TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A state appeals court panel has upheld a lower court ruling sentencing former Everglades Foundation scientist Thomas Van Lent to 10 days in jail for indirect criminal contempt of court.
The court fight arose from a lawsuit filed by the Everglades Foundation for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets after Van Lent left the group in 2022 to work for a different Everglades-focused organization.
The three-judge panel of the Third District Court of Appeal on Wednesday said Van Lent admitted during the trial that he knew he was violating Circuit Court Judge Carlos Lopez’s order not to delete foundation information on laptop computers.
The Everglades Foundation, a key environmental ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, sued Van Lent and accused him of deleting thousands of data files despite the judge’s order. The appeals court judges said they agreed with Lopez that Van Lent’s testimony that he was trying to protect personal information was not credible.
