Page 36 - Florida Sentinel 6-14-19

Crime
Father, Son Given 20 Years In Violent
Man Pleads Guilty
Home Invasion
Carjackings Case
School
Numerous Charges
On Tuesday, a U. S. District judge sentenced a Tampa man to federal prison. His father was sentenced in March 2019 for the same crimes.
Judge James D. Whit- temore handed down a 20- year sentence to Anthony Phillips, III, 20, of Tampa. He was sentenced for two counts of carjacking and two counts of brandishing firearms during the commission of a carjacking. His co-defendant in the crimes was his father, 39-year-old Anthony Phillips, Jr., also of Tampa.
Phillips, Jr., pleaded guilty to two counts of bran- dishing a firearm in commis- sion of a carjacking, the same crimes on July 16, 2018. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on March 12, 2019.
Phillips, III, pleaded guilty on March 14, 2019.
According to court docu- ments, in each of the carjack- ings, the defendants held firearms against the heads or chests of their victims.
In the first carjacking, com- mitted on New Year’s Day in 2018, in Tampa, the defen-
Jauwan Smith, 22, Tampa, has pleaded guilty to pos- session of a firearm near a school zone. Smith faces a maxi- mum penalty of five years in federal
JAUWAN SMITH
During the early morning hours on Tuesday, Bartow police responded to a home invasion robbery that took place near Polk Street, in Bartow.
Police received the call at 1:29 a.m. Officers on the scene learned that two men forced their way into the res- idence at gunpoint. The sus- pects hit the victims with their firearms and forced them to the ground. They fled the scene with jewelry, money, and firearms from the residence.
Detectives obtained In- formation that led them to Lyron Riley, 23, as one of the suspects.
Detectives executed a search warrant at Riley’s residence that ultimately re- sulted in the discovery of many of the belongings stolen from the victim. These items included the victim’s cell phone, a purse, and four stolen rifles.
A car belonging to Riley was located outside of his residence. Detectives found a large duffel bag containing
ANTHONY PHILLIPS, JR.
ANTHONY PHILLIPS, III
prison. His sentencing date is not yet scheduled.
According to the facts pre- sented at the plea hearing, Tampa Police officers observed Smith walking near Chelsea and 25th Street North in Tampa on the evening of March 6, 2018. When they approached Smith and engaged him in conversation, Smith admitted that he was armed with a gun.
Officers then found a CZ model 7.56mm caliber pistol, loaded with seven rounds of ammunition, in Smith’s waist- band.
Smith had the gun in his possession while within 1,000 feet A. J. Ferrell Middle Magnet School, a public middle school for girls in Hillsborough County, Florida.
LYRON RILEY
nearly seven pounds of cannabis, as well as 60 grams of methamphetamine, silocy- bin mushrooms, a small quantity of “crack” cocaine, and a large amount of cash in the trunk.
Riley was charged with grand theft of a firearm; grand theft; armed false imprisonment; possession of a firearm by convicted felon; home invasion robbery; ag- gravated battery; possession of cannabis over 20 grams; possession of cannabis with the intent to sell; possession of drug paraphernalia; traf- ficking MDMA; and posses- sion of cannabis resin.
dants stripped and pistol whipped the victim, and threatened to harm his family if he reported the incident to law enforcement.
In the second carjacking, committed two days later, in St. Petersburg, the defendants and two others took a vehicle from a pediatrician’s parking lot in broad daylight. During the incident, the assailants pressed firearms against the chests of two parents, who suc- cessfully begged for the return of their one-year-old infant that was still in the vehicle. Later that day, United States Marshals deputies arrested the defendants after they at- tempted to escape.
To Possessing
Suspect Facing
Firearm Near
Man Charged With Armed Robbery
Man On Federal Supervision Pleads Guilty In Drug, Laundering Case
Of Business
Jacksonville — Arafat Aljubeh, 54, of Tampa, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder the proceeds of a con- spiracy involving the distribu- tion of a synthetic marijuana referred to as “AB-FUBI- NACA.”
At the time of the offense, Aljubeh was on federal su- pervised release stemming from a 2014 federal convic- tion for conspiring to traffic in counterfeit Nike shoes.
Aljubeh faces a maxi- mum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on the current offense, and a maximum penalty of 2 years’ imprison- ment for violating his super- vised release. He entered his plea while in federal court in Jacksonville.
According to the plea agreement, in April 2017, in Baker County, a Florida High- way Patrol (FHP) trooper conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Thair Zatar. Zatar was issued a warning and gave the trooper consent to search his vehicle.
plier was Aljubeh.
Zatar pleaded guilty to
possession with the intent to distribute AB-FUBINACA and was sentenced in 2018 to four years and three months in federal prison.
A review of Zatar’s phone revealed text messages that had been sent to Zatar in- structing him where to de- posit the proceeds from the drug sales. An investigation into the account, and others, by Homeland Security Inves- tigations (HSI) revealed that the accounts were being used to receive the proceeds of AB- FUBINACA from Zatar and others.
After deposits were made into the account, Aljubeh and his co-conspirators would transfer the money back and forth between the accounts in a complex series of transac- tions designed to obscure the source, ownership, and con- trol of the funds. Ultimately, the drug proceeds were used to make five purchases of real estate in the Tampa area.
Police
armed robbery that took place at a Bartow business Sunday evening. The suspect was later arrested and charged.
According to police, the Sunoco Gas Station on U. S. Highway 17, South in Bartow, was robbed at gunpoint shortly before 8 p.m. The sus- pect fled on foot.
After following up on nu- merous investigative leads, police identified, located and arrested James Black for the armed robbery.
Black, 22, was taken into custody without incident. He was charged with armed rob- bery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, posses-
investigated an
JAMES BLACK
sion of cannabis, possession of narcotic paraphernalia, driv- ing while license suspended and an outstanding Polk County warrant for domestic violence battery by strangula- tion.
ARAFAT ALJUBEH
When the trooper looked in the back of Zatar’s vehicle, he discovered nine large black garbage bags, weighing ap- proximately 415 pounds, which were stuffed with 27,000 individual packets la- beled as “potpourri.” The packets were branded with names including “Outer Space” and “Geeked Up.”
The trooper suspected the packets contained synthetic marijuana, and the Drug En- forcement Administration later confirmed that fact. Zatar was arrested and in- formed the DEA that his sup-
UNCLE SANDY
A comfort zone is a beautiful place, 6, 19, 28, 37, 50, but nothing ever grows there 7, 11, 34, 49, 62.
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