Monroe County cocaine trafficker agrees to plea deal, faces prison term

A Marathon speedboat racer once accused of helping run cocaine through the Florida Keys is now staring at a federal prison term that starts at 10 years and could climb much higher, after agreeing to plead guilty in the long-running case against John Robert Strama Jr.

The plea deal would have Strama admit to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. In return, federal prosecutors would drop additional charges that he used a minor in drug trafficking and possessed a firearm as a convicted felon. The agreement also gives prosecutors a path to push for a sentence reduction of up to three levels under federal guidelines, but the drug charge still carries a statutory range of 10 years to life. A sentencing-related court date is set for July 21.

The case has become one of the most closely watched federal narcotics prosecutions tied to Monroe County in years. Prosecutors said Strama was a central figure in a Keys- and Miami-based cocaine ring that they say had been operating since at least 2020, and they alleged he coordinated sales of cocaine recovered at sea by local boat captains. Investigators also said he brought one of his daughters along on searches of Middle Keys shorelines for so-called square groupers, the bundles of cocaine that wash into mangroves after being thrown from boats.

Strama’s plea marks another major step in a case that was unsealed on Sept. 5, 2024, after being filed under seal the day before. The original indictment named 27 defendants from Monroe and Miami-Dade counties, including Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority employees, commercial charter boat operators and a former City of Marathon employee. Prosecutors charged three conspiracy tiers involving 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 500 grams or more, and less than 500 grams, reflecting the scale of the network they say moved drugs through local waterfront jobs and marine access points.

The filing also shows prosecutors are not treating this as only a prison case. They are seeking $700,000 in drug proceeds, and if Strama cannot pay, they intend to pursue forfeiture of his Stirrup Key Boulevard home in Marathon, a waterfront property valued at well over $2 million. The indictment also listed properties, vessels, personal watercraft and a Ford truck as assets subject to criminal forfeiture.

Strama’s criminal record also already included a 2009 no-contest plea to cocaine possession and dealing in stolen property, followed by probation. Now, after more than a three-year FBI investigation and a federal case that has tested trust inside Keys law enforcement, his plea deal signals that the government is moving from indictment to consequences, with prison time and forfeiture still hanging over the remaining defendants.