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Defendant at center of forged warrant claim gets 5 years

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By TOM BRENNAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 12, 2009

TAMPA - A year after his lawyer accused a detective of forging a judge's initials on a search warrant, a Riverview man pleaded guilty today to drug charges stemming from the search.

Christopher Snipes, 26, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to five felony and two misdemeanor charges. In exchange for a prison term less than the state-required minimum, Snipes agreed to withdraw the forgery claims.

Senior Pinellas Circuit Judge Crockett Farnell said the five years would be served concurrently with a 15-year sentence imposed on Snipes in August 2007 in Pinellas County.

Snipes was arrested in 2006 after deputies said they found a handgun, oxycodone, marijuana, pain pills and drug paraphernalia while serving a search warrant at a Brandon apartment.

Defense attorney Paul Carr claimed last year that a Hillsborough County sheriff's detective altered an apartment number on the search warrant to make it appear as if Hillsborough Circuit Judge Chet Tharpe had made the change.

Tharpe said he had no recollection of initialing the change but did not dispute a Florida Department of Law Enforcement handwriting expert who said it was his signature.

The detective was cleared of wrongdoing.

Since Tharpe was a potential witness, two Hillsborough judges recused themselves from the case and Farnell was appointed to hear it.

At this morning's hearing, Farnell asked Snipes whether he wanted to continue challenging the validity of the warrant. Snipes said he wanted to continue with the plea.

"That is probably the most intelligent thing I have heard you say during this whole process," Farnell said.

The plea came at the urging of Snipes' parents, who voiced their recommendation from across the courtroom.

"He was risking 25 years to life if he went to a jury trial," said his mother, Brenda.

She said the gun was registered to her son's former girlfriend, whose apartment was the one searched by deputies. Snipes said her son was living in the apartment.

Snipes said her son needs drug rehabilitation rather than prison.

Both parents question what happened in the case and said there should have been an independent investigation of the warrant allegations.

"I am a law-abiding citizen; I obey the law," said Snipes' father, Mike. "But sometimes the system doesn't work. A lot of things stink in this."

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 259-7698.

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