FORT MYERS, F l a . – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber sentenced Shauntavus Berklin (34, Fort Myers) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing firearms as a convicted felon and distributing fentanyl. The court also ordered Berklin to forfeit the firearms he illegally had possessed. Berklin had...

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Hector Enrique Veliz Villeda (30, Hialeah) pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Veliz Villeda faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has...

OCALA , Fla . – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. sentenced Tymane D. Hamilton (30, Phoenix, Arizona) to 16 years and 8 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Hamilton had pleaded guilty on April 19, 2022. According to court documents and evidence presented in...

MIAMI – A South Florida fentanyl dealer whose product killed a man was sentenced this week to 20 years in federal prison for the distribution of a controlled substance. On April 15, 2021, Donte McCray met with another man at a 7-11 convenience store in Lake Worth, Fla., with the...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With the sentencing of the last of 16 defendants, federal prosecutors concluded prosecution of a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking organization operating primarily within Franklin and Gulf Counties. The convictions and sentences were announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. “Cooperative and...

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the return of an indictment charging Bradenton residents Nathasha Prieto (33) and Angel Hernandez Coss (37) with conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. If convicted on all counts, each faces...

TAMPA , Fla . – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Justin Roberson (34, Clearwater) pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Roberson faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set...

TAMPA , Fla . – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Ubertino Zavala-Perez (58, Plant City) today pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Zavala-Perez faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. According to the plea agreement, Zavala-Perez...

TAMPA, F la. – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced Evaristo Marin-Dominguez (34, Michoacan, Mexico) to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Marin-Dominguez had pleaded guilty on April 26, 2022...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Stephen Lance Gamble, 46, of Perry, Florida, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, on August 31, 2022, after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine or 500 grams or more...