Lead drug trafficker sentenced to life in federal prison for murder of FBI informant
The leader of a drug trafficking organization in Fort Myers that distributed cocaine in Fort Myers and other locations for more than a decade will spend life in federal prison for the 2013 murder of an FBI informant.
U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Robert Lee Ward, 55, of Fort Myers for killing an FBI informant and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. A jury found Ward guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine Feb. 18, 2022. Another jury found Ward guilty of killing an FBI informant Sept. 29, 2023.
According to the evidence and testimony presented during the trials, Ward was the leader of a drug trafficking organization that distributed cocaine for more than a decade.
Ward and his co-conspirators routinely purchased kilograms of cocaine from a supplier in Miami, authorities said.
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Federal investigators used confidential informants to make multiple purchases of cocaine from Ward's co-conspirators, court documents say.
A confidential informant that purchased cocaine from Ward was relocated by investigators after they learned of a threat against the informant's life.
In 2012, the FBI obtained the assistance of Kristopher Smith, a member of Ward's organization, who agreed to cooperate in the investigation against Ward.
After learning about Smith's cooperation with investigators, Ward solicited James Broomfield to kill Smith. Broomfield agreed to kill Smith for $30,000. Ward provided Broomfield with a loaded firearm and told him where to find Smith.
On Jan. 7, 2013, Broomfield and another unnamed individual followed Smith and his girlfriend as they drove to their son's school, authorities said.
Smith remained in the car while his girlfriend entered the school. Broomfield and his accomplice parked their vehicle behind the informant's car. Broomfield ran up to the car and shot Smith several times, killing him.
Ward is one of at least two co-conspirators sentenced in the case.
24 years in federal prison for murder
In November, U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr., sentenced James Franklin Broomfield, Jr., 37, to 24 years in federal prison for tampering with an informant by killing.
The court ordered the sentence to run consecutively to a sentence Broomfield is serving for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
Fort Myers Police released additional details in the case in 2022
Additional details concerning a report that outlined Fort Myers police's failure to combat a growing gang and drug-related violence problem in the city came to light Sept. 9, 2022, as part of the Freeh report.
Some layers of information remained heavily redacted.
In 2021, the department stated the U.S. Department of Justice was allowing it to release everything that was not related to an ongoing federal prosecution in releasing appendices A and B.
Both appendices were withheld until their release in 2021, four years after the Freeh report published.
At the time, Appendix B was heavily redacted.
The report showed that Ward was the biggest trafficker in the city. Ward was related by marriage to a Fort Myers Police supervisor, the report shows.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Fort Myers drug trafficker gets life for 2013 murder of informant