Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Willie Harvey, 44, of Macon, Georgia, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading nolo contendere to six charges related to a kidnapping case that ended when he was arrested in Gainesville in July 2019.

According to Harvey’s arrest report, Harvey broke into the victim’s home in Tifton, Georgia, was armed with a large knife/tool, and implied he had a gun; the victim said she had never met him before he broke into her home. Harvey allegedly raped her in Georgia and then forced her to drive him south in her vehicle.

At some point, they arrived in Gainesville, and on July 1, 2019, Harvey ordered the victim to drive him to the Circle K at 1255 W. University Avenue and buy a Brillo pad for him, which he intended to use to smoke crack cocaine.

A Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officer pulled into the parking lot at the same time as the victim and Harvey, but the victim said later she was afraid Harvey would kill her if she ran. She said Harvey stayed in the car and ordered her to leave her keys in the ignition, and she went into the store.

Inside the store, the victim used the store’s phone to call the police. Harvey came into the store, took cash from the victim, then drove away with the victim’s car. A few minutes later, a GPD officer initiated a traffic stop and arrested Harvey after a brief pursuit and a crash.

Post Miranda, Harvey reportedly claimed he had been dating the victim for several months, but he did not know her name or address. He claimed that he had spent the two days before the kidnapping with the victim, but the victim provided evidence that she had been out of the country until the day of the kidnapping.

During the prosecution of the case, the State Attorney’s Office notified the court that if the case went to trial, they would ask a judge to allow the victim to testify to the crimes in Georgia that led to the kidnapping and her arrival in Gainesville, arguing that the events in Georgia and Florida were inextricably intertwined; Harvey has not yet been tried on the Georgia charges.

On April 7, 2025, Harvey entered a plea of nolo contendere to kidnapping to inflict bodily harm, robbery, fleeing, grand theft of a motor vehicle, resisting an officer without violence, and driving with a suspended license, with a request for eight years in prison.

On July 28, Judge Denise Ferrero sentenced Harvey to 50 years in state prison on the kidnapping charge, with credit for 2,220 days served. Additional concurrent sentences of 15 years for robbery, 15 years for fleeing, five years for grand theft of a motor vehicle, 364 days for resisting an officer, and 364 days for driving with a suspended license were added.