The Citrus County Sheriff's Office wants help tracking down 39-year-old Jeramy Hibberts, who is wanted on a violation of probation warrant stemming from original charges of fentanyl possession and methamphetamine possession. Hibberts is described as standing 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 178 pounds. He is the latest name featured in the agency's ongoing effort to round up fugitives who have slipped away from court-ordered supervision.
Deputies published Hibberts's photo and description as part of the sheriff's office's recurring public-alert program, according to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office. The agency is asking anyone with information on his whereabouts to call 352-249-2790. It is the same weekly spotlight format the sheriff's office has used before to publicize wanted fugitives, including a fraud suspect featured in a bulletin earlier this month, as Hoodline reported in its piece on the 6-foot-7 fraud fugitive hunt.
What a Violation of Probation Means Under Florida Law
Hibberts's underlying charges — simple possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine — are each classified as third-degree felonies in Florida. Under Florida Statute 893.13, possessing less than 4 grams of fentanyl carries up to five years in state prison, five years of probation, and a $5,000 fine, according to Moses and Rooth Law. Possessing less than 14 grams of methamphetamine carries the same five-year prison exposure along with a mandatory one-year driver's license revocation upon conviction, per Goldman Wetzel. If either drug weight had crossed those thresholds, the case would have escalated from simple possession to felony drug trafficking, which carries mandatory minimum prison terms, according to Hanlon Law.
A probation violation does not amount to a new criminal case in the traditional sense, but the legal exposure can still be severe. Florida probation functions as a conditional alternative to incarceration rather than a reduction of the maximum statutory penalties tied to the original charges, according to the Law Office of Anabelle Dias PA. That means if a judge finds Hibberts willfully and substantially violated the terms of his release, he could face resentencing up to the statutory maximums on both original felonies — a combined exposure of up to 10 years in state prison, per the Wiseman Law Firm.
No Bond and a Lower Burden of Proof
Warrants issued for probation violations in Florida frequently carry a no-bond designation, meaning defendants are typically held in custody until they appear before a judge for a formal hearing, the Wiseman Law Firm notes. Courts tend to treat these violations with heightened scrutiny specifically because the defendant had already been granted supervised release instead of prison time.
Unlike the original criminal case, a violation of probation hearing does not come with the right to a jury trial. Instead, a judge alone determines whether a willful and substantial violation occurred, using a preponderance of the evidence standard, according to the Orlando Probation Violation Lawyer. That threshold is notably lower than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard required to convict someone of the underlying crime in the first place.
Sheriff's Office Leans on Public Tips to Track Fugitives
The sheriff's office has used its weekly wanted spotlight repeatedly to run down people who violated probation on drug-related charges. In April, the agency reported arresting two separate weekly-spotlight subjects in a single shift, both wanted for probation violations connected to original methamphetamine possession charges. Hoodline has covered several similar cases from the agency this year, including a 43-year-old wanted over a meth-related probation violation in a story headlined meth probation violation manhunt, and a case involving a 30-year-old flagged for a drug possession violation covered in Hoodline's report on Triston Shaw's wanted listing.
Anyone with information on Hibberts's whereabouts can also reach out to Crime Stoppers of Citrus County at 1-888-ANY-TIPS or submit a tip online, with eligible tipsters able to receive a cash reward of up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers operates as an independent nonprofit that partners with local law enforcement, offering an anonymous alternative to calling the sheriff's office directly. The Citrus County Sheriff's Office is headquartered at 1 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Inverness, the county seat.
It is important to note that a violation of probation warrant is an allegation, not a determination of guilt. Should Hibberts be located and arrested, he will be entitled to a formal evidentiary hearing before a circuit judge, where a judge — not a jury — will weigh the evidence before deciding whether his probation should be revoked.
