Port Charlotte man sentenced to 8 years for false imprisonment

A Port Charlotte man was sentenced Thursday morning to eight years in prison for the false imprisonment of a woman in 2019.

Victor Gabriel Brown Jr., 25, was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 8 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation for false imprisonment. According to state attorney documents, this is normally a third-degree felony but was enhanced to a second-degree felony because Brown was wearing a mask while committing the offense. He was also sentenced as a habitual felony offender.

On Nov. 7, 2019, Brown grabbed a woman who was jogging around Ollie’s Pond in Port Charlotte and carried her into the woods. The victim started to pray out loud, at which point Brown dropped her and told her to go home. The mask he was wearing prevented the victim from providing a good description of him to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement found Brown’s DNA on the victim’s shirt near her waist, where Brown had grabbed her. The DNA matched a profile stored by the FBI and Brown was arrested.