Former real estate agent pleads in meth case

MILLARD K. IVES | Staff Writer

millardives@dailycommercial.com

One of Lake County's most successful real estate agents pled guilty in federal court Wednesday to possessing 200 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute that had been shipped from Arizona in a bag of "Meow Mix."

Robert L. Morris Jr., 49, initially was charged by the state before the case was handed over to federal authorities. The plea deal, which also calls for prosecutors to drop a second charge of possession of cocaine, still has to be approved by a district court judge after a pre-sentencing investigation.

Morris will likely be sentenced sometime in September in the same Ocala federal courthouse. He faces anywhere from the minimum requirement of 10 years in prison to a life term. It was not clear what sentencing terms Morris was seeking as part of the plea deal.

Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith said during Wednesday's hearing that even if the cocaine possession charge is dropped, that charge could still influence the district court judge in the meth sentencing.

Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie, in an interview last year, said the case was handed over to federal authorities because "... basically, the punishment for a case like this is much more stringent on a federal level versus at the state level." Morris, who is out of jail on a half-million dollar bond, was denied his motion during Wednesday's hearing to be taken off an electronic monitoring device. His lawyer had argued Morris already was under too much financial obligation to pay a monitoring charge of $31 a month.

"He gone from a Hummer to a non-vehicle," said defense lawyer Michael Hatfield, adding that was the reason Morris was late to Wednesday's hearing.

Morris attended the hearing, wearing a charcoal-grey suit, but did not speak.

He was arrested last July after arranging to pick up a package shipped from Arizona that contained the meth -- worth $30,000 on the street -- that had been hidden in a bag of "Meow Mix." The package was shipped to a local title company Morris had done business with in the past, but a suspicious company employee turned it over to authorities after the intended recipient claimed no knowledge of it.

According to an arrest affidavit, Morris contacted the title company regarding the package and detectives arranged a meeting for delivery, where he was taken into custody after a brief struggle.

Prosecutor Samuel Armstrong said Morris had picked up at least two prior shipments. A Website listing for Morris said he got his real estate license in January 2003. Between 2005 and 2006, he closed on 222 properties, racking up $62 million in sales. The Website listing also said he belongs to multiple real estate associations and five chambers of commerce in Lake County.

Source: http://www.dailycommercial.com/062112morris