CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — A Dunnellon man convicted of shooting at two utility workers trying to restore power has been sentenced to five years in prison.
A judge sentenced 30-year-old Immanuel Zachariah Smith on Friday to five years in the Florida Department of Corrections, followed by two years of felony probation.
A jury found Smith guilty July 16 of two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Citrus County deputies responded to a home near North Nicosia Point on Dec. 5, 2025, after receiving a report of a shooting.
Investigators said two linemen arrived in an electric cooperative bucket truck with yellow warning lights to repair a reported power outage.
The workers were inspecting a power pole along a property line when Smith began yelling at them and accusing them of trespassing, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
Smith then fired several shots, causing the workers to take cover behind a recreational vehicle, prosecutors said.
The linemen repeatedly yelled that they were with the power company. Prosecutors said Smith responded with an expletive.
Smith later told deputies that he saw the workers on his property, went inside to retrieve a gun and fired multiple shots into the ground.
Investigators determined the linemen had not entered Smith’s property and were working along the fence line while attempting to restore power.
“Linemen shouldn’t have to worry about being shot at while simply doing their jobs,” Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson said.
The case was investigated by the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Tara Hartman.
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