SHERIFF WAYNE IVEY: Operation Take Back America Bags Three Serial Drug Dealers from Melbourne
By Wayne Ivey, Brevard County Sheriff // July 26, 2025
Operation Take Back America aims to repel the invasion of illegal immigration
Operation Take Back America aims to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – As a part of Operation Take Back America, Michael Jatsko, Alivia Assidio, and Leonard Nile Jr., all of Melbourne, were indicted on charges of Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine and Fentanyl.
Jatsko and Assidio were also charged with Distribution of Methamphetamine, Possessing a Firearm in furtherance of a drug Trafficking Crime, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.
If convicted, Jatsko and Assidio face up to Life in Federal Prison. Nile faces a penalty of 40 years in Federal Prison.
When we talk about securing our borders, it relates to so many things, including keeping this deadly poison out of our communities. This stuff is filtering into our neighborhoods, taking the lives of our loved ones, and it needs to stop.
Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that streamlines resources from the department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
It aims to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
The indictment is the result of an investigation that culminated on June 24, 2025, when members of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit surveilled Jatsko and Nile loading into their vehicle, large bags and boxes believed to contain narcotics.
Jatsko and Nile fled an attempted traffic stop at a high rate of speed, with the pursuit ending after our great partners at Florida Highway Patrol troopers immobilized the fleeing car.
A search of the vehicle revealed multiple kilograms of cocaine. Subsequent searches of Jatsko and Assidio’s storage unit and residence revealed substantial quantities of fentanyl and cocaine, as well as firearms, as you can see in the picture.
At the time, Jatsko and Assidio both had prior felony drug convictions. As convicted felons, they are prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law.
This case was another incredible collaboration by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Thank you to all of our Agents, the DEA, and FHP for a job well done in getting these drugs off of our streets!
– Sheriff Wayne Ivey
