OCALA — U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber handed down sentences in three federal cases and accepted a guilty plea in a fourth this week in the Middle District of Florida, a batch of prosecutions spanning methamphetamine trafficking inside a federal prison, a gold-purchase fraud scheme run by a Chinese national, possession of thousands of obscene animated images of child sexual abuse, and a Venezuelan national’s attempted production of child sexual abuse material.
U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced all four cases. Together they illustrate the breadth of federal enforcement activity across Sumter and Marion counties, touching drug distribution behind prison walls, transnational financial fraud targeting elderly victims, and two separate child-exploitation prosecutions brought under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which launched in 2006.
The most violent episode involved Billy Boortz, 43, of Duval County, Texas, a federal inmate at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County. Boortz was sentenced to five years in federal prison for possession of five grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. According to court records, on July 18, 2025, Bureau of Prisons corrections officers ordered Boortz to submit to a search. Instead of complying, Boortz attempted to assault the officers by throwing punches toward their heads and upper bodies. Officers eventually gained control and discovered over nine grams of methamphetamine hidden in Boortz’s sock. Boortz told law enforcement he would have made approximately $20,000 if he had been able to sell the methamphetamine inside FCC Coleman. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Prisons and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Hannah Nowalk Watson and Sarah Janette Swartzberg. The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative marshaling Department of Justice resources against cartels, transnational criminal organizations, and violent crime.
Jiaan Cao, 33, a Chinese national, received a five-year federal prison sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of a gold scam. Cao entered a guilty plea on Jan. 27, 2026. According to court documents, beginning in at least October 2024 and continuing through Dec. 12, 2024, Cao conspired with others to gain access to a victim’s computer, fraudulently pose as a representative of the victim’s financial institution, and inform the victim their account had been subjected to fraudulent criminal activity. A member of the conspiracy then directed the victim to withdraw money and purchase gold. The victim was instructed to provide the gold to a purported federal agent for safekeeping — in reality, another member of the conspiracy. Conspiracy members exchanged electronic communications, including the location details of victims. On Dec. 12, 2024, Cao was arrested at a victim’s residence in Marion County when he arrived to pick up gold purchased through the scheme. Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.
Corey Wilkerson, 30, of Lake Panasoffkee, was sentenced to three years in federal prison for possession of obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children. According to court records, between Oct. 20, 2023, and July 10, 2024, Wilkerson possessed thousands of obscene animated images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images also depicted the sexual abuse of prepubescent and infant females. The FBI and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Hannah Nowalk Watson and Sarah Janette Swartzberg.
The fourth case involves Yoandris Jose Ruiz Bello, 32, a Venezuelan national who pleaded guilty to attempted production of child sexual abuse material and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. Ruiz Bello faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, up to 30 years, in federal prison for the attempted production offense and a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment for the attempted transfer charge. According to the plea agreement, on Aug. 21, 2024, Ruiz Bello engaged in a sexually explicit conversation with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl. During the conversation, Ruiz Bello asked the minor to create a sexually explicit video of herself and send it to him. He also sent an explicit photograph of male genitalia to the minor. In actuality, Ruiz Bello was communicating with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations special agent. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg is prosecuting the case.
Both the Wilkerson and Ruiz Bello cases were brought under Project Safe Childhood, the DOJ initiative launched in 2006 to marshal federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue child victims.
Assistant United States Attorney Swartzberg prosecuted or co-prosecuted all four cases — an unusual concentration of caseload that underscores the Middle District’s reliance on a small team of federal prosecutors handling a diverse docket across the region’s rural counties.
Ruiz Bello’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled. He faces a combined potential maximum of 40 years in federal prison.