A former Lee County Sheriff's Office deputy is awaiting his sentence after pleading no contest last week to shooting into a business in Lehigh Acres.
In August 2024, Michael Soto was arrested for the event that happened two months prior in June.
Security cameras at the Gold Forever Jewelry store on Lee Boulevard showed a pickup truck driving up to the building and reversing. In the video, shots could be seen being fired from the passenger side window.
The store's door was shattered by gunfire.
Detectives determined the vehicle belonged to Soto thanks to a nearby license plate reader pinging it.
LCSO questioned Soto a few days after the shooting. According to records, he was taken off patrol and moved to corrections.
Soto resigned on July 2 and turned himself in the following month.
He was charged with discharging a firearm from a vehicle within 1,000 feet of any person and shooting at, within, or into a public or private building. Both charges are second-degree felonies.
Soto's sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 16.
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