A former juvenile probation officer has been indicted on more than 100 counts after gaining access to a government database.
The investigation found she leaked sensitive court and government data to people under investigation for drug trafficking.
Crystal Gaynell Ann Lawson, 32, is charged with 113 counts of cybercrime, including unauthorized access and one count of illegal use of a two-way communications device, court records show.
The arrest warrant affidavit was filed with the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Orange County.
Unauthorized access to confidential documents is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years.
Rounding up, that’s up to 60 years for Lawson to spend behind bars.
The database she accessed, used to spy on an ongoing investigation into fentanyl trafficking, later leaked confidential arrest warrants to the drug cartel, with which her own father had ties.
After appearing in court Friday afternoon, his bond was set at $1.14 million. That’s $10,000 for each count.
Lawson was employed by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice as of February 2022.
In accordance with her job description, she had access to the CCIS database. Although she was fired later that year after an arrest, her access to the database was not removed.
Orange County Corrections records available on its portal list Lawson’s case status as “presented” and show several entries for “violation against computer users.”
The leaked data led to lost evidence, unrecovered property and at least one suspect fleeing arrest, although authorities later took him into custody.
