Posted on 03/14/2019 5:53:59 AM PDT by Gamecock
PORT RICHEY — Another mayor is behind bars.
This time it’s acting mayor Terrence Rowe, 64, who was arrested Wednesday by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents on charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a crime.
Rowe was the second mayor in this town to be arrested in 20 days. He was vice mayor until the Feb. 21 arrest of Mayor Dale Massad, 68, who is accused of firing at a Pasco sheriff’s SWAT team that was arresting him on allegations that he was practicing medicine without a license in his home.
Rowe has since been released from the Pasco County Jail after posting $15,000 bail.
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said afterward that Massad was “lucky he’s not dead.” The sheriff called Massad a violent drug user who kept weapons in his home. Massad also had several prior run-ins with law enforcement and lost his medical license in 1992 over the death of a 3-year-old patient.
After his arrest, the state’s chief financial officer announced that he was also under investigation possible insurance fraud. Gov. Ron DeSantis also suspended him from office, which is why Rowe was acting mayor.
Agents said the allegations against Rowe are tied to the allegations against Massad case, but did not say how.
“It’s related but it’s an off-shoot,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell, of FDLE’s Tampa office, about the connection. “From information we received, (Rowe) was conspiring to inject himself into an active criminal investigation.”
Earlier this month, at his first City Council meeting as acting mayor, Rowe praised Massad’s past service and criticized the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office for the way it raided Massad’s home.
Massad was “not a perfect model,” Rowe said, but had worked hard for residents. He said Massad had also helped his own political career. “It’s unfortunate, it’s tragic, and I will miss his counsel,” Rowe said.
Rowe was to set to be booked into the Pasco County jail, where his bail will be set at $15,000, Brutnell said.
There he’ll join Massad, who faces five counts of attempted murder, four counts of practicing medicine without a license and two counts of unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Massad is being held without bail.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office will prosecute Rowe.
Brutnell said both the Rowe and Massad cases are “very active investigations” with “lots of moving pieces.”
Arrested 20 days after taking office? Nothing is too hard for Florida Man!
For those who don’t know, New Port Richey is on the Gulf of Mexico side of the peninsula just north of Tampa/St. Petersburg..................
Don’t confuse the two.. New Port Richey and Port Richey are two different cities.
Yes, I didn’t mean to confuse people......................
Most people don’t know they are two different towns. I’ve been going to the area for over 40 years and used to always confuse the two. Now that I winter in Hudson... it’s much easier. :)
But you could walk to New Port Richey!
True...but who wants to drive 19?
The waterfront is beautiful and I miss living there BUT on block inland from the water it gets seedy really fast. There are a remaining handful of stilt houses offshore that once was the lawless hangout for Johnny Cash and his pals.
No one voluntarily drives 19.
I know Tarpon has a “touristy” waterfront, but other than the area around the river near Catches restaurant and the small area off 19 where the charter boats dock near the old burnt out waterfront restaurant (can’t remember the name). I didn’t think there was much more on the Gulf side. My M-I-L used to live in Signal Cove right up until a hurricane decided to make her neighborhood part of the Gulf. She moved inland after that and we only drive 19 occasionally.
I used to live on the waterfront on that peninsula N. of the Cotee. It was walking distance to Catches and few other good restaurant hangouts that had semi-decent food and adult beverages.
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