by Jo Ellen Nott

On December 1, 2022, former Brevard County jail guard Amony Robillard, 31, was sentenced for taking a man hostage at gunpoint and holding him naked to extort repayment of money the guard lost in a bad cryptocurrency investment made on the victim’s advice.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO), the unnamed 34-year-old victim was an acquaintance whom Robillard blamed for losing $2,000 on the investment. Using text messages from his 19-year-old girlfriend, Robillard lured the man to an AirBnB vacation rental in Orlando, where the victim expected to have sex with the woman on November 19, 2021. Before any intimacy could begin, though, Robillard emerged from behind a curtain, pointed two semiautomatic pistols at the unsuspecting victim and held him captive for three hours while naked.

During those three hours Robillard presented the victim a contract promising to pay the jail guard $30,000 within a certain amount of time. Robillard even arranged for a third person claiming to be a notary to come to the vacation rental and witness while the victim, still naked, signed the contract. The OCSO report also said that videos on Robillard’s personal cell phone showed him pointing a gun at the man and threatening his life multiple times.

Robillard was arrested on eight days later, following a phone call in which he demanded a first payment of $5,000 from the victim. After arguing about the extortion, Robillard ended the conversation saying, “find a way to give me my $5,000 this afternoon so I can pay the bank.” Else, he told his former friend, he would share the videos from the AirBnB encounter with the victim’s family and church.

An Orange County judge in Orlando sentenced Robillard to five years minus 367 days for time already served on charges of robbery with a firearm, extortion with a weapon and false imprisonment with a weapon. Attorney Phillip Arroyo said his client faced a mandatory 10 years in prison and maximum sentence of life in prison. After a year of negotiations and a plea deal, Robillard received a lesser sentence and could serve even less than that with good behavior.

Robillard, a father of two, started working for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in 2020 and was also a member of the Army National Guard. In addition, he hosted a popular love connection program on Haitian radio. He was terminated from his job after his arrest.

Sources: Florida Today, Orlando Sentinel

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