He slapped ‘cyne’ graffiti across Key West. Then the sheriff stepped in

For several years, a Key West man spray-painted the word ‘cyne’ on public and private property across the Lower Keys.

The tagging was rampant, as the inexplicable word popped up on bridges, signs, Key West’s historic Old Town neighborhood, Navy property and in one case, a man’s dredging crane and storage box.

“Cyne” irritated residents and cost people no small sum of money or time to remove.

Brandon Joseph Mims, 31, left people with a mess to clean up, racking up several thousand dollars in damages, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Now, Mims will pay for the graffiti Sheriff Rick Ramsay calls vandalism.

Mims was sentenced this month to 30 days in jail, followed by 36 months of probation and 200 hours of community service. Initially charges with 27 counts, he pleaded no contest to two charges of criminal mischief and two charges of burglary of a structure.

He must report to the jail on Stock Island at 12 p.m. on Oct. 3, said sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.

Ramsay said he’s happy Mims will serve time.

“This is a vandal, not an artist,” Ramsay said Tuesday in a press release announcing the case’s resolution.

Ramsay loathes graffiti. He tells his command staff that when they find it in their districts, they have 24 hours to remove it, Linhardt said.

Sometimes, this means deputies will paint over designs left by others.

This policy goes along with the regular cleanups of litter and garbage that deputies organize, Linhardt said.

“I firmly believe that cleaner, safer streets result in cleaner, safer communities,” Ramsay said. “This agency is committed to keeping our neighborhoods clean for that reason.”

Boasting about his work

Mims was sentenced on June 16 by Monroe County Circuit Judge Mark Jones, who also ordered him to pay more than $2,500 in fines, court costs and restitution.

The graffiti was a constant chore for the local Navy base and a company tasked with keeping Monroe County bridges and roadways clean. The company faced a fine if they didn’t make it go away within 24 hours.

Mims didn’t keep a low profile. He filled his social media with photos and posts in which he boasted of marking his territory with the inexplicable “cyne” tag, the sheriff’s office said.

The sticker version was merely the word in black lettering on a white background. Hundreds of them showed up on Key West street and stop signs and on county property. The Navy kept finding them, too.

The tag was found outside of Key West, on both No Name Key and Big Pine Key

Reached after his arrest in 2020, Mims didn’t want to talk about his case.

He didn’t respond to a Facebook message left Tuesday. His attorney Alan Fowler is out of town, an email response said. The three colleagues he referred people to didn’t return emails.

But Facebook lit up over Mims’ jail sentence. People said his work wasn’t exactly riveting and called him way to old to be doing this.

“What kind of loser is spray painting other people’s property at THIRTY ONE years old?” a person commented on the sheriff’s office post about Mims.

Some said Mills is the one who should have to scrub “cyne” off the walls and street signs. Others questioned his artistic talent.

“It’s not like he’s Banksy or anything,” one commenter wrote. “Have a good month!”

‘Almost caught’ in 2019

Mims was arrested in February 2020 and charged with 18 counts of misdemeanor criminal mischief, two felony counts of criminal mischief, six counts of burglary and one misdemeanor marijuana charge.

Detectives Ken Fricke and Wendy Negron obtained a search warrant for Mims’ social media accounts, reviewing more than 42,000 pages that were posted, Linhardt said.

Mims openly admitted to the vandalism at times.

On his Instagram, he posted a map showing how he illegally entered Naval Air Station Key West property to put a 4-by-6-foot “cyne” on the back of one building near Boca Chica Road.

The case began in November 2019. Deputies were called to the old quarry on No Name Key for a trespassing report. They found spray painted ‘cyne’ tags on the dredging crane and other equipment.

And that’s where they met Mims, who they said had a half-gram of marijuana on him and a stack of “cyne” stickers and dozens of spray paint cans in his SUV.

Mims later posted photos of his interaction with deputies on Instagram, saying he was “almost” caught. On Feb. 11, 2020, he was in jail on the host of charges.