Attorney General James Uthmeier and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd say an investigation involving multiple law enforcement agencies ended the reign of a major crime ring, with about a dozen arrests.

At a news conference, Uthmeier and Judd detailed the yearslong investigation that rounded up several members of the gang Sex Money Murder. They said the kingpin of that criminal organization, Hernando Thompson Jr., 36, of Orlando, was recently convicted.

“This criminal led a violent, Bloods-affiliated gang that treated crime like a business — a business of robberies, drive-by shootings, and violence against children,” Uthmeier said. “A jury delivered justice (on Jan. 8), and he is looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars. Special thanks to Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Gary Malak, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, and the Department of Corrections for upholding law and order.”

Judd said investigators from his Office, statewide prosecutors from Uthmeier’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and other investigators had been working since 2022 to bring the case to a close. Thompson was convicted of charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and three counts of directing criminal gang activities.

Judd added that six warrants have been recently executed in the efforts to round up another dozen associates of Thompson that he described essentially as foot soldiers in the enterprise, with connections to North Carolina. The gang, according to Judd, was running drug sales, committing robberies, conspiring to commit murder and introducing contraband in Florida prisons.

“The conviction of gang leader Hernando Thompson is a perfect example of Florida’s tough-on-crime criminal justice system at work,” Judd said. “We hope to see him sentenced to life in prison for his orchestration of violent criminal gang activities.”

Judd said Thompson pointed a gun at an 8-year-old boy and held the firearm against the head of a 3-month-old infant during a home invasion robbery.

While Thompson may have been the gang leader, Statewide Prosecutor Brad McVay said the case was still tricky because Thompson often insulated himself from much of the gang’s activity.

“This case was difficult due to the defendant’s leadership position in the criminal enterprise, but our prosecutors were able to pull back the insulation he tried to wrap around himself,” McVay said.

Thompson faces a maximum penalty of five life terms in prison for the conviction. He’s scheduled for sentencing in Polk County on Feb. 20 and remains in jail in that county.

This is the second major joint investigation between Uthmeier’s office and Polk County Sheriff’s Office in the past half year. The offices joined forces in July when they announced the breaking up of a major bank fraud scheme involving Antonio Penn, a former NCAA and NFL football player.

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