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Is Florida Department Of Law Enforcement Covering Up A Crime By Lee County Sheriff?

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Published on: January 23, 2020

The same Florida Department of Law Enforcement that whitewashed and failed to properly investigate Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno’s ethics violations that were previously reported to them, assigned the same investigator to investigate the criminal complaint by a former Lee County sheriff concerning Marceno’s fraudulent certification to be a police officer in the state of Florida.  Now, FDLE is claiming that they don’t have enough evidence to continue a criminal investigation despite the findings of their own investigator to the contrary.

Money and state-controlled propaganda outlet News-Press.com would barely hint at the investigation into Marceno and attacked former Lee County Sheriff Rod Shoap, smearing him with unsubstantiated claims while ignoring the documentation of the current sheriff’s crimes.  However, they were all over it when FDLE issued a statement that they weren’t going to continue an investigation into Marceno.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement released the following statement:

“FDLE’s investigation into P.A.S.S. and Lee County Sheriff Marceno’s law enforcement training has concluded,” said Jessica Cary, a public information officer with the agency. “FDLE Agents found no evidence to support criminal predicate that would justify further investigation.”

They even contacted Marceno at home to get a statement in which he clearly spoke politically as though he were clean as the wind-driven snow.

“Unfortunately, in today’s world we see these false politically motivated attacks far too frequently,” he told News-Press.com.  ” I have a tremendous respect for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and fully cooperated with its investigation. I am gratified that FDLE’s thorough and exhaustive investigation has completely exonerated me.”

Actually, there were no political attacks, that’s just what he wanted people to think.  There was documentation, lots of it, of his crimes, and as such, while he did submit to interviews, the information in the report by FDLE indicate that they found exactly what we said they would because documentation demonstrated that, but they did nothing about it.

Of course, News-Press.com didn’t post the reports findings but they are telling.

Take a look at the report written by FDLE investigator Meschelle F. Pittman, who was contacted for comment but failed to return the call.

Sheriff Marceno’s Final… by Tim Brown on Scribd

Now, also notice that this “investigation” began on October 18, 2019 and ended the same day.  I ask, how is that possible?  The fact of the matter is this is a cover up, not an investigation, and I have suspected corruption in FDLE for quite some time but this substantiates it more than their previous “investigation” into Marceno’s behavior with Deanna Williams.

FDLE is clearly ignoring the law, even in its own findings.

On page 5 alone, it’s clear that Marceno’s own words condemn him:  “Per Sheriff Marceno, he noted he was a part-time Seasonal Park Ranger with Suffolk County Parks on the Article 15 Registration.”

Additionally, Ms. Pittman clearly noted that he never totaled enough full-time hours in his part-time seasonal work to accumulate 12 months.

Over and over, the FDLE report above substantiates this publication’s claims that Marceno never met the requirements from out of state that Florida law demands before becoming a police officer and there is good reason to assume that fraud took place in his obtaining his form 76, as well as passing his EOT test.

However, former Lee County Sheriff Rod Shoap offered a real investigator’s perspective that is intricately tied to Marceno’s alleged passing of his EOT test.  Remember, as I have pointed out on several occasions with FDLE’s own documentation, as well as an internal memo from Naples Police Department, Marceno failed the EOT test twice even though he should never have been allowed to take it due to not having worked full time for 12 months during an 18 month period prior to coming to Florida.  Yet, he only had a few months to retake academy training that he failed so that he might be able to take the EOT again.  He failed to do that and subsequently, he was required to take all of the academy training over before he would be invited to take the EOT.  There are zero records indicating he ever took the academy again.  There is merely a note in FDLE records that he somehow miraculously passed the EOT, even though he was never qualified to take it.

Sheriff Shoap submitted the following to Sons of Liberty Media:

Question: How do we know Carmine Marceno intentionally provided false information to Mr. Brown of P.A.S.S.? 

Answer:

  1. Carmine Marceno would have had to research either on the internet, via phone conversation or in person what is required for him to become certified in Florida without attending the full Florida Law Enforcement Academy.
  2. In his statement Marceno admitted it. While he didn’t remember exactly what he submitted, when asked if he intentionally provided false information he replied, “No.”
  3. Marceno’s Suffolk County Human Resource Article 15 Registration was clearly marked part time-Seasonal employee and Marceno signed the form.
  4. Marceno’s time sheet dated 05/11/99 showed the budgetary line item for his pay listed as part time account.
  5. When Marceno applied for employment at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office he failed to complete the application laving somethings incomplete. Page 9 listing employment history was one of them. His employment history was incomplete as not listing all of his former employment. That alone would make a falsified record. When it came to listing each employment he listed them as part time or full time but he left only the Suffolk County Park Police, blank.
  6. The Federal Wage and Hour and the IRS define full time employment as someone employed for at least 30 hours weekly and 130 hours monthly. Marceno met none of these requirements.
  7. Deputy Director Arthur Pendzick was Marceno’s supervisor according to him in his statement. He said he was Marceno’s Sergeant for two years and that while Marceno had to take off without pay 6 weeks each year, he still worked between 37 and 40 hours each week for 40 to 45 weeks, annually.  However, we have copies of his payroll which show he rarely worked 30 hours or more during any pay period, never worked 1,560 hours during any Calender year or 12 month period and never worked 1,560 hours total during employment. Therefore, Marceno never met the full time component of the FDLE rule for form 76 and the information is false. We received our payroll records from Suffolk County and they must have decided they no longer wanted to be bothered since they destroyed them sometime later.
  8. Marceno admitted to being a part time, seasonal employee during his statement. When asked if he intentionally gave false information during backgrounds with Naples, Collier or Lee he replied, “No.” However, the application is notarized and according to FDLE rules once notarized anything left blank or unanswered is considered falsification. When asked if he intentionally left the full time – part time question blank he said, “No.” but he clearly knew the answer because his statement was that he was seasonal and he knew it was an issue because form 76 makes it an issue. Mr. Brown could never had totaled his hours of part time work to equal full time work had h not had the payroll records to do so.

Frankly, I am surprised for a man who could not remember any specifics about Marceno that he remembered adding up the total part time to make full time employment. Then, to violate FDLE’s rule and transfer part time to full time on his own would be a employment terminating offense.

Conclusion:

I have read the investigator’s report and it lacks detail, concern and answers to important questions that were simply never asked. There is more than enough information present to create probable cause for arrest on Fraud and other criminal offenses.

One might think that Fraud is past the Statutes of Limitations but I begged to differ in that the original Fraud took place about 17 years ago; however, it continues to this day while Marceno possesses a current Florida Police Certification and police officer employment. It is part of an on-going criminal offense to this day. Even if you cannot prove he forged Mr. Brown’s name, and I’m still not sure that is true, the moment he uttered the document he committed a crime.

You might say that he didn’t need the certification to be appointed Sheriff, but he used it in his resume and application for the position. Would Senator Scott have appointed him without the certification? Would Mike Scott have hired him without the certification?  Would Don Hunter have hired him without the certification? Remember this, others applied for the Interim Sheriffs position that were very much more qualified including one that has been an appointed Sheriff and an elected Sheriff.

Next, since it is an appointed Interim Sheriff position, Governor DeSantis does not need to fire him but simply unappoint him as he has done on approximately 100 other positions he inherited. There will be no fight in Florida Congress over the position as was in Sheriff Israel’s dismissal. Marceno has no job rights!

Last, Sheriff Israel’s supporters believe this is strictly a partisan decision on the Governor’s part. If Marceno was a Democrat not only would he have not received the position, had he, the Governor would remove him immediately. I don’t know if any of that is true, the jury is still out.

“Today Carmine Marceno knows he has a fraudulent police certification and honestly, the ethics committee is still investigating and they are a long way from done,” former Lee County Sheriff Rod Shoap said.

There’s still much more to the story.  On Friday’s morning edition of Sons of Liberty Radio, we’ll be discussing this, as well as Florida Representative Spencer Roach’s attack on a citizen.  Don’t miss it!

For my previous reports with full documentation on Marceno and the corruption in Lee County, see below.

 

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