Erin Hill
Former Quincy City Manager Robert Edward Nixon has been found guilty of possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon after a two-day federal jury trial in Tallahassee.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced the verdict Sept. 10.
Nixon, 61, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 19 at 11 a.m. before Chief U.S. District Judge Allen C. Winsor at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee.
According to court records and testimony presented at trial, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Nixon’s residence on Feb. 10 during an investigation. Two loaded handguns were found in a nightstand.
Nixon was previously convicted in federal court in Tallahassee in 2011 of three felonies, including two counts of conspiracy to steal or misapply funds from an organization receiving federal assistance and to commit wire fraud, and aiding and abetting or misapplying funds as a credit union employee.
Nixon worked for the City of Quincy from October 2018 until June 2025. He served as manager of the Quincy Community Redevelopment Agency from October 2018 until December 2024 and as city manager from June 2022 until his termination in June 2025.
The federal firearm conviction comes as Nixon faces a separate state criminal case stemming from an investigation into his handling of Community Redevelopment Agency funds.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Nixon Feb. 10 on one count of organized scheme to defraud, one count of grand theft, four counts of official misconduct, four counts of forgery and four counts of uttering forged instruments.
According to FDLE, investigators with the agency’s Office of Executive Investigations and the Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office began a joint investigation in September 2024 after receiving a complaint alleging Nixon was embezzling money from the redevelopment agency.
Investigators allege Nixon defrauded the agency of $32,700 while serving as its manager. FDLE alleges some of the money was used to renovate property Nixon leased for a personal business and that additional funds were used to purchase a humidor and cigars for a cigar lounge.
FDLE also alleges Nixon forged an invoice and created a fictitious official record in connection with the funds.
Those allegations are part of the separate state case and were not the charges decided by the federal jury.
The federal firearm case was jointly investigated by the Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, FDLE and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christie S. Utt prosecuted the case.
Nixon’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 19 in Tallahassee.
