Tampa informant will get reward money

TAMPA — The man who helped lead police to Dontae Morris will get “the reward money,” police Chief Jane Castor said Wednesday.

“The one individual who came forward, the confidential informant, is going to receive that money and the rest of them are going to go to jail,” she said.

But just how much and when?

Fliers and billboards advertised a reward that grew to $100,000 while authorities searched for the suspected killer of two police officers.

The informant most likely will not receive a $10,000 portion of the reward from CrimeStoppers, Castor said.

CrimeStoppers money cannot be given to those specifically designated by law enforcement as confidential informants, she said. And the tipster didn’t call CrimeStoppers — he contacted detectives directly, police said.

A requirement for claiming CrimeStoppers rewards is that tipsters contact the private, nonprofit organization directly.

Police have said that the informant contacted detectives Thursday. They then lost contact with him for a while before setting a meeting at a law office. Police arrested Morris there Friday night.

Since his arrest, questions about the $100,000 reward — the largest in Tampa’s history — swirled.

Several agencies said they were looking into the circumstances of the arrest and their rules for making payments.

On Wednesday, Dave Couvertier, a spokesman for the FBI, which contributed $50,000, said the agency anticipates giving its reward.

The remainder of the agencies contributing to the reward are the U.S. Marshal Service ($10,000); the National Police Defense Foundation ($10,000); the Florida Department of Law Enforcement ($10,000) and the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police ($10,000).

While some agencies require that a tip lead to an arrest, the Fraternal Order of Police made it clear its $10,000 portion would be given only for a tip that leads to a conviction.

That could take years.

In the meantime, police hope to get additional help from the informant. Investigators debriefed him Wednesday morning, Castor said. Police did not elaborate on that conversation.

Castor also said Morris’ family would not profit from the reward money. And she added that anybody who harbored or helped Morris would not see any of the money, either.

“State law prohibits anyone from profiting from crimes they have committed,” she said.

Police will not release the name of the person eligible for the reward because confidential informants’ identities are protected by law. They work for police to gather information, often in exchange for cash or leniency in punishment for their own crimes.

Castor said Wednesday that the informant who led police to Morris was not working off sentencing time.