Page 44 - Florida Sentinel 12-24-21

Crime
Tampa Man Linked
Woman Sentenced For Embezzling
Drive-By Shooting
Leaves 5 People
Injured By Gunfire
Last week, police arrested a 22-year-old man in con- nection with a shooting. The shooting took place around 2 a. m., and left 5 people in- jured.
According to the Tampa Police Department, a group of people were standing out- side when unidentified sus- pects drove by and fired several rounds into the crowd.
Five people were injured by gunfire, but none suffered life-threatening injuries. Last Wednesday, police ar- rested Jateris Coley in con- nection with the shooting.
Detectives are actively working the investigation and believe the gun in Coley’s possession at the time of his arrest, may be tied to multiple shootings in the area.
Coley was transported to the Hillsborough County Jail
JATERIS COLEY
and charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun, among other charges. He has since been released on bond.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Tampa Police at (813) 231- 6130 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477); or online at www.crimestop- pers.com.
To Shooting In
Sarasota Arrested
Over $900,000
A 21-year-old Tampa man was taken into custody and charged by the Sarasota Police Department. Geno Jackson is facing charges that include attempted murder and posses- sion of a firearm by a con- victed felon.
According to the Sarasota Police, officers were near Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boule- vard and Orange Avenue when they heard gunshots in the area of 28th Street and Leon Avenue.
Police found a man run- ning from 28th Street towards Noble Avenue, and the man ignored officers telling him to stop and ran inside a home in the 2800 block of Nobles Av- enue. Jackson was taken into custody while investigators were on scene.
Sarasota police officers said they noticed a car with a bullet hole in the center of the front windshield. The depart- ment said a man and two other women who were stand- ing next to the car told officers they were standing near it when shots were fired in the area.
GENO JACKSON
One witness told police that she and Jackson had been dating for more than a year, and he got jealous of her relationship with the victim.
Sarasota police said the woman and Jackson got into a fight earlier in the day.
Other witnesses told police they saw Jackson, who was wearing a black ski mask and had a gun in hand, drop the gun, take the ski mask off, and grab the gun from the bushes.
Investigators with the de- partment executed a search warrant at the home on No- bles Avenue and found a black ski mask, a magazine with 9mm ammunition, loose bul- lets, and two guns.
Last Friday, a federal judge sentenced a Tampa woman to prison for embezzlement. She is accused of taking more than $900,000 from her employer.
U. S. District Judge Vir- ginia M. Hernandez Cov- ington sentenced Alicia Sheri Morgan, 43, to 15 months in federal prison for conspiracy to embezzle $906,109 from her employer. The Court also ordered Mor- gan to forfeit $373,126, which is traceable to proceeds of the offense.
Morgan had pleaded guilty on August 23, 2021.
According to court docu- ments, between May 2015 and May 2019, Morgan served as a finance supervisor for her employer. She exploited that role to embezzle $906,109 from the employer by causing the employer to issue approx- imately 300 checks to Mor- gan’s co-conspirators, whom Morgan falsely and fraudu- lently represented were ven- dors that had provided services to the employer and were, therefore, due payment.
Specifically, Morgan drafted false and fraudulent invoices, check requests, and medical claim forms, indicat- ing that the fake vendors (co- conspirators) had performed services and even met with medical patients. Through creation and submission of these false and fraudulent documents to her employer, Morgan caused the employer to issue payments to her co- conspirators. Morgan then diverted many of these pay- ments into her personal bank account and a bank account she shared with one of the co- conspirators. Morgan used much of the ill-gotten money for her personal expenses.
Jury Finds Convicted Felon Guilty Of Possessing Ammunition
A federal jury has found Victor Ricardo Grant, 39, of Brandon, guilty of posses- sion of ammunition by a con- victed felon. Grant faces a minimum mandatory sen- tence of 15 years, and up to, life in federal prison. His sen- tencing hearing is scheduled for March 4, 2022.
Grant was initially in- dicted on February 4, 2020, and a superseding indictment was filed on September 28, 2021.
According to testimony presented at trial, federal agents, along with Florida local law enforcement agen- cies, investigated a series of credit union robberies and carjackings committed in Hillsborough County and Pinellas County in 2019.
As part of the investiga- tion, the FBI obtained a search warrant for Grant’s residence in Brandon. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and federal investigators searched
VICTOR RICADO GRANT
Grant’s home on January 22, 2020, and found approxi- mately 400 rounds of 7.62 cal- iber ammunition inside backpacks in Grant’s bed- room closet and in the attic. All of the ammunition in the backpack in the attic was loaded in magazine clips for an AK-47 assault rifle. The back- pack also contained ammuni- tion drum magazines for that type of rifle. Because of his several prior felony offense convictions, federal law pro- hibits Grant from possessing ammunition.
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