Sex offender found with meth in vagrant camp behind Leesburg hotel

A Sarasota man and known sex offender was arrested for drug possession when officers found baggies of narcotics in a vagrant camp behind Sleep Inn in Leesburg

William Robert Okeefe, 66, was found guilty of a sexual abuse offense in Aug. 1988. He was found guilty of lewd act child under 14 in Jan. 1993, and he failed to comply with sex offender registration in Aug. 2001, according to the Florida Sexual Offender and Predator System. 

While conducting a secure check of the property behind the Sleep Inn hotel, located at 2476 Citrus Boulevard, officers found a vagrant campsite around 11:26 p.m., according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. The campsite had three occupants inside, including Okeefe, the report said. 

The officers approached the occupants and noticed a clear plastic bag with a crystal-like substance inside that was consistent with methamphetamine. The bag was on the camp floor in plain sight. Okeefe advised that it was his, stating he found the baggie in the hotel’s parking lot but did not know what was inside, the report said. 

Based on this information, Okeefe was detained. He was read his rights, and he advised that he wanted to speak with officers. He reaffirmed that he found the bag in the parking lot of the hotel when questioned, the report said. 

Officers searched Okeefe and located another clear plastic baggie with a small methamphetamine rock inside his back right pants pocket. The weight of the narcotics found on the ground of the campsite weighed about 2.4 grams bagged, while the baggie found in Okeefe’s pocket weighed about 1 gram bagged, the report said. 

Okeefe was ultimately arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine. The New York native was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $2,500.