Tammi Bloom

Sentence: 19 years, 7 months
Offense: Cocaine and cocaine base conspiracy
Priors: None
Year sentenced: 1999
Age at sentencing: 32
Projected release date: Nov. 27, 2015 
  
Born and raised in Miami, Tammi left home at 18 to move in with her husband. She earned her degree as a licensed practical nurse in 1986 and was employed by several health care providers and Florida hospitals. Tammi’s husband of 15 years was distributing cocaine in the Miami area, primarily from the apartment he shared with his mistress in Ocala, Florida. A criminal informant (CI) told authorities Tammi was present at one of two cocaine sales her husband conducted at the Miami house.  According to the CI, Tammi’s job was to count the money from her husband’s transactions.  Tammi, who lived with her husband and their two children in Miami, says she knew nothing about her husband’s mistress or his cocaine business. 
 
On the day Tammi’s husband and his mistress were arrested in Ocala, police searched the Miami house and found cocaine, crack, three firearms, and drug ledgers.  Tammi stated that with the exception of a small bag of cocaine in her husband’s nightstand, most of the drugs were well hidden—even from her—in a septic tank in the backyard.  The guns, Tammi says, were also located in an area of the house clearly used by her husband.  Tammi was held accountable for the entirety of drugs found in the search as well as those sold by Ronald in Miami: 2.41 kilograms of cocaine and 510.05 grams of crack.
 
Although the Court recognized that Tammi was a minor participant in the offense, she received the longest sentence of anyone convicted in the conspiracy. Her husband received 17.5 years and his mistress received 6.5 years.  A drug associate of her husband’s in Ocala was sentenced to 14 years.
 
Tammi’s sentence was enhanced because of the guns found in the search and because she testified to her innocence at trial.  With no criminal record, Tammi’s guideline range was 235-293 months. The judge sentenced her at the lowest end of the guidelines to 19 years and 7 months.
 
At the time the conspiracy took place, Tammi was working full time as a nurse at United Health Care and attending additional nursing classes.  Tammi has two children, now adults, who were 11 and 13 years old at the time of her incarceration. When Tammi was sentenced to almost twenty years in prison, her elderly mother became the primary caretaker for both of Tammi’s children.