TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution secured the conviction and prison sentence for a man found to have trafficked more than 200 grams of methamphetamine. Wilson Harvey Shafer, Jr., arrested during a traffic stop in Martin County, distributed methamphetamines in the Treasure Coast area from a supplier in Georgia. The Honorable Sherwood Bauer, Jr., Circuit Court Judge for the 19th Judicial Circuit, sentenced Shafer to 17 years in prison. Shafer also must pay a $250,000 fine and other court costs.
Under Florida’s minimum mandatory sentencing requirements for trafficking related offenses, Shafer is required to serve 15 years of the sentence without receiving gain time or early release.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “More than 1,000 Floridians died after using meth in 2018 and the deadly toll this drug is taking on our state is on the rise. We will continue to fight to stop the death and destruction inflicted by drug traffickers. This lengthy prison sentence is just one example of the great work my Statewide Prosecutors are doing in coordination with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to stop drug abuse and save lives. I want to thank the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Martin County Sheriff’s Office for their great work on this case.”
An investigation launched in the summer of 2018 revealed that an inmate in the Georgia Department of Corrections used a recorded phone line to coordinate deliveries of methamphetamines from a supplier in Georgia to Shafer. Investigators from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with the assistance of the Office of Statewide Prosecution, obtained court orders for phone records and GPS locations of Shafer’s telephone.
While actively tracking the location of Shafer’s phone, investigators identified the defendant traveling to Georgia to obtain the narcotics and then returned to Florida. A surveillance team located Shafer’s vehicle southbound on the Florida Turnpike and conducted a traffic stop in Martin County. After a search of the vehicle, law enforcement found more than 500 grams of suspected methamphetamine in a concealed bag on the front passenger side floorboard of the car, along with other items of drug paraphernalia. Further lab testing performed by a chemist at the Indian River Crime Lab confirmed the substance found in Shafer’s car to be methamphetamine.
Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Jonathan Bridges and Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Cynthia Irvin prosecuted the case.
