Rebekah Jones turns herself in to the Leon County Jail

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - According to Leon County Court documents, former Department of Health data scientist Rebekah Jones is now in the Leon County Jail.

Jones turned herself in on Sunday, as she previously stated she would.

Her first court appearance was originally scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday; however, because of the holiday, it began around 9:30 a.m.

According to online records, Jones now faces a felony charge described as a property crime for accessing a computer network or electronic device without authorization.

That charge is dated to Nov. 10 of last year, the same day a message was sent through a state-wide network targeting complicit Department of Health employees who wouldn’t speak up.

Former Department of Health data scientist, Rebekah Jones, said that on Sunday, she will be turning herself into police in an effort to “protect my family from continued police violence, and to show that I’m ready to fight whatever they throw at me.”

The announcement comes just days after Jones appeared in court trying to get back a computer seized in a Florida Department of Law Enforcement raid of her home back in December 2020.

Jones was fired in 2020 after saying that Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration was manipulating COVID-19 data to make the virus appear less prevalent so that he could reopen the state sooner.

FDLE is investigating Jones, claiming she may have illegally accessed the Florida Department of Health’s emergency message system.

FDLE confirmed to WCTV that there is an active arrest warrant for Jones.

“FDLE agents have been working with her attorney to have her turn herself in. Our case remains active,” Gretl Plessinger with FDLE said.

According to Jones, FDLE found no evidence of a message sent last November to DOH staff telling them to “speak out” on any of the devices they took.

However, police did find documents she received/downloaded from sources in the state, “or something of that nature,” according to Jones.

“It isn’t clear at this point what exactly they’re saying I had that I shouldn’t have had, but an agent confirmed it has nothing to do with the subject of the warrant,” she added.

In the thread of Tweets, she said that “The Governor will not win his war on science and free speech. He will not silence those who speak out.”

BREAKING: FDLE found no evidence of a message sent last Nov. to DOH staff telling them to 'speak out' on any of the devices they took - the entire basis for the raid on my home in Dec. The warrant was based on a lie. We argued this in court just last week. This should be victory.
— Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah) January 16, 2021