Board: Florida sheriff maybe lied about killing in his teens

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A serious Florida sheriff who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after a highschool bloodbath seems to have lied when he didn’t disclose in his job software that he fatally shot one other teenager when he was 14 and that he had used LSD, the state ethics fee discovered Wednesday.

Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony will now face a public listening to on the accusations or he may pursue a settlement. The ethics fee may suggest that Tony be eliminated by DeSantis, fined or censured. The listening to has not been scheduled.

The fee overruled a discovering by its advocate, Melody Hadley, who concluded that Tony’s actions had not violated state statutes. Tony’s lawyer, Stephen Webster, referred to as the nine-member fee’s choice “unprecedented.”

“Whereas upset within the Fee’s motion, my consumer appears ahead to a swift discovering of innocence,” Webster mentioned in an announcement.

DeSantis appointed Tony sheriff of Florida’s second most-populous county in January 2019, simply days after taking workplace. He had fired Tony’s predecessor, Scott Israel, for his alleged mishandling of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty bloodbath in February 2018, a choice that was upheld by the Florida Senate.

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DeSantis’ press workplace didn’t instantly reply to an e mail looking for remark. DeSantis lately suspended 4 members of the Broward college board after a grand jury discovered they’d not correctly overseen safety enhancements associated to the varsity taking pictures.

A Florida Division of Legislation Enforcement report issued earlier this 12 months mentioned Tony repeatedly lied on his police functions, together with failing to reveal that he fatally shot an 18-year-old neighbor throughout a 1993 battle at his household’s Philadelphia dwelling. Tony was discovered to have acted in self-defense and acquitted, however the functions required the disclosure of all felony arrests regardless of the courtroom choice.

Tony’s attorneys have argued that below Pennsylvania regulation, juveniles usually are not charged with crimes however “acts of delinquency,” so he has no felony arrests. The taking pictures was uncovered in 2020 by the Florida Bulldog information web site.

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Earlier than turning into sheriff, Tony was employed by the suburban Coral Springs Police Division in 2005. State investigators discovered that he additionally falsely answered “no” on that division’s hiring questionnaire when requested “Have you ever ever injured or brought about the dying of one other particular person?” and “Had been you ever in a battle involving a weapon?”

He labored his means as much as sergeant earlier than resigning in 2016 to run a police consulting agency that specialised in energetic shooter coaching. DeSantis appointed him on the advice of the daddy of a Stoneman Douglas sufferer who knew Tony from the fitness center the place they each labored out. The vetting course of was accomplished in a day.

The investigation discovered that in 2003, Tony answered honestly that he had as soon as used LSD as a teen when he utilized for a job with the Tallahassee Police Division, his first regulation enforcement software. After that admission brought about his rejection, investigators discovered that on subsequent police functions, Tony answered “no” when requested if he had ever used or dealt with hallucinogenic medicine.

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Investigators say Tony additionally repeatedly lied on police and Florida driver’s license functions by answering “no” when requested if his license was ever suspended. Pennsylvania suspended his license in 1996 for failing to pay visitors tickets. Tony final answered “no” to that query in 2019 when he utilized for a brand new license shortly after he grew to become sheriff.

Within the August 2020 Democratic main, Tony defeated his predecessor, Israel, who was attempting to get his job again. That November, Tony simply defeated his Republican opponent within the basic election to win a four-year time period.