TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) - Cutting off an ankle monitor in Florida will soon come with much steeper consequences.

A new law taking effect October 1 raises the penalties for tampering with electronic monitoring devices, treating the act as seriously as the crime the person was originally charged with.

Ankle monitors are typically used to allow people awaiting trial to stay in their communities, keep their jobs, and live with their families instead of sitting in jail. But when someone cuts one off, prosecutors say it poses a major public safety risk.

“You’d be surprised,” said Christine Brown, a former prosecutor. “I did have an individual who was charged with drug trafficking offenses, and right before trial, he took off his monitor, and he absconded for sev

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