Crime

Michael Lee King, 54, was put to death by lethal injection Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison in Starke for the 2008 murder of a North Port woman that resulted in changes in state law regarding 911 operators. King was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. by the state Department of Corrections. The announcement came several hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his latest application to stay the scheduled execution.

A Sarasota woman faces five years in prison for multiple threats against MAGA supporters posted on social media.

The Florida Legislature is set to pass a measure as soon as this week that would protect the identities of police officers and crime victims, more than two years after the state Supreme Court struck down portions of legislation known as “Marsy’s Law.” Marsy’s Law was initially a constitutional amendment that Florida voters approved in 2018. It intended to protect crime victims from having their identities revealed under Florida’s public records law. However, some police agencies began invoking Marsy’s Law for officers who used lethal force in the field, under the idea that the officers were victims, as well.

A Texas woman will spend 61 months in federal prison for a scheme involving the theft of more than $2.7 million in government money and using a false Id and a Naples bank account in the ruse. Kristin Cara Kunstler, 43, of Amarillo, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Kyle C. Dudek to five years and one month in federal prison for the theft of government money and aggravated identity theft. Kunstler pleaded guilty on October 23, 2025.

Christopher Davies, 32, of Cape Coral, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sheri P. Chappell to 27 months in federal prison for making a threat to assassinate President Donald Trump.

A 20-year-old Sarasota man has been indicted for possession of an unregistered firearm, a firearm with a removed serial number and receiving child sexual material. Lucas Alexander Temple faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison if convicted. Temple was previously arrested on a criminal complaint.

An American citizen who fought as an independent militia in Ukraine has been sentenced to consecutive life sentences in federal prison as a result of his convictions for conspiracy to commit robbery and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, robbery interfering with commerce, discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence which resulted in death, conspiring to kill persons in a foreign country, and a violation of the Neutrality Act. Lang was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,886 to the family members of the victims of the offenses. Craig Austin Lang, 35, of Surprise, Arizona, was sentenced by United States District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell.

Florida's Office of Statewide Prosecution secured the conviction of Ivan Gutierrez Miranda for stealing and reselling trailers meant for recovering hurricane victims who lost and were rebuilding their homes. Miranda was found guilty of a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) violation, Conspiracy to Commit RICO, Organized Scheme to Defraud, and five counts of Dealing in Stolen Property.

Demetrius O’Neal was found guilty Monday and sentenced to two life sentences plus 15 years on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder for his role in the Club Blu mass shooting in Fort Myers on July 25, 2016.

A Sarasota man is now under indictment on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and making a false tax return. The indictment was unsealed Thursday against Brent Adam Seaman, 51. He is facing five counts of wire fraud, four counts of money laundering, and two counts of making a false tax return.