KEY WEST, June 4, 2020 – A Key West man is returning to state prison for drug, weapon, theft and driving offenses.
Jo Morgan IV, 37, was sentenced on May 28 to 48 months by Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones. Assistant State Attorney Cristy Spottswood represented the state.
Morgan pleaded no contest to sale of cocaine in two separate cases and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon in another, and admitted to violating probation in a case involving a stolen car. Morgan has served two previous prison sentences, each nearly a year, for cocaine sale in Broward County and battery in Monroe.
His latest arrest, for the weapons and drug charges, occurred this past February 13, when Key West police served a search warrant on an apartment he lived in on Royal Street. The warrant was for the narcotics sales that happened earlier that month.
When police arrived at the apartment, a converted shed, they found Morgan and three other people there. One of them was taken to jail when it was discovered he had two warrants for his arrest. Police found a loaded 9mm handgun and a rifle, as well as a box of 20 bullets, individual bullets, various items of drug paraphernalia. 0.1 grams of methamphetamine and 1.5 grams of cocaine. The guns were found in the closet where Morgan slept.
The drug cases, for sale of cocaine, resulted from February 4 and February 7, when police used a confidential informant to purchase the narcotics from Morgan at the Royal Street property. Each transaction was recorded and was set up using telephone calls. In each case, an informant purchased crack cocaine for $100.
Morgan was serving 48 months of probation imposed by Judge Jones on December 20, 2019, for grand theft of a motor vehicle, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license with priors. He had pleaded no contest to those charges.
They stemmed from August 29, 2019, when Morgan was staying with a co-worker on 2nd Street. When the co-worker woke up that morning, he found his 2007 Cadillac CTS and its keys missing and called police. A Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy saw the car northbound at mile marker 19 of U.S. 1 and followed it to West Caribbean Drive on Cudjoe Key and pulled it over. Morgan, who was behind the wheel, admitted to the deputy he had been drinking and there was an open can of beer in the vehicle. Morgan did not successfully pass field sobriety tests.