Danny Federico
reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On Monday, April 29, deputies with the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) assisted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) in arresting 39-year-old Steven Levon Mincey, a resident of McAlpin, on charges of allegedly possessing child pornography.
According to the arrest warrant provided by the FDLE, on Nov. 30, 2023, Special Agent Craig Riley received eight CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which Verizon Cloud initially reported with the concern of videos and photos uploaded to the cloud containing possible child exploitation. On Jan. 25, 2024, Agent Riley received subpoena compliance from Verizon Wireless regarding the phone number associated with the uploads made between Oct. 17 and Nov. 19, 2023.
Agent Riley obtained and served a search warrant to Verizon Cloud, where "return records corroborated the CyberTips and numerous other videos [and] images meeting the definition of [child pornography] were discovered." The affidavit goes on to claim that "Mincey was represented numerous times in his Verizon Cloud gallery by both photo and video." Furthermore, since reviewing his Verizon Cloud account, the affidavit notes Agent Riley has received 16 additional CyberTips concerning Mincey.
Suwannee County Judge Jennifer Kuyrkendall Griffin signed the warrant for Mincey's arrest on Friday, April 26, under 20 counts of possession of child pornography, one count of sexual activity involving animals and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Bail was set at $10,000 per count for a total of $220,000.
Additional charges were added upon serving the warrant on Monday, April 29, of producing and possessing marijuana and possessing drug equipment. According to the SCSO's probable cause report, while assisting FDLE agents in serving the warrant, Deputy C. Watson was advised that the agents had "observed several potted marijuana plants in a grow house directly next to the residence," along with "a plethora of what appeared to be narcotics paraphernalia inside of the residence."
Upon investigation of the "grow house," Deputy Watson found two mature marijuana plants, along with a cup containing cuttings from marijuana plants. He noted the area had "multiple lights, fans and temperature monitoring devices." Deputy Waston's investigation found two potted younger marijuana plants and one potted seedling, along with more lights, fans, temperature monitoring devices and approximately 21 bottles of chemicals used to grow plants.
Inside Mincey's residence, Deputy Watson found a metal tray and a grinder, both containing marijuana residue, inside a tie-die "420" handbag. The report continues, stating a single "light up container" containing approximately 2.31 grams of marijuana was also found inside the bag, along with a purple baggie containing 1.51 grams of marijuana. On the residence's sofa was a notebook containing a daily log of the cultivation of the plants, and next to the couch was a Cannatrol Cool Cure, which was used for "the drying, curing and storage of harvested marijuana." Inside, Deputy Watson found marijuana buds in various stages of drying. The collected substance weighed approximately 96 grams.
After being read his Miranda Rights, Mincey was transported to the Suwannee County Jail, where he is currently being held on a total bond of $242,500, with the additional charges accounting for $22,500.