Fort Myers man sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for murder of FBI informant
A Fort Myers man will spend more than 20 years in federal prison for his role in the murder of an FBI informant.
U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr., sentenced James Franklin Broomfield, Jr., 37, to 24 years in federal prison for tampering with an informant by killing, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday.
The court ordered the sentence to run consecutively to a sentence Broomfield is serving for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
According to court documents and evidence presented in the related trial, Robert Ward was the leader of a drug trafficking organization in Fort Myers that distributed cocaine in Fort Myers and other locations for over a decade until Ward's arrest in 2018.
In 2012, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Lee County Sheriff's Office were investigating Ward when the FBI obtained the assistance of Kristopher Smith, a member of Ward's drug trafficking organization, who agreed to cooperate in the investigation.
Included in FMPD report: 'Dark chapter' at Fort Myers Police Department ends with release of new details in Freeh report
Ward learned about Smith's cooperation with investigators and requested Broomfield kill Smith. Broomfield agreed to kill Smith for $30,000, court records indicate. Ward provided Broomfield with a loaded firearm and told him where to find Smith.
On Jan. 7, 2013, Broomfield and another undisclosed individual followed Smith and his girlfriend as they drove to their son's school in Fort Myers.
Smith remained in the car while his girlfriend entered the school. Broomfield and his accomplice parked their vehicle behind the informant's car. Broomfield ran to the car and shot Smith several times, killing him.
A jury found Ward guilty of conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and tampering with an informant by killing. He is waiting for sentencing.
Fort Myers Police released additional details in the case in 2022
Additional details concerning a report that outlined Fort Myers police's failure to combat a growing gang and drug-related violence problem in the city came to light Sept. 9, 2022, as part of the Freeh report.
Some layers of information remained heavily redacted.
In 2021, the department stated the U.S. Department of Justice was allowing it to release everything that was not related to an ongoing federal prosecution in releasing appendices A and B.
Both appendices were withheld until their release in 2021, four years after the Freeh report published.
At the time, Appendix B was heavily redacted.
The report showed that Ward was the biggest trafficker in the city. Ward was related by marriage to a Fort Myers Police supervisor, the report shows.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Fort Myers man imprisoned for 24 years in murder of FBI informant
