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Informant In Slaying Of Haines City Officer Gets 15 Years

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2008

TAMPA - Christopher Gamble, who told a judge he thought he deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison, will have his life sentence reduced to less than 16 years behind bars.

U.S. District Judge James Moody told attorneys this morning he would change Gamble's sentence from life plus 107 years to 15 years and five months because of Gamble's extensive cooperation in the prosecution of three others involved in the 1998 slaying of Haines City Police Department Officer Christopher Todd Horner.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Muench had filed a motion asking that Gamble's sentence be reduced to 24 years because without Gamble's help, authorities would have had no evidence to prove what happened to Horner, who was shot to death in a cemetery after he came upon Gamble and some friends who were celebrating a successful hotel robbery and planning a bank robbery.

Horner's mother and daughter both endorsed the prosecutor's motion, saying they were grateful to Gamble for unlocking the truth.

For years, there were rumors that Horner had committed suicide.

Last week, Gamble told Moody he didn't want his sentence reduced. He said he felt he deserved to spend his life behind bars for what he did. His attorney read a letter from Gamble saying he only wished he had killed the gunman instead of letting him kill Horner.

Gamble told Moody he wanted just to see the last remaining suspect in the killing brought to justice.

Moody said he would pay as much attention to Gamble's wish to remain in prison as he does to the requests of defendants who want their sentences reduced. As with those cases, the judge said, he would do the right thing.

This morning, Moody convened a brief hearing with the attorneys, without Gamble present. The judge told Muench he calculated the appropriate sentence to be 15 years five months and asked the prosecutor why he thought 24 years was appropriate.

Muench said he would defer to the judge's conclusion.

"I don't think you had a case until Mr. Gamble came forward," Moody said, adding that he would reduce the sentence to 15 years, five months.

Gamble's attorney, public defender Adam Allen, said nothing during the hearing.

Afterward, he said, "Personally, as Chris Gamble's attorney and friend, I am very much pleased with the reduction of his sentence, probably far more pleased than Mr. Gamble will be. Mr. Gamble is more than satisfied with the fact that the Horner family is pleased with his efforts to try to right this wrong, and that is all he has ever looked for in coming forward with this information."

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