Middle District Of Florida Prosecutors Indict 64 Firearms And Violent Crime Defendants During First Three Months Of 2024 As Part Of Project Safe Neighborhoods Strategy

Tampa, FL - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced today the results of the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) strategy. During the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, ending on March 31, 2024, the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida indicted 64 defendants. These defendants face federal firearms, narcotics, and violent crime charges. Law enforcement seized approximately 97 firearms associated with these defendants.

The U.S. Attorney's Office also engaged in community outreach efforts aimed at violent crime prevention throughout the year. Members of the United States Attorney's Office interacted with approximately 150 middle and high school students and community members during the first quarter of 2024. Re-entry events, including the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office DISMAS program, reached over 250 people.

"Our office is committed to reducing violent crime throughout the Middle District of Florida," said U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg. "We will continue working with our law enforcement partners and community stakeholders as part of our joint effort to make our communities safer."

PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. This evidence-based program has proven to be effective at reducing violent crime by engaging a broad spectrum of stakeholders working together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in communities and developing comprehensive solutions that reduce crime. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses on prevention and intervention efforts through community engagement and problem-solving partnerships, strategic enforcement of the most violent offenders, and locally based re-entry programs to reduce recidivism.

Q2 PSN case highlights:

United States v. Mar'tavouis Martel Brown (Ft. Myers)

On January 26, 2024, Mar'tavious Martel Brown (25, Lehigh Acres) was sentenced to five years in federal prison. According to court records, Brown sold a pistol and cocaine to an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Fort Myers.

United States v. Jose Melean Reyes (Jacksonville)

In January 2024, Jose Melean Reyes (29, Jacksonville) pleaded guilty to smuggling firearms from the United States and conspiracy to use a facility of interstate commerce in the commission of a murder-for-hire. According to his plea agreement, on May 15, 2021, Reyes attempted to smuggle 3 firearms and 57 rounds of ammunition from Jacksonville to Venezuela. Reyes concealed the firearms and ammunition in a futon that he attempted to mail using a freight forwarding service.

Following Reyes's arrest on unrelated state charges on August 11, 2023, federal agents searched Reyes's cellphone and found conversations between Reyes and another individual discussing trafficking firearms to Venezuela. From Reyes's phone, agents also learned Reyes and others were involved in a murder-for-hire plot based on a $60,000 debt. Reyes attempted to hire a hitman for $15,000, but federal agents prevented any murder from occurring by arresting Reyes on a criminal complaint. Reyes faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each offense. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

United States v. Wendell Goney (Ocala)

On July 11, 2021, deputies from the Lake County Sheriff's Office responded to a burglary at a 10-acre business property in Mount Dora. Deputies used a law enforcement drone to assist with the outdoor search, only to have the drone destroyed by gunfire from a neighboring property. When deputies responded to that location, they confronted Goney, who admitted that he had just shot down the drone with a .22 caliber rifle. He claimed the drone had been "harassing" him. Goney then admitted to the deputies that he could not lawfully possess a firearm because he was a convicted felon. A record check confirmed Goney's 29 prior state felony convictions, which included aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, illegal drug possession, burglary, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On February 22, 2024, Goney was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $22,000 in restitution for the destroyed law enforcement drone.

United States v. Timothy Jones (Orlando)

On February 14, 2024, Timothy Jones, (60, Orlando) was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for two bank robberies he committed in Orlando and Kissimmee. The first robbery occurred on June 2, 2022, one day after Jones was released from Putnam County Correctional Facility after having served an eight-year term of incarceration for bank robbery. During the first robbery in Orlando, Jones threatened to shoot everyone in the bank if they did not give him $150,000 and told the employee that there would be a "bloodbath" if he did not get what he wanted. After employees provided cash, Jones took the keys to an employee's car and escaped. A week later, Jones robbed a bank in Kissimmee. Jones again threatened the tellers with a gun and stole cash before stealing an employee's car and escaping. Later that afternoon, Jones was apprehended near the employee's car with nearly all the money from the second robbery. Jones had previously been convicted of robbery charges in 1995, 2006, and 2013 and had spent most of the past 18 years incarcerated for robbery charges.

United States v. James Smith (Tampa)

On March 22, 2024, James Eugene Smith (44, Wimauma) was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. According to court documents, in the early morning hours of January 14, 2023, Smith was driving in Brandon, Florida and believed that a driver in a black sedan was brake checking him, while a separate driver prevented Smith from passing. Smith eventually passed both cars before brake checking the black sedan in return. The driver of the black sedan drove around Smith, and Smith and the driver of the black sedan then exchanged gunfire. Smith, in an alleged attempt to see the tag of the black sedan, made a U-turn. After making the U-turn, Smith spotted a gray sedan that he thought was the black sedan and opened fire. Smith followed the gray sedan into the gas station, again firing at it. Neither victim was shot. At the time of the incident, Smith had multiple prior felony convictions. As a convicted felon Smith is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

These cases are being prosecuted by the Assistant United States Attorneys in all five divisions throughout the Middle District of Florida. For additional information on Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit our website: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/project-safe-neighborhoods-0.

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