These columns list arrests and not convictions, unless otherwise stated. Anyone listed here who is later found not guilty or has had the charges against them dropped is welcome to inform this newspaper. The information will be confirmed and printed.
The following cases are considered closed.
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The following felony cases have either been tried in a court of law or have been settled without trial and are considered closed.
• Nicole Fortier was sentenced to one year and one day in state prison followed by one year drug offender probation after pleading no contest to possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Fortier was arrested in January 2021 during a traffic stop.
• Charges of trafficking in amphetamine/methamphetamie against Victor Hugo Bustos-Palicios were dropped. Bustos-Palacios was arrested in September 2020 during an undercover operation conducted by the Okeechobee Narcotics Task Force.
• James Edison was sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading no contest to battery by a detainee. Edison was arrested in January 2021 when he and a second inmate confronted a third man in the shower, telling him to turn over all his commissary items. The man refused, and Edison and the second man punched him multiple times and tackled him to the ground.
• William Lugo was sentenced to two years probation after pleading no contest to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was arrested in October 2020 after threatening his nephew with a gun.
• Corveda Smith was sentenced to one year, three months and 23 days in state prison followed by two years probation after pleading no contest to possession of hydromorphone and sale of hydromorphone. Smith was arrested in September of 2020 during an undercover operation conducted by the Okeechobee Narcotics Task Force.
• Christian Morein was sentenced to three months in county jail after pleading no contest to attempted trafficking of phenethlamines. Morein was arrested in March 2020 at the Music Fest.
Withheld adjudication normally refers to a decision by a judge to put an individual on probation without an adjudication of guilt. It means a person is not found guilty legally by the court. If the person successfully completes the terms of probation and has no subsequent offenses, no further action will be taken on the case, and the offense is typically not considered a prior conviction for purposes of habitual offender sentencing.
