determining the level of meth in the defendant’s blood was well above therapeutic levels.”

The evidence showed the defendant was driving north on U.S. 231 around 12:10 a.m. March 23, 2024, with his pregnant girlfriend in the passenger seat and a child in the backseat. A Bay County Sheriff’s Office van transporting Spring Break defendants to the jail was stopped at the red light at U.S. 231 and State 390. The defendant never slowed and slammed into the rear of the van, killing his passenger almost instantly. The unborn child died due to the mother’s death.

An interview at the hospital following the crash showed the defendant was asleep when police tried to question him around 2 a.m. Once awake, police bodycam showed he was groggy – he had not been sedated at the hospital – and fell back asleep while being questioned.

State experts said the .43 mg/L of meth in the defendant’s blood – a therapeutic level would never exceed .1-.2 mg/L – combined with his actions and the evidence from the wreck showed he was on the “downward” side of the usage. That means the body is metabolizing the drug, the high is wearing off, and the user becomes tired and depressed.

“They can be in a state where they’re sleeping and hard to wake up,” said Chris Chronister, Lab Director at the University of Florida. “In this case (the high level) is clearly from use and abuse of methamphetamine.”

Panama City Police Sgt. Preston Allyn said he woke the defendant up to interview him but he fell back asleep. When he was told his girlfriend and unborn child had died in the wreck, Allyn said, he didn’t really react.

“The best I can explain it is a lack of emotion,” Allyn said. “His demeanor did not change. It wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.”

Basford thanked the Panama City Police Department and collaborative efforts with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

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

30-Year Sentence for Sexually Assaulting Teens on Campus

Posted on July 10, 2026 by Admin SA

A former Bay High School student was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting two 14-year-old girls in the locker room, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Jaques Cortez Lee, 22, was 19 and a senior at the time of the offenses. He was found guilty in May of Sexual Battery of one of the victims and Lewd and Lascivious Battery on the other for the Nov. 8, 2022 attack.

Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay sentenced the defendant to 30 years for the Sexual Battery and 15 years on Lewd and Lascivious Battery, and that the sentences run concurrently, or at the same time. Judge Gay also designated the defendant as a Sexual Predator.

Prosecutor Morgan McAfee called both victims as witnesses to testify about the Nov. 8, 2022 assaults.

One of the victims was going to meet with the defendant and a friend went with her for safety. The evidence showed that while in the locker room the defendant sexually assaulted both girls. Both victims reported it and underwent forensic interviews at the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center.

Basford thanked the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center for its work and the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for its thorough investigation that helped bring the case to a successful conclusion.

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

102-Month Sentence for Impaired Man who Seriously Injured 2 Teens in Golf Cart

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Admin SA

A 62-year-old man who was driving impaired when his truck turned into oncoming traffic at Bay Point and hit a golf cart head-on, seriously injuring two teens, was sentenced to 8½ years in prison Thursday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Richard Stanley Barker, who hit the girls near his home on Wahoo Road Feb. 4, 2025, earlier pled no contest to 2 counts of DUI With Seriously Bodily Injury. Each charge was punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Barker’s prison term will be followed by 18 months of probation.

Barker was impaired and driving east in the westbound lane of Wahoo Road near his house when his pickup truck hit a westbound golf cart carrying the two girls – 16 and 15 years old at the time. The golf cart was destroyed, one victim had life-threatening injuries, and both victims suffered lifelong damage to their bodies.

Prosecutor Ryan Phillips asked Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson to consider the deterrent function, the severity of the injuries, and that Florida’s Criminal Justice System is designed to punish offenders. The defense asked the court to consider the defendant’s age, his remorse and that he is recovering from cancer.

“Everyone in this courtroom (the victims, the defendant, and their families) received a life sentence that day,” said Stephenson, adding this was one of the most difficult cases he has handled. “Mr. Barker, you will feel the impact of that decision today, if you haven’t already. This decision was not easy for this court; it was not easy for anyone. But there is no way to erase the events of that night and there is a price to pay for that.”

During the 2½ hour sentencing, emotional testimony came from both sides, including the two young victims.

“I’m 17 now … and nothing will ever feel the same as it did before that night,” one victim testified at Thursday’s sentencing. “I have not been able to enjoy my teenage years like most people; I’ve been struggling to recover.”

Her injuries included two fractured legs, a broken pelvis, broken ribs and multiple injuries to her face. She suffers nightmares, PTSD, and debilitating anxiety. She will never run again and is constant pain.

“These scars are permanent reminders of something I never chose and I’ll never forget,” she said. “No 15-year-old should have to rebuild their life because of someone else’s choice. We have to live with the pain he left us with because of his actions.”

The second victim, also 17 now, suffered fractures to both legs, a broken pelvis and a punctured lung.

“I should not have to be in this much pain as a 17-year-old,” she said. “All I can think about is what it felt like to lay there in the street, like I was nothing. I’ve tried to talk about my trauma to help get through it but some things never go away.”

Family members spoke as well.

“We were drug into hell and Richard Barker brought us there,” said the mother of one of the victims. “I had never heard of him before that night. Now his name is forever attached to the worst day of our lives.”

Before the sentence was imposed, Barker apologized.

“I’m very sorry this happened and the remorse I feel, no one in this courtroom knows,” Barker said. “I’m sorry, it was a terrible accident, I’m so sorry.”

Basford thanked the Florida Highway Patrol for its investigation and reconstruction of the crash. He also credited first responders who were able to stabilize the victims until they reached the hospital.

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