Woman Faces Over 100 Felony Charges For Allegedly Leaking Info to Drug Ring
Florida Ex-Probation Officer Faces 100+ Felony Charges for Tipping Off Drug Ring
An ex-juvenile probation officer in Florida is in a ton of trouble … facing over 100 felony charges after allegedly leaking info to a drug ring.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office says Crystal Lawson -- who previously worked for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice -- was arrested for using database access from her former job to tip off members of a drug trafficking organization about their cases.
The OCSO claims Crystal would use the Comprehensive Case Information System to find "active criminal cases" and use information she found in the system to "warn members of a drug trafficking organization that investigators were closing in and had secured arrest warrants."
The sheriff's office wrote on X ... "Lawson was able to find multiple active, un-served arrest warrants, searched for and identified co-defendants in the criminal case, and leaked active arrest warrants to members and associates of the DTO."
They say the alleged leaks were responsible for lost evidence, unrecovered assets, and at least one flight to avoid arrest.
According to OCSO, Lawson started at Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in February 2022 ... but was sacked later that year after getting arrested for battery. Despite her firing, it turns out she still had access to the database.
Law enforcement says between January and May of this year, Lawson illegally accessed the database 106 times. Deputies say she's facing 113 felony counts of computer crimes - unauthorized access.
She faces up to 5 years of prison for each count, according to the OCSO ... meaning Lawson could get hit with 565 years behind bars.