State attorney counters Osceola sheriff’s claims on drug trafficking cases

State Attorney Monique Worrell on Monday accused Osceola County Sheriff Marcos López of misleading reporters when he claimed her office didn’t prosecute drug trafficking arrests in 2022 and concealing information about cases prosecutors believed lacked sufficient evidence to be presented in court.

On Thursday, López told reporters Worrell had prosecuted none of the 74 drug trafficking cases he presented to her office last year. Worrell rebutted the claim in a 30-minute press conference, telling reporters that prosecutors had 13 drug trafficking convictions that “resulted in a minimum mandatory or higher sentence” in Osceola County.

Of 68 other cases, 36 are still pending trial, 12 were dropped after tests on the substances were conducted and another 12 were dropped due to “evidentiary issues,” she said.

“Facts matter. All the facts matter, not just selective facts to paint a particular picture that fits a particular narrative,” Worrell said.

López in his presentation last week highlighted seven cases in which he claimed the State Attorney’s Office inexplicably either downgraded charges against alleged fentanyl traffickers or dropped the cases entirely, saying the state attorney was sending “the wrong message.”

But Worrell reviewed each case with reporters, demonstrating that in many of them, tested substances were not actually fentanyl or that the drugs were found with someone who was not the defendant.

In one case, in which a man was accused of trafficking 44 pounds of marijuana, deputies only sent out about 27 grams for testing, Worrell said — not enough for a trafficking charge. In another, drugs the sheriff said were found on a suspect were determined not to be controlled substances at all, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report shared with news organizations.

“This report not only went to my office, but it also went to the Sheriff’s Office,” Worrell said. “So although he came out and told you that I failed to prosecute a trafficking case in this instance and in all the other instances, he was well aware when he told you that the reason that case wasn’t prosecuted is because there was no controlled substance.”

There was a conviction related to fentanyl in just one of the cases López presented, an 18-month sentence to Miguel Martínez-Lorenzo for possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. In the presentation, López showed a photograph of a firearm, which Worrell said belonged to his passenger, who was prosecuted for having that weapon.

Along with omitting why the other cases had charges either dropped or downgraded, López did not disclose that detail. Worrell also confirmed López has never contacted her office with his concerns, echoing López’s comments Thursday.

“I’m saddened to say that the first time that I ever heard about concerns from the Sheriff’s Office was from you, from the news,” said Worrell, who later added, “If the sheriff is interested in public safety then I urge him to have his deputies work with my office so that we together can work collaboratively to remove these drugs from our community.”

In a statement, López did not respond to any of Worrell’s specific rebuttals but said, “The men and women who serve as deputies at my agency risk their lives everyday to build strong cases for prosecution. They are dedicated to keeping this community safe and I stand behind their efforts. No more excuses. Criminals need to be prosecuted.”

Monday’s press conference is the latest in a saga that placed Worrell against sheriffs in Orange and Osceola counties, who she says are laying the foundation for her eventual removal from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis for alleged negligence in prosecuting certain crimes.

Tensions between the head prosecutor and Orange Sheriff John Mina came to a head in the aftermath of a shooting spree in Pine Hills that killed three people, including a TV news reporter and a 9-year-old girl, within hours of each other.

Mina has repeatedly denied being involved in such an effort, while López said he has not been in contact with the governor’s office.

Worrell and Mina took part in a Monday morning panel hosted by the Tiger Bay Club to discuss the Pine Hills shootings and the state of the youth justice system. It was the first time the two appeared together publicly since the back-and-forth between their offices began, which was jokingly referred to by several people, including moderator and WESH-Channel 2 anchor Nancy Alvarez, as “mom and dad are fighting.”

Mina downplayed the row as the result of a philosophical disagreement and said he and Worrell need to hold each other accountable.

Worrell, in response to Mina and later when referring to López, said the public controversy puts the community at risk but that she will continue to “stand before this community as many times as I need to, to push back on those false narratives.

“But I want to remind everyone that the primary focus of this office is prosecuting cases and holding people accountable and the tireless efforts that go into putting on this production takes away from that mission,” she said. “And that is shameful.”

creyes-rios@orlandosentinel.com