Lee County Sheriff under FBI Investigation

Carmine Marceno - big Desi fan, loves the spotlight, loves to gamble, drives a Ferrari, hires jersey gambling buddy for no show job and kickbacks to pay for his dad's Benz. First, how is a LEO allowed to engage in high stakes gambling? Second, no show job as consultant for a jeweler?

Allegations of money laundering and misappropriation of funds made against Lee County Sheriff Marceno. And yes, they involve a former gambling buddy.

But the friendship blew up recently, and audio recordings allegedly show Romano making serious allegations against the sheriff involving Romano’s own employment as a “consultant” with LCSO. In the recordings, Romano alleged Marceno gave him a no-work contract at LCSO paying him $5,700 a month, $1,700 of which was paid to the sheriff’s father, Carmine Marceno Sr., for car payments on a Mercedes Benz.

“[E]very month I would just give his father the money,” Romano said in the recording. “I would take cash, I would throw it on top of the medicine cabinet and [Marceno Sr.] would come in and take it. Like, it was secretive, you know?”
The 55-year-old Romano also claimed that Sheriff Marceno, an avid gambler who reported nearly half a million dollars in casino proceeds as income in the last two financial disclosure forms he filed with the state, owed him a lot of money.
Marceno] bought his Ferrari was the same day that he turned around to me and he said, ‘Listen bro, I want to do something nice for my father,’”Romano said in the recording. “I said, ‘What do you want to do?’ He said, ‘I want to give him a [nice car] so he can travel back and forth from here to the east coast to get his [medical] treatment

 

How easy would it be to bribe a public official and just show it as gambling winnings? How can this be legal for public officials to gamble when it would be so easy to help them win? $300k in a year in gambling winnings???

Lee County Sheriff Marceno misappropriated funds, leaked audio alleges (news-press.com)

Romano alleged Marceno owes him hundreds of thousands of dollars for bailing him out of gambling debts, jewelry he gifted him, and other items, including a $45,000 ring he said Marceno gave his grandmother.

Marceno's state financial disclosure forms filed with the State Ethics Commission confirm ongoing gaming habits. According to the forms, Marceno claimed $290,183 in gambling income in 2022. In 2023, he listed $168,696 of winnings and $27,030 in 2024.

Hollow said he conducted his own investigation and learned that Marceno used taxpayer money to pay personal bills and accepted extravagant gifts – such as jewelry and a piano. He said Marceno was, “essentially, money laundering.”

“I felt if I didn’t do anything with (this information) that I was just as guilty as Carmine,” Hollow said. “He set the badge back 50 years.”

 

sheriff is a big MAGA fanboy...shocking right?

Lee County sheriff spending detailed amid possible FBI investigation (nbc-2.com)

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, NBC2 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.
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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.