TALLAHASSEE, Fla.––Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution today secured the conviction and sentencing of Keith Hamlet, 47, and Edward Redmond, 32, for drug trafficking and racketeering. A jury convicted the defendants on charges related to trafficking large quantities of heroin and cocaine. At one point during the investigation, the defendants trafficked more than 100 grams of heroin weekly.
“These two monsters were involved in a massive drug and human trafficking ring that saturated Central Florida streets with heroin and cocaine, and even fed these addictive drugs to young trafficking victims to further coerce and exploit them for sex,” said Attorney General Bondi. “I applaud my Statewide Prosecutors Matthew Davenport and Gary Malak for a great job at trial and obtaining 25-year sentences to ensure these traffickers stay behind bars.”
The investigation uncovered both criminals trafficked these addictive drugs from suppliers to street level addicts, prostitutes and users. The investigation revealed that Hamlet threatened violence to force several women into prostitution and encouraged the prostitution of a 17-year-old girl.
The Orange County jury found the two men guilty of multiple charges including racketeering, conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiracy to traffic in heroin, 28 grams or more. Following this 10-day trial, the Honorable A. James Craner, Circuit Judge for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, sentenced both Hamlet and Redmond to 25 years as a minimum mandatory sentence in the Department of Corrections.
Attorney General Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution worked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orlando Police Department and other agencies throughout Florida
