Tampa, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces today the fourth quarter results of the Middle District of Florida’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) strategy. During the fourth quarter, ending on September 30, 2023, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has prosecuted 123 defendants for federal firearms and violent crime offenses. The prosecutions include defendants who have been indicted, pleaded guilty, been convicted at trial or who have been sentenced. In addition, law enforcement seized several silencers and hundreds of machine gun conversion devises. Over the last fiscal year, the United States Attorney’s Office has prosecuted more than 250 defendants and seized approximately 400 firearms.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has also engaged in community outreach efforts aimed at violent crime prevention throughout the year. Specifically, re-entry program events this summer reached over 300 inmates and individuals recently released to the community.
“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.
United States v. Louis Michael Pasquazzi (Ft. Myers)
In July 2022, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle operated by Louis Michael Pasquazzi. A search of the vehicle revealed two firearms, one under the driver’s seat and the other in the passenger side glovebox. Following the traffic stop, a search warrant was executed at Pasquazzi’s residence which resulted in the recovery of cocaine and fentanyl. Additionally, four firearms and ammunition were located inside the home. Pasquazzi, a 12-time convicted felon, qualified as an Armed Career Criminal and was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.
United States v. Dwayne Eric Thompson (Jacksonville)
On July 11, 2023, a federal jury found Dwayne Eric Thompson guilty of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Thompson faces a minimum mandatory maximum penalty of 15 years, up to life, in federal prison. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 17, 2023. According to evidence presented at trial, on March 8, 2023, Thompson was arrested, pursuant to an outstanding warrant, by officers from the Jacksonville Sherriff’s Office and his car was searched. A loaded pistol was recovered from the center console. During the search, Thompson and the other passengers denied knowledge and ownership of the firearm. DNA evidence presented at trial showed that Thompson’s DNA was present on the firearm and the loaded magazine. At the time he possessed the firearm, Thompson had multiple prior felony convictions and was on federal supervised release, having previously been convicted by a federal jury in 2010, for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Thompson had previously been sentenced to over 14 years in federal prison and was released on November 20, 2022. As a convicted felon, Thompson is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law. Thompson qualifies as an Armed Career Criminal based upon his past criminal record.
United States v. Kingsley Wilson and Viviana Rodriguez (Ocala)
On August 22, 2023, a federal grand jury returned a 39-count indictment charging Kingsley Wilson (35, Kissimmee) and Viviana Rodriguez (41, Kissimmee) with dealing in firearms without a license, making a materially false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer (FFL), and causing an FFL to maintain false information in its official records. If convicted, Wilson and Rodriguez each face 10 years in federal prison for each count of making a materially false statement to an FFL; a maximum penalty of 5 years’ imprisonment for dealing in firearms without a license; and 5 years in prison for each count of causing an FFL to maintain false information in its official records. According to evidence presented in court, between January 2022 and July 2023, Wilson purchased 89 firearms from multiple gun dealers in Florida. During that same period, Rodriguez purchased approximately 40 firearms, also from licensed gun dealers. While purchasing these firearms, Wilson and Rodriguez each falsely certified on ATF Form 4473s (Firearm Transaction Records) that they were the “actual transferee/buyer” of the firearms. Actually, they were purchasing the firearms for other individuals. Ten firearms purchased by Wilson have been recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes (including homicides) in the Bahamas and Canada. An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
United States v. DaMarris Jean Saint-Juste, et al (Orlando)
In September 2023, DaMarris Jean Saint-Juste, Marcus Terrell Ellington, Jr., Nelson Ross Henderson, and Rodreakas Deshay Smith, Jr. were each sentenced to prison terms of between 10-17 years for their respective roles in a string of armed robberies throughout Orlando. In a series of eight armed robberies, the men entered convenience stores wearing masks and brandishing firearms to compel the employees to surrender cash, lottery tickets, and tobacco products. The robberies were investigated by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and all four of the perpetrators were identified, charged, and convicted. Saint-Juste and Ellington fled Orlando and were apprehended by the FBI while hiding in North Carolina. A fifth participant, who was a juvenile when these crimes occurred, was prosecuted in state court.
United States v. Lemar Cowart and Armani Dilworth (Tampa)
On September 15, 2023, Lemar Cowart (27, St. Petersburg) was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and Armani Dilworth (28, St. Petersburg) was sentenced to 8 years and 10 months’ imprisonment for possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court documents, on May 4, 2020, an eyewitness observed a car occupied by Dilworth and Cowart pull into oncoming traffic and shoot into the front of another vehicle. This action caused the other vehicle to retaliate, and a high-speed chase ensued. The car which Dilworth and Cowart occupied ultimately crashed into a gate at Azalea Middle School, and Cowart and Dilworth ran from the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, officers found cocaine, two substances containing a mixture of heroin and fentanyl, alprazolam, oxycodone, amphetamine, buprenorphine, and cannabis. They also found indications of narcotics distribution, including plastic sandwich bags; two scales, scissors, smaller jewelry bags, and one firearm inside the vehicle. Dilworth’s and Cowart’s DNA were found on the firearm recovered in the vehicle.
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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