View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2005/08/26/58831.htm
Arthur Picklo, a former Florida Department of Insurance investigator has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Fla. to 40 years in federal prison for violating the civil rights of a man he shot and robbed five years ago while on duty.
Picklo was convicted in June of violating Guadeloupe Frausto’s devil rights by trying to kill him, robbery by force, obstruction of justice and the improper use of a firearm.
Frausto asked U.S. District Judge Henry Adams to sentence Picklo to a life term, but told the Lakeland Ledger he was happy with the sentence. According to federal guidelines, Picklo will have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence–34 years–before becoming eligible for parole.
Picklo testified during his two-week trial that he did not rob or shoot Frausto. Ronald Maxwell, Picklo’s court-appointed attorney, said he would appeal.
In September 2000, Picklo was an undercover agent for the Florida Department of Insurance investigating construction companies in the Jacksonville area when he followed Frausto until he cashed paychecks for his framing crews.
Frausto said he was pulled over by Picklo and robbed of $34,700 at gunpoint before being shot in the head at point-blank range. Frausto survived bullet wounds to his face and neck, and identified Picklo from a photo lineup as the man who robbed him.
Investigators matched a bullet fragment removed from Frausto’s jaw to a gun Picklo had borrowed from a Columbia County Sheriff’s deputy.
Picklo was acquitted in March 2002 of state charges of attempted murder.