Lamberti Denies Son's Super Bowl Ticket Was A Gift

Lamberti Denies Son's Super Bowl Ticket Was A Gift
http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?op...=6247&Itemid=1

FORT LAUDERDALE — Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti will not amend his state required gift disclosure forms to include Super Bowl credentials provided to his son which allowed the teenager to join his father with unrestricted access to last year’s Super Bowl at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.

The sheriff’s spokesman is denying that the credentials constituted a gift which therefore must be reported.

Being granted credentials is different than receiving tickets as the credentials may allow more access to certain areas such as the sidelines and lockers rooms. They are usually reserved for law enforcement officers, celebrities and NFL alumni.

Lamberti has not addressed or otherwise explained the issue, despite repeated requests made to his office, but a department spokesman said the sheriff will not amend his disclosure forms to include the
credentials.

“I don’t know how those credentials could be viewed as a gift,” Jim Leljedal, director of Media Relations for the Broward Sheriff’s Office, said in an e-mail to South Florida Times.

Amending gift disclosure forms requires detailed explanations of gifts, their value and the reasons they were not listed in the initial filings. State law requires elected and appointed officials, as well as certain public employees, to report gifts or benefits they or family members receive.

Citing agency rules, Florida Commission on Ethics spokesman Kerrie J. Stillman would not comment on the Super Bowl credentials or any other specific case.

“Only the commission can hear cases and determine if a violation may have occurred,” Stillman said.

According to state statutes, the Ethics Commission is prohibited from looking into Lamberti’s Super Bowl controversy unless a complaint is filed or a public official requests an opinion. The potential penalties for violating disclosure rules range from public censure to fines of up to $10,000, to forfeiture of salary or removal or suspension from office.

Super Bowl 44 was held on Feb. 7, 2010, with the New Orleans Saints defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17. Initial tickets went on sale at prices ranging from $1,740 for upper end zone seats to more than $325,000 for luxury suites. Sideline, locker room and on-the-field passes carried an additional premium, according to online ticket retailer StubHub.com.

The exact value of the credentials the sheriff’s son received is unknown. According to a sources closely connected with Super Bowl 44 and the National Football League, the price could be thousands of dollars when compared to an all-access pass. Tickets to most Super Bowl functions fetch a hefty price. Tickets to get into the parking lot for tailgating packages at the upcoming Super Bowl, for example, start at $1,600.

QUESTIONABLE DOCUMENTS

Leljedal defended the credentials given to the sheriff’s son.

“Over 300 people from BSO got credentials and hundreds more from other agencies got credentials and I’m sure no one thought they were getting a gift,” Leljedal said.

A review of that list of more than 300 people shows all were deputies and employees of the sheriff’s department who performed actual security-related duties. Lamberti’s son was not listed among them. Instead, he was listed on a separate matrix that was compiled on BSO letterhead as part of the NFL VIP Detail.

“There are no documents because it was not a BSO function,” Leljedal said in response to a public records request from the South Florida Times. “The deputies were off duty, working for the NFL, and the NFL made their own list if they needed one.”

Nonetheless, documents reviewed by South Florida Times show official BSO documents listed the sheriff’s son, Nick, as a member of the security contingent BSO provided for the American Football Conference. All BSO employees have an identification number, referred to as a CCN number. The sheriff’s son’s CCN number was listed as BSO-000, giving the impression he was an employee.

BSO says they do not know who completed those documents or how the teenager received the credentials.

Contrary to department policy, the NFL VIP Detail operated outside the purview of the Office of Special Detail which normally handles off-duty detail and outside employment.

BSO provided a list of nine people who worked the NFL VIP Detail but the actual number was higher, according to several sources. In violation of another BSO policy those who worked the detail were paid directly by the NFL.

BSO policy also requires all outside work to be approved via what is termed a Form 45. The form has detailed descriptions of the work to be performed and the employer and must be signed by the chain of command all the way up to the sheriff or his designee.

“By Form 45 I assume you mean the off-duty employment form. I thought I explained to you that the forms were not required in this instance. The purpose of the form is to keep our command staff informed of which deputies or employees are working side jobs and what sort of work they are doing,” Leljedal said in another e-mail.

“If the command staff disapproves of the off-duty employment, it can be denied. The command staff was well aware of the complex demands of the Super Bowl and they knew who was working off-duty for the NFL during those few days a year ago,” Leljedal said.

Elgin Jones may be reached at EJones@SFLTimes.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

WELL IT LOOKS LIKE IT FINALLY CAUGHT UP UP TO YOU AL

Since when do the nFL have authority to take control of BSO operations? Something is very wrong here and its once again making the honest LEO's look bad. It's time to come clean, fix the problems and follow the rules.

Jim my old friend, aren't you tired of having to defend the indefensible? Good try, though.

Remember those first-class Super Bowl credentials that Sheriff Al Lamberti wrangled for his son from the NFL for last year's game while his agency provided security for the event?



Will Lamberti get to the bottom of the mysterious Super Bowl caper?
?Well, the South Florida Times is dogging him about it, and some interesting things are happening as a result.

For one, Lamberti is denying that the credentials for his son constitute a disclosable gift from the NFL, the newspaper reports this morning. BSO is also apparently claiming that it doesn't know where the document pictured at right came from or where it is today.

UPDATED: I spoke with BSO Capt. Robert Schnakenberg who oversaw the Super Bowl detail and is one of the names listed on the "matrix" above.

Schnakenberg said BSO still has the matrix document. He said it has not been destroyed, though he conceded that it had been edited somewhat through the process, with names added and deleted. He said Nick Lamberti's name is still on the document.

Schnakenberg also for the first time explained the sheriff's son's presence at the Super Bowl. He said that the sheriff invited his

son and that the NFL agreed to give him the same pass as the sheriff -- which basically gave him carte blanche around the stadium. Schnakenberg said Nick Lamberti was added to the AFC team security matrix because, again, he needed to have the same all-access pass as his dad and he said that not only did the NFL know about the sheriff's son's attendance but so did federal authorities including the FBI.

This explanation to me emphasizes the fact that the all-access pass was basically a gift from the NFL to the Lamberti family. But Schnakenberg says it's a matter of interpretation and that he, along with the sheriff presumably, determined that the Super Bowl pass had no value.

"There is no value to that credential," Schnakenberg said. "[Nick Lamberti] was being invited to attend the game and the NFL made him a pass. The public couldn't purchase that credential so it's actually zero value."

On that point we disagreed. I believe the pass did have value, well over $1,000, and that Lamberti's should have disclosed it as a gift from the NFL on state ethics forms and that he still should disclose it as a gift.

And that to me is the sheriff's problem here. He clearly used the power of his office to get his 16-year-old son a much-coveted all-access credentials to the game. To receive the gift Lamberti had to put his son on the VIP protection team, even giving him a bogus employee number (BSO-0000).

That is why it's pretty clear that Lamberti should have disclosed the credentials as a gift worth well in the four figures and, having failed to do that, should now amend his public disclosure forms to reflect that fact.

But he's digging in his heels. "Over 300 people from BSO got credentials, and hundreds more from other agencies got credentials, and I'm sure no one thought they were getting a gift," sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedal told the Times.

Let's break this down. Number one, I would assume that every other BSO person who received credentials for the Super Bowl were deputies who were actually working. For instance, I know that a lot of jail employees were paid overtime to help man the event, and they sure as hell weren't hanging out with Peyton Manning.

Secondly, Nick Lamberti wasn't working; he's not a deputy and doesn't have the training to do security. He was there to hang out with the Indianapolis Colts and soak up a once-in-a-lifetime experience, not protect football players.

Bottom line: The sheriff should just 'fess up to the gift, report it, and take his lumps if there are any, from the Florida Ethics Commission.

Comments (35) Write Comment Email to Friend Print Article mobiusDid you ask him about the Orange Bowl? SSDD
Adding this above: I spoke with BSO Capt. Robert Schnakenberg who oversaw the Super Bowl detail and is one of the names listed on the "matrix" above. Schnakenberg said BSO still has the matrix document. He said it has not been destroyed, though he conceded that it had been edited somewhat through the process, with names added and deleted. He said Nick Lamberti's name is still on the document. Schnakenberg also for the first time explained the sheriff's son's presence at the Super Bowl. He said that the sheriff invited his son and that the NFL agreed to give him the same pass as the sheriff -- which basically gave him carte blanche around the stadium. Schnakenberg said Nick Lamberti was added to the AFC team security matrix because, again, he needed to have the same all-access pass as his dad and he said that not only did the NFL know about the sheriff's son's attendance but so did federal authorities including the FBI. This explanation to me emphasizes the fact that the all-access pass was basically a gift from the NFL to the Lamberti family. But Schnakenberg says it's a matter of interpretation and that he and BSO interpreted the pass as having no value. "There is no value to that credential," Schnakenberg said. "[Nick Lamberti] was being invited to attend the game and the NFL made him a pass. The public couldn't purchase that credential so it's actually zero value." On that point we disagreed. I believe the pass did have value, well over $1,000, and that Lamberti's should have disclosed it as a gift from the NFL on state ethics forms and that he still should disclose it as a gift.
Nothing like our top law enforcement officer using others as his role-models for integrity. Ummm, shouldn't HE be the one role-modeling scrupulously perfect ethics... not the other way around?
unowhocorrection : to be at a Super Bowl Game!!!
We knowLamberti and Frey....everything they do is for personal gain. Start looking at anything involving Frey and you will prove it for yourself.
Judge Siricaand it gives every defendant's attorney the opportunity to say "and your honor, we know the Sheriff's office isn't above destroying documents." so much for upholding the public trust
Pulp: Put this on you tube. How to to go to the Superbowl for free.. your story will go Viral.
unowhoSorry..." Mr" ****head
unowhoSo what does it show Al jr ? ..(A)...Hey my Dad is the "Sheriff "in this town and I can do whatever I want and get away with it!!!......OR.. .(B)....... Gee Dad If I would have known it would cause so much controversy I would have stayed at home and watched it on the TV like the average kid who cant afford thousands of dollars to watch a Super Bowl!!!
Judge SiricaLamberti is using the typical straw man defense. The credentials for legit security aren't gifts, and no one has suggested they are. Credentials for someone who isn't doing security are, and Lamberti doesn't even address the subject. Actually, credentials obtained by fraud probably aren't a gift, but that's not going to make for much of a defense. He simply thinks that if the NFL doesn't mind him planting his son on the security detail (which is b.s. in any event - they ask for 300 on security they expect 300, not 299 and a partying teenager), and it doesn't cost the taxpayers, what's the harm. It's called abuse of office, and the fact that the NFL has better things to do than pursue it doesn't change a thing. Altering or destroying public records just compounds the felony, so to speak. People with no ethics are typically dumb enough to prove it with the sort of comments Lamberti has made. They can't help proving they are ethically bankrupt.
**** REFERENCE GUYThats "Mr. ****head" to you.....
mobiusPulp, Lamberti did the same thing at the Orange Bowl when Florida whipped Ohio State(Yay). Only then he and Nick hanging out with Rothstein in the VIP section inside the VIP tent. Yes Rothstein had his own roped off section inside the VIP tent.
If that person came forward, as a candidate, the rank and file would not support that candidate, .... I suspect.
Gimmesamore, If I were in our situation I would either call Eleanor Adderley or Bags Benjamin.
Small PotatoesLamberti will NEVER come clean. He doesn't even know how to. He hides behind poor Leljedal who will take the fall before 2012 election. He's truly the biggest failure we have had as a sheriff. I know, I've been through 5 of them not counting the temp one after Cochran dying. I hope another man or woman that has honor, integrity, transparency, and management skills runs for sheriff.
gimmesamoreAre we to believe that the NFL or some 3rd party made this list and embossed it with the BSO logo? If I put the BSO logo on anything, I would probably get arrested. Unless someone at BSO used FBI/CIA type "scrubbing" software, that document could possibly be found and/or the record of its existence and attempted deletion could be tracked. It just depends on how much resources are put into the electronic investgation. At a minimum, BSO has to admit creation of the document and/or assistance becasue a 3rd party would not have unlimited access to the BSO ID numbers and surely couldn't have devised the plan to create Al's son's fake ID number. But as usual, nothing will ever come of this. By the way, I do need a private police escort to get some contraband out of the country... any suggestions?
Good article by Brittany in sun sentinal.
Ministry of TruthSnakenberg at BSO is the key to this document. He was the captain in command of the Super Bowl assignments and personally reported on all assignments. Corrked as a dog's back leg. It would be good of the State or US Attorney to ask him questions under oath. If that was done, more BSO insiders would then consider lifting the lid on this entire mess and many others. Take down the brass in order to get the decent underlings to spill on some of the things going on over there.
unowhoActually number two is a turd or a poop where I come from...LOL
Louie Granteed of Hollywood PD fame, that's a name I haven't heard in quite a while. Is he talking about running against Lamberti? As for what I'd do if that were to happen, the answer is cover it. I have no political dog in these fights; I just go where the stories are.
Christy0000 Superbowl NFL Dallas detail security.
The feds had to arrest Rothstein because Lamberti and his men (The arrestors) were protecting the arrestee. Now the arrestor (lamberti) has proven himself to be an arrestee (Lamberti0000). Feds need to step in AGAIN
unowhoLouie Granteed ?Who refuses to name Neal Chambers and Sharon Sikes as suspects in the Tom Sikes homicide...He will be lucky to have a job as security guard when this homicide is finally investigated by a legitimate investigator!!!.. "Unethical" Lamberti should know better ..Especially when ALL LE and Pols are under the BN microscope!!!
Unowhoi thought you were turd
Any arrests today? Probably not, the arresters wont arrest any of their own.