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5th Defendant In Hudson Motel Slaying Gets 25 Years

Tribune photo by ANDY JONES

Adam Jones flashes a thumbs-up Tuesday in a New Port Richey courtroom. Jones, 24, entered a guilty plea Tuesday to second degree murder and attempted first degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to police records, Jones and four other men went in June 2005 to the Westside Motel in Hudson to steal money and drugs. During the holdup, Jones fought with a man in a motel room and ordered an accomplice to shoot the man. The man, John Faulkner, was shot and killed and another man was wounded in the holdup.

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Staff Report

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - The last of five men charged with killing a reputed drug dealer three years ago was sentenced to 25 years in prison this morning.

In a deal with prosecutors, Adam Jones, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Jones also pleaded guilty to a 2007 assault charge that happened while he was in jail, though that won't affect his prison time. Jones will get credit for the time he has already spent in jail. He's been there since July 2005.

According to police and court records, Jones and four other men -- Anthony Ponds, Bryan Presley, Leonard Rera and Carlos Oscar Fuentes -- went in June 2005 to the Westside Motel in Hudson to steal money and drugs. Presley, a former football standout at Ridgewood High School, and Rera waited in the car, while Fuentes, Jones and Ponds went to rob John Faulkner and Jessica Diaz, who were in one of the motel rooms.

During the holdup, Jones fought with Faulkner and ordered Fuentes to shoot him, according to police. Fuentes shot Faulkner, 46, once with a .45-caliber handgun, killing him. He shot Diaz, then 26, in the chest, but she survived.

In June, Fuentes was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

Ponds was sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2006 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. In April of that year, Rera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In 2005, Presley, then 19, pleaded guilty to acting as an accessory after the fact in a first-degree murder and was sentenced to six years in prison under youthful offender guidelines.

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