Lloyd Preston Brewer III, who is accused of fatally shooting Garrett Hughes outside a Key West bar on Feb. 13, remains in the Monroe County jail while awaiting trial.
Online court records show that a new defense attorney, Jerome A. Ballarotto, who has offices in Trenton, New Jersey and Key West, is representing Brewer.
“Jerome A. Ballarotto, Esq. is substituted as counsel of record for the Defendant Lloyd Brewer,” states an order substituting legal counsel by Judge Mark Wilson. “The Law Offices of Donald E. Yates, and Donald E. Yates, Esq., are relieved of representation of defendant Lloyd Brewer in this cause and have no further responsibility in the above-referenced case on behalf of the Defendant Lloyd Brewer.”
According to Ballarotto’s website, he has practiced law in state and federal courts since 1987, “defending individual and corporate clients in criminal prosecutions, grand jury inquiries, IRS and other financial investigations, and civil and administrative actions. Additionally, Ballarotto has a wealth of experience supervising regulatory, administrative and corporate internal investigations.”
He has worked as the criminal division chief at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service and a deputy attorney general, the website states.
Brewer is charged with felony homicide and aggravated assault, along with a misdemeanor firearms charge.
The next scheduled hearing for Brewer is June 14, with pre-trial conferences scheduled for July.
