Former Martin County parks and rec supervisor spared prison after paying $60,000 in restitution
A judge Monday agreed to spare a lengthy prison term for a former supervisor with Martin County Parks and Recreation who paid nearly $60,000 in restitution as part of a plea deal with state prosecutors, court records show.
Bryan Buxton, 38, of the 2600 block of N.E. Cypress Lane, Jensen Beach, had faced what could have amounted to 165 years in prison for felony charges related to accusations he used county money to purchase items he later sold for profit.
In April, Buxton entered no contest pleas to 15 counts of giving false information to a pawnbroker, dealing in stolen property and uttering a forged instrument, following his arrest in August 2021.
His Fort Pierce attorney, Steve Ziskinder, said Monday because he paid the full restitution of $59,714 by his sentencing date, Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer upheld a plea agreement that requires Buxton serve six months in county jail, serve one year of community control followed by 3 ½ years of probation and undergo random drug testing.
If the full restitution had not been paid, then the deal was off, court filings show.
Ziskinder said Buxton “feels remorseful for what he did, he wanted to make it right and he did.
“And the state and the victim (Martin County) took everything into account, and everybody is walking away feeling that everything was done,” Ziskinder added. “He’s paying a price, but he made it right to the extent that he could.”
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Buxton pleaded to charges filed in five different felony cases that included nearly identical counts that court records show exposed him to a punishment of 35 years in four cases, and up to 25 years in another case.
What was Buxton accused of doing?
He was initially suspected of selling two Nintendo gaming systems and an Apple Watch in July 2021 at Colorado Pawn and Jewelry in Stuart, according to sheriff’s officials and arrest reports.
The pawnbroker paid $500 to Buxton for the items. A receipt Buxton submitted to the pawn shop with the watch and gaming systems showed he purchased the items at a Walmart near Stuart and the items totaled $977.
Investigators later tied him to additional purchases at Walmart that he pawned, including a 55-inch LG television, a Microsoft computer and a Vivitar Phoenix Drone, arrest affidavits show.
At the time of his arrest, Martin County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy John Budensiek said Buxton would buy items with his county-issued credit card at Walmart, sell the items to pawn shops to make money for himself and forge the receipts he submitted to the county's purchasing department.
Buxton told investigators he had an addiction he was fighting and was using the money from the unauthorized sales to support his habit, Budensiek said.
Investigators also found Buxton may have made several unauthorized sales of county property to pawn shops in Stuart and Port St. Lucie.
After Buxton’s April hearing, County spokeswoman Martha Ann Kneiss said via email that throughout the case, officials had worked closely with the county’s comptroller and state prosecutors
“We believe this plea, with full restitution, is in the best interest of all parties involved,” Kneiss said.
Ziskinder in April said Buxton had been receiving in-house substance abuse treatment for the past nine months.
He was terminated following his 2021 arrest and County Administrator Taryn Kryzda at the time said Buxton had worked with the county since April 2017 and coordinated summer and afterschool programs for children.
She also said new measures were established to prevent similar thefts.
Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Ex-Martin parks and rec supervisor to serve six months in county jail
