Golf course brawl over slow play leads to felony arrest
Slow play is a sore topic among golfers, and members of the game’s community have all sorts of suggestions available to players to move things along on the course.
Beating people up over it isn’t on the list.
Jason Paul Hughes, 35, of Orlando was arrested last week and charged with felony aggravated battery after a June 28 incident left another golfer beaten and bloodied at Oaks National Golf Club in Kissimmee.
According to an arrest report, the victim came into the clubhouse “bleeding and swollen” and said he was physically struck by another player on the course, who had left the area in the direction of John Young Parkway.
The victim told police two white males approached him and his friend in a cart and began cursing at them to “hurry the (expletive) up,” and this continued on the green of the next hole, when the suspect grabbed the victim’s shirt and tore it, and punched him multiple times in the face. Their playing partners were able to separate the combatants, and the two white males headed for the parking lot, loaded up a white car and sped off.
Club security cameras showed Hughes and his father, who paid for the round with a credit card, enter the clubhouse. Sheriff’s deputies tracked his father to the address on the card, and the man said when he and his son were trying to “pass” the slower players on the course, those two verbally yelled at the two Hughes, which is when the fight broke out.
Jason Hughes turned himself in Thursday, and was released on a $2,500 with conditions he has no contact with the victim and avoids the premises of any public golf course. He appeared before a judge Friday. Court records show the father was not charged in the incident.
Youth pastor charged with storing and sharing child sex abuse material
A man the Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office says served as a youth pastor at a Kissimmee church is charged with sharing and storing child sexual abuse material.
Ezequiel Rodriguez, 22, of St. Cloud was charged Thursday with ten second-degree felony counts of possession of photos or videos of sexual performance by a child. He made an initial appearance before a judge Friday and is held in the Osceola County Jail without bond.
The Sheriff’s Office was notified by the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) of an incident regarding an individual file sharing and storing child sexual abuse material, Sheriff ’s spokesperson Kim Montes said. Based on information files discovered through an account on Kik, a messaging app, detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit began an investigation, which showed Rodriguez asked for “young girl” pictures in Kik chats, noting he had videos to trade, according to his arrest affidavit. Thursday, ICAC unit detectives served a search warrant signed the prior day, and 10 such videos, graphically described by detectives in the report, were discovered in Rodriguez’s Kik account while conducting the search warrant at his Stockade Boulevard home.
The Sheriff’s Office said Rodriguez, who is married according to the affidavit, was a youth pastor at Kingdom Conquerors Church in Kissimmee. Anyone with information related to this case or any other similar incidents are asked to contact the Sheriff ’s Office at 407-348-2222.
Kissimmee man indicted on federal CSAM charges
A grand jury has returned an indictment charging a Kissimmee man with a federal charge of transportation of child sexual abuse material.
If convicted, Angel Manuel Gallardo Candelaria, 32, faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years, and up to 20 years, in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Gallardo Candelaria that the United States intends to forfeit a cellphone, which was used during the commission of the crime.
According to the Department of Justice’s indictment, on or about July 8, 2025, within the Middle District of Florida and elsewhere, Gallardo Candelaria knowingly transported CSAM, in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
Osceola County man sentenced for fentanyl distribution
A U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger sentenced Yo’Rel Le-Dari Pemberton, 27, to 10 years and 5 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute and distribution of over 40 grams of fentanyl. Pemberton pled guilty on April 16, 2025.
According to court documents, Pemberton sold pills on six occasions between July 6, 2023, and June 6, 2024, containing fentanyl to an undercover officer. In total, Pemberton sold approximately 284 grams of fentanyl. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Osceola County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.
