FORT PIERCE _ A Port St. Lucie man pleaded guilty to child pornography production this morning following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Port St. Lucie Police Department.

James T. Byrne, 70, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography, a customs enforcement news release said. Byrne faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years up to a maximum of 30 years imprisonment, to be followed by a mandatory minimum term of supervised release of five years up to life, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment. He is scheduled for sentencing before the Judge K. Michael Moore on June 7.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least July 1, 2009, and continuing through on or about Sept. 26, 2009, the defendant engaged in sexual activity with a 12-year-old mentally handicapped child with an approximate IQ of 55 for the purpose of producing visual images of that sexual activity.
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FORT PIERCE — The last codefendant arrested in the Kobie Gary pot growing case pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal drug charge that could put him behind bars for up to 40 years.

David Jeffrey Grant, 26, was immediately ordered into federal custody pending his sentencing March 1 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to manufacture, possess and distribute 100 or more marijuana plants.

Gary, the son of prominent Stuart attorney Willie Gary, is expected in court Friday to plead guilty to the same offense.

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Norman seems to tell Evert to take a hike in September at the US Open tennis. The two were divorced last month.

The court papers in Monroe County cite a pre-nuptial agreement between the two, and a source said neither Norman nor Evert paid any money in alimony.

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PORT ST. LUCIE — The battle for hospital supremacy on the Treasure Coast continues.

HCA Inc., which owns two hospitals in St. Lucie County, filed an appeal this week with the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee to stop Martin Memorial Health Systems from building a new hospital in Port St. Lucie’s Tradition community.

HCA exhausted its state appeals last month. (more…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Go slow, get a frame and then work your way to the middle.

That’s how Donajean Kapp and her sister Dori Ann Myers put together a jigsaw puzzle.

But Myers disappeared three years ago and Kapp and now St. Lucie County Sheriff’s detectives are using what seems like a jigsaw puzzle of tips to try to find out what happened to her.
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