Crime journal

By Times Staff Writer
Published November 3, 2007

TAMPA

St. Petersburg man sentenced for tax evasion

A St. Petersburg man received a 48-month federal prison sentence Friday for tax evasion. Robert Kenneth Dromm owned Pay Plus Payroll Administrators. The company collected funds from corporate clients and agreed to file payroll tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Federal prosecutors said that between 1999 and 2004, Dromm embezzled money instead and used it for personal purposes. Prosecutors said he stole about $3-million and evaded paying the IRS approximately $1.6-million in employment tax funds he and his company owed to the IRS on behalf of his clients.

CLEARWATER

Pedestrian injured in robbery attempt

A failed armed robbery left one man hospitalized after police said he told his three attackers he didn't have any money early Friday. Keith Jones, 44, was walking near the intersection of Palm Bluff Drive and N Fort Harrison Avenue just before 2:30 a.m. when he was approached by three men who demanded money, said police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts. After Jones told them he didn't have any, he was shot. He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center for injuries that were not life-threatening, Daly-Watts said. Jones told officers he didn't want to pursue criminal charges. Police used a tracking dog to search for the men without success.

TAMPA

Crack ring leader sentenced to life

A federal judge sentenced the accused leader of a crack cocaine ring to life in prison this week. In July, a jury convicted Tony Jerome Henry, 35, of Tampa of conspiracy to possess crack cocaine with intent to distribute and distribution of crack cocaine, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Henry had been previously convicted of other state federal drug offenses. Federal prosecutors said Henry operated two crack houses in the Progress Village area between 1999 and 2006.

DADE CITY

Teen pleads no contest in attack

A Zephyrhills teenager has pleaded no contest to charges in an August rape at the East Pasco Family YMCA. The boy, 14, was accused of assaulting a 5-year-old boy in a restroom stall of the Zephyrhills facility. The Times is not identifying the teen because of his age. He was committed to a high-risk program with the Department of Juvenile Justice.

TAMPA

Property recovered in I-75 burglaries

If you've been the victim of a smash-and-grab car burglary along Interstate 75, the Florida Highway Patrol may have your property. Officials say they arrested three people wanted in connection with a series of roadside break-ins on Nov. 1, after troopers were alerted by Sarasota deputies to be on the lookout for a 2007 Cadillac sedan. They stopped such a car in Apollo Beach, and recovered the stolen property of 36 people from Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, Lee, Orange, Broward and Dade counties. The loot included drivers' licenses and credit cards. The patrol asks that any victims of such burglaries along the I-75 corridor contact Trooper Bob Lanese at (727) 570-5010, ext. 306.

[Last modified November 3, 2007, 00:51:55]