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Man Who Got Break As A Teen Now Faces Cocaine, Gun Charges

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 7, 2009

Updated: 01/07/2009 11:22 am

Nazario Cortes

Nazario Cortez, who caused the death of a grandmother and an unborn baby in a car crash seven years ago, has been arrested again. This time, he's charged with armed trafficking in cocaine.

Cortez, 24, whose last name is spelled Cortes on his driver's license, was arrested Tuesday. The armed trafficking charge is new, but he also was arrested on warrants for trafficking in cocaine, delivery of cocaine, being a felon in possession of a firearm and violating probation for two counts of vehicular homicide, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

Because of compassion from a family and judge in February 2003, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Barbara Fleischer sentenced Cortez to two years in jail, two years on house arrest and 10 years of probation.

Cortez was 16 and without a driver's license when he took his mother's car, picked up two girls and drove in Ruskin on July 23, 2001.

He was driving along a two-lane road between 70 and 90 mph, prosecutor John Rogers said in court. Cortez came to a stop sign at 30th Avenue and 39th Street, where another car was nearing the intersection. The girls with Cortez told him to stop.

According to court testimony, Cortez said he could make it.

But he slammed into a car driven by 56-year-old Shirley Dillon, who was taking her grandson, Ricky Dillon, 7, home from church.

Shirley Dillon died, as did an unborn child carried by a 13-year-old riding with Cortez.

Cortez hadn't been drinking and he had no previous arrests. He pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide. Counselors testified that not having a father at home left Cortez without a role model to keep his impulses in check.

Shirley Dillon's daughter, Robin Holt, asked Fleischer to send Cortez a message but not to send him to prison, where she believed his life would be over.

The judge agreed, saying she thought prison would turn Cortez into a monster.

Behind bars in September 2003, Cortez told The Tampa Tribune he entered the Hillsborough County jail system wild and angry but that he had changed. He attributed part of the change to serving as one of 15 nonviolent offenders at the Orient Road Jail who spend their mornings fertilizing, planting and propagating plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables.

"I've learned self-discipline, and I've learned responsibility," Cortez said at the time. "I take a lot of pride in the work I do here."

Today, Cortez, whose address is unknown, remains without bail at Orient Road Jail. He is a gang member, according to a criminal arrest affidavit.

He declined to comment today.

Also arrested Tuesday by deputies as part of the investigation: Jose Martinez, 38, of Ruskin; Anthony Gallegos, 24, of Wimauma; and Alfonso Cortes, 22, of Gibsonton.

On Dec. 15, an undercover investigator agreed to purchase 32.4 grams of cocaine from Gallegos, and Gallegos directed an investigator to the home of Martinez, his uncle, according to a criminal arrest affidavit. Ultimately, an investigator gave $900 to Gallegos for the cocaine. Martinez was arrested Tuesday at his Ruskin home.

A search warrant Tuesday at 5143 Bishop Road in Wimauma, where Gallegos lives, led investigators to a .380-caliber gun and about 267 grams of cocaine, an arrest affidavit states. Alfonso Cortes and Nazario Cortez also were arrested at that property Tuesday.

Investigators found more than 27 grams of crack cocaine from Cortes' vehicle at the time, and Cortes was found in possession of the loaded gun, according to the affidavit.

Rogers said today that he recalled Nazario Cortez being a sympathetic child following the 2001 arrest and that everyone involved in the case believed Cortez had the ability to do something with his life. Cortez got an "enormous break" at the time, Rogers said, adding that he still believes it wasn't the wrong thing to do.

"I don't believe there was anything wrong or improper or not well thought out at the time of sentencing," he said. "I don't believe anybody made a mistake. I don't believe it was a poor choice."

Information from Tribune archives was used in this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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