Dan SullivanCourts Reporter
I got into this business because I like telling stories. The best stories, I think, are ones that touch on themes of justice and injustice, compassion and forgiveness, choices and consequences. You can find a lot of that in the local court and criminal justice system, which I write about for the Times. I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, went to high school in Massachusetts, and came to Florida for college. I graduated from the University of Tampa in 2006. My wife, Meg, is a teacher. Outside work, I enjoy long walks, road trips, and reading public records. I’m a nerd.
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tbt/386b6eed-622a-454e-adab-ae2a79ac2f12.png "Dan Sullivan - Courts Reporter")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/6PH347UOAJEGZJ74EHBMCEMKTU.JPG "An image taken from a federal criminal complaint shows Mitchell Todd Gardner, circled, spraying a liquid toward U.S. Capitol police officers on Jan. 6, 2021.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/XOOMR3HRTNADXG7FIKWVP6PMZA.jpg "This photograph provided by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office shows a Nike shoe that was found with a set of bones Monday in Hudson.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/N4GUR2QORBCNHII7A4B2G5UILI.JPG "Michael Keetley stands beside his attorneys during his trial in Tampa. Keetley is being tried for the second time after a jury in his first trial could not decide if he was guilty in a shooting that occurred early Thanksgiving morning 2010 outside a Ruskin home.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/IJ3VCHFECVCZREPJLIM3ZSKMZA.jpg "John Koch gazes at Florida State Prison from a grassy field that serves as a media staging area on Feb. 23. Koch has been a regular media witness to Florida executions since 1989.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/T3Q5EAS4VNHBNLBFN2NMEU5OKA.JPG "Michael Keetley stands in court during his trial Monday in Tampa. Keetley is being re-tried, charged with two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder, in a shooting that occurred early Thanksgiving morning 2010 outside a Ruskin home.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/OHSMLMWJFQI6TAOPPAY4DVT77I.jpg "Howell Emanuel Donaldson III is led by law enforcement personnel into Orient Road Jail in Tampa in 2017.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/CLAPEP3IXBE2HLWH67VVHRDNMU.JPG "Michael Keetley glances at his attorneys during opening statements in his second murder trial Monday in Tampa. Keetley is being re-tried, charged with two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder, in a shooting that occurred early Thanksgiving morning 2010 outside a Ruskin home.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/7Y2LAXGAPRHCPMXGZUYOSDCAA4.jpg "Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Sabella speaks with an attorney during a November trial in Tampa. Sabella was elected Tuesday to be Hillsborough County's next chief judge.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/L2ER5X5UOZB3PNU7MVKY34NP6E.jpg "Defendant Steven Lorenzo takes his seat before his sentencing hearing at the Hillsborough County Courthouse on Friday in Tampa.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/2EP6M7LHQFH37CLQ3ZPLAHD46I.jpg "Donald David Dillbeck")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/A4CRUQXNBBC67OS2ROVKVB4RMU.jpeg "Dariy Pankov, 28, a Russian national, is charged in Tampa with using a malware program to steal login credentials for thousands of computers, which he is then alleged to have sold.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/LNWQEOABNRF7RHJ6ZR7M7KDJH4.JPG "A KC-135 refueling aircraft flies over the Dale Mabry entrance of MacDill Air Force Base while coming in for a landing in Tampa in 2021.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/EQS6J3MDEPFKWADAJJQCBQYFCM.jpg "The execution chamber at Florida State Prison in Starke.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/6IKRPQVKUBARJIOEELTCLPR3KQ.jpg "Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris, right, speaks at a community meeting earlier this month about the Hillsborough County's foster care system. At left is Hillsborough Circuit Judge Katherine Essrig. The Florida Department of Children and Families will take over child protective investigative duties from seven local sheriff’s offices, including those in Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties, according to a letter dated Friday.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/T3K7LDQHVNGYTNVI3JRCXOP2VA.png "Troopers were searching Saturday for the driver of a car that struck two men, killing one, as they tried to cross U.S. 92 east of Plant City.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/SPZY6MGYFNBVVBY2VBPKLY4ZGQ.jpeg "The Hernando County Sheriff's Office named Steve Roosa, 64, as a \"person of interest\" in what they described as an active shooter situation in Brooksville that has put at least one person in the hospital.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DZ6QE7DXBFDOZBNR7DNWKQWCAI.jpeg "Muhammed Alazhari is charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/WYGTHA2D2JB5VLG7RED7WXTNHA.JPG "Billy Adams III appears in a pretrial detention hearing Monday in Tampa after being accused of fatally shooting 22-year-old Alana Sims.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/LJTWLCSHEZAYXJYFSUADB7F3GE.jpg "Billy Bennett Adams III was arrested Wednesday after police say he killed a pregnant Tampa woman three days after he was acquitted in a 2020 double shooting. He is facing a first-degree murder charge and a charge of killing an unborn child by injury to the mother.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/OBJ2XGDDP5FABP3EAGJH6QDBXQ.JPG "Billy Bennett Adams III, left, sits beside Assistant Public Defender Donna Perry during his murder trial on Jan. 24 in Tampa.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/2AMJQAALZJEZDELNVNJUV5MJOM.JPG "Attorney Brian Gonzalez, left, listens as defendant Steven Lorenzo, center, who is representing himself, speaks during his penalty hearing at the Hillsborough County Courthouse in Tampa on Monday.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/IWQHI7AG2BAEFBHYWXCM4VMQRY.JPG "Steven Lorenzo, who is representing himself, listens to a witness during his penalty hearing on Monday in Tampa.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/4JDLOMGTMJAMJGDKEBQUGYHZWM.JPG "Statewide Prosecutor Nick Cox, right, stands beside former Attorney General Pam Bondi during a 2018 news conference in Tampa.")