A Tallahassee juror says someone tried to hand her $10,000 in cash to flip her vote in a drug-trafficking trial, and instead of taking the money, she walked it straight to the court. Prosecutors say the attempted payoff was tied to a childhood connection between the juror and one of the alleged go-betweens. The offer came while the trial was still underway and, according to authorities, did not change the outcome of the case.
Attorney General James Uthmeier announced this week that 40-year-old Brad Gathers and 24-year-old Tanaya Harris are now facing charges over the incident. In a news release on MyFloridaLegal, the office says Gathers is charged with tampering with a court official and conspiracy to tamper with a court official, while Harris is charged with conspiracy. The release also notes that a judge granted a pretrial detention motion that keeps Gathers locked up without bond as the case moves forward.
How the alleged plot unfolded
Investigators concluded that Gathers is a close associate of the defendants in the underlying drug case, Delmetrice Rogers and LaSonya Savage, and learned that Harris, who was his girlfriend at the time, had known one of the jurors since childhood. As reported by Tampa Free Press, Harris and Gathers allegedly approached that juror and offered $10,000 in cash in an effort to sway her vote. The juror refused, immediately alerted courtroom officials, and was removed from the panel. An alternate juror stepped in, and the trial continued to guilty verdicts in November 2025.
“Anyone who tries to undermine our justice system will find themselves behind bars,” Attorney General Uthmeier said in the office’s statement, while commending the juror for speaking up. He cast the case as part of a broader push to protect the integrity of juries in high-stakes prosecutions. Senior Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Guillermo Vallejo is assigned to handle the case in the Second Judicial Circuit, according to the release.
Legal stakes and next steps
Local reporting from WCTV notes that the potential penalties are steep. Prosecutors say Gathers could face a life sentence if convicted on all counts, while Harris faces up to 15 years in prison. According to WCTV, the Office of Statewide Prosecution successfully argued to keep Gathers detained while the charges are pending. Prosecutors have not yet laid out a timetable for upcoming hearings, and the case’s next moves will be spelled out in court filings and docket entries.
The underlying trial for Rogers and Savage, which triggered the alleged bribe attempt, ended with guilty verdicts and prison sentences last November, according to Tampa Free Press. Because the juror immediately reported the approach, the court was able to swap in an alternate and keep the verdicts intact. Prosecutors say that quick action preserved the integrity of the proceeding and avoided the kind of messy delays that can follow jury-tampering allegations.
Florida’s tampering laws help explain why the state moved so aggressively. The statute on tampering and harassment of court officials makes it a felony to offer a financial benefit in order to influence a juror or court official, and it allows penalties to ratchet up, including to a life felony, when the case at issue involves a first-degree offense that is punishable by life, according to The Florida Senate. That framework is the backdrop for the heavy charges and potential sentences in this case.
The prosecution will unfold in the Second Judicial Circuit, where legal observers will be watching for arraignment and motion hearings in the weeks ahead. For now, state officials are publicly praising the juror’s decision to come forward and holding the case up as a cautionary tale about the serious legal fallout that can follow attempts to meddle with a jury. The Attorney General’s office included a press contact in its release for anyone seeking more details.
