Clearwater Criminal Defense Law Blog

Hillsborough County authorities say video footage helped them identify a woman whom they later charged with first-degree murder in connection with a home invasion in Ruskin.Investigators say Samona Louise "Mona" Ramey of Wimauma approached the mobile home of Alexis Martinez and asked him to drive her to another location. According to the police report, Martinez exited his home and was subsequently accosted by two other men, both of whom were armed.Per the investigators, the surveillance camera tells the rest of the story - the men hustled Martinez and Juanita D. Solorzano, also within the...

A man authorities say is responsible for the shooting death of a Largo man was tracked down and arrested at his home in Orlando last week and is due to be returned to Pinellas County to face charges. Deputies of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office say Jesse Cairo Jr. of Largo and Dale Eugene Washington II of Orlando spent an evening at two adult nightclubs in Clearwater in the company of two females whose identities are not yet known. Alleging that both men were engaged in the illicit drug trade, investigators say that the group returned to Cairo's residence and eventually became embroiled...

Tampa police say a Clearwater man drunkenly drove the wrong way on the Veteran's Expressway last week, causing (and leaving) two car accidents in the process.Daniel Livoti stands accused of piloting his vehicle in a southerly direction on the northbound lanes of the Expressway late last Tuesday night and into the early morning hours the next day. According to authorities, Livoti was the subject of several frantic reports to 9-1-1 operators and was witnessed by deputies of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.Livoti's first alleged incident took place near I-275, after which police say he...

A Tampa man is in jail this afternoon facing charges of first-degree murder after Hillsborough County authorities say he admitted to breaking into an East Lake-Orient Park home and attacking its owner with a hammer.Deputies say Sean Joseph Anderson broke into a home belonging to Wendell Scott in the pre-dawn hours of February 5. Making his ingress via an unlocked rear entrance, Anderson allegedly proceeded directly to the bedroom and, finding Scott soundly asleep, commenced to attack him with a hammer he brought along for the occasion.Allegedly striking the 63-year-old Scott about the head...

A Tampa man who allegedly fled the country to avoid responsibility for a deadly drunk-driving accident was sentenced to fifteen years in Florida prison last week.Hillsborough County authorities say Christopher Ponce was intoxicated while driving southbound in the northbound lanes of I-275 one summer day in 2012. According to investigators Ponce piloted his then-new Ford Fusion head-on into a 2000 Ford Mustang driven by William Angel.The accident, which took place near the I-4 interchange, killed the 20-year-old Angel instantly. Two of the Mustang's other three occupants were severely injured...

The proprietor of an East Tampa soul-food restaurant is accused by the Federal government of falsifying scores of tax returns using stolen identities and retrieving the fraudulent refunds via debit card transfers at her restaurant.Natalie Rene Panko pled guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds, three counts of theft of government property, three counts of access device fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft. According to federal attorneys, in late 2012 Panko and two other associates filed over six dozen federal tax returns in the name of...

A Ruskin man is in custody after authorities say he trapped another man with his vehicle and attempted to kill him with a firearm.Hillsborough County deputies say Earl Williams was in his black Cadillac sedan at a convenience store near North U.S. Highway 41 and Shell Point Road mid-morning on January 10 when a Ford Explorer driven by Derrick Javonte Gilghrest pulled in behind Williams' vehicle in a manner that made it impossible for it to leave.Upon coming to a stop, investigators say Gilghrest leveled a handgun at Williams' car and fired, striking him once in the back. Gilghrest...

A Naples man with a significant history of DUI convictions has been charged with several more after troopers say he caused an accident that led to the injury of three children.Per the Florida Highway Patrol, Jesus Sandoval was driving his 2004 Ford Explorer southbound on I-75 with his three children as passengers on the evening of December 28 when a Ford F-150 piloted by Billy Noel Catherwood struck its rear portion as it approached the exit to State Road 674.Troopers say the 35-year-old father was buckled in to the vehicle and was only lightly injured in the impact. Two of his children were...

A death by misadventure in the fall of 2016 is being laid at the feet of a Spring Hill man whom authorities arrested late last month, 453 days after the incident.Hernando County authorities allege Albert Henry Nickerson, Jr. was responsible for the September 2016 demise of his mother Beverly Ann Nickerson. Beverly passed away on the 26th of that month due to what was characterized in an arrest warrant as several blunt-force injuries. Also allegedly contributing to her passing was an inordinate amount of medicine administered to her, including morphine and other prescribed substances.Deputies...