Bob Burton and wife Kathy Scott.

Bob Burton, 53, of Jasper was arrested without incident Sunday, June 5 at 3:07 p.m. on a warrant issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to officials.  The arresting officer was Pearsall Fouraker Jr. of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. Burton is charged with one count of unlawful interception of communication and one count of unlawful disclosure of communication. He is being held on a $50,000 bond at the Hamilton County Jail, according to the arrest report.

Hamilton County Sheriff Harrell Reid said that the arrest follows a January raid at Burton’s home.

On January 14 state law enforcement officers raided Burton’s home at 7676 S.W. 46 Ave. in Jasper. More than a dozen officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, along with two Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies, arrived at the home of Bob Burton and his wife Kathy Scott to serve a search warrant. No arrests were made at that time, but officers seized a Sony Handycam, a cell phone and a laptop computer.

Burton, who stated he is a deadhead logger, had told the Democrat in January that he happened upon illegal activities by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, specifically the dumping of toxic waste into protected areas.

Burton said he taped a phone conversation regarding the matter with Ryan Tyson, who was chief of staff for Florida Senator Charlie Dean at that time. Sen. Dean is chairman of the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation. Burton then posted a video containing the conversation with Tyson on YouTube.

According to Burton, the conversation contained statements from Ryan implicating state officials in what Burton said were illegal activities. The YouTube video Burton posted was later removed from the website.

Burton had told the Democrat in January, “We’re just trying to expose the crime. We put the name to the act.”

Reid had no comment on the arrest.