Deputy Sheriff from Hillsborough County now a Convicted Felon

Raymond Choy, 37, was found guilty in a court of law and sentenced to 5 years in prison and 10 years of probation.






Choy had initially faced 60 years if convicted and for some reason the prosecutors elected to offer Choy a plea deal.

So he was smart enough to withdraw his not guilty plea which he claimed initially.

Oh yeah, what happened you are asking about now, what landed Choy in prison?

Choy was on duty as a Hillsborough County Deputy and responded to a hit and run call. Choy found the hit and run suspect and agreed to release her from custody if she performed oral sex on him in April of 2007.

Choy was linked to the victim by DNA test.

Choy was convicted of sexual battery and false imprisonment.

Another prime example of the system failing, there is no reason this man should have been given any plea deal. He should be serving the full 60 years in prison.

Maybe the victim did not want to testify but regardless he illegally held someone against their will. Then there was the sex act, maybe the victim agreed to this at first who knows.

There had to be some reason the prosecution agreed to a plea deal.

Anyway, I guess as he sits in prison for the next 5 years it will give him some time to think about the errors of his ways.

X Officer Mark Maupin found guilty in car crash

Mark Maupin, a 28 year veteran of the Altamonte Springs Police Department, was found guilty of failure to use due care and not wearing a seatbelt when he crashed his patrol car last November.

Maupin decided to resign from the police force during the accident investigation.

During the investigation it was discovered that Maupin was traveling at 104 mph when he slammed into the back of a Honda Civic that was stopped at a red light.

Maupin was not going on a call and did not have his emergency lights or siren on at the time of the crash.

The driver and passenger of the Civic were critically injured.

The driver suffered from a skull fracture and her passenger a 20 year old male was left in a coma.

The families of the victims were hoping for an apology of some sort from Maupin, but Maupin did not even appear in court. His attorney appeared for him.

Maupin will lose his license and now that he has been found guilty he will be sentenced on Sept. 14.

X Police Officer Bobby Cutts, Jr. now convicted murder X 2

X Police Officer Bobby Cutts, Jr. now convicted murder X 2.

Bobby Cutts, Jr., 30, went from police officer to convicted murderer as the jury read the guilty verdict to the courts. Now Cutts could face the death penalty.

As Cutts cried in court he claimed he accidently killed Jessie Davis by putting an elbow to her throat and then he said he panicked. The jury found him guilty of a lesser charge of murder in Davis’ death since there was not prior calculation.

However he was convicted of aggravated murder in the death of the nearly full term female fetus which does carry the possible death penalty. In addition to the murder charges Cutts has also been convicted of abuse of a corpse, burglary and child endangering.

Prior to the Trial

Thousands of people searched for Jessie Davis.
Cutts continued to work for the police department
Cutts denied knowing anything about the disappearance of Jessie Davis
Their son, Blake, gave investigators the firs clues in the case when he said mommy is crying, mommy broke the table, mommy is in the rug and daddy is mad.
Cutts eventually gave in and led the investigators to her body. Cutts lead investigators to a park about 20 miles away from her home. Davis was found wrapped in a comforter.

During the trial

The Defense

Was quick to ask the Judge to declare a mistrial. The defense based the mistrial motion on the fact there were two different verdicts on the two counts.

*** The Judge rejected that request and said the allegations involved separate individuals; Davis and the fetus.

Cutts cried during the trial and said he accidently killed Davis. He said he was leaving the house and she did not want him to go and then he said he panicked.
His attorneys said his actions in dumping the body and leaving the little boy alone didn't prove he intended to kill Davis.

"Does that cause you to feel that he's a liar and a cheat and he's going to lie about everything else?" the defense asked during his closing argument Tuesday. "None of that will tell you whether aggravated murder was committed on the morning of June 14th."

Well yeah I think it does make me think he is a liar and cheat about everything else. Why would I believe he wanted to be honest now? Cutts started off lying when he denied he knew anything about her disappearance even though he invited a witness to know about the crime and how he done it and were he dumped the body.

The defense also stressed that there was no forensic evidence linking Cutts to the death and that a medical examiner couldn't determine how Davis died because of decomposition from nine days of exposure in the summer heat. Cutts went to wash his truck right after he dropped off the body. See what the prosecutor had to say below.
Seems to me the defense may be missing a slight detail, Cutts said he accidently killed Davis

The Prosecution

The prosecutor told the jury that Cutts' story made no sense and said a police officer wouldn't hide a body unless he was covering up a criminal act. He noted Cutts' testimony that he sprayed down his truck after getting rid of Davis' body because of bugs on his windshield.

"Is that reasonable?" the prosecutor asked. "Or is it more reasonable to think that he stopped and washed that truck to get rid of trace evidence?"

The prosecution's key witness was Cutts longtime friend, Myisha Ferrell. What could a friend testify too in a murder case you ask?

Well according to her testimony she said under oath that Cutts’ picked her up the morning of June 14th with Davis’ body in the back of the truck. She also testified on the 20 mile trip to drop the body off Cutts held up his right arm to demonstrate how he killed her.

My thoughts

Now here is the part that really makes no sense. If you are a law enforcement officer and you murder someone, who do you call? First why would you call anyone?
That could only possible leave evidence against you in trial as presented in this case.

Obviously Cutts was in a panic and forgot simple investigation used by police.
If you wanted to make the jury believe he only dumped the body why would he demonstrate how his killed her?

Maybe he was hopeful Myisha Ferrell would become as panicked as he was and forget what he told her.

Not that I have ever thought about murdering someone, but I think If I were to ever consider murdering someone (or committing any crime), I think the last thing I would do is to invite a friend along for the ride and body disposal. What was he thinking? He really must have panicked.

If this friend Myisha Ferrell knew the location of the body why did the prosecution have to wait for Cutts to give in and lead them to the body?

I wonder if Myisha Ferrell is facing any charges in connection with this case.

(X)Deputy Jose Aponte goes to jail, for 15 years

(X)Deputy Jose Aponte goes to jail, for 15 years


Jose Aponte, a former Polk County Deputy has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping his ex-girlfriend.

His ex-girlfriend testified he forced her to have sex. She said he pointed a gun at my head and threatened to post sex tapes of her on the internet.

Aponte said the sex was consensual and he of course denied pointing the gun at her.

Aponte is 55 years old and will spend the next 15 years in prison and then have 10 years of probation.

Aponte was with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for 5 years.

According to the Sheriff’s Site

Inmate Name: APONTE, JOSE O Release Date: 08/24/2007
Booking Number: 2007-020643 Booking Date: 08/22/2007
Race: W Sex: M DOB: Height: 600 Weight: 195
Location: TRANSFERRED TO BOOKING
Arresting Agency: POLK COUNTY SHERIFF
Hold: N Hold for:
Disposition of Hold:
DNA: ?
AKA
No known AKA
Charge Number 1
Statute: 794.011(5) SEX ASSLT-VICT OVR 12 YOA PHYSICAL FORCE NO DMG
Charge on arrest docket: SEXUAL BATTERY
Bond Type: SBN
Bond Number: 5270502149 Purge Number:
Purge/Bond Amount: 25,000.00 Surety: 0.00
Cash: 0.00 Bond Exp.: SBN# 527050214-9 FOR $25000.00 Disposition: SBN/PTR
Upgrade/Reduction:
Charge Number 2
Statute: 784.021(1A) AGGRAV ASSLT - WEAPON-W DEADLY WEAPON WITHOUT INTENT TO KI
Charge on arrest docket: AGGRVATED ASSLT
Bond Type: SBN
Bond Number: 5604738707 Purge Number:
Purge/Bond Amount: 5,000.00 Surety: 0.00
Cash: 0.00 Bond Exp.: SBN# 560473870-7 FOR $5000.00 Disposition: SBN/PTR
Upgrade/Reduction:
Charge Number 3
Statute: 784.03(1A1) BATTERY-TOUCH OR STRIKE
Charge on arrest docket: BATTERY DV
Bond Type: SBN
Bond Number: 5604738710 Purge Number:
Purge/Bond Amount: 2,000.00 Surety: 0.00
Cash: 0.00 Bond Exp.: SBN# 560473871-0 FOR $2000.00 Disposition: SBN/PTR
Upgrade/Reduction:

And according to the Clerk of Court web site

CASE NUMBER FILE DATE CASE TYPE STATUS
532007CF00642401XXXX
[CF07-006424-XX] 08/23/2007 FELONY SENTENCED - PAYMENT OUTSTANDING
CHARGE SEQ# STATUTE STATUTE TEXT DATE PHASE
001
794011 SEXUAL BATTERY 06/27/2008 Court: Adjudicated Guilty

002
784021 WEAP-F/ARM/775.087(1) AGG ASSAULT W/FIREARM 05/29/2008 Court: Acquitted

003
78403 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BATTERY 09/12/2007 Prosecutor: No Action

[DEFENDANT ATTORNEY=MCGINN ,MICHAEL DEFENDANT=APONTE,JOSE STATE ATTORNEY=STOCKDALE ,BETH A ]
[JUDGE=CARPANINI, MARK -NJ]
LAST DOCKET DATE=06/27/2008 JURY TRIAL=Yes DISPOSITION DATE=06/27/2008
[Court Events | Finance Info]


Seq # : 001 State Prison 15 Years , Time Served -, Money Imposed -
Sentence Status : N/A
Date Imposed : 06/27/2008 Date Effective : 06/27/2008
Judge At Sentence : SPOTO, KEITH P

Former Police Sergeant convicted

Former Police Sergeant convicted

Jeff Pelo, 43, a former Bloomington Police Sergeant was convicted on Wednesday of raping 4 women and stalking a fifth.


Pelo was found guilty on all 35 counts, including 25 of aggravated sexual assault. Two charges were dropped during the trial.




Pelo has been jailed since June 2006. He was unable to post his 1 million dollar bond.

Prosecutor Messman said despite the lack of DNA evidence or forensic evidence the jury reached its decision. There was no smoking gun, but there were several strong pieces of evidence. Part of that evidence, three of the four women picked him out of a photo lineup.

Defense attorney Michael Rosenblat said he likely would appeal. He plans to argue that the judge shouldn't have let jurors see pornography found on Pelo's home computer, and should have let the defense call an expert witness to testify about the reliability of eyewitness identifications.

"I believed before opening statements and I believe today that Jeff is not guilty," Rosenblat said.

Messman portrayed Pelo as a man driven on the one hand by violent fantasies, and on the other by a desire to be his victims' boyfriend. At least one of the women described her attacker as gentle and polite.

Investigators found numerous images of violent pornography some depicting forced sex at gunpoint on Pelo's home computer.

The defense attorney said whatever taste Pelo might have for pornography was irrelevant.

The defense attorney seized on discrepancies offered by the victims, particularly one woman's description of an attacker as young as his early 20s.

"The descriptions of these attacks vary widely," the attorney told jurors. "They differ because different people committed these attacks."

Here is a time line of events leading up to his conviction
06/13/06: Wife, attorney say Sergeant Pelo suspect in rapes
07/14/06: Pelo charged with sex assaults
08/10/06: Grand jury indicts Pelo on rape charges
02/05/07: Pelo lawyer Skelton quits, cites health
02/20/07: Accused cop Pelo gets new attorneys
05/03/07: Financial concerns cloud Pelo representation
11/01/07: Pelo resigns position with Bloomington police
11/19/07: Judge allows state to combine Pelo rape, stalking cases
03/10/08: Pelo trial to begin April 7 in McLean County
03/19/08: DNA testing of hair delays Pelo rape trial until May
04/24/08: Eyewitness-ID expert won't get to testify at trial
05/04/08: Trial long overdue for victims, and for Pelo's family
05/04/08: Anticipation builds as long-delayed trial finally nears
05/15/08: Jury selection completed; final motions on Monday
05/17/08: Pelo has offered to help convicted killer obtain a new trial
05/19/08: Judge in Pelo case says porn can be shown at trial
05/20/08: Prosecution says Pelo lived a double life
05/21/08: Testimony IDs Pelo as intruder during break-in attempts
05/22/08: Decision to name rape victim departure from usual
05/22/08: Victim at Pelo trial describes death threats, pregnancy
05/27/08: Three of four alleged Pelo rape victims testify
05/28/08: Co-workers of Pelo testify at trial
05/29/08: Jury sees guns, equipment seized from Pelo home
06/02/08: Testimony: Pelo may have used police-issued gloves in rapes
06/03/08: Reports: Pelo may have started his '02 break with rape
06/04/08: Jurors shown porn allegedly taken from Pelo's computers
06/05/08: Circumcision at issue after Pelo's wife testifies
06/09/08: Jury hears voice samples provided to four rape victims
06/10/08: Urologist confirms wife's testimony: Pelo not circumcised
06/16/08: Closing arguments send Pelo case to the jury
06/18/08 the charges former police officer Jeffrey Pelo was convicted on

• 25 counts, aggravated criminal sexual assault
• 3 counts, home invasion
• 2 counts, residential burglary
• 2 counts, aggravated unlawful restraint
• 1 count, intimidation
• 1 count, attempted residential burglary
• 1 count, stalking

Aug. 12 — Pelo will be sentenced where he faces a minimum of life in prison.


His wife about half way through the judge reading the verdict, started screaming and creating a scene.

Court security came in and escorted Rickielee out of the courtroom. Afterwards she did apologize for the outburst, but she claims she knows her husband is innocent and plans to fight the convictions.