A retired NFL player was among the 255 alleged criminals swept up in a Florida sheriff's massive "Fool Around and Find Out" operation, designed to crack down on human trafficking, prostitution, and child predation.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a favorite of Gov. Ron DeSantis, hosted a Friday morning press conference to discuss his sweeping, multi-agency operation that resulted in 255 arrests over a nine-day period.
Arrestees included 11 pedophiles, 36 people in the country illegally, veterans, insurance brokers, a party planner, and 34-year-old former Carolina Panthers linebacker Adarius Taylor.
"[Taylor] must have hit one too many people as a linebacker because his brain cells are scrambled," Judd said, alleging that Taylor left his 6-year-old child with "a lot of medical issues" in the car when he went to solicit a prostitute. He was charged with one count of negligent child abuse and one count of soliciting prostitution.
Judd said that the criminals came in from 12 different states, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Haiti, Colombia, and Guatemala. Of the 36 here illegally, "22 of these folks were receiving government assistance," the sheriff claimed.
All "now live in the county jail," he added.
"The youngest we arrested was 17. The oldest was 70,” Judd said. “Our folks stand in the gap between good and evil."
He revealed that eight firearms were confiscated, four potential human trafficking victims were identified, and 386 new charges were discovered. This includes 102 felonies and 284 misdemeanors. The sheriff's department was aided by nearly 20 other law enforcement agencies, including the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Taylor, orginally from Polk County, played football for Florida Atlantic University before playing for the Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Cleveland Browns for a seven-season professional career.
