Career criminal sentenced to life in prison for violent home invasion robbery in Newberry

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Following a trial, Frederick Leonard Shaw, 54, was sentenced to life in prison yesterday on charges resulting from a violent home invasion robbery in Newberry in January of 2021.

The victim, a man in his nineties, told Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies that a man came onto his property while he was in the garage working on a car. The man knew his name and rushed him, pushing him to the floor and then dragging him through his home. The man then stole a number of items, as well as the victim’s wallet.

Detectives learned that the victim had recently employed a caregiver for his late wife, and the victim was shown a picture of Shaw, the caregiver’s boyfriend. Shaw also drove a truck that matched the description of the vehicle driven by the robber. Cell phone records were also used to build the case against Shaw. Shaw had 16 previous felony convictions and had an active felony charge at the time of the arrest.

On October 4, a jury found Shaw guilty of home invasion robbery without a weapon, burglary with assault or battery, battery on a person over 65 years of age, and petit theft. The trial lasted 3 days, including jury selection, with the jury deliberating for over two hours. On October 17, Judge William Davis sentenced Shaw to 30 years for home invasion robbery, life in prison for burglary with assault or battery, and 5 years for battery on a person over 65.