Twelfth Circuit Judge Frederick P. Mercurio sentenced David Lynn Nichols of Bradenton Oct. 13 to 30 years in prison for committing a 2019 hit-and-run in Cortez and leaving a man for dead.
A jury Sept. 7 found Nichols, 60, guilty of two charges: felony battery with a weapon and leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury.
In November 2019, Nichols, at the wheel of his vehicle on 101st Street West in Cortez, hit and dragged Fred Gilliland more than 271 feet.
Police records indicate Nichols and Gilliland argued at the house of a mutual acquaintance Nov. 18, 2019, just before the hit-and-run.
Witnesses stated Gilliland walked away from the argument on 46th Avenue West.
The report indicates Nichols left in his truck shortly after Gilliland and struck Gilliland with his vehicle at the corner of 46th and 101st, wedging Gilliland’s body between the truck’s front tire and wheel well and dragging him for almost the length of a football field.
Gilliland, known among friends in Cortez as “Fat Freddy,” suffered amputation of his arm and sustained injuries to his spleen, a lacerated liver, rib fractures, a collapsed lung and facial lacerations.
He spoke briefly during the sentencing hearing about hardships, telling the judge he still deals with physical issues due to his injuries and is facing another surgery.
Before sentencing Nichols, Mercurio said he was surprised Gilliland survived the dragging based on the severity of injuries shown in evidence photos.
“No matter what I do, I’m never going to be able to give Mr. Gilliland back the use of his left arm or allow him to recover from having chunks of his left shoulder taken out or his body or his bodily organs or the loss of his spleen. Nothing I can do can ever bring that back and there’s nothing Mr. Nichols can do to alleviate those problems,” Mercurio said.
The judge continued, “I consider Mr. Nichols to have left Mr. Gilliland for dead. I don’t find any redeeming issues that would compel me to see that Mr. Nichols had any mercy or remorse for Mr. Gilliland.”
“I do believe that this is the type of case that warrants a maximum sentence,” Mercurio added.
The judge sentenced Nichols to two 15-year terms, one for each of the felonies, which Nichols will serve consecutively.
Mercurio ordered credit for time served by Nichols, who had been jailed since October 2022, and ordered Nichols to pay the cost of his prosecution and defense.
Chief assistant public defender Jennifer Joynt-Sanchez had asked the judge for leniency, saying Nichols lacked a record of violence. She asked the judge to use a Florida criminal punishment scoresheet for a minimum sentence of five years and eight months.
However, assistant State Attorney Garrett Franzen asked for the maximum punishment — 30 years.
“Here we have a man whose life was altered irreparably and permanently,” Franzen said, referring to Gilliland. “He was a lifelong commercial fisherman. He lost his entire ability to work. His entire livelihood for his entire life was ripped away from him, as well as his normal ability to live as a person with a healthy body.”
Mercurio, after handing down the sentence, told Nichols he had 30 days to appeal.
Gilliland spoke to The Islander after the hearing, surrounded by friends.
“I am glad justice was served here today,” he said.