Robert Wester News Today

Numerous parents write to the toy fund that they face the holidays without a home, or a way to provide holiday gifts to their children.

"Without any justification, and without any legal authority to do so, one or more of the defendants ... refused to obey the court’s order committing Mr. Renner to DHHS care,"

Seated in a wheelchair with a cast on his right arm, Ulises Pantoja, 24, appeared in court accused of an alleged drunk driving crash that killed a mom of four.

Zachary Wester drug planting trial: Case in the hands of jury View Comments MARIANNA — Jurors in the drug-planting trial of former North Florida deputy Zachary Wester began their deliberations Monday afternoon after the prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments. Wester, 28, of Crawfordville, is charged with racketeering, official misconduct, false imprisonment, fabricating evidence, perjury and possession of controlled substances and drug paraphernalia. If convicted on all 67 coun...

Former Jackson County Sheriff Zachary Wester is on trial against the state for planting drugs while searching people's cars during traffic stops. He’s facing charges of racketeering, official misconduct, fabricating evidence as well as perjury. He’s facing more than 70 charges. The state spent four days proving its case to the jury, while the defense just spent one. WFSU’s Gina Jordan talks with Blaise Gainey about what’s taken place.

8:30 a.m. | Zachary Westers father, Robert Wester, may testify  MARIANNA — State prosecutors could wrap their case today — well ahead of schedule — in the trial of former deputy Zachary Wester on charges that he planted drugs on unsuspecting motorists during traffic stops. On the fourth day of trial, the state is expected to call Wester’s father, Robert Wester,  who spent more than two decades at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. His son worked as a patrol deputy for the departm...

It was the fourth day of the trial of Wester, charged with a multitude of offenses for allegedly planting drugs and paraphernalia in the vehicles of innocent motorists. He was arrested in July 2019 after a lengthy FDLE investigation. Much of the testimony focused on Wester’s patrol vehicle and the unmarked contraband found in the trunk and elsewhere, including containers with methamphetamine and marijuana, a syringe and other items. Wester’s defense lawyer, Ryan Davis, has suggested throug...

Eight of Wester’s alleged victims testified on Monday and Tuesday, and several more took the stand Wednesday, including a woman who said cigarettes and Dr Pepper were her only vices when she was arrested on a meth charge. Kimberly Hazelwood testified that she and her husband, Jeremy Hazelwood, and their young children had just moved to Marianna when Wester pulled over their white van in June 2018. Wester searched the van after another deputy’s K-9 unit signaled around the front passenger se...

View Comments Zachary Wester, the former deputy on trial for planting meth on drivers during traffic stops, grew up in a law enforcement family in the small town of Sneads, located just south of Lake Seminole in eastern Jackson County. Here’s what’s known about Wester: Where did Zachary Wester go to school? Wester, 28, attended Sneads High School, where he was active in Future Farmers of America and made the dean’s list. He graduated in 2010. What did he do after graduation? He worked at ...