Local Accountability and Pinellas County Reporter

I am an award-winning investigative journalist and a local accountability reporter. I will knock on any door to chase facts and stories. I exposed widespread abuses at Pinellas and Hillsborough agencies in 2017 and 2018. This is my third stint at the Times. I left in 2019 to cover the LAPD for the Los Angeles Times and helped lead coverage of the Conception boat fire that killed 34 divers in Santa Barbara. The work was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2020. I previously worked at the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and The Baltimore Sun. Prior to becoming a journalist, I spent 15 years driving a tractor trailer. My passions are tacos, smoking meat and honing my BBQ skills over flames in smokers called Precious and Pedro. I earned a political science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have a wife, three adult sons and a Pug called Bosch.

• @MarkPuente
• mpuente@tampabay.com