The Death of Rachel Hoffman (2008): The Informant Case Behind Florida’s Rachel’s Law

By James Buddsey · Updated October 16, 2026

Rachel Hoffman, a 23-year-old Florida State University graduate facing marijuana charges, was shot and killed on May 7, 2008, while working as a confidential informant in a Tallahassee Police Department drug sting. Her death led Florida to pass “Rachel’s Law” in 2009, the state’s first statute setting rules for how police recruit and protect informants, and it remains one of the most cited cases in the debate over using low-level drug offenders as informants.

The Weed Street Journal first wrote about this case as an opinion piece. This rewrite sets out the documented record: what happened, who was convicted, what the law changed, and what it did not.

What Happened

Hoffman, who grew up in the Tampa Bay area, had graduated from Florida State and planned to attend culinary school. In February 2007 a traffic stop turned up about 25 grams of marijuana, and she was placed in a drug court program. On April 17, 2008, police searched her Tallahassee apartment and found about 150 grams of marijuana and four ecstasy pills.

Instead of new charges, officers asked her to work as a confidential informant. The operation they planned for May 7, 2008, was far bigger than anything in her history: she was sent with $13,000 in marked police money to buy 1,500 ecstasy pills, two ounces of cocaine and a handgun from two men she did not know, Bay News 9 reported. The sellers changed the meeting place, her handlers lost track of her, and she left with the two men. She was shot with the gun she had been sent to buy. Her body was found about 36 hours later in a roadside ditch in Taylor County, roughly 50 miles from Tallahassee.

The department later acknowledged that Hoffman had no undercover training and no experience with cocaine or firearms, according to the case record summarized on Wikipedia. Officers involved were suspended with pay, and the department faced months of criticism over a plan that put an untrained informant alone with armed strangers and a large amount of cash.

Background

Informant work is a routine part of drug enforcement. People facing charges are often offered leniency in exchange for setting up “controlled buys” from other suspects. Before 2009, Florida had no statute governing how this was done. Each agency set its own rules, and there was no legal requirement to warn a recruit that police could not promise reduced charges, or to let the person talk to a lawyer first.

Hoffman’s case drew national attention because of how lopsided the trade was. She was facing marijuana and pill charges, and she was sent to buy hard drugs and a firearm. ABC’s 20/20 covered the case in July 2008, and NBC’s Dateline followed in January 2009.

What Happened Next

The criminal case. A grand jury indicted the two sellers, Deneilo Bradshaw and Andrea Green, on first-degree murder charges. Bradshaw was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery in December 2009 and sentenced to life without parole. Green pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and armed robbery in November 2010 and was also sentenced to life. Both are serving life sentences, Bay News 9 reported in 2012.

Rachel’s Law. The Florida Legislature passed Rachel’s Law in the 2009 session, and it took effect July 1, 2009, as section 914.28 of the Florida Statutes (chapter 2009-33, Laws of Florida). It requires every law enforcement agency that uses informants to:

• tell recruits that the agency cannot promise immunity, dropped charges or a reduced sentence;
• let a prospective informant consult a lawyer on request before agreeing to anything;
• train officers who recruit or handle informants;
• make the safety of informants, officers and the public the top priority; and
• weigh suitability factors before using someone, including age, substance-abuse history, participation in court-supervised drug treatment and risk of physical harm.

The law has a notable limit. It states that it creates no enforceable rights for informants, so an agency that breaks its own policy cannot be sued under the statute itself. In 2015, Florida lawmakers filed a bill to strengthen the law, the Naples Daily News reported.

The lawsuit. Hoffman’s parents, Irv Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss, sued the City of Tallahassee for wrongful death. The city agreed to a $2.6 million settlement as the trial was about to begin. Because Florida’s sovereign immunity law caps what a city can pay without legislative approval, the Legislature passed a claims bill, HB 7131, authorizing the remaining $2.4 million. Gov. Rick Scott signed it in March 2012. Her family went on to push for a national version of Rachel’s Law.

Where It Stands in 2026

Rachel’s Law is still on the books in Florida in substantially the form passed in 2009. No federal law sets comparable standards for informants used by state and local police. Informant reform remains an active issue in other states, but the details vary widely and should be checked state by state.

Florida’s marijuana laws have changed since 2008. Voters approved medical marijuana in 2016, but a 2024 adult-use amendment fell short of the 60% supermajority Florida requires, so recreational possession is still a crime there. Our Florida marijuana laws guide covers the current rules, and our state cannabis laws page compares every state. Federally, adult-use marijuana is still a Schedule I drug; see our federal laws guide. More cases from the drug-war era are collected in our marijuana history section.

Rachel Hoffman Case FAQ

Originally reported by The Weed Street Journal; rewritten and updated in October 2026 with what happened next.