Son of Theft Suspect Faces 3 Felony Charges

WINTER HAVEN | Investigators on Wednesday arrested the son of a woman awaiting trial on charges that she used her business to steal more than $1 million.

Joseph Nelson Tucker, 26, of Winter Haven was charged with scheming to defraud, grand theft and violating the Money Laundering Control Act, all first-degree felonies.

The State Attorney's Office says Tucker accepted more than $370,000 in stolen money from his mother, Pamela Pitts.

Pitts has been charged with scheming to defraud, money laundering and 10 counts of grand theft.

Between 2004 and 2007, investigators said, Pitts used her business, Best Value Mobile Homes LLC in Haines City, to solicit thousands of dollars from victims under a variety of false pretenses, from impact fee costs to investments.

One couple who bought a mobile home from Pitts lost more than $400,000 after Pitts proposed a real estate partnership and never paid them back, the State Attorney's Office said.

Tucker told investigators he had accepted the money to help with his bills and as payment while he was employed part-time by his mother from May 2006 to December 2007.

Investigators said Tucker knew or should have known that the money he was receiving was stolen, a State Attorney's Office report said.

Investigators said Pitts converted payments received through her business to cash and deposited more than $370,000 into Tucker's two bank accounts.

By accepting the money, the State Attorney's Office said, Tucker aided his mother by helping to hide the scheme. He used the money to purchase assets worth more than $280,000, including a home, trailers and seven vehicles, while Pitts used the money to fuel a gambling addiction, investigators said.

Records show none of the deposits made to Tucker's account included payroll checks, and many of the deposits occurred on days Pitts received payments, the report said.

Tucker was out of jail Wednesday on $45,000 bail.

[ Shoshana Walter can be reached at shoshana.walter@theledger.com or 863-802-7590. ]