Two Citrus County residents charged with sexually abusing a woman are on the brink of resolving their respective criminal cases, with one expected to testify against the other at trial.
Beverly Hills 41-year-old Anthony Reed and Homosassa 39-year-old Jamie Rene Tobey showed in court Monday, Aug. 8, in front of Circuit Court Judge Richard Howard for their final hearings before their scheduled trials the week of Aug. 15.
REED
Tobey decided however to not take her case to jurors by pleading no contest to her charges of sexual battery and principal to sexual battery, opting to have Howard sentence her to up to 15 years in prison for each offense after she testifies against Reed at his one-day trial.
Howard set Tobey’s sentencing for Aug. 22 with the understanding Reed’s trial on sexual battery and false imprisonment charges could be postponed to give his lawyer, Brian Trehy, time to depose Tobey ahead of trial.
Tobey
Assistant State Attorney Kevin Davis told Howard that Tobey already provided the prosecution with a proffer of what she plans to testify on, and her statements were provided to Trehy.
It’s alleged Reed, along with Tobey, sexually abused a then-18-year-old woman in October 2020 at Reed’s house. Reed is also accused of keeping the woman from trying to leave.
Inverness man agrees to have judge sentence him up to five years for fatal hit-and-run
Inverness 36-year-old Robert Franklyn Crabb agreed Monday to accept Howard’s plea offer for the judge to sentence him to between four and five years in prison for driving away from a fatal crash scene on Feb. 8, 2020, with 37-year-old cyclist Michael Todd Gilkerson.
CRABB
Crabb pleaded no contest to his charge of leaving a crash scene involving the death of a vulnerable road user in exchange for Howard’s open plea, which the judge offered as result of a chambers conference with Crabb’s lawyer, Joshua Houston, and his prosecutor.
Howard scheduled Sept. 8 as Crabb’s sentencing date.
Had he gone to trial the week of Aug. 15 and was found guilty, Crabb would have faced a prison term of up to 30 years with at least four years as a minimum-mandatory sentence.
Gilkerson was riding a bicycle on West Dunnellon Road, or County Road 488, when Crabb struck him with his vehicle.
According to prior reports, a woman and her daughter discovered Gilkerson’s body the morning of Feb. 9.
Florida Highway Patrol authorities matched paint chips found at the crash scene with Crabb’s vehicle, leading to Crabb’s arrest roughly a year later.
Crystal River man’s attempted murder, hit-and-run case remains on as priority trial
Johnny Travis Wilson, the Crystal River 42-year-old accused of striking two Citrus County Sheriff’s Office detectives and then a motorcyclist while driving away from a traffic stop, will be Howard’s lead-off defendant to stand trial the week of Aug. 15.
Wilson’s lawyer, Vivionne Barker, and Davis told the judge Monday they’re ready for what’s expected to be a three-day trial.
Wilson
It’s alleged Wilson drove away the evening of Nov. 19, 2019, in a blue Jaguar sedan when a sheriff’s office K-9 deputy and two detectives had him pulled over near the intersection of State Road 44 and North Crede Avenue, colliding with the detectives as he fled.
Both detectives, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, fired into Wilson’s sedan before it hit a patrol vehicle and continued west on S.R. 44. A shard from one of the firearm rounds struck Wilson’s head.
As he continued to lead deputies on a vehicle pursuit, Wilson allegedly struck motorcyclist Thomas Carey near the Sunoco gas station at 6971 W. Gulf-to-Lake Highway, injuring Carey.
Wilson was found with 3.54 grams of cocaine and 117 grams of marijuana when he was apprehended inside a relative’s local home after he crashed his vehicle into a tree.
Prosecutors charged Wilson with attempting to murder a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding causing serious injury, aggravated battery against a law enforcement officer, possessing cocaine with intent to sell, possessing cannabis with intent to sell, resisting law enforcement with violence, resisting law enforcement without violence, and possessing drug paraphernalia.
If jurors convict him for his attempted-murder charge, Wilson will receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison. His other offenses carry a total of 85 years behind bars.
Davis is seeking to have Howard designate Wilson as a habitual felony offender, which, if granted, would increase Wilson’s maximum punishments.
Dunnellon man’s attempted-murder trial postponed
Howard on Monday postponed Thomas Edward Burnett’s upcoming trial of the Dunnellon 49-year-old’s alleged shootout with a pair of sheriff’s office deputies until the week of Oct. 10.
Oct. 3 was also scheduled as Burnett’s final pretrial hearing.
Burnett
Burnett was set to stand trial the week of Aug. 15 on charges of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and violating a domestic injunction.
Howard continued Burnett’s trial after defense attorney Curtis Mendenhall asked the judge to do so because he’s ill with COVID-19, and also has to investigate the 19 A-list witnesses Assistant State Attorney Patricia Diaz disclosed to him in a July 26 court filing.
Burnett is accused of shooting at one of two sheriff’s office deputies who responded Aug. 12, 2020, to Burnett violating a restraining order at a Dunnellon home off of West Amman Street.
Both deputies returned fire, striking Burnett twice. No other injuries were reported. Authorities arrested Burnett a few days later, after his hospitalization.