A federal judge overseeing the Kobie Gary pot-growing case handed his attorneys a defeat by refusing to order the government to hand over materials they’ve said were needed to prepare for his April sentencing in Miami.

In his order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Lynch Jr. ruled Gary’s lawyers had not shown proof the government had failed to provide all evidence he is legally entitled to, including the statements of co-defendants and witnesses, and copies of surveillance video. (more…)

STUART — All 139 charges filed against an attorney’s legal assistant arrested in June 2008 on suspicion of stealing from her boss were dropped Monday, according to the Martin County Clerk of Court Web site.

Port St. Lucie resident Wandalyn Jackson of Port St. Lucie was arrested by Stuart Police Department detectives on suspicion of writing herself more than 50 checks totaling more than $15,000 from her employer’s probate law firm in Stuart. The case was scheduled to go to trial Monday.

The 139 counts against Jackson were a combination of charges of grand theft, petit theft, forgery and uttering, or using, a forged document.

FORT PIERCE — Two co-defendants arrested in the Kobie Gary marijuana growing case were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.

David Jeffrey Grant of Jensen Beach was sentenced to five years in prison followed by four years’ supervised release, and Steven Shepherd of Hobe Sound was sentenced to 15 months in prison followed by three years’ supervised release, both after pleading guilty to similar charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 100 or more marijuana plants.

Grant was arrested in December after authorities matched his fingerprints to light tubes found in a Hobe Sound house that were part of a lighting system used to grow pot plants. Shepherd and Gary, 30, the son of prominent Stuart attorney Willie Gary, were arrested Oct. 27 at the same house.

Gary pleaded guilty in January to a similar charge of conspiracy to grow and distribute marijuana as part of a deal in which federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss two charges related to maintaining a place to cultivate, possess and distribute more than 100 pot plants.

He faces at least five years in prison when he’s sentenced April 7 in Miami by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, who sentenced Grant and Shepherd.

Gary’s attorney, Richard Kibbey has filed paperwork claiming his client was singled out for prosecution and has said he’ll ask for a “safety valve exception” that would allow a shorter prison term by showing Gary wasn’t a ringleader or used guns in the offenses.

FORT PIERCE — The man on Sunday told police he greeted the woman with a dozen roses and wished her a happy Valentine’s Day before carrying her into the house.

About 10 minutes later, the pair said a man later identified as Larry Bert Sexton, 37, kicked in their door on Timber Ridge Lane and said he was a sheriff’s deputy, an arrest affidavit states. Sexton went to punch the man, but he dodged the blow and Sexton hit the wall. The man said he went to his bedroom. Sexton followed and started punching him in the back of the head.

The woman told investigators she tried to pull Sexton, of the 7400 block of Roberts Road, off the man and ripped Sexton’s shirt. She said Sexton “turned on her, grabbing her by the throat and strangling her.”
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By Will Greenlee

PORT ST. LUCIE — A suspicious incident involving panhandlers at Publix turned into a felony marijuana bust this week for Port St. Lucie police, according to recently released records. (more…)

STUART — Former popular Stuart musician “Jerry D” is smooth on his saxophone, but where wives are concerned, it could be a rocky ride as he battles a felony bigamy charge out of North Carolina.

Gerald Leon Doyle Jr., 48, who for a decade lived and performed music across the Treasure Coast until 2006, on Friday turned himself into the Moore County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office following a two-month bigamy investigation conducted by the Southern Pines Police Department. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — A 19-year-old man accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl who invited him over and was “enticing” him to remove his shorts faces a felony charge, according to an arrest affidavit released Tuesday. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — A 43-year-old man was arrested Monday after St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office investigators found about an ounce of cocaine in a leaf blower in his shed, according to an affidavit released Tuesday.

Gerald Rodney Scott, of the 2500 block of Avenue N, was arrested on felony charges of trafficking in cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent and possession of cocaine after investigators executed a search warrant at his home.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — A 25-year-old Stuart man faces charges after he was accused of selling oxycodone pills Wednesday to an undercover Port St. Lucie police officer in the Wa-lmart parking lot. (more…)