LAKELAND GAZETTE has uncovered new documents that reveal tens of thousands of tax dollars going to consulting fees inside the Lee County Sheriff’s office each month.
This is after allegations of money laundering and claims that Sheriff Carmine Marceno is under investigation by the FBI.
The contract for former honorary deputy and consultant Ken Romano shows he was paid $5,700 a month and he claims he was ordered to give back $1,700 to the sheriff’s father to help pay for a car.
Meanwhile, LAKELAND GAZETTE has uncovered 14 other similar contracts with people who are receiving taxpayer money including a former state senator, a personal trainer and even what appears to be a dog.
The contracts combined total a whopping $53,000 a month in taxpayer money or $636,000 annually.
Romano signed a contract to work as a contractor for Marceno and it shows he was paid $5,700 a month for what he said in a recording, which was next to no work.
“If I went in five times in the six months I worked there, it was a lot,” Romano could be heard saying in a recording that has reportedly been turned over to the FBI by Marceno’s former deputy and now write-in opponent in the November election.
Romano said every month he would take $1,700 and funnel it to Marceno’s father so he could pay for a Mercedes.
“Every month I would just give his father the money. I would take the money and throw it on top of the medicine cabinet,” Romano continued.
On Wednesday LAKELAND GAZETTE requested and obtained 14 similar consultant agreements that the sheriff has entered into.
One of the contracts is with former State Senator Lizbeth Benaquisto. The sheriff has been paying her $9,000 a month in taxpayer money to attend meetings and provide advice. Records show she was paid a total of $216,000 over two years.
The sheriff also paid personal trainer Scott Griffith $129,000 to oversee the sheriff’s training division and finally, Von Schnoodle LLC was paid over $93,000 of taxpayer dollars. It appears to be a dog and its owner Grace Birch signed the contract as a consultant for the animal abuse task force.
LAKELAND GAZETTE took all of this to the sheriff’s office Wednesday and while the sheriff met with Chief Political Correspondent Dave Elias, the two spoke briefly and the sheriff declined again to go on camera and answer any questions.
FGCU Constitutional Law Professor Dr. Pamela Seay explained that with an active FBI investigation, it’s more likely that not all participants, including the sheriff, have been asked not to comment until the investigation is complete.
The FBI told LAKELAND GAZETTE it will neither confirm nor deny an active investigation into Sheriff Marceno.
Sheriff Marceno issued the following statement on Monday, three days after LAKELAND GAZETTE first broke the story.
“It’s unfortunate that politics has reached this level. These politically motivated and baseless claims from a disgruntled employee are obviously untrue,” Marceno said.
LAKELAND GAZETTE confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Sheriff Marceno sent out a memo to his employees announcing a 7% pay raise and that he planned to hire an additional 30 patrol officers.
In all the sheriff is requesting a $315 million budget for next year. That’s $38 million more than last year.
Whoa – where is our oversight?
Doesn’t look good. Time for a new sheriff. Any takers who are not of the sheriff’s office? We need a leader who is not attached in any way to the status quo.