Florida ‘Sexual Predator’ Arrested 1 Day After Release From 9-Year Sentence

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. – Albert Lee Gardner, known as “Joker” in court records since he was 18, was discovered unconscious due to an overdose after removing his court-mandated GPS tracking device. The 29-year-old was found by sheriff deputies and administered Narcan, which revived him.

Subsequently, he was taken to the Hernando County Detention Center to face charges for violating his probation, which stemmed from a prior guilty adjudication of lewd or lascivious battery involving a victim aged between 12 and 15 years old. Additionally, he faced charges of tampering with an electronic monitoring device, as reported by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO).

On July 8, a probation and parole officer noticed that Gardner’s GPS tracker indicated an unusually extended stay at a 7-Eleven gas station off South Broad Street in Brooksville, around 2 a.m. Despite the tracker’s location, Gardner was nowhere to be found. After an extensive search, deputies located the tracking device in a nearby garbage can. Shortly after, authorities received a call about an overdose less than a mile away.

HCSO arrived at the scene and realized that the overdose victim was Gardner. Narcan was administered, successfully reversing the overdose and saving his life. Following medical clearance at a hospital, Gardner was taken to the county jail.

Gardner’s troubled history included his inclusion in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s sexual predator list when he was just 13 years old in 2007. At that time, he received a delinquency adjudication for sexual battery involving a victim under 12 years old. Later, in June 2014, he received a guilty adjudication for sexual battery, leading to the imposition of the GPS tracking device as part of his probation. His sentence included nine years and six months in a state prison, followed by five years and six months of probation.

After serving approximately nine years, Gardner was released from prison on July 7, only to remove his GPS tracker and experience the overdose the very next day.

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