Florida man sentenced to 25 years for causing overdoses, dumping body

A Florida man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his role in an organization that distributed fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, prosecutors said.

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Sherman Michael Puckett, 34, of Clearwater, agreed to a plea deal in March and was sentenced on Tuesday, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

Puckett pleaded guilty on March 14, 2022, WFLA-TV reported. He was sentenced for conspiring to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, 10 grams or more of fentanyl analogues, 5 grams or more of methamphetamine, and heroin; and obstructing of justice, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Puckett was also accused of dumping a dead woman’s naked body, which was wrapped in plastic, at the base of the Howard Frankland Bridge that spans Tampa Bay, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said that Puckett was part of a drug ring that distributed 255 grams of fentanyl, more than 37 grams of fentanyl analogues, more than 28 grams of cocaine and more than 17 grams of methamphetamine, WFLA reported.

The drug deals occurred between July 23, 2018, and Sept. 17, 2019, court documents show. Puckett also mixed heroin and fentanyl together, calling it his “recipe” and distributing it to customers under the guise of it being just heroin, prosecutors said in their news release.

This “recipe” led to many overdoses, according to the Department of Justice. It was not clear how many people overdosed, the Times reported.

Puckett viewed the overdoses as an “acceptable cost of his business model,” according to the news release. Those who survived became repeat customers, prosecutors alleged.

“If they (Puckett’s customers) can survive the high, I will always have a paycheck,” Puckett allegedly told a witness, according to prosecutors.

One woman, identified by the St. Petersburg Police Department as 26-year-old Sheila Capone, received drugs from Puckett, overdosed and died in his Tampa hotel room on Dec. 8, 2018, the Times reported. Laboratory test results confirmed that Puckett’s DNA was found on Capone’s body, according to the newspaper.

Prosecutors said that Puckett dumped Capone’s naked, plastic-wrapped body on the St. Petersburg side of the Howard Frankland Bridge. Her body was found the next day by a fisherman, WFLA reported.

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