Four people are facing charges after officers discovered them illegally harvesting palmetto berries on private land in Brevard County.
According to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were patrolling when they discovered two vehicles parked on private land with no vehicle access.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey stated that deputies approached one of the individuals, identified as Daniel Depace, and discovered others hiding in surrounding bushes.
Depace said deputies he had a permit to gather palmetto berries, but detectives concluded the permit did not apply to the site where he was discovered, according to the sheriff’s office.
Three more people were detained: Sonya Sloan, Ivan Flores, and Shyeim Campbell. Deputies claimed none of them had permissions.
The sheriff’s office stated that the group had already gathered around 200 pounds of palmetto berries.
Sloan was accused with picking palmetto berries without authorization, resisting without violence, and violating probation. Campbell, Flores, and Depace were all charged with gathering palmetto berries without permission.
Ivey stated that unauthorized palmetto berry gathering is a serious offense and urged against trespassing on private land to collect the berries for profit.
Illegally harvesting and selling palmetto berries is a felony under Florida law. Saw palmetto extract, derived from the berries, is widely utilized in prostate health products.
Ivey cautioned that illicit berry picking can lead to other crimes, such as human trafficking, though this was not alleged in this case.Ivey responded, “Get your permit, get permission from the property owners, and you’ll be fine.”
Ivey offered a plain warning: “Stop picking those damn berries!”
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