Homosassa man who repeatedly contacted law enforcement sertenced to 5 years on drug charges
Photo of defendent Crandall on witness stand during trial, courtesy of State Attorney's Office.
State Attorney's Office, Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida
Marion, Lake, Citrus, Sumter and Hernando counties
Inverness, Florida - After just 20 minutes of deliberation on Friday, August 15, 2025, a Citrus County jury in the courtroom of Judge Joel D. Fritton found 79 year-old George Seely Crandall, III, of Homosassa, Florida, guilty on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.Considering the defendant's felony criminal history, the Honorable Judge Fritton sentenced Crandall to five years in prison.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Tara Hartman and Elizabeth Colombrito.
In November 2024, the Citrus County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) Emergency Communications Center received various calls for service, placed by Mr. Crandall, that described suspicious circumstances.
Due to Mr. Crandall's calls for service, deputies responded to his home, located in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park.
Crandall tinitially told deputies that seven people were inside his home, along with two dogs and a cat that were not supposed to be inside the home. He said that the people were taking his possessions against his will. Deputies conducted a walk-through of the two-bedroom mobile home and found no people or animals inside the home. Deputies explained to Crandall that no people or animals were found inside his home and advised him to lock his doors.
Slightly more than an hour later, deputies were called back to the home, with the same complaint and the same outcome (no people or animals found inside the home).
An hour after deputies visited Crandall's home the second time, Crandall called the agency again and requested that an agency supervisor be sent to his home,
In reponse to the third call for service at Crandall's home, Lieutenant (now Captain) Samuel Carey arrived at the home. Crandall reiterated to Lieutenant Carey the same complaint about people being inside his residence, and told him that he'd grabbed one of the men by his shirt, and when he showed Lieutenant Carey the alleged shirt, it was a window curtain, hanging on a window. He also told Lieutenant Carey, that if he waited, he could arrest the people who were walking through his walls.
Lieutenant Carey evaluated Mr. Crandall's mental health for signs of dementia, but his impairment was not consistent with someone experiencing dementia. His rapid speech and irrational demeanor were consistent with someone under the influence of a narcotic.
During Lieutenant Carey's walk-through of the home, he noticed a small red bag that contained a white rock-like substance - later determined by field-testing to be methamphetamine - on the floor of Mr. Crandall's bedroom, which Mr. Crandall picked up and attempted to conceal. However, he handed over the item to deputies when ordered to do so. Inside the bedroom, deputies also found two shortened plastic straws that contained a residue, that were also collected.