Clearwater Criminal Defense Law Blog

A man on the run from Hillsborough County authorities for almost six years was apprehended in Matamoros, Mexico by officials from the Department of Homeland Security last week.Mario Sanchez Mercado, 27, was apprehended by Mexican authorities in the city just opposite of Brownsville, Texas, 940 miles from Tampa. He is sought by Hillsborough County authorities due to allegations that he fatally shot Gregorio Santana, 23, and wounded his twin brother Felix.Authorities say that, on October 5, 2010, members of the Latin Life gang became embroiled in an argument with members of the West Side gang...

A Tampa man who has been wanted in connection with allegedly killing another in a drunken wrong-way driving wreck in 2012 was arrested last week on the southern coast of Spain, 4,600 miles away. Authorities allege that Christopher Ponce (aged 22 at the time) drove his new 2012 Ford Fusion south on the northbound lanes of I-275 near the downtown exit in the early morning hours of July 19, 2012. He is alleged to have driven his vehicle head-on into another vehicle driven by twenty-year-old William Brooks Angel, with twenty-two year-old Robert Patrick Newberry and twenty-year-old Jay Davis as...

A Tampa man is facing charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after an alleged road rage incident on Thursday.Authorities allege that 29-year-old Ezekiel Henson was involved in an altercation with a group of motorcyclists on N Nebraska Avenue at around 6:30 P.M. Witnesses say a handful of motorcyclists were weaving in and out of traffic when, at 109th Avenue, Henson and one of the motorcyclists became involved in an argument. The motorcyclist, 33-year-old Carlos R. Rodriguez, subsequently turned and retreated to his motorcycle. Allegedly Henson shot Rodriguez at this point, then...

An alleged murderer is still at large today after Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies say that he shot and killed his girlfriend and wounded another man who attempted to intervene.Antelmo Ontiveros, 28, allegedly fatally shot his girlfriend, Banesa Martinez Herrera, 30, after he arrived uninvited to a barbecue on the 1500 Block of Wishing Well Way in Clair-Mel. Shots rang out at around 2 A.M. Thursday morning, and afterwards Herrera lay dead and Christian Picazo-Guzman, who attempted to physically prevent the shooting, had himself been wounded in the leg. According to local media,...

Richard Hoagland sits in a Pasco County jail cell today. Declared legally dead in 2003, state and federal authorities say that he has been living life as Terry Jude Symansky, who has been deceased for 25 years next Saturday.According to local media, research conducted three years ago by the real Symansky's nephew on a popular genealogy site turned up a marriage license from 1995. Although Symansky's family initially delayed contacting authorities, allegedly out of fear that he might harm them, they relented and came forward in April.After allegedly taking on Symansky's identity, Hoagland...

A St. Petersburg man paralyzed in a collision with an unmarked Pinellas County Sheriff's vehicle has agreed with the sheriff's office on a $16 million settlement on Wednesday.Local media quoted Sheriff Bob Gualtieri as saying that his office accepts complete responsibility for the accident and believes that this is the best way to rectify the situation. According to Gualtieri, this settlement is likely the largest in the history of the Sheriff's Office.There seems to be little argument about the fact pattern - on January 12, Cpl. Joe Miner, who was driving an unmarked Buick LaCrosse with two...

A Sarasota woman was arrested last week after allegedly being found unconscious in a vehicle with two young children and a variety of illegal drugs.Sarasota County sheriff's deputies say Veronica Posey was discovered at half past seven in the evening on July 1 on Ashton Road a few blocks east of Swift Rd. They say she was unconscious in the driver's seat. Officers also indicated that two young children were unattended in the back seat.Deputies allege that, upon searching the vehicle, they discovered Tramadol, Alprazolam, Hydromorphone, amphetamine, crack cocaine, and a small amount of...

A New Jersey cyclist met his fate Wednesday evening on the W. Howard Frankland Bridge, allegedly the victim of a drunken hit-and-run driver from Miami.Authorities pronounced John M. Brennan, 44, dead at the scene of the accident on Frankland Bridge Wednesday night. Florida Highway Patrol troopers apprehended William B. Matthews, 67, shortly after the incident and transported him to the Pinellas County Jail, where he was booked just past midnight Thursday morning on charges relating to DUI manslaughter.Troopers allege that Matthews struck Brennan while he (Matthews) was driving his Toyota...

Robert Cesaire struck and killed motorcyclist Charles "Sonny" Ferguson in a head-on collision while drunk and driving the wrong way on an I-95 exit ramp seventeen years ago. On Friday, June 17, Cesaire was finally sentenced to seventeen years in prison for the slaying.Cesare, today aged 68, accepted a plea deal at the time and was out on a $13,700 bond with ten days to get his affairs in order prior to reporting to prison. At the time, his deal with prosecutors would have him serving ten years in prison, followed by deportation back to his home country of Haiti. However, rather than living...