Three men have been seized by the State Police troopers in Florida and brought back to Michigan to face charges in separate sexual assault investigations in Iosco County.
All the three were wanted on several active felony warrants coming from Trooper Investigator Unit investigations. On Sept. 22, four Michigan State Police troopers from the West Branch Post flew to Florida to extradite the three wanted criminals.
The Three Men Have Been Charged With Criminal Sexual Conduct (Photo: NewsBreak)
Identities of the Sexual Offenders
The charged individuals are identified as James B. Riley, 37, of Whittemore. He was arrested and charged with nine counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Austin W. Smith, 21, of Middleburg, Florida, has been charged with five charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and four acts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, one of which involves the use of violence or coercion.
Robert L. Ogle, 66, of Beverly Hills, Florida, has been accused of five counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a relative, two counts of violently attacking a minor for immoral purposes, and three counts of indecent exposure.
The Incidents Were Unrelated
According to Iosco County Prosecutor James A. Bacarella, it was purely coincidental that they had three cases involving Florida defendants, two of whom lived in the same city just a few miles apart but, all three occurrences were different and, none of the three were related. Bacarella added that all crimes have occurred within the last two years.
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Total Cost of the Extradition
Troopers collaborated with the US Marshals Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Clay and Citrus County Sheriffs’ Offices to apprehend the three men. The extradition was paid for by the Iosco County Prosecutor’s Office. Bacarella confirmed the total cost of the extradition of three suspects reached $2,160.80.
In Bacarella’s official statement, if they hadn’t worked with the Florida Highway Patrol and the United States Marshals Service to arrest all three within hours and extradite them all at the same time, it would have cost the county around $6,000 to bring them all back.
He also added that it was a large-scale operation that took several months to plan and required the coordination of several law enforcement organizations from two states. He concluded by commending the job excellence of troopers from the Michigan State Police.
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