Tag: Jacksonville
Candia V. Williams, Tax Refund Fraud, Florida 2023
⏱ 2 min read Candia V. Williams, a Jacksonville woman, has been charged with conspiring to submit false claims and submitting false claims to the United States government. Williams, also known as Wisdom Shield El, allegedly caused at least four fraudulent tax returns to be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeking over $130…
Carlos Felipe Jaramillo Grajales, Identity Theft and Voting Fraud, Florida 2026
⏱ 2 min read Carlos Felipe Jaramillo Grajales, a 55-year-old Colombian citizen, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for making false statements to obtain a US passport, committing aggravated identity theft, and voting in an election under a false identity in Jacksonville, Florida. Between 2003 and 2024, Jaramillo Grajales posed as a…
Brian Gregory Brightman, Racketeering, Florida 2019
⏱ 3 min read In the gritty streets of Jacksonville, a notorious gang known as Slime has been wreaking havoc for years, engaging in racketeering, drug trafficking, and even murder-for-hire. The gang, led by Brian Gregory Brightman, has been operating in the Northside and Oceanway neighborhoods, using violence and intimidation to establish its dominance. Thirteen…
Bryan Steven Etheridge, False Statement, Florida 2025
⏱ 2 min read Bryan Steven Etheridge, a 40-year-old Columbia County man, tried to buy a .40 caliber pistol from a local firearms dealer on May 10, 2025, but lied on the background check form, denying he was under a court order for domestic violence. The truth was, his wife had obtained an injunction against…
Michael Deon Woulard, Armed Robbery, Florida 2026
⏱ 2 min read Michael Deon Woulard, a 50-year-old Gainesville man, has been sentenced to 14 years and 10 months in federal prison for a string of robberies in Jacksonville and Ocala. On October 10, 2023, Woulard robbed a Value Pawn shop in Jacksonville, making off with $45,945 in stolen goods. He then targeted two…
McKenzie Phillip Storm Scott, Bank Fraud Conspiracy, Florida 2025
⏱ 2 min read McKenzie Phillip Storm Scott, a 30-year-old Jacksonville man, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for conspiring to defraud financial institutions and failing to appear in court. Scott and his accomplices stole checks from the US mail, altered the payees and payment amounts, and deposited them into bank accounts to…
Braden Huston Hobbs, Firearms Trafficking, Florida 2022
⏱ 2 min read Braden Huston Hobbs, a 28-year-old from Ponte Vedra, has been sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for his role in a massive firearms and cocaine trafficking operation in Jacksonville, Florida. Between March 2022 and June 2024, Hobbs purchased at least 121 firearms from federally licensed dealers, which he then sold…
Mario Jerome Bentley, Cyberstalking and Ammunition Possession, Florida 2023
⏱ 3 min read Mario Jerome Bentley, a 44-year-old Jacksonville man, waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against two former Assistant United States Attorneys, flooding one of their direct lines with hundreds of calls and leaving threatening voicemails starting in April 2023. In September of the same year, law enforcement searched his home, uncovering…
William L. Upham, Threats Against President, Florida 2026
⏱ 2 min read A former Marine from Jacksonville, Florida, William L. Upham, 35, has been arrested for threatening to kill the President of the United States. Upham, who is also a former state prosecutor, made the threats in two videos posted on his social media accounts, where he called for the overthrow of the…
Bob Pilletto Best, Bank Robbery, Arkansas 2026
⏱ 2 min read Bob Pilletto Best, a 60-year-old Jacksonville man, robbed First Arkansas Bank & Trust on February 6, 2025, making off with $5,300. Best, who has a prior conviction for bank robbery, entered the bank, pretended to look for something to write on, and then demanded cash from a teller, claiming he had…
