Tampa, Florida – LAWFUEL – Press Release Service – Today United States District Judge James S. Moody, Jr., sentenced CHARLES DANIEL MAYE, 51, a former Hillsborough County Deputy Sheriff, to eight years’ imprisonment. LEROY COLLINS, 80, of Ruskin, Florida, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. The pair was found guilty by a jury on April 7, 2006, of conspiracy and substantive offenses involving unlawfully obtaining information from a federal computer database for the purpose of committing extortion and making false statements to federal agents. According to court documents, MAYE assisted COLLINS in obtaining information from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer database on numerous occasions to further COLLINS’ extortion of a former paramour, Linda Bobo.
MAYE provided information to COLLINS that he unlawfully obtained from the NCIC database regarding James McLemore, Bobo’s new boyfriend. McLemore was subsequently shot and wounded, then, after Bobo refused to end her relationship with McLemore, COLLINS caused McLemore to be murdered on September 8, 1996 in Bradenton, Florida.
MAYE unlawfully obtained restricted NCIC information on Bobo for COLLINS, and while on official duty in a marked patrol unit, conducted traffic stops on Bobo to further COLLINS’ extortionate conduct towards Bobo.
After the murder, when Bobo refused to tell COLLINS where she was living, COLLINS caused Bobo to be assaulted by having a caustic substance, similar to drain cleaner, thrown in her face, blinding her. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) with the assistance of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Tampa Police Department and the Palmetto Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey S. Downing.
