'Cougar' at center of Brevard deputy shooting sentenced

Agent Casey Smith injured in August shooting

TITUSVILLE, Fla. – The woman at the center of a deputy-involved shooting and a sex sting investigation that led to two deputies being released from duty was ordered to serve 180 days in jail and 18 months of probation after pleading no contest to prostitution and resisting arrest charges, News 6 partner Florida Today reports. 

Mary DeRossett, 42, known to clients as "Cougar," confessed that she was running a prostitution business from her Port St. John home that she shared with her 65-year-old uncle John DeRossett. She did not make any statements about the incident in court, quietly answering yes or no to the judge's questions.

She was also credited with time served, reducing a portion of her six-month sentence.

The plea comes just over a month after her Aug. 20 arrest in a botched prostitution sting that ended with a Brevard County Sheriff's agent getting shot and seriously wounded.

The judge also ordered her to serve out her time at the Brevard County Jail Complex rather the Seminole County jail where she's been held since the shooting.

Brevard County Agent John "Casey" Smith went through multiple surgeries and was finally released from Orlando Regional Medical Center last week after a month-long stay.

Records show Smith was one of three agents who arrived at DeRossett's home to arrest her when she yelled, prompting her uncle to run out of another room. John DeRossett, also wounded in the exchange of gunfire, later told investigators that he reacted to protect his home, not knowing what was happening.

The case has taken on a sensational flair with the knowledge that DeRossett kept a ledger or list containing all of her clients including two sheriff's deputies, who have since resigned from the department. One Brevard deputy even exchanged texts with the suspect up to 15 minutes prior to the shooting.

A judge also said Mary DeRossett must provide a blood sample to the sheriff's office after another agent was exposed to her blood. One of the agents at the scene suffered a cut on his hand during the incident and was exposed, according to a motion filed in court. Due to her alleged profession, there are concerns that she may have a sexually transmitted disease.


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