Stephen Francis Murphy, a former nurse from Cape Coral, was sentenced for Trafficking in Morphine – 28 grams or more and Trafficking in Oxycodone – 25 grams or more, to 25 years in prison. Special Victims Unit Assistant State Attorneys Stephen Hawley and Christine Cummins asked the court for a 30-year sentence.
The sentence does carry a 25-year minimum mandatory and a 15-year minimum mandatory, to run concurrently, which means the defendant must serve all 25 years in prison. The defendant was also ordered to pay $1,000,000, with a $500,000 fine ordered on each count.
In 2024, during a search warrant being executed at the defendant’s residence in Cape Coral, trafficking amounts of drugs were found in his bedroom. The defendant had possession of 51 grams of morphine and 66 grams of liquid oxycodone that he took from a hospice center, his previous place of employment.
At sentencing, the defendant entered a guilty plea on another case and was adjudicated guilty of Solicitation of a Child and Transmission of Material Harmful to a Minor. He was sentenced to the maximum of 60 months in prison on each count and was designated as a sex offender.
The investigation began with the Department of Homeland Security and Special Agents working with the INTERCEPT Task Force. The task force focuses on investigations involving human trafficking and child exploitation. The assigned Special Agent began an online chat with the defendant which continued almost daily during the month of May in 2024. This online chat led to a search warrant for the defendant’s residence which was executed by Homeland Security, the Cape Coral Police Department, and other members of the INTERCEPT Task Force.
Evidence seized and gathered during the investigation led to the defendant being charged with the crimes against children and the drugs were found in his home during the search warrant being executed.
The INTERCEPT Task Force includes Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Florida, State Attorney’s Office 20th Judicial Circuit, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, Naples Police Department, Marco Island Police Department, Cape Coral Police Department, Fort Myers Police Department, Lee County Port Authority Police, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Department of Justice South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office Communications Director