Middleburg man faces new wave of child sex charges

MIDDLEBURG – A man arrested in a 10-man sex sting in Nassau County last month was arrested again by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office on nine new sex-related charges on Feb. 8.

According to two arrest reports, Carl Marcus Eubanks, 49, of Middleburg, is accused of using the app “Sniffles” to set up dates with 13- and 14-year-old boys in 2023 and 2024. According to information gathered in a search warrant issued to X (formerly Twitter), Eubanks was aware he was talking with underaged boys.

In Clay County, he was charged with two counts of using a computer to seduce/solicit/lure a child, two counts use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, two contributing to delinquency of a minor, lewd/lascivious behavior to a victim younger than 16, interference of custody of minor, making obscene communication/traveling to meet after using computer to solicit guardian and making obscene communication/traveling to meet after using computer to lure child.

Eubanks was one of four men from Clay County who was arrested in Nassau County’s sting that included former Clay Soil & Water Conservation District Chair Harrison “Ted” Clark on Jan. 19. The Nassau sheriff’s office pretended to be underaged children on a handful of websites. The men were arrested when they traveled to meet the children at predetermined locations in Nassau.

Eubanks was charged with traveling to meet a child for sex, using a computer to seduce or solicit a child, using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony and possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia on Jan. 21. He is due in a Nassau County court on Thursday, Feb. 13.

Eubanks, whose bond was $725,026, is scheduled to be in court in Clay County on March 17.

Stolen gun turns car break-in into armed robbery

MIDDLEBURG – A 21-year-old elevated a car break-in charge into an armed robbery when the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said she took two handguns from the center console of a car.

In addition to armed robbery, Kylie Lynn Kneessi, of Middleburg, was charged with six other burglaries and altering the serial number from a firearm after deputies were called to a home on T Square Court in Middleburg about car burglary.

CCSO gathered intelligence and issued a bulletin on Kneessi for an armed robbery of a business. A deputy saw her at a convenience store on Feb. 9, and the deputy followed her to a shed behind a house. After getting permission to search the shed from Kneessi’s mother, the deputy found a handgun in a microwave. A search for the serial number of the gun in the shed was traced back to the weapon stolen from the car, CCSO said. The serial number on the second gun was altered.

Kneessi’s bond was set at $200,012.

Wanted man busted in Clay County for trafficking fentanyl

ORANGE PARK – An alert Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputy recognized a man who he had “previous law enforcement encounters” with and ended up arresting him for trafficking fentanyl following a traffic stop.

Lavoy Daniel Bennett, 43, of Jacksonville, was being held on a $250,003 bond after the deputy stopped him after running his license tag through the state’s database and learned his license had been suspended. He also was notified Bennett had an active outstanding felony warrant from the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office for trafficking fentanyl.

According to the arrest report, when the deputy activated his emergency lights and siren, Bennett lifted from the seat and moved “side to side.” When Bennett was searched, the deputy found three bundles and a cellophane baggie containing a total of 4.73 grams of fentanyl tucked in the front of Bennett’s underwear.

According to the report, when the drugs were found, Bennett said, “I don’t know what that (****) is, it ain’t mine.”

OP convicted felon sent to prison for selling nine firearms

JACKSONVILLE – U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger sentenced Kyle Garrett Prevatt, 24, of Orange Park, to four years in federal prison for two counts of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Prevatt pled guilty on Nov. 5. 

According to court documents, throughout five months, Prevatt sold multiple firearms to a confidential informant. The offense involved nine firearms in total. After the final transaction concluded, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office attempted to make a traffic stop on Prevatt’s truck, and Prevatt fled in his vehicle until he crashed it into a ditch. He then tried to flee on foot but was apprehended. A search following Prevatt’s arrest revealed additional firearms, along with other ammunition, in the truck. 

Before the firearms sales, Prevatt had been convicted of two felonies, including armed burglary of a dwelling structure or conveyance and unarmed burglary of an unoccupied structure in 2020. Therefore, he is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and CCSO investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly S. Milliron and Kevin C. Frein prosecuted it.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.

Jacksonville man gets one year for committing bank fraud

JACKSONVILLE – U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger sentenced Frank Anthony Acanda, 27, of Jacksonville, to one year and one day in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Acanda was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims he and his co-defendant, Jonathan Benavide Hidalgo, 27, of Jacksonville, defrauded.

According to court documents, for several months, Acanda, Hidalgo and others drove around Fleming Island, Jacksonville and St. Augustine and stole large volumes of mail from residential and business mailboxes. After opening the mail and stealing checks and money orders, Acanda, Hidalgo and others acting on their behalf, deposited the items into bank accounts controlled by them and then used ATMs to withdraw cash immediately. In some instances, the co-defendants altered the stolen checks by increasing the amount to maximize the amount of money they could withdraw from ATMs.

Hidalgo pled guilty on Sept. 5. He is set for sentencing on Feb. 28. 

The case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the United States Postal Inspection Service - Jacksonville Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Frein is prosecuting it.