Month: April 2013

Patrick Jay Banks, the founder of a St. Petersburg halfway house, was arrested last week on charges of defrauding investors and a federal substance abuse treatment program out of as much as $50,000. Police allege Banks cooked up an elaborate scheme to obtain federal...

In a relatively unusual situation, Khadafy Mullens pleaded guilty this week to two charges of first-degree murder. The plea appears to have been made without any sort of plea agreement with the prosecution. A judge will now decide whether Mullens should be sentenced...

Earlier this month, criminal defense attorney Bjorn Brunvand of this office represented Delmer Smith in his Manatee County "Spencer hearing". Smith was convicted of first-degree murder last August. A jury recommended that he be sentenced to death. A judge must still...

Earlier this month, criminal defense attorney Bjorn Brunvand of this office represented Delmer Smith in his Manatee County "Spencer hearing". Smith was convicted of first-degree murder last August. A jury recommended that he be sentenced to death. A judge must still...

Christopher Gamel, a social studies teacher at James W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of DUI property damage and personal injury after the car he was driving collided with a patrol car and tow truck on SR-54...

Sylvester Johnson, a resident of Palace Mobile Home Park in Lealman, has been charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his neighbor last week.According to Pinellas County sheriff's detectives, Johnson went to Unit 447, where William David Casey lived,...

Authorities allege Raynaldo Figueroa-Sanabria stabbed and killed an 75-year-old man and 74-year-old woman on their 72-foot-long houseboat last week in the Loggerhead Marina in St. Petersburg. He has been charged with first-degree murder in Pinellas County.The bodies...

A 22-year-old airman first class, stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend. Last weekend, officers responded to the Coves of Brighton Bay apartment complex after receiving a 911 call from airman...

The body of Joseph M. Coney was discovered earlier this week facedown in a Lake Wales yard at about 4 a.m. Homicide detectives from the Polk County sheriff's office and Lake Wales police opened a homicide investigation after determining that Coney had been shot.During...