A career criminal is headed back to prison after a string of thefts, including one at the at Walmart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages.
Raheem Donte Smith, 32, of Wildwood, was sentenced last week in Sumter County Court to 1 year and four months in state prison on several theft charges.
In one of the theft cases, Smith went in 2023 to the Buffalo Ridge Walmart with a lookout. Smith proceeded to steal a Hover Kart, folding chair and camping tent. He evaded arrest, but was caught on surveillance. Smith has a long history of shoplifting, including a 2014 arrest on a charge of grand theft at Target at Rolling Acres Plaza in The Villages.
In addition, Smith was convicted of forcing anal sex on another inmate in 2022 at the Sumter County Detention Center.
Smith was arrested in 2020 at the Sumter County Courthouse after he dropped a bag of fentanyl at a security checkpoint.
Smith previously served time in state prison.