Four Sentenced In Burglary Ring

March 19, 2016

Four co-defendants in a burglary were sentenced by Circuit Judge Ross Goodman to the following:

Johnnie Lee, 56 years old from Pensacola, was sentenced to life in  prison on charges of gurglary of a structure causing more than $1,000 damage to said structure, criminal mischief causing over $1,000 damage and fleeing to elude a law enforcement officer.

Noral Scott, 54 years old from Pensacola, was sentenced to 50 years state prison on charges of two counts of burglary of a structure causing more than $1,000 damage to said structure, conspiracy to commit burglary, possession of burglary tools,  and resisting arrest without violence.

Markett Simpkins was tried and convicted of burglary charges from this case  in December and was sentenced to 25 years in state prison by Circuit Judge John Miller. Donald Robinson pleaded no contest to the burglary charges on July 31, 2015 and was sentenced to 10 years state prison by Circuit Judge John Miller.

On November 24, 2014, officers from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and Pensacola Police Department were conducting surveillance on individuals involved in a string of business burglaries.  Those burglaries involved breaking into safes and ATM units.

The surveillance led officers to the Eglin Federal Credit Union ATM located in the 8500 block of Navarre Parkway in the Soundview Plaza Shopping Center.  Officers conducting surveillance saw three individuals: Noral Scott, Markett Simpkins, and Donald Robinson  enter the building at the Eglin Federal Credit Union ATM while Johnnie Lee drove around as a lookout.  When officers converged on the building, they discovered the suspects had cut a hole in the wall into an adjacent pet grooming business.  Scott, Simpkins and Robinson were located in the attic of the pet grooming business and were removed by officers from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team.  Johnnie Lee was located in the neighborhood directly behind the shopping center and led deputies on a pursuit, ultimately ending when Lee collided with a sheriff’s vehicle.

Several wires were cut on the outside of  the building to attempt to disarm the security system.  Additional damage was done to the walls, doors and ceiling of the businesses.

Johnnie Lee was convicted of the charges by a Santa Rosa County Jury on March 2 and Noral Scott entered a plea to the charges on October 23, 2015. Lee has an extensive prior criminal record, including five prior burglaries, possession of burglary tools and multiple grand theft and dealing in stolen property charges spanning multiple decades back to 1979.

Scott also has an extensive criminal history, including a conviction for second degree murder in 1980.  Both Johnnie Lee and Noral Scott are charged in several burglaries in Santa Rosa County which are set for trial on April 11, as well as burglaries in Escambia County set for trial on March 28.

Comments

5 Responses to “Four Sentenced In Burglary Ring”

  1. Frank on March 19th, 2016 9:26 am

    Concerned Citizen…. Florida does have a three strikes Law…with Mandatory sentence guidelines.

  2. Sedition on March 19th, 2016 8:03 am

    Dead thieves never steal a second time.

    Just sayin’…

  3. concerned citizen on March 19th, 2016 7:44 am

    “Scott also has an extensive criminal history, including a conviction for second degree murder in 1980. ”
    Question ………Why is he getting more time for robbery then for the second degree murder? If he had still been locked up for the second degree murder, maybe this would not have happened.

  4. area resident on March 19th, 2016 5:41 am

    If crooks worked as hard at a real job doing the right thing, think how much better off we would all be!

    My thanks to the judges as well.

  5. mick on March 19th, 2016 1:26 am

    Life/50yrs/25yrs/10yrs- taking out the trash – Good job judge!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News