Zachary Latham was adjudicated guilty and sentenced, as a Habitual Violent Felony Offender (HVFO), to 12 years in prison, for a case involving a woman who could not get him to leave her alone. The victim met the defendant online when he lived in New Jersey. He then moved to Southwest Florida where the victim lived, and they briefly began seeing each other. She did not want to see him anymore, but he refused to stop.
He began following her around and in August 2023, he even followed her to a doctor’s appointment in Fort Myers. He forced her to get in her car and made her drive them around the city. The victim parked the car and tried to escape a couple of times and screamed for help, but the defendant forced her to stay in the car and strangled her, once making her briefly lose consciousness. He eventually had her drop him off and let her go.
On another occasion he threatened to come and find her if she did not come over to talk. She went to his apartment where he forced her into his bathroom and locked her in. She eventually got free and was able to get to her car. He tried to get her out of the car, but she managed to break free and drive away.
The victim got an injunction of protection against the defendant which he violated. After the defendant was arrested, while he was in jail, he sent numerous messages to a friend, threatening the victim.
Assistant State Attorney Emma Thomas prosecuted the cases. The defendant pled guilty and was sentenced as follows:
In case #23-017595:
Attempted Kidnapping 2nd Degree Felony – He was sentenced as an HVFO to 12 years in prison with a ten-year minimum mandatory, followed by 3 years of probation. He also must wear a GPS device for the 3 years of probation, have no contact with the victim or family, must provide a DNA sample, pay court costs and cost of prosecution.
Domestic Violence/Battery Strangulation – He was sentenced as an HVFO to 5 years in prison, to run concurrent to the Attempted Kidnapping sentence.
Criminal Mischief- He was sentenced to credit time served.
In case #23-17760CF:
First Degree Tampering with a Witness – He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, followed by 15 years of probation. He must wear a GPS device for the 3 years of probation and have no contact with the victim or family.
Violation of Pretrial Release – He was sentenced to credit time served
The sentence in case #23-17760CF is to run concurrent to case #23-017595CF.
Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office Communications Director