Tia Bonta's father: Convicted gang members may know what happened to her

Members of violent street gang convicted of drug trafficking after MBI bust

ORLANDO, Fla. – Investigators said Wednesday morning a large drug bust in Central Florida has put four people in federal prison for drug trafficking.

Officials with the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation and Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings announced the conviction of several members of a violent street gang called the "Oviedo Soldiers" during a news conference.

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Investigators said four men and one woman were arrested in October for trafficking cocaine and heroin during "Operation Smokin' Soldiers."

Freddrick Dorr, 46, James Dellafield Jr., 24, Beth Farber, 30, and George Materazzi, 46, were convicted of drug trafficking charges and each will serve their sentence in federal prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

A fifth suspect, Danny Hampton, 36, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 17.

The organization distributed heroin, cocaine and other narcotics in Seminole and Orange Counties, MBI officials said. They were known to law enforcement as the source of several violent crimes in the area, court records show.

Demings said law enforcement were interested in this case because of the rise in heroin overdoses in Central Florida and throughout the country.

"Several times each week deputies carrying Narcan use it," Demings said.

Narcan is the nasal spray of naloxone. The emergency treatment blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an overdose, but must be administered within about four minutes of the overdose.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office used naloxone 56 times from July 2016 to February 2017, according to Carol Burkett, director of Orange County's Drug Free Coalition. The Orlando Police Department used Narcan six times on overdose victims from July to December 2016.

"If groups are out there distributing heroin, that is one of our priorities,” Ron Stucker, with MBI, said. “We're going to go after drug trafficker organizations, particularly those drugs that are causing drug overdoses and drug deaths."

Officials said the arrests came as a result of a joint investigation between MBI, the FBI, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security. 

Connection to missing woman?

The father of a missing woman told News 6 he thinks the gang members charged may know where his daughter is.

Tia Bonta was first reported missing in August. She was often seen at a home on Cleburne Road in east Orange County,  the same home where police arrested one of those gang members, Frederick Dorr. 

"The Tia Bonta case is still a very active Missing Person's case,” Sheriff Jerry Demings said Tuesday. But he added, ”I cannot say, today, that these individuals are related to that, but there are criminal investigations that are on-going."

Tia Bonta’s father, Kevin Bonta said he thinks those gang members may know what happened to his daughter.

"Oh, it cuts deep! I mean, you're considering death," Kevin Bonta said. "There's such a close connection with everyone, somebody knows.​" 

Kevin Bonta was referring to one of the Oviedo Soldiers members, James Dellafield Jr., who's father was a person of interest in the missing person’s case. News 6 reported in November that Dellafield is no longer a person of interest, and he retained a lawyer so detectives are no longer able to speak with him.​

"He was the last person to be seen with my daughter," Kevin Bonta said.

Tia Bonta was last seen with Dellafield at the Days Inn at Colonial Drive and Alafaya Trail on July 31, deputies said.

Orange County deputies said in November that Tia Bonta is presumed dead.

Kevin Bonta is still searching for his daughter and has a $5,000 reward for anyone who might have info about her disappearance.