Jail phone call leads to more charges against man

A Marathon couple is facing charges after the man instructed his girlfriend to threaten a victim in one of his pending criminal cases.

Rickie Santiago Pacheco, 23, is already facing a litany of gun and drug charges stemming from two arrests in the last two weeks and now faces an additional charge of violating court orders to not contact the victim in one of those cases.

Chanel Melody Kozel, 22, also of Marathon, was charged with obstructing justice.

Pacheco was released from jail on $25,000 bail on May 26 after he stole $1,000 and a .380-caliber handgun from a Marathon man on May 23.

Pacheco could be heard on a May 25 jail phone call telling Kozel to instruct two other men not in jail to visit the victim in order to, “get my (Pacheco’s) **** back.”

The victim told Deputy Frank Westerband on May 26 that Kozel came to his residence that day and told him that when Pacheco gets out of jail, “he is going to come to his house with some friends and get him back.” The victim stated that Kozel accused him of being a “snitch,” and that, “he was going to get what he deserved,” adding that there will be repercussions for reporting Pacheco’s actions to law enforcement.

Warrants were issued for both Pacheco and Kozel. A be-on-the-lookout alert was sent out agency-wide for both suspects as the white Mercedes sedan Pacheco’s drives, which is known to law enforcement.

Both Pacheco and Kozel were arrested on Friday after attempting to get through the Florida Keys checkpoint set up on U.S. 1 in Pacheco’s white Mercedes sedan. Both were immediately detained.

Both were taken to jail.

Pacheco’s bail has subsequently been revoked.

Kozel’s bail was set at $50,000.

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