FORT MYERS, Fla.—Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution has secured the conviction of Phuc Minh Tran, 38, of Lehigh Acres, on 40 counts of child pornography possession.

“This predator is facing decades behind bars, which is right where he belongs,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Deputy Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Julie Chaikin and Senior Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Agnieszka Thomas, this monster is off the streets and away from our children.”

On August 15, 2024, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers carried out a search warrant at Tran’s residence after known child sexual abuse material was flagged by the FDLE cyber squad as being downloaded by Tran. Tran was arrested on the scene.

After a week-long jury trial, Tran was found guilty on all 40 felony charges of second-degree possession, control, or intentional viewing of child pornography.

Tran will be sentenced on December 22 and faces up to 600 years in the Department of Corrections.

BROOKSVILLE, Fla.—Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that a Hernando County grand jury indicted Nathan Douglas Holmberg, 36, on twenty-five counts, which include seven counts of capital sexual battery on a child under twelve, following an investigation by the Hernando County Sheriff, State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit, and the Office of Statewide Prosecution. The State of Florida will seek the death penalty in its case against Holmberg.

“If you harm a child, we will find you, we will prosecute you, and we will seek the maximum penalty under the law,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “The nature of these crimes demanded a statewide special task force, and the investigation is far from over. Hernando County Sheriff Nienhuis and State Attorney Gladson have the full support of our Office of Statewide Prosecution.”

“When an individual commits a truly heinous crime, as in this case, the full weight of the law must be brought to bear,” said State Attorney Bill Gladson, Fifth Judicial Circuit. “There is no place for mercy when the acts committed against a child are so unspeakable. Accountability will be had, any chance of recidivism will be nonexistent, and justice will be served.”  Continue reading →

STUART, Fla.—Attorney General James Uthmeier today announced that Isaias Coy, David Desormeaux, Miguel Angel, Antonio Rojas, Mohamed Mesregah, and Jeremiah Gillyard have been arrested on charges relating to the sexual exploitation of children.

“These predators believed that they could hide behind a screen to exploit our children—they were wrong,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “Several of these defendants are now on ICE detainers and will face prison before deportation. We will never stop protecting kids in Florida; those who target them will be caught and punished.”

“These men will soon come to realize that they traveled to the wrong county in the wrong circuit,” said Thomas Bakkedahl, State Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida.

“This operation is a powerful example of what can be accomplished when local, state, and federal partners come together with one shared mission—to protect our children,” said Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek. “These arrests should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can prey on children in our communities. We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will hold you accountable.” Continue reading →

By TomL

This a disclaimer that this is what I think happened, not anyone else’s Ideas.

What should Marion County do next? It needs to rebuild and strengthen the Republican National Committee. I noticed that politically we are being skipped by, by many leaders in our  state. I noticed that the Governor gave money out to county (Small) town’s but skipped Marion County and by the way I told him about it, if my email ever got through. The Republican Party  got split in half some year’s back in Marion County and has not pulled back together YET! Let me tell you a story, I will leave out some names because to some the story still hurts. By the way the sheriff of today had nothing to do with all this, it was before his time..

Some years back the Sheriff was training his replacement so when he retired  his second in command could just step in and take over. It was not that easy, he had to win an election! But to make a long story short he ran and won the election. Before he could be sworn in a scandal hit and he was no longer eligible to be Sheriff. Continue reading →

The income and payroll tax system saddles Americans with $1trillion of annual illegal evasion and endless loopholes, exclusions, exceptions, adjustments, deductions and credits. The omplexity is such that no one can comprehend it fully, not even those who wrote it.

The income tax is notoriously unstable with thousands of proposed Congressional changes made each year with lobbyists behind almost every one of them. The end result is a system that imposes an immense cost on U.S. businesses in both time and money. Any significant job-producing, economy-cultivating expansion or organic growth investment must first be analyzed by tax attorneys, consultants and CPAs to scenario plan, strategize and model out effects of potential changes to the tax code.

Under the FAIRtax, U.S. businesses will have a consistent, level playing field that treats all businesses fairly with no tax on any business income. Most U.S. businesses are wholesale companies selling products and services to other businesses along the supply chain and under the FAIRtax, there is no business to business tax. Only those businesses engaged in retail sales directly to the consumer will have to collect and remit the FAIRtax. That means that just a few companies (WalMart, Home Depot, Macy’s, Amazon, etc.) would bring in the vast majority of FAIRtax receipts. This will drastically reduce illegal evasion by over 90%.

Further, American companies will no longer have an employment penalty. The current obligation to match each employee’s 7.65% Social Security and Medicare tax withholding goes away under the FAIRtax. Also, the built-in embedded (and difficult to see) cost of income and payroll tax along the supply chain, estimated to be over 20% of the cost of all U.S. retail goods

Projects include a new express lane on I-4 in Hillsborough County, critical truck parking facility, and the nation’s first Advanced Air Mobility aerial test bed

BARTOW, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced major steps for congestion relief in Central Florida. These include 17 miles of new express lanes on Interstate 4 (I-4) in Hillsborough County and a new truck parking facility along the I-4 corridor in Polk County. The state is also breaking ground on the nation’s first infrastructure for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), an entirely new mode of transportation.

“Florida’s conservative policies and sound fiscal management have produced one of the strongest economies in the nation,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Through our Moving Florida Forward initiative, we are making record infrastructure investments and completing projects ahead of schedule to meet the needs of our growing state.”

“Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ leadership, we’ve successfully brought revolutionary congestion relief projects to life for Florida’s residents and visitors,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared W. Perdue, P.E. “Our work to accelerate congestion relief, especially along the I-4 corridor, is a commitment we will continue to deliver on.”

Projects included in today’s announcement build upon Governor DeSantis’ commitment to reducing congestion along Florida’s busiest travel and freight corridors through the Moving Florida Forward Infrastructure Initiative, which has expedited major projects 10-15 years in advance. Continue reading →

MIAMI, Fla.– Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Success Academy, one of the nation’s highest-performing charter school networks, is opening its first charter school in Miami as part of Florida’s Schools of Hope initiative. This represents a major expansion of high-quality educational options for families living in communities served by persistently low-performing schools.

“Florida leads the nation in educational freedom, and today we are adding to that promise,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “With Success Academy opening in Miami, students will now have access to one of the highest-performing education models in the country. Florida’s families deserve world-class education, and we will continue to make it available to every child no matter their zip code.”

“Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, parents are empowered to choose the educational path that best suits their children’s unique needs,” said Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas. “Success Academy offers families another high-quality option, backed by a nationally recognized track record of academic excellence and school improvement.” Continue reading →

STUART, Fla.— Governor Ron DeSantis highlighted the success of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Python Action Team – Removing Invasive Constrictors (PATRIC) program in achieving record-setting removal numbers of invasive Burmese Pythons from Florida’s Everglades. The governor also called on funding for the program to be continued annually to build off of the state’s initial $2 million investment in 2025.

“FWC’s partnership with Inversa has supercharged the removal of invasive Burmese Pythons from the Everglades,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “The new program accomplished more removals in July 2025 alone than in the entire year before. Our $2 million investment in python removal in the state budget has made this partnership possible, amplifying the success of the PATRIC program. We must now build on their achievements and continue investing in this proven strategy to protect the Everglades for many years to come.”

By Kat Cammack

On September 19th, House Republicans voted to keep the government open and spending flat. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats made the choice to shut down the federal government.

While the political blame game plays out on national television, the facts are clear:

• Senate Democrats are pushing an alternative funding bill that includes $200 billion in healthcare coverage for illegal immigrants (which can be found on page 57, section 2141 of their proposal).
• They also want to roll back $50 billion in direct rural healthcare investments and redirect $400 billion in subsidies that go directly to insurance company.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, in an operation led by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement, charged seven defendants for their involvement in a multilevel criminal enterprise centered on stealing smoke detectors from The Home Depot.

“This operation is the result of a great partnership between Florida’s Ag Law and our Office of Statewide Prosecution,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “We are proud that Florida doesn’t have stores with merchandise locked behind glass like you see in California, and we intend to keep it that way.”

“Today’s announcement shows Florida means business when it comes to organized retail theft. Our Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement — working with local and state partners — led a months-long investigation that dismantled a major criminal enterprise stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of products from Home Depot stores across our state,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson. “While too many states are weakening their laws and turning a blind eye to retail theft, Florida is strengthening its laws and holding criminals accountable. If you steal from Florida businesses and citizens, expect to be caught and prosecuted.”

“At The Home Depot, combating organized retail crime is about protecting the safety of our customers, associates, and communities,” said Scott Glenn, vice president of asset protection for The Home Depot. “We’re grateful for the leadership and willingness of Attorney General Uthmeier and Florida lawmakers to stop these criminals, and we remain committed to working with law enforcement and policymakers to address this growing issue.” Continue reading →