By Jim McCarthy and Alex Rickert
More than 20 Florida Keys residents arrested by FBI agents last week for their alleged involvement in a cocaine trafficking ring made appearances before a judge.
According to Florida Southern District Court records, the majority of the defendants made their first appearances before Magistrate Judge Panayotta D. Augustin-Birch on Sept. 6. They were released on bonds of $100,000 or $200,000 with requirements to wear GPS monitors and submit to random urine testing.
Strama was released on a $250,000 bond. His arraignment is set for Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. in Miami.
On Sept. 5, FBI agents paid a visit to the Middle and Lower Florida Keys, arresting dozens of Keys residents — including Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority employees, commercial charter boat operators and a former City of Marathon employee — on federal drug and firearm offenses in and around the Florida Keys and Miami-Dade County. The charges stem from events “beginning at least as early” as 2020 through December 2023.
Multiple Marathon locals told the Weekly they woke up on Sept. 5 to guns drawn in their neighborhoods as federal agents made their rounds through town in a mass sweep for the accused participants in the ring.
The 13-count indictment charged Marathon residents John Robert Strama Jr., 42; Rusty John Stiglitz, 39; Alfred Michael Nunez, 34; Elvis Lazaro Ruiz, 31; Pedro Luis Lugo Jr., 36; Nyran Antonio Ross, 32; and Tyrell Lamar Williams, 36; as well as Key West resident Daniel Fernando Ramirez, 43, with conspiring with each other, co-defendants and others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine in Monroe and Miami-Dade counties.
The indictment also charged Marathon residents Andrew Hamill Hunt, 36; Kevin Andrew Yeider, 46; Jose Enrique Olivo Sanchez, 34; Macarthur Junior Sheppard, 36; Allison Annmarie Thomas, 29; Kizmet Yatz Qualls, 51; and James Dean Chatelain, 34, and Kenyatta Scott Jr., 32, of Key West with conspiring with each other, their co-defendants and others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in Monroe and Miami-Dade counties.
The indictment further charged Michael Joseph Rodamer, 63, of Key Colony Beach; Robert Roy Taute Jr., 50, of Marathon; Bairon Aceituno Machado, 34, formerly of Marathon; Lazaro Jesus Hernandez, 35, formerly of Marathon; Anthony Velez Llanes, 38, of Little Torch Key; and Tyler Jameson Macmillan, 33, of Big Pine Key with conspiring with each other, their co-defendants, and others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute less than 500 grams of cocaine in Monroe and Miami-Dade counties.
The indictment specifies various real estate properties subject to criminal forfeiture in Marathon and Key West, including a Stirrup Key Boulevard property owned by Strama and currently listed for sale at $2.3 million. Two additional boats, two WaveRunners and a truck are also listed to be seized.
Strama, a convicted felon, faces additional federal charges for cocaine distribution, using a child under the age of 14 to engage in drug trafficking and avoid detection and apprehension and possessing a firearm and ammunition after a previous felony conviction.
Stiglitz, Ramirez, Gonzalez, Nunez, Ross, Sheppard and Chatelain face additional federal charges for cocaine distribution. Ross, Williams, Sheppard and Scott also face federal charges for cocaine distribution within 1,000 feet of playgrounds in Florida City and Marathon.
If convicted, Strama, Stiglitz, Ramirez, Delgado, Gonzalez, Nunez, Ruiz, Lugo, Ross and Williams face up to life imprisonment. Scott and Sheppard face up to 80 years in prison. Arvelo, Hunt, Yeider, Olivo, Ravelo, Thomas, Qualls and Chatelain face up to 40 years in prison. Corbosiero, Rodamer, Taute, Machado, Hernandez, Llanes and MacMillian face up to 20 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of FBI’s Miami Field Office announced the arrests and charges.
The FBI’s Miami Field Office investigated the case with assistance from Homestead Police Department, Miami-Dade Police Department, FBI Detroit Field Office, and U.S. Probation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean T. McLaughlin is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Maranda is handling asset forfeiture.
