State
of Florida
Office of the State Attorney
16th Judicial Circuit
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Office of the State Attorney 16th Judicial Circuit
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Criminal Justice System Overview Employment Opportunities |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 10, 2006 Suarez Pleads Guilty to Theft, Drug Possession Gilbert Suarez, the former Key West Superintendent of Public Works, pleaded guilty in court today to charges of grand theft and possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. In April 2005, a city employee told the Key West Police Department that Suarez, 44, was stealing money from parking meters. The following month KWPD detectives began watching Suarez. Detectives Allen and Rodriguez witnessed Suarez taking change from downtown meters about 6:00 AM on Sunday, May 8. A week later, having planted marked quarters in meters, detectives filmed Suarez stealing. They followed Suarez home. He agreed to let police search his apartment. In addition to more than two thousand dollars in change, including many of the marked quarters, detectives found small amounts of cocaine and marijuana and drug pipes in the search. For the 3rd-degree felony theft, Circuit Judge Mark Jones sentenced Suarez to five years’ probation – the maximum probation the court could impose. For the drug and drug paraphernalia charges, Suarez was sentenced to 2 years’ “drug court probation” which requires attendance at Narcotics Anonymous meetings and random drug testing. As part of his negotiated plea with the State Attorney’s office, which did not reduce the charges against him, Suarez agreed to pay $11,379 in restitution to the city. |
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Last modified:
10/23/07
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