$105K Scam: Man Arrested for Demanding Cash Over Missed Jury Duty

A 36-year-old man from Atlanta, Evera Charles Brown, has been accused of scamming a resident in Escambia County out of $105,000. According to authorities, Brown posed as an employee of the Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court and contacted the victim via phone.

The caller claimed that the victim had missed jury duty and threatened arrest unless they paid $105,000 immediately. The victim was directed to withdraw the money from a bank and then meet someone at a Home Depot parking lot to hand it over in cash.

Authorities have confirmed that the entire $105,000 was handed over at the Home Depot parking lot. Brown was arrested by the FBI in Atlanta on July 31 and is facing a fraud charge connected to the alleged loss. He is expected to be extradited from Georgia to Florida early in the following week.

The Escambia County Clerk of Court has warned that neither courts nor law-enforcement agencies will demand payment by telephone instead of arrest. They emphasize that official jury summonses are delivered by mail and that people should never pay money demanded over the phone, even if the caller knows their name, address, or court location.