October 26, 2007
For more information contact:
Managing Asst. U.S. Attorney Dixie A. Morrow
(850) 444-4000
SEIZURE OF FIFTY KILOGRAMS OF COCAINE NETS LIFE SENTENCE
IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR TWO DEFENDANTS
Pensacola, Florida - United States Attorney Gregory R. Miller, Northern District of Florida, announced today that David Lee Schimmel, 30 years of age and Anthony Alexander Bridgewater, 34, of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, were sentenced by United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers to life imprisonment for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana.
On September 6, 2007, a jury found both defendants guilty as charged. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Fort Walton Beach Police Department, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The evidence was presented during a four day trial by federal prosecutors Edwin Knight and Tiffany Eggers. The offense involved a lengthy conspiracy between numerous persons in different states that culminated in the seizure of over fifty kilograms of cocaine in Fort Walton on April 4, 2007.
United States Attorney Miller had high praise for the case agents. “Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Investigator Corey Aittama and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Agent Michael Bettis are to be commended for their fine work on this case. They were detailed to the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force, the mission of which is to investigate large scale drug distribution operations like this case presented and to effectively assist in the prosecution of those responsible for such crimes. I thank the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for making these skilled officers a part of that team.”