Pasco Murder Defendant Extradited from Massachusetts

Sean Adam Strobel was extradited to the Land O’Lakes jail from Massachusetts last week and charged with attempted murder. Back on July 19, according to investigators, Strobel and another man drove with Nicholas Heath along a secluded stretch of Strauber Memorial Highway in Pasco County. Heath had given Strobel $750 for roxycodone painkillers, and the men were on their way to pick the drugs.

Strobel stopped on the side of the road though and the unidentified passenger hit Heath with a pair of brass knuckles. According to the police report, Strobel then fired a handgun at Heath several times as Heath tried to escape. Heath was hit in the front abdomen and back.

Heath told a Pasco County detective that he “played dead” as Strobel stood over him and called 911 from cell phone after Strobel drove away.

Strobel was arrested on July 27 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He is apparently from that area. He waived his right to an extradition hearing and arrived back in Florida to face charges late last week.

Extradition is a legal process in which one state surrenders a suspected (or convicted) criminal to another state for prosecution, sentencing or incarceration.

If the fugitive does not agree to be extradited, the process is governed by federal law. In this case, the governor of Florida would have to officially demand Strobel’s return from Massachusetts to stand trial, including a copy of the indictment or affidavit. Involving the governor’s offices adds some time to the process. After the fugitive is arrested, the requesting jurisdiction (Florida) then has 30 days to appear in Massachusetts to receive the fugitive.

The extradition process also generally allows the fugitive to present a defense – not to the crime charged, but that the person sought by the requesting state is not the person who has been arrested. This mistaken identity defense to extradition would not, again, be an argument that the charging authorities mistook the arrestee for the murderer but that the arresting jurisdiction mistook the arrestee for the actual fugitive.