Lutz man gets 10 years in shooting plea deal

The 29-year-old was accused of shooting a man, setting him on fire, and leaving him for dead.

By JOHN FRANK, Times Staff Writer
Published February 9, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - A Lutz man accused of shooting a man in Spring Lake and setting him on fire received 10 years in prison and five years' probation Thursday.

Under a plea deal with prosecutors, John W. Thornton, 29, was found guilty for the attempted murder of Luke Griggs. The prosecution dropped charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit first degree murder, court records indicate.

Griggs, also of Lutz, was attacked by business associates March 16 and forced at gunpoint into his vehicle. He drove to Hayman and Dan Hill Brown roads in Hernando County where he was shot with a firearm, drenched in gasoline, lit on fire and left for dead.

Assistant Public Defender Devon Sharkey, Thornton's attorney, said Griggs is currently in a Texas jail. It was unknown if he would be able to make it for a possible trial.

Three others were charged in the incident and two of those cases are still pending. The third, Bradley House, who was charged as an accessory after the fact, received three years' probation in August.

Man gets almost 3 years in burglaries

A day before he turned 32, a Brooksville man signed a plea deal that puts him in jail until he's nearly 35.

Circuit Judge Stephen Rushing found Daniel Seth Weinstein guilty Friday and gave him 2 years and 10 months behind bars as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

He is accused in more than 20 burglaries throughout Hernando County.

Brooksville police officers arrested Weinstein Sept. 26 while investigating a previous vehicle burglary in the neighborhood of Cloverleaf Forest east of Broad Street. They found him hiding in a nearby garage. City police suspected Weinstein in about 16 break-ins while Hernando sheriff's deputies have charged him with five burglaries.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 754-6114.

[Last modified February 8, 2008, 21:03:30]