Appeals Court Ruling Sends Century Man Back To Prison On Drug Charge

March 3, 2016

A Century man that recently completed a prison sentence for a drug charge is headed back to prison following an opinion issued by Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.

Steven Daniel Kite was sentenced this week to seven more years in state prison — the minimum mandatory sentence on a reinstated trafficking charge. The seven years must be served day by day without the possibility of parole or gain time.

He was arrested as part of the “Operation Blister Pack 2″ sweep in April 2013.  It took an Escambia County jury just under an hour to find Kite guilty of  conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine and unlawful possession of a listed chemical – pseudoephedrine.

However, Kite moved for and obtained a judgement of acquittal on the conspiracy to traffic count.  The trial judge cited two grounds for the judgement of acquittal — inaccurate wording and the failure to prove that there was any agreement between Kite and any other person to purchase and  deliver pseudoephedrine. The state appealed the ruling.

The appeals court found the acquittal on the conspiracy to traffic count to be incorrect and ordered  the trial court to reinstate the jury’s original guilty verdict.

The appeals court found that Kite did conspire to traffic in methamphetamine. Between December 2010 and April 2013, Kite made 53 purchases of pseudoephedrine, totaling 123.94 grams, from various pharmacies. He would deliver the package of pseudoephedrine to the home of a known methamphetamine cook and receive half a gram of meth each time in return.

Kite previously received a two year sentence, with credit for 122 days previously served, on the possession charge. According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Kite was released from prison on September 20, 2015.

In 2013, Operation Blister Pack targeted nearly 80 individuals on methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine related charges. Many of those arrested were  involved with drug groups dubbed “The Village Group”, centered around “The Village” area of Forrest Street and Lakeview Avenue in Cantonment; and “The Ayers Group”, a group centered around Ayers Street in Molino, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Comments

2 Responses to “Appeals Court Ruling Sends Century Man Back To Prison On Drug Charge”

  1. Davis Williams on March 5th, 2016 5:57 am

    Good try but another drug supplier is off the street and going to where he should have been a long time ago….PRISON.

  2. Dan on March 4th, 2016 9:26 am

    Just when he thought he was out they put him back in

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News