65.4 F
Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Strike team nabs woman with hefty criminal record in prostitution sting

Sherri Lynn Russell

An Ocala woman with a litany of past drug, prostitution and theft charges was arrested late Monday night during an undercover operation by the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike team.

The task force, which was conducting a prostitution sting, arrested 47-year-old Sherri Lynn Russell, of 3323 NE 14th St. She was taken into custody after a “confidential source” made contact with her in the 2800 block of S Pine Avenue.

Russell allegedly agreed to perform oral sex on the undercover agent for $40. And the conversation between the two was electronically monitored by other officers, a UDEST report states.

After being arrested, Russell said she was “working the street and trying to make some money in exchange for sexual favors,” the report says, adding that she also admitted she’d been arrested in the past for prostitution.

While Russell was being searched, officers saw a glass pipe in her right hand, “which is commonly used for smoking narcotics, the report adds.
Russell was booked into the Marion County Jail shortly after midnight and charged with prostitution and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom on Feb. 12 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.

Russell is no stranger to the Marion County legal system, having been in the jail 24 times since November 2001. She also has been arrested three other times this year. Those include:

  • Sept. 28: Possession of cocaine and drug equipment;
  • May 8: Prostitution (agreeing to a lewd act) and possession of drug equipment; and
  • Jan. 14: Committed to jail on prior charges of reckless driving and driving with a suspended license.

UDEST is an initiative of the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. It is comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement from the Ocala Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security.

The strike team arrested five people in a similar prostitution sting in late September and six others in an earlier raid following complaints from residents and business owners in the area of SW 5th Avenue and SW 3rd Street.

UDEST officers also busted four people in a late October drug raid and four others in July for suspected drug activity at two Silver Springs houses. The strike team arrested four people in early June on a litany of charges after finding an assortment of drugs and needles inside a pickup truck during a routine traffic stop. And they nabbed a Summerfield woman in a months-long undercover drug sting in October.