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View Full Version : Deputies went to Spence to get around Ferrante



08-18-2009, 02:07 PM
A friendship between Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott and a convicted felon has raised questions about the man’s influence inside the agency.

The News-Press in Fort Myers first reported on Sunday that Scott and 52-year-old Richard Spence, a convicted drug trafficker who now owns a store in Alva, frequently spoke by phone until August 2008, and that Spence played a role in Scott’s 2004 and 2008 campaigns.

The article, as well as one of the agency’s ex-deputies, holds that the relationship was such that deputies frequented Spence’s store as an informal channel to Scott.

“I think he had the sheriff’s ear,” said former Capt. Kerry Griner, a 26-year veteran who left the agency in 2005. “The reason why so many deputies went into (Spence’s store) was because they knew he could talk to the sheriff. It was proven time and time again.”

Sheriff’s Office policy prohibits deputies from associating with individuals they know are convicted felons.

“The fact is I did not know he was a felon,” the sheriff said in an interview on Monday. “I guess we can argue or disagree about whether I should have known.”

Griner said Spence told him otherwise, that the sheriff knew about his background before August 2008.

Spence, a former beer distributor in New York, served three years in prison on a 1995 conviction for money laundering on behalf of the drug trafficking Colombian Cali Cartel. He later landed in Lee County, where he now owns the Alva Village Market.

During Scott’s first run for office, in 2004, Spence offered his shop as a campaign hub in east Lee County, Scott said.

“The appeal to me was it seemed like a great location,” he said. “(Spence) was helpful in the first campaign and was actually helpful in the second campaign.”

The sheriff insisted that he was unaware of Spence’s past and that the shop owner was merely an election supporter with whom he spoke about politics. He compared Spence’s support to that of car dealership Sam Galloway or Fort Myers attorney Bruce L. Scheiner, both of whom held fundraisers for the sheriff.

Yet, Scott and Spence spoke frequently on the phone, according to documents obtained by the News-Press, averaging as much as five calls a week during the first eight months of 2008.

Spence said they spoke as friends, talking about politics, families and sports. He never told Scott about his past, he said, out of embarrassment.

He also disputed the notion that he discussed any kind of agency policy with Scott or that deputies sought him out to pass word to the sheriff. Yet he said he occasionally did just that.

“There may have been one or two times where people said something to me and I passed it along,” Spence said. “But as far as me making decisions, not at all.”

Spence butted heads with Scott’s former second-in-command, Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante. Ferrante and his brother, former Capt. Dominick Ferrante, both left the Sheriff’s Office under allegations of wrongdoing earlier this year. Others in the Special Operations Bureau, including its commander, then-Major Scott Ciresi, were transferred or demoted at the same time.

Scott said his friendship with Spence did not influence his staffing decisions.

“Their separation was completely independent of Richard Spence,” he said.

He said he only learned of Spence’s past in August 2008, after Charles Ferrante made the discovery. Scott cut ties, both he and Spence said.

“Mike just said it didn’t look good, and we’ve parted ways since,” he said.

Scott decried Sunday’s article as “biased,” and he noted that he returned campaign donations. He said other politicians who received Spence’s contributions, including State Attorney Stephen Russell, did not return money.

Samantha Syoen, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney’s Office, said Russell received a $500 donation from Spence for his 2006 campaign and then returned $385 that was never used. Russell only learned of Spence’s history late last year, Syoen said.

Scott conceded that, if based on the level of phone conversations, he likely had a closer relationship to Spence than did Russell. Still, he said, deputies wouldn’t have known about it, and so they shouldn’t have perceived that Spence had any kind of influence over the sheriff.

Griner disagreed — he said deputies went to Spence to get around Ferrante, who they feared.

“They found a loophole,” he said.

08-18-2009, 03:35 PM
Griner disagreed — he said deputies went to Spence to get around Ferrante, who they feared.
“They found a loophole,” he said.


A 26 year veteran who knew Ferrante says deputies feared him. Lends a little creedence to the "leading by fear and intimidation" claims against the Ferrante's, doesn't it? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller???

The rest of it's BS tho.

08-23-2009, 01:38 PM
Maybe Spence is cahoots with Ferantes...makes sense

08-24-2009, 09:07 AM
The Ferrantes were investigating Spence, you dimwits. Spence told Mike to make them go away.

08-24-2009, 12:06 PM
The Ferrantes were investigating Spence, you dimwits. Spence told Mike to make them go away.


This is true..Lets face it, MS didn't run the show. Once he found out that the F boys were snooping around he had to get rid of them.
He takes the lead and we are in the news all the time , he gets rid of any one who knew and than he takes off and leaves us hanging with his dirty uniform.
:evil:

08-24-2009, 02:55 PM
Here is a tip of the day. Follow the money. Spence has the means to clean the money. Ramsey knows this (lines of linear consanguinity) and so does Mike (marital consanguinity).

For he who is wise, follow the above hints and the money laundering Cali Caper will reveal itself!

Unregistered
11-04-2018, 11:04 PM
alva in the house calling local politics