Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 12-1-15 Edition

Crime
Man Sentenced To Nearly 6 Years For Tax Fraud
One Murder Suspect Arrested, Second Being Sought
DARZAUGHN WILLIAMS
St. Petersburg Police said at 2:34 a. m. Monday, detectives arrested Darzaughn Williams, 18, and charged him with being an accessory after the fact to second-degree mur- der.
Investigator said shots were fired from a car Sunday night near Johnny’s Food Mart that struck and killed 18-year-old Jerrod Evans.
According to police, Williams was the driver of the car, and they are still looking for the second suspect.
Investigator said Evans was shot after he and Williams had been arguing. Evans was trans- ported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Drive-By
Shooter Targets
Car Occupied
By Woman,
7-Year-Old
On Thursday afternoon, Pinel- las County Sheriff’s deputies re- ported that a drive-by shooter fired four shots at a car occupied by a 30-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter at an inter- section in St. Petersburg.
Deputies reported that at least one bullet struck and shattered the driver’ side window of the woman’s car and she was cut on her arm from the glass. The child was not hurt.
Deputies said the shooting oc- curred at 1:50 p. m. as the mother drove east on 52nd Av- enue North, waited at a stop sign on Haines Road, and a sil- ver vehicle pulled up behind her then next to the driver’s side door.
The shooter, described as a Black male in his 20s, was in the front passenger seat. The sus- pect vehicle fled after the shoot- ing and the woman drove to a nearby store and called 9-1-1.
Woman Gets Life Sentence In Child’s Death
A 28-year-old man was sen- tenced to federal prison last week. He entered a guilty plea on August 6, 2015.
In addition to sentencing Demetrius Wright to serve 5 years and 10 months in prison, U. S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew also entered a money judgment against him in the amount of $165,317.
According to court docu- ments, Wright pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft of government funds, aggra- vated identity theft, wire fraud, filing false income tax claims, and theft of govern- ment funds.
Donald Bethell, who was also prosecuted, was sen- tenced to serve four months in federal prison for the theft of government funds. He was sentenced on August 31, 2015.
Investigators said in court documents that beginning in February 2012, until around December 19, 2014, Wright participated in a scheme to de- fraud the Internal Revenue Service. During the search of his home, police found note- books containing personal in- dentifying information of several others. They also found documents from the Veterans Hospital, which also contained personal indentifying informa-
DEMETRIUS WRIGHT
tion of several others. Officials said Wright filed
more than 500 false tax re- funds in an attempt to obtain $3.6 million illegally. The forms were filed from a laptop computer that has been linked to Wright through his finger- prints. At least one false in- come tax refund was deposited into a bank account belonging to Wright. Several others were deposited into accounts belonging to Bethell.
He agreed to take a 20% commission on any funds moved through his accounts after being approached about participating in the scheme. Bethell ultimately agreed to cooperate during the investi- gation, officials said.
NIKKI TYLER GARDNER-BRADLEY
A 45-year-old woman was sentenced to life in prison last week in connection with the death of a child. The child died in August 2008.
Ms. Nikki Tyler Gardner- Bradley, of Largo, was ac- cused of beating 4-year-old Zineah Taylor Johnson with an electric cord and spat- ula covered with duct tape. She then transported the child to Northside Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
In court documents, officials said Ms. Gardner-Bradley, her boyfriend, Sylvester Carew, 61, and the child had lived together since the end of 2006 through an informal arrangement. The child was Carew’s granddaughter. His daughter was her mother.
After the child’s death an au- topsy was performed and re-
SYLVESTER CAREW
vealed visible signs of abuse and malnutrition. The autopsy also revealed other signs of abuse.
Both Ms. Gardner- Bradley and Carew blamed each other. Both were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Carew pleaded guilty in a plea agreement in Febru- ary 2013. He was sentenced to life in prison and avoided a death penalty sentence if he had been convicted.
Ms. Gardner-Bradley was reportedly found mentally in- competent to stand trial at the time of her arrest. Her trial was slated to begin next week be- fore Pinellas-Pasco County Judge Thane Covert.
However, she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was handed down a sentence of life without the possibility of pa- role, court documents showed.
Four Arrests Made After Stolen Items Found In Storage Unit
Two Arrested For Armed Carjacking
SHAWN LOWMAN
On November 20th at 11:45 p. m., the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reported that Gregory Mills, Jr., parked his car in the parking lot of Sunoco Gas station, 6904 North 56th Street with the en- gine running.
Mills went inside the store, and when he returned, he found Shawn Lowman, 16, in the driver’s seat, and Javeon Morice, 15, in the front passenger seat.
Deputies reported that Morice immediately fled from the vehicle, while Low- man allegedly pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Mills. Mills backed away and Lowman drove away in his vehicle.
During the investigation, de-
JAVEON MORICE
tectives discovered Lowman and Morice lived in Tampa. Once their identities were ver- ified, they were arrested at their residences without inci- dent.
Detectives said other un- identified individuals may be involved, because Lowman and Morice had been seen nearby just before the carjack- ing, getting out of another ve- hicle.
Detective Larry McKin- non said people need to know that it is against the law to leave your car running and un- attended.
“Because he left his car run- ning, Mills lost his car. When he tried to get Lowman out of the car, he could have lost his life.”
DEVIN HUFFMAN
MARQUIS WRIGHT
According to the Hillsbor- ough County Sheriff’s Office, between August 2015 and Oc- tober 2015, southern Hillsbor- ough County experienced a rash of kick-in type residential burglaries. Detectives assigned to the cases began to identify similarities between all the burglaries.
During the burglaries, sev- eral firearms, money, televi- sions, clothing, and game systems were stolen. The sus- pect targeted homes they felt were empty at the time, detec- tives said.
Law enforcement officials ar- rested two suspects relating to
DEVNTE MURDAUGH
MARCUS ASHWOOD
the kick-in burglaries that oc- curred in Pasco County, and were able to tie them into the burglaries that occurred in Hillsborough County.
Devin Huffman, 21, has been charged with armed bur- glary.
Devante Murdaugh, 22, has been charged with armed burglary, violation of proba- tion, armed burglary of a dwelling, criminal mischief, burglary of an occupied dwelling grand theft and grand theft firearm.
Marquis Wright, 22, faces the same charges as Murdaugh, and Marcus Ashwood, 22, is also facing similar charges.
Uncle Sandy Says...
Write it 13, 18, 28, 48 on your heart 30, 41, 43, 44 that every day 1, 7, 20, 50 is the best day in the year. 39, 49, 52, 60
PAGE 20 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2015