Page 34 - Florida Sentinel 1-22-16 Edition

Crime
Loaded Gun Stolen From Vehicle
Former Police Corporal Sentenced In Tax Fraud Case
A 48-year-0ld former Tampa Police C0rporal ap- peared in federal court on Thursday to be sentenced. She admitted to obtaining $91,000 in tax fraud funds that had been seized by police during investigations.
Former Corporal Jeanette Hevel pleaded guilty to the charges last March. U. S. Dis- trict Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington sen- tenced Ms. Hevel to 5 years of probation with eight months of house arrest. She also ordered Ms. Hevel to perform 1,000 hours commu- nity service and to repay more than $100,000 in restitution.
The stolen checks were con- fiscated during police investi- gations. Ms. Hevel is said to have begun removing the checks from Evidence, begin- ning in 2011 and continued until September 2012. Ms. Hevel, who had been em- ployed for more than 20 years with the Tampa Police Depart- ment, was fired and arrested in September 2013.
According to court docu- ments, Ms. Hevel was as- signed to the Criminal Intelligence Bureau and was responsible for reviewing and assigning various matters for investigation, including iden- tity theft and tax fraud cases.
Court documents stated that Ms. Hevel used her posi- tion to obtain U. S. Treasury checks that had been seized and money orders related to tax fraud investigations. She used a variety of methods in-
JEANETTE HEVEL
... Sentenced to 5 years pro- bation and 8 months house ar-
rest
cluding Versadex, the Depart- ment’s electronic records keeping system to conduct electronic searches that tracked the confiscated re- funds. Once the property was located, she used her authority to “check out” the property.
After she obtained the property, she would then con- vert it to cash through various acts and strategies.
She admitted to obtaining 13 U. S. Treasury checks dur- ing a nine-month period. The checks totaled $88,504.71. After the conversion, the money was placed in several bank accounts and divided be- tween her and her co-conspir- ators. She also admitted to stealing a University Bank RAL (refund anticipation loan) valued at $3,007.15, and 21 money orders valued at $10,000 that had been confis- cated as well.
Tampa Man Sentenced To Prison On Counterfeiting Charge
DARIUS JONDI EDWARDS
TIMOTHY DEANTE BURROUGHS
Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office detectives are inves- tigating a series of vehicle burglaries that occurred in the Rivercrest Subdivision overnight on January 7th.
Detectives said it appears the suspects targeted vehicles that had unlocked doors, and items taken during the burglaries were small, with the exception of a loaded 9mm Glock that was left in the console of one of the vehicles.
Anyone with information on the people responsible is asked to call (813) 247-8200.
A Judge in the Middle Dis- trict of Florida sentenced a 36- year-old Tampa man to serve nearly 3 years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty in federal court to the manufacturing of counterfeit money last October.
In a Jacksonville court on Wednesday, U. S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams sentenced Darius Jondi Ed- wards, of Tampa, to 33 months in prison. His co-defendant, Timothy Deante Bur- roughs, 32, of Jacksonville, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison last year.
According to a plea agree- ment, in November and Decem- ber of 2014, Darius Jondi Edwards used a computer to manufacture Federal Reserve notes in the amounts of $10, $20, and $100. Edwards and Burroughs passed the forged bills at various businesses in
Jacksonville.
However, at one location, a
Publix Supermarket in Jack- sonville, Burroughs at- tempted to pass a $100, but fled after a store employees became suspicious and confronted him. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was notified Burroughs was located at a nearby motel.
When police searched his room, they recovered additional counterfeit $100. The deputies also located Edwards in front of another motel. During a search of his room, officers located sheets of uncut counterfeit bills ranging in denominations from $1 to $100.
Police also located several bleached genuine $10 bills printed as counterfeit $100 bills. Several computers and printers, reportedly used to print the counterfeit bills were confiscated.
Teenager Charged With Making False Bomb Threat
ISAIAH WELLS
Pasco County Sheriff’s Of- fice detectives arrested a teenager, Isaiah Wells, 14, for making a false report about planting a bomb at Pine View Middle School.
The charge is a second-de- gree felony, and cyber crimes quickly identified the student involved as he is an 8th grader at the school.
The threat was discovered on Well’s Instagram account under the name zaywellss. The threat suggested a bomb threat would happen Tuesday at 9:45 a. m., when the bell rings. The investigation determined that it was a false threat and detec- tives believe Wells has also been trespassed from the school pending an expulsion hearing.
Detectives said Wells told them he thought the stunt would be funny and he had no intention of acting on his threat.
Authorities Arrest Murder Suspect
Sarasota Police working with the U. S. Marshal’s Task Force have arrested Rufus L. Adams, 34. Adams has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of William B. Shipp that occurred on January 15th.
Adams was arrested Wednesday as a result of a traffic stop that occurred in the 5900 block of North Shade Av- enue.
On Friday, January 15th, of- ficers responded to 1524 25th Street at 6 a. m. in reference to a shooting. When they arrived they found Shipp suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital where he died several hours
RUFUS L. ADAMS
later.
The motive for the shooting
remains under investigation.
UNCLE SANDY SAYS...
Hard work pays off – 1, 11, 16, 20 hard work beats talent any day, 34, 41, 45, 50 but if you're talented and work hard, 5, 30, 35, 55 it's hard to be beat. 32, 53, 60, 61
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 23-A