Hernando County operation arrests 13 sex offenders in compliance sweep
Operation Black Horizon targeted 52 Hernando County registrants on supervision, and 13 arrests followed, including 11 tied to registration or probation rules.
Hernando County deputies and state investigators spent two days checking whether people already under sex-offender supervision were meeting Florida’s registration and probation requirements, and the sweep ended with 13 arrests. The operation, called Operation Black Horizon, was a joint effort by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Corrections.
Authorities said the operation focused on 52 registrants on active supervision with the Department of Corrections who lived in Hernando County. Investigators also interviewed 47 registered sex offenders and predators and conducted residential and electronic-device searches, a sign that the operation was aimed at compliance failures, not just routine contact checks.
The largest share of arrests, 11 in all, involved registration-related and probation violations. Those suspects were Russell Hetzel, 38; Mike Marrero, 56; Gary Payne, 67; Anthony Boffil, 39; Nathaniel Campbell, 32; Angel Casanova Ramos, 55; Colin Fee, 26; Scott Fishburne, 54; Bernard Gold, 67; Timothy Stanke, 38; and Ernest Taylor, 51. Two additional arrests were made for separate enforcement issues: Jesus Velazquez, 65, was arrested on an active warrant for violation of probation, and Nicola Karbassi, 57, of Spring Hill, was arrested for fleeing and eluding law enforcement.
For Hernando County residents, the distinction matters. A compliance sweep can catch people who failed to register correctly, violated supervision terms or ignored reporting rules, but it is not the same as a roundup for new violent offenses. The breakdown in this operation shows that local monitoring depends on a mix of supervision by the Florida Department of Corrections, field checks by FDLE and enforcement by the sheriff’s office.
The county has seen this approach before. In late July 2025, a similar Hernando County compliance operation completed 30 checks and found 10 violations. Officials said similar operations are planned again in the near future, keeping pressure on offenders who live here to follow the rules that govern where they stay, how they report and whether they remain in compliance with supervision.
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