Ocala felony cases resolved: 20-year prison term in child sex case; probation in gun scheme
A man charged with sexually abusing a child has accepted a plea deal and been sentenced to a 20-year prison term.
Following his time behind bars, Tristian Dimonte Bright must serve 10 years of probation and register as a sexual predator, according to court records. Bright has 485 days of credit for time already served at the Marion County Jail while awaiting resolution of the case.
The 22-year-old Ocala man was charged with lewd or lascivious battery on a child and attempted sexual battery on a child younger than 12, which is a reduced offense. Originally, he was charged with sexual battery on a child younger than 12.
Funding: Ocala Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Center is low on funds to help survivors, children
Charges: Released from prison, Ocala man now faces another child-sex case
Suicide: Ocala actor accused of child molestation found dead by suicide
Bright's arrest
Assistant State Attorney Elizabeth White was present at Bright's hearing, which was held on Thursday. Bright's lawyer was Assistant Public Defender Sean Gravel. Circuit Judge Robert Hodges presided.
In 2021, a girl told investigators that Bright had molested her from age 9 through 12, according to sheriff's deputies. The girl said Bright offered her money in exchange for sex.
Officials said although the girl declined the cash, Bright still had sex with her. A detective conducted a telephone interview with Bright, who at the time was in the U.S. Army and stationed at Fort Drum, New York. He admitted having sex with the victim, officials said.
U.S. vs. Kenyari D. Brewton
In a separate case – this one resolved at the Ocala federal courthouse – 27-year-old Kenyari Devaughnte Brewton has been sentenced to time served and three years of probation on charges of making a materially false statement during the purchase of a firearm and causing a federal firearms licensee to maintain false information in its official records.
The sentence, handed down in late May, also requires Brewton to submit a DNA sample, serve one year on weekends at the Brevard County Sheriff's Office Work Farm, and surrender his concealed carry permit.
Brewton, of Ocala, served a week at the Marion County Jail when he was taken into custody last year. Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon II presided over the sentencing hearing, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Bodnar Jr. and defense lawyer Douglas Stamm also present.
A former Alachua County Jail law enforcement official, Brewton was implicated in a gun scheme where he purchased close to 20 guns from an Ocala gun shop and then turned around and sold most of the firearms.
The firearms, which included handguns and rifles, were purchased by Brewton in 2017, 2020 and 2021, federal officials said. At least two of the guns were recovered from crime scenes. One gun was connected to a shooting death that occurred at a gas station parking lot.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Prison and probation ordered in two felony cases in Ocala, Florida
