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Briefs

Wesley Chapel couple guilty in fraud case

By Times Staff
Published April 11, 2006

TAMPA - A former city police officer and his wife pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to fraud charges. Brian Charles Seely, 41, and Ragan Suzanne Seely, 38, of Wesley Chapel were indicted in December. Court records showed that between August 2000 and January 2005 the couple wrote bad checks for down payments and rent on several different homes. They continued that pattern until property owners usually evicted them, prosecutors said.

Brian Seely pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and five counts of mail fraud. Ragan Seely pleaded guilty to three counts of bank fraud.

Brian Seely worked as a patrol officer for 17 years with the Tampa Police Department until he was dismissed in November. The federal indictment against him said that he used his position as a police officer and military reservist to gain his landlords' trust.

Two men were rescued Monday from Tampa Bay after their johnboat flipped and capsized. Charles Bishop, 46, and Ronald Strickland, 56, went down as their boat neared Weedon Island. About 50 feet from the pedestrian Friendship Trail by the Gandy Bridge, they crawled onto a bridge pylon. A construction worker threw them a rope. The men were on land before rescue teams arrived.

[Last modified April 11, 2006, 02:30:31]