Page 39 - 4-10-15 Friday's Edition

Crime
Five Arrested On Human Trafficking Related Charges
Man Facing Attempted Murder Charge
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reports that on March 15th at 5:40 p. m. in the area of 83rd Street in Progress Village, Brian Edward Scott, 42, shot Katrina Sheppard, 35, three times while riding in her vehicle.
Scott is reportedly the ex- boyfriend of Sheppard.
Detectives said the vehicle hit a stop sign and Sheppard jumped out. She was helped by some neighbors in the area who called for assistance.
Sheppard was trans- ported to a local hospital and is reported to be in stable condi- tion.
On April 6th, detectives learned that Scott frequented the area of 22nd Street and Sligh Avenue. Surveillance was
BRIAN EDWARD SCOTT
set up in the area and at 6:20 p. m. Monday, Scott was seen walking along 22nd Street. He was arrested without incident and transported to jail.
Scott is being held on a bond of $177,000 on charges of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of cocaine.
JULIAN MONTOYA, III ... aka “Pimp Master Flex”
Five people were recently taken into custody and charged with human trafficking related charges. The arrests are the re- sults of two separate investiga- tions.
According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the first investigation began in February 2015, when it was re- ported that a 16-year-old girl had several pornographic pho- tographs and videos of herself on her cell phone. This was confirmed by the victim’s mother. Police also learned that the girl was possibly re- cruiting other underage girls to take part in prostitution.
Detectives assigned to the case confirmed that the girl had contact via social media, texting and phone calls with a man she knew only as “Pimp Master Flex.”
The teenager told police that “Pimp Master Flex” posted photographs of her on Craig’s List on several occa- sions for the purpose of having her engage in sexual activity.
Detectives confirmed the information. Investigators also learned that the victim met with another 29-year-old man and was paid to perform a sex- ual act.
“Pimp Master Flex” also allegedly directed the victim to recruit other teenagers and en- tice them to participate in the illegal acts. The victim had ap- proached at least 3 other girls. Those victims included a 15- year-old and two 17-year-old victims.
Another man also allegedly met the victim for the purpose of sexual activity on 3 or 4 dif- ferent occasions.
Police identified “Pimp
DOMINIQUE J. DRAKE ... Charged with Human Trafficking
JOHNATHAN D. ZAKEL ... Charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor
Master Flex” as 22-year-old Julian J. Montoya, III, of Palm Harbor. He was charged with human trafficking, trans- mission of material harmful to minors, possession of mari- juana, and possession of para- phernalia.
The detectives identified the 29-year-old man who al- legedly had sex with the teenager as Johnathan D. Zakel, of Land O’ Lakes. T h e third man, identified as 25- year-old Humberto A. Fru- tos, of St. Petersburg, was the second man who reportedly had sex with the teenager.
In a separate investigation, police arrested two individuals and charged them with Human Trafficking.
In February of this year, police responded to a call in reference to a 16-year-old girl who was posting ads on back- page.com. Their investigation revealed that the victim met the two suspects on meetme.com and began tex- ting with them via the KIK App.
Police said that Dom- inque J. Drake, 22, and 23- year-old Syrenite McGee,
SYRENITE McGEE ... Charged with Human Trafficking
HUMBERTO A. FRUTOS ... Charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor
both of St. Petersburg, picked the victim up on March 6th and drove her to a hotel. The inves- tigators said she stayed with the couple for several days. While she was with them, sev- eral ads were placed on back- pages.com for the teenager.
Detectives said at least 4 people responded to the ads, came to the hotel, and engaged in sexual activity with the teenager. Police said McGee also encouraged the victim to engage in sex acts with another person who responded to an ad that Ms. McGee had placed for herself.
After the teenager received payment, she was reportedly forced to turn over the pro- ceeds to Drake. When she ap- proached Drake and asked for some of the money, he became angry and allegedly grabbed the victim by her throat and told her never to “disrespect him like that” again.
Police set up surveillance on the suspects and arrested both of them on April 6th, in the parking lot at 22nd Avenue and 31st Street, South, in St. Pe- tersburg.
Man Pulls Knife On Passengers Aboard HARTline Bus
On Tuesday afternoon around 1 p. m., a group of peo- ple boarded the #6 HARTline bus at Net Park to travel west toward the Marion Center downtown.
Enroute to that location, passengers said a white male aboard the bus started shout- ing racial slurs at all the African American passengers.
When the bus reached 21st Avenue, one of those passen- gers who was sitting in a seat in front of the man, confronted him about his ranting, and had a knife pulled on him. One of the passengers reported hear- ing a clicking sound, seeing the knife, then ducked underneath a seat.
The bus driver immediately stopped the bus on 21st Avenue near Thelma Street where it was surrounded by police who had been alerted earlier.
After the driver successfully got the passengers off the bus, police ordered the knife wield- ing man off, and he refused. He
DONALD PEARCE
eventually stepped off the bus and was subdued by officers. The knife was thrown under- neath the bus during the inci- dent, and recovered by police.
The suspect was subse- quently transported to a local hospital before charges were filed against him. He had no identification on him at the time of his arrest, but he was later identified as 61-year-old Donald Pearce.
No one aboard the bus was injured, the case has been re- ferred to the State Attorney’s Office for charges.
HARTline passengers stand outside the bus as p0lice arrest sus- pect.
Police subdue a man who pulled a knife on passengers aboard a HARTline bus Tuesday.
Food Stamp Fraud Charge Lands Store Owner In Prison
A Lakeland business owner learned his fate in federal court on Tuesday. He was given a two-year prison sentence.
According to court documents, Randolph Goosby, 53, had entered a guilty plea to the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in connection with providing cash in return for food stamps. U. S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew also ordered Goosby to forfeit $4,312.35 that was seized from his business bank account. The funds were traced as proceeds of the crime. Judge Bucklew also en- tered a money judgment of $782,291.65 which was considered the proceeds from the fraud.
Goosby was the sole owner of the 8th Street Supermarket, in Lakeland. The business accepted Electronic Benefit Transfer or EBT cards from individuals who took part in the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to buy food.
However, officials said, the business became known as a place where individuals could get “cash back.” Goosby charged the recipients 50 cents for every dollar he provided as part of the “cash back” scheme.
During the period of November 2010 until July 2014, the 8th Street Supermarket conducted more than $964,390 in SNAP EBT transactions. During the period of March 2011 until July 2014, the busi- ness exceeded the average redemptions of the four closest SNAP authorized convenience stores by $786,604.
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 23-A