Overview
- Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Fowler was taken into custody to face state charges and credited the St. Petersburg Police Department and ATF Tampa for assisting.
- Uthmeier said Fowler was arrested by St. Petersburg police and charged with two counts of intent to sell drugs and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, mirroring his prior federal offenses.
- Fowler had been serving a 12-year, 6-month federal sentence for felon-in-possession and possession with intent to distribute cocaine before his term was commuted on Jan. 17, 2025 as part of a mass clemency grant.
- Federal prosecutors had sought at least 150 months in prison, citing a lengthy record and public-safety concerns, and court records note he was acquitted in 2017 after being charged in a 2013 St. Petersburg homicide.
- Critics, including the Oversight Project, questioned Fowler’s inclusion in the clemency initiative and have pointed to a 2024 sentencing memo that reported a video-recorded admission and threats of future violence, while claims about autopen-signed warrants remain disputed.