Pasco man pawned stolen items belonging to former Port Richey mayor, deputies say
PORT RICHEY, Fla. - A Port Richey man is accused of pawning items that belonged from the former city mayor, officials said.
Pasco County deputies said 25-year-old Jacob Stone sold two items at Gold Mine Pawn. One item was an Ovation guitar inside a case -- also inside the case was a laminated letter signed to the victim, Dale Massad, who was arrested and resigned as mayor in February.
The second item was a pair of Swarovski binoculars with the name, “Dr. Massad,” written in black marker, deputies said.
Authorities said Stone completed a form verifying that he had the right to pawn the items, and obtained $350 for the sale.
Later on, officials said Massad reported the items were stolen and identified the items at the pawn shop as his own. Deputies said Massad never gave Stone permission to possess or pawn the items.
Stone was arrested for falsely verifying ownership of the items.
Jury selection began Monday in the first of two trials for Massad. He faces an obstruction of justice charge after allegedly making calls from jail to conspire against a Port Richey officer, who was involved in a SWAT raid. Authorities initially accused Massad of practicing medicine without a license inside his home, prompting the raid in February.
Deputies said Massad fired a gun twice towards the SWAT team. Massad will face charges stemming from the alleged shooting during his second trial, which is scheduled for a later date.