{"id":11064,"date":"2011-10-31T15:50:44","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T19:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=11064"},"modified":"2011-10-31T15:50:44","modified_gmt":"2011-10-31T19:50:44","slug":"2-murder-trials-and-1-corruption-trial-begin-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=11064","title":{"rendered":"2 Murder Trials And 1 Corruption Trial Begin This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON<\/strong>
\n Sentinel City Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

State Seeks Death Penalty In Police<\/strong> Officer Killing<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hillsborough County State Attorney\u2019s Office is seeking the death penalty in the murder trial of a Tampa Police officer. This is the second death penalty case underway this week.<\/p>\n

For more than 800 days, Humberto Delgado, Jr<\/strong>., 36, has been in custody at the Hillsborough County jail. On Monday, jury selection began in his first-degree murder trial. He is also charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, carrying a concealed firearm, and depriving a law enforcement officer of means of protection.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Delgado<\/strong> was arrested on August 19, 2009, after he allegedly shot and killed Tampa Police Corporal Mike Roberts<\/strong>. Cpl. Roberts<\/strong> reportedly observed Delgado<\/strong> pushing a shopping cart near the intersection of Artic Street and Nebraska Avenue.<\/p>\n

Cpl. Roberts<\/strong>, 38, approached Delgado<\/strong> and a fight ensued. As the fight continued, Delgado<\/strong> ran across the street with Cpl. Roberts<\/strong> in pursuit.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Delgado<\/strong> allegedly pistol-whipped Cpl. Roberts<\/strong> and then he allegedly fired one shot, striking Cpl. Roberts<\/strong> on the right side of the chest. He died from the gunshot injury. Delgado<\/strong> surrendered after a brief search.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trial Begins For Man Accused Of Killing His Daughter\u2019s Mother<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Vincent Brown<\/p><\/div>\n

In November 2008, the family of a Tampa woman reported her missing after she failed to attend her only daughter\u2019s 2nd birthday. Her body was later found dead in an abandoned house in Lakeland.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the first-degree murder trial of the man who is allegedly responsible for her murder began. Vincent George Brown<\/strong>, 41, is facing first-degree murder and kidnapping charges. He entered a not guilty plea in the case. The Hillsborough County State Attorney\u2019s Office is seeking the death penalty.<\/p>\n

Police said Ms. Jennifer Johnson<\/strong>, 31, was observed arguing with Brown<\/strong>, who was her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child, at Apollo South, 5110 N. 40th Street, on the night of November 14th. She later accompanied Brown<\/strong> to his parent\u2019s home around 3 a.m., Saturday.<\/p>\n

When Ms. Johnson<\/strong> did not arrive to plan her only child\u2019s birthday party, her family became concerned and contacted police. Brown<\/strong> was identified as a person of interest in the case early during the investigation.<\/p>\n

Ms. Johnson\u2019s<\/strong> vehicle was found in a parking lot at 5215 E. 15th Avenue, the same weekend she was reported missing. Brown<\/strong> also turned himself in to the Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office the same weekend for violation of probation.<\/p>\n

Ms. Johnson<\/strong> attempted to contact police by calling 9-1-1 from her cellular telephone. A Plant City 9-1-1 dispatcher answered the call for help.<\/p>\n

In a barely audible 9-1-1 call, Ms. Johnson<\/strong> said, \u201cI\u2019m\u00a0 in the trunk right now. \u2026 took my car. They got me in the car. I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m at. \u2026 I don\u2019t know where I am. I\u2019m in the trunk of my car. I\u2019m in the car right now. I don\u2019t see anything because I\u2019m inside my trunk. They took my car and I\u2019m inside of a trunk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Body Found In House<\/strong>
\nFour days after being reported missing, Ms. Johnson\u2019s<\/strong> body was found in a vacant house in Lakeland. She died of asphyxia, police said.<\/p>\n

After the murder, police said Brown<\/strong> recorded a new message on his cell phone and then attended a party driving Ms. Johnson\u2019s<\/strong> car. The message said, \u201cI did what I had to do, and it\u2019s done. Y\u2019all will probably never see me again. Just don\u2019t forget about me.\u201d\u00a0 Ms. Rachel Johnson<\/strong> said Jennifer<\/strong> was the oldest of her mother\u2019s three daughters. Of the trial she said, \u201cI\u2019m just glad that is finally happening and I hope he gets what he deserves. My sister is not here and we won\u2019t see her anymore. It\u2019s just not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jury selection began on Monday. The trial is expected to take about 3 weeks.<\/p>\n

Jury Selection Begins In Former Commissioner\u2019s Corruption Trial<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kevin White<\/p><\/div>\n

The jury selection in the federal corruption trial against a former County Commissioner began on Monday.\u00a0 The trial is expected to last about two weeks.
\nKevin White<\/strong>, 46, and George Hondrellis<\/strong>, 45, were arrested in June and charged with\u00a0 conspiracy to commit bribery; bribery; conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud; mail fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

The charges stem from the time when Kevin White<\/strong> served on the Public Transportation Commission from 2006 to 2010, first while a member of the Tampa City Council, and later as a County Commissioner.<\/p>\n

White<\/strong> was Chairman of the Public Transportation Commission, which oversees permits for vehicles such as taxis, limos, tow trucks, and ambulances. Hondrellis<\/strong> is the owner and operator of Tampa City Towing Company.<\/p>\n

The indictment stated that as part of a conspiracy, Hondrellis<\/strong> opened a towing company and was placed on the list for county rotation. He allegedly conspired with others to get on the rotation list.<\/p>\n

White<\/strong> is alleged to have used his influence and position to help facilitate getting the company on the rotational towing list. White<\/strong> allegedly received more than $10,000 in 2010, the indictment stated. White\u2019s<\/strong> father, the late Gerald White<\/strong>, was implicated in the indictment, but died in May before an arrest was made.<\/p>\n

The federal investigation began in September 2009, Hondrellis<\/strong> met with a Confidential Informant and allegedly \u201cexplained that the PTC was giving away towing certificates for money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney O\u2019Neill<\/strong> stated that there are more than 150 hours of taped evidence in the case. Some of that evidence includes meetings with \u201cDarryl<\/strong>,\u201d an undercover agent who met with White<\/strong> on more than one occasion. The affidavit alleges that money changed hands during those meetings.<\/p>\n

Attorney Grady C. Irvin, Jr.,<\/strong> is representing White<\/strong>. Hondrellis\u2019<\/strong> trial will not begin this week because he was court-ordered to undergo a mental evaluation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor State Seeks Death Penalty In Police Officer Killing The Hillsborough County State Attorney\u2019s Office is seeking the death penalty in the murder trial of a Tampa Police officer. This is the second death penalty case underway this week. For more than 800 days, Humberto Delgado, Jr., 36, has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}