Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended State Attorney Monique Worrell for allegedly failing to impose mandatory sentences for convicted criminals. Here is a rundown of her track record.
Worrell served as a state attorney in Orange and Osceola counties, and her campaign was backed by liberal billionaire George Soros, according to the New York Post. Both counties have a long record of mandatory sentencing guidelines being ignored for those committing heinous gun and murder-related crimes, and additionally drug trafficking violations, according to DeSantis’ executive order authorizing Worrell’s suspension.
The two counties had the lowest prison admission rates in comparison to other counties for robbery with a weapon, armed burglary, and weapons possession, DeSantis’ executive order stated.
Florida authorities in Orange County arrested Daton Viel in March for sexual battery on a minor, plus lewd and lascivious molestation, according to documentation of case summaries. He was put on probation for another offense and still let out on bond under the authority of Worrell. Viel was killed in a shootout in which two officers also died. (RELATED: DeSantis Announces Suspension Of Soros-Backed Florida Prosecutor)
In November 2022, 17-year-old Lorenzo Larry from Orange County killed his pregnant girlfriend, De’Shayla Ferguson, according to the case summary. He had been released after having carried a concealed firearm on school property and near a minor in May 2022. Worrell’s office reportedly did not act on any of the previous charges until the murder of Ferguson and her unborn child.
Mr. Larry was released after all these arrests.
Worrell’s office did not act on any of these charges until *after* he killed his girlfriend and their unborn child.
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) August 9, 2023
Worrell’s office dropped charges against a minor arrested for first-degree premeditated murder and attempted first-degree murder in June 2021, the document reads. Authorities previously arrested him for burglary, resisting an officer, assault with a firearm and aggravated assault.
In January 2023, police arrested this same suspect for grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Worrell’s office dropped the premeditated murder charges.
In January 2023, the same minor was arrested for grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Worrell’s office didn’t prosecute the charge.
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) August 9, 2023
Worrell did not follow mandatory sentencing guidelines after authorities arrested Randall Fredericks for possession of child pornography, according to the case summary. He was charged with 45 counts in August 2022, which Worrell reduced to ten by February. Each count carries a minimum of 15 years under Florida state law, but Fredericks only served 130 months.
In 2018, Jasir Dopson was arrested and charged with armed robbery of a home in Orange County, according to the case summary. His charges handed him a mandatory minimum of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum of life in prison. When Worrell assumed office in 2021, she dropped five charges and had adjudication withheld on the remaining charges.
Worrell’s office sentenced Dopson as a juvenile and he only spent 51 weeks in jail, the case summary reads.
Worrell’s office filed a petition to reduce first-degree murder charges against a minor to firearm possession following his arrest in October 2022, according to the case summary. The suspect was later placed on probation.
In a similar case, Worrell reduced the charges of Lathon Yee, who faced charges related to attempted murder with a firearm and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm with a firearm, according to the case summary. He initially would be sentenced up to 25 years imprisonment, but only got sentenced to 5 years after Worrell dropped the charge down to attempted manslaughter with a firearm.
Keith Moses had a long history of committing aggravated assault, battery, and grand theft when he was a minor, the case summary reported. In November 2021, he was arrested for drug possession and faced no charges. In February, Moses killed a cameraman and a 9-year-old girl with a firearm.
In the previous year, Kaylan Vega was arrested in 2020 for possessing a weapon near the scene of a shooting, according to the case summary. He pleaded no contest to crime, meaning he is accepting the charge but will not admit guilt, of a firearm by a felon and possession of drug paraphernalia. Worrell allowed him to plea down his sentence and serve probation rather than the mandatory three-year prison sentence.
Following Vega’s release from probation, he was arrested for fatally shooting his girlfriend. Worrell has not prosecuted the murder, the case summary reads.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office reported that it referred 32 drug trafficking cases to Worrell’s office in 2021, according to the executive order. By March 2023, only three of those cases followed minimum mandatory sentencing.
In 2021, authorities arrested Jamie Lynn Fitts after chasing her in a high-speed chase and finding 14 grams of methamphetamine in her purse, according to the case summary. Worrell reduced her minimum three-year sentence to 48 months of probation, despite having been in possession of methamphetamine in the past.
Worrell has been replaced by Judge Andrew Brain of the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
The suspended state attorney raged at DeSantis and accused him of being tyrannical at a press conference following her suspension Wednesday.
“Under this tyranny, elected officials can be removed simply for political purposes, and by a whim of the governor, and no matter how you feel about me you should not be OK with that,” Worrell said. “This is simply a smokescreen for DeSantis’ failing and disastrous presidential campaign. He needed to get back in the media in some positive way that would be red meat for his base. And he will have accomplished that today. He will be in the news nationally and internationally for the individual who has singlehandedly destroyed democracy in the state of Florida.”
“For the people who are celebrating the fact that I’m removed, if there is any humanity in you at all, you should know that this is bigger than just me. There is a family who is being harmed today because of political attacks. This is a political hit job. It is nothing less than that. And it should be seen for exactly what it is,” she continued.
In August 2022, DeSantis suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren for refusing to enforce a number of Florida laws, most notably its prohibition of performing sex change operations on minors and the previous 15-week ban on abortion.