Michael Hill had been out of prison for only two months when he was arrested in another undercover sex-crime investigation in St. Johns County, Florida.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida man’s return to freedom was brief. He is now headed back to prison after being arrested in a second undercover child sexual exploitation operation in Northeast Florida.
Hill was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years behind bars after authorities said he was caught in two separate sting operations involving attempts to meet minors for sex.
The sentence was issued in St. Johns County court for Michael Hill, who lives in Green Cove Springs. According to the State Attorney’s Office, Hill pleaded no contest to several charges stemming from his September 2025 trip to St. Johns County to meet what he believed was a 14-year-old girl.
Investigators said Hill tried to destroy evidence when he discovered that detectives were waiting for him instead of the fictitious teenager. “When Hill realized detectives were there instead, he attempted to break his phone into pieces to destroy digital evidence before he was arrested,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza’s office said in a news release.
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The case followed a similar offense in Jacksonville in 2024, for which Hill had previously served time in prison.
In January 2025, Hill received an 18-month prison sentence after traveling to meet a minor. He was released after serving six months in a Florida prison.
Two months after his release, he was arrested again and charged with traveling to meet a minor, attempted lewd or lascivious battery, and tampering with physical evidence.
Under the terms of his latest sentence, Hill will be designated a sexual predator. Once he completes his 15-year prison term, he will also serve five years of sex offender probation.