Jeremy D. Bittner pleaded guilty in four criminal cases and was sentenced to nine years in state prison.
MIAMI BEACH, FL— A Miami Beach biochemist once accused of drugging and raping women in his West Avenue condominium pleaded guilty Tuesday in a plea deal that closed four criminal cases, sending him to state prison for nine years and placing him on sex offender supervision after his release.
Jeremy D. Bittner, 44, admitted guilt across cases tied to three women after a prosecution that grew out of a 2023 arrest and a wave of allegations from women who said he used alcohol, drugs and force inside his apartment. The agreement ended the prospect of multiple trials and left two other sexual battery cases dismissed, while still requiring prison, house arrest, probation and treatment in a program for mentally disordered sex offenders.
The case first broke open publicly in late February 2023, when Miami Beach police arrested Bittner and accused him of preying on women he met through social contacts, his condominium building and online housing discussions. Investigators said the earliest charged incident in the plea deal dated to Jan. 30, 2022. In that case, a 47-year-old woman told police she had known Bittner as a friend and went to his apartment after he spoke about personal turmoil tied to his divorce. She said she saw him smoking crack and using cocaine, refused offers of drugs, then accepted a glass of wine. Soon after, she reported feeling unusually drowsy and unable to remember parts of what followed. Officers wrote that she believed she had been drugged. Police said Bittner removed her clothing and sexually battered her before she fought him off and escaped. That account became one of the charges to which he later pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors also built part of the case around an October 2022 allegation involving a 25-year-old woman from Rome who had traveled to South Florida after discussing a room rental with Bittner on social media. According to police records described in court coverage, he picked her up at Miami International Airport and brought her to his condo at 1330 West Ave. She told investigators she saw narcotics on a table after arriving and grew alarmed. Police said the encounter turned violent, with Bittner pulling her hair, grabbing her by the throat and raping her twice. In earlier reporting, officers said she preserved underwear as evidence after the assault. Bittner ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery and one count of false imprisonment tied to that woman. The plea marked the most serious admitted conduct in the resolved cases and formed a central part of the prison sentence imposed Tuesday.
A third set of admitted charges came from a February 2023 encounter with a 34-year-old woman who lived in the same building. Police said the two first spoke in an elevator and exchanged phone numbers. She later agreed to drinks at his apartment but told investigators he repeatedly pushed drugs on her. When she refused, police said, he threw a packet of suspected cocaine at her and forcibly poured liquid into her mouth. Her next memory, according to investigators, was waking on a sofa as Bittner grabbed her neck with what officers described as extreme force. In the plea deal, Bittner admitted guilt to battery and false imprisonment in that case, along with separate drug possession counts involving cocaine and butanediol. Butanediol is a chemical that can convert into GHB in the body, a fact that gave added weight to several women’s claims that they were suddenly incapacitated after drinking or ingesting something in his presence.
The public case grew wider in the days after Bittner’s arrest. Local television reporting in March 2023 described at least two additional women who came forward after seeing coverage of the arrest. One woman, identified only by initials, told police she met Bittner in her building in 2020 and later tried to help him reconcile with his wife because she worked as a marriage counselor. She said the relationship had not been sexual, but she alleged that in November 2022 she drank water he handed her, lost clear memory and regained consciousness with Bittner on top of her. She accused him of raping her again on Feb. 7, 2023, when she was packing to move away from the building. Police records cited in news reports said she had a visible physical disability that limited her ability to resist or flee. Another woman told investigators Bittner squirted liquid from a dropper into her mouth during a Bay Road encounter and later told her he had given her GHB. Those cases drew sharp public attention, but records described in Tuesday’s reporting said two additional sexual battery cases were later dismissed.
Through the life of the case, Bittner’s alleged methods showed recurring themes in police affidavits and witness accounts. Women said he met them by presenting himself as charming, troubled or helpful, often talking about his divorce or a possible housing arrangement. Several said drugs were visible in the apartment or offered repeatedly. Some described sudden memory loss, grogginess or a floating sensation after accepting a drink or other liquid. In one early report, police said he kept a gun near his bed and told a woman to “get with the program” after she objected. In another, a woman said she awoke on his couch and later found a photo of herself without pants on her own phone, a picture she said she did not remember taking. Those details helped frame the prosecution’s argument that the incidents were not isolated misunderstandings but part of a pattern of coercion, intoxication and force.
Tuesday’s hearing closed the criminal cases that remained active. Court records reported by local media show Bittner was sentenced to nine years in state prison. After that term, he is to serve two years of house arrest and five years of probation. He also must register and live under restrictions as a convicted sex offender and complete treatment in a program for mentally disordered sex offenders. Judge Ellen Sue Venzer underscored that requirement during the hearing and told him to “use your time wisely,” according to NBC6. Bittner’s lawyer declined comment after the sentencing. The plea spared victims from testifying in separate trials and resolved charges spanning four criminal cases, though it also meant some allegations that surfaced publicly were not tested before a jury.
The outcome leaves Miami Beach with a case that unsettled residents of a high-rise corridor better known for bay views and luxury rentals than for a cluster of sexual battery allegations. The women’s accounts, some given publicly and others only through police records, helped keep attention on the prosecution over three years. One accuser told a television station in 2023 that she came forward because she believed others were suffering too. Another said she had initially stayed silent out of shame and fear that no one would believe her because parts of the assaults were a blur. Their statements became part of the wider pressure that shaped the investigation and, ultimately, the plea. For prosecutors, the agreement secured prison time and post-release controls. For the women whose cases were included, it brought a formal conviction in a case that began with allegations of charm, intoxication and violence behind a condo door.
The case now stands at sentencing completed, conviction entered and long term supervision ordered. The next milestone is Bittner’s transfer to serve the prison term imposed Tuesday, followed by sex offender treatment and post-release monitoring set out in the plea agreement.
Author note: Last updated March 17, 2026.