A Jacksonville driver who stopped near an immigration operation to record and shout at a trooper will spend 15 months in federal prison after a confrontation that injured law enforcement officers.
Jennifer Susan Cruz, 41, received the sentence on October 14 from Senior U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced. The encounter occurred on January 13, 2026.
She had pleaded guilty in June to assaulting officers conducting an immigration operation. Florida Highway Patrol troopers were assisting federal immigration officers in Jacksonville that day.
Cruz drove past while filming on her cellphone, then parked near a traffic stop and yelled at a trooper. A second trooper approached her about using the phone while driving, setting off a separate encounter over her own vehicle.
A Separate Encounter
Embedded media follows; please allow a moment for it to load.
The second trooper told Cruz he had no objection to recording; his concern was her cellphone use behind the wheel. When asked for her license, she produced a photograph of it on her phone.
A records check showed her license had been suspended since June 17, 2025, so the trooper called for a tow truck. Cruz drove away while he waited, and troopers used lights, sirens, and their patrol vehicles to box her in.
After getting out, she refused to surrender her keys. When a trooper tried to retrieve them, Cruz punched her in the face with a closed fist.
Officers carried Cruz toward a patrol vehicle as she tried to strike and kick them. During the effort to put her inside, she struck a Customs and Border Protection agent and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. The ICE officer sustained a left-hand injury during the encounter. A trooper’s Taser did not subdue Cruz.
Back in Court
At sentencing, the trooper Cruz punched described a broken finger requiring orthopedic care and physical therapy, News4JAX reported from the hearing. She still could not fully close her left hand and had difficulty opening cans and jars.
The 12-year veteran also described ridicule directed at her family after video circulated publicly and asked for a sentence that would deter similar attacks.
Cruz addressed the trooper directly, apologized, and accepted responsibility. Her attorney sought a sentence without incarceration, citing her remorse, childhood, and family responsibilities, while her adult daughter asked for mercy and described her mother as a role model for her three siblings.
Along with the prison term, Cruz received two years of supervised release. Her sentencing conditions include mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment and testing, and an anger management program.