FORT PIERCE — A mother and son were arrested Tuesday after the mother signed for a package of 8 pounds of marijuana addressed to her son, according to arrest affidavits released Wednesday.
The mother, 51-year-old Maria Andrade, said the pot was for “personal use,” rather than sale, an affidavit states.
The package was “flagged” by postal officials as possibly containing marijuana, and additional investigation confirmed the presence of drugs.
It was addressed to Mauricio G. Andrade, 20, of the 2600 block of South 27th Street. He is Maria Andrade’s son. Maria Andrade signed for the package and said her son was expecting a delivery.
The younger Andrade arrived minutes later, and both were taken into custody after police executed a search warrant.
FORT PIERCE — Raybin J. Williams said he had to do what he had to do for gas money to make it back home.
That, police said, apparently included robbing a Waffle House with another man Monday and taking a couple of shots at someone who fired at him.
In the end, Williams, 24, and 22-year-old Corey Cooper, were arrested following the 3:10 a.m. stick-up of the Okeechobee Road eatery, according to records and a police spokeswoman. (more…)
STUART — A Martin County grand jury on Wednesday returned first-degree murder and robbery indictments against two Stuart residents accused in the April 5 beating death of Keith A. Hall, who died three days after being attacked.
Charged are James Louis LaForteza, 29, and Kobi Anderson, 15, who authorities say beat Hall into unconsciousness to steal $40 he’d shown the man and teen in an attempt to buy drugs. (more…)
FORT PIERCE — Sitting in a living room filled with marijuana smoke, Alfred Foster Welling III had a problem: St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office investigators executing a search warrant at his home.
Welling’s encounter with the law enforcers in the 1900 block of South 34th Street ended Thursday with his arrest on felony charges including cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent and possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, according to recently obtained records. (more…)
FORT PIERCE — A man authorities said “built out” marijuana grow house interiors was convicted Wednesday afternoon of conspiracy, trafficking in marijuana and racketeering.
Dennis Enrique Rondon, 32, of Port St. Lucie, is the first of about a dozen defendants connected to Global Home Builders Inc., a construction company authorities allege was a cover for a marijuana growing operation, to be tried and convicted.
On Nov. 27, 2007, the father-and-son Global Home owners, Roberto Alberto Cepero, 46, of Port St. Lucie, and Roberto Patricio Cepero, 24, of Miami, as well as Rondon and 18 other people, were arrested in raids yielding 10 marijuana grow houses and more than 400 pounds of marijuana.
Rondon was charged with conspiracy to traffic in marijuana and trafficking in more than 25 pounds of marijuana. On Dec. 12, 2007, a racketeering charge was added.
He equipped houses for growing marijuana; and during the trial that started April 1, jurors were shown light fixtures, wiring and electrical panels taken from seven of the grow houses, as well as numerous marijuana plants ranging in size from about a foot to about 6 feet tall.
“In all, there were more than 100 pieces of evidence,” said Assistant State Attorney Daryl Isenhower, “including over 100 pounds of marijuana, some of it still growing and some of it hung up and drying.”
Jurors deliberated about four hours before reaching the guilty verdict.
Rondon faces at least three years in prison, the mandatory minimum sentence for trafficking, and up to 90 years — 30 for each of the three first-degree felonies. Circuit Judge Larry Schack has scheduled a May 1 status hearing on the case.
PORT ST. LUCIE — The Port St. Lucie police special investigations unit on Friday shut down a marijuana grow house, uncovering about 55 marijuana plants and making one arrest, an arrest affidavit said.
Sergio Salgueiro Medina, 26, of Naples, faces felony trafficking in marijuana and felony cultivation of marijuana charges after police searched a home in the 3100 block of Southwest Circuma Street, the police report states.
According to the report, the plants were growing in three bedrooms. Police in the report stated that Medina reportedly told investigators that he was growing the plants out of family necessity. The affidavit said that police found a 10-month-old living in the home, which was reported to Florida Department of Children and Families.
Medina was taken to the St. Lucie County Jail and released after posting $160,000 bond.
PORT ST. LUCIE — A confessed marijuana grower turned himself in Tuesday, a week after robbers bound him naked and stole dozens of pot plants from his Port St. Lucie home, according to police.
Jose Matilde Gomez, 60, of Miami was charged with trafficking and cultivating marijuana and possession of marijuana. He was being held Wednesday in lieu of $170,000 bail.
At least one of the men who robbed Gomez was taken into custody Thursday in Broward County on an unrelated matter, according to Gomez’s arrest affidavit. When detectives searched the suspect’s vehicle, they found 37 marijuana plants, the report said. (more…)
STUART — Two Martin County men have been arrested on charges of breaking into each other’s homes last week.
Last Wednesday Michael Williams reported to Martin County Sheriff’s deputies that someone had burglarized his Hobe Sound mobile home when he was out at work. When he returned, Williams said he found a safe, money, jewelry and blank checks were missing.
Michael B. Williams
Two days later, Aaron W. Benson told deputies that five burglars entered his Stuart area home, hit him in the head and fled after stealing several items from his home, including his girlfriend’s shotgun. (more…)
Two firefighters arrested Tuesday on charges of growing marijuana for sale are no longer employed by the St. Lucie County Fire District.
One resigned and one was fired, according to Catherine Chaney, district spokeswoman.
Firefighter and emergency medical technician Herman Michael Gonzalez, 36, of Palm City had posted a $105,000 bond after his arrest for operating the third largest grow house to be raided in Martin County in the past 10 years. It was in a rental warehouse in the Tropical Farms area of unincorporated Martin County.
Edward J. Nobles II, 37, of Fort Pierce, a firefighter-engineer, was arrested based on information obtained after Gonzalez’s arrest. He was found to being growing marijuana at his home. He posted $10,000 bond and was released by the St. Lucie County Jail. Investigators did not say how or if the two men are connected.
Two St. Lucie County firefighters were arrested Tuesday on felony charges that they were raising marijuana to sell.
Herman Gonzalez
Herman Michael Gonzalez, a nine-year veteran of the St. Lucie County Fire District, was arrested outside the commercial warehouse in western Martin County where, officials said, dozens of pot plants with a total street value of $400,000 were growing under hot lights.
Gonzalez, 36, faces felony charges of marijuana cultivation and trafficking more than 25 pounds of the drug. He was being held in the Martin County jail Tuesday on $105,000 bail.
Later Tuesday, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a shed in Fort Pierce run by a second firefighter, Edward Joseph Nobles. There, they found four marijuana plants, a grow light, and more than 100 seedlings. According to the arrest affidavit, Nobles, 37, admitted that he was growing the plants to make extra money.
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