TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office settled a case alleging the agency “punishes people for crimes they have not yet committed and may never commit” in federal court on Wednesday.

The lawsuit, brought against Sheriff Chris Nocco by defendants who claimed they were targeted and harassed by the agency’s intelligence-led policing program, alleged their Constitutional rights were violated.

“(The program) first predicts that certain people may commit future crimes, and then it harasses these people—and their relatives and friends—with relentless visits to their homes at all hours of the day, with unwarranted stops and seizures, and with repeated citations for petty code violations,” the lawsuit stated.

“They’re not just arresting, they’re targeting people,” said Robert Jones, plaintiff.

Robert Jones said he was harassed and ultimately arrested after the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office predicted he would be a troublemaker in what critics call the agency’s predictive policing program.

“They were doing anything they could to take me to jail,” said Jones.

Jones in one of four Pasco County citizens who claim their constitutional rights were violated in this federal lawsuit filed in 2021 against Sheriff Chris Nocco. Jones is represented by attorney Robert McNamara with the Institute for Justice.

“Fundamentally this program broke down trust in law-enforcement, harassed parents because of their relationships with their children and treated people as if they were criminals based on individuals in an office applying an algorithm that they thought would identify future criminals,” said McNamara.

The trial was originally expected to last two to three weeks, but on Wednesday morning, attorneys with the Institute of Justice, which represented the four defendants in the case, announced they received a total $105,000 settlement, which will be paid by the Florida Sheriff’s Association Risk Management Fund.

“The Pasco County Sheriff has agreed that its program of suspicionless searches violated the Constitution,” said McNamara.

The agency has agreed it violated the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. As part of the settlement, PCSO is barred from implementing a similar program in the future.

“What happened here today should send a message to law enforcement across the country that in the United States, we punish people after they’ve been convicted of a crime,” McNamara said. “We don’t punish people because we’ve decided they might commit a crime in the future.”

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office sent 8 On Your Side this statement, in full:

“The Pasco Sheriff’s Office will never apologize for keeping our community safe and holding those who victimize our community accountable for their actions. It is important to note that this is the final case tied to the false reporting alleged by former members of the Sheriff’s Office who were held accountable and disciplined for their actions. In all previous cases, courts ruled in favor of the Sheriff’s Office and, in this case, a court also found that the Sheriff’s Office written policies were constitutional.”

“To be clear, this activist group from outside our community represented four individuals and this is related to these four individuals only. As a steward of taxpayer dollars, the Sheriff must adhere to that responsibility and, when presented with a financially minimal settlement agreement of $105,000, which is significantly lower than anticipated attorney costs for trial which could have reached millions of dollars, accepting the settlement was the best decision for the taxpayers of Pasco County. This was strictly a financial decision that was best for the taxpayers who fund our operations and will be paid for by the Florida Sheriff’s Association Risk Management Fund. We continue to protect and serve our community and will continue to be tough on crime and make sure those who victimize our community will be held accountable. We will, again, never apologize for keeping our community safe.”