A Lady Lake woman has been arrested on warrants charging her with selling drugs out of a parking lot at a restaurant in The Villages.
On the evening of May 1, 2025, a special investigations squad conducted a street-level narcotics operation at the Denny’s near UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital in The Villages, according to a warrant affidavit from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The operation resulted in a documented confidential informant buying $160 of fentanyl from 27-year-old Ashley Lynn Finley.
For the entirety of the operation, the informant was outfitted with audio and video equipment for surveillance and security. They were also accompanied by an undercover detective. Law enforcement later collected 2.22 grams of fentanyl from the informant, as well as the recorded evidence that helped identify Finley as the drug dealer, the affidavit said.
The investigation continued into the evening of May 8, 2025, when an informant bought another $40 of fentanyl from Finley at the Denny’s. When brought back to the detectives, the fentanyl was determined to weigh 0.55 grams. The footage collected from the informant further proved Finley’s involvement, the report said.
Both incidents established probable cause for Finley’s arrest. She was ultimately picked up in Fruitland Park and transferred to the Sumter County Detention Center without bond on Monday afternoon. She has been charged with two counts of sell fentanyl, two counts of possession of fentanyl with intent to sell and two counts of use two-way communication device to facilitate felony.
She was also arrested in Nov. 2024 when she was busted with fentanyl while driving her mother’s car.