{"id":49981,"date":"2024-09-19T15:05:34","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T19:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=49981"},"modified":"2024-09-19T15:05:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T19:05:41","slug":"lee-county-sheriff-spending-detailed-amid-possible-fbi-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/09\/19\/lee-county-sheriff-spending-detailed-amid-possible-fbi-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee County Sheriff spending detailed amid possible FBI investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LAKELAND GAZETTE has uncovered new documents that reveal tens of thousands of tax dollars going to consulting fees inside the Lee County Sheriff&#8217;s office each month.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"939188\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"875\" height=\"1024\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 875px) 100vw, 875px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/marceno-875x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-49675 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #939188; width:363px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/marceno-875x1024.webp 875w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/marceno-256x300.webp 256w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/marceno-768x899.webp 768w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/marceno.webp 1312w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is after allegations of money laundering and claims that Sheriff Carmine Marceno is under investigation by the FBI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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&#8217;s father to help pay for a car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;contracts combined&nbsp;total a whopping $53,000 a month in taxpayer money or $636,000 annually.<\/p>\n\n\n        <div id=\"ep-gutenberg-content-a282c849ec7519780e83d3bf1bfffad9\" class=\"ep-gutenberg-content aligncenter ep-percentage-width   ep-content-protection-disabled\" data-embed-type=\"PDF\" data-embed-url=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/consulting-contracts.pdf\">\n            <div class=\"embedpress-inner-iframe emebedpress-unit-percent ep-doc-a282c849ec7519780e83d3bf1bfffad9\" style=\"max-width:600%\" id=\"embedpress-pdf-1726772214704\">\n                <div >\n                    <div class=\"ep-embed-content-wraper\"><div class=\"position-right-wraper gutenberg-pdf-wraper\"><iframe title=\"consulting-contracts\" class=\"embedpress-embed-document-pdf embedpress-pdf-1726772214704\" style=\"width:600%;height:600px; max-width:100%; display: inline-block\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/embedpress\/assets\/pdf\/web\/viewer.html?&#038;file=https%3A%2F%2Flakelandgazette.info%2Fnews%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F09%2Fconsulting-contracts.pdf#key=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\" frameborder=\"0\" oncontextmenu=\"return false;\"><\/iframe> <\/div><\/div>                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    \n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf I went in five times in the six months I worked there, it was a lot,\u201d Romano could be heard saying in a recording that has reportedly been turned over to the FBI by Marceno\u2019s former deputy and now write-in opponent in the November election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Romano said every month he would take $1,700 and funnel it to Marceno&#8217;s father so he could pay for a Mercedes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery month I would just give his father the money. I would take the money and throw it on top of the medicine cabinet,\u201d Romano continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday LAKELAND GAZETTE requested and obtained 14 similar consultant agreements that the sheriff has entered into.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"8d898a\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"269\" height=\"188\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 269px) 100vw, 269px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Senator-Lizbeth-Benaquisto-jpeg.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-49983 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #8d898a; width:476px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sheriff also paid personal trainer Scott Griffith $129,000 to oversee the sheriff&#8217;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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LAKELAND GAZETTE took all of this to the sheriff&#8217;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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FGCU Constitutional Law Professor Dr. Pamela Seay explained that with an active FBI investigation, it&#8217;s more likely that not all participants, including the sheriff, have been asked not to comment until the investigation is complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FBI told LAKELAND GAZETTE it will neither confirm nor deny an active investigation into Sheriff Marceno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sheriff Marceno issued the following statement on Monday, three days after LAKELAND GAZETTE first broke the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It&#8217;s unfortunate that politics has reached this level. These politically motivated and baseless claims from a disgruntled employee are obviously untrue,&#8221; Marceno said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In all the sheriff is requesting a $315 million budget for next year. That&#8217;s $38 million more than last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LAKELAND GAZETTE has uncovered new documents that reveal tens of thousands of tax dollars going to consulting fees inside the Lee County Sheriff&#8217;s office each month. This is after allegations&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[9796],"class_list":["post-49981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional-and-world-news","tag-lee-county-sheriff-spending-detailed-amid-possible-fbi-investigation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49984,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49981\/revisions\/49984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}