JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman at the center of an alleged squatting scheme that’s made national news and led to changes in state law will spend the next month in the Duval County jail.
The defendant pleaded guilty last month to one count of trespassing and one count of criminal mischief. News4JAX is not naming her because the charges are misdemeanors.
On Wednesday, Judge Julie Taylor sentenced her to 30 days in jail, minus two days for time already served, to be followed by 24 months probation. The court also ordered the defendant to pay about $3,600 in restitution to the homeowner in $200 monthly payments to begin later this year and perform 50 hours of community service, barring conflicts with work or school.
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Both sides had previously come to a plea agreement that would have kept the defendant out of jail with a sentence of 12 months probation and repayment of about $3,600 to the victim. However, the court rejected that proposal last month due to the amount of damage done to the home in the case.
“The carpet was destroyed in all of the rooms with human feces, dog feces, eggs, garbage, trash,” said the victim, Patti Peeples.
The defendant moved into Peeples’ vacant Hogan’s Creek rental property last March, claiming she had been a victim of a rental scam. It was the same story she told police at a nearby property before being evicted there after several months.
But because she claimed she was the victim, she and another woman were allowed to stay in Peeples’ house rent-free for weeks as the case moved through the civil court system. In the meantime, Peeples wasn’t allowed inside.
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According to Peeples, her insurance estimated about $38,000 worth of damage was done, but insurance only covered about $29,000 of it. She also said she lost out on an offer on the house, which was for sale at the time, and months of rent payments.
In court, the defendant didn’t testify, but her best friend, aunt, and sister each briefly took the stand, saying the defendant was a good person who had always been there for them.
“I do want the court to know we all make bad decisions, and we all do bad things; however, that core person is still phenomenal. That’s still there. That’s who she is today,” said the defendant’s sister Shaneka Gaulden.
After hearing testimony on both sides, the judge made her decision.
“On some level, I can sympathize with the situation that you may have found yourself in. What I don’t sympathize with is the damage that was done,” Taylor said. “I know that there have been statements made and arguments made to indicate that maybe you did not do all of the damage that was done to the home, but certainly you were the one living in the home...and I don’t think there’s any argument over that.”
“This has been a long road. It’s been a year and a half. I don’t relish seeing anyone go to jail to be truthful. I think she deserves to go to jail, but truthfully it didn’t give me any satisfaction seeing her go out in handcuffs,” Peeples said after the sentencing hearing. ”But some good came out of it…we got a new law passed, and this squatter is suffering some consequences. And I really hope it means that she’s not going to be out there being the serial squatter that she has been.”
The other woman who lived in Peeples’ house rent-free last year has not been charged at this point.
Peeples’ story inspired the unanimous passage of a new state law to combat squatting that allows law enforcement to immediately remove someone from a home if they don’t have a valid lease with the property owner or manager.