Guilty Verdict In Realtor Kidnapping Trial

Paul Jay Pinkston, 59, faces a minimum sentence of 20 years after a Pinellas County jury found him guilty on armed robbery and kidnapping charges. Photo of Pinkston courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The St. Petersburg man accused in two separate attacks on Pinellas County Realtors last year has been found guilty on two counts of armed robbery and a kidnapping charge.

Paul Jay Pinkston, 59, faces a minimum of 20 years in prison following the guilty verdict in a Thursday jury trial. Sentencing in the case is anticipated to take place in June.

Pinkston was arrested last June following two attacks on female real estate agents. A tipster who saw video of the suspect in the case put police on Pinkston’s trail.

The attacks in question occurred on June 3, 2015. The first one happened in the 1700 block of Oxford Street North around 1 p.m. In that case, a female agent was showing a home to a man. The man, police said at the time, pulled out a gun and proceeded to zip tie the woman’s hands and feet.

A ransom call was then placed to the woman’s husband. The attacker, however, made the call and left. The woman was able to loosen her bindings and go to a nearby home for help.

The second attack occurred around 2 p.m. at 5800 12th St. N. In that case, the female real estate agent was robbed at gunpoint.

Neither woman was injured in the attacks.

A sentencing date has not yet been set. A conference in the case is planned by the court next week, according to Pinellas County court records.

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