Press Releases

In April of 2025 Detectives Ryan Sullivan and Mary Weaver with the Levy County Sheriff’s Office ICAC / Sex Offender Unit received a complaint from a juvenile and her guardian that a male had contacted the juvenile through a popular social media platform. The juvenile victim told detectives that the male identified himself through a moniker (screen name) and requested various photos of the juvenile. The male was identified as Ronald Pate Newman who is a registered sexual offender from Youngstown, Ohio.

The parental guardian discovered the chats and contacted the Levy County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division who immediately launched an investigation. Detectives found Newman had contacted the juvenile and requested explicit photos and sexual favors. Levy County Sheriff’s Office Detectives contacted the United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations for assistance due to the criminal acts occurring over multiple state lines.

The United States Homeland Security Investigations and Levy County Sheriff’s Office Detectives presented the case to Northern District Court of Florida where the local Levy County case was adopted at the federal level and federal charges were filed in the investigation. On October 7^th the United States Department of Homeland Security executed a search warrant at the Ohio residence of Ronald Newman where he was arrested on the warrants for CSAM.

Ronald Newman is being held without bond in the Mahoning County Jail as federal authorities work to transfer him to Florida, where he faces charges in connection with a CSAM and Sexual Offender violations.

Sheriff McCallum is and the LCSO remain committed to these investigations in order to protect our children. He encourages all parents to monitor their children as they navigate on line.

On May 5, 2023 the Levy County Sheriff’s Office arrested John Harmon Jordan Jr. (2/20/63) of Chiefland on two counts of lewd and lascivious battery and two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation. The arrest was followed by a thorough and lengthy investigation which was initiated by the victim’s disclosure.

The investigation determined multiple sexual interactions occurred between the victim and Jordan which lasted for several months. The victim was assaulted numerous times over the course of that time. A strong evidentiary foundation aided Detectives in successfully corroborated the victim’s statements. Detectives recovered digital and biological evidence as well as recorded admissions by the defendant. This evidence sealed the formal charges.

On September 24, 2025, John Harmon Jordan Jr. entered a plea of no contest and was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in the Florida Department of Corrections. This resolution ensured justice for the victim and family, while also sparing the victim the emotional trauma of a trial.

John Harmon Jordan Jr., is now classified as a sexual predator and upon his release from the Department of Corrections he will be required to register as a predator with the Sheriff’s Office.

The outcome of this case highlights the dedication the Sheriff’s Office has to holding these types of offenders accountable while protecting the well-being of survivors and victims.

Jeffrey Lashley, 9/11/59 of Cedar Key, FL was arrested on July 1, 2025 for multiple violations of the sexual predator registration requirements. In 1996 Lashley was convicted for Lewd and Lascivious Battery. This conviction designated him a Sexual Offender in the State of Florida.

In 2004, having been arrested again for sexually based crimes against children, Lashley was again convicted thus designating him a Sexual Predator. It is based on these convictions and the age of the victim(s) that he was required to register as a Sexual Offender/ Predator for life.

Lashley’s newest violations this year were discovered when Detective Cody Weaver performed a sexual predator compliance check at his home in Cedar Key. Detective Weaver identified a smart phone in Lashley’s possession. Detective Weaver knew Lashley had not registered this device.

A search of this phone discovered that Lashley had multiple social media applications installed on the phone. He was also required to disclose any social media sites he subscribed to during his registration. Lashleys phone was discovered to contain numerous images of Child Sexual Abuse Material he later admitted to downloading from the internet. Lashley phone additionally contained recently taken pictures of young juvenile females in bathing suits. It appears these photographs were taken at several public places in our community.

Detectives also seized numerous paper notebooks from Lashley. These contained writings that described explicit stories and/or his fantasies of him performing sexual acts on children, both male and female. It appeared he fantasized about children between the ages of four to 10 years old. The evidence and documentation was overwhelming which would aid our prosecuting team the evidence to secure a conviction.

Faced with the reality of the case against him, Lashley entered an open plea on 8/27/25 to Circuit Judge William Davis, seeking leniency. Judge Davis appropriately sentenced him to a prison term of 30 years in the Florida Department of Corrections.

8/29/25

On 9/8/24, Shawn Orr (7/27/63) called 911 to report that he located his wife, Eloida Davis, deceased. Orr directed responding emergency units to a wooded area along a secondary driveway to their home where her body was located. Orr quickly became the person of interest in his wife’s death. Evidence revealed a violent abusive relationship.

The entire team of the LCSO Criminal Investigations Division pursued every lead and recovered evidence that Orr and his wife had a violent physical altercation inside their home the night before. Broken furniture along with blood evidence was recovered from the home, debunking Orr’s statement she walked away uninjured earlier the night prior. Orr claimed during his efforts to locate her, he accidentally ran over her remains while turning around.  It appeared Orr intentionally ran her remains over to conceal her injuries he inflicted the night before. Detective Ryan Sullivan placed Orr under arrest for murder.

Orr, who has remained in custody since his arrest, entered an open plea on 8/27/25 to Circuit Judge William Davis who sentenced Orr to 30 years. Orr will be transported to the Florida Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence for the murder of his wife, Eloida.

Tanner McDaniel

8/27/25            

In December of 2024, Detective Blake Landfair was assigned to investigate an accusation of sexual misconduct made against Tanner McDaniel (11/1/92).  McDaniel, a church youth leader, allegedly engaged in an inappropriate relationship with one of his students. The investigation uncovered convincing physical, electronic, and testimonial evidence. A warrant was obtained for McDaniel’s arrest, and McDaniel was arrested 1/11/25.

On 8/20/25, McDaniel entered an open plea to the Circuit Judge William Davis who sentenced McDaniel to 4 years in the Florida Department of Corrections. Upon his release he will serve an additional 10 years of sex offender probation, and must register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

Sexual based crimes perpetrated against children are some of the most difficult to investigate. The detectives at the LCSO are relieved the victim and family were spared the additional trauma of a trial. Now we hope and pray for the continued healing of this victim.

8/29/25

On 8/19/24, Brandon Tyler Capozzi (4/26/94) drove his motorcycle to victim, Carry Weeks’ property and shot him when Weeks walked down his driveway to speak to him. Capozzi immediately fled the location. LCSO Deputies and Detectives immediately responded to the shooting scene and quickly identified Capozzi as the primary suspect. Detectives left no lead unchecked in their attempt to locate Capozzi.

Capozzi was ultimately tracked down and taken into custody in the Williston McDonalds parking lot within hours of the incident. Detectives interviewed Capozzi who made a full confession for his crime. Detectives also learned valuable information on where he hid the firearm used during his crime. This gun was recovered ensuring it would never be used to commit another crime. Capozzi was charged with murder and evidence tampering and has been held in LCSO’s custody since the date of his arrest.

On 8/27/25, the Honorable 8^th Judicial Circuit Judge William Davis sentenced Capozzi to 35 years in the Florida Department of Corrections for premeditated murder and evidence tampering. His prison sentenced will be followed by 10 years of probation. The LCSO’s hope is that this lengthy sentence brings a semblance of peace to the victim’s family and friends. We also want to offer a special thankyou to the Williston Police Department who played a major role in Capozzi’s capture at McDonalds and recovery of vital evidence. 

• Burglary (from the outstanding warrant) – Bond: $75,000
• Resisting Arrest – Bond: $2,500

August 22, 2025

Deputy Rich Peters was on patrol in Bronson on August 17^th and stopped a Jeep for excessive speed. The driver, identified as Otis R. Johnson (9/6/77) of Bronson was extremely nervous. Deputy Peters smelled to odor of burned marijuana coming from inside the vehicle and asked Johnson if he had a prescription for this substance. Johnson said he did not.

The roadside investigation determined Johnson was operating a rental vehicle assigned to a third person who was not present with him. Johnson said there could be marijuana in the vehicle that belonged to the person who actually rented it and gave permission to search and locate the marijuana.

The search found much more than marijuana. Deputy Peters located over 100 grams of methamphetamines, ammunition and a large sum of cash. Johnson was placed under arrest and this investigation also determined he is a previously convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm and/or ammunition.

Johnson has been charged with trafficking in methamphetamines, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held in the Levy County Detention Center and his bond has been set at $135,000.00.

August 14, 2025

On May 30, 2024 Justin Bryant (6/29/88) of Morriston embarked on a drug fueled mission of murder. In a short time frame he brutally stabbed and cut four people in a normally quiet Morriston neighborhood. No clear cut motive for this crime was ever established. Thankfully no life was lost but these victims have lived with the scars he caused, both physically and mentally.

Bryant has been held in the Levy County Detention Center awaiting trial since his arrest. Recently, he entered an “open” plea of guilty to 8^th Judicial Circuit Judge Davis, hoping for leniency in his sentence. Due to the brutality of this crime, little leniency was granted. Judge Davis sentenced Bryant to 40 years in the Florida Department of Corrections.

This case saw a massive response from law enforcement. At the time our 911 system began flooding with emergency calls while Bryant was still at large and potentially injuring other innocent people. All on duty available Levy County deputies responded. Williston Police Department sent all of their available officers. The manhunt was intense and Bryant was quickly located by a Williston Police Officer and a Levy County Deputy. The extraordinary cooperative work between our agencies allowed for this quick apprehension potentially saving more lives. So, a special thank you is warranted to Chief Rolls and all the officers at the Williston Police Department for their unwavering commitment to keeping the Levy County community safe.