A seven-year saga of crime and courtroom intrigue in the Florida Keys appears to have ended this week, as Franklin Tyrone Tucker negotiated a plea agreement and was released from jail here in the Florida Keys on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
According to court minutes, Tucker pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery with a deadly weapon, while the additional charges — aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, robbery while masked and tampering with evidence — were marked as nolle prosequi, a Latin legal term indicating the prosecutors’ decision not to pursue those charges.
Several court documents from a Nov. 26 hearing were still marked as “pending” on the clerk of court’s website as of the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 27, so stay tuned to keysweekly.com for a more complete picture of the case’s culmination, including the official plea agreement.
Tucker was accused of taking part in a November 2017 robbery during which Matthew Bonnett suffered fatal stab wounds. A female victim named Paula Belmonte was also injured. The case became known as the “treehouse murder” due to the open-air structure on Stock Island where it occurred.
Tucker initially was charged with robbery, homicide, aggravated assault and battery in the case that led to the death of Bonnett and injured Paula Belmonte. But another defendant in the case, Rory “Detroit” Wilson was convicted of the homicide as well as robbery during his December 2022 trial. Wilson was sentenced to life without parole, and is appealing the decision. There was more evidence and witness testimony tying Wilson to the homicide than Tucker, but several witnesses stated Tucker was present and had initiated the robbery at the treehouse.
Tucker represented himself when tried in Key West in January 2024, but a hung jury forced the judge to declare a mistrial. Court TV covered the trial with gavel-to-gavel footage.
Following the mistrial, prosecutors in Monroe County indicated plans to try Tucker a second time and he was released from jail on bond in January to await the second trial. But court documents from this week show that according to the plea agreement, Tucker was released having fulfilled his sentence, said a jail official.
Court minutes state he was sentenced to 910 days in state prison for the guilty plea to the robbery with a deadly weapon charge, but received credit for time served (910 days), and was released.
Tucker’s legal saga is one that was made for TV, as the defendant accused the judges, prosecutors and investigators of corruption and of working against him. He also accused the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office of orchestrating the entire robbery, according to Court TV.
During his criminal proceedings, Tucker married a wealthy woman, who posted his bonds of $2 million after his initial arrest, and then a $3.1 million bond so he could be released from jail after his January mistrial while awaiting a potential second trial.
Tucker also became a bit of a social media sensation, frequently posting case updates and accusations on his own YouTube and Facebook pages that garnered significant attention and thousands of online supporters.
Page Six, the New York Post’s renowned gossip column, also regularly covered Tucker’s personal life and court case, which blended in 2019, when Tucker was released from the county jail on Stock Island on a $2 million bond that he was able to afford after meeting a wealthy woman named Lauren Jenai while locked up pre-trial.
Tucker later married Jenai, the ex-wife of CrossFit founder Greg Glassman, and Tucker’s old high school friend from when they both lived in Philadelphia.
In July 2021, Page Six reported that Tucker and Jenai were living apart after one year of marriage, and in February 2024, Tucker’s Facebook profile listed his relationship status as “It’s complicated.”
