Tampa Shooting Linked To Drugs? Investigators Are Looking Into The Connection.

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s are investigating the circumstances surrounding a 22-year-old Tampa man who was shot in his apartment Tuesday evening. According to TBO.com deputies found drug paraphernalia inside the victim’s apartment and are investigating whether it was a drug-related shooting. The victim, who survived the shooting, described the suspects as two men wearing masks and hooded sweatshirts. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital after deputies discovered him sitting outside his home with a gunshot wound on his torso. The apartment where the shooting took place was located on Noth 58th Street.…

Charlotte County Meth Lab Discovered In Hotel Room

Three men, two from Florida and one from Alabama, who were allegedly running a meth lab out of a hotel room have been arrested in Charlotte County. The men have been charged with an assortment of crimes including possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, production of meth and manufacturing of methamphetamine. The meth lab was reportedly being run out of a room at the Inns & Suites hotel on S. McCall Road. The arrests were made by U.S. Marshalls and Charlotte County sheriff’s deputies who were attempting to arrest Billy Shane Myers, a fugitive from Alabama. Myers will be extradited to Alabama while the other two men are in the Charlotte County jail.…

Prescription Drugs Lead To DUI Arrest On UCF Campus In Orlando

Police on the UCF campus in Orlando discovered a man asleep at the wheel of his car at 6:21 a.m. Sunday. Thomas Clyde Mastin, Jr. had more than 70 prescription muscle relaxants in his car at the time. He has been arrested and charged with DUI, possession of a controlled substance, sale or delivery of oxycodone, trafficking in oxycodone and other charges. Mastin allegedly failed field sobriety tests but registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.00 on his breath test. He admitted to drinking at a bar in Casselberry where he worked and taking oxycodone earlier that day. The Orlando Sentinel is also reporting the man admitted to having alprazolam and carisoprodol on his possession for a bad back.…

Prescription Drug Fraud And Abuse In Florida Has Grown While State Figures Out How To Handle The Problem

There has been a noticeable effort to crack down on prescription drug fraud in Tampa Bay but the state of Florida has not helped law enforcement as it has taken a long time for Florida to react to the explosion in the prescription drug trade. According to TampaBay.com Florida is the top state in the nation for Oxycodone prescriptions. The newspaper goes on to state that Tampa Bay is a hotspot for prescription drug trafficking according to U.S. Drug Enforcement. Florida has been slow to react to the prescription drug explosion and is now paying the price for not having a modern system for tracking prescriptions.…

Failed Drug Test Using A Toddler’s Urine Lands Two Florida Women In Jail

A New Port Richey woman on probation for drug charges is back in jail. Sara Lou Kenny tried to pass a court-ordered drug test using urine supplied by her friend’s four-year-old son. According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune Kenny allegedly had methadone that wasn’t prescribed to her. She is now in Pasco County Jail for violation of probation. Kenny was not the only one arrested in the attempt to get around her drug test. The mother of the toddler that supplied the urine is in jail as well. Amber Tobek was on probation as well and now she is in jail for violation of probation herself. Tobek was on probation for theft and fraud convictions.…

Marijuana Grow House Being Run By Ex-Con In The Bathroom At His Mom’s House

Acting on an informant’s tip, Charlotte County sheriff’s uncovered 42 marijuana plants growing in the bathroom closet at a Punta Gorda home. Deputies have arrested an ex-con named Allen Milton Hardman on charges of cultivation, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia charges. He is being held in Charlotte County Jail without bail. According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune Hardman had been living in his mother’s home since his release from prison in August. His mother has told deputies that her son began cultivating marijuana plants less than a month ago. The search of the Dixie Avenue home turned up the plants and more than 20 grams of pot.…

Oxycodone Sale Behind The DEA’s Arrest Of A Port Richey Cop

Yesterday news came out a Port Richey police officer was arrested by the DEA. Today details surrounding the arrest of James Ruland are starting to emerge. According to TBO.com Ruland was arrested for planning to sell oxycodone pills to a DEA informant. He is now in a Pinellas County Jail on charges of drug distribution. Ruland was a sergeant with the Port Richey Police when he began meeting with a confidential informant to discuss selling the oxycodone pills. The two met three times this year and all three of those meetings were taped by the DEA informant. The two were scheduled to meet in Spring Hill where Ruland was scheduled to accept a $5,000 down payment for the drugs.…

Pinellas County Police Officer Involved In Drug Investigation Is Arrested By DEA

On Friday, Port Richey police officer James Ruland was arrested. On Monday a little more information was released about the reasons why. According to TampaBay.com Ruland is involved in a criminal investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency
. He is in a Pinellas County jail on unspecified charges. The Port Richey police officer is being held by the U.S. Marshals and he has already been fired by the police department. There was no information released on the type of drug crime Ruland is being investigated for, but the Port Richey police department is said to be working with the DEA on the investigation.…

UCF Student Arrested In Orlando For Trafficking In Ecstasy And Marijuana

A 21-year-old University of Central Florida student allegedly has admitted to trafficking in marijuana and Ecstasy following an arrest at his off-campus apartment. According to the Orlando Sentinel Darek Dziamalek told investigators he sells Ecstasy and that he was trafficking in illegal drugs following a search of his Pegasus Landing apartment. Dziamalek apparently signed a consent form to allow police to search his apartment. Once inside police report seeing (“in plain view ”) drug paraphernalia and marijuana. They later discovered a bottle of Ecstasy with 66 tablets inside and a small bag filled with crushed Ecstasy.…

New Port Richey Woman Allegedly Steals Nearly $25,000 From Grandmother To Support Drug Habit

Dawn M. Perry has been arrested on charges of fraudulent use of a credit card, forgery and uttering a forged instrument for allegedly stealing nearly $25,000 from her 81-year-old grandmother. According to TampaBay.com, Perry told deputies she used her grandmother’s credit cards and blank checks to support her addiction to Oxycodone and Roxicoddone prescription pills. Perry lived with her grandmother and had access to her credit cards and checking account. She is accused of charging $22,205 on the elderly woman’s credit cards and also stealing $1,600 from her checking account to buy drugs.…