A 23-year-old Gainesville woman pleaded to organizing a pop-up party that shut down the City of Lake Butler on June 3.
Diamond Wanae Golden was sentenced to three years’ probation. Judge Mitchell Bishop also ordered the 23-year-old to serve 80 hours of community service, pay $6,370 in restitution to the Union and Bradford County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Lake Butler, and write a letter of apology to the city. Golden was trespassed from Lakeside Park.
Earlier this year, the sheriff’s office said in a social media post that it obtained a search warrant for the defendant’s Facebook account, which confirmed her role in promoting the event.
“Golden immediately during the “Pop-Up” party started deleting all evidence of her role,” the agency said. “Golden knew that a crowd this size participating in the activities would overwhelm the resources of our agency. Golden has been involved in parties like this before and knows the problems that can occur.”
The agency added that the event caused total disruption throughout Lake Butler, with all major roads blocked in both directions, people hanging out of cars and yelling obscenities, playing loud music, and actively resisting and refusing commands from law enforcement to stop their illegal behavior.
Within days of the party, Union County Chief Deputy Lyn Williams said investigators quickly identified the party’s organizer and vowed to bring the Gainesville resident to justice.
“There may not be an arrest today or tomorrow,” he said, “but we will get her.”
