Charlotte County Florida Criminal Courts Do the crime here, you won't do any time. Punta Gorda Florida

This letter is about a man named Shawn Popp who commits more felonies in Charlotte County Florida, that the deputies know him not just by first name but simply by sight. He currently has an outstanding child support order in Charlotte County. He owes over 60,000.00 in back child support to my fiance. She struggled for the past 16 years raising their two children on a single income, all the while putting herself through college. Herein lies the problem, we go to the Department of Reveue (Child Support Enforcement). They see the order and summons him to appear in court. He shows up, the child support office rattles off a number, usually around 500.00 to the courts.

Shawn claims that he has no job and can not afford it, it then becomes a bartering game between him, the judge and the attorney for the Department of Revenue. At no point does it matter to what the custodial parent has to say. It then comes down to the time frame to which the miniscual ammount will be paid. He usually gets 2 weeks. This is where the real problem comes in. As of late he has refused to pay anything so, the D.O.R. puts out a writ. He gets picked up, only to be released a couple days later on bond for less than one quarter of the original writ.

This has been a viscious cycle now for years. In between child support hearings, he gets arrested for possesion of narcotics and other various things. He has a felony record dating back to 1989 and according to public court records, everytime he goes to court, the prosecuter or the judge seems to drop the felony charges, finds him guilty of the misdemeanors, sets bond and say's Have a nice day. There is a little known law here in Florida, yes another Felony, to which Shawn has been convicted of not once or twice but four times. It is ss. 827.06 Non Support of Dependants, it is punishable by ss.775.084. meaning 5 years in prison.

It seems that this guy is untouchable in Charlotte County or the Judicial System is really screwed up there. We would much rather see him in prison than on the streets enjoying the very freedoms that others pay for. If there are any other avenues that people in the great state of florida(I would have capitalized florida, but that denotes some sort of honor and integrity) know that we can travel please let me know.

Tim
Cape Coral, Florida
U.S.A.