Samuel Doolin of Lakeland, brother of Jan. 6 rioter, gets 1-year sentence on gun charge
A Polk County man has been sentenced to one year in jail after being arrested a year ago on multiple gun charges following a traffic stop.
Samuel Doolin of Lakeland pleaded no contest to two counts of possession of a machine gun and one count of possession of a short-barreled rifle, all second-degree felonies, court records show.
Doolin, 28, is the older brother of Joshua Doolin, a Polk City resident now serving an 18-month prison sentence for his conviction on charges related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Judge Catherine Combee issued Samuel Doolin’s sentence Dec. 19 in Polk County Circuit Court for one count of possessing a machine gun. The order gives Doolin credit for roughly six months of time served.
After his release, Doolin faces another 19 years of probation, court records show — 14 years for one count of possessing a machine gun followed by five years of probation for a second count. Terms of the probation forbid Doolin from possessing weapons or ammunition, the court notice says. He is subject to warrantless searches by law enforcement.
Samuel Doolin was arrested in December 2022 following a traffic stop on Kathleen Road. A state trooper noticed that the 1985 Chevrolet truck Doolin was driving lacked a proper tag and pulled him over.
When the trooper approached the vehicle, Doolin declined to identify himself and refused to open the window or a door, according to the arrest report. The trooper noticed a handgun on the truck’s front seat and called for assistance.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, but Doolin and his passenger, Tiffany Beam, refused their orders to leave the vehicle, PCSO later reported. Deputies eventually broke the truck’s back window and shot Doolin with a stun gun.
Deputies found multiple guns inside the vehicle. The Sheriff's Office charged Doolin with possession of a fully automatic firearm, possession of a short-barrel rifle and possession of a firearm with an altered or removed serial number, all felonies, along with resisting arrest without violence, a misdemeanor. The Florida Highway Patrol also charged Doolin with various misdemeanors.
Doolin initially represented himself and filed a series of hand-written motions, including a 22-page motion asking that the charges be dismissed “with prejudice” that cited “conspiracy against rights,” evidence obtained illegally, unlawful search and seizure and unlawful imprisonment. Combee denied the motions.
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Bradley Wilson, a Sebring lawyer, filed a notice of appearance as counsel for Doolin in October, but the following month he submitted a motion to withdraw. He wrote that Doolin had discharged him and that they had irreconcilable differences.
Combee signed an order Nov. 17 granting Doolin’s motion to withdraw as counsel and appointing the Public Defender’s Office to represent him.
Combee ordered Doolin to pay about $7,700 in fees that included covering investigative costs for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol.
Doolin accrued additional charges in June when a PCSO deputy arrested him for driving without a license and resisting arrest without violence. The State Attorney’s Office then added the charge of practicing law without a license, a third-degree felony, based on his filing of legal documents and appearing on behalf of Beam, identified as his fiancée.
Doolin had been representing himself in court up to that point.
The State Attorney’s Office for the 10th Judicial Circuit submitted a “no prosecution” order in December on the charge of practicing law without a license. The office has also terminated charges of disorderly conduct and driving with a suspended license, court records show.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland man, brother of Jan. 6 rioter, gets 1 year for gun charge
