Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew today sentenced Delexsia Harris (24, Bradenton) to 10 years in federal prison for witness tampering and obstruction of justice. A federal jury found her guilty on September 22, 2016.

According to testimony presented during the four-day trial, Harris threatened and intimidated multiple persons who were scheduled as witnesses in the trial of United States v. Nathaniel Harris et al., which occurred this summer. Harris threatened and intimidated witnesses in person and on social media, threatening to hurt and murder individuals cooperating with law enforcement, and telling one victim that Ms. Harris’s family would kill her and her children. Testimony also demonstrated that Harris had helped a defendant in that case solicit a false alibi.

In addition, testimony and evidence showed that Harris had lied to law enforcement officers following the July 3, 2012, murder of Ceola Lazier. Prosecutors presented evidence that she had participated in the murder, with her brother and another man, and later had told police officers that the killers were two unknown men driving a white Mercedes Benz. Harris’s brother, Charlie Green, and the other man, Jerry W. Green, were convicted of the shooting death of Lazier following the trial of United States v. Nathaniel Harris et al.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Natalie Adams and Shauna Hale.