Sentence Cut for Man in Pensacola, Florida, Drug Ring

By Brian Cole

Published on January 02, 2007

Charles Lamar Switzer, 56, of Gulf Breeze, Florida, was originally sentenced to three years in prison until the 1st District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee ruled on Dec. 20 that his cocaine buys did not amount to drug trafficking. The court reduced Switzer's sentence to the 10 months he already served, effectively allowing him to go free. Switzer was also fined $2,500.

Switzer was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to sell, manufacture, or deliver cocaine.

Assistant State Attorney John Simon said that given the circumstances of the case, his office respects the reduced sentence imposed by the courts.

The multi-agency investigation, deemed Operation Sandshaker, was named for the place where some of the illegal activity is said to have taken place, the Sandshaker Lounge & Package Store in Pensacola Beach.

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