St. Johns County inmate accused of trying to arrange murder of witness in his drug case

A St. Augustine man jailed since June on drug trafficking charges is now accused of trying to arrange, from inside the St. Johns County Jail, the killing of a witness who was expected to testify against him, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said.

Dustin Furnal, 42, faces new charges of solicitation to commit murder and tampering in a first-degree felony proceeding, according to the sheriff's office. A judge revoked his bond on Oct. 17, and he remains in the county jail without bond. The new charges are accusations, and Furnal has not been convicted of them or of the drug charges that put him in jail.

The new charges

The sheriff's office announced the additional charges in a social media post on Wednesday, Oct. 21, saying detectives in its Special Investigations Unit had learned Furnal was communicating with another person about a plot to kill someone scheduled to testify against him. Detectives reviewed hours of recorded conversations, jail phone calls and visitation recordings between the two, according to News4JAX.

An arrest warrant lays out the investigators' account, according to the Florida Times-Union and News4JAX, which obtained the document. The Times-Union reported the warrant is dated Oct. 19, while the St. Johns County Citizen reported that a judge signed it Oct. 16; the sheriff's office has not clarified the timing. The witness has not been publicly identified, and the sheriff's office has described that person only as someone scheduled to testify against Furnal in a pending criminal case.

Under Florida law, the tampering charge carries particular weight because of the case it is tied to. Section 914.22 of the Florida Statutes grades witness tampering by the seriousness of the underlying prosecution, and tampering in a case involving a first-degree felony is itself a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. Fentanyl trafficking, one of Furnal's original charges, is a first-degree felony in Florida.

The solicitation charge is also graded by the crime allegedly solicited. Under Section 777.04 of the Florida Statutes, soliciting someone to commit a capital felony, such as premeditated first-degree murder, is itself a first-degree felony. Published reports have not specified the degree of the solicitation count filed against Furnal.

The drug case behind it

Furnal was arrested in June on multiple felony counts and has been held since June 9, according to the Times-Union. The charges in that case are:

• Trafficking in fentanyl
• Trafficking in methamphetamine
• Conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine
• Using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
• Tampering with evidence
• Possession of a controlled substance without a prescription
• Possession of cocaine
• Possession of drug paraphernalia
• Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

According to the warrant as described by the Times-Union, the investigation began in May, when the sheriff's Special Investigations Unit used a confidential informant to make a controlled drug purchase from Furnal. Investigators allege he then carried out several other illegal drug transactions. That informant, identified in the warrant only as CI-1, is the witness Furnal is accused of targeting, according to News4JAX's reading of the document.

How investigators say the plot surfaced

In September, a person contacted detectives about a possible murder-for-hire plot, according to the warrant. The Times-Union reported that this second informant was a fellow inmate, who told detectives Furnal had asked him to contact a man nicknamed "Stretch" after his release from jail to arrange the killing.

The plan the two allegedly discussed was a "hotshot," a dose of methamphetamine laced with fentanyl intended to cause a fatal overdose, according to the warrant. The inmate told detectives Furnal offered $10,000.

Investigators allege the two used a particular communication method and code words to hide what they were discussing. According to News4JAX, the warrant says "materials" was used to refer to payment and "home remodeling" served as a cover story.

The informant also told detectives Furnal claimed his attorney had told him that killing the witness could help his pending cases if the witness did not cooperate, according to News4JAX's account of the warrant. That claim is attributed to Furnal by the informant; there is no indication in the reporting that any attorney said such a thing. The informant further told detectives Furnal wanted other possible informants "knocked off."

What the recordings allegedly show

The inmate later wore a hidden recording device during a meeting with Furnal, the Times-Union reported. On that recording, according to the warrant, Furnal said he wanted to ask his new attorney whether the witness's testimony was vital to his case. He said it "might be irrelevant" and that going through with the killing might not make sense.

But he went on to call the witness a "snitch" and told the informant to "just go spray him," according to the warrant as quoted by the Times-Union. Investigators believe the person Furnal was describing was the witness in his drug case.

Asked whether the target was involved in his case, Furnal allegedly answered: "Yes, positive. 100%." When the subject of payment came up, he allegedly said nobody would miss the target, and noted that the target has a child, according to News4JAX. The station's headline quoted the warrant: "Nobody's gonna miss him."

Bond revoked

Court records show a judge revoked Furnal's bond on Oct. 17, two days before the date on the new arrest warrant. He remains in the St. Johns County Jail without bond. The sheriff's office has not said whether anyone else could face charges, and no other person has been publicly charged in connection with the alleged plot. Neither the man known as "Stretch" nor either informant has been identified.

The office did not say whether the witness had been told of the alleged threat or what steps had been taken to protect that person.

What's next

Furnal's next court date is Nov. 4, according to Action News Jax. The new charges will proceed in St. Johns County circuit court alongside his pending drug and weapons case. Prosecutors with the 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office, which covers St. Johns County, will decide what formal charges to file. No trial date in either case had been reported as of Sunday, no defense attorney had been named in published reports, and the sheriff's office has not released additional details beyond its announcement and the arrest warrant.